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

Coming up on our program this morning...

Three scientists sharing the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry....

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank set to invest in Pakistan's infrastructure development...

And US President Barack Obama apologizing for the airstrike in Afghanistan that left 12 medical volunteers in the country dead...

In Business....the IMF expressing confidence about China's GDP growth for this year...

In Sports.... an update of action from the China Open...

And in Entertainment....The curtain falls on season 5 of the Voice of China...

Top NewsLindahl, Modrich and Sancar win Nobel Prize in ChemistryAnchorThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 will be jointly awarded to Tomas Lindahl, a British Swedish scientist, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar both from the United States.

CRI's Chen Xuefei reports from Stockholm.

ReporterGoran Hansson, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Sciences made the announcement at the Academy's headquarters.

"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for mechanistic studies of DNA repair."The Nobel Prize has been awarded the trio for having mapped at a molecular level how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard genetic information.

Their work has provided the scientific community with fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions, and this can be used for things like the development of new cancer treatments.

Torleif Hard, Professor in Structural Biology and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences explained the importance of this discovery.

"This is a great research now. It is important for medical research and biology. It concerns that DNA molecule is not a stable molecule. It degrades spontaneously from radiation, or from poisens basically. And the cell has a mechanism that repairs DNA molecules. "Hard said the discovery is very important for people to understand the basic processes inside a cell.

"For example every cancer starts with DNA damage, normally that is repaired but sometimes it is not, therefore it is important to understand the aging mechanisms, also understand how aging mechanisms work."It was in the early 1970s, Tomas Lindahl demonstrated that DNA decays at a rate that ought to have made the development of life on earth impossible.

This insight led him to discover molecular machinery Base Excision Repair which constantly counteracts the collapse of DNA in the human body.

The discovery might be used in the development of new cancer treatments.

For CRI, I'm Chen XuefeiAfrican Officials Applaud Chinese Pharmacologist's Winning Nobel Prize for MedicineAnchorThe decision by the Nobel committee to award a Chinese researcher with this year's prize for Medicine is drawing praise from around the world, particularly in Africa.

CRI's Luo Wen explains.

ReporterDr Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director of the World Health Organization's Africa Region, says Tu Youyou's development of a treatment for malaria has been a life-saver.

"As you know Malaria is one of the biggest killers of African people, particularly African children. As we were discussing the Millennium Goals last week in New York at the UN general assembly, it was acknowledged that African countries have made tremendous progress in reducing child deaths, especially in the last ten years. And it's my belief that this discovery and the access to this treatment made a huge contribution to reducing the deaths of African children and also pregnant mothers."Inspired by Chinese traditional medicine, pharmacologist Tu Youyou and her team discovered an anti-malarial agent in the plant Artemisia annua back in the 1960s.

Her research eventually led to the isolation of artemisinin, or Qinghaosu in Chinese, which is now used widely as an anti-malaria drug.

The fourth generation of the drug, which was developed by the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, was in the small island-nation of Comoros in 2007.

In just three months, the drug lowered the rate of malaria infections by 98.7 percent.

Professor Song Jianping with the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine says the drug has revolutionized malaria treatment.

"We want to help Africa find a quick solution to eradicate Malaria, and not just just a cure for the disease. If you treat one patient without removing the source of the infection, the treatment is not effective. So we have made adjustments to the treatment: from individual treatment to mass prevention, from killing asexual plasmodium parasite to killing both the asexual and sexual parasites."Comoros vice-President Fouad Mohadji says he knows first-hand how well the Chinese-produced treatment can work.

"Three members of my family had malaria. Every month people get hospitalized for malaria and it will cost at least 60 euros a month. Since 2007, our country started an anti-malarial program using artemisinin and the prevalence rate has dropped significantly. The program cut hospitalization rate for every household member from 42 percent to zero. This is a great achievement in public health as well as social development."Malaria is still a major public health problem.

It's estimated some 430-thousand people around the world die every year from the mosquito-borne virus.

