新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2015/02/16（打印版）

A new video has been released by the Islamic State, showing the militants beheading Egyptian Christians.

A massive party has been held in the Smithsonian in Washington ahead of the Spring Festival.

In business... China's foreign exchange regulator is warning of volitile cash flows in China this year.

In entertainment.... an Iranian film has taken this year's Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Beijing will be overcast today with a high of 11, tonight clear with a low of minus 1 degrees Celsius.

The Chinese government has announced its going to be eliminating its temporary residence permit.

Temporary residency permits have been a requirement for migrant workers to be able to work in a new city.

However, big cities, including Beijing, still use the system to control the number of people who migrate to the city.

The Ministry of Public Security says it made the order to ensure suspects rights are protected.

The proposal, approved by the central government, also says it expects police officers to be more accountable for the cases they handle.

In making the changes, the Ministry says the credibility of the police has been damaged by a number of problems, including officers accepting bribes and bending the law to serve themselves.

The proposal to film and record interrogations is aimed at stamping out the extortion and torture.

The new policy came following public outcry over a number of high profile wrong conviction cases.

A court in Inner Mongolia recently awarded 2 million yuan in compensation to the parents of a teenager who was wrongly convicted and executed in 1996 for a rape and murder he didn't commit.

The Islamic State has released a new video showing the beheading 21 Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya.

Thousands of Egyptians have gone into neighboring Libya in search of jobs, despite advice from their government not to go to one of the most dangerous countries in the region.

Followers of the Islamic State have been active in Libya for a number of months, and describe the country as a 'province.'

Ukrainian military officials say fighting in eastern Ukraine has mostly come to an end now that a ceasefire has taken effect.

"The situation in eastern Ukraine appears to be heading towards stabilization. Residents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have, through social media, confirmed the silence outside their homes. Despite the ceasefire, single instances of the use of weapons by rebels have been reported."

The rebels say they will not observe the truce at Debaltseve, saying they consider it their "internal territory."

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which is responsible for monitoring the ceasefire, says the rebels have denied it access into the area.

The truce was worked out last week following talks among France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.

On top of the creation of a demilitarized zone, Ukrainian authorities have promised to amend the country's constitution to give more autonomy to parts of eastern Ukraine.

Police in Denmark are providing more details about the suspect involved in this weekend's terror attacks in Copenhagen.

Authorities are describing the suspect as "a 22-year-old man, born in Denmark and known to be involved with gangs."

He was shot dead early Sunday after he opened fire on police officers, just hours after two people were killed and five wounded in a pair of shootings in the Danish capital.

One of the shootings took place at a free-speech forum which featured a controversial cartoonist who has published works involving the Prophet Muhammed.

"We stand here in front of the Jewish synagogue in Copenhagen. We are devastated today, a man has lost his life in a service of that synagogue, and we are devastated. Our thoughts go to his family. We are with them today, but our thoughts go to the whole of the Jewish community today. They belong in Denmark, they are a strong part of our community, and we will do everything we can to protect the Jewish community in our country."

Danish intelligence says the suspect was known to them, and say they're working on a theory the gunman may have been inspired by the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris last month.

Part of the northern German town of Braunschweig was evacuated on Sunday amid reports of a possible attack.

"At the beginning the threat was very abstract. But after receiving some more information last night, it became concrete. So we did a prompt assessment of the situation, and between running a traditional event and the life, security and well being of many citizens. And our decision was in favor of security and therefore we cancelled the carnival parade".

Local police cleared people out of the town center and shut down a planned carnival following word of a "concrete" threat of an attack.

Germany has seen a groundswell of anti-Muslim activities in recent months, including weekly marches in the city of Dresden.

This has led to concerns in Germany that religious zealots may be inclined to launch attacks inside that country.

Health officials in Taiwan have confiscated nearly 500 kilograms of tainted duck blood products which contain metallic bio-toxins.

The products were being sold in retail outlets across the island, including in over 100 Noble Family stores.

Noble Family, one of the largest retail chains on Taiwan, has since taken all duck blood products off the shelves.

