Top Asian News 3:45 a.m. GMT

Hong Kong kicks off leadership polls with sole candidate

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong election committee is voting Sunday for the city’s only leadership candidate, John Lee, who is expected to win and become Hong Kong’s next chief executive. The committee, comprised of nearly 1,500 largely pro-Beijing members, is voting in a secret ballot that will last 2 1/2 hours. Lee needs more than 750 votes to win the election. As of 11 a.m., more than 96% of Election Committee members had cast their votes. As the only candidate in the polls, Lee is expected to win easily, especially since he has Beijing’s endorsement and last month obtained 786 nominations from members of the Election Committee in support of his candidacy.