-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The Beijing Hour
Morning Edition
Paul James with you on this Tuesday, June 17, 2014.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this morning...
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has begun his state visit to the UK.
The US government says it's not ruling out working with Iran when it comes to the insurgency in northern Iraq.
The latest round of Iranian nuclear talks is set to get underway later on this Tuesday in Vienna.
In Business... Alibaba has issued a new prospectus ahead of its planned IPO in the United States.
In sports... Germany explodes out of the gate at the World Cup.
In entertainment... it’s been announced a new Chinese film is going to go international.
Weather
Beijing will be cloudy today with a high of 28 degrees Celsius.
Overnight it will see thundershowers and temperatures should drop down to around 20.
Shanghai will have showers during the daytime with a high of 26.
It will have moderate rain tonight with a low of 23.
In Chongqing, it will be cloudy with a high of 30.
Overnight cloudy and lows are expected to be around 22.
Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,
Islamabad will have slight rain with a high of 39.
Kabul will be sunny with a high of 27.
Over to North America,
New York will have slight rain today with a high of 30 degrees.
Washington will be cloudy with a high of 33 degrees.
Honolulu, slight rain, 30.
Toronto, Canada, will have moderate rain with a high of 24 degrees.
Finally, on to South America,
Buenos Aires will be cloudy with a high of 14.
And Rio de Janeiro will be cloudy with a high of 25 degrees Celsius.
Top News
Chinese premier arrives in Britain for official visit
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is now in Britain for an official visit.
Li Keqiang says he is looking forward to exchanging ideas with British leaders in a number of different fields.
He's scheduled to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron as part of the trip.
The premier is leading a delegation of some 200-plus business leaders who are expected to sign deals worth more than 30-billion US dollars in the UK.
Infrastructure, high-speed rail, nuclear energy and finance, as well as London's role as an offshore yuan trading hub, are expected to be the key areas under discussion.
For more on this, we are joined now by Gao Shang, analyst with Guantong Futures.
1. Among all the deals to be signed between the two sides, which one or which one will be the top priority?
2. We know that the governor of the central Bank Zhou Xiaochuan and head of banking regulator Shang Fulin both joined the delegation. What sort of cooperation can we expect in the banking sector?
Gao Shang, analyst with GuangTong Futures.
Chinese Learning in UK
Anchor:
With Chinese language learning becoming more of a priority in the UK, the British government is now planning to train more than 12-hundred Chinese teachers by 2020.
CRI's Chi Huiguang has more.
Reporter:
In a speech at the University of London's Institute of Education, or IOE, Elizabeth Truss, UK Eudcation Minister described Chinese as "the language of the future."
"One of the things we're very passionate about as a government is Mandarin and increasing the number of students learning Chinese, doubling that number by 2020."
However, the British government's plans to offer Chinese classes in schools have stalled already because of a lack of teachers. Data from the British Council shows that only 38 percent of private schools and 11 percent of public schools offer Chinese courses. Each year, just 30 new teachers receive certificates in Chinese teaching and less than one percent of the UK population can speak Chinese fluently.
"Today we were talking about the proposed increase in teachers, the fact that there's going to be a permanent home for the Confucius Institute in London, which is going to be one of the main teaching centers outside China. I think that's a huge opportunity for England, because what we want is many more of our students to be able to speak Mandarin conversationally."
The education minister also announced plans to expand the IOE Confucius Institute for Schools to make it a national center for Chinese language teaching and cross-cultural exchanges between China and the UK.
Chris Husbands, Director of Institute of Education (IOE) of the University of London, said:
"What we have done with our partners in China is to focus on different strands of activity. We have looked at faculty exchange. So we have academics from this university and from Chinese universities swapping between China and England. We have worked on joint research projects; we have worked on student exchange. We think the most important thing that we can do is to build collaboration around research and development so we can understand the intellectual questions that universities in China and Britain are interested in and work together on answering them."
According to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry, Chinese came second only to French in the list of languages that UK employers find most desirable in potential employees.
