News Oct 7

News Bulletin

China's Cabinet Lays Groundwork for "Clean-up," Recovery of Dairy Industry

China's State Council is planning an overhaul of the nation's diary industry. Calling China's diary production and distribution "chaotic" and admitting government supervision "gravely absent", the Cabinet held an executive meeting on the nation's milk powder industry and approved draft regulations on quality control for dairy products. Premier Wen Jiabao presided over the meeting which was the second conference on the issue since the tainted baby formula incident that broke in earlier September. The State Council stressed that increased efforts should be made to scrutinize production to restore the reputation of the nation's food industry.

Earthquake Jolts Area Near Lhasa, Tibet

Nine people have been confirmed dead in a strong earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale that jolted Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Monday afternoon. The quake stuck Damxung County 82km from the regional capital city Lhasa.

Boat Capsizes in Southwest China, Killing Eight

Local authorities have recovered the bodies of eight people who were killed in southwest China's Guizhou Province after their boat capsized on their way back from a wedding ceremony. All the victims were local villagers from in and around Benjie village and were in a fishing boat when it capsized in the Yelang Lake.

Chinese Telecom Companies Ordered to Share, Co-build Infrastructure

In the wake of industry restructuring, the Chinese government has ordered its three domestic telecom operators to share and co-build infrastructure to avoid repeat construction. The move will erode the competitive edge of China Mobile, the nation's largest mobile operator, as its smaller rivals will be able to access its wider network. A circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council says existing telecom towers and lines must open up to rivals. Those who fail to cooperate will face future construction bans.

Nearly 70 People Killed in Kyrgyzstan Quake

The death toll from the strong earthquake in southern Kyrgyzstan Sunday night has risen to nearly 70 with at least 50 injured. The 6.3 quake heavily jolted the Osh region in southern Kyrgyzstan, about 50 km from the epicenter in neighboring Tajikistan. Search and rescue operation are on-going and the Health Ministry of Kyrgyzstan has set up a crisis center to help the people in the quake-hit rural area.

Bush Administration Pledges Rapid Response to Financial Crisis

The Bush Administration has pledged to move rapidly to deal with the current financial crisis. The President's Working Group on Financial Markets says conditions in the U.S. and global financial markets remain extremely strained. They say they are working with market participants and regulators globally to address the current challenges and restore confidence and stability to financial markets around the world.

World Bank Chief Says Multilateral System Needs Fundamental Overhaul Amid Current Financial Crisis

World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick says the way the world tries to solve its economic problems needs to be rethought amid today's global crisis. He says that includes turning the Group of Seven into a Steering Group that empowers rising economic states. Zoellick says the G-7 is not working and that a better group for a different time is needed. He says for financial and economic cooperation, a new steering group should be considered that includes Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the current G-7. Zoellick says replacing the G7 with a fixed-number G14, would use old world methods to remake the new.

Iran has No Reason to Stop Enrichment: Spokesman

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi says Iran has no reason to stop uranium enrichment as there is no guarantee that the West would meet the country's demand on nuclear fuel. Qashqavi said that countries that claim to supply nuclear fuel have failed to keep their word.

Tehran has stressed that uranium enrichment is an absolute right for Iran based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty and Tehran will pursue the right to the end.

India to Launch Lunar Mission at Oct. 22

The Indo Asian News Agency reports that India's first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1 is to lift off on Oct 22. The 1,380 kg spacecraft will be carried into lunar orbit by a specially designed 320-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. S. Satish, director of the Indian Space Research Organization says the spacecraft will orbit around the moon at an altitude of 100 km to map the topography and the mineralogical resources of the lunar soil.

U.S. Spacecraft to Explore Outer Solar System

The first U.S. spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch on Oct. 19. According to NASA's report, the two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Called the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, the spacecraft will conduct extremely high-altitude orbits above Earth to investigate and capture images of processes taking place at the farthest reaches of the solar system.