"We do not sell food made with duck blood now, because it might have been polluted. So, all our duck blood-related products are off the table now."

Local authorities say if any restaurant or vendor is found selling contaminated duck blood, they will face fines of upto 100-thousand US dollars.

Hangzhou-based Kuaidi and Beijing-based Didi will retain their own brands and business operations.

As part of the agreement, the companies' chief executives will act as joint CEOs for the new firm.

It's been suggested the new company may end up being valued at around 6-billion US dollars.

Li Min, spokesperson for the combined operations, says their merger is a "flash marriage" meant to promote market growth.

"On top of this, both companies have the same perspective on the taxi-booking app market. In fact, we have negotiated with each other several times. But this time, our negotiation process went very smoothly. It only took around 3 weeks to get a deal. Right now, we can't disclose what stake each side will take in the venture, but both sides will keep their brand identities."

Didi and Kuaidi, backed by Chinese Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba respectively, have been involved in a price battle to attract customers over the past year, with each offering huge discounts and incentives to passengers and drivers.

Some observers have been questioning whether the merger will create a monopoly which may end up being bad for customers.

"First of all, the transportation market is huge enough. Secondly, our research suggests many people are still hailing cabs in the street instead of using apps. As such, the joint venture will only take up a small piece of a much bigger market, and the so-called monopoly does not exist right now."

The merged companies are also going to be working on collaborating in areas such as driver hiring services, car pooling and a mobile app for bus services.

With the merger pending, some taxi users fear the days of low-cost cab rides might be coming to an end.

"I think the good side of the merger is that users don't need to switch apps any more. But the bad side is that users only get one yuan subsidy from the two companies."

Under their current campaigns, both companies are offering passengers up to 15 yuan in discounts per ride.

It's believed Kuaidi holds about 56 percent of the market share in the taxi-hailing app market, while Didi accounts for some 43 percent.

Organizers preparing to convince the International Olympic Committee that Beijing and Zhangjiakou is the right choice to host the 2022 Winter Olympics contend their bid is virtually ready to go.

After hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008, China is fully prepared for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and ready to make it a success.

Wang Hui, deputy secretary general at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bidding Committee, believes winning the bid would expand the development of winter games across the whole country.

"The wish of our people is the first reason as to why we decided to bid. Second I think it's very beneficial to develop winter sports in China. In the north east part of china winter sports has a very long and well developed tradition, now our commit is to expand that tradition down south and east and west."

Indeed, more and more people are engaging in winter sports in China. In Beijing alone there are over one thousand ice hockey teams among primary school children. In Zhangjiakou there is already a skiing venue in place, and the sport has really picked up over the years.

Three zones are planned for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing zone, Zhangjiakou zone and the Yangqing zone, an area in Beijing's suburb.

Luo Lie from Yanqing Operation Centre of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, explains what events would be held in each zone.

"The ice sports will be held in Beijing, the Yanqing zone will have sliding events as well as alpine skiing events. And all the other winter sports events will be held in the Zhangjiakou zone."

If China was to win the bid for the 2022 Winter Games, the famous Birds Nest in Beijing would be used for the opening and closing ceremonies, and skating events.

Wang Hui adds that not much is needed, but another ski venue in Yanqing and a high speed rail would be built.

"We only need to build one massive scale ski track venue. Also in terms of infrastructure, we are planning to build a high speed rail between Jianjiakou and Beijing which would shorten the distance to about 50 minutes. "

Wang Zhijun, a deputy division chief at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bidding Committee, is confident China will win the bid, and believes it would help the development of the areas hosting the events.

"It will definitely be a driver for economic and social development, as well as improvement in infrastructure. It will also make our people happier, and further more I think it's important that it will help the joint development of Yanqing, Beijing and Heibei Province."

In March, the International Olympic Committee will head to Beijing and Jianjiakou for inspection. Then on July 31st in Kuala Lumpur, the decision as to who will host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be made at the IOC assembly.

Around 5-thousand people have gathered at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC to take part in festivities leading up to the coming of the year of the sheep.

