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

Coming up on our program this morning...

Chinese President Xi Jinping co-chairing an historic high-level meeting on women's equality at the United Nations....

The President of the World Bank lauding China's leading role in eliminating poverty around the world...

And France carrying out its first airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria...

In Business.... China and Georgia singing a landmark currency-swap deal...

In Sports.... an update on football action over in the Chinese Super League...

In entertainment..... The first Asian short-film exhibition wraps up in Wenzhou...

Top NewsGlobal Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's EmpowermentAnchor:

About 80 heads of states and government are gathered at the UN headquarters in a bid to continually improve gender equality and women's empowerment throughout the world. As a co-host of a high level summit on this issue, China has made strong commitments to support the advancement of women's rights worldwide.

CRI's He Fei reports from New York.

Reporter:

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Beijing World Conference on Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Since then, the declaration that arose from that conference has been a guideline to push for gender equality throughout the world. With that in mind and in conjunction with the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, China and UN Women have jointly held the "Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: A Commitment to Action" in New York.

As the co-host of the high-level meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of gender equality.

"The pursuit of gender equality is a great cause. A review of history shows that without women's liberation and progress, the liberation and progress of mankind would not be attainable. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, it is of great significance for us to convene this Global Leaders' Meeting to reaffirm our commitment to gender equality and women's development and make plans for a better future."Some 80 heads of states and governments are gathered for the event at the UN headquarters, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon. According to UN Women, it is the first time that commitments to women and girls have been made at this level at the United Nations.

Katherine Hunt is a participant at the UN meeting. She points out that there have been many improvements since the Beijing summit in 1995; however, the problem lies in the gap between progress and setbacks.

"We still have many major gaps in women and girls access to sexual reproductive health. We still see gaps in education for girls and continuing education for women. We see gaps in equal pay for women and also un-paid care work for women. Those are just a few of the gaps that we really need to see narrowed and we are thrilled that sustainable development goals cover a great deal of that so now we're hoping that this event is going to provide the commitments to help address these gaps."To raise awareness and narrow down these gaps in the development process, Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for the international community to work on the following four areas.

"First, we should strive for women's development in tandem with social and economic progress. Second, we should protect women's rights and interests. Third, we should make efforts to build harmonious and inclusive societies. We must eradicate all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence. Forth, we should foster a global environment favorable for women's development."UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon co-hosted the event with Chinese President Xi Jinping. At the meeting, Ban Ki-moon calls for the world to continue work on improving gender equality through policy making, financing and monitoring mechanisms.

"I see three areas where you can help transform our societies. First, create and energetically implement coherent gender equality policies. Second, provide significant financing for gender equality. And third, monitor progress so that all governments will hold themselves and each other accountable."To support women's development worldwide, China will donate 10 million US dollars to UN Women. In the coming five years, China will also help other developing countries build 100 "health projects for women and children," send teams of medical experts to provide services and implement 100 "happy campus projects" to finance the schooling of poor girls and raise girls' school enrolment rate. It will also host 30,000 women from developing countries for training programmes in China and provide 100,000 skills training opportunities in local communities of other developing countries.

For CRI, I'm He Fei in New York.

President Xi presents UN with giftChinese President Xi Jinping has presented a "Zun of Peace" as a gift to the United Nations to mark the world body's 70th anniversary.

President Xi says the gift represents China's "high regard" and support for the UN at the unveiling ceremony at the U.N. Headquarters in New York.

"The Zun of Peace is modeled after Zun, a bronze ritual object used in ancient China. Zun means reverence in Chinese and this bronze ritual object is highly important in traditional Chinese culture. This gift represents China's high regard and support for the United Nations and the best wishes of over 1.3 billion Chinese people to the organization."UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon expressed thanks for the gift and praised China for its recent contributions to the fight against worldwide poverty.

