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

Coming up on the program this evening...

business leaders and expert talk about the need for Sino-US cooperation ahead of Xi Jinping's state visit in the United States...

The Chinese space program has launched the latest model of its Long March family of carrier rockets...

Voters in Greece have headed back to the polls for the second national election of the year...

In the 2nd half of the hour, we'll bring you some of the science & technology stories that have made headlines over the past week.

In Sports...results from the annual Beijing Marathon...

And in Entertainment...winners from the 24th Golden Rooster Film Festival...

Top NewsThe Cooperation between China and U.S. Benefits Both the Two Countries and the World: Marc-AllenAnchor:

The senior vice president of aircraft maker Boeing says win-win cooperation between China and the US will benefit the entire world.

Bertrand Marc-Allen made the remark ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit, with his first stop in the US including a visit to the Boeing Company in Seattle City.

CRI's Zhao Jianfu has more.

Reporter:

During an exclusive interview with China Radio International, Bertrand Marc-Allen said he is excited about the visit by President Xi.

"The opportunity to host the president is historic--the 1970s, 1990s, 2006--this is just the fourth time in four decades. So we recognize the significance, the consequence and the importance of the visit. It will be a successful visit. I have absolutely no doubt. "Marc-Allen says the newly implemented "One Belt, One Road" initiatives and U.S. President Barack Obama's earlier visit to China last November have facilitated cooperation between the two countries, to the benefit of the global economy.

He says the U.S. business community is expecting good news from President Xi's upcoming visit, especially regarding the Bilateral Investment Treaty currently being negotiated.

"I think all the CEOs will be talking about the value of the economic relationship, about their interests and seeing Bilateral Investment Treaty completed. I think all the CEOs will be focused on explaining the breadth and depth of their own China operations. "Marc-Allen says he believes that fluctuations in finance markets and adjustments in foreign exchange rates are common, as China is transforming from export-oriented economy to consumer economy.

He also calls China a major force for global economic development, despite its temporary economic slowdown.

"For all of us, the real take of the last two years have been how much emerging markets are going to count on, depend on the bilateral relationship between China and the U.S. for their own strength. As our bilateral relationship is strong and healthy, our economic relationship will be stronger and healthier for it. And as our economy is strong, that will create the demand from developing economies that help them continue to grow."The Boeing Company, located in the Seattle, Washington, has always been favored by Chinese leaders.

Former leaders, including Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, all visited the company in person during their visits to the Unites States.

For CRI, this is Zhao Jianfu.

China and US Should Work Together to Narrow Down Differences: ExpertAnchor:

In the meantime, a leading Chinese expert on Sino-US relations has also voiced a similar opinion, saying the two countries should work together to narrow differences and enhance cooperation.

CRI's Victor Ning has more.

Reporter:

Da Wei is the director of the Institute of the United States at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

He says the upcoming visit by President Xi Jinping is at a critical time for the two countries.

"The U.S. will soon enter its election cycle and the Obama administration has only a little more than a year left. The China-U.S relationship has entered a key period. I think President Xi's upcoming visit could narrow the difference between the two countries through cooperation to further strengthen the foundation of the relationship. It could affect Obama's remaining tenure and even time after that. And it will play an important role for the China-U.S. relationship in the U.S.'s next government."During President Xi's visit to the U.S. in June, 2013 the two leaders reached an agreement to jointly build a new relationship between the two major powers.

Xi Jinping has on several occasions talked about the importance of, and effort needed, to build this new type of relationship.

Da Wei says to achieve the goal, the two countries will need to improve communication, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation.

"The new China-U.S. major-power relationship is one that emphasizes no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. The other core and substantial content in the theory refers to that China, as a country which is rising rapidly, will need to achieve long-term peaceful coexistence and mutual development with the U.S, which is an existing great power. The goal is to maintain the sustained, sound and steady development of China-U.S. relations."The expert notes that despite different opinions on issues such as the South China Sea and cyber security, the two countries have made progress in multiple areas.

"On the bilateral level, there were frequent high-level visits between the two countries. The Chinese leaders went to the U.S. and the U.S. leaders came to China to have long conversations. Strategic economic dialogues and high-level cultural consultations are also developing smoothly."The 7th China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, held in Washington D.C. in June this year, produced ample outcomes in various economic issues, including the promise of building more open and stable financial sectors in both countries.

For CRI, I am Victor Ning.

Chinese Embassy in US Launches Advertising Campaign to Promote ChinaThe Chinese Embassy in the United States has launched a series of advertisements highlighting China's biking culture and wildlife conservation in Washington, D.C.

The latest advertisements have been shown at 70 bike-share stations in D.C.

