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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The Beijing Hour
Morning Edition
Rebecca Hume with you on this Monday, August 26th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this morning...
North East China sees worst flooding in a century
Former leading party official Bo Xilai due back in court again on this Monday
Syria allows UN inspectors to inspect alleged chemical attacks site
Business
China's securities regulator pledges to intensify punishment for severe stock market violations
Sports
Cricket and the final Ashes test ends on a draw, with England winning the series 3-0
Entertainments
Ben Affleck signs on to appear as Batman in the Man of Steel sequel.
Plus
Special reports takes a look at new calls for a crackdown on illegal scrap vehicle factories.
First, let's check on what's happening on the weather front...
Weather
Beijing will be sunny today, with a high of 35 degree Celsius in the daytime, and it will be cloudy tonight with a low of 22.
In Shanghai, it will see moderate rain today, 29 the high, and it will be cloudy tonight, the low of 26 degrees Celsius.
Lhasa will be cloudy in the daytime the temperature's at 21, and tonight will be overcast with a low of 13 degree Celsius.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, sunny, 34.
Kabul, sunny, with a high of 32.
And in North America
New York, sunny, with a high of 27 degrees.
Washington, overcast, highs of 27
Houston, thundershowers, 30.
Honolulu, overcast, 31.
Toronto, overcast, 27
Finally, on to South America,
Buenos Aires, sunny, 11.
And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with highs of 31 degrees Celsius.
Top News
NE China sees worst flood in century
Anchor
Local officials from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province say the Heilong River bordering China and Russia is currently seeing the worst flooding in over a century.
CRI's Jordan Lee has more.
Reporter
Flood waters have submerged crops, villages, and railroads across Heilongjiang.
In Fuyuan, flooding water has cut off roads leading to the county with a population of 170-thousand.
In the city of Tongjiang, soldiers are using sandbags to build dikes behind anti-flood walls.
"The foundation of the sandbags is not very strong. The flood washed it out. After the flood peak passed, the hollowed parts could still easily collapse. We are reinforcing it to ensure the floodwater passes safely."
"The water is supporting the dike in a way and the dike is saturated right now. If the water recedes too quickly, then the dike may also collapse. This is very dangerous."
Several observatories have reported record-high water level – some of which are even 1 meter higher than previous records.
Over 100 people have been killed with millions affected across China as a result of the recent floods.
For CRI, I'm Jordan Lee.
Bo Xilai trail continues today
Former leading party official Bo Xilai is due back in court again later on this Monday to continue his trial for alledgedly taking bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power.
Sunday's hearing was centered on the testimony given by Bo's subordinate, former vice mayor and police chief of Chongqing, Wang Lijun over the charge of Bo's power abuse.
Bo Xilai is accused of obstructing a criminal investigation into the murder charges his wife faced while he served as Party chief in Chongqing.
Bo has admitted he made mistakes in handling the case involving Wang Lijun and his wife Bogu Kailai.
However, he insists it did not constitute abuse of power and says his wife and another man surnamed Wu should take full responsibility.
The court investigation phase of the case was completed on Sunday.
The trial continues on this Monday.
Live call-in Shanghai FTZ signals further reform, opening up
Anchor:
Analysts say the approval of the establishment of a pilot free trade zone in Shanghai indicates an important move for China's further reform and opening up.
China's State Council approved the establishment of a pilot free trade zone in Shanghai last week.
Covering 28.78 square kilometers, the new zone will be built on the basis of existing bonded zones in the eastern business hub of Shanghai.
The four existing free trade zones in Shanghai include Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone and Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.
Experiences gained from the pilot zone are expected to be copied in other parts of the country.
For more on this we are joined live on the line with Mike Bastian, Visiting Professor at China's University of International Business and Economics.
Questions:
1. Analysts are saying the new pilot zone is an important move for China's further reform and opening up. What do you think has prompted this pilot zone and what is the government trying to achieve here?