90-percent of those deaths occur in Africa.

However, Chinese researchers are hoping the development of drugs through Tu Youyou's research will eventually bring that number to zero.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.

China, EU to further develop economic tiesChina and EU have held their latest round of a Joint Committee Meeting in Brussels, with both sides exchanging opinions on bilateral and multilateral economic and trade issues.

The main goal of the meeting was to fulfill the results and consensus of the China-EU leaders' meeting in June and the 5th China-EU High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue which was held in September.

The Chinese Minister of Commerce, Gao Hucheng, said that China and the EU are each others' most important trading partners and that the strong economic and trade relationship has become the solid foundation and motive of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

Gao also urged to promote further negotiations of the China-EU Investment Agreement before 2016 which was the fundamental interest and designed target of the China-EU leaders' meeting in June.

AIIB to invest in Pakistan's infrastructure development: president-designateThe president-designate of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has said the bank is interested in financing infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

Jin Liqun made the remarks during his first visit to Pakistan since he was named the official candidate for the bank's presidency in August.

Jin said Pakistan has a great potential in the infrastructure sector, especially in energy, transport, electric power, sea ports, urban development and water supply.

He also added that the bank's officials will be visiting Pakistan to discuss collaboration in different projects in the near future.

The president-designate also said that the bank will be working closely with existing multilateral development banks such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was proposed by China in 2013.

It has 57 prospective founding members and is expected to begin operation by the end of this year.

China Sponsors Cote d'Ivoire Port Expansion ProjectCote d'lvoire authorities have officially launched the expansion works of the Abidjan Port which will last for four years.

The project will cost around 1.12 billion US dollars, with 85-percent of its budget provided by China.

Abidjan Port is deemed the "lung" of Cote d'Ivoire's economy with 91 percent of the country's foreign trade conducted through the port.

The expansion project includes the enlargement of the Vridi Canal and the construction of a second container terminal to increase the port's cargo capacity.

The project is also expected to turn the city into a West African maritime transport hub.

According to the Chinese ambassador to Cote d'lvoire, the project is the largest bilateral project to receive funding from the Chinese government.

The project will be funded through a loan acquired by the Cote d'Ivoire state from the Eximbank of China and will be operated by China Harbour Engineering Company.

China has long-supported Cote d'Ivoire in the large-scale modernization of its infrastructure.

3 Chinese tourists killed in lorry-bus crash in MalaysiaThree Chinese tourists have been confirmed dead in a serious traffic accident in the Malaysian state of Johor.

Another 17 tourists were injured, two of them are listed in serious condition.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia, all the victims came from a tourist group.

The three dead victims were from east China's Jiangsu Province.

Malaysia state news agency Bernama quoted the local police chief to say that the accident occurred when a lorry skidded into the opposite lane following a tire puncture, and collided with two buses.

The Chinese embassy has launched an emergency mechanism to deal with the aftermath of the accident.

KMT to hold temporary party congress to discuss "leadership election candidate" issueTaiwan's Kuomintang Party has adopted a proposal to launch a temporary party congress to discuss whether to change its candidate, Hung Hsiu-chu, for the region's leadership elections in 2016.

Lin Yi-hua, a standing committee member of the KMT Party Central Committee, says a total of 28 standing committee members jointly signed the proposal, unanimously agreeing to hold the temporary party congress.

"The standing committee will empower the party's Central Committee to decide the time and location of the congress. The chairman also stressed that the temporary party congress aims to build consensus and win the election in solidarity."It is said that temporary party congress will be launched within the next two weeks.

China launches remote sensing satellite for commercial useChina has launched its first remote sensing satellite array, Jilin-1 for commercial use into space.

The array consists of four separate satellites: one high-resolution optical imaging satellite for earth observation, one for testing new space technology and another two for recording video.

Designer of the optical imaging satellite Jin Guang mentions a unique feature of the new array- people on earth can download the images and videos taken by the satellite.

