Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.

Coming up on our program this morning...

The White House has confirmed a young American aide worker being held by the Islamic State has been killed.

Intensified fighting has been taking place in eastern Ukraine as peace talks get underway in Minsk.

New reports are suggesting a growing amount of fake ginseng is being seen on the market ahead of Spring Festival.

In business. Chinese authorities have given the green-light to the creation of a new Free Trade Zone in Tianjin.

In Sports. The Beijing Ducks sweep their way into the CBA semi-finals.

In entertainment. A domestic comedy now tops the Chinese box office.

First, let's check in with what's happening with the weather...

 

 

Weather

 

 

Beijing will be sunny today with a high of 8, tonight clear with a low of minus 5 degrees Celsius.

Shanghai is cloudy with a high of 15 and a low of 6 degrees Celsius.

Chongqing, also cloudy with a high of 15.

Elsewhere in Asia.

Islamabad, sunny, with a high of 28.

Kabul cloudy with a high of 14.

Over to North America.

New York will be cloudy with a high of 1 degree Celsius.

Washington, also cloudy with a high of 8 degrees Celsius.

Honolulu, cloudy, with a high of 27.

Toronto will see show with a high of minus 2 and a low of minus 6.

Finally, in South America,

Buenos Aires, sunny, 32.

And Rio de Janeiro, cloudy with a high of 36 degrees Celsius.

 

 

Top News

 

 

U.S. mourn over the death of ISIL hostage

 

Anchor:

The White House has confirmed the death of 26-year-old American aid worker Kayla Jean Mueller at the hands of the Islamic State.

News of her death comes as President Barack Obama prepares to send a formal request to Congress for the authorization to use military force against the militants

CRI's Washington chief correspondent Xiaohong has more.

Ann:

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest says the death of the 26-year-old American aid worker, who had been held since August of 2013, has been confirmed after careful review and analysis by the US intelligence community.

"Over the weekend, Kayla's parents received a private message from her ISIL captive with additional information about her death. And that information was shared with the intelligence community. They conducted a review and analysis and after that analysis was completed they concluded that Kayla has in fact died."

The Islamic State has attributed her death to the airstrikes carried out by the Jordanian air force, which have been increasing in retaliation for the murder of one of its pilots.

However, the White House says there is no evidence to back up that contention.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a statement, saying -quote- "ISIL, and ISIL alone, is the reason Kayla is gone."

President Obama is vowing to find and bring to justice those responsible for her captivity and death.

The news of her death comes as Obama prepares to send text to Congress for a formal Authorization to Use Military Force against ISIL.

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest says the President is asking for Congressional support, even though the President holds the legal authority to conduct military operations against the Islamic State without the backing of Congress.

"But he does believe it would be a powerful symbol for the Congress to send to the American people, to our allies, even to our enemies that the United States of America is united behind the strategy the President has laid out to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL."

The request is expected to be put to Congress later on this Wednesday.

A U.S.-led coalition has already been active in the fight against the Islamic State, with over 2-thousand sorties being launched against militant targets in both Syria and Iraq.

Xiaohong, CRI, Washington DC.

 

 

White House says at least one more American held captive in the middle east

 

The White House has confirmed there is at least one more US hostage being held in Syria.

However, the White House is refusing to discuss the details of what it knows about the American captive.

It is widely believed the American being held is Austin Tice, a journalist who disappeared in Damascus in 2012.

However, there have been no ransom demands or communication from either him or the group which may be holding him since he vanished.

 

 

Ukraine Fighting intensifies ahead of peace talks

 

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has intensified ahead of peace talks now taking place in Minsk.

Both government forces and the rebels are claiming significant advances.

Close to 40 people have been killed in the latest battles, which have included a rocket strike on Kiev's military headquarters in the east.

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are meeting in Minsk to lay the groundwork for a peace summit between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.

There are reports suggesting a ceasefire agreement has been reached at the talks.

However, those reports have not been confirmed.

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier.

"Holding the summit alone does not guarantee its success, so I hope and expect that Kiev and Moscow will be serious and grasp this opportunity now. I hope that none of those involved in the fighting will push things so far that Minsk is called into question by an explosion of violence in the final hours."