Many Americans showed great interest in the posters and said they would like to have a tour in China by bike.

A local resident says she would love to have a long ride in Kunming.

"There are a lot of countries that have a lot of bikers like China. I'd love to explore China especially on a bike. Southern China, like Kunming, is so beautiful and that would be really fun to go and do like a long ride, like a week ride, and go to different places looking around Kunming and see the mountains. That would be awesome."Also, many U.S. residents say they are looking forward to President Xi Jinping's visit and hope the two countries can work together to improve the environment and people's well being.

"The U.S. and China have a lot in common. Certainly our economies are growing. It would be great for the environment and for the health and wellbeing of our citizens, if we can both do more and more biking. Our bicycle share systems can become more widespread through our cities."Another series of ads will be put on buses in the U.S capital and in parts of Maryland and Virginia on Monday.

It is the first time the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. has launched such an initiative, which aims to show and enhance people's love of nature and cycling to further promote cooperation between the two countries.

China Launches New Model of Carrier RocketChina successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket, Long March-6, on Sunday morning. The rocket, which carried 20 micro-satellites for space tests, was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

The new rocket was fueled by a liquid propellant made of liquid oxygen and kerosene. It is China's first carrier rocket to use fuel free of toxins and pollutants.

Hao Hefeng, a technician at the launch center, says launching 20 micro-satellites at once was not an easy task.

"With 20 satellites, our tracking and control systems need to receive, process and display the information they send back. It is quite a challenge to our systems.

Hao says the engineering team behind the launch was able to meet the challenges.

"We needed very accurate, precise and reliable controls for the 20 satellites. To meet the needs, we implemented considerable changes and adjustments in our tracking and control systems, including the format in which the data is received and processed."Zhang Weidong, designer-in-chief at the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, says the loading, testing and positioning were completed when the rocket was in a horizontal position, instead of the traditional upright position.

Zhang says this not only boosted the competitiveness of China's carrier rockets internationally but also improved China's ability to access space.

The rocket is the 210th mission by the Long March rocket family.

China sent its first satellite into space in 1970.

UK Chancellor Starts China VisitThe UK Chancellor says his country is willing to further deepen economic cooperation with China and to become China's best partner in economic development.

George Osborne made the remarks in Beijing to start his week-long visit in China.

"There is phenomenal potential in this country. And where others are cautious about getting more involved with china. We say quite the reverse. We want to get more involved with China. We think this will be a source of jobs and growth of both our countries. And we want to have a golden decade and we want Britain to be China's best partner in the west."Osborne comes to China ahead of the planned state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the UK later this year, the first such visit of a Chinese top leader in a decade.

Accompany the chancellor is Treasury minister Lord O'Neil, Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Energy Secretary Amber Russ.

Osborne will meet Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai during the 7th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue on Monday.

He will also visit Shanghai, Chengdu, and Urumuqi.

AIIB vows to engage private sector in Asia's infrastructure investmentThe President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank says all kinds of infrastructure will be financed, and the private sector will be included in these projects.

Jin Liqun says infrastructure construction is the mandate of the bank and much can be accomplished.

"We may finance social infrastructure. We can finance, for instance, health. Health is [a] very important sector for many countries, particularly countries which are aging very, very quickly. And, we can even finance stand-alone environmental protection projects. We can do a lot of things which may not be fitting into the very narrow definition of infrastructure if it's interpreted in the traditional way,"Jin Liqun made the comment as he joined a summit in Singapore.

He also says the AIIB is to act as a platform for private sector investment.

"Private sector companies can also contribute because they are normally very cost-effective, and they look at the profitability, they have much less bureaucracy."The bank is expected to begin operations at the end of the year.

The first batch of projects are hoped to be launched no later than the second quarter of next year.

Railway to connect China, ThailandConstruction of a railway linking China and Thailand is expected to begin by the end of this year.

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister revealed the news during the ongoing China-ASEAN Expo in the southern Chinese city of Nanning.

He said the project would be the first standard gauge railway in Thailand with a total length of 840 kilometers.

The railway from Kunming city in southwestern China will connects Thailand's Nong Khai province with Bangkok and Rayong province.

The Thai official suggested that the railway could bring about the establishment of special economic zones.

China and Malaysia Conduct Joint Disaster Rescue DrillThe Chinese and Malaysian militaries conducted a joint rescue exercise on Saturday.

The land drill took place in Malaysia and was based on the scenario that a typhoon has hit the country, forcing it to ask for external assistance.

Colonel Wang Jun from the Chinese side commented on the significance of the drill.

