Welcome to the Beijing Hour; we are coming to you live from the Chinese capital.

Coming up on the programme this evening:

A top official says it's time for China to take a leadership role in the research and development of Genetically Modified Organisms...

Security and safety measures have been enhanced ahead of the start of the Spring Festival travel rush, beginning across China tomorrow...

and a separatist leader in Ukraine blames the government for the failure of recent peace efforts...

In business...China's capital accounts have posted the largest deficit since at least 1998...

In sports...a veteran Australian footballer announces plans to signs in the Chinese Super League..

In entertainment...the final Hobbit movie continues to dominate at the box office in China...

But first, a check on the weather...

 

 

Weather

 

 

Beijing will have smog tonight, with a low of minus 2. It will be sunny tomorrow, with a high of 6.

Shanghai will be overcast with a low of 4.

Tomorrow, cloudy with a high of 8.

Chongqing will be overcast with a low of 7. Tomorrow will be cloudy with a high of 11.

Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia

Islamabad, sunny tomorrow with a high of 26.

Kabul, sunny, 9 degrees.

Over in Australia

Sydney, Canberra, both will be cloudy with a high of 24.

Brisbane, cloudy, 30.

And finally, Perth will be cloudy with a high of 30.

 

 

Top News

 

 

China Should step up GM Tech Development: official

 

A senior Chinese official says it's time for the country to become a world leader in the research of genetically modified biotechnology.

Han Jun is Deputy Director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group.

"We support Chinese scientists in their efforts to seize the industrial height of GM technology research. As a country with a population of 1.3 billion but relatively limited arable farming land, China's agriculture development is facing more and more environmental resource constraints. It is obvious that we can not fall behind in the research of GM technology."

This comes after the recently released NO.1 Central document said the country will strengthen the technical study and safety management of GM technology, while also raising better public awareness of the issue.

Han Jun also explains the reasons of lifting GM food awareness.

"We hope to give the public, including the media, a clear, objective, and more comprehensive understanding on GM technology's origins and developments, its characteristics and safety risks, China's current safety management system on GM as well as other countries' safety management system on GM technology."

Though there is no evidence that GM crops harm human health or the environment, most Chinese seem to regard the technology with great suspicion.

Compared with the United States and many South American countries that have freely adopted GM technologies, China has shown a very cautious attitude.

 

 

2015 Spring Festival travel rush starts on Wednesday

 

This year's Spring Festival travel rush is due to start on Wednesday, with an estimated 2.8 billion trips to be made over the 40-day period.

295-million trips are expected to be made by rail, an increase of 10 percent compared with last year.

It is reported that around one-thousand temporary passenger trains have been added to the system nationwide preparing for the coming travel rush.

Yang Yeming is a senior engineer from Shenyang Railway Bureau.

"This year we have dispatched 11 groups of passenger trains to southern parts of the country. In previous years, most of the trains we dispatched were old-fashioned ones, but this year we also dispatched trains with air-conditioning. This will offer a better and more comfortable environment for the migrant workers who return home."

Safety and security efforts across the country have also been enhanced to help ensure that everyone has a safe trip.

Guo Weifeng, a senior official from a Public Security Burea in Guangzhou, highlights the around-the-clock real-time monitoring that is taking place.

"On the east and west squares of Guangzhou South Railway Station, we have set up two three-meter-high lookouts, the insides of which are equipped with accent lights, video surveillance facilities, and high-tone louder speakers."

Police in the capital city of Guangdong Province have also formulated a four-point emergency response plan, with armed police patrolling near railway and metro stations.

At the same time, the aviation and road transportation sectors have also made preparations for the travel rush.

The Spring Festival travel rush will run until March 15th.

 

 

China and India Aims to Boost Two-Way Tourism

 

Anchor:

China and India are seeking to boost tourism cooperation and strengthen people-to-people exchanges as part of a drive to enhance the overall relationship between the two countries.

Our reporter Yin Xiuqi has the details.

Reporter:

China and India are home to the world's two largest populations, with rising middle classes in each nation making tens of millions of tourist trips overseas each year.

However, tourists from the neighboring countries do not appear to be interested enough in each other.

Speaking at a launch ceremony for the "Indian Tourism Year" in Beijing, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang says both countries need to make efforts to attract tourists from each other.

