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[Metro & Sports]

• Northern China was blanketed by heavy snow and pummeled by severe weather yesterday during the third consecutive day of harsh weather.
• Vegetable prices are up drastically across parts of China due to the snowy weather, with Tianjin municipality, Hebei, Shanxi and Henan provinces at the top of the vegetable prices list, the 'Economic Information Daily' reported.
• Beijing authorities have launched a new wave of city-wide campaigns to promote domestic waste classification, with a more simplified garbage sorting method.
• Beijing's first dedicated art house cinema will have free screenings tonight and Saturday, ahead of its offical opening.
• Athens Olympic champion Liu Xiang has achieved a hat-trick in his specialty event, the 110m hurdles, by claiming the title at the Asian Athletics Championships in Guangzhou after clocking a 13.50 seconds victory yesterday.
• Andy Murray produced a sluggish performance as he was knocked out of the Paris Masters by Radek Stepanek on Thursday.

[Cultural Roundup]  

At a recent ceremony at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cornell University President David Skorton handed over a rare collection of fungi that had been meticulously gathered by scholar Teng Shu-Chun.

A group of art collectors from the Chinese Mainland and Taiwan opened an exhibition in the Beijing Capital Museum. Over 70 cultural relics including paintings and calligraphy, porcelain and jade carvings from the Song to Qing Dynasty are on display.

Another exhibition entitled 'Imperial City Impression: Old Peking Images in Western Prints' is undergoing at the Beijing World Art Museum. The exhibits include more than 150 prints and maps, and over 10 volumes of western publications about China during the 17th to 19th centuries.

Tomorrow afternoon at the National Center for the Performing Arts, the American Ballet Theater Company will bring their treasured repertoire Don Quixote to ballet fans in Beijjing.

[Cultural Voyage] Shaping Urban Future with Global Wisdom

The Forum Expo 2010 Shanghai is the largest and last conference to be held before the start of the World Expo next May. [More than 300 guests have attended the forum, including Premier Wen Jiabao, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, President of the Bureau of International Expositions Jean Pierre Lafon, the Mayor of Shanghai Han Zheng, and other representatives from participating countries. The Forum puts the idea of cities' sustainable development under the spotlight. CRI's reporter He Fei has the details.

Apple Industry in Luochuan Strives for the Top

The saying goes that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. As a nutritious and tasty fruit, apples are a popular snack for many people. In northwest China's Shaanxi Province, there's a common saying: "The hope of China's apple industry lies in Shaanxi, and the hope of Shaanxi's apple industry lies in Luochuan County." Let's follow our reporter to visit Luochuan and see how this small county is topping the national apple market.

[Showbiz News]

• A grand public memorial was held for late singer Chen Lin on Wednesday night at the Starlight Theater in Beijing as friends and loyal fans bade a final goodbye to the beloved singer.
• Jackie Chan wishes to make a film showing Cambodia's natural and cultural heritages, official news agency AKP reported on Thursday.
• Michael Jackson's concert movie "This Is It" has taken more than $200 million at box offices worldwide in the first two weeks of release, the studio behind the movie said on Thursday.
• Taylor Swift's clean sweep of the Country Music Awards helped the broadcast reach its biggest audience in four years, according to preliminary figures released on Thursday.

[Strange News]

• A family named Tang in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region says it's been sharing its home with a hive of sentimental and psychic bees for 15 years. The magic bees first settled in a portable closet in 1994 and since then the bees have peacefully produced 30 kilograms of honey annually for the Tangs. However, two incidents (or coincidences) have convinced the family that these are no ordinary bees.
• A 22-year-old college girl in Tianjin made the wrong decision when she decided to diet by eating roundworm eggs for three months. After losing only 2.5 kilograms and feeling sick and dizzy for a month she went to the hospital and was diagnosed as having an extremely inflamed small intestine. Doctors were shocked to find hundreds of roundworms in her stool sample.
• A sculpture of a New Zealand government minister crafted from cow manure sold for New Zealand dollars $3,080 (around $2,200 US dollars) on an auction Web site. The bust of New Zealand Environment Minister Nick Smith, sculpted as a protest by artist Sam Mahon, attracted 112 bids before being picked up by an anonymous buyer on October 30.
• A British man has been arrested in Rio de Janeiro airport with 1,000 live spiders in his luggage.

[Real China] Maksim Mrvica Ignites Fans in Shanghai

Maksim Mrvica played a sensational crossover concert as part of the 11th Shanghai International Arts Festival.