"A country may need international assistance when hit by severe natural disasters. A drill like this will help us improve our skills in humanitarian assistance and reduce losses from natural disasters."A hospital was set up, allowing medical personnel from the two countries to work together as part of the drill.

Brigadier General Razip Kamarulzaman, head of medical support for the Malaysian Armed Forces, says Malaysia can learn from the Chinese military in certain areas.

"We know that they are advanced in areas of video imaging, video conferencing, communication systems and things like that. So that's something that we can emulate, share and learn from."Meanwhile a numbers of Chinese and Malaysian vessels conducted joint search and rescue and counter piracy drills in the Malacca Strait. Malaysia's military has said it hopes future joint exercises between the two countries can focus on other non-conventional threats, such as terrorism.

China Honors Overseas WWII Veterans in TorontoChina has honored three veterans of World War II in Toronto, Canada.

The Chinese Consulate General in Toronto held a ceremony on Friday, where Consul General Xue Bing presented medals to the veterans.

The recipients represent all those who made great contributions to the victory in China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Fan Mengxian, one of the veterans, expressed his appreciation after receiving his medal.

"Seventy years have passed and I thought everything was over. I was surprised to see that our motherland has not forgotten us and gave us such a high honor. I am very touched."According to the Consul General, five veterans were selected for the medals. However, due to physical limitations, only three attended the ceremony. The other two medals will be delivered to the recipients' homes.

Chinese Apps in Apple Store infected with malicious codesAnchor:

A bunch of popular Chinese Apps in the Apple Store have been found to be infected with malicious code. Experts suggest iPhone users delete affected apps or upgrade them to the latest version.

CRI's Sophie Williams brings more details.

Reporter:

Over 350 iOS apps have been affected by the hacking, including the widly used baidu music, wechat, and ride-haling didi.

Experts say this attack is so secret that it escaped apple's vetting process.

The hack hinges around Xcode, a tool used to create apps for iOS.

The problem starts when some programmers don't use the Xcode program officially supplied by Apple Inc.

Instead, they downloaded Xcode program through other channels, in which has been implanted malicious code.

Cai Jingjing is from the Expert Committee of the National Vulnerability Database of Information Security.

He says apps constructed with the verified Xcode may be infected with malware.

"We wrote several simple codes with the infected Xcode, like hello world, and then compiled them into a program. A reverse analysis of the program shows the program is implanted with malicious code."Cai says once apps developed from the verified Xcode are downloaded into the phone, they will collect the phone's information, such as the name of the device, the network type, and its location.

These private information will then be uploaded to a designated website.

On early Saturday morning, an identified programmer claimed responsibility for the incident.

He made clarification online, justifying his actions as just an experiment, with no aim to spread a virus.

However, Lin Wei, phone security expert, doesn't believe what the programmer says, and suspects him of using the malicious codes for commercial uses.

"We found on September 10 that a massive amount of users had been affected by an app that's very popular domestically. It had been programed with malicious code, and the data had been sent back to the main engine of the virus attacker and finally led to its collapse. The programmer was a littler fearful, and deleted and withdrew the code."The case is under further investigation.

Apple has asked affected programmers to withdrew their infected Apps, and advised them to re-program with official Xcode.

So far, no financial losses have been reported.

Experts suggest iPhone users check their apps and delete infected apps, or at least download the latest version. Meanwhile, users are advised to change their passwords for the App Store and for iCloud.

For CRI, this is Sophie Williams .

Greece Holds Second National Elections This YearGreek voters headed to the polls on Sunday, for the second national election this year.

The turnout was thin within the first few hours after voting began.

Many Greeks have been disillusioned with a political process that has failed to save the country from economic turmoil.

Some voters voiced their wish for a unified government to pull Greece out of its current troubles.

"I want good cooperation among the parties so that we can see something better happening. ""We, Greeks, must be united and the parties must cooperate so that there is finally a positive outcome. As Greeks we must be united and together fight those who are after us."Alexis Tsipras, former Prime Minister and leader of the left-wing Syriza Party, is running for re-election.

Tsipras resigned in August after 7 months in office, a move which forced Sunday's elections and was seen as an attempt to strengthen his power through re-election.

Final polls showed a very tight split between Tsipras and Vangelis Meimarakis of the conservative New Democracy party.

Neither party is expected to win a majority in the parliament, meaning the elected party will need to form a coalition government.

Early vote projections are expected by early Monday morning, Beijing time.

Greece has just under 10 million eligible voters.

Slovenia Wants "Controlled Flow" of Migrants, Thousands More Continue into EuropeSlovenia says it will manage a "controlled flow" of migrants and refugees coming into the country.

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar made the statement while visiting a refugee registration center near the Croatian border on Saturday.

