Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break on Monday, Dec 14, and which we think you'd be interested in.

It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.

LTA TO LAUNCH CHRISTMAS-THEMED TRAIN

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will launch a Christmas-themed train today (Dec 14) to bring some festive cheer to commuters. Commuters can catch the train on the North-South and East-West lines starting today (Dec 14). The move is part of LTA's efforts to transform the public transport network into a community-centred space which is shared by all.

LAWYER TO STAND TRIAL FOR CRITICISM OF BEIJING

One of China's most prominent rights lawyers, Pu Zhiqiang, will stand trial today (Dec 14) on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and causing disturbance for his online criticism of Beijing, including its policies on the Uighur people in the restive western Xinjiang region. Pu, who took part in the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests and has argued the cases of dissidents including well-known artist Ai Weiwei, was detained in 2014 and can be jailed up to eight years if convicted of the two charges.

EU TO RELEASE FACTORY OUTPUT DATA

The European Union will release its industrial output figures for November today (Dec 14), with expectations that it could see a slight drop from October. Analysts are expecting factory activity to expand 1.3 per cent in November compared to the same month last year. Industrial output rose 1.7 per cent in October on a year-on-year basis.