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

Coming up on the program this evening...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama pledging to continue bilateral cooperation in the area of climate change..

Municipal officials in Beijing vowing to step up anti-smog efforts, with help from neighboring regions.

And Canada welcoming its first planeload of refugee arrivals on Thursday...

In business... China's cabinet confirming the merger of the country's top two shipping giants...

In sports... it’s an-all Beijing derby tonight in CBA action...

In entertainment.... "Carol" leading the Golden Globe nomination tally...

Top NewsXi Jinping and Obama discuss climate change by phoneChinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama have proposed to continue bilateral cooperation on climate change during a phone conversation on Friday.

Both presidents say they would work closely to promote success at the Paris climate conference.

President Xi told his US counterpart that both sides should stick to the right track of building a new-type of major-country relationship and regulate their differences in a constructive way.

In late November, the two state leaders sat down in Paris for a bilateral meeting ahead of the UN climate change conference.

Paris Climate Negotiations to See One Day DelayFrench Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the Paris climate negotiations will be extended to end on Saturday, one day after its scheduled closing date.

"It is progressing but we have a lot of work because it is 5:45 am Friday so today the text is going to be worked on, I am going to continue with consultations. And therefore I will present the text not on Friday evening, as I had thought, but Saturday morning, early in the morning and we will be able to make the necessary decisions by midday. "Representatives of 195 countries are trying to agree on the text of a global environmental agreement.

On Thursday, co-host of the conference Fabius admitted that the latest draft of the agreement still left several issues unresolved, including the varying degrees of contributions by wealthy and developing nations to the agreement.

Despite the delay, Fabius said the atmosphere of discussions has remained positive.

Revised draft released at 2015 Paris Climate Change ConferenceAs world negotiators at the United Nations Climate Change Conference continue to iron out their differences, the Indonesian President's Climate Change Envoy Rachmat Witoelar has expressed his concern over the final result.

"I am concerned that the developed nations do not backtrack on their promises. And that is important because we've high hopes since pre Bali, after Bali, Copenhagen, and it seems to be getting on and on, even a little later as Cancun, or in Warsaw,or in Lima, we keep saying about the same things. And there are certain elements in the text that keeps recurring,"Deputy head of the Chinese delegation, Gao Feng, said China expects a balanced, ambitious and legally binding deal to be reached in the talks.

"We are committed to the same goal, actually. We want to have a very solid outcome. We want it to be fair, we want it to be balanced, ambitious and legally binding. So this is our goal. And we'd also like to see that the Paris outcome may lead the whole global community to a low-carbon future, and to guide our lives and our economies in the future. So this is a long-term agreement that can shape our future in a very, very strong manner."Meanwhile, poor and low-lying nations, including East Timor, are demanding firmer promises from rich countries to help them pay for future damages caused by climate change.

Jose Ramos-Horta is the former president of East Timor.

"Building bridges so that the richer countries really make serious commitment on financing to support the more fragile economies, the more fragile states; building bridges in terms of early warning systems, in terms of adaptation, but also in terms of sustaining our economies."The climate talks aim to produce a deal that binds both rich and poor countries to curb greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020, after the talks in Copenhagen in 2009 failed to deliver an agreement.

Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei to Tackle Air Pollution CollectivelyThe first red alert for air pollution in Beijing has been lifted as the sky cleared on Thursday.

But municipal officials are vowing to step up anti-smog efforts, with help from neighboring regions.

CRI's Niu Honglin has more.

Officials of north China's Jing-Jin-Ji region, involving Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province, have pledged a joint effort to combat air pollution.

Yin Hailin, deputy mayor of Tianjin Municipality, stresses the importance of working together.

"The Jing-Jin-Ji region needs to deepen cooperation in combating air pollution. On one hand, we need to improve the early warning system in a collective way to deal with the highly polluted days. On the other, we should all take measures to bring down the amount of air pollutants."China has been pushing a coordinated effort in the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in recent years, relocating non-essential functions from Beijing and restructuring the economy in the region. Priority has been given to environmental protection, traffic management and industrial upgrading.

Li Shixiang, deputy mayor of Beijing, says big investment is being made in the capital city to tackle the air pollution.

"We have planned to invest 770 billion yuan in 84 key environmental projects from 2013 to 2017 in the four aspects of coal burning control, vehicle emissions reduction, dust control on construction sites and industrial reduction. Also, we will set up more air quality monitoring stations across the city. "Li added that the 36 air quality monitoring stations will be doubled in number, and mobile monitoring vehicles will also be used.

