新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2014/06/18

The Beijing Hour
 
Morning Edition
 
 
Paul James with you on this Wednesday, June 18, 2014.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this morning...
Business dealings have dominated the agenda as part of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's time in the UK.
A major conference has been held in Washington about how to protect the world's oceans.
The latest round of Iranian nuclear talks are set to head into their 2nd day today in Vienna.
In Business... CNOOC and BP have inked a new deal connected to liquefied natural gas.
In sports... South Korea getting its World Cup campaign underway this morning against Russia.
In entertainment... a new film school with Canadian collaboration is being established in Shanghai.
 
 
Weather
 
 
Beijing will be cloudy today with a high of 30 degrees Celsius.
Overnight it will see thundershowers and temperatures should drop down to around 20.
Shanghai will be overcast during the daytime with a high of 28.
It will be overcast tonight with a low of 22.
In Chongqing, it will be cloudy with a high of 34.
Overnight cloudy and lows are expected to be around 23.
Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,
Islamabad will have slight rain with a high of 39.
Kabul will be sunny with a high of 27.
Over to North America,
New York will have moderate rain today with a high of 31 degrees.
Washington will be overcast with a high of 37 degrees.
Honolulu, slight rain, 27.
Toronto, Canada, will have moderate rain with a high of 28 degrees.
Finally, on to South America,
Buenos Aires will be cloudy with a high of 11.
And Rio de Janeiro will have slight rain with a high of 23 degrees Celsius.
 
 
Top News
 
 
British and Chinese premiers call for strengthened bilateral trade
 
Anchor:
Business cooperation has been dominating Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's current visit to Britain.
The two sides have also set a goal of expanding bilateral trade to 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2015.
CRI's Yu Yang has more.
Reporter:
As part of his time in the UK, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has met with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The two have overseen the signing of trade deals worth billions.
Li Keqiang has also used the meeting to call for more cooperation in areas such as nuclear power, high-speed rail, infrastructure construction and urbanization.
"The UK has advanced technology that can be married with China's vast markets. Together we can create huge energy."
He also says the two countries need to increase their financial cooperation.
Li Keqiang says this should include facilitating the direct trade of the renminbi and the British pound, as well as setting up an RMB clearing bank and opening branches of Chinese banks in Britain.
For his part, British Prime Minister David Cameron says his country can act as a facilitator to help China gain a stronger foot-hold in Europe.
"As members of the European Union, we have been pushing very hard for the European Union to start work on a free-trade agreement with China. That was very much something Britain put on the table before any other country. We're a big supporter of free trade. We believe that can unlock growth, investment and jobs for people in China and for people in Britain. And we think that's been a very important push for the British to make."
Cameron also says Britain welcomes more Chinese investment in Britain, as well as more Chinese students studying in the UK.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of China and the UK signing a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.
For CRI, this is Yu Yang.
 
 
One Ocean Conference Held in Washington D.C.
 
Anchor:
More than 400 government officials and oceanic scientists from more than 80 different countries are gathered in Washington D.C. to work on a global strategy to save the world's oceans.
CRI's He Fei has the details.
Reporter:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calls for the world's awareness on the health of the ocean and a global strategy to save the planet's life-sustaining seas.
He makes the remarks at the "Our Ocean" Conference, which is the first of its kind held by the U.S. State Department.
"Over the next two days, let's put our heads together and work on a plan for how we can preserve fish stocks, manage coastlines, and protect ecosystems, a way for us to try to preserve fisheries, a way for us to come to a common understanding of our common interests and find a consensus that we could take to the UN."
John Kerry describes the protection of the world's oceans as a vital security issue for everyone, every nation.
The top U.S. diplomat stresses that nations have to come together around a single comprehensive, global ocean strategy so that people can meet this challenge and save the deteriorating blue ocean.
Heads of governments, as well as ministers from some 80 countries, gathered with researchers and experts from the oceanic related industries in Washington D.C..
Liu Cigui, head of China's State Oceanic Administration is also in attendance and joins the panel discussion on the ocean health and science.
Liu says China has around three-million square kilometers of sea area and to build a powerful marine nation has been a goal of the central government. The blue economy has been seen as a new source of the country's economic growth.
The administrator says, in addition to the traditional industries such as fishing, breeding and shipbuilding, China is moving in the direction of more modern developments.
"The development and utilization of China's marine resources will transfer to the high-end manufacturing and modern service industries. We also have the potential of developing the marine biology and marine pharmaceutical industries."
According to Liu, China and the U.S. worked closely in the field for the past decade. The two sides collaborated on many aspects, including ocean monitoring, disaster reduction and prevention, and research data sharing.
During the two-day meeting, China is looking to step up cooperation with the U.S. and other nations and will share its experiences in protecting the marine environment as well.
Recently, China's view on the ocean has been under the spotlight worldwide.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is going to visit Greece later this week to attend a China-Greece Maritime Cooperation Forum.
There, he is due to elaborate on China's stand in this field.
Liu Cigui reveals that more marinetime cooperation agreements between China and Greece are expected to be signed by then.
For CRI, I'm He Fei in Washington D.C.
 
