The Beijing Hour
Morning Edition
Paul James with you on this Tuesday , October 8th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this morning...
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told the APEC summit in Bali his government has plans to step up its economic reforms.
Search and rescue is still underway following the onslaught of Typhoon Fitow on the southeast China coast.
US President Barack Obama is now signalling a willingness to negotiate with the Republicans to deal with the budget and debt-ceiling impasse.
In Business.... Chinese president Xi Jinping has been talking free trade negotiations with his South Korean counterpart.
In sports... Roger Federer and his Chinese teammate are through to the next round in the doubles competition at the Shanghai Masters.
In entertainment... Jamacian-American wrapper Sean Kingston has announced a concert for Beijing next week.
First, let's check on what's happening on the weather front...
Weather
Beijing will be overcast today, with a high of 21 degree Celsius in the daytime, and it will be clear tonight with a low of 11.
In Shanghai, it will see moderate rain today, 25 the high, and it will see slight rain tonight, the low of 21 degrees Celsius.
Lhasa will be sunny in the daytime the temperature's at 18, and tonight will be clear with a low of 4 degree Celsius.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, sunny, 33.
Kabul, sunny, with a high of 30.
And in North America
New York, thundershowers, with a high of 24 degrees.
Washington, thundershowers, highs of 22
Houston, sunny, 27.
Honolulu, moderate rain, 29.
Toronto, moderate rain, 15.
Finally, on to South America,
Buenos Aires, sunny, 22.
And Rio de Janeiro will be overcast with highs of 23 degrees Celsius.
Top News
Chinese President address on China's economy at APEC
Anchor
Chinese President Xi Jinping has dropped broad hints that his administration is not yet done with its economic reform program.
The suggestions have been made at the APEC meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
CRI's Li Jing has more.
Report
Addressing the meeting, Xi Jinping says the fundamentals of the Chinese economy remain sound, despite this country's economic slow down over the past couple of years.
"I want to emphasize that based on the comprehensive analysis of all the factors, I am fully confident about the future of China's economy. I am confident, because first of all, China's growth is within the reasonable and expected range."
Xi Jinping says his government is going to deepen reform and opening-up in all respects, saying the Chinese economy has entered a new stage of development.
The Chinese economy has decreased from its previous double-digit growth rates to 9.3 percent in 2011, 7.8 last year and 7.6 in the first half of this year.
He goes on to say the Chinese government is drawing up a master plan for the deepening of reforms in all respects.
He says challenges that have been cropping up in development, on top of institutional obstacles, will be targeted.
Xi Jinping has also told the APEC meeting his government remains committed to shifting this country's economic growth model toward a consumer-based model.
"We have recognized that to fundamentally address economic development, China has to press ahead with structural reform, even if this requires some sacrifice of speed. In whatever undertaking, one has to look far and plan wisely to take both of the long term and the short term needs. Killing the hand to get the axe, or draining a pond to catch fish is no formula for sustainable development."
The Chinese President also says his government is going to follow a more proactive opening-up strategy, which underlines balance in foreign trade.
He also says his administration is going to create a legal environment in which foreign companies in China can operate in a level playing field with their Chinese counterparts.
As of the end of last year, China attracted some 1.3-trillion U.S. dollars worth of foreign direct investment.
The Chinese government also signed 12 free trade agreements with 20 different countries and regions.
Six FTA's are still under negotiation.
Xi Jinping has also told the APEC summit that in the coming five years, imports to China are expected to surpass 10-trillion US dollars.
He also says Chinese companies are expected to invest more than 500-billion US dollars abroad during that same period.
For CRI, this is Li Jing.
China to join Russia in maintaining security in Asia-Pacific: Xi
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of this year's APEC Summit.
Xi Jinping says the Chinese side wants to work with Russia to guarantee security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
For his part, Vladimir Putin says he wants to maintain close contact with Xi Jinping when it comes to cooperation in various fields, including energy and infrastructure.
Residents rescued as Typhoon Fitow floods homes in Zhejiang Province
Search and recovery operations are still taking place after Typhoon Fitow slammed into southeastern China early Monday morning.
The storm has left at least 5-people dead.
Thousands of others have been left without power.
The storm has also cancelled numerous flights and train trips.
Stranded residents are still being plucked from their flooded homes by boats.
Others have been helped across floodwaters with ropes.
At the same time, farmers in Zhejiang are suffering heavy crop losses, with many greenhouses ripped apart.
