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

Coming up on our program this morning...

The Chinese and Russian presidents have reached a broad consensus on linking their respective Silk Road and Eurasian Economic Union proposals...

Officials and experts have lauded the newly-established BRICS bank, calling it complementary to existing lenders...

and technical issues halted trading on the New York Stock exchange for three hours on Wednesday...

In Business...land prices are driving up home prices in China's first-tier cities...

In Sports...a top seeded men's player gets knocked out of the tournament at Wimbledon...

In entertainment...the latest installment of the Tiny Times franchise has premiered in Beijing...

Top NewsXi, Putin agree to more actions on Asia-Europe connectivityAnchorThe leaders of China and Russia have reached a broad consensus on connecting China's Silk Road proposals and Russia's initiative on a Eurasian Economic Union.

President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have met in the Russian city of Ufa ahead of two international summits, agreeing that increased connectivity will boost bilateral economic cooperation.

More details from CRI's Qi Zhi.

ReporterPresident Xi Jinping is in the southwestern Russian city for the summits of the BRICS nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

He says he's happy to visit a new destination in Russia.

"Mr. President, my old friend. I am very happy to meet with you once again, as well as to see my other old friends. I indeed came to Ufa in a very good mood, because many colleagues asked me, where exactly is Ufa? This is my first ever trip to Ufa."This is the second meeting in two months between Presidents Xi and Putin, who jointly attended celebrations in Moscow back in May marking the 70th anniversary of the European victory in WWII.

It was at that meeting the two leaders agreed to connect China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative with Russia's aspiration under the Eurasian Economic Union framework.

The two sides are prioritizing cooperation in such areas as investment, finance, energy, aviation, space, high-speed railways and the development of Russia's Far East region.

At Wednesday's meeting, Xi Jinping said tangible results have already been achieved in some new cooperation fields.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry official says the two leaders reached a comprehensive consensus on this matter, including areas for cooperation and specific projects to align China and Russia's proposals of connectivity in Asia and Europe.

They have also agreed that all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be the "first platform" to implement projects under the broad connectivity plan.

For his part, Putin expressed confidence in the Russia-China cooperation in addressing global challenges.

"We realize the difficulties we have to face economically and in international politics. But by uniting efforts we, without any doubt, will overcome all the problems we have, we will solve them."He said the decision to align China's Silk Road proposals and Russia's initiative on a Eurasian Economic Union will surely instill strong momentum into bilateral economic cooperation.

On the overall China-Russia relationship, the two leaders have hailed their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, featuring closer exchanges in all sectors and positive cooperation in international affairs.

This year's BRICS summit is expected to see the launch of a multi-billion-dollar development bank to finance infrastructure projects among BRICS members.

At the SCO summit, a decision on starting the procedures for India and Pakistan to join the organization is going to be adopted.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.

BRICS Bank to Complement World Financial MechanismAnchorOfficials and experts are lauding a new lending initiative from the BRICS countries, saying it will complement the existing global financial tools.

CRI's Qian Shanming has more.

ReporterThe newly established New Development Bank, known as the BRICS Bank, will be on top of the agenda at the BRICS summit.

The bank, initialized last year at the sixth summit in Brazil, endeavors to help financing infrastructure and sustainability in the bloc and other developing countries.

Subir Gokarn, director of Brookings India, believes that BRICS bank will play an important role in India's infrastructure funding needs.

"Firstly it is the first concrete institution manifestation of the BRICS. So far, the BRICS has only been a grouping but it has not had anything concrete emerging from it. And this reflects the strongest bond, commonality between these countries because they are all basically strong, large economies who have very specific needs in terms of infrastructure development and so on. And the BRICS bank actually is going to provide an alternative channel for funding to be provided for these purposes."The Shanghai-based Bank will have initial authorized capital of 100 billion U.S. dollars, and its initial subscribed capital of 50 billion U.S. dollars will be equally shared among the founding members.

