新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2013/10/16

The Beijing Hour
 
Evening Edition
 
 
Rebecca Hume with you on this Wednesday, October 16th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this evening,
Chinese crewmen killed as a cargo ship sinks off South Korea's coast.
The US Senate takes over as House debt ceiling plans fail.
14 killed as typhoon Wipha triggers landslides in Japan.
Business, London set to become a new hub for the Chinese yuan.
Sports, England beat Poland to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
Entertainments, The Coen brothers screen their latest movie at the London Film Festival.
Plus Special reports takes a further look at new guidelines aimed at increasing the value of its health service sector to over 8-trillion-yuan.
 
 
Weather
 
 
Beijing will be clear tonight with a low of 6 degrees Celsius.　Tomorrow sunny with a high temperature of 20.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be overcast tonight, with a low of 15, also overcast tomorrow, with a high of 21.
Lhasa will be cloudy tonight, 6 degrees the low, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 18.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, sunny with a high of 31.
Kabul, sunny, 23.
Over in Australia
Sydney, overcast, highs of 31.
Canberra, sunny, 19.
Brisbane, sunny, 28.
And finally, Perth will be sunny with a high of 22.
 
 
Top News
 
 
9 Chinese killed as cargo ship sank off South Korea's coast
 
At least nine Chinese crew members have died after a Panama-registered cargo ship sank off South Korea's coast.
Chinese Consulate General in Busan has confirmed that among the 19-people onboard, 18 are Chinese citizens the other crew member from Vietnam.
So far, eight people have been rescued and nine bodies recovered, while two people are still missing.
Officials from the Chinese Consulate General in Busan have visited the eight survivors, saying all of them suffered from minor injures and are now in stable condition.
Hua Chunying, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, says Chinese authorities will continue to monitor the follow-ups.
"The Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Chinese consulate in Busan, and Chinese embassy in South Korea will continue to monitor the development of the incident, and coordinate follow-up search and rescue operation, treatment of the injured and management in the aftermath of the deaths."
The South Korean coast guard has sent out helicopters and a special rescue team to search for the missing crew members.
The Panamanian-registered ship belongs to China's Lishen International Shipping Group in Zhejiang Province.
The vessel sank in Yingri Harbor of Pohang after it ran into the seawall as its anchor was swept away by the storm.
 
 
US Senate takes over as House debt ceiling plans fail
 
Anchor
Political attempts in the US to avert a federal debt default have pivoted back to the Senate following the collapse of plans in the House.
CRI's Lucy Du has more.
reporter
The U.S House of Representatives has cancelled a vote scheduled for earlier this morning on a new plan to avoid the debt ceiling on Thursday.
Under the deal being put forward by House Republicans, the deal would fund the government through December 15th, rather than January 15th as first proposed by the Senate.
The move by the House of Representatives forced Senate Democrat leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority leader Mitch McConnel to suspend negotiations they had going to try to bring the impasse to an end.
Ahead of the suspension of the talks between the Senate leaders, the White House had been expressing optimism.
Spokesperson Jay Carney,
"We're encouraged by the progress that we've seen in the Senate, but we're far from a deal at this point, and so we hope that, we hope that progress continues."
If the Republican-controlled House passes the new bill, it could still be ammended by the Senate.
All this comes as the clock ticks toward the Thursday deadline to raise the debt ceiling.
A failure to do so would put the US government in default.
Ratings agencies are already warning of possible downgrades to the US credit rating as the debt ceiling looms.
Fitch has put the United States AAA credit rating on negative watch.
Fitch is also warning the prolonged debate will -quote – "risk undermining confidence in the role of the US dollar as the preeminent global reserve currency."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is also warning a ratings downgrade is likely.
A downgrade of the US credit rating could have a significant impact on US Treasuries.
Many large-scale institutional investors, such as pension funds, are not allowed to invest in products which don't carry a AAA rating.
This would put upward pressure on US T-bond yields, making it more expensive for the US government to borrow money.
For CRI, I'm Lucy Du.
 