2.What are the major differences between this newly approved free trade zone and the other current free trade zones in China?
3.How much influence do you think the pilot zone will have on China's economy in the long run?
4.Do we expect any challenges in the establishment and ongoing management of the Shanghai pilot zone?
Back Anchor:
Mike Bastin, Visiting Professor at China's University of International Business and Economics.
U.N. mission to probe latest chemical weapon incident in Syria on Monday
Anchor
Syria has given UN inspectors access to the site of the recent alleged chemical attack in the country.
The U.N. chemical investigation team in Syria will start on-site fact-finding activities on Monday in the Ghouta area.
CRI's Cao Yuwei has more.
Reporter
The Syrian government has agreed to provide the necessary cooperation for on-site probes of the recent alleged chemical attack in the Ghouta area.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that the U.N. mission is preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities, starting Monday.
Ban urged all relevant parties to equally share the responsibility of cooperating in urgently generating a safe environment for the mission.
China expressed earlier that it is firmly opposed to the use of chemical weapons by any party in Syria.
China says it supports the UN Secretariat in carrying out independent, objective and impartial investigations on the alleged use of chemical weapons in accordance with relevant UN resolutions.
The Syrian opposition claims 13-hundred people were killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs.
Syria's information minister Omran Zoabi has denied the allegations in a TV interview.
"We said from the first second and we offer again now our assurances that we have never used -- not in Ghouta, nor anywhere else in Syria -- chemical weapons in any shape or form -- liquid, gas or otherwise."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said on Sunday that the United States would continue intelligence assessments before making a decision on potential military intervention in Syria.
France's President Francois Hollande has pointed towards the Syrian regime being the "perpetrator" of chemical weapons use.
In a recent telephone call with his U.S counterpart Hollande described the attacks as "unacceptable."
Britain also says all information points towards the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.
They suggest evidence could have already been destroyed ahead of U.N inspectors visiting the site.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague.
"We're clear in the British government that it is the Assad regime that carried out this chemical attack, large scale chemical attack last Wednesday that has led to the death, the agonising death of so many hundreds of people, including tragically so many children."
The Russian Foreign Ministry has also urged all outside powers involved in the Syrian crisis to exercise restraint and give up potential armed intervention.
Back in Syria, the governor of Syria's Hama, Anas al-Naem, was killed Sunday when a booby-trapped car went off in the central province.
Several officials have been assassinated since the start of the country's crisis over two years ago.
For CRI, this is Cao Yuwei.
Egypt court adjourns Mubarak trial to Sept. 14
An Egyptian court has adjourned the trial of ex-president Hosni Mubarak until next month after the month long state of emergency ends.
Mahmoud Kamel Rashidi is a judge with the Cairo Criminal Court leading the trial:
"The court has decided to continue the imprisonment of the accused Habib Ibrahim Habib al-Adly (interior minister under Mubarak), while he remains under investigation. The next session will take place on September 14th."
The decision to adjourn comes in light of the large number of documents involved in the case.
Mubarak attended a trial on Sunday on charges of inciting violence and murdering protesters.
The former President was ordered under house arrest, after being released from the last case of corruption last week.
However he has chosen to be placed in the Military Hospital.
His house arrest will be lifted after the state of emergency ends.
Time to Loosen China's One-child Policy?
China's one-child policy is being scrutinized against a back drop of a rapidly aging society and a looming labor shortage.
The country's health authorities say they are considering whether to allow Chinese families to have two children as long as one of the parents comes from a single-child family.
Right now, it is only permitted if both parents are single children.
One of the major reasons behind the move is widely believed to be the rapidly aging Chinese population.
However, it appears not everyone thinks aging is that much of a problem, at least in the near future.
Professor John Bacon-Shone is one of them.
He is the Associate Dean of Social Sciences, Director of the Social Sciences Research Centre and Professor at The University of Hong Kong.
CRI's Zheng Chenguang had a chance to speak with him about the demographic impact of China's one-child policy.
