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Welcome to the Beijing Hour, live from the Chinese capital... Coming up on the program this evening...

a Russian fighter jet has been downed near the Turkish/Syrian border...

The Chinese premier¹ meets with leaders from Central and Eastern Europe to promote cooperation...

Greece is getting the next two billion euros from its bailout package after approving more economic reforms...

In business...Chinese authorities turn to a value-added tax scheme to boost consumption...

In sports...high level meetings to discuss security at the Rio Olympic Games next summer...

In entertainment...a new TV version of a popular Chinese novel...

All of that is coming up in the next hour, but first, a reminder², there are several ways you can reach us at the Beijing Hour.

You can follow our weibo account at weibo.com/beijinghour.

On WeChat: search "beijinghour"Email us directly at [email protected].

Visit crienglish.com for the latest news and information from China Radio International.

TopRussian Plane Shot down in Syrian BorderTurkey has confirmed that it shot down a Russian warplane on Tuesday, claiming it had violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings.

The Russian Defense³ Ministry⁴ confirmed that an Su-24 warplane crashed in Syria.

However, Russia says the plane was flying over Syrian territory.

Russia says its plane was downed by artillery⁵ fire, but Turkey claimed that one of its F-16s fired on the Russian plane.

Video footage of the incident showed a warplane on fire before crashing on a hill. Two crew members from the downed plane ejected and were seen parachuting to the ground.

A Turkish military statement said the plane entered Turkish airspace in Hatay province.

Russia has been carrying out airstrikes in the region since the weekend.

The Turkish government has previously⁶ warned Russia to end operations in the region, as Ankara said the airstrikes were targeting Turkmen groups.

Last month, Turkish jets shot down an unidentified drone that it said had violated Turkey's airspace.

China, CEE Countries Cooperation Gains MomentumAn economic and trade forum⁷ is underway in eastern China, aimed at boosting cooperation and connectivity between China and 16 countries in central and eastern Europe.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the forum, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed to set up a multilateral financial firm in Central and Eastern Europe to finance major projects in the region.

He also revealed the construction of a high-speed rail link between Belgrade and Budapest will begin by the end of the year.

The train link, which will cut travel time between the two capitals by more than half, will be finished in two years.

Li Keqiang also sat down for a meeting with Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar ahead of the forum.

The Chinese premier said China is interested in a renovation⁸ project at Slovenia's Port of Koper.

China and Malaysia Vow¹⁰ to Boost Bilateral¹¹ Trade and InvestmentThe meeting of China and Central and Eastern European countries comes after Premier Li Keqiang returned from Malaysia, where he pledged to promote bilateral trade and investment with the Southeast Asian country.

CRI's Xie Cheng has more.

Reporter:

Speaking at a press conference after his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister, Premier Li Keqiang said China and Malaysia should deepen strategic communication as well as mutual¹² respect and political trust, so as to lay a solid foundation for boosting bilateral relations in a healthy and stable way.

He also urged the two sides to enhance connectivity in the region and strengthen cooperation in a series of different areas.

"We express our willingness to actively¹³ participate in construction of projects such as the high-speed railway linking Malaysia and Singapore and railways in southern Malaysia. The bilateral cooperation between the two countries is multilevel. We have reached new agreements on the field of finance, and we will also boost cooperation in areas such as national defense and marine¹⁴ economy."Premier Li also suggested that the two countries should promote people-to-people exchanges and enhance cooperation in education and tourism.

For his part, Najib Razak spoke¹⁵ highly of Premier Li's visit and says that bilateral relations currently are at their best.

"This visit reflects the strong and growing ties between Malaysia and China. Since the elevation¹⁶ of the Malaysia-China relations from strategic cooperation to comprehensive strategic partnership¹⁷ in 2013, we have seen significant development in our bilateral cooperation in various strategic areas. The relations between our two countries are not only growing but it is at the highest level ever between our two countries."Meantime, Premier Li also announced that China would grant a 50-billion yuan, or 8.2-billion U.S. dollar quota¹⁸ to Malaysia under the Renminbi-Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor¹⁹ program.

He pledged several moves to strengthen financial cooperation with Malaysia while addressing a bilateral high-level economic forum in Kuala Lumpur.