In addition, the bank has set up a contingency fund of 100 billion US dollars to help BRICS countries to cushion short-term liquidity pressure.

Of the fund, China will provide 41 billion US dollars to the capital stock; India, Brazil and Russia each pay in 18 billion, and South Africa 5 billion.

Gao Fei, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, says the bank and the fund will complement the existing global financial mechanisms.

"The current global financial system is a legacy of WWII, and reflects the post-war economic situation. But now 70 years has passed. The situation has changed dramatically with the increasing growth of emerging economies and developing countries. The western-led system has lagged behind the world financial and economic development. I think the BRICS bank and the contingency fund will add new impetus to the long-term, stable and continued growth of the world economy. "The board of governors of the NDB has held its first meeting in Moscow during which members of the board of directors were appointed.

In addition, 68-year-old K.V Kamath, former Indian private banker, has been named as the first president of the BRICS bank.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov says the BRICS New Development Bank will work with other international financial institutions to promote infrastructure construction of the member countries.

"The initiation of a new bank will bring new funds and programs. This BRICS New Development Bank will benefit not only Russia but also all the other member countries. More projects will have funding with such international financial organizations. It will stimulate the development of the world economy."The BRICS nations, accounting for about one fifth of the world GDP, have committed to making the bank a more inclusive, democratic and transparent international financial agency.

The bank will soon be open to all UN member nations besides its founding countries.

It will start operating at Lujiazui, Shanghai's financial hub, at the end of this year.

The BRICS leaders are expected to map out the first five-year plan during the Summit for the bank in Ufa.

For CRI, this is Qian Shanming.

Xi calls for joint Chinese-Indian efforts in building stronger BRICS partnershipChinese President Xi Jinping is calling on China and India to work together to build a closer and more comprehensive partnership among the BRICS countries.

He made the call when meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the annual summits of the BRICS countries and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Xi Jinping has hailed the steady progress in bilateral cooperation since the two leaders last met when Modi visited China in May.

The president called for more joint efforts to maintain the positive momentum in the development of those ties.

On the China-India border issue, Xi Jinping said the two sides should properly manage and control their differences and jointly safeguard peace and security in the border area.

For his part, Modi pledged to work with China to strengthen strategic communication and coordination and properly manage differences.

It is the fourth meeting between the two leaders since they first met in Brazil last July.

Chinese authorities issue supportive measures to restore market confidenceAnchorSeveral new measures have been released as the Chinese stock market continued its nose-dive on Wednesday.

CRI's Niu Honglin reports.

ReporterAmong the latest moves, the securities regulator has ordered that investors and managers with more than 5 percent of a listed company's shares are not allowed to reduce their holdings in the coming six months.

In the meantime, China Securities Regulatory Commission further encourages them to buy more shares to stabilize prices.

In response, two major state-owned enterprises have announced the purchase of more of their shares.

China's largest oil refiner, Sinopec Corp. aims to buy a maximum of 2 percent of shares in the coming 12 months.

The nation's top coal miner, Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd., also said it bought 8 million shares listed in Shanghai.

The fresh measures come amid a tumbling stock market and panic among investors.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index sank 5.9 percent, falling more than 30 percent from its June peak.

The Shenzhen Component Index slumped nearly 3 percent but the ChiNext Index rose half a percent to close.

More than half of the roughly 2,800 companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen suspended trading.

The plummeting numbers come despite a raft of supportive measures issued Wednesday to prop up the market.

China Securities Finance Corporation Limited, the national margin trading service provider, pledged to purchase more shares of small- and medium-sized listed companies to ease stock market liquidity.

The central bank also issued a statement reiterating its liquidity support.

With the confidence measures in full swing, some experts say the market bubble created by borrowed money used for margin trading needs time to deflate and so does the restoration of investors' confidence.

For CRI, I am Niu Honglin.

Chinese authorities issue supportive measures to restore market confidenceAnchorAnd for more on this, we are now joined with CRI's Financial Commentator Cao Can.

