Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.

Coming up on our program this morning...

Chinese government cracks down on extravagance in official galas

Precautionary measures being taken as typhoon Utor approaches southern China.

26-Palestinian prisoners now released from Israeli prison

Business

China investigating carmakers over pricing: industry body

Sports

We get the latests from Moscow at the Athletics World Championships.

Entertainments

Chinese director Zhang Yimou set to make his first Peking Opera "Allegiance Under Heaven".

Plus

Special reports looks at why advertisers should be targeting online video for their ad campaigns.

First, let's check on what's happening on the weather front...

 

 

Weather

 

 

Beijing will be cloudy today, with a high of 32 degree Celsius in the daytime, and it will be cloudy tonight with a low of 25.

In Shanghai, it will be cloudy today, 35 the high, and it will be cloudy tonight, the low of 28 degrees Celsius.

Lhasa will be cloudy in the daytime the temperature's at 23, and tonight will see showers with a low of 10 degree Celsius.

Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia

Islamabad, sunny, 25.

Kabul, sunny, with a high of 31.

And in North America

New York, moderate rain, with a high of 24 degrees.

Washington, thundershowers, highs of 29

Houston, overcast, 36.

Honolulu, overcast, 31.

Toronto, sunny, 21

Finally, on to South America,

Buenos Aires, overcast, 12.

And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with highs of 31 degrees Celsius.

 

 

Top News

 

 

China cracks down on extravagance in official galas

 

Anchor

The Chinese government is now cracking down on official gala's.

It is widely believed to be another step taken by the central government to cut back on extravagance and waste.

CRI's Su Yi has more.

Reporter

A new circular from the central authorities is ordering all departments bring luxurious and extravagant galas to a halt.

It says galas that are organized with public funds and are held just to show off an extravagant production have damaged the image of the government.

The notice says no government funds should be used to hold commercial galas or host high-cost entertainers.

Those that violate the new regulations will face harsh penalties.

Chinese central authorities introduced a slew of measures since late last year designed to eliminate bureaucracy and extravagance.

Officials have been told to end the practice of holding fancy banquets, delivering stultifying speeches or staging grand welcomes from local people – just name a few.

The latest government circular is reiterating the principal of those regulations, urging officials to make "down-to-earth efforts" to "reverse the trend of pursing luxury".

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.

 

 

Precautions underway as Utor approaching S China

 

Anchor

Precautionary measures are being taken as a massive typhoon approaches southern China.

CRI's He Fei has the details.

Reporter

Typhoon Utor, the strongest typhoon so far this year, is forecast to make landfall in southeast Guangdong sometime Wednesday evening.

As such, shipping and train services on the Qiongzhou Strait, which runs between the mainland and Hainan, have been suspended.

The massive storm is currently tracking toward the Leizhou Peninsula.

It's brining with it winds of around 175-kilometers per hour in the center of the storm.

Utor is already stirring up waves of 3.5 to 4.5-meters in height on Hainan and along Guangdong's coastal areas, bringing heavy rains along with it as well.

The storm is creating swells of up to 10-meters high in the northern part of the South China Sea.

Local authorities in affected regions are being told to remain on duty around the clock.

Forecasters are expecting the storm to continue tracking over the Leizhou Peninsula, where it's expected to weaken significantly into a tropical storm by Thursday.

However, it is expected to dump heavy amounts of rain into parts of Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou before disappating.

Utor rolled through the northern Philippines over the weekend, killing at least one person and leaving some 40 others missing.

For CRI, this is He Fei.

 

 

4 killed as Heilongjiang seeing worst flooding in decades

 

Four people have been killed in some of the worst flooding to hit Heilongjiang in decades.

The 4 were killed after the car they were travelling in was washed away in the Nen River, around 300-kilometers north of the provincial capital, Harbin.

The local meteorological bureau is forecasting the river will see its worst flooding in some two decades in the coming days.

Over 2-thousand people living along the river have been moved out of harms-way.

