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

Coming up on our program this morning...

The rush is now on, as tens of thousands move to get home with the Spring Festival just over a day away.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has made a stop in Tehran to meet with Iranian officials.

Egypt's President is calling on international support to fight the Islamic State in Libya.

In business... A new multi-billion dollar fund for the Silk Road proposal is now officially active.

In Sports... Beijing Guo'an in action later today in the Asian Champions League.

In entertainment.... more than ten foreign broadcasters set to air the CCTV's Spring Festival Gala.

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

 

 

Weather

 

 

Beijing will be sunny today with a high of 12, tonight clear with a low of minus 2 degrees Celsius.

Shanghai , also sunny with a high of 14 and a low of 4 degrees Celsius.

Chongqing, sunny with a high of 20.

Elsewhere in Asia.

Islamabad, sunny, with a high of 30.

Kabul, cloudy, with a high of 13.

Over to North America.

New York will have snow with a high of minus 2 degrees Celsius.

Washington, cloudy to overcast with a high of 1 degree Celsius.

Honolulu, cloudy, with a high of 29.

Toronto, cloudy to snowy with a high of minus 8.

Finally, in South America,

Buenos Aires, cloudy, 32.

And Rio de Janeiro, rainy, with a high of 31 degrees Celsius.

 

 

Top News

 

 

Lunar New Year Holiday Rush Begins

 

Anchor:

As the Lunar New Year is just around the corner here in China, tens of thousands have been flocking to train stations across the country in an effort to make their way home to celebrate Spring Festival.

CRI's Niu Honglin has more.

Reporter:

Rail officials in Shanghai expect nearly 400 thousand passengers to board trains on Monday at the city's three railway stations. And before the holiday begins on Wednesday, more than 10 million rail journeys are expected to have originated in the city.

Zhengzhou Railway Station, the biggest rail transfer hub in China, saw more than 150 thousand trips during the day, an increase of 30 percent from last year.

Buying tickets often proves tough, with passengers at the station saying that even buying tickets online has become much harder.

"I got this ticket from someone who had returned it and I managed to get it. Train tickets usually sell out within two minutes of going on sale. After a couple of weeks some return their tickets and we can buy those."

"Buying tickets is really hard! I had to refresh the website for a week before I managed to buy them."

In China, many people work in big cities, and many of them are far from their home towns; the week-long "Spring Festival" holiday is the only time many of them will have for seeing their families this year.

Crowds of people dragging suitcases and holding bags thronged Beijing Railway Station as they rushed to get on trains.

Sun Yuanbin, a 23-year-old student, will spend around 26 hours traveling to get back to his home town in northeastern Jilin Province.

"After all, Spring Festival is a traditional festival in our country. When people who are working in different places across the country come to train stations and see the trains that will take them back to their home towns, they will be very excited. Although we only get hard-seat tickets to stay overnight on, we still feel very happy."

Xie Jingyi, spokesman for Beijing railway station, says ensuring the safety and smooth operation of passenger trips is now their top concern.

"After the middle of January, we are all focusing on Passenger Services, which includes entering stations, checking tickets, crowd control. When it comes to the safety issue, you can see that we've improved our security process."

Extra security has also been put outside Shanghai Railway Station. Armed police, emergency communications trucks and temporary police units have been stationed outside the main entrance and over 300 military police and volunteers have been pulled in to help during the busy period.

For CRI, I am Niu Honglin

 

 

President Xi Extends New Year's Greetings

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered Lunar New Year's greetings to people across China.

He's delivered the greetings while touring Xi'an.

"I wish every family, every resident and every child a happy life, the very best of luck in your job, every success in your future endeavors in the year of the sheep. Thank you! Happy New Year!"

President Xi Jinping and other leaders have also extended festival greetings to their predecessors including former presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.

President Xi has made personal stops to meet with some of the former leaders.

 

 

The Year of Goat, Sheep or Ram?

 

Anchor:

Is the forthcoming Lunar New Year the Year of Goat, Ram or Sheep?

