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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Ben Leung with you on this Friday, September 6th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this evening.
President Xi Jinping meets with Barack Obama and Angela Merkel at the G20 summit.
Egypt's government denies trying to shut down the Muslim Brotherhood.
And there're only a few hours of campaigning left ahead of tomorrow's Australian federal election.
In Business, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is to enjoy free RMB convertibility when it opens later this month.
In sports, updates from the China National Games and from Flushing Meadows.
In entertainment, we hear about the giant rubber duck's landing in Beijing.
First... lets get a check on the weather...
Weather
Beijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 17 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow sunny with a high temperature of 29.
Meanwhile Shanghai will have light rain tonight, with a low of 21, also light rain tomorrow, with a high of 25.
Lhasa will have light rain tonight, 11 degrees the low, showers tomorrow with a high of 21.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, thundershowers, with a high of 33.
Kabul, sunny, 33.
Over in Australia
Sydney, overcast, highs of 27.
Canberra, sunny, 22.
Brisbane, sunny, 26.
And finally, Perth will have rain with a high of 21.
Top News
Xi Jinping meets with Obama, Merkel
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Russia's St. Petersburg.
Xi Jinping says relations between the two sides should maintain a "sound momentum".
Obama says the two countries have made progress in cooperation on climate change and strengthening military-to-military relations.
It is the second such meeting between Xi Jinping and Obama in three months.
At their previous summit at the Annenberg estate in California three months ago, the two presidents agreed to build a new type of relations between major countries.
Also holding talks with President Xi at the G20 was German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Xi Jinping praised the German government's support on a series of trade disputes between China and the European Union.
For her part, Merkel says a strong Chinese economy will benefit Germany as well, promising the Germans will continue to help solve trade disputes between China and the EU.
China-Russia relations
Chinese President Xi Jinping has earlier met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders have taken time to discuss the joint cooperation projects that the two sides are currently working on.
This is the second meeting between the two leaders this year.
In march, Xi Jinping took his first overseas visit to Moscow after taking over as China's president.
For more on China and Russia's biliteral ties, CRI's Zheng Chenguang spoke earlier with Professor Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.
…
Professor Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, speaking with CRI's Zheng Chenguang.
Xi Jinping calls for BRICS financial safety net
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the early realization of the establishment of a development bank and an emergency currency reserve amongst major developing economies.
Xi Jinping issued the call at his meeting with leaders from the BRICS group on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the BRICS group of emerging economies will contribute US$100 billion to the fund to steady the currency markets.
The Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said details still needed to be worked out, suggesting that much more work would need to be done on the reserve facility.
Jin Zhong-xia, director of the Financial Research Center of China's central bank, says an emergency currency reserve could play the role as a useful economic stabilizer for BRICS countries.
"BRICS economies tend to rely on foreign capital inflow to fill their recurring account deficit, which is usually quite large. They are facing the risk of capital outflow and devaluation in the case of the tapering of America's quantitative easing. Although they do have certain amount of foreign reserves, their difficulties regarding financial stabilization remain."
At the same time, financial observers say it is necessary for the BRICS countries to have their own development bank.
Huang Wei is a researcher on world economy and global governance with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"Regional financial institutions are not easy to meet the demand of these large BRICS economies. Besides, the World Bank usually focuses on financial aid and development issues in the less-developed countries. So there is a necessity to establish a development bank within the BRICS group."
The five BRICS countries had agreed at this year's summit in South Africa to set up a development bank.
'No decision' in Egypt on dissolving Muslim Brotherhood
The Egyptian government has denied state media reports that it has to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood, which had been registered as an NGO since March of this year.
State media had earlier quoted a government spokesperson as saying the government will revoke the Brotherhood's non-governmental organization status "within days".
The interim government in Cairo has been cracking down on the Brotherhood since the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi in early July.
The Egyptian authorities had banned the 85-year-old Islamist movement since 1954 under Gamal Abdel Nasser's rule.
It also has a legally registered political wing called the Freedom and Justice Party which was set up yo contest the parliamentary elections of 2011, as well as last year's presidential election.
Final day of 2013 Australian federal election campaign
Anchor:
Today is the last day of campaigning in Australia's 2013 election, with leaders from major political parties crisscrossing the nation in a last-minute bid to win votes.
