新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2013/08/21（打印版）

Special reports goes to the Edinburgh International Festival to preview The Beijing People's Art Theatre’s Shakespeare debut.

Tropical storm Trami is forcast to hit the northeast coast of Taiwan later on this Wednesday.

Currently ranked as a Severe Tropical Storm, Trami is expected to make Typhoon status sometime Wednesday morning.

Trami is increasing in power and is expected to make landfall on the mainland with wind-speeds of around 120-kilometers per hour at the center of the storm.

Beijing will be overcast today, with a high of 29 degree Celsius in the daytime, and it will be cloudy tonight with a low of 22.

In Shanghai, it will see showers today, 32 the high, and it will see showers tonight, the low of 28 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.

The two sides have pledged to enhance their cooperation particularly in the fields of national development, disaster prevention and poverty reduction.

Premier Li Keqiang says China and Kenya are facing similar tasks and challenges when it comes to disaster prevention and poverty reduction.

He has called on the two sides to work together to achieve more comprehensive development.

For his part, Kenyatta says the Kenyan government appreciates China's long-term support.

Meantime, chief of China's largest policy lender, China Development Bank, says the bank has invested 250-million US dollars in Kenya's infrastructure projects, its finance sector and small businesses.

Those funds have been used to popularize the use of digital television and are expected to go into hydro-power, thermal-power and development park projects.

Zheng Zhijie says it was part of the 18.9-billion-dollars of outstanding loans the CDB has brought to African countries so far.

Also Kenyan officials say Kenyatta's state visit has helped unlock billions of dollars to finance the country's key development projects.

These projects include a railway linking the capital Nairobi with Mombasa and Malaba.

Kenyan officials say the 5-billion-dollars worth of projects have been under discussion for months under the guidance of President Kenyatta.

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

With more and more Chinese firms looking to expand into Africa, pressure is being put on them to ensure the companies both expand opportunities for local workers, while at the same time, pay attention to their role in the local communities they work out of.

As with any example of foreign direct investment, Chinese companies successfully operating in Africa are providing training and funding opportunities for many of the local people that they work with.

Gabriel Nalokessissi is a grader operator at China Road and Bridge Corporation. He was awarded a long-service award by his company for his hard work; receiving enough of a bonus to buy a shamba, or farm, and build a house on his newly-purchased land.

"Because when I started, I had nothing; but when I began to work with the CRBC, I was able to build my house and I started to pay my child's school fees."

Alan Omondi was also working for the same company. He started off as a basic office clerk, but through training and hard work was promoted to be an engineer, or specifically, a quantity surveyor.

"When I was first employed; I used to stay in slums. Now, with time, as I started to gain experience, and started to do the work efficiently… when I got the promotion, ok, it was a surprise to me, because now the level I've reached, in both economic and social terms, is fantastic."

In 2011, Kenya saw its worst drought in six decades. Sino Hydro, Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company, sponsored the creation of water facilities for a school in Nairobi.

Mr Gong Changying, deputy general manager of Sino Hydro, talks of the need for positive outcomes for local communities when working in Africa.

"In 2011, Kawaha secondary school faced a very serious water crisis, especially in 2011, Kenya experienced an extreme drought disaster; the teachers and students in Kahawa School suffered a serious water shortage. As soon as we learnt of this news, we immediately decided to sponsor a water supply facility for this school"

Margaret Ngjagag is the principal of Kahawa Garrison secondary school in Nairobi. She explains the importance of the project:

"Sufficient supply: the toilets can flush, the students have enough water in the dining hall for the kitchen, there is a lot of water to clean, the lawns are very beautiful, the teachers are very happy, the children have water at home, they can now take safe water – they can drink water in school, we don't have to buy bottled water… free of charge from the borehole"

Chinese firms have greatly increased their activity in Africa in the past decade, either through direct investment, or aid. In 2009, China became Africa's biggest trading partner.

According to the Africa Research institute, China's foreign direct investment in Africa totaled 491 million US dollars in 2003, and 14.7 billion US dollars in 2011. Research from Standard Chartered estimates that trade between China and Africa will hit 385 billion US dollars by 2015.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood top leader Mohamed Badie has been ordered to 15 days in prison over the alleged killing of protesters.

Badie was arrested by police in Cairo on Tuesday, and transferred under intense security to Mazraah prison.

Egypt's Anti-Coup Alliance leaders say they are extremely concerned over the arrest, and are warning against the spread of violence.

''He runs the peaceful protests, he is a symbol, we are greatly saddened about his arrest, and we are greatly saddened about him being taken to prison without being prosecuted, without any legal procedures, and this will effect us all.''

