The Beijing Hour
Evening Edition
Paul James with you on this Wednesday, September 11th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this evening.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has delivered the keynote speech to the opening of this year's Summer Davos session in Dalian.
US President Barack Obama is still holding on to the possibility of military strikes against Syria, despite the Syrian government's decision to hand over its chemical weapons to the international community.
North and South Korean authorities are set to re-open the Kaesong Industrial Complex on Monday.
In Business, new stats show vehicle sales here in China continue to rise, despite impending traffic restrictions here in the capital.
In sports, Wales is out, the Americans are in for next year's Football World Cup in Brazil.
In entertainment, we'll detail who's up for Country Music's top awards.
Weather
Beijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 18 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow thundershowers with a high temperature of 27.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be cloudy tonight, with a low of 25, cloudy tomorrow, with a high of 33.
Lhasa will be overcast tonight, 6 degrees the low, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 19.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, thundershowers, with a high of 32.
Kabul, sunny, 31.
Over in Australia
Sydney, sunny, highs of 23.
Canberra, overcast, 17.
Brisbane, sunny, 28.
And finally, Perth will be overcast with a high of 19.
Top News
2013 Summer Davos opens in Dalian
This year's Summer Davos session has opened in Dalian.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the keynote speech to the opening ceremony.
"China needs to rely on reforms to ensure the long-term, sustainable and healthy development of its economy. A comprehensive reform must include the economic system, among which reform in the financial area is a crucial part. It's a complicated project."
Klaus Schwab is the founder and executive chair of the World Economic Forum.
"Not only in China, but everywhere in the world, we must transform our economies, to make some more environmentally sustainable, and more socially inclusive. Given the pace of technological development and progress, innovation becomes the key driver of the economy and social progress."
The theme of this year's forum is "meeting the innovation imperative".
Discussions will focus on issues ranging from sustainable growth to energy security.
More than 15-hundred delegates from 90 different countries and regions are taking part in the three-day forum.
This year's Summer Davos runs through Friday.
Obama says military threat is necessary
Anchor:
US President Barack Obama says he still maintain's his right to take military action in Syria, despite his tacit acceptance of a Russian-brokered solution to have Syria's chemical weapons taken over by the international community.
CRI's Washington correspondent Xiaohong has more.
Ann:
Addressing the nation Tuesday night, US President Obama says he is exploring a Russian diplomatic plan to end the chemical weapons crisis in Syria, though it's too early to predict the outcome.
"It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments, but this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad's strongest allies."
President Obama says he will send Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with the Russian foreign minister in the days to come and he himself will continue his own discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Despite the possibility of a diplomatic resolution, President Obama says military threat is necessary.
He notes after more than a decade of wars, the American people are weary of military action, but says the United States must act to punish the Assad regime for using chemical weapons. Otherwise it could pose a danger to US security.
"If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them."
President Obama reiterated his pledge US military action would be limited and no troops will be sent to the ground.
He also addressed the concern of a possible retaliation from Syria, saying the regime does not have the capability.
The US Congress was expected to vote this week on whether or not to grant military action against Syria.
However, the latest development has postponed the vote to give time for diplomatic maneuvers.
Xiao Hong, CRI, Washington.
Syria to declare chemical weapons and sign arms ban
Obama's speech comes despite the Syrian government's decision to agree to a Russian-backed proposition to have the country's chemical weapons come under international control.
Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem.
"We are ready to inform about the location of chemical weapons, halt the production of chemical weapons and also show these objects to representatives of Russia, other states and the United Nations. Our adherence to the Russian initiative has the goal of halting the possession of all chemical weapons."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been putting mounting pressure on the US accept the Syrian government's plan to forego its chemical weapons.
"All this makes sense and can function, can work, only in the event that we hear that the American side and those who support the US, in this sense, reject the use of force. Because it's hard to make any country - Syria or another country, any other state in the world - disarm on a unilateral basis if an attack is being prepared against it."
Addressing the US public on television, Obama has also issued a statement of support for a French resolution in the UN Security Council for Syria to hand-over and have its chemical weapons destroyed.