(pik one child)
That was John Bacon-Shone, Associate Dean of Social Sciences, Director of the Social Sciences Research Centre and Professor at The University of Hong Kong, speaking with CRI's Zheng Chenguang.
Newly born panda cub at Washington zoo doing fine
The U.S. National Zoo's panda team says a newly born cub is healthy and robust.
The team conducted the first physical examination after the cub was born Friday afternoon.
Chief veterinarian Dr. Suzan Murray says the exam is showing promising signs that it could survive.
"Heartrate is nice and steady. We can hear breath sounds in both lungs which is great and I palpated a very full belly. So all signs are right now that we have a healthy cub, we are really excited about that."
The newly born baby panda reportedly weighs 137 grams.
Further tests and analysis will also be conducted to identify the cub's sex or its paternity in two or three weeks.
The cub was born to female giant panda Mei Xiang who also gave birth to a second but stillborn cub late Saturday.
Biz Reports
Market preview
Anchor
Let's get a preview of what's happening in the business world this week.
Here's CRI's Su Yi .
Reporter
It is going to be another relatively quiet week for the global markets.
In the U.S., the highlight of the week comes in the form of the preliminary Q2 GDP reading on Wednesday.
Market expectation is for a significant increase from 1.7 percent to 2.3 percent.
The ability for the economy to perform is strongly linked with the likelihood of a reduction in the rate of asset purchases from the Fed.
A strong release will increase the likeliness of an early taper.
The second event to watch out is the weekly unemployment claims figure.
Finally, the U.S. pending home sales figure is due out on Wednesday.
In the Eurozone, the eurozone has experienced a particularly strong period recently.
This week two significant releases are coming in the form of the German Ifo business and consumer climate surveys.
The most important of these is the German Ifo business climate figure, which is due on Tuesday morning.
The index provides a leading indicator of the sentiment within the eurozone powerhouse from a business standpoint.
In the UK, one event that will no doubt attract some attention is the speech from BoE governor Mark Carney on Wednesday.
This will be his first public appearance since the provision of forward guidance earlier in the month.
Here in Asia, it is going to be a quiet week in this region as well.
The most notable event is the Japanese retail sales figure, which is due on Thursday.
Tougher punishment for stock market offence
China's securities regulator pledges to intensify punishment for severe stock market violations amid rising offences.
China Securities Regulatory Commission is set to enhance pre-emptive oversight, streamline administrative procedures, and rely on laws to regulate the capital market.
Meanwhile, CSRC will also enhance crackdown on false information disclosure, listing fraud and illegal activities by brokerages.
26 cases have been reported for investigations during the first six months.
The number represents a hefty increase from the same period a year ago.
CSRC says stricter supervision and enforcement has played a positive role in promoting openness and fairness, and protecting small investors' interests.
Shanghai bourse defends handling of Everbright glitch
The Shanghai Stock Exchange has defended its handling of the Everbright glitch.
The stock exchange is saying its reaction to the incident on August 16th was in accordance with regulations and precedents.
Erroneous trading by Everbright Securities on the 16th caused a 5.96-percent spike in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index in just three minutes.
Investors have been dissatisfied with the exchange's failure to alert them quickly to the glitch as they chased rising stocks and suffered great losses when prices tumbled.
The Exchange is upholding its decision to not issue any warning regarding the incident on its Weibo, or microblog.
Latest explanations from the exchange have generated largely negative responses from netizens.
Most say could have been done to warn investors of possible risks.
E-commerce changes rural China
Anchor
E-commerce has not only influenced the lifestyle of urban people in China, but also changed the lives of many in rural areas.
Su Yi has the story.
Reporter
The development of e-commerce in the town of Shaji could trace back to 2006. At that time, some residents in the town began to sell handmade wood furniture through China's e-commerce platform Taobao.
Because of the fashionable style and reasonable price, their furniture was very popular online.
Duan Liang is one of the local pioneers who earned money from this. He mainly sells media storage cabinets and computer desks, and has experienced a progress.