BACK ANCHOR:
CRI's Chi Huiguang reporting.
UN confirms partial withdrawal of Baghdad-based staff due to growing fighting
The United Nations has decided to relocate its international staff out of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad amid the growing threat from Islamic militants in the north of the country.
Close to 60 international staffers at the UN mission in Baghdad are being relocated to Jordan for the time being.
The move comes as the al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, threatens to take its massive insurgency south into the heart of Iraq.
The group already controls Iraq's 2nd largest city of Mosul after its fighters swept in last week.
The militants also control Saddam Hussien's former home town of Tikrit, where images have emerged of the militants systematically murdering members of the Iraqi security forces.
The Iraqi government has been calling for help from the United States in beating-back the insurgency.
However, the Obama administration has so far been unwilling to commit resources, though Washington does say it’s keeping all its options open.
US open to talking to Iran on Iraq insurgency
The US government says it will not rule out potential cooperation with Iran to stop the Sunni Islamist insurgency in Iraq.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says the US is open to discussions with Tehran if it can help end the violence.
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki.
"We're open to talking to Iran about the situation in Iraq, just as were talking to all of Iraq's neighboring states. I would remind you that we've had similar conversations in the past with Iran, regarding Afghanistan. These consultations would be along those lines. We're not talking about coordinating any military action in Iraq, with Iran. We would encourage Iran to push the Iraqis to act to address problems in a non-sectarian way."
However, the US side is ruling out any potential military cooperation with Iran when it comes to the situation in Iraq.
David Schenker, a former Defense Department official in the George W. Bush administration, says engaging with Iran in the Iraqi crisis could be a disastrous move.
"The administration is looking to Iran as part of the solution to the ISIL problem. In fact, Iran is part of the problem and will not, I think in any productive way, be part of the solution."
Schenker contends Iran has been trying to undermine stability in Iraq since the end of the war in 2003.
Iran and Iraq, long-time foes who fought a bloody war for a decade, have softened ties with one-another since the fall of Saddam Hussien.
Q&A on the situation in Iraq
For more on the situation in Iraq, the Beijing Hour's Shane Bigham spoke earlier with Hua Liming, former Chinese ambassador to Iran and now a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies.
That was Hua Liming, former Chinese ambassador to Iran, speaking with the Beijing Hour's Shane Bigham.
Fifth round of Iranian nuclear talks kick off in Vienna
Iran and the P5+1 are set to begin new round of nuclear talks in Vienna later on this Tuesday.
The goal of this round, like the previous two, is to try to come up with a draft of a final agreement.
Based on the interim deal reached in Geneva last November, Iran and the six world powers are obliged to hammer out a deal before July 20th.
Otherwise, sanctions which had been imposed on Iran will return to their original state, and Iran will be allowed to restart some of its nuclear programs it shut down as part of the interim agreement.
Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif.
"We think that it is almost about time we began writing the final draft. Of course there are still serious differences on various issues. We believe that if the other party enters the talks realistically, reaching a deal will be possible; but if they insist on some irrational stances, we will also insist on our viewpoints, based on the rights of our people."
Iran had held one-on-one bilateral meetings with France, Russia and Germany ahead of this current round of talks in Vienna.
The most significant gap is said to be Iran's nuclear fuel production capacity.
The P5+1 is concerned Iran could make a nuclear bomb if Tehran's nuclear production capacity is not restricted.
The six major powers include the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany.
Palestinian group close to Fatah claims kidnapping Israeli teenagers
A Palestinian group aligned with the Fatah movement has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Israeli teenagers.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of Fatah, says the three missing yeshiva students are in safe hands in an area outside Hebron, where they were taken last Thursday.
Two smaller West Bank groups have also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
However, neither of the earlier claims were considered credible by Israel.
The Israeli side is still pointing the finger at Hamas.
Hamas has denied its involvement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they remain determined to get the teenagers back.