"It is our duty, according to agreements, to register people who arrived, check their identities and establish whether they can enter the European Union or not. If the situation grows too big and exceeds the capabilities of our policemen and other services, the volume of these checks might be reduced."Cerar's comments come just days after Hungary closed its border with Serbia to stop the influx of migrants. The move sent more than 20,000 migrants into Croatia, which has already said it was no longer able to receive any more people.

On Saturday, 1,500 migrants entered Slovenia from Croatia, while hundreds were kept at the border areas as Slovenian police are only letting in limited numbers of people.

The Slovenian prime minister on Saturday also said the country did not want violence and would treat the migrants humanely. He added Slovenia will take in limited numbers of migrants, as the majority of them are heading to Western Europe.

Thousands more migrants are continuing to enter Macedonia, Croatia, Hungary and Austria. Hungary, which closed its border with Serbia, is allowing migrants in through the Croatian border.

Meanwhile, the high number of deaths from the perilous journey by boat from Turkey to the Greek islands has sent more migrants to the two countries' land borders.

However, Turkish authorities have thwarted their efforts.

On Sunday, at least 26 migrants were reportedly missing off the Greek coast after a boat sank. 20 others were rescued.

"Permanent" ceasefire reached in 3 Syrian flashpointsCeasefires have been achieved in three hot zones in Syria.

Hailed as "permanent" ceasefires, the affected areas are Zabadani city near the Lebanese border and two Shiite towns in northwestern Syria.

Negotiations were carried out by an Iranian delegation representing the Syrian government and rebels from the Ahrar al-Sham movement, which is backed by al-Qaida- linked groups like the Nusra Front. The talks had been ongoing for months.

The rebels wanted Syrian authorities to halt a broad offensive on rebel-held Zabadani and Madaya, while the Iranian and Syrian governments wanted Jihadi groups in the northwestern province of Idlib to halt attacks on Shiite towns.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Appoints Scott Morrison as TreasurerAustralian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appointed Scott Morrison as treasurer in his new cabinet.

And the new cabinet is expected to be sworn in on Monday.

This move aims to mend party divisions following the ouster of Tony Abbott.

"The honorable Scott Morrison will be appointed treasurer. He's held the key economic portfolio of social services as you know and he has introduced significant reforms to ensure our generous social welfare safety net is more efficient, easier to understand and sustainable."Other major changes include the appointment of Maris Payne as defence minister, one of five women in the new cabinet, and former Education Minister Christopher Pyne as industry, innovation and science minister.

New Measures Taken to Ease Huge Crowd Pressure for Art Exhibition in Forbidden CityAnchorAn ongoing exhibition of China's finest artworks at the Palace Museum in Beijing has attracted crowds of art enthusiasts at the Forbidden City daily.

Peoples have queued for hours to catch a glimpse of these national treasures.

A series of new measures are now being taken by the Palace Museum to ease the pressure and guarantee visitors can have a good experience during their visit.

CRI's Qian Shanming reports.

Reporter:

Hundreds of guests gather outside of the ticket office since the exhibition kicked off earlier this month, with a staff member from the Palace Museum leading each group into the exhibition hall.

Starting from Saturday, each of the visitors had been given a card with a number on it. The number will decide the order each visitor enters the exhibition.

Many visitors have expressed satisfaction with this new measure.

"I was prepared to rush into the exhibition to take a place. But when I came here, they gave me a number and this keeps us in order. So I think this is great.""I think the measure really helps to keep the order for visiting. I feel satisfied"Shan Qixiang, curator of Beijing Palace Museum, says this new measure helps the Museum better control the crowds:

"From the ticket office to the exhibition hall, we divide visitors in groups and give each person a number. So visitors have no need to rush into the exhibition to occupy a place. The measure prevents visitors from getting injured in the rush. They also don't have to worry about someone jumping in line."The organizer has also used other measures to ease visitors' uneasiness and fatigue during waiting, including leading people to queue up in the shadow and placing more chairs for people to take a break in the queue.

The exhibition opened on September 8th and is part of the museum's celebration for its 90th anniversary. 82 pieces of artwork, include the renowned masterpiece Along the River during the Qingming Festival, a Song dynasty panoramic piece by Zhang Zeduan, are on display.

Crowds of enthusiasts waiting to enter the exhibition hall have expressed excitement about seeing the artwork.

"Actually, every piece is a national treasure. We all love them very much. Many of us are art teachers. We have seen the art works in books so many times, and are eager to appreciate the entire real works with our own eyes.""We arrived here before 9 o'clock in the morning, and are still waiting now. My granddaughter wanted to see the art collections."To guarantee the safety of these art treasures and keep a good environment for visiting, the Palace Museum has limited entry to two hundred visitors at a time.