"The Chinese side is ready to invest in Malaysia's government bonds in keeping with market principle. And at the same time Chinese banks are also ready to issue RMB denominated bonds in Malaysia. Banks of the two sides can enhance policy communication and increase the use of local currencies in our two-way trade and investment cooperation."Bilateral trade between China and Malaysia stands at over 100 billion dollars annually²⁰ and mutual investment has been growing rapidly.

Malaysia has been the largest trading partner of China among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the past seven years, while China remains²¹ Malaysia's biggest trading partner.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region needs 249 billion yuan for air pollution control: reportAnchor:

China's Clean Air Alliance has released a report on a five-year plan for air pollution control with its focus on investment and financing needs.

According to the report, the plan's implementation²² requires an overall direct investment of over 1.8 trillion yuan, while the needs for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta²³ region are expected to exceed 200 billion each.

CRI's Luo Bin²⁴ reports.

Reporter:

The report, compiled by a panel of experts from the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning and Nanjing University, comes after two years' field investigation²⁵, as well as data collection, analysis and calculation.

Xie Hongxing, director of the Secretariat of the Clean Air Alliance of China (CAAC), explains how they came to the numbers.

"The calculation is mainly based on the control of various pollutants²⁶. We figure out the cost according to the context of different industries and how much emissions²⁷ they are expected to cut. To make it more realistic, we conducted investigations²⁸ in regions including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. We also took into account the actual cost in different places and combined them to conclude the final result."The report also mentioned that the investment will be mainly used in optimizing²⁹ energy structure and the control of mobile source pollution, industrial pollution and non-point source pollution.

Among the four aspects, the control of mobile source pollution requires the most, with 1.4 trillion yuan, while needs elsewhere range from 60 to 280 billion.

Wang Lisha, project manager with CAAC's Innovation Center, tells the reason behind the huge cost.

"Actually the costs in the mobile source part also include new energy vehicles and oil upgrading. In the report we can see the investment on this field in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta is bigger, but not that much for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The two deltas³⁰ have done a lot in energy structure optimization³¹ and industrial pollution control, so they need to do more in the control of mobile source pollution. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region should take into account many aspects. So, the mobile source cost is huge."The government fund for air pollution control increased to 10 billion yuan last year from half of the amount a year earlier, but is still far less than the required amount mentioned in the report.

Xie Hongxing with the Clean Air Alliance of China says China's air pollution control relies too much on government funding, and new funding channels should be established.

"We can help make it easier for the green enterprises and companies to access the market and benefit more, so as to attract more investment to the green industries. For instance, we can raise the charge for disposing pollutants and give more compensation to the green power industry.

105 GW of new electricity generating capacity was installed in China by the end of June this year.

For CRI, I'm Luo Bin.

Alibaba to buy SCMP stakeIt's being reported that Chinese Internet giant Alibaba is attempting to buy stake in the South China Morning Post newspaper.

Reports say Alibaba's founder³² Jack³³ Ma has been negotiating the deal with the SCMP Group's major shareholder³⁴, and the contract will be signed shortly.

Details on the size of the stake that Alibaba will buy and the value of the deal are not known.

The SCMP Group has declined to comment.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway unaffected in NW China earthquakeIt is being reported that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a vital link to remote Tibet, was not affected³⁵ by a 5.2-magnitude earthquake on Monday morning.

The earthquake, with a depth of 10 km, struck Qilian County at around 5:00 Monday morning.

No casualties have been reported.

Fourteen households sustained cracks in their walls, with 46 residents relocated.

The 2000-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which began service in July 2006, is the world's longest plateau railroad connecting Tibet Autonomous³⁷ Region with other parts of China.

Response to Government Push for New Energy Vehicles not EncouragingAnchor:

Despite government incentives³⁸ including purchase subsidies³⁹, easier registration⁴⁰, and the removal of road restrictions⁴¹ on electric vehicles, consumers in Beijing have been cool towards New Energy vehicles.

CRI's XYee reports.

Reporter:

The government hopes that incentives can help alleviate⁴² Beijing's worsening air pollution -- a significant part of which is blamed on motor vehicles.

But most potential car buyers think the new energy vehicles – predominantly battery driven ones -- may not bring about the convenience they want, at least not at present.

"It takes more than 100 thousand yuan with government subsidies to purchase an electric vehicle, limited to just about a 100-kilometre range. This is definitely not cost-effective in a big city like Beijing."Many say the short battery life and a lack of charging facilities are hindering consumer appetites for the use of electric vehicles.

