The Beijing Hour
Evening Edition
Rebecca Hume with you on this Thursday, October 17th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this evening,
US government raises the debt ceiling just hours before a default.
China and Britain agree on Chinese companies investing in British nuclear power plants.
Beijing to take half of all cars off the roads during severely polluted days.
Business, Foreign direct investment in China grows for an eighth consecutive month.
Sports, Baseball Detroit Tigers defeat Boston Red Sox 7-3.
Entertainments, Transformers 4 set to begin Shooting in Chongqing.
Plus Special reports goes to the China International Musical Instrument Expo and takes a look at the worlds largest instrument market.
Weather
Beijing will be clear tonight with a low of 7 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow overcast with a high temperature of 18.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be overcast tonight, with a low of 16, light rain tomorrow, with a high of 22.
Lhasa will be clear tonight, 6 degrees the low, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 19.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, sunny with a high of 30.
Kabul, sunny, 25.
Over in Australia
Sydney, overcast, highs of 21.
Canberra, sunny, 21.
Brisbane, rainy, 23.
And finally, Perth will be overcast with a high of 21.
Top News
US approved legislation to reopen government
Anchor:
The US House of Representatives has approved legislation to reopen the government and raise the federal debt limit with just hours to go before a default.
Political analysts argue the current stalemate and debt crisis are derived from political struggles within the U.S government.
CRI's Marc Cavigli has more.
Reporter:
Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the plan 285 to 144 votes, with 87-Republicans reluctantly agreeing to support the measure.
Earlier, the Democrat-controlled Senate approved the bill by 81 votes to 18.
President Barack Obama signed the bill into law before Thursday's deadline for Congress to increase the federal debt limit.
"We will begin reopening our government immediately and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people. I will have more to say about this tomorrow and I have got some thoughts how we can move forward in the remainder of the year, stay focused on the job at hand, because there is a lot of work ahead of us, including our need to earn back the trust of the American people that has been lost over the last few weeks."
However, the deal allows the Treasury to borrow normally until February 7th and fund the government until January 15th.
It means that Americans may face another government shutdown early next year.
Daniel Gros, the director of Center for European Policy Studies, says the shutdowns are not economic issues, but rather political ones.
"The current crisis in the US is really a political crisis between two sides who can not agree on what to spend. It is more difficult now, because the political diversions between the Republicans and the Democrats in the United States are bigger than before. And that is actually a result of a technical detail of American election system. All the Republican members of the house of Congress, they have basically their seats guaranteed. And they compete with even more extreme people within their party. And that's way it is so difficult to compromise."
The latest shutdown happened in 1996 under the Bill Clinton administration and spanned 21 days.
During the 19 years between 1977 and 1996, the U.S. government has gone through 17 shutdowns, mostly due to conflicts between the Democrat and the Republican congress over federal budget.
For CRI, I'm Marc Cavigli.
China welcomes resolution to U.S. debt
The Chinese government has issued a statement, saying it welcomes a U.S. government deal over the partial shutdown and the debt ceiling problem.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying,
"As the largest world economy, the United States properly solving the issue is in accordance with its own interests, and also serves global economic stability and development. We welcome the progress the United States has made in handling the relevant issue."
As the U.S. government's largest creditor, the Chinese government has urged Washington to take steps to avoid a debt crisis and ensure the safety of Chinese investments.
Time for China to really think about holding less dollars?
Anchor:
With a default temporarily out of the way, investors can go back to focusing on China where some decisions will be made especially on financial reforms.
For more on this, we're joined live now by Cao Can, CRI's Financial Commentator.
…
Back Anchor:
Cao Can, CRI's Financial Commentator.
UK agrees to China investing in its nuclear plants
Britain has agreed to allow Chinese companies to take a stake in British nuclear power plants.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne made the announcement at the end of his trade visit to China.
The decision could mean China taking a future majority stake in the development of the next generation of British nuclear power.
British media says the first China deal could be as early as next week, with the go ahead for a new 14-billion-pound plant at the Hinckley C site.
P5+1 talks concluded with new phase in easing tensions
Anchor:
The current round of the Iranian nuclear negotiations has come to a conclusion in Geneva.
While no major breakthroughs have been made, representatives of the 5-permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, along with Iran, have agreed to another round of talks next month.
