新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2013/07/03

 Wednesday July 3rd, 2013.

Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this evening.
Pakistan Prime Minister visits China with trade high on the agenda.
Tensions build in Egypt ahead of army ultimatum.
Rescue operations underway in Indonesia following Tuesdays earthquake.
Business, China probes possible price-fixing of baby formula makers.
Sports, Lionel Messi's all-star charity match in LA cancelled.
Entertainments, Spin off to American TV series ‘Breaking Bad’ set to announced.
Plus special reports previews the ‘Riverdance’ follow-up, set to make it’s global debut here in Beijing.
 
 
Weather
 
 
Beijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 24 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow cloudy with a high temperature of 35.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be cloudy tonight, with a low of 29,　sunny tomorrow, with a high of 37.
Lhasa will have light rain tonight, 12 degrees the low, light rain tomorrow with a high of 25.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, sunny, with a high of 40.
Kabul, sunny, 36.
Over in Australia
Sydney, sunny, highs of 21.
Canberra, overcast, 12.
Brisbane, overcast, 22.
And finally, Perth will be sunny with a high of 18.
 
 
Top News
 
 
Pakistan PM visits China with trade high on agenda
 
Anchor
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is set to start an official visit to China today.
As CRI's Su Yi reports, trade and energy cooperation as well as trade and the environment are expected to dominate the week-long visit.
Reporter:
The proposed economic corridor linking the strategic Gwadar Port with the western Chinese region of Xinjiang is expected to top Sharif's agenda in Beijing.
The corridor was proposed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during his most recent trip to Pakistan last month.
Wang Xu is assistant to the director at the centre for South Asian studies at Peking University.
He says the project, once completed, is going to benefit people on both sides.
"First, the project can strengthen Sino-Pakistan trade ties and help Pakistan to overcome some economic problems it's facing right now, including energy and power shortages. Second, it will help China integrate economically with South Asian and Middle East countries. Because the corridor takes off from Kashgar in Xinjiang and it ends in Southern Pakistan, the Port of Gwadar and Karachi. So this is going to drive the development of western China."
The corridor consists of a series of special economic zones, on top of a rail link and a pipeline providing China access to the Indian Ocean.
During his 6-day trip here in China, Sharif is also going to discuss clean energy cooperation with Chinese officials.
Wang Dehua is from the South Asia and Central Asian Studies centre at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.
"China and Pakistan have already reached agreements on hydro power stations, thanks to China's experience on our Three Gorges Dam project. The two countries can also deepen cooperation on solar, wind, and bio power and other renewable energy fields. Besides, China is developing technologies that process coal to crude oil, and Pakistan has fair amount of coal reserves, so we've got huge potential in this area as well."
This is Nawaz Sharif's first foreign trip since assuming office last month.
For CRI, I'm Su Yi.
 
 
6th round of China- S. Korea FTA talks held in Pusan
 
Talks for a free trade agreement between China and South Korea are underway in South Korea's port city of Pusan.
This is the 6th round of talks since the two sides started FTA negotiations last May.
The latest talks aim to come up with a draft of the targets to lower tariffs and reduce obstacles to enter each other's market.
professor Zhang Liangui from the Party School of CPC Central Committee, says differences have to be overcome before any agreements can be reached.
"The Chinese side wants more thorough discussion on trade and investment, whereas South Korea wants to talk more about government procurement, intellectual property rights, environment protection and service industry. This is going to be a problem because Chinese government has certain regulations on foreign investments in certain fields. But South Korea wants the Chinese side to be more open-minded in these areas."
However, Zhang says that in agriculture, South Korea wants more limits against cheap Chinese exports of farm produce.
Seoul and Beijing are also seeking to establish a three-way free trade deal with Japan.
The next round of China-South Korea talks are expected to be held in China later this year.
 