"It is able to continuously film a target on the ground for 2 minutes, and then transmit the video to the ground with a rate of 130 megabytes per second, then the people will see videos of the earth shot from the space."The satellite will carry out tests on high-resolution video-imaging technology in fields including topographic mapping, mineral resources development, monitoring of traffic facilities and public health emergency management.

The satellite was developed in northeast China's Jilin Province, which is one of the country's oldest industrial bases.

The province plans to launch 60 satellites by 2020 and 137 by 2030.

Chinese naval hospital ship arrives in Brisbane for friendly visitA Chinese naval hospital ship, the Peace Ark, has arrived at Brisbane, Australia as part of its "Call of Harmony-2015" friendly tour mission.

The ship is the first Chinese naval vessel to visit Brisbane and will stay there for five days.

Representatives of the Royal Australian Navy and local Chinese community members were invited to board the ship for a tour.

Director of Chinese navy's healthcare department Guan Bolin said the tour is aimed at enhancing mutual relationships between the two countries.

"The purpose of our visit is to carry out communications in a series of areas such as military, healthcare and culture with our Australian counterpart to enhance mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation."During the visit, medics of the naval hospital ship will offer free medical services to the local Chinese community, as well as attend cultural exchange events at local nursing homes and organizations for the hearing impaired.

Tibet welcomes record number of tourists during National Day holidaySouthwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has received over 877,000 tourists during this year's week-long National Day holiday, an 18.4 percent increase from last year.

Authorities of Lhasa Kongga International Airport, says they received 60,000 travellers between October 1 and 6, an average of 86 flights each day.

Lhasa train station was also crowded during the holiday, receiving a total of nearly 40,000 passengers.

Tourist Wang Lijue says the scenic beauty in Tibet can attract visitors to return.

"I think a trip to Tibet is not only a feast for the eyes, but also an experience of the mind. I drove into Tibet through the No.318 National Road this time and had a deep impression of the scenery alongside the road. I think Tibet is a place that people would like to revisit."The high visitor numbers generated a revenue of 407 million yuan, or about 64 million U.S. dollars, a growth of almost 21 percent compared to the previous year.

President Obama Apologizes to Doctors Without Borders for US AirstrikeUS President Barack Obama has apologized to Doctors Without Borders for an air strike that hit the organization's clinic in Afghanistan.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed the news on Wednesday in Washington.

"This morning from the Oval Office, President Obama spoke by telephone with Doctors Without Borders International President, Dr. Joanne Liu to apologize and express his condolences for the MSF staff and patients who were killed and injured when a U.S. military airstrike mistakenly struck an MSF field hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan."Last weekend, a US-led air strike in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz killed 22 civilians, including 12 staff members of Doctors Without Borders. The US military has since admitted that the strike was a mistake.

Obama assured the organization that there would be a thorough investigation.

The international aid organization, however, has said that a US probe into the incident will not suffice. It has called for an independent international investigation into the case.

The White House also said Obama told Liu that the US could implement policy changes so similar tragedies will be less likely in the future.

Obama also spoke with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and pledged to keep working closely with his government.

U.S. and Europe Data Transfer Pact Ruled InvalidEurope's highest court has struck down an international agreement that allows companies to move digital information between the European Union and the United States.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice has determined the so-called safe harbor agreement is in violation of European laws, as it gives the US side access to Europeans' online information.

European Commission vice-President Frans Timmermans says the judgment should ultimately help safeguard the data of people throughout Europe.

"We will come forward with clear guidance for national data protection authorities on how to deal with data transfer requests to the United States in the light of the ruling. The guidance should help avoiding a patchwork of potentially contradicting decisions by the national data protection authorities and therefore provide predictability for citizens and businesses alike."Tech firms, including Facebook and Microsoft, have been trying to play down the impact of the ruling on their operations.

However, its widely expected their previous agreements with governments in Europe may come under scrutiny because of the new ruling.

For more on this, CRI's Brian Kopczynski spoke earlier with Shen Yi, Associate Professor of School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University.

