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

Coming up on the program this evening...

Emergency measures are being taken in Tianjin to prevent further tragedies following Wednesday's explosions...

Chinese leaders voice strong opposition and dissatisfaction over visits by Japanese lawmakers to the Yasakuni war shrine in Tokyo...

And the US embassy in Cuba has officially opened for the first time in 54 years...

In the 2nd half of the hour, we'll bring you some of the business stories making headlines this past week.

In Sports...updating some action getting underway now in the Chinese Super League...

And in Entertainment...one more album of new material from a Chinese singer who passed away in early January...

All of that coming up in the next hour, but first, just a reminder there are several ways to reach out to us here on the Beijing Hour.

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Top NewsEmergency measures to precent secondary disasters in Tianjin blastsEmergency measures have been adopted in Tianjin to prevent secondary disasters three days after the deadly explosions hit the port city.

So far 85 have been confirmed dead, with 722 injured.

Chemical specialists investigating the blasts believe sodium cyanide, a highly toxic inorganic compound might have been stored at the site.

Gao Huaiyou, deputy director of Tianjin's work safety watchdog, says containers at the blast site are closed and some haven't been registered, so the exact amount of the dangerous chemical is not yet clear.

"First, the authorities in Tianjin have dispatched local personnel from chemical enterprises that produce sodium cyanide to come to the blast site to deal with the highly-toxic materials. Second, the work safety administration has sent a team of professional personnel to spray hydrogen peroxide to neutralize sodium cyanide, in order to reduce the poison to a minimum."The official notes that some other dangerous chemicals likely to be stored include potassium nitrate and ammonium nitrate.

The military's Anti-chemical corps has been sent into the center of the blast zone to verify what's in the storage containers.

At the same time, the rescue operation continues within the area.

A man at fifties was found alive today and sent to hospital for treatment.

Minor explosions and fire were also reported at the warehouse.

By this afternoon, authorities say the fire is basically out.

They have also enlarged the evacuation area around the blast site.

A radius of three km was cordoned off.

Authroties refute rumors about Tianjin blastsAt the same time, authorities are also refuting rumors that the owner of the blasted warehouse has strong political connections.

The warehouse was owned by Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International Logistics company.

Widespread internet rumors are suggesting the general manager of the company, Zhi Feng, is the son of a former deputy mayor of Tianjin.

Gong Jiansheng, a municipal Party official, says police have verified the rumor is groundless.

"The news center at the accident site learned more from the municipal public security bureau on Saturday morning that Zhi Shenghua only has a daughter and has no son. Zhi Feng doesn't have any relations with him. The public security department is investigating into this and will deal with those rumormongers who spread rumors at this critical moment."Zhi Feng, who was injured in the explosions, has been hospitalized since Wednesday.

Over 360 social media accounts have been suspended or shut down for spreading rumors after the fatal blasts.

Authorities say most of the wrong information concerns the pollution threat and the impact of the explosion.

There are also some accounts masquerading as relatives of the victims, attempted to swindle money through fraudulent fund raising.

China voices strong opposition of Japanese MPs visitng to controvercial shrineChina has voiced strong opposition and dissatisfaction of today's visit to Yasukuni shrine by some Japanese cabinet members.

This comes after Koichi Hagiuda, an aid for Japan's Prime Minister, sent spiritual offerings on behalf of Shinzo Abe to the controversial shrine.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement on Saturday, saying the visit, coming on the day marking Japan's unconditional surrender at the end of World War II, reflects Japan's wrong attitude on historical facts and its attempt to whitewash Japan's wrongdoings during the war.

The shrine honors 14 Class-A convicted criminals of WWII.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also urges Japan to make an effort to stay away from its former militarism and to honour agreements that have been made with countries, including China, that were wronged by Japan during the war.

Senior Japanese officials visiting the shrine today also included the ministers in charge of women's empowerment and the internal affairs minister, as well as 100 lawmakers, including the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

The visits come a day after Shinzo Abe released a closely watched statement concerning World War II.

During the speech, Abe reiterated previous governments' apologies over Japan's past wartime actions, but refrained from offering a fresh apology himself.

He also claimed that Japan's future generations must not "be predestined to apologize" for the country's role in the conflict.

The speech has been criticized both at home and abroad of lacking a sincere apology.

China marks victory of Anti-Japanese agression warVarious activities have been held across China today to mark the victory in Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

More than 1,000 people attended a ceremony today at a museum in northeast China's Fuxin city, where over 500,000 Chinese were forced by Japanese troops to work in local coal mines between 1936 to 1945.

Mass graves found at work sites revealed that around 70 thousand miners were killed, due to outdated equipment and terrible working conditions.

Hu Jian, curator of the museum, says many of the victims had been buried alive.

