Morning Edition

 

 

 

 

 

Rebecca Hume with you on this Monday, August 20th, 2013.

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

Coming up on our program this morning...

More than 100 killed in flooding in northeast and southern China.

Kenyan President meets Xi Jingping here in Beijing

UN chief Ban Ki Moon condemns the violence in Egypt

Business

China Everbright Securities now under restrictions on Tuesdays trading

Sports

Australia and England look ahead to the fifth and final Ashes test

Entertainments

US rock band Aerosmith cancel their Chinese debut show in Shanghai.

Plus

Special reports goes to the Edinburgh festival of music and arts in Scotland

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

 

 

Weather

 

 

Beijing will be overcast today, with a high of 30 degree Celsius in the daytime, and it will see thundershowers tonight with a low of 23.

In Shanghai, it will see slight rain today, 34 the high, and it will see showers tonight, the low of 27 degrees Celsius.

Lhasa will be cloudy in the daytime the temperature's at 23, and tonight will be overcast with a low of 11 degree Celsius.

Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia

Islamabad, sunny, 31.

Kabul, sunny, with a high of 30.

And in North America

New York, overcast, with a high of 27 degrees.

Washington, thundershowers, highs of 24

Houston, overcast, 34.

Honolulu, sunny, 31.

Toronto, overcast, 28

Finally, on to South America,

Buenos Aires, overcast, 23.

And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with highs of 23 degrees Celsius.

 

 

Top News

 

 

Floods, typhoon kills over 100 in China

 

Anchor

At least 105 people have been killed and another 115 are listed as missing amid the flooding in both northeast and southern China.

CRI's Jordan Lee has more.

Reporter

Over 50 people have been killed in flooding in Liaoning, with almost 100 others listed as missing.

Disaster relief teams are being dispatched to the region, where over 160-thousand people have been forced from their homes.

The flooding has taken down over 6-thousand buildings across the province.

Direct economic losses are already estimated at some 8.5-billion yuan

Meantime, 22 people have been killed in flooding in Guangdong.

Neighboring Hunan and Guangxi are also reporting a number of deaths.

The Chinese government has upgraded its emergency response to try to cope with the situation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is urging local authorities to try their best to save lives.

It is the worst flooding seen in China's northeast, also the heartland of the country's grain production, in over a decade.

For CRI, I'm Jordan Lee.

 

 

China, Kenya presidents meet in Beijing

 

Anchor

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta in Beijing.

The two sides have announced the establishment of a "comprehensive and cooperative" partnership.

CRI's Su Yi has more.

Reporter

Both Xi Jinping and Kenyatta say their partnership is based on "equality, mutual trust and mutual benefit".

President Xi Jingping says China is looking forward to enhancing cooperation with the Kenyan side, particularly in the fields of infrastructure construction, renewable energy, agriculture, environment, wild animal protection and the combat against cross-border organized crimes.

Xi Jinping has said the Chinese side will increase its imports from Kenya to balance the bilateral trade between the two sides.

For his part, Kenyatta calls China a real friend and important partner, saying the Kenyan government welcomes China playing a bigger role in the development of Africa.

China is the second largest trading partner to Kenya, with an annual bilateral trade of some 2.8 billion US dollars.

At the same time, China is Kenya's biggest foreign direct investment source.

Also the Kenyan government is looking to provide incentives to try to attract at least 5 million tourists from China each year.

Kenyatta is now in China for a 5-day visit.

This is his first visit to China since taking office in April.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.

 

 

China, US military chiefs decide to expand military exchanges

 

Chinese defense minister Chang Wanquan and his US counterpart Chuck Hagel have announced the expansion of military exchanges between the two sides and a plan to hold new joint military exercises.

The announcement follows a meeting at the Pentagon.

Hagel says the measures, which include the Chinese navy's participation in the 2014 Rim of the Pacific Exercise, are designed to build trust among the two militaries.

"… those are the forms that you build in order to address great challenges and issues and differences between our countries and that's what we're doing."

The Chinese defense minister reiterated China's defense policy.

"Chinese people always have their love of peace. China always is a staunch defender of the peace and stability in Asia-Pacific. We always insist that related disputes be solved through dialogue and negotiation. However, no one should fantasize that China would barter away our core interests, and no one should underestimate our will and determination in defending our territories, sovereignty and maritime rights."

