The Beijing Hour
Evening Edition
It's Wednesday, November 6th 2013.
I'm Marc Cavigli, welcome to the Beijing Hour broadcasting live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program.
China calls for enhanced cooperation in cyber security.
A new study shows the majority of internet users in China browse on their mobile devices.
And officials have failed to set a date for the proposed Geneva 2 conference on Syria.
Business, Fast 4G cellphones have been released in Beijing.
Sports, Tennis players Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal win their first days at the London Finals.
Entertainments, Veteran Chinese actress Carina Lau launches her new film the Bends in Hong Kong.
Plus Special reports takes a gander at the annual Chinese film panorama in Hong Kong.
Weather
Rain, snow to hit north China
A cold front will bring rain and snow to northeast China in the following 3 days.
The national weather watchdog says temperatures will drop by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius in north China.
The rain and snow will also sweep parts of northeast China, Gansu Province, as well as parts of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet autonomous regions over the weekend.
Beijing will be clear with a low of 4 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow sunny with a high temperature of 15.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be cloudy tonight, with a low of 14, cloudy tomorrow, with a high of 22.
Lhasa will be cloudy tonight, minus 1 degrees the low, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 12.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, cloudy with a high of 23.
Kabul, light rain to moderate rain, 12.
Over in Australia
Sydney, sunny, highs of 29.
Canberra, sunny, 29.
Brisbane, sunny, 28.
And finally, Perth will also be sunny with a high of 27.
Top News
Roadmap of Reform: Economy
Anchor:
The upcoming third plenary session will see the 18th CPC Central Committee work on issues concerning comprehensive deepening reforms.
Experts expect focal points may include major reform of the economic system. CRI's Cao Yuwei has more.
Reporter:
The Chinese economy has on average been increasing by nearly 10-percent yearly since its reform and opening up nearly 35 years ago.
President Xi Jinping has been urging for consistent reform and opening up, saying "the gate should never be closed."
For a macro perspective on this weekend's plenum, Klaus Rohland, the World Bank's Country Director for China spoke about his expectations on the direction of economic reform.
"We believe the shift from a strategy that focuses on the quantity of growth, the percentage of growth rates, to quality of growth, to make sure that growth benefits all the people of China alike. As you change the maybe winners and losers, people who benefit from the change and people who have to give up something, and to get this balance right between two or three groups will be crucial for the reform to succeed. "
Meanwhile, Yin Xingmin is the deputy director of the Center for Economic Research China, a think tank for China's State Council. He says the monopolized position of some key industries and over regulation from the government has restricted economic development.
He adds these problems are leading to unfairness in market competition.
"Some sectors, based on state-owned enterprises, they got well and special preference from the government agencies. It is unfair for private sectors in some industries fields, such as infrastructure sectors and financial sectors."
Yin points out the market is not playing an effective role in locating resources through basic mechanisms, since private capitals are highly restricted in some sectors including financing, banking and security.
He says more could be done to encourage fair competition and further open up the market.
"The first one is how to reduce the scope of monopoly in economic fields, and the second one, to speed up the opening up policies for overseas enterprises, and also the third one to open the market for small and medium-sized enterprises to enter into the business sectors."
Experts expect the economic reform could also cover areas such as income distribution, taxation, welfare system, and land reform.
The roadmap of China's reform is usually laid out by the central committee during third plenary sessions, which happens every five years.
This year's plenum will be held in Beijing starting this Saturday.
For CRI, this is Cao Yuwei.
China calls for enhanced cooperation in global cybersecurity
Anchor:
A senior Chinese official says China has committed itself to create favorable policy and a market environment for the development of Internet.
Cai Mingzhao, Director of China's State Council Information Office, also calls for global cooperation in maintaining cyber security.
He makes the remark at the ongoing world cyberspace summit in San Francisco.
CRI's Yu Yang has more.
Reporter:
More than 350 cyber security leaders from over 40 countries gather at the World Cyberspace Cooperation Summit, a global security nonprofit organization.
Cai Mingzhao, Director of China's State Council Information Office, made a keynote speech at the summit.
