Welcome to a special edition of the Beijing Hour, live from the Chinese capital.

Coming up on our program this morning...

Typhoon Mujigae claiming 19 lives since landing in south China...

A pair of scientists from Japan and Canada sharing the 2015 Noble Prize in Physics...

And the top US commander in Afghanistan calling the recent deadly airstrike on a medical facility in Afganistan a mistake...

In Business....the IMF cutting its global growth outlook...

In Sports.... Nadal and Djokovic through at the China Open...

And in the second half of our program, we will bring you a holiday edition of People in the Know...

TopTyphoon Mujigae Kills 19 in South ChinaTyphoon Mujigae has claimed 19 lives since landing in south China.

Four other fishermen remain missing after their boats sank.

It is being reported that some 1.9 million people in Guangxi have suffered losses from the typhoon.

In Guangdong Province, about 3.5 million people are affected, of whom 170,400 have been relocated from their damaged homes.

At least about 3,374 homes have been toppled and 282,700 hectares of cropland damaged.

The economic loss has reached some 23.24 billion yuan or 3.65 billion U.S. dollars.

When the typhoon landed, power supply facilities were damaged in parts of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, causing a blackout for nearly 5 million households.

As of Tuesday morning, power supply had been restored in 78 percent of those households.

Authorities say power supply will fully resume within seven days.

Kajita, McDonald share the Nobel Prize in Physics 2015Anchor: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced that the Noble Prize in Physics for 2015 will be awarded to Japanese scientist Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald from Canada.

CRI's Chen Xuefei reports from Stockholm.

Reporter: Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Goran Hansson made the announcement in Stockholm.

"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2015 to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, showing that neutrinos have mass."The first neutrino was detected in 1954 from a reactor.

Professor Carlsson from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences explained that neutrinos are the smallest particles in the physics world which can be a millionth of electrons. The discovery has changed people's understanding of the innermost workings of matter and can prove crucial to one's view of the universe.

"The neutrino has a mass, but it is indeed very small, we do not know how small it is today. But there is a lot of experiments including experiments in China, that to measure the neutrinos, we hope soon to be able to determine the mass more exactly. But very very small."Carlsson said the two Nobel laureates demonstrated the neutrinos oscillation and change of their identities.

"It is important because we can learn about the sun, how the sun works, The interior of the sun can produce a lot of neutrinos. And we can detect them. The other thing is that we can learn the structure and learn how they work. The discovery will contribute to us a much better knowledge about the universe. They are the most common particles in the universe, we learn about how stars work and we learn about elementary particles. So that is why it is very important."Kajita was born in Japan in 1959 and is a professor at University of Tokyo. McDonald was born in Sydney Canada and is a professor Emeritus at Queen's University.

They will receive their prize on December 10th in Stockholm.

For CRI, this is Chen Xuefei reporting from Stockholm.

TPP, key deal for Asia-Pacific: China's MOCChina says it is open to any trade agreement that follows the rules of the World Trade Organization, and benefits the regional economy.

The Ministry of Commerce released the statement after the US and other 11 Pacific rim countries sealed the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

China says the pact is one of the key free trade agreements for the Asia-Pacific region.

The pact covers nearly 40 percent of the global economy.

China, the second largest economy in the world and an economic power in the region, is not a part of this deal.

Experts view on TPPFor more on this, CRI's Brian Kopczynski spoke earlier with Dr. Liang Wei, Professor of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the US.

…Back anchor:

That is Dr. Liang Wei, Professor of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the US, speaking with CRI's Brian Kopczynski.

Music makes multiethnic friendship in XinjiangAnchor:

Chinese people have always used the words "Zhi Yin" or confidant, to describe close friends who can understand each other deeply. The allusion originated from an ancient tale of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi, who were attracted to each other and bounded by music.

Now a similar story has taken place in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, between a 70-year-old Han Chinese man and a 50-year-old Uighur, who founded a band with members from different ethnic groups.

CRI's Xu Fei has more.

