Morning Edition

 

 

 

Paul James with you on this Monday, July 22nd, 2013.

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

Coming up on our program this morning...

Leading authorities in Israel are offering different levels of optimism about the renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians this week.

Japan's ruling coalition has won a majority in the upper chamber of parliament.

A major eco-forum has come to a conclusion in Guizhou.

In Business, the head of GlaxoSmithKlein is expected to address the China bribery allegations in his forthcoming quarterly report.

In sports... "Lefty" brings home his first ever British Open...

In entertainment.... Chinese culture has become one of the centerpieces of this year's cultural fair in Edinburgh, Scotland.

First, let's check on what's happening on the weather front...

 

 

Weather

 

 

Beijing will be overcast today, with a high of 31 degree Celsius in the daytime, and it will be overcast tonight with a low of 23.

In Shanghai, it will be cloudy today, 36 the high, and it will be clear tonight, the low of 28 degrees Celsius.

Lhasa will see showers in the daytime the temperature's at 22, and tonight will have slight rain with a low of 11 degree Celsius.

Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia

Islamabad, sunny, 34.

Kabul, sunny, with a high of 36.

And in North America

New York, overcast, with a high of 30 degrees.

Washington, thundershowers, highs of 32

Houston, thundershowers, 31.

Honolulu, overcast, 30.

Toronto, overcast, 24.

Finally, on to South America,

Buenos Aires, overcast, 7.

And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with highs of 34 degrees Celsius.

 

 

Top News

 

 

Israeli President calls peace talks resumption "great opportunity"

 

Israeli President Shimon Peres is throwing his support behind the resumption of the peace talks.

"I want to praise the efforts of the Secretary of State John Kerry who worked in an exceptional manner day and night. I want to say that what Kerry accomplished, he did so without excuses, he revived faith."

But while Peres is expressing optimism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is less enthusiastic.

Netanyahu says the talks with the Palestinians will be tough.

"Our negotiating partners will have to make concessions that will allow us to guard our security and our essential national interests. There the negotiations won't be easy. But we are entering the talks with integrity, honesty and hope that this process is handled responsibly."

Benjamin Netanyahu says any agreement reached will have to go through a referendum.

The comments come following the announcement this weekend by US Secretary of State John Kerry that peace talks will resume this week in Washington after being stalled for some 5-years.

 

 

Jewish Settlements in West Bank create tensions in peace talks

 

Anchor

While the Obama administration has been able negotiate talks between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, one of the larger issues to be dealt with is the issue of Israeli settlements.

CRI's Su Yi explains.

Reporter

Itamar is an Israeli settlement near the West Bank city of Nablus.

Around 15-hundred Israelis current live there.

Moshe Goldshmidt has lived in Itamar for 28 years.

(Soundbite 1, Goldshmidt, male in English)

"We believe that we will continue to live here and the problem will be solved one day. We can't focus on what will happen tomorrow, what will happen another week or year, we have to focus on living."

In a nearby settlement called Har Bracha, around 300 Israeli families have been living there for years.

Yonatan Behar is among them.

He says people living in the community don't want an independent Palestinian state.

"We just hope and pray it won't happen. We continue building, we continue inviting people here, hoping that they'll want to come and live here. And the bigger and bigger we get, the more difficult will be to ever evacuate us."

There have been frequent clashes between Jewish settlers and local Palestinians.

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian university professor.

He says the anger among the Palestinians in the West Bank is understandable.

"Palestinians are not resisting settlers because they are Jews. They are resisting because they're taking their land, they're destroying their livelihood. And the international law recognizes the right of people to resist colonization and occupation."

One of the solutions being discussed is the possibility of a land swap.

Palestinian business person Samia Totah is among those who doesn't thing this will work.

"Swapping the land is what? Giving us a piece in the desert and taking up the settlements? How can we have one Palestinian state? Where? Where little pieces everywhere and we're gonna hop from one place to another? You cannot have a Palestinian state in small lands. You need one unified piece of land physically. So the settlements have to go from all of the West Bank, from all the '67 borders, all the settlements have to be dismantled."

And while the issue of Israeli settlements is widely opposed by the Palestinians, there are those in Israel who also against it.

Sahar Vardi is one of them.

