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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The Beijing Hour
Evening Edition
Wednesday, August 28th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this evening.
A new report released here in China is suggesting cities in this country have to be made more livable and sustainable.
It's appearing more and more like outside intervention could be coming for Syria.
It's been determined that there was NO botulism involved in the recent Fonterra dairy scare here in China.
In Business, oil prices are on the rise amid speculation of impending intervention in Syria.
In sports, Li Na in action later today in Round 2 of the US Open..
In entertainment, it's been confirmed American rockers The Killers are planning a show here in Beijing.
Weather
Beijing will be overcast tonight with a low of 22 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow sunny with a high temperature of 29.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be cloudy tonight, with a low of 28, cloudy tomorrow, with a high of 36.
Lhasa will have thundershowers tonight, 10 degrees the low, showers tomorrow with a high of 22.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, thundershowers, with a high of 32.
Kabul, sunny, 32.
Over in Australia
Sydney, overcast, highs of 24.
Canberra, overcast, 21.
Brisbane, sunny, 25.
And finally, Perth will have rain with a high of 19.
Top News
China to ensure quality, steady growth: gov't report
A new report from the State Council is suggesting the main task in the second half of this year is to improve the quality and efficiency of economic development in this country.
The report is a review of how economic and social development plans are being implemented.
The analysis says the government will maintain a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy.
Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, has submitted the report to the ongoing bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.
"China's economic development fundamentals are good. Potential domestic demand will be boosted by the development of industrialization and urbanization. The deepened reform will continue to release the activity and creativity of market. Relying on independent innovation, transformation and upgrading, some sectors and enterprises own strong anti-risk ability and grow steady. China will work to ensure quality and steady economic growth."
The report says the central government is also going to focus on renovating shantytowns and building more urban infrastructure, energy and transportation projects to increase domestic demand.
China's urbanization must be more sustainable and livable: report
Anchor
A new joint report released here in China is suggesting that with around 70-percent of this country's population expected to live in an urban setting by 2030, this country's cities need to be more sustainable and liveable.
CRI's Lucy Du has more.
Reporter:
The Human Development Report has been co-published by the UN Development Program and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The report includes studies by a group of Chinese and international experts on the massive migration to urban areas here in China.
The report notes 52.6 percent of the people in this country lived in cities as of last year.
Today, over 710 million people in China live in cities and towns.
By 2030 that number is likely to surpass one billion.
One of the biggest challenges being cited in the new report is the rapidly aging population in China.
Helen Clark headed the UN team which helped compile the data.
"Obviously, this raises challenges on several facts. As urbanization increase in China, we face more pressure to ensure the efficient use of nature and energy resources and the development of its urban govern systems. It will want to ensure that there are jobs, the transports, the housing, the basic social services, the security of the urban citizens, and we want to protect the livelihoods of migrant workers. And we also will be the other challenges, relating to the aging population, the structure transformation of the economy, and the air and water pollution."
Pan Jiahua is with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the chief editor of the new report.
He says a new sustainable development plan is what's needed for the urban areas of China.
"In order to make the urban development more sustainable, the urban government, the enterprises and citizens should do their own efforts on various aspects, such as urban planning, urban management, and production and consumption behavior and so on. If we ignored this, the capacity of the environment is likely to further beyond bearing, this impact is not only the problem of unlivable, and it will affect the economic and social development."
The report also suggests the scale and speed of China's urbanization is expected to continue at its current pace for the next two decades.
National Development and Reform Commission deputy director Xie Zhenhua attended the ceremony.
He says development here in China needs to be quality, and not just fast.
"We need to be people-centered. It is more about the urbanization of the people. We need to gradually motivate the migration of rural population and fair distribution of public resources, and let rural and urban residents equally benefit from our economic growth."
Xie Zhenhua also says the NDRC is also focusing on urbanization as part of its latest development plans.
For CRI, I'm Lucy Du.
Prospect of US-led military strikes on Syria
The UN weapons inspectors have resumed their investigation into last week's alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
Their fact-finding mission was delayed by a day after they were fired by unknown snipers on Monday.