In the wake of this, a US Senate vote on whether to authorize strikes against Syria has been delayed.
Meanwhile, a delegation from a Syrian opposition group is now in Beijing to discuss Syrian issue with Chinese officials and scholars.
QA with Qu Xing on Syria crisis
For more situation in Syria, we spoke earlier to Qu Xing, Director of the China Institute of International Studies.
…
Qu Xing, Director of the China Institute of International Studies.
Kaesong industrial complex to reopen on Monday
South Korea's Unification Ministry has announced that North and South Koreas have agreed to re-open the Kaesong Industrial Park on Monday.
South Korean ministry spokesperson Kim Ki-woong.
"The industrial complex will operate from September 16. Having overcome the big crisis, it will be a beginning of normal operations at the industrial complex for businessmen who have been full of hope that operations at the complex will resume."
The deal comes nearly a month after the two sides first agreed to resume operations at the facility.
North and South Koreas have already set up a joint management committee to give Seoul an equal say on the operations in the zone.
It had been managed solely by Pyongyang in the past.
The two Koreas have also set out a plan to attract foreign investors into the zone in October.
The factories have been shut down since April.
Istanbul tense after protests over death of demonstrator turn violent
Police are on wide-spread patrols along the streets of Istanbul following a day of clashes among security forces and protesters.
The unrest has been sparked by the funeral of a 22-year-old protester.
He was hit and killed by a police tear gas canister amid an anti-government protest on Tuesday.
Police in Istanbul have denied their involvement in the young man's death.
Tolga Cakir is a lawyer speaking on behalf of the demonstrators.
"Tonight approximately 10 or 12 people were brought to Taksim First Aid Hospital,who were injured during the protests in Taksim. The conditions of two of them were serious. One of them had fractured their skull, needed to be operated urgently."
Additional unrest has also broken out in other cities in Turkey, including the capital Ankara.
Mass demonstrations erupted in Turkey earlier this year, with secularist demonstrators accusing the government of Prime Minister Reycep Tayyip Erdogan of trying to promote an Islamic agenda in the country.
Australian firefighters battling several blazes helped by cooler weather
Firefighters in Australia are struggling to combat several blazes around Sydney.
One of the fires has already destroyed at least one house and several cars in the western suburbs of Australia's largest city.
New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell.
"My message to families in areas that are bushfire-prone is to start to take your precautions now for summer. Don't leave it another month or two months. Clean out your gutters, prepare your plans, so that we can battle what is clearly going to be a difficult bushfire season."
Emergency warnings are already in-place in 4-areas in and around Sydney.
Cooler conditions this Wednesday have helped reduced the threat.
However, 21 uncontained fires are still burning around New South Wales.
A blaze near the Blue Mountains, which are about 80 kilometres west of Sydney, is expected to take several days to contain.
Authorities are unsure, at this point, what set the original fires off.
Frankfurt Auto Show
Anchor:
This year's Frankfurt Auto Show will open on Thursday. Part of the focus of this year's show is being directed at both electric and hybrid models.
CRI's Hu Jia has more.
Reporter:
Recovering auto sales in the United States and continued strength in China have helped lighten the mood at this year's Frankfurt Auto Show.
Germany's Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW are all making money thanks to sales outside Europe.
And now at their home show, the companies are showing off new products with swagger and glitz at their home show.
Daimler's CEO Dieter Zetsche.
"We are the market leader in this field, based on the Smart electric drive. We have the SLS electric drive, a van with electric drive in our portfolio today and we announced in this show the B-Class electric drive which will have very strong characteristics to defend our position."
Meanwhile, BMW is also rolling out its new I Series of electrical vehicles.
BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer says the green notion offers a feel good factor to wealthy drivers, while still allowing them to enjoy the fast and powerful driving experience.
"At the time, many people asked us: will this car be built? They thought it was a mission impossible. Today, the BMW i8 is standing here as a series car, I repeat, as a series car. It is just as emotional, dynamic and efficient as we promised."
The European Union aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions for all new cars by 2015.
And the 28 nation bloc is working on stricter targets for 2020.