"At first, I have daily sales of only 1000 yuan, but after four years, my daily sales reached 20,000 yuan. Now I can get more than 100 orders every day."
Like Duan Liang, many local people become rich through online furniture selling.
The annual income per capital in the town has risen from about 4000 yuan in 2006 to more than 9000 yuan last year.
And in the first half of this year, total sales through online platform reached 800 million yuan.
The experience of selling furniture online has provided useful guidance for selling other products online.
Local official Xing Xinfang says that from this perspective, online furniture selling has become a leading and inspiring industry in the town.
"We have taken advantage of the e-commerce platform to lower logistical fees. Last year, several e-commerce companies also began to sell underwear and electronic products online."
The town of Shaji plans to build an e-commerce industrial zone in the future. The zone will bear multiple functions, and will be a site for online trading, logistics, exhibitions, personnel training and business service to take place.
Xing Xinfang regards the zone as a comprehensive project that could integrate local resources and raise the efficiency of e-commerce in Shaji.
"We began the construction of the e-commerce industrial zone last year in order to give e-commerce more space to grow. The infrastructure, roads, factories, new communities and office buildings are all currently being built."
Through e-commerce, the town of Shaji has gained huge economic benefits and transformed its economic structure. The town's experience is regarded as a model for demonstrating how information has changed the way people conduct business, even in the rural parts of China.
BACK ANCHOR
That was Su Yi reporting.
Greece could receive additional aid without fresh bailout terms or haircut: Greek FinMin
Greece's Finance Minister is suggesting the country could receive additional aid without fresh bailout terms.
Yannis Stournaras says the additional financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund will not have fresh bailout conditions.
Stournaras says in the face of a possible funding gap Greece is still in no position to return to the international markets in the near future.
He has also ruled out the prospect of new debt restructuring, in such a case.
Stournaras believes the targets will be achieved in 2014, the same year the current second bailout program expires.
Since 2010 Greece has kept afloat with a total 240-billion euro financing under two bailout programs, in return for a tough austerity and reform plan which has been hit by delays.
Latest data shows that at the end of the first half of 2013 Greece still had a 321 billion Euro debt.
China Construction Bank net profit up 12.63 pct in first half
China Construction Bank is reporting a rise in net profits of over 12.6 percent in the first half from a year earlier.
The country's second-largest state-owned bank says net profits hit more than 119.7 billion yuan in the first six months.
The bank is also reporting its net interest income rose 10.6 percent year on year and net income from commissions and service fees soared 12.8 percent.
The bank's non-performing loan ratio remained at 0.99 at the end of June.
It is at the same level recorded at the end of 2012.
Sinopec profit up 24.1 pct in H1
China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, Sinopec is reporting a 24.1 percent increase in its net profit in the first half of 2013 from a year earlier.
Net profits of China's largest oil refiner hit over 29.4 billion yuan during the six-month period.
Sales revenues of the company also grew 5-percent to over 1.4-trillion yuan.
It is being reported the rises mainly resulted from growing domestic demand for petroleum and chemical products and China's improved price formation mechanism for product oil.
Headline News
NE China sees worst flood in century
Local officials from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province say the Heilong River bordering China and Russia is currently seeing the worst flooding in over a century.
Several observatories have reported record-high water level – some of which are even 1 meter higher than previous records.
Over 100 people have been killed with millions affected across China as a result of the recent floods.
Bo Xilai trail continues today
Former leading party official Bo Xilai is due back in court again later on this Monday to continue his trial for allegedly taking bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power.
Sunday's hearing was centered on the testimony given by Bo's subordinate, former vice mayor and police chief of Chongqing, Wang Lijun over the charge of Bo's power abuse.
Bo Xilai is accused of obstructing a criminal investigation into the murder charges his wife faced while he served as Party chief in Chongqing.
Bo has admitted he made mistakes in handling the case involving Wang Lijun and his wife Bogu Kailai.