 
Tensions build up in Egypt ahead of army ultimatum approaches
 
Tensions are running high in Egypt as the army's ultimatum for President Mohammed Morsi to resolve the unrest approaches.
The 48-hour ultimatum will expire in 3 hours time.
Overnight clashes broke out during rival protests across the country.
At least 16 pro-Morsi protesters were killed in the demonstration at Cairo University.
Military sources say Morsi's position as President is becoming "weaker" with every passing minute.
Under draft plans Morsi could be replaced by a council of cross-party civilians and technocrats ahead of new elections.
However, Morsi insists he remains the coutry's legitmate President and is urging for the establishment of a committee of reconciliation.
He says he's prepared to meet all groups and individuals as part of a national dialogue process.
It's also being reported Morsi has been in talks with the head of the armed forces for the past two days.
Meantime, resignations within his government continue with the spokesmen for the Presidency and the cabinet reportedly already quit.
Six ministers from his government handed in their resignation Monday.
For more on the current events in Egypt, we are joined live on the line by Andy Lei, an American student based in Cairo.
…
Back anchor: Andy Lei, a student based in Cairo.
 
 
More than 20 killed in landslides and collapses homes after quake
 
Rescue operations are underway in Indonesia after yesterday's 6.1 magnitude earthquake which hit Aceh province.
At least 22 people have died and more than 2-hundred others hurt when the quake struck the western tip of Sumatra Island.
Soldiers deployed in rescue operations have struggled to access some areas due to landslides.
Dozens of people are believed to be trapped under debris after a mosque collapsed in central Aceh.
Hundreds of people in one of the worst-hit areas of Bener Meriah slept outdoors Tuesday night as the area was hit by more strong aftershocks.
Power shortages and communication disruptions have been reported in the region.
Indonesia is located on one of the most seismically active regions on earth.
 
 
Bomb attacks kill at least 50 people across Iraq
 
At least 50-people have died in a fresh round of bomb attacks across Iraq.
Most of them hitting busy market areas of the capital Baghdad.
The deadliest assault took place in the predominantly Shi'ite Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad, where two car bombs killed eight people.
Aqeel is a local shop owner.
"My husband works for daily wages and he has been without a job for two months now. We have nothing. I do not have a cooker. Let Maliki hear me. Let him find us an end to these blasts."　
Sustained attacks since the start of this year has increased fears of wider conflict in Iraq where ethnic Kurds, Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable power-sharing compromise.
Insurgents including al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate have been recruiting from the country's Sunni minority who resent Shi'ite domination - since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.　　
Although Iraqi military forces are now better equipped and trained, they lack the comprehensive intelligence resources and air cover to track insurgents - which they enjoyed before U.S troops withdrew end of 2011.
 
 
Bolivia Defence Minister condemns decision to divert presidential plane over Snowden suspicion
 
Ruben Saavedra, Bolivia's Defence Minister is condemning a decision to divert the Bolivian Presidential plane over the Edward Snowden affair.
The plane which was carrying Evo Morales from Moscow was diverted to Austria, after France and Portugal refused to allow it to enter their airspace.
It follows suspicions Snowden was on board the plane which was flying the Bolivian President out of Europe.
"We deny in the clearest possible terms the version of events put forward by the State Department of the United States that Mr Edward Snowden was on the Bolivian presidential plane."
Bolivia's government says it has not received an asylum request from Snowden, but says it is willing to consider such an appeal.
All this comes as a growing number of countries turn down asylum requests from Snowden.
Countries rejecting Snowden's requests include India, Austria and Brazil.
Earlier, Wikileaks, which is offering legal help to Snowden, revealed he has sent asylum requests to 21 different countries
At present Snowden remains stuck in the international transit lounge of Moscow's main airport.
He's unable to travel, as the U.S government has revoked his passport.
Snowden has been stuck in Moscow since arriving there on a flight from Hong Kong two weeks ago.
 