"People from our two nations have made just a small number of visits to each other. The total number of two-way visits only amounted to below 900-thousand last year with only 170-thousand visits made by Chinese to India. This situation is not in line with the two nations' massive populations, the gigantic size of their markets and their huge tourist resources. So there is huge potential for us to tap into."

The "Indian Tourism Year" will feature a series of activities across China promoting India's tourist resources among Chinese residents. A reciprocal "Chinese Tourism Year" will be held in India next year.

The tourism-year activities are to implement an agreement reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last September.

India's Ambassador to China, Ashok K. Kantha, is making an appeal to Chinese tourists.

"India, like China, is a vast country with varied cultures and traditions across every region. From temples to beaches and mountains, from classic arts and Bollywood to Yoga, and shopping, India is a rich multi-level sensory, spiritual and emotional experience."

The two nations now aim to bring the number of two-way tourist visits to more than one million by the end of next year, an increase of some 10 percent from last year.

To reach this target, Chinese tourism officials say the two sides will work together to simplify visa procedures, increase direct flights and improve service levels.

The two sides will also develop new travel packages and routes as well as strengthen communication and coordination to safeguard the safety of tourists.

Tourism authorities are expected to revive an ancient pilgrimage route taken by Chinese monk Xuan Zang about 14-hundred years ago.

Xuan Zang is a cultural icon in the Buddhist exchanges between ancient China and India. His legendary 16-year "Journey to the West" started from the modern Chinese city of Xi'an with a destination in the modern Indian state of Bihar.

For CRI, I'm Yin Xiuqi.

 

 

Obama Sends Congress Record $4 Trillion Budget for 2016

 

Anchor:

US President Barack Obama has delivered his proposal for this coming fiscal year's budget.

His 4-trillion dollar spending plan includes possible cuts for the middle-class, while at the same time, tax increases for the so-called one-percent.

CRI Washington correspondent Xiaohong has more.

Ann:

President Obama says he's basing his budget on the belief the US economy has recovered from the financial crisis.

He says because his government has made steady deficit reductions over the last six years, it's time to stop austerity and begin investment.

"I want to work with Congress to replace mindless austerity with smart investments that strengthen America. And we can do so in a way that is fiscally responsible."

The budget proposal includes 500-billion dollars worth of new spending on repairing and upgrading existing infrastructure, on top of building a number of new projects.

Proposals involved also include tax breaks for low- and middle-income-families worth nearly 300-billion dollars.

And to keep the books balanced, he's calling for a tax hike for high-income Americans and corporations, including a one-time 14-percent tax on overseas earnings.

As expected, the Republicans have met the proposal with distain.

Republican House speaker John Boehner is describing the budget proposal as "more taxes, more spending," suggesting it's a product of Washington gridlock which is "failing middle-class families."

Political wrangling aside, there is a pressing matter.

The Department of Homeland Security is only going to remain funded until February 27th unless a new budget is put through.

Republicans who are opposed to the new budget have suggested the President is using this to push his immigration reform agenda, forcing the hand of Congress to act to pass the budget, which includes his non-Congressionally-approved plans for immigration reform.

For CRI, this is Xiaohong reporting from Washington.

 

 

Ukraine's Separatist Leader Blames Gov't for Ceasefire Talks Breakdown

 

The leader of separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic blames Ukraine for the breakdown of peace talks.

Alexander Zakharchenko made the accusation at a news conference.

"I would like to state that the Minsk talks broke down not because of us. We sent authorized representatives, who had all the authority to sign and discuss all matters concerning the situation, heavy weapons and the cease-fire."

Alexander says the Ukrainian side did not show up at all.

One of the separatist representatives said after the latest round of peace talks Ukraine's rebel forces are willing to solve the crisis via talks, and pull back heavy weapons from the frontline.

The main offensive by the separatists is now directed at a government-held railway junction.

Nearly two thousand people living nearby have fled their homes in recent days.

 

 

Former IMF Chief Stands Trial Again

 

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is standing trial in northern France on charges of helping procure sex workers for an alleged prostitution ring based at a hotel in Lille.

The 65-year-old has admitted attending sex parties there but says he did not know that some of the women were prostitutes.

The case is the latest sex-related allegation to trouble the former French presidential hopeful.

Strauss-Kahn stands trial together with more than a dozen other French and Belgian businessmen and police officers.