On Monday, Beijing issued its first red alert for air pollution since the four-tier emergency response system was created in October 2013.

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, loose control of coal burning in the rural-urban fringe zones in Beijing, Tianjin and neighboring provinces where residents burn coal for cooking and heating contributed to the air pollution.

Yang Chongyong, executive vice governor of Hebei Province, says the province will restructure its industries to control the pollution, especially the six major high energy-consuming industries -- electric power, nonferrous metals, chemicals, iron and steel, building materials, and petroleum.

"The air pollution in Hebei Province is mainly caused by the large-scale heavy industry and the unbalanced energy resource structure. The six major high energy-consuming industries previously covered over 50 even 70 percent of the provincial economic aggregate. The number has been reduced to 40 percent now after the restructure. But such a big reform entails a great deal of work and time. On the other hand, we are still dependent on the fossil fuel, using little alternative sources of energy."He has also appealed for more information exchanges and timely measures in the future.

Officials also pledged to improve law enforcement when it comes to pollution control.

For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.

ADB approves 300-mln-USD loan to support air pollution control in BeijingThe Asian Development Bank has approved a 300-million-US-dollar loan to China for supporting air pollution control, mostly in Beijing.

Part of the loan will be spent in Tianjin and Hebei Province, both of which neighbour the capital.

Based on the bank's estimates, the controls will help reduce Hebei's annual coal consumption by 12 million tons, representing 4 percent of the province's total coal consumption in 2012.

Tu Youyou receives Nobel Prize in StockholmChinese Nobel Laureate in Medicine Tu Youyou has received her prize from the hands of the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm Concert Hall. CRI's Chen Xuefei reports from Stockholm.

It was a grand ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

Professor Hans Forssberg explained the work of chief professor Tu Youyou.

"During the 1960s and 70s, Tu Youyou took part in a major Chinese project to develop anti-malarial drugs. When Tu studied ancient literature, she found that the plant Artemisia annua, or sweet wormwood, recurred in various recipes against fever."She tested an extract from the plant on infected mice. Some of the malaria parasites died, but the effect varied.

So Tu returned to the literature, and in a 1700 year old book she found a method for obtaining the extract without heating up the plant.

The resulting extract was extremely potent and killed all the parasites. The active component was identified and given the name Artemisinin. It turned out that Arteminsinin attacks the malaria parasite in a unique way.

"The discovery of Artemisinin has led to development of a new drug that has saved the lives of millions of people, halving the mortality rate of malaria during the past 15 years. Your discoveries represent a paradigm shift in medicine, which has not only provided revolutionary therapies for patients suffering from devastating parasitic diseases, but also promoted well-being and prosperity for individuals and society."When asked about how she felt upon hearing the news she had won the prize, Tu Youyou said what she really cared about is how to prevent resistance to this kind of medicine, not the prize itself.

"Because now there is a resistance problem, there is still a lot of work needing to be done. I care about this, I don't care about other things. What to do with the prize, how will that affect me, I haven't thought about it yet. Neither am I really interested in it."Tu Youyou is the first Chinese woman scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

All the other laureates in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and economy also got their diploma during the ceremony.

And late in the evening Tu Youyou and all the other laureates attended a grand Nobel banquet with the Swedish King and more than 1000 guests.

For CRI, this is Chen Xuefei reporting from Stockholm.

U.S. returns ancient cultural artifacts, dinosaur fossil to China22 Chinese artifacts and one fossil forfeited in the United States have been returned to the Chinese government. The repatriation ceremony was held at the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C.

CRI's Washington correspondent He Fei reports.

The 22 artifacts include 17 jade disks and ornaments, 4 pieces of bronze ware, and a pottery figurine.

Some of the items date back as far as 1600 BCE.

However, the fossil, featuring a microraptor embedded in a rock, is considered to be the most valuable one.

Zhang Zhijun, the Deputy Chief of the Department of Stratigraphy and Paleontology for the Geological Museum of China, explains.

"The repatriated fossil is a microraptor fossil, a kind of dinosaurs with feathers, and it originated in Liaoning Province. It is approximately 160 million years old. The finding and returning of the fossil is a great example of joint law enforcement between China and the US."According to Zhang, the microraptor fossil will be exhibited at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for about 6 months before being sent back to the Geological Museum of China.