CRI's Alexander Aucott has more.
Reporter:
The talks are set for November 7th and 8th.
In between time, both sides are going to review the scientific data that has been put forward.
They'll also look over the sanctions which are currently being imposed on Iran.
Both sides say the review of the current policies will be to determine if changes can be made, and whether practical steps are available to end the years-long stalemate.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the talks in Geneva this week are a step towards "closing an unnecessary crisis".
"We believe there is no reason for the continuation of this problem, there are more important issues that we need to deal with and the right of Iran to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, can in fact be exercised with the necessary political will without any proliferation concerns."
EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1 at the talks, says world leaders will "carefully" examine Iran's nuclear proposals.
"Republic of Iran presented an outline of a plan as a proposed basis for negotiation which is being carefully considered by the E 3+3 as an important contribution. Members of delegations followed with in-depth, bilateral and joint consultations on various elements of the approach."
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is describing the Iranian nuclear offer put up at the P5+1 meetings as showing "a level of seriousness and substance" the United States has not seen before.
The White House says it has found the Iranian presentation "very useful."
But at the same time, the Obama Administration says any deal must prove to the international community that Iran's program will be used for exclusively peaceful purposes.
A spokesperson for the Obama administration is also cautioning those hoping for a speedy resolution to the issue, saying no one should expect a breakthrough overnight.
For CRI, I'm Alex Aucott.
Bad weather caused the Laos plane crash: authorities
Laotian authorities say they believe bad weather is the main reason behind yesterday's airplane crash in the Mekong River.
They also say they don't believe anyone survived the accident.
It's been confirmed one person from the mainland and one from Taiwan are among the 49 people believed dead.
The Lao Airlines plane, which had 44-passengers and 5-crew members onboard, crashed into the Mekong River in the city of Pakse in southwestern Laos.
The plane was attempting a landing at the time of the crash.
Eyewitnesses say the plane, which was headed to Pakse from the capital, Vientiane, was hit by a strong gust of wind while trying to touch down.
"The plane flew in that way heading towards Marong village and turned towards the airport. Then it fell and crashed."
It's believed the pilot aborted the landing, but could not recover.
The plane went into the Mekong around 2-kilometers from the airport.
Beijing to take half of cars off roads during severe polluted days
The Beijing municipal government is considering taking half of all cars according to odd-even plate numbers off the road during severely polluted days.
It is another move by the city government to tackle its air pollution problem.
The government says it will initiate the emergency response once a "red alert" for air pollution is issued.
Apart from the odd-even policy, another 30-percent of cars used by government departments will be taken off the roads.
The new policy will be unveiled in the near future.
The bike makes a comeback in China
Anchor:
In China, the bicycle used to be nothing more than a means of transportation. But today, a growing number of Chinese are turning to the bike for recreation.
CRI's Jordan Lee has more.
Reporter:
Thirty years ago, if a man wanted to get married, the adage went that he should own a sewing machine, a radio, and a bike.
In the 1980's, bicycle production boomed and it became the vehicle of choice for low and middle-income families
But as more and more Chinese families were able to afford cars, the streets that once streamed with bikes became clogged with motor vehicles.
Cindy Young, a long-time American expat in Beijing, says she has witnessed the city's transformation from bike to car-dominated culture.
"There's been a big difference. I've seen a lot more people getting the motorbikes and electric bikes and opting to not ride bicycles. It used to be the sidewalks were jam-packed with bikes, and now there are a lot less."
But the old-fashioned bicycle is making something of a comeback, as more and more Chinese are turning to cycling as a hobby.
The interest in recreational biking is driven by the middle class. Now that they have their cars for transportation, the bicycle becomes attractive as a recreation or even a luxury item.
Li Zhiwu is one of China's new cycling fanatics.
Police had to hold Li back at the Tour of Beijing because he was so eager to cheer on his favorite cyclist Tony Martin of Omega Pharma-Quick.
"I am one of his big fans. I think he is incredibly talented, he's a champion, and his recent results have been especially good. A lot of Chinese cycling fans support him Besides, I just really love cycling."
Li joined a small cycling club three years ago, as a way to exercise and de-stress from the hectic Beijing life.