As electrics and hybrids only accounting 0.2 percent of the whole auto market, the profits and prospects for sales are not a 100 percent guarantee.
But experts say they can prepare carmakers in a better position to meet government measures for lower average emissions.
Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer is a researcher of Center for Automotive Research at Germany's University of Duisberg-Essen.
"I think the hopes are on China, a second wave, the fact that the big cities, the mega cities in China have introduced restrictions for the registration of new cars will push electric cars. Zero emission vehicles are excluded from these restrictions."
The increasing importance of the Chinese market has also been acknowledged by the president of Infiniti, Johan De Nysschen.
"We are focusing now the globalisation of the brand, moving away from our strong U.S.-centric focus, and I think it's clear that China must represent the next focus area for us."
Other auto majors such as Land Rover and Opel have displayed their production-based green model at the show.
For CRI, this is Hu Jia.
Biz Reports
Stocks
Markets here in Asia saw a relatively flat day of trading, following the recent rallies that have been spurred on by better than expected economic data in the region this week.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.15%.
The Shenzhen Component Index surged by 0.5%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped by 0.2%
Elsewhere here in Asia,
Japan's Nikkei ended flat after hitting a 7-week high this week amidst receding fears over Syria.
South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.5%
Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.5%
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% on the back of new stats showing a surge in consumer confidence in the country.
China Auto sales up 10.3% in August
New statistics show vehicle sales here in China have hit 1.65-million units in August.
This is up over 10-percent year on year.
The August figures also represent a 8.7-percent increase month-on-month compared to July.
Sales of automobiles here in China has come in at around 14-million units over the first 8-months of this year.
New Home sales grows by 36% year on year for January to August
Sale of new homes through the first 8-months of this year is up by 36-percent year on year.
From January to August, nearly 4 trillion yuan has been spent on new homes across the country.
The National Bureau of Statistics is reporting August saw a slight slowdown in the rate of growth compared to July.
However, the sale of new homes remains strong, despite the government's attempt to restrict new home sales.
China's Fiscal Revenue surges 9.2% in August
New statistics from the Ministry of Finance here in China show fiscal revenues are up 9.2-percent year on year in August.
This is up from 8.8-percent in July.
The Chinese government has collected nearly 860-billion yuan worth of revenues so far this year.
Call-In Apple
Anchor:
Apple has launched two new iphone models here in China.
One is a top-end iPhone 5S.
The other is a slightly cheaper iPhone 5C.
This is the first time Apple has unveiled a new product here in China.
The new smartphones include fingerprint unlock technology.
However, the company is touting the hardware in the new phones as the biggest innovation.
Tim Bajarin is with Apple's Creative Strategies.
"This is the first pocket phone that has a 64-bit processor in it. And that will allow a lot more applications that can take advantage of the 64-bit, whether it be games or multi-tasking. When the software community gets their hands on it, they're going to go crazy creating better applications that are faster, speedier and have more functionalities."
Despite the glitz of the unveiling here in China, shareholders have not been impressed.
The company's shares lost more than 2-percent in Tuesday trading in New York.
For more on the new Apple products, CRI's Rebecca Hume spoke earlier with Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai
…
Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai, speaking with CRI's Rebecca Hume.
Fonterra set to open second farming hub in China
Fonterra is set to launch a second farming hub here in China.
The New Zealand dairy producer was at the centre of a botulism contamination scare in July.
The botulism scare turned out to be false.
The new hub, which is scheduled to begin operations in the latter half of next year, will be in Ying County, about 50-kilometers south of the city of Datong in Shanxi.
The company says the location is ideal due to its proximity to customers and the availability of high quality feed.
The new hub will have 3-thousand cattle farms.
The move is the latest step in the company's strategy of producing 1-billion liters of milk in China by 2020.
Fonterra's new farming hub is expected to create 500 new jobs.
The demand for raw milk is increasing at between 6 to 8-percent per year here in China.
However, domestically-produced supplies are only increasing by 2-percent per year.
China sets up lithium battery plan in Bolivia
Chinese firm Linyi Gelon is set to build Bolivia's first-ever lithium battery plant.