"More than 270-thousand young tomato plants are ruined, that's about 70 percent of its total crop."
Typhoon Fitow has also created significant damage in northern Fujian.
Meanwhile, forecasters are now predicting Super Typhoon Danas, which is swirling in the East China Sea, is now tracking toward Japan.
However, the storm is still expected to bring continued rains to eastern China.
Danas is expected to cut between Japan and South Korea before finally burning out in the Sea of Japan.
China urges U.S. to prevent debt default
The Chinese government is calling on US lawmakers to solve its debt-ceiling debate before time runs out.
Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao.
"We ask that the United States earnestly takes steps to resolve in a timely way before October 17 the political (issues) around the debt ceiling and prevent a U.S. debt default to ensure safety of Chinese investments in the U.S. and the global economic recovery. This is the U.S.' responsibility."
Zhu Guangyao notes a US default will have a major impact on the Chinese economy, given the two are economically "intertwined."
China now holds some 1.3 trillion US dollars in U.S. Treasuries.
Any downgrade of the US credit rating could severely deminish the value of any Treasury notes.
Obama voices willingness to talk with Republicans on budget
U.S. President Barack Obama says he's willing to discuss the government budget with Republicans to end the partial government shutdown.
Speaking while on a tour of the country's Federal Emergency Management Agency, Obama says there's not a subject that he is not willing to engage in.
Obama and the Democrats have been staunch in their unwillingness to negotiate a Republican-demanded delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
So-called Obamacare is set to take effect at the beginning of next year.
The sign-up for the program began on October 1st, the same day the US Federal Government shutdown began.
The new sign of willingness to negotiate comes just 10-days before the US government hits its debt-ceiling.
A failure to increase the country's borrowing capasity will put the US government into default.
California couple cancels wedding due to U.S. government shutdown
Anchor
While the broader repercussions of the US government shutdown are heatedly debated among politicians and pundits, the seemingly mundane effects are starting to trickle down to average Americans.
CRI's Alexander Aucott now on how one couple in California has been forced to shelve their wedding plans because of the political impasse.
Reporter
It was supposed to be her dream wedding, bride to be Joy Miller was supposed to marry her fiancé Adam Brown in California's Yosemite National Park.
It is the place where Brown proposed and where Miller held happy memories as a child.
But then came the U.S. government shutdown and with it closing of the National Park.
After a year of planning and saving, the couple spent 15-thousand dollars on a non-refundable deposit at the Ahwahnee Hotel and arranged rooms for their 85 guests, when they heard of the shutdown.
"When we heard that Yosemite was going to be closed on Monday, and our wedding was on Sunday, I cried for two days straight. Two days straight. It was devastating."
Fortunately for Miller and Brown, local residents who saw the couple's story on the news helped out by collecting donations.
A local farm donated the space for the wedding, and San Francisco chef Jen Stakich donated her time and kitchen facilities to make a menu.
For Stakich, a Democrat, the reason for donation is primarily political.
"I believe that the country is really being held hostage at the moment, I think that Republicans will really do anything to prevent people from having access to affordable healthcare, and I'm really proud that even though it affects people like Joy in a negative way, I'm really proud that for once, the Democrats aren't folding."
In total, 20 strangers have donated their time and services to provide food, beverage, flowers and even music for the couple.
Miller says she feels lucky how things work out.
"We would have been sitting at home sad and had all these friends and family in town with nothing to do and we would have always remembered for the rest of our lives that our wedding was ruined, and instead, we've chosen to take the path of 'wow, the American government couldn't get it together and shut down, but we had all these people step up.'"
For CRI, I'm Alexander Aucott.
At least 9 killed in violence across Egypt
At least 9 more people have been killed in a series of attacks through Egypt.
Five soldiers and one military officer were killed when unknown militants attacked a military patrol.
Another 3 were killed in a car bombing in the southern Sinai.
48 others were wounded in that attack.
The deaths follow a wave of violence on Sunday in Egypt marking the 40th anniversary of the Ramadan, or Yom Kippur, war.
Close to 60 people were killed in violent clashes.
The Egyptian authorities are pinning the blame for Sunday's violence on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Over 400 Brotherhood supporters have been arrested.
Italy shipwreck toll rises to 232 as more bodies recovered
The official death toll from last week's migrant shipwreck off the coast of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa has reached 232.
This, after 38 more bodies were recovered on Monday.
131 are still officially listed as missing.