US President Barack Obama has been warning his administration may begin supplying weapons to Ukraine if diplomacy fails to end the fighting.

Moscow has warned of consequences if the US goes ahead with that threat.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says the UK is also going to reserve the right to review its decision not to offer lethal military aid to Kiev.

"It is a national decision for each country in the NATO alliance to decide whether to supply lethal aid to Ukraine. The UK is not planning to do so but we reserve the right to keep this position under review."

The Minsk summit is said to be focused on the creation of a demilitarised zone and the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

The European Union has decided to hold off implementing any new sanctions against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine.

 

 

Sisi, Putin agree to build nuclear power plant in Egypt

 

A new deal has been worked out which may see Russia help Egypt build its first nuclear power plant.

The announcement has been made following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.

The new nuclear plant would be built in the Egyptian city of Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast.

A research reactor has been in-place there for years.

Plans to expand the site have been on-the-books for decades, but have repeatedly fallen through.

Putin notes the final details of the new agreement haven't been worked out yet.

"If final decisions are made, it will mean not just building a nuclear power plant, it means the creation of the entire new atomic industry in Egypt."

On top of the nuclear power plant agreement, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi says the two sides have also agreed to a deal involving natural gas.

"We have agreed to boost cooperation in the field of power including the peaceful usage of nuclear power, as Russia has a great experience in this field, which has been a priority for Egypt in its ambitious steps for development and boosting electricity generation."

Increasing electricity generation has been a priority for the Egyptian government.

Egyptian cities are routinely subject to blackouts, especially during the summer.

 

 

Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim jailed for five years over sodomy

 

Malaysia's top court has upheld an earlier conviction against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, sentencing him to five years in prison for a sodomy conviction.

Anwar had challenged the conviction handed down last year for sodomizing a former male aide.

However, Malaysia's Federal Court has struck down his appeal, saying there is "overwhelming evidence" of sodomy, which is punishable in Malaysia by upto 20-years in prison.

Anwar contends the charges are "political conspiracy" against him.

Anwar's wife Wan Azizah, who heads the opposition People's Justice Party, is vowing the opposition coalition will never surrender.

"It's not a setback for Pakatan Rakyat because it has been happening and there has been discussions about the possibility of it happening, knowing the situation of the politics in our country. So it's not a setback because I think it's going to give us more reason to continue our struggle in our country."

The ruling is being viewed as a significant blow to both Anwar and the opposition.

67-year old Anwar will be barred from politics for five years after his release from prison, making a political comeback unlikely.

Anwar, a former deputy Prime Minister in the ruling government in the late 1990's, is credited with helping create a viable opposition coalition after his ouster from the ruling administration.

Following major gains made in the 2013 election, many observers have suggested the opposition could be a legitimate challenge to the ruling coalition, which has been in-charge in Malaysia since the country's independence in 1957.

 

 

118 student protestors indicted in Taiwan

 

Prosecutors in Taiwan have filed lawsuits against 118 people for their roles in last year's occupation of the legislature in protest against the cross-Strait service trade agreement.

The charges include instigating others to commit a crime, trespassing, obstruction of official business and violating the assembly and parade law.

Three major figures in the movement were charged of inciting others to break the law, leading to the 24-day occupation by hundreds of students and other residents.

Another 93 people are also going to stand trial for the siege of the executive body on March 23.

.

 

 

Flu Takes over 140 Lives in H.K.

 

Hong Kong lawmakers are demanding the local health department detail contingency plans for an influx of patients amid this current flu season.

Concerns are being raised amid reports a virulent strain of influenza has claimed around 140 lives in recent weeks.

Certain hospitals in Hong Kong are running short of beds.

At the same time, there has been a run on face masks.

However, despite the concern, health officials in Hong Kong insist there is no need to panic.

Despite calls for precautions ahead of the Spring Festival, city officials insist there is no need to bring in a Hong Kong-wide policy on wearing face masks.

 

 

Qualification Rate of Domestic Products Exceeds 90 Pct for the First Time

 

China's product quality watchdog says the qualification rate of domestically-produced has exceeded 90-percent for the first time this past year.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine says of the over 25-thousand products it looked at, over 92-percent of them met quality standards.

