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

Coming up on our program this morning...

NATO calling out Russia in connection with the continued violence in Ukraine, despite Sunday's ceasefire.

Greek officials expected to request a 6-month extension of its bailout package.

Celebrations have been taking place across China to help mark the start of the Lunar New Year.

In business... Gold prices dip to 6-week lows.

In Sports... Real Madrid poised to make it into the quarter-finals of the European Champions League.

And in the second half of our program, we'll be bringing you a holiday-edition of Life Up Close.

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

 

 

Weather

 

 

Beijing will see smog today with a high of 9; overcast tonight with a low of minus 1.

In Shanghai, it will be sunny with a high of 12 in the daytime; clear tonight, the temperatures should drop down to around 4.

Chongqing will be overcast today with a high of 18, it will see slight rain tonight with a low of 13.

Elsewhere in Asia.

Islamabad, sunny with a high of 33.

Kabul, cloudy, 13.

In North America.

New York will be cloudy with a high of minus 4 degrees.

Washington, also cloudy, minus 9.

Honolulu, partly sunny, 28.

Toronto will be windy with a high of minus 15.

In South America,

Buenos Aires will be cloudy with a high of 24.

And Rio de Janeiro will be overcast with a high of 34 degrees Celsius.

 

 

There are several ways to keep in touch with us on the BJH

Weibo/Wechat account: the Beijing Hour

Email: [email protected].

 

 

Top News

 

 

EU and NATO Condemns Rebels' Takeover of Debaltseve a Violation of the Ceasefire

 

European and NATO officials are condemning anti-government forces in eastern Ukraine, saying they're violating last week's ceasefire agreement inked in Minsk.

The condemnation follows an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Latvia.

The meeting was called in connection with the "fall of Debaltseve" to separatist forces after days of relentless fighting.

The town of Debaltseve is a key rail hub in eastern Ukraine connecting the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Debaltseve had been under the control of Ukrainian forces before the ceasefire officially went into effect this past Sunday.

However, rebel forces have stepped up their attacks this week, forcing the Ukrainian government to withdraw.

Federica Mogherini is the European Union's foreign policy chief.

"Developments this night in the Debaltseve, in Ukraine, were clearly a violation of the ceasefire, of the agreements that were signed. Let me stress that not only the European Union but the whole international community, with the resolution that was adopted yesterday in the UN Security Council, stand for a full implementation of all points of the Minsk agreement reached last week."

Ukrianian president Petro Poroshenko has confirmed the takeover of Debaltseve by the rebels, saying an organized withdrawal of government forces has been made.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insists the rebels' actions in Debaltseve are not in violation of the ceasefire, claiming it was a rebel-held city when the peace agreement was signed last week.

At the same time, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is calling on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukriane, claiming Russian troops, artillery and air defense units are still active in Ukraine.

Moscow has consistently denied its involvement in eastern Ukraine.

 

 

Greece to Submit Request for Loan Extension, Not Bailout Program

 

A leading member of the Greek opposition has confirmed the Greek government is going to put in a request for a loan extension from its euro zone creditors later on this Thursday.

Stavros Theodorakis is the leader of the Potami Party.

"The prime minister gave me a detailed update of the government's intention to submit tomorrow a request for an extension to the loan agreement. At the same time he informed me of the reforms he intends to propose, some of these have been budgeted."

European authorities have been giving Greece until Friday to ask for an extension.

Otherwise, the IMF had been threatening to cut off its financing to Greece.

Greece's four-year bailout is due to expire at the end of this month.

However, the new Greek government is demanding a roll-back of the austerity provisions which have been forced on Greece in the original program.

European officials have been insisting that Greece live-up to the austerity which previous Greek governments have adhered to.

A failure to reach a new loan extension would see Greece default and be forced to withdraw from the Eurozone.

 

 

Prior-crisis Interior Minister Elected as New Greek President

 

The Greek parliament has elected Prokopis Pavlopoulos, a moderate conservative, as the new president of Greece.

Pavlopoulos was nominated by the ruling, extreme-left Syriza party.