In accordance with a bilateral agreement between the United States and China signed in 2009, both countries work together closely to prevent the illicit trafficking of archaeological objects.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States in September this year, the two sides reached agreements on returning forfeited Chinese artifacts.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai addressed the repatriation ceremony.

"Their discovery is the result of seamless coordination among so many people from various agencies of China and the United States. It is indeed another testament to the width and depth of China-U.S. Relations. In 2009, our two countries signed the MOU on import restrictions of archaeological materials. By translating this agreement into reality today, we are not only enhancing our shared values in cherishing cultural heritage, but also raising public awareness of combating illicit trade in archeological objects."The US State Department's Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Evan Ryan, also participated in the event.

She spoke more on her government's efforts to recover illicitly trafficked items.

"We value our partnership. We do this because we respect China's history. We respect China's traditions and their culture. We also do it because we are committed to preserving and protecting our shared cultural heritage for ourselves and for future generations."Since the two countries signed the MOU in 2009, cultural institutions from the two countries have jointly held 30 cultural relics exhibitions in the US.

According to Gu Yucai, China's Deputy Director General of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the administration is planning to hold exhibitions in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. in 2017.

Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pittsburg are all on the list to deepen relationships with Chinese universities and institutions, including Peking University, in many ancient culture research programs.

For CRI, I'm He Fei in Washington.

A man shot in a police operation in LondonIt is being reported that a man has been shot during an "intelligence-led" police operation in north London.

The incident happened at around 9am London time in the Wood Green area.

Police say armed officers were in attendance when the man received gunshot wounds.

However, his condition remains unknown.

Police has confirmed the shooting was not related to terrorism.

Syrian Refugees Arrive in Canada Under Admissions ProgramUnder a program to accept 25-thousand Syrian refugees, Canada welcomed its first planeload of arrivals on Thursday.

Two military flights were expected to transport about 300 refugees to Canada. The first flight arrived on Thursday in Toronto.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was at the airport to welcome the refugees.

"This is a wonderful night, where we get to show not just a plane-load of new Canadians what Canada is all about, but we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult situations."Canada had previously planned to take in all 25-thousand refugees by the end of the year. But security concerns brought on by the November Paris attacks pushed the deadline to the end of February. 10-thousand will be taken in by end of December.

Trudeau said the new arrivals would be granted Canadian permanent residencies.

"Tonight they step off the plane as refugees, but they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada with social insurance numbers, with health cards, and with an opportunity to become full Canadians.

Canada's biggest newspaper The Toronto Star on Thursday ran a headline in both English and Arabic that read "Welcome to Canada".

Canada had sent hundreds of officials to the Middle East to conduct security checks on the refugees.

Berlin Refugee CrisisGerman chancellor Angela Merkel finds herself trying to manage a rift within her own ruling coalition over how to handle the country's refuge crisis.

Her country just surpassed over one million arrivals for 2015, almost five times as many asylum seekers as the year before.

CRI's Ira Spitzer has more from Berlin.

She was just named Time's Person of the Year for 2015.

But while German chancellor Angela Merkel has captured the attention of the world, she faces a difficult struggle in her own country, with the German public increasingly concerned over the flood of new arrivals that has surpassed one million in twenty fifteen.

But the biggest challenge may lie within her own government.

Merkel's ruling center-right party governs in a so-called Grand Coalition with the left-wing Social Democratic party. While, her own party are pushing the chancellor to accept a hard upper limit to the number of refugees, the Social Democrats are calling for a more managed approach that involves setting quotas for refugees from camps in the Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

Malu Dreyer is one of THEIR leaders and she spoke at the party's congress in Berlin this week.

"Quotas aren't the same thing as limits. For us Social Democrats, the right to asylum and individual rights are non negotiable."The chancellor has in fact been trying to tighten the asylum rules, by implementing the so-called Asylum package two, which would allow Germany to set up reception centres near its border with Austria where fast-track decisions could be made for migrants deemed unlikely to win asylum.

But a fight between Merkel's conservatives and Social Democrats over the level of healthcare benefits asylum seekers receive has prevented an agreement on the wider package. In addition, the Social Democrats have said that plans to stop refugees from bringing their families to Germany were inhumane.

Merkel herself was forced to acknowledge that any progress would have to wait until 2016.

"It won't come into force by the end of the year because we would have had to have made a decision in the cabinet this week. The negotiations are continuing."Merkel had counting on the domestic package, as well as a separate deal between the European Union and Turkey, to reassure members of her own party.

