Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break on Thursday (Dec 22) and which we think you'd be interested in.

It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.

EX-BSI BANKER YEO JIAWEI TO BE SENTENCED IN 1MDB CASE

Ex-BSI banker Yeo Jiawei will be sentenced on today by the courts. Yeo was found guilty on all four charges of witness tampering on Wednesday (Dec 21) in the money-laundering case involving billions of dollars alleged to be misappropriated from Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Seven other charges against Yeo, which concern cheating, money laundering and forgery, will be dealt with next year (2017).

US BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS TO RELEASE FINAL ECONOMIC GROWTH RATE

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the third and final rate of economic growth for the third quarter today.

An earlier estimate showed that the gross domestic product advanced at an annualised rate of 3.2 per cent on quarter in the three months to September, up from 1.4 per cent growth in the previous period.

AN ICE BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR INUKA

Singapore's star polar bear, Inuka, is turning 26 this year and will get a birthday cake comprising ice blocks on today for the occasion.

Polar bears live for an average of 15-18 years, although biologists have tagged a few bears in their early 30s. The Singapore-born polar bear is the only polar bear born in the tropics and a star attraction in the Frozen Tundra exhibit built to resemble the arctic habitat.

FIRST HEARING FOR PRESIDENT PARK GEUN HYE TO BE HELD

South Korea's Constitutional Court will hod its first hearing on today in the impeachment case of President Park Geun Hye with initial opinions from both sides.

The court is reviewing the impeachment vote passed by Parliament on Dec 9.

It has up to six months to decide whether to uphold or reject parliament's impeachment. Ms Park is accused of colluding with her confidante Choi Soon Sil to extort money from conglomerates for two foundations which Ms Choi allegedly controlled.