 
World powers welcome proposal to resolve dispute over nuclear program
 
Anchor:
World powers and Iran have started their second day of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
International nuclear negotiators are welcoming a new proposal offered by Iran to resolve the dispute.
CRI's Alexander Aucott has more.
Reporter:
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is making the suggestion following the first day of negotiations between Tehran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany.
"They welcomed the concept of the proposal, its framework and the seriousness of the Iranian delegation in delivering their proposal."
Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano also says negotiators have had a good discussion in Geneva.
"We are now following and it is very difficult to foresee the future development. But I understand there is a good discussion in Geneva. Now I'm going back to Vienna, and I'll find out when I land."
The P5+1 group is represented by EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton.
Her spokesperson says the first day of talks focused on very detailed technical aspects.
This is the first time Iran and the P5+1 have sat down to negotiate Iran's nuclear issues since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
There has been a lot of anticipation about possible results stemming from this round of talks, as Rouhani has signaled a willingness to bring the dispute over his country's nuclear programs to a conclusion.
Previous rounds of talks among Iran and the P5+1 have generated little in the way of tangible headway.
For CRI, I'm Alex Aucott.
 
 
14 killed as typhoon triggers landslides on Japanese island
 
At least 14 people have been killed in Japan after Typhoon Wipha hit the central and northeastn regions of the country.
Rescue workers have reportedly found 13 bodies, most of them buried by mudslides on Izu Oshima island, around 120-kilometers south of Tokyo.
30-houses have been completely destroyed by storm triggered mudslides and more than 50-people have been reported missing.
It comes as Typhoon Wipha packed winds of up to 180-kilometers an hour, grounding hundreds of flights and paralyzing public transport in the capital.
The storm has also forced the closure of dozens of schools in the Tokyo area.
More heavy rain and wind are forecast in northern Japan through Wednesday.
Japan's Meteorological Agency says the typhoon is expected to be downgraded to an extra tropical cyclone on Wednesday afternoon in the Pacific Ocean.
 
 
Death toll in Philippines quake reaches 144
 
The death toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippine island of Bohol has reached 144.
Only three people were pulled alive from rubble in nearby Cebu province hours after Tuesday's quake shattered office buildings and homes.
In Bohol, the quake's epicenter, rescuers counted 100 dead.
Edgardo Chatto is the Governor of Bohol.
"The towns that needed help have been reached. The most heavily hit in terms of casualties was the town of Loon, and there are still ongoing processes there, of recovery. And we are extending the support of the town."
A local seismology agency has reported 413 aftershocks so far.
Both Bohol and Cebu have been declared under a state of calamity.
The entire Cebu province has been left without electricity.
The Philippine archipelago is located in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.
 
 
Protesters clash with police in Brazil
 
Police and small groups of protesters have clashed in Brazil's two biggest cities after the end of peaceful demonstrations demanding better pay for teachers.
Hundreds of masked members of an anarchist group started hurling petrol bombs and attacking shops as most demonstrators headed home in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Police used tear gas and percussion grenades to disperse the group.
It is reported four officers were injured and seven banks vandalized during the clashes in Sao Paulo.
In Rio de Janeiro, a police car was set on fire.
Police say around 4,000 demonstrators gathered in the city center to mark National Teachers' Day and to show their support for state school teachers.
Vera is the spokeswoman for teacher's union SEPE.
"The government is threatening education, as well as deploying tear gas, the military police, and the riot police with batons. Our fight is for a quality public education."
Authorities in Rio estimated that between seven and ten thousand people joined the peaceful demonstration.
The demonstration ended an hour before clashes erupted between the anarchist group and police.
State school teachers have been on strike for more than two months demanding better working conditions and salaries.
 