Questions:

1.How does the purchase of more shares by SOEs help stabilize the market and reduce financial risk?

2.Can you explain how these supportive policies will - or will not - inspire the public's confidence in the stock market?

3.Apart from the recent liquidity support, what further measures do you think the central bank will need to take to stabilize the market?

Back anchorThis is Cao Can CRI's Financial Commentator.

Greece Goes for a 3-year Aid ProgramGreece has made fresh request for help from the European Stability Mechanism, to save the country from defaulting on its debt and from exiting the Eurozone.

European Council President Donald Tusk confirmed the information on Wednesday.

"This is really and truly the final wake up call for Greece but also for us, our last chance. I want to inform you that the last chance procedure has just started. President Dijsselbloem received while we are debating here, the formal Greek request for the ESM programme as we agreed yesterday. I hope that this is a good sign, a good omen for tomorrow. I hope. Thank you."He adds that Greece is rushing to detail a plan of economic reforms that creditors want to see by the end of today, a deadline set by European leaders.

Athens has promised to begin implementing tax and pension measures as early as Monday, the two issues that divided the Greek government and creditors over the past few months of protracted discussions.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says it was a fair deal for Greeks.

"The pre-requisite for this is on the one hand, reliable reforms and on the other a clear commitment for sufficient funding and necessary debt relief in order to have a viable solution and a definite exit from the crisis. This is our goal; this is what our efforts are all about. I believe that the overwhelming majority of the Greek people support us in this endeavor."With its banks closed, cash withdrawals rationed and the economy in freefall, Greece has never been closer to a state bankruptcy that would probably force it to leave the euro and print an alternative currency.

An emergency summit involving all 28 European Union members - not just the 19 eurozone countries - will take place on Sunday.

Tsipras says Greece will "file new concrete proposals, and credible reforms, for a fair and viable solution."NYSE Halts Trading for More Than 3 HoursAnchorThe New York Stock Exchange halted trading on all shares for more than 3 hours today due to a "technical issue". The exchange resumed its trading only an hour before the market closed.

CRI's He Fei reporting from Washington.

ReporterTrading stopped around 11:30 am local time and all open orders were cancelled. The exchange explained the situation on its official twitter account, saying "We're experiencing a technical issue that we're working to resolve as quickly as possible."The issues are limited to the NYSE floor, and the exchange noted it did not affect its all-electronic Archipelago Exchange and options markets remain open. Technicians took more than 3 hours to fix the system and finally the trading resumed at 3:10 pm.

NYSE has denied the issue is the result of a cyber breach but attributed it to an internal technical problem. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has been closely monitored the situation and trading in NYSE-listed stocks. President Obama and the Treasury have also said that they are watching what's going down.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

"At this point, there is no indication that malicious actors are involved in this technology issues."The NYSE is not the only one suffering from technical failures today. Around the same time, the homepage of the Wall Street Journal was down and United Airlines grounded all its flights due to computer outages. However, according to NBC News, officials do not think the glitches of the three cases are connected.

For CRI, I'm He Fei in Washington.

Interview with Commissioner General of UNRWAAnchorThe United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East or UNRWA is seeking closer cooperation with China to improve the situation for Palestinian refugees.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, the Commissioner General of the UN agency, visited Beijing this week to develop a better understanding of China's view on the Middle East and seek opinions of Chinese officials.

For more on his visit to Beijing, CRI's Tu Yun has an exclusive interview with Mr Kr?henbühl.

Back anchorThat was Pierre Krahenbuhl, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, speaking with CRI's Tu Yun.

Exhibition Jewish Refugees and Shanghai held in Canberra, AustraliaAnchor2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum has planned and designed a travelling exhibition on Jewish Refugees in Shanghai, which is currently on display in Canberra, Australia.

It is estimated that between 1933 and 1941, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees came to Shanghai.

Our Australia correspondent Wang Xiao has more.