"Beyond the fact that it's ruining the two-state solution, it's also taking over Palestinian land, it's in a fact making the Palestinian community small and more and more restricted and allowing military control of that and taking land, taking resources. So obviously settlement expansion is harmful both on political level but also on humanitarian level, on human rights level."

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators plan to go to Washington this week to restart the peace talks.

The fate of Israeli settlements in occupied territories is widely expected to be one of the main talking points.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.

 

 

Japan's ruling bloc wins upper house poll, sets economy as priority

 

The conservative ruling coalition in Japan has maintained full control of the parliament.

The Liberal Democratic Party and it's minority coaltion partner, the New Komeito Party, have won 76 of the seats up for election in the upper house of parliament.

This gives the coalition 135 of the 242-seats in the upper chamber.

The victory allows Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition to maintain its full control of both the upper and lower chambers of the parliament.

It's widely expected this victory in the upper house of the parliament will allow the LDP-coalition to move forward with stronger economic plans.

"The economy is improving due to our brand of forward-thinking politics. Employment and wages will rises as the situation improves. Consumption will then rise and and companies can invest the money they make. We want to create this positive cycle as soon as possible so that people can feel the effects."

It may also allow for the re-tooling of the pacifist consitution to allow for the creation of an offensive-based military.

 

 

Philippe sworn in as king of Belgium

 

Belgium has a new King.

Phillipe has been sworn in as the country's new monarch following the abdication of his father, Albert II.

"I swear to observe the constitution and the laws of the Belgian people, to preserve national independence and the integrity of the territory."

53-year-old Philippe is widely repected figure in Belgium.

A fighter pilot, Phillipe takes the throne as the first King to have a queen of Belgian origin.

Phillipe and Mathilda's daughter, 12-year-old Elisabeth, now becomes the Crown Princess.

The 79-year old Albert II has decided to pass on his throne, citing "age and health."

During his reign, Albert II played a major role in helping to end the political stalemate in Belgium which saw the country go without a government for 541 days in 2010 and 2011 in a rift over language.

The coronation of Phillipe didn't come without controversy.

A large number of Dutch-speaking legislators decided to bypass the ceremony.

Belgium has been politically divided among its French and Dutch speaking population for years.

 

 

15 soldiers killed in FARC ambush in Colombia

 

Clashes between Colubmian government forces and FARC rebels have left 15 government soldiers dead.

President Juan Manuel Santos claims government forces were ambushed by FARC fighters in the northwestern part of the country on Saturday.

Five FARC members were injured during the fight.

12 others are in custody.

This follows similar fighting between government forces and FARC rebels in the southwest of Columbia which has left 4 government soldiers dead.

Government military commander Emiro Jose Barrios.

"The guerrilleros that had been killed in military operations wore private use uniforms, camouflaged, material that belongs to the army troops that indicates to us, in accord with military intelligence, that they intended to supplant themselves against the civil population in the town of Doncello, Caqueta."

The clashes come as the government and the FARC rebels hold peace talks in Cuba.

Santos says the fighting won't affect the current negotiations.

The Colombian government and the FARC rebels have been in talks since late last year in an attempt to try to bring more than five decades of fighting to an end.

Disarmament and land reform remain the key sticking points.

 

 

Eco-Forum Global Guiyang concludes

 

An Eco-Forum has come to a conclusion in Guizhou's capital, Guiyang.

Government officials, entrepreneurs and industry experts from different parts of the world have taken part in the 2-day event.

The event has ended with the signing of the so-called Guiyang Consensus.

As part of the agreement, the Chinese government is promising to take measures to restore this country's natural ecology and curb environment pollution.

Su Wei heads the National Development and Reform Commission's climate department.

"We can impel green, low-carbon economic development by controlling the emission of greenhouse gases. This can also be an opportunity for the industrial transformation and the change of economy growth model."

There are now 42 cities here in China that have introduced low-carbon programs.

 

 

QA with UN environmental chief

 

For more on China's ecological push, CRI's Zeng Liang spoke with Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary general and executive director of the UN environment program.

qa with Steiner on eco

Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary general and executive director of the UN environment program, speaking with CRI's Zeng Liang.

 

 

China Urged to Correctly Understand Housing from Recycling Construction Waste

 

Anchor

One expert attending this year's eco-forum in Guizhou's capital, Guiyang, is suggesting waste conversion as one method of trying to limit the impact of urbanization on this country's resources.