"We are just ordinary people. We all have jobs with stable income. We want to use our free time to have fun."
Beijing-based cyclist Shannon Bufton has noticed pronounced growth in the number of Chinese taking up the sport.
"I'm finding that many more people are riding out into the mountains in Beijing. These days when I go out into Beijing, I am counting about 100 to 150 cyclists coming up the other way. Maybe four years ago, I would have counted twenty."
Bufton co-founded Serk Cycling, a company that is promoting cycling culture in China.
Serk organizes major events like Beijing bike week, brings in cycling experts to teach workshops, and offers classes on things like how to build a bike wheel.
One of the main problems Chinese cyclists must deal with is polluted air, but cycling lovers are finding ways around the smog.
Serk for example organizes group road rides on days when the air quality is best.
Other groups simply take the time to travel outside the city limits, into the fresher mountain air.
It looks like China is poised for a new kind of bicycle era.
For CRI, I'm Jordan Lee.
Biz Reports
Stock
Anchor:
Let's have a quick look at all the business numbers from Asia.
Joining me in the studio for that is Su Yi.
Reporter:
Asian equity markets rose Thursday after Washington lawmakers voted to reopen the U.S. government and raise the debt ceiling.
Francis Lun is the CEO of Geo Securities.
"Well it's short of euphoric, and it's more of a sign of relief, that the US Congress finally is going to pass something that will extend the deadline for another four months, actually in American terms, kicking the can down the road, delaying the day of reckoning. And I think that other than being scared by the imminent danger of default, I think the financial markets globally got detached from the melodrama in America."
But the cheerful news has failed to bring the Chinese stock market back in positive territory.
Chinese shares closed lower for a third straight day on Thursday.
With the benchmark Shanghai Composite down 0.2 percent.
The Shenzhen Component lost 0.25 percent.
However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2 percent.
Advancers in Hong Kong included ZTE , which traded 4.8 percent higher after announcing it had garnered a "more-than-60 percent share of the contracts in China Mobile's group tender for 100 Gigabytes Optical Transport Networking products for 2013, exceeding the combined total of all other vendors."
Stock in China Mobile rose 0.2 percent.
Over in Tokyo, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6 percent.
South Korea's Kospi picked up 0.4 percent.
In Singapore, the Strait Times tacked on 0.45 percent.
In Sydney, shares of Newcrest Mining underperformed the broader market, falling 0.6 percent after the gold producer said it faces about 115 million US dollars in extra tax charges this fiscal year.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.4 percent higher.
China September FDI Increases 4.88 Percent YoY to USD 8.84 Bn
Foreign direct investment in China has continued to see positive grow through September, for an eighth consecutive month.
Ministry of Commerce is reporting FDI climbed 4.9 percent year on year to more than 8.8 billion US dollars.
FDI for the first nine months came in at 88.6 billion-dollars, making an increase of 6.2 percent compared to a year ago.
Non financial overseas direct investment rose 17.4 percent on year over the same period.
The European Union injected 5.9-billion-US-dollars through the first three quarters, marking the biggest jump of 23 percent.
US investment saw an increase of more than 21 percent reaching 2.8 billion dollars for the period.
China's economy is transforming according the the 2013 Forbes China Rich List
Anchor: Forbes magazine has published the 2013 edition of the Forbes China Rich List.
There are 87 newcomers on the list. Some experts say this trend reflects China's transforming economy.
CRI's Xie Zhao has more.
Reporter:
Forbes magazine published its list on Wednesday, ranking the 400 richest people in China, with Beijing featuring the highest number of members at 58, followed by Shanghai with 37.
There are 87 newcomers. Renewable energy Entrepreneur Li Hejun at Beijing Hanergy Holding is the highest-ranking newcomer on this year's list.
Zhou Jiangong, editor-in-chief of Forbes' Chinese edition says this trend explains China's economy is transforming
"I think China's economy is transforming. If you compare the new 87 and the 87 who fell of the list, you can see the newcomers are connected with consumption, Internet, mobile-internet, mobile terminals, health-care, pharmacy and culture media sectors. While the previous were related to steel, coal, clothes, shipbuilding sectors, which oversupplied and made serious pollution. Business models of those sectors are very old. They do not want to change, but the emerging industries have demonstrated innovation."