ReporterThe exhibition Jewish Refugees and Shanghai was on display in Canberra Tuesday. The exhibition tells the story of how Jewish refugees escaped Europe, came to Shanghai and lived with local people. It also focuses on their new life after the end of World War II.

During the 1930s and 40s, millions of European Jews suffered under the persecution of the Nazis. Between 1933 and 1941, nearly 30 thousand Jewish refugees fled to Shanghai.

Peter Witting, an 87 year old, is the only Jewish survivor from Shanghai in Canberra right now. He was invited to the exhibition and shared his experience as a Jewish refugee. He said his most unforgettable memory about life in Shanghai was the warmth of the Chinese people during the hard times.

"The friendliness of the Chinese people. I was working with Chinese workman, and they are great friends. There is no anti-Semitism and it was a very harmonious relationship. It was wonderful. They saved our lives. "In May 1939, Witting left Germany with his family, just four months before the Second World War broke out. Although it was a really hard time when they had to rely on relief assistance, Witting said they were lucky compared to their relatives in Europe.

"I am now 87 years old and looking back over my life I must say that I have been very fortunate in that our immediate family was able to escape from Germany before World War II and receive refuge in China, which saved us from almost certain annihilation in Europe. Whilst the war years were not easy, our experiences just cannot be compared with what many of our family members and compatriots had to endure in concentration camps of Europe. Many of our family members perished during the Holocaust."This year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, and Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The common hardship and friendship shared by the Chinese and Jewish has become a special bond that brings each other closer.

BAck AnchorThat is Wang Xiao from Canberra.

WeatherBeijing will be cloudy with a high of 33 degrees Celsius.

Overnight temperatures should drop down to 23.

Shanghai will see slight rain with a high of 28 and a low of 24.

In Chongqing, it will be cloudy during the daytime with a high of 34 and lows of 23.

Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,Kathmandu, slight rain, 31.

Islamabad will have slight rain with a high of 32.

Kabul will be cloudy with a high of 32.

Over to North America,New York will see slight rain with a high of 29 degrees.

Washington, overcast with a high of 34 degrees.

Honolulu, slight rain, 28.

Toronto will have slight rain with a high of 20 degrees.

Finally, on to South America,Buenos Aires will be overcast with a high of 17.

And Rio de Janeiro will see slight rain with a high of 25 degrees Celsius.

Headline newsXi, Putin agreed to actions on increasing Asia-Europe connectivityChinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have reached a broad consensus on connecting China's Silk Road proposals and Russia's initiative on a Eurasian Economic Union.

The two leaders have held their second meeting in two months, meeting this time in the Russian city of Ufa ahead of the annual summits of the BRICS nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Xi Jinping says tangible results have already been achieved in some new cooperation fields, aiming to increase Asia-Europe connectivity.

The two leaders have reached consensus on areas for cooperation and specific projects and agreed that athe Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be the "first platform" to implement projects under the broad connectivity plan.

On Wednesday, President Xi also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ufa.

Provinces on alert as two typhoons approach ChinaProvinces in south and east China are on high alert because of two approaching typhoons.

Typhoon Linfa is expected to make landfall this morning on the coastal regions stretching from Shantou City in Guangdong to Zhangpu City in Fujian Province.

The National Meteorological Center has warned that Linfa, with a complex route and changing intensity, will have a "serious impact" on south China.

Meanwhile Typhoon Chan-Hom, which is moving much faster, could land in Fujian and neighboring Zhejiang Province late Friday as a strong or super typhoon.

Railway authorities in Shanghai plan to suspend all passenger trains along the coast on Friday and Saturday.

Greece Goes for a 3-year Aid ProgramGreece has made fresh request for help from the European Stability Mechanism, to save the country from defaulting on its debt and from exiting the Eurozone.

Greece has promised to begin implementing tax and pension measures as early as Monday.

Athens is still rushing to detail a plan of economic reforms that creditors want to see by the end of today, a deadline set by European leaders.