"Although we call it 'warehouse for the dead,' many did not die when abandoned there. They just lost their labor force, or part of their labor force. Then they were buried here."In Nanjing, hundreds of people from China and Japan held a peace rally at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Tamaki Matsuoka is the leader of Japanese delegation.

"We came here with a clear aim. As the Nanjing Massacre happened during Japan's aggression in China, and it's barely mentioned in our text books, and not many people in Japan know about it, we bring our people here to learn and study this part of history every August 15th, hoping to let more people know about it."Japanese troops started the massacre in Nanjing on Dec.13, 1937, killing more than 300,000 people in approximately 40 days.

New exhibits reveal the atrocities of Unit 731Anchor:

New exhibits revealing the atrocities of Japan's notorious Unit 731, infamous for its deadly and cruel human experiments, are now on display in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

CRI's Wang Wei brings more details.

Reporter:

More than 10,000 artifacts used in the commission of biological atrocities against Chinese citizens during World War II are on display at a museum in Haerbin.

Among them are some confidential "special transfer" archives, documents used by Japanese troops whenever captives were sent to the base to be used in experiments.

One of the historic files is of a war-time intelligence agent named Li Pengge, who was captured in 1941 and transferred to Unit 731.

Li's file was then deleted from the prison he had previously been held and his family lost contact with him.

His daughter Li Fengqin, found her father's name in the 'special transfer' archive.

"We went to the relics of the Unit 731 as soon as we found that archive. My brother and I, we mourned for our father. I'd never had the chance to call my father, never. And neither my brother, as he was still a baby then. We knelt down there and for the first time, we called 'father'."The 1,000 known archives show that those being transferred also included South Koreans and Russians.

Jin Chengmin is the curator of the Museum of War Crime Evidence by Japanese Army Unit 731.

He says these archives are evidence to prove the existence and nature of Unit 731"The archives made clear about the human sources, their identities, the number of the victims and their nationalities. So these archives should be the most powerful evidence to prove that Unit 731 used live human beings to do experiments,"Japanese Unit 731 carried out lethal human experiments in the name of biological and chemical warfare research in World War II.

Japan first established a bacteria experiment 70 kilometers outside of Harbin City in 1933 and later a bigger base was built.

Unit 731 withdrew from its base in northeast China in August of 1945, when the Soviet Red Army attacked Japanese troops in the region.

Before leaving, Unit 731 bombed the facilities, destroyed documents and killed witnesses.

Xu Zhanjiang, a researcher from the museum, says this decision also suggest that the Japanese troops intended to cover their cruel and inhumane atrocities in the bases.

This was because they knew that they were conducting the bacteria warfare, developing the bacteria weapons. The bacteria warfare was against the international convention. It was the most important evidence to declare the emperor as a war criminal in the future. So the Unit 731 came to their mind at once and decided to destroy the evidence."The museum is located to the east of the former Unit 731 headquarters in Harbin.

Thousands of men, women, and children died during the human experimentation conducted by Unit 731.

For CRI, this is Wang Wei.

Japanese emperor expresses "deep remorse" at WWII memorial serviceEmperor of Japan Akihito on Saturday expressed his "deep remorse" over the past war, doing so for the first time at an annual memorial service marking the anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in WWII.

"We hearby reflect on the past and we hold (offer) our deepest remorse for the last war. I strongly hope that there is no repeat of the misery of the war. Together with all the people of Japan, I would like to express our deepest condolences to those who perished in the war. I hereby pray for world peace and further prosperity for our nation."The soft-spoken emperor has urged Japan not to forget the suffering of the war and tried to promote reconciliation with Asian countries.

He has expressed remorse previously but not at the annual service at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo.

South korean President leads Liberation Day ceremonySouth Korea's President is urging Japan to back words with actions regarding historical issues, referring to the statement delievered by the Japanese Prime Minister about World War II.

"From now on, the Japanese government should back up their declarations of succeeding historical consciousness of former cabinets with consistent and sincere acts so that it can gain trust from neighbouring countries and international society."Park Geun-hye spoke today at a ceremony in Seoul marking seven decades of South Korea's independence from Japanese colonial rule.

The president urged the Abe cabinet to rapidly resolve the comfort women issue, as Abe refused to "clearly" acknowledge and apologize for the sex enslavement.

Comfort women refers to about 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, forced into sexual slavery in Imperial Japan's military brothels during World War II.

Human Rights Should Not Dominate Xi-Obama SummitAnchor:

A senior Chinese official has said that human rights issues should not dominate the relationship between China and the US.

The statement came as the two countries concluded their annual Human Rights Dialogue this week .

CRI Washington chief correspondent Xiaohong has the story.