Mei Jianhua is the director of the Administration's Quality Supervision Department.

"The qualification rate of domestic products has exceeded 90 percent for the first time since China started to check product quality 30 years ago, which shows that the quality of domestic products has been improving gradually. Meanwhile, China strengthened quality supervision of food products in 2014, and during the survey we found that 98.5 percent of 7,451 food products reached the national standards, which has helped promote the overall qualification rate to a higher level."

But at the same time, the Administration says other areas are still struggling.

One out of every two energy-saving engines inspectors reviewed failed to meet standards.

Furniture designed for children, glasses, cell phones and soft toys also missed the mark a lot.

 

 

Japanese products pose new challenge to Chinese manufacture

 

Anchor:

An online post describing how Chinese people rush to buy bidets in Japan has triggered heated online discussion here in China.

The debate includes questions about the overall status of China's electronic product manufacturing sector.

CRI's Qizhi has more.

Reporter:

Akihabara is considered Japan's major shopping center for household electric products.

The depreciation of the Japanese yen and the expansion of duty-free products people can purchase, the community has seen a surge in the number of foreign tourists, especially from China.

"Japan-made rice cookers have better inner pots and better pressure, so the rice they make tastes better."

One duty-free store in Akihabara sells dozens of rice cookers every day.

Officials with the duty-free store estimate 4 out of 5 of them are bought by Chinese shoppers.

On top of the popularity of rice cookers, another item which has gotten a lot of attention for their popularity are bidet-toilet seats, which are also popular purchases among Chinese tourists.

"I think bidet-toilet seats have better quality here in Japan and their prices are reasonable. So it just makes sense to buy them here."

Wu Xiaobo, a business writer in China, posted an article online, titled "Let's buy bidet toilet seats in Japan ".

The article went viral very quickly, with the main argument against the purchase of these items is that it’s either Chinese people with too much money making unusual purchases, or that China's bidet manufacturing sector is to blame.

However, Wu Xiaobo argues its simply just Chinese consumers looking to buy high-quality products with advanced technology.

"From scarcity to oversupply, China has become the world's largest manufacturer in terms of its output. However, our technology still tends to lag behind. As such, Chinese retailers end up in price wars while trying to sell the same products. They undercut one another. People want variety."

Certain Chinese manufacturers who have commented on Wu Xiaobo's article argue they have the ability to compete with their Japanese counterparts in producing high-quality goods.

Wu Xiaobo says he agrees.

"In fact, we do not think our manufacturing industry lags far behind Japan. In many cases, a Japanese product, or many parts of it, are still produced in China, including items such as ceramic knives and insulated water bottles, as examples. So, it is only the technology, and not sales in China, that make the Japanese companies stand out."

Last year, overseas shopping came in at at around 240-million US dollars in China.

For CRI, I am Qizhi

 

 

Retailers Gain Excessive Profit from Fake Ginseng

 

Anchor:

There have been a growing number of reports of fake ginseng being sold here in China in the lead-up to the Spring Festival, as the plant is considered an auspicious gift to give to someone.

CRI's Yu Yang has more.

Reporter:

With ginseng prices skyrocketing to upward of a thousand yuan per kilogram, a number of ginseng retailers have turned to boiling the roots in sugar to make them more dense.

"How much is sugar? Only several yuan per kilo. And what about ginseng? Two to three hundred yuan for 500 grams. So we add sugar to the ginseng so it's much heavier."

"Where's the water that boils the ginseng? Of course, we drink it. It's so nutritious!"

Wei Feng is a traditional Chinese medicine expert with the National Institute for Food and Drug Control.

He says boiling ginseng in sugar can ruin the medicinal attributes of the root.

"These samples are authentic. Their sugar content is about 20 percent. These ones injected with sugar, their sugar content is as high as 70 percent. In terms of the active ingredient in red ginseng, saponin, makes up around 30 percent of an authentic ginseng root. But after the same root is boiled in sugar water, the proportion of saponin is reduced to less than 20 percent. As such, it can do little to improve people's health."

Korean ginseng is one of the most sought-after varieties of the root, and is very rare in China.