The Turkey deal for now seems to be having an impact. Turkey will help stem the flow of migrants to Europe in return for cash, visas and renewed talks on joining the EU. European Council President Donald Tusk was optimistic after the deal was agreed on November 29th.

"Let me state clearly that we do not expect anyone to guard our borders for us. That can and should only be done by Europeans. But we expect a major step towards changing the rules of the game when it comes to stemming the migration flow that is coming to the EU via Turkey."German authorities have said they've seen a drop off in the last couple weeks, with just two or three thousand new arrivals a day. They were unsure whether that was a result of the colder weather, the Turkey deal, or perhaps other forces.

Whatever the cause, fewer arrivals would be good news for the Chancellor who may face her biggest challenge yet in in the year to come.

This is Ira Spitzer for CRI in Berlin.

Afghanistan's opium production in 2015 drops by 48 percent from 2014Afghanistan's opium production dropped to 33-hundered tons in 2015, a 48 percent drop from the year before.

The figures were released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Afghan Minister of Counter Narcotics.

The report said the cultivation area declined 19 percent year on year, to 183-thousand hectares in 2015.

Andrey Avetisyan from UNODC said the problem of narcotics is serious in Afghanistan.

"In fact, that the decrease in cultivation and the production of drugs happens after six years of steady increase shows how deep and big the problem of narcotics in Afghanistan is. We need to use this opportunity to ... the Afghan government together with international community to create a trend from this one year result."The report also indicated that despite the achievements, poppy cultivation still remains rampant in the southern and western provinces of the country.

Meanwhile, the population of drug addicts continues to rise.

Salamat Azimi, Afghan minister of Counter Narcotics:

"The reasons for the increase of the drug addict population are due to unemployment, immigration, poverty and easy access to drugs as well as other factors. At the same time, drugs are the economic resources of terrorists. But we should also look at the positive side, that the success today is something that we have not achieved for many years in the past."Latest statistics show the population of adult drug addicts hovers at around 1.9 to 2.4 million, nearly 13 percent of the total number of the country's total polulation of adults.

China Opposes UN Security Council's Involvement in DPRK Human Rights Issue: EnvoyA Chinese envoy to the United Nations has expressed the country's opposition on the Security Council's involvement in North Korea's human rights situation.

During a Security Council meeting on the issue, Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to UN, noted that the Security Council is not the right place for human rights issues to be tackled.

He stressed that it is the Security Council's primary responsibility to maintain global peace and security, and all relevant parties should play an active role in achieving that goal.

"China appealed to all parties concerned to take action that is conducive to easing the tense situation in the Korean peninsula and to enhancing dialog and mutual trust, and not to the contrary."He added that since the current situation on the Korean Peninsula still remains complex and sensitive, all parties concerned should uphold the goal of denuclearization of the Peninsula as well as the principle of dialog and consultation in resolving issues.

The Envoy says that such dialogue will ensure that peace and stability on the Peninsula will be maintained and the common interests of all relevant parties will be safeguarded.

New Framework Set to Eliminate Rabies: UN AgenciesSeveral United Nations agencies have jointly launched a new framework to eliminate human rabies in a bid to save tens of thousands of lives annually.

The framework was launched during a global conference hosted by the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE.

The framework calls for 3 key actions such as making human vaccines and antibodies affordable, ensuring people who get bitten receive prompt treatment, and mass dog vaccinations to tackle the disease at its source.

Chan also suggested that the disease will be easier to tackle if 70 percent of the dogs get vaccinated, since 95 percent of human infection cases result from dogs' bites.

Headline NewsXi Jinping and Obama discuss climate change by phoneChinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama have proposed to continue bilateral cooperation on climate change during a phone conversation on Friday.

Both presidents say they would work closely to promote achievement of success at the Paris climate conference.

President Xi told his US counterpart that both sides should stick to the right track of building a new-type of major-country relationship and regulate their differences in a more constructive way.

In late November, the two state leaders have sat down in Paris for a bilateral meeting ahead of the UN climate change conference.

China's Supreme People's Court Turns Down Reprieve Sentence in Insider Trading CaseChina's Supreme People's Court on Friday turned down the reprieve sentence for a fund manager who's convicted in one of China's biggest insider trading cases.

Former fund manager with Bosera Asset Management Ma Le was found guilty of illegally earning nearly 3 million US dollars. In March 2014, a local court in the southeastern city of Shenzhen sentenced him to three years with a five year reprieve, in addition to massive fines.