"We are in the midst of a complex operation, We need to be prepared for the possibility that it will take time. It is a serious event that will have serious consequences. We are acting together in a reasonable, responsible and determined manner. We are focusing on one mission: bringing back our boys who where kidnapped."
Israeli forces have closed roads, searched homes and rounded up dozens of Palestinians since the kidnapping.
They've also been launching air strikes on suspected militant targets in the West Bank and have turned the Hebron region into a militarized zone.
Moscow urges Kiev to secure Russian diplomatic missions
Moscow is demanding Kiev to take steps to ensure security for its diplomatic missions in Ukraine.
The Russian government says the situation around Russian missions in Ukraine has deteriorated dramatically.
The Russian Embassy in Kiev was damaged in a protest over the weekend.
The Russian side contends the Ukrainian authorities didn't do enough to stop the embassy from coming under attack.
Around a hundred protesters blockaded the Russian embassy on Saturday, throwing rocks and smoke grenades at the building.
The call for more security comes on the heels of a decision by Russian gas giant Gazprom to cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine after the two sides failed to reach an agreement about payments.
Al-Shabaab claims deadly attack in Kenya coastal town
Radical Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab is claiming responsibility for a deadly attack on a coastal Kenyan town this week which left nearly 50-people dead.
Al-Shabaab says the attack on the coastal town of Mpeketoni was in retaliation for the killing of Muslims by Kenyan security forces in the city of Mombasa.
Around 50 militants launched a massive attack on the coastal tourist town on Monday morning while people were gathered to watch the World Cup.
The radical Islamist group is also warning it will continue attacking targets in Kenya until the Kenyan government withdraws its troops from Somalia.
Kenya is one of a number of African Union countries which is operating in southern Somalia in an attempt to uproot al-Shabaab forces, which once controlled much of Somalia.
The African Union has been trying to help the new Somali national government in Mogadishu establish its authority throughout the country.
Biz Reports
First off, a check on the closing numbers in North America and Europe.
Joining me on the desk, CRI's Luo Wen.
U.S. stocks eked out a modest gain after wavering between gains and losses Monday, as the country's upbeat economic data outweighed concerns over Iraq.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended virtually flat.
The S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent.
The Nasdaq rose 0.2 percent.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX in Toronto gained 0.3-percent.
European markets ended down amid geopolitical concerns.
London's FTSE shed 0.2 percent.
France's CAC 40 lost 0.7 percent.
The DAX in Germany closed down 0.3 percent.
China's Alibaba submits updated prospectus
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has submitted an updated initial public offering prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The updated filing has given an update on Alibaba's current financial situation.
Alibaba's total revenues so far this year have come in at around 8.4-billion US dollars.
That's up over 52-percent from the same period last year.
At the same time, the new prospectus has also revealed, for the first time, the 27-person partnership in the IPO.
It includes 22 members of Alibaba's management team, four members of the company's Small and Micro Financial Services Company and one management member of China Smart Logistics.
Alibaba's founder Jack Ma, Executive Vice-Chairman Joseph Tsai, Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Lu and others are also named on the list.
Observers are suggesting Alibaba could be prepared to make its debut on the US markets as early as August.
Chinese PBoC increases scope of RRR cuts
China's central bank is allowing four more banks to lower their reserve requirement ratios.
They include Mingsheng Bank, China Merchants Bank, Industrial Bank, and Bank of Ningbo.
Observers say extending the reduction to these banks is the equivalent of injecting approximately 35-billion yuan into the financial system.
The reserve requirement reductions brought in so far this year have already injected around 200-billion yuan worth of liquidity into the financial system.
China's May forex purchase slows sharply
New data shows China's central bank and other financial institutions spent nearly 39-billion yuan on foreign exchange purchases in May.
This is a sharp retreat from the 117-billion yuan spent in April.
Since the Chinese currency is not freely convertible, the central bank has been purchasing foreign currencies from commercial banks, then adding the funds into the money market.
The sharp downturn in May's figures are being viewed by market observers as a possible guide to the central bank's policies when it comes to liquidity in the market.