As such, Wei Feng warns that a lot of the Korean ginseng being sold in China is faked, with retailers simply rubbing an ointment on regular ginseng.

"There is a strong smell of ointment in this so-called Korean ginseng. What is the ingredient of the ointment? Is it safe? We are not sure at all."

Li Jingsheng with the Beijing Association of Chinese Medicine also warns that Korean ginseng which is grown improperly can actually be bad for you.

"If we fail to process the Korean ginseng in line with the proper standards, the ginseng won't help cure diseases, but will actually harm people's health."

Dubbed the "king of herbs," ginseng is a staple of traditional Chinese medicine.

It has been used to make tonics in TCM for over 3-thousand years.

For CRI, I'm Yu Yang.

 

 

Biz Reports

 

 

Stocks

 

Anchor:

First, a quick look at the closing numbers across North America and Europe.

Joining me on the desk, Luo Wen.

Reporter:

U.S. stocks rebounded on Tuesday as speculation grows that Greece will reach an agreement with its international creditors, even though German officials have been downplaying the prospects of a compromise.

Energy stocks fell though, as crude prices tumbled 5.4-percent back down to around 50-dollars a barrel.

Copper futures slipped just over 1-percent after lower-than-projected inflation in China fueled concern over declining demand, as China is the world's biggest consumer of industrial metals.

In corporate news,

Coca-Cola shares gained just under 3-percent after the world's largest beverage maker reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Qualcomm shares climbed 4.7 percent, even after Chinese authorities imposed a record fine on the chip maker in connection with an anti-trust probe.

The fine does mark the end of a 14-month Chinese investigation into Qualcomm.

At close,

The Dow Jones edged up about four fifths of a percent.

The S&P 500 increased about one percent.

The Nasdaq gained one and a third of a percent.

Over in Europe,

Shares there closed mixed amid the various reports about a possible debt agreement between Greece and its international creditors.

At the closing bell,

The UK's FTSE 100 dipped a fraction of a percent.

Germany's DAX added around four fifths of a percent.

And finally France's CAC 40 was up close to one percent.

 

 

China Approves Overall Development Plan for New Free Trade Zone in Tianjin

 

China's State Council has approved plans for the creation of a Free Trade Zone in Tianjin.

The FTZ will be located in Tianjin's Binhai New Area district.

It will cover an area of about 120-square kilometers, which will include the Port of Tianjin, the city's airport area and Tianjin's central business district.

Shan Zefeng is the deputy director of the Business Committee of Tianjin.

"We plan to develop modern services in the FTZ including international shipping, logistics and leasing in the Dongjiang Bonded Port Area. As for the airport area, we intend to develop high-end manufacturing, including space flight and aviation, modern equipment development and an electronic information industry. In the central business area, our goal is to create a financial services hub."

The central authorities authorized the creation of Free Trade Zones in Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian in December.

The Tianjin FTZ is expected to be one of the key selling-points to companies looking to set up operations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic zone.

 

 

Cheaper Scheme Launched for Imported Cars

 

Chinese authorities have officially launched its so-called "parallel import scheme" for vehicles through the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

The move is expected to help bring down prices for luxury vehicles.

Seventeen dealers have been authorized to sell imported cars through the Shanghai FTZ.

Under the "parallel import scheme," the authorized dealers can purchase imported vehicles through the Free Trade Zone, rather than having to buy their supplies from distributors set up by the vehicle-makers themselves.

This should cut prices by around 10-percent.

Imported vehicles in China are often more expensive than they are in other markets.

Authorities are also going to set up a maintenance center in Shanghai to provide after-sales service for cars sold through the parallel import scheme.

 

 

China January Inflation Cools to 0.8 pct

 

Anchor:

China's consumer price index has seen its slowest rate of growth in more than five years.

Official stats for January show CPI, the main gauge of inflation, grew by only 0.8 percent.

At the same time, the producer price index, which is an indication of wholesale inflation, dipped 4.3 percent year on year last month, the 35th consecutive month of declines.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of China's CPI weighting, increased 1.1 percent year on year in January.

An expanded comparison base and slumping global oil prices also helped drag down price levels.