Meanwhile, the water level on the Heilongjiang River in the border city of Heihe has reached over 97 meters in height, its highest level since 1985.

Immigration offices and control points along the China/Russia border have also flooded and forced to closed.

The only entry point in Heihe still open is for Russian freight services.

However, it has been allowing temporary customs checks for travelers.

Yu Changguang is an official at the border checkpoint.

"We have swiftly adjusted our work schedules and deployed more police forces. Everyday we have people on duty around the clock in order to promptly understand the situation of water levels."

So far six entry points between Russia and China along the province have closed.

The flooding has cut off more 300 roads across the province.

Forecasters are warning the Heilongjiang River, where the province derives its name from, will see even more flooding in the coming 20 days.

 

 

26 Palestinian prisoners relased from Israeli prison

 

Israel has released 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to resume peace talks.

The release forms part of a goodwill gesture by the Israeli government, amid the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

The 26 men, arrested between 1985 and 2001 are among a total of 104 prisoners that Israel has agreed to free in four stages.

Palestinians regard the men as heroes in the struggle for statehood.

While disdain for the prisoners is strong in Israel.

Baruch Marzel is an ultra-right wing activist opposed to the release.

"They released eight times terrorists and the only thing we got out of it is terror."

Just hours following the release, a second round of the U.S.-brokered peace talks are due to resume in Jerusalem.

Peace talks between the two sides only restarted two weeks ago, after a three-year halt.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have approved the building of more than 1,000 homes in settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians.

The move has angered the Palestinian side.

Three years ago talks broke down when Israel pressed ahead with settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, despite Palestinian opposition.

 

 

PNA to get report on Arafat's corpse test in September

 

Meanwhile, a Palestinian official has confirmed that the test results of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's corpse will be ready next month.

The official said they haven't received any initial reports on the conditions of Arafat's death.

But they would delcare the test results as soon as they are completed.

Arafat died at a French military hospital from an undisclosed or unknown condition in 2004.

The cause of his death was contested after lab tests found traces of radioactive polonium on Arafat's personal belongings.

Arafat's body was exhumed from his graveyard last year and samples of it were sent to the Swiss lab for further investigation.

 

 

Egypt swears in new governors

 

Egypt's military-backed interim government has sworn in new governors for the country's all but two governorates.

The reshuffle includes 18 new governors, six incumbents and one being moved from the Red Sea governorate to Alexandria.

Among the 25 new appointments, at least 15 military and police generals now hold feet in key Nile Delta, southern and border provinces.

As the new governors were sworn in, some supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi marched in protest to the presidential palace in Cairo.

The protests have prompted security forces to fire tear gas as protesters tried to break into government buildings.

Demonstrators say their vigils are peaceful and will end only once Morsi is reinstated.

Ahmed Aref is a spokesperson of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"The ministry of interior is in the forefront to protect the army. The ministry of interior from within knows that that they are a scapegoat for the army, they want to face the destiny of 28 January all over again against the unarmed people? They　can't and they are not capable of dismantling this sit-in."

The enduring faceoff in Egypt is now in its seventh week.

Earlier this week the authorities threatened to remove the sit-in camps, but then said they would delay the plan.

 

 

SKorea says Japanese politicians visiting Yasukuni War Shrine unacceptable

 

The South Korean government has gone on record saying any visit to the Yasukuni war Shrine by Japanese politicians is unacceptable.

The comment comes amid word Japanese leaders are planning to visit the shrine in Tokyo to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II on Thursday.

Cho Tai-young is with the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

"The Yasukuni Shrine is a facility which enshrines war criminals together and justifies the war of aggression. Japan's high-ranking politicians worshipping this place is not acceptable. Our government and our citizens cannot accept this whatsoever."

Around 50 South Korean veterans have taken time to gather in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, demanding Japan apologize for its colonization of Korea from 1910-1945.

The Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo is dedicated to honoring Japan's war dead.

It also enshrines 14 convicted Class-A war criminals.

Visits to the shrine by Japanese politicians are widely seen as an insult to countries in the region which were invaded by Japan during its years of military expansion.