Bolivian authorities have announced the plant will be located in the Uyuni Salt field in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes.
The first batch of batteries from the plant are expected to be delivered by April.
The project is worth just under 3-million US dollars.
Chinese technicians are on their way to help to install the machinery and train the Bolivian workers to operate the plant.
Bolivia, along with neighbouring Chile and Argentina, hold 85-percent of the world's lithium reserves.
Indonesian sells $1.5 billion dollar denominated bonds
Indonesia has sold 1.5-billion US dollars worth of dollar-denominated bonds in an attempt to support the plunging rupiah.
The average yield has come in at 6.1-percent.
This is the highest yield for Indonesian bonds since 2009.
The Indonesian rupiah has lost 14-percent of its value against the US dollar so far this year.
This has sent inflation rates in Indonesia above 9-percent.
Despite being a major oil refiner, Indonesia relies heavily on dollar-denominated energy and food imports.
KKR seeks to buy majority stake in Panasonic Healthcare in $1.5 billion deal
US private equity firm KKR is considering teaming up with state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan in its' bid to buy a majority stake in Panasonic's health-care unit.
Panasonic Healthcare runs blood banks and provides hospice care in Japan.
It's valued at over 1.5 billion US dollars.
KKR has already been granted preferential negotiating rights.
Panasonic, which will maintain a minority stake in its healthcare business, is making the sale to try to streamline its business operations.
The company is trying to recoup the heavy losses it's been experiencing in its electronics business.
South Korea Employment highest gain in 11 Months
South Korea's employment gains have hit an 11-month high through August.
More than 430-thousand people have been employed last month compared to a year ago.
Seasonally-adjusted, the increase is still over 100-thousand.
Employment of older workers is being cited as some of the main reasons for the increase.
South Korea's Finance Ministry has also identified high temperatures and low rainfall as another factor bolstering job creation in the agriculture sector.
The manufacturing sector has also added some 5-thousand jobs.
Australia consumer confidence rise to highest level since 2010
Australia's consumer confidence has shot to its highest level in nearly 3-years so far this month.
The Australian Index of Consumer Sentiment has gone up to a reading of 110 so far this month.
August's figure came in at 106.
A reading above 100 indicates optimists outnumber pessimists.
Southern Airlines to connect Guangxi with SE Asia
China Southern Airlines has announced its opening up a number of new flights into destinations in southeast Asia via Guangxi.
The Chinese carrier is going to fly routes connecting the tourist hot-spot of Guilin with the regional capital Nanning to Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand.
China Southern is also going to run routes from Guilin and Nanning to Singapore and Danang in Vietnam.
The routes are set to begin running on October 27th.
Headline News
2013 Summer Davos opens in Dalian
This year's Summer Davos session has opened in Dalian.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the keynote speech to the opening ceremony.
He said China needs to rely on reforms to ensure the long-term, sustainable and healthy development of its economy. A comprehensive reform must include the economic system, among which reform in the financial area is a crucial part.
The theme of this year's forum is "meeting the innovation imperative".
Discussions will focus on issues ranging from sustainable growth to energy security.
This year's Summer Davos runs through Friday.
Violence claims 12 lives in Pakistan's Karachi
At least a dozen more people have been killed in another round of violence in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.
At least two of the dead are local police officers.
The killings come despite a paramilitary crackdown on Karachi.
The crackdown began last week on-orders from the Prime Minister, amid the lingering violence that has been gripping the city in recent weeks.
Karachi, a port city lying along Pakistan's southern border with the Arabian Sea, has become a notorious haven for criminals looking to exploit the city's bustling trade.
Indian prosecution demands death sentence to 4 rapists in Delhi gang rape
Prosecutors are expected to call for the death penalty for the 4-men convicted of gang-raping a young woman in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
All of the men have been convicted of gang rape, murder and 11 other charges for their attack on the woman last year.
The court has heard the victim, a 23-year-old medical student, was sexually assaulted with a rod.
She died of her injuries 2-weeks after being assaulted.
While the death penalty is on-the-books in India, it hasn't been enforced in several years.
The death penalty in India needs the approval of the country's President before being enacted.