 
Senior al Qaeda figure pleaded not guilty in NY
 
An alleged senior al-Qaeda figure has pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York to allegations he was involved in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kenya.
The plea from Nazih al-Ragye, better known as Abu Anas al-Liby, comes 10 days after US special forces captured him in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Citing poor health conditions, the US military transferred him to civilian authorities after a week's worth of interrogation.
US officials aren't saying whether al-Liby cooperated with U.S. interrogators or provided them with any intelligence of value.
U.S. officials contend al-Liby has remained a significant figure in al-Qaeda.
They allege he served as a liaison between militant groups in Libya and North Africa and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Ayman al-Zawahiri became the defacto leader of al-Qaeda's core organization after the death of Osama bin Laden.
 
 
'Creativity is GREAT' Reception hosted by British Chancellor of the Exchequer
 
Anchor:
British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne hosts a special reception in Beijing together with UK Ambassador to China, Sebastian Wood.
Themed 'Creativity is GREAT', the event highlights the UK's creative industry and aims to bolster partnership between UK and China.
CRI's Xie Zhao has more.
Report:
The reception brings together over 300 guests from the creative industries in China and the UK.
Martin Barnes, a Beijing-based British artist, has been living in Beijing for a decade.
His works depict the evolving landscape of Beijing through his artistic creations.
"I have been in London. London is kind of very old city as well. But it's kind of finished, whereas Beijing is new. I think it's just seeing the change, seeing the growth and seeing the development (in Beijing). I found it quite exciting. Looks like a sci-fi movie."
Fashion also has an important presence at the event.
Yun Xi, a Chinese designer, studied at Central St Martins before returning to Beijing to set up her label in 2011.
The event hosted the showcases of her 2014 spring and summer collection.
"I feel China and Britain have so much in common. I am lucky to study in London and now I have many opportunities to attend London fashion week. In the future, I hope I can start my own exclusive shops in London and Paris."
Aside from art and fashion, the event was a window to the vast array of creative industries the UK has to offer, including architecture, food and drink.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, says participants at this event can see the best of the British creativity.
"What you see around you is the best of the British creativity and what of my messages today and my part trip this week to China has been, there is so much of two countries can do together.
Osborne told the participants China is also a leader in tech, creativity and finance, which Britain excels in.
"China is also leader in tech, creativity and finance. And these things Britain is great at as well. Through the good offices, British embassy, the China and Britain business council. But above all, through the work you do in your business lives. We are bringing two great economies together. "
Osborn says he has spoken of the next big step he wants to take in their relationship with China, and creative industries should be central to that.
Osborne is visiting China to promote UK business and encourage Chinese investors to consider the UK this week.
For CRI, I'm Xie Zhao.
 
 
China marks 10 years of manned spaceflight
 
Anchor:
Chinese space authorities have marked the 10-year anniversary of China's first manned space flight.
CRI's Ding Lulu has more on what has been achieved, and what we can expect as far as China's space exploration goals are.
Reporter:
On 15th October 2003, China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei boarded Shenzhou-5 spacecraft and spent 21 hours in the space.
"When the spacecraft approached China, I tried to stay closer to the window to get a better view. I could see the mountains and rivers clearly. At that time I felt I was heading home and a sense of proud."
The groundbreaking mission made China the third country in the world able to carry out a manned spaceflight program independently, following Russia and the Untied States.
Since then, Shenzhou aircrafts have sent a couple of astronauts into space including Zhai Zhigang who floated out of the orbiter and made China's first spacewalk.
In 2011, China launched its first orbiting space module Tiangong-1 which was designed to show the basic technologies for a space station.
With the successful automatic and manual docking of Shenzhou spacecrafts to Tianggong-1, China has demonstrated the key technologies required to provide supplies to an orbiting space module.
Liu Yang, one of the astronauts who boarded the Shenzhou-9, became China's first female space traveler.
"I felt very existed when I entered the space. It is much easier to do things in space, I could fly around in the orbiter. At that time, I felt like a Kongfu master."
Until this year, China has sent a total of 10 astronauts including two females into space on five separate missions.
During this year's 15-day Shenzhou-10 mission, the country's second female astronaut Wang Yaping taught students a lesson through a live video feed system.
With Tiangong-1 about to wrap up its time in space, Wang Zhaoyao from China Manned Space Engineering Office says the country's space program will be on a fast track.
"According to the planning of China's manned space program, next we will start research and construction of a space lab. The plan is to launch Tiangong-2 space module around 2015. We are also working on the construction of a manned space station. Around 2018, we plan to launch a core module for the space station. By 2020, the construction of a space station is expected to be done."
China also plans to send an unmanned space probe to the moon later this year in what will be the country's first lunar landing.
For CRI, I'm Ding Lulu.
 
