新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2015/02/25（在线收听）

It's Shane Bigham with you on this Wednesday, February 25th, 2015.

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

Coming up on our program this evening...

China leads the debate into injecting new vitality into the United Nations charter...

An Air China flight has made an emergency landing in Chongqing following a bomb scare...

and opposition leaders in Greece call the government's new reform plan "a step backwards..."

In Business: China's central bank warns of the increasing risk of deflation...

In Sports: football, from the Champions League...

In Entertainment: the Chinese box office breaks records during the Spring Festival holiday...

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

 Weather 

Beijing will be clear tonight with a low of minus 4. It will be sunny tomorrow with a high of 5.

Shanghai will see slight rain with a low of 7. Tomorrow will be cloudy with a high of 10.

Chongqing will be rainy tonight with a low of 11. Tomorrow will see slight rain with a high of 14.

Elsewhere in Asia

Islamabad, sunny tomorrow with a high of 24.

Kabul, cloudy, 5 degrees.

In Australia

Sydney and Canberra, cloudy, a high of 28.

Brisbane, cloudy, 30 degrees.

Perth will be sunny with a high of 31.

 Top News 

China leads debate to inject new vitality into UN Charter

China has led a UN Security Council open debate, with a call to draw lessons from history and chart the course for the future, aiming to reaffirm commitment to the UN Charter.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi presided over the day-long discussion.

The Chinese top diplomat called for "cooperation, not confrontation" in an increasingly interdependent world to ensure that "justice, not hegemony" prevails.

He said "The Security Council needs to take more precautionary measures to forestall conflict and act in a timely manner to stop warfare."

The open debate was initiated by China, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation council, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.

For more on the UN open debate, I spoke earlier with Professor Jin Canrong from Renmin University of China.

 Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Chongqing over Bomb Claim

An Air China flight from South China's Nanning bound for Beijing has made an emergency landing.

Local media are reporting a significant police presence at the airport, as well as the presence of ambulances and fire engines when the emergency landing took place at an airport in the southwestern city of Chongqing this afternoon.

The airline has confirmed that a passenger onboard claimed there were explosives on the plane, which caused the emergency landing.

The suspect has been taken away by police for questioning. 

2014 a Bumper Year for China Cross-Border E-Commerce

 Insiders are predicting another bumper year for China's cross-border e-commerce sector after rapid growth in the past year.

Shang Yan is the marketing director of Womai.com, a Beijing-based e-commerce company.

"Consumers from China are particularly interested in leisure foods, like biscuits and chocolates imported from Japan, Europe and North America. Meanwhile, high-end milk imported from Germany and Denmark is also popular. We want to introduce more good-quality products from around the world into China as many Chinese people are pursuing a better quality of life."

It's estimated that China's cross-border e-commerce transaction amounted to 4 trillion yuan or about 645 billion US dollars for the whole of last year.

That represents annual growth of over 30 percent.

Zhao Jiankun, a manager of e-commerce company JD.com, says cross-border e-commerce should be better regulated.

"I feel the market is in disorder. According to our estimates, prices will go up by an average of 20 percent when goods are transferred from the first-tier wholesaler to the second-tier wholesaler. We import from overseas directly. So there is no price hike by the middleman, which brings real benefits to our end customers."

At the end of last month, the Chinese government lifted its overseas online transaction limit from 10-thousand U.S. dollars to 50-thousand dollars in an effort to support the sector. 

HK economic growth slows to 2.3 percent in 2014 

Anchor:

Hong Kong financial chief has unveiled an array of relief measures in the Special Administrative Region's new budget, after last year's economic growth slowed significantly.

CRI's Hong Kong correspondent Li Jing has the story.

Report:

In his speech on the new budget, Financial Secretary John Tsang says Hong Kong sustained a state of full employment last year, but its economic growth slowed to 2.3 per cent, below the 3.9 percent annual average over the past decade.

John Tsang says this year will be challenging for Hong Kong, with the forecast for economic growth coming in between 1 and 3 percent.