Though the investigation is still a long way away from producing a report on what actually happened, many countries are already asserting the Syrian government is responsible.
The US says its military is ready to launch strikes at any time.
France also says it is in position to strike.
The Syrian government is strongly denying responsibility, and says it will do all it can to repel any outside attacks.
Leading Syrian ally Russia is warning against military action, saying any outside intervention will be "catastrophic" for the region.
For more on the situation, we spoke earlier to Alison Meuse, a senior editor and Beirut correspondent for Syria Deeply - a single issue website dedicated to tracking the evolution of the conflict and putting the news in context.
…
Back Anchor:
Alison Meuse, a senior editor and Beirut correspondent for Syrian conflict-tracking website Syria Deeply.
Japan' nuclear regulator upgrades Fukushima leaking to serious
Japan's nuclear regulator has upgraded its assessment of leaking contaminated water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to a "serious incident".
Some 300-tons of highly-radioactive water leaked from the plant last week.
The contaminated water has been making its way into the Pacific ocean.
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority originally only gave the leak a Level One rating.
However, the situation is now listed as Level Three.
Masakazu Shima is with Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority.
"We applied the International Nuclear Event Scale assessment and it was rated as Level Three accordingly. Thus, we shall immediately inform the IAEA and wish this to be known to the public."
The ratings are designed only to inform the international community about the situation.
It has no impact on clean up efforts.
The 2011 Fukushima disaster itself was listed as a Level Seven on the IAEA's International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.
This is the same assessment as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Earlier this week, Japan's industry minister announced the government was taking over cleanup efforts from plant operator TEPCO.
Fukushima nuclear plant water leak raises food safety concerns
Worries about food safety are mounting in Japan.
Many Japanese people are hesitant to buy products from Fukushima out of fears of possible radiation contamination.
The market for Japanese fish is already on the decline.
""I am a wholesaler at Tsukiji fish market. I am angry at the carelessness of the Tokyo Electric Power Company and lack of action by the government. Radiation or not, fear itself has caused severe damages."
Experts say the government needs to release more detailed information to stop the rumors which have been hurting Fukushima's agriculture industry.
UN panel to invesigate North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens
A UN panel of experts investigating human rights violations in North Korea have met with Japanese officials to discuss Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese citizens.
North Korea has admitted to abducting 13 Japanese nationals and using them to train their spies.
The North has promised to reinvestigate the abductions, but has not yet done so.
The United Nations has empowered its Commission of Inquiry to collect evidence of human rights abuses in North Korea and ensure full accountability for any crimes against humanity.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
"Japan strongly hopes it the commission's final report would result in a new declaration of intention by the international community that would call for specific actions from North Korea to improve human rights conditions."
The commission's recommendations will be passed on to the UN and other international agencies for review.
Botulism ruled out of Fonterra contamination: New Zealand regulators
New Zealand food safety officials have announced the bacteria found in Fonterra dairy products that sparked an international alert and wide-spread media coverage here in China is not bacterium that can cause botulism.
Scott Gallacher is with the New Zealand ministry for primary industries.
"No boutlinum bacteria has been detected in any product that we have sent to testing."
The bacteria discovered in the samples is said to incapable of producing the botulism toxins.
In fact, the report from regulators in New Zealand says the bacteria in question has no association with food safety.
A batch of products from Fonterra tested at the end of July was originally determined to contain the bacteria which can create botulism.
However, further tests have determined the original assessment by food safety regulators turned out to be incorrect.
Fonterra products have come under heavy scrutiny here in China and sparked wide-spread media coverage about the safety of food products from overseas.
Conor English is the chief executive of Federated Farmers in New Zealand.
"It's mixed emotions, we're relieved that there wasn't a big problem there at the start but still concerned about the way things have worked out over the past three weeks."
The scare led to the Chinese government briefly banning all dairy products from New Zealand.
The Chinese government has yet to respond to the new report.