It's a debate which has been rekindled among the English-speaking world ahead of the start of the Spring Festival.

CRI's Yu Yang has more.

Reporter:

"Ram. Cause it's strong. So you can have a good strong year."

"I think it should be the Year of Sheep."

Even the overseas students in China can't come up with a definitive answer.

And in an effort to try to avoid the debate all together, at least one media outlet has coined the phrase "any ruminant horned animal" as a solution.

The Chinese lunar calendar uses animal symbols to represent each year of a 12-year cycle, not unlike the zodiac, which uses symbols for every monthly cycle of the moon.

The Chinese character for the upcoming year is "yang," which is a broad-based character which can refer to any member of the caprinae sub-family: aka: Goats, sheep, lamb, etc.

The ambiguity has stirred debate this year in the English-language media about exactly which animal "yang" represents.

Folklorist Liu Tashi says the Chinese character "yang" actually represents a general concept, rather than a specific type of sheep, goat or ram.

"In the mountains of Ningxia, we have blue-sheep paintings in caves. The people in Ningxia raise and worship blue-sheep, while those living in Zhejiang prefer raising Huyang sheep. So what kind of 'yang' people worship depends on where they live and what 'yang' they raise."

Wang Tao, a folklorist with the Nanjing Museum, says based on records and cultural artifacts, the goat appears much more often than sheep or ram.

But Liu Tashi notes it really doesn't matter what kind of 'yang' you believe in.

"I think the 'yang' we now worship is a general concept of the animal itself. No matter what it stands for, the animal represents a hope for happiness and health to our family and friends."

For CRI, I'm Yu Yang.

 

 

Iran parliament to promote ties with China: speaker

 

Iran's Parliamentary Speaker is promising to help promote ties with China.

Ali Larijani has made the pledge while meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tehran.

Larijani says China is playing a positive role in helping settle the Iranian nuclear issue.

For his part, Wang Yi says China supports the peaceful settlement of the issue, and is against unilateral sanctions.

He also says the Chinese side does not support the idea of extending the current timeline to bring the nuclear negotiations to an end.

The negotiations between Iran and world powers face an initial deadline for a basic framework agreement at the end of March.

A final settlement is supposed to be finished by the end of June.

 

 

Egypt calls international intervention against IS in Libya

 

The Egyptian government is calling for international intervention against affiliates of the Islamic State in Libya.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says what is happening in Libya is a threat to the world peace and security.

His televised appeal has come on the heels of the Egyptian air forces striking Islamic State targets on Monday, a day after the militants released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.

Egypt says its struck militant training sites and weapons caches.

The strikes, which also involved Libyan fighter jets, hit the targets near the city of Derna.

This is a coastal city in the eastern part of Libya which is considered a base for Islamic State fighters.

Libya's secular administration based in the western city of Tobruk has backed the air strikes.

The rival Tripoli-based parliament, which is supported by Islamist groups, is deeming the strikes as an assault on the country's sovereignty.

 

 

Egypt buys combat jets from France

 

Egypt's government has signed a deal with France to purchase fighter jets, a naval frigate and other military equipment.

Egyptian Defence Minister Sedqi Sobhi.

"Our meeting today is the beginning of a new phase of strategic Egyptian-French relations, which was crowned today by the signing of a deal for Egypt to obtain, as the first friend-state of the French republic, to buy 24 Rafale French fighter jets."

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says the agreement is good for regional security.

"This is a turning point in our bilateral relationship, and a beginning of an enhanced cooperation in the service of regional security, and it's also an indication of the very strong trust which Egypt has bestowed upon France and the French team."

The agreement has been signed just hours after the Egyptian air force launched raids on Islamic State targets in Libya.

 

 

Italy could take part in military intervention against IS

 

A leading Italian lawmaker is suggesting the country may be preparing for intervention in Libya to stem the rise of the Islamic State.

The idea of intervention has gained traction within Italy.

Italian territory lies just 800-kilometres off Libya's coast.

The Italian government shut down its embassy in Tripoli this week amid the unrest in the country.