"The global economy as a whole is likely to stay on a slow-growing path in the post-financial tsunami period. This, amid a stronger US dollar, will continue to put a drag on Hong Kong's trade performance. Domestically, local consumption and investment sentiment will be dampened by the increased uncertainties over the US interest rate hike and weaker spending power of inbound visitors."

He also says that prolonged political bickering is detrimental to public administration and the international image of Hong Kong as a stable, law-abiding and efficient city.

"The Occupy movement affected tourism, hotels, catering, retail and transport industries, etc. to varying degrees. To offset the impact on economic confidence, I shall implement an array of support measures targeting affected industries and launch a new round of efforts to promote Hong Kong."

That includes the exemption of license fees for travel agents, hotels, and restaurants for six months.

Also, more than 100 million HK dollars, or nearly 13 million U.S. dollars, will be set aside to launch various promotional campaigns around the globe.

The Secretary also hopes the public can narrow differences and pursue consensus with patience and pragmatism.

"Diversity, openness, peace and freedom are not only our core values, but also the foundations of our success, and the most reliable co-ordinates of our development path. If we can firmly grasp these fundamentals, we shall be more confident charting our way forward."

The Budget has announced 34 billion HK dollars in relief measures, including reduction in salaries tax, increase in child allowance, and more money for the elderly.

Chief Executive CY Leung has made a statement, saying he is supportive of this year's budget blueprint which is in line with the government's policies. At the same time, he urges lawmakers not to filibuster the budget debate at the Legislative Council.

For CRI, this is Li Jing in Hong Kong.

 UAE Highlights the 12th Int'l Defense Exhibition and Conference 

The 12th International Defense Exhibition and Conference, or Idex, has opened in Abu Dhabi with unmanned aerial vehicles grabbing the spotlight.

A wide range of the world's most advanced drones and unmanned aircraft systems have attracted much attention among all types of military hardware.

China has brought its state-of-the-art drones to the event.

Lyu Zhenyi is the designer of the system.

"I think the advantage of our product over others is a better payload, as you can see ours is bigger in size. So it's also better powered. With a bigger payload, it has a much wider range of applications."

The five-day-event has drawn exhibitors from 55 countries and regions across the globe, including the United States, Canada and China.

Idex is considered one of the world's most important international exhibitions of defense systems, and has been held biennially since 1993.

 Greek opposition says govt.'s new reform plan "a step back" for the economy 

The Greek government has welcomed the decision by its eurozone partners to approve a new reform plan, but opposition lawmakers in Greece complain that this would undo the progress made so far and derail the Greek economy.

Opposition politicians say the new government has done nothing more than continue the old bailout agreement and was on the verge of exiting the Euro.

Opposition lawmaker Notis Mitarakis of the New Democracy Party

"It seems that Greece is going back to the original programme, although they have changed the words. What is important is that Greece continues its progress in structural reforms, we return the economy and maintain it in a growth territory, and more importantly attracting investments, attract exports, which is the only tangible way to improve the standard of living."

Greece secured a four-month extension of its financial rescue on Tuesday when its euro zone partners approved a reform plan that focused on combating tax evasion and restructuring the public sector.

Greece's debt stands at more than 320 billion Euros and its current 240 billion Euro bailout expires on Saturday. Fresh funding will not be released until Greece's proposals are ratified by different national parliaments in Eurozone countries.

For more on this CRI's Zhou Jingnan Spoke to Prof. Steve H. Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at The Johns Hopkins University and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C

 Dozens die in fresh wave of bombings in Baghdad 

A wave of bombings in and around the Iraqi capital Baghdad killed at least 37 people and injured many more on Tuesday.

The worst was a dual attack in a southeastern suburb, where at least 25 people were killed.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest in a tea shop, then minutes later a car bomb blew up outside.

An eyewitness describes the incident

"A car, which was parked here went off. A man came and parked his car here and he walked away. A few minutes later it went off and when a group of men who were playing football rushed here to see, there was a second blast."

There were at least seven different attacks in the city on Tuesday.

The other bombings were in northern and southern areas of Baghdad.

It is not clear who is responsible, but other recent attacks have been claimed by Islamic State militants who control large parts of the country.