 
Biz Reports
 
 
Stocks 
 
Asian stock markets fluctuated between gains and losses this Wednesday as a deadline for divided U.S. lawmakers to agree on a higher government borrowing limit drew ever closer.
Unless Congress acts by Thursday, the government will lose its ability to borrow and will be required to meet its obligations by relying on cash in hand and incoming tax receipts.
That could mean the U.S. is unable to repay holders of Treasury bills that mature in coming days and would be in default on its debt.
Reacting to that, China's Shanghai Composite Index plunged 1.8 percent.
Shenzhen's Component Index also gave up 1.8 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped half a percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.2 percent.
South Korea's KOSPI lost 0.3 percent.
Singapore's Straits Times Index added a quarter of a percent.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.1 percent.
 
 
London becoming a new Renminbi hub
 
Anchor:
During his trip to China, UK chancellor George Osborne announced investment quotas, foreign exchange trading and relaxed requirements for Chinese banks in London.
The two countries agreed to allow direct trading of yuan and pounds, while Chinese banks will be permitted to set up branches in London.
Meanwhile, China has expanded its Renminbi Qualified Financial Institutional Investor programme, or RQFII, to allow UK-based financial institutions to invest up to 80-billion yuan in Chinese stocks, bonds and money market instruments.
For more on this, CRI's Paul James earlier spoke with Ben Cavender, associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
…
Back Anchor:
Ben Cavender, associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
 
 
Alibaba Earnings More Than Double on Surging E-Commerce
 
China's E-Commerce giant Alibaba has reported more than double second-quarter earnings as it heads toward the biggest initial public offering since Facebook.
Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders rose to more than 700 million dollars in the three months ending in June, from 273-million dollars a year earlier.
Revenue increased to 1.7 billion dollars from 1 billion a year earlier.
China's biggest e-commerce operator has been valued by investment banks at as much as 120 billion dollars and is considering moving toward a listing in the U.S.
 
 
UK jobless total falls to 2.5 million
 
New data is showing the number of unemployed people in the UK fell by 18-thousand in the June-August period to 2.5 million.
The unemployment rate remains unchanged at 7.7 percent from the previous three months.
The figures also show the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance last month fell by 41,700 to 1.35 million.
The number of people in work, both full and part-time, reached a record high of nearly 30 million in the quarter, up 155-thousand.
 
 
EU officials comment after approving creation of a centralised banking supervisor
 
Finance ministers in the EU have taken their first step towards the eventual creation of a banking union.
The finance ministers have approved the creation of a Single Supervisory Mechanism.
This will allow the European Central Bank to directly oversee the 130 biggest banks in the European Union.
Wolfgang Schaeuble is Germany's Finance Minister.
"Today is an important day. Formally it's not concluded yet, but there are no more problems. We are going to lay the first bricks of the banking union, with the legislative conclusion of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, so that the ECB will have its legal basis to start its work."
The Single Supervisory Mechanism will begin operating next year.
Authorities are now in the process of assessing the balance sheets of all European banks in a bid to evaluate possible capital shortfalls.
Luis De Guindos is Spain's Finance Minister.
"The Spanish finance system is ready to deal with this revision, this exam, before the European Central Bank takes control of supervision. But there is a fact, in worldwide capital markets, for example in the recent IMF meeting, there were more doubts that in European capital, the review and the valuation of assets had not been as thorough as in the United States."
The eventual banking union is designed to come to the rescue if any bank falls short of credit.
The centralized authority will also prop up ailing lenders.
This would spare European taxpayers from most of the cost if any bank fails.
Finance ministers are still trying to reach an agreement on how to design and fund the rescue authority.
 