However, he insists it did not constitute abuse of power and says his wife and another man surnamed Wu should take full responsibility.
Japan radiation yet to threaten China: oceanic authorities
China's oceanic authorities say the radioactive pollutants leaking from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have not yet threatened waters near China.
However, the State Oceanic Administration says the polluted areas near Japan have expanded.
The oceanic authorities say they will continue to monitor the Western Pacific Ocean.
U.N. mission to probe latest chemical weapon incident in Syria on Monday
The U.N. chemical investigation team in Syria will start on-site fact-finding activities on Monday in the Ghouta area.
The Syrian government has agreed to provide the necessary cooperation for on-site probes of the recent alleged chemical attack in the Ghouta area.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging all relevant parties to equally share the responsibility of cooperating in urgently generating a safe environment for the mission.
Bomb blasts kill over 40 in Iraq
At least 45 are dead and 100 others injured after several bomb blasts hit the Iraqi capital Baghdad and surrounding areas.
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ended in early August, has become one of the deadliest months in the country for years, with some 670 people killed.
Sectarian attacks have killed some 4-thousand people in Iraq so far this year.
The continuing violence is raising fears of a return to the peak of the conflict in 2006 and 2007.
Newspaper Picks
Beijing Times
Headline: Green channels to help students from poor families
Summary:
Students from impoverished families will get more financial support.
A series of scholarships, stipends and loans will be provided to college students.
Universities and colleges are also required to set up a "green channel" to help freshmen from poor families defer tuition payments and receive loans.
Beijing News
Headline: Social media celebrity detained for prostitution
Summary:
Xue Manzi, a well-known Chinese-American investor whose microblog has attracted 12 million followers, was detained by police for suspected prostitution.
Xue has advocated for critical illness insurance, initiated a campaign to track down trafficked children an called for transparent details on pollution in China.
Xue, also known for aggressive online talks, is suspected of being involved in reposting rumors fabricated by Qin Huohuo, who was put in criminal detention recently.
South China Metropolitan Daily
Headline: Reporter held for blogging 'false rumors'
Summary:
A reporter has been detained for fabricating rumors.
Liu Hu, who works at the Guangzhou-based newspaper New Express, has posted a report on his Weibo.
In the report, Liu accuses Ma Zhengqi, deputy head of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, of involving in a deal that allegedly caused a vast loss of State assets when Ma was an official in Chongqing.
Liu's Weibo account has been suspended.
Global Times
Headline: Chinese Web attacked
Summary:
China's domain name system has been under serial attacks since early Sunday.
The first round of attacks were repaired around 2 am. This was followed by a long-lasting and large-scale attack at around 4 am, which is the largest in history against the national domain name service.
An emergency plan has been launched by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Shanghai Daily
Headline: Man tries to set Qipu Road market fire
Summary:
A man was detained after he attempted to set fire to a clothing market in Shanghai.
The man had ignited three of four gasoline bombs before he was caught by security guards.
No one was injured in the incident.
China Daily
Headline: Astronauts' energy drink may be available to public
Summary:
The energy drink invented exclusively for astronauts of Shenzhou VII spaceship may be available to the public next year.
The composition of the drink, which consists of potassium, sodium and magnesium, is very similar to body fluid.
The drink can be absorbed quickly and reenergize the body.
Special Reports
Most of the scrap cars are sent to the illegal factories
Anchor
New reports have revealed most of the scrap vehicles in Hebei's capital Shijiazhuang failed to make it to authorized companies for dismantling last year.
This has prompted new calls for a crackdown on the illegal scrap vehicle factories.
CRI's Xie Zhao explains.
Reporter
The Shijiazhuang Used Car Company is one of the largest authorized companies in Hebei which specializes in recycling and dismantling scrap cars.
Yang Xianzhe works at the company.
He says he and his colleagues have had little work to do for a long time.
"There are no scrap cars. We do not have work to do. Now it is the wheat harvest season. Workers have been given days off. When the company receives scrap cars, the workers will be called back."
