The Beijing Hour
Evening Edition
Weather
Beijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 11 degrees Celsius. Cloudy also tomorrow with a high of 19 degrees.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be overcast tonight, with a low of 15, cloudy tomorrow, with a high of 20.
Chongqing will be rainy, 22 degrees the low, rainy also tomorrow with a high of 27.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, rainy with a high of 22.
Kabul, overcast, 17.
Over in Australia
Sydney, sunny, high of 24.
Canberra, sunny, 19.
Brisbane, sunny, 28.
And finally, Perth will be overcast with a high of 29.
Top News
Embassy confirms 2 Chinese nationals aboard ill-fated South Korean ship
Two Chinese nationals were reportedly aboard the South Korean ferry which capsized off the country's southwest coast on Wednesday.
Their fate remains unclear at this point.
Hua Chunying is a spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry.
"According to the latest reports, the South Korean coastguard has reported to the Chinese consulate-general in Kwangju that there was a car which belongs to Chinese nationals on-board the ship. The suggestions are there were two Chinese nationals in that car. So far, they are still unaccounted for. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has activated its emergency mechanisms. The consul-general has arrived at the scene, and has been working with South Korean authorities to verify the information and help in any way with the rescue operations. We hope that they can be found safe."
South Korean authorities have also confirmed there are other foreigners onboard the ship.
Cho Tai-young is with the South Korean foreign ministry.
"One Russian student is missing. We understand that this student attends Danwon high school in Ansan. Two Philippine citizens were also aboard the ship, but they have been rescued."
So far officials have confirmed nine dead.
However, 287 others are still listed as missing.
Many of those missing are high school students from a suburb in Seoul which is said to be home to a significant ethnic-Chinese population.
The boat itself has now sunk some 30-meters underwater, compounding searchers ability to try to find surviors or recover the victims.
12 aircraft take part in day's search for Malaysia Airlines plane
Despite a focus now on the undersea search, aircraft and boats are still conducting surface and air searches in the continued hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
So far the data from the latest undersea search, which ended early this morning, has not produced any evidence of the missing flight.
Still, Captian Lee Goddard with the Australian Navy says they remain resolved in their hunt for the missing flight.
"The Royal Australian Navy has been working over the last couple of weeks, in particular, with the Royal Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy, but at different times have also worked very closely with the PLA or the People's Liberation Army or the Chinese fleet in our prescribed search areas. We're very pleased to be working together."
A dozen airplanes and 11 ships have been involved in today's air and surface search for clues about the missing plane.
Authorities are scowering a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean where as many as four acoustic signals were previously detected, which may have come from the plane's black box recorders.
However, authorities have not recorded a "ping" for over a week.
This has heightened the belief the batteries on the flight-data recorders have run out of power, particularly that they are 11 days past their 30-day expected life.
While the loss of the black-box signals will make the search more difficult, it doesn't make it impossible.
When Air France flight 447 disappeared into the mid-Atlantic in 2009, its black-box signals were never detected.
However, crews were eventually able to find that airliner's flight-data recorder.
3 protestors killed in clashes with Ukranian forces
3 people have been killed in clashes amid protests in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian authorities say the pro-Russian protestors have been killed during clashes with government forces in Mariupol.
Acting president Oleksander Turchinov.
"In Donetsk region in the city of Mariupol terrorists made an attempt to capture military base with the aim to gain possession of weapons and armoured vehicles. After the third attempt of attack with the use of automatic weapons, shells, bottles with inflammable mixture criminals were counter-attacked by the National Guard. Three criminals died, thirteen criminals were wounded, sixty three criminals were captured. Others run away and are being followed by the militia."
Turchinov also says governemnt forces who laid down their weapons this week will face punishment.
The latest clash comes amid a government anti-terrorist operation in the eastern part of the country.
Mariupol is in the far south of the Donetsk region, where anti-government protestors have seized government buildings in at least 9 towns and cities.
Pro-Russian demonstrations have been continuing since Russia annexed Crimea last month.
Protestors have been refusing to disarm and are demanding for a breakaway from Ukraine.
Ukraine prepared to talk with Russia in Geneva
A round of international talks connected to the growing political unrest in Ukraine is underway in Geneva this evening.
Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the United States are meeting to discuss the situation.
Acting Ukranian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says one thing they will not discuss is the country's internal affairs.
"The United States, European Union, Russia and Ukraine will meet for the first time in Switzerland. We only have one major objective for the meeting, which is to ask Russia to leave Ukraine and to remove the terrorists, restoring the normal order of local government."