Meanwhile, the Internet sector has generated some of the biggest increase in fortunes on the list.
China's three kings of the Internet industry, Baidu CEO Robin Li, Tencent CEO Ma Huateng, and Alibaba chairman Jack Ma, are ranked No. 3, 5 and 8 respectively.
Zhou Jiangong says the Internet market is growing significantly.
"Obviously, the Internet sector has become a new economic growth point. At the same time, small-sized internet tycoons are emerging. The Internet is combining with traditional industries."
Not surprisingly, real estate mogul Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, ascends to the No. 1 spot for the first time.
His net assets have risen dramatically up to 86 billion yuan due to a recovery in the real estate market in China.
Zhou Jiangong, says the real estate sector is also changing.
"Although the number of the billionaires in the real estate field on the list has declined, the real estate sector will still play an important role on the Forbes list for a period of time, as China is in the process of urbanization. But the sector is changing dramatically. For example, Wang Jianlin can still be called property developer, but he is changing his ways in the sector."
In September, Wang invested 50 billion yuan to launch a mini-Hollywood complex in Qingdao, east China.
This year, there are a record 168 billionaires on the list, compared to last year's total of 113.
The net assets of the top 100 are worth around 2 trillion yuan, up 44% from last year.
For CRI, I'm Xie Zhao.
PBOC Suspends Open Market Operation Today
The People's Bank of China, PBOC China's central bank has decided to suspend its open market operations today in a bid to keep money supply in hold.
The move is just days after China released its September inflation rate of 3.1 percent, higher than market expectations.
It is the first since July the PBOC has bought in such cautious measures.
The bank says it will keep it's neutral stance on money supply for now.
Data shows that 16-billion yuan in central bank bills will be due out this week.
Meanwhile another 65-billion yuan of reverse repos will be due at the same time.
Reverse repos also known as the reverse repurchase agreement is a policy to pump up liquidity to the money market.
Shanghai Poised to Launch International Energy Trade Centre in Free Trade Zone
Internal sources are reporting that the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is likely to set up an international energy trade center in the area.
It is being reported the application by the Shanghai Futures Exchange or SHFE is going through regulatory procedures.
It is believed a new platform will be launched for the trading of international crude oil futures.
The same sources say all energy futures to be offered by the Shanghai Futures Exchange will take place in this new trade center.
That means if the new platform comes into operation, the SHFE will only be responsible for non-energy futures trading.
Headline News
US approved legislation to reopen government
The US House of Representatives has approved legislation to reopen the government and raise the federal debt limit with just hours to go before a default.
Earlier, the Democrat-controlled Senate approved the bill by 81 votes to 18.
However, the deal allows the Treasury to borrow normally until February 7th and fund the government until January 15th.
It means that Americans may face another government shutdown early next year.
China welcomes resolution to U.S. debt
The Chinese government has issued a statement, saying it welcomes a U.S. government deal over the partial shutdown and the debt ceiling problem.
As the U.S. government's largest creditor, the Chinese government has urged Washington to take steps to avoid a debt crisis and ensure the safety of Chinese investments.
P5+1 talks concluded with new phase in easing tensions
The current round of the Iranian nuclear negotiations has come to a conclusion in Geneva.
While no major breakthroughs have been made, representatives of the 5-permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, along with Iran, have agreed to another round of talks next month.
The talks are set for November 7th and 8th.
In between time, both sides are going to review the scientific data that has been put forward.
They'll also look over the sanctions which are currently being imposed on Iran.
Edward Snowden has more secrets to share: father
The father of Edward Snowden says the former U.S. spy agency contractor has more secrets to share.
Lon Snowden was speaking in New York after returning from a weeklong visit with his son in Moscow.
He said his son should stay in Russia "to make sure the true story is told."
The younger Snowden was given temporary asylum in Russia earlier this year after leaking sensitive data on U.S. security agencies' operations.
Newspaper Picks
Xinhua
"Beijing to impose odd-even car ban"
The Beijing Municipal Government will soon issue an emergency response program requiring alternate driving days for cars with even- and odd-numbered license plates in case of lingering smog.
According to the program called the Beijing Municipal Heavy Air Pollution Emergency Response Program, when the city issues a red alert for air pollution, an alternate-day driving system for odd- and even-numbered license plates will be initiated to reduce pollution.