"I would also like to thank China and Chinese people for the vital role it played in enabling the world to cut poverty in half, thereby meeting the millennium development goals."President Xi pledged on behalf of China two billion US dollars to aid UN efforts to end extreme poverty worldwide by the year 2030.

China taking leading role in eliminating extreme poverty: Jim Yong KimWorld Bank President Jim Yong Kim says China is taking a leading role in eliminating extreme poverty in the world.

Kim stresses the significance of Chinese President Xi Jinping attending a special roundtable conference co-organized by China and the United Nations on South-South cooperation.

"I think the other piece of it is China is now not just a country that lifts its own people out of extreme poverty, but China now is a country that's taking a leadership role in helping countries that are much poorer than China lift its people out of poverty."At a high-level roundtable on South-South cooperation, co-hosted by China and the United Nations, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon has also hailed China as "a leader" in advancing South-South cooperation.

Ban notes that China has floated many important initiatives, including the BRICS Development Bank, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Silk Road Development Fund.

The World Bank President thinks that the development of infrastructure is in line with the connectivity proposed by China as it is a huge issue for poor countries and improvrished people.

"The connectivity is really, really important. And so our hope is that these kinds of projects, and we'll be cooperating with China on many of them, they will provide access to increasing trade. It'll give very poor people in some of these countries along the route access to markets."Kim promises that the World Bank will actively cooperate with the AIIB to work closely on many projects.

Swiss think-tank CEO speaks highly of Xi's U.S. visitThe CEO of Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development is speaking highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States.

ICTSD co-founder Ricardo Melendez-Ortiz said that Xi Jinping's visit comes at the perfect time to promote the bilateral relationship, global sustainable development and the construction of a future global trade structure.

"It is a relationship that is absolutely symbiotic, the two economies depend on each other; they have become increasingly interdependent. But more importantly, third countries that deal with both China and the U.S. are absolutely dependent on a good relationship between China and the U.S.."The two sides have signed 49 agreements on cooperation during Xi Jinping's visit.

Melendez says the two leaders' agreement on expanding efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions is also very significant.

"The announcements made by China, and then also by China and the U.S. last year, already have fueled an incredible amount of cooperation in climate that we hadn't seen before. We're hoping that what comes out of these discussions in Washington will have yet a more important effect and at the right moment."China and the United States also renewed their determination to work together to advance the talks for a binding deal at the Paris UN Climate Change Conference at the end of the year.

China, US pledge to ban ivory tradeChina and the United States have pledged to enact nearly complete bans on ivory imports and export to fight against wildlife trafficking.

The commitment comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his first state visit to the United States where he met with President Barack Obama.

Both sides said they will take significant and timely steps to halt domestic commercial trade of ivory in both countries.

It is the first time China has publicly promised to ban the domestic ivory trade.

Jiang Zhigang, a chief researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the joint-efforts by the two countries will see great benefits to the cause of protecting elephants.

"I think it is a positive trend between the two countries. Our country has been trying hard to confine illegal ivory trade. The number of captured illegal ivories has been dropping for the past two years, which is a prove to our efforts. Both China and the United States are big countries with relatively larger markets for ivory trading. It would be very positive for elephants protection if the two countries take actions to curb ivory trading."Statistics show that Chinese Customs cracked 282 criminal cases involving ivory trading from 2012 to 2014.

In May, the Chinese government crushed 662 kg of confiscated ivory in Beijing, showing the country's commitment to step up wildlife conservation in a future with no hideout for the illegal wildlife trade.

China and the US have also agreed to further cooperate in joint training, technical exchanges, information sharing and public education on combating wildlife trafficking, and to enhance international law enforcement cooperation in this field.

2016 China-US Tourism Year to Promote More Cooperation on TourismAnchor:

During President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States, the year of 2016 has been set as the 'China-US Tourism Year'.

Analysts say more facilitation on infrastructure construction, entry and exit policies will bring more benefits to the cooperation on tourism between the two countries.

CRI's Qian Shanming reports.