Local procurators protested the leniency of the initial verdict.

The ruling was upheld last October by the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court. However, prosecutors from the Supreme People's Procuratorate protested again and brought the case to China's highest court.

The Supreme People's Court said on Friday it would uphold the 3-year jail term for Ma, confiscate his illegal earnings, in addition to fining him around 3 million US dollars.

11 killed in suicide bomb blast in Far North Region of CameroonAt least 11 people have been killed and many others injured in a suicide bomb blast Friday morning in Cameroon.

A girl aged around 13 years broke into a house in Kolofata, a town neighboring Nigeria at around 6 a.m. local time.

She then detonated the bomb attached to her, killing herself and five others on the spot.

Five people who were seriously injured died later in hospital.

No organization has claimed responsibility for the blast, but it is widely believed Nigerian radical Islamist group Boko Haram is behind it.

Senior Officials from North and South Korea Meet for TalksSenior officials from North and South Korea meet today for talks to discuss improving ties and resuming cooperation projects.

A number of issues are expected to be on the agenda, like cross-border tours which have been stalled amid high tensions for nearly six years.

Pyongyang is expected to seek the resumption of those tours, while Seoul is hoping reunions of war-separated families on a regular basis.

The meeting is the first forum for high-level discussions over a range of issues following an agreement in August that ended an armed standoff across their border.

Biz ReportsAsian StocksTime to check today's business news, starting with the closing numbers here in China.

Mainland markets closed down on Friday on a weakening yuan.

Twenty shares related to Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun either suspended trading or suffered losses, after news broke that Fosun's chair Guo Guangchang has become unreachable.

Media reports linked his disappearance to an investigation by the authorities.

Fosun is one of China's biggest private conglomerates, operating business in pharmaceutical, real estate, private equity, steel and mining sectors.

Bucking the trend, shares related to nonferrous metal and rare earth surged to the upward limit of 10 percent.

At the close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6 percent.

The Shenzhen Component index declined 0.4 percent.

The small-cap ChiNext Index moved down some 1 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Heng Seng tumbled over 1 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia,Tokyo stocks closed higher Friday, bringing an end to a three-day losing streak as sentiments were lifted by U.S. equities gaining ground overnight.

The benchmark Nikkei added some 1 percent.

South Korea's KOSPI retreated 0.2 percent.

Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.4 percent.

Finally, Australia's ASX/200 inched down 0.2 percent.

Authorities confirm the merger of China's top shipping giantsChina's cabinet has confirmed the merger of China Ocean Shipping Group and China Shipping Group.

Earlier reports said that the new company, called China Cosco Shipping Group, will be headquartered in Shanghai.

The two shipping giants are looking to merge their tanker, dry bulk and port operations.

The merger could be worth upward of 20 billion U.S. dollars, marking it the world's fourth largest container operator.

The two companies have not revealed details of the merger.

The deal is part of ongoing government efforts to consolidate the operations of major State-owned undertakings so that they can fully leverage their advantages and resources in the global arena.

Last year saw the merging of two locomotive makers into China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

China approved 250 fixed asset investment projects in Jan-NovChina's top economic planner has approved some 250 fixed-asset investment projects in the first eleven months of the year, making the total investment 2 trillion yuan or 320 billion U.S. dollars.

The National Development and Reform Commission made the announcement at a press conference on Friday, adding that 11 projects worth 100 billion yuan were approved last month, covering transportation, technology and energy.

The planner also vowed further support for important national strategic projects, including the "Belt and Road" initiative, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration plan and the Yangtze River Economic BeltMeanwhile, the NDRC said that reform plans for the country's key sectors including oil, gas and salt have been completed and submitted to the cabinet for approval.

Media outlets reported earlier that China's biggest gas and oil producer, PetroChina, is mulling to sell a stake of its domestic gas pipelines.

The giant controls nearly 80 percent of gas pipeline that is estimated to be worth 47 billion U.S. dollars in total.

China pilots RMB convertibility on capital account in FTZsChina has approved renminbi convertibility on the capital account for the Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian free trade zones, within an annual prescribed limit of 10 million U.S. dollars.

The cap was set separately for both the cross-border revenue and the expenditure of domestic institutions outside of the negative list.

It was announced in guidelines issued by the People's Bank of China on Friday.

According to the guidelines, the central bank is also considering allowing individuals to make cross-border investments in the Chinese currency.

The decision came less than two weeks after the yuan was admitted by the International Monetary Fund into its Special Drawing Rights basket last month.