Hagal also says he is planning to visit China next year at the invitation of Chang Wanquan.

 

 

UN chief condemns violence in Egypt

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is "alarmed" by the events in Egypt.

Ban has condemned the use of "excessive force" against supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, and called for restraint.

"I strongly condemn attacks on churches, hospitals, and other public facilities. There is no justification for targeting civilians or destroying infrastructure and property so important for Egypt's future. Preventing further loss of life should be the highest priority."

EU Foreign ministers are set to hold emergency talks on Wednesday to review the bloc's relations with Egypt.

In November the EU had promised 6.7-billion U.S. dollars in grants and loans for a series of initiatives for Egypt.

Some EU members are suggesting the bloc should scale back financial aid.

But some were worried that the restrictive measures may have a deeper impact on the population than on the government.

Meantime, Hosni Mubarak's lawyer says the former Egyptian President will be released this week.

The latest corruption case Mubarak faces is likely to get settled in two days.

Mubarak faces a retrial over charges of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 upheaval which toppled him.

An Egyptian court postponed the retrial to this coming Sunday amid on going clashes last Wednesday.

More than 830 people, including 70 police and soldiers, have been killed, since the army moved in to clear the protest camps in support of Morsi last week.

The country is now in a month-long state of emergency.

 

 

35 people killed in rail mishap in India

 

At least 37 people are dead and 40 others hurt after a speeding train hit and killed them in eastern India.

Officials say the headcount of those killed is difficult due to the state of their injuries.

Arunendra Kumar, chair of India's Railway Board, says it's believed many of the victims were Hindu pilgrims.

"This is a super-fast train, which was given precedence and it is a wayside station in Dhamara Ghat with the result that passengers had come out because the train was passing and they knew that these two trains will remain at this station for quite some time. At this time when they came out on the non-platform side, they got run over by this run-through train and this happened around 9 to 10 in the morning."

After the accident, a violent mob reportedly assaulted the train's driver, set coaches on fire and held railway staff hostage.

Many of the victims are people who lived in nearby slums and used the tracks as open toilets.

 

 

Boko Haram chief may be dead: Nigerian army

 

Nigerian army says the head of the Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, may have been killed following a gun battle with them.

Shekau may have died earlier this month at a border community in Cameroon, where he was receiving treatment for gunshots.

Spokesperson of the military-led Joint Task Force, Sagir Musa says the sect leader sneaked into Cameroon after he was severly injured in late June.

The military alleged that the sect leader masterminded the abduction of seven French citizens and a former Nigerian minister, in addition to many murders of Islamic clerics in northern Nigeria.

Allegations also involved bombings of places of worship and public buildings, including Police Headquarters and United Nations Headquarters in Abuja.

 

 

Snowden journalist says detention of his partner will not silence him

 

American journalist Glenn Greenwald responsible for writing many of the stories about the NSA disclosed by Edward Snowden, says he will now start publishing material more frequently.

The comments come a day after his partner David Miranda was detained for nine hours at London's Heathrow Airport.

Greenwald said he would be much more aggressive than before in his reporting.

"I will publish many more documents than before, I will publish many things on Britain as well, I have many documents on Britain's spying system. Now my focus will be that, they will regret what they have done."

Greenwald is now living with Miranda in Rio de Janeiro.

Miranda claims personal objects were taken from him when he was detained under anti-terror legislation.

Brazil's Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota says the detention is unjustifiable.

"We consider that this nine-hour detention is unjustifiable, based on legislation that applies to suspects involved in terrorism. We hope this will not happen again and today I will meet with Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague to transmit this message."

Greenwald has written about NSA surveillance programs based on files disclosed by Snowden.

Snowden now has temporary asylum in Russia.

 

 

Largest gun seizure in NY

 

Authorities in New York City have announced the largest ever gun seizure seen in the city's history.

More than 250 guns were sold in an undercover New York Police Department investigation.

Nineteen members of two loosely-organized gun trafficking groups have been indicted and arrested.

The groups are reported to have illegally funneled firearms from North and South Carolina into New York City, where black market guns fetch at least three times their original price.

