新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2015/04/30（打印版）

The toll of death from Nepal's earthquake reaches 5,489 dead, 11,000 injured, 135,000 homes destroyed and 93,000 damaged.

Meanwhile, China gets set to evacuate around 6,000 people from a border town in its Tibet Autonomous Region also affected by the quake.

And observers say Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech to the US Congress falls short of demands for an apology for atrocities committed by Japan during World War Two.

In Business: A leading official with China's central bank rebuffs reports that the bank is planning to implement a new quantitative easing program by buying local government debt.

In Sports: The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Portland trailblazers to close out the NBA playoff series 4 to 1.

In Entertainment: "Avengers: Age of Ultron" director Joss Whedon says he's keen to shoot his next movie in China.

The death toll from Nepal's earthquake has climbed to 5,489 with a total of 11000 others being injured.

Official data shows that Sindhupalchowk is the worst-hit district with some 1600 people having died when the powerful quake hit Nepal on Saturday.

Zham Town in Nyalam County has been at high risk of landslides following the strong quake in neighboring Nepal.

The displaced will be accommodated at a resettlement site some 300 kilometers away from their homes.

Penpa Tsering from the local police department is in charge of escorting the evacuees:

"Families with private cars are leaving in succession and we are trying to dispatch vehicles from police stations in the county to transfer those without private cars, but the vehicles have not arrived yet. We have arranged police officers to escort the people to safety on foot."

Around 1,000 tents have been set up with water and power supplies already in operation at the resettlement camp.

Access to Zham Town was cut off until Tuesday after rescuers reopened the No. 318 road that was blocked by landslides triggered by Saturday's quake and its aftershocks.

The quake has left nine people dead in the hillside town, which lies at a busy land crossing between Tibet and Nepal in the southern part of the Himalayas.

The death toll from the quake in Tibet now stands at 25, with 4 still missing and nearly 800 injured.

Despite pressure from various groups in the US, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has delivered a speech to the US Congress which many observers say fell short of their demands for the Japanese leader to acknowledge Japanese wrong-doing during World War II.

During his address to the joint session of the U.S. Congress, visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will uphold the views of previous leaders on his country's World War II history.

However, many have been left disappointed by his statement, saying it has steered-clear of the thorny issues.

Congressman Mike Honda says Abe had an opportunity to make history by acknowledging and expressing remorse over Japan's wartime atrocities.

"This is utterly shameful and shocking that Prime Minister Abe continues to evade his government's responsibility of systematic atrocity that was perpetrated by the Japanese imperial army against the so-called comfort women."

Estimates are some 200-thousand women across Asia were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during World War II.

One of them, an 87-year-old woman from South Korea, sat in the Gallery during Abe's speech, waiting for an apology from the Japanese Prime Minister.

At the same time, a 95-year-old U.S. veteran who endured the Bataan Death March in the Philippines at the hands of the Japanese military, was also left without the apology he had been hoping for.

Jan Thompson, President of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society, says if only one line or one sentence was mentioned in Abe's lengthy speech, it would have brought some comfort to the old man and his family.

"The Prime Minister says history is harsh. We agree with the Prime Minister that history is harsh. But we offer the caution that history is ultimately harsher on those that deny it."

Grace Han Wolf, the first Korean-American woman elected to the town council in northern Virginia, says the Prime Minister is trying to portrait Japan as a world leader of the future.

"A country that wishes to take the stage as a leader of the future, but will not acknowledge and recognize and earn up to its past. And I think going to be impossible for Japan to really be perceived as a world leader until they do take an active and direct role for recognizing their past."

The speech by Abe before the US Congress comes just weeks ahead of his much more widely-anticipated speech to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei has reiterated that Japan should deal with historical issues with a sense of responsibility.

Hong Lei made the remarks on Thursday at a regular press conference in response to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech to the US Congress.

"The Chinese side has always urged the Japanese government and Japanese leaders to deal with historical issues with a sense of responsibility and to stay true to its statements and commitments about reflecting upon its history of aggression. Only by doing this can Japan convince the international community and build friendly relationships with its Asian neighbors."

The spokesman noted that the speech was a missed opportunity for Japan to apologise for past wrongdoings.