Eric Dupond-Moretti, a lawyer representing one of the defendants, says he has asked judges to respect his clients' privacy during the trial.

"The president of the tribunal has reassured us by reminding us that we are not here to lecture people but to practice law. This is a speech we wanted to hear for a long time. He has also reminded us that some details of the sexuality of some defendants had been exposed to everybody and that these elements will not be exposed again."

The trial is scheduled to last three weeks, with Strauss-Kahn not expected to testify until next Tuesday.

Strauss-Kahn stepped down as the International Monetary Fund's managing director after being accused of attempted rape on a hotel maid in New York in 2011.

The charges were eventually dropped and Strauss-Kahn reached a settlement with the maid.

 

 

Hamas Protest against Egypt court ban of al-Qassam

 

Hundreds of Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip have marched in protest of the decision by an Egyptian court to ban of al-Qassam.

The military wing of the Gaza-based group has been labelled a "terrorist organisation".

Hamas official Mushir Al-Masri.

"Egypt is going through an exceptional period, where the concepts and equations have changed. This decision is similar to the Zionists' decision to consider al-Qassam brigades a terrorist organization."

Egypt believes al-Qassam played a role in recent attacks against security forces in the country.

The Egyptian military cleared a buffer zone along the border with Gaza after a major attack in October.

It's an attempt to destroy a cross-border network of tunnels that Hamas considers a lifeline.

 

 

Experts Call for Legal Protection from Telephone Harassment

 

Experts are suggesting the Chinese government establish an effective legal protection system to protect people from telephone harassment.

The suggestion has been made after a survey showing that over 9 billion spam calls were made in China during the last three months of last year.

This number doubled that of the previous year.

The survey was conducted by a leading Chinese mobile phone service company.

The report says southern Guangdong province is the biggest source of harassing phone calls while Beijing is a major victim.

Hu Gang, Secretary General of China Internet Society Research Center, says that lawmakers should give existing laws new powers in an effort to crack down on cell phone-based fraud.

"The Consumer Protection Law could be interpreted by the People's Congress using their legislative powers. If people receive cold calls which they've clearly refused before, the caller may face a 500 yuan fine. This kind of legal system can both ensure the normal operation of telephone marketing and protect the legal rights of cell phone users."

Nearly half of the frauds say that you've won a prize or that you have a parcel containing banned materials.

Others are more likely to pretend to be friends and family members, superiors, or government officials requiring you to send money.

 

 

Jack Ma meets young people on entrepreneurship in HK

 

Anchor:

Alibaba executive Jack Ma has announced the establishment of a one-billion-Hong Kong-dollar fund to support entrepreneurs.

CRI's Hong Kong correspondent Li Jing has more.

Report:

Under the theme of "Transforming Dreams into Successful Business", Alibaba chairman Jack Ma shares his ideas on entrepreneurship with more than 6 thousand young people in Hong Kong, focusing on how to capitalize on the opportunities brought by technological development in the modern world.

He says failures are more important than successful experiences for those who want to start a business.

"You should focus more on others' failures rather than their successful stories. During the first three to five years after Alibaba was founded, whenever I read a failure case, I would share it with all my colleagues to learn from it, and avoid the same mistakes."

The Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation is expected to be launched later this year, which would provide access to capital and technical assistance to young entrepreneurs to get their business started and sell their products nationwide through the company's Taobao and Tmall shopping sites.

Profits generated would be returned to the foundation to sustain the program.

Jack Ma says the funds will not change Hong Kong, but the future is in the hands of the young people.

"1 billion HK dollars is not much, if all the businessmen could do a little part, we could provide more opportunities to the young generation. When they make progress, Hong Kong will also develop. If you believe in the future, believe in the youth, if you want to grasp the future, invest in the youth."

The foundation will also select 200 local university students each year to become interns at the company and other group businesses.

The event is organized by Our Hong Kong Foundation, a think tank set up by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa. Ma is one of its advisers.

For CRI, this is Li Jing in Hong Kong.

 

 

Biz Reports

 

 

Anchor:

First, let's have a look at the numbers across the Asian markets this Tuesday evening.

Joining me on the desk is Tu Yun.

Reporter:

Chinese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday after five straight days of losses, helped by financials and energy.

China's largest insurer China Life soared by the daily limit of 10 percent.

PetroChina and Sinopec, the country's two major energy magnets, both had a solid session amid the recent recovery of oil prices.