A Brotherhood spokesman said the arrest was part of a plot against the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak.

The Brotherhood leader is accused of killing opponents of ousted Islamic President Mohamed Morsi, inciting clashes against security forces, and assaulting government institutions.

Badie's deputy Mahmoud Ezzat has been appointed temporary leader of the Islamist group.

Meantime, Egypt Finance Minister Ahmed Galal said the economy would not be dented if the U.S. or European nations decided to cut off aid as a response to the army's crackdown last week.

''What is happening to us is that maybe, maybe we don't know that, maybe we are losing some money in some place but we are getting some money or even more money from another place. So in a way at the end of the day, my books are okay."

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.

The European Union's privacy watchdogs are demanding an independent investigation on the PRISM spying program.

A working group would assess the controversial program as well as other platforms used by the U.S. National Security Agency.

This comes just days after the the British authorities forced the Guardian newspaper to destroy material leaked by Edward Snowden.

Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald is the journalist who broke most of the stories on the controversial PRISM program, amid its ongoing revelations.

It also comes as David Miranda reported to be Greenwald's partner, was held by London police at Heathrow airport for nine hours on Sunday, while in transit from Germany to Brazil.

"Well I think this is an Alice In Wonderland world because they didn't know what was in whatever it was that Miranda was carrying. And what they have done is to allied journalism and terrorism and I think this is why this has caused outcry around the world."

Miranda had been staying with US film-maker Laura Poitras, who has also reportedly been working on the Snowden files with the Guardian newspaper.

Miranda's detention has caused outrage by some, with Brazil calling the move 'unjustifiable.'

Britain has defended its action, maintaining the detention was "legally and procedurally sound".

Miranda is now challenging the legality of his detention, and will try to to prevent the police from examining electronic items seized from him.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited the remains of a Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, southern Germany.

The visit on Tuesday evening is the first time an acting German chancellor has visited Dachau.

"This is a very special moment for me to meet with you and other survivors and relatives of survivors at this place. And I want to cordially thank you for coming."

She said that what happened at the concentration camps was and continues to be incomprehensible.

"No chancellor has been here before and I think it's good. It certainly has something to do with the election campaign but that she finds time to come here is all right."

After the visit, Merkel gave a political speech at a campaign event in the nearby town.

Merkel is now running her campaign for the re-election in a federal election next month.

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is reporting around 300 tonnes of highly contaminated water has leaked from a storage tank.

"It can be said that we found a radiation level strong enough to give someone a five-year dose of radiation within one hour."

TEPCO also admits the leak, which hasn't been stopped, could be flowing fast enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in a week's time.

TEPCO, after months of denials, has finally admitted that contaminated water is reaching the ocean from its shattered facility.

The company is still struggling to figure out how to keep the crippled nuclear plant from doing more damage, despite the earthquake and tsunami hitting the plant 2.5-years ago.

Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf has been formally indicted on murder charges in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf, who was president at the time Bhutto was murdered, is rejecting the charges against him, calling them politically-motivated.

Four witnesses, including an American journalist, have given sworn statements against Musharraf in connection with the charges.

Musharraf's lawyer, Afsha Adil, says the statements shouldn't be considered evidence.

"The important thing is this: you will have to prove the allegations, with evidence, and still there is no evidence on record, so we can say the future of President Musharraf is quite clean and neat. These are all fabricated cases. There is nothing solid in all these cases, even Benazir murder case."

The court decision to indict Musharraf marks the first time a former army chief in Pakistan has been charged with a crime.

Musharraf has been in-and-out of jail since returning to Pakistan earlier this year in an effort to try to contest the recent parliamentary elections.

The central government here in China has outlined how it intends to allow social investment into the railway sector.

A guideline has issued by the central government on how to innovate railway funding and speed up railway construction.

The guideline suggests that ownership and management of intercity railways or rail lines in suburban areas can be opened up to local governments or private investment.

Resercher Wang Jun from the China Center For International Ecomonic Exchange says the central government is targeting the construction of railways to try to boost local economies.

"China's central and western regions seriously lack the construction of railway coverage. But we are now also facing financial problems, including how to lower the high debt in the railway sector."

Earlier this month, the China Railway Corporation, which replaced the Ministry of Railways, set an investment target of up to 660 billion yuan in the overall railway sector this year.

As part of the plan, the central government will give subsidies to the state-owned corporation over the next 3-years.

This is part of the broader attempt by the governmennt to make this country's state-dominated sectors, such as the railway sector, more market-oriented.

"If the railway system wants to be more opened up to the market, the threashold lies in the price. The central government can fix an institutional price, which can be floating according to the market needs. This kind of pricing mechanism can bring more benefits to passengers and further promote the development of the railway sector."