Probe of Sunday's THAI aircraft accident begins
The official probe into the accident aboard a Thai airways landing at Bangkok's main airport is underway.
The plane skidded off the runway after its nose-gear collapsed after landing.
The flight originated in Guangzhou.
The accident left 40 people hurt.
14 had to be hospitalized.
None of the injuries were life-threatening.
Fonterra set to open second farming hub in China
Fonterra is set to launch a second farming hub here in China.
The New Zealand dairy producer was at the centre of a botulism contamination scare in July.
The botulism scare turned out to be false.
The new hub, which is scheduled to begin operations in the latter half of next year, will be in Ying County, about 50-kilometers south of the city of Datong in Shanxi.
The move is the latest step in the company's strategy of producing 1-billion liters of milk in China by 2020.
Newspaper Picks
China Daily
"City bribes residents to answer favorably in survey"
The government of Shaoyang, Hunan province, has recently been sending text messages to its residents to comment favorably in a phone survey asking people their opinions of the local government's performance.
City residents who answered questions in the phone survey would get 300 yuan ($50) from the city government as a subsidy.
Residents have said that the message sent by the city government means that they can only praise the government's performance and that the subsidy was being used to buy their opinions.
The city's comprehensive management office said that residents can say what they want in the survey and that the subsidy is being used to encourage them to actively take part in the poll.
Xinhua
"Tibet vows to protect world's last 'pure land'"
A top official of Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region has vowed to put environmental protection first to protect the world's last "pure land".
Chen Quanguo, secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, said environmental construction should be the heart of Tibet's development in a bid to protect the region's forests, grasslands, mountains and rivers.
Projects with high energy consumption, pollution and emissions will be strictly banned and mineral resource development will undergo environmental assessment procedures.
Currently, all important construction projects in the region will undergo environmental impact assessments.
Last year, the region's water, air and soil maintained good quality and no major pollution incidents occurred. Tibet remains one of the areas with the best environmental quality in the world.
News.com.au
"Hampton Creek foods launch Beyond Eggs made entirely from plants"
A US company has created an "egg" without any chicken involved at all.
Called Beyond Eggs, the artificial egg is made entirely from plants.
The eggs' creators, Hampton Creek, believe it could hold the solution to both better health and an improved farming industry.
Hampton Creek says, along with health benefits of lowering cholesterol, the product is flavoursome, good for the environment and your hip pocket too.
On its environmental benefits, it says: "Chickens require massive amounts of water and feed, and oh, release large amounts of greenhouse gases into your precious air. Plants … well, don't."
And as for cost, Hampton Creek reckon it could save shoppers' wallets as well.
"Egg costs from cooped up chickens are on the rise. We're guessing that you could find something else to spend your money on."
The idea has the backing of Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel and Bill Gates and is already hitting supermarket shelves in the US.
AFP
"Young man found after years living in Siberian wild"
Russian authorities have found a young man living alone in a Siberian forest after having apparently spent most of his life living there in a hut with his parents.
Locals near the town of Belokurikha found the man, who told the local prosecutor that he was born in 1993 and had lived in the forest since 1997, when his family decided to leave society.
But his parents left him alone in the hut in May before he finally went to a nearby village to ask for help when the summer ended
A local woman had brought the young man to the prosecutors out of fear that he may need help through the cold winter, but the man then had gone back to his hiding place in the forest.
Local authorities say the man looked normal and healthy, he only spoke slowly, since he doesn't communicate as often as most people.
Special Reports
Roof-top gardening in Beijing
Anchor:
Despite the recent move by authorities here in Beijing to dismantle a roof-top oasis, the push is still on to create garden-like settings atop this city's ever-growing highrise landscape.
CRI's Li Dong has more.
Reporter:
Every morning, Zhang Guichun starts his day taking care of the vegetables and plants growing in his rooftop garden.
Zhang says his 80-square-meters of rooftop is home to some 30 varieties of vegetables and fruits, including pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet bell peppers and melons.
"This is my hanging garden. Look, this is my small world. I want to have all kinds of vegetables around my garden, and that would be really attractive."