Reporter:

"Butterfly Lovers" is a renowned piece of classical Chinese music. Telling a tragic love story, the score is normally performed with a violin. This time, the presentation is played by ethnic Uighur instrument Aijieck.

The player, Eshanjan Turdi is a musician living in the city of Karamay in Xinjiang. When his performance was overheard by retired musician Ren Shuquan. The ethnic-Han musician loved Eshanjan's music and invited him to join his band.

Both Ren and Eshanjan worked as professional musicians in Xinjiang. Their love of music, particularly string music, sed to friendship despite the age and ethnic differences.

Ren says the Han people of the band learned a lot from their Uighur peers.

"The Twelve Muqams were basically new stuff for us. Our Uighure members wrote down the scores. Someone else did the translation so it was possible for Han members to practice. Uighurs don't need the score book. They can play anytime they want. It is like they were born for music and dance."Now, the band practices together at least once a week. Ten members are Han-ethnicity while 20 are Uighur. The Uighur members play the Aijieck and some other Xinjiang instruments fewer people know, like Tanbuer, Dutaer, Sataer and Rewaqu. The Han members play the Urheen, cello or flute. They have created something uniquely good.

Eshanjan says he also loves the tunes of Han music.

"I love it, especially the urheen. I play string music so I know. I like songs like Embroider A Golden Plait, Glowing Red Morning Star Lilies, The Jasmine Flower and The Flowers and Youngsters. I love the way urheen presents ethnic songs. There is a piece played together by Tanbuer, Dutaer, Dataer and urheen. It is pure and beautiful."Ren Shuquan says on the other hand the energy in the Uighur music makes their works more lively.

"Their tunes are more bright and faster. You will have the tendency to dance with it. But it has a lot of half-steps which makes it difficult to learn. To master these ethnic tunes, one has to practice his abilities of fingering, singing and listening."Their ethnic-fusion version of Embroider A Golden Plaque is now a regular piece.

Ren Shuquan says the fusion performance has also nurtured their audience.

"It definitely brings us closer. In the past, we only played traditional Han-ethnic tunes. But now things are different. They started to enjoy ethnic tunes.

Ren Shuquan says the friendship between Eshanjan and him brings them a lot.

"He is a professional so I can learn a lot from him about ethnic music. He always shows me the right way to play. So in a way, he is my teacher. It has nothing to do with age.

Eshanjan says he is really thankful he can have Ren as his best friend.

"He is the best in my eyes. He is 20 years older than me. We have something called 'friendship between generations'. He is broad-minded, gentle and generous. I have never seen him get angry. I like him so much."Not very different from the story of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi, the story of these two musicians shows how once again people can be bonded by music despite everything else.

Back anchor: CRI's Xu Fei reporting.

US Commander in Afghanistan Announces US Airstrike on Hospital as MistakeTop US commander in Afghanistan has responded to the recent airstrike on a medical facility in the northern city of Kunduz, calling it a mistake.

Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell says the airstrike was a U.S. decision under Afghan forces' request, but that the hospital was "mistakenly struck".

"On Saturday morning, our forces provided close air support to Afghan forces at their request. To be clear, the decision to provide aerial fire was a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command. A hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. I must allow the investigation to take its course. I assure you that the investigation will be thorough, objective and transparent."His testimony came three days after the deadly attack, which killed at least 22 civilians, and left dozens more injured.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest says a series of investigations are underway, aiming to discover how exactly the attack was happened.

"The President has called for the kind of investigations that will yield a full accounting of what transpired. There is already underway an investigation being conducted by the Justice Department there are also investigations that are ongoing being led by NATO and a separate third investigation that is a joint investigation carried out by the United States and Afghan officials."The clinic was operated by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders.

Russia Urges Avoid Misunderstandings in SyriaRussian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov has held a meeting in Moscow with military attaches from foreign embassies, to discuss the situation in Syria and the potential for further cooperation.