Reporter:

Li Junhua, head of the Chinese delegation to the annual dialogue, says China is open to talking about human rights at the upcoming summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama next month.

"In terms of human rights, the two countries have consensus as well as differences. However this issue should not dominate our discussion about our relationship. We should see a bigger picture. We should consider how to seek more cooperation between each other while shelving these differences."He believes the issues to be discussed between the two leaders at the upcoming summit should be decided by both sides.

Li Junhua, a senior official of the Chinese foreign ministry, says the 19th annual China-US dialogue on Human Rights held in Washington DC on Thursday and Friday, has provided a good platform for both sides to exchange views and share progresses in this field.

He notes that China has achieved great success in improving and promoting human rights conditions.

"For most people in China, human rights means that we get education, a decent job, good healthcare and old age care. This is our most honest perception and view on human rights. And such honest view and perception as well as aims are now turning into reality."Li also stressed that there is no universal model that can fit all nations. China is willing to hold candid exchanges with other nations in an inclusive and open manner based on mutual respect.

He hopes the China-US dialogue on human rights will inject positive energy in the building of a new type of relationship between major countries.

Xiaohong, CRI, Washington DC.

Chinese warships leave for Sea of Japan for joint drills with RussiaSeven Chinese warships have left for the Sea of Japan to join their Russian counterparts for a nine-day naval exercise.

Joint Sea-2015 II will take place from Aug. 20 to 28 in Russia, as well as in the Sea of Japan.

Naval forces from the two counries will simulate anti-submarine combat, air defense and other missions.

A joint beach landing for troops is also planned.

The previous China-Russia naval drills were held in the Mediterranean Sea in May.

US Embassy Opens in Cuba after 54 YearsAnchor:

US has opened an embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years.

US Secretary of State John Kerry presided over a flag rising ceremony at the residence of the US ambassador in Havana on Friday.

CRI's Victor Ning has more.

Reporter:

The opening of the US embassy in Havanna is the latest development after the US and Cuba first announced the restoration of diplomatic ties last December.

Kerry stressed the significance of the event.

"The establishment of normal diplomatic relations is not something that one government does as a favor to another. It is something that two countries do together when the citizens of both will benefit. And in this case, the reopening of our embassies is important on two levels: people to people, and government to government."Kerry's Cuban counterpart, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, also expressed his country's will for the re-establishment of diplomatic ties.

"On the basis of mutual respect and equality, and on the precondition that Cuba's independence and sovereign integrity will not be encroached upon and its internal affairs will not be interfered in, our government has the full will to normalize relations with the United States."While initial improvements in relations have been made, both sides admit there is a long road ahead before relations are fully normalized. The most significant issues are said to include matters of the economy, immigration, and human rights.

Kerry says the two sides can now begin the next phase for the development of bilateral ties.

"Over the next days, we will be able to lay out a road map, whereby steps are taken and make it possible for us to move to the next level."Rodriguez says Cuba expects compensations for damages caused by the long US economic embargo, as it considers US claims for property expropriated by the Cuban government.

Cuba wants the US to end the trade embargo, while Kerry has said the US is unlikely to do so unless the US Congress sees improvement in Cuba's human right record.

However, Josefina Vidal, Cuba's Lead Negotiator with the US, says the lift of the embargo, if and when it happens, will only be the first step of the long process of restoring economic relations.

"But the lifting of the embargo will not be the magic wand. After the embargo is lifted, we'll see whether we will receive the status of most favoured nation, if we are to receive tariff privileges, anyway, the normalization of economic relations is a process that will take time, even beyond the lifting of the embargo."The US initiated the trade embargo against Cuba in the 1960's following the deterioration of the relationship between the two countries.

Last month, a Cuban embassy officially opened in Washington.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.

EU Approves New Bailout Plan for GreeceFinance ministers from the euro zone have approved another massive bailout package for Greece. The decision was made during meeting of EU ministers in Brussels on Friday, just hours after Greek lawmakers approved the package.

The aid package is worth around 85 billion euros, or more than 94 billion USD, over three years. It is the third bailout package for Greece in five years.

Euclid Tsakalotos, the Greek finance minister, welcomed the development, adding the package comes with opportunities.

"This deal we have never hidden the fact has many opportunities. It has an opportunity for Greek people to reform their public sector, to address the issues of corruption, to address the issues of tax evasion and a number of very important structural reforms."Germany, along with a number of other countries, is scheduled to review the package next week. Assuming approval from those countries, the European Stability Mechanism is expected to approve the first batch of funding, worth 26 million euros, on August 19.

Ten Years after Israeli Disengagement from GazaAnchor:

Saturday marks a decade since Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Today, people in Gaza are still living under the Israeli siege, and the peace which the Israelis expected 10 years ago hasn't been achieved yet.