 
Chinese state councilor to visit Vietnam
 
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi is in Vietnam for an annual bilateral meetings with Vietnamese officials.
He is due to meet with Vietnamese Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh later on this Wednesday.
China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
"On this visit to Vietnam by State Councilor Yang as the leader of the delegation going to the Chinese-Vietnamese meetings on bilateral co-operation, the two sides will have a frank and deep exchange of views on issues of mutual concern. We hope that Vietnam keeps its eye on the broader picture, meets China halfway and appropriately resolves the present situation."
The visit is the highest level meeting between the two governments since tensions began escalating over oil drilling near the Xisha Islands in the South China sea.
 
 
Ashton's spokesman comments on nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers
 
The fifth round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 is set to enter its 2nd day today in Vienna.
This round of talks is meant to try to finalize an agreement.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton are leading the talks for both sides.
Michael Mann is a spokesperson for Catherine Ashton.
"What is going to happen now is that there will be technical meetings on a number of different subjects as I follow up to what was discussed in the plenary session earlier. And then obviously the meetings will continue in different formats throughout the afternoon. I don't have any information yet about what will happen after the technical meetings but there will be of course further meetings and the work continues intensively."
The last round of negotiations broke down last month without an agreement, casting doubt on whether a final deal can be reached before the interim agreement signed last year comes to an end on July 20th.
A failure to reach an agreement before that deadline will see sanctions previously imposed on Iran restored to their previous levels.
Iran will also have the ability to restart some of its nuclear enrichment programs it shut down to reach the interim agreement.
 
 
12 killed in car bomb in Shiite area of Baghdad
 
A massive car bombing in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has left at least a dozen people dead.
At least 40 others have been wounded in the bombing, which has struck in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City.
So far no group has claimed responsibility.
However, attacks on Shiite neighborhoods are almost always attributed to the Sunni insurgency.
The Baghdad bombing comes amid the massive Sunni-led insurgency taking place in the north of Iraq by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
That group has been taking control of more communities in northern Iraq this week after overrunning Iraq's 2nd largest city of Mosul last week.
The insurgents are threatening to take their fight south into Baghdad.
In the fallout from the fall of Mosul, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has sacked a number of senior security officers for failing to secure the city.
In light of the deteriorating situation in Iraq, the Chinese Embassy has issued a security alert, suggesting Chinese nationals avoid the region.
The Chinese government is also calling on the Iraqi government to strengthen its protection of the Chinese embassy, agencies, companies and personnel in the country.
There are reportedly over 10-thousand Chinese nationals working and living in Iraq.
Most of them are working for Chinese oil and gas companies.
 