For more on the latest stats, the Beijing Hour's Shane Bigham spoke earlier with CRI Financial Commentator Cao Can.

 

 

 

China to Continue Prudent Monetary Policy: PBOC

 

China's central bank has issued its latest monetary policy report, saying it will continue with its prudent monetary policy.

But at the same time, the People's Bank of China is going to focus more on striking a balance between a tight and loose policy.

The PBOC says it's still maintaining plans to use a series of different monetary policy tools to manage liquidity.

At the same time, the central bank says its going to keep the money market stable and in-line with both domestic and international economic indicators.

The PBOC is also continuing its pledge to direct more credit resources to the rural economy, as well as to small and micro-sized firms.

 

 

China's Outstanding Social Financing up 14.3 pct in 2014

 

New figures show so-called "outstanding social financing" came in at 123-trillion yuan, or around 20 trillion U.S. dollars last year.

This is up over 14-percent year on year.

The figure is over 190-percent of China's total GDP last year.

"Outstanding social financing" is a term used in China to refer to all money borrowed from financial institutions by individuals and non-financial enterprises, together with total funds raised from the capital market.

This is the first time the central bank has published this liquidity measurement.

It's expected this will help analysts better understand broader economic trends in China, along with helping economists better understand what's happening between financing and the real economy.

 

 

Headline News

 

 

US confirms death of aid worker

 

The White House has confirmed the death of 26-year-old American aid worker Kayla Jean Mueller at the hands of the Islamic State.

The woman had been held captive since August 2013.

The Islamic State has attributed her death to the airstrikes carried out by the Jordanian air force, which have been increasing in retaliation for the murder of one of its pilots.

However, the White House says there is no evidence to back up that contention.

News of Mueller's death comes as President Barack Obama prepares to send a formal request to Congress for the authorization to use military force against the militants.

 

 

Former senior Chinese leader dies

 

Former senior Chinese leader Deng Liqun has died.

He passed away Tuesday in Beijing.

He was 100.

The Communist Party of China has issued a statement, praising him as an excellent Party member, as well as a time-tested and loyal communist soldier.

Deng Liqun served as the Party's publicity chief from 1982 to 1985.

 

 

NY policeman charged over fatal shooting

 

A New York City police officer has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in November.

Officer Peter Liang is now facing potential charges after a review by a grand jury in the death of Akai Gurley.

The shooting took place while Liang, a rookie officer, was patrolling a darkened stairwell in a Brooklyn housing project.

Liang has argued he shot Gurley by accident.

The death of Gurley follows other incidents of police shooting and killing unarmed black men in New York and Missouri which sparked waves of national protests.

 

 

US closes embassy in Yemen

 

The United States is closing its embassy in Yemen's capital, Sana'a.

The US State Department says embassy staff are slowly being moved out amid the unpredictable security situation in the country.

US officials say while the Marines guarding the embassy will likely be withdrawn, US forces operating in Yemen will not be affected.

Yemen is Washington's front line in its battle against al-Qaeda.

Shiite Houthi fighters, who captured the capital in September, seized the presidential palace last month, forcing the resignation of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government.

Its believed the Iranian-backed Shiite fighters are also being aided by supporters of ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

 

 

Body of French co-pilot of crashed AirAsia plane identified

 

Indonesian officials say they've managed to identify the body of the co-pilot of the AirAsia jet which went down in the Java Sea in December.

The body is one of four recovered last week.

It's believed the French co-pilot was at the helm of the plane when it encountered trouble on its flight to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya on December 28th.

Initial indications from the flight data recorders suggest the Captain was monitoring at the time.

It's believed the flight stalled while attempting to fly over a storm-system it was poised to slam into.

All 162 people onboard were killed after the plane slammed into the Java Sea.

 

 

Newspaper Picks

 

 

XIAOXIANG MORNING POST

Headline

Chinese ex-premier on philanthropy list

Summary

Former premier Zhu Rongji has made this past year's China Philanthropy list for the second consecutive year, after he donated over 15 million yuan in royalties he earned from the sale of two books last year.

Zhu Rongji has donated over 40 million yuan to charitable causes over past two years.

He ranks 82nd on the list.