CRI's Huang Shan has more.

Reporter:

"I would like to repeat what I have said in the past: in the framework of a future agreement, Israel will not remain in all the places where it is today. The Israel Defense Forces and the settlements will be deployed along the security line, a portion of the settlements will be relocated. The Disengagement Plan will be implemented, period."'The Disengagement Plan', initiated by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, refers to the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, and the dismantling of all the 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza as well as four small settlements in the northern West Bank.

The disengagement began on August 15, 2005, and ended within a month. Nearly 10,000 people were evacuated despite their reluctance. And the days afterwards were difficult. Most of the former settlers lived in prefabricated homes for years, and around 2,000 people are still without permanent homes.

On the other hand, for Palestinians in Gaza, it is good to live without the Jewish settlers.

"Of course, it's freedom. The settlements separated Gaza Strip for three regions. The transportation was so difficult. It was terrible. The communication between the (Palestinian) cities was so difficult. There were many restrictions."However, only two years after the end of Israeli occupation, Gaza was under siege since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Professor Mukhaimar Abu Saada with Al-Azhar University in Gaza says the blockade has severely affected the life of people in Gaza.

"When Israel decided to disengage from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Palestinians looked at it as an end of the Israeli occupation to Gaza. But unfortunately daily life conditions have deteriorated after Israel disengaged from Gaza, because Israel imposed a tight siege against Gaza. As the result, levels of poverty and unemployment in Gaza Strip have gotten up very high."Three major conflicts have broken out between Israel and Gaza afterwards, killing thousands of Palestinians.

On the Israeli side, the rocket attacks from Gaza have made more and more Israelis think the disengagement plan is a mistake.

"We paid such a high price, 10,000 people lost their homes and many of our people are still homeless. We did everything to achieve peace, but we got the opposite. We got wars, and Israel is still blamed around the world."Ten years after the disengagement and one year after the last military conflict, the relationship between Israel and Gaza hasn't proved much. Professor Mukhaimar Abu Saada with Al-Azhar University in Gaza says the current situation is still unstable.

For CRI, I'm Huang Shan.

N. Korea Threatens Military Action Against South Amid Propaganda BroadcastsNorth Korea warned of military action against South Korea if the South continues to broadcast anti-north propaganda across the border.

South Korea resumed the broadcasts for the first time in more than a decade after it accused the North for planting landmines in the demilitarized zone. Two South Korean soldiers were badly wounded earlier this month.

North Korea has denied the allegations.

In a statement released by the North Korean Front Command of the Korean People's Army, the North called South Korea's action "a wanton violation of the military agreement" between the neighboring countries, a grave military provocation against the North and a serious case of pushing the inter-Korean relations to the worst phase.

The statement demanded the South stop the broadcasts immediately and threatened "an all-out military action of justice" if the broadcasts continued.

The broadcasts were previously halted in 2004 after improvement in bilateral relations.

China Philharmonic Orchestra Holds Concerts along Ancient Silk RoadAnchor:

Chinese and Iranian musicians have co-staged a two-day concert in Tehran right after the China Philharmonic Orchestra landed in the Iranian capital for the 2015 Silk Road Concert Tour.

CRI's Guo Yan has the details.

Reporter:

China Philharmonic Orchestra held a concert in Vahdat Hall, Teheran, on Thursday as part of the fourth leg of its 2015 Silk Road Concert Tour, following performances in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The concert is part of its six-country Silk Road tour and attracted more than 600 people, including China Ambassador to Iran Pang Sen and diplomatic missions in Iran.

The concert was opened with Alexander Porphyrievitch Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from "Prince Igor" and followed by violin concerto "the Butterfly Lovers", otherwise known as "Liangzhu". Music and applause echoed in the hall.

"It's wonderful! We can see the themes, motivations and phrases integrating with the Western music. It's a fantastic performance. I love it!"During the second half of the concert, Iranian conductor Ali Rahbari took to the podium and co-presented other beautiful melodies.

Rahbari said he enjoyed working with the Chinese team and that cultural exchanges with China are beneficial.

"China Philharmonic Orchestra is a very professional team. I really enjoy working with all its members. The purpose of the concert is to boost culture exchanges between our two countries. China wants to establish a cultural relationship with us, not only in the economic field; this is a pretty good idea."At the same time, President of China Philharmonic Orchestra Li Nan praised the accomplishments of Iranian musicians, especially Ali Rahbari.

Li Nan also expressed his wishes for future cooperation, and said the tour would open a gate to conduct cultural communications.

China Ambassador to Tehran Pang Sen underlined the importance of the visit and noted the concert is a major part of cultural interaction of the two countries.