Lion dances and puppet shows, with the color red splashed everywhere... the feel of the impending Chinese New Year is definitely in the air.

He and his family are among the roughly 5-thousand people who have turned out for this event.

David Markham is also among those who decided to stop by to let his son experience an exotic celebration.

"It's one of the nicest about living in D.C. is to exposure all different cultural events going on. Let him know that he lives in a really big world with a lot of other people in it, not just other Americans."

With China and the United States pressing ahead with more cultural exchanges, events like this one at the Smithsonian are becoming more common.

"This is for the great international celebration and also our neighborhood celebration. Look at the courtyard, look how beautiful it is. I love the decorations and the red lanterns."

Through collaboration with the Chinese embassy in Washington, the museum invited the Shaanxi Art Troupe to decorate the Smithsonian's courtyard, giving American audiences a taste of Chinese folk art.

"Sheep represents good luck and happiness in Chinese culture. I hope the year of the sheep can bring good luck to both the peoples of the US and China and to the two countries' relationships as well. The two leaders have announced that President Xi Jinping will come to the US this year. This is the most important thing to the relationship of the two countries. We're working together to prepare for the visit and push forward the relationship to a new era."

Today, the Eurozone will release its December trade surplus, which is expected to come in at 19-billion euros.

They are being tasked with producing a deal that will keep Greece solvent, and which is acceptable on both sides.

On Friday, the Eurozone is to release its February composite PMI, expected to go up to 53.0, up from 52.2 last month.

Markets here in China are to close from Wednesday to next Tuesday for the Spring Festival holiday.

Swiss food group Nestlé is expected to clarify the impact of last month's sharp appreciation of the Swiss franc in its results announcement on Thursday.

And finally lower crop prices and farm income are expected to continue to weigh on agricultural-equipment maker Deere when it reports fiscal first-quarter results on Friday.

China's forex regulator is warning cross-border capital flows are going to remain volatile this year amid uncertainties both at home and abroad.

At the same time, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange says easing monetary policies in certian major economies will put emerging markets under growing pressure from capital outflows.

China's capital account deficit widened sharply in the last quarter to over 90-billion U.S. dollars.

The widening trade deficit has fanned concerns about massive capital outflows as the economy slows.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange does say it expects the structure of the trade surplus and the capital outflows will eventually become stable as the government makes its foreign exchange mechanism more market-oriented.

Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi has announced plans to open an online store in the United States later this year.

However, the Beijing-based company will not be selling its smartphones in the online store.

The new US online store, called Mi.com, will instead sell a selection of smaller-brand products such as headphones, air purifiers, smart wristbands and mobile power chargers.

Xiaomi sold 61 million handsets last year, and expects it will sell around 100-million this year.

For more on Xiaomi's venturing into the US market, we are now joined live by Mike Bastin, Director of The China Business Centre based in London.

The latest economic planning policy paper released by the State Council shows there are plans in-place to make the services sector become a one-trillion U.S. dollar sector by 2020.

This represents the first time the Chinese government has made the export of services part of a national strategy.

The document specifically points to the expansion of financial services, communications and transportation into international markets, on top of promoting tourism and the cultural exports.

It also proposes tax breaks for service exporters and encourages companies to apply for more patent applications in foreign markets.

A collaborative wind power project between China and Pakistan has received a loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China worth 100-million US dollars.

When its finished, 33 Chinese-made wind generating units will be put in place around Karachi to generate electricity.

"In the next three years, a one million kilowatt new energy project and a four million plus kilowatt thermal power project will start. Meanwhile, a transmission and distribution project over 1,000-kilometers-long will also become operational."

The economic corridor between China and Pakistan has been focused on energy cooperation, transportation infrastructure construction and industrial parks.

China Minsheng Investment, this country's largest private investment fund, is planning to spend 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in a Chinese-led project to help develop a new financial district in London.

The project, which was announced back in August, is one of the largest Chinese investments in the UK.

Chinese developer Advanced Business Park, which is heading the ambitious plan, hopes to develop a 14-hectare sliver of land at the historic Royal Albert Dock in east London into 400-thousand square meters worth of offices and shops.