Zuo Shiquan, an official from China Center for Information Industry Development, believes it may take a while for people to accept new energy vehicles. And it would be more effective if guiding policies were adopted in a gradual manner.

As for government subsidies, he suggests any manufacturer should be entitled to them as long as they can develop products that raise energy efficiency by a designated margin⁴³, and not necessarily only for electric vehicles.

"Because of government subsidies, many car makers⁴⁴ have rushed to manufacture electric vehicles. But only a very limited number of car makers can produce up-to-standard electric vehicles."Experts also worry that the incentives could worsen Beijing's traffic jams, another factor that compromises quality of life in Beijing.

Vehicle-related policies over the past years have reportedly resulted in an explosive increase of cars on the road.

Ma Jun, Director of Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs says lessons should be learned from policy failures.

"...the problem is that these electric cars are not to REPLACE the cars already on the road. Without being subject to the lottery⁴⁵ system for car registration, electric cars will ADD to the number of vehicles on the road, and therefore make traffic jams in Beijing even worse."And given the fact that the policy-favored new energy vehicles seem to be limited only to battery driven cars, Ma says solutions for battery pollution must be put in place.

"We should not postpone⁴⁶ the solution of these problems. Otherwise we may once again face an awkward situation...the batteries of electric cars are very likely to cause environmental issues. And it will be very costly⁴⁷ to solve these problems."Experts warn that given the size of Beijing – which is home to more than 23 million people – and the intertwining nature of modern city life, any public policies would have magnifying effects in multi-sectors⁴⁹. Therefore they should be worked out as part of overall smart city planning strategies.

For CRI, I'm XYee.

10 Years of Angela MerkelAnchor:

German chancellor⁵⁰ Angela Merkel has just celebrated⁵¹ 10 years in office. She is now one of the longest serving chancellors⁵² in German history, in addition to being the first woman to hold the position.

It is her welcoming stance towards this year's influx⁵³ of refugees that has brought her perhaps the most international acclaim⁵⁴, as well as intense criticism in Germany.

Our reporter Ira Spitzer reports from Berlin.

Reporter:

Angela Merkel took over Germany's top office from Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. She was the first woman to hold the office as well as the first chancellor to have come from the former communist East Germany. When she took over, Germany was in a very different place. Over 5 million people were out of work and many wondered whether Europe's largest economy was headed in the wrong direction.

However, 10 years later, the unemployment rate is half of what it was, and the country is the unquestioned economic and political leader of the European Union. Over the past two years, Merkel has been Europe's key player in trying to broker⁵⁵ peace in Ukraine. She also was a central figure in negotiating a controversial third bailout with the Greek government, which allowed that country to stay in the Eurozone.

But perhaps her signature moment of the past 10 years was opening Germany's borders to all those fleeing Syria who have arrived in Germany seeking asylum⁵⁶. At a recent congress of her center right party, she spoke of the importance of addressing the root causes of migration⁵⁷ and working closely with other countries like Turkey.

"Dear friends, in this way, we can reduce the number of asylum seekers. Not by unilaterally imposing⁵⁸ an upper limit nationally on the number of refugees. THAT is in everyone's interest."Not everyone sees it that way though. Merkel's approval ratings have hit their lowest point in four years. And at the same event, on the same stage, the leader of her sister party, Horst Seehofer the Minister President of Bavaria, struck back at Merkel's policies.

"We do not need a welcoming culture, but a culture of reason. And our faith... our Christian⁵⁹ faith, is not, dear friends, as opposed to this reason. "No one can be forced to shoulder more than they can carry"If Merkel can survive the current refugee crisis though, the 61 year old Chancellor remains the favorite to win another term in 2017.

For CRI, Ira Spitzer.

For more on this issue, CRI's Tu Yun earlier spoke to Cui Hongjian, Head of European Studies Department, China Institute of International Studies.

Back anchor: that's Cui Hongjian, Head of European Studies Department, China Institute of International Studies.

Greece Cleared to Receive Next Batch⁶⁰ of Bailout LoansGreece will receive the next installment⁶¹ of two-billion-euros from its bailout loan after the country implemented⁶² a series of economic reforms required by European creditors⁶³.