They will face charges of selling firearms worth over 157-thousand US dollars.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"Our administration has pursued a concerted and coordinated effort to crack down on illegal firearms. Efforts that combined tough legislation, innovative litigation and smart, proactive policing that makes it much more likely that if you break our city's gun laws, you'll be caught."

Bloomberg has spent millions of his personal fortune combating illegal guns.

He also funded the coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which includes more than 1-thousand mayors in the United States.

 

 

PLA hospital ship makes 2rd visit to Bangladesh on a medical mission

 

Anchor

A Chinese naval hospital ship has arrived in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong as part of a 4-month overseas voyage to provide medical services to local residents.

The current visit marks the second time the "Peace Ark" hospital ship has arrived in Bangladesh after a similar visit three years ago.

Our reporter Marc Cavigli has more.

Reporter

The arrival of the "Peace Ark" was welcomed by Bangladesh's naval officials, Chinese diplomats and local residents in a long and high-profile ceremony.

Addressing the crowd, Rear Admiral Shen Hao, Commander of "Mission Harmony 2013", said the ship's arrival in Bangladesh for a second time represents a special bond between the two countries.

"Chinese navy is coming for carrying on the friendship, for the purpose of carrying forward international humanitarianism, and strengthening friendly relations. I believe the current visit will definitely enhance the exchanges and cooperation between our two militaries and two navies, in particular, and consolidate the traditional friendship between our two peoples."

In 2010, medical staff onboard the "Peace Ark" provided medical services to more than 3,000 residents during its first visit to the South Asian nation.

The "Peace Ark" is currently on its third overseas mission known as "Mission Harmony 2013."

The vessel has over 400 people onboard with around 100 of them working as medical staff.

Rear Admiral Saiful Kabir, deputy chief of staff of the Bangladeshi navy, says the ship's revisit is a testimony to the friendship between the two nations.

"Bangladesh and China has close and comprehensive partnership of cooperation on the basis of long-standing friendship, security and mutual benefit. The arrival of the PLA navy hospital ship the 'Peace Ark' is the testimony of this friendship between our two friendly nations."

During its one-week stay in Chittagong, the ship's medical staff will give on-the-spot medical services to local residents at a local military hospital.

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi medics will be invited to get onboard the hospital ship to jointly attend to patients with the Chinese medics.

The "Peace Ark" set sail from eastern China's Zhoushan Islands early June, embarking on its third overseas trip to 8 Asian countries and the Gulf of Aden.

After Bangladesh, the "Peace Ark" will travel to Myanmar to continue its voyage.

For CRI, I'm Marc Cavigli.

 

 

Buying intern performance report on Taobao

 

Anchor

With university students here in China set to return to classes in the not-too-distant future, a number of them are going online to try to obtain a certified internship performance report.

CRI's Li Dong explains.

Reporter

Xiao Zhao is a junior student in a university in Shanghai. She bought an internship performance report from Taobao.com, China's biggest online retail website.

"I spent the whole summer holiday traveling and playing. But our school requires us to submit an internship performance report. I really didn't have time to do it. So I bought one on Taobao. It cost me about 30 yuan."

The report Xiao Zhao bought has a company seal on it. The name of the company can be found on the Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce website, which means it's a real one.

The best part is that this is a blank report bearing the company's seal. Students can write whatever they like on it.

Several hundred results may pop up if you search "social practice" or "internship report" on Taobao. Some of the sellers' other services include writing graduation papers.

One seller says that students only need to send them the blank internship performance report, and leave the rest to them.

"This report is real. The seal is our company's seal. It takes at least 2 to 3 days and at most 10 days for us the finish the report."

Some students say that the internship experience is an important part of their school life, which cannot be substituted by a cheap counterfeit report.

"This kind of act of buying an internship performance evaluation report is totally deceptive. Only by actually carrying out an internship, can you actually gain some valuable social experience."

Some teachers say that besides the report, they will also check the achievements the students attain during the internship. Students who cheat by buying internship performances will be punished and the act will be regarded as plagiarism.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.

 

 

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 closed in negative territory on Monday.

The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index marked the four-day losing streak for the first time this year.

Investors were speculating when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to trim its monetary stimulus policy.