Libya has been gripped by unrest among rival factions, which now includes followers of the Islamic State, following the toppling of former leader Muammar Gadaffi in 2011.

 

 

France Mobilizes Security Forces to Protect Jews

 

The French government is mobilizing thousands of additional security forces to protect Jewish sites across the country.

This comes after hundreds of Jewish tombstones were found vandalized in eastern France on Monday.

Bernard Cazeneuve is France's Interior Minister.

"There is an exceptional mobilization - and that's been recognized by French Jews - to ensure their security in France. Ten thousand troops are deployed around places of worship, around all the important institutions. Thousands of police and security forces are protecting Jewish sites, schools, institutions."

French police are questioning five teenagers in connection with the vandalism.

None of them are thought to be terror suspects.

France's Jewish community has been the target of numerous attacks over the past year.

This has prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publically call on French Jews to migrate to Israel.

Last year, more than 7-thousand French Jews made the move.

This is more than double the number who migrated in 2013.

 

 

Danish PM Says Gunman Not Part of Wider Cell

 

Danish authorities are moving to quell concerns about a wider terrorist threat in the country following this past weekend's shootings.

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt says they believe the gunman who attacked a free speech debate and a synagogue is not part of a wider terror cell.

"About the perpetrator himself, I won't go into detail, we don't have all the details yet. But this is a young man of 22, he is a Danish citizen born in Denmark. He was known by the police for several criminal acts, including severe violence, and he was also known to be linked to a criminal gang in Copenhagen. But I want to also say that and make it very clear that we have no indication, at this stage, that he was part of a cell, that that took him to where he was now."

Thorning-Schmidt also says her government stands behind the country's Jewish community.

Her comments come on the heels of a new call by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for European Jews to migrate to Israel for their own security.

 

 

Gov’t and rebels claim ceasefire violations

 

Reports out of eastern Ukraine are suggesting the newly-brokered ceasefire is already on the verge of collapsing.

Both government forces and the rebels are accusing one-another of violating the truce, which has only been in-place since Sunday.

The Ukrainian military claims its been fired-on at least a hundred times over the past 24-hours.

Ukrainian army spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

"The obligatory condition for the withdrawal of heavy artillery is compliance with the first item of the Minsk agreements, which is a complete ceasefire. 112 incidents of shelling is not a ceasefire. So we are not ready yet to withdraw."

Rebel forces claim Ukrainian troops have been shelling the Donetsk airport.

At the same time, intense fighting is still said to be taking place around the strategic railway hub in the eastern town of Debaltseve.

Eduard Basurin is a rebel commander.

"Near Debaltseve the Ukrainian military open fire at everything. Their target is anyone alive, including rebels, journalists, OSCE staff. They start firing indiscriminately as soon as they see a car or a person."

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is monitoring the situation, has confirmed several breaches of the ceasefire in both Donetsk and Luhansk.

 

 

Greece Given One More Week for Extension

 

Greek debt talks have come to an end without a deal.

This is prompting warnings from eurozone leaders that the country faces a potential 'disaster.'

Greece has rejected a draft proposal put forward by European finance ministers at a meeting in Brussels.

The Greek side is refusing to implement pension cuts and VAT hikes, which are part of Greece's original bailout agreement.

Eurozone chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem is calling for the Greek government to extend negotiations for a week.

"The main reason for that is that given the ongoing discussions about how a programme should work and a future arrangement for Greece should look like we simply need more time, and the best way for that is to, at this point, extend the current programme which would then allow us a number of time, a number of months to work on future arrangements."

At the same time, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is warning the IMF may cut off its funding to Greece unless talks resume.

"If an extension is sought by the Greek authorities from the Eurogroup, and addressed with a commitment to continue to consider the current programme, then we continue to work together and we will address the review process in due course and establish whether or not some, a large party, all the commitments that were made, have actually been implemented and realised. If that was not the case, and of course the review doesn't happen in two days, it's going to take place over the course of several weeks, if not months. If the conclusion is that it is not the case then disbursement, at least from our perspective, IMF, cannot occur."