 

 

Death toll in Nigerian mosque attacks rise to 50

 

Death toll of the deadly rebel attacks at mosques in northeast Nigeria have risen to 50.

Seven more bodies were found in another nearby mosque after the initial 43 were evacuated from the attack scenes.

Local authorities have made a visit the affected community and are assessing the damage caused by the massacre.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon has strongly condemned the attacks.

Ban, who is visiting Pakistan, expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and called on all extremist groups to cease their attacks.

The attacks were allegedly carried out by Islamist group Boko Haram.

The group has been fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.

Boko Haram frequently attacks churches, but it has also occasionally targeted mosques and preachers disagree with their views.

In the aftermath of the mosque attacks, two Boko Haram commanders were shot dead in an operation launched by a combined special security force.

The government also put out a statement saying the army is making progress in the war against Boko Haram militants.

 

 

UN chief criticizes drone attacks in Pakistan

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the use of drones for weapons.

"These new tools such as unmanned, unarmed aerial vehicles are for information purpose only. They are essentially flying cameras. But armed, unmanned aerial vehicles are a different matter. As I have often and consistently said, the use of armed drones, like any other weapon, should be subject to longstanding international law, including international humanitarian law. This is a very clear position of the United Nations."

The UN's top official made the comments in Islamabad, where he's met with the country's president and prime minister.

Ban Ki-moon is also scheduled to attend Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday in Islamabad.

His comments come after the United States announced it would end its controversial programme of U.S drone strikes on Pakistan.

Pakistani officials have long-argued the strikes violate the country's sovereignty.

 

 

Consumerism hijacks Chinese Valentine?

 

Anchor

Tuesday marks the Qixi Festival here in China, which is otherwise known as Chinese Valentines.

A debate is raging on over whether consumerism has hijacked the culturally-rich festival.

CRI's Li Dong has more.

Reporter

According to a Chinese folk love story, the Qixi Festival is the day when Niulang, a cowherd, and Zhinv, a beautiful weaver girl, meet annually. But in a modern society, celebrating the Qixi Festival may mean little more than spending money.

Retailers and shop owners have been ready for days, stocking up on flowers and offering tempting discounts on chocolate bars, shoes, jewellery and other romantic gifts. On Taobao.com, China's biggest online retail site, more than 550 thousand results return from a search for "Qi Xi Gift".

Whilst, to attract more visitors, the Beijing Garden Expo Park will tonight distribute 50 thousand roses to lovers who choose to visit the park.

Many young people say they accept Qi Xi as just another excuse to spend money and are not particularly concerned about the cultural meaning of the festival.

"It's nothing special. The festival is commercialized. Just some businessmen want to make more money."

Another interviewee says that the Western St Valentine's Day is more meaningful.

"Many movies give me the impression that the lovers' day in the west is more romantic."

The 2,000-year-old Qixi festival originated from a folk tale that a fairy called Zhi Nv married a mortal called Niu Lang. Shortly after the Goddess of Heaven, who opposed their marriage, sent the couple to heaven as two stars, separating them by the vast Milky Way.

According to the story, magpies feel sympathy for the lovers and so they fly up to heaven every year to form a bridge. It is across this bridge that the lovers can reunite for a single night.

Couples who are separated by work or study, celebrate their love on the date of the lovers' annual reunion.

Qi Xi was listed as an intangible cultural heritage by China's State Council in 2006.

Xiao Fang, professor of Folklore Research Institute of Beijing Normal University says that Qixi is primarily about courting with expensive gifts.

"Qi Xi is not lovers' day. In the past, Qi Xi was an occasion to show someone…your skill, like sewing and making clothes. Nowadays, these are skills not in common usage. But you can make…a personalized gift."

Meanwhile, many who oppose a commercialized Qixi also confess a paradox; without commercial interest, the festival may well be forgotten and become a mere relic of the past.

For CRI, this is Li Dong.