The blue-chip Dow dropped 0.5 percent.

The broader S&P 500 lost 0.6 percent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Canada's S&P/TSX lost 1.2 percent.

In Europe, European stocks dipped across the board in the day, dragged down by a heavy selloff in Italian stock market.

Germany's DAX dropped 0.3 percent.

France's CAC 40 was down 1 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.5 percent.

 

 

Call-in China Everbright Sec slapped with restrictions after trading fluke

 

Friday's trading glitch at Everbright Securities here in China has prompted the China Financial Futures Exchange to impose restrictions on the company's ability to establish fresh stock index futures throughout this Tuesday.

At the same time, the China Securities Regulatory Commission says it is launching a formal investigation into the case.

In addition, Everbright has been banned by the Shanghai securities authorities for conducting proprietary stock trades on the spot market for three months.

Everbright has also gone on record vowing any profits yielded from the massive index shorting on Friday will be dealt with legally.

Last Friday, Everbright Securities placed buy orders worth some 23-billion yuan due to an alleged system error.

This saw the Shanghai Stock Exchange increase by well over 5-percent in intra-day trading before giving up all the gains.

For more on the issue, we're joined live now by Mark Hughes, Executive Business Editor of China Daily.

Questions:

1 In their news conference Everbright claim this whole situation was a trading glitch and the CSRC say human error could be the casue.

However some are not confident this wasnt just a move to profit.

Whats your take on this? Has there been any other speculation on whats behind this?

2 If design flaws in the system are really to be blamed, how do you think Everbright can control these systematic risks?

3 What kind of ripple effects should investors expect?

What kind of compensation will be carried out?

4 How big and deep an impact do you think the incident will lay on market confidence here in China? Will it somehow affect the IPO resumption?

Back Anchor

Mark Hughes, Executive Business Editor of China Daily.

 

 

Chinese premier underlines reform in promoting sustainable growth

 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has highlighted the role of reform in promoting sustainable growth, pledging to keep the economy from big fluctuations.

He says reform is needed to coordinate policies and "make precise moves" to maintain steady growth as the economy is heading towards its targeted limits.

However, the Premier warns despite some progress in the domestic economy, there are some accumulated conflicts still looming.

Li says the government is working rebalance its outdated growth model which is overly reliant on investment and exports.

He also stressed that the government needs to coordinate economic growth and improve people's lives by giving them tangible benefits.

Since taking office in March, China's new government has announced concrete reform plans, including easing controls in the financial sector.

 

 

PBOC governor says ready to liberalize deposit interest rates

 

China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan says China will continue to implement the prudent monetary policy and conduct some structural finetunings if needed.

Zhou suggests the economy will not post persistent slowdowns and China still has powerful potential for growth.

Zhou says the bank is ready to free the long-awaited deposit interest rates to fully liberalize the financial market.

On July 19th, the central bank announced lifting controls on bank lending rates.

 

 

Fed tells big banks to improve capital planning

 

Big banks in the U.S are being asked to improve the way they determine how much capital they need to withstand any future crisis.

The U.S Federal Reserve says that banks participating in regular "stress tests" had flaws in their capital planning processes.

These flaws include being unable to show that they considered all of the relevant risks to their businesses.

The regulator is asking all banks to improve their planning.

The Fed's paper also describes regulators' expectations and points out practices that were weak or unacceptable in previous stress tests.

It's being reported the next set of Fed-administered stress tests is set to start this fall.

Stress testing banks has become a key tool for regulators to monitor the health of the financial system after the 2007-2009 meltdown.

 

 

New batches of New Zealand's diary products rejected

 

A new batch of dairy products from New Zealand have been rejected by regulators here in China.

The products produced by Chinese company Wondersun in New Zealand have been found to contain higher-than-acceptable levels of nitrate.

Yu Ningjiang is the vice-manager of Wondersun.

"We returned all of these goods after excessive nitrate levels were found in a test. It's a practical rule for us to return the goods if they don't comply with regulatory requirements. The products were very small in scale - only a dozen of kilos."

None of the products reached consumers.

Experts say the excessive nitrates are not necessarily a danger to people's health.