World economy to see "modest improvement" in next two years: UN reportA UN report is predicting the world economy will show a "modest improvement" over the following two years, despite a number of cyclical and structural headwinds.

CRI's UN correspondent Su Yi has more.

The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects report for 2016 has lowered the previous UN forecasts of this year's global economic growth by 0.4% to 2.4%.

It predicts the Chinese economy will grow by 6.8% this year.

The report notes growth in developing economies has slowed to its weakest pace since the global financial crisis. It says it is largely due to lower commodity prices, large capital outflows and increased financial market volatility.

The report says the world economy is still facing five headwinds, including macroeconomic uncertainties, low commodity prices, volatility in exchange rates and capital flows, weak investment and productivity growth as well as continued disconnect between finance and real sector activities.

But the report predicts the world economy will show a modest improvement in the coming two years, with the overall growth rate in 2016 estimated at 2.9 percent and 3.2 percent for 2017.

Hamid Rashid, Chief of the UN's Global Economic Monitoring Unit says the recovering of commodity prices will help.

"We also believe easing of the downward pressure on commodity price will have some positive effects. We believe it has bottomed out at this stage - no further decline we are expecting at the point."The report notes that global commodity prices have fallen over 20% compared with 2014 and oil prices have dropped almost 60%. Also, global inflation is at its lowest level since 2009.

Rashid says the improvement of the world economy will be supported by less restrictive fiscal and accommodating monetary policy stances around the world.

He says the timing and pace of change of US monetary policy will reduce policy uncertainties and boost growth.

"What is important for us to take into account is that the Fed is increasingly putting more weight to global spillover effects. The Fed is not just looking at domestic employment or the inflation outlook, but also the possible effects - like they are closely following the situation of China. Even they feel the US economy is quite robust over the last few quarters, if there are some negative news about other economies, the Fed may hold back the rate hike in December. But we believe there is a reasonable likelihood that the Fed will probably go for the rate hike in the next meeting."US central bank officials have given stronger signals over a possible interest rate hike following the release of a slew of strong economic figures over the past few months.

The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects report is co-produced annually by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs along with several other UN bodies.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi in New York.

China's new yuan loans expand in NovemberChina's central bank has said that new yuan-denominated lending last month hit 708 billion yuan or 110 billion U.S. dollars.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, reached 137 trillion yuan at the end of last month, up 13 percent, beating market expectations.

The narrow measure of money supply M1 rose 15 percent year on year.

Yum Brands announces China details, mulls Hong Kong listingYum Brands, which owns fast food chains KFC and Pizza Hut, has announced details regarding its China spin-off operation.

The China arm will continue to be based and listed in the United States.

It will also explore IPO opportunities in Hong Kong and other Asian exchanges.

After the spin-off, Yum will continue to receive a license fee of 3 percent of system sales.

Yum China has been a main driver of the company's profit.

But the company saw great fluctuation on its profits in recent years due to food safety scandals, marketing mishaps, intensifying local competition and cooling economic growth.

Yum Brands said the spin-off plan aims to pay a more predictable royalty stream to its sister company.

The company announced the decision to separate its China operation in October this year.

It currently runs around 69-hundered restaurants across 1-thousand Chinese cities and has plans to triple the number of restaurants.

SportsFigure Skating results from ISU FinalsBeginning with some figure skating action,China's Jin Boyang is currently in third place in men's singles short program after his first performance at the ISU Grand Prix Finals in Barcelona.

Another Chinese player Chen Weiqun is at the bottom.

Japanese skater Yuzuru Hanyu is topping the chart with a record-breaking 100.95 points.

He sliced his own record for the highest score in a short program from two weeks ago by four points.

In doubles short program,Yu Xiaoyu/Jin Yang are the best placed Chinese team at fifth place.

Peng Cheng/Zhang Hao are bottom.

The doubles program is dominated by Russian pairs who are first and second place overall.

CBA/NBA updateIn CBA action from the 16th round of play,Beijing is having its first basketball derby in 11 years when the Ducks take on Beikong. The Ducks just came off of a tough schedule and are hoping to take a breather with another win over Beikong.

Guangdong will be trying to start another winning streak on Jiangsu after their last one was terminated by the Beijing Ducks two days ago.

A declining Liaoning are still regarded as favorites in their game against Qingdao.

And Tongxi have a mountain to climb if they want to take down leaders Xinjiang.