Russia has been calling for changes to the Ukrainian constitution and for Ukraine to become a federal system along the same model as the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, US officials say the Obama administration is preparing to ratchet up sanctions on Russia and increase its assistance to the Ukrainian military in the coming days.
US officials have already have prepared targets for a new round of sanctions that would include wealthy individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the entities they run.
Russia has around 40-thousand troops massed on its border with Ukraine, leading to fears in Kiev of a Russian incursion into the Ukrainian mainland as the unrest in the east continues.
Putin urges intra-Ukraine dialogue
Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling on Ukrainian authorities to put together talks in the eastern and southeastern regions of the country.
As part of an annual "live chat" with Russian citizens, Putin says Moscow continues to see the ouster of former Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych as "anti-constitutional coup."
He has also denied allegations Russian special forces are fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine.
"This is nonsense. There are no Russian armed forces anywhere in the east of Ukraine. There are neither special services nor instructors. All these people are local citizens. And the best proof to this is that people put off their masks. I also told my Western partners that these people have nowhere else to go and they will not go away, they are the masters of this land and it is necessary to talk with them."
The Russian President has also taken questions from people in Sevastopol, base of the Russian fleet in Crimea.
This marks the first time Crimea has been included in the annual phone-in.
Putin insists what happened in Crimea was "sponteneous."
India kicks off the biggest day of its mammoth general election
The biggest day of the Indian election is underway.
One-quarter of India's 815-million eligable voters are at the polls in 12 differnt states today.
"I have come for the first time to cast my vote and since it is my first time I would like to appeal to everyone that they should cast their vote as it is good for our future and we have to bring the government of choice to power."
Voting in India's parliamentary election have crossed the half-way mark, with 121 constituencies casting their ballots.
Security has been beefed up as voting takes place in some of India's more restive states.
The latest polling shows the Hindu nationalist BJP opposition and its allies are set to win a narrow majority, defeating ruling Congress party.
The final voting, as well as the results, are due out in the middle of next month.
China Internet rumormonger gets 3-year jail term
In a landmark case, a district court here in Beijing has handed down a 3-year jail term to a man convicted of spreading rumors over the internet.
Qin Zhihui has been found guilty of defamation and disturbing the public order.
Posting under the user-name "Qinhuohuo" on Sina Weibo, Qin has been convicted of spreading rumors about Chinese celebrities and government institutions, including the now-defunct Ministry of Railways.
Among the reports, Qin alleged Beijing paid out 30-million euros in compensation to the family of a foreigner who died in the high-speed train crash in Zhejiang in 2011.
This, along with other false reports, turned the 30-year old into an internet celebrity.
He was arrested last August after authorities brought in new legislation designed to try to stop the spread of unverified reports on the internet.
The Hunan-native, who was working for a company here in Beijing, is the first to be tried and convicted under that legislation, which states that someone can face defamation charges if their unverified posting is viewed more than 5-thousand times or forwarded more than 500.
Study shows major pollutant components in Beijing/Michael 1602
Anchor:
Leading environmental officials are warning the fight against smog here in Beijing is going to be a long process.
This, after Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau revealed this week that around one-third of Beijing's PM2.5 comes from neighboring cities and vehicle emissions.
CRI's He Fei has more.
Reporter:
According to the just-released research by the city's environmental watchdog, neighboring regions are one of the major contributors to the Chinese capital's PM 2.5 pollution - particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 micrograms that can go deep into the lungs and is extremely harmful to your health.
The new study shows anywhere from 28 to 36 percent of Beijing's PM2.5 pollution comes from neighboring regions, including Tianjin and the surrounding province of Hebei.
According to the study, motor vehicles account for just over 31-percent of the PM2.5.
Coal burning contibutes nearly 22.5-percent, while industrial production and dust produced in the capital accounts for just over 14-percent.
Zhang Dawei, the head of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, says reducing motor vehicle emissions should be one of the priorities.
Act1 Chinese Male
"Motor vehicles discharge PM 2.5 directly, regardeless of whether they run on gasoline or diesel. Vehicle emissions are the major pollutant in Beijing. The gaseous pollutants discharged by cars worsen air quality after mixing with dust. Beijing needs to tighten its control of motor vehicle emissions through new regulations."
Many wonder whether Beijing's air pollution is more serious than cities in developed countries which also have large number of vehicles.
Zhang Dawei says the answer is "yes."