Usually, newspapers deliver editorials on the campaign, telling readers who they think they ought to vote for. What are the newspapers' verdicts on the eve of Election Day? And who is likely to come out of the race victorious?
CRI's Australia correspondent Wang Xiao has the details.
Reporter:
Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott are making their final pitches to voters on a hectic final day of election campaigning. Mr. Rudd is on the New South Wales Central Coast before heading home to Brisbane for tomorrow's election, while Tony Abbott began his day in Melbourne.
As usual, the papers have delivered editorials on the campaign telling readers who they think ought to lead the country. This time, everyone seems to be cheering for the Coalition to be wining tomorrow. Fairfax's Sydney Morning Herald says that Australians deserve a government they can trust; Australia's crying out for stable government and the Herald says it believes the Coalition can achieve that.
The Financial Review says that the Coalition should be allowed to lead. And also News Limited's Daily Telegraph in Sydney, says the Coalition is offering a change for the better.
The election experts also give their predictions about the results of tomorrow's election. Many believe that Kevin Rudd will be booted, and the Coalition will romp home. Veteran psephologist, Malcolm Mackerras, has predicted a landslide victory for the Coalition in the lower house.
"I predict 94 lower house seats for the Coalition, 54 for the Labor, and two others of Denison and Kennedy. Kevin Rudd will be the third prime minister in Australian history to lose his seat, as well as a general election."
The latest poll published this morning sought out more than 1000 people for this. The Labor Party is on a two-party preferred basis, well behind, 47 percent; the Coalition well in front, 53.
But according to a survey conducted by Australian Broadcast Corporation, one in eight of its respondents say they remained undecided about who to vote for. That's almost 2 million people.
"I think the decision will be made on the day."
"I really don't know. This doesn't interest me."
"I was for Rudd, but I changed my mind to vote Coalition. But now I'm gonna vote the Green. Because neither of them get my vote."
The economy remains the most important issue for the undecided, followed by health, education, asylum seekers and trust.
"I think that everyone is just telling lies. I have no idea who I vote for."
"I don't trust Tony Abbott as a leader, but I don't trust the Labor Party."
"I don't trust any of them at the minute."
Among undecided voters, 37 percent indicated they were leaning towards voting Labor, 27 percent were leaning towards the Coalition and 17 percent towards the Greens.
The data does indicate that Labor is leading among those undecided voters, but those voters may yet change their mind. A couple of hours later, the Australians are going to the polling places. Who will get their votes? We will keep a close eye on it.
For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao from Sydney.
South Korea bans seafood from Japan
South Korea is to ban fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, from next Monday, indefinitely.
The move comes after concerns about radiation contamination from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
South Korean Prime Minister's spokesman Shin Joong-Don.
"The measures are due to the sharply increased concern among the public about the flow of hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water into the ocean at the site of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan."
Shin adds that it'll be difficult to predict the future risk with only Japanese government data available.
The Korean side is also tightening its testing on fishery imports from other areas of Japan.
South Korea imported 5-thousand tonnes of fishery products from the eight affected prefectures last year, which is one tenth of the total fishery imports from Japan.
Kenya MPs vote to withdraw from ICC
Kenya's parliament has passed a motion to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, where the country's president Uhuru Kenyatta, and his deputy president William Ruto are wanted for crimes against humanity.
In doing so, they've become the first nation to quit the ICC.
The charges stem from the violence that broke out after the disputed elections in the country back in 2007, which killed more than a thousand people dead and 600 000 were forced from their homes.
Vice President Ruto was due to face trial at The Hague early next week, and president Kenyatta later this year.
Political analyst Tom Maliti says the withdrawal will not have any effects on the cases against Ruto and Kenyatta, which are already underway at the ICC.
"The resolution of parliament will have no legal impact or effect on the Kenyan before the ICC because the legal avenues that were available to terminate the cases, to have them postponed have all been exhausted in the last 2 years and so parliaments decision has no effect whatsoever on the cases."
China resumes treasury futures trading after 18-year halt
China has re-launched the trading of its treasury bond futures after an 18-year break.
The three five-year treasury bond futures contracts started trading on the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange on Friday.
Base value for December, March, and June stands above 94 yuan.
Jiang Yang is Vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
He says the commission will work together with all parts on the market to secure the running of treasury bond futures.