Residential building housing 14 flats collapsed in western India
A pair of residential building have collapsed in western India, leaving at least 9 dead.
However, as many as 40 others might be trapped under the twisted rubble of the 2 buildings.
One of the buildings, home to 14 flats, came down overnight, knocking down an adjacent building with it.
The second building had already been evacuated.
Manish Dubey is a senior official in the city of Vadodara where the collpase has taken place.
"At around 4:30 in the morning one tower comprising 14 flats collapsed. After that in the next 45 minutes, the next tower also collapsed. Everyone was evacuated from the second tower, but in the first tower, which collapsed at 4:30 in the morning, people are still trapped under the rubble."
Three people have been pulled alive from the rubble.
Locals are reporting they complained numerous times about the deteriorating condition of the building, only to have their warnings ignored.
Indian authorities have already announced compensation of around 4-thousand US dollars to every family of those killed in the collapse.
Beidou Navigation System
Anchor:
The developers behind the Beidou System are said to be looking for new non-military applications for the Chinese-built satellites.
CRI's Li Dong has more.
Reporter:
The Beidou navigation satellite system is a global satellite positioning and communication system developed independently by China.
The system began offering services to customers in the Asia-Pacific region in December 2012.
In June of this year, the Beidou demonstration project was launched for daily use in China's Yantze River delta region. The demo included supervising key civilian vehicles and high-precision location monitoring of both the elderly and children for safety and medical purposes.
By embedding roughly 12,000 Beidou navigation system chips in mobile phones, watches, school badges and other devices, the chips will help emergency rescue efforts by providing positioning information about the chip's carrier to authorities.
Ma Yinhu, deputy director of the Beidou system trial operation evaluation center, says that the data shows Beidou is performing above expectations in non-military applications.
"The accuracy of the Beidou system is better than we thought. It's higher than the 10 meter accuracy we anticipated."
Sun Jiadong, chief designer of the Beidou system, is also enthusiastic about its civilian capabilities benefiting the public.
"It's very possible that the Beidou system sends information to a single positioning terminal. It may be integrated with a cell-phone by adding a Beidou chip into the device. It can give position guidance, like a digital map for travelers who get lost in the wild. It may also help families who have children and elderly relatives locate their family members."
However, the civilian use of the Beidou system is still in the trial stage of operation. Ran Chengqi, director of the China Satellite Navigation Office, says that it still has a long way to go before Beidou can compete with other, more developed navigation systems that are globally available.
"Other products were developed long before our Beidou system. They have dominated the Chinese market. It requires a lot more efforts for us to promote the branding of the Beidou system. So we must better integrate our resources and aim for the global market."
The Beidou Navigation system plans to expand its customer base worldwide by 2020.
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
Biz Reports
Asian Stock
Japanese stocks helped lead Asian markets lower this Wednesday, as heightened fears of U.S.-led military intervention in Syria have led to a large-scaled global sell-off.
Here in China, mainland shares were dragged down by the bio-pharmaceutical sector.
Kangmei Pharmaceutical, based in Guangdong, dropped by the 10-percent daily limit today.
The Shanghai Composite edged down 0.1 percent.
The Shenzhen Component lost nearly 1 percent.
Among the loss leaders in Hong Kong, state-owned PetroChina and its natural-gas-distribution unit Kunlun Energy fell sharply as trading resumed after a halt Tuesday at the companies' request.
PetroChina slumped 4.1 percent and Kunlun plunged 10.8 percent.
PetroChina's Shanghai-listed shares dropped 1.1 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.1 percent.
Elsewhere,
Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled 2 percent today.
South Korea's KOSPI declined 0.5 percent.
Singapore's Straits Times shed 0.8 percent.
In Sydney, the resource sector saw weakness, despite sharp gains for oil and gold futures.
Australia's ASX 200 dropped 1 percent.
Oil Jumps as Syria Intervention Appears Imminent
Crude-oil futures have risen in trading amid the potential for military strikes led by the US against Syria.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for October delivery have increased some 2-dollars-70-cents a barrel to 111-dollars-70 cents US.