Back anchorThat was Shen Yi of Fudan University speaking with CRI's Brian Kopczynski.

Hillary Clinton Voices Concern Over Trans-Pacific PartnershipUS Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she does not support the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Clinton voiced her concerns about the trade agreement during a campaign stop in Iowa.

"I am worried about currency manipulation not being part of this agreement. We have lost American jobs to the manipulations to countries particularly in Asia have engaged in. I am worried that pharmaceutical companies may have gotten more benefits and patience and consumer fewer, I think that there are still a lot of unanswered questions."The US and 11 Pacific Rim nations reached an agreement on the Partnership on Monday. It aims to liberalize commerce in 40% of the global economy. The deal must be approved by the US Congress but has faced skepticism from US lawmakers.

China is not a member of the partnership. Chinese observers have ruled out any major impact the deal may have on China's foreign trade.

Putin Comments Positively on Russian Campaign in SyriaRussian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country's military campaign in Syria is going well.

Putin made the comments during an appearance on Russian television on Wednesday.

"We are aware of how difficult such anti-terrorist operations are. And of course it is too early to discuss the results. But the things that have been done so far deserve a high positive mark."Putin also asked his Defense Minister to continue working with the US-led international coalition in Syria.

Russia says its air strikes have targeted the Islamic State militant group in Syria. However, the international coalition has accused Russia of targeting other opposition groups of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Tuesday, Russia summoned foreign military attaches in Moscow and suggested they supply Russia with military intelligence on the Islamic State group.

The Russian Defense Minister said on Wednesday that four Russian missile carrier ships have also carried out strikes in Syria. He added Russia was ready to enter an agreement with the US to coordinate actions in Syria.

Lexus unveils "Origami Car" to celebrate skills of its craftsmen and womenAnchorToyota Motor Corp's Lexus brand unveiled a full-sized cardboard version of their new vehicle the IS saloon in London this Monday.

The design was created to celebrate the skills of Lexus's takumi craftsmen and women who work on the productions lines in Japan.

CRI's Victor Ning has more.

ReporterThe so-called 'Origami Car' has a cardboard frame crafted from 1,700 recyclable laser-cut cardboard sheets.

Despite the unconventional building material, Toyota's Scott Brownlee said the styling mimicked the shape and curves of the real version.

"Styling on cars is all about surfacing and angles, and how things change as you move around them; And what was interesting was when they were making this is that you can pick up some of that. So even though its in a completely different material, in fact at some angles you can see through it because of the corrugation, you still get that sense of surfaces moving between each other."The Origami Car celebrates the design and engineering skill of the Lexus production lines in Japan where the workers hone their dexterity by learning how to fold paper into an origami paper cat, using only their non-dominant hand.

Mark Bolitho is a co-designer of the Origami Car.

"This car is inspired, the inspiration was the engineers can make a paper cat and they can take it further using the same materials, the same underlying inspiration which is a folded paper object and come up with what you see today."　Built by London-based specialist companies, the Origami Car presented unique challenges for those involved.

It took five people three months and 2,500 hours to turn the computer aided design into the full-size corrugated cardboard replica.

While cardboard cars may not be the future of motoring, the designers involved enjoyed being involved in a project that had a link with the past.

Daniel Ryan from Laser Cut Works is another one involved in designing the Origami Car.

"What makes it a sculptural piece rather than an engineering piece because we have to make adaptations like that and it's not perfect in a CAD sense, it's got a human touch in it. And I think that's what Lexus liked about it as well; it's a link back to their origami."The unique vehicle will be on display to the public at the Grand Designs exhibition in Birmingham from October 8.

For CRI's Victor Ning.

China's National Day holiday traffic rush draws to closeChinese people made more trips than ever before during the National Day holiday, also known as the "Golden Week," which concluded on Wednesday.

During the first six days of October, railway trips reached some 63 million nationwide and railway ticket revenue totaled 556 million U.S. dollars, up 8.8 percent and 18.5 percent year on year respectively.