"As Japan has made clear during the speech at the US Congress, it is important to gain trust and build harmonious relationships with the international community by admitting the past and reflecting on their previous wrongdoing, in order to contribute to world peace. However, Japan's conduct is inconsistent in that it is moving in the opposite direction."

North Korea also criticised Abe for failing to apologise for Japan's wartime sex slavery and urged him to stop covering up Japan's "past wrongdoings".

It's the first time a Japanese leader has addressed a joint meeting of the US Congress.

In his speech, Abe offered condolences for Americans killed during World War II, but stopped short of apologising for wartime atrocities.

He also suggested that he would not use the phrases "heartfelt apology", or "colonial rule and aggression" in his forthcoming statement in August to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

For more on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressing the US congress, CRI's Zhou Jingnan spoke earlier with Yang Xiyu, a research fellow at China Institute of International Studies.

That was Yang Xiyu, a research fellow at China Institute of International Studies speaking with CRI's Zhou Jingnan.

Several US cities, including Baltimore, New York and Denver, have seen protests against police violence and racial profiling.

Two days after the worst riot in decades, a demonstration ended peacefully on Wednesday in Baltimore, where an African American man died in police custody, causing civil unrest.

Baltimore police commissioner Anthony Batts says he is satisfied with the peaceful protests.

"I was very pleased with what took place in the city last night. For the most part, I think the curfew worked extremely well. Like I said, much like the mayor had predicted, we got people off the street. There wasn't a whole lot moving. I think the same thing is going to happen now."

However, 16 more adults and two juveniles have since been arrested, which brings the total number of arrests since Monday to more than 250.

Over a thousand protesters have gathered there to voice anger against police violence.

"The police are not there to protect the people. They are there to protect and worry about property. Windows can be replaced, this guy's spine, his life can't be. He is gone."

25-year-old black resident Freddie Gray died on April 19 after suffering spinal injuries while in police custody.

His death triggered riots in Baltimore- nineteen buildings and dozens of cars were burned on Monday. Local government authorities had to enforce a curfew in the city and stationed 3,000 National Guard troops and police there.

Police are due to give their findings on Gray's death to prosecutors on Friday. But no information will be made public since prosecutors still have to decide whether to bring charges.

The US Department of Justice is conducting a separate probe into possible civil rights violations in Gray's death.

The former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Tung Chee-hwa has urged legislators to vote for Hong Kong's universal suffrage package tabled last week at the Legislative Council.

It has been designed for the selection of the next chief executive through "one man, one vote" universal suffrage in 2017.

Tung says the region should stick to its own principles for the development of its democracy.

"The return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 was inevitable whereas the realization of "one man, one vote" is a major opportunity and choice the time has bestowed upon us. Every country and every region has its own principle for the development of democracy, and the truth is, the constitutional reform proposal endorsed by the Standing Committee of the National People 's Congress is constitutional, lawful, sensible and justifiable."

Tung stresses that the proposal is not the ending of Hong Kong's constitutional reforms, but instead the beginning of the adaptation of the "one man, one vote" or 'one person one vote' concept, and tampering with the process will eventually push Hong Kong into a no-win situation.

"Passing the reform proposal marks not only a major improvement of Hong Kong's democracy, but also a moment when the general public in Hong Kong finally find a way out after years of debates, wrangling, and protracted clashing in the Occupy Central movement."

The proposed universal suffrage package needs to secure support from at least 47 Legislative Council members.

Environment ministers from China, South Korea and Japan have signed a joint action plan to tackle environmental issues over the next five years.

The top targets that the three countries will take on include air pollution, sand storms and mercury contamination.

The 17th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting between China, South Korea and Japan has been held in Shanghai.

Ministers signed the Tripartite Joint Action Plan on Environmental Cooperation on Thursday, agreeing on lists of specific joint activities in nine priority areas.

The nine priority areas include air quality improvement; biodiversity; chemical management and environmental emergency response.

Chinese environment minister Chen Jining says China has made progress in combating air pollution, as the average density of fine particle matter or PM 2.5 in 74 cities adopting a new air quality index has dropped.