The new figures come on the heels of a decision by the People's Bank of China to cut the reserve requirement ratios for certain banks by by 0.5-percent to try to get banks more engaged in lending to agricultural and small firms.
China releases Blue Book of World Energy 2014
The Chinese government's leading think tank has released a new paper on energy priorities.
The Blue Book of World Energy from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is suggesting energy saving and clean energy technology are the keys to overcoming conflicting interests between economic development and environmental protection.
Huang Xiaoyong is the chief editor of the blue book.
"For China, the most important task is to increase the use of clean energy. This is crucial, as the amount of pollution our atmosphere can take is approaching its limit. Generally speaking, the use of coal will go down. Currently it accounts for around 67 to 68 percent of the energy use. But reducing reliance on coal depends not only on technology, but also other factors and interests. As a researcher, I think the best way is to increase the use of natural gas and nuclear energy."
The Blue Book says China needs to focus on developing a rational and efficient energy supply.
The report also suggests the authorities set up an energy cooperation chain by strengthening cooperation among China, central Asia, and Russia.
China is now the world's largest energy consumer.
60 percent of the oil and 30 percent of the natural gas used in this country is imported.
Airline companies charge passengers for seat selection
Anchor:
A recent decision by both Air China and Hainan Airlines to begin charging their international flight passengers for seat selections is creating a lot of debate among Chinese air travellers.
CRI's Li Dong has more.
Reporter:
The airline's seat selection fee applies for those flying economy class, but does not apply to all international routes.
The fee ranges from 100 to 500 yuan per passenger. Travelers are required to pay 500 yuan if they want to sit in the first row of the cabin or next to the emergency exit.
Meanwhile, Spring Airlines, a China-based budget-airline company, which is the vanguard of seat selection fees in the country, will continue to carry on its policies.
For Shanshan, the seat selection fee sounds reasonable if it applies to international travel.
"You may be very tired if you are taking a long-international flight. The lack of space makes is really uncomfortable. I'm okay with paying extra money for seat selection if it's a really long journey."
But Zhang Na is not too happy about the added fee.
"I think the airline companies already distinguish first class, business and economic classes. The price difference already reveals the different quality of seats. It's totally unnecessary for the airlines to charge passengers for their preferences of seats in the same class."
Li Xiaojin, a professor at the Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin, says it is a legal and market-oriented move to charge extra for seat selection, but needs more explanation to the public.
"This is a new fee, which intends to turn a previous 'free' service into a paid service; so the airline companies need to better explain to passengers why they want to do so. Seat selection fees can only increase airlines' revenues to a very limited extent. I think the purpose of adopting the fee is to try and partially resolve passenger disputes over seat selection via market move."
But the director of a law firm in Shanghai, Li Dongpin, argues, according to the law, price adjustments that affect the mass should follow certain procedures, like holding a hearing before implementation.
Zhang Qihuai, chief expert at the China Aviation Law Service Center, adds the seat selection fees are masking inflation. He says the cost of flying these air routes can be accurately counted. Not charging passengers for seat preference won't effectively result in additional costs. If the price of a specific seat should be increased, should the price of an unfavorable seat be reduced?
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
Beijing housing sales slump 35 percent
New stats show home sales here in Beijing have slumped some 35-percent year on year through the first five months of the year.
The municipal bureau of statistics is reporting real estate developers in the city have sold just under 3.3-million square meters of housing during first five months.
Housing starts are also down 0.3 percent.
The sale of commercial buildings, including residential and commercial properties, has fallen 33.6 percent year on year.
Sales of residential properties across the country are down 7.7 percent during the first quarter.
Home prices have also been declining in a growing number of cities across China.
Euro area annual inflation down to 0.5 percent in May
The EU stats office is reporting that the inflation rate in Euro area for May has come in at 0.5-percent.
This is down from the 0.7 percent figure recorded in April.
The new figures come on the heels of a decision by the European Central Bank earlier this month to cut the deposit rate to negative.