An emergency summit involving all 28 European Union members will take place on Sunday.

Berlusconi sentenced to 3 years for bribing Italian senatorFormer Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been found guilty of bribery in a 2006 case and sentenced to three years in jail.

A court in Naples has also banned Berlusconi from holding public office for five years.

He was convicted of bribing a senator with three million euros in an attempt to bring down the then center-left government.

The four-time prime minister has denied the charges.

But the 78-year-old will not actually have to serve any time in prison because a statute of limitations comes into effect in November, before any appeal can be held.

Biz reportsClosing numbers across North America and EuropeAnchorFirst, a quick check on the closing numbers across North America and Europe on this Thursday morning, here is our reporter Min Rui.

ReporterU.S. stocks suffered big losses Wednesday, as investors were digesting the Federal Reserve's minutes and the latest developments in the Greek debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.5 percent.

The S&P 500 tumbled 1.7percent.

The Nasdaq Composite Index dived 1.8percent.

Trading stopped in the late morning due to some technical issues. However, NYSE-listed shares continued to trade on other exchanges.

After three and a half hours, trading resumedTraders worried about China's failure to stop a steep drop in its own market, and they were also monitoring a logjam in talks between Greece and its creditors.

According to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, the policy-setting arm of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the information reviewed for the June 16-17 meeting suggested that real GDP of the United States was increasing moderately in the second quarter after edging down in the first quarter.

Over in Europe, the uncertainty of Greek debt crisis and the heavy sell-offs in Asian equities didn't weigh on investor sentiment.

The London stock index rebounded Wednesday after a three-day drop.

British FTSE 100 increased by 0.9 percent.

The French benchmark index CAC 40 gained an advance of 0.8 percent, shaking off the previous losing streak.

Germany's Dax added 0.7 percent.

Higher land prices push up home prices in China's first tier citiesChina's land prices continue to rise this year in first tier cities, where the cost of buying a home has also been pushed up.

For the first half of this year, Shanghai's urban land sales value grew more than 5 percent from a year ago to over 50 billion yuan or more than 8 billion US dollars.

Average land prices grew year-on-year by more than 8 percent to over 9,000 yuan per square meter.

Wu Jianfeng, associate professor at the School of Economics at Fudan University says land reserves are becoming harder to obtain in Shanghai.

"This March, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released a notice for cities to adjust their land supply structure and ensure more balanced market development. Following that notice, many cities have cut the amount of land they are willing to sell. Also, land reserves are becoming harder to obtain in Shanghai. "With less new land available, unit prices of some land, particularly those around the middle ring in Shanghai, are even rising above home prices in the same area.

However, property developers are still keen on bidding.

Lin Bo, the vice president of China Real Estate Information Corporation Research Center comments on the future trend of the property market.

"When land prices are so high, it increases the uncertainties and the risks in property projects. Individual developers don't want to take that risk, so more and more of them are choosing to work with others in recent years."Despite these partnerships reducing risks for developers, analysts expect home prices to continue to rise in first tier cities as long as demand continues to outstrip supply.

China cuts government-trade association linksChina's trade associations, which traditionally have a close relationship with the government, will be given more independence but under stricter scrutiny.

The State Council on Wednesday released a plan that said all operational, financial and personnel affiliation between the government and trade associations will be severed.

From 2018, the government will stop directly sponsoring trade associations and instead contract their services as outside agents.

Some associations that are linked to government departments or public institutions will have to separate their staff, work and property.

When the plan is fully implemented, all trade associations will be considered non-profit NGOs and, therefore, subject to the related rules.

A pilot project will be kicked off this month at 100 trade associations and will expand, covering more organizations, in 2016 and 2017.

China's First Multiple Unit Train to be Exported to Europe Rolls off LineAnchorThe first Chinese-made multiple unit train to be exported to Europe has rolled off the production line belonging to a subsidiary of China's high-speed rail maker CRRC Corporation Limited.