 Ukraine army to be trained by UK troops – Cameron 

British military personnel are to be sent to Ukraine in the next few weeks to advise and train the Ukrainian army.

British Prime Minister David Cameron made the announcement as rebels in eastern Ukraine say they are pulling back heavy weapons from the front line as part of a ceasefire.

But the government in Kiev has disputed the rebel claims.

They fear that the separatists are planning to use the relative lull in fighting during the ceasefire to launch an attack on the southern port city of Mariupol.

Cameron says he will push for more sanctions on Russia if the separatists fail to observe the truce.

"The extension (of sanctions) should happen in any event - even if not very much changes on the ground. They should be deepened if further steps of destabilization are taken. I think, particularly, people will be looking at Mariupol as a next potential flashpoint, and if that were to happen, personally I think the argument for further action would be overwhelming."

The prime minister told a House of Commons committee that up to 75 British soldiers divided into four teams would go to an area well away from the conflict zone to provide medical, logistics, intelligence and infantry skills.

 Biz Reports 

Anchor:

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

Joining me on the desk is Poornima Weerasekara.

Reporter:

Chinese stocks fell on Wednesday as investors took profits from a week long holiday after trading resumed.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended down around half a percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index retreated some one- and-a-half percent.

But in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index inched up slightly as a preliminary reading of China's latest manufacturing activity beat expectations.

HSBC reported China's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.1 in February, back above the level separating expansion from contraction.

Elsewhere in Asia,

Japanese stocks snapped a five-day winning streak, but losses were limited by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's message of policy flexibility.

The Nikkei Average dipped a tenth of a percent.

South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index gained nearly three quarters of a percent.

Singapore's Straits Times index added a fraction of a percent.

Australia's ASX 200 gained nearly a third of a percent.

 China c.bank newspaper warns of rising deflation risk 

The newspaper published by China's central bank has issued a warning that the country is dangerously close to slipping into deflation.

It highlights increasing nervousness in policymaking circles as a sputtering economy struggles to pick up speed despite a raft of stimulus steps.

The article, published in Finance News, quoted the secretary general of the China Urban Finance Society as saying that the risk of deflation is greater than many appreciate.

Publication of such pieces in the central bank's newspaper indicates tacit approval of the message.

A slowdown in China's economy over the past year was accompanied by a chill in global demand.

Analysts have speculated that the central bank will be forced to take more aggressive easing measures in the coming months if price and credit data continues to drift lower.

 China Readies Measures to Counter Housing Market Slump 

China is preparing measures to counter a housing market slump and will roll them out if the economy needs support.

Bloomberg cites an anonymous source saying that the government could reduce down-payment requirements for second-home purchases.

Another possible step would be to let homeowners sell properties without paying sales tax after two years, down from five years.

The contingency plans come amid signs of a deepening decline in the real-estate industry in the world's second-largest economy.

China's new-home prices posted a record year-on-year decline in January, according to Bloomberg business intelligence analysis.

 China's Real Estate Land Use Drops 25% in 2014 

Anchor:

Official data shows the land area used in Chinese real estate development has fallen through this past year.

151-thousand hectares of land was set aside for new home construction last year.

This is down over a quarter percent compared with 2013.

China's real estate market has been on a steady decline for the past number of months.

New home prices in January saw month-on-month declines in most of the cities surveyed.

For more on China's property market, CRI's Paul James spoke earlier with Mike Bastin, Director of The China Business Centre based in London.

 Australia plans to charge foreign property buyers 

Australia plans to add a new fee for foreign property buyers and fine those who break foreign investment laws, in an attempt to improve housing affordability.

Foreign home-buyers will be charged 5 thousand Australian dollars for properties valued under 1 million and an additional 10 thousand for every additional 1 million Australian dollars.

The scheme could raise about 200 million Australian dollars a year.

Australian property has long been a popular choice for Chinese money.

Australia's foreign investment review board says China was the No.1 source of foreign capital investment in real estate in 2013.