 
North Korea hosts international conference to explore ways of developing its economy
 
North Korea is holding an international conference to discuss the development of special economic zones in the country.
Park Kyung-ae is a Professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and one of the conference organisers.
"Economists from various countries are attending this conference. We are going to learn some lessons through the discussions with experts. I think we can get some lessons and analysis from this conference. And it would be a great help to every country."
North Korean and foreign economists from various countries have attended the two-day event to boost development of the special economic zone in various regions of the country.
North Korea has experimented with special economic zones for many years.
The longest-running example is the Rason Special Economic Zone, in the far northeast of the country.
The developments come as North Korea shows new signs of trying to reform its economy over the past year and a half.
 
 
Headline News
 
 
9 Chinese killed as cargo ship sank off South Korea's coast
 
At least nine Chinese crew members have died after a Panama-registered cargo ship sank off South Korea's coast.
Chinese Consulate General in Busan has confirmed that among the 19-people onboard, 18 are Chinese citizens the other crew member from Vietnam.
So far, eight people have been rescued and nine bodies recovered, while two people are still missing.
 
 
4 killed in Everest avalanche
 
It's been confirmed four people, including an 60-year-old Australian man, have died following an avalanche on Mount Everest this week.
Local authorities say the group which consisted of four Australian tourists and six Tibetans entered a restricted area on the mountain without permission.
Meantime, rescuers have managed to evacuate almost 90-tourists stranded by heavy snow from base camp.
 
 
US Senate takes over as House debt ceiling plans fail
 
Political attempts in the US to avert a federal debt default have pivoted back to the Senate following the collapse of plans in the House.
The U.S House of Representatives has cancelled a vote scheduled for earlier this morning on a new plan to avoid the debt ceiling on Thursday.
Under the deal being put forward by House Republicans, the deal would fund the government through December 15th, rather than January 15th as first proposed by the Senate.
All this comes as the clock ticks toward the Thursday deadline to raise the debt ceiling.
A failure to do so would put the US government in default.
 
 
World powers welcome proposal to resolve dispute over nuclear program
 
World powers and Iran have started their second day of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
International nuclear negotiators are welcoming a new proposal offered by Iran to resolve the dispute.
This is the first time Iran and the P5+1 have sat down to negotiate Iran's nuclear issues since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
There has been a lot of anticipation about possible results stemming from this round of talks, as Rouhani has signalled a willingness to bring the dispute over his country's nuclear programs to a conclusion.
 
 
14 killed as typhoon triggers landslides on Japanese island
 
At least 14 people have been killed in Japan after Typhoon Wipha hit the central and northeastn regions of the country.
It comes as Typhoon Wipha packed winds of up to 180-kilometers an hour, grounding hundreds of flights and paralyzing public transport in the capital.
More heavy rain and wind are forecast in northern Japan through Wednesday.
 
 
Protesters clash with police in Brazil
 
Police and small groups of protesters have clashed in Brazil's two biggest cities after the end of peaceful demonstrations demanding better pay for teachers.
Four officers were injured and seven banks vandalized during the clashes in Sao Paulo.
In Rio de Janeiro, a police car was set on fire.
State school teachers have been on strike for more than two months demanding better working conditions and salaries.
 