But the coming Spring Festival holiday and a new batch of initial public offerings next week will put pressure on the stock market.

At close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite index increased two and a half percent.

The Shenzhen Component finished up by nearly two and one third of a percent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index jumped by one third of a percent.

Elsewhere in Asia,

The Japanese Nikkei closed down nearly one and one third of a percent.

South Korea's KOSPI ended flat on Tuesday.

Singapore's Straits Times index lost nearly half a percent.

And finally, Australia's ASX 200 traded higher by one and a half percent.

 

 

China Sees Biggest Outflow of Capital Since at Least 1998

 

China's capital account posted the widest deficit since at least 1998 in the fourth quarter, as many Chinese companies increased overseas investment.

Stats from State Administration of Foreign Exchange show the capital account shortfall was about 91 billion U.S. Dollars in the fourth quarter of last year.

The current account surplus shrank to 61 billion U.S. Dollars.

KPMG's latest report says the strong growth in overseas direct investment is expected to grow by double digits this year.

It says the new "hot" sectors for Chinese investment are agriculture and food, technology, high-end manufacturing, infrastructure and real estate.

Another sets of number from the Ministry of Commerce shows in January, Chinese investors put more than 100 billion U.S. Dollars into overseas firms, up 14 percent from last year.

 

 

Sunac China Regrets to Buy 49.3 percent Stake in Troubled Developer Kaisa

 

Anchor:

The CEO of Chinese developer Kaisa Group has resigned.

His resignation comes despite the company having sold certain assets this weekend to ease its short-term cash crunch.

Kaisa has found itself over-leveraged amid the current downturn in the Chinese property market.

The company has been trying to sell off some of its properties in an effort to raise cash.

However, courts in both Shenzhen and Shanghai have blocked sales of its holdings in a bid to protect its creditors.

For more on Kaisa's situation, the Beijing Hour's Paul James earlier spoke with Gao Shang, analyst with Beijing-based Guantong Futures.

 

 

Li Hejun Named Richest Man in China's Mainland

 

47-year-old "New Energy King" Li Hejun is now the richest man in China, according to the Hurun report published earlier today.

Li is CEO and Chairman of the Board of solar-industry-giant Hanergy Holdings Group, and has surpassed Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun to top the list.

Over the last year, Li's personal fortune has tripled to 160-billion yuan, or some 26-billion US dollars.

The latest Hurun Global Rich List put Bill Gates on the top spot in the world.

 

 

Alibaba to U.S. firms: Buy now, pay later

 

Alibaba is now offering loans through U.S. partner Lending Club to help U.S. businesses source products from China.

The program will let small businesses in the U.S. apply for loans up to 300-thousand USD in less than five minutes. The money can be used to purchase goods from Alibaba's wholesale e-commerce platform.

Interest rates on those loans will be as low as half of a percent.

Alibaba says the program aims to boost its expansion overseas.

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma has long talked about his goal to help small businesses all over China, and this agreement with Lending Club looks like he's taking that mindset to the U.S.

To assist new customers using its platforms, Alibaba will help vet suppliers and shipments, and transfer funds directly if buyers chose.

 

 

Volkswagen's transmission plant in Tianjin to operate in 2016

 

German auto company Volkswagen will open a new plant in China's northern costal city of Tianjin next year.

The plant is to produce transmission kits for Audis.

The company says the project involves investment of nearly 600 million euros. Construction of the new facility has already been completed.

Production doesn't begin until May of next year. Initially, 240-thousand units are to be produced annually but that number is expected eventually to double.

Volkswagen set up the Tianjin plant in 2012 to produce advanced direct-shift gearboxes.

 

 

Toyota says Jan China auto sales up 10.6 pct y/y

 

Toyota and its two Chinese joint ventures sold about 95-thousand vehicles in China in January, up 10 percent from a year earlier.

Compared with a month earlier, sales are up by 15 percent.

The company aims to sell 1 million vehicles this year, but failed to meet its target last year.

The Japanese carmaker expects its pace of growth in China to shrink by almost half this year, to 6.8 percent.

 

 

Samsung smartphone sales weak on Q4

 

New ranking shows Samsung's fourth quarter smartphone sales were third overall, after Xiaomi and Apple.

With 12 million units sold, Market watcher Strategy Analytics says Samsung's weakness in China is a key reason why Samsung's global smartphone share dropped.