Act2 Chinese Male
"People in Beijing tend to drive more often than people in cities in developed countries. Also, our emission limit standards are much lower than standards in most other developed countries. On top of this, the gasoline quality here in Beijing is lower than what they use."
Zou Ji, professor at Renmin Univerity's Institute of the Environment, says tackling vehicle emmissions in the capital will require changes to the broader driving patterns.
Act3 Chinese Male
"One thing we can do is make public transportation within the 4th and the 5th ring road areas more convenient. Right now the transfer between bus stations and subways is still difficult for many people. Walking is tiring and other transportation options are not that convenient as well. Increasing public transportation options is affordable and is a choice that can have a comparatively quick effect."
Zou Ji says while plans like this can and do work, people need to be patient.
Act4 Chinese Male
"Smog affects large regions, rather than appearing in only isolated area. Smog not only affects the north, it also affects southern areas covering tens-of-thousands of square kilometers. It can't be stopped by simply shutting down a few factories. So cooperation between central and local governments is very important. Plus, both businesses and ordinary people need to do their part as well."
The Beijing municipal government has pledged to reduce PM2.5 figures by at least 25-percent in the next 3-years.
For CRI, I am He Fei.
Cheaper Do-it-yourself Air Purifiers
Anchor:
A group of foreigners here in Beijing have come up with a new way to create "Do It Yourself" air purification systems to help people cope with the rising cost of dealing with this city's lingering smog.
CRI's Xiong Siqi has the details.
Reporter:
Since northern China continues to be gripped in smog, masks and air purifiers have become basic necessities for many.
But air purifiers here in Beijing are generally too expensive for the average household, with most filtration systems costing several thousand yuan.
To try to counter the costs, a group of American expats have created a simple and cheap way to help clean the air.
All the components people need to make the DIY air filters are commonly-available household items.
Gus Tate is one of the people behind the home-made system.
"Pretty simple, you take a HEPA filter. HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air filter. And it's something you can buy on Taobao for about 100 yuan. So really you just need something to push air through the filter. The simplest thing that pushes air is a fan. So this DIY purifier is just a fan and a filter and with sort of straps. The fan blows air through the filter."
At a cost of around 200-yuan, the home-made air-filtration system is anywhere from 15 to 20 times less expensive than buying a professionally-made one.
This glaring difference has left many here in Beijing skeptical.
"I don't think it's effective. It looks too simple. The filtering result would be not satisfied."
"It's too simple. I highly doubt the filtering effect."
To try to counter the skepticism, Gus Tate has conducted an experiment in his workshop to show how his system works.
Tate placed an air-quality monitor in front of the filter, which showed that particulate matter dropped from over 6000 to about 200 parts-per-million, eliminating over 90-percent of the pollution from the air.
"The results are pretty good. On average, the one I just described gets 92 percent of particles in a 15 square meter room with the doors and windows closed within a couple of hours. Results are very day-to-day. But on average you get over 90 percent reductions."
The one drawback to the home-made air purifier is that its much slower than professionally-produced systems.
Cheng Jing is the CEO of Fashion Environmental Protection Alliance.
"Such a simple air purifier with a fan and a HEPA filter is suitable for a small room with an area of about 10 square meters. The clearing speed is not fast. But this is a really good choice for low-income households."
Gus Tate and a number of his friends have opened workshops in Beijing and Shanghai to try to teach people how to make the home-made air purifiers.
While the authorities here in Beijing do have plans to significantly reduce the air quality problems in the city, they admit pollution is going to be a significant problem for years to come.
As such, the low-cost solution could prove popular as people wait for the skies to clear.
For CRI, this is Xiong Siqi.
Biz Reports
Stocks
Reporter:
Asian stocks ended mostly higher this Thursday following reassuring comments from the Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen.
Gains, however, have been modest amid growing concerns about military activity in Ukraine, along with caution ahead of a long weekend in the US.
Chinese shares lost ground today, dragged down by property developers, as investors await home price data due out tomorrow.
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 percent.
The Shenzhen Component lost 0.2 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3 percent in thin trading ahead of the Easter holiday.
Tokyo stocks swung between gains and losses before closing virtually flat.
Camera maker Canon rose 1.3 percent on a report that its operating profit jumped 50 percent last quarter.
In economic news, a new government report shows confidence among Japanese households has declined to its lowest level since August 2011.
Japan's consumer sentiment index has dropped to 37.5 in March from 38.5 in February.
