Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break on Friday (Dec 16) and which we think you'd be interested in.

It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.

Tender results out for CNY bazaar

The results of the public tender for the Chinatown Chinese New Year bazaar will be released today (Dec 16) at 7.30pm.

The annual street fair is one of the most popular events in the festivities. It will run from Jan 6 to 27 next year. One new feature will be the inclusion of young entrepreneurs selling food items in Temple Street.

Chinese New Year falls next year on Jan 28.

Release of Singapore's November external trade figures

Singapore's external trade figures for last month will be released this morning (Dec 16).

November's numbers will be keenly watched, given the previous month's disappointing data. Non-oil domestic exports in October fell by a bigger-than-expected 12 per cent, with a poor showing in both electronics and non-electronics segments.

Except for Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea, domestic shipments to the top 10 markets were down.

Red alert issued for air pollution in Beijing

Beijing's city government has issued a red alert for severely high levels of air pollution in the Chinese capital, running for five days from 8pm today.

The smog was expected to be from air pollution accumulated in Beijing and the nearby city of Tianjin and the northern provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, according to the environmental protection bureau.

During the red alert, schools are advised to suspend classes, high polluting vehicles will be pulled off roads while other vehicles will be restricted based on an odd-or-even licence plate system, Xinhua news agency said. Construction sites will also be shut down and certain factories closed.