Insiders say Apple contributed to Samsung's latest losses by launching iPhones with bigger screens, robbing Samsung's Galaxy phones of a key selling point.

In the low-end phones market, Samsung was battered by upstart manufacturers such as Xiaomi.

Analysts say Samsung is under immense pressure to hang on to its market share, with a lot resting on the launch of its next flagship Galaxy S6 high-end smartphone due around March.

 

 

Lenovo profit beats forecasts boosted by smartphone sales

 

The world's leading PC maker, Lenovo, has reported a better-than-expected profit after sales in its smartphone division more than doubled.

The company says its fourth-quarter revenue rose some 30 percent to 14 billion U.S. dollars, beating investor expectations.

Its net profit during the period was over 250 million dollars, compared to analyst forecasts of 200 million.

The company bought Motorola and IBM's low-end server unit last year in a bid to diversify beyond the PC business.

 

 

Ireland's CRH to buy Lafarge, Holcim assets for 6.5 bln euros

 

Ireland's building materials group CRH says it has entered a 6.5-billion-euro transaction to acquire some assets from European rivals Lafarge and Holcim.

CRH says the acquisition is expected to be completed in the middle of this year.

 

 

Headline News

 

 

China Should step up GM Tech Development: official

 

A senior Chinese official says it's time for the country to become a world leader in the research of genetically modified biotechnology.

This comes after the recently released NO.1 Central document said the country will strengthen the technical study and safety management of GM technology, while also raising better public awareness of the issue.

Though there is no evidence that GM crops harm human health or the environment, most Chinese seem to regard the technology with great suspicion.

 

 

Italy extradites economic crime suspect to China

 

For the first time, an economic fugitive has been extradited from Europe back to China.

Authorities say the fraud suspect, surnamed Zhang, was returned today after spending more than nine years on the run in Italy.

The former securities company staffer in Hebei province is accused of stealing more than 1.4 million yuan, which is nearly a quarter of a million US dollars.

Authorities say she took the money from her clients between January of 2000 and January of 2005, and then fled to Italy in October of 2005.

Italian police arrested Zhang in October of last year and authorities there officially agreed to the woman's extradition last month.

 

 

US justice department drops News Corp probe

 

Rupert Murdoch's media companies will not face prosecution in the United States over allegations of phone-hacking and payments to public officials in Britain.

The US Department of Justice had been investigating both News Corp and 21st Century Fox.

But it's decided not to pursue charges after completing its probe.

A senior executive representing both companies has expressed gratefulness to the decision.

The News of the World newspaper closed as a result of phone-hacking and a number of its former journalists have since been convicted following the scandal.

 

 

One dead after shopping center explosion

 

At least one person is dead and several others have been injured after an explosion at a shopping centre in northeast Perth, Australia today.

It is believed that a power transformer exploded at the Morley Galleria shopping centre.

A local hospital says it has received four people suffering severe burns. Police have confirmed that a man has died.

It is believed the men were injured while working on the power transformer in a back room at the mall, and the victims ran into a nearby parking garage after the explosion.

The cause of the accident is now under investigation.

 

 

China's manned sub Jiaolong discovers huge "chimney vent" in Indian Ocean

 

A crew on the Chinese submarine Jiaolong has discovered a huge active chimney vent in the southwestern Indian Ocean.

A scientist on Jiaolong's current mission says the discovery is a surprise. The structure of the vent is 20 meters tall and two meters wide, and he says it's rare to come across a chimney vent that is so massive.

Mussels, shrimp, and fish were seen living in the ecosystem around the vent.

Deep-sea chimney vents, also known as hydrothermal sulfide, are a kind of seabed deposit containing copper, zinc, and precious metals such as gold and silver. Chemical reactions with the metals create sulfides and cause of the formation of the vent on the sea floor.

 

 

Newspaper Picks

 

 

CHINA DAILY

"Health authority seeks opinions on adding gold to Chinese liquor"

The National Health and Family Planning Commission has published a statement soliciting opinions about the proposal to add gold as a food additive to baijiu, a popular Chinese liquor.

Only gold leaf with a purity of 99.99 percent can be added to strong Chinese spirits, with a maximum amount of 0.02 grams, the proposal says.

Liquor with gold flakes is hardly a new phenomenon, but it has raised concerns among experts.