October Brent crude on London's ICE Futures Exchange are up 2-dollars-21-cents to 116-dollars-60-cents a barrel.
Brent crude prices hit 119-US dollars per barrel in February.
It is expected the Brent will surpass 120 US dollars per barrel if the Syrian conflict spreads to oil-producing countries in the region.
Chinese Authorities Extend PetroChina Corruption Probe
PetroChina is reportedly under an extended anti-corruption probe by authorities.
Three additional senior managers are now under investigation over alleged breaches in discipline.
Among them is company's vice President is now under the same investigation.
All have since resigned.
On top of PetroChina's V-P, the other two are the deputy General Manager of CNPC, which is PetroChina's parent company, and PetroChina's chief geologist.
The exact nature of what the group is accused of being involved with has not been made clear.
Major Telecoms Operators May Cut Charges amid Anti-Monopoly Probe
Anchor:
Media reports are suggesting anti-monopoly investigations here in China are poised to expand into the telecommunications, oil and banking industries.
The National Development and Reform Commission is leading the probes.
Meanwhile, on the telecom front, the NDRC is also working to reduce service charges over the next 4-months.
China's three major telecoms operators are reportedly considering lowering their fees on mobile communication and broadband access.
Now for more on this, CRI's Rebecca Hume spoke earlier with Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
…
Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai, speaking with CRI's Rebecca Hume.
Euro zone business loans drop sharply
New European Central Bank data shows lending to businesses in the 17 nation bloc has contracted sharply in July.
Private sector loans have dropped by nearly 2 percent on an annualized basis.
The rate also declined 1.6 percent in June.
Preliminary inflation figures in the ECB show prices rose 2.2-percent in July.
This is down slightly from the 2.4-percent increase registered in June.
German consumer confidence eases unexpectedly
New analysis is suggesting consumer confidence levels have dropped unexpectedly in Germany.
Research firm GfK says its consumer climate index has slipped slightly heading into September.
The German firm is attributing the downturn in consumer confidence to a lower outlook for the broader German economy and weaker income expectations.
Recent jump in inflation, particularly for food, has also added to German unease about the state of the economy.
But despite the downturn in the confidence levels, German spending levels are at their highest point since the end of 2006.
Currently the German government expects the German economy will grow by 0.5 percent this year and 1.6 percent next year.
Toyota, Nissan, Honda's global output decline in July
New data out of Japan shows that country's top-3 automakers have seen their global production slowdown through July.
Toyota's vehicle production is down nearly 2-percent though July.
Honda is reporting nearly the same slowdown.
However, Nissan's global production is down over 8-percent in July.
The company's production here in China is down nearly 18-percent through that month.
Nissan is teamed up with Dongfeng Motors here in China.
Volvo's China plant goes operational
Volvo's first China plant has gone into operation today in Sichuan's capital, Chengdu.
This comes 3-years after Geely boughtout the Swedish carmaker.
The plant has a full assembly line for body framing, welding, painting and general assembly.
The first-phase annual capacity is expected to be 100-thousand vehicles.
Apple to open first Tokyo store since 2005: report
Media reports suggesting Apple is planning to open its first retail store in Tokyo in almost 8-years.
The iPhone maker already has seven stores in Japan.
The latest one will reportedly be located in an upscale shopping district in Tokyo.
The opening date for the new store is reportedly slated for March.
Headline News
Prospects of US-led military strikes on Syria
The UN weapons inspectors have resumed their investigation into last week's alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
Their fact-finding mission was delayed by a day after they were fired by unknown snipers on Monday.
Though the investigation is still a long way away from producing a report on what actually happened, many countries are already asserting the Syrian government is responsible.
The US says its military is ready to launch strikes at any time.
France also says it is in position to strike.
The Syrian government is strongly denying responsibility, and says it will do all it can to repel any outside attacks.
Leading Syrian ally Russia is warning against military action, saying any outside intervention will be "catastrophic" for the region.