The new plans also call for the creation of a railway development fund to support national railway projects.

The fund will be set up with cash from both the central government and other social investment vehciles.

Investors would be looking for any hints on Fed tapering plans as the Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes of its July 30-31 meeting on Wednesday.

The consumer electronics retailer reported its earnings and revenue for the second quarter both of which beat market consensus.

Home Depot shares shed 1.22 percent though the Dow component beat market expectations both on earnings and revenue for the second quarter.

In Europe, European shares hit a three-week low and a major volatility index jumped on Tuesday.

Investors fear that U.S. Federal Reserve will start to scale back its monetary stimulus measures next month.

New stats suggest profits of China's state-owned enterprises or SOEs have been picking up in the last three months to the end of July.

The Ministry of Finance is reporting net profits at SOEs grew by 7.6 percent year on year to 1.3 trillion yuan in the first seven months of the year.

The data also indicates profits of centrally-administered SOEs surged 14.9 percent from a year earlier.

SOEs in the electronics, petrochemicals, power generation and property sectors reported relatively fast profit growth.

Those in the transportation, non-ferrous metal, coal and chemical sectors saw declines.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. or CNOOC is reporting a 7.9-percent increase in its net profit in the first half of 2013.

The country's largest offshore oil producer reports net profits hit 34.4 billion yuan in the first half and sales revenue growth of 15.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the company's crude oil and natural gas output was up 23.1 percent year-on-year to 198.1 million barrels of oil equivalent.

China Telecom has formed a joint venture with Chinese internet firm NetEase to launch a new mobile chat tool.

The new app, called Yixin, is expected to try to challenge Tencent's popular WeChat application.

Different from Wechat, Yixin users can send free text and voice messages to any mobile phone users, regardless if they have the Yixin app or not.

China Telecom has a 73 percent share of the joint venture, while NetEase has the remaining stake.

Called Zhejiang Yixin Technology, the joint venture has registered capital of 200-million yuan.

Zhejiang Yixin is hoping to have more than 100 million registered users within six months.

For more on this, CRI's Paul James spoke with Doug Young, associate professor at Fudan University and former China company news chief at Reuters.

Doug Young, associate professor at Fudan University and former China company news chief at Reuters.

The Chinese government is reportedly working on setting up a new agency to deal with issues connected to monetary policy, finanical regulations.

It's reportedly going to be tasked with the oversight of financial products, along with accounting across different financial sectors.

Under the new plan, the central bank will govern bond sales in the inter-bank market.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission will oversee bonds issued by listed companies.

The National Development and Reform Commission will have the power to approve bond issues by non-public firms.

Eastman Kodak Co has just earned court approval for a plan to come out of bankruptcy as a much smaller digital-imaging company.

It's being reported the once mighty photography pioneer plans to emerge from bankruptcy as early as September 3rd.

Kodak will focus its business mainly on commercial products such as high-speed digital printing technology and flexible packaging for consumer goods.

Kodak was founded in 1880 by George Eastman, inventor of the hand-held camera and rolled photographic film.

Kodak filed a $6.75 billion bankruptcy in January 2012, weighed down by high pension costs and it's delay in embracing digital camera technology.

The two sides have pledged to enhance their cooperation particularly in the fields of national development, disaster prevention and poverty reduction.

Those funds have been used to popularize the use of digital television and are expected to go into hydro-power, thermal-power and development park projects.

Zheng Zhijie says it was part of the 18.9-billion-dollars of outstanding loans the CDB has brought to African countries so far.

A Chinese military spokesperson says a window has emerged to open talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Guan Youfei made the comments in Washington on the sidelines of Chinese defense minister Chang Wanquan's visit to the US.

Guan says the US government has voiced willingness to work with the Chinese side to realize a faster solving of the issue.

Zimbabwe's top court has thrown out a petition to challenge the outcome of last month's presidential election, ruling that incumbent president Robert Mugabe was duly re-elected.

The disposal of the court challenge by Mugabe's challenger, outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has paved the way for Mugabe's inauguration later this week.

Mugabe got over 60 percent of the vote, while Tsvangirai only garnered around 34 percent.

Observers from several regional blocs and other countries have largely endorsed the outcome.

The Czech parliament has voted to dissolve itself, paving the way for an early election.

The dissolution was supported by 140 members of the 200-seat lower house of parliament.

President Milos Zeman is now tasked to schedule an election, which is likely to be held at the end of October.

The Czech cabinet led by Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok submitted its resignation last week after failing to win a vote of confidence.

Charges are expected to be filed later today in the suspected killing of an Australian university student in the US state of Oklahoma by three teenagers.