Reporter:

Sino-US tourism has recorded over 25 million trips between the two nations at an average annual growth of 7.6% since the China-US Tourism Leadership Summit was established in 2007.

The summit includes tourism bureau chiefs from 31 Chinese provinces and 50 American states.

Among that, the number of Chinese tourists travelling to the United States has grown at an annual rate of 18.4 percent.

Shi Peihua, a director with the National Information Center, says the US tourism market meets the new demands of Chinese tourists with their diversified services and products.

"China's tourism market is being upgraded. In the process, the market is growing at fast speed in three aspects. One is for Children. Many people travel abroad with their children and many children will study overseas. The second one is marriage travel and third one is overseas travel as a reward by many companies."It has become more and more convenient for Chinese people to travel to the United States since the implementation of a ten-year validity visa in 2014.

Over 2 million Chinese people went to America for travel last year, making China the fourth biggest source country travelling to the United States.

Dun Jidong, senior manager of Shanghai-based Ctrip, a Chinese mainland-based travel agency, says this policy will continuously provide strong impetus to the promotion of the tourism markets for these two countries.

"The ten-year validity visa has been implemented for nearly one year. The policy itself is very beneficial for tourism for both countries. And it still has much potential in the future as many people are applying for the U.S. visa for the first time. He or she will cherish the chance to apply for a ten-year validity visa. So they will reuse the visa. Then the cardinal number will become bigger and bigger."As the year of 2016 has been set as the 'China-US Tourism Year', Shi Peihua says more facilitation on infrastructure construction, as well as entry/exit policies will bring more benefits to the area of cooperation on tourism between the two countries.

"To get sustainable tourist development, the visas of both sides should be facilitated further. Both sides should be more open to each other. Take aviation for example. Can the prices be lower when the air lanes are improved? After all, the costs are so high as of now. What's more, both China and the United States should improve their reception system. And then, China and the United States should increase mutual investment, which will attract people from these two countries to travel overseas".

For CRI, I'm Qian Shanming.

Call-in with UN Correspondent Su YiAnchor:

World leaders have gathered in New York for the UN Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The three-day event began at the United Nations on Friday.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly is due to hold its general debate tomorrow.

For more on this, I spoke earlier with CRI's UN Correspondent Su Yi.

Back anchor: CRI's UN Correspondent Su Yi elaborating on the UN development summit and the upcoming general debate at the UN General Assembly.

China calls for international support for Afghanistan's reconstructionAnchor:

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged the international community to fulfill commitments to supporting Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction.

He made the remarks while attending a high-level meeting on the issue co-organized by Afghanistan, China and the United States in New York City on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly.

CRI's Xie Cheng reports.

Reporter:

Speaking at the meeting, Wang Yi notes that Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction and economic development require the international community to form consensus, provide major guarantees and set the orientation for future priorities.

He also stresses that Afghanistan is in an initial period of a 10-year transformation process, in which the country faces both precious opportunities and various harsh challenges.

"This year marks the first year of Afghanistan's decade-long transformation period. The first priority should be improving the people's livelihood, developing the economy and constructing infrastructure so as to create the necessary conditions for the reconstruction of Afghanistan."Wang Yi adds that China supports the peaceful reconciliation process of Afghanistan and is willing to promote the country's sustainable peace and prosperous development through unremitting efforts.

For his part, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expresses his confidence towards Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction.

"We have confidence, most importantly in the Afghan people. And we believe that the vast majority of Afghans want to build a society that is united, increasingly prosperous, secure from the dangers posed by terrorists and criminal organizations, and they want one that is respectful of each of them as a human being."He says the US has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to achieve stability and end the conflict.

Fighting in Afghanistan has escalated since most foreign forces withdrew last year and Afghan forces are bearing the brunt of the conflict.

A Taliban government was ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in 2001 and its militants have been waging an increasingly violent insurgency for over a decade.

Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive of Afghanistan, says the Afghan government is committed to achieving peace with an inclusive plan.

"Our message today is clear. We will continue to lead a genuine and inclusive Afghan peace process. Closely monitor developments on the ground. We will expect to see the dismantlement of terrorist outfits wherever they may exist."The Chief Executive of Afghanistan says he's grateful to China as well as other countries for their contribution to Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction and social development.

He also hopes that the international community will continue to support Afghanistan in fighting terrorism and developing the national economy.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

France carries out first air strikes on IS in SyriaFrance has carried out its first airs strikes against the Islamist State group in Syria, saying the group has threatened the security of France.

Six French warplanes were used to strike an IS training camp near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.

The strikes come at a time when hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees are fleeing into Europe, bringing heavy pressure to bear on local governments.

French President Francois Hollande said more air strikes could follow in the coming weeks.

"Other strikes may take place in the coming weeks if necessary with the same objective: to identify targets which correspond to training camps or places where we know that the terrorist group Dae-ish could threaten the security of our country, or carry out terrorist actions."France has been taking part in the US-led coalition bombarding in Iraq since a year ago, but limited its air strikes on the extremist group to Iraqi territory.

However, Hollande has been under political pressure to change the strategy after a series of jihadist attacks in France.

Meantime, Iraq said it had agreed with Russia, Iran and Syria to set up a unit in Baghdad to share intelligence on IS.

Russia's military build-up has also fueled the concerns for European leaders to reach a political resolution to the Syrian crisis in a timely fashion.

NATO Secretary General urges U.S.-Russia contact on SyriaThe head of NATO has called for steps to de-escalate the situation in Syria during the opening session of the United Nations.

Jens Stoltenberg says that he welcomes what has already been done to achieve this goal.

"I welcome that there are already and there are going to me more also contacts between the United States and Russia addressing the challenges in Syria and I also urge Russia to play a constructive, cooperative role in fighting ISIL. To support Assad is not a constructive contribution to finding a solution."Stoltenberg says NATO has already made the coalition very much present in the fight against ISIL.

He emphasizes the need to make sure that there are mechanisms for de-escalating the increased military presence of Russia in line with the ongoing efforts of the coalition fighting ISIL.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold bilateral discussions at the UN.

China-U.S. economic ties to get closer after President Xi's visit: vice finance ministerThe Chinese vice finance minister says China and the United States will further tighten economic ties in the future.

During the Chinese President's visit to the US, the two countries have arrived at a series of important outcomes on economic cooperation.

Zhu Guangyao believes this will help to further promote overall bilateral ties.

"The detailed arrangement to be implemented soon will have a significant impact on the future of both countries. For example, the United States has made a commitment that it will treat Chinese enterprises investing in the U.S., including Chinese state-owned companies, impartially, which is an important policy commitment made by the U.S.,"The finance minister says both sides also reached agreements in the area of financial cooperation.

Headline NewsChinese president makes four-point proposal on promoting women's rightsChinese President Xi Jinping is calling for the international society to further promote women's rights and development while addressing a high-level summit at the United Nations (UN) headquarters.

President Xi put forward a four-point proposal during his speech, namely striving for women's development in tandem with social and economic progress, protecting women's rights and interests, building harmonious and inclusive societies, and fostering a global environment favorable for women's development.

China will donate 10 million US dollars to UN Women and help the women and children in other developing countries in the coming five years.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked the Chinese government for initiating the meeting, calling it a milestone in the cause of international women's development.

Around 100 representatives, including 80 heads of state and government, attended the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality.

Senior leader calls for unity in XinjiangTop Chinese political advisor Yu Zhengsheng has praised local residents in Xinjiang for their efforts in fighting terrorism and urges them to cherish stability and unity.

Yu Zhengsheng is now visiting Shache County of Kashgar, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Yu also highlights the importance of Shache's strategic position and people's unity in achieving stability and a peaceful life.