 

 

Headline News

 

 

Floods, typhoon kills over 100 in China

 

At least 105 people have been killed and another 115 are listed as missing amid the flooding in both northeast and southern China.

The Chinese government has upgraded its emergency response to try to cope with the situation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is urging local authorities to try their best to save lives.

It is the worst flooding seen in China's northeast, also the heartland of the country's grain production, in over a decade.

 

 

China, Kenya presidents meet in Beijing

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta in Beijing.

The two sides have announced the establishment of a "comprehensive and cooperative" partnership.

Both Xi Jinping and Kenyatta say their partnership is based on "equality, mutual trust and mutual benefit".

Kenyatta is now in China for a 5-day visit.

This is his first visit to China since taking office in April.

 

 

China, US military chiefs decide to expand military exchanges

 

Chinese defense minister Chang Wanquan and his US counterpart Chuck Hagel have announced the expansion of military exchanges between the two sides and a plan to hold new joint military exercises.

The announcement follows a meeting at the Pentagon.

Hagel says the measures, which include the Chinese navy's participation in the 2014 Rim of the Pacific Exercise, are designed to build trust among the two militaries.

Hagal also says he is planning to visit China next year at the invitation of Chang Wanquan.

 

 

PBOC governor says ready to liberalize deposit interest rates

 

China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan says China will continue to implement the prudent monetary policy and conduct some structural finetunings if needed.

Zhou suggests the economy will not post persistent slowdowns and China still has powerful potential for growth.

Zhou also says the bank is ready to free the long-awaited deposit interest rates to fully liberalize the financial market.

On July 19th, the central bank announced lifting controls on bank lending rates.

 

 

German town hall hostage drama ends

 

Three people reportedly held hostage by a homeless man with a history of mental health problems in a southern German city have been freed.

The captives, including a deputy mayor, were released unharmed after police stormed the old town hall in Ingolstadt, Bavaria and arrested the 24-year-old hostage taker.

The rescue operation forced German Chancellor Angela Merkel to cancel a campaign visit to the town.

The assailant is believed to have been stalking one of the female hostages for the past year.

 

 

Newspaper Picks

 

 

Shanghai Daily

Headline: Kidnapper jailed for plan to get loan back

Summary:

A company boss who kidnapped the family of a man who owed him money and demanded a 1 million yuan ($163,249) ransom has been jailed.

He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

Global Times

Headline: Wuhan police bust kidney traffickers

Summary:

Police have busted a gang of kidney traffickers and caught more than 10 suspects in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

A recipient had to spend 400,000 yuan ($64,840) to get a kidney.

However, the donor only got 30,000 yuan. The rest of the money was shared by the doctor, the anesthetist, nurses and informants who found kidney recipients and donors.

Beijing News

Headline: Police hunt man who stabbed two to death in bus robbery

Summary:

Two passengers were stabbed to death and another 13 were injured in a bus robbery in Anyang, Central China's Henan Province.

Nearly 400 police officers were sent to capture the suspect.

Local police had promised on its official Weibo account to offer a 100,000-yuan ($16,334) reward to someone who can provide information to help capture the suspect.

However, the post had been removed from the account later on.

Yanzhao Metropolitan Daily

Headline: Moveable Library to Communities

Summary:

A moveable library project has been launched by the provincial library of Hebei.

A bus has been used as a library. It shuffles among communities with more than 3,000 books and other facilitates including drinking water.

Residents can read on and borrow books from the bus.

The library would further consult citizens regarding office hours, route and stops of the bus.

Beijing Times

Headline: The Case of Ma Yue's Subway Death

Summary:

The local government of Xicheng district has been sued for unlawful administrative action by a mother, whose son died of electrocution at a subway station.

The mother said that previous investigations lacked solid autopsy evidences and violated the Production Safety Law.

No judgment has been made yet.

 

 

Special Reports

 

 

Edinburgh Festivals Underway

 

Anchor

Tens of thousands of people are swarming into Edinburgh as the Scottish city becomes a big stage for the annual festival season.

CRI's correspondent Tu Yun sent this report from the Scottish capital.

Reporter

Walking around in big cities, you may see buskers performing here and there.

But in Edinburgh, you can see them all within less than half a mile on one street.

It's the Edinburgh Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world.