"Cooperation between China and Iran not only includes the economy, but also politics and culture. Cultural exchange is a good opportunity to promote mutual understanding of two nations. Music has no border; it is a language that anyone can understand."Pang says the concert tour is a new start for China and Iran and expected more exchanges in various fields in the near future.

After performances in Tehran, the China Philharmonic Orchestra is also scheduled to give concerts in Turkey and Greece, its last two stops of the 18-day tour along the ancient Silk Road.

For CRI, I'm Guo Yan.

WeatherBeijing will be clear tonight with a low of 22, tomorrow will be sunny with a high of 35.

Shanghai will have shower tonight with a low of 25, the shower will continue tommorrow, high of 30.

Chongqing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 26, still cloudy tomorrow with a high of 34.

Lhasa will have slight rain tonight with a low of 13, also rainy tomorrow with a high of 23.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad will have slight rain tomorrow with a high of 35.

Kabul, also rainy, 30.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney, cloudy, high of 19,Brisbane, slight rain,19,Perth, cloudy, 22,And finally Auckland, New Zealand will have slight rain with a high of 15 degrees Celsius.

Headline newsEmergency measures to precent secondary disasters in Tianjin blastsEmergency measures have been adopted in Tianjin to prevent secondary disasters three days after the deadly explosions hit the port city.

So far 86 have been confirmed dead, with 722 injured.

Chemical specialists investigating the blasts believe sodium cyanide, a highly toxic inorganic compound might have been stored at the site.

But the the exact amount of the dangerous chemical is not yet clear.

At the same time, the rescue operation continues within the area.

A man at fifties was found alive today and sent to hospital for treatment.

Minor explosions and fire were also reported at the warehouse.

By this afternoon, authorities say the fire is basically out.

They have also enlarged the evacuation area around the blast site.

A radius of three km was cordoned off.

China voices strong opposition of Japanese MPs visitng to controvercial shrineChina has voiced strong opposition and dissatisfaction of today's visit to Yasukuni shrine by some Japanese cabinet members.

This comes after Koichi Hagiuda, an aid for Japan's Prime Minister, sent spiritual offerings on behalf of Shinzo Abe to the controversial shrine, which honors 14 Class-A convicted criminals of WWII.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement on Saturday, saying the visit, coming on the day marking Japan's unconditional surrender at the end of World War II, reflects Japan's wrong attitude on historical facts and its attempt to whitewash Japan's wrongdoings during the war.

China also urges Japan to make an effort to stay away from its former militarism and to honour agreements that have been made with countries, including China, that were wronged by Japan during the war.

Cuba, U.S. create bilateral commission to solve key issuesCuba and the United States have agreed to create a bilateral commission to help move toward the full normalization of diplomatic ties.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held official talks behind closed doors prior to a press conference.

John Kerry presided Friday's formal ceremony of raising the American flag in the recently reopened U.S. embassy in Havana, the national capital of Cuba, after 54 years of animosity between the two nations.

Bruno Rodriguez says the commission should start the first formal discussions in the next few weeks.

North Korea Starts New Time ZoneNorth Korea now has its own time zone.

Bells were rung in Pyongyang and celebrations held at midnight on Friday, as the nation's clocks were set back 30 minutes starting from Saturday.

North Korea says the move is to mark the anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from colonial rule at the end of World War II.

Previously, both Koreas and Japan shared the same time zone, nine hours ahead of GMT.

Weekly Biz Roundup(Saturday)Anchor:

It's time to take a look back at some business headlines from his past week in our Weekly Business Review.

The Chinese Yuan stabilizes after the central bank reassures markets.

The Consumer Price Index has come in at 1.6-percent through July, below the 3 percent target for the year.

And China's top smartphone maker Xiaomi has announced a new Redmi Note smartphone.

Let's catch up on all of that and more with CRI's Wenjie.

The Chinese currency rose slightly on Friday after 3 days of losses against the US dollar.

The slump had seen the yuan lose 4.7 percent of its value against the dollar and Friday's reversal eased concerns among those who had worried about a long-term period of depreciation.

Ma Jun, Chief economist at the research bureau of the People's Bank of China, believes China's economic fundamentals can support a stable RMB.

"The effect of our macro control measures has shown positive signs: the investment on infrastructure is accelerating, property sales are increasing… all these indicate that our economy is stabilizing and picking up. The growth is much stronger than some other economic entities that faces a higher pressure on devaluation."Zhang Xiaohui, assistant governor of the People's Bank of China, on Thursday said the value of the yuan has gradually returned to market levels.

Zhang said the discrepancy between the central parity rate and the actual trading rate was corrected by the declines between Tuesday and Thursday.