As such, Liang Bin, a manager at the Company, says it is hard for them to survive.
"Now it is hard for the legal companies to survive, while the illegal markets are rampant and booming."
According to statistics released by the Hebei Traffic Management Bureau, around 250-thousand vehicles should have been scrapped last year.
However, only around a tenth of them were delivered to authorized scrap vehicle companies.
The recycling price of scrapped cars is usually around one thousand yuan per ton at authorized companies in Shijiangzhuang.However, the price can surge upto 10-thousand yuan at certain scrap car scalpers.
In order to stimulate more private car owners to send their scrap cars to authorized companies, Liu Huixin with the Hebei Commerce department argues the current subsidy policy should be expanded further.
"The subsidy policy for the scrap cars should be enlarged and the amount of the subsidy should be increased"
In addition, Cao Yinzhong with the Hebei Traffic Management Bureau says if the private car owners don't comply with the new regulations put out this year to scrap their cars, they will be banned from applying for a new license plate.
"If the car owners do not scrap their car on time, they will be suspended to apply for new services from the Traffic Management Bureau."
After some vehicles are dismantled, various parts can be re-assembled into fully-operating, but potentially unsafe, new vehicles.
This is not uncommon in rural areas.
For CRI, I am XZ.
Sports
Final Ashes test ended on a draw, England wins series 3-0
Let's start off with cricket,
The fifth and final Ashes test has ended in a draw, after a solid final day in which 447 runs were scored and 17 wickets fell.
Bad light forced an early end to the final day at the Oval, with England 206-5. They needed 21 more from 24 balls with five wickets in hand when play stopped.
The tie prevented England from winning 4-0 over Australia.
But it was far more disappointing for the Aussies, who had hoped to retain a bit of dignity with at least one test win.
England has now won three Ashes in a row for the first time since the 1977-1981 run.
Cardiff City achieves first topflight victory in 50 years
In the English Premier League,
Cardiff City stuns Manchester City 3-2 at home.
Frazier Campbell headed home two second-half corners to help his team achieve its first top-flight victory in more than 50 years.
Elsewhere, Tottenham narrowly beat Swansea 1-0 thanks to a penalty conversion by Roberto Soldado.
And in the Chinese Super League,
It was a showdown between Guangzhou teams yesterday, with Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande just scraping by Sven-Goren Eriksson's Guangzhou R&F 1-0.
Going into the Guangzhou derby, Evergrande sat at the top with an 11 point advantage, while R&F trailed in fifth place.
The hosts took the lead six minutes after the half with a close-range shot from midfielder Dario Conco.
R&F's Nigerian forward Yakubu, also known as the Yak, missed a chance to equailize in the last minute.
Evergrande increased their lead at the top to 14 points, and Lippi walked away with bragging rights for now.
US Open begins today
Tennis's final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, will get underway in New York later today.
The draws are set, and players are looking ahead to their opening matches. Andy Murray is one of the top-seeded players feeling the pressure not to choke and bow out early.
"I think there is less pressure. I think before the first match and probably anything before the first match there will be nerves there. I expect to be pretty nervous because it's a new experience and it's different. But I think once the tournament gets going, I don't think it changes. I don't think it changes too much."
Maria Bartoli will start her new career as a commentator for European TV channel Eurosport at the US Open, after abruptly retiring from professional tennis earlier this month.
But the Frenchwoman is still leaving the door open for a possible comeback.
"Well, you never know what's gonna happen and it's hard to call it for now. But that's why I'm still in the ranking. I think I will be there until the end of the year and then we'll see what is happening, but it's pretty hard to say 'I will never come back'. So, we will see."
The first round begins at Flushing Meadows at 11am Eastern time.
Sebastian Vettel claims fifth win at Spa Circuit
In Formula One,
Sebastian Vettel triumphed at the Belgium Grand Prix yesterday, claiming his fifth season win.