The boat capsized within site of the Italian-held island of Lampedusa, which is located just kilometers from the north African country of Tunisia.
Most of those on-board were migrants from Somalia and Eritrea.
"We were 520 persons, with between 80 and 90 women and around 15 children. It took us 24 hours by boat from Tripoli. Water started to get on the boat. The captain started a fire to call for a rescue but he was near the engine and the fire just erupted everywhere. People were jumping in the water, they were shocked. Two ships passed but didn't rescue us. Some were able to swim while others were drowning, it was a tragedy."
Poor weather conditions are said to be hampering the recovery efforts.
Lampedusa is a popular destination for north African migrants hoping to find refugee status in Europe.
Afghan President comments on security agreement with US
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is criticizing NATO for failing to bring stability to Afghanistan for over a decade.
Speaking at a news conference in Kabul, Karzai says United States and NATO have "not respected" his country's sovereignty.
"They commit these violations against our sovereignty and they conduct air raids against our people, air raids and other attacks, in the name of the fight on terrorism and in the name of the resolutions of the United Nations. This is against our wishes, and repeatedly against our wishes. "
Karzai says NATO has incorrectly focused on Afghan villages, rather than Taliban safe-havens in Pakistan.
With six months remaining in office until a successor is elected, Karzai says the priority for his government now is to bring peace and security to Afghanistan.
He says this may include a power-sharing deal with the Taliban.
Persistent violence has undermined Afghan confidence in Karzai's government as it tries to take over its own security operations ahead of the withdrawal of international combat forces by the end of 2014.
44 killed, 123 wounded in violent attacks across Iraq
At least 44 people have been killed and over 120 injured in another series of violent attacks across Iraq on Monday.
A number of bombings in Baghdad have left at least 30 people dead.
Roadside bombings have also claimed lives in northern and eastern Iraq.
The bombings have mostly targeted soldiers and police officers.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The UN estimates around 6-thousand civilians have been killed and over 14-thousand others injured in Iraq so far this year.
Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years.
This is raising fears the country is sliding back to the full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007, when the monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3-thousand.
Maldives Supreme Court annuls results of first round of presidential election
The Supreme Court of the Maldives has annulled the results of the first round of presidential elections held a month ago.
That round of voting saw former president Mohammed Nasheed emerge as the winner.
The Supreme Court of the island nation has ordered a new election on October 20th.
Nasheed won the first round of voting with 45.45 percent of the vote.
This did fall short of the 50-percent needed to avoid a run-off.
However, the 3rd runner up, a resort tycoon, petitioned the courts for a stay to the runoff.
International observers have deemed the elections free and fair.
Over 30 Boko Haram militants killed in clash with Nigerian army
At least 30 Boko Haram insurgents have been killed in fighting with the Nigerian army in the northeast of the country.
The operation is said to have involved both airstrikes and ground attacks.
The Nigerian military says it launched the raids on-word the militants were planning to attack a nearby town.
The assault comes just hours after a group of suspected Boko Harem militants raided a town in the same region, leaving 5-dead.
Boko Harem is an Islamic militant group fighting for an Islamic state to be established in Nigeria, on top of the elimination of western education.
Nigeria itself is split between a predominatly Muslim north and Catholic south.
Three US scientists share the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Anchor:
Three scientists are sharing this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
CRI's special correspondent Chen Xuefei has more from Sweden.
Ann
Goran Hansson, Secretary of the Nobel Assembly at Swedish Karolinska Institutet made this announcement at the Nobel Forum in Stockholm.
"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013 was awarded jointly to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Sudhof for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells."
The assembly said the 2013 Nobel Prize honors the three scientists who have solved the mystery of how the cell organizes its transport system.
Schekman discovered a set of genes that were required for vesicle traffic, Rothman unravellled protein machinery that allows vesicles to fuse with their targets to permit transfer of cargo. Sudhof revealed how signals instruct vesicles to release their cargo with precision.
Hansson said these discoveries have had a major impact on people's understanding of how cargo is delivered with timing and precision within and outside cells.
The winners of the physics prize will be announced on Tuesday, to be followed by those for chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday, peace on Friday and economics next Monday.
Each prize consists of a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award of 8 million Swedish kronor (about 1.46 million U.S. dollars).
For CRI, this is Chen Xuefei reporting from Stockholm.
Biz Reports
Anchor
First off, a check on the stock market of North America and Europe.