Christopher Lane, from Melbourne, was out jogging during a visit to his girlfriend and her family in Duncan on Friday when he was shot in the back.

Police say three male suspects, all aged below 17, have admitted they decided to kill someone "for the fun."

A man suspected of killing three people and injuring 12 others on a bus in Anyang, Henan province, has been arrested.

24-year-old Zhou Jiangbo was recognized as he bought food nearly 24 hours after the attack.

The Chinese government has launched a five-month campaign to combat illegal online pharmaceutical sales.

Vendors who market drugs online without obtaining business licenses and those selling fake drugs will be targeted.

Drugs for the treatment of tumors, sexual dysfunction, diabetes and high blood pressure have been listed as "major targets".

Regulations relevant to online drug sales will be revised, and drug producers, traders and consumers are encouraged to provide tips in order to regulate online drug sales.

A mother in Kaihua, Zhejiang province, donated a number of her daughter's organs, including kidneys, liver, heart and cornea, after she died of a brain tumor.

She and her husband made the decision after they learned that a large number of patients were waiting for organ transplants.

A book borrowing service at Metro stations in Shanghai has received an enthusiastic response since its launch last week.

Metro riders just have to pay 1 yuan (16 US cents) to borrow and return the books and magazines.

The income generated will be used to send books to schools for migrant workers' children.

A majority 46 percent of surveyed college students say that China's Twitter-like information-sharing and social network platform, Sina Weibo, has encouraged them to start their own businesses.

The report said that 46.37 percent of respondents are motivated to explore entrepreneurial options with Weibo, using the Internet tool to launch their own company.

Another some 40 percent added that Weibo helps to improve their chances of finding jobs opportunities.

The Beijing People's Art Theatre has made its debut at the Edinburgh International Festival.

It's also the European premiere of Chinese director Lin Zhaohua's version of Shakespeare's tragedy Coriolanus.

But that's what Chinese director Lin Zhaohua did in 2007 when he first introduced the Tragedy of Coriolanus to the Beijing People's Art Theatre with two rock bands, Miserable Faith and Suffocated.

"I think it's important for people in the United Kingdom to experience very different interpretations of the works of William Shakespeare."

"Shakespeare is of course a British playwright. But he's a world figure. And he's open therefore to interpretation across many different genres of art, and across many different cultures."

Set in Republican Rome, Coriolanus describes the predicament faced by a victorious military commander after he becomes a policymaker.

It sheds light on the contradiction between the general public and those with ruling power.

"What I value most is the relationship between the ordinary people and the ruling group. That's it. Nothing more. The contradiction is always there. That's the case in China, in Britain, and all over the world."

"The interpretation from Lin Shaohua, I think he's making a strong reference not only to a very particular form of drama from the late 16th, early 17th century. But he's also perhaps making a statement, a symbol of the emergence of the People's Republic of China—how these acts of selflessness and heroism built a new nation and the challenges. And I read it as a contemporary metaphor for China."

[Mills has been in contact with Lin Zhaohua for years, hoping the Chinese director could bring his production to Edinburgh.

But it's not until this year that Mills successfully incorporated Lin's work into the program.

Pu Cunxin, the leading actor of the play, who's also the deputy president of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, explains.

"The budget is one of the problems. We've got an eighty-strong cast, which could be a big burden for any organizer. This time, the organizers have spent heavily on this, owing a lot to the sponsor. Otherwise, only ticket sales can barely cover it."]

The production is supported by China's Ministry of Culture and the KT Wong Foundation.

Day one of the fifth Ashes test between England and Australia will get underway later today.

Australian head coach Darren Lehmann has made some last minute changes to his lineup ahead of the match.

Jackson Bird and Usman Khawaja have been dropped from the team, with Mitchell Starc and James Faulkner taking over instead.

Australia captain Michael Clarke said he's not planning on losing this final test, as a win would be a critical moral boost for the team ahead of the return Test series in Australia this winter.

"We may have lost the series but we still have a lot to gain. I think that we have a lot of cricket to play against England in the next 12 months is extra motivation. We need to show a lot of people, but ourselves as well, if we continue to play that style and brand of cricket we can beat any team in the world in any condition."

Alistair Cook has received some flak for not scoring enough runs, but the English captain defended his performance.

I have given my batting just as much attention as I would do if I wasn't captain so that's certainly not the reason that I haven't scored the runs I would like to have done in this series. Sometimes it's the natural ebb and flow of form. Things haven't been quite as good this summer as they have been for the last couple of years. All I can do is know that my record suggests I will score runs and I've done that in the past.

