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[Metro & Sports]

• China built its powerful economic growth on the back of its export industry; however this was hit hard over the past couple of years during the global credit crunch.
• Floods, droughts, heat waves and severe snowstorms could be more frequent in the Yangtze River Basin in the next 50 years as the area sees average temperatures rise by 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius, a report released yesterday predicts.
• As the Chinese capital got its second dumping of snow yesterday, Beijingers flooded into stores to buy up new snowboarding and skiing gear before hitting the slopes.
• Germany and Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke has died after being hit by an express train in an apparent suicide near Hanover, local police said yesterday.
• Swimming legend Michael Phelps struggled in his attempt to adapt to the old-style racing suits at the World Cup short-course event in Sweden yesterday.

[China's Champion]  Qiao Guanhua, Former Foreign Minister of China

Today is a special day in History. On the same day 30 years ago, a special delegation arrived in New York to attend the 26th Session of the UN General Assembly. The attendance meant the restoration of China's lawful seat in the UN. Qiao Guanhua, who later became China's former Foreign Minister, was the head of the delegation.

[Cultural Voyage] Fuss over single's day

Single's day has become a more important holiday in China. But what exactly do people do on this day?

Marriage-concealing clan

While November the 11th seems to be a day for single people to declare their wishes for a happier life with someone else, some people who already bid farewell to their single life a long time ago, are trying everything to keep their public image single.

[Showbiz News]

• Award-winning Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke is continuing his efforts to help younger directors by financing a new film called "Hello Mr. Tree".
• Jennifer Lopez is triumphing in her fight to keep an ex-husband from releasing a movie about their short-lived marriage -- a judge has granted a temporary ban blocking the film's production.
• Rocker Steven Tyler's daughter Mia has defended her dad's decision to walk away from Aerosmith, urging his ex-bandmates to stop talking about the singer's departure online.
• Nominees for the People's Choice Awards are out, and the people choose vampires.

[Strange News]

• A man from Nanjing in Jiangsu province, surnamed Wang, dragged his girlfriend to court claiming she has disappeared with a winning lottery ticket he had purchased.
• Parents of a 20-something man in Tianjin now have to pay their son 100 yuan ($15) every time they want to speak to him.
• Commuters at a London Underground station were shocked to hear the sound of a couple making love broadcast over the loudspeakers.
• A drunk woman who fell on the tracks at a Boston train station has walked away without injury and is now resting at home.

[Real China] New Life for Beijing's Old Neighborhoods

Beijing has undergone an incredible transformation over the last few years. A modern urban landscape of glass and steel has replaced the old city of brick and tile. But a few of the older neighborhoods are hanging on, and are even protected by the government. Now that the traditional alleyways, called hutong, have become a rarity, they've also become valuable.