 S. Korea to take FTA with China as new growth engine 

South Korea's trade ministry says the country will use its free trade deal with China as a new growth engine by making inroads into the world's largest market.

The ministry says it will push to officially sign the FTA with China within the first half of this year and implement it as rapidly as possible by getting approval from parliament.

Under the pact, South Korea will eliminate tariffs on nearly 80 percent of all products from China within 10 years after the implementation in return for China removing tariffs on some 70 percent of all South Korean products.

 Didi and Kuaidi: Subsidy won't stop after merge

 China's big-two taxi-hailing apps Didi and Kuaidi, announced that they will continue to give out subsidies to both passengers and drivers over the long term.

The announcement eliminates fears that the days of low-cost cab rides were coming to an end.

The two taxi-booking apps merged on Valentine's Day this year, after rounds of negotiations.

In the joint announcement, they say the subsidized business model will continue and there will be various ways of getting subsidies in the future.

 Headline News

 Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Chongqing over Bomb Claim 

An Air China flight from South China's Nanning bound for Beijing has made an emergency landing.

Local media are reporting a significant police presence at the airport, as well as the presence of ambulances and fire engines when the emergency landing took place at an airport in the southwestern city of Chongqing this afternoon.

The airline has confirmed that a passenger onboard claimed there were explosives on the plane, which caused the emergency landing.

The suspect has been taken away by police for questioning. 

3 dead in Chengdu tunnel explosion 

A third body has been recovered from the site of an explosion in Chengdu in southwest China, where a road tunnel is under construction.

Officials with the project in Sichuan's capital say contact was lost with four workers before the explosion, just after 1 o'clock in the afternoon yesterday.

But one of the bodies previously recovered is that of a local farmer. It's not known how many people were in the tunnel at the time of the incident.

Local rescue officials say high gas levels in the tunnel are complicating rescue efforts.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. 

Two more H7N9 human cases reported in E. China 

Health authorities in Anhui Province have confirmed two new human cases of H7N9 bird flu.

Both patients are in a critical condition.

They are said to have been in contact with live poultry, in two different cities, before showing symptoms on Tuesday.

H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in March 2013. Humans are most susceptible in winter and spring.

So far over 60 cases have been reported across China this year.

 Arrest warrants issued against Bangladeshi ex-PM Khaleda Zia 

An arrest warrant has been issued in Bangladesh for former prime minister Khaleda Zia after she failed to appear for a hearing on two graft cases.

Zia is among a group of people accused of taking money from two charities, the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust, with the amounts in the hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

The former prime minister cited security concerns for her failure to appear for the hearing.

 Over 20 killed in E. Afghan avalanche 

More than 20 people have been killed by an avalanche that struck villages in eastern Afghanistan.

Dozens of others are missing.

Local officials say rescue efforts have not been launched because roads in the province have been blocked by heavy snowfall.

The number of dead is expected to rise.

 Man Found Guilty of Murder in 'American Sniper' Trial 

Eddie Ray Routh has been sentenced to jail for life after a Texas Jury found him guilty of murdering the former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.

Routh was a former U.S. Marine. The 27-year-old was found guilty of fatally shooting Kyle and Kyle's neighbor Chad Littlefield. The crime happened at a gun range in February last year.

Defense lawyers argue that Routh was suffering a paranoid episode when he went to the range and as such he met the state's legal definition of insanity.

 Newspaper Picks 

GLOBAL TIMES

"Feminists boycott CCTV gala, citing 'discriminatory' content"

Over 1,000 netizens have signed a joint letter saying they boycotted this year's Spring Festival gala citing what they said was "discriminatory" content against females.

The netizens, most of whom are women's rights activists, called on China's media regulator to require China Central Television, also known as CCTV, to stop broadcasting programs with discriminatory messages.

In a letter submitted to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, they demanded an apology from the gala's production team and CCTV.

The letter said that at least 44 sections of the gala, including performers' lines and characters, were found to have mocked single women, female civil servants, short people and full-time mothers.

However, an online survey showed that over nearly two thirds of 33,184 netizens did not regard these programs as discriminatory and the advocates were reading too much into it. 