Australian shares followed Wall Street higher, although gains remain modest.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.6 percent.
South Korean shares moved in a tight range before closing marginally lower due to a sell-off by institutional investors.
Singapore's Straits Times closed down 0.1 percent.
China March FDI 1.47% Lower on Year
Foreign direct investment into the mainland has edged down nearly 1.5-percent in March, making the first drop in FDI in over a year.
The mainland drew in 12.2-billion U.S. dollars in foreign investment last month.
The volume for the first quarter has came in at 31.6-billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 5.5-percent from a year earlier.
Around 55 percent of the FDI has gone into the country's service sector.
Through the first quarter, FDI from major Asian economies has seen steady growth, including a nearly 8-percent rise from ASEAN nations.
However, investment from Japan is down 47-percent.
FDI from the European Union is down 24.5-percent.
US investment is down just under 2-percent.
Shen Danyang is a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce.
"We believe that, as long as global demand recovers, China's export and import will keep a higher growth rate than that of the global average. Moreover, the policies to re-structuring our economy meanwhile maintain a stable trade growth will gradually take effect, that'll boost exporters' confidence."
The ministry is also reporting outbound direct investment by non-financial Chinese firms has dropped 16.5 percent during the firt quarter.
China simplifies telecom VAS approval in Shanghai FTZ
Anchor:
The Shanghai Free Trade Zone's approval process has been simplified for certian foreign-funded enterprises in the telecom sector.
The list includes "value added" telecom service providers such as call centres and smartphone app stores.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says the approval process has been shortened to no more than 60 days, down from five months.
For more on the latest move in the FTA, CRI's Shane Bigham spoke earlier with Cao Can, CRI's financial commentator.
Back Anchor:
Cao Can, CRI's financial commentator, speaking with CRI's Shane Bigham.
China announces rural financing package
The central authorities are cutting the reserve requirement ratio for certian rural financial institutions.
The idea is meant to try to provide more financing support for the rural economy.
The decision by the State council will cut the reserve requirement ratio for county-level rural commercial banks and rural credit cooperatives that meet certain standards.
However, the State Council has not specified the standards.
Reserve Requirements are the amount of money commercial bank must hold in reserve.
Lowering reserve requirements gives banks more available money to lend.
However, it also raises the amount of systemic risk in a bank.
Weibo sells fewer shares than expected in IPO
Sina Weibo has raised 286-million US dollars in its initial public offering in New York.
The figure is well short of market expectations.
From its initial IPO price, Weibo had been valued at around 3.4-billion US dollars.
Weibo has sold its shares at the bottom of its intial price range of 17-US dollars.
The company has sold 16.8 million shares, fewer than the 20-million expected.
Weibo's parent company, Sina, has been moving to make the service profitable with a cautious rollout of advertising on the platform.
Weibo generated a profit of 22-million US dollars in the fourth quarter, but lost money overall last year.
Sina still owns more than half of the Weibo shares and nearly 80-percent of its voting rights.
The Chinese version of Twitter, launched in 2009, has 144-million monthly active users.
Tencent to launch Chinese version of Candy Crush game
Tencent is set to launch 'Candy Crush' on the mainland in partnership with the game's creator, King Digital Entertainment.
The Chinese version 'Candy Crush' is expected to be available by the middle of this year on both QQ and Wechat.
Candy Crush was the world's most downloaded free mobile app last year.
The partnership with Tencent is expected to further extend King's presence in Asia.
The company launched 'Candy Crush' in Japan and South Korea last year.
King Digital Entertainment is said to have a market-cap of some 7-billion US dollars.
The company is due to report its first quarter results next month.
IBM's quarterly revenue sinks to 5-year low as hardware sales fall
IBM is reporting its lowest quarterly revenues in some five years.
IBM has posted revenues of 21.7-billion US dollars over the first quarter.
Hardware revenues, which include servers and systems storage, have plunged 23-percent to 2.4-billion US dollars.
All segments of IBM's systems and technology business are reporting double-digit declines.
The company is warning its hardware business may continue to face hurdles.
However, IBM says its cloud computing revenues are up more than 50-percent through the first quarter.
Headline News
Embassy confirms 2 Chinese nationals aboard ill-fated South Korean ship
The Chinese embassy in Seoul has confirmed two Chinese nationals were aboard the South Korean ferry which capsized off the country's southwest coast on Wednesday.
Their fate remains unclear at this point.
So far officials have confirmed nine dead.
However, 287 others are still listed as missing.