Despite the impasse, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis says Greece is prepared to reach an "honorable agreement."

In making the statement, he also says Greece will remain in the eurozone.

 

 

Australia Threatens Repercussions over Indonesia Executions

 

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is pleading with the Indonesian government to show mercy for two Australians currently facing execution for drug convictions in Bali.

But at the same time, Abbott is warning of repurcussions should the Indonesian government enact the death sentences.

"Well, what we understand is that there are still legal options available to these two Australians and their legal teams, and we certainly appreciate that the Indonesian government doesn't normally go ahead with executions of this type while there are legal options still available. And that's what we're saying to the Indonesian government, given that there are legal options that apparently are still there, let's not do this dreadful, final, irrevocable thing any time soon."

Indonesian authorities have been insistent, saying the verdict is final.

Tony Spontana is a spokesperson for Indonesia's Attorney General.

"The legal process is finished. We have already received the rejection letter from the President about their clemency and it's final. The next step is execution. So, if their legal team is still doing legal work, that's not going to delay the execution process. The preparations still continue."

The two Australians on death-row are the convicted ringleaders of a group of nine Australians who were arrested in 2005 trying to smuggle heroin from Bali to Austrlia.

Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world.

Drug traffickers are routinely put to death.

 

 

Biz Reports

 

 

Stocks

 

Anchor:

U.S. markets are closed on Monday for President's Day.

So first, a quick look at the closing numbers across Europe.

Joining me on the desk, Luo Wen.

Reporter:

European stocks dipped on Monday on fresh worries over Greece's upcoming debt talks in Brussels, with investor sentiment also dented by Ukraine's shaky ceasefire.

The Greek market crashed by more than four percent before a key meeting of eurozone finance ministers over Athens' controversial proposals to overhaul its bailout.

Investors hope an agreement will be reached to avoid Greece's exit from the euro.

But Germany's finance minister said a quick deal on Monday is unlikely.

At close,

The UK's FTSE 100 ended down about a quarter of a percent.

Germany's DAX fell around a third of a percent.

And finally France's CAC 40 trimmed about a fraction of a percent.

 

 

Japanese Investment on the up in China despite Closures: MOC

 

China's Ministry of Commerce says Japanese investment into the country is still rising, despite recent moves by a number of Japanese companies to close their operations in China.

Newly registered Japanese businesses in China edged up 3.5 percent in January from a year earlier.

Japanese contractual investment shot up close to 47 percent last month.

Actual investment has increased 3.2 percent.

Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shen Danyang.

"Indeed, some Japanese companies have closed their plants in China, but the number is still limited. When implementing their globalization strategies, certain multinationals will undertake measures, such as merger or reorganization to adjust their business layout across the world. This is normal business activity."

A number of Japanese companies, including Panasonic, Toshiba and Citizen, have shut down some of their operations in China.

A weaker yen, on top of rising wages in China, is said to be the main reason behind the move.

Still, Japan remains among the top 10 countries investing in China.

 

 

China's 40-bln-USD Silk Road Fund Starts Operation

 

Anchor:

China's central bank has officially launched the 40-billion US dollar fund meant to finance this country's proposed Silk Road initiatives.

The Silk Road Fund Company is jointly-funded through China's foreign exchange reserves, as well as the China Investment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank.

The capital will be used to seed investments and financing services linked to the "Belt and Road" initiatives.

"Belt and Road" refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in late 2013.

For more on the fund, we're joined now live by Gao Shang, analyst with Beijing-based Guantong Futures.

 

 

China January FDI Grows at Strongest Pace in Four Years

 

New data shows Foreign direct investment into China grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in January.

FDI in January jumped close to 30-percent in January on an annualized basis, coming in at nearly 14-billion U.S. dollars.

Two-thirds of the investments have gone into China's service sector, with the financial services industry seeing the biggest investment increase.

At the same time, foreign investment in the manufacturing sector makes up around 28-percent of the total.