"As there are increasing number of products on the bond market, a variety of news tools and trading methods, it is quite important for us to cooperate with others in monitoring the market. We should have detailed and all-rounded preplans for as well as clear recognition of the instantaneous crisis on the market."
Analysts say resuming the trading is part of the government's effort to boost the treasury bond market, to counter market volatility and to advance interest rate reform.
President of the Institute of International Finance Tim Adams says it is a good take, but China's finance market needs a benchmark.
"I think…."
Treasury bond futures was first introduced in 1992 on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
It was banned after a multi-billion-yuan trading scandal.
Wanguo Securities, then the nation's largest brokerage, conducted illegal trading of a government bond futures contract.
The trading led to multi-billion-yuan losses and bankruptcy of the company.
Biz Reports
Stocks
Markets closed mixed today here in Asia, with Chinese markets rallying around sings that economic reforms are being pushing forward.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.83%, capping a weekly gain of 2% amid speculation that the Shanghai Free Trade Zone would improve business conditions in the city.
The Shenzhen Component Index fell by 0.07%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose by 0.1%
Elsewhere here in Asia,
Japan's Nikkei lost 1.45%, pulled down by losses in construction sector shares as prospects for Tokyo's 2020 Olympic begins to look less than rosy.
South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.19%
Singapore's Straits Times Index dipped 0.06%
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.05% ahead of tomorrow's elections.
Shanghai FTZ to enjoy free convertibility of RMB
China will allow unfettered exchange of the RMB in the soon-to-be inaugurated first free trade zone in Shanghai.
The move is the latest measure to reform the world's second largest economy.
According to a draft plan, the zone goes beyond greater liberalization of trade to take in investment and financial services, including free convertibility of the yuan.
The limited convertibility of the Chinese currency has long been the main hindrance in Shanghai's competitive edge compared with other global financial centres around the world.
China and South Korea FTA negotiations
China and South Korea have completed the first-stage of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement, setting the foundations for more in-depth talks over mutual opening and liberalization.
This was the seventh round of such negotiations and they wrapped up in Beijing on Thursday.
The two countries began such talks in May last year and the upcoming second-phase negotiations will include discussions the lowering and/or removal of tariff barriers.
Review of Shunaghui-Smithfield deal set to conclude later today
A review of China's Shuanghui International's proposed acquisition of US-company Smithfields Foods is set to conclude later this Friday.
The approach on the world's largest pork processor by Shuanghui was first made in May.
The deal has been assessed by the US Committee for Foreign Investment, which weeds out deals perceived to pose a potential threat to national security.
If given the green light, the $5 billion agreement would mark the largest acquisition of an American company by a Chinese buyer.
Pork consumption in China has seen rapid growth in recent years and the deal will help Smithfields products further penetrate the Chinese market.
The proposed deal has attracted substantial controversy, however, with U.S. lobbyists arguing that it would compromise the US food industry and threaten food safety as well as intellectual property rights.
A public uproar also prompted a hearing by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry back in July.
If the deal does not gain approval from the Committee for Foreign Investment, it will be referred to the US President, who has sole authority to suspend or prohibit a transaction.
Apple near deal with DoCoMo to sell Iphone
Apple Inc is close to finalising a deal to sell the iPhone through Japan's largest mobile carrier, NTT DoCoMo Inc, according to inside sources.
The agreement would be crucial to Apple, which has been suffering from slower profit growth and falling share prices.
In the first quarter of this year, Japan accounted for $2.54 billion of Apple's $35.3 billion of sales.
DoCoMo had been attracting fewer subscribers than rivals KDDI and SoftBank lately due to the iPhone being unavailable on the carrier.
Analysts predict that the DoCoMo deal would propel growth of the market share of smartphones in Japan's mobile phone market, where it currently has 40% penetration.
Apple is set to unveil the new iPhone alongisde a budget version next week.
Call-In Doug Young
Anchor:
In corporate news this week, China Telecom is reportedly close to finalising a deal to provide its service to iPhones.
Also, media reports are suggesting that Baidu China's leading search engine will team up with electronic maker TCL to sell smart TVs in order to compete with Alibaba on the same ground.