Cai says China is facing severe cyber security challenges like other countries.
"From January to August, more than 20-thousand Chinese websites were tampered with by hackers and more than eight million computer hosts were controlled by Trojans or bonnets, a 14 percent increase from 2012. It has caused severe damage to China's economic development and people's normal life."
Cai Mingliang also highlights positive results in Sino-US cooperation in cyber security.
"China and the United States have set up a cyber security working group within the framework of the strategic security dialogue. The two countries should make full use of the mechanism to carry out in-depth dialogue and consultation, clear up doubts, control differences and expand cooperation."
The official calls for wider cooperation in tackling cyber security issues.
He also notes that all countries should respect national sovereignty over cyberspace, strengthen legal construction and enhance global cooperation so as to maintain cyber security.
For CRI, I'm Yu Yang.
Apple Reveals Details About Customer Data Requests from Governments
US tech giant Apple has revealed details of requests it has received from governments across the globe concerning sharing their customer's data.
Apple says the most common requests involve lost or stolen devices and other crimes including searching for missing people.
The US government tops the most requests list having made between 1 and 2-thousand requests within the first 6-months of this year.
The UK government came in second with 127-requests with Spain, Germany, and Australia filling out the top 5.
Apple has added its main business is not about collecting information on its users and takes each request for information very seriously.
Increase of mobile internet users
Anchor:
The latest stats show China has seen 590 million internet users in total, of which a staggering 446 million are using their mobile phones to access the internet.
The number of Chinese users accessing the internet from their mobile phones has surpassed that of the personal computer.
Reporter Zhou Heyang has more.
Reporter:
More than seventy percent of mobile phone users are using the phones in their hands to surf the internet. It also means that one in three Chinese people are using their mobile phone to connect to the internet. China's mobile internet has entered a booming period.
Here I talked to a few Beijing residents about how using their smartphone to surf the internet has become an indispensable part of everyday life.
"I use my phone a lot more than a personal computer to surf the web these days. I spend 3 to 4 hours on it everyday."
"I can't live without my phone during commuting hours. Browsing web pages on my mobile phone kills time. I'm back on the internet on my Ipad when I reach home."
"My smart phone is the medium for internet-surfing in my leisure time. Entertainment, shopping, chatting with friends, you name it. I only use my PC to get online in the office."
The latest figure published by the Internet Information Center shows that more than half of the new internet surfers logged on via their mobile phones are migrant workers. For those who don't sit at their desk with a computer in front of them all day, a mobile phone conveniently substitutes all it's functions, bringing a revolution for internet users.
With more internet users going mobile, the habits we've acquired by using computers has transferred onto phones. For instance, using a browser to open an internet link is what most do on their mobile phones just like on computers.
Domestic internet browser providers dominate the Chinese market, with the UC browser as the champion which accounts for 46 percent of the market.
Yu Yongfu, president and CEO of UC browser says his company has benefited from this change of user behavior from PC to mobile phone.
"According to data analysis of the 500 million customers UC possesses, only 17 percent of customers shopped online in 2012. But 6 months later, 36.7 percent of our users chose to pay online. You see what a change it is!"
The seamless corporation between mobile phone browser providers and online payment providers may be credited for the fast growth of internet shopping on mobile phones. Customers find it a faster and more convenient option when making a purchase and payment.
Mobile phone services that include bill payment, shopping and ticket-booking, along with other factors such as the diversity of apps and cheaper access to internet on phones will continue to lure more netizens from computers to the mobile devices.
If the Internet has changed our lives, using your smartphone to surf the internet has changed our lifestyles.
For CRI, I'm Zhou Heyang.
US Pacific Commander Welcomes US-China Military Cooperation
Anchor:
Ahead of a US-China joint military exercise scheduled for next week, a senior US military officer has expressed his confidence in a growing strategic partnership between the two countries.
US Pacific Command commander, Navy Admiral Samuel Locklear says a closer cooperation between the two militaries will promote bilateral communication and understanding.
Our Washington correspondent Xiaohong has more.
Reporter:
Admiral Locklear says he is looking forward to the US - China joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise scheduled for next week.