Yu notes that officials and residents in Shache should be prepared for "a protracted war" to fight for social stability.

He urges officials to do everything they can to bring people together, firmly implement the work of separating religion from extremism, and guide different ethnic groups into candid communication.

China on orange alert for super typhoon DujuanThe National Meteorological Center on Sunday issued an orange alert for the approaching super typhoon Dujuan.

Dujuan is expected to hit China's southeastern regions. It will land in Fujian on Tuesday morning.

Authorities in Zhejiang province have asked city governments to be fully prepared for the gales, downpours and floods brought by Dujuan.

China Southern, the country's largest airline company, has planned to cancel 18 flights to or from Taipei City on Monday.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Pro-independence parties win parliamentary elections in Spain's CataloniaPro-independence political parties have won parliamentary elections in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia with a turnout of more than 77 percent.

With 96.05 percent of votes counted, the main pro-independence party and the smaller leftist party won 72 seats, a majority of the 135 seats in parliament.

The president of the regional government of Catalonia Artur Mas called for early elections last August, billing them as a plebiscite on independence from Spain.

However, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in July that Catalonia would not be granted independence no matter what the result of the elections.

The Spanish government has always refused to allow a referendum on the independence of the region as according to them it breaches Spain's constitution.

Biz ReportsMarket PreviewTurning onto business news. First let's get a preview of what we can expect on the markets this week.

China is expected to release official data of Purchasing Managers' Index on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the A-share markets are set to be closed on Thursday and Friday because of the National Day Holiday starting from October 1st.

Hong Kong stocks will be closed on Monday and Thursday.

In the Unites States, markets enter a busy week with jobs data, several Federal Reserve speakers and the possibility of more brinksmanship in Washington over a potential government shutdown.

The Commerce Department is expected to release August consumer spending data on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Conference Board is expected to announce its index of consumer attitudes for September.

The single-family home prices for July are due to be released on the same day.

The ADP National Employment Report for September is set to be released on Wednesday.

On the same day, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard are scheduled to give welcoming remarks before the Third Annual Community Banking Research and Policy Conference.

On the corporate front,On Tuesday, warehouse club operator Costco is likely to report fourth-quarter sales below analysts' average estimate.

Business research firm IHS is also expected to report higher revenue in the third quarter on the same day, helped by growth in its subscription business.

Micron Technology is expected to report fourth-quarter profit below estimates on Thursday.

Finally, Surgery Partners' IPO is expected to price on Friday.

China, Georgia sign framework deal on currency swapChina's central bank has signed a framework agreement on a currency swap scheme with the Georgian central bank.

The deal was signed by the head of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan.

The two sides have pledged to strengthen bilateral currency cooperation, facilitate trade and investment, as well as promote settlement directly in the two currencies.

China to create national carbon-trading marketChina is going to launch a national emission trading system in 2017.

The move is part of a joint presidential statement issued by China and the United States on Friday.

The trading system will cover power generation, steel, cement, and other key industrial sectors.

It is also expected to inject new political energy into climate change talks ahead of December's UN climate summit in Paris.

China has pledged to cap carbon dioxide emissions around 2030.

China plans to put 6 pct value-added tax rate on insurers in VAT reformChinese regulators have imposed a 6 percent value-added tax on insurance companies' operating income.

The decision is an effort to improve China's tax system.

The reform was first launched in Shanghai's transportation system and some modern services industries three years ago.

It's also been reported that China will unveil plans for the final batch of VAT reform programs in the construction, real estate, financial services and life services sectors.

An Analysis of Volkswagen ScandalAnchor:

Volkswagen owners in Sacramento, California have filed a class-action suit against the automaker.

Media reports say the owners are alleging fraud, breach of warranty, unjust enrichment, and negligent misrepresentation - this in response to VW's acknowledgement of its emissions-test rigging scandal.

This is the latest in a series of class-action lawsuits against the automaker.

