Talking Points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
National Day celebrations continue with an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record, as a 510 metre-long dragon makes its way up the Shing Mun River from Sha Tin. The record attempt is being organised by the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts, Dragon and Lion Dance Association to mark 15 years since the handover.
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union vote on a new contract that would end a labour dispute that resulted in the city's first teachers' strike in 25 years. Some 29,000 teachers and assistants joined picket lines last month, and the strike ended only after the union won concessions on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plans to reform the public education system in the city and a promise of a 17.6 per cent pay rise over four years.
A group of experts delivers a long-awaited report on banking regulation in Europe in the wake of the global financial crisis. The group, commissioned by the European Commission, is expected to recommend a separation of retail banking from high-risk businesses dubbed "casino banking" by critics. But the European Union is unlikely to turn the recommendations into law.
A mammoth lot goes under the hammer at an auction in Paris - literally. One lucky buyer will land a complete mammoth skeleton at the Sotheby's sale in the French capital, but they'll have to pay a heavy price for the bones of the prehistoric beast. The 3.5-metre-tall skeleton is expected to sell for €185,000 (HK$1.85 million).
Tens of thousands of dispossessed rural Indians begin a four-week march from Gwalior in the state of Madhya Pradesh to New Delhi to campaign for land reform. Organisers from the activist federation Ekta Parishad hope the march will pressure the Indian government to act on the recommendations of a National Land Reform Council, set up in the wake of a 25,000-strong march against poverty in 2007.
The Democratic Party holds a retreat to review its disappointing performance in last month's Legislative Council election and consider its future direction. The party lost two of its eight seats in the September 9 poll despite the creation of 10 additional Legislative Council seats. Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan took the blame and resigned from his post. Vice-chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing says she is leaning towards not running for the party's top post, leaving new lawmakers Helena Wong Pik-wan and Wu Chi-wai among the favourites to replace Ho.