According to the program, the city will adopt a four-tier color alert system for air pollution. The red alert, the highest level, indicates serious air pollution for three consecutive days.
Xinhua
"Chinese scientists achieve Internet access through lightbulbs"
Successful experiments by Chinese scientists have indicated the possibility of the country's netizens getting online through signals sent by lightbulbs (LiFi), instead of WiFi.
Researchers said four computers under a one-watt LED lightbulb may connect to the Internet under the principle that light can be used as a carrier instead of traditional radio frequencies, as in WiFi.
A lightbulb with embedded microchips can produce data rates as fast as 150 megabits per second, which is speedier than the average broadband connection in China.
With LiFi cost-effective as well as efficient, netizens should be excited to view 10 sample LiFi kits that will be on display at the China International Industry Fair which kicks off on Nov. 5 in Shanghai.
Jakarta Post
"Warning, elephant on duty: Farms, villages get 'eleguards' "
The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in west Riau has come up with a novel way to protect farms and villages from wild elephants: guard elephants.
The initiative in the west province of Indonesia hopes to limit the number of wild elephants trampling hundreds of hectares of palm-oil farms.
An official from the agency said the decision to use trained elephants, from the Minas Elephant Training Center (PLG), was in response to residents complaints about the economic losses they suffered as a result of wandering elephants.
The official admitted wild elephants often venture into human settlements.
The Telegraph
"Britons still believe in miracles, angels and 'spiritual forces'"
A new report claims more than half of the British population still believes that "spiritual forces" affect life on Earth.
The report included interviews with more than 2-thousand people.
Overall almost eight out of 10 people polled agreed with the statement "there are things in life we simply cannot explain through science or any other means."
Six out of 10 non-religious people also agreed with the statement.
A majority of people (59 per cent) said they believed in the existence of some kind of "spiritual being" while three in 10 defined God as a "universal life force".
Only a quarter said they actively believed in angels, a smaller proportion than said they had faith in the existence of "spirits".
The research also showed that almost a quarter of those polled had turned to tarot card readings and one in 20 had had their "aura" read or attempted healing with crystals.
Special Reports
China Becomes World's Largest Musical Instrument Market
Anchor:
China has overtaken the United States as the largest market for musical instruments for the second year in a row.
CRI's Duan Xuelian has more.
Reporter :
The four-day China International Musical Instrument Expo, a veritable carnival of music lovers, concluded this week in Shanghai.
Figures released at the expo showed that China's musical instrument market yielded over 40 billion yuan--or 6.5 billion U.S. dollars--last year, surpassing the United States as the world's largest musical instrument market for two years in a row.
Statistics from the General Administration of Customs indicates, in 2012, China imported musical instruments worth more than 1.85 billion yuan, and domestic production and sales totaled 38.5 billion.
Zeng Zemin, secretary general of The China Musical Instrument Association, says the import of musical instruments saw a major increase in recent years.
"The main reason for the increase in musical instrument import is due to the growth of China's interest in studying music, particularly college students and young children. The two groups have a preference for imported instruments especially orchestral and percussion instruments."
At the same time, Chinese traditional musical instrument sales is also going up rapidly.
Rong Xia, owner of a music store specializing in the zither, better known as the Chinese Zheng, shares her experience amid the market's rapid growth.
"I think it's because economic conditions are improving, so a lot of people choose to learn to play musical instruments to fulfill childhood dreams. Also, there are increasing numbers of senior citizens who seek to enrich their retired life with music. "
A foreigner-musician going by his Chinese name, Zhang Si'an, provides another point of view.
"A few years ago, you didn't have so many musical programs on TV; now it's like exploding, like every Chinese station has its own talent show, so everybody is watching this and probably wants to be the same in China."
Zeng Zemin, secretary general of the China Musical Instrument Association, says that, although the larger part of musical instrument consumption is still in the education sector, it's obvious that ordinary people are warming up to musical expression.
He comments from a business point of view, explaining that Chinese manufactures are facing a promising future than that of 10 years ago.
"To meet this increase in market demands, China's manufacturers have introduced up-to-date technology and large numbers of experts from foreign countries, both of which contributed to the modernization of our musical instrument industry."