Most observers say he has been tapped by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to be a figure which can unite Greeks, regardless of their ideological beliefs.

The move has become a recent tradition in Greece, with former Prime Ministers putting forward their ideological opponents for the post of the Head of State as a gesture of cooperation.

Pavlopoulos, a former Interior Minister, voted in favor of the current bailout policies which the Tsipras administration is fighting against.

He's due to take-over as the Greek President in mid-March.

The position of President in Greece is largely ceremonial, as political power in the country is held by the Parliament.

 

 

Jerusalem Residents Mourn Beheaded Egyptian Christians

 

A collection of both Muslims and Christians have attended a symbolic funeral in Jerusalem for a group of Coptic Christians beheaded by the Islamic State in Libya.

"This procession expresses the sorrow and tears of the people of Jerusalem, its Christians and its Muslims. It's like a scream that we don't accept such a thing among us and we don't accept any disagreement, fighting or conflict between us. But at the same time this voice reaches everywhere. Intelligent people whose voices are not heard should make their voices heard and make us hear them."

The militant group released a video over the weekend showing the beheading of 21 Egyptians.

Libya has seen a growing rise of support for the Islamic State in recent months.

The beheadings have prompted Egyptian authorities to call on the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to broaden its operations to include Libya.

 

 

Obama says no war against Islam

 

U.S. President Barack Obama has gone on-record saying the fight against extremism is not a fight against Islam.

At the same time, Obama says the world should resist granting religious legitimacy to terrorist groups.

Obama has made the statement while hosting a White House summit on countering violent extremism.

The session has brought together US officials from across the country, as well as ministers from around the world, who are being asked to reach a consensus on how to fight the Islamic State.

The summit follows the recent shootings in Copenhagen and Paris that have galvanized resolve against extremist attacks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

"Rather than be deterred, we have to be even more resolved to eradicate this kind of terror and rid the earth of this menace. There is no negotiation. There is nothing they want except everything, their way in a medieval fashion. "

The White House is warning Europe is especially vulnerable to attacks, warning that immigrants into the continent are often less integrated into societies there.

 

 

Obama sticks to appointing "insider" to lead Secret Service

 

US President Barack Obama has decided to appoint Joseph Clancy to take over as the new head of the Secret Service.

Clancy has been running the agency for the last 4-months on an interim basis.

The move comes despite a recommendation from a Homeland Security panel that someone from outside the Secret Service take over.

Clancy takes over from Julia Pierson.

She was forced to resign last year amid a series of failures by the Secret Service, including allowing a knife-wielding man to get into the White House.

 

 

People across China welcome the year of the goat

 

People across China are welcoming in the year of the Goat.

In Beijing, the centuries old bell atop the Bell Tower has been struck to mark the turn of the Lunar New Year.

Fireworks also lit up the sky throughout the night, despite calls by municipal authorities for people not to light off too many fireworks in order to avoid air pollution.

Down in Shanghai, over 8-thousand people turned out at the Longhua Temple to bid farewell to the year of the Horse and welcome the Year of the Goat.

"I am the first person to strike the bell at Longhua Temple and I hope that for the coming Year of the Sheep all Chinese people can have a prosperous and healthy year."

Ticket prices for entrance into the Longhua Temple were running at 600 yuan.

However, the 108 who rang the temple's bell shelled out 20-thousand yuan each.

In Taiwan, worshippers gathered at Longshan Temple, where Buddhist monks led prayers.

This year the Tibetan Lunar New Year falls on the same day.

The Tibetan New Year, known as Losar, has seen traditional Tibetan celebrations take place in different parts of China.

The Chinese Lunar New Year and Tibetan Losar coincide this year, and we are very happy today. I wish that we have good weather for crops and the whole family happy. And I wish everyone a happy new year,"

Trips to scenic spots in China are expected to surge, with an estimated 250 million trips expected to be made to tourist spots across the country.

Cities including Beijing, Sanya, Xiamen and Lijiang are expected to be favoured.

 

 

Chinese new year celebrated overseas

 

Anchor:

Others around Asia and other parts of the world are also welcoming in the Lunar New Year in their own ways.

CRI's Bejan Siavoshy has more.