 
A new plan here in China on nuclear emergency published
 
Anchor: Since Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, concerns over the safety of nuclear energy have been mounting around the world.
A new plan here in China on nuclear emergency is making suggestions on how nuclear development should be controlled and responded to after nuclear accidents.
CRI's Xie Zhao has more details.
Reporter:
The State Council has now approved a newly-amended National Nuclear Emergency Response Plan.
Ma Xingrui is deputy director at the National Nuclear Emergency Coordination Committee.
He says currently, China is implementing three-level nuclear management mechanism. The amended plan further clarifies the fundamental tasks of China's nuclear accident response.
"The basic tasks include several aspects. We should deal with the nuclear accident which has taken place or probably will occur. We should try our best to ease and control the accident and alleviate or eliminate casualties and loss of property. Meanwhile, we should maintain public security and social stability."
Xu Ping is deputy director at the National Nuclear Accident Office.
He says the new plan issues more detailed emergency preparations and protection measures, and puts more emphasis on emergency response.
"According to previous experience, one key point of the amended plan enhances operability of nuclear accident emergency response greatly. So far, we have four categories regarding nuclear accident. The amended plan specifies detailed response procedures when it comes to the four categories."
However, one question on everyone's lip remains to be if a nuclear accident were to happen, how should ordinary citizens respond?
Professor Chen Zhuzhou, who specializes in nuclear emergency response, says the amended plan also specifies these evacuation measures.
"For example, you can come into your apartments to wear mask or use towel to cover your nose. Other similar measures are mentioned in the plan. Meanwhile, the plan clarifies if nuclear accident occurs, what should provincial governments do, what should our nation do, and what should nuclear operators do."
For CRI This is xz.
 
 
Biz Reports
 
 
Asian Stock
 
Chinese shares dropped today as weak data for the non-manufacturing sector discouraged investors.
The non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index dropped in June, dragged by slower growth in construction activity.
When the market closed,
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6 percent.
The Shenzhen Component Index shed 0.8 percent.
While in Hong Kong, The benchmark Hang Seng Index dipped 2.4 percent.
Elsewhere, Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average edged down 0.3 percent
South Korea's Kospi dipped 1.6 percent amid concerns over the weak Japanese yen.
Meanwhile, Singapore's Strait Times Index also shed 1.3 percent.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.8 percent.
Finally in Europe, Portugal's main stock market fell over 6 percent in early trading on Wednesday.
The tumble came after a growing political turmoil in the country after Foreign Minister and Finance Minister resigned.
 
 
China probes into price-fixing of baby formula makers
 
China's top economic planner is probing into alleged price fixing by a number of foreign baby formula makers.
It's being reported five international baby formula makers including Nestle and Danone's Dumex are now in talks with the National Development and Reform Commission.
The manufacturers are accused of violating anti-monopoly laws by charging high prices and limiting competition.
If the allegations are verified, the five manufacturers will face a total penalty up to 1.9 billion yuan.
Chinese demand for foreign milk formula has risen over the years, with foreign brand formula generally priced over 300 yuan.
Analysts expect the probe may lead to a price drop.
Professor Shi Jianzhong from China University of Political Science and Law:
"The price of baby formula has soared over the years. One of the reasons is due to the limited competition in the market. The ongoing probe will lead to a price drop, as it may break the monopoly pricing we have seen so far."
Currently in the baby formula market, only one domestic company is listed among the top five sellers.
In the wake of the probe, Beingmate, a domestic manufacturer announced plans last night to lower the price of it's baby formula.
 
 
Non-manufacturing PIM drops to 53.9 percent
 
Purchasing manager's index for China's non-manufacturing sector dropped to 53.9 percent in June, from 54.3 percent recorded in May.
Based on a report from the China Federation of Logistic and Purchasing CFLP, the PMI for construction sector dropped nearly 3-percent to 59.3 percent.
CFLP attributes the fall to slower growth in construction activity, which has been affected by seasonal factors including higher temperatures.
Meanwhile, in the service sector, sub-indices for business activity and new orders ended two month decreases, rising to over 52-percent and nearly 50-percent respectively.
CFLP says the active service sector accounted for the steady growth in June's non-manufacturing activity.
However the authority also warns of a trend of rising costs as the sub-index for input prices continued to go up in June.
The data was issued after the manufacturing PMI came out earlier this week, which fell to 50.1 percent in June.
 