Join me on the desk, CRI's Hu Jia.
Reporter
The US stocks took a big hit on Monday as investors sold off shares amid the continued political gridlock over the debt ceiling.
The uncertianty has been pushing the price of gold up over 1-percent in Monday's trading.
The current US government shutdown has already disrupted economic data flows, already delaying the September jobs report, which was due out on Friday.
In corporate news, aluminum company Alcoa has been downgraded to equal-weight from overweight by Morgan Stanley ahead of the release of its 3rd quarter profits later on this Tuesday.
Morgan-Stanley is citing an expected dip in global aluminum prices.
Despite this, Alcoa shares edged up 0.1 percent in Monday's trading.
Dow component Boeing dropped 0.4 percent after Airbus won an order worth more than 9 billion US dollars from Japan Airlines, which had previously exclusively ordered jetliners from Boeing.
BlackBerry rose 3.6 percent after reports surfaced that several technology companies are looking at the smartphone maker for a potential takeover.
When the market closed,
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9 percent.
The S&P 500 shed 0.9 percent.
The Nasdaq lost 1 percent.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX rose 0.2 percent.
European stocks traded in the red.
The French CAC 40 ended virtually flat.
The German DAX fell 0.3 percent, weighed down by a 1.2 percent drop for Siemens, a nearly 2 percent drop for Bayer and a 1 percent drop for Deutsche Bank.
London, the FTSE 100 also fell 0.3 percent driven by a 0.7 percent drop for HSBC and a 1 percent fall for Vodafone.
Live call-in with Mark Hughes on FTA talks with S. Korea and Australia
Anchor
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been pushing for the forward momentum of a free-trade agreement between China and South Korea.
The comments have been made during a chat with South Korean Park Geun-hye at the APEC conference in Bali.
At the same time, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has also set forward a new plan to finalized an FTA with China within the next 12-months.
The China-Australia Free Trade neotiations have been stalled since 2005.
Now for more on this, joinging me on the line is Mark Hughes, Executive business editor of China Daily.
Questions:
1. We know that the FTA negotiations between China and South Korea is in its fifth round of the first phase, when is China likely to reach a FTA agreement with South Korea?
2. What's the biggest hurdle of FTA agreements between China and these two countries?
3. Which industires do you think will benefit from the FTA agreements and which ones need pretection from the government?
Mark Hughes, Executive business editor of China Daily.
U.S. consumer credit up, but credit card usage down
New official data shows consumer credit in the US has increased more than expected through August.
The US Federal Reserve is reporting total consumer credit has advanced by more than 13.6 billion US dollars.
The figure is far better than the 10-billion forecast.
However, the rate of credit-card use in the US saw its third straight month of declines in August.
French Parliament begins debating pension reform intended to plug funding gap
Lawmakers in France have started their debate on the planned pension reforms for the country.
The overall plan is to increase the retirement age from 62 to 68 over a number of stages.
Bruno Le Roux is the Deputy leader of the ruling Socialist Party.
"This reform will open the new rights and save the contributory pension system. This new system will allow the modification of women's status, the pregnancy status, maternity, raising children, but also for studies of young people."
Rising unemployment in France is already soaking up the country's pension funds.
The social-security defecit in France is expected rise from the current 18.4-billion US dollars to 27-billion US dollars by 2020.
Arnaud Robinet is the Deputy leader of the opposition Union for a Popular Movement.
"What we want is to denounce the three intentions of this government, the first of which is to increase tax system for both firms and French citizens. The second intention is to put at risk the finance of our pension system, because it is only seven billion euros that's been announced, while it needs 20 billion euros. And the last intention is that with this reform they will create an injustice among French workers."
The government of Francois Hollande has gone on-record this week saying its original plans for a tax increase are only going to be temporary.
It's believed the current tax plan will add 9.5-billion US dollars to the country's pension system.
Athens predicts light at end of recessionary tunnel
New projections by the Greek government are suggesting the country is likely to emerge from its years-long recession this coming year.
The Greek authorities are now predicting the country's GDP is likely to grow by 0.6 percent in 2014.
Greece is now in its 6th year of recession.
The country's economic growth is expected to contract by 4 percent this year.
The same draft budget for the coming year is forecasting a surplus, excluding debt service charges.
Despite this, Greece is still strattled with a debt of close to 320-billion euros.
This is close to 175-percent of the country's GDP.
Unemployment in Greece is forecast to come in at 26 percent next year.