A total of 7.63 million trips were made by plane in the past six days, up 10 percent year on year, according to China's tourism authorities.

WeatherBeijing will be sunny with a high of 19 degrees Celsius.

Overnight temperatures should drop down to 9.

Shanghai will see slight rain with a high of 23 and a low of 18.

In Chongqing, it will be overcast during the daytime with a high of 22 and lows of 19.

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

Kabul will be sunny with a high of 24.

Over to North America,New York will be cloudy with a high of 19 degrees.

Washington, cloudy with a high of 23 degrees.

Honolulu, cloudy, 28.

Toronto will be cloudy with a high of 15 degrees.

Finally, on to South America,Buenos Aires will be cloudy with a high of 19.

And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with a high of 29 degrees Celsius.

Headline news China, EU to further develop economic tiesChina and EU have held their latest round of a Joint Committee Meeting in Brussels, with both sides exchanging opinions on bilateral and multilateral economic and trade issues.

The main goal of the meeting was to fulfill the results and consensus of the China-EU leaders' meeting in June and the 5th China-EU High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue which was held in September.

The Chinese Minister of Commerce, Gao Hucheng, said that China and the EU are each others' most important trading partners and that the strong economic and trade relationship has become the solid foundation and motive of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

Gao also urged to promote further negotiations of the China-EU Investment Agreement before 2016 which was the fundamental interest and designed target of the China-EU leaders' meeting in June.

AIIB to invest in Pakistan's infrastructure development: president-designateThe president-designate of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has said the bank is interested in financing infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

Jin Liqun made the remarks during his first visit to Pakistan since he was named the official candidate for the bank's presidency in August.

Jin said Pakistan has a great potential in the infrastructure sector, especially in energy, transport, electric power, sea ports, urban development and water supply.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was proposed by China in 2013.

It has 57 prospective founding members and is expected to begin operation by the end of this year.

Putin Comments Positively on Russian Campaign in SyriaRussian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country's military campaign in Syria is going well.

Putin made the comments during an appearance on Russian television on Wednesday.

Putin also asked his Defense Minister to continue working with the US-led international coalition in Syria.

The Russian Defense Minister said on Wednesday that four Russian missile carrier ships have also carried out strikes in Syria. He added Russia was ready to enter an agreement with the US to coordinate actions in Syria.

Hillary Clinton Voices Concern Over Trans-Pacific PartnershipUS Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she does not support the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Clinton voiced her concerns about the trade agreement during a campaign stop in Iowa.

The US and 11 Pacific Rim nations reached an agreement on the Partnership on Monday. It aims to liberalize commerce in 40% of the global economy. The deal must be approved by the US Congress but has faced skepticism from US lawmakers.

China is not a member of the partnership. Chinese observers have ruled out any major impact the deal may have on China's foreign trade.

China's National Day holiday traffic rush draws to closeChinese people made more trips than ever before during the National Day holiday, also known as the "Golden Week," which concluded on Wednesday.

During the first six days of October, railway trips reached some 63 million nationwide and railway ticket revenue totaled 556 million U.S. dollars, up 8.8 percent and 18.5 percent year on year respectively.

A total of 7.63 million trips were made by plane in the past six days, up 10 percent year on year, according to China's tourism authorities.

Biz ReportsAnchorTurning onto business news.

Markets here in China closed on Wednesday due to the week-long National Holiday. The markets will reopen today.

Now, a quick look at the closing numbers across North America and Europe.

U.S. stocks ticked up Wednesday after volatile trading, as global stock markets were boosted by mining and energy shares following a rebound in commodity prices.

At the closing bell,Dow Jones rose 0.7 percent.

S&P 500 added 0.8 percent.

The Nasdaq was up 0.9 percent.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies on Wednesday as the International Monetary Fund lowered the growth outlook of world economy this year.

This has raised concerns that the Federal Reserve may delay interest-rate hike till the next year.