However, the Minstry of Commerce is warning Chinese foreign trade still remains fragile.

Spokesperson Shen Danyang.

"There are indeed some concerns right now. Some market experts, economists and journalists worry about whether there will be deflation. According to what we have leant and from the consumption data for January I just released, we believe that attention should be necessarily paid, but the deflation that everyone is concerned about will not occur at the moment."

The Consumer Price Index for January came in at just 0.8-percent, the lowest pace of consumer price growth in some 5-years.

Foreign Direct Investment into China rose 1.7 percent last year, the slowest rate of growth since 2012.

 

 

Dagong Downgrades Sovereign Credit Ratings for France

 

Chinese credit rating agency Dagong has downgraded France's credit rating from A+ to A.

The agency contends the sustained weakness in the French economy has weekend credit demand in France.

France's deficit increased 4.4-percent last year.

But in making the downgrade, Dagong does say it expects France's economy to stabilize in the next couple of years.

Dagong is forecasting the French economy will expand by 0.8 percent this year and 1.2 percent in 2016.

The French economy grew by 0.4 percent last year.

 

 

China to Allow more Refiners to Import Crude Oil

 

Chinese regulators are moving to allow local refineries to import crude oil, but only under certain conditions.

Local Chinese refineries will only be allowed to import international crude oil if they cut back capacity or install natural gas storage facilities.

The new rules apply to existing facilities which have refining capacity of over two million tonnes.

They also need to meet ecological and energy-saving requirements.

 

 

China to Issue New 4G Permits for Rival Telcos

 

Chinese authorities are planning to issue a second batch of 4G licenses nationwide this week.

The licenses are expected to be officially issued to China Unicom and China Telecom on Thursday.

The new 4G licenses should help the two catch up with China Mobile, which has more than 100 million 4G users.

Chinese authorities issued their first batch of 4G licenses to the three carriers at the end of 2013.

 

 

Headline News

 

 

Su Rong expelled from Party, office

 

The former vice-Chair of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference has been officially booted out of the Party.

Su Rong has also been officially dismissed from public office following an internal graft investigation.

Discipline Inspection authorities say Su Rong abused his power and caused "great losses" to state assets.

He's accused of corruption while in his role as Party Chief in Jiangxi between 2007 and 2013.

 

 

Iran parliament to promote ties with China: speaker

 

Iran's Parliamentary Speaker is promising to help promote ties with China.

Ali Larijani has made the pledge while meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tehran.

Larijani says China is playing a positive role in helping settle the Iranian nuclear issue.

For his part, Wang Yi says China supports the peaceful settlement of the issue, and is against unilateral sanctions.

He also says the Chinese side does not support the idea of extending the current timeline to bring the nuclear negotiations to an end.

The negotiations between Iran and world powers face an initial deadline for a basic framework agreement at the end of March.

A final settlement is supposed to be finished by the end of June.

 

 

Egypt calls international intervention against IS in Libya

 

The Egyptian government is calling for international intervention against affiliates of the Islamic State in Libya.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says what is happening in Libya is a threat to the world peace and security.

His televised appeal has come on the heels of the Egyptian air forces striking Islamic State targets on Monday, a day after the militants released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.

Egypt says its struck militant training sites and weapons caches.

The strikes, which also involved Libyan fighter jets, hit the targets near the city of Derna.

This is a coastal city in the eastern part of Libya which is considered a base for Islamic State fighters.

Libya's secular administration based in the western city of Tobruk has backed the air strikes.

The rival Tripoli-based parliament, which is supported by Islamist groups, is deeming the strikes as an assault on the country's sovereignty.

 

 

Sierra Leone leader vows to punish misuse of Ebola funds

 

Sierra Leone's President is asking for patience following an Auditor General's report which has found Ebola donations are being improperly distributed.

At the same time, Ernest Koroma is promising those found misusing the money are going to face the "full penalty of the law."

The audit has found that, in many cases, the funds distributed to individuals and institutions have been done so without documentation.