It features over 45,000 performances in nearly 2,900 shows across the city this year, of which around 16 percent are free.

This year's Fringe has reported sales increases in double figures compared to last year when the annual event was affected by the Olympics.

Also a favourite is the Military Tattoo, where you can join thousands in front of the Great Castle of Edinburgh watching massed pipes and drums.

All tickets for the 2013 Tattoo were sold out more than a week ago.

"We have tonight in the audience 8,800 people, a total of 220,000 across the whole of the summer. This year we have seven great bands of pipes and drums."

Brigadier David Allfrey is Chief Executive and Producer of this year's program.

"We have the Republic of Korea, celebrating spring time with some wonderful music. From Mexico we'll bring the sound and sights of summer. From New Zealand, the other side of the world, we have autumn. And finally winter from Mongolia. We'll touch also night and day, and life and death, the important elements of life. And we'll end by looking to the heavens, to the stars and the sun and the planets for our inspiration."

Also looking for new inspiration and direction is Jonathan Mills, Director of the Edinburgh International Festival since October, 2006.

"Two years ago we had a huge celebration on arts from Asia and Europe. Three years ago, it was the notion of colonialism and the New World. Five years ago, it was much about the new members of the European Union, Poland, the Czech Republic. So each year it's a completely different journey. The more you come to visit my festival, the more you'll see these connections and passions. And the journey will become more clear."

The theme of this year's festival is the interaction between art and technology.

The program features Beethoven's only opera Fidelio staged in a spaceship.

Chinese director Lin Zhaohua is bringing his production of Shakespeare's tragedy Coriolanus, which will make its European premiere on Tuesday.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun in Edinburgh.

 

 

Sports

 

 

Australia and England look ahead to the fifth and final Ashes test

 

Over in cricket,

Australia is looking to break its Ashes losing streak in the fifth and final Ashes test.

Vice-captain Brad Haddin says the team is confident that they can turn things around in the final test.

"There's a lot of belief in the changing room that we can win this last test match. We've been in positions over the test matches to put ourselves in positions to win test matches but we haven't been good enough in the big moments."

Surrey bowler Chris Tremlett was named in England's 14-man squad and is expected to replace an injured Tim Bresnan in the final test.

"It's been great to be back involved in the squad and being round the guys, with the team, the management etcetera. It's great to be back here at the Oval. Unfortunately for Tim Bresnan he's got injured and there's an available spot there so hopefully it's myself that can get that opportunity."

Tremlett helped lead England to Ashes glory two and a half years ago before a series of injuries interrupted his career.

Day one at the Ashes will get underway tomorrow at the Oval in London.

 

 

AC Milan to face Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in UEFA Champions League play-off

 

In football,

AC Milan will face Dutch club PSV Eindhoven today in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off.

PSV has already played and won five games this season, while it will be Milan's first competitive match of the season.

Milan has missed out on the group stage only once in the last 11 seasons.

And head coach Massimiliano Allegri will not want to add to that number, since his security as head coach tottered a bit this summer.

The last time the two teams met was in the 2004-2005 semi-finals, with PSV losing.

PSV have sold several key players from last season, but retained a 17-year old Belgian Zakaria Bakkali, who recently became the youngest player to score a hat trick.

 

 

Azarenka glad for success at Cincinnati Masters

 

Victoria Azarenka is looking ahead to next week's US Open following her victory at the Cincinnati Masters.

"It was a great (tournament) the entire week and especially the final was dramatic and really a tough battle against the best player in the world. It's been a tough couple of last years with injury but I'm glad I'm back, feeling healthy, feeling strong and it was a great week before the US Open."

After having her 14-match winning streak broken by the number 2, Serena Williams will be looking to redeem herself in New York.

Rafael Nadal is being touted as a favorite to win for the men. But American John Isner, who made it to the Cincinnati final against Rafa, is also one to watch.

 

 

Indian athletes sent home from Nanjing Games for being overage

 

The 2nd Asian Youth Games is taking place in Nanjing week.

So far, China leads the medal count with 34 overall.

It was an embarrassing moment for the Indian delegation when 18 of its athletes were sent home for being overage.

Apparently there was some confusion as to the official cut off date, but no one caught the mistake until the last minute.

