Talking points

Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories .self storage..Singles' Day spirit vies with online consumerismThe 180 million-plus single people on the mainland are expected to embrace Singles' Day today, but the holiday sentiment is being transformed by big online retailers into an epic online shopping extravaganza. E-commerce giants like Taobao, Tmall and Amazon.cn are running big promotions as online sales are expected to soar. Alibaba founder Jack Ma said last month the internet giant's 2012 Singles' Day sales were nearly US$3.3 billion. and may exceed US$4.9 billion this year.ICJ to rule on Preah Vihear temple disputeThe UN's top court, the International Court of Justice, is due to deliver its judgement on the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over the 900-year-old temple at Preah Vihear. The temple was seized from Cambodia by the Thai military in 1959, but awarded to Cambodia in a World Court judgment three years later. Thai troops were obliged to withdraw from the temple and the surrounding area, although the vicinity was not clearly defined, and several border skirmishes ensued. Cambodia asked the ICJ two years ago to reinterpret its original 1962 finding.Gravity satellite set to crash back to earthA satellite which has mapped earth's gravity has become doomed by the force and is expected to hit the planet today. The European Space Agency's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean迷你倉Circulation Explorer began dropping from its 160-kilometre orbit at a rate of 13 kilometres a day after running out of fuel in October. Roughly 25 per cent of the 1.2 tonne satellite is expected to survive re-entry and hit earth. Scientists cannot predict when or where.C.Y. Leung to give speech on land policyChief Executive CY Leung is to speak on land supply and development at a lunch organised by Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, as the shortage of housing in the city continues to spark heated debate.Musharraf faces court over fatal mosque raidThe trial of former Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf over a fatal military raid on a radical mosque is scheduled to start today. Musharraf was arrested in October over a 2007 raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad, which left more than 100 people dead and unleashed a wave of violence. He has also faced charges over former premier Benazir Bhutto's murder in 2007, the death of a Baluch rebel leader in 2006 and the detention of judges in 2007.US, EU restart talks on free-trade dealThe United States and the European Union are beginning a second round of controversial negotiations towards the world's biggest free-trade deal. The week-long talks in Brussels are aimed at agreeing a deal by the end of 2014 to create a market of 800 million people, but they have been overshadowed by Edward Snowden's leaks on NSA surveillance and the US government's partial shutdown.mini storage