 

 

Chinese researchers breakthroughed in creating stem cells

 

Chinese researchers have made a breakthrough in making stem cells.

Reseachers have successfully found a method to generate cells with the ability to differentiate into any other type of cell in the body.

Ma Hongjian is deputy director of the Biological Center of China's Ministry of Science and Technology.

"It should be said that it is a milestone in the research on stem cells. It is not only a major contribution to such research, but also enables the country's exploration in this field to take a world leading position."

Stem cells are key in the so-called therapeutic cloning technology used to generate tissues and organs for treatment of diseases.

Medical experts say diseases like heart failure or Parkinson's are really in need of replacing tissue function.

Replacing cells would be key to cure such diseases.

Earlier this month, scientists in the Netherlands have used stem cells from a dead cow to make a hamburger.

The world's first lab-grown burger has been cooked and eaten at a news conference in London.

 

 

Biz Reports

 

 

Anchor

First off, a check on the stock market of North America and Europe.

Join me on the desk, CRI's Su Yi.

Reporter

U.S. stocks erased earlier losses and closed in green territory on Tuesday.

The market was boosted by dovish remarks from a senior U.S. Federal Reserve official.

The Atlanta Fed President said the recent mixed economic data do not present a clear picture for the Fed to decide whether to trim its monetary stimulus in September.

U.S. retail sales edged up 0.2-percent in July, missing analysts' forecast of a 0.3 percent rise.

Meanwhile, prices for U.S. imports rose 0.2 percent in July after decreasing in each of the previous four months.

And prices for exports edged down 0.1 percent in July for the second consecutive month.

Besides, U.S. business inventories remained almost flat in June on a monthly basis, following a revised 0.1-percent decrease in the prior month.

The Dow rose 0.20 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500was up 0.3 percent.

The Nasdaq increased 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Canada's S&P/TSX gained 0.4 percent.

In Europe, European shares hit a 2-1/2 month high on Tuesday.

Upbeat economic data reinforced expectations the euro zone is finally crawling out of recession.

Eurozone industrial production grew by 0.7 percent on a monthly basis in June, compared with a 0.2-percent contraction in May.

Germany's DAX rose 0.7 percent.

France's CAC 40 advanced 0.5 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent.

 

 

Call-in China investigating carmakers over pricing: industry body

 

Anchor

The multi-billion auto industry here in China may be next on the government's list of targets to address price fixing.

Reuters is reporting the China Automobile Dealers Association, the representative of car dealers nationwide, has been collecting data for the National Development and Reform Commission since last year in connection with the investigation.

It is believed the NDRC has been probing whether automakers are setting minimum retail prices for dealers in China.

Internal sources have revealed the association is looking at imported cars along with vehicles produced by foreign companies in association with local partners.

Data on overseas and domestic prices of different brands, profit margins, costs for carmakers and taxes levied on vehicles are also being collected.

For more on this, we're joined live now by Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.

Draft Questions:

1 We've seen the milk industry, as well as the gold and jewelry trade all getting record fines for reported price fixing. Now it could be carmakers, does this rumor surprise you?

2 What sort of reactions can we expect from the industry itself?

3 I mentioned before that data on overseas and domestic pricing of different brands, profit margins, costs for carmakers and taxes levied on vehicles are being collected by the NDRC.

What exactly is the government probe hoping to determine from its investigation?

4 What kind of message do you think these probes are sending out to the various industries here in China?

Back Anchor

Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.

 

 

Industrial performance in first half of 2013 in sound range: Minister

 

A top Chinese official is suggesting China's industrial performance in the first half of 2013 was within a rational range.

Miao Wei is Minister of Industry and Information Technology.

"In the first half of 2013, the growth rate of industrial added value of industrial business with yearly revenue of major programs of or above 20 million yuan was 9.3 percent. The growth rate is not so remarkable, because in the latter half of last year, the industrial growth rate over consecutive quarters lingered between 9 percent to 10 percent. I think even though there is pressure, in general, the growth still falls into the rational range as we anticipated."