 
Newspaper Picks
 
 
China News Service
"Guangzhou white-collar workers relieve stress through hypnotism"
An increasing number of urban white collar workers in Guangzhou are resorting to hypnosis to relieve pressure from work and life.
The therapy can run from 600 yuan to 8,000 yuan per hour.
Hypnosis is a kind of psychological counseling that helps people deal with stress.
AFP
"S Korea introduces 'Gangnam Style' tourist police"
South Korea unveiled its new "tourist police" force Wednesday, with snappy uniforms from rapper Psy's costume designer and a "Gangnam Style" launch in central Seoul.
Around 100 young policemen and women make up the first batch of the new force—formed to protect tourists from being ripped off during their stay in the South Korean capital.
The officers were handpicked for their linguistic skills, and can speak a range of languages including English, Japanese and Mandarin.
Japan Daily Press
"Wine for cats available for limited time from Japanese company"
As men seek booze and dogs gulp beer, cats can now sip wine. A Japanese company has decided to make sure that feline owners have something to offer to their bossy pets with discriminating taste.
Pet food company B&H Lifes launched their limited-release faux wine for felines on Tuesday.
Called Nyan Nyan Nouveau ("meow Nouveau"), the special cat-drink is made of juice from Cabernet Sauvignon and contains vitamin C.
 
 
Special Reports
 
 
Guideline issued to boost health service sector/Michael 1602
 
Anchor:
China's State Council issued new guidelines this month, saying China has set a target of increasing the gross value of its health service sector to over 8-trillion yuan or 1.31 trillion U.S dollars by 2020.
CRI's Li Dong has the details.
Reporter:
According to the guideline more measures will be taken to boost the sector, which will serve to improve people's wellbeing as well as shoring up growth.
The health service industry covers medical services, health management, health insurance, and other supporting sectors related to pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, healthcare facilities and healthcare food.
Ren Wei, deputy director of Social Development of the National Development and Reform Commission says the guideline may further boost China's economy.
"On one hand, the guideline may affect people's livelihood and health. On the other hand, it may affect the economy. The policy may inject more dynamics into the market via the government's guide. It plays a significant role in boosting domestic consumption, providing more jobs, adjusting the development pattern, especially ensuring and perfecting people's livelihood."
According to the guideline, the government will also simplify approval procedures for rehabilitation centers, hospitals for children and elderly patients, and nursing homes.
China will encourage cooperation between medical establishments and nursing homes, so as to provide treatment of chronic diseases to elderly patients in local communities.
The guideline states the government is encouraging insurance companies to diversify commercial health insurance products and vowing to make the commercial insurance scheme cover more people.
New measures to increase private capital in the sector will include relaxing market admittance requirements for investment from non-governmental sources.
Giving equal treatment to not-for-profit private medical institutions and public medical establishments will also feature.
Zhang Yang is the president of Sanbo Brain Hospital, a private owned hospital in Beijng.
He says the new policy provides great opportunity for their hospital.
"Last year, the tax we pay is 11 million yuan. If, according to the guideline we can successful apply to become high-tech enterprises, our tax may be reduced to 6 million yuan. We can spend the saved 4 million yuan on our patients."
Zhang Yang adds the new policy may also attract more skilled doctors and medical professionals to their hospital.
The new measures will also encourage private capital to enter the health service sector.
This will provide a better financial environment for the future development of privately owned hospitals.
Hongyi Capital, the biggest private equity company in China has decided to invest a lot in establishing a hospital management group.
Zhao Linghuan is the general manager of Hongyi Capital.
"I think it's a great opportunity. We can invest in a hospital with great potential. Help them build their branding and operating scale. We plan to invest tens of billions of yuan in the coming 5 to 10 years."
It is estimated that by 2020, the health service sector will be a major industry for the sustainable growth of the Chinese economy.
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
 
 
Sports
 
 
England beat Poland to go through to World Cup finals
 
In football,
The England team absorbed the pressure to defeat Poland and qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
Goals by Wayne Rooney and the team captain Stephen Gerrard helped England to their fifth consecutive world cup finals.
Team manager, Roy Hodgson, said it was his proudest moment in football:
"This is a special World Cup anyway, isn't it, because a World Cup in England, a World Cup in Brazil, a World Cup in Germany; these are top, top football nations where they really know what football means to the people so for us to be able to go there and take our place there means a lot to us"
Stephen Gerrard Echoed these feelings and complimented Hodgson's game plan:
" knowing that we're going to be in Rio is a fantastic feeling and there's been a lot of opinions outside the group and people talking about failures in the past but we were focused on the job, the manager had a game plan and I think we carried it out well fantastically well."
 