 
Chinese banks' net profits expected to grow 10 pct in 2013: report
 
Net profits of China's banks are expected to grow by 10-percent this year.
Chief economist at the Bank of Communications, Lian Ping, says the banks' non-performing loan balances and ratios will both increase, posing risks for their future performance.
Lian says the non-performing loan ratio is expected to rise in the second half of this year, but it wont beyond 1.5-percent.
Data from the China Banking Regulatory Commission shows that China's total bank assets were up 16.3 percent this year.
The non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.03 percent, topping 1-percent since last year.
And provision coverage reached as high as 280-percent
Experts say cutting provision coverage may help the banks but only in the short-term.
 
 
Q&A with Benjamin Cavender on Yu'ebao, Alipay's money-market fund investment service
 
Anchor:
Yu'ebao, Alipay's new investment service, has generated over 2.5 million users in just three weeks.
So far users have transferred over 6.6-billion yuan into mutual funds via the service.
The annualized yield has reached over 6.2 percent.
The service, introduced last month, embeds the systems of mutual fund companies' into the Alipay platform.
When users transfer their cash with Alipay into Yu'ebao, Alipay will automatically help them set up mutual fund accounts.
Alipay says most of the funds are being put into corporate debt and government bonds.
For more on the new investment tool, CRI's Paul James earlier spoke with Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
…
Back Anchor:
That was Paul James speaking with Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
 
 
China set benchmark price for on-grid nuclear power
 
China has set the benchmark on-grid nuclear power price at 0.43 yuan per kilowatt hour for newly-built reactors across the country.
Authorities say the benchmark price will remain relatively stable, but is subject to changes based on supplies and cost.
 
 
Crude oil price soars over 100 amid Egypt protests
 
The price of U.S light crude oil has soared to 102-US-dollars per barrel for the first time since May last year.
U.S light crude climbed over 2-percent to 101.8 dollars a barrel in Asia trade, while Brent crude also rose 1 percent to over 105 a barrel on the futures exchange in London.
The rise comes amid the escalating political crisis in Egypt, after the President Mohamed Morsi rejected a military ultimatum.
Egypt is not an oil producer, but it controls the Suez Canal, which affords countries including the U.S to gain access to Middle Eastern oil.
However, some analysts say the jump in prices is likely to be temporary as the demand for oil will remain low due to slowing global economic growth.
 
 
Headline News
 
 
Pakistan PM visits China with trade high on agenda
 
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is set to kick start his official visit to China later on today.
Trade and energy cooperation are expected to dominate the week-long visit.
The proposed economic corridor linking the Gwadar Port with the western Chinese region of Xinjiang is expected to top Sharif's agenda in Beijing.
The corridor consists of a series of special economic zones, on top of a rail link and a pipeline providing China access to the Indian Ocean.
This is Nawaz Sharif's first foreign trip since assuming office last month.
 
 
4 dead, 8 injured in central China mine explosion
 
Four miners are dead following a mine explosion in Hubei.
Eight others have been injured.
The blast happened this morning when 58-miners were working in a mine belonging to the Jinfu Mining Company in Badong County.
Some company personnel have been taken into police custody.
Coal mines in the county have been required to temporarily suspend production.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
 
 
Woman executed for poisoning milk in NW China
 
A woman from Gansu has been executed for poisoning milk.
The woman surnamed Ma received a lethal injection on Tuesday for lacing milk with nitrite, an industrial salt.
The poisonous milk left three children dead and more than 30 others sick in the region.
Ma and her husband were found to have deliberately added nitrite to fresh milk produced by a business rival in April 2011.
The local court found the couple tainted the milk of their competitor - another couple, after several business disputes.
Ma's husband has been sentenced to life in prison for purchasing the poison.
 
