Sanctions against Manila come into force Restrictions on Philippine officials visiting the city are set to be enacted today as a retaliatory measure for the country's handling of the Manila hostage crisis. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced last week that Hong Kong would cancel 14-day visa-free arrangements for Philippine diplomatic passport holders after Manila failed to respond to all of its demands over the 2010 bus siege, in which eight Hongkongers died. UN committee presents findings The United Nations committee on the rights of the child holds a press conference in Geneva today to discuss the situation for children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Portugal, Russia, Germany and the Vatican. UN member states are required to undergo regular reviews by the committee, which seeks to preserve living standards, protection and basic rights for children. Sapporo Snow Festival opens in Japan The annual Sapporo Snow Festival begins today and is expected to attract over two million visitors to the city on the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where temperatures have dropped as low as minus six degrees Celsius this week. Hundreds of snow and ice sculptures will be on display, lining Odori Park, the grounds of the Sapporo Community Dome, and along the main street of the Susukino district until February 11. Poultry traders hope for positive answer Local poultry breeders and traders meet the government today for the first time since locally bred birds were culled with mainland poultry after a chicken infected with H7N9 bird flu was found last week, prompting complaints of financial loss. The breeders and traders want the government to find a way to separate their birds from those from the mainland to avoid cross-infection. If not, they will consider filing for a judicial review of poultry culling. Twitter announces financial results Twitter reports its quarterly earnings results today, its first performance update since it first sold stock to the public on November 7. Shares of the company have risen from the IPO price of US$26 to as high as US$74.73, ending last week at US$64.50. The social networking giant is expected to announce that its revenue more than doubled in the fourth quarter, but investors will be keen to hear how much it has expanded its user base. Build Africa forum opens in Congo-Brazzaville Sub-Saharan Africa's first international business summit on infrastructure development opens in Congo-Brazzaville today. The Build Africa forum is scheduled to run until Friday and will bring together policymakers, charities, NGOs and infrastructure and construction experts from around the world in an attempt to tackle the continent's main obstacles and find solutions to pan-African problems.