My colleague Paul James spoke earlier to Doug Young, associate professor at Fudan Univesrity and former China company news chief at Reuters about this week's corporate developments here in China.
…
Back Anchor:
That was Doug Young, associate professor at Fudan University and former China company news chief at Reuters.
Malaysian exports rise after consecutive contractions
Figures released today shows that Malaysian exports took a hike in July after consecutive contractions since February.
July saw the highest monthly exports recorded so far this year, coming in at nearly 61 billion ringgit, or 790 million US dollars.
This is a 4.5% increase year on year.
The rise owed largely to increased demand for Malaysian products like liquefied natural gas and electronic products from its main Asian trading partners, including China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand.
The Malaysian economy had been suffering from weak overseas demand all year, with the trade surplus for the first seven months of this year coming in at half its value for the same period in 2012.
This prompted the central bank to cut growth forecast to 4.5% despite strengthened domestic demand.
Singapore overtakes Japan as Asia's biggest foreign exchange centre
Singapore has overtaken Japan as the biggest foreign-exchange centre in Asia for the first time.
According to a statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the island state's average daily foreign-exchange volume surged 44% to 383 billion Singapore dollars as of April this year.
The figures are emblematic of the rise in trading over the past three years which have propelled Singapore to become an established forex trading hub.
As Asian economies have been essential in the global economic recovery process, trade of Asian currencies have therefore become increasingly important.
The Singapore government had been rolling out policy incentives to bolster the city's financial markets in recent years.
Headline News
Xi Jinping meets with Obama, Merkel
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Russia's St. Petersburg.
Xi Jinping says relations between the two sides should maintain a "sound momentum".
Obama says the two countries have made progress in cooperation on climate change and strengthening military-to-military relations.
It is the second such meeting between Xi Jinping and Obama in three months.
At their previous summit at the Annenberg estate in California three months ago, the two presidents agreed to build a new type of relations between major countries.
Also holding talks with President Xi at the G20 was German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Xi Jinping praised the German government's support on a series of trade disputes between China and the European Union.
For her part, Merkel says a strong Chinese economy will benefit Germany as well, promising the Germans will continue to help solve trade disputes between China and the EU.
'No decision' in Egypt on dissolving Muslim Brotherhood
The Egyptian government has denied state media reports that it has to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood, which had been registered as an NGO since March of this year.
State media had earlier quoted a government spokesperson as saying the government will revoke the Brotherhood's non-governmental organization status "within days".
The interim government in Cairo has been cracking down on the Brotherhood since the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi in early July.
The Egyptian authorities had banned the 85-year-old Islamist movement since 1954 under Gamal Abdel Nasser's rule.
It also has a legally registered political wing called the Freedom and Justice Party which was set up yo contest the parliamentary elections of 2011, as well as last year's presidential election.
South Korea bans seafood from Japan
South Korea is to ban fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, from next Monday, indefinitely.
The move comes after concerns about radiation contamination from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
South Korea imported 5-thousand tonnes of fishery products from the eight affected prefectures last year, which is one tenth of the total fishery imports from Japan.
Shanghai FTZ to enjoy free convertibility of RMB
China will allow unfettered exchange of the RMB in the soon-to-be inaugurated first free trade zone in Shanghai.
The move is the latest measure to reform the world's second largest economy.
According to a draft plan, the zone goes beyond greater liberalization of trade to take in investment and financial services, including free convertibility of the yuan.
The limited convertibility of the Chinese currency has long been the main hindrance in Shanghai's competitive edge compared with other global financial centres around the world.
Newspaper Picks
China Daily
"Commuter aviation expected to take flight soon"
Fed up with traffic jams and want a way to escape?
Look up into the sky.
People in Henan province are expected to enjoy an airplane network that connects many counties and provides short-distance flights.
In August, a Beijing-based aircraft manufacturer signed an 800 million yuan ($130 million) contract with a general aviation company in the province to produce 300 small airplanes within five years.
The two companies want to establish mini airports in more than 160 counties in the province, and use their aircraft for short-distance flights.
All the aircraft produced and assembled have no more than 10 seats, mainly targeting the market for low-altitude flights, generally at a height of less than 1,000 meters.
Xinhua
"China mulls changing Teachers' Day to birthday of Confucius"
China is considering moving the present Teachers' Day to September 28, believed to be the birthday of Confucius (551-479 BC), the most important educationalist and philosopher in Chinese civilization.