A professor with the Nutrition and Food Safety department of China Agricultural University says there are more than 20 elements essential to the human body, but gold is not one of them.

The price of liquor with gold leaf is around 300 yuan, or 48 US dollars in some regions, while ordinary liquor sells for just dozens of yuan.

REUTERS

"China blasts NetEase for spreading porn in latest push to cleanse cyberspace"

China's Internet regulator has accused NetEase, a US-listed Chinese web portal, of spreading rumours and pornography, in the authorities' latest move to "clean up" the country's internet.

The accusation follows fines imposed by China's Ministry of Culture in December on 11 Internet companies, including Tencent and Baidu, for spreading pornography and content depicting violence.

China launched an anti-pornography campaign in April as part of a wider effort to sanitise the Internet.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement NetEase should improve internal management, or face punishment including the halting of its online news service.

Chinese authorities have warned Baidu to clean up its content after pornographic files were found on its online storage service.

In May, Sina was fined 5.1 million yuan for allowing "unhealthy and indecent content" on its online reading channel and on its main website.

XINHUA

"Languages are evolving like living organisms: Australian researchers"

Australian researchers have discovered that language is evolving in a similar way to living organisms, changing more frequently when spoken by more people.

A research team from the Australian National University has spent a sustained period of time investigating more than 20 languages across Polynesian Islands in an effort to determine how language changes among different populations.

The results have shown that languages with many speakers gain new words and phrases quicker than languages with fewer speakers.

It is believed that more than 335 million people now speak English across the world, with researchers hoping to expand their studies further than the Polynesian languages tested over the recent period.

The team believes that further research will help to understand just how fast particular languages extend across a period of time.

CBS

"More families say no to cow's milk"

An increasing number of families are saying 'no' to milk, the product once considered a staple of the American diet, while the industry says there's no evidence the use of hormones or antibiotics on cows is harmful to people's health.

Sales have deteriorated over the past 40 years in a trend dairy farms are now describing as devastating.

The average consumption of dairy milk dropped from about 22 gallons per year per person in 1970 to less than 15 gallons in 2012, a 33 percent decline.

Some people believe plant-based milks like soy, almond and rice are a healthier option.

Scientists agree that calcium is an essential mineral to keep bones strong and healthy, but milk may not be the best delivery system for everyone.

 

 

Special Reports

 

 

Women-only carriages advised in Beijing subway

 

Anchor:

Women-only subway cars are being considered by the authorities in Beijing.

CRI's Sam Duckett joins us with a look at some of the challenges the authorities may face.

Report:

Chinese Political advisors have proposed setting up women-only carriages on the Beijing subway during rush hour.

Nothing has yet been decided and the transport authorities say there is no specific plan.

Two members of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) put the proposal forth at the annual session of the political advisory body.

Former Traffic Commentator Xiao Hang offered his views.

"I actually think that female only carriages in Beijing are a good idea. We do need to consider when the right time to implement this. If you look at the countries that are already using this service, not only are their economies quite advanced but there generally their communities are quite sophisticated. In Beijing, we have people from different parts of China and each part has different cultural standards. It may take a while for a lot of people to comprehend this system, and therefore a suitable amount of time will be needed to implement it."

China has had a string of sexual harassment cases in recent years. Many of these occurring in tier 1 cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. The most outlandish case was in 2013.

During June 2013 the Shanghai police apprehended 19 suspects of sexual harassment, including the city's most childish sexual harasser, a man caught on video unhooking a female passenger's bra on Metro Line 6.

Wang Zhuo is a member of the standing committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative.

"We should focus on safety on the subway system. Safety needs to be focused on physically weaker individuals and there should be a special focus on women."

Should China decide to utilize such a plan they would be not be the first country to implement such a system. Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt and several other countries already use such a service.

The woman only carriage service in Japan originally started in the year 2000 with a trial only basis and the service was already operating on multiple lines from 2002. Only women, children, the elderly and the disabled are allowed to use the service. There is also a 10 yen fine on male passengers who enter the carriage, however it is no longer strongly enforced.

Xiao Hang shared his views of the system in Japan.

"I got to experience the management of the female only carriages during my trip to Japan. The rules of the carriages were not strongly enforced by security, but the local people generally seemed to respect the system."