Reporter:

The coming year on the Chinese zodiac is that of the sheep, ram or goat, depending on who you ask; Philippine native and artist Ram Mallari expressed which animal he considers as the avatar for the new year, using recycled metal to create a sculpture of a ram in honor of the lunar new year.

Presented in the capital Manila, Mallari says the ram is a symbol of luck for the artist, and he expects good things for the new year:

"The ram is very symbolic to me because it stands for my name and my flight as an artist, and this year a lot of people have commissioned me to do works for them. I feel that this year is different and the ram is very lucky to me."

Over in South Korea, however, they've opted for the real thing to commemorate the Lunar New Year.

Crowds of people have been flocking to the "Thanks Nature" Cafe in Seoul to feed and pet the coffee shop's two new temporary residents--a pair of one-year-old sheep named Elsa and Anna, after the characters in the animated film, "Frozen."

Caitlin Sirkel, who works in Shanghai as a teacher, was surprised to find a cafe hosting sheep as the new year approaches.

"I'm an international teacher in Shanghai and I'm on holiday for the Chinese New Year here in Seoul. And so I know about the (year of the) sheep from being over there and, while I was in Seoul we found out that there is a sheep cafe. And I thought it would be a really cool way to spend my Chinese New Year. So seeing the sheep, they were really cute and fun and fluffy. It was a really cool experience to be able to feed them and it was really awesome."

It's not always images of animals that are used to commemorate the Lunar New Year. In Cambodia, which has roughly 700-thousand ethnic Chinese residents, auspicious plants, along with orange and kumquat trees, are popular symbols of the new year.

Hang Seila is a plant vendor in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.

"The Chinese always buy these trees and yellow flower plants because they believe that the yellow flower plants represent a prosperous year for their family so they buy them to put in their houses, shops and for prayers on Lunar New Year day."

Other parts of the world will ring in the Chinese New Year in ways that mix the traditional and the modern.

Singapore kicked off celebrations that coincide with its 50th year of independence by launching the largest light-up ceremony in the past 29 years.

In Paris, France, a photo exhibit is being hosted for the Lunar New Year. This one features 28 giant photos from the archives of Xinhua news agency depicting China's progress since the 20th century.

With the Lunar New Year coinciding with international festivals such as Carnival in the Americas and Europe, now is a time when people across the globe are united in celebration; so we at China Radio International suggest you follow suit.

For CRI, I'm Bejan Siavoshy.

 

 

Spring Festival Gala held on New Year eve

 

This year's Chunwan, the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala, has come to pass.

One of the highlights of this year's event was a cross-talk performance poking fun at officials who have been caught up in the government's anti-corruption campaign.

Another highlight was the musical numbers.

This song, co-performed by Phoenix Legend and the Chopsticks Brothers, is a remix of an earlier hit.

Li Yuchun's program "Shu Embroidery" also garnered a lot of attention.

It's believed around 700 million people tuned-in to watch this year's Spring Festival Gala.

 

 

Prince William extends bilingual greetings for Chinese New Year

 

Britain's Prince William has put out a Lunar New Year's message ahead of his first visit to China.

William, who is scheduled to arrive in China in a couple of weeks, even took a crack at Mandarin.

"Zhu ni men chun jie kuai le, yang nian da ji"

In making the address, Prince William also talked about his upcoming visit, which is meant to help launch a year of cultural exchanges between China and the UK.

"During my visit I will launch the great festival of creativity which marks the start of the year of cultural exchange between our two countries. Together, the United Kingdom and China have much to celebrate about our cultural relationship what we have in common and what we can learn from one another".

The Great Festival of Creativity in Shanghai is meant to display the UK's prowess in areas such as fashion, luxury, health and technology.

Prince William is due to arrive in China on March 1st.

He's scheduled to make stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Yunnan.

The 2nd-in-line to the British crown will be travelling alone, as his wife Kate, is expecting their 2nd child within weeks.

 

 

Spring Festival ushers in fierce competition in film market

 

Eight new Chinese-produced films are opening today in cinemas across the country in a competition for the lucrative Spring Festival earnings.