CRI's Xie Cheng has more.

ReporterA ceremony has been held to announce the multiple units' rolling off the assembly line of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company Limited.

The multiple units which will be delivered to Macedonia are also the first products in accordance with the Technical Specification for Interoperability, or TSI, the rules especially made for railways in Europe.

Lin Wenjun, the chief-designer of the multiple units, says this means Chinese high-speed railway trains have gained recognition and qualification to enter the European market.

"In order to enter Europe, TSI is a technical threshold with a number of specific standards, including safety, comfort level, and even passengers' experiences, such as ensuring customers can smoothly walk inside the carriage, sit comfortably, or if their kids can reach the buttons and so on."The train painted with red and yellow, based on the colours of Macedonia's national flag, will be put into operation in 6 months.

It's the first time that low-floor technology and articulated bogies have been put into use on Chinese high-speed railway trains' production.

The 3-car train is also designed in line with the strictest safety standards in Europe.

Zhang Minyu with Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company Limited explains their strategy to enter the European market.

"We break into the European market with high-quality products rather than prices. For example, they require that the trains have a speed of 140 kilometers per hour, then we design the train with technology for speed at 160, thus gaining advantages on safety operations."The train will run on the 215-km-long railway between Tabanovce in northern Macedonia and Gevgelija at its southern border with Greece.

The track, passing the Macedonian capital Skopje, is an important part of the No. 10 Pan-European transport corridor.

With the Chinese multiple units put into operation, the ability of the track's passenger transport will be greatly improved.

China has exported railway equipments to over 80 countries and regions in the world with a total amount of nearly 26.8 billion yuan, or over 4.3 billion U.S. dollars.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

China exports unit trains to ArgentinaChina's leading locomotive producer, Tangshan Railway Vehicle, said on Wednesday that it has delivered the first batch of trains ordered by Argentina.

A total of 27 trains will be delivered to Argentina in four batches.

According to the company, three trains arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday and the last batch will be sent in August.

Tangshan Railway is a subsidiary of CNR Corp., and the producer of China's first passenger train.

The order received from Argentina is the largest from South America for a Chinese company.

Alibaba buys extra 5% in Singapore PostAlibaba says it will buy an extra 5 percent of Singapore Post for 138 million U.S. dollars to boost its stake to 14.5 percent.

The move is in a bid to further boost the company's cross-border logistics capabilities.

In May 2014, Alibaba bought 10.2 percent of Singapore Post for 249 million US dollars.

Alibaba will also invest 68 million for a 34 percent stake in Quantium Solutions International, a subsidiary that provides e-commerce logistics across the Asia-Pacific.

Alibaba says it will work with Singapore Post more closely on logistics solutions for cross-border e-commerce merchants.

Huawei launches e-Libraries program in S. AfricaChina's global technology giant Huawei and South African partners have launched an e- Libraries program in Johannesburg.

The 400 tablets provided by Huawei have been loaded with a collection of e-book content from different genres.

The e-Libraries program is available on Huawei tablets at the 61 Vodacom Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resource centers situated across South Africa.

Huawei has invested in over 100 universities and training institutes globally, and that 45 ICT training centers were built by Huawei or by its partners.

SportsWimbledon: Richard Gasquet Beats Stan Wawrinka in QFStarting things off with action from the world of tennis:

Frenchman Richard Gasquet shocked the Wimbledon crowd when he beat fourth-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka in a five-set war on Wednesday.

Wawrinka had a break point to go up 10-9 in the final set, but Gasquet recovered, and then went to 40-0 in the following game on Wawrinka's serve.

In the end, Gasquet booked his place in the semis with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 11-9 victory.