Officials with the European Stability Mechanism⁶⁴ (ESM) say they have reached an agreement to release the next installment of funds following a 13-billion-euro payout in August.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem is the chairman of the Euro group:

"The situation of the first set of milestones⁶⁵, which now have been implemented, is that one issue has been moved on to the second set of milestones, which is linked to the pension reform, but all the other issues have been dealt with, and that has opened up the possibility to transfer the two billion disbursement⁶⁶."The approval follows a decision by Greece's parliament last week to agree with the new austerity measures.

It has been reported that the ESM has earmarked ten billion euros for the recapitalization of Greece's banks.

The banks are said to need an estimated 6 to 9 billion euros in aid.

Australia PM calls for greater intelligence sharing in Southeast AsiaThe Australian Prime Minister has called for greater intelligence sharing in Southeast Asia to stop future Paris-style attacks.

Malcolm Turnbull said this in a national security address to parliament on Tuesday.

"From an Australian perspective, we see a real risk that terrorist groups in the region might be inspired by attacks such as we have seen in Ankara, Beirut, Bamako and Paris and we are very mindful of the fact that hundreds of thousands of Australians visit Southeast Asia every year, for business, study or holidays,"In 2002, 88 Australians were killed in a suicide attack on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali.

Turnbull has ordered local law enforcement officials to test their readiness to handle a mass casualty attack.

Australia is conducting air strikes against Islamic State as part of a U.S.-led coalition⁶⁷.

Turnbull reiterated⁶⁸ there were no plans to change Australia's military tactics against Islamic State, despite some politicians calling for troops to be sent to Syria.

Russian and Iranian Leaders Agree to Deepen CooperationRussian President Vladimir Putin has sat down with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani to discussed issues of concern.

The two sides met on the sidelines of a gas forum in Tehran and have agreed to deepen cooperation in the energy, banking⁶⁹ and transportation sectors.

Rouhani, who has witnessed the signing of a number of deals with Russia, emphasizes the importance of bilateral cooperation, saying "the ties between Iran and Russian are growing day by day."Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin calls on two sides to work on Syrian Issues.

Putin also expressed his wishes to boost trade ties with Iran, saying Russia is planning to create a free trade zone between the Moscow-led economic union of former Soviet⁷⁰ Union countries and Iran.

Iceland's Glaciers⁷² could Disappear in 200 Years: ScientistA leading glacier⁷¹ scientist has warned that Iceland's glaciers will disappear in the next 200 years if global temperatures continue rising.

Helgi Bjornsson is a glacier research professor at the University of Iceland:

"If climate warming continues at a rate of two degrees per century, as people are afraid of and that is the prediction of climatologists, then our glaciers will disappear in 150 to 200 years,"Iceland's glaciers, which currently cover 11 percent of the country's land, are melting at an alarming rate. Many locals have raised concerns about their living environment. Halli is one of them:

"When I was a child, there was much, much more snow in Iceland. So totally different like this today. All the way from middle of September to maybe late in April, but now today the winters are much shorter,"According to professor Bjornesson, Iceland has lost over 11 billion tons of ice per year in recent years. So far, the country has lost nearly six percent of its ice since 1995.

The rapid melting of ice will lead to changes in river system and eventually leave them without water.

The melting glaciers also tend to increase the risk of geological activity in the form of earthquakes and volcanic⁷³ eruptions⁷⁴.

FIFA court to make verdict on Blatter, Platini in DecemberThe judgment⁷⁵ branch of FIFA's ethics⁷⁶ committee opened a case against the body's suspended president Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini on Monday, with a verdict on the corruption⁷⁷ allegations surrounding both men to be given in December.

The panel of judges received the final report from the ethics committee's investigative branch on Saturday, which called for sanctions to be leveled against both men.

WeatherBeijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of -8; cloudy tomorrow with a high of -1.

Shanghai will see slight rain tonight with a low of 9; cloudy tomorrow with a high of 9.

Chongqing will be overcast⁷⁸ with a low of 12; cloudy tomorrow with a high of 16.

Lhasa, clear tonight with a low of -3; sunny tomorrow with a high of 16.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad, overcast tomorrow with a high of 24.

Kabul, sleet⁷⁹, 10.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will have a cloudy day, high of 30.

Brisbane, cloudy, 29.

Perth will be sunny tomorrow, high of 29.

And finally Auckland will see moderate rain with a high of 20 degrees Celsius⁸⁰.