Shan Qixiang says the new measures have proven to be effective.

A virtual exhibition can be viewed on the Palace Museum's website.

For CRI, I'm Qian ShanmingVilliager set himself on fire, officials still culpableLocal officials in Pingyi county who were detained over the death of a villager have been cleared of arson and murder charges.

Investigators in Shandong province have confirmed the villager self-immolated in protest of the forced demolition of his home.

However, the officials have still been deemed as culpable for the death, as they were in charge of renovation projects in the city.

Fifteen officials have been detained and the investigation continues.

Forty-six-year-old Zhang Jimin burned to death last week after locking himself indoors and setting himself on fire in protest of the demolition work.

WeatherBeijing is partly cloudy tonight with a low of 16 degrees Celsius; sunny to overcast tomorrow with a high of 28.

Shanghai, cloudy tonight with a low of 21; still cloudy tomorrow with a high of 28.

Chongqing, cloudy tonight with a low of 20; cloudy to wet tomorrow with a high of 26.

Lhasa, overcast with a low of 10; cloudy to rainy tomorrow with a high of 22.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 37.

Kabul, rainy, 23.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will see slight rain with a high of 24.

Brisbane, also slight rain with a high of 22.

Perth, cloudy, 23.

And finally Auckland, New Zealand will be wet with a high of 14 degrees Celsius.

Headline newsChina, US Pin High Hope on President Xi's Visit to the USBusiness figures and observers in both China and the United States have voiced high hopes for Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to the US.

The senior vice president of aircraft maker Boeing says win-win cooperation between the two countries will benefit not only the two people but the rest of the world.

Bertrand Marc-Allen made the remark ahead of Xi Jinping's visit, with his first stop in the US including a visit to the Boeing Company in Seattle City.

Da Wei, director of the Institute of the United States at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, also points out that Xi Jinping is visiting the US at a critical time as the U.S. will soon enter its election cycle.

The expert notes the visit is a clear sign of China's determination to narrow the differences between the two countries and pursue a cooperation path in the Sino-U.S. relationsUN nuclear watchdog chief arrives for talksThe Director General of the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency is now in Tehran.

Yukiya Amano will work with Iranian officials to implement an agreement between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog.

Iran and the IAEA signed a confidential "road map" agreement in Vienna on further cooperation after an early July visit to Iran by the director.

Iran and the world powers reached an historic deal in July to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Appoints Scott Morrison as TreasurerAustralian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appointed Scott Morrison as treasurer in his new cabinet.

And the new cabinet is expected to be sworn in on Monday.

This move aims to mend party divisions following the ouster of Tony Abbott.

Other major changes include the appointment of Maris Payne as defence minister, one of five women in the new cabinet, and former Education Minister Christopher Pyne as industry, innovation and science minister.

Extension line of China's first high-speed railway starts runningAn extension of China's first high-speed railway started services on Sunday.

It reduces the travel time between Beijing and Tianjin's coastal commercial district to only one hour.

The new line extends from the previous terminal in downtown Tianjin to a business district in Binhai New Area.

It is part of a bigger plan for the integration of Beijing, neighboring Tianjin Municipality and Hebei province.

Sci&Tech ReportAnchor:

It's time to check on the latest from the science and technology sector in the past week in our Weekly Sci-Tech feature.

A Chinese hospital has successfully conducted a small intestine transplant with the assistance of a robot.

A British agency is funding technology to develop an "invisibility cloak" for military vehicles.

And a new report suggests that too much social media could be bad for teenagers' health.

Let's catch up on all the latest with CRI's Wenjie.

Reporter:

A hospital in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has successfully performed a rare and difficult small intestine transplant with the assistance of a robot.

During the surgery, the robot, controlled by a doctor, inserted its arms into several small holes dug into the abdomen of 53-year-old Yang Xiaoming to take out a 1.8-meter-long section of his small intestine.

The organ was transplanted into his son Yang Lin, who had most of his own small intestine removed due to severe intestinal failure.

Doctors say the robot-assisted surgery leaves a much smaller cut on the donor's abdomen and is more conducive to his recovery.

======Apple says it is working on a way to allow users to delete built-in apps.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he is aware that the iPhone's built-in apps can be nothing but a nuisance, and he's working on a way to let users delete some of them.

Wang Yanhui, Secretary General of China Mobile Alliance believes this is good news for apple users.

"Many built-in apps take much storage space and most of the apps are useless for many users. Therefore, if users have the option to delete those apps, it must be good since it will free up some space."The nested apps include Stocks, Newsstand, Podcasts, Apple Watch, Tips and iBooks.