 
USA victory against Panama helps keep Mexican World Cup dreams alive
 
Over in the Americas...
The Concacaf World Cup qualifiers ended in dramatic fashion.
Two injury time goals by the USA against Panama quashed their hopes of making it through to Brazil 2014 but saved Mexico.
El Tri lost 2-1 to Costa Rica but now they will get a chance to qualify in a two game play-off against New Zealand.
Meanwhile Honduras began three points ahead of Mexico and their two all draw against Jamaica was enough to snatch the last automatic place through to Brazil.
 
 
China draw with Indonesia in Asian Cup Qualifiers
 
Staying with football, looking at the 2015 Asian Cup Qualifiers
China drew their match against Indonesia one-all leaving them second in Group C with four points from three games.
Wu Xi of China was the first to get a ball to the back of the net scoring in the 36th minute
Indonesia answered this in the second half with a 67th minute when Ahmad Bustomi crossed to captain Boas Solosso up for a perfectly-place header.
Chinese goalkeeper Zeng Cheng prevented a last minute score attempt by Nigerian-born Indonesian Greg Nwokolo.
This result sees Indonesia claim their first point in the group, whereas China had previously claimed three after defeating Iraq.
Iraq also lost to group leaders Saudi Arabia two-nil last night.
In other games, Singapore beat Syria 2-1 for their first victory of the campaign..
While Hong Kong suffered a thrashing from the United Arab Emirates losing FOUR-NIL.
 
 
Red Sox beat Tigers in Game three of ALCS Baseball
 
In Major League Baseball..
The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit tigers in game three of the American League Championship Series to give them a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven event.
The starting pitchers on each side played outstandingly but in the end a single home run clinched a one – nil victory for Boston.
All the same the Detroit Tigers manager, Jim Leyland praised his pitcher Justin Verlander:
"Well, I mean he (Justin Verlander), he was obviously locked in. He had that look. So did their guy (John Lackey) and one swing of the bat and they hit one over the fence and we didn't. We had a couple of opportunities and they shut us down in a couple of big moments. But hey, that's part of the game."
After walking David Ortiz Verlander struck out six straight in the second and third innings matching a single-game postseason record.
Lackey, of Boston, was just as sharp. He got Miguel Cabrera swinging and went on to set down the Tigers in order in the fourth inning.
He praised his backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia, saying they made a good team:
"They were swinging on first pitch fastballs quite a bit. It's not uncommon that I haven't seen this year. I tend to throw a lot of first pitch strikes. And it's kind of been an approach that several teams have taken against me. So I had to make some adjustments with that. Salty (Jarrod Saltalamacchia) was great behind he plate. He really had a great feel for it and we were working well together."
It was Mike Napoli who scored the home run for Boston in the seventh inning to put the Red Sox on top.
His first at-bat at the majors was also against Verlander, seven-years-ago, and he scored a home run on that occasion too..
Game 4 will take place later tonight at Comerica Park, with Jake Peavy scheduled to start for the Red Sox against Doug Fister.
 
 
Zambia issues arrest warrants for three of its international footballers
 
Zambia has issued arrest warrants for three of it's international football players.
They missed last night's friendly here at Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium in which Zambia lost two-nil to Brazil.
The arrest warrants were issued after a dispute between the players' club TP Mazambe of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Zambian FA.
The club said the players were injured but after inspecting them in Lusaka, the FA insisted they should still go with the team to China and the government confiscated their passports to prevent them from returning to DR Congo.
The players still made it back across the border however and the Zambian FA written a formal complaint to Fifa complaining that Mazambe did not release their players as they are required to do.
 
 
Entertainment
 
 
Lil Kim and Eve announce joint London gig
 
After years of feuding, Lil Kim and Eve have apparently buried their hatchets.
It has been announced that the two will be playing a joint show in London next month.
The show will be in support of Eve's album "Lip Lock" and Lil Kim's upcoming collection "Hardcore: Back 2 Da Streets".
This will follow Lil Kim's last-minute cnacellation at LoveBox festival earlier this year.
The 39 year old rose to fame back in the mid 90s, working with the Notorious B.I.G and going on to achieve 3 platinum records with hits like "Lighters Up".
The concert is set to hit the IndigO2 in the UK's capital on 22 November.
 