Many of those missing are high school students from a suburb in Seoul which is said to be home to a significant ethnic-Chinese population.
The boat itself has now sunk some 30-meters underwater, compounding searchers ability to try to find surviors or recover the victims.
12 aircraft take part in day's search for Malaysia Airlines plane
Despite a focus now on the undersea search, aircraft and boats are still conducting surface and air searches in the continued hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
A dozen airplanes and 11 ships have been involved in today's air and surface search.
Authorities are scowering a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean where as many as four acoustic signals were previously detected, which may have come from the plane's black box recorders.
However, authorities have not recorded a "ping" for over a week.
Meanwhile, officials with the joint search team say an oil slick recently discovered in the search area is NOT connected to the missing flight.
3 protestors killed in clashes with Ukranian forces
3 people have been killed in clashes amid protests in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian authorities say the pro-Russian protestors have been killed during clashes with government forces in Mariupol, a city in the far south of the Donetsk region.
The latest clash comes ahead of a round of international talks connected to the growing political unrest in Ukraine.
Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the United States are meeting to discuss the situation. in Geneva.
121 abducted Nigerian school girls 'freed': military
The Nigeria military says 121 Nigerian school girls abducted this week by Boko Haram militants have been freed.
Eight girls remain missing.
A general with the Nigerian military says one of the alleged kidnappers has been captured.
A search and rescue mission is underway for the remaining missing students.
The details behind how the girls were freed have not been revealed.
Their conditions are also not known.
The girls were taken from a government secondary school in the restive northeast Nigerian state of Borno.
Party chief of China's national science association removed from post
The Party Chief and vice-President of a leading Chinese Science Association has been sacked for suspected corruption.
Shen Weichen was the Party Secretary of the China Association for Science and Technology.
The nature of the allegations against him have not been revealed.
The China Association for Science and Technology has close ties with most of this country's scientists and engineers.
Shen's sacking is the latest in a string of high-level Party officials who have been sacked from their positions for corruption.
It also comes after a significant shake-up within the cabinet this week, with a number of leading officials being shifted out of leading positions within the party.
Newspaper Picks
Global Times
"Desalted seawater to quench Beijing's thirst"
Construction of a desalination project that will deliver purified seawater to Beijing from neighboring Hebei Province's coast will start at the end of the year, local authorities announced on Wednesday.
The project will be in Tsow-feid-ian, the second largest port in Hebei, with a daily desalination capacity of one million tonnes of seawater, said one of the directors.
After the project goes into operation in 2019, Beijing will receive more than 300 million cubic meters of desalted Bohai seawater annually, about 10 percent of its current water consumption volume. Tests have shown that all drinking water national standards have been met.
Thus, Beijing residents will be able to enjoy desalted seawater in a few years. Annual desalted water to Beijing will increase to more than 1 billion cubic meters, equaling the storage capacity of Miyun Reservoir, the largest storage facility in north China and Beijing's major water source.
China News service
"Frugality campaign sparks change in high-end catering"
Lately, the upscale restaurants' business has seen an obvious decline, which coincided with the intensified anti-corruption campaign by the Communist Party of China.
According to a survey from China Cuisine Association revenue of catering services in China only achieved 9 percent year-on-year growth in 2013, a 21-year low. The situation for high-end restaurants is especially bleak.
Specifically, luxury catering services throughout Shanxi are facing a chill. Overall turnover in the industry fell 20 percent compared with 2012, according to the provincial statistics bureau.
As a result, other high-end restaurants in the country have struggled to shift their business patterns. Some have turned to the general public for profits. Home-style cooking, for which profits are slimmer, is now taking the place of haute cuisine.
Yahoo News
"Mad at Your Spouse? Low Blood Sugar May Be to Blame"
According to a new study,spouses who are feeling "hangry," and have low blood sugar levels that could explain their feeling both hungry and angry, may be more likely to be aggressive to each other.
In the study, the researchers measured glucose levels in 107 married couples each evening for 21 days. The researchers also gave each participant a voodoo doll that represented his or her spouse, and 51 pins. At the end of each day, the spouses could insert up to 51 pins into the doll, depending on how angry they were at their significant other.
In the study, the lower the participants' glucose levels were, the more pins they inserted into the voodoo dolls that represented their spouses. The spouses with lower blood-sugar levels were also more willing to subject their partners to loud noises, compared with those whose glucose levels were average.
The study may offer some potential advice for couples looking to avoid arguments, the researchers noted.