 
Gas pipeline in central Ukraine explodes
 
A section of the main pipeline that carries Russian gas to Europe has exploded in central Ukraine.
The cause of the blast is not clear at this point.
However, Ukraine's energy ministry is suggesting the explosion could have been a "terrorist attack".
Russian gas producer Gazprom says the blast has not cut its gas exports to Europe.
The explosion has taken place after Gazprom cut its supplies to Ukraine over a pricing dispute.
In the wake of this, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger is calling for new round of gas talks.
Oettinger also says the EU has no wish to block the so-called South Stream, which is being pushed forward by Russia to bypass Ukraine as a transit country.
"South Stream, as any pipeline, any infrastructure, is acceptable. New routes by new investments are appreciated but South Stream does not solve our actual problems or our problems for the winter and for 2015 and 2016. So we need a solution with or without South Stream. And indeed Ukraine is a transit country, getting money therefore but we have to be neutral."
The construction of the south stream pipeline is being held up in Bulgaria.
Despite this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the scope of the project will not be changed.
"There's no changing of any plans. I have no doubt that the construction has been halted temporarily and, regarding South Stream, I say again that this is a unique systematic solution for supplying gas to part of south-east Europe."
Europe relies on Russia for about 30-percent of all is natural gas supplies.
 
 
U.S. captures Benghazi suspect in raid: Pentagon
 
US Special Forces have captured one of the men thought to be a key ring-leader behind the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya in September of 2012.
US President Barack Obama.
"Yesterday our special forces, showing incredible courage and precision, were able to capture an individual, Abu Khattalah, who was alleged to have been one of the masterminds of the attack. (Applause) He is now being transported back to the United States."
It's being reported Khatallah has been captured in a joint operation involving US troops and the FBI which had been planned for several months.
Khatallah is one of around a dozen people wanted in connection with the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in September of 2012 which left 4 Americans dead, including the US ambassador to Libya.
The deadly assault has created a firestorm of political controversy in the United States, with Republican lawmakers accusing the White House of failing to properly protect the US consulate and covering up the details of the incident after-the-fact.
 
 
El-Sisi chairs first cabinet meeting as Egyptian President
 
Egypt's new President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has chaired the first meeting of his new cabinet.
His new inner-circle consists of 13 cabinet members.
Among the changes include veteran diplomat Nabil Fahmy being replaced as Foreign Minister by Sameh Shukri, who was Egypt's ambassador to the United States.
Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab says one of their main challenges now is ensuring security in Egypt.
"This stage is full of challenges. Failure, reluctance, incompetence and shaking hands are no option. The government must return security and safety as soon as possible, a fierce confrontation against criminals we will fight."
Many in Egypt say they hope the new administration will bring change.
"I hope that the new cabinet answers to the demands of the Egyptian people and that it will be better than the one before it."
"I hope that the new cabinet swiftly realizes social equality, the demands of the people, sets minimum wages, decreases inflation and increases investment. To sum up, security, prices, equality and investments are the key issues."
Egypt has been gripped by instability since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by el-Sisi, the former army chief-turned President.
 
 
Food safety law to be revised
 
Anchor:
The National People's Congress is preparing to revise this country's food safety laws amid the current crisis of confidence in the Chinese food industry.
CRI's Xie Zhao has the details.
Reporter:
China's top legislature will review a draft revision of the food safety law later this month, at a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.
Lawmakers have not revealed in advance how food safety laws will be changed.
Wu Jingming, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, says a specific revision should be added to any amendment the NPC introduces.
"The first thing we should do about the food safety law is to include the achievements of institutional reform into the law, and clarify the position of the China Food and Drug Administration in the revised law. But so far this hasn't been done yet."
According to the State Council's institutional reform plan published last year, supervision responsibilities in the area of food safety were transferred from the State Administration of Industry and Commerce to the China Food and Drug Administration.
Liu Junhai, Director of the Business Law Center of Renmin University, says there are blind spots in the law when it comes to the supervision of food safety, and those spots need to be fixed.
"For instance, the administration of industry and commerce is responsible for advertisements. That is not to say that supervising any advertisements related to food is not their work any more. The key matter is that related departments should work together and cooperate in terms of supervision."
Wu Jingming adds that punishments for celebrities' endorsements of illegal products should be strengthened.
"The regulations governing celebrity endorsement are too vague and the punishments are too small, just civil punishments. I suggest a higher level of punishment should be carried out for those who endorse products that don't meet the standards of food safety laws. The supervising body should confiscate illegal endorsement income and issue fines. They won't be allowed to accept any other commercial endorsements for a certain period of time. They should also shoulder the responsibility should there be any violation of consumers' rights."
The Chinese State Council, the country's cabinet, issued a guideline in May to boost food safety in multiple sectors, especially the safety of baby formula and meat products.
Draft amendments to the Food Safety Law released last October say China will triple fines for severe food safety violations, and those jailed for such crimes will be banned for life from the food industry.
For CRI, I am Xie Zhao .
 