China to ensure quality, steady growth: gov't report
A new report from the State Council is suggesting the main task in the second half of this year is to improve the quality and efficiency of economic development in this country.
The report is a review of how economic and social development plans are being implemented.
The analysis says the government will maintain a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy.
The report says the central government is also going to focus on renovating shantytowns and building more urban infrastructure, energy and transportation projects to increase domestic demand.
China issues yellow alert as tropical storm nears
Chinese maritime authorities have issued a yellow alert ahead of tropical storm Kong-rey.
The storm is currently centered southeast of Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean.
It's tracking toward the northeast, and is expected to miss the mainland before tracking toward the Japanese main islands.
However, Kong-rey is expected to generate waves of upto 6.5-meters high on the sea.
The storm is also expected to generate coastal waves of as high as 3.5-meters along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian.
Chinese Authorities Extend PetroChina Corruption Probe
PetroChina is reportedly under an extended anti-corruption probe by authorities.
Three additional senior managers are now under investigation over alleged breaches in discipline.
Among them is company's vice President is now under the same investigation.
All have since resigned.
On top of PetroChina's V-P, the other two are the deputy General Manager of CNPC, which is PetroChina's parent company, and PetroChina's chief geologist.
The exact nature of what the group is accused of being involved with has not been made clear.
Son of Chinese tenor stands rape trial
The teenage son of a renowned Chinese tenor has appeared in court for trial for his alleged role in a gang-rape case.
The son of Li Shuangjiang and 4 other men are accused of gang raping a woman after a drinking session at a Beijing hotel in February.
The rape charges were filed in July.
This isn't Li Shuangjiang's son's first run-in with the law.
He spent a year in detention after a fight connected to a traffic incident.
His father is a renowned military singer here in China.
Newspaper Picks
Shanghai Daily
"Apparels that claim to block UV rays fail tests"
IF you believe the labels on the shirts that promise to protect you from the scorching summer rays, chances are, it does not work.
Shanghai consumer rights protection commission said yesterday that recent tests showed that the majority of the apparels claiming to protect against the sun failed to pass the ultraviolet (UV) rays test.
Some of the clothing even fared poorly compared to normal T-shirts.
The Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission tested 32 pieces of clothing that claimed or suggested they could block UV rays, but found only one piece that met the national standard.
The samples were priced between some 60 yuan and 480 yuan, and were bought from shopping malls or online. Some of their manufacturers claimed that the clothes provided strong UV protection against sun with their use of all-round anti-UV technologies, or provided complete protection of skin.
The heat wave that baked the city for more than 40 days this summer boosted their sales.
Global Times
"Orientation week draws luxury cars"
A stretch of some 50 luxury cars seen queuing to enter a Guangdong Province school parking lot for orientation week on Saturday has raised questions on whether it's a good idea for students to show up in the high-end vehicles, which show off extravagant wealth.
BMW and Porsche cars were among the most popular at Zhuhai's United International College campus car park over the weekend. Most had plates for nearby Guangdong cities or Macao, while others were from Shanxi and Sichuan provinces.
A press officer for the college said that it has no control over whether students drive to school, but said that it does not provide parking spaces for students.
Wang Yunfei, a professor of sociology at Anhui University said the luxury cars serve as a distraction from studying.
In recent years, more luxury cars have been seen on school campuses during orientation week as wealthy parents send children to schools in high-end vehicles.
India Express
"Scientist controls another man's brain via Internet"
Scientists have conducted the world's first non-invasive human-to-human brain interface. In the action, one person was able to control the motions of another via Internet.
Using electrical brain recordings and a form of magnetic stimulation, Rajesh Rao, a University of Washington professor, sent a brain signal to his colleague Andrea Stocco, causing Stocco's finger to move on a keyboard.
In the research, Rao sat in his lab wearing a cap with electrodes hooked up to an electroencephalography machine, which reads electrical activity in the brain.
Stocco was in his lab across campus wearing a specially made cap to control hand movement.