The idea was made public yesterday when the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a draft amendment on a package of education laws to canvass public opinion.
From 1985, Teacher's Day was designated as September 10 every year, only a few days after the new school year begins. It is an important day in China, where a high value has traditionally been put on education and where teachers are widely respected.
In an online survey at Sina.com, one of the country's major web portals, almost 70 percent of people support the change, as it avoids the hectic beginning of new school year. The 30 percent who oppose the change mostly believe it is nothing but formalism.
China Daily
"Shanghai's visa-free policy lifts tourism"
Shanghai authorities said the city's policy allowing citizens from 45 nations to stay up to 72 hours in the city without a visa has noticeably boosted tourism.
According to figures provided by the border inspection departments at the city's Hongqiao and Pudong airports, the number of passengers benefiting from the policy has continued to rise since the beginning of this year.
In August alone, about 1,300 air passengers took advantage of the scheme — the most in a single month and a 95 percent rise from January.
The Guardian
"Bacteria from slim people could help treat obesity, study finds"
A new study says bugs that lurk in the guts of slim people could be turned into radical new therapies to treat obesity.
The claim follows a series of experiments which found that the different populations of bacteria that live in lean and overweight people caused mice to lose or gain weight.
The findings build on a growing body of work that gives the millions of microbes that live in the gut a major role in weight control.
The scientists think that a healthier diet allowed "good" microbes to thrive in the animals' guts, and even reverse obesity in the overweight mice. But a more typical western diet, high in fat and low in fibre, blocked the effect. That would explain why there is no "epidemic of leanness" in the US and elsewhere in the west.
Japan Daily Press
"World's largest volcano discovered under Pacific Ocean, east of Japan"
Geologists revealed that they've discovered a monster volcano.
The volcano is underneath the Pacific Ocean and is named Tamu Massif, located around 1600km east of Japan.
This monster ancient is shaped like a single, immense, rounded dome that is made up of hardened lava from an eruption around 144 million years ago.
It is as big as Britain and Ireland combined – and slopes slowly upward to a height of around 3.5km above the ocean floor.
Special Reports
Adding burden for students
Anchor:
Education experts here in China are expressing concerns about a new proposal to try to reduce the workload burden for primary school students.
CRI's Li Dong explains.
Reporter:
Parents are taking their kids to buy supplementary teaching materials at one of Beijing's biggest bookstores, their shopping baskets filled with exercise books. However, such behavior is not recommended under the newly released draft burden relief policy.
The draft guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education aim to lessen the heavy workload on students suggests that primary school pupils should not have any form of written homework.
Instead, schools should cooperate with parents to organize more extracurricular activities, including museum tours and library study sessions.
However, no parent wants their child to lag behind; many parents are actually sacrificing more of their children's spare time to reinforce their learning. One mom says:
"The homework teachers give in the class is much less than in the past; on the other hand, parents are currently facing great pressure. What taught in school are not enough for students. Parents have to make it up in spare time."
Zhang Ruiyue is a primary school pupil in the fifth grade. She says that many of her classmates are enrolled in several after-school courses in preparation for the fiercely competitive selection exams in the transition from primary to middle school.
"Every one of my classmates is enrolled in several training classes, and they attend at least one class a day, adding up to 10 such classes a week. The most popular one is Olympic mathematics, which gives us the ability to solve maths problems designed for much older age groups. Parents say the primary to middle school selection exam may use questions from Olympic mathematics courses."
Scores and exams are still the key indicators of a students' school performance, as opposed to the unquantifiable benefits derived from museum tours and other extracurricular activities.
Kang Jian, professor at the Institute of Education at Peking University points out that the draft guidelines issued by The Ministry of Education won't make much of a difference in reducing the academic burden on students if the standards for evaluating academic performance in mainstream Chinese society don't change.
"What standard do you use to measure the effects of education and a person's value? You may say the quality of education is good, but you are still measuring by the ultimate standard of examination scores, which determines which universities students will attend. My child will be regarded as a loser if he or she doesn't achieve high test scores. This problem has yet to be solved. Although you may advocate quality-oriented education, you still use the primary standard of examination results to evaluate each and every student. Of course, parents will follow this standard rather than any new concepts being promoted."