The world's biggest car maker admitted to using illegal technology to cheat emissions testing in the US.

It could affect 11 million of its cars worldwide.

Volkswagen is already facing a massive fine of 18 billion dollars in the US for its emission cheat.

For more on this, we're joined by Mike Bastin, Director of China Business Center based in London.

Mike Bastin, Director of China Business Center based in London.

Beijing issues bond to finance new airportThe central government is set to issue additional bonds worth nearly 7 billion yuan to finance the building of Beijing's new airport.

Around two-third of the bonds will be used to support land expropriation and housing demolition in the project.

Another 24 billion yuan will cover land compensation fees for the airport.

The construction of the new airport in southern Beijing's Daxing District started in December and take 5 years to complete.

The airport is designed to handle over 70 million passengers and 620-thousand flights by 2025.

Hyundai recalls 470,000 Sonatas in US to replace enginesKorean car maker Hyundai is recalling nearly a half-million cars in the U.S. over engine problems.

The recall covers 470-thousand Sonata sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years equipped with 2-liter or 2.4-liter gasoline engines.

Hyundai has explained that metal debris may not have been fully removed from the crankshaft area during manufacturing.

Car owners will be notified at the beginning of November.

At the same time, the automaker is recalling around 100-thousand Accent cars 2009 to 2011 models, because of brake lights failure.

Brewer Molson Coors plans China exitMolson Coors Brewing Company is reported to be exiting the Chinese market due to the increased competition from smaller beer brands.

Reports say the brewer is planning to terminate the contracts of its staff, and a full withdrawal by the end of the year.

Currently, Molson Coors does continue trading, and wholesalers will still receive deliveries.

However, its marketing and branding activities have ceased.

China is a major market of Molson Coors.

As the second-largest beer producer in the U.S., the company has been in China since 2001, selling its Coors Light product.

Chalco to peel off aluminum assets valued at 600 mln yuanAluminum Corporation of China, or Chalco, has announced intentions to transfer its stake in the Qinghai Yellow River Hydropower Recycled Aluminum, which has an assessed value of 600 million yuan, or some 94 million USD.

The offer involves a 30-percent stake which Chalco owns in the Qinghai firm.

The deal will make Chalco the largest shareholder of Qinghai Yellow River Hydropower Recycled Aluminum.

Beijing company wins TV broadcast rights of CSL at record priceA Beijing-based company has won the television broadcast rights of the Chinese Super League in next five years.

Ti'ao Dongli, a company specializing in sports events broadcast, will spend 8 billion yuan for the 5-year broadcasting rights of the CSL.

The new season of the Super League opened in the wake of an ambitious reform plan approved by the Chinese government to raise the standard of Chinese soccer.

Last week, Letv won the rights to broadcast the English Premier League for the coming three seasons in the Hong Kong market.

LeTV's contract with the English Premier League runs until 2019.

SportsChinese Super League UpdateIn Chinese Super League action:

Sunday saw some winners as:

Guangzhou R&F beat Tianjin Teda 1,0Changchun yatai beat Hangzhou Greentown 1,0Chongqing Lifan beat Jiangsu Sainty 2,1Henan Jianye beat Liaoning Whowin 1,0and finally, Beijing Guoan beat Shanghai Shenxin 4,0China beats Kazakhstan at FIBA Asia ChampionshipAnd in FIBA basketball news:

China beat Kazakhstan 111-56 at the men's FIBA Asia Championship on Sunday.

As one of three unbeaten teams China will move forward.

Other unbeaten team Iran retained a victory over Hong Kong.

Iran will move forward to play the Philippines on Monday.

Raonic wins at St. Petersburg OpenIn tennis news:

Milos Raonic beat out Joao Sousa to win St. Petersburg OpenSecond seed Raonic hit 22 aces as he held off stern pressure from Sousa to wrap up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win.　 　This is Raonic's first title since the Washington Open in August 2014.