Headline NewsRussia confirms Su-24 crashed in Syria, not violating Turkish airspaceThe Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that a Su-24 warplane crashed in Syria.

An unnamed official says the plane crashed because of gunfire from the ground.

The official denied that the aircraft intruded⁸¹ into Turkish airspace, saying the plane was over Syrian territory.

Preliminary data shows that the two pilots managed to eject, and details are being investigated.

The Turkish side says an unidentified warplane has been shot down near the Syrian-Turkish border.

Turkish military claimed that the plane had violated Turkish airspace.

The warplane was reportedly shut down by a Turkish F-16 fighter and is now in the hands of a Syrian rebel group.

China proposes multilateral financial firm in CEEChinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders from 16 Central and Eastern European countries are now gathering⁸² in east China' s Suzhou city to map out a plan for future cooperation.

The fourth summit of China and the CEE countries will discuss new measures to enhance cooperation in connectivity, investment, trade, finance, agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges.

While addressing the opening ceremony, Premier Li proposed to set up a "16+1" multilateral financial firm in Central and Eastern Europe to finance major projects in the region.

He also said that China will invest in construction and upgrade infrastructure⁸³ in port areas of the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea.

Established as an annual event in 2012, it is the first time China has hosted the summit.

Japanese rocket on 1st commercial flight launches Canadian comsatJapan has launched an H-2A rocket on its first fully⁸⁴ commercial mission, carrying a communications satellite for a Canadian company.

The Japan Aerospace⁸⁵ Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launched the rocket on Tuesday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.

The satellite will provide broadband communications coverage⁸⁶ from South America to the Middle East.

Former Hainan Vice³⁶ Governor Indicted⁸⁷ for Taking BribesFormer vice governor of Hainan province Tan Li has been indicted on a charge of taking a bribe⁸⁸.

Prosecutors⁹⁰ in Guangzhou made the announcement on Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege⁹¹ Tan sought profits and accepted "a huge amount of bribes⁸⁹" during his time at Chengdu Municipal committee in Sichuan Province and Hainan Province.

Tan was put under investigation in July for "suspected serious violations⁹² of discipline and laws."First human H7N9 case this winter reported in S. ChinaThe winter's first human case of the H7N9 bird-flu virus has been reported in Guangdong province in southern China.

The provincial⁹³ health commission says the case was discovered in Meizhou City and was confirmed on Monday.

The patient is said to be a farmer in his 70s. He is now being treated in hospital and the source of transmission of the virus is now being investigated.

All live poultry⁹⁴ markets in Meizhou city have been suspended for one week, starting from Monday.

The H7N9 virus was first detected in China in 2013. Last winter, cases were reported in several Chinese provinces and regions.

Biz ReportsStocksChina's A-share markets closed higher amid shrinking turnover⁹⁵ on Tuesday, with small cap stocks outperforming heavyweights.

Logistics, internet, agricultural, chemical and medical care sectors led the gainers, while those in banking and transportation sectors led the losers.

Meanwhile, treasury⁹⁶ bond futures⁹⁷ also closed higher, with the contract for settlement in December up 0.4 percent.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date.

They allow investors⁹⁸ to bet on and profit from the movements in the value of the bonds.

At the close,The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.2 percent.

The Shenzhen Component⁹⁹ Index gained 0.9 percent.

The ChiNext Index of growth enterprises climbed 1.6 percent.

In Hong Kong, shares dropped on Tuesday, with the Hang Seng Index down 0.4 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia,Tokyo stocks increased.

The benchmark Nikkei added 0.2 percent.

South Korea's KOSPI was up 0.6 percent.

Singapore's Straits Times jumped 0.7 percent.

And finally, Australia's ASX/200 moved down 1 percent.

China's coal output continues to dropCoal output here in China continued to decline in the first ten months of this year.

Official data shows the coal production fell 3.6 percent year on year to 3 billion tons from January to October.

During the same period, the country imported 170 million tons of coal, slumping¹⁰⁰ 30 percent year on year.

China's coal industry has been cooling due to weaker demand in a softening¹⁰¹ economy and government measures to reduce pollution.

The country aims to bring its share of non-fossil energy to 15 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030.

China to promote VAT⁹ reform in medical-care, old-age care fieldsAnchor:

China is set to replace its turnover tax with a value-added tax in the medical-care and old-age care fields in a bid to boost consumption.