"And in relation to our ability to do this with our Chinese counterparts, these type of exercises give us a good place to start and to kind of get into the rhythm of understanding and trusting each other. So I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll be a great exercise."
He says the joint exercise will not only better prepare both sides for possible disasters, but also promote military exchanges between the two countries.
Admiral Locklear said military exchanges been on the rise after the historical meeting between President Obama and President Xi at Sunnylands, California last June.
He added bilateral meetings between U.S. and Chinese military leaders and port visits by both navies' ships were also promoting cooperation.
"We have a growing strategic partnership with China – that it's important that we communicate on all levels of our society and our government. I mean, this is a different world. We're very connected in many, many different ways across all of our societies. It's not just one or the other; it's very much interconnected. So it's important that military leaders – as I do with all of our allies and all of our partners and all of our global partners – that we establish relationships that let us understand each other."
Locklear suggested the partnership could foster understanding and transparency leading to increased trust between the nations.
I'm Xiaohong for CRI in Washington.
Geneva peace talks won't happen in Nov& Progress in eradicating chemical weapons
Anchor:
The Chinese government has released a new statement, calling for communication and consultation on the Syria issue and promotion of the Geneva II conference.
It comes after officials from the UN, US and Russia have failed to set a date for the so-called Geneva II meeting on Syria.
Meanwhile, the lead chemical weapons expert in Syria has briefed the UN Security Council on the work that's been done to eradicate Syria's chemical weapons.
CRI's Wu Yanping has more.
Reporter:
UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says the Geneva II conference will not happen this month.
"We were hoping that we would be in a position to announce a date today. Unfortunately, we are not. But we are still striving to see if we can have the conference before the end of the year. And you know, as far as the United Nations is concerned, we are ready and indeed, the Secretary General is impatient to get this conference going, because the situation in Syria is extremely bad."
Brahimi says officials from around the world powers will meet again later this month for further discussions.
The Geneva II conference is intended to hammer out a political solution to bring the Syrian conflict to an end.
Two of the major stumbling blocks are the future of President Bashar al-Assad, and the possible attendance of Iran.
Meanwhile, the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says they've got a lot of support from the Syrian government.
Sigrid Kaag, is Special Coordinator for the Joint OPCW-UN Mission.
"It speaks of the constructive cooperation with the Syrian authorities. And of course it also references the need for future international assistance."
The OPCW and Syria are now working on plans as to how to destroy the chemical weapons, which includes sarin and mustard gas.
Those plans have to be finished by next week.
Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, has stressed that progress is being made at an acceptable pace.
"The fact is that resolution 2118 is being implemented well and at a good pace and with good cooperation from the Syrian government."
The OPCW has inspected 21 out of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country, meeting a November 1st deadline set out in the original plans.
The 2 other sites are still considered too dangerous to reach for inspection.
For CRI, I'm Wu Yanping.
How to manage star athletes like Sun Yang
ANCHOR:
China's double Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang has been suspended from all competition and training.
He is now spending seven days in detention, after driving without a license.
The event has prompted heated debate over how to manage star athletes.
CRI's Xie Zhao has more.
REPORTER:
Sun Yang has been sentenced to a week in detention and fined 2-thousand yuan, or some 3-hundred US dollars, for driving without a license in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province last week.
Zhang Yadong, vice president with Zhengjiang College of Sports where Sun Yang studies, says the police assumed Sun Yang had a driver's license because he is the brand ambassador for a South Korean car company.
"He made a car advertisement on TV. So the traffic policeman believed he had a license. After looking into the system, the policeman discovered Sun does not have a license at all."
The issue has triggered a heated debate as to how to manage star athletes.
On top of the driving accident, Sun has also been suspended from all commercial activities for breaching a "series of team rules" in February.
Wu Han, vice editor-in-Chief with TiTan Sports, says the star athletes' great achievements can often mask the loopholes of sports management system.
"Some problems occur when the traditional professional management model contradicts the current sports professionalism trend. In the past, the athletes' achievements were considered as a simple evaluation standard in the traditional management model. When the athletes have good achievements, they can make a compromise with the management model."