Sierra Leone is one of three West African countries which has been recieving millions of dollars in international donations to help battle the Ebola outbreak, which has claimed close to 10-thousand lives over the past year.

 

 

Newspaper Picks

 

 

CHINA DAILY

Headline

Credit records created

Summary

Chinese authorities are set to create a credit code system based on individuals ID numbers and credit records, which will also be linked to criminal records.

The link to people's criminal records is meant to try to enhance security in certain sectors such as courier services and online shopping through the use of a real-name registration system.

SHANGHAI DAILY

Headline

Four-G goals

Summary

China Mobile says its hoping to add 250 million 4G users to its rolls, on top of building a million new 4G base stations, by the end of this year.

The company currently has around 100 million 4G users and over 700-thousand 4G base stations.

BEIJING NEWS

Headline

Pollution warning

Summary

Authorities in Beijing are warning of potential pollution problems in the capital caused by fireworks for the forthcoming Spring Festival holiday.

An air quality monitoring officials are warning of a lack of air flow in Beijing from the 18th to the 20th.

Air quality is expected to get better starting on the weekend.

BEIJING TIMES

Headline

Beida leadership change

Summary

Peking University has a new president.

59-year old Lin Jianhua replaces Wang Enge as the 27th president of the university.

Lin headed Zhejiang University before taking on the new role.

BEIJING MORNING POST

Headline

Festival safety

Summary

The Beijing Municipal government is tightening safety restrictions for the Spring Festival.

The number of visitors at tourist attractions will be strictly monitored.

Police will be involved if numbers exceed safety limits.

SHENZHEN DAILY

Headline

Dongguan pollution pledge

Summary

Authorities in Shenzhen are promising to work with their counterparts in the city of Dongguan to clean up the Maozhou River.

Under a new agreement, the two cities are teaming up to monitor illegal drainage, shut down heavily polluting companies, as well as restrict labor-intensive and high energy-consuming companies along the river.

The Maozhou River is one of the most polluted rivers in the Pearl River Delta Region, and ranks at the bottom in a national water quality survey.

 

 

Special Reports

 

 

Challenges facing potato farmers in Inner Mongolia

 

Anchor:

Farmers in Inner Mongolia are among many across the country who have begun heeding the call of the Chinese government to make the potato the country's 4th staple food.

CRI's Poornima Weerasekara has more.

Reporter:

The potato is only a side-dish in China, where rice and noodles made from wheat dominate the dinner plate.

But now the Chinese government wants to turn the potato into the fourth staple food in the country in order to make better use of scarce farmland.

China's Agriculture Ministry announced plans in January to double the land devoted to potato production from five to ten million hectares.

I visited Xinfucun, a tiny village in Damaoqi County in Inner Mongolia, about 160 km north of the provincial capital Hohhot, where many changes are happening on the ground to make this ambitious plan a success.

The village had set up a corporative society for potato farmers in 2012.

Shang Jian Ping is one of the farmers leading this collective.

"Each family must contribute 5 mu of land to the potato farming collective. About 100 households in our village are members of this corporative society. That means about 300 people are contributing to potato cultivation in the village. After establishing the cooperative society, the land area under potato cultivation has increased. We also get more technical support from the government. This has helped us to triple our income per mu from 500 yuan up to 1500 yuan with better yields."

This increase in productivity is partly due to a new drip irrigation system introduced by the corporative society.

But farmers are still struggling to sell their bumper harvest.

"We don't have access to a well-developed distribution channel. We don't have any contracts with large companies that can buy our produce every year in large quantities."

The increased production has also led to a supply glut. Potato farmers want a minimum guaranteed price for their produce to ensure a more stable income.

Local authorities plan to tackle this issue in various ways. Ai Jing is the local government spokesperson for the Damaoqi County.

"Since the potato is the main cultivation crop in this area, we are encouraging people to store and sell potatoes in the off-season. The government has built underground warehouse facilities to store the surplus produce. This way they can avoid the risk of prices collapsing due to a supply glut."