VAT is a tax levied¹⁰² on the difference between the cost of production and the price of a commodity on the market.

It is favored partly because it can reduce double taxation¹⁰³.

The move aims to further simplify policies on pre-tax deductions¹⁰⁴ of enterprise income tax in order to ease corporate¹⁰⁵ tax burdens.

The timetable for implementation has not been announced at this point.

The government document also pledges to improve consumer subsidy¹⁰⁶ policies via promoting a shift in subsidizing sellers to subsidizing consumers.

All of these measures conform to its principle of cranking up fiscal¹⁰⁷ supports for new consumption-related areas.

For more on this, CRI's Spencer Musick spoke with Gao Shang, commodity analyst¹⁰⁸ with Guantong Futures.

State Grid¹⁰⁹ to bid for Australian firmChina's State Grid has become one of the approved final bidders¹¹⁰ for a 6-billion-US dollar electricity network in Australia.

The Chinese company teamed up with Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Fund in July to bid for TransGrid in New South Wales.

State Grid has been building its presence in Australia's energy sector⁴⁸ since 2012, after buying a 41 percent stake in South Australian electricity supplier ElectraNet.

The company aims to quadruple its overseas assets by 2020 and bring their value to as high as 50 billion US dollars.

Oil giants consider pipeline¹¹¹, refinery¹¹² salesPetroChina and its state-owned parent are planning to sell assets before the year end, as they seek to shore up their balance sheets.

Business insiders say the two oil giants may announce the sales later this week.

China National Petroleum¹¹³ Corporation is seeking to use proceeds from the sale to meet annual income growth targets set by China's state asset regulators.

For PetroChina, investors have given almost zero valuation to its assets such as pipelines¹¹⁴ and refineries¹¹⁵.

Any asset sales now are good news for the company and could help its share price.

PetroChina's third-quarter profit fell over 80 percent to the lowest since Bloomberg started compiling the data in 2007.

Chinese-built railway to benefit Kenya's economyChina is helping¹¹⁶ Kenya build a new high-speed railway between the port city of Mombasa and the capital Nairobi.

The 14-billion-U.S.-dollar rail project will be built by China Road and Bridge Corporation.

When completed, the rail line is expected to slash¹¹⁷ Kenya's logistics costs by 40 percent and increase the country's GDP by 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the project has created job opportunities for many locals, including many female employees.

A Kenyan survey specialist working for the CRBC explains why she chose the job.

"The ladies, they tend to understand that the job is very hard. But to me, I tend to understand the job is very easy. It makes me very hard-working, and I gain experience from the job."The railway is expected to extend to five other countries in East Africa in the future.

It also aims to form a comprehensive network to boost regional trade.

Fosun buys remaining 80% of US insurerChina's Fosun Group has completed the acquisition of US insurer Ironshore.

The Chinese investment company has received approvals from regulators in the United States for the 2.5-billion-US-dollar acquisition of the remaining 80 percent of Ironshore.

Ironshore is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Fosun.

In February, Fosun paid 460 million US dollars for 20 percent of Ironshore.

So far, Fosun has more than one-third of its total assets invested in insurance businesses.

Duzhe seeks 500 mln yuan from Shanghai IPODuzhe Publishing & Media Corporation is planning to raise 500 million yuan, or 80 million US dollars, in a Shanghai initial public offering.

Subscription¹¹⁸ is set to begin on December 1.

The company is going to issue 60 million new shares, pushing its total shares to 240 million.

Figure shows that Duzhe earned revenue of 550 million yuan during the first three quarters this year, a 10 percent rise compared with the same period of last year.

The IPO was originally planned in July.

However, issuance of new shares was suspended by the China Securities Regulatory Commission due to the market rout¹¹⁹ in the summer.

SportsRio 2016 Olympic committee hold event to address security concernsIn some Olympic news coming out of Rio:

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games committee held an event with the International organization, La Froncophonie, on Monday as security issues are starting to be raised ahead of the summer games.

In attendance were the IOC's executive director for Olympic games Renato Ciuchini as well as La Francophonie ambassador Manu Dibango.

Before the event started, people were asked to have a moment of Silence in respect to the victims of Paris and the Mali attacks.

During the event Rio Communications director Mario Andrada commented on security concerns for the Olympic Games.