Cook didn't reveal a time frame for the change.

======A British government agency has announced funding for technology to develop an "invisibility cloak" for military vehicles.

The Center for Defense Enterprise (CDE) has awarded the funding to a company called Folium Optics to help it develop its technology for adaptive camouflage: camouflage that can change its color to better match the background.

A spokesman at CDE says a total system using this adaptive camouflage could be used on a vehicle to allow the crew to switch between different camouflage patterns depending on the type of terrain they are operating in.

Folium Optics uses plastic as the core technology of the adaptive camouflage, which means it's robust, thin and can be any shape - even curved.

====The Finnish postal service has begun testing drones to deliver online purchases.

According to Posti Group, it is the first company in Europe to experiment with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for mail delivery in an urban area.

Jukka Rosenberg, Senior Vice President of parcel and logistics services at Posti Group, says the company is testing ways to make online shopping quicker and better for both the sender and recipient.

"This is part of the testing new technologies in our parcel delivery and post deliveries and this could be an opportunity which we are now testing."The very first drone delivery went off without a glitch, even though it landed away from the designated landing zone.

Tero Heinonen from Sharper Shape, which is responsible for the technical aspects and operation of the drone, says there is great interest in drone technology and there are many potential uses.

"It seems that drones are one of the new technology areas which really ignite people's imagination, so we get probably twenty requests per week for different applications that we ever could not have imagined. So I expect that while the technology further matures we will see many companies doing different kinds of applications starting from precision agriculture, forestry inventory, the deliveries of course, power-line inspections, counting traffic."Amazon announced a potential drone-based delivery service last year.

But a number of major obstacles namely weight limits, distance limits, and weather restrictions remain before drone delivery services become the norm.

======Volvo is looking into developing a robot that can collect garbage, allowing garbage truck drivers to avoid heavy lifting.

The truck's operating system would instruct a robot to pick up garbage bins and empty them into the garbage truck.

Researchers from the United States have joined Volvo's team to design the robot.

The robot is set to be tested sometime next summer.

======Amazon has introduced a $50 tablet, a price tag analysts say is low enough to set it apart in a crowded market and draw more customers to its online services.

The new Fire tablet comes with a screen that measures 7 inches (17 cm) diagonally and a front-and-back camera.

Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon devices introduces the tablet.

"Well I think it's a pretty pretty product in itself but since the initial introduction of fire four years ago, we want to set new, amazing, break through prices. We started at $199 dollars four years ago and today, getting under $50 dollars with the tablet sets a new bar for what customers can expect."The company has said it does not plan to profit from devices but wants to use them to draw more customers to its services.

It will start shipping on Sept. 30.

====A new report claims that use of sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, especially at night, can lead to depression, anxiety, and poor quality sleep.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow say it's not just a lack of sleep caused by late nights online that are causing these issues, but that it's the emotional investment in maintaining a 24-7 social media profile that could also be a major factor.

Dr. Heather Cleland Woods, a researcher on the project, explains what they've found:

"We saw that overall social media use was related to someone's anxiety, their depression. They want to be online 24-7 and as that need increased we also saw that that had an impact on their sleep quality."It's estimated that 90-percent of adolescents are on social media.

Tracy Stuart, a school principal, tries to encourage students to use the technology responsibly.　"What we try to do here is develop some self regulation skills in the young people so they understand when to turn off, when to turn on, when to make sure they've got other commitments, other parts of their lives so that their whole world doesn't become a virtual world."The advice is to moderate people's social media use - easy to say but for many young people, not so easy to do.

======A mobile phone app has been developed to stop emotional eaters caving in to their cravings and binging on food.

Emotional eaters are people who eat to try to escape depression, loneliness, fear, anxiety, anger and numerous other emotions.

One emotion often triggers another which increases the desire for certain foods which provide a brief comfort.

What this phone app is doing is interrupting that headlong rush towards eating, with a series of easily answered short questions which draw people out of that fixation.

The app's developer, psychiatrist Roger Gould says the aim is to make people analyze why they want to go down a particular path, that way they stop thinking emotionally and start thinking rationally.

"You have an emotional part of your mind that reacts immediately and intensely with strong feelings. You have a rational part of your mind in which you can sort out those feelings and figure out what's real. Then you can figure out what to do."Gould adds this is a program that leads emotional eaters along several paths which aim to find out their current state of mind, what caused their current state of mind and whether they can address the problem without binging.

======And that brings us to the end of this edition of our weekly science and technology feature.

Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy the show.

I'm Wenjie. See you next week.

SportsBeijing Marathon wraps upThe Beijing marathon wrapped up this morning.