Four of them are big-budget productions, including Jackie Chan's 'Dragon Blade' and Chow Yun-Fat's 'The Man from Macao II.'

It's expected the Chinese films are likely to generate significant revenue this year, as there are no major Hollywood films currently screening.

Last year's Spring Festival saw three different movies rake-in a record 1.45-billion yuan.

 

 

Experimental drug shown to block all HIV strains: study

 

U.S. researchers say they've discovered "a remarkable new advance" in the development of a potent drug to protect against HIV infection.

A new report in the British journal 'Nature' suggests an experimental protein-based drug US researchers have developed blocks every strain of HIV-1, HIV-2 and the simian version of the virus, including the hardest-to-stop variants.

The drug is said to protect against the virus for at least 8-months after an injection.

Conventional vaccines for HIV trigger the release of antibodies to neutralize the virus.

However, even the best broadly-neutralizing antibodies struggle to protect against all strains of HIV.

 

 

Condoleeza Rice polling high among candidates for California senate seat

 

New polling suggests former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is polling in the lead of a pool of potential candidates to succeed long-time California Senator Barbara Boxer.

The polling shows likely California voters are 49-percent likely to support Rice, a Republican.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is a Democrat and the only person who has formally announced they are running, is drawing support from 46 percent of those polled.

Boxer's departure is the first of 3 anticipated retirements among California's top leaders.

76-year old Governor Jerry Brown will leave office at the end of his fourth term in 2018 because of term limits.

81-year old Senator Dianne Feinstein is expected to call it quits when her term ends in 4-years.

 

 

Gold hits 6-week low

 

Gold futures on New York Mercantile Exchange have hit a 6-week low, with traders becoming more confident the Greek debt crisis will be resolved.

April contracts dipped 8-dollars-40-cents to settle at 12-hundred dollars-20-cents per ounce.

It's been suggested traders are becoming convinced the Eurozone will reach a deal with the Greek government.

This has put pressure on the price of gold, as investors moved away from it as a safe haven and towards more lucrative and risky investments like equities.

The U.S. Dollar Index also rose on Wednesday, putting additional pressure on the price of gold.

That index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies.

 

 

Canadian Landscape Art Marks 45th Anniversary of China-Canada Ties

 

Anchor:

This year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between China and Canada.

In an attempt to try to increase cultural ties, a group of contemporary Canadian artists have put on an art exhibition in Beijing.

CRI's Xu Fei has more.

Reporter:

The exhibition, which is being held in Today Art Museum in Beijing, is titled "The Transformation of Canadian Landscape Art Inside and Outside of Being".

Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada's ambassador to China, arrived at the opening ceremony of this exhibition.

"Well, I'm very pleased that we have this exhibition because this is the first largest exhibition of contemporary Canadian artists and the curators have been able to put together the works by 15 Canadian artists among the best known. This year is the 45th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. And this is the first event that we're doing, so I hope that many Chinese people will be able to see this exhibition and to give them an impression of what's going on in Canada in the world of contemporary art."

With an aim to introduce the rich and diversified creations of contemporary Canadian art comprehensively, a total of 15 Canadian artists have brought their works to China, Rebecca Belmore is one of them.

"Hopefully, this exhibition about Canadian landscape will be of interest to Chinese audiences because we have a ton of nature in Canada. It's interesting to think about hopefully, the exhibition will provoke arts about our human relationship to the natural world. As an artist, I'm interested in environmental issues and concerned about the future of fresh water, clean air, land to grow food and all those kinds of things. Our concerns are the ideas that I would like to address in my work."

Her performance-based practice often incorporates elements of sculpture, installation and video, positioning the artist's body and voice as trenchant counterpoints to highlight unresolved burdens of social justice.

In 2005, Belmore was the first Aboriginal woman to represent Canada at the Venice Biennale. Her work has also been featured at the Havana Biennial and Biennale of Sydney, among other national and international venues.

And what she brought to the ongoing exhibition is a 23-minute long video clip addressing an effect of human activities on environment.