 
Coen Brothers premiere "Inside Llewyn Davis"
 
The Coen brothers screened their latest film "Inside Llewyn Davis" at the London Film Festival on Tuesday night.
Oscar Issac, Carey Mulligan and John Goodman joined the directing duo on the red carpet.
Issac stars as folk-musician Llewyn Davis whose music partner's suicide forces him to re-examine his life as a drifter in the swinging sixties.
Issac says working with the brothers has been a dream.
"It was the best experience of my life so far. They are really wonderful people and really generous with their thoughts about everything, life, art, filmmaking."
Mulligan went into the film straight from playing Daisy Buchanan in the Great Gatsby.
The actress says the transition was a welcome challenge.
"It was good, that is always what you want as an actor, to do the opposite of what you have just been doing and to try to do something completely different and Jean, my character in 'Inside Llewyn Davis,' was everything that Daisy wasn't, so it was quite liberating just to shake off that character and go and do something else."
"Inside Llewyn Davis" has been doing the festival circuit since taking home the Grand Prix at Cannes back in May.
The film is set to start opening world wide starting from the end of this year.
 
 
Eleanor Catton wins Man Booker
 
A 28 year old New Zealander has become the youngest recipient of Britain's Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
Eleanor Catton was presented the 50,000 pound award yesterday by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Catton won the Booker for her novel The Luminaries, an ambitious 832-page murder mystery set during the 19th-century gold rush.
The chair of the judging panel raised the work as ""dazzling, luminous and vast without being sprawling."
Catton, whose novel took two years to complete, thanked her publishers for giving her the creative space that she needed.
She said that despite the palpable financial pressures in the publishing industry, her publishers made a point to keep it from her during the writing process.
The prestigious Man Booker prize recognises the best books written in English published over the course of the year.
Past winners include Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie and Julian Barnes.
Having traditionally only considered authors from Britain and the Common Wealth, it was announced last month that the award will now be extended to all nationalities.
 
 
Muse releases pioneering concert film
 
English rock band Muse will release the first-of-its-kind concert film next month titled Muse: Live at Rome Olympic Stadium July 2013.
A trailer for the film was uploaded to the internet when the band made the announcement.
The film will be comprised of concert footage taken from Muse's 2013 tour in which some crowd capacities reached 60-thousand Muse fans.
Though the idea is nothing new and bands have released these types of films before, what makes this special is the film was shot in ultra high definition, 4k resolution.
The super clean image boasts 4-times as many pixels as the current industry standard.
However, this creates a problem as most cinemas aren't equipped to properly screen the film.
Thus, Muse: Live at Rome Olympic Stadium will only hit 100 or so theaters worldwide.
 
 
Banksy sells canvases for $60
 
Keeping true to his words, Banksy is making a concerted effort to decommercialise his own art career.
The elusive graffiti artist set up a one off stall in New York, the streets of which he is using as his current residency.
The stall was selling original pieces, many of which had been estimated to be worth over tens of thousands of dollars each, for just $60 a pop.
The stall only managed to sell 8 pieces, with the unsuspecting public most likely suspecting the paintings to be fakes or replicas.
Banksy later uploaded the video of the stall on his website, announcing that it was a one and only event.
During his residency, Banksy is promising a new piece of work every day througout October.
So far efforts have included a performance piece named Sirens of the Lambs, featuring a soft-toy filled slaughterhouse delivery truck doing the rounds in the city's meatpacking district.
 
 
A quick recap of headlines before we go.
Chinese crewmen killed as a cargo ship sinks off South Korea's coast.
The US Senate takes over as House debt ceiling plans fail.
14 killed as typhoon Wipha triggers landslides in Japan.
Business, London set to become a new hub for the Chinese yuan.