 
Egypt's Morsi vows to stay on, army ready to die in "final hours" for people
 
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has vowed to stay on amid the ongoing political divisions in his country.
The opposition and liberals are still urged him to step down.
In a televised speech, Morsi said that there would be no alternative for legitimacy and pledged to protect his "constitutional legitimacy" which was the only guarantee against civil strife.
He urged Egyptians not to attack the army and the police and also called on the military to withdraw its ultimatum.
The ultimatum was announced a day ago to give Morsi 48 hours to reach an accommodation with his opponents.
Reports say at least 16 people were killed and 200 others injured in overnight clashes between Morsi's opponents and supporters near Cairo University in Giza.
 
 
Newspaper Picks
 
 
Xinhua
"China building emergency radio broadcast network"
China is constructing a special emergency radio broadcasting system to spread rescue and relief information in disaster-affected areas.
The plan was inspired by a small-scale radio network established after the fatal Lushan county earthquake in April.
China currently has no special system for releasing essential information, such as warnings, relief materials transfers and reconstruction, to people in disaster-affected regions.
The network is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2015.
China News.com
 "Beijing to Legalize Carpooling"
The Beijing government is making new efforts to improve the city's traffic by legalizing car-pooling among private car owners.
When people travel together the number of cars on the road can be reduced by 10 to 25-percent, effectively releasing traffic pressure in Beijing.
However some say it makes new problems and challenges for Beijing, such as passenger safety and differentiating between legal and illegal private cars.
Only directions for car-pooling are available at the moment. More details and guidelines are expected to be released by the end of the year.
The Telegraph
"Lack of sleep could increase heart attack risks"
Scientists say sleeping for less than 7-hours a night could trigger fatal heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.
Research shows sleeping is as beneficial as not smoking when it comes to heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.
7-plus hours of sleep per night may reduce these heart risks by up to 24-percent.
When combined with other healthy habits such as exercise, a healthy diet, drinking alcohol in moderation, and not smoking, the risk of heart attacks is reduced by 83-percent.
 
 
Special Reports
 
 
Riverdance follow-up to make global debut in Beijing  
 
Anchor:
A new version of the Irish Riverdance 'Heartbeat of Home' is to have its Asian premiere in Beijing.
The new version is produced by the Riverdance team and a Chinese performing arts company will co-produce it.
Zhang Ru has more.
Reporter:
Since its debut in 1994, Riverdance has toured the world with more than 12,000 shows, gaining 1.7 billion US dollars in worldwide box office earnings, to become one of the most successful productions in history.
The show's director John McColgan and producer Moya Doherty recently traveled to Beijing to announce a new version of Riverdance, called Heartbeat of Home.
John McColgan says the new show is a large-scale dance and music spectacle, driven by Irish dance.
"We have a ten-piece band composed of some of the best Irish musicians in Ireland and the UK. We have singers from Venezuela and Zambia. So it's truly an amazingly multi-cultural show with a mix of multi-cultural performers in the band; the stage is still be driven by the pride of Ireland and pride of Irishness."
Riverdance made its debut in China in 2003 and has toured the country ever since.
Zhang Ligang, CEO of Acrosschina Management, brought Riverdance to China several times, expanding the tour from eight to 26 cities last year.
But this is the first time Zhang's company invested in the show as its co-producer.
Zhang Ligang has been cooperating with Riverdance for eight years as its local promoter. He says that when Riverdance first came to China, it took three days to set the stage, but now it takes only 10 hours.
"At the very beginning, after the foreign crew and cast performed in some venues in China, they refused to come again because they said it was too hard to tour China. But now we help them arrange the schedule in an international way. The schedule is so detailed that everybody knows who is going to do what in each hour. This practice has been learnt from the international team. "
Having been Riverdance's local promoter and then its co-producer, Zhang says his final mission is to produce China's own show and make it a world hit.
Zhang and the Riverdance team are planning to produce a Chinese version of Riverdance, featuring Chinese ethnic minority dancers as cast members, later this year.
For China Now, I am Zhang Ru.
 