Meanwhile, Miao is warning the economic situation in the second half of this year will be even more complicated.

The pressure of economic growth still exists.

He says demands from the overseas market won't see fundamental improvement.

In addition, the problems caused by excess production capacity are also very prominent.

Miao is suggesting consumption of information-related services and products will be a new driving force to promote the economy.

The Minister is vowing to make more efforts to reduce backward production capacity to lessen the pressure posed by excess production capacity.

 

 

Whirlpool buys 51 percent stake in China appliance maker

 

Whirlpool Corp is planning to buy a majority stake in China's Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Co Ltd for $552 million.

Whirlpool is the world's largest maker of home appliances.

The purchase is expected to help the U.S.-based Company boost its business in Asia.

Asia currently contributes just 5 percent of its total sales in the second quarter.

Hefei Sanyo was set up in 1994 as a joint venture between Japan's Sanyo Electric Co and Hefei State-Owned Assets Holding Company Ltd.

The company employs 10 thousand workers at three manufacturing facilities in China.

Last year, the company reported a net profit of $48 million on sales of $636 million.

 

 

Samsung Brazil violated labour laws, prosecutors allege

 

Public prosecutors in Brazil have begun legal action against Samsung for violating labour laws.

Prosecutors accuse the South Korean electronics giant of making its employees work long, tiring shifts without sufficient breaks.

They said one worker reported packing nearly 3-thousqand phones a day.

Samsung has said in a statement it would analyse the process and fully co-operate with the Brazilian authorities.

It is alleged that a worker at the Amazonas state factory has only 32 seconds to fully assemble a mobile phone and 65 seconds to put together a television set.

 

 

U.S. retail, food sales up 0.2 pct in July

 

New stats show U.S. retail sales rose 0.2-percent in July, evidence of the ongoing economic recovery.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is reporting combined retail and food services increased 0.2-percent from June.

The figure represents a 5.4-percent increase from a year earlier.

Excluding autos, retail and food services sales in July went up 0.5-percent from June and up 4-percent from a year earlier.

Consumer spending accounts for about 70-percent of the total activity in the world's largest economy.

Analysts are suggesting the country is on track to recover from the worst recession in decades.

 

 

Headline News

 

 

China cracks down on extravagance in official galas

 

The Chinese government is now cracking down on official gala's.

A new circular from the central authorities is ordering all departments bring luxurious and extravagant galas to a halt.

It says galas that are organized with public funds and are held just to show off an extravagant production have damaged the image of the government.

It is widely believed to be another step taken by the central government to cut back on extravagance and waste.

 

 

26 Palestinian prisoners relased from Israeli prison

 

Israel has released 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to resume peace talks.

The release forms part of a goodwill gesture by the Israeli government, amid the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

The 26 men, arrested between 1985 and 2001 are among a total of 104 prisoners that Israel has agreed to free in four stages.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have approved the building of more than 1,000 homes in settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians.

The move has angered the Palestinian side.

Three years ago talks broke down when Israel pressed ahead with settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, despite Palestinian opposition.

 

 

Chinese national appointed as UN assistant secretary-general

 

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed Xu Haoliang as an Assistant Secretary-General for the world body.

Xu has also been named as the bureau chief of the UN Development Program in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Chinese national has long served as a senior UN official in Kazakhstan.

Before joining the UN, Xu was a bridge engineer and a lecturer at China's Tongji University.

 

 

China-Russia joint drill to enter final phase

 

Anti-terrorism drills between China and Russia are entering the last phase of live-fire field maneuvers.

The joint practice codenamed Peace Mission-2013 is being held in Russia's Chelyabinsk.

The simulated combat is set to last for two days.

 

 

U.S. gov't to challenge proposed merger of AMR, U.S. Airways

 

The U.S Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit challenging the proposed merger between of U.S Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines' parent corporation, AMR Corp.

The 11-billion-dollar merger would create the world's largest airline.

The Justice Department says the deal would hurt consumers by leading to higher fares and fees and its lawsuit seeks to preserve competition.