Zhang added there used to be a 3-percent gap between the official rate and market expectations.

The currency's fall comes after the PBoC adjusted the exchange rate formation mechanism on Tuesday, a move designed to better reflect market development in the exchange rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar.

China's central bank has announced it will issue a new 100-yuan bank note, starting from Nov. 12.

The new bills will be harder to counterfeit and easier for machines to read.

The bank says the design of the new bank note will stay largely the same as the the current series but will have enhanced security features.

The 100-yuan note is the largest denomination of the Chinese currency.

The Consumer Price Index has come in at 1.6-percent through July.

This is the highest rate so far this year.

However, it's still below the Chinese government's full-year target of 3-percent.

Mike Bastin, Director of the China Research Center based in London, believes the government needs to do something now.

"1.6 percent is well below the 3 percent figure, many attributes the slide to poor prices with poor consumption, with CPI looking pretty grim, pretty negative, that reflecting sluggish demand across this recent channel, I think there is concern, and I think the government need to do sth."China's Producer Price Index, the measure of prices on a wholesale level, dipped 5.4-percent through July.

This is the 41st consecutive month the PPI has dipped.

China's value-added industrial output expanded 6 percent year on year in July, down from 6.8 percent for June.

The National Bureau of Statistics attributed the drop mainly to flagging external demand, a weak property sector, and less production from some consumer goods sectors, including automobiles and cigarettes.

Year-on-year growth in the first seven months stood at 6.3 percent, the same level as the growth for the first half of the year.

China uses value-added industrial output to measure the final value of industrial production.

Greece has approved a third EU bailout package.

Alexis Mitropoulous, Vice President of the Parliament, announced the passing of the bill on Friday.

"Ladies and gentlemen I have the honour to announce the outcome of the vote. A total of 297 lawmakers voted. 222 voted 'yes', 64 lawmakers voted 'no' and 11 abstained.　Consequently the bill passed by a majority."The vote came after a lengthy debate in parliament through the night.

The new bailout package, the third for Greece in five years, is worth 85 billion Euros, or more than 94 billion USD, over three years.

Greece needs at least 3 billion Euros for a debt payment to the European Central Bank by August 20 and avoid a default.

Under the new agreement, the retirement age in Greece will be increased to 67 by 2022.

There will also be further cuts to Greece's social welfare system.

Alibaba has announced its investing over 4.5-billion US dollars in Chinese home appliance maker Suning.

The 28-billion yuan cash infusion will make Alibaba the 2nd largest shareholder of Suning.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma says the move is meant to try to increase his company's online to offline business.

"The Internet plus strategy has been proposed, and I believe people also have realized that only when the real and digital economies do not repel each other, and instead appreciate, cooperate and do good to each other, can we build a new Chinese business ecosystem."Meanwhile, Alibaba on Wednesday reported its lowest rate of revenue growth in more than 3 years.

It's second-quarter revenue increased 28 percent to 3.2 billion US dollars.

Wednesday's data disappointed investors, with Alibaba shares falling 6.7 percent on the day.

At the same time, Alibaba also announced that it will spend up to 4 billion US dollars to buy back shares over the next 2-years.

Letv.com has teamed up with Tianjin-based bicycle maker Flying Pigeon to produce a "super bicycle."The bicycle itself includes an array of smart functions, including a built-in music player, a navigation system and social networking options.

Lower level "super bikes" are going to cost between 4 and 6-thousand yuan.

A luxury version of the bike will cost upward of 40-thousand yuan.

It's due to retail in both China and in North America.

China's top smartphone maker Xiaomi on Thursday announced a new Redmi Note smartphone, and an improved operating system for its smart devices.

The new redmi 2 promises users improved video quality. It can act as a remote control for televisions and air-conditioners and has a specialized night screen.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.

" We also support the night screen. If at night, you adjust the brightness to the lowest setting it will still be very bright. We have adjusted the brightness setting so when you read at night, it will not hurt your eyes."The new operating system includes several new features including reduced battery consumption, specialized themes, and a new album feature for baby and pet pictures.

It will use face recognition to store pictures into specialized albums that can be viewed on multiple devices by family members.

The Redmi note 2 will be available from August 16th at a starting price of 799 yuan.

Google has unveiled a new corporate structure, forming a parent company named Alphabet.

Under the new structure, Alphabet will house the tech giant's research arm X Lab, investment arm Google Ventures and health and science operations, as well as its popular search unit.

Alphabet will replace Google as the publicly traded entity.

All shares of Google will automatically convert to shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights.

SportsBadminton resultsIn action from the badminton world championships,Top seed Chen Long powered past Kento Momota from Japan 21-9, 21-15 to reach the final.