This would only be down 1-percent from this year.
Headline News
Chinese President address on China's economy at APEC
Chinese President Xi Jinping says his government is going to deepen reform and opening-up in all respects, saying the Chinese economy has entered a new stage of development.
Addressing the APEC meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Xi Jinping says the Chinese government is drawing up a master plan for the deepening of reforms in all respects.
He says challenges that have been cropping up in development, on top of institutional obstacles, will be targeted.
The Chinese President also says his government is going to follow a more proactive opening-up strategy, which underlines balance in foreign trade.
He also says his administration is going to create a legal environment in which foreign companies in China can operate in a level playing field with their Chinese counterparts.
At least 9 killed in violence across Egypt
At least 9 more people have been killed in a series of attacks through Egypt.
Five soldiers and one military officer were killed when unknown militants attacked a military patrol.
Another 3 were killed in a car bombing in the southern Sinai.
48 others were wounded in that attack.
The deaths follow a wave of violence on Sunday in Egypt marking the 40th anniversary of the Ramadan, or Yom Kippur, war.
Close to 60 people were killed in violent clashes.
The Egyptian authorities are pinning the blame for Sunday's violence on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Over 400 Brotherhood supporters have been arrested.
Obama voices willingness to talk with Republicans on budget
U.S. President Barack Obama says he's willing to discuss the government budget with Republicans to end the partial government shutdown.
Speaking while on a tour of the country's Federal Emergency Management Agency, Obama says there's not a subject that he is not willing to engage in.
Obama and the Democrats have been staunch in their unwillingness to negotiate a Republican-demanded delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
So-called Obamacare is set to take effect at the beginning of next year.
The sign-up for the program began on October 1st, the same day the US Federal Government shutdown began.
The new sign of willingness to negotiate comes just 10-days before the US government hits its debt-ceiling.
A failure to increase the country's borrowing capasity will put the US government into default.
U.S. consumer credit up, but credit card usage down
New official data shows consumer credit in the US has increased more than expected through August.
The US Federal Reserve is reporting total consumer credit has advanced by more than 13.6 billion US dollars.
The figure is far better than the 10-billion forecast.
However, the rate of credit-card use in the US saw its third straight month of declines in August.
Newspaper Picks
BEIJING TIMES
Headline
10 million people visit Beijing during Golden Week
Summary
New stats are suggesting the number of visitors to Beijing through this past holiday has increased over 2.5-percent compared with last year.
Authorities say road traffic loads increased by 7.8-percent,
160 million people took the city's subway system during the holiday.
The Summer Palace was this year's tourism hot spot, thanks to the Rubber Duck.
BEIJING BUSINESS TODAY
Headline
The new tourism law tested
Summary
Despite the new tourism laws taking effect on October 1st, numerous reports of illegal activities, such as forced-shopping, have been reported through this past holiday.
Tourism industry insiders are suggesting while the new legislation has exposed problems in the system, it's done little to eliminate them.
YANZHAO METROPOLITAN DAILY
Headline
Hikers stranded for 10-plus hours
Summary
A group of youngsters became stranded in the hills in Qinhuangdao after they decided to go hiking without enough preparations.
After 10 plus freezing hours, they were rescued by police and fire fighters.
None of them were seriously hurt.
XINHUA
Headline
Why does smog still shroud the city, despite smooth traffic?
Summary
Despite the relatively smooth traffic flows during the National Day holiday, many are still wondering why the air was so polluted.
The report in Xinhua contends the pollution has mostly been caused through coal-fired electricity generation and dust.
Vehicles are still an underlying problem for air pollution.
CHINA DAILY
Headline
China to certify PR analysts
Summary
The Chinese government is going to officially make media research an official job.
Starting in mid-December, the government is going to make the profession officially legal.
PR analysts scower media sources to help the government get a sense of what public opinions are like.
SHANGHAI DAILY
Headline
Free trade zone trials e-commerce site
Summary
An e-commerce platform is going to be launched in the Shanghai free trade zone to allow consumers from the mainland buy foreign brands at lower prices.
The website buyeasi.com is now running on a trial basis.
GLOBAL TIMES
Headline
Shopping mall sets up "husband play area" during National Day
Summary
A shopping mall in the city of Zhenjiang in Jiangsu set up a "men's play area" for husbands and boyfriends dragged along while their wives or girlfriends went shopping during the Golden Week.