 

 

Newspaper Picks

 

 

Global Times

Headline

Guangzhou government's satellite car-tracking scheme saves them big

Summary

The Guangzhou government has saved 40 million yuan per year over government vehicles after the city installed satellite positioning system and electronic identification system on the vehicles.

The mileage of these vehicles has dropped 45 percent, and no cases of their private use have been reported over the past two months, according to Guangzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Shanghai Daily

Headline

Air-rail scheme 'will halve price'

Summary

An expanded air-rail ticket scheme launched yesterday will halve the price of services, officials claim.

The city's air-rail combined service now covers all the major Yangtze River Delta cities. It allows travelers to take a flight to either of Shanghai's two airports and then transfer by rail free to neighboring cities.

China Daily

Headline

China announces 9 pilot 'smart cities'

Summary

China unveiled its Smart City program yesterday with the first nine selected pilot cities.

The nine cities include Guangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and so on.

The Smart City program aims to create an innovation network, optimizing the use of technology in the design and operation of infrastructure and buildings.

It aims to be the solution to problems such as traffic congestion and pollution arising from rapid urbanization.

Beijing News

Headline

New financial aid system for postgraduate students: 2014

Summary

China will adopt a new financial aid system for postgraduate students to help ease their financial pressures in the fall of 2014.

Doctorate students from centrally funded universities will each receive a subsidy of 12,000 yuan per year, while their master's peers will receive half of that, 6,000 yuan. Meanwhile, postgraduate students in locally-run universities will also get financial aid.

Beijing Morning Post

Headline

"Packing myself" service gains popularity in Qixi

The "packing myself" service was launched in Qixi festival and gained immense popularity this year.

The service will pack customers in a small box to be shipped to their lover's doorstep. Each customer is charged only 0.1 yuan. Taobao sales managers said they sold 100 seats in three batches from Aug 7 to 9, and the seats sold out within seconds each time.

Beijing Evening News

Headline

Apartment owner told to dismantle roof-top oasis

Summary

The elaborate but illegal garden built atop a 26-story building in downtown Beijing shall be dismantled within 15 days, according to the urban management bureau of Haidian District.

Neighbors have long complained that the construction of the villa has caused gas and water leaks in several apartments on lower floors.

Xi'an Evening News

Headline

Modern-day lovers find romantic echoes from the ancient times

Summary

For many people in Xi'an, Chinese Valentine's day means a visit to the Beilin Museum, where seven epigraphs carved in stone call to mind love stories from ancient times.

The seven stone objects are known as the epitaphs of seven "Mandarin ducks" — animals considered loyal lovers in Chinese culture.

The epitaphs date back to 1500 years ago, telling the moving love stories of seven royal couples in Northern Wei Dynasty.

 

 

Special Reports

 

 

Online Ads Could Have Higher Impact if Meeting the Targeted Customer

 

Anchor

As audience levels for online video are soaring in China, industry insiders believe that online ads may enjoy greater potential and make a bigger impact.

CRI's Xu Fei has more.

Reporter

The turnover of China's online advertising market hit 73.1 billion yuan last year, a jump of 48.4 percent compared with 2011.

According to analyst Zhang Xi, who works for i-Research Consulting Group, a leading company focusing on in-depth research on China's internet industry, online ads is becoming increasingly attractive to marketers, offering superb advantages.

"Online ads enable the advertiser to attain a much higher rate of return. The effect of the advertisement can be monitored, including the population of netizens that hit the advertisement which costs a certain amount of investment, and how many people finally purchase the product after reading the advertisement. The statistics can all be easily traced on the Internet."

The digital video ads, which marketers say are doing a better job of helping them achieve awareness, are the driving force behind the growth of all forms of internet commercials.

Deputy CEO of Baofeng.com Wang Gang.