On Tuesday, the IMF predicted in its "World Economic Outlook" report that the global economy will only see a growth of 3.1 percent this year, 0.2 percent lower compared to the institution's projection last time in July.

Meanwhile in Europe, the equities also increased broadly on Wednesday.

At the closing bell,The UK's FTSE 100 grew 0.2 percent.

Germany's DAX increased 0.7 percent.

France's CAC 40 gained 0.1 percent.

IMF confident about China's GDP growth expectations at 6.5-7.5 percent this yearThe International Monetary Fund has placed GDP growth expectations for China in the range of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent this year.

The IMF says China having unrolled fiscal measures and its infrastructure investments are the main reasons for projected the economic growth.

The organization also believes that China has several avenues to impact the global economy.

These include the country's economic transformation and the ongoing fall in commodity prices.

China Starts Dumping U.S. Treasury Bond: WSJAnchorIt is being reported that central banks including China, Russia and Brazil are selling U.S. government bonds at the fastest pace on record.

The Wall Street Journal reports that China's central bank has stepped up its selling of U.S. treasuries in recent months following the weakening of the renminbi on Aug. 11.

It is said that to contain the selloff, China's central bank has been buying yuan and selling dollars to prevent the yuan from weakening further.

According to the report, it is estimated that China's central bank spent between 120 billion U.S. dollars and 130 billion U.S. dollars in August in an attempt to bolster the yuan's value.

For more on this, we are joined on the line by CRI's financial commentator Cao Can.

Talking points:

Q1: What has prompted China's central bank to sell U.S. treasury bonds?

Q2: How will the selloff affect the yield of U.S. treasury bonds?

Q3: Latest stats show China's foreign exchange reserves fell to some 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of September, marking the fourth consecutive month of declines. Do you foresee further selloff of U.S treasury bonds for China in the near future or do you think China's foreign reserves will remain steady going forward?

Back anchor: Cao Can, CRI's financial commentator.

Taiwan urges VW to recall 17,000 cars amid emission scandalEnvironmental authorities in Taiwan are urging Volkswagen to recall 17-thousand cars on the island amid the ongoing emission scandal.

They have also required the German automaker to compensate car owners in Taiwan at a fair level.

A total of 17-thousand Audi, Volkswagen, and Skoda cars sold in Taiwan are said to carry the software that was designed to cheat emission tests.

Meanwhile, authorities have asked Volkswagen to make the necessary modifications in three months.

Currently, VW's local Taiwan branch is waiting for a solution package from its headquarters in Germany.

Environmental authorities there are also mulling over punishments including fines and sales restrictions.

In addition, Volkswagen has announced that the recall of diesel cars affected by the scandal will start from January and run until the end of 2016.

Yum Plunges After Weak China Sales Cause It to Miss EstimatesThe parent company of the KFC and Pizza Hut chains is seeing its stock free-fall.

Shares in Yum sank nearly 20 percent on Wednesday, after the company shocked investors by cutting its forecasts due to weakness in China.

The fast-food giant has given 54 percent of its sales to China.

CEO Greg Creed says the company is facing more challenges than it had expected in China over the second half of the year.

Data shows the same-store sales in the Chinese market increased 2 percent in the third-quarter while restaurant margins were 20 percent.

However, the CEO still continues to believe in the long-term viability of the Chinese market, despite the slower pace of recovery in this division.

Chinese-funded e-commerce platform in Angola in full operationBaobabay, a Chinese-funded e-commerce platform in Angola, is now in full operation.

Currently, the platform has had 20-thousand registered potential customers.

The CEO of Baobabay says over 200-thousand people have visited the website since it started trial operation on August 1st.

The CEO hopes over 1 million Angolans would visit its website by the end of 2015.

So far, Baobabay has attracted international brands to joint ventures, including LG, Haier Canon and Sharp.

Finnair to open summer flight to Guangzhou in 2016Finnish national carrier Finnair is set to launch a new summer route to Guangzhou starting next summer.

The airline will open a direct route to Guangzhou, the third largest city in China, with four weekly flights from May to October in 2016.