According to a market survey conducted by the association, of the two million western orchestral instruments in the world, 60 percent of them were made in China.
Zeng added that China's musical instrument market is expected to yield 100 billion yuan before 2020.
Sports
Detroit Tigers defeat Boston Red Sox to level the score to two-all in ALCS
Beginning with baseball
AND the Detroit Tigers Beat the Boston Red Sox SEVEN – THREE to level the score to two all in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera drove two runs each at Comerica park to take the commanding lead, with Jose Iglesias knocking out the other.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland shook up his lineup for Game 4, dropping slumping outfielder Jackson from the leadoff spot to eighth and moving up Hunter and Cabrera to first and second.
John Farrell, the Red Sox boss, said despite the loss he felt his team played some of their best baseball in this game:
"Well we had 12 hits tonight. And you leave ten men on base. The one thing when we've been in stretches like this, we continually do a very good job of creating opportunities. We did that tonight. We haven't done it so much in the first three games. But that's a tip of the hat to the pitching that we've been facing."
LA Dodgers hopes still alive after beating Cardinals in ALCS
In the other big game of the evening the LA Dodgers managed to bat their way out of trouble against the St Louis Cardinals.
Chasing their second World Series in three years the Cardinals who were 3-1 up could have knocked the Dodgers out at this stage.
They took an early lead but Zack Greinke was able to get Los Angeles out of trouble by striking out Matt Adams and getting Yadier Molina to ground into a double play.
The Dodgers then surged ahead with a pair of runs in the second inning and managed to maintain that momentum to close out the game with a 6-4 victory.
Carl Crawford of the Dodgers said he hopes his side can find the same form again in two more games.
"I'll take it. It just goes to show how baseball is. One day you can be on and one day you can be off. You know the pitching has been dominating this series, and nobody's been hitting home runs. Today we just seemed to find the stroke for the home run. I don't really know why that is, but we'll take it. Hopefully we can continue to swing the bats like that."
Game 6 will take place at Busch Stadium on Friday night.
Ghana thrash Egypt 6-1 in first round of World Cup play-offs
Ghana look on course to become one of the five African teams through to the World Cup finals after thrashing Egypt 6-1, in the first leg of playoffs.
The Ghana captain had a dream start to the competition scoring a goal in each half,
while his Egyptian counterpart suffered a nightmare beginning scoring an own goal in the 22nd minute.
Ghana's head coach Kwesi Appiah said the win didn't surprise him, but the score did.
"In actual fact I wasn't expecting the 6-1. First fifteen-twenty minutes we get our first goal and then we develop it from there. Saying that I knew that their defenders especially would find it difficult to handle our strikers and for that reason on a good day I believed that we would have more goals."
For the moment it is looking as though Ghana, Cote D'ivoire, Cameroon, Nigeria and Algeria are most likely to be the African nations which will qualify for Brazil,
the same five African nations that made it to the last World Cup.
Jin Jeong and Peter Hedblom share lead after first day of Perth International golf
In Golf,
Jin Jeong of South Korea and Peter Hedblom share the lead after the first day of the Perth International.
Both men shot a four-under-par first round of 68.
Jeong, previously enjoyed two stints as the highest ranked amateur in the world and since turning professional two-years-ago the 23-year-old's best finish on the PGA Tour of Australasia was a fifth at the NZ PGA Championship last year.
Hedblom his under far more pressure however as he needs to win here in order to retain his tour card following a tough 2013.
Ali Carter pulls out of Snooker International Championship in China
Now to snooker,
AND Englishman Ali Carter has announced he is to pull out of the International Championships in China on medical grounds.
The 34-year-old, who won the German Masters back in February, was diagnosed with testicular cancer around four-months-ago..
...but he was soon playing again in August when he was able to qualify for the Masters in Shanghai.
The two-time World Championship runner-up is also known to suffer from Crohn's disease.
After withdrawing from the India Open earlier this week Carter's management confirmed he would not be competing at the International Championships which begin on October the 27th,
But they gave no further information on his condition.
Entertainment
Transformers 4 to Begin Shooting in Chongqing
Filmmaker Michael Bay will soon head to Wulong county, Chongqing to continue filming the next installment to the Transformers franchise, Transformers 4.