Kang Jian's opinion is echoed by Ms Heng, a parent in Xuzhou city, Jiangsu Province. While she would like her child to spend more time playing and learning about what they like, she has no choice but to join the majority of parents who push their children to do more exercises after school.
"If the authorities do not reform the senior high school and college entrance examinations, and the mechanism of how we select talents doesn't change, then the policy from the Ministry of Education may add to rather than relieve the burden on students."
The vicious cycle of unsuccessful burden relief has been repeated several times in Jiangsu and many other provinces in recent years where the education authorities tried to cut down the amount of homework. The only way to solve the problem is a comprehensive overhall of the education system.
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
Sports
Jordan Lee gives latest from China Games Liaoning 2013
So we begin here in China where the national games are taking place, in which the different regions of the country go head-to-head in a sort of mini Olympics.
CRI's Jordan Lee is currently at the event in the northern Liaoning province and I believe we can go to her live ringside at the moment where she is watching the boxing.
…
Wawrinka takes Murray out of US Open
In tennis, the defending US Open champion Andy Murray has been knocked out in straight sets at the quarter-final stage by Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.
In a match that many had predicted would go to five sets; Wawrinka needed just 2 and a quarter hours to defeat the Scot 6-4 6-3 6-2 on a hot and blustery afternoon in New York and afterwards, Wawrinka was thrilled with his win:
"I feel great, that's for sure. I'm really happy, for sure. It's amazing for me to be in the first semi-final in a Grand Slam, especially after beating Andy Murray, defending champion. He just won Wimbledon, too. He's a great champion. To beat him in three sets the way I was playing today is quite good for me."
But as he exits the last grand slam of the year, Andy Murray, who's had a storming season until now, seemed somewhat irritated by the journalists' questions:
"Well, I don't know. If I'm meant to win every Grand Slam I play or be in the final, it's just very, very difficult just now. With the guys around us, it's very challenging and like I say, I have played my best tennis in the slams the last two, three years. I mean, I lost today in straight sets, so that's disappointing. I would have liked to have gone further but look I mean, I can't complain. If someone told me before the US Open last year I would have been here as defending champion, having won Wimbledon and, you know, Olympic gold, I would have taken that one hundred per cent. So I'm disappointed, but, you know, the year as a whole has been a good one."
Wawrinka's opponent in the semi-final will be last year's runner-up, an in-form Novak Djokovic.
The world number one dropped one set against Russia's Mikhail Youzny but came back with a vengeance in the last set to win 6-love, and books his place in the semi final at Flushing Meadows for the seventh straight year.
In the women's event a little later on it will be the battle of the 31-year-olds as Chinas Li Na takes on the World Number One Serena Williams.
The American didn't lose a single game in her previous match against Carla Suarez Navarro, so I think Li will have her work cut out for her......
World cup qualifiers due to take place
And in just a few hours, the penultimate round of World Cup qualifiers will take place.
Looking at some of the highlights, In Group A Wales will take on Macedonia while Scotland face a tough match against Belgium.
In Group B Italy are taking on Bulgaria..
Germany will be taking on their neighbours from Austria in Group C whilst Ireland face Sweden.
Looking down to group H, England are set to take on Moldova at home.
In Group I two strong teams are playing away with France facing Georgia and defending champions Spain against Finland.
And in the Americas at 10am tomorrow Beijing time, the USA are set for a heated match away against Costa Rica.
Many of the Costa Rican fans are still angry that the last match in March went ahead despite a snowstorm affecting play.
That game ended with the USA beating Costa Rica for the first time in eight years.
Baltimore Ravens lose opening NFL match against Denver Broncos
Staying in the USA, a new season of the National Football League kicked off earlier today Beijing time.
The Baltimore Ravens, who won the Superbowl last time round, got off to a terrible start following their 49-27 loss to the Denver Broncos.
The Ravens actually held the lead at half time 17 to 14 but the Broncos soon took control of the match, exposing the weaknesses in the Ravens defence.
A team which have lost a lot of key players from their Superbowl winning side will have a lot of thinking to do if they are going to successfully defend their title.
Lewis Hamilton ahead of Fernando Alonso in F1 Monza first practice
It's the Italian Grand Prix in Monza this weekend.