 
Sports
 
 
Li Na Fails to Reach Semifinals at Wimbledon (back anchor updated)
 
Anchor:
China's No. 1 Li Na has failed to rewrite her record at Wimbledon. She was beaten by 4th seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals.
CRI's London correspondent Tu Yun has more.
Reporter:
Their last meeting here at Wimbledon was three years ago, when Li Na ousted the then 21-year-old Pole in straight sets in the fourth round.
Three years later, the Chinese player was facing last year's tournament runner-up once again.
Li Na grabbed the second set before saving seven match points in a game that lasted ten minutes, but ultimately failed to turn the tables around.
"I have pretty big chance in the first set, but I didn't hold. I mean, yeah, this is tennis. I mean, after lose match, nothing to say. Just I have to know what I should do for next step. But at least I was how you say really proud for myself, because at least today I was try to come to the net. So this is the plan with Carlos, you know, the plan. So, yeah, at least I can use in important match. So pretty positive."
This is the second time Radwanska has secured a place in the last four at the All England Club.
"She was playing unbelievable tennis today. Actually I had really tough two matches last week. Definitely I'm just very happy that I got through even though I was struggling a little bit in the third set. Still very very happy to be in the semi-finals."
Radwanska will next take on 23-seed German player Sabine Lisicki, who ousted defending champion Serena Williams in the previous round.
Lisicki raced past Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
"Especially after yesterday's win. I was ready today. I knew from the past out of experience that I needed to make the switch quickly to be ready, and that's what I did. So I'm very pleased. Agnieszka Radwanska plays a very smart game. She moves well around the court. She was in the final last year, so she has a lot of confidence with that."
Also reaching the semifinals is 20th-seeded Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, who upset 8th seed Cezch Petra Kvitova.
Flipkens will take on 15th seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, who powered past 17th-seeded American Sloane Stephens 6-4, 7-5.
For CRI, I'm Tu Yun at Wimbledon.
 
For the latest on the Wimbledon
China's Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei are meeting former world number one Jelena Jankovic and Mirjana Lucic for the women's doubles quarter final.
And British number one Andy Murray will face Spaniard Fernando in the quarter-finals later today.
Verdasco is the first left-hander Murray has faced in 2013, whom Murray described as "extremely dangerous."
Also on today's Wimbledon, world number one Novak Djokovic is up against seven-seeded Tomas Berdych.
 
 
Beijing to see its first vertical running event in August
 
Beijing's first vertical running event is to be held in the city's highest building next month.
The event is part of the 2013 Vertical World Circuit, taking in eight of the world's tallest buildings.
Runners will be faced with the challenge of running up over 2-thousand steps inside the 330 meter-high China World Summit Wing Hotel.
The minimum age to take part in the event is 18 as of race day.
David Shin is the representative of the organizers, the International Skyrunning Federation.
Apart from age, there are no special qualifications required.
"We don't have any specific criteria but we do expect people to do some kind of training before the race day. I know that marathon running, the straight running is very popular in China right now, so the next step is doing some more extreme sports, like vertical running, mountain climbing, triathlons. "
Other stops on the Vertical World Circuit in 2013 include the Empire State Building in New York City, the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan, Spain's Torre Mapfre in Barcelona and Sao Paulo's Novo Edificio Abril.　　　
Runners who participate in the Vertical World Circuit will be assigned points based on their result.
Competitors with total highest scores at the end of the year will be declared world champion.
 
 
Messi's all-star charity match in LA canceled
 
Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi has unexpectedly cancelled his all-star charity match in Los Angeles just one day before the event.
Wednesday's match was part of a series of charity games, dubbed as the Messi & Friends charity tour.
The announcement came out as the Barcelona wizard won a similar match in Peru, against the team led by Brazilian star Neymar.
Organizers are blaming Messi for refusing to take part the event, while media reports indicate poor arrangement might be the reason behind his cancellation.
There has been no announcement from Messi yet.
Tickets are no longer available on the Ticketmaster website, where over 45-thousand tickets have already been sold.
The final tour is scheduled to take place in Chicago later, but media reports say it is also in jeopardy now.
 