Alibaba chief Jack Ma tops the list, having donated nearly 17-billion yuan to charitable causes.

GLOBAL TIMES

Headline

Motorcycle safety tips

Summary

Chinese police are issuing safety warnings to motorcyclists hoping to ride their bikes back to their hometowns for the Spring Festival.

Police are reminding motorcycle drivers they can only carry one passenger, and that passenger can't be under 12 years old.

Last year's Spring Festival saw around 600-thousand migrant workers ride motorcycles from Guangdong to other parts of China.

CHINA DAILY

Headline

Pollution criticism

Summary

Environment authorities are warning of a grave pollution situation in the city of Cangzhou in Hebei.

Authorities are warning the pollution problems in the city are going to be an obstacle to the integration plans for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Illegal waste dumping and increasing air pollution levels are being reported in the city, which is home to around 1.5-million people.

It's located around 180-kilometers south of Beijing.

SHANGHAI DAILY

Headline

Government WeChat services

Summary

The Shanghai government's official WeChat account has added two new services — weather forecasts and real-time air quality reports.

The Shanghai WeChat account already provides nine other services.

SHENZHEN DAILY

Headline

License plate applications

Summary

The local transportation commission in the city of Shenzhen has received over 150-thousand applications for the just-over 11-thousand license plates to be issued in March through lotteries and auctions.

Shenzhen will only issue 100-thousand new license plates this year.

BEIJING NEWS

Headline

Farmer builds sports car out of wood

Summary

A Chinese farmer in Jiangxi has made his family a homemade wooden sports car as a gift for the upcoming Spring Festival.

The 26-year-old wood-worker has spent more than 100-thousand yuan on the design and construction of the vehicle.

It's taken him over half a year to complete the construction.

 

 

Special Reports

 

 

Jerusalem Book Fair Features Books and Cultural Events

 

Anchor:

The latest installment of Jerusalem International Book Fair is underway.

This year's event features books in a variety of different languages, as well as numerous cultural events.

CRI's Tu Yun has more.

Reporter:

Writers, publishers, and book-lovers have gathered at the First Station compound in Jerusalem for the bi-annual Book Fair.

Daniel Sterman lives in the city and brought his kids to the event.

"There are a lot more books here than what you can find in a regular book store. I have a list of books that I'm interested in buying. And for the kids I'm going to let them run around and see if they find anything that they are interested in and let them choose something."

Around 400 publishers from over 20 countries and regions have brought various kinds of books in different languages.

Miri Alon, the head buyer of foreign books for Steimatzky, the oldest and largest bookstore chain in Israel, says her company has attended every Jerusalem International Book Fair since its inception in 1963.

"It's international. Many people come from around the world. We have a lot of English speakers, German speakers, French speakers who live in Israel as well, so it's a great way to get all the communities together, and to also meet our colleagues around the world."

This is the first time the book fair has been held at First Station. Traditionally, it's been held at the Jerusalem International Convention Center.

Yoel Mokov, Director of the book fair, says a new concept has been introduced with the new location.

"It's more attractive to young people, and we try to attract young people back to the book fair. We put a lot of emphasis on the cultural activities around the books, meeting with authors, many interesting reviews and interviews, so we are talking about a big celebration of books and reading and everything."

Einat Talmon works in a Spanish-book booth and says there will be a series of events to mark the 400th anniversary of the second part of classic Spanish novel Don Quixote.

"We are going to have story-telling for kids in Hebrew about the adventure of Don Quixote, and we are going to have a meeting with the translator of Don Quixote into Hebrew, and with some professors from the Hebrew University who are specialized in Don Quixote."

Jerusalem book fair frequenter Colin is looking forward to finding good books and attending the cultural events.

"It's a chance to see all the different books which are available, to see what's on the market, to see what's coming out, to see the trends. And they have special sessions with writers, so it's a good opportunity to hear them. Within the years I've been to many, and I really enjoy hearing the writers speak and have chance to ask questions."

This year's Jerusalem International Book Fair Literary Award was given to Albanian human rights writer Ismail Kadare. The book fair will last until Thursday.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun.