The tennis pro has stated that he hopes to strengthen his chance of reaching the ATP Finals.

"It's a special turnaround, especially with all the struggles I have had this year to play some phenomenal tennis this week and I am very happy with every aspect of it and now this is something to give me a nice little push and momentum into the race for London."He is now ranked nine but is well behind the top eight in the year-to-date ranking system.　Raonic is now 7-8 in tour finals.

Wuhan Open Updateand in more tennis news:

At the Wuhan Open, rapidly advancing player Johanna Konta from Great Britain beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 7-5.

Konta will now move on to face Belarusian Victoria AzrenkaThe player from Great Britain has won 19 of the last 20 matches she has played.

The loss coming from Maria Sherapova at Wimbledon.

And on other courts:

Mirjana Baroni beat out former US Open Champ Samantha Stosur from Australia.

The Croatian won by a 6-2, 6-1.

finally:

Maria Sherapova will return to the tennis court after recovering from a leg injury.

The tennis star will have her first match against Barbora Strycova on this Monday at the Wuhan Open.

Ireland beats Romania in Rugby World CupIn rugby news:

Ireland beat Romania in its Rugby World Cup Pool D match at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Ireland's head coach Joe Schmidt left several star players out of his starting line-up for the game .

In attendance were 89,267 spectators at Wembley Stadium, which amounted to the largest crowd at a World Cup match.

Schmidt praised mvp Tommy Bowe for helping Ireland capture the day's win:

"I thought he had a super game. He finished the try in the corner incredibly well, well he finished both tries but.... I thought he was incredibly strong in the air. He made a fantastic low tackle to allow Jared Payne to get on the ball and make a turnover in the second half. So both sides of the ball, I felt that Tommy was really good today."Ireland will now move on to play Italy.

While Romania will face off against Canada.

Scotlands beats USA in Rugby World CupScotland overcome a poor first half to beat the USA 39-16 on Sunday in the Rugby World Cup pool B match.

Scotland found a second bonus point win, when they took on the USA at Elland Road in Leeds on Sunday.

But it was the USA who enjoyed the better of the first half.

After battling through, Scotland found their second wind to come back in the game.

USA's Head Coach Mike Tolkin gave praise to the scot's for being able to stay in the game.

"I have to give credit to Scotland in the second half. It's a team who is tired. (They) played four days ago, a lot of guys are doing repeat performances and they came out with a lot of energy in the second half when the game was in the balance and could easily have gone the other way."Scotland is currently riding on top of their poolBut, tougher trails await as Scotland will take on South Africa on October 3rd.

For the USA, their next match will also be against South Africa on the 7th of October.

Hamilton wins the Japanese Grand PrixIn F1 racing news:

Lewis Hamilton swept onto victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

the English man has moved closer still to retaining his F1 title with a comfortable victory at Suzuka on Sunday.

Hamilton is now tied Ayrton Senna in career wins.

The crucial action came on the first two corners, where Hamilton capitalised on a strong start to edge ahead of pole sitter Rosberg.

Hamilton stated that this win made him very happy with his teams performance.

"I'm so happy right now. Just the team did a fantastic job this weekend. It is great to be back up here as a team with a one-two. I had a great start, thanks again to the team making sure we get a good start to this race. For me to come here to a race where I used to love watching Ayrton (Senna) drive, and to match his wins - I can't really describe it. It doesn't feel real at the moment."Second place was a battle between Nico Rosberg and Sebastian VettalIn the end, it would be Rosberg in second, Vettal in third and Kimi Raikkonen in forth.

For Hamilton, this is career victory number 41.

With five races left, Hamilton has a 48-point lead over Rosberg.

Thongchai Jaidee wins Euro OpenIn golf news:

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee won the European Open by one shot over Graeme Storm of England in Germany on Sunday.

At 45, Jaidee became the oldest winner on the Tour this year and the oldest winner of the European Open.

This is his seventh title on the European Tour.