CRI's Xiao Yi explains.

Reporter

China produces over 300 million tones of construction waste every year, but only a small proportion of construction debris is recycled.

Wang Jiwei, secretary-general of China Association of Resource Comprehensive Utilization, pointed out at a special forum on recycling resources that many places have recently yielded bold incentives which encourage local companies to recognize the market value of construction waste resource recycling.

"Real estate developers in China have been using disposed construction materials but they choose to conceal the truth from the public. In reality, they are given support by the relevant government departments including the ministries of construction and environmental protection which encourage the building of green housing."

Industry insiders say China has mastered technologies for recycling construction waste, but the recycling industry is stagnating because few Chinese people want to live in an apartment building made of construction debris.

Wang Jiwei added that since western countries people wouldn't mind the house they live in is actually built of construction debris, we should ask what western countries have done to convince their citizens.

Meanwhile, Wang Jiwei also believes the Chinese government should guide in the promotion of green housing, however, Wang thinks a more urgent task for the Chinese government is working out concrete support policies for the recycling of construction waste, which is healthy for both the people and environment.

"Take construction waste for instance, the National Development and Reform Commission has already mentioned it in one of its planning documents, which encourages an application of disposed construction garbage in new buildings, however, it's still short of concrete incentive policies."

For CRI, I'm XYee.

 

 

Yu'ebao Alipay's Yu'ebao boosts business

 

Anchor

At least one investment expert here in China is suggesting the new "Yu'ebao" payment platform set up by Alipay this past month is starting to revolutionize the way in which young people invest their money here in China.

CRI's Li Dong explains.

Li Dong has the details.

Reporter: From its trial launch on June 13, in just a month, Yu'ebao has attracted more than 15 billion yuan worth of investment from over 4 million users, making it the biggest currency market fund in China in terms of user numbers.

Figures from Alipay show that 58 percent of its users are aged from 21 to 30. They are the major consumption force in the e-business market.

Zhou Xiaoming, vice general manager of Tianhong Fund says the lack of any minimum purchase limit makes Yu'ebao a favorite choice for many young users. Zhou says the small amounts of money contributed by these young users are the backbone of Yu'ebao's capital source.

"There are two major sources of Yu'ebao's capital, one is the small amounts of cash left in Alipay accounts, the other, which is the main force, is the money in their current savings accounts."

The success of Yu'ebao has attracted other major e-business dealers like Tencent and eastmoney.com.

Guo Tian Yong, professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics says the investment mode set by Yu'ebao is gradually changing the current investment market.

"Post 80s and 90s consumers are the main customer group for online consumption. When these people become the major consumption force in society, their consumption habits may bring an enormous impact to internet financing."

Wang Hongzhang, board chairman of China Construction Bank says the banks are aware of the pressure from new competitors.

"The technology of our e-bank is not the best in the field. That's a big concern for us. But we have realized this."

According to the Central Bank of China, by the end of June, the volume of current deposits in banks plus the currency in circulation exceeded 30 trillion yuan.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.

 

 

Biz Reports

 

 

Anchor

Let's get a preview of what's happening in the business world this week.

Here's CRI's Su Yi.

Reporter

This week is expected to be a largely quiet week in terms of economic events after a week dominated by the central banks.

In the U.S., the early part of the week is expected to bring a continuation of the recent strengthening of the housing sector.

The existing home sales figure is set to be released today.

On Wednesday, another indicator for housing section the new home sales figure will come out.

In the Eurozone, the dominant releases of the week come on Wednesday in the form of the key headline PMI figures for the French, German and eurozone economies.

These key measures have been progressively improving despite showing a continued deterioration in many of the numbers.

The most important of these releases are the French and German manufacturing PMI figures.

PMI figures of these two are both expected to show an improved outlook this week.

Meanwhile, in UK, the week looks set to be dominated by one single notable release in the form of the preliminary GDP figure for the second quarter.

The Data is set to be published this Thursday.

It provides the earliest official indication as to how well the country has been performing over recent months.

In Australia, the country's CPI figure is due on Wednesday, which is the only event of note to look out for.

Finally in China, HSBC is set to announce the flash manufacturing PMI figure for this country this Tuesday.

 

 

Live call-in with Mike Bastin on China's liberizing of lending rates

 

Anchor:

Today marks the start of the first trading week following the Chinese government's move to liberalize this country's lending rates.