Local media reports cast and crew members are already on site where some of the film's most exciting scenes are said to take place.
Though exactly where filming will take place is a guarded secret many expect Fairy Mountain in Wulong will be the backdrop.
Transformers 4, starring actors Mark Whalberg and Kelsey Grammar, will feature several Chinese actors as well.
A reality competition show was held to cast 4-important Chinese roles in the film.
Months ago director Bay revealed the entire film would be heavily influenced by Chinese culture with a large chunk of the movie taking place in China.
Goins-Ons at the London Film Festival
Academy Award winning Dame Judi Dench and actor Steve Coogan have attended the London Film Festival premiere of their new film Philomena.
The film follows the true tale of a political journalist played by Coogan who helps Philomena Lee played by Dench track down her long lost son.
Lee had the child out of wedlock and was forced to live in a convent.
Director Stephen Frears was also at the event and opened up about why he likes true stories.
"The world is interesting. The world is interesting. And these stories just appear. I didn't know this story. I didn't know anything about it."
Actor Joseph Gordon Levitt was also on hand to screen his new film "Don Jon" which he stars in and directed.
The story follows a young man whose compulsive pornography addiction poses serious obstacles in his relationship with actress Scarlett Johanssen.
The risqué nature of the film may not sit well with some audience members, however Gordon-Levitt welcomes critiques with open arms.
"You know, 'Don Jon' is a polarizing movie. I knew that while I was writing it. And I like movies like that. It's not the kind of thing that's going to be, 'Oh, that was a very nice piece of entertainment.' It's going to reach out and grab you and make you want to talk about it. And some people will disagree and have different opinions of what it means, and to me that's what a movie's all about."
Whilst already open in the US, the film is set to open across the world from now through to the end of the year.
Joseph G-L Confirms Antman Talks
In other Joseph Gordon-Levitt news, the actor has revealed he is in discussions with Marvel Studios to appear as the superhero in the forthcoming Ant-man film.
However, Gordon-Levitt has emphasized the talks are in a preliminary stage and nothing has been confirmed.
Gordon-Levitt and actor Paul Rudd were rumored to be the front-runners for the new blockbuster franchise which will be directed by Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright.
Wright recently tweeted a photo of the Antman set meaning pre-production work has officially begun.
Gordon-Levitt said he is very vocal about his career and if he hasn't announced anything to his fans then it means the news is just a rumor.
The film, which tells the story of a scientist who creates a shrinking serum which lets him become tiny and solve crimes, is expected to crawl into theaters summer 2015.
Breaking Bad Spinoff Show
Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has revealed actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will likely make cameo appearances in the Breaking Bad spinoff show Better Call Saul.
Gilligan has also revealed Better Call Saul will be a one-hour comedy and retain Breaking Bad's unique visual style.
Gilligan hopes to shoot the new show with the same crew that worked on Breaking Bad.
Last month the television network AMC revealed sleazy Breaking Bad character Saul Goodman, played by actor and comedian Bob Odenkirk, would appear in his own show.
The new show will reportedly be a prequel and take place before the events of Breaking Bad.
It will tell the story of Odenkirk's schisty yet hilarious lawyer character giving audiences a better insight into what makes the man tick.
Better Call Saul is scheduled to air in the autumn of 2014.
New Museum to Display Interactive Holograms of Famous Musicians
The New Music Hall of Fame in London is set to open next year and will feature interactive holograms of music legends like Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and ex-Beatle John Lennon.
The museum, opening in Camden, London, will also feature full-sized holograms of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, and Morrissey.
Visitors will be able to interact with the holograms as they perform. They can later purchase a DVD with the footage of them interacting with the hologram.
Lee Bennett, the museum's project manager, compared the experience to the hologram of deceased rapper Tupac Shakur, which took the stage and performed with Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre's headline set at last year's Coachella music festival in California.
Bennett said he was at the festival and couldn't believe his eyes at how surprisingly real the new technology appears.
A quick recap of headlines before we go，
US government raises the debt ceiling just hours before a default.
China and Britain agree on Chinese companies investing in British nuclear power plants.
Beijing to take half of all cars off the roads during severely polluted days.
Business, Foreign direct investment in China grows for an eighth consecutive month.
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