ECB President Mario Draghi is on-record saying the rate cut is among a combination plans they're working on to try to provide more monetary policy support and stave off the risk of deflation.
EU, South Korea sign landmark agreement on 5G mobile technology
The European Union and South Korea have inked a new deal to jointly work on creating new 5G mobile technology.
As part of the agreement, the EU and South Korea are going to work together to create new technologies connected to mobile communications and cloud computing.
Industry observers are suggesting 5G technology could be as much as a thousand times faster than the current 4G services available in both South Korea and the European Union.
Headline News
Chinese premier arrives in Britain for official visit
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is now in Britain for an official visit.
Li Keqiang says he is looking forward to exchanging ideas with British leaders in a number of different fields.
He's scheduled to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron as part of the trip.
The premier is leading a delegation of some 200-plus business leaders who are expected to sign deals worth more than 30-billion US dollars in the UK.
China rejects Philippine suggestion of ban on South China Sea construction
The Chinese government is rejecting a suggestion by the Philippines for a region-wide ban on construction in the South China Sea.
The suggestion comes amid allegations by the Philippine side, which claims the Chinese side is trying to accelerate an "expansion agenda" in the South China Sea.
The Philippine government's accusations come following the announcement of the construction of a school in Sansha, a Chinese city incorporated in the Xisha Islands.
The Chinese government is calling on the Philippines to "refrain from any provocative actions," adding that the Philippines is also constructing its own facilities on the island chain.
UN confirms partial withdrawal of Baghdad-based staff due to growing fighting
The United Nations has decided to relocate its international staff out of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The move comes as the al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, threatens to take its massive insurgency south into the heart of Iraq.
The group already controls Iraq's 2nd largest city of Mosul.
The Iraqi government has been calling for help from the United States in beating-back the insurgency.
However, the Obama administration has so far been unwilling to commit resources, though Washington does say its keeping all its options open.
Moscow urges Kiev to secure Russian diplomatic missions
Moscow is demanding Kiev to take steps to ensure security for its diplomatic missions in Ukraine.
The Russian Embassy in Kiev was damaged in a protest over the weekend, when around a hundred protesters blockaded the embassy on Saturday, throwing rocks and smoke grenades at the building.
The Russian side contends the Ukrainian authorities didn't do enough to stop the embassy from coming under attack.
The call for more security comes on the heels of a decision by Russian gas giant Gazprom to cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine after the two sides failed to reach an agreement about payments.
Al-Shabaab claims deadly attack in Kenya coastal town
Radical Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab is claiming responsibility for a deadly attack on a coastal Kenyan town this week which left nearly 50-people dead.
Al-Shabaab says the attack on the coastal town of Mpeketoni was in retaliation for the killing of Muslims by Kenyan security forces in the city of Mombasa.
The radical Islamist group is also warning it will continue attacking targets in Kenya until the Kenyan government withdraws its troops from Somalia.
Kenya is one of a number of African Union countries which is operating in southern Somalia in an attempt to uproot al-Shabaab forces, which once controlled much of Somalia.
Newspaper Picks
THE BEIJING NEWS
Headline
Death and Life for rape and murder
summary
A husband and wife have been sentenced to death and life imprisonment respectively in a case connected to an attempted rape and murder.
The couple from Heilongjiang killed a young girl after the husband attempted to rape her last year.
They then buried the victim in a rural area to try to cover up the crime.
BEIJING YOUTH DAILY
Headline
Two dead in knife attack
Summary
Two men have been killed in a knife attack in Gansu's capital, Lanzhou.
A knife-wielding man attacked the two near a local railway station.
Police have a suspect in custody, and have ruled out terrorism in the case.
SHANGHAI DAILY
Headline
Football fan dies
Summary
A football fan in Shanghai has died after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
It's being reported man stayed up for three nights straight to watch the World Cup.
CHINA DAILY
Headline
Billions misused in power grid project
Summary
China's top auditing office has revealed that around 6.7 billion yuan has been misappropriated in building and operating a key trans-regional power transmission project.