In a move made on Friday, authorities are now allowing financial institutions here in China to decide their own interest rates for loans.

Under the old rules, commercial banks were capped at 70-percent of the central banks benchmark rate.

Right now, the benchmark is 6-percent, meaning lending rates could only be as low as 4.2-percent.

But at the same time, deposit rates have not been touched.

For more on this we're joined live on the line with Mike Bastian, Visiting Professor at China's University of International Business and Economics.

Questions:

1. Surprised by the move? What's the motivation?

2. Speculation is the government will adjust its deposit rate scheme at the next party plenum this fall. Expectations?

3. How will bank stocks be affected this week?

Back Anchor:

Mike Bastin, Visiting Professor at China's University of International Business and Economics.

 

 

GSK boss to address China scandal at quarterly results

 

The head of GlaxoSmithKline is reportedly going to outline what action the company taking in response to allegations of bribery here China as part of his quarterly report.

Andrew Witty is due to report the British-based drug maker's quarterly results on Wednesday.

Chinese authorities allege GSK's Chinese subsidiary funneled some 3-billion yuan through local travel agencies to bribe officials, doctors and hospitals.

The company has already described the allegations as "shameful".

GSK has already hired Ernst & Young to conduct an independent review of its systems in China.

The company has also sent 3 senior executives to lead the response on the ground.

On top of the charges here in China, GlaxoSmithKlein could also be facing prosecution under Britain's Bribery Act and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

 

 

G20 puts growth before austerity, vows to tread carefully

 

Officials with the G20 have issued a new promise to put growth before austerity.

This has come following 2-days of talks in Moscow.

G20 finance ministers and central bankers are promising to revive a global economy that - in their words - "remains too weak."

They're also pledging to adjust their stimulus policies so that recovery is not derailed by volatile financial markets.

The officials at the sessions have also signed off on a communiqué that acknowledges the benefits of the expansive policies currently in place in the United States and Japan.

The document also highlights the recession in the euro zone and the slowdown in emerging markets.

Officials have also backed an action plan to boost jobs and growth.

Plans to rebalance global demand and debt are expected to be finished in-time for the forthcoming G20 leaders summit in September.

 

 

OECD publishes plan to cut tax evasion

 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has unveiled new plans to tackle tax evasion.

The plan by the OECD involves improving the way tax authorities share information about individuals and entities, such as trusts.

The OECD says it hopes to have a new draft ready for its member-countries later this year.

The European Union estimates it loses hundreds of billions of euros each year in tax evasion.

The stashing of undeclared earnings in offshore jurisdictions has long been a favored method for hiding cash.

The U.S. government has started to pressure banks outside the United States to give Washington details of foreign accounts held by U.S. citizens.

So far the US has been mostly targeting Caribbean island nations.

 

 

Japan PM Abe says want to reach sales tax hike decision in autumn

 

Japan's Prime Minister says he's waiting until the fall to decide whether to go ahead with a scheduled sales tax hike next year.

Shinzo Abe says the government needs to look carefully at all the economic indicators before deciding whether to go ahead with the move.

Under the existing plan, the Japanese authorities are obliged to raise the sales tax by 3-percent in April, followed by a 2 to 10-percent increase in 2015.

Right now the sales tax in Japan is 5-percent.

The comments by Abe follow his coalition's election victory in the upper house of parliament yesterday.

 

 

Headline News

 

 

Israeli President calls peace talks resumption "great opportunity"

 

Israeli President Shimon Peres is throwing his support behind the resumption of the peace talks.

Peres says the resumption of the peace talks offers a "great opportunity" for both Israel and Palestine.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is less enthusiastic.

Netanyahu says the talks with the Palestinians will be tough.

The comments come following the announcement this weekend by US Secretary of State John Kerry that peace talks will resume this week in Washington after being stalled for some 5-years.

 

 

Japan's ruling bloc wins upper house poll, sets economy as priority

 

The conservative ruling coalition in Japan has maintained full control of the parliament.

The Liberal Democratic Party and it's minority coalition partner, the New Komeito Party, have won 76 of the seats up for election in the upper house of parliament.

This gives the coalition 135 of the 242-seats in the upper chamber.

The victory allows Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition to maintain its full control of both the upper and lower chambers of the parliament.