Yang Ming, a sports reporter at Xinhua News Agency says Sun Yang needs a management team just as China's famous athlete Liu Xiang has one, to support him.
"Sun Yang can be compared with Liu Xiang as both swimming and track and field are big athletics games. Liu can garner support from a management team authorized by the Chinese Athletic Association. Though they are not as professional as world-class teams, it still works for Liu Xiang."
Wu Han adds China's tennis Ace Li Na also has her own management team.
"Li Na, she should self-discipline as an international professional player on one hand. On the other, she has her own team to manage her. At the beginning of this year, Li got involved in a verbal dispute with a reporter when the French Open was underway. Afterwards, the dispute had been well dealt with through her team, her coach and herself. "
But Wu Han also adds different management models should be adopted when it comes to managing different star athletes.
For CRI, I am Xie Zhao.
Biz Reports
Asian stock
Reporter:
Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday, with Bank of Chongqing struggling through debut in Hong Kong while a weaker yen supported shares in Tokyo.
The moves on Wednesday in Asia were moderate for many markets, with stocks sticking close to the breakeven mark as investors waited for major events later in the week.
In China
The Shanghai Composite shrank 0.8 percent
The Shenzhen Component gave up 1.9 percent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3 percent.
Being the first Chinese bank to go public in three years, the Bank of Chongqing fell 0.3 percent in its first trading day in Hong Kong.
The fifth-largest bank in Chongqing raised 546 million dollars in an offering.
Elsewhere,
South Korean shares ended almost unchanged.
Tokyo stocks ended higher as sentiment was buoyed by strong earnings of Toyota.
The Nikkei 225 increased 0.8 percent.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index closed flat.
China's First 4G Cellphone is for Booking
Users in Beijing are the first batch of consumers who can start booking the 4G cellphones today.
China Mobile will release several Sumsung and Sony cellphones which link to the 4G mobile network.
To take advantage of the faster online 4G network users must replace their original SIM card with a new USIM card.
Their original cellphone numbers can be kept.
4G is four times faster than the 3G network however, 4G currently has very limited coverage in Beijing.
HTC expects sales to fall further in 4Q
Anchor:
Smartphone maker HTC is warning its revenues are likely to fall further in the fourth-quarter.
The Taiwan-based company says its revenues for this current quarter are likely to come in at around 1.5 billion US dollars.
HTC has recorded a net loss of 100 million US dollars in the third quarter.
According to a recent market survey, HTC has slipped out of the global top 10 smart phone makers this year.
For more on HTC's situation, we're earlier spoke to Benjamin Cavendar, associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
…
Back Anchor:
Benjamin Cavendar, associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
Sinopec to Increase Natural Gas Supply in the Winter-Spring Peak Season
Media reports indicate the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation or Sinopec Group is likely to raise its natural gas supply by 10.5 percent in the coming months.
Over 7.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be brought to the market over the winter and spring.
That's an increase of 720 million cubic meters from the same period last year.
Sinopec has already added its annual production capacity of 4 billion cubic meters this year.
The move follows the call from the National Development and Reform Commission, urging the major oil producers to ensure adequate supply of natural gas to residential and transportation users.
Anti-austerity strike brings Greece to a halt during troika visit
Greeks have once again taken to the streets to protest against the country's austerity measures as the troika is beginning to start a review talk under the bailout form.
The 24 hour walkout by Greece's largest public and private sector unions brought much of the country to a standstill.
The unions are also protesting against planned public sector job cuts and privatizations.
Antonia Moropoulou is the principal of Polytechnic University.
"We are giving the possibility to Greek engineers to have the skills to work worldwide and this is something we are going to defend. That is why we are struggling to defend our administrative employees."
The European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund restarted talks Tuesday on spending reforms of Greece.
Vagelis Agapitos is an independent economist in the country.
"The implementation of these reforms is now touching the inner nucleus of the Greek enormous public sector. At some point people need to leave their jobs in the public sector and - if you like - complete the transformation from a massive public-sector driven economy into an economy driven by exports and the private sector. Part of that, unfortunately is the pain."