Rao looked at a computer screen and played a simple video game with his mind. When he was supposed to fire a cannon at a target, he imagined moving his right hand (being careful not to actually move his hand).
Almost instantaneously, Stocco, involuntarily moved his right index finger to push the space bar on the keyboard in front of him, as if firing the cannon.
Special Reports
White Collar Boxing Hits Beijing
ANCHOR:
Training is already getting underway for another round of white-collar boxing here in Beijing.
CRI's Dominic Swire has more.
REPORT:
"Typically it's a 12 week training programme that business men or women with no boxing experience take part in with professional coaches."
Shane Benis is the man behind Beijing's upcoming White Collar Boxing event.
From a pool of 60 people with little to no fighting experience, up to 18 will be chosen to take part in a competitive fight.
Opponents are pitted against people of a similar weight.
But the process is not easy.
"Training sessions are a shock to the system. Most people that take part in the 12 week routine don't take part in any other sport and they like this form of training set up so they can give themselves goals within 12 weeks to actually achieve a decent level of fitness and challenge themselves to say that they've been able to get in the ring and fight."
This is actually the second time the sport's come to Beijing. Karl Long from Ireland is a Bar manager in the city.
He entered last year's competition and won his fight.
This year he's coming back for more. He says the first few weeks focus on fitness training...
"...and then after six weeks you'll start fighting. And a lot of people sign up for the fight at the start but some people, after they get punched in the face, they drop out. They just realise they don't like getting hit."
Despite the sport's violent image, Shane Benis insists it's safe.
"Touch wood, we've never had any serious injuries. The most we get is bleeding noses, sore ribs, or sore wrists, which is natural in a contact sport."
Back in the pub, I ask Karl why he wants to compete.
"Well, erm... it's fun, it's really fun. It can be painful but you're never really going to get seriously hurt because as long as you can take a punch in the face from a big rubber glove it's fine. I'm doing it because of fitness and the adrenaline of the fight night."
The Beijing event is held on November 16 at the Raffles Hotel.
Shanghai will also host a similar event in December.
Money raised will go to charity.
BACK ANCHOR: That was Dominic Swire with the report.
Sports
Wins for Kvitova, Wozniacki, Raonic and Federer at Flushing Meadows
At the US Open,
Chinese ace and tournament number-5 Li Na is set for round-2 action later on this evening.
Li Na is set to battle Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson on center-court later tonight.
Meanwhile, Zheng Jie is going to have a tough test ahead of her this evening.
The Wuhan native is set to take on Venus Williams in Round-2.
Williams opened up her tournament with a blistering straight-sets victory over 12th seeded Kristen Fipkins of Belgium.
Meanwhile, doubles action is also beginning at the tournament.
The 4th seeded duo of Peng Shuai and her partner, Hsieh Su-Wei from Taiwan, start their tournament against Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Russian Alexandra Panova.
Chinese junior tennis player Zhang Saisai and her mixed doubles partner, Lukas Dlouhy from the Czech Republic, are set to take on the duo of David Marrero of Spain and Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm.
Last night it was Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying seeing her tournament come to an end, going down to 6th seeded Caroline Wozniakcki 6-2, 7-5.
But the big story of last night was American teenager Victoria Duval.
The 17-year-old qualifier scored a monumental upset, beating 2011 champion and tournament 11 seed Samantha Stosur in her first-round match.
Duval, who was playing in only her second grand slam match, posted a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
For her part, Stosur committed 56 unforced errors and had 10 double faults.
Over on the men's side,
Another significant upset.
14th seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland has seen his tournament come crashing to an end.
247th ranked Maximo Gonzalex of Argentina dumped Janowicz in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Janowicz made it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon just last month.
Elsewhere on the men's side, it was Roger Federer easing into the second round after ousting Grega Zemlja of Slovakia 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
"Clearly when you win everything, it's fun. That doesn't necessarily mean you love the game more. You just like winning, being on the front page, lifting trophies, doing comfortable press conferences. It's nice. But that doesn't mean you really actually love it, love it. That maybe shines through maybe more in times when you don't play that well. For me, I knew it, winning or losing, practice court or match court, that I love it."