It's widely expected this victory in the upper house of the parliament will allow the LDP-coalition to move forward with stronger economic plans.

It may also allow for the re-tooling of the pacifist constitution to allow for the creation of an offensive-based military.

 

 

4 security men killed by snipers in Egypt's Sinai

 

Violence in the Egyptian Sinai is increasing.

Four security officers have been gunned down by snipers.

Security officials are pinning the attack on hard-line Jihadists.

The latest attack has taken place near the border with Israel.

Attacks in the Egyptian Sinai have become more common in recent weeks.

More than two dozen people have been killed in separate attacks in the restive region over the past two weeks.

In a separate incident, 17 Egyptian soldiers have been killed, and 35 others hurt, following a bus crash north of Cairo.

The bus they were riding in collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle.

 

 

GSK boss to address China scandal at quarterly results

 

The head of GlaxoSmithKline is reportedly going to outline what action the company taking in response to allegations of bribery here China as part of his quarterly report.

Andrew Witty is due to report the British-based drug maker's quarterly results on Wednesday.

Chinese authorities allege GSK's Chinese subsidiary funneled some 3-billion yuan through local travel agencies to bribe officials, doctors and hospitals.

The company has already described the allegations as "shameful".

 

 

Newspaper Picks

 

 

CHINA DAILY

Headline

Illegal TCM workshops discovered

Summary

An investigation by food and drug safety regulators has revealed the existence of multiple workshops that illegally store and process traditional Chinese medicine.

Inspectors have found numerous workshops in the city of Anguo in Hebei that are not properly equipped and don't have proper sanitation.

GLOBAL TIMES

Headline

Enter more security

Summary

Shanghai Hongqiao and Shanghai Pudong international airports are beefing up their security measures.

This follows this weekend's incident at Terminal 3 at the Beijing airport where a man in a wheelchair blew up a homemade bomb Saturday.

Only the bomber was hurt in the blast.

SHANGHAI DAILY

Headline

Calls for better bus service

Summary

Commuters in Shanghai are expected to enjoy a little more elbow room aboard buses by 2015.

The authorities in the city are planning to reduce interval times and increase the speed of buses.

It's hoped most buses will operate at 70 percent of capacity during rush hours by 2015.

BEIJING NEWS

Headline

H7N9 could go people-to-people

Summary

Chinese researchers are warning the H7N9 influenza virus are warning the latest deadly strain of the bird flu will eventually become transmissible from human-to-human.

The warning comes after testing on ferrets found the virus transmissable using respiratory droplets.

BEIJING TIMES

Headline

Real names for phones

Summary

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has confirmed that all fixed line and mobile phone users in China are going to have to provide their real names to their service operators starting this September.

The real-name registration is being set up to try to stop fraud.

BEIJING MORNING POST

Headline

Online gambling convictions

Summary

The Huangpu District People's Court in Shanghai has convicted 17 people for running an online gambling site.

One of those convicted has been sentenced to 8-years in prison and fined 5-million yuan.

The site was open for a year.

YANZHAO METROPOLITAN DAILY

Headline

New link to Beijing rail stations

Summary

Workers are reportedly putting the final touches on an underground link between Beijing's biggest train stations.

The 9.2-kilometer line will connect the Beijing Railway Station in the east with the Beijing West Railway Station in the west.

The new link is expected to be complete before the end of the month.

It's expected the new line will cut the time between the two stations to 15-mintues.

 

 

Special Reports

 

 

Vertical Running

 

ANCHOR

The sport of "vertical running" has arrived in Beijing.

CRI's Dominic Swire brings us this "uplifting" report.

REPORT

Stepping into the lift of Beijing's tallest building.

Eventually the doors open on the 80th floor.

Shaped like a cigar, the China World Summit Wing rises 330 metres above Beijing's central business district.

"We're now on the 81st floor...

Director of Communications at the building Olga Sergienko leads the way.

...here is already where general public cannot access."

We're heading to the rooftop.

Few people ever come up here.

On August 3rd this place is expected to be crowded.

But the people that day will have to take the stairs.

2,041 to be precise.

On that day this building will become the first ever in China to host a vertical run.

"vertical running is anything that encompasses stairs."

David Shin is Race Director and official representative of the International Skyriding Federation.

"So we have a lot of vertical races around the world, for example in New York with the Empire State Building run up, where runners race from the ground floor and normally up to the rooftop."