The project transmits power from China's western regions to the east.
179 billion yuan has been invested in the project.
THE BEIJING TIMES
Headline
50 indicted in election fraud
Summary
Fifty people in Hunan have been indicted for electoral fraud.
Prosecutors say provincial legislators offered 110 million yuan worth of bribes to help elect municipal lawmakers in local elections.
GLOBAL TIMES
Headline
Anti-spam regulations
Summary
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is said to be working on new ways to try to control spam text messages.
Anti-spam technologies are going to be introduced this year to regulate commercial text messages.
Particularly, the ministry is working on prevention and monitoring technology to track down spam and crank calls via iMessage.
Special Reports
1964 movie Stage Sisters restored with 4K resolution at the Shanghai International Film Festival
Anchor:
The organizing committee of the Shanghai International Film Festival has begun working with international movie laboratories to restore classic Chinese movies.
CRI's Liu Kun has more from Shanghai.
Reporter:
The classic Chinese film "Stage Sisters (舞台姐妹)" got a make-over for its new global premiere. Having been restored in color and 4K resolution, this 1964 classic opened this year's Shanghai International Film Festival at the city's Daguangming Grand Theater, where the movie first wowed audiences about half a century ago.
The two sisters in the movie, Xie Fang and Cao Yindi, and one of the actors, Xu Caigen, now all around their 80s, are in attendance, taking the stage to meet their fans.
Cao Yindi, one of the sisters says, from watching a sample of the restoration, she feels excited and renewed.
"The color of the movie has been greatly improved. And the restored movie has a bigger resolution. The restored version just gave me a brand new experience of the movie. As one of the leading actresses, I am happy and excited to see that the movie has been restored to open this year's festival. And I think Director Xie Jin would be pleased to see this, too, if he was still with us."
The film is a masterpiece by the late director Xie Jin, who is one of the most influential Chinese filmmakers of the 20th century.
Under the coordination of the organizing committee of the film festival, it took six months of hard work for L'Immagine Ritrovata Film Restoration Laboratory in Bologna, Italy, to restore the movie.
Davide Pozzi, director of the laboratory, says they were careful to respect and keep the original flavor of the movie during the restoration process.
"The picture has some scratches and we have to fix everything. And then we did the correction and some restoration. At the same time, we did the restoration of the sounds."
Wu Jueren, a curator with the Shanghai Film Museum and one of the initiators of the restoration, explains that they wavered over the presentation of the movie's colors in the restoration process.
"We did a lot of research and we relied heavily on the memory of the original production team--then we set the color."
This is the first time ever that a movie restored with 4K resolution has been released on the Chinese mainland.
Alongside "Stage Sisters," the organizing committee of the festival has also introduced a number of other 4K restored classics from different countries and genres.
Among the list are the 1934 French classic "Les Misérables," the 1960 movie "Purple Noon," led by French actor Alain Delon, and American director Martin Scorsese's two masterpieces, "Taxi Driver" and "The Age of Innocence."
These 4K restorations are also screened in open air parks around the city during the festival.
BACK ANCHOR:
CRI's Liu Kun reporting from Shanghai.
Sports
FIFA World Cup: Iran vs. Nigeria 0-0; Germany vs. Portugal 4-0
Starting off with the FIFA World Cup this morning,
The Group G match between Ghana and the United States is now underway.
The Americans opened the scoring just 3-minutes in off a goal by Clint Dempsey.
[UPDATE]
----
Earlier this morning,
Nigeria and Iran have the first draw of the World Cup, managing to end in a scoreless draw in their Group F clash.
Nigeria came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 7th minute when a Ahmed Musa goal was disallowed.
Iran had a chance in the 34th minute, but the strong header was rejected by Vincent Enyeama.
Both sides did a lot of attacking through the rest of the match, but neither could put it in the back of the net.
----
In an earlier Group G opener,
Thomas Muller's hat-trick and Mats Hummels' header helped Germany to smash a 10-man Portugal side 4-nil.