Zhang started planting vegetables in 2007 on the roof of his two-floor courtyard home, which is two miles away from the Temple of Heaven in southern Beijing.
Still, as rooftop gardening gets more popular in the city, some commercial buildings are also joining the green-thumb revolution.
Hongqiao Pearl Market is one of the most famous tourist markets in southern Beijing, and the building managers are turning their rooftop into a garden. Plants and flowers are grown on the rooftop garden, which is open to tourists and customers of the market.
Tan Tianying is the head of Beijing's Rooftop Landscaping Association.
Established in 2006, the semi-governmental organization provides technical training for people who are interested in rooftop gardening and drafts regulations that can promote the hobby.
Tan believes rooftop gardening is an effective weapon to protect Beijing's worsening environment:
"As the urbanization and industrialization goes faster, cities get more polluted and warmer. Rooftop landscaping is part of efforts to protect the environment in cities and it is an efficient measure to curb the worsening environment."
However, his association faces big difficulties in promoting the idea.
Major doubts about rooftop gardens range from a lack of horticultural knowledge to safety fears. Tan says:
"We often have people come to us and ask what if there is water leakage, what if these vegetables can't survive on rooftops, what about safety problems, and so on. We've faced all kinds of doubts since the very beginning, and the skepticism remains even now."
Statistics from the association says Beijing has 1.3 million square meters of "green roofs," with some of the area employed for growing produce and other areas for purely ornamental purposes. However the percentage is still too low.
City planners in Beijing hope to increase the green rooftop area by 10 percent every year.
ForCRI, I am Li Dong.
Sports
Jordan Lee at China National Games
Beginning with the China national games, Ma Long of Beijing has won the men's table tennis while Li Xiaoxia of Shandong topped the women's event.
The Women's badminton singles was won by Li Xue Rui of the PLA, and the mixed doubles was won by Lu Kai and Yu Yang of Liaoning.
The women's beach volleyball went to Jiangsu province, while the women's events in Handball and field hockey went to Anhui and Liaoning respectively.
Shandong still leads the medals table with 60 golds, while the hosts Liaoning are on 48 just ahead of the PLA on 44.
Well we can go live now to CRI's Jordan Lee who I believe is courtside at the moment.
…
Wales out and USA through to World Cup 2014
Now to football and in the world cup qualifiers Group A side Wales suffered a crushing 2-1 defeat against Macedonia, ending any chance they had of competing in Brazil next year.
The team's manager Chris Coleman had a difficult few days after first missing the team's flight due to a lost passport, and then being unable to play his star player, Gareth Bale, as the Real Madrid centre forward was not match fit.
Looking to group B, Italy sit comfortably at the top following their 1-0 victory against second-placed Bulgaria.
In other groups Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland sit top, while Russia lead Portugal by one point in group E for the moment.
Bosnia-Herzegovina are level on points with Greece at the top of group F,while England stay top of group G following their goalless draw against second placed Ukraine.
Moving to the Americas, and the USA's 2-0 victory over Mexico sees them reach their seventh straight world cup finals.
After the match USA Forward, Landon Donavan, thanked the clubs manager, Jurgen Klinsman and the rest of his team.
"urgen's done a great job here, all these guys have worked so hard here and everyone deserves it so much. I love this sport. And when I started 15 years ago you would of never had a game like this. So I'm proud to be a part of this growth. All of us have, yourself (reporter) included and we should enjoy a night like this. It's pretty special."
Kimi Raikkonen to join Alonso at Ferrari
In Formula one, it has been confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will make a return to Ferarri next season.
The Finn joins Spanish driver Fernando Alonso to complete probably the strongest driver line-ups in the sport.
The 33-year-old replaces Felipe Massa, who has been struggling for pace in recent seasons.
The Brazilian could now take Raikkonen's seat with Lotus, although team are also considering Nico Hulkenberg for the position.
Raikkonen won the world title with Ferrari in 2007, but seemed to lack motivation after this and was paid off by the team so they could bring in Alonso in 2009.