Elsewhere,Four NBA games were on deck this morning.

Kevin Durant had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in Oklahoma's 107-94 win over Atlanta.

The Bulls narrowly beat the Clippers 83-80,It was a close finish where Sacramento edged New York 95-93,And Philadelphia continue to struggle at the bottom of the Eastern Conference after another 100-91 defeat by Brooklyn.

Chen Long in semis with two winsIn badminton action from the BMF Super Series Finals in Dubai,Chen Long comfortably sailed into the semi-finals after winning both group games.

Chen defeated Hu Yun from Hong Kong 21-17, 21-12 to win another Chinese derby.

Denmark's Jan Jorgensen is also in with the same record. He defeated China's Tian Houwei in straight sets.

Tian who had lost to Chen Long earlier is out with two defeats.

On the women's side,Wang Yihan made it through with a three-sets victory over Thai shuttler Ratchanok Inthanon.

Wang Shixian who suffered a defeat by Wang Yihan won her second match. She is still out following a straight-sets defeat by Inthanon in today's play-off.

In men's doubles,Both Chai Biao/Hong Wei and Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan had wins.

Luo Ying/Luo Yu won their women's doubles game while Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei lost theirs.

And both China's doubles pair made up for the losses in their first game with wins.

Feng Shanshan leading Dubai Ladies MastersStaying in Dubai, turning over to golf,China's Feng Shanshan shot a second round of five-under 67 to lead by two shots at the Dubai Ladies Masters.

Feng is bogey-free in the opening rounds and moved to 10-under overall.

Laura Davies is second.

Europa League resultsIn football,An Erik Lamela hat trick guaranteed Tottenham a 4-1 victory over Monaco and a top finish in Group J at the Europa League.

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says them being on top is important for the knock-out games.

"I think it was important because always we will have the possibility to finish at White Hart Lane at home, first game away and second leg at home. It was in the opposite way that we played last season in Fiorentina. This is an important thing for us."The result means Monaco exit the tournament as the third-placed team in this group.

Tottenham's Premier League buddies Liverpool top Group B after a blank draw at Sion.

Juergen Klopp's squad remain unbeaten at the tournament.

Ajax failed to bring Dutch fans more enthusiasm by repeating Eindhoven's success in the Champions League.

They are out from Group A following a 1-all draw with Molde.

Fifteen of the last 32 places at the Europa League have been taken ahead of the final group games.

Nine spots are still up for grabs and eight more teams are set to drop from the results from the Champions League.

France suspends Benzema over sex tape caseIn more football news,France have suspended Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema indefinitely for his involvement in the sex tape blackmail case.

President of the French football federation Noel le Graet says Benzema could miss the Euro 2016 next June at home if the situation does not evolve.

"The content of the case isn't in favour of Benzema, I want to be clear about it. Today he can't play. A new element would be that the judge, after a tough investigation, decides that after all the case won't go any further, that the case is three-quarters empty - which I believe and think can happen."Benzema is under formal investigation for an alleged attempt to blackmail national teammate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex video.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls supports the federation's decision and said last week Benzema should not play for France before he is cleared.

Honduras national team player shot deadSome sad news from football,Honduras' national team player Arnold Peralta was shot dead in a shopping mall car park in La Ceiba on the country's Caribbean coast.

Peralta was shot in the head and dead at the scene. He was 26.

Police have not located any suspects and the motive for the attack is unknown.

Peralta had been scheduled to play for national duty in a friendly against Cuba next week.

He had represented Honduras at the London Olympic Games and last year's World Cup.

China scoops up four ITTF annual awardsIn table tennis,The Chinese team have won half of the eight of the ITTF annual awards in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.

Ma Long and Liu Shiwen were named Male and Female Player of the Year.

They continue to top the men's and women's singles world rankings.

Liu Guoliang was voted Coach of the Year. Players from his Chinese national team have won all big international events this year.

Fang Bo won the Best Scoring award for his returns in the World Championships final against Ma Long.

Entertainment'Carol' Leads Golden Globe Awards Nominations'Carol' is leading the nomination race at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards with five entries.

The period drama, which tells the story of two women who fall in love in the 1950s, will compete for best film drama, original score and best director.

Actresses Cate Blanchet and Rooney Mara are both up for best actress honors.

'The Revenant', 'The Big Short', and 'Steve Jobs' each earned four nods.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who is nominated for directing the film 'The Revenant', says he is planning a party already.