Greece and their foreign lenders are at odds over the size of a 2014 budget gap and whether to require more austerity measures to cover it.
Financial crisis hits happiness levels
A new report suggests levels of happiness have been hit by the financial crisis in member countries of the OECD.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reports levels of "life satisfaction" dropped sharply between 2007 to 2012 in countries like Greece and Spain.
Greece saw average life satisfaction levels fall by 20 percent, while Spain saw a decline of 12 percent and Italy 10 percent.
However, the UK saw its happiness levels rise 1 percent over the 5-year period and Germany saw a life satisfaction increase of 4 percent.
The survey gauges quality of life under 11 categories, including personal security and work-life balance.
Headline News
Li Keqiang calls for all-round rural reform
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged efforts to push forward comprehensive reforms in the country's rural sector.
The Premier made the remark during an inspection of the country's first approved pilot sites of agricultural modernization in Heilongjiang Province.
Li Keqiang stresses the importance of accelerating modern agriculture.
He also calls for innovation in agricultural production and operation mechanism, providing rural people's rights and interests are preserved.
N China explosions caused by self-made bombs
Police have now confirmed the explosions outside the provincial office of the Commuinst Party of China in Shanxi were caused by self-made bombs.
The series of blasts in Shanxi's capital Taiyuan have killed one person and injured 8, with one person in critical condition.
Two cars were also damaged by the explosions with reports saying there were 8 loud blasts.
Police have found steel beads and circuit boards scattered at the scene.
Further investigation is under way.
China's First 4G Cellphone is for Booking
Users in Beijing are the first batch of consumers who can start booking the 4G cellphones today.
China Mobile will release several Sumsung and Sony cellphones which link to the 4G mobile network.
To take advantage of the faster online 4G network users must replace their original SIM card with a new USIM card.
Their original cellphone numbers can be kept.
4G is four times faster than the 3G network however, 4G currently has very limited coverage in Beijing.
Chinese abacus nominated for Wolrd Intangible Cultural Heritage
China's Zhusuan or the knowledge and practice of arithmetic calculation with an abacus has been nominated by the UNSECO for competition to be listed as World Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The final result will be announced early next month.
With a history of more than 18-hundred years, the abacus was considered the world's most ancient computer.
Experts are calling for preserving the time honored invention that has been slowly fading away from people's lives, as only a few people use it now.
Toronto Mayor Admits to Smoking Crack
Rob Ford, the Mayor of Toronto, has admitted to smoking crack one year ago during a drunk stupor.
Ford has been denying the claim for the past week.
A video in police possession has showed him smoking the highly addictive and dirty drug.
However, Ford insists he didn't lie to the press about his drug use, but rather claims reporters didn't ask the correct question.
Some city councilors have called for Ford to either resign, or take a leave of absence.
One councilor says the Toronto mayor no longer has a shred of credibility.
US elections: NY mayor Bloomberg out
Exit polls suggest Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio has defeated three-term New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the first major round of elections.
Republican Chris Christie has been re-elected governor of New Jersey,
In the Virginia governor election, the race is too close to call.
Tuesday's elections are seen as an early test of the Republican and Democratic parties' strengths ahead of next year's critical congressional mid-term elections.
Newspaper Picks
China Daily
"Shanghai still the favorite city for expats"
A survey released today shows Shanghai topped the list as foreigners' favorite city in the Chinese mainland this year.
Shanghai beat over 29 candidate cities with the highest ranking in terms of working and living conditions, expat-friendliness and administrative capacity.
The survey, called "Amazing China - The Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Foreigners", was launched in 2010 to find out which Chinese cities are the most attractive to foreigners.
This year, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Qingdao ranked in the top 10.
All of the top 10 cities are situated in eastern China, where the country is economically more developed.
China News Service
"Demand spikes in China for Japanese formula, diapers and masks"
Young Chinese parents are asking their relatives and friends in Japan to buy formula for them once again, after Japanese milk-powder producer Meiji last month announced that it would pull out of China.
Chen Lijiang, 35, lives in Japan and has received numerous requests from friends in China to purchase baby formula.