CHINA NEWS SERVICE

"Experts say don't fuss over terracotta army 'facelift'"

Pictures depicting the terracotta warriors and horses of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, a must-see Xi'an attraction in Shaanxi province, have gone viral following an unexpected 'food wrapper facelift.'

China's biggest social networking firm Tencent posted these images on its hugely popular mobile messaging app WeChat in a sensational way that experts did not quite appreciate.

The Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum stated that the use of plastic wrap is a common, well-established practice to protect colored drawings that remain on the terracotta figures.

An expert at the museum says damage caused by fire and natural erosion during 2200 years spent in the ground meant that only a few of the unearthed terracotta sculptures are intact.

Another expert commented that the unearthed terracotta figures are at risk of dehydration due to having left their humid, protective underground environment, causing surface paint to dry and crack. 

THE STRAIT TIMES (SINGAPORE)

"British mum wants to bear dead daughter's child"

A British mother wants to use her dead daughter's eggs to become pregnant with her grandchild.

It has been reported that the bid, if allowed, could make it a world first where a woman uses the eggs of a daughter who has died to become pregnant.

The 59-year-old woman wants her daughter's frozen eggs to be fertilised by donor sperm and implanted in her womb. She and her husband say it was the dying wish of their only child, who died from bowel cancer four years ago while still in her 20s.

However, fertility clinics in Britain have refused to treat the mother.

Britain's Human Fertility and Embryology Authority has refused the couple's application to export the eggs to the United States, where a New York clinic has approved her for treatment for an estimated fee of 60,000 pounds, on the grounds that there was no clear written consent from the daughter before she died.

The parents will now challenge the ruling in court.

AFP

"Genes play a role in peanut allergy, study confirms"

Suspicions that genes play a part in peanut allergy were confirmed in a study that said environmental factors may contribute to the problem.

Researchers in the United States compared the genomes of more than 1,300 children of European ancestry, most of whom had some kind of food allergy, to those of their biological parents.

The team found no genetic variants to explain allergies to eggs or cow's milk.

They did, however, find that telltale variants in two genes, HLA-DQ and HLA-DR, located on Chromosome 6, accounted for about 20 percent of children with peanut intolerance.

A published study shows in the United States, about one child out of 13 has a food allergy, of which the most common by far is to peanuts.

 Special Reports 

Train Your Dog to Be More Polite 

Anchor:

A number of dog owners in China have taken time to consult experts about how to properly train their animals.

CRI's Niu Honglin has more.

Reporter:

"My dog likes dragging me here and there, picking up anything she can eat and throwing herself on anyone she meets. This really bothers me."

"Lisa" is like most dogs.

It likes to run around and have fun.

But here in China, this can be a problem, especially in this country's urban centers, where encounters between dogs and people can lead to problems.

Dog ownership in China has been going through a revival over the past 20-years, as owning a pet was once-considered a bourgeois luxury.

Given that pet ownership is relatively new in China, not many people know how to properly train a dog.

As such, dog trainers such as Gangzi are finding much more work these days.

Gangzi is training "Lisa" and other dogs through the use of a 'choak-chain.'

It's a simple device which is put around the dog's neck.

If the dog tries to run off, the chain simply tightens around the dog's neck.

While it may initially appear somewhat cruel, dog trainers have found it's one of the most effective ways of making a dog behave.

Another element to dog training is creating vocal commands.

Gangzi says training a dog to understand your voice is key to making it more obedient.

"For example, I use 'ai' as a signal. When I say 'ai', the dog knows to stay. Through using the choak-chain, I can teach the dog the command, and this way, I don't need to continue using the chain."

Dog trainers also note it's important to be consistent when training your dog.

Most dogs like to jump on their owners.

But trainers like Gangzi recommend that you discipline your dog if it does this.

Otherwise, if you give your dog praise, it's unlikely to break the habit, and will do this to people other than its owner, which can lead to problems.

In the end, Wang Yu says taking "Lisa" for training has been a good experience.

"Raising a dog is somewhat scientific. It's very important to find the right way to train them."

For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.