The area included chairs, magazines, tea, TV's and free Wi-Fi.
Mall staff admit the idea wasn't overly popular.
It's now been removed.
Sports
Team Guam compete at the Tianjin East Asian Games by Haipeng
Anchor
The tiny island of Guam in the western Pacific has opened up its East Asian Games with a pair of spirited losses in the baseball competition.
CRI's Su Yi has more from Tianjin.
Reporter
After the first two days on the pitch, team Guam has submitted both opening games to its neighbors, first a 15-0 defeat to Chinese Taipei and then a 13-0 loss to South Korea.
Despite the clean slate of losses, the team's manager and coach Shon Manny said the team still has a decent shot as long as they try hard.
"I think we get good chances maybe against Mongolia, Hong Kong and possibly China to get into the semi-finals. Facing Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, you are facing top ten baseball in the world, so I put it at being here, compete against them is a very success to come over here."
No one on Guam's 19-strong baseball squad is a professional player.
Coach Manny added every member on his line-up has other employment ranging from the military to education.
23-year-old Mike Bautista is the team's catcher.
"It's very humbling, Guam being invited here. We only have 180-thousand people, and our island is only 200-square miles, smaller than most cities here in China. Being able to come up here and compete at the same level with some of these teams and see where we stand let us know what we need to do to move up to the next level and be competitive and win on the stage."
Bautista's idea was duly appreciated by his team member Chad Palomo who said the team also wants to leave people with a good impression of Guam after the games.
"We just want to come out and do what we can, play our game, make sure we represent our island well, and be good as ambassadors, represent, and spread good will with the other teams."
There are seven other sports featuring teams from Guam at the tournament.
There are altogether 103 such ambassadors representing Guam at the Tianjin East Asian Games.
Aside from baseball, Guam athletes will also compete in seven other sports, including basketball, bowling, cycling, dragon boat racing, Taekwondo, shooting, and volleyball.
For CRI, I am Su Yi.
Roger Federer and Zhang Ze win at Shanghai Masters
At the Shanghai Masters,
Roger Federer and his Chinese teammate Zhang Ze cruised past Kevin Anderson and Dmitry Tursunov yesterday.
CRI's Marc Cavigli has more.
Reporter
Former world No. 1 Roger Federer teamed with China's No. 1 ranked player Zheng Ze, and have defeated Kevin Anderson and Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-1 within 47 minutes.
Zhang, who lists Federer as his idol, says he was very excited to play with the winner of 17 grand slam titles
"I always practice tennis with Federer these day, and I also learned professional ethics from him and how to be a professional. At the beginning of the match, I was very nervous and lost several balls. He kept encouraging me, saying 'no worries, do it again. You are right.' Later I played better. "
Federer says choosing Zhang Ze was a good choice and he wants to help develop men's tennis in China.
"It has such great potential here, and I have never played doubles here. I thought, 'who could it be?' And they mentioned you know how about you play with a Chinese player. Zheng Ze is coming up and he is playing really well. I thought OK, that's perfect to me, that's great. You know I was excited about the idea right away. And there you have it."
During the match, the atmosphere was quite tense on the Central Court of the Shanghai Masters and it proved to be a lot of fun for the fans.
After watching the match, one fan excitedly said the team played better than his expectations.
"To watch Zhang Ze and Federer play doubles, it seems like they have teamed with each for several years. They cooperated very well. Especially Zheng played very well in front of the net."
As the highest rank among Chinese players, Zhang received a wild card in the Shanghai Masters.
For CRI, I am Marc Cavigli.
At the men's single,
Tommy Haas is through to the second round after a straight-sets win over American Sam Querrey.
Frenchman Gael Monfils dispatched Japanese qualifier Tatsuma Ito 6-2, 6-3.
But it wasn't as easy for American John Isner, who dropped his first set 4-6 to Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo.
The 14th seeded Isner rallied though and won the next two sets.
Oakland takes 2-1 lead over Detroit in AL division series
In Major League Baseball,
The Oakland Athletics outslugged the Detroit Tigers 6-3 for a 2-1 AL division series lead.
Detroit's Anibal Sanchez, who happens to be the American League's ERA leader, gave up six runs in four innings, and Detroit couldn't recover.
And later today, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a chance to wrap up the NL division series title when they take on the Atlanta Braves in game four of a best-of-five series.
The Dodgers lead 2-1, after winning the opener and game 3.
Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw will replace Ricky Nolasco as the starting pitcher in that game.