 
Biz Reports
 
 
First off, a check on the closing numbers in North America and Europe.
Joining me on the desk, CRI's Luo Wen.
Reporter:
U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday as data pointing to higher inflation lifted financial shares, while high-growth tech names also attracted renewed attention.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2 percent.
The S&P 500 increased 0.2 percent.
The Nasdaq added 0.4 percent
European stock markets also rose on Tuesday, clawing back ground lost in previous sessions, as new signs of possible takeover activity have pushed up major healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks.
London's FTSE 100 gained 0.2 percent.
France's CAC 40 increased 0.6 percent.
The DAX in Germany closed up 0.4 percent.
 
 
CNOOC, BP sign 20-year LNG supply deal
 
Anchor:
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation has announced it’s entered into a 20-year deal with British Petroleum for liquefied natural gas supplies.
CNOOC says BP is going to begin supplying it with up to 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year starting in 2019.
The signing of the agreement has been overseen by visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
At the same time, CNOOC and Shell have signed a "global strategic cooperation agreement" meant to try to create a tighter partnership around the world.
For more on this, we are joined live on the line with Benjamin Cavender, associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
Back Anchor:
That was Benjamin Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai
 
 
China's FDI inflows down 6.7 percent in May
 
Foreign investment here in China has fallen to its lowest level in 16 months through May.
The Ministry of Commerce is reporting foreign direct investment has fallen nearly 7-percent year on year to less than 9 billion U.S. dollars this past month.
49 billion dollars worth of FDI has flowed into China through the first five months.
This is up less than 3 percent from a year earlier.
The top five investors in the mainland are Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.
Investment from South Korea so far this year is up around 90-percent.
FDI inflows from the UK are up around 40-percent.
But at the same time, investment from Japan is down around 40 percent from a year ago.
Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shen Danyang.
"But from a political perspective, the current continued cooling of political relations between the two countries will mean a worsening environment for economic cooperation between the two countries. It could also mean a decline in trade relations and could seriously affect the desire for business cooperation."
In making the statement, the Commerce Ministry is also calling on the United States to stop its anti-dumping investigations into imported carbon and alloy steel wire from China.
FDI from the United States is down around 9-percent so far this year.
 
 
China's exports to continue rebound: official
 
The Chinese Commerce ministry says it expects export activity to see a steady rebound in the coming months.
The suggestion is based on the latest results of the Export Confidence Index, which came in at 108.9-points through May.
The index is based on exporter surveys.
Figures above 100 indicate exporter confidence.
The index has now been above 100 for the past 3-months.
Customs data shows foreign trade volumes through May have come in 355-billion US dollars, up 3-percent.
Exports are up 7 percent year on year to 195 billion U.S. dollars.
This follows a 0.9-percent increase in April.
 
 
U.S. consumer prices rise sharply in May
 
The US Labor Department is reporting a sharp rise in consumer prices through May.
The US Consumer Price Index increased 0.4-percent last month, led by rising energy and food costs.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, the so-called core CPI, also rose 0.3 percent in May, the biggest gain since August 2011.
The rise in core prices is suggesting the deflationary trend has bottomed out, and that CPI is heading back towards the Fed's target.
Most economist expect the Fed to continue trimming its monthly bond purchase program, and wait until 2015 to begin raising its benchmark interest rates, which continue to hover at historical lows.
 