World number-1 Novak Djokovic is also through easily, hammering Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in straight-sets.
Tenth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic also moved through last night to round-2 with a straight-sets victory over Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
China beat Serbia for opening win at World Grand Prix Finals
China's women's volleyball team has opened up with a victory at the World Volleyball Grand Prix finals in Sapporo, Japan.
The Chinese women have downed Serbia 3-sets-1 in its opening match of the tournament.
The two sides split their first sets before the Chinese women began to dominate at the net with better blocking.
China outblocked Serbia 15-9 in the match.
Next up for the Chinese women is a match tomorrow afternoon against Italy.
In other action in Japan from earlier today, it was Brazil blanking the American's 3-0.
Arsenal beat Fenerbahce 2-0 to reach Champions League
In European football from the Champions League...
5 matches on the slate tonight.
AC Milan will have a bit of a nail-biter on its hands tonight.
The Spanish club comes into the game at home off the back of a 1-1 draw with PSV Eindhoven last week.
It's Zenit St. Petersburg defending a 4-1 advantage tonight at home against Pacos Ferreira.
Real Sociedad has a 2-nil advantage at home tonight against Lyon.
Viktoria Plzen is on the road is on the road in Slovenia to take on NK Maribor.
Plzen took last week's match 3-1.
And Celtic is at home to Shakter Karagandy looking to rebound from its 2-nil loss on the road last week.
Last night,
It was Arsenal beating Turkish side Fenerbahce 2-nil for an aggregate 5-nil victory to book their place in the Champions League group stages.
Aaron Ramsey scored twice for the Gunners.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
"We completed the job. We had some problems getting into the pace of the game but for all of especially the second half, we controlled the game and it was a professional job. It was not maybe a very exciting game but we did what we had to do, so we are in the group stages. That's what we wanted."
With the transfer window due to close in a matter of days, speculation is rampant about what might happen with Wayne Rooney at Manchester United.
"Look we cannot speak about players who are under contract with other clubs because when a player is under contract in another club, he has to respect the contract. So if you want to buy the player, you have to speak to the club first and I think we have all to accept that because it's difficult for the club to answer to the players and what you want is for clubs is that if they have signed the contract they respect the contract."
Man-U has given Rooney until Thursday to decide whether he wants to remain with the club or be sold.
In other Champions League action from last night, it was Schalke 04 over Greek side PAOK 3-2 to take the victory 4-2 on aggregate.
It was Austria Wien holding on for the aggregate win, 4-3, despite losing 3-2 to Dynamo Zagreb last night.
FC Basel completed its dominance of Hungarian side Ludogorets, winning 2-nil at home.
Steaua Bucuresti and Legia Warsaw finished in a 2-2 draw, but Steaua takes the win on away-goals.
David Beckham joins up with old club LA Galaxy for a training session
Former England captain David Beckham has trained with his former club, the Los Angeles Galaxy, in California.
It marks the first time that he has been back on the field with the club since winning the Major League Soccer Cup in December.
Beckham spent 6-seasons with the Galaxy, helping the club win back-to-back MLS Cup championships in 2011 and 2012.
He officially retired from the game in May after helping Paris Saint Germain win the French championship.
Beckham is now working as an ambassador for Chinese football.
Hosts confident of wonderful opening show despite shrinking budget for China's Games
Senior officials involved in the National Games organizing committee are promising a "wonderful show" to unveil the event in Liaoning, despite a budget cut of 90-percent for the opening ceremony.
The ceremony's director says they're ready to deliver a frugal but wonderful opening show for the National Games.
The games are slated to run from Saturday to September 12th.
As part of the frugality campaign instituted by the government, the opening and closing ceremonies cost just 9-million yuan.
This is around 10-percent of the original budget plans.