Chen's rival for the championship will be the winner between Malaysia's Lee Chong-Wei and Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen who eliminated Lin Dan yesterday.

The match between Lee and Jorgensen is in progress, (UPDATE)In mixed doubles,Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin beat Xu Chen/Ma Jin in an all-Chinese semi-final.

That sets up an all-Chinese final against even stronger opponents, Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei.

And the only surviving Chinese pair in men's and women's doubles will hit the court shortly after.

CSL update, previewIn football action from the Chinese Super League,On the field right now --- Tianjin Teda at Changchun Yatai.

Tianjin's home stadium suffered severe damage in the deadly blast that has killed 85 people. The club has issued an official statement reassuring fans that no one on the team was hurt.

The entire Chinese Super League is praying for Tianjin. Beijing Guo'an captain Xu Yunlong is donating part of the revenue from his merchandise sales to the firefighters in the explosion.

Xu is playing in his 400th game in the top flight of Chinese football as Beijing visits Shijiazhuang Ever Bright tonight.

In other action,Guangzhou Evergrande hosts Shanghai Shenhua. Evergrande has just climbed back to the top and needs to secure its lead before it resumes in the AFC Champions League later this month.

There is another game between Shanghai Shenxin and Jiangsu Shuntian.

Bundesliga, EPL recapIn GermanyBayern Munich began its defense of the Bundesliga title with a crushing 5-0 win over Hamburg.

New signing Douglas Costa proved his worth by notching the last goal for Bayern.

Thomas Mueller found the net twice; Mehdi Benatia and Robert Lewandowski also scored.

Bayern claimed the top spot of the table on the 50th anniversary of its first Bundesliga game. It was at the bottom of the league when it lost 1-0 to city rival Munich 1860 in Bayern's inaugural game.

In other action for Bayern, it has been drawn away to face Wolfsburg in its second game of the DFB Cup.

The Bundesliga action continues with five games tonight.

One of them is between Dortmund and Moenchengladbach, third place last season.

Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel knows the key to a successful start.

"We will need to show our best performance. We will have to be incredibly attentive, very clever, very precise and quick if we want to have goal chances. We have to defend carefully and start very early. We must try to avoid counter attacks in the early part of the match. It is a very hard task which we are looking for and for which we feel very well prepared for. And it will all come at the right time."Dortmund did quite well itself, finishing seventh in the Bundesliga and reaching the Europa League last season.

In the English Premier League,Manchester United made it two victories in as many games, beating Aston Villa 1-0.

Adnan Januzaj scored the only goal.

Man. United boss Louis van Gaal is happy with his team though he thinks room for improvement remains.

"I think that we have played better than last week, certainly in the first 25 minutes - we kept the ball very good, we scored the goal. But after we scored the goal, I think we were running out of the game, we had a lot of unnecessary ball losses... and then we were not playing what I can expect of my team to play."There are five more games later today.

Franck Passi takes over as Marseille coach, French Ligue 1 actionIn the French Ligue 1,Monaco and Lille played to a scoreless draw in the only game last night.

St. Etienne will play Bordeaux today.

Marseille has Franck Passi as its interim coach after Marcelo Bielsa resigned last week for a home defeat.

Passi is faced with the task of bringing the team back into the game but insists there is no pressure.

"It is obvious that it will not be easy to follow a great coach such as Marcelo Bielsa but I'm very calm because I have the luck to have a group of players who are involved and motivated and who are not against the fact that I have taken on this task. Additionally, the executives here are with me and supporting the project."It will put Passi to the test when Marseille travels to face Reims tomorrow.

Tennis resultsIn tennis,Kei Nishikori toppled Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup.

Last week's Citi Open winner Nishikori will face Andy Murray who sent off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Novak Djokovic and Jeremy Chardy set up the other semi-final clash.

In women's action,Simona Halep was handed a love in the first set by Agnieszka Radwanska but recovered to oust the defending champion in three sets.

Her semi-final opponent is Sara Errani.

Belinda Bencic eliminated Ana Ivanovic to meet Serena Williams.

Golf updateIn golf,Australians Jason Day and Matt Jones are sharing the lead at nine-under at the PGA championship. But play has been stopped for the day because of lightening.

Jordan Spieth took advantage of the calm morning conditions to move into contention for the title.

He is three shots behind the leaders.

And at the LPGA Cambia Portland Classic:

Caroline Masson is in the lead at 10 under, followed closely by Julieta Granada, down by one shot.

EntertainmentNew Album of Singer Yao Beina to Release PosthumouslyThe agent of Yao Beina has announced that a new album of the late Chinese singer will be released on her birthday September 26.

The new album will include unreleased songs Yao Beina recorded before her death.

Further details of the album including the title and the number of songs remain unknown.