Sports News

Hewitt to Come Back at Sydney International Next Year

Four-time winner Lleyton Hewitt will use next January's Sydney International as a comeback tournament from his hip surgery, the organizers said on Tuesday. The two-time grand slam champion Hewitt, 27, will also be finetuning his form in the tournament for the Australian Open starting from January 19 to February 1. The Australian, who won the Sydney title in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005, has seen his ATP ranking slip to 67 after long-term rest. His hip problem had sidelined the former world number one from this season's U.S. Open.

Liao Looks to Secure Hot Seat at the Omega Championship

Liao Guiming, Li Chao and Chinese Taipei invites Hsu Mong-nan and Chan Yih-shin are among the pre-tournament favorites for this week's RMB1 million Omega Championship in Beijing, the Omega China Tour's season-ending event. The purse of RMB1 million is the biggest ever on the Omega China Tour. Liao, 31, is looking to win his first Omega Order of Merit title and currently leads the list with RMB360,750. Third-placed Li, winner of this year's Dell Championship in Xiamen, is the only player who can leapfrog Liao, as second-placed Zhang Lianwei is not playing in Beijing.

Diarra Sidelined from France Matches Due to Knee Injury

Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra has been sidelined from France's forthcoming matches with a left knee injury, it was revealed on Monday. Diarra will therefore be missing from France's World Cup qualifier in Romania on Oct. 11 and a friendly against Tunisia on 15. The France team will make an announcement on a possible replacement on Tuesday.

Second Seed Andreev Advances at Kremlin Cup

Second-seeded Igor Andreev advanced into the second round at the Kremlin Cup men's draw when Chinese Taipei's Lu Yen-hsun retired with a right ankle injury after losing the first set 6-2 on Monday. Elsewhere, Jeremy Chardy of France rallied to beat Potito Starace of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 while Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain advanced by beating Nicolas Devilder of France 6-2, 6-4. There was also victory for the 35-year-old veteran Fabrice Santoro of France, who had to battle from a set down to beat Yury Schukin of Kazakhstan, who is 187th in the world, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 to get his second-round berth.

Entertainment News

Avril Closes World Concert Tour in Beijing

Canadian punk-pop star Avril Lavigne has wrapped up her two-year long concert series - "The Best Damn Tour 2008" - on Monday with her final song "Skateboy" at Beijing's Wukesong Indoor Stadium, the last stop on her current world tour. During her 70-minute concert, the Canadian star sang many of her hits, including "Girlfriend", "I Can Do Better" "I'm With You" and "I always Get What I Want". Avril also displayed her musical abilities by playing guitar, piano, and drums. She even managed to stun her audience with a side flip as she made her exit following her second song.

Ronald Cheng Makes Comeback in Taiwan

Hong Kong singer Ronald Cheng has staged a comeback eight years after his last concert in Taiwan with two solo shows at the Taipei International Convention Center. Cheng presented a collection of classic love songs that struck a chord with concert-goers. Family members arrived at the venue to give him a boost, while famous pop singers including Jacky Cheung, Harlem Yu and Alex Fong also joined him on stage on Saturday night. The star held a big party with friends and family to celebrate after the concert successfully wrapped up on Saturday night.

Jay Chou Shoots MV for Latest Album

The preorders for Jay Chou's upcoming album, "Capricorn," have already broken the record set by his last album, "On the Run." JVR Music, Chou's company, has prolonged the preordering event and postponed the release date to October 15. This move is regarded as a better way to meet the growing demand and protect Chou's copyright over concerns of online leaks. The album's hit song, "Fragrant Rice," for which Chou wrote the lyrics and melody himself, has been a sensation since it premiered worldwide on September 22.

"Connected" Tops Box Office in Hong Kong

Starring Taiwan actress and TV host Barbie Hsu, Hong Kong actor Louis Koo and mainland actor Liu Ye, the film from Hong Kong based production company "Emperor Motion Pictures" has topped the Hong Kong box office since its premiere. Cast and crew of the horror movie, "Connected", celebrated the film's box-office success in grossing more than 30 million yuan in movie theaters both on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong on Saturday.