"The security teams that work with us are already prepared for this kind of event. They already have the Intelligence and the means that they need to protect the population, the athletes and the Games. What we need to do more is to talk with the population - with the tourists, athletes and visitors - so that they can feel calm. One of the things that Terrorism most invests is the fear, is people starting to live with fear, travel with fear. We need to help people understand that they will be completely protected in Rio. Rio will be the safest place in the world during the Games.

Ambassador Dibango would later speak similarly of security concerns if Paris hosted the Olympics in 2024.

The event also assured the public that translators and multiple language versions for the Rio 2016 website will be offered during the games.

Jordan Speith talks about golfing in the Rio Olympicsand in some more Olympic news:

Top ranked golfer, Jordan Spieth, commented on Tuesday ahead of this weeks Australian Open, that he couldn’t be more excited to golf in the upcoming Olympics.

Speith and fellow golfer Adam Scott spoke at the press event with different levels of excitement.

An unenthused Scott assured the public that he would attend the games if he could fit it into his schedule.

Where-as Speith stated his excitement by saying it would take an injury or a miracle to keep him out of the games.

"Just competing in the Olympics, just walking in the opening ceremonies and staying in the village, meeting this incredible athletes from around the world, hopefully we..i think we are pretty locked up, but you still never know, so hopefully that is something that i'm able to experience next August and winning a gold medal is got to be up there now in my mind up with winning a major championship. I've been asked that question, green jacket or gold medal...want to make a gold medal or open championship, that's not fair. I think this year we are going to approach this as the fifth major...and we are going to prepare like it is, am going to go down there and try and take care of the business, though it's going to be very difficult."This marks golf's first return to the Olympics since 1904.

Speith stated that he would be ecstatic to be a part of the four man American team to compete on the 60 man field.

Real Madrid President backs Coach Benitiz after loss to Barcelonaand in some Euro football news:

Real Madrid President Florentino Perez publicly gave coach Rafael Benitiz his vote of confidence in leading his team in future matches.

The presidential backing comes after Real Madrid's humiliating loss of 4-0 to Barcelona this past weekend.

Many fans called for Benitiz's resignation following the loss.

President Perez quickly arranged a press conference 2 days after the loss to tell fans he still believes in Benitiz.

"Cristiano Ronaldo has never, ever said to me anything similar to 'we're not going to win anything with this coach', anything about the captains, anything like that. Ever. Cristiano Ronaldo has never talked badly about anyone. He is a good guy. Everything that comes out these days about me wanting to sell him or having meetings I've never had, only has the purpose of causing instability. Just like (Karim) Benzema does not earn 10 million euros net. He does not."Perez would go on to state that fans need to give the coach more credit since the team has been dealing¹²⁰ with multiple injuries after Benitiz took charge less than six months ago.

Regardless, all eyes will be on Real Madrids coach as they play their next match on Wednesday at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Real Madrid has already secured a spot in the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions league.

But they currently are battling Paris-saint Germain for the top spot in their qualifying group A.

All Black's Ma Nonu to leave international rugbyIn some rugby news:

New Zealands 2015 world cup winning center Ma'a Nonu stated that he has joined Toulon club team.

Ma'a Nonu has been a star on the international rugby field for quite some time, but on Monday he stated that would be joining Toulon, a team ranked in Frances top 14.

Nonu stated that this move came from him wanting to achieve goals with the French club team.

"Yeah, I guess it comes with the success of this club. I guess everyone wants to beat Toulon and the purpose again for this club is to win again. I'm here to try my best for the club and I want to achieve things here as well."Nonu has retired¹²¹ from the world of international rugby after beating Australia in the recent World Cup.

The 33-year-old would go on to state that Club rugby would be his new adventureAmerican football players come to ChinaIn some American Football news coming out China:

Football stars like Former Pittsburgh Steeler's player Troy Polamalu have come to China to promote their sport.

The football stars visited shanghai and Beijing from the 18th to the 22nd.

During their visit they went to the great wall and even attended an American football match between Guangzhou University and Jinan University.

Polamalu commented on how he believes American Football could be a popular sport in China.

"To me there's no great sport, of course. I grew up loving football, American football. It just embodies¹²² everything and I think that the warrior¹²³ spirit that's embodied¹²⁴ within the Chinese people can be perfectly¹²⁵ displayed through the sport of football. It's got a little bit of everything of the warrior spirit – teamwork, humility¹²⁶, discipline, fear. You are playing against people bigger than you, smaller than you, so, yeah, it's exciting."Other high profile players in attendance were Ryan Clark and Ike Taylor, both of whom also played for the Steelers.