"In terms of the scale of advertisement, TV ads occupy a 200-billion yuan market, by contrast, online ads account for just a little more than 10-billion yuan of the market annually. I believe in the coming years online video ads will partly take the place of TV ads and I base my estimation on the fact that the duration as well as the capacity volume of TV ads have almost been saturated. In addition, the government imposes restrictions on the time during which a television commercial is allowed to be broadcast."

However, the fact is that sometimes the customers feel badly disturbed by the ads which suddenly jump out in the middle of videos.

Analyst Zhang Xi thinks that if more user information analysis is carried out, the commercials will reach the targeted customers to benefit both the advertisers and potential customers.

"If you are visiting an auto information webpage, some auto-related ads would jump out at you. That is to say, the recommended advertisements are usually related to the webpage you are looking at, on the ground that a netizen would often visit the webpage that he or she feels interested in. Hence, the online advertisement will be promoted in an accurate and proper way that enables it to reach potential interested buyers."

The development of online ads is the one of the focuses at the ongoing China Internet Conference held from August 13 to 15 in Beijing.

For CRI, I'm Xu Fei.

 

 

Sports

 

 

Yelena Isinbayeva claims pole vaule gold for Russia at IAAF Worlds

 

Athletic events continue in Moscow at the IAAF World Championships,

Yesterday, the most dramatic victory belonged to local champion Yelena Isinbayeva, whose outstanding performance in the pole vault drew a huge roar from her home crowd.

She was the only competitor to achieve a leap of 4.89 meters, which handed her her third world title.

The 31-year-old Russian had not won a major outdoor pole vault competition in five years and had said before the championships that she plans on retiring soon.

In other events,

LaShawn Merritt of the United States reclaimed the world title in the men's 400 meters, after he destroyed his competition by more than half a second.

19-year-old Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia won gold in the men's 800 meters.

Germany's Robert Harting claimed his third consecutive world discus title with a 69.11 meter throw.

Ukrainian Ganna Melnichenko won her first major title in the womens heptatlhlon. The silver went to Canada's Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who recently married Ashton Eaton, the decathlete who claimed gold earlier in the week.

Milcah Chamos Cheywa of Kenya won gold in the womens 3000 meter steeplechase.

Olympic champion Elena Lashmanova and Anisya Kirdyapkina came in one-two for Russia in the womens 20 kilometer walk.

It was almost a clean sweep for the Russian team, but Vera Sokolova was handed a third yellow card and disqualified right at the end.

That allowed China's Liu Hong, a world silver medalist in 2011, to claim bronze.

 

 

Darren Lehmann threatens to drop batsmen if they don't improve

 

In cricket,

After suffering defeat in the fourth Ashes test yesterday, Australia head coach Darren Lehmann is warning his batsmen that they will be dropped from the team if they fail to improve.

"Back up and play a better brand of cricket and actually learn from our mistakes. We didn't learn from Trent Bridge from when we got bowled out in similar circumstances, so from our point of view the blokes have got to learn. If they don't learn then we will find blokes that will."

The Australian side had been on the track to victory at 168-2, before letting the win slip through their fingers. The Aussies lost the next eight wickets for a mere 56 runs before crumpling to 224 all out.

Stuart Broad's bowling in the final session helped catapult England to its 74-run win.

"I think we always had in the back of our minds with 300 on the board that we can put a lot of pressure on the new batsmen. Once we got a couple of early ones after tea, the bowlers got their tales up and we put the new batsmen under pressure."

England had already formally retained the urn, but the win at Durham was another frustrating blow for an Aussie side hoping for at least one solid series win.

More cricket action to come when the fifth Ashes test at the Oval begins next week.

 

 

Nine charged with corruption in the Bangladesh Premier League

 

Also in cricket news,

Nine cricketers and officials in the Bangladesh Premier Leagueare being charged with match fixing and other offences by the International Cricket Council.

"Of the nine individuals, seven have been charged for fixing related offences. Two others have been charged for failing to comply with their obligations to report corrupt approaches that were made to them. Those individuals facing the more serious fixing related charges have been provisionally suspended"

No names have been disclosed, but those charged have two weeks to plead guilty or make their defense.