EntertainmentFirst Asian Short Film Exhibition Concludes in Wenzhou ChinaThe first Asian short film exhibition has concluded in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, with 14 short films being honored with awards.

Award-winning works are selected from 344 exhibited short films entered by film makers from 23 Asian countries.

Worldwide leading film directors and producers have joined the judge panel to decide the winners.

Famous Korean director, Kim Tae-gyun, has highly praised the competitors.

"I have watched a lot of the short film works, many of which surprised me with their high quality. I was impressed by the developing speed of China's short film industry."As this year's theme is "youth, art and fusion", the highlight of the exhibition is short films created by young film makers.

American Director Roger S. Christiansen, who is known for the hit 'Friends' series, gives his suggestions to the start-up filmmakers.

"We can make movies, we can edit them, we can put them on the Internet, and that's what micro films and the Internet are changing the world. For the young people today, my advice is just keep writing, developing a good story, listen, observe, read, pay attention to what's going on around you so you can find interesting stories tell about people.

Wenzhou is announced to be the permanent venue for the Asia International Youth Short-Film Exhibition.

Gordon-Levitt's 'The Walk' Opens New York Film FestivalJoseph Gordon-Levitt's new film 'The Walk' opened this year's New York Film festival, with the Hollywood star walking the red carpet for the premier.

The film is a biographical drama based on the 1974 stunt made by French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, as he walked between the former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

The 34 year-old actor says the towers have played a leading role in this film.

"I think all of us, whether we were in New York or anywhere else in the world, when we see those two towers we think of the tragedy. That I think is appropriate tragic loss. But I think with any tragic loss I think it's also important to remember the good times, the beautiful memories we have. It's like grieving for a lost loves one. You don't want to only focus on their death, you want to remember their life, and that is what this movie does."This not the first film about the legendary artist, previously, 'Man on Fire', a documentary based on Petit's true story has won the Oscar Award for Best Documentary in 2008.

'The Walk' is scheduled to be released in limited theatres on September 30th, and the wider release will kick off on October.

Founded in 1963, the New York Film Festival aims to showcase the latest work from the world's most esteemed filmmakers.

This year, the festival runs until October 11th.

Audition for Last Season 'American Idol' Shoots in DenverHost Ryan Seacrest and all three judges of "American Idol" appeared in Denver on Sunday, shooting for auditions of the singing competition show's final season.

The judge panel of the upcoming season 'American Idol' includes Jennifer Lopez, Harry Conick Jr. and Keith Urban.

Famous singer and actress, Jennifer Lopez gives her thoughts on the show's impact.

“There's all the different contestants and different style of music over the years and things like that, but for the most part it's about opportunity and dreams and it's always been about that and I think that's why people love watching it.''

Last week, Jennifer Lopez has teamed up with the United Nations Foundation to help fight for the rights of girls and women around the world.

The pop singer also honored as the first Global Advocate for Girls and Women during the event.

The 15th season of "American Idol" will make its return in January.

Global Citizen Festival Wraps up in NYCThe Global Citizen festival has just wrapped up in New York City.

US First Lady Michelle Obama introduced a new campaign which focuses on educating girls around the world.

Meanwhile Malala Yousafzai, last year's Nobel Prize Winner thanked the crowd for their support in raising awareness of education for girls.

"And I am Malala from Pakistan. I am so thankful to all of you for your love, for your support, but I'm here standing with four young girls for a cause, for a mission, for a basic human right. The right to go to school, the right to get an education, which every child deserves."Stars including Beyonce and Coldplay performed to the large crowd in Central Park.

US Vice President Joe Biden also appeared on stage and introduced a video message from President Barack Obama.

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

Recapping our top stories this morning...

Chinese President Xi Jinping co-chairing an historic high-level meeting on women's equality at the United Nations....

The President of the World Bank lauding China's leading role in eliminating poverty around the world...

And France carrying out its first airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria...

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