During the meeting, he reiterated that Russia is very careful in its targeting in Syria, and rejected accusations that Russian jets had struck any civilian targets in the city of Palmyra.

"We use data from space and air intelligence. And not only the information that we get from our Syrian partners. We check this data a hundred times. And the decisions that are made based on them are carefully balanced, thought-through and counted. And we perform strikes only when we know 100 per cent that we are hitting the target. We do not just hit any civil or military objects."He stressed that Moscow welcomes further discussions to avoid any "misunderstandings" in Syria.

Previously, the NATO secretary-general has shown his concern about the build-up of Russian forces in Syria.

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition has decried Russia's military involvement in Syria, accusing Russia of hitting US-backed opposition fighters and playing into the hands of the Islamic State group.

In response, Russia's Defence Ministry urges U.S.-led coalition members to pass intelligence to Russia on the positions of Islamic State militants.

US releases video of aircraft, crew deployment to TurkeyThe United States has released video on Tuesday of search and rescue helicopters and personnel deployed in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.

Washington dispatched the helicopters, cargo planes and 300 air force troops to be deployed in Diyarbakir last Thursday, to improve its capabilities in Iraq and Syria.

Aircraft deployed in Diyarbakir include Black Hawk helicopters as well as transport planes.

Turkey agreed to open its strategically important bases to the U.S.-led coalition in July, a major policy change after years of reluctance to take a frontline role against the Islamist fighters pressing on its borders.

US, European StocksU.S. stocks closed mixed Tuesday after wavering in a narrow range, as the International Monetary Fund lowered its global growth forecast for this year.

At the close,The Dow Jones edged up a fraction of a percent.

The S&P 500 inched down 0.4 percent.

The Nasdaq lost 0.7 percent.

In corporate news, shares of PepsiCo rose 1.3 percent after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Shares of DuPont surged 7.7 percent as the chemical giant's Chief Executive Officer Ellen Kullman announced plans to retire this month.

In Europe,Stocks there ended higher on Tuesday, with miners and auto stocks leading the way.

At the closing bell,The FTSE 100 climbed 0.4 percent.

Germany's DAX added 0.9 percent.

France's CAC 40 rose one percent.

IMF Cuts Global Growth OutlookThe International Monetary Fund has lowered its global growth forecast for this year and next year in its latest World Economic Outlook report.

The organization is predicting the world economy will see a growth of 3.1 percent this year, and 3.6 percent next year.

The projections are 0.2 percent lower than the IMF's projections given in July.

IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld has attributed the lower projections to China's economic transformation, the fall in commodity prices and the approaching normalization of U.S. monetary policy.

Meanwhile, he says he is quite confident about China's economic growth expectations for this year.

"There is China's transformation, the economy is rebalancing from exports and public investment to consumption, from manufacturing to services, this is both healthy and necessary in the longer terms but in the near term there are implications for China's growth and for its trading relationships with foreign countries."The IMF has put GDP growth expectations for China in the range of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent this year.

VW Staff Chief: No Immediate Effect on JobsGerman automaker Volkswagen's chief employee representative has said that the emissions-rigging scandal won't have an effect on jobs for the time being.

Bernd Osterloh made the statement at a staff assembly in Wolfsburg.

"It is not possible to conclude today, whether and how this wrongdoing could affect our jobs in the medium and long term. At this point, and I think this is good news, there will be no consequences for jobs. Neither for permanent staff nor for those on temporary contracts."Osterloh also notes that the car company will reduce earnings at the core autos division as well as bonus payments to workers.

Meanwhile in Strasbourg, members of the European Parliament have engaged in heated discussions on the question of whether the European Commission was aware of the practices of the German automaker.

Many MEPs have also called on the European Commission to speed up the introduction of real drive emissions testing.

EP political groups are set to prepare a resolution to be voted during the Oct. 26-29 plenary session in Strasbourg.

Volkswagen's emissions-rigging scandal has involved 11 million diesel vehicles.

The scandal has wiped more than a third off the automaker's share price and forced out its long-time CEO.