Chinese are also eager to purchase paper diapers from Japan. They say the overall cost is still much cheaper than in China.
Moreover, the frequent smoggy weather in northern China has inspired overseas Chinese to buy respiratory masks from Japan. N95 particulate respirators have been the most popular.
N95 is a rating of inhalable particles set out by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Korea Times
"High-income men live 10 years longer"
A study by a team at Seoul National University Hospital has shown that the top 20 percent in men's income bracket live to an average age of 77.
Nine years longer than the 68 for those in the lowest 20 percent.
For women, the corresponding figures were 83 against 79, less than half the difference for men.
There was also a huge difference between men working regular jobs which offer health insurance. For those who do not have this the difference is raised to 14 years.
However the corresponding figure for women was only 1.4 years, indicating that having a regular job has little health implications for women.
The Telegraph
"Traffic noise frightens away birds"
Scientists have found that the noise created by passing traffic causes birds to actively avoid areas afflicted by the sound.
They created a "phantom road" in the middle of an area of roadless countryside by playing traffic noise over a set of speakers.
They found that the abundance of birds in the area declined by more than a quarter. Two species avoided the areas where the sounds were played altogether.
The scientists believe the noise of roads may drive birds away because it makes it harder for them to listen for predators and can mask their own songs.
Previous research has found that many birds change their songs when living in noisy environments like towns and cities.
Special Reports
HK holds annual Chinese Film Panorama
Anchor:
The annual "Chinese film panorama" has opened in Hong Kong with 10 mainland movies to be screened in the coming month.
The mainland's thriving film industry has begun seeping into Hong Kong culture and winning over more and more audiences.
CRI's Hong Kong correspondent Xu Weiyi has the story.
Reporter:
This year's "Chinese film panorama" is the 17th of its kind.
According to Tsang Tak-sing, Hong Kong's Secretary for Home Affairs, the ten mainland movies selected for this year's show are all great productions of the past two years.
"The films are in a diverse range of genres. They cover various issues in modern society and each has its own artistic value. We can see the latest achievements of the mainland film industry from these movies."
The opening film "Feng Shui" is directed by Wang Jing.
It tells the misfortune a middle-aged woman experiences after moving into a new home which has bad feng shui.
Leading actress Yan Bingyan won several best actress awards for her role in this film.
Other films to be screened include "Caught in the Web" by famous director Chen Kaige, teen movie "Young Style" and city comedy "Kill the Boss", to name a few.
China is now the second largest film market in the world and the third biggest film-producing country.
The thriving film industry has made many productions with good box office results.
Even in the competitive market of Hong Kong, mainland films now have a share.
Each year, Hong Kong's theaters introduce some mainland movies with a good reputation such as this year's films including Finding Mr. Right, American dreams in China, Tiny Times 1.0 and So Young.
Charlotte Tsoi works in a movie theater in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
She says this year's mainland movies screened at her theater are not bad, in terms of box office.
"Sometimes we show mainland movies or co-productions, such as the Grandmaster and My Lucky Star. The Grandmaster has many audiences, because it stars Tony Leung who has a lot of fans. Other mainland movies have fine performances too."
Although mainland films once attracted mainly older people in Hong Kong, they are now winning over more young audiences.
Kiki Wong is a 20-something year old frequent film-goer.
She has watched many of the mainland movies screened in Hong Kong in the past year, and finds most of them interesting.
"Yes, I have seen the movie Finding Mr. Right. I think it's quite good. So I even recommended it to my friends. Because we are all in China, we can understand why the movies have such plots."
The ongoing Chinese film panorama 2013 will offer more choice for movie goers in Hong Kong.
The event runs until early December.
For CRI, this is Xu Weiyi reporting from Hong Kong.
Sports
Djokovic and Nadal both bagged opening match victories in London
In tennis, both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal capped their first day at the London Finals with victories.
Djokovic kept his hopes of ending the year as the top player alive after beating Roger Federer 6-4 6-7 6-2 in his opening match.
The victory marks the 18 straight win for the Serb since he last lost to Nadal in the U.S. Open.