The 'sport' of running upstairs developed in the US in the 1970s.

Now there's an international circuit that includes 8 buildings across the world.

The tallest is Taiwan's Taipei 101 where runners climb 91 floors.

The Beijing race is a "mere" 82.

"There's no doubt this is a difficult race. Even running up 10-20 floors will bring your heart rate up to 80-90 percent. So it's an extremely tough race. But I think as long as people prepare adequately, they should be ok."

Normally groups of 10 - 15 runners set off at timed intervals.

The fastest are expected to finish the Beijing race in about 10 minutes, which isn't much longer than the time it took us...

Olga:

"We're just climbing the last two flights of stairs..."

You too can enjoy the view if you're brave enough to race. Deadline for entry is July 26, and the money raised goes to charity.

For CRI, I'm Dominic Swire

 

 

Sports

 

 

Phil Mickelson triumphs at Open Championship

 

Phil Mickelson came from behind in the final round to win the Open Championship at Muirfield.

The American shot one of his best closing rounds, recording four birdies over the last six holes to finish with a five under 66.

It was the 43-year-old's first Open championship and fifth major title, and he said it was an emotional win for him and his caddie, Jim 'Bones' Mackay.

"Yeah, he (Jim 'Bones' Mackay - Mickelson's caddie) was getting choked up in the locker room. This is really special for both of us. It's a special moment to be part of the great history of this championship. It's a great accomplishment for us as a team and for me in my career to win this championship that has been the biggest challenge. This has been the biggest challenge for me to overcome and capture this championship, this trophy."

Henrik Stenson came the closest to challenging Mickelson. The swede finished in second place even at par.

Masters champion Adam Scott enjoyed a brief stint at the top of the leaderboard in the final day, but a string of sloppy boogys handed him a tie for third place in the end.

And it was a mediocre finish for Tiger Woods who ended with a three over 74, tying for sixth with fellow American Zach Johnson and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.

And in the LPGA,

Spain's Beatriz Recari beat out Paula Creamer in a head-to-head battle to win the Marathon Classic.

 

 

Froome wins the 100th Tour de France

 

After leading for the majority of the race, Chris Froome was officially crowned victor at the 100th edition of the Tour de France.

"Those last two kilometers.. was an overwhelming... I'm in yellow. No one is going to take it away from me over those last two kilometers. It was an emotional..just what I've achieved here."

After claiming the leader's yellow jersey in stage 8, Froome didn't once surrender his lead.

The 28 year-old's final winning margin of over five minutes, was the largest since 1997.

Miles away from Paris, a group of Kenyans from Froome's early cycling days gathered to celebrate their old friend's entry into Paris.

Froome was born in Kenya, and his love of cycling developed on the hills around Nairobi.

Nairo Quintana, the 23-year-old Colombian, secured second place after a big win on the penultimate stage 20. And third place went to Spain's Joquim Rodriguez.

Notably, this year's winner's podium is squeaky clean when it comes to performance enhancers.

None of the top three have ever failed a drug test, which is a refreshing conclusion for a sport that has been plagued by doping scandals.

 

 

England wins second test at Lords

 

England posted a hearty 347-run win over Australia at Lord's to take a 2-0 series lead.

Michael Clarke's men were disappointed after getting bowled out for 235.

"We let ourselves down. We've got plenty of experience in our top seven. At the end of the day, that's test match cricket. You've got to bat for long periods to make runs. There's going to be times when you feel comfortable and make some shots. And there's going to be times when the opposition bowels well, and You've got to show some respect, and you've got to back your defense."

Australia's late wicket pair threatened to take the match into a final day, but Graeme Swann managed to trap James Pattinson Ibw for 35 to seal the win.

This was England's third biggest victory in terms of runs, and puts England in a good position from which to win their third Ashes series in a row.

Only one Australia team has come back from being down 2-0 in an Ashes series, and that was Don Bradman's 1936-37 side.

Even if Australia manages to fight back and even the series at 2-2, England would keep the urn since they've won the past two Ashes.

 

 

Panama thrashes Cuba 6-1 in the CONCACAF quarterfinals

 

At the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the quarterfinals are underway.

Panama thrashed Cuba 6-1. The Cubans managed to open the scoring after Jose Ciprian split the defense in the 21st minute, but then Panama took over and didn't look back.