 
British house price sees fastest annual rise in four years
 
New data from the UK shows home prices in Britain have increased by just under 10-percent annually in April.
This is the biggest increase since May 2010.
The UK National Stats office says the price surge has been driven by a major upswing in home prices in London, where prices through April skyrocketed nearly 19-percent.
The average price for properties bought by first-time buyers has increased by nearly 11-percent through April.
The British government has been expressing significant concern about the dramatic increase in housing prices, suggesting it may pose a threat to financial stability.
 
 
France tells GE and Siemens - Alstom proposals still not good enough
 
The French government has raised the stakes in the corporate battle for engineering group Alstom.
The French government has told potential suitors General Electric and Siemens to come up with better offers.
Siemens has put forward a joint proposal with Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which has valued Alstom's power division at 14.2 billion euros.
This is higher than the intitial offering GE put forward, which is 12.4 billion.
Siemens contends its bid will be a win-win, and will help create jobs in France.
However, the French government continues to insist it wants to ensure Alstom remains a player in the transport and energy sectors.
 
 
Headline News
 
 
British and Chinese premiers call for strengthened bilateral trade
 
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has met with British Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to London.
The two sides have set a goal of expanding bilateral trade to 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2015.
Li Keqiang has also used the meeting to call for more cooperation in areas such as nuclear power, high-speed rail, infrastructure construction and urbanization.
For his part, British Prime Minister David Cameron says his country can act as a facilitator to help China gain a stronger foot-hold in Europe.
 
 
CNOOC, BP sign 20-year LNG supply deal
 
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation has announced its entered into a 20-year deal with British Petrolium for liquefied natural gas supplies.
CNOOC says BP is going to begin supplying it with up to 1.5 million tones of liquefied natural gas per year starting in 2019.
The signing of the agreement has been overseen by visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
At the same time, CNOOC and Shell have signed a "global strategic cooperation agreement" meant to try to create a tighter partnership around the world.
 
 
12 killed in car bomb in Shiite area of Baghdad
 
A massive car bombing in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has left at least a dozen people dead.
At least 40 others have been wounded in the bombing, which has struck in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City.
So far no group has claimed responsibility.
The Baghdad bombing comes amid the massive Sunni-led insurgency taking place in the north of Iraq by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
 
 
Toxic chemicals used in Syria: OPCW
 
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons now says Syria is going to miss its June 30th deadline to remove all its chemical weapons stockpiles out of the country.
Fighting has prohibited the OPCW to transport the last 8-percent of the chemical weapons still in Syria out of the country.
Syria last year agreed to the June 30th deadline to remove all the chemical weapons from the country as a way to avoid international intervention in the conflict, following a mass gassing of civilians.
 
 
Trial adjourned after Ratko Mladic in hospital
 
The international trial for former Bosnian-Serb Army chief Ratko Mladic has been adjourned indefinitely because of illness.
Mladic has been admitted to hospital with an undisclosed illness.
This has forced the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia to suspend his trial until he can represent himself.
Mladic is accused of genocide and a number of other crimes connected to the deaths of numerous non-Serb civilians during the Bosnian war between 1992 and 1995.
A final judgement in the case has been expected in mid-2016.
 