 Sports 

Football: Man City fall to Barca 2-1 

In Football action:

Luis Suarez struck twice on his return to England as Barcelona taught Manchester City another Champions League lesson with a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.

After being swept aside by a masterful Barca display in the first half, City at least gave themselves hope for the second leg of the last-16 tie as Sergio Aguero produced a brilliant reply.

City were left hanging on in the latter stages, however, after Gael Clichy was sent off for a second bookable offence and it needed an injury-time penalty save from Joe Hart to prevent further damage.

Barcalona Coach Luis Enrique gave his take on the victory:

"I'm happy because its a victory, which is good for a game like this, and I think clear its deserved victory and a win we have to feel proud about. In these type of knock out games it very hard to close the tie in the first game band. We played a splendid first half and over all we were the best team as we had lots of chances on goal and the team played very well."

The next game on tap is set for early tomorrow morning, 3.45 am Beijing time, between Monaco and Arsenal.

 Tennis: Williams, Dimitorv advance in Qutar, Mexico 

In ATP tennis action:

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov faced Filip Krajinovic in the opening round of his title defence in Acapulco, Mexico.

Despite losing the second set, the 23-year-old Dimitrov was generally in impressive form.

He converted eight of an astounding 27 break point opportunities that he created throughout the match, finishing strongly by cruising through the final set in just 21 minutes.

His 6-3, 5-7, 6-0 win over the Serbian world number 101 books his place in the second round where he will face either Ryan Harrison or Donald Young.

And another update from Mexico:

Top seed Kei Nishikori faced Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia in his first round match at the Mexico Open on Tuesday (24th February).

Nishikori - the 2014 US Open finalist - took the opening set in commanding style, 6-3.

He then opened out a 5-2 second set lead to indicate that his 200th ATP Tour career victory was a mere formality.

Gonzales then won three straight games, fending off several match points to leave the set poised at 5-5, only to lose the next two games for Nishikori to triumph 6-3 7-5.

Second seed David Ferrer faced a similarly tough battle.

Up against experienced Dutchman Igor Sijsling, the Spaniard took the opening set　6-3.

But he was forced to raise his game as the second set unfolded, with Sijsling going toe to toe with him and forcing it into a tie break.

Ferrer's tenacity eventually came through as he chased down every possible ball and prevailed 6-3 7-6.

And over in the WTA:

Seventh seed Venus Williams faced Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.

Having been taken to three sets by Australia's Casey Dellacqua in the opening round, Williams - currently the world number 17 - was against put under real pressure.

In an error strewn match, Williams was again taken the distance.

She took the opening set 7-5, only to surrender the second 6-3 before being taking all the way to a tie-break in the decider.

But at this point, her experience shone through.

The Grand Slam winner was always in the ascendancy and played the keys points superbly to take a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, and book her place in the final eight.

 CBA: Beijing to take on Guangdong in round one of CBA Quarter Finals 

In CBA action, from the first round of quarter finals action set to tip off tonight:

Tonight's game will see Stephon Marbury and his Beijing Ducks take on Guangdong Southern.

The winner of this matchup will face the victor in tomorrow nights game between Liaoning and Qingdao.

 NBA: Cleveland over Detroit 102-93 

In NBA action:

LeBron James had 11 assists in Cleveland's 102-93 victory over the Detroit Pistons. In the process, he moved past Scottie Pippen for first place on the NBA career list for forwards. James now has 6,142 assists -- seven more than Pippen.

Over to Washington:

Stephen Curry returned from a one-game absence to lead all scorers with 32, Klay Thompson added 17 more, and the Golden State Warriors defeated the Wizards 114-107.

In Oklahoma City:

Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 105-92 on Tuesday night for their seventh straight win.

And in Dallas:

The Mavericks' rally to beat the Toronto Raptors 99-92 on took place with starting point guard Rajon Rondo affixed to the bench after he and coach Rick Carlisle exchanged words during a timeout early in the third quarter.

 Cricket: Sri Lanka all rounder Menis to miss rest of world cup 

In cricket:

Sri Lanka all rounder Jeevan Mendis will miss the rest of the World Cup due to the hamstring tear he picked up in Melbourne on Tuesday (24th February).