But since returning to F1, after a couple of seasons on the rally circuit, he has shown himself to be amongst the top four drivers in the world, alongside Alonso, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
Entertainment
Man Booker Prize 2013: Toibin and Crace lead shortlist
The shortlist for this year's Man Booker Prize has been unveiled.
Previous nominees Jim Crace and Colm Toibin are among the six writers to make this year's shortlist.
Crace says his novel "Harvest" is likely to be his last novel.
At 67, he is the oldest author on the list.
In contrast, 27-year-old Eleanor Catton is the youngest to make this year's cut with her book "The Luminaries."
Colm Toibin is on this year's list for his novel "The Testament of Mary," which runs only 101 pages.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the prize being awarded.
The winner of this year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction will be announced on October 15th in London.
'Jurassic Park 4' gets new title, release date revealed
Universal Pictures has announced a release date for Jurassic Park 4.
"Jurassic World" has been scheduled to hit cinemas in June of 2015.
The fourth instalment will be directed by Colin Trevorrow.
The American director is best known for the sci-fi comedy "Safety Not Guaranteed" which came out last year.
It's being reported Jurassic World will feature underwater dinosaurs and a return to the Isla Nublar location in Steven Spielberg's 1993 original.
The 3D version of the 1993 classic is still in theatres here in China.
Danai Gurira talks about her role in film 'Mother of George'
US actress Danai Gurira has returned to the world of indie film with her new work "Mother of George."
Gurira plays a woman from Nigeria's Yoruba tribe.
The film follows the Nigerian woman as she joins her fiancee in New York.
Gurira, whose family hails from Nigeria, says the film explores what someone from a different culture experiences when moving to the United States.
"She was a proud woman. She's in need of a certain reconciliation but she's unapologetic the entire time which I found really fascinating and I said people - I don't know how they think of African women but this is a kind of interesting component of the strength even though it's within a traditional realm and she lets her traditions."
Meanwhile, Gurira is also in the midst of filming the next season of "Walking Dead."
She's been asked if romance will bloom between her character and Rick Grimes in season four.
"At the end of the day we know from the comic books even that these two characters do develop a connection. How exactly that plays out - I don't know - we'll have to all see."
"Mother of George" opens in theaters in limited release in New York on Friday.
"Walking Dead" season four premieres on October 13th.
Brad Pitt Making World War Z Sequel
Brad Pitt has revealed he has begun work on a sequel to this year's zombie apocalypse film World War Z.
The adaptation of the Max Brooks novel was expected to flop but has ended up pulling in 530-million US dollars worldwide since its release in June.
The film has been the highest grossing film of Pitt's 25-year career.
It was originally intended to be the beginning of a trilogy but plans changed once the film encountered dozens of setbacks during production.
However, now a trilogy is a very likely possibility depending on how the sequel fares.
Country musicians react to the nominations for the Country Music
The nominations for this year's Country Music Awards have been announced.
Among those nominated for the CMA's top prize, Entertainer of the Year, include Jason Aldean.
"We're all kinda going after the same things. We're all trying to have hits and we're all trying to sell records and the awards shows kind of reflect that. Entertainer, to me obviously, that's the big one. Not just for me but for everybody. That's the big one."
Aldean is up against Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, country music legend George Strait and Taylor Swift.
Former Hootie and the Blowfish front-man Darius Rucker has been nominated for Single of the Year for his hit "Wagon Wheel."
Rucker has taken time to pay tribute to both Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor, who are both nominated for songwriting credits for "Wagon Wheel."
"I am so happy for Ketch. I am happy for Dylan. If they won it, it would be really cool to see them up there together and hear Bob say thank you. That would be crazy."
This year's CMA's, hosted by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, will take place on November 6th in Nashville, Tennessee.
That's it for this edition of the BJH
A quick recap of the headlines BEFORE WE GO...
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has delivered the keynote speech to the opening of this year's Summer Davos session in Dalian.
US President Barack Obama is still holding on to the possibility of military strikes against Syria, despite the Syrian government's decision to hand over its chemical weapons to the international community.
North and South Korean authorities are set to re-open the Kaesong Industrial Complex on Monday.
In Business, new stats show vehicle sales here in China continue to rise, despite impending traffic restrictions here in the capital. |