"In the first quarter of this year, the decreasing trend sped up. The average PM 2.5 density in 74 cities decreased by 16 percent. PM 2.5 density in cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was reduced by more than 27 percent. "

Japanese environment minister Mochizuki Yoshio proposed that the three countries will step up their cooperation in the fields of monitoring technologies and emission reduction measures.

"China, Japan and South Korea will continue their discussion about policies combating air pollutions. Such discussions have been successfully held twice before. We will share information and jointly carry out research in terms of monitoring technologies, survey methods and emission reductions measures… At this meeting, we have agreed to build two working groups in charge of air pollution."

South Korean environment minister Yoon Seongkyu added that dust and sand storm forecasting will be another priority for the trilateral cooperation initiative.

"The three countries will build a research group composed of 30 experts. Each country will dispatch 10 people for studies related to dust and sand storms. Actually, the trilateral cooperation regarding monitoring and forecasting of sand storms started in 2002. "

According to Yoon Seongkyu, the meeting agreed a research plan on dust and sand storms over the next five years, aimed at improve forecasting accuracy.

The Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting was first held in 1999. The three countries rotate the hosting of the meeting annually.

Vietnam has commemorated the liberation of Saigon, an event which marked the end of the Vietnam War which plagued the country for over three decades.

Some 6,000 children, women, veterans and soldiers marched towards the Presidential Palace --known also as the Reunification Palace.

"I call on Vietnamese people at home and abroad to uphold the sense of patriotism, the tradition of humanity and tolerance; to rise above the past and differences; to sincerely engage in national reconciliation."

"I'm here today with many others and we are gathered to remember our country's memories. When I watch the reenactments, I am very touched by our nation's patriotism"

Also present were some of those who documented the deadly war, shocking international viewers who were previously unaware of the true horrors of conflict.

"It's good to see Vietnam becoming robust, becoming strong, organized. I want to see the corruption gone."

The Liberation of Saigon not only marked the end of the war, but also a decade of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Political activist Tom Hayden was among the leaders of the anti-war movement at the time.

"You can tell from Vietnam there is a certain skepticism in America, what ever there religious disposition is. They do remember Vietnam, they do remember being sold a bill of goods and they remember all the boys that came back in body bags or limbless or had to go to the VA hospital that is underfunded. I think there is a healthy skepticism that would rise to the occasion if we got into a ground war big time."

The Vietnamese government has said it claimed the lives of up to 4 million people, while the U.S. Defense Ministry has said 58,000 U.S. troops were killed.

The war itself is remembered for having an extremely high percentage of civilian deaths.

China's top legislature has passed an amendment to the country's Advertising Law that restricts baby formula advertising, with the aim of promoting breastfeeding.

The move has won applause, but at the same time drawn worries about its possible effects.

The new amendment stipulates that "Dairy products, drinks and other food advertisements that claim to be partial or complete substitutes for mother's milk shall be banned from the mass media or public venues".

The move has been welcomed by people who champion breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for newborns, as breastfeeding improves babies' immune systems and reduces the likelihood of obesity in adulthood.

Statistics show that less than one third of infants younger than six months were 100 percent breastfed in China in 2008.

In order to reverse this situation, the Chinese government has set a goal to raise the number of babies to 50 percent by 2020.

And it has introduced measures to encourage breast feeding, such as building dedicated rooms in public venues for new mothers.

"In our hospital, unless the mothers need medication or a baby needs treatment, we encourage new mothers to breastfeed their babies as soon as possible. 90 percent of the mothers in our hospital breastfeed their babies."

China enacted a law to prohibit the advertisement and promotion of breast milk substitutes twenty years ago. However, its enforcement lacks teeth as the punishment is limited to warnings, confiscation or small fines.

This time, the maximum fine for a violation amounts to one million yuan, which is over 160-thousand US dollars.

However, Zhang Dianyuan, a professor at Fudan University's School of Journalism says the new regulation may not be strictly enforced:

"The big dairy companies may not be able to change the law, they could use their big public relations influence to avoid punishment. For medium and small companies, the penalty for violating the rule is very low, and they can make a lot of money by violating it."

China has about 16 million new-borns every year and the baby formula market is worth 18 billion yuan.

Many companies are prepared to take the risk of being fined to make profits in this enormous market.