In the other weekend quarterfinal, defending champions Mexico defeated Trinidad & Tobago. Raul Jimenez scored In the 84th minute to avoid extra time, and give Mexico a 1-0 victory.

Mexico and Panama will face each other on Wednesday. The Mexican-side will be seeking some redemption after being upset by Panama earlier on in a group match.

 

 

Supersport rider dies in fatal crash

 

Italian Supersport rider Andrea Antonelli died after a crash on the opening lap of the world championship round in Moscow on Sunday.

The race began in torrential rain, which caused many drivers to crash. Antonelli and fellow rider Lorenzo Zanetti crashed out on the approach to the final corner in the first lap.

Antonelli was airlifted to hospital, where he was later confirmed dead.

Race officials decided to cancel the race and the rest of the day's events following the crash.

 

 

Entertainment

  

 

Chinese acts to storm Edinburgh this festival season

 

The Edinburgh Carnival took the city by storm yesterday, marking the beginning of the summer festival season in the cultural capital.

Over 400 performers from across the globe gathered to create a multicultural celebration of the arts.

Chinese acts featured included traditional Taichi, dances from China's diverse ethnic communities and lion and dragon dancing.

The festivities anticipate the arrival of the Edinburgh Fringe, the world's largest arts festival as well as the International festival.

On the bill this year is a production of "The Tragedy of Coriolanus" from the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

The show is tipped to be a highlight, with live support from two of China's top heavy metal bands.

The International is set to kick off with a performance of Prokofiev conducted by Valery Gergiev.

(Prokofiev)

Other acts include a collaboration between iconic singer Patti Smith and Phillip Glass, set to pay tribute to beat poet Allen Ginsberg.

The Edinburgh Internationl Festival runs from 9th August to 1st September.

 

 

Comic Con touches down at San Diego

 

Thousands of revelers flocked to the annual Comic-Con convention, which touched down in San Diego over the weekend.

The multi-genre event brings together fans of film, comics and computer games.

With the next crop of sci-fi movies hot in the pipelines, the cream of Hollywood came down to greet their fans.

Warner Brothers, Legendary, 20th Century Fox and Marvel studios all made a stellar showing at the convention.

The full cast of the Hunger Games: Catching Fire joined director Francis Lawrence on the Lionsgate Panel.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros hit fans with the surprise news that director Zack Snyder is to unite Superman and Batman for the first time in cinematic history.

(Man of Steel)

The Caped Crusader will join the Man of Steel in the sequel, which is slated for release in summer 2015.

In other superhero news, Scarlett Johansson joined the Marvel Studios panel to discuss her role as Black Widow upcoming project Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

(Captain America)

The Golden Globe winning actress reveals that her character's relationship with Captain America will bring out his complexity in the new film.

The actress plays the only major female superhero in the genre sinec its re-emergence over the past decade.

This is something that Avenger's director Joss Whedon has vowed to change.

(Avengers)

The writer and director renewed the promise at the weekend’s events, whilst revealing the title of the upcoming sequel as "The Avengers: Age of Ultron".

Vin Diesel has long been rumoured to take the role of Ultron, the iconic villain who is poised to conquer Earth.

The feature is set to start filming in London in early 2014.

 

 

Avicii ends Robin Thicke's UK charts reign

 

A look at the UK music charts.

Swedish producer Avicii has toppled Robin Thicke off the top with his new single Wake Me Up, which made the fastest selling single of the year so far.

(Avicii)

The track sold over quarter of a million copies in its first week, making Thicke's 76,000 look meagre in comparison.

This is Avicii's second chart topping performance since February, when he topped the charts in collaboration with Nicky Romero.

Elsewhere in the charts, John Newman's Love Me Again goes to Number 3 while iCONA pop's "I love It" goes to number 4.

(I Love it)

Before its chart emergence, the song became a summer anthem last summer, later featuring in Diet Coke ads and rearing its head in the hit HBO show Girls.

Over in the album charts,

Robin Thicke squeezed JayZ's Magna Carta Holy Grail down to 2.

The singer grabbed his first ever UK chart topper with album Blurred Lines.

The record features the synonymous single which broke the million copies mark earlier this week.

Elsewhere, Pet Shop Boys hang on at number 3 while Rod Stewart is croons away at number 4.