Those found guilty of the more serious match-fixing offences will face bans from the sport ranging from five years to life.

 

 

Sam Stosur, Venus Williams, and David Ferrer are through to the second round at Cincinnati

 

In tennis,

The fourth stop of the WTA and ATP US Open series is underway in Cincinnati.

2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur, Venus Williams, and Sloane Stephens are all through to the second round.

For the men,

David Ferrer and Grigor Dimitrov are through round 2. But Nicolas Almagro and Jerzy Janowicz were among the first-round upset victims.

This is the last Masters 1000 event before the US Open begins on August 26th.

 

 

Pope Francis meets with Italian and Argentinian

 

The Italian and Argentinean national football squads will clash in a rare friendly later today in Rome, but first, the players enjoyed a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican

The Argentinian pope encouraged the players to be good role models off the field, and also expressed his hope that violence and racial discrimination would disappear from the world of football.

The pope also diplomatically dodged the question of which team he would be supporting, saying that he hoped the friendly match would really turn out to be friendly.

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

Zhang Yimou makes first foray into Peking Opera

 

Chinese movie director Zhang Yimou will make his first Peking Opera "Allegiance Under Heaven".

The story is adapted from a Chinese statesman's filial piety in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Zhang has become increasingly interested in directing on-stage performances.

Back in 1997, Zhang directed his maiden opera "Turandot", which premiered at the Florence Festival Opera House.

(Turandot clip)

Zhang has proved his ability as a stage performance director in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The upcoming "Allegiance Under Heaven" is still in preparation.

It will be staged at China's National Center for the Performing Arts from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7.

 

 

'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' gets London world premiere in November

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will hold its world premiere in London on November 11th.

(Hunger Games trailer)

Director Francis Lawrence recently revealed the film will contain differences from the book on which it's based, but still tries to stay true to the novels.

Star Jennifer Lawrence has said that her character Katniss Everdeen is "struggling with post-traumatic stress" following the events of the first film.

She is joined in the sequel by Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and Woody Harrelson.

Production on the two-part finale to the series, an adaptation of Collins's trilogy-concluding Mockingjay - will reportedly start shooting in September.

The Hunger Games grossed almost $700 million worldwide.

 

 

Cory Monteith's final film to debut at Toronto Film Festival

 

Cory Monteith's final film will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The Glee star's cop drama "McCanick", is to debut alongside his project "All The Wrong Reasons" at the festival.

"McCanick" is directed by Josh C Waller and also stars Rachel Nichols.

Monteith's other project "All the Wrong Reasons", saw him play a store manager whose wife (Karine Vanasse) struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by a family tragedy.

The actor, who played Finn Hudson on Glee, was found dead at the age of 31 in Vancouver last month.

Glee's Lea Michele paid an emotional tribute to her boyfriend and co-star at this year's Teen Choice Awards.

 

 

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are to host 2013 CMA Awards

 

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are to host the 2013 Country Music Association Awards.

(Underwood clip)

The country music icons will appear together on the annual awards show for the sixth time in November.

Paisley and Underwood have been described by CMA president Ed Hardy as the "consummate hosts" for the annual ceremony.

This year's awards show will air from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennesse.

ABC will broadcast the 47th annual CMA Awards on November 6th at 8pm Eastern Time.

 

 

Justin Bieber breaks charity record with Make-A-Wish Foundation

 

(Justin Bieber clip)

Justin Bieber has been praised for his charity work after breaking a record for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The singer has become the first recording artist ever to grant 200 wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions in partnership with the organisation.

The latest wish he granted was ahead of the final US date of his 'Believe Tour', where he spent time with 8-year-old Annalysha backstage and ensured she received VIP treatment.

Bieber's involvement with Make-A-Wish started in 2009 in LA.

He has granted a wish at nearly every tour stop since, posing for photographs, signing autographs and providing tickets for prime seating at his concerts.

The 19-year-old has been at the centre of numerous negative press reports in recent months, including allegations of spitting on fans and nightclub brawls.