"I am feeling very happy, very thankful for the recognition of the work of everybody, almost everybody, involved in the film. I think everybody did a terrific job and I am super happy that we will have a reason to get together and have a drink and celebrate. That is the greatest part of it you know? Very happy, very excited about it."Veteran actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who scored a best actor nomination for his role in 'The Revenant', is widely considered as the front-runner to win the award this year.

He will be competing with last year's winner Eddie Redmayne in 'The Danish Girl', Michael Fassbender in 'Steve Jobs' and Will Smith in 'Concussion'.

In the television categories, American Crime, Fargo, Mr Robot, Outlander, Transparent and Wolf Hall all landed three nominations each.

The 'Jane the Virgin' leading lady, Gina Rodriguez, says she fell to the floor when she heard her name during Thursdays' Golden Globe announcements.

"I'm like turning my coffee and I hear my category come up and I hear 'Rachel Bloom' and I'm like 'Yes! Wow, look at us! Look at The CW smashing game.' And 'Jamie Lee Curtis' and then 'Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Gina Rod ...' and I just drop to the floor and I just started bawling and praying and just like there are literally no words to encompass your gratitude."Ricky Gervais will return to host the ceremony on January 10th.

Tan Dun to Conduct NCPA 8th Anniversary ConcertChinese composer Tan Dun is set to conduct the National Center for the Performing Arts' eighth anniversary concert tomorrow.

The concert is said to be themed "the Silk Road."This will be the world-renowned composer's first collaboration with the NCPA Orchestra as a conductor.

According to China Daily's report, the first half of the show will include young Chinese composer Wu Chenghao's "Southern Music: Silk Road on Water," and Japanese composer Toru Takemitu's "I Hear the Water Dreaming", which both gained their inspiration from water.

For the second half, Tan Dun plans to conduct the orchestra in performing "Four Secret Roads of Marco Polo," which is adapted from Marco Polo's journey to the East.

Tan Dun earned worldwide attention after composing the score for Ang Lee's film 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' , which help him won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a BAFTA Award.

American 3D Animation 'Zootopia' Releases First Chinese PosterAmerican 3D animation 'Zootopia' has released its first Chinese poster.

Along with it, the film also unveils a series of parody posters of hit movies, with the cute animals cosplaying in familiar roles.

These include the rabbit holding a lightsaber as on a 'Star Wars' poster, and a chubby Mr. Lemming dressed in black suits playing the leading role in 'Fifty Shades of Gray'.

Directed by Byron Howard, the animated comedy pairs unlikely pals, as a fast-talking fox and a self-righteous rabbit both become targets of a conspiracy, and then are forced to team up.

'Zootopia' will hit big screens in the US on March 4th.

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Premiers in Japan'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' has premiered in Japan on Thursday, with leading cast walking the red carpet.

Speaking at the premier, director JJ Abrams praised the excellent collaboration between the old and new cast members.

"They were fantastic, I mean they were amazing, and I was not sure how they would work with the new cast but it was spectacular. They are funny and authentic and believable and 'Star Wars' is always a story of characters in desperate situations and all of them were in that same tone, that same mode and I can't wait for you to see it."Fans dressed as stormtroopers were crowded together, in order to catch a glimpse of the film's stars.

Actor Adam Driver, who play the villain Kylo Ren in the upcoming installment, said during the premier that it's a great honor for him to take part in the film.

Daisy Ridely and John Boyega also showed up at the premier.

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' will premiere in the US on December 18th, and in China on January 9th.

Supermodel Miranda Kerr Joins Promotion Activity in Hong KongAustralian supermodel Miranda Kerr has appeared at a promotional activity in Hong Kong on Thursday, revealing that she will spend the upcoming Christmas with her son and 30 members of her family.

During her time in Hong Kong, Kerr handed parenting duties to her ex, Orlando Bloom.

"Well my son is my priority. So all of my schedule is really booked around him and the time with him...hello! So, for instance, right now he's with his dad and they're having quality, bonding time, father and son and then I'll see him in a couple of days."After Hong Kong duties, the supermodel will be heading to South Korea and Japan to promote the handbag brand.

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

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

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama pledging to continue bilateral cooperation in the area of climate change..

Municipal officials in Beijing vowing to step up anti-smog efforts, with help from neighboring regions..

And Canada welcoming its first planeload of refugee arrivals on Thursday...

On behalf of all of all of us on the Beijing Hour news team, Spencer Musick in Beijing. Join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour, to open a window to the world together...