Meanwhile, some mothers say they will still buy formula products, as they are not really affected by advertising. Their knowledge about baby formula products mostly comes from friends and peers.

" The ads for baby formula products won't affect me. I talk to my friends and then decide whether to use milk powder."

"My friends and I share our experiences with formula milk. I've also looked for some information online."

The change in the law only restricts ads in the mass media, but there is not a clear definition of just what that phrase means.

And an increasing number of formula products are using new marketing techniques, employing new media and peer to peer marketing.

Chongqing has heavy rain with a low of 22 tonight, also overcast tomorrow and a high of 26.

The death toll from Nepal's earthquake has climbed to 5,489 with a total of 11000 others being injured.

Official data shows that Sindhupalchowk is the worst-hit district with some 1600 people having died when the powerful quake hit Nepal on Saturday.

China has evacuated more than 4,000 people trapped in a border town in the Tibet Autonomous Region due to the high risk of landslides in the area.

Almost 1,000 displaced residents from Zham Town in Nyalam County arrived at a resettlement site in Lhatse County on Thursday morning. The rest of the evacuated will arrive later.

About 1,000 tents have been set up with water and power supplies at an open ground resettlement area.

An appeals court in Inner Mongolia has upheld the death sentence handed to a convicted serial killer and rapist.

He was sentenced to death after being convicted in February of numerous crimes, including the murder of 10 different women.

He later confessed to a string of rape and murder cases, including one in Hohhot in 1996 that was pinned on an 18-year-old, who was later executed.

China has again urged Japan to deal with historical issues with a sense of responsibility following Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech to the US Congress.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei noted that Japan should stay true to its statements and commitments about reflecting upon its history of aggression.

South Korea also expressed strong regret over the speech, saying it was a missed opportunity for Japan to apologise for past wrongdoings.

Meanwhile, North Korea criticised Abe for failing to apologise for Japan's wartime sex slavery and urged him to stop covering up Japan's "past wrongdoings".

In his speech, Abe stopped short of apologising for wartime atrocities and suggested that he would not use the phrases "heartfelt apology", or "colonial rule and aggression" in his forthcoming statement in August to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

Russia has confirmed that North Korea's top leader has canceled his planned visit to Moscow for the Victory Day celebration on May 9.

The Russian authority notes that Kim's decision has nothing to do with objections from western countries to his presence in Moscow.

Turning now to our business news, but first let's have a look at the numbers from the Asian markets this Thursday evening.

Chinese shares closed lower due to weak heavyweights on Thursday, the last trading day before the three-day Labor Day holiday.

Shares in the financial, non-ferrous metal, oil, and shipmaking sectors led the declines.

Shares of two major oil refineries and heavyweights, PetroChina and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation dropped over 2 percent.

However, small caps continued with their rising performance as the ChiNext Index, China's Nasdaq-style tracking board of growth enterprises, rose nearly 2.2 percent.

Japanese stocks fell sharply on the day as investor sentiment was undermined by weak U.S. gross domestic data in the first quarter of this year.

A leading official with China's central bank is rebuffing reports suggesting the bank is planning to implement a new quantitative easing program by buying local government debt.

Central Bank Research Bureau Chief Economist Ma Jun says there is no need for the central bank to buy new government debt directly, noting the central bank is also forbidden by law to provide funds directly to local governments.

Ma Jun also suggests that the central bank still has a series of monetary and policy tools available to cope with economic downward pressure.

The central bank has been injecting liquidity into the market more aggressively since last year, including a pair of interest rate cuts since November.

For more on China's growth and the idea of a quantative easing program, The Beijing Hour's Paul James earlier spoke with CRI's financial commentator, Cao Can.

That was Cao Can, CRI's financial commentator, speaking with The Beijing Hour's Paul James.

A compilation by the China Daily newspaper shows that first quarter GDP growth slowed in 30 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland.

Resource producers and heavy industrial bases have been hit hard by sliding producer prices, which have been falling for more than three years.

Northeast China's Liaoning Province experienced the sharpest drop, where growth slumped by 3.9 percentage points to 1.9 percent.

East China's Zhejiang Province is the only provincial-level region to achieve higher growth in the first quarter.