Gasquet on the impressive win:

"Yeah, of course, I tried to fight. Even if I lost, as I said, this important game at 5-3, I kept fighting a lot and it was important because I know it's a great match and playing the winner of Roland Garros on quarter-final in a Grand Slam. So I need to keep focus, to stay focus and to fight. Of course, it's a very nice victory for me to win against him 11-9 in the fifth. It's great."The other top seeds in the men's semis fared better than Wawrinka:

World no. 1 and top seed Novak Djokovic eased past Croatia's Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Second seed Roger Federer downed France's Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

And Britain's number three seed, Andy Murray, beat Canada's Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

Chinese Swimmer Lu Ying Win's 2nd Gold Medal at Gwangju UniversiadeIn action from the Gwangju Universiade in South Korea:

China's Lu Ying claimed her second swimming gold medal by winning the women's 100-meter butterfly on Wednesday.

Lu came in first in 57.83 seconds to win the gold, followed by Elena Di Liddo of Italy and Katarina Listopadova of Slovakia, who snatched the bronze.

Chinese diver Zheng Shuangxue also nabbed gold on Wednesday after she won the women's three-meter springboard final. Earlier in the games, Zheng took gold in the one-meter springboard.

Chinese shooters took gold in the men's 25-meter rapid pistol competition, women's 10m air pistol team event and women's 50m rifle 3 positions team events.

Football: Chinese FA Cup RecapIn football action from the Chinese FA Cup last night:

League One club Beijing BG shut out Chinese Super League leaders Beijing Guo'an 2-0.

Guizhou Renhe edged Jiangxi Liansheng 3-2.

Shandong Luneng blew out Chongqing Lifan 4-1.

Henan Jianye beat Hangzhou 3-1.

Shanghai SIPG got a 2-1 victory over Guangzhou R&F.

League One leaders Hebei CFFC lost 2-1 to Jiangsu Guoxin.

And Xinjiang Tianshan defeated Tianjin Teda 1-0.

Football: Gold Cup PreviewIn upcoming football action from the Gold Cup tournament taking place in the U.S.,At about 8 a.m., Beijing time--Jamaica will hit the pitch against Costa Rica.

Later this morning,El Salvador will go up against Canada.

Golf: Rory McIlroy Pulls Out of British Open with Ankle InjuryIn Golf:

Rory McIlroy will not defend his British Open title at St Andrews next week after announcing on Wednesday he did not want to risk further damage to the ankle ligaments he ruptured playing football last weekend.

McIlroy's potential showdown with double major winner Jordan Spieth was expected to be the highlight of the Open, but the American will now start the tournament as the favorite.

Spieth defended McIlroy's choice of playing football and risking injury so close to a major tournament:

"It's unlucky, it's unfortunate and I'm sure he's taking it harder on himself than anybody else.　But I don't think he did anything wrong it was just an unfortunate situation and hopefully he rebounds very quickly and gets back right to where he was."The 21-year-old Spieth is ranked just behind McIlroy at number two in the world.

NBA: DeAndre Jordan Having Second Thoughts on Dallas DealFrom the National Basketball Association:

ESPN is reporting that the star center is having second thoughts about the recent four-year deal he made last week to leave the Clippers and join the Dallas Mavericks, a deal worth over 80 million U.S. dollars.

Jordan reportedly reached out to Clips big man Blake Griffin and coach Doc Rivers on Monday to express his hesitation to move to Dallas.

The unwritten rule about free agents in the NBA is that, once a verbal agreement is struck with a team, other teams need to back off the signee.

But ESPN says Clippers owner Steve Balmer and Rivers met with Jordan in Houston, Texas, after he made the deal with Dallas.

Jordan will reportedly meet with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban before making his final decision.

Tour de France Stage 5 RecapIn cycling action from the Tour de France:

Andre Greipel strengthened his grip on the green jersey with victory on Stage Five of the Tour in Amiens on Wednesday, with fellow German Tony Martin retaining the race leader's yellow jersey.

Pierre-Luc Perichon of Team Bretagne was in an early breakaway before going it alone and leading the peloton by three-and-a-half minutes at one point.

Perichon took the day's only intermediate sprint, but there was a contest for second place, with Andre Greipel extending his lead in the points competition.