Forty-one-year-old Kenyan veteran Mariko Kipchumba won the men's event.

He completed the 42 kilometer course in 2 hours, 11 minutes 37 seconds.

Betelhem Cherenet from Ethiopia claimed victory in the women's event, clocking 2 hours, 27 minutes 31 seconds.

China's female race walker Liu Hong who took the only gold medal for China at the IAAF World Championships last month in Beijing, also ran the marathon and came home in 9th place.

The Beijing Marathon is in its 35th edition this year. It attracted some 30,000 runners.

Shanghai Master final updateIn snooker,It is Judd Trump and Kyre Wilson in the Shanghai Masters final.

Wilson is leading 6-3 after the first session.

They will finish the second session to close the best-of-19 competition later tonight.

CSL recapIn football action from the Chinese Super League,Shanghai SIPG downed Guizhou Renhe 3-1 to take the provisional lead on the table.

SIPG are one point ahead of Guangzhou Evergrande but could easily lose that position should Evergrande win in this round.

The defeat knocked Renhe further down the standings as they continue to struggle in the danger zone for relegation.

More results from last night,Tianjin Teda beat bottom-of-the-league Shanghai Shenxin 4-1,And it was a 1-all draw for Hangzhou Greentown and Shijiangzhuang Everbright.

Chinese Super League action continues tonight with eight teams on the field right now.

European football recapMore football action from Europe,Real Madrid beat Granada 1-0 to go top of La Liga on 10 points.

Cristiano Ronaldo lost his form after completing two hat tricks in the domestic and champions league. He missed all eight attempts at the goal.

Karim Benzema scored the only goal in the game.

Real's leadership is also vulnerable as Barcelona are only one point behind and will play Levante later this weekend.

More to come in this round of play,Chinese player Zhang Chengdong has been selected for the line-up of Rayo Vallecano's visit to Las Palmas and could possibly make his La Liga debut since joining the Spanish outfit in August.

In the Premier League,West Ham United terminated Manchester City's winning streak and stunned the leaders 2-1.

Prior to this defeat, Man City had not conceded a goal and picked up maximum points in the season's opening five games.

Coach Manuel Pellegrini is frustrated and says concentration has been a problem for his side.

"I don't want to compare seasons but I think that in the last two games we didn't play with the right concentration or intensity that we needed to win. We conceded against Juventus with two shots on our goal and they scored two goals. Today was exactly the same - one shot at the edge of the box and one corner was all they managed all game. We must concentrate more."Man City are still leading the field. West Ham came up to second place after the win.

Some more results from earlier,Chelsea downed 9-men Arsenal 2-0,West Brom upset hosts Aston Villa 1-0,And it was a goalless draw between Swansea City and Everton.

Over in Germany,Bayern Munich kept their winning streak running with an easy 3-0 win over newly-promoted Darmstadt.

Arturo Vidal scored his first goal since he last played in the Bundesliga for Leverkusen four years ago.

The champions now top the standings on a maximum 15 points. But Dortmund can draw level if they beat Leverkusen later in this round.

Vettel to start from pole in Singapore GPIn formula one,Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel will be starting from pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix later this evening.

Vettel claimed Farrari's first pole in three years with a best lap of one minute 42.885 seconds, more than half of a second faster than Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who will be sharing the front row.

Vettel celebrated the pole like he had won the race.

"I know it's only Saturday and the main job is coming tomorrow, but I had to enjoy the moment when I heard that we'd made it. It was looking pretty good, right from the off -- and from this morning. The car was fantastic to drive, it got better through qualifying and I think we did the maximum today. I'm surprised by the margin but I think it just came together. I really had a near-perfect lap at the end."Vettel also ended Mercedes' domination of qualifying in 15 months. Either Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg had started from top of the grid for the last 23 races.

They will set out from fifth and sixth place in Singapore.

Murray brothers give Britain 2-1 lead at Davis Cup semisIn tennis,The Murray brothers gave Great Britain a 2-1 advantage over Australia in the Davis Cup semi-finals.

Andy and Jamie Murray teamed up to beat Lleyton Hewitt/Sam Groth in doubles.

The Scottish siblings thrilled the home crowd in Glasgow with a five-sets victory.

Big brother Andy says in front of a roaring crowd that the bond helped them with the win.

"We kept creating chances, we kept fighting hard, we stuck together like brothers should and I just managed to come up with enough good returns at the end to get through."Murray senior now has the chance to send Britain into their first Davis Cup final 37 years when he takes on Bernard Tomic again in singles in just a few minutes.

On the other side,Argentina's Leonardo Mayer/Carlos Berlocq came away with a four-sets victory over Belgian duo Steve Darcis/Ruben Bemelmans.