Guangzhou is Finnair's sixth destination in China.

The airline currently has four year-round routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Chongqing, and one summer route to Xi'an.

SportsEight gold medals for China at Military World GamesBeginning with the latest action from the Military Games in Yeongcheon, South Korea,There were eight gold medals for China yesterday.

In swimming, Ning Zetao lived up to the expectations and won the men's 50 meter freestyle.

He also led his team to victory in men's 4 by 200 meter freestyle relay, finishing with a record-breaking 7 minutes, 20.85 seconds.

The other two gold medals in swimming came from Gong Jie who won both the women's 200 meter butterfly and the 800 meter free.

In women's military pentathlon,Wang Tanglin won the women's individual event for a third successive time.

She went on to claim gold medal in the team event with teammates Que Mei and Chang Hong.

Over in the athletic field,Silver medalist in women's hammer throw at the Beijing World Championships Zhang Wenxiu grabbed the title again.

And Feng Bin closed it for the day for China with a gold in women's discus throw.

China are now second on the medal talley behind Russia with 14 gold medals, 10 silver and 20 bronze.

World Cup qualifiers preview: China vs. QatarIn football,China have arrived in Doha to take on their toughest opponents Qatar at the world cup qualifiers in Group C.

Team China are behind Qatar in second place but tied with the team from Hong Kong on points. A win and three points could give China the upper hand in breaking through this group.

Coach Alain Perrin, who just turned 59 yesterday, says his birthday wish is for his team to come back home with those three points in this top-of-the-table clash.

Perrin camped the team in neighboring Dubai for the trainings to get accustomed to the sizzling heat in the middle east. The venue will have cooling systems to keep the temperature match-friendly.

The game is scheduled for 11:30 pm tonight Beijing time.

Some more action before China and Qatar hit the field,Bhutan are facing the Maldives in the same group, both teams have lost all their games so far and are still looking for their elusive first point.

Oman visit Iran for their joint World Cup and Asian Cup qualifier in Group E,And Japan are playing Syria in the same group.

Euro 2016 qualifiers previewMore football action, in the Euro 2016 qualifiers,Group D leaders Germany head into today's game against Ireland with a five-game winning streak.

They need only a draw to qualify with one more game to spare.

Germany have hammered Ireland 6-1 in a world cup qualifier but coach Joachim Loew is taking nothing for granted and asks his team to be focused.

"I think that Ireland are famous for defending very well. If you look at the past, you don't always get 6-1 results. On the contrary, there were more cases of disputed matches then anything else. So I see them both physically and tactically stronger than Scotland, their attacks are more imaginative and we have to be prepared for that."Germany are top on 19 points, two ahead of Poland, while Ireland are a further two points behind.

Also in Group D,Fourth-placed Scotland face Poland as they look to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Another team that are one point away from qualification are Portugal, which will be trying to exploit it off Denmark.

And it is defending champions Spain against Luxembourg tomorrow.

China Open recapIn tennis action from the China Open here in Beijing,Third seed Rafael Nadal put up a much improved performance and beat Vasek Pospisil in straight sets 7-6, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Unlike in his opening round encounter against Chinese wild card Wu Di during which Nadal was broken four times, he saved Pospisil's only break point but admitted it was hard.

"Very tough first set and the second (set) was close, happy to have the break at the right moment. His serve is huge, his first and second serve very good, so it was tough for me to have breaks. I think I played solid with my serve, so happy about that, and I played a good tie-break, so very happy to be in the quarter-finals again here in Beijing. Last year I lost in that round so it is good for me, good news to be at the same round as last year."Next up for Nadal is American Jack Sock.

In other action,Last week's Shenzhen Open winner Tomas Berdych is out after a 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Pablo Cuevas.

He is the third seeded player to fall in the first round in Beijing.

World number four David Ferrer fared better and dumped Lukas Rosol.

His next opponent is wild card entry from Taiwan Lu Yen-Hsun.