Sky News
"Teens risk neck and back pain"
Youngsters are putting themselves at risk of neck and back pain because of their excessive use of technology, experts say.
Slumping over laptops and tablets could be contributing to a rise in neck and back problems among teens, the British Chiropractic Association said.
People working on computers and laptops have a tendency to sit in a 'hunched' position, putting strain on their backs, the association said.
It has set out a number of tips for parents, including encouraging their children to be more active and only to sit for short periods, and teaching them how to sit properly.
'Learning how to sit properly and keeping active will help to keep young people healthy and pain-free.
'It's important that parents seek help for their children from an expert as soon as any pain starts - if conditions are left untreated, it could lead to chronic back and neck problems in later life.'
Special Reports
Inside into Selections for 'Tiantian Award': Jury Member's Choice
Anchor:
This year's Beijing International Film Festival is now into its 2nd day, following last night's opening ceremony.
Now, anticipation at the festival surrounds who could be the winner of the festival's "Tiantan" or "Temple of Heaven" award.
CRI's Luo Laiming has more.
Report:
Fifteen films have been nominated for the "Tiantan Award" at the ongoing 2014 Beijing International Film Festival, including the Chinese film "Grand Master" (YI DAI ZONG SHI), "IloIlo" from Singapore, and "the Enemy Within" from Greece.
Maria Grazia Cucinotta, a well-known Italian actress, is one of the international jury members of the festival.
She directed the first Sino-Italian co-production film "There Is Always a Reason" which stars Huang Haibo alongside Cucinotta herself.
As the only female jury member, she said that she judged films from the perspectives a feminine perspective and emphasized that emotions came first.
"Emtions. When I see a film that gives me emotions, then that is the film. I'm the only woman in the jury. So I think I would be the more sensitive one. Of course a woman is more sensitive, and you can get more than a man when you see a film. I can give real opinions about films I like, everything. When you see a film, you see everything. The way they direct, the actors, everything. You know, the story. How can you get surprised because you know you can tell stories that you have seen many, many times but every time you know, if the director is very good, you can see the same story from another point of view. And it looks completely different. "
Meanwhile, fellow jury member Andrés Vicente Gómez from Spain said he tried forget about the guidelines when judging films.
"When you see the films, you cannot see the guidelines. It's very difficult to see to understand a film with guidelines. You have to confront yourself with the film. "
Gómez said frankly that it was curiosity that drew him to Beijing and being a jury member.
As the president of Lolafilms, one of the top film production companies in Spain, this event marked his first visit to China.
Gómez is the most successful and prolific film producer in Spain and one of the most respected producers in the entire European continent.
He shared more of his suggestions for further development of the film festival.
"I've been all my life in festivals. I have 12 years of a member of board of Cannes Film Festival, being the only non-French person. There are 2800 festivals around the world. So every day you know five or six festivals open somewhere around the world. It's a lot of competition. Funny enough there are very few that can succeed. Every few that attract world's attention. There are no more than 10 festivals (that attract world attention). Those ten festivals (are successful) is because first of all they are very strict in selection of films that compete. And they try to present films that are innovative, films that present new ways of telling stories."
The forth Beijing International Film Festival follows the principles of "Share the Screen, Shape the Future".
The official results of the "Tiantan Award" will be announced at the closing ceremony on the evening of April 23.
For CRI, this is Luo Laiming.
Sports
Beijing and Shandong miss out in latest Asian Champions League games
Football – The Asian Champion's League..
In Group E Last night Thai side Buriram United defeated Shandong Luneng at home for their first victory of the competition. A goal by Kai Hirano at 35-minutes was the only one of the game.
None-the-less Buriram still sit bottom of group E on Goal difference equal on points with the Chinese side Shandong Luneng just about them and Cerezo Osaka who are also on 5 points. The Pohang Steelers of South Korea are well in the lead in Group E on 11 points after 5 games.
Elsewhere looking at Group F Beijing Guoan let victory slip through their fingers against Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
It looked like all the hard work was done as the Chinese side were leading two-nil well into the second half, but then with 20 minutes left to play Naoki Ishihara scored twice in the space of three minutes… an attack Beijing failed to find an answer for.
Thus the match ended with the teams taking away a point a piece.
Again it's a South Korean side topping group F. Last year's runners up FC Seoul are on eight points after defeating Australia's Central Coast Mariners last night.
Hiroshima, Beijing and the Mariners are all on six-points-each.