 

 

Sports 

 

 

Basketball: Beijing Sweeps Jilin 3-0, Through to CBA Playoff Semi-Finals, NBA Preview

 

All 12 players had a hand in Beijing's 137-95 victory over Jilin on Tuesday to lift the defending champions into the semifinals of the CBA playoffs.

Beijing led 41-28 in the first quarter that saw former NBA Lakers guard Sun Yue nail three straight three-pointers. The host side led 72-50 at halftime.

Beijing outscored Jilin 20 more points in the second half, sweeping the best-of-five series to reach their fourth-straight semifinals.

As all 12 players played and scored, Li Gen had a team-high 23 points for Beijing. Stephon Marbury grabbed only four points, but gave out 10 assists.

And Guangdong beat Dongguan 114-97 for their second straight win, leading 2-1 in the series.

Dongguan, 24-38 down after the first quarter, narrowed the gap to four points before the final quarter. Sadly Bobbi Brown could not carry the team through with his troubled ankle. He top-scored Dongguan with 25 points, but had nine turnovers.

Former NBA player Yi Jianlian and Will Bynum had 28 and 25 points respectively for Guangdong with the latter also contributing 12 rebounds.

Over in the NBA:

Five games are on schedule this morning:

Detroit are away in Charlotte;

Phoenix will host Houston;

Chicago and Sacramento will clash;

Brooklyn take on Memphis;

and the Los Angeles Lakers will face Denver.

 

 

Yao Ming, 5 Others Appointed Ambassadors for China's 2022 Olympic Bid

 

Six famous Chinese athletes, including former basketball player Yao Ming, were appointed as ambassadors for China's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Tuesday in Beijing.

The six athletes, namely Yao Ming, former figure skating pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, speed skater Zhang Hong, aerial skier Li Nina, and Paralympic Games champion Hou Bin, were called upon to promote Beijing's bid for the Games around the world.

Yao Ming says he is honored to contribute to Beijing's efforts to host the winter games:

"I can still remember that China bid for the 2008 Olympic Games in 2001, when I was too young to make any contribution. Many of my predecessors, as well as my former teammates, including Wang Zhizhi, have contributed a lot for the bidding. I am very happy and honored to have the chance to make my own efforts for Beijing's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games," said Yao Ming.

Beijing would co-host the games with Zhangjiakou, a city in north China's Hebei Province, if granted the winning bid.

China's bid is going head-to-head with Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, after the other four candidates -- Oslo of Norway, Stockholm of Sweden, Krakow of Poland and Lviv of Ukraine -- withdrew their bids in 2014.

The winning bid is slated to be announced on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

 

Football: Premier League Action

 

In football action:

English Premiere League action just wrapped up--

Mario Balotelli notched his first premiership goal of the season with just seven minutes left on the clock to send Liverpool through 3-2 over Tottenham in a dramatic showing at Anfield.

Arsenal got a much-needed 2-1 win against a resilient Leicester side.

Hull City shut out Aston Villa 2-0; Villa drop into the relegation zone with the loss.

And climbing out of relegation are the Queens Park Rangers, who got their first win of the season against Sunderland 2-0.

 

 

Tennis: ATP Rotterdam Tournament; WTA Diamond Games and Pattaya Open

 

In second-round men's action from the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam yesterday;

Second-seeded Milos Raonic was made to work for a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-5 victory over qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov and a place in the second round of the World Tennis Tournament on Tuesday.

Coming off an Australian Open quarter-final loss, Raonic hit 19 aces to rally past the 23-year-old Russian in a contest lasting nearly two hours.

The sixth-ranked Canadian, who will take on Simone Bolelli in the next round, lost only six points on his first serve.

And third-seed Czech Tomas Berdych is through after beating German Tobias Kamke 6-1, 7-5.

Earlier, eighth-seeded Gilles Simon defeated Joao Sousa 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 and Canadian Vasek Pospisil converted three of his four break points in a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

In women's action:

At the WTA BNP Paribas Diamond Games in Antwerp—

France's Alize Cornet downed Belinda Bencic 1-6, 6-2, 7-5;

Czech Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-2;

Germany's Annika Beck beat Italy's Karin Knapp 6-3, 6-1;

And down at the Pattaya Open:

China's Zheng Saisai downed compatriot Xu Yi Fan 6-4, 6-2.