And Chinese pair Liang Chen/Wang Yafan are in the last eight in women's doubles.

EntertainmentZhang Lei Wins 'The Voice of China' 2015The finale of the fourth season of Chinese reality talent show the Voice of China wrapped up at the Bird Nest in Beijing last night.

Host Hua Shao announced that Zhang Lei from Coach Na Ying's Team won the title of 'The Voice of China' 2015, which also marks a third win of Na Ying's team since the show launched in 2012.

At the last round of competition, Zhang Lei performed Chinese rock singer Xu Wei's hit song Journey, and won over Chen Zitong from Jay Chou's team, with 66 votes from the media panel, and over 58% support from the live audience.

The other three finalists include Li An from Mandopop king Jay Chou's team, Tan Xuanyuan from Harlem Yu's team and Bei Bei from team of rocker Wang Feng.

During the finale, each coach performed a song together with their students, just as in the previous three seasons.

Singers JJ Lin and Jimmy Lin also gave a performance at the final.

'Goodbye Mr. Loser' Becomes a Dark Horse in China's Box OfficeChinese comedy film 'Goodbye Mr. Loser' became a dark horse during the past National Day holiday film season, earning 560 million yuan in box office revenues since its release on September 30th.

Pulling in some 114 million yuan or roughly 18 million US dollars on Monday, the low-budget comedy has set the records for top attendance and single-day box office, by surpassing Xu Zheng's 'Lost in Hong Kong'.

'Goodbye Mr. Loser' is adapted from a theater play with the same name, featuring a loser in his middle age, who magically traveled back to his school days and developed romance with his first love again.

This solid comedy is produced by Mahua Funage, a privately owned theater play company, which rose to fame in 2003.

Popular Comedian Shen Teng and Ma Li, who gained fame through the theater play productions of Mahua FunAge, stared in the leading role in 'Goodbye Mr. Loser'.

Meanwhile, comedy 'Lost in Hong Kong' still rules the Chinese box office, marked as the top-grossing 2D domestic film of all time on the Chinese mainland.

John Mayer to Give Collaborative Performance with The Grateful DeadJohn Mayer proudly defended American rock band the Grateful Dead's decision to regroup without iconic member Jerry Garcia.

The 38-year-old singer is now rehearsing with the band's three of four remaining members, giving a collaborative performance designed for a fall tour staged in New York on October 29th.

John Mayor explains the idea of their collaboration has long been in the works since he met the band's guitarist Bob Weir when guest-hosting the "The Late Late Show".

"Bob and I played on that show and then started to play together up here and before long it revealed itself as something that was organic and musical and vital and made sense. And really kind of tore down all of the labels and boundaries and stigmas for everybody, and that's what music is supposed to do in the first place. It became ultimate truth when we start playing."The Grateful Dead celebrated its 50th anniversary with five concerts in June and July, two decades after beloved guitarist Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack.

Paul Simon, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley Perform to Raise Funds for Country Music HOFGrammy-winners Paul Simon, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performed acoustic renditions of some of their hits at a fundraising event in New York.

The iconic singers teamed up at the intimate show, aiming to raise funds for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's education programs.

The programs are said to reach more than 160 thousand people in 2014.

Besides doing their bit to help this charity event, Paisley and Underwood are also busy preparing to host the upcoming CMA Awards, which are another important country music duty.

Carrie Underwood, who rose to fame as the winner of American Idol season four, could not hold back her excitement.

"I'm honored to get to do what I love, get to be on stage and make music. All I ever wanted to do was sing, so I'm blessed in a ridiculous amount of ways, and I'm still honored that my name pops up here and there on award shows and things like that. I'm honored to get to host the CMAs with Brad."The 2015 Country Music Association Awards are scheduled to be staged in Nashville on November 4th.

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

Recapping our top stories this morning...

Three scientists sharing the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry....

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank set to invest in Pakistan's infrastructure development...

And US President Barack Obama apologizing for the airstrike in Afghanistan that left 12 medical volunteers in the country dead...

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.