The young athletes were all set to compete, only to be disqualified right before their events.

 

 

Dwight Howard and Jeremy Lin plan on shrimp fishing in Taiwan

 

Houston Rockets centre Dwight Howard is in Taiwan this week to promote his sports brand.

At the opening of a new basketball court near Taipei 101, Howard charmed crowds by speaking a mix of comprehensible and incomprehensible Mandarin.

"No. Taiwan. How are you? I love you. Jeremy Lin".

Howard is in Taiwan at the same time as fellow Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin.

Howard said he's excited to play with Lin next season and is optimistic about the young team's prospects.

"We have a lot of guys who are hungry and they want to win and we want to grow together and I think we have a right team to do that.　We have a great young point guard in Jeremy Lin, and I think with me and him playing together to pick-and-roll, I think this is going to be one of his best seasons in his young NBA career."

When asked if the two teammates would hang out while in Taiwan, Howard said they have plans to go shrimp fishing.

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

Aerosmith Cancels Dates in Shanghai, Taipei

 

US rock band Aerosmith has cancelled their Chinese debut show tomorrow night in Shanghai.

(aerosmith clip)

The bad boys from Boston were supposed to play the Shanghai Hongkou Stadium but pulled out alleging concert promoters had not met their contractual obligations.

They cancelled their gig in Shanghai as well as a performance in Taipet on Saturday.

Earlier bassist Tom Hamilton remarked the band jumped at the chance to play in China as it was something they've been wanting to do for a long time.

In a statement the band apologized to Chinese fans and they hope to see them soon.

 

 

Neil Young and Crazyhorse Cancels Tour

 

Canadian singer-wongwriter Neil Young and collaborating band Crazy Horse have cancelled their North American tour following an injury.

(harvest moon clip)

Crazy Horse guitarist Frank Poncho Sampedro suffered an injury to his hand which his doctor insists needs more time to recover.

All dates from the North American tour, which would have taken the group through 4-different cities, have been cancelled.

This follows the band's cancellation of the final 7-dates of their European tour earlier this month due to the same injury.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse have been touring the world together for a full year.

64-year-old Young has remarked he believes this may be their last tour together as he is the youngest of the group.

 

 

Alex Band Kidnapped and Attacked

 

(calling clip)

Alex Band the singer from US soft rock group The Calling has reportedly been the victim of a kidnapping and violent attack.

Band was reportedly walking to a convenience store in Lapeer, Michigan where he was scheduled to play a music festival when a van pulled up alongside him and a man pulled him into the vehicle.

The 32-year-old was found later badly beaten and dumped on nearby train tracks.

Band's exact condition is unknown though police are now looking for two men in a blue van.

The singer also claims he was robbed during the attack though it is not known what may have been stolen.

Band recently announced his band's reformation with a new lineup after an 8-year hiatus.

 

 

Edinburgh Military Tattoo Plans to Feature Chinese Bands in 2015

 

The Edinburgh Military Tattoo will once again feature Chinese bands in 2015 following two similar arrangements in 2004 and 2009.

Chief Executive and Producer David Allfrey commented on the announcement.

"It is our plan that a great military band and a cultural act should come to the show in 2015 from China. And I hope very much that we'll be able to do that."

The Tattoo proved to be a big hit when it travelled downunder to Australia in 2010.

Allfrey says he's considering taking the show abroad again, with China as a possible destination.

"We talked to the Tattoo in Nanchang. And we're also talking to people in Shanghai and in Beijing as well. So I hope the future has some interesting thoughts."

 

 

Comedian Ricky Gervais to Duet with Kermit the Frog in New Film

 

Academy Award winning songwriter Bret McKenzie has revealed UK comedian Ricky Gervais will sing a duet with Kermit the Frog in the next Muppets movie.

The Flight of the Conchords band member has already written 6 or 7 new songs for next year's Muppets film titled Muppets Most Wanted.

He has revealed Gervais will sing a duet with everyone's favorite frog in the new film, which will also feature US actress-comedian-writer Tina Fey, and Modern Family star Ty Burrell.

McKenzie won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2011 for the song Man or Muppet.

Muppets Most Wanted will sing its way into theaters next March.