Drought stressing California's Giant SequoiasAnchor:

Researchers are studying how California's ongoing drought is affecting some of the largest living things on earth.

Scientists climbing high up into the canopies of Sierra Nevada's Giant Sequoias say they are seeing symptoms of stress caused by the state's historic drought.

CRI's Huang Shan has more.

Reporter:

Giant Sequoias are one of California's most majestic icons. The trees only grow naturally in the Sierra Nevadas. They can live 3,000 years and grow up to 91 meters tall, 15 metres wide.

They have endured past wildfires and droughts. But this fourth year of drought in California is the worst, and the iconic trees are beginning to show signs of stress.

Patches of brown, dead leaves are appearing more than average in past years.

Anthony Ambrose, Tree Biologist from University of California in Berkeley, says this is unnatural.

"We've observed some unusual and abnormal levels of foliage die-back, which haven't been observed in the park before."Ambrose and his team have climbed the towering trees in search of a better understanding. They also have installed sensors to measure temperature and humidity.

Ambrose says he was impressed by the majesty of nature.

"It's an amazing experience to be able to climb up into these things and know that it's been growing in this same spot for a thousand years or more. It's a living thing. It's like this massive structure. It's a really humbling experience because you feel just so small in the face of this thing that's so big and so old."Scientists also gather seedlings in and around the trees to test the water inside, noting it is an important indicator as to how stressed the plant is in response to drought.

Koren Nydick of the National Park Service says that the information collected would help them to determine where and how much new thinning of the forest is needed to help the trees survive the drought.

"They'll have more water than they would have in a denser forest and be more resistant to these hot droughts they're faced with in the future."Some 75 distinct groves of Giant Sequoias grow mostly in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Giant Sequoias require a lot of water. Each one can use up to 800 gallons in just one day.

While the drought is taking its toll, the scientists say it's not causing an abnormally high numbers of Giant Sequoias to die, like millions of other conifers throughout the state.

For CRI, I'm Huang Shan.

Chinese women all out, Djokovic and Nadal advance at China OpenTuring over to some sports news from the China Open:

Wang Qiang, the last Chinese woman at the China Open tennis tournament, has lost to former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-0, while men's title contenders Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal recorded comfortable wins.

World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia bagged a straight-sets 6-1 6-1 win over Simone Bolelli in the first round.

The Serb will face China's Ze Zhang in the second round on ThursdayRafael Nadal of Spain has came through a good test, beating Wu Di of China 6-4 6-4 in his opening round match.

Nadal, whose last tournament win was in Hamburg at the beginning of August, faces Vasek Pospisil of Canada in the second round on Wednesday after he beat Victor Estrella of the Dominican Republic.

Venus Williams, titleholder of WTA Wuhan Open last Saturday, was upset by Ana Ivanovic 6-7, 2-6. US Open champion Flavia Pennetta and 10th-seeded Angelique Kerber also advanced to the last 16.

Williams will face former world number two Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round.

WeatherBeijing will be smoggy with a high of 25 degrees Celsius, clear tonight with a low of 13.

Shanghai will have light rain with a high of 24 and a low of 20.

In Chongqing, it will be overcast with a high of 26 and lows of 19.

Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,Islamabad will be sunny with a high of 33.

Kabul will be cloudy with a high of 23.

Over to North America,New York will be cloudy with a high of 22 degrees.

Washington, cloudy with a high of 24 degrees.

Honolulu, cloudy, 27.

Toronto will be cloudy with a high of 17 degrees.

Finally, on to South America,Buenos Aires will have light rain with a high of 20.

And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with a high of 27 degrees Celsius.

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

Recapping our top stories this morning...

Typhoon Mujigae claiming 19 lives since landing in south China...

A pair of scientists from Japan and Canada sharing the 2015 Noble Prize in Physics...

And the top US commander in Afghanistan calling the recent deadly airstrike on a medical facility in Afganistan a mistake...

Stay tuned for a special edition of People in the Know, coming up in the second half of the program...

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.