 
Entertainment
 
 
Breaking Bad Spinoff Show
 
Fans of TV's Breaking Bad have a couple reasons to be excited.
The last 8-episodes of the entire series will premiere in August and several of the actors have promised fans will not be disappointed.
Actor Aaron Paul who portrays burnout Jessie Pinkman in the show admits he couldn't be happier with the finale.
However, fans of the dark drug dramady will be happy to hear the show's creator Vince Gilligan is working hard on a spinoff show.
The new proposed show would follow fan-favorite character Saul Goodman, the crooked and hilarious lawyer from Breaking Bad.
Gilligan is sticking with Breaking Bad writer and producer Peter Gould on the new show, which they will pitch sometime in the near future.
Actor Bob Odenkirk would also reprise his role as the shiesty lawyer.
 
 
Hollywood Movie for Snowden?
 
Edward Snowden's story may be getting the Hollywood treatment soon.
Phillip Noyce the director of Salt and Patriot Games has expressed serious interest in bringing the NSA whistleblower's story to the big screen.
Snowden recently leaked information regarding a US-based worldwide spy network run by the NSA.
Noyce believes Snowden, who is praised as a hero by some and vilified by others, makes an interesting subject considering he is a hero and a villain.
The director already has his eye on Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth to portray the whisteblower who is currently seeking asylum in several countries.
Hemsworth is the younger brother of Thor actor Chris Hemsworth, though Noyce believes Liam would be a better choice because he looks more like an 'everyman.'
Four amateur Hong Kong filmmakers recently produced and uploaded a 5-minute film about Snowden to youtube with the hopes Snowden himself will watch it.
 
 
Hobbit Sequel Updates
 
Director Peter Jackson claims the upcoming Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug film is geared for a more adult audience and will be quite dark.
Audiences can expect less humor in this installment than last year's Hobbit film which Jackson says captured the children's book aspect of the story.
For the new film he believes it's important the film adaptation tackles the serious issues introduced in author JRR Tolkien's original book.
The filmmaker has also revealed The Hobbit won't be appearing at this years Comin-Con since he needs to finish work on the last two Hobbit films in the trilogy.
Shooting for the final two films will take place during the convention which celebrates pop-culture.
Jackson was hoping he could attend with Hobbit actors, but no one will be available to represent the upcoming films.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens this December with the trilogy ender There and Back Again coming in winter 2014.
 
 
Mumford and Sons Sales Skyrocket After Festival
 
Album sales for UK folk band Mumford and Sons are skyrocketing following the band's recent performance at the Glastonbury music festival.
The band's 2009 debut album Sigh No More has had a 360% increase in sales in the UK and is back on the top 10 list at number 8.
Their follow up album Babel may end up topping the chart at number 1 if it continues selling at its current pace.
Mumford and Sons is not the only Glastonbury act benefitting from the huge exposure.
The Arctic Monkeys' 4 albums and various Rolling Stones compilations have propelled both bands onto the weekly best selling charts.
The sales for the Arctic Monkeys album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not has jumped an astounding 8,431-perfecnt from last week.
Bastille and Daft Punk collaborator Nile Rodgers' band Chic have also experienced a jump in sales following their sets in Glastonbury.
 
 
Lou Reed Hospitalized Again
 
Former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed has been treated at a hospital for severe dehydration.
The 71-year old singer was taken to the hospital by ambulance yesterday where he was diagnosed.
Last month Reed underwent a life-saving emergency liver transplant which his wife musician Laurie Anderson feared he would never fully recover from.
However, following the surgery Reed released a statement saying he is feeling better and looking forward to performing live again.
He returned to the stage towards the end of June.
Reed also has shared his mostly positive views on Kanye West's new album Yeezus.
Of the rapper's 6th solo studio album Reed claims there are moments of supreme beauty and greatness, but also times when it sounds like the same old stuff.
Reed went on to say West is really talented and is raising the bar in terms of the evolution of music.