Yao's team released an album called "Eternal" on the 100th day after the singer's death.

"Eternal" had 12 previously unreleased songs.

Yao Beina died of breast cancer on January 16.

Hollywood Studios Collaborate for Betty Zhou Show on China's iQIYIChinese online video platform iQIYI has begun broadcasting "Talking to Hollywood with Betty Zhou." The show is backed by leading U.S. studio groups including Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The show offers Chinese audiences inside access to Hollywood films and stars, including Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Adam Sandler.

iQiYi says that it will exclusively promote and distribute the original entertainment news content.

The show's first episode has aired.

Subsequent editions will play every Tuesday.

Chinese-born Zhou enjoys an acting career in Singapore. She has served as a bilingual host for NBA tour events in China, which featured athletes like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Panel of The Voice UK has a RevampThe Voice UK is getting a make-over.

Paloma Faith and Boy George will join current celebrity coaches Ricky Wilson and Will.i.am.

And Sir Tom Jones and Rita Ora are gone.

Rita Ora, who appeared in Series four, has jumped over to ITV's The X Factor.

The departure of Sir Tom Jones comes as a surprise as he's been in all the previous series.

He claims that he was dropped with no warning.

New coach Boy George found fame in the 1980s singing with the band Culture Club.

The band sold over 50 million albums, 100 million singles and topped the charts around the world.

Paloma Faith's first album went platinum in 2009, since then she has had two other double platinum albums.

The Voice started in 2012.

Series four was watched by over 8 million viewers.

The BBC show has been criticized for not finding a "superstar" on its panel.

It'll return in next January with its revamped panel.

U.S. President Barack Obama Reveals His Summer Music Playlists on SpotifyThe White House has released two music playlists hand-picked by US President Obama, one for the daytime, and one for the evening.

The move is part of the launch of a new channel on the music-streaming service-Spotify.

The 40 song selected by Obama cover a wide variety of artists.

Among them are Beyonce's "Superpower;" Justin Timberlake's "Pusher Love Girl;" Florence + The Machine's "Shake It Out;" Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady;" and The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter."The music loving president has made headlines on occasion when he grabbed a microphone in public and crooned.

"Assassination" draws over 10 million moviegoersSouth Korean movie-"Assassination" has drawn over 10 million domestic viewers as of this morning, becoming the first movie to pass the ten million admission mark in the country this year.

This comes 25 days after it hit domestic screens on July 22.

Set in the 1930s' Shanghai and Seoul, "Assassination" revolves around a Korean squad team. The team was on a mission to assassinate the governor of the Japanese garrison in Korea, which was then under Japan's colonial rule.

The espionage action film has an all-star ensemble cast, including actress Jun Ji-hyun, actor Lee Jung-jae and Ha Jung-woo.

It is co-written and directed by Choi Dong-hoon.

Choi Dong-hoon's 2012 film "The Thieves" has also passed the 10 million domestic admission mark.

Dr Dre's Long-awaited Comeback Album Claims UK No.1Dr Dre's long-awaited comeback is officially a success as the rapper scores this week's number one album in the UK.

The new album, titled Compton, is Dr Dre's first record in 16 years.

It tops the Official Chart with a 28-thousand combined chart sales lead over its nearest rival.

Dre's previous album, titled 2001, came out in 1999 and peaked at number four in the UK.

Frank Turner's "Positive Songs For Negative People" is new at number two, and Ed Sheeran's 2014 album "x" continues to sell well at number three.

Billboard expects Compton to also perform well on US charts.

WeatherBeijing will be clear tonight with a low of 22, tomorrow will be sunny with a high of 35.

Shanghai will have shower tonight with a low of 25, the shower will continue tommorrow, high of 30.

Chongqing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 26, still cloudy tomorrow with a high of 34.

Lhasa will have slight rain tonight with a low of 13, also rainy tomorrow with a high of 23.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad will have slight rain tomorrow with a high of 35.

Kabul, also rainy, 30.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney, cloudy, high of 19,Brisbane, slight rain,19,Perth, cloudy, 22,And finally Auckland, New Zealand will have slight rain with a high of 15 degrees Celsius.

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

A quick look at the headlines before we go...

Emergency measures are being taken in Tianjin to prevent further tragedies following Wednesday's explosions...

Chinese leaders voice strong opposition and dissatisfaction over visits by Japanese lawmakers to the Yasakuni war shrine in Tokyo...

And the US embassy in Cuba has officially opened for the first time in 54 years...

In the 2nd half of the hour, we'll bring you some of the business stories making headlines this past week.

In Sports...updating some action getting underway now in the Chinese Super League...

And in Entertainment...one more album of new material from a Chinese singer who passed away in early January...

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