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[Metro & Sports]

• Most people on the mainland are now allowed to sign up for group tours to Taiwan after authorities granted permission to the final six provinces and autonomous regions to organize such trips.
• Rescue workers have rushed to contain an oil spill covering up to 50 square kilometers from seeping further into the Yellow Sea, after an explosion at an oil storage port in Northeast China��s Dalian.
• Two grandparents in southwest China's Chongqing, have been hailed as heroes after they saved their 18-month-old grandson from drowning in floodwaters
• China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corp will start work on a nuclear power plant in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region later this month.
• Defending champion Alberto Contador has seized the yellow jersey in the Tour de France in controversial fashion after a mechanical problem cost previous leader Andy Schleck nearly 40 seconds in the Pyrenees mountains.
• Tennis world No.1 Serena Williams is in doubt for the US Open because of her recent foot injury, according to the WTA Tour.
  

[Real China]  Protect Our Aquatic Wildlife
Through continuous efforts, awareness about wildlife conservation has increased greatly over the past few years in China. And as the summer vacation has arrived, students are being invited to visit aquariums in different parts of the country as part of a month-long 'National Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Awareness Campaign', launched recently in Beijing.

[Showbiz News]

• Chinese action film "The Underdog Knight 2," directed by Ding Sheng and featuring Chinese actor Liu Ye, is now filming in Qingdao, Shandong Province.
• Singer-songwriter Lee-Hom Wang is turning to directing films, and "Love in Disguise" is the debut.
• Daniel Radcliffe is returning to Broadway next year as the Harry Potter star has landed the lead role in the movie The Woman In Black.
• The 24th Macao International Music Festival will be held in October, featuring Chinese pianist Li Yundi.

[Cultural Voyage] Changes of the Jinghang Grand Canal
The Grand Canal of China, or Jinghang Grand Canal, is said to be the oldest and largest artificial river in the world. It linked Beijing and Hangzhou, two of China's richest regions during ancient times, as a royal sightseeing route and an important transportation route. It has long been remembered through its scenes of stone bridges, shadowing willows and scattered households along it's bank. But how has it changed in the shadow of modern industrialization and what challenges does the canal now face? 

[Strange News]

• "Ready, steady, slow!" - Sidney the snail has stormed to victory at the World Snail Racing Championship in Norfolk, in the UK.
• After Paul the octopus in Germany successfully predicted eight straight results in the recent World Cup, a stock investor surnamed Huang in Fuzhou, Fujian Province bought an octopus to forecast the stock market.
• A highly-paid businesswoman has given up her job to establish an art career creating works made entirely out of American dollar notes.
• A Chinese hairdresser trained in kung fu is turning heads with his unique way of cutting hair �C while standing on his head.

[Flexible Segment] The Return of the Abandoned
Jia Pingwa's controversial novel "Feidu," or "Abandoned Capital" is one of the most illegally copied books in China partly because of its ban from print upon its publication in 1993 and partly because of the explicitness of the erotic descriptions it contains.
But times are changing, and last year the book was officially unbanned after a huge number of pirated copies had been sold to the curious.
Despite the frenzy his book had unleashed, Jia Pingwa told CRI that he is actually a shy man who enjoys a life of seclusion.

[Chinese Music Chart ]
YF: You're listening to China Now on CRI's Beyond Beijing. Time for our weekly segment �C Chinese Music Chart.
Jules: As usual, here in the studio is our colleague and good friend Zhang Cheng. Hi there!
ZC: Hi, Jules & YF. Today, we'll check out the Top 10 songs on the latest Baidu Chinese Music Chart. It includes some of the most popular hits in the mando-pop music industry during the past week.