There would be a string of problems that Beijing would have to contend with should such a plan be implemented. There was a staggering 3.4 billion trips on Beijing's subway in 2014 and the annual amount of subway users in the country's capital increases on an annual basis. The subway staff in Beijing would have a lot of pressure on their shoulders facilitating such a scheme.

The idea of female carriages will be observed by spectators and the general public over the next couple of months.

BACK ANCHOR:

That is CRI's Sam Duckett reporting.

 

 

Sports

 

 

Football: Tim Cahill to sign with Shanghai Shenhua

 

Australian premiere football veteran Tim Cahill said on Tuesday that he plans to leave the New York Red Bulls and join Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League.

His decision came just three days after Australia triumphed in the Asian Cup.

His decision to leave the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) surprised commenters as the 35-year-old attacking midfielder had recently received offers from England, Asia, the Middle East and Spain before announcing the move to China on Tuesday.

He was in career best form during the Asian Cup in Australia, arguably scoring the goal of the tournament with a stunning bicycle kick in the quarterfinal against China.

Cahill said that he had consulted widely with former teammates and coaches in the U.S. before making his decision to side with the Chinese team.

While he had received offers from around the world, there were none from Australia.

Shanghai Shenhua had been linked with Cahill, and the Chinese team has a history of signing renowned veterans, including Premier League stars Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba.

 

 

NBA: Atlanta Hawks 19-game winning streak halted by New Orleans.

 

In NBA action:

Paul Millsap and his Atlanta teammates didn't sound terribly concerned about the end of the Hawks' franchise-record 19-game winning streak.

After all, the Hawks' 115-100 loss to surging New Orleans on Monday night -- in a game marked by Anthony Davis' ferocious play -- was only Atlanta's third defeat in 36 games.

Over in Cleveland:

Kyrie Irving scored 24 points, LeBron James added 18 points and 11 assists, and the Cavs staggered to its 11th straight win, 97-84 over the Philadelphia 76ers.

In other action:

The Charlotte Hornets got the better of the Washington Wizards 92-88.

It was the Brooklyn Nets with a surprise 102-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Totonto bested the Milwaukee Bucks 82-75.

It was Thunder over Magic 104-97.

Dallas got the better of struggling Minnesota 100-94.

And it was the Memphis Grizzlies over the Pheonix Suns by the skin of their teeth, 102-101.

 

 

Golf: Tiger Woods drops to 56th in world rankings

 

In golf:

With his drop to 56th in the latest edition of the Official World Golf Rankings released Monday, Tiger Woods could miss out on qualifying for the first World Golf Championship event of 2015.

Woods shot 82 on Friday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open to miss the cut by 12 shots in his 2015 PGA Tour debut. That score tied for the highest number posted by any player in a PGA Tour event this calendar year.

Woods has not been lower than 58th in the world since winning the first of his 79 titles on the PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational in October 1996.

If Woods failed to qualify for the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral in March, it would be only the second time in his career he'd be ineligible for a World Golf Championship event. The only other WGC for which Woods didn't qualify was the HSBC Champions in 2011.

Woods, who was No. 1 in the world just eight months ago, must be inside the top 50 in the world rankings after either the Northern Trust Open or the Honda Classic to be eligible for the field at Doral. He missed most of 2014 recovering from back surgery and played poorly in the few times he did play.

The last time Woods was out of the top 50 came on Nov. 27, 2011. He won the Chevron World Challenge the next week and moved up to No. 21.

 

 

NHL: Edmonton snap 15 game losing skid with victory over San Jose Sharks

 

In NHL action:

In the biggest surprise of the night,

Jordan Eberle had two goals in regulation and Rob Klinkhammer scored in the 13th round of the shootout to help the Edmonton Oilers snap a 15-game California losing streak by beating the San Jose Sharks 5-4. Latley, the Sharks have been beating the NHL's best but losing to teams at the bottom of the standings.

Over to Calgary:

Offseason acquisitions Brandon Bollig and Raphael Diaz scored their first goals of the season to help the flames beat the struggling Winnipeg Jets 5-2.

And in New York:

Dan Boyle scored a deflected goal eight minutes into the third period as the Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 6-3.

There are 11 games on the schedule tomorrow, beginning at 8 o'clock in the morning Beijing time.

 

 

F1: Sebastian Vettel sets fastest time for team Ferrari

 

In a repeat of the first day's action at Formula One's testing event at Jerez in Spain, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time for his new team Ferrari.