The final tennis Major of the year—The US Open—gets underway in New York next week, and tennis fans are already discussing who's likely to walk away with the trophy.

In the mens draw, Andy Murray will enter as the defending champion and a favorite to reclaim the title.

But the Scotsman admitted that he doesn't put much weight on pre-tournament predictions.

"You can play great tennis one day and then wake up a couple of days later and feel horrible so i don't think there is a clear favourite　- Novak has played great tennis on the hard court and obviously Rafa would be the form player just now how well he has been playing."

Four time US Open champion John McEnroe named Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova as possible winners, but said it's hard to see past Serena Williams if she brings her A-game.

With ten months to go to the opening world cup matches, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke confirmed that Sao Paolo's stadium will be ready in time.

A few months ago, FIFA had grave doubts over whether the venue would be ready in time for its December deadline.

But after an inspection tour to the 12 host cities, Valcke said construction is progressing on track. In fact the secretary general's seemed almost jubilant.

"Why we should be negative, all is working, we are all happy, we will have the opening game of the world cup here, Brazil playing I don't know whom again, lets be happy, lets enjoy, lets all be happy."

There have also been concerns that more protests and unrest will break out during the world cup matches, but Valcke says organisers are as prepared as they can be.

Forty years after making history with an undefeated NFL season, the men of the 1972 Miami Dolphins squad finally got their White House moment.

"Today, I am proud to welcome the only undefeated, untied team in NFL history to the White House for the very first time - give it up for the 1972 Miami Dolphins!"

President Obama welcomed the former players in the East Room, where he congratulated them, but also reminded everyone that he is a loyal Chicago Bears fan.

Former head coach Don Shula—who is now 83 and in a wheel chair—gave the President a signed 1972 Dolphins jersey.

"Everyone signed this, the undefeated '72 Dolphins and this is something that we hope you find a good spot for somewhere in your office where you can look at it and think about the whipping we put on that '85 Bears team."

The 1972 team's perfect season of 17 wins is a record that remains unmatched in the NFL today.

A new trailer for Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai's new film The Grandmaster has been released.

The action film is based on the life of Bruce Lee's teacher, legendary kungfu master Ip Man.

The film will reunite actors Zhang Ziyi and Tony Leung with writer/director Wong who all worked on Wong's 2046 film together in 2004.

Yuen Woo-ping, famous for his choreography of fights in films such as The Matrix, Kill Bill, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, will star and choreograph certain scenes.

The Grandmaster hits US screens this weekend, while a UK release date has yet to be announced.

Director Bryan Singer has confirmed shooting has officially wrapped on next year's X-men Days of Future Past film.

Production for the sequel to 2011's X-men First Class began last April in Montreal, Canada.

Singer who has been using Twitter to throughout the film's production as a way to keep fans up to date on the film's status made the announcement through a tweet.

The new film will have a massive cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellan among several others.

The film will find everyone's favorite mutants traveling through time and battling Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage's mutant hunting Sentinel robots.

The 10th-Shanghai Book Fair will close tonight with a press briefing held to highlight the event and announce future plans.

Highlights from the fair include international A-listers suchas Russian-American poet Ilya Kamingsky, award winning Italian author Paolo Giordano, and Candaian science fiction writer Robert J Sawyer.

Kan Ninhui, Vice Director of Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau, confirms the fair's future goals will include to be more international.

"The international elements are an integral part of Shanghai book fair. We will enhance and elevate the quality of the literary and publication activities."

Kan also hopes the book fair will become more than a promotional platform for new books.

"We hope new creative ideas, in-depth perspectives in the academic and cultural fieds from home and abroad will be announced through the platform of Shanghai Book Fair."

The week long event was held in the Shanghai Exhibition Center and occurs annually during the third week of August.

Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke has had her image used in a Russian anti-rape advertisement without her knowledge.

The 26-year-old actress's face appears on an ad for a campaign in the city of Yekaterinburg which backs Russian politician Yakov Silin.

The ad features Clarke's face but calls her Anya and has a few lines about how she feels safe walking the streets of Yekaterinburg.

Though the campaign organizers admit they did not seek Clarke's permission they posted the ad on facebook anyway claiming they used her picture to make it clear it's a fantasy.

Sony has announced the release date for their next generation video game console the Playstation 4.

Gamers can get their hands on the new machine on November 15th in North America and November 29th in Europe.

Sony also announced the console will be available in a total of 32-countries during this year's holiday season.

The PS4 carries a price tag of 400-US dollars and euros in a bid to prevent similar losses Sony initially suffered with the released of the PS3.

It is available now for preorder though consoles ordered in the UK are not guaranteed to arrive on the launch date.

新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2013/08/21（在线收听）