General fiscal revenue at the local level grew just 4.9 percent in the first quarter, the slowest rate since 1994.

The Chinese government has announced that the country will implement a long-awaited bank deposit insurance scheme in May, taking a key step forward in China's financial reform.

It stipulates that customers will be entitled to compensation of up to 500,000 yuan, almost 82,000 U.S. dollars, should their bank suffer insolvency or bankruptcy.

The reimbursement limit will apply to 99.63 percent of Chinese depositors, and both RMB deposits and foreign currency deposits made by individuals as well as companies are covered.

China's big five state-owned commercial banks have reported weaker profit growth rates in the first quarter of this year, due to economic slowdown and rising non-performing loans.

The quarterly net profit of the Bank of China grew by less than one percent, far slower growth compared to same period last year's 14.3 percent increase.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender by assets, posted a 1.4 percent year-on-year increase in its first-quarter net profits.

The country's second-largest lender, China Construction Bank reported growth of 1.9 percent in the first quarter.

The Agricultural Bank of China reported net profit growth of 1.3 percent and the Bank of Communications 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, all five banks saw a slight rise in their non-performing loans ratios in the first quarter of this year.

US car maker General Motors is recall 650 Opel Insignia cars on the Chinese mainland over flawed gas-filled tailgate struts which may fall suddenly and cause accidents.

The affected vehicles are all imported models which were manufactured between June 22, 2011 and July 25, 2013.

The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Portland Trail Blazers 99-93 on Wednesday, closing out the series 4-1.

With the victory, the Grizzlies have reached the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2010.

But it marks the seventh time in their past eight post-seasons that the Trail Blazers have lost in the first round, despite reaching the Western semifinals last year.

Marc Gasol scored 26 points and 14 rebounds for Memphis while C.J. McCollum scored a career-high 33 points for the Portland.

"To beat somebody eight times in one year, that's pretty difficult to do and I'm really proud of our guys because they're not slouches. That's a good team over there. So, emotional game, we lost our composure a little bit there in the third quarter. We fought through some adversity. We just kept banging away and banging away. It was obviously a very physical game, but we made the plays when we needed to."

Second half goals from Didier Drogba, John Terry and Ramires helped league leaders Chelsea came from behind to beat Leicester City 3-1 on Wednesday.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says working hard is the secret of their success this season.

"Work hard, it's the only - hard and well because some people work hard and bad! Work hard and well - I think that's the secret of every one of us. Everybody working for the same objective, no other objectives, no individual objectives. The individual objectives are behind the objective. The objective is the Barclays Premier League."

A victory on Sunday against Crystal Palace will give Chelsea their first Premier League title in five years.

Chinese pair Xu Xin and Zhang Jike booked a place in the men's doubles semi-finals by beating Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima of Japan in seven games at the Suzhou International Exhibition Centre on Thursday.

Ni Xialian, the oldest female player at 51, bowed out of the world table tennis championships on Wednesday.

Australia's Vince Byron made history on Thursday, winning BMX vert final gold at the World Extreme Games in Shanghai.

With his winning run winding down, Byron completed the first ever '540 flair' in a vert competition.

This marks the fourth year in a row that Byron has taken the gold, making BMX vert history in the process.

Master champion and World number two Jordan Spieth won 4 and 2 against Finland's Mikko Ilonen at this year's World Golf Matchplay Championships on Wednesday.

"Certainly from my point of view I'm still extremely motivated and I haven't reached that top level and I'm happy with the way things have gone and I wouldn't be satisfied if my career ended today so all in all I've got more to do and I might as well try and do it soon."

World number one Rory McIlroy made only one birdie and had an even easier time in beating Jason Dufner 5 and 4.

Defending champion Jason Day struggled off the tee and lost to Charley Hoffman 4 and 3.

Despite Day, world number three Henrik Stenson and world number six Justin Rose were all early losers.

The PGA Tour said on Thursday that Calvin Peete, the 12-time-winner of the tour, died on Wednesday morning at the age of 71.

Peete taught himself how to play golf aged 24 and became the most successful black player on the PGA Tour before the Tiger Woods era.

Peete once led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy for 10 straight years from 1981, and won the Vardon Trophy in a clash with Jack Nicklaus in 1984.