After the first practice session Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is quickest ahead of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.
Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg is third while Championship leader Sebastian Vettel is currently fourth fastest, ahead of the two McLarens and team mate Mark Webber who is retiring ath end of the season.
Ferarri's Felipe Massa who's been told to up his game if he is to have a seat next year, is currently well off the pace, almost a second slower than his team mate, Alonso.
Entertainment
Giant rubber duck goes on display in Beijing's Garden Expo Park
The 18 metre-high rubber duck by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman made its debut in Beijing this morning.
The inflatable duck will be on display in an enclosed branch of Beijing's Yongding river until September 23.
Officials at Beijing's Garden Expo Park said the set-up of the art installation was quite a difficult problem.
"As we know, its height is 18 metres. For installing such a big toy we have gone through quite a hardship. Because the interior of the big yellow duck is all air, so there are high requirements to achieve its stability. "
The duck has been on display in 14 cities around the world so far. The previous showcase in Hong Kong caused widespread sensation in both the city and the mainland.
"I saw that in the news last time it was in Hong Kong, then they said today it will come to Beijing Garden Expo Park, so this is the first time it's been put out in the Beijing Garden Expo Park. I think it's very creative, and extremely cute. I want to take him home and let more people see him!"
The rubber duck aims to have people recall their childhood memories. The designer tried to entertain the world by a tour named "Spreading joy around the world". However, some Chinese visitors say they don't quite understand what it all means.
"What it brings to this purely scenic tourist spot is something new. It needs more promotion and understanding for people to get its deeper meaning. But as for myself, I'm fundamentally confused."
The duck will remain in the garden during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. It will then be moved to the Summer Palace on September 26th as part of Beijing Design Week activities.
The Fifth Estate' kicks off Toronto Film Festival
British actor Benedict Cumberbatch walked the red carpet last night at the opening gala of the Toronto Film Festival to support his new film "The Fifth Estate."
The Disney drama tells the true story of the whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks. Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, as the website exposed corruption in various corporations and governments to share information with the public.
"I think as long as people come out of here interested and intrigued and want to debate the issues in the film and are entertained by that and carry on the discussion outside, that's fantastic. We've achieved our goal then."
German actor Daniel Bruhl plays Daniel Dormscheit-Berg. The man met Assange in 2007 and helped him grow WikiLeaks into a major information source. Their relationship is at the heart of this new film.
Bruhl commented on the red carpet that he hopes the film's impact will hope continue the work of WikiLeaks.
"I would hope that it encourages people to be more interested in what WikiLeaks stands for, stood for, and encourages people to have a bit more of a political conscience and also the courage to get involved more in what we call civil journalism."
"The Fifth Estate" opens in October 11th in the U.K and Sweden.
The band Alabama have reunited for a new album of duets with other country stars
American band Alabama have reunited for a new album of duets with other country stars.
The new album is named as "Alabama & Friends" and features band members Randy Owen, Jeff Cook and Teddy Gentry performing with today's biggest country artists, including Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney and Luke Bryan.
Owen said going back to the studio after being away for most of the last decade was amazing.
"I mean, it's amazing to hear those great arrangements, great vocals, production. Production has really stepped up. It's like a different sound, a better sound, cleaner sound, thumpier sound."
The group kicked down doors in the late 1970s and '80s for country music when they brought a more professional sound and performance to their live shows.
The band says they still try to bring that same energy to their tour, although many of their fans would have grown up and be different by now.
"One thing still is the same we still try to take the energy created by the audience and put it back into the show, you know. It seems to work."
Kevin MacDonald signs to direct Elvis Presley biopic
British director Kevin MacDonald has been signed up to direct the Elvis Presley biopic: Last Train to Memphis.
The film focuses on the years between Elvis's first recordings and his meteoric rise to fame.
Film company 20th Century Fox have launched an open casting call for a young actor to play Elvis.
At a website named 'Young Elvis Casting', actors aged between 18 and 22 can submit their audition tapes.
The site describes the film as the story of Presley's "against-all-odds success due to his uncanny gift for self-invention, his unstoppable drive, and the new sound he created that changed the music world forever".
MacDonald had previously directed the 2012 documentary 'Marley' and the last 'King of Scotland in 2007. Both gained critical international success at the time.
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