Man City siffer shock draw with Sunderland
Now over in English football,
What should have been a walk in the park for Manchester City did not follow the script at all and they suffered a serious blow to their Premiere League title ambitions.
Their match against bottom-of-the-league Sunderland who for much of the game looked like the better side, ended two-all.. and they were lucky to get away with that.
Man City are now six points behind league leaders Liverpool and four points behind Chelsea, although they have played one less game.
The Liverpool manager Manuel Pellegrini, said it's always dangerous to play a side with its back against the wall:
"Before this match I was very worried about this match. I said, to play against a relegation team at the end of the season is always very difficult because they fight for every ball as the last one. I'm sure that after just three days it's very difficult for the players to take out of their minds the game against Liverpool. We needed more intensity but our mind was not in the moment to do it."
Meanwhile the Sunderland manager Gus Poyet, who is fighting for his career at the moment, says this result tells him they have a chance in their next match against Liverpool:
"It's going to give us a little bit of that word that I absolutely hate which is "confidence" and it give you a chance to go with a different approach to the game on Saturday. I was in a taxi today and he (taxi driver) said what are your next two games away? I said, Man City and Chelsea away and he went oh! all the best, and now we've got a point and now I'm sure that all the players are believing, let's go out there and play."
.........
Elsewhere in the Premiership Everton answered the prayers of Arsenal fans by losing three - two to Christal Palace.
The result leaves Arsenal in the coveted fourth place they need to qualify for the European Champions League.
Bale prooves worth as Real Madrid beat Barcelona in King's Cup final
And in Spain, Gareth Bale's individual goal five-minutes-from time helped Real Madrid win the Copa de Rey as they beat their arch rivals Barcelona 2-1.
Playing without the injured Christiano Ronaldo by his side, the Wales forward took centre stage and shined.
He out sprinted Barca defender Marc Bartra from the halfway line before coolly slotting his shot past the keeper.
The Catalans dominated possession throughout the match, but Madrid stuck to a tactic of counter attacks to claim their first silverware of the Spanish season.
Hamilton feeling confident ahead of Shanghai F1
A look ahead to this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai.
Lewis Hamilton is looking to make it three wins in a row on Sunday for the first time in his Formula One career.
The Chinese track has been the source of bad luck for the British racing driver in the past however.. but he says he is feeling confident:
"So in China we have had some ups and downs. Particularly in my first year. I went in there with a big lead in my championship and kind of lost it there in the gravel on the way to the pits. But generally every time I go I am getting stronger and stronger and faster and faster, it suits my driving style."
Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg, who currently leads the driver's championship by 11 points, has a much better track record in Shanghai making his first pole and victory there in 2012.
With the Mercedes cars so far in advance of their rivals many are predicting a two horse race between Hamilton and the German.
Portland beat LA to round off NBA regular season
On the final day of the NBA regular season, the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 110-104 to end on a five-game win streak.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder's win earlier in the day, the Clippers are locked in as the third seed in the Western Conference, and will take on the Golden State Warriors.
The Trail Blazers will enter this weekend's playoffs as the fifth seed, and will take on Houston.
The other Western Conference match-ups will see 2nd seeded Oklahoma City take on Memphis, while top-ranked San Antonio will battle their Texas rivals, the Dallas Mavericks.
Out east, the matchups have top-seeded Indiana taking on Atlanta.
2nd ranked Miami will battle Charlotte.
The four-five match has Chicago with home-court advantage over Washington.
And the NBA playoffs will begin at 12:30am Sunday morning Beijing-time with the 3rd seeded Toronto Raptors at home to the Brooklyn Nets.
NHL playoffs begin
The National Hockey League playoffs began this morning in North America.
In the first round of their Eastern Conference match-up, the Montreal Canadiens have taken first blood in their best-of-7 with Tampa Bay, downing the Lightening 5-4 in overtime.
Dale Weise scoring the O-T winner.
Also in the east, it was Pittsburgh forced to come from behind to beat Columbus 4-3.
And in the first match-up in the Western Conference, it was top-ranked Anaheim holding on for a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.
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There are 4 games scheduled for tomorrow morning, all of them Game-1's.
In the East, the only game has the New York Rangers entertaining Philadelphia.
Out West, it's St. Louis at home to Chicago.
Minnesota is on the road in Colorado.
And the highly-anticipated battle of California between Los Angeles and San Jose also gets underway tomorrow.