Portugal was forced to make an early substitution in the middle of the first half after forward Hugo Almeida sustained an injury.
Germany will next face Ghana on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portuguese side will be up against the United States in their second match.
----
There are three matches lined up for tomorrow morning,
Belgium will face Algeria in Group H.
Another Group H match will see Russia up against South Korea.
And hosts Brazil will play their 2nd match of the tournament against Mexico.
---
Meanwhile, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez says he's ready for action.
Suarez, who's been recovering from knee surgery, says he's fit enough to play against England on Thursday.
Diego Costa confirms Chelsea switch; Ronald Koeman named Southhampton new manager
In football news off the pitch,
Spanish striker Diego Costa has confirmed that he is set to join English Premier League side Chelsea for the coming season.
Chelsea is reportedly willing to pay the buyout clause of over 40 million euros Atletico forward.
Costa helped lead Atletico to the Spanish League title this year, scoring 25 league goals.
He also helped to propel the team to the Champions League final, where they lost to cross-town rivals Real Madrid.
----
Southampton has appointed former Dutch defender Ronald Koeman as their new manager.
Koeman has agreed a three-year deal.
His brother, Erwin, has also joined Southampton as an assistant manager.
Koeman has previously managed Ajax and Valencia.
Final Wimbledon tune-up underway
The last grass-court warm-up before Wimbledon is underway.
Fifth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov is through to the 2nd round of the TopShelf event in the Netherlands after downing American Bradley Klahn 6-3, 7-6.
Top-seeded David Ferrer has withdrawn from the tournament without playing due to stomach problems.
The men's event in the Netherlands includes defending champion Nicolas Mahut of France.
On the women's side, French Open finalist Simona Halep is the top-seed.
Michael Schumacher out of coma, shifted to Swiss hospital
Former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is no longer in a coma.
Schumacher has also been transferred to a Swiss hospital to continue his rehabilitation.
He sustained severe head injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps in December.
Little information has been released about Schumacher's condition in recent months.
As such, its unclear if he's suffered any permanent damage from his accident.
Baseball legend Tony Gwynn dies
Major League Baseball has lost one of its best ambassadors.
Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn has lost his battle with cancer.
He was just 54.
Gwynn was one of the purest hitters to ever play the game, with a career average of .338.
He recorded over 31-hundred hits in his 20-year career, all of which he spent with the San Diego Padres.
A rarity in today's sports environment, Gwynn turned down much higher offers to stay with San Diego throughout his career.
Gwynn had been coaching baseball at San Diego state when he took medical leave in March to deal with cancer in his cheek, which he attributed to chewing tobacco throughout his career as a player.
Gwynn's son, Tony Gwynn Jr., is currently playing with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Spurs beat Heat in Game 5 to win NBA title
In basketball,
Celebrations are likely still taking place in San Antonio following the Spurs' winning the NBA Championships yesterday.
The Spurs won their fifth NBA title after routing the Miami Heat 104-87 in Game 5.
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs, once again, with 22 points and 10-rebounds.
Leonard, who led the Spurs in scoring in the last 3-games of the series, was also named finals MVP.
LeBron James had 31-points and 10-rebounds in the loss for Miami.
The Spurs' victory avenges last year's loss to Miami.
Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich,
"First I'd like to congratulate the Miami Heat for being in the Finals - you know it's been a habit for those guys, they deserve a lot of credit. You know, from ownership all the way through the organization and we're very ... It's somewhat still disbelief but because they're such a great team it really makes it worth it to us. It's just great satisfaction to be able to come out on top against such a great organization and a great team."
Off the court, questions are now being raised about the future of the Miami Heat's so-called "big-3."
Following the loss, Chris Bosh, a member of the trio, which also includes Dwayne Wade and LeBron James, says all three would like to stay together as a group.
All three are coming into their option year after all agreeing together to sign with the Heat five years ago.
Wade, Bosh and LeBron James were all drafted the same year.