It was an impressive drive, shaving 1.7 seconds off Sunday's best of one minute, 22.62 seconds.

It was also a good day for Sauber, after rookie Felipe Nasr was second quickest behind Vettel, just as team-mate Marcus Ericsson was on Sunday.

Valtteri Bottas for Williams was third on the time sheets, followed by reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes.

Hamilton completed 91 laps, not quite as many as Nico Rosberg's 157 from day one, but his testing was curtailed by a water leak.

Max Verstappen was fifth fastest for Toor Rosso, followed by the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado.

Lotus finally made it onto the track after missing the first day.

Jenson Button was seventh, but only completed six laps as McLaren struggled for a second day to fit car and power unit together.

Team-mate Fernando Alonso only went round six times on Sunday.

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

The Hobbit still top of the box office followed by Running Man film

 

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has taken 43 million dollars at the box office during its first full week in China.

The full week's takings means the movie has taken a total of 92 million dollars at the Chinese box office after just 10 days.

Five Armies has now taken more than 900 million dollars globally with over 70 percent coming from the international market.

Second place on the Chinese box office is Running Man, a feature spin off from the popular reality TV show based on a Korean format.

The film took almost 37 million dollars in its opening weekend. The movie features Wang Baoqiang, Li Chen, Angelababy and Kim Jong-Kook.

In third place was animated children's movie Boonie Bears: Mystical Winter grossing almost 17 million dollars in its opening weekend.

 

 

39 Short Film Contestival returns for 4th edition in Taiwan

 

The 39 hour short film Contestival returns for its fourth edition in Taiwan.

The competition will take place early April in the city of Tainan.

Started in 2012, the festival sees 39 teams competing to make 5 minute short films in the space of 39 hours.

Teams who are accepted for the festival will be announced and their genres assigned next month. The teams are allowed to practice with actors, however no shooting is allowed until the competition day itself.

The winning short film will be awarded the Tainan Gold Award, a cash prize and two plane tickets to Berlin. The film will then be screened at the 31st Berlin Film Festival in November.

The 39 Hour Short Film Contestival will open with lectures from filmmakers, local film instructors and researchers. There will also be a special screening of German short films throughout the weekend.

 

 

Katy Perry's halftime show breaks viewing records

 

Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance was seen by 118.5 million viewers, making it the most watched half time show ever.

The viewing figures topped Bruno Mars' show last year by 3.2 million viewers. Bruno's performance with the Red Hot Chili Peppers last year was the previous record holder.

Perry put on a colorful show performing hits such as California Girls and Teenage Dreams, with dancing sharks and beach balls in the background.

The performance started with the singer riding on a giant robot animal before guest Lenny Kravitz brought a little bit of rock and roll to the pop performance. She closed the show with Firework while floating through the stadium as fireworks lit up the stadium.

People are already guessing who's going to play the Super Bowl 50 event next year. They're certainly going to have to be something really special to top this year.

 

 

Sales of Missy Elliott tracks after superbowl expected to rise 1,000 percent

 

Missy Elliot's well received and highly watched guest spot during Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime slot is generating major sales gains.

Industry sources suggest that Elliott's catalogue of songs could earn a sales increase of around 1,000 percent in the week ending last Sunday.

Elliott performed a medley of three songs during Perry's halftime show including Work it and Lose Control. They are each aiming to sell around 15,000 to 20,000 downloads.

Perry's biggest selling song of the week could be Roar which opened the show.

Katy Perry's collected songs could sell over 100 thousand gaining perhaps 75 percent compared to the previous week.

 

 

Lindsay Lohan files defamation lawsuit against Fox News Network

 

Lindsay Lohan and her mother have filed a defamation lawsuit against the Fox News Network and TV host Sean Hannity.

The pair say that a commentator on Hannity's show falsely accused the Lohans of taking drugs with each other.

The comment by commentator Michelle Fields was made in February last year, two days after the Oscar winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a Heroin overdose.

In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, the Lohans called Fields' comment a totally irresponsible and malicious innuendo to suggest to viewers that Lindsay Lohan might be the next celebrity to join the obituary list.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

 

 

Bobbi Kristina Brown fighting for her life

 

It has been confirmed that Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late singer Whitney Housten, is currently fighting for her life.

The family's representative said in a statement that Brown is surrounded by immediate family and that the family was requesting privacy.

No more details were provided.