Another strategy is to build value-added food processing industries like making potato starch closer to potato cultivating areas.

"We are also hoping to sign contracts with larger companies like potato chip manufacturers to produce potatoes as per their quality standards. This will provide a more stable distribution channel. Finally, we want to sell organic potatoes without any pesticides, so the price will be higher."

China is already the world's largest potato producer, with an annual production of 90 million metric tons in 2013.

For CRI, I'm Poornima Weerasekara.

 

 

Sports

 

 

 

Beijing Guoan and Bangkok Glass on AFC Champions League play-offs.

 

Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan will take on Bangkok Glass for a place in AFC Champions Group Stage at Workers Stadium today.

Guoan earned their spot after finishing runners-up in the Chinese Super League in 2014.

The Chinese capital club also won the domestic league title in 2009 and have finished in the top-three in eight of the past nine seasons.

They reached the AFC Champions League Round of 16 in 2010 and 2013.

The play-off game will be the season opening match for Beijing, as the Chinese Super League kicks off in March.

Bangkok Glass FC, who finished tenth in the Thai Premier League last season, qualified for the AFC Champions League Play-offs by winning the Thai FA Cup.

The winner between Beijing and Bangkok will qualify for Group G of the AFC Champions League, where they will face A-League winners Brisbane Roar, J.League side Urawa Red Diamonds and K-League runners-up Suwon Bluewings.

 

 

Football: UEFA Champions League Preview

 

Tomorrow, UEFA Champions league action kicks off:

Premier Leuage leaders Chelsea will take on Paris St. Germain.

Chelsea go into the game firm favourites with Laurent Blanc's PSG depleted by injuries to Serge Aurier, Lucas Moura and Yohan Cabaye, while Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta and Marquinhos will be assessed later.

And Shakhtar Donetsk are hoping a surprise Champions League victory over 2013 winners Bayern Munich can bring some brief cheer to their troubled nation.

Ukraine's military said on Monday that Russian-backed separatists had shelled a district in the eastern city of Donetsk despite a negotiated ceasefire imposed last week.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern are in top form, having thumped Hamburg SV 8-0 on Saturday.

 

 

Cricket: Ireland Stun West Indies, Scotland Battle New Zealand Today

 

At the Cricket World Cup yesterday:

Ireland stunned the West Indies with a four-wicket win during their opening World Cup Pool B match at the Saxton Oval at Nelson in New Zealand.

Paul Stirring (92), Ed Joyce (84) and Niall O'Brien (79 not out) impressed with the bat to ensure victory for Ireland, who wobbled as they neared their target but got over the line with 25 balls to spare.

Today,

Scotland will take on soaring co-hosts New Zealand.

Scotland beat Ireland and came close to causing an upset against the West Indies in their warm up matches before the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Scotland coach Grant Bradburn thinks his side's inexperience of top level cricket will be the biggest weakness but hopes his players will overcome that with effort.

"We got a number of young players coming through. We haven't got the experience, we can't do anything about the experience that we haven't got. In fact Daniel Vettori has played more ODIs than our all fifteen. So that's fine. We feel what we lack in experience we make up for in commitment and dedication to each other. It is a very skilled team. We have a great build up, we have been lucky enough to be afforded a number of training opportunities to prepare for this World Cup. And I think you will see on Tuesday, it is a very skilled side, an outstanding fielding team. I know the Blackcaps are playing well, they are an outstanding fielding team themselves but we do have some quality players in this team."

On the other side, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum says the Kiwis will not take Scotland lightly:

"They gave us a good run for our money at Lincoln a few months ago. Yeah, we've got to make sure we're on our game and treat it as if we're playing one of the bigger teams, as well, because in this World Cup I think we've seen at the moment with West Indies under a little bit of pressure, as well, that the associate teams certainly have players capable of standing up and making things pretty uncomfortable for you."

Ireland and New Zealand will meet today at the University Oval in Dunedin.

 

 

Tennis: Dubai Championships Recap, Nishikori Wins in Memphis

 

In tennis--

at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships:

Sixteenth-seed Peng Shuai is through to the second round after defeating Elena Vesnina 7-5, 6-1.

