Talking points

The Xiashen high-speed railway, which connects Shenzhen with Xiamen in southeast Fujian, starts operations today. The 502-kilometre line is the first railway built close to the south coast. The service will cut the travelling time between the two cities from 11 hours to just three. The link will pass through Huizhou , Shanwei , Puning , Shantou , Chaozhou and Zhangzhou before reaching Xiamen.

Israel releases a third batch of 26 long-held Palestinian prisoners tomorrow. It's the third of four promised releases - which are part of a deal to get negotiations with the Palestinians moving again. However, little has been achieved amid differences over settlement building in occupied territories. A total of 104 prisoners should be freed by the end of the release process.