The man in the green jersey finished ahead of John Degenkolb and Mark Cavendish.

Despite wearing the yellow jersey, Tony Martin was working hard for his Etixx-Quickstep team, who were trying to set up Cavendish for the stage win.

But Greipel powered home to take his second stage of this year's race ahead of the fast-finishing Peter Sagan with Cavendish third.

Martin remains in yellow, while Greipel will have high hopes of another stage win on Thursday (9th July) with stage six from Abbeville to Le Havre set to be another mostly flat stage for the sprinters.

EntertainmentTiny Times 4 to hit theaters todayThe latest and last installment of the "Tiny Time" franchise -"Tiny Time 4" has premiered in Beijing.

Director Guo Jingming, along with main actors of the film, met with fans.

The writer-director says despite his success as a writer and filmmaker, his career as a director "has just begun.""Although my career as a film director just began, I've been doing this for just two years. However, there will be no other film like the 'Tiny Times' series, in which I have invested so much emotion. Many people say movies tell fictional stories, but they have become part of my real life these years."Actress Fan Bingbing also attended the event as a surprise guest.

She stars in Guo Jingming's upcoming movie "CRITICAL", or "Jueji" in Chinese.

It's being reported that actor Kai Ko's scenes in the romance comedy are not entirely cut out.

The first of the films, "Tiny Times 1.0," was released in June 2013 and was a commercial success in China's mainland, raising some 80 million yuan at the box office.

Altogether, the series has made 1.3 billion yuan so far.

The set of movies follows the stories of four long-time friends navigating among relationships, work and friendships in modern-day Shanghai.

Fans nationwide can enjoy "Tiny Times 4" starting from today.

Ryan Reynolds says the Science in his new movie-"Self/less" scares himCanadian actor Ryan Reynolds says the science in his new movie-"Self/less", scares him.

The sci-fi thriller explores a way for people to extend their lifetimes by "shedding," which means transferring their mind into a host body.

In the film, Reynolds appears as the new body for a business tycoon played by academy-award winner Ben Kingsley.

The actor says the idea is beyond his scientific scope.

"I thought it was interesting, I mean that idea that we can take someone's consciousness and put it in another vessel and actually make it function is interesting and these guys that I am working with are saying this is actually real science, this is stuff that they are actually working on to some degree … then it just scared the crap out of me.""Self/less" also dives into the ethics that go along with the process of shedding, like who should be allowed to take part and whether its various side effects are worth it.

The movie also stars Matthew Goode and Natalie Martinez and opens Friday in the U.S. and Canada.

Johnny Depp Visits Hospital as Captain JackJohnny Depp has just visited Brisbane's lady Cilento Children's Hospital.

And he turned up in full Jack Sparrow costume.

(bjh/soundbites/0709 Depp visit clip)His young fans were delighted to see him and one of the little fans even cried.

Depp is currently filming his latest Pirates of the Caribbean film in Australia.

Elie Saab presents his latest couture collectionElie Saab's romantic fall-winter couture show has been presented in Paris.

Gold is the recurrent color of the show.

The designer is looking back at his own house's history, to the 1990s, when he started to make his name outside Lebanon.

During that period, he was known for the golden thread in much of his embroidery.

"It's a collection inspired by the Byzantium. I chose this theme because the success of the house in the 1990s was enormous in the Arab world. It was my beginning, my launch to the whole world."Saab has opened his second boutique in Paris this week.

That's it for this edition of the Beijing Hour.

Recapping our top stories this morning...

The Chinese and Russian presidents have reached a broad consensus on linking their respective Silk Road and Eurasian Economic Union proposals...

Officials and experts have lauded the newly-established BRICS bank, calling it complementary to existing lenders...

and technical issues halted trading on the New York Stock exchange for three hours on Wednesday...

In Business...land prices are driving up home prices in China's first-tier cities...

On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers, this is Shane Bigham in Beijing hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together.