Djokovic will next meet Argentine Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday.
Federer will now look to defeat Frenchman Richard Gasquet tomorrow to be able to survive the group stage at all.
Earlier in the day, current world number one Rafael Nadal made easy work of his fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2.
"What makes me happy is to feel myself again, competitive, playing well, competing for the most important events and that's what happened this year, so anything that happens here, that's not going to change that. My season probably is one of the best of my career and for sure the one that I'm most satisfied with."
Ferrer had beaten Nadal three days before in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters but was barely surviving the one hour-15 -minute match this time.
Nadal now joins Stanislas Wawrinka on top of Group A with one win.
He only needs one more victory at London to finish the season on top of the ATP rankings.
Rockets thrash Portland 116-101
In the NBA,
James Harden and Dwight Howard combined for 62 points to help the Houston Rockets thrash Portland Trailblazers 116-101.
The Rockets moved to the top of the Western Conference after four games in five nights.
They next return to Houston to host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
Portland has a 2-2 record and next host the Sacramento Kings on Friday.
Over in the East, LeBron James scored 35 points to power Miami through the Toronto Raptors 104-95.
The win is Miami's first road win of the season and its 12th straight decision over the Raptors.
The Heats were without forward Chris Bosh, who missed the game following the birth of his second child, a beautiful baby girl.
In other action, Tony Parker led San Antonio for a road win over the Denver Nuggets 102-94.
Atlanta held off the Sacramento Kings to notch a 105-100 victory.
Elsewhere, it was Phoenix bettering New Orleans 104-98.
Dallas Mavericks thumping the Lakers 123-104.
And lastly Charlotte snapped a lengthy winless streak on the road with a 102-97 victory over New York.
Man City beat CSKA Moscow 5-2 to reach Champions League elimination rounds with two games to spare
In football,
Great news for Manchester city fans as the team has just reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in club history.
Alvaro Negredo scored a hat-trick and Sergio Aguero added two goals to give City a commanding 5-2 home win over CSKA Moscow.
City Manager Manuel Pellegrini was proud the team has made into the last 16 with two more games to spare.
"Very well, very happy as this is an achievement that the club did not do in the last two years. It is not easy to do it and two games before the group finishes we are now in the last 16 so that is very important for the club, the player and the fans, the whole club."
The result gave city nine points in Group D and they now qualify for the elimination rounds alongside group leaders Bayern Munich.
Bayern have 12 points after beating Czech side Viktoria Plzen 1-0 away.
Also from the Champions League actions, Juventus have kept their hopes of moving to the last 16 alive after holding Real Madrid to a 2-2 home draw.
Arturo Vidal game Juve the half-time lead from penalty.
Real's superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Bareth Bale both had a goal for the Spanish side before Fernando Llorente headed the equaliser.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter visits Iran
Also in football,
The head of the world's football governing body is to pay a visit to Iran later today.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said his trip will involve a meeting with Iran's new president Hasan Rouhani.
"The people of Iran, they are happy to be in the World Cup and this will give, I would say this will give a lot of emotions in this country and you know there is a change in this country and that's why I'm also very, I would say honored to meet with President Rouhani and to speak to him about the future of the country and the future of football."
Iran's national team has qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The country last appeared at the World Cup finals in 2006, the two other times being 1978 and 1998.
Blatter is also scheduled to attend a soccer conference and meet the head of the Iran Football Federation.
Ukraine to bid for 2022 Winter Olympics
Lastly, after Beijing and Zhangjiakou made a bid to jointly host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games yesterday, Ukraine has made its bid today.
According to the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, the bidding city will be in the western Lvov region.
Aside from China and Ukraine, Kazakhstan has also announced plans to bid for 2022 Winter Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee is also expecting bids from Poland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Spain.
Ukraine has participated in hosting the 1980 Summer Olympics under the former Soviet Union.
It also co-hosted the UEFA European Championship with Poland in 2012.