Argentina are leading 2-1 before David Goffin and Leonardo Mayer hit the court at the same time.

Golf updateIn golf,Jason Day is still on track to win the BMW Championship and claim world number one status.

Day birdied his last hole in the third round to stretch his lead to six shots.

He is at 20-under 193 overall.

Current world number one Rory McIlroy is fourth at 13-under.

Over in the European Tour,It is a three-way lead between Martin Kaymer, Romain Wattel and Jens Farhbring after the third round of the Italian Open.

They are tied at 17-under, clear by two shots.

Entertainment24th Golden Rooster Film Festival Closed with Winners AnnouncedThe closing ceremony of the 24th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival took place in northeast China's Jilin Province last night, with major awards being announced.

Golden Horse award-wining director Chen Jianbin was named 'Best New Director' for his film 'One Spoon' at the ceremony.

However, the film has been postponed to meet Chinese audience as one of its main actors was involved in a drug scandal.

Chen Jianbin expressed his feeling of gratitude after receiving the award.

"The encouragement of Golden Rooster Award can make more people know about this movie. After very long waiting, when my film hit theaters on 21 November, more people will enter cinemas to watch this movie. I'm very grateful to this award. Thank you."Director Xu Ke won the award of 'Best Director' for the film 'The Taking of Tiger Mountain'.

The 65-year-old director gives his thanks to the awards.

"The most important thing is looking ahead. Being rewarded is only an encouragement for one period of time. More needs to be done. This award is an honor, but we need to work harder and harder, making better movies."Zhang Hanyu won the best actor for his role in 'The Taking of Tiger Mountain'.

75-year-old Ba Dema has beaten famous actresses Zhao Wei and Tang Wei, receiving best actress for her acting in the Inner Mongolian feature film 'Nuo Ri Ji Ma'.

'Wolf Totem' won the award of "Best Film" at the Festival.

The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival is regarded as the "Chinese Oscars". And it will be held in Tangshan, Hebei Province, next year.

China Media Capital and Warner Bros team upChina Media Capital and Warner Bros have established a joint venture in a bid to tap the global movie market.

The two firms announced on Saturday, the formation of Flagship Entertainment Group Limited which will develop Chinese and English-language movies for the international market.

The company's headquarters will be located in Hong Kong with offices in Beijing and Los Angeles. The company plans to invest in, acquire and produce Chinese language films for distribution throughout China and the world.

The first titles are expected to be released as early as 2016.

China's movie market is still continuing to grow with figures proving that the Chinese box office could surpass the US to become the highest grossing box office in the world within the next three years.

Muse kick off Asia tour in BeijingBritish rock band Muse brought their Drones world tour to Beijing last night.

The band performed songs from their seven studio albums including hits such as 'Supermassive Black Hole', 'Plug in Baby' and 'Time is Running Out'.

Known for putting on big performances, the band didn't disappoint with LED displays and ticker tape.

Muse has won countless awards for their live shows including Brit Awards and MTV awards and are often referred to in the UK as the country's best live band.

Beijing was the start of the asia leg of the tour that will see them visit Shanghai and Hong Kong along with Seoul, Tokyo and Bangkok.

Muse will play Shanghai on Monday.

Jackie Collins dies age 77Bestselling author Jackie Collins has died at the age of 77.

Her family announced in a statement on Saturday that the writer had died in Los Angeles after battling breast cancer since 2009. In the statement her family said 'she was a true inspiration who will live on through her words and characters'.

Collins' books about glamorous Hollywood lifestyles have sold over 500 million copies worldwide. Her latest book 'The Santangelos' was released in June.

Private memorial services will be held in Los Angeles and London.

NBC orders prequel tv series for TakenTelevision network NBC has ordered a prequel tv series for the Taken film franchise.

The television series will focus on the leading character Bryan Mills in his younger years and will show how he learnt his skills to become the well-known character in the film.

According to Deadline, he will not marry or have children.

The original Taken film was released in 2008 and starred Bryan Mills a former CIA agent whose daughter is taken by human traffickers. The film grossed $226 million at the global box office. Two further films were released after.

The television series will be headed by Luc Besson who directed the Taken films.

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

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

business leaders and expert talk about the need for Sino-US cooperation ahead of Xi Jinping's state visit in the United States...

The Chinese space program has launched the latest model of its Long March family of carrier rockets...

Voters in Greece have headed back to the polls for the second national election of the year...

In the 2nd half of the hour, we'll bring you some of the science & technology stories that have made headlines over the past week.

In Sports...results from the annual Beijing Marathon...

And in Entertainment...winners from the 24th Golden Rooster Film Festival...

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.