So to is Karolina Pliskova, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4.

Other winners from yesterday:

Venus Williams downed 17-year-old Swiss competitior Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-2.

Eleventh-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic beat Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-1, 6-4.

CoCo Vandewegh was trailing Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 3-1 when the American retired from the match with a shoulder injury.

Britain's Heather Watson also struggled with injury before losing to Kateryna Kozlova of the Ukraine, 6-4, 7-5.

American Serena Williams withdrew from the tournament due to illness.

In men's tennis action:

Kei Nishikori won the Memphis Open in the U.S. for the third time in a row.

Nishikori finished off South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 in yesterday's final.

Nishikori is the only player to win the title for three-straight years.

 

 

Lance Armstrong Ordered to Pay $10mln to Sports Insurance Company Over Doping

 

Lance Armstrong was ordered to pay 10 million U.S. dollars on Monday to a sports insurance company after arbitrators ruled against the disgraced cyclist over bonuses he received during his Tour de France winning streak.

　　

Dallas-based SCA Promotions had paid 12 million dollars in bonuses to Armstrong for three of his Tour de France Victories in the early 2000s, but sued to get its money back after the American had admitted to doping in 2012.

After an evidentiary hearing in, the arbitrators found that Armstrong "used perjury and other wrongful conduct to secure millions of dollars of benefits."

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

CCTV Spring Festival Gala ready to go international

 

China's annual Spring Festival Gala TV show is ready to go international for the first time.

China Central Television said its gala, including songs, traditional operas, comedies, talk shows, acrobatics and martial arts will be broadcast live from 8 p.m. on February 18th, on multiple channels, one of which is set for the international audience.

Liu Qibao, head of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, visited performers rehearsing for the final show at Monday night.

The performance will also be promoted through websites and more than 10 foreign broadcasters.

 

 

Chicago Symphony Centre begins NY celebrations

 

The Chicago Symphony Center in the US began two weeks of Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations with a traditional Chinese music concert.

An audience of more than 2,000 listened to the National Chinese Traditional Orchestra performing a selection of Chinese folk music.

Most of the music is composed by Ma Jiuyue, a well-known Chinese composer who participated in the Gala show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and China's Third Poem Festival.

The concert started with Chinese folk music "Dance of the Golden Snake", and featured such Chinese well-known tones as "Horse Racing", "Purple Bamboo Melody", "Fisherman Song at Eventide," and "Joyful Celebration."

It's the first time the Chicago Symphony Center celebrated a Chinese Lunar New Year by staging a Chinese Lunar New Year Concert.

 

 

Prince William to attend "Paddington" premiere in Shanghai

 

Britain's Prince William will attend the Chinese premiere of "Paddington" in Shanghai, during his upcoming visit to China.

The film's producer David Heyman announced that William will be at the screening of the film on March 5th.

From the beloved novels by Michael Bond, starring Nicole Kidman "Paddington" tells the story of the comic misadventures of a young Peruvian bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw, who travels to the city in search of a home.

Finding himself lost and alone, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined - until he meets the kindly Brown family who offer him a temporary haven.

Prince William, is scheduled to visit Beijing, Shanghai and Yunnan province starting on March 1.

 

 

Filming of new Bond movie "Spectre" suffers another setback

 

Production of the new James Bond movie "Spectre" has suffered yet another setback.

The cast and crew were banned from filming in Rome's largest cemetery.

Monks reportedly turned down director Sam Mendes' request to shoot a funeral scene at the Cim-it-ero Monu-men-tale Del Verano.

Filmmakers of "Spectre" starring Daniel Craig, have already been prohibited from shooting a car chase scene at the Italian capital.

Then there was lead star Daniel Craig's knee injury, which put a halt to a fight scene at London's Pinewood Studios earlier this month.

The 24th Bond film follows 2012's box office smash Skyfall.

Spectre is set to hit UK cinemas on 23rd October this year.