Entertainment
Nas documentary 'Time is Illmatic' opens Tribeca festival
The Nas documentary, "Time Is Illmatic," has kicked off the 13th Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
The documentary coincides with the 20th anniversary of rapper Nas's debut album "Illmatic" being released.
"Illmatic" came out in 1994 and is one of the most revolutionary albums in hip hop.
But Nas says, despite its success, he's never tried to duplicate it.
"I think a lot of people wanted me to chase this album. I never got that. I always felt like it was important to grow. You've gotta grow. I never tried to chase it. I never will. That's a time period that's happened already and you can't fake that."
This year's Tribeca Film Festival will feature over 80 movies, with many music-themed entries.
The lineup includes documentaries on Alice Cooper ("Super Duper Alice Cooper,") the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir ("The Other One") and jazz trumpeter Clark Terry ("Keep on Keepin' On.")
Close Friend' Sets to Hit Screens on July 31st
Hong Kong film director Barabara Wong's new film "Close Friend" is set to hit Chinese screens on July 31st.
The cast made the announcement at a press conference held for the film at the 2014 Beijing International Film Festival.
Wong was joined by cast members Ivy Chan, Fiona Sit and Vanness Wu at the conference.
The director said that "Close Friends" is about the role strong friendships play when dealing with the trials and tribulations of life.
Wong added that the film wasn't aimed at just women; men could learn a lot from the movie as well, not least of which is how to properly pursue a woman.
"Close Friends" also stars Shawn Wu and Wallace Chung.
Paul Wesley Makes Directorial Debut on "The Vampire Diaries"
"The Vampire Diaries" star Paul Wesley has made his directorial debut on the hit TV series.
Wesley, who plays Stefan Salvatore in the series, has directed this Thursday's episode.
Wesley says the episode is action-packed and a fun challenge.
"For my episode I did blue screens, I had stunts, I had all sorts of visual effects, I had flashbacks. It was really an action-packed episode. I was surprised at how much they gave me. I thought they were really gonna go easy on me, it was gonna be incredibly generic but it wasn't."
Now that he's gotten his first behind-the-camera experience, Wesley admits he wants to do more directing.
"I'm gonna do more episodes next year but I think it's about doing other things that aren't 'Vampire Diaries.' Hopefully television. I'm gonna direct a feature it's just a matter of having the time to really be able to put it together in the way that I want to do it."
In Thursday's episode, Wesley's character Stefan and his ex-girlfriend Elena begin to reminisce about their time together as a couple.
This is a departure from the tease the show's writers have been giving fans about pairing Stefan up with another character, his best friend Caroline.
James Franco premieres 'Of Mice and Men' in New York
James Franco, along with actors Chris O'Dowd and Leighton Meester, stepped on a Broadway stage for the first time in their careers Wednesday night (16 APRIL) in New York.
They starred in a revival of John Steinbeck's classic novel, "Of Mice and Men."
Franco and O'Dowd play two tragic migrant workers trying to make a life amid the Great Depression.
Franco was ecstatic about his Broadway debut.
"It's great. It's my first time on Broadway but I'm loving it. A lot of my film friends ask, 'What's it like doing it over and over and over again every night?' And all I have to say is that the repetition is made up for by the energy that you get from doing it in front of a live audience. In some ways it's more exciting than doing a film."
"Of Mice and Men" is currently playing at the Longacre Theater in New York City.
'X-Men' Director Bryan Singer accused of drugging and raping teenager
A lawsuit filed Wednesday (Apr. 16) accuses "X-Men" director Bryan Singer of sexually abusing a teenage boy 15 years ago.
Singer allegedly offered the teen an acting a role in an "X-Men" film if he gave in to the director's sexual demands, while threatening to destroy the teen's career if he didn't.
The alleged sex abuse incidents detailed in the lawsuit are said to have happened in 1998 and 1999 when the plaintiff, Michael Egan, was 17.
Singer's representative said the accusations were "completely without merit."
Egan and his attorney will hold a press conference in Los Angeles later this Thursday.
A quick recap of headlines before we go.
Chinese officials are working to try to confirm reports at least 2 Chinese nationals were aboard the South Korean ferry which sank yesterday off the country's southwest coast, leaving around 300 people feared dead.
Ukranian, Russian, EU and American diplomats are meeting to discuss possible solutions to the growing political unrest in Ukraine.
A Chinese man has been convicted and sentenced to 3-years in jail for spreading internet rumors.
In business, new stats show foreign direct investment into China through March has dipped for the first time in around a year.
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.
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