Entertainment
US NY Chinese Film Festival- Vicki Zhao, Donnie Yen, and Miriam Yeung walk red carpet at New York Chinese Film Festival
In New York the fourth annual Chinese Film kicked off last night,
Hundreds of fans flocked to the famous Lincoln Center to catch a glimpse of Chinese stars including Vicki Zhao, Donnie Yen and Mirian Yeung.
Opening the festival this year is the film "So Young"
The directoral debut of Vicki Zhao has seen her nominated for Best New Director at the upcoming Golden Horse Awards which celebrate their 50th year on November 23rd.
Kung Fu star Donnie Yen was also in with his wife, Cissy Wang, on the freezing New York evening they gave thanks to the fans:
"(Yen) Good evening. I'm very happy to be here again. It's very cold but you guys are very, very warm. You make me feel welcome,(Wife) Thank you for having us we're very happy to be here."
Another example of how the Chinese film industry is growing in importance.
Follows a number of recent Hollywood films from James Bond, Transformers, Gravity, Keanu Reeves's Man of Tai Chi.
The Chinese hollywood is currently being built by the Wanda billionaire Wang Jian Lin.
The New York Chinese Film Festival, presented by the Chinese American Arts Council and CCTV-6 Movie Channel, continues through Thursday.
Tilda Swinton celebrates 53rd birthday at Manhattan Museum of Modern art
And while all that was in full swing.. there was another celebration kicking off across town as Tilda Swinton celebrated her birthday at Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art.
Joined by A list friends the 53-year-old enjoyed her first birthday celebration in many years:
"I didn't have a birthday party since I was nine years old, for various reasons, it's very sad but,this is my next birthday party, so yeah, it doesn't get much better than this - having David Bowie in."
I think if I had David Bowie along to my birthday I would be pretty chuffed too…
But it wasn't all self serving, she had been asked to throw the party by the Museum to help support its efforts to conserve film.
MoMA helps to fund new projects as well as conserving film for generations to come.
Also in attendance Ralph Fiennes, who stars with Swinton in Wes Anderson's comedy "The Grand Budapest Hotel" said he was honoured to be invited:
"I've admired Tilda for a long, long time…. I was very happy when Wes Anderson asked me to be in his film and we have this great scene together. But I've admired her since I was a student, you know."
Carina Lau and Chen Kun to star in new Chinese film 'Bends'
Veteran Chinese actress Carina Lau has just launched her new film Bends in Hong Kong.
She plays the wife of a wealthy businessman who's world falls apart when her husband disappears leaving her with nothing.
She finds herself isolated and forced to deal with the pain on her own as she's imprisoned by her social class as Carina Lau explains:
"The hardest part about filming this movie was that she couldn't express her pain and she ran out of tears. I think when you're in so much pain, you have no tears. She can't talk about it with her daughter, who's studying abroad, she can't talk to her maid, and she certainly can't talk to the driver who she sees every day because of the difference in their status. She took on all these emotions on her own. I think that's very difficult to portray, but I'm thankful to the director who gave me a lot of freedom and space to deliver."
But despite the social barriers she does slowly become close to her driver played by Chinese actor Chen Kun and the two of them begin to turn to each other to help face the challenges in their lives.
Lau earned a Best Actress nomination at this year's Cannes Film Festival for this role.
Chen Kun, bulked up for the role….. the man who Lau said is normally quite vain said if he is playing a driver he said he's at least got to have a bit of a big belly for it to be realistic.
"Bends" will be released in Hong Kong on November 21st.
Call of Duty: Ghosts released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
And now good news for all you games out there, The 10th installment of the Call of Duty video games has just been released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
"Traffic" screenwriter Stephen Gaghan was hired to write the story for "Call of Duty: Ghosts" which is expected to sell in its millions.
Versions of the game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will be released later this month.
That’s it for this edition of the Beijing Hour.
A quick recap of headlines before we go.
China calls for enhanced cooperation in cyber security.
A new study shows the majority of internet users in China browse on their mobile devices.
And officials have failed to set a date for the proposed Geneva 2 conference on Syria.
Business, Fast 4G cellphones have been released in Beijing.
On behalf of the Beijing Hour team, this is MC in Beijing hoping you join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together. |