Belmore is not alone to employ new media in this exhibition. Michael Snow and Jean-Francois Cote are two other artists who examine the relationship between man and nature through the cross-over application of various visual media.

According to Alex Gao Peng, curator of the museum, a large part of the ongoing Canadian artists' exhibition is this type of installations-and-video mixtures.

"A combination of installations and video, which are used to express artists' emotions, could be widely found in this exhibition. Such a combination creates artistic effects that could hardly be achieved by an installation or a video alone. As a visitor stands in front of such an art piece, he or she would feel miraculous as if in a multiple dimensional environment. Many Canadian artists have endeavored to make similar attempts."

The Canadian artists' exhibition adds one more example of new media application in the modern-day exhibitions as a museum interpreter surnamed Yan explains.

Yan female in Mandarin Chinese 34"

"In addition to the Canadian artists' exhibition, a number of present-day exhibitions increasingly employ new media as an expression of art. Contemporary art is usually avant-garde, unlike those traditional art forms like painting or installations. I think maybe it will be the trend for the development of modern art both at home and abroad. New media is more intuitive, enabling each visitor to quickly grasp the meaning that artists try to convey through their artwork."

Will visitors develop the understanding of Canadian landscape art as you experience this exhibition and has it changed from what you originally conceived?

"The Transformation of Canadian Landscape Art Inside and Outside of Being" will run until March 17th.

Back anchor:

That was CRI's Xu Fei reporting.

 

 

The Cultural Show "Chinese Charm" Wins Applause in European Parliament

 

A performance of a show titled "Chinese Charm" has taken place in the European Parliament.

The show has been put-on to help commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and the European Union.

"Yes, of course. This is great. Special event of the national. It's always beautiful. I love these thins. I love the singer. She is so cute. She is so beautiful. And the dance, it was amazing. I really like it."

Yang Yanyi is the head of the Chinese mission to the European Parliament.

"This year marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and EU. So this occasion of double happiness offers us a unique opportunity to vigorously expand communication and cooperation, to forge stronger ties of our partnership and to contribute further to our share, inspiration for world peace, prosperity and progress."

The event has been co-sponsored by the European Parliament and the Chinese Mission to the EU.

 

 

Feminist and Singer-Songwriter Lesley Gore dies at 68

 

Tributes have been rolling in following the death of Leslie Gore.

The Singer-songwriter, who topped charts in 1963 with her hit "It's My Party" died earlier this week.

Fellow 60's songwriter Neil Sedaka, who attended Gore's Sweet 16 birthday party, has described Gore as a good person and a phenomenal talent.

Gore, a lesbian activist, died of lung cancer on Tuesday.

She was 68.

 

 

Almaty capable of hosting Winter Games, says IOC chief inspector

 

The International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission has wrapped up a 5-day stop-over in the Kazakh city of Almaty to assess its 2022 Winter Olympic bid.

Russian IOC member Alexander Zhukov is being quoted saying their visit has "confirmed" that Almaty is capable of holding successful Games.

But at the same time, Zhukov has refused to make comparisons between the Almaty and Beijing bids.

Almaty and Beijing are the only two candidates in contention for hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022.

The IOC evaluation committee is due to travel to Beijing in late March.

A final decision on which bid will get the Games will be made this summer.

 

 

Australian Open Golf tournament underway

 

This year's Australian Open golf tournament is underway.

Top Chinese golfer Wang Shanshan is playing alongside tour veteran Karrie Webb and American Jessica Korda.

This is Wang's first tournament of the year.

She opted out of the first two events of the season.

This week's PGA stop is in California for the Northern Trust Open.

That event will get underway later on this evening.

The European Tour is in India this week for the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi.

 

 

Real Madrid appears poised to reach Champions League quarters

 

Real Madrid appears on-course to make the Champions League quarter-finals following a 2-nil victory at Schalke in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Cristiano Ronaldo netting his 58th goal in 58 Champions League appearances.

It was Marcelo getting the other goal for the Spanish powerhouse.

The other match last night in the Champions League saw Porto secure the advantage in its last-16 encounter with Basel, scoring a 1-1 draw away.

Danilo equalizing in the 2nd half for Porto.