Previous National Games have seen a lot of money spent on them, as good results are viewed as achievements for provincial sport bureaus and usually bring medal winners even higher rewards than international titles do.
Entertainment
The Killers play Beijing
US rock band the Killers are coming to Beijing.
The Brit award winners will be hitting the Mastercard Center here in the capital on 1st October.
Since forming in Las Vegas in 2001, the band have sold over 20 million albums world wide.
The Killers shot to international commercial and critical acclaim with their multi-platinum debut Hot Fuss.
The record featured a string of hits including "Mr Brightside" and the brilliant "Somebody Told Me".
The band will be stopping over on their "Battle Born" tour in support of their fourth studio album of the same name.
Expect a mixture of fresh tracks and synth-rock anthems.
The show kicks off at 8pm on Tuesday 1st October, with tickets starting at 380 yuan.
Billy Ray Cyrus drops out of Piers Morgan interview
Miley Cyrus's father country singer Billy Ray pulled out of an interview with Piers Morgan.
The last minute move follows former child star Miley's controversial VMA performance.
The 20 year old's rendition of her hit "We Can't Stop" involved twerking and stripping into flesh coloured PVC underwear.
The appearance drew complaints from the Parent's Television Council, an advocacy group which includes Billy Ray amongst the members of its advisory board.
The PTC issued a statement criticising MTV for airing content that depicts what it called sexual exploitation of young women.
The body cited Cyrus' twerking on Robin Thicke and Lady Gaga stripping to her underwear in the opening act as being unsuitable for MTV's target audience.
Upon informing viewers of Billy Ray's decision to pull out, Morgan joked that he was supposed to explain his daughter's behaviour.
The singer recently said that he was proud of Miley and happy about the relationship he has with her.
The Stolen Years hit Chinese cinemas tomorrow
Barbara Wong's latest romance drama "The Stolen Years" hits Chinese cinemas tomorrow.
The film stars rising starlet Fay Bai and Taiwan's Joseph Chang as a honeymooning couple who fall victim to a motorcycle accident.
Bai's character He Mann wakes up in hospital five years later following another accident with no memory of her life during the intervening years.
Upon finding that she is already divorced, He then sets out to trace how her life collapsed whilst trying to find her way back to happiness.
The film was amongst the official selection in the running for the Golden Goblet at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival.
"The Stolen Years" arrives in Mainland cinemas as of tomorrow.
Ronald Reagan's son criticises the Butler
It may be reigning the US box offices but Lee Daniel's "The Butler" is not pleasing everyone.
Ronald Reagan's son has lashed out at writer Danny Strong over what he calls "appalling" misrepresentation of his father.
The movie stars Forest Whitaker as White House butler Cecil Gaines, who is based on Eugene Allen - the steward who served eight presidents.
Michael Reagan said in an article that his father was unfairly portrayed as holding racist views, calling it a "bunch of lies".
Reagan added that his father put record numbers of African-Americans into positions of power during his time as Governor of California.
He writes that Nancy and Ronald Reagan showed Allen the upmost respect and sent him dinner invitations as a guest and not a servant.
Reagan has accused Hollywood of being Liberal "creative propagandists" who were not interested in portraying the truth.
"The Butler" also stars Jane Fonda, Mariah Carey and Oprah Winfrey.
Since its US release on 16 August, the film has grossed over $50 million.
Chinese films at 70th Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival is about to begin its 70th edition and will feature a strong number of Chinese-language films.
Director Tsai Ming-liang's film Jiaoyou (Stray Dogs) will be one of 20-titles competing for the coveted Golden Lion award, the highest prize a film can win at the festival.
The festival's artistic director has described the film as an experimental work which challenges viewers to seek 'the density of the world.
New films such as filmmaker Vivian Qu's Shuiyin Jie (Trap Street) will be shown as well as restored classics like Peter Ho-sun Chan's Tian Mimi from 1996, and Jiang Wen's Yangguang Canlan de Rizi.
Chinese filmmakers have been prominent at the festival in the past, with several winning Golden Lions including Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke.
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