2014 Winter Olympics torch relay begins in Moscow
The Olympic torch is officially on its way now to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The relay began yesterday at Moscow's Red Square, with the torch first being placed in the hands of five-time Olympic synchronized swimming champion Anastasia Davydova.
Nearly 500 torchbearers will take part in what will be the longest relay in Olympic history. The torch needs to cover all 83 regions in Russia—65,000 kilometers over the course of 123 days.
Hopefully the torch makes it to Sochi in time for the start of the games on February 7.
Buckingham Palace hosts competitive football match
In football,
Buckingham Palace hosted its first ever competitive football match yesterday.
Local amateur teams Polytechnic FC and Civil Service had the privilege of duking it out on a manicured pitch inside the 39-acre royal garden.
Before the match, Prince William Duke of Cambridge handed out medals to the volunteers.
"I cannot tell you how excited I am that later today we will be playing football on my Grandmother's lawn. One warning though - if anyone breaks a window, you can answer to her."
Understandably the team managers had a tough time convincing their players to treat the game like any other game.
Their changing room was Buckingham Palace, and apparently there were tail-coated footmen serving half-time oranges on platters.
Entertainment
Sean Kingston comes to Beijing
(Me Love)
Sean Kingston is coming to Beijing!
The Jamaican-Amiercan rapper and song writer will be here in the capital to promote his latest album, "Back 2 Life".
The Miami-born artists begun his career after being discovered on Myspace, leading to the release of 2007's global smash hit, "Beautiful Girls" when Kingston was just 17 years old.
(Beautiful Girls)
Kingston has gone on to work with the likes of T-Pain, Kanye West, Soljia Boy and, of course, Justin Bieber.
"Back 2 Life", released last month to critical acclaim, is a reggae fusion record featuring collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown and T.I.
Catch Kingston performing old hits and new material at MIX at the Worker's Stadium in Beijing on Wednesday 16th October.
Pixies to tour with new material
(Debaser)
Influential American rock band the Pixies are launching a US tour, this time packed with rare new material.
Since forming in 1986, the Pixies have given us an era defining sound with songs like "Here Comes Your Man", "Debaser" and "Hey".
The band went on a 12 year hiatus in 1992, and new material have been hard to come by since they rejoined forces nearly a decade ago.
However, that all changed with the band's June surprise online release of four new songs, including BagBoy.
Drummer David Lovering says that something just clicked.
(David Lovering)
"It was fantastic for all of us. It was a whole new experience. We haven't done it in a long time as a unit. We went out into Wales in a nice, secluded, idyllic place in the studio. We had a great attitude. We had great songs and worked some on there and just made it all happen and the new version of the Pixies came to light! So it was fantastic."
The Pixies 33-city North American tour that starts on January 15, 2014.
Matt Smith begins American Psycho the musical rehearsals
Matt Smith has begun rehearsals for the musical adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' 1991 novel American Psycho.
The former Doctor Who star is taking on the role of the disturbed yuppie antihero Patrick Bateman.
Directed by theatre veteran Rupert Goold, the production features music by Grammy award winner Duncan Sheik.
Ben Aldridge, Charlie Anson, Jonathan Baily and Katie Brayden join Smith in the ensemble cast.
Easton Ellis' novel follows the Manhattan business man as his alienation ebbs away his sanity, giving way to acts of graphic violence and delusional psychosis.
The story was transposed to the big screen in 2000, starring Christian Bale.
American Psycho the musical opens at London's Almeida Theatre on December 12th of this year.
If successful, the show will be hitting Broadway state-side in the coming year.
10th Annual Huading Image Awards in Macau
The 10th Annual Huading Image Awards was held last night at the Venetian in Macau.
The gala dinner honors excellence in film and television here in China.
Treading the red carpet were an array of Hollywood A-listers, including actors Nicolas Cage, Sam Worthington, Jeremy Irons and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
That's all we have time for on the show as well.
Recapping our top headlines....
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told the APEC summit in Bali his government has plans to step up its economic reforms.
Search and rescue is still underway following the onslaught of Typhoon Fitow on the southeast China coast.
US President Barack Obama is now signalling a willingness to negotiate with the Republicans to deal with the budget and debt-ceiling impasse.
In Business.... Chinese president Xi Jinping has been talking free trade negotiations with his South Korean counterpart.
On behalf of the Beijing Hour team, I'm Paul James in Beijing, hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together! |