EntertainmentNew TV version of The Legend of the Condor¹²⁷ HeroesA new TV version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", or "Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan" in Chinese, is set to be made to attract a new audience.

What's interesting about it is that instead of featuring established actresses or actors to play the hero Guo Jing and the heroine Huang Rong, the production team is to initiate¹²⁸ a reality show to let audiences vote for young and new faces to play the roles.

According to the executive producer, the target audience is viewers born after 1990.

The production team will also work with social media site Sina Weibo to let Internet users nominate performers to play the role, and a mobile online game using the title of the show will also be developed.

"The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is based on a celebrated work of the same name by Hong Kong novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung, better known by his pen name Jin Yong.

First published in the 1950s, the novel has spawned¹²⁹ more than 14 adaptations in film and TV both on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong.

Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell Walk the Red Carpet for "The Big Short"Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Steve Carell walked the red carpet Monday night in New York for the premiere of "The Big Short."They portray¹³⁰ financial industry outsiders that had predicted the ills of the subprime lending policies that led to the housing bubble collapse¹³¹ in 2008.　Based on a true story, they tried to warn the financial institutions of the impending¹³² problem, and when the big companies failed to listen, took advantage of the situation making over one hundred million dollars.

Pitt says the book's author helped him grasp the situation.

"For me, Michael Lewis' book was the first thing that helped really find the rabbit hole and understand what happened during this horrible time when so many people lost their homes and were put out on the street - you remember the images. And the fact that senior official was held accountable is astonishing to me. This story really helps break that down in a way that's palatable¹³³ and you can understand it and really what to look for so it doesn't happen again because nothing has changed and people should know that."The movie is based on the book, "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine" by Michael Lewis.

The term "short" refers to a speculative¹³⁴ type of investing that takes a chance that overvalued stocks will lose their value. When the stock price drops, the difference in purchase and selling price will go to the investor.

"The Big Short" is set to open on December 23rd.

Red Carpet Gala Held for "In The Heart of The Sea," Attended by Chris HemsworthActor Chris Hemsworth premiered his latest movie, "In the Heart of the Sea," in Mexico City Monday night, alongside director Ron Howard.

Earlier in the day, Hemsworth attended a press conference to promote the movie.

"Yeah, it's fantastic. We've been here twice now, just for a couple of days, but it's wonderful to be here with this movie that I'm very proud of, you know, and I'm happy to bring it to Mexico and hope the people enjoy it.""In the Heart of the Sea" is based on the non-fiction book of the same name, which narrates¹³⁵ the dramatic trip of a whaling ship in the 1800's that is hit by a bull sperm¹³⁶ whale, splitting the boat in half and sinking the ship.

The crew is then shipwrecked for 90 days where they must resort to cannabalism to survive.　To play the 19th-century sailors adrift with no food, Hemsworth and his co-stars had to slim down considerably¹³⁷, enduring diets of a measly 500 calories a day.

The movie marked the second teaming of Hemsworth and Ron Howard, who directed him in "Rush."It is set to open in Mexico on Dec. 3rd.

WeatherBeijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of -8; cloudy tomorrow with a high of -1.

Shanghai will see slight rain tonight with a low of 9; cloudy tomorrow with a high of 9.

Chongqing will be overcast with a low of 12; cloudy tomorrow with a high of 16.

Lhasa, clear tonight with a low of -3; sunny tomorrow with a high of 16.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad, overcast tomorrow with a high of 24.

Kabul, sleet, 10.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will have a cloudy day, high of 30.

Brisbane, cloudy, 29.

Perth will be sunny tomorrow, high of 29.

And finally Auckland will see moderate rain with a high of 20 degrees Celsius.

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

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

A Russian fighter jet has been downed near the Turkish/Syrian border...

The Chinese premier meets with leaders from central and eastern Europe to promote cooperation...

Greece is getting the next two billion euros from its bailout package after approving more economic reforms...

In business...Chinese authorities turn to a value-added tax scheme to boost consumption...

On behalf of the rest of the Beijing Hour team, this is Shane Bigham hoping you'll join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour, to open a window to the world together...  

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