Other Chinese ladies making it through are top-seeded Peng Shuai, Duan Ying-Ying, Lin Zhu and Zhang Shuai.

 

 

Tennis: U.S. Draws Italy for World Group Playoffs in Fed Cup

 

The U.S. will have to beat Italy in Italy for the first time in 16 years to return to the top tier of the Fed Cup.

Italy and the Americans were drawn on Tuesday in the World Group play-offs from April 18-19.

Led by Serena and Venus Williams, the U.S. beat Argentina 4-1 in Buenos Aires last weekend to advance to the play-off round.

Italy, meanwhile, squandered a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 to France in Genoa in the first round of the World Group.

Italy have dominated recent ties with the U.S., winning the 2009 and 2010 finals, and first-round ties in 2013 and last year.

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

Brown Family Releases Bobbi Kristina Statement

 

Today marks three years since the death of late singer Whitney Houston.

And sadly it is still unclear about the current condition of her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, who has been in a coma since she was found unresponsive in a bathtub at her home in Georgia on January 31st.

While conflicting reports continue to swirl online regarding her status, the Brown family has finally released an official statement.

Although they don't reveal anything details about Brown's condition, they specifically blast the "false reporting from various media outlets, calling them out for writing articles based on unnamed "sources."

There have been various reports that the Brown family will turn off Bobbi's life support today, so she can die on the same day as her mother.

 

 

"Running Man" tops Chinese Box Office

 

Domestic comedy "Running Man" has knocked Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" off the top spot in the Chinese box office.

"Running Man" debuted on Jan. 30, and pulled in almost 24.5 million U.S. dollars in the first week, its total box office stands around 62.5 million U.S. dollars.

The Hobbit, which was box office champion for two consecutive weeks, has reached a total tickets sales of have reached over 114 million U.S. dollars since its opening on January 23rd in China.

Third was "Boonie Bears: Mystical Winter", the latest domestic animated franchise, which opened the same day as "Running Man."

The fourth spot went to American action-fantasy "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1."

Rounding out the top-five list was a domestic comedy "Crazy New Year's Eve", which debuted on February 6th.

 

 

Shanghai Cultural Troupe begin NY celebrations in Poland

 

The Shanghai Cultural Troupe welcomed the Chinese New Year in Poland with their first performance to over 2000 spectators.

This year's event, in the National Theater in Warsaw, is the fifth series of activities, aimed at introducing the Chinese traditions and culture to the local citizens.

Before the opening of the performance, the Chinese Ambassador to Poland, Xu Jian, made a speech, giving his best New Year wishes to all of the Chinese people living in Poland, as well as the people of Poland.

The performance of the Shanghai artists, consists of solo performances, acrobatics, traditional dances and songs.

After Warsaw, the event will also be held in the cities of Krakow and Opole until February 11th.

 

 

BFI screens films from Qing Dynasty to celebrate NY

 

The British Film Institute is also joining in with Chinese New Years celebrations, screening a series of rarely seen footage from the late Qing Dynasty in China.

The roughly one-hour-long film consisted of 22 short films shot by pioneers, missionaries, scholars and travelers.

Some of them are travelogues and newsreels filmed between 1901 to 1948.

It begins with a group of men wearing traditional Qing costumes, smoking on the street.

There's no sound, but the black-and-white footage is thought to be filmed in 1902.

The film continues southward, also showing the city of Guangzhou and the exploitation of Hong Kong, Chongqing, and ethnic minorities in the rural areas of southwestern Yunnan Province.

 

 

Rob Pattinson Hates Watching His Movies

 

Twilight star Robert Pattison has said he hates watching himself on screen.

Speaking at the world premiere of his latest film "Life" at the Berlin Film Festival, the British actor spoke of how much he dislikes watching his own work.

"Life" by Anton Corbijn, tells the story of a bond between photographer Dennis Stock and his subject - James Dean, played by Dane DeHaan.

Dean is on the cusp of superstardom, and Stock wants to do a collection of photos for Life magazine before Dean hits the big time.

"Life" is screening out of competition at the 65th Berlinale International Film Festival.