The Red Bull driver increased his lead over second-place Fernando Alonso by 46 points.
Pole man Lewis Hamilton had a good start, but Vettel maneuvered around the British former champion after a slipstreaming move.
Ferrari's Alonso claimed second, and Hamilton grabbed third.
Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen had to retire from the race with brake problems. Paul di Resta and Charles Pic also did not finish.
Tommy Fleetwood wins first European Tour victory at Johnnie Walker Championship
In golf,
England's Tommy Fleetwood won the Johnnie Walker Championship in Scotland yesterday.
It came down to a three way playoff between Fleetwood, Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, and Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez.
Fleetwood's birdy on the first playoff hole was good enough to secure the win, and give the 22 year old his first European Tour victory.
"Crazy...I can't believe it now. You never really know how close you are and i said to someone that I was disappointed I had not been on contention after the first half of the year, when you would think everything is so good but i have still been playing well. Then I have come here this week, I have always loved the golf course and always loved Scotland and it just seems like it was meant to be."
Entertainment
Ben Affleck to Help Write and Star in Multiple Batman Films
Academy award winning actor/director Ben Affleck has signed on to appear as Batman in the Man of Steel sequel.
(argo trailer)
The 41-year-old Argo actor and director will put on the cape with returning actor Henry Cavill and director Zack Snyder.
Not only will he be acting in the new film, but he'll also help write the screenplay.
Actors Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, and Diane Lane will also reprise their roles in the sequel expected to hit theaters summer 2015.
The deal Affleck has signed is reportedly for multiple films so we can expect to see him as Batman over the next several years.
Though no official title has been revealed it has been strongly hinted Superman and Batman will be fighting each other in the sequel thus leading many fans to dub it Superman Versus Batman.
Reactions from fans online have been split down the middle.
Many are scoffing over the fact Affleck will be putting on the caped crusader's cloak, while others point out he just won several Academy Awards.
An online petition to remove Ben Affleck as Batman has already garnered over 30-thousand signatures.
Christopher Nolan to Return to Produce Man of Steel Sequel
And speaking of Batman vs. Superman, it appears Dark Knight and Inception filmmaker Christopher Nolan may not be involved with the sequel's production.
(inception trailer)
Nolan, who acted as producer on this year's Man of Steel, was expected to return yet his name was absent from sequel's press release.
However, conflicting reports are coming in with some claiming Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas are still involved in the film's production.
Nolan has also begun work on his new film Interstellar which stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Michael Caine among several others.
Like his 2010 film Inception Interstellar promises to be an opus of non-linear mind-bending storytelling as characters travel through space and time to alternate dimensions.
Woody Allen's New Film to Become Best Grossing Indie Film of Year
Filmmaker Woody Allen's new film Blue Jasmine is poised to become the highest grossing indie film of the year after pulling in 4.3-million US dollars this past weekend.
(blue jasmine trailer)
The film's distributor Sony Pictures Classics expanded the film into 1,283 theaters up from 229 in its 5th week at the box office.
So far the film has grossed 14.8-million US dollars.
It's still behind Allen's last film Midnight in Paris which grossed 56-million dollars domestically and 151-million worldwide.
Blue Jasmine totes an allstar class including UK actress Cate Blanchett who plays the wife of a big time money swindler.
The film also stars Alec Baldwin, comedian Louis CK, and Andrew Dice Clay.
Man Acquitted Over Michael Jackson Inspired Attack
A man who smashed a coworker on the head with a champagne bottle after the coworker changed the music from Michael Jackson has been acquitted of all charges.
(beat it clip)
Assault and battery charges against Gaspar Magisa have been dropped following an ill-fated team building exercise for an advertising firm in San Francisco.
Magisa was pouring himself a glass of champagne when his coworker reportedly changed the music from the King of Pop to dubstep and started dancing.
Gaspar responded by attacking the man with the bottle.
The coworker required 17-stitches and Gaspar successfully avoided a potential 5-years in prison for the attack.
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