The frenzy for boxing's biggest event of the century continued to build on Wednesday at the 32nd annual ASCAP Music Awards in Los Angeles.

One of the evening's honorees, Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley, is hoping for an epic battle.

"I think it's going to be an interesting fight, but it should be a fight. If it's purely going to be Mayweather doing what he does beautifully, which is tag you and you chase him, I don't think - for the amount of money they're making get in there and kick each other's asses for god's sake."

"I just think Mayweather has the power to knock him out and Pacquiao has been out you know in the last few years. So I just pray that for that kind of money that they are getting that they fight. That's what people want to see. This isn't supposed to be a tactical match. This is supposed to be a brawl."

Reports say Mayweather will likely earn 180 million dollars and Pacquiao 120 million for the long-awaited fight.　

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" director Joss Whedon has said he would love to shoot his next movie in China.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing for the latest installment of the "Avengers" franchise, Whedon said he was open to the idea, along with cast members Robert Downey Junior and Mark Ruffalo, who were equally enthusiastic.

The comic book inspired film has already beat "Fast and Furious 7" to top the global box office with over $200 million in its first week of release.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate have just enjoyed their fourth wedding anniversary together.

But their were no big celebrations as they are still waiting on the birth of their second child, which is due any day now.

So far there has been silence from Kensington Palace about the royal birth, only palace tweets remembering the wedding.

The baby had been expected last week, so Kate is slightly overdue, which was also the case when their first baby, Prince George of Cambridge, who was born in July 2013.

Fans have already started camping outside St Mary's Hospital in London's Paddington neighborhood, waiting for the first glimpse of the new addition to the royal family.

Charlie Hebdo's cartoonist Luz who drew the cover picture that appeared after the Paris attacks in January, has said he will no longer draw the Prophet Mohammad.

Telling French Magazine "Les Inrocks" in an interview that the Prophet no longer interests him.

Armed men claiming to be avenging the Prophet killed 12 people when they attacked the Paris offices of the irreverent weekly.

Charlie Hebdo's next edition after the attacks carried on its cover Luz's cartoon of a tearful Mohammad holding a "Je suis Charlie" sign under the words "All is forgiven".

American rock bands 'Kiss' and 'The Doobie Brothers' were among the honorees at the 32nd annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards, held in Los Angeles.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers celebrated artists of the most performed ASCAP pop songs of 2014.

Gene Simmons said the secret to the band's success, which has spanned 41 years, is all about timing.

"Maybe it's fair to say that you have to have the right thing at the right place and the right time. Not sure if we had the same work ethic and the same shows and everything else during the Renaissance period, I don't know if people would look at us like aliens, so we happened to have come out at that right time."

Max Martin won Songwriter of the Year, and John Legend's "All of Me" took Song of the Year.

Past winners include Sean "Diddy" Combs, Sir Paul McCartney, Stephen Sondheim and Joni Mitchell.

Chinese-American actress Celina Jade has been cast to star in "April Flowers," a U.S. indie drama that will begin shooting in New York next month.

The film is directed by Christopher Tedrick and co-stars Jon Fletcher from "The Messenger."

Jade plays and idealist whose dreams are fading away until she discovers an anonymous journal while on her daily commute to work. The personal accounts renew her faith in humanity.

Hong Kong-born Jade recently starred opposite Thai action star Tony Jaa "Skin Trade" which hits theaters in the U.S. on May 8.

Since its breakout start four years ago, the series saw show runner Mike Kelley exit and its goodwill among critics fade after its sophomore run.

Chongqing has heavy rain with a low of 22 tonight, also overcast tomorrow and a high of 26.

The toll of death from Nepal's earthquake has reached 5,489 dead, 11,000 injured, 135,000 homes destroyed and 93,000 damaged.

Meanwhile, China is preparing to evacuate around 6,000 people from a border town in its Tibet Autonomous Region that was also badly affected by the quake.

And observers say Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech to the US Congress fell short of demands for an apology for atrocities committed by Japan during World War Two.

In Business: A leading official with China's central bank rebuffs reports that the bank is planning to implement a new quantitative easing program by buying local government debt

新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2015/04/30（在线收听）