Captain Angelo Mathews made the announcement during his pre-match press conference at the MCG where his side will face Bangladesh.

NHL: Winnepeg takes out Dallas 4-3.

 A full slate of games now set in the NHL:

Winnepeg took out Dallas 4-3.

Vancouver beat Boston 2-1.

The New York Islanders thrashed Arizona 5-1.

The Rangers blanked Calgary 1-0.

Carolina got the better of Philadelphia 4-1.

It was Buffalo over Columbus 4-2.

Montreal beat out St. Louis 5-2.

It was Nashville over Colorado 5-2.

Edmonton got a rare win over Minnesota 2-1.

Chicago beat out Florida 3-2.

And it was the Los Angeles Kings over the Detroit Red Wings 1-0.

Entertainment 

China Box Office Breaks Records During Spring Festival 

China's box office figures reached a record high during the week long Spring Festival holiday.

According to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the total box office figures between February 19 and 24th topped 1.73 billion yuan.

The figure for last year's Chinese Lunar New Year was 1.39 billion yuan.

Cinema ticket income on February 19 reached over 360 million yuan which set a new daily record in the Chinese film market.

According to a survey conducted by the China Film Art Research Center and Chinese showbiz consultancy EntGroup audience feedback during the holiday period was generally positive. Moviegoers gave a satisfaction rating of 80 percent to the films they watched.

 Jackie Chan denies claims he plans to send son abroad 

Jackie Chan has denied claims that he has plans to send his son Jaycee Chan to the US to study directing.

Rmours have been circulating that the actor wants his son to take care of his company and also wants to send Jaycee to the US to further his studies.

The Kung-fu star also said that his son is helping him finish recording his album and said that he has five songs left to record.

This comes just as photos have emerged on Jaycee's Weibo and Instagram accounts of his father cutting his hair to mark a new beginning.

Jaycee Chan was arrested and detained for six months after being found guilty for using drugs and sheltering other users and was released from the Dongcheng Detention Center in Beijing on February 14.

BRIT awards set to take place in London tonight 

The Brit Awards are set to take place in London tonight.

Sam Smith leads the nominations with five nods after his success at the Grammy awards earlier this month.

The 22 year old is up for Best Male, Best Album, Best Newcomer, Best Single, Best Breakthrough Act and Best Video.

Behind Smith with four nominations each are Ed Sheeran and George Ezra.

There are likely to be some big upsets in major categories such as International Group. Foo Fighters and The Black Keys are up for nomination but it's likely that folk band First Aid Kit will take the award after invading the British charts last summer.

British single is another tough category which sees Mark Ronson, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith go up against each other however thanks to the success of Uptown Funk it seems fairly obvious that Mark Ronson will take the award.

The BRITs are a big celebration of both British and International music with big performances from global stars. The confirmed line up so far includes Madonna, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Rihanna.

 One Direction named most successful UK act 

Boy band One Direction has been named the most successful UK act for the third consecutive year.

According to the IFPI Global Recording Artist Chart, One Direction was the biggest UK act in the world last year.

The chart honors the most popular act globally across downloading, streaming and CD sales. This is the third time in a row for the band.

The band's label boss Simon Cowell declared that he was proud of them and their success. He said it was especially pleasing because their latest album highlighted the band's skills as songwriters.

One Direction have also been named the biggest selling touring artist of 2014. They sold a total of 3.5 million concert tickets last year.

 Chris Brown Denied Entry to Canada

Singer Chris Brown has cancelled concerts after being denied entry to Canada.

The singer announced on Twitter that the Canadian government denied him entry just before his shows in Montreal and Toronto.

The star said that he'd be back in Canada in the summer and he hoped to see all of his Canadian fans.

Concert promoter Live Nation also released a statement declaring the singer's ban was due to immigration issues.

Brown has had several brushes with the law over the years. In January, a Los Angeles judge revoked the singer's probation in the 2009 domestic violence case involving his then girlfriend Rihanna after learning the singer had traveled without consent.