Los Angeles hosts parade for Stanley Cup winning Kings
In news from the National Hockey League,
Thousands of hockey fans have turned out in Los Angeles in a parade to support the Stanley Cup-winning LA Kings.
The Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles to celebrate their second NHL title in three seasons.
A raucous contingent of fans lined the streets as the Kings rode nine double-decker buses and a flatbed truck about one mile to Staples Center.
The Kings took this year's Stanley Cup after downing the New York Rangers in 5-games.
--
Meanwhile, in notes from the off-season.
It's being reported Russian defenseman Andre Markov is reportedly asking the Montreal Canadiens for a 3-year contract extension worth 18-million dollars.
The 36-year old had 7-goals and 36 assists for Montreal this past season.
--
The Boston Bruins have announced tough guy Shawn Thornton will not be a Bruin next year.
The club has decided not to re-sign the 36-year old, who they picked up in a trade last year with Anaheim.
--
Ottawa Senators forward Ales Hemsky is going to become a free agent on July 1st.
It's being reported Hemsky has rejected a 3-year, 10-million dollar offer from the Senators.
--
The Dallas Stars have put Defenseman Aaron Rome on waivers, the ultimate goal of buying out his contract.
The 30-year old, who struggled with injuries last season, has one-year left on his contract worth about 1.5-million.
Entertainment
Chinese film Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn set for international release
At the 17th Annual Shanghai International Film Festival, film producer Bill Borden has said the Chinese animation "Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn" (Long Zhi Gu: Po Xiao Qi Bing) is set for international release.
Borden is known for "Mission: Impossible 3" and "Kungfu" which starred Stephen Chow.
"When I look at the dragon, I thought it would be a great property, a truly international property. It will go around the world. Chinese film has a hard time playing outside of China but this one will. It will play all around the world."
The film, directed by Song Yuefeng, is adapted from a popular Chinese online game of the same name.
Chinese actresses Xia Zitong, Xu Jiao and actor Hu Ge have dubbed voices for the film while Pop song singer Zhang Liangying performs the theme song.
The film will be released here in the mainland at the end of next month.
China and Africa work together to promote media
China is to increase media cooperation with Africa as dozens of media ministers from the continent met here in Beijing yesterday.
Cai Fuchao the director of the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) said western media still dominates the world but China and Africa could soon have a greater impact:
"We believe that as long as media in China and Africa can treat each other with sincerity and equality, enhance strategic mutual trust and development, deepen cooperation, coordinate and support each other in the international spread of public opinion under the principle of fairness and justice, there will be a huge impact on the world pattern of the public opinion."
Among the 19 cooperation agreements signed during the forum Chinese TV programs have been authorized in Mali and Sudan, among others.
Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said the relatively weak position of China and African countries in world media means they are often misrepresented.
Tributes paid to Casey Kasem at Hollywood Walk of Fame
An outpouring of tributes have been paid to Casey Kasem shortly after his death at the age of 82.
A wreath has been placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leon Gubler was presiding over a special ceremony in his honour.
"Casey Kasem was a legend of radio, with a career of nearly 40 years, starting 'American Top 40' back in 1970. His is definitely a story. He grew up in Detroit, and made himself a success here in Hollywood. He had a great career, not only in radio but he also was a voice actor. He was Shaggy in the (animated series) 'Scooby Doo.' And, so, we're certainly mourning his loss."
As other attendees spoke fondly of the DJ it was widely acknowledged that he practiced what he preached as he would end his show with his signature sign off: "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars."
That’s it for this edition of the Beijing Hour.
A quick recap of headlines before we go.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has begun his state visit to the UK.
The US government says it's not ruling out working with Iran when it comes to the insurgency in northern Iraq.
The latest round of Iranian nuclear talks is set to get underway later on this Tuesday in Vienna.
In Business... Alibaba has issued a new prospectus ahead of its planned IPO in the United States.
On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers, this is Paul James in Beijing hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together.
购买
在百度中搜索