 
Newspaper Picks
 
 
BEIJING MORNING POST
Headline
Hunan officials punished
Summary
Local authorities say a total of 466 officials involved in an election scandal in Hunan have been punished.
The officials are connected to a vote-buying scandal that triggered public outrage last year.
The provincial legislature says more than 500 lawmakers have been disqualified or dismissed.
THE BEIJING NEWS
Headline
Student cheating
Summary
A China Central Television report has exposed an organized cheating ring in the national college entrance examinations or gaokao in Henan.
The police are now involved, as is the Ministry of Education.
College students involved in cheating will be expelled, while high school students who hired others to take the test will have their scores canceled.
SHANGHAI DAILY
Headline
3 more questioned in CCTV bribe probe
Summary
Three more staffers with China Central Television's finance and economics channel-2 are being questioned over bribery allegations.
A senior producer, as well as an anchor and a director, are being questioned.
The director-general of CCTV-2 is also under investigation amid questions about his huge income.
GLOBAL TIMES
Headline
Seven sentenced to death for drug smuggling
Summary
A court in Shandong has sentenced seven people to death for drug smuggling.
Three others among a group of 17 have been given death with a 2-year reprieve, which is the equivilant of a life-sentence.
The court says its handed down the harsh punshiments to deter others from dealing drugs.
BEIJING YOUTH DAILY
Headline
Cooperation on public health
Summary
Health authorities in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei are going to strengthen their cooperation when dealing with possible public health emergencies.
The three neighboring governments will have their best emergency medical experts participate in a drill next month to cope with potential public health emergencies.
CHINA DAILY
Headline
Flight gets lost
Summary
A flight from Nanchang to Singapore was delayed for over 8-hours during a stop-over in Nanning, after the pilot got lost while on the taxiway.
The incident involved a China Eastern flight.
It’s unclear what caused the flight crew to lose their direction on the tarmac.
 
 
Special Reports
 
 
The key to better China-US film co-production
 
Anchor:
Industry observers taking part in this year's Shanghai Film Festival are suggesting a number of key issues need to be dealt with to help better establish cooperation among Chinese and US film producers.
CRI's Liu Kun has more from Shanghai.
Reporter:
The red carpet of this year's Shanghai International Film Festival saw a considerable amount of film casts combining actors and actresses from both China and the U.S.
Chinese movie mogul Jackie Chan showed up with American actor John Cusack to promote the yet to be produced 2015 film, "Dragon Blade".
Popular Chinese actress Liu Yifei graced the carpet as the leading actress from China-US co-production, "Outcast". Her American opposite, Nicolas Cage, however, didn't appear.
Ye Ning, Chief Operating Officer of Wanda Media, says to cooperate with and learn from the U.S. is a process that the Chinese film industry has to go through.
"China-U.S. co-production is a stage we must experience. It's a trend and nothing will be able to stop it. China's movie industry is still in a very early stage, so we should be ready to learn from others."
Ye Ning's company has just announced co-production plans with renowned American studio, The Weinstein Company, to make the movie "Southpaw".
Joe Aguilar, head of Drama and TV Department at Oriental DreamWorks, has been dipping his toe in China-U.S. co-production since 2012. Co-founded by American company DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai Media Group, Oriental DreamWorks' ambition is to produce the 3rd installment of "Kungfu Panda".
From his own experience, Joe Aguilar says both sides could benefit from the complementary nature of the partnership.
"We are bringing certain expertise to the process. But what we don't know is what the Chinese audience want, what is the best way to tell the story. And that's what we are looking forward and has been talking to several Chinese partners about cooperating together because we feel like we need their understanding of the market and they need our understanding of professionalism and making quality movies."
Zhang Zhao, chief executive officer of Le Vision Pictures, says he considers the following factors to be crucial.
"Why can cooperating with American film companies be difficult? Because the market model hasn't been established yet. Also, intellectual property and a user system are another two things that hinder the unification of a global market."
Zhang further explains that, at the beginning stage, mutual respect and a certain degree of blind trust are needed from both American and Chinese film companies for progress to be made.
Back anchor:
That is CRI's Liu Kun reporting from Shanghai.
 
 
Sports
 
 
FIFA World Cup: Brazil vs. Mexico 0-0; Belgium vs. Algeria 2-1
 
Starting off with the FIFA World Cup this morning,
The final opening match in the group stages is underway, with a Group H match between Russia and the South Korea.
[UPDATES]
----
Earlier,
Mexico managed to keep World Cup hosts Brazil to a frustrating 0-0 draw in the second round in Group A.
Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa made a series of impressive saves to keep Brazil off the board.
Throughout the first half, the Mexican side only had four shots from outside of the area which all went wide.
Mexico added four more shots in the first ten minutes of the second half.
Mexico could have wrapped-up a victory with a late winner, but the powerful shot from Raul Jimenez was kept out by Brazil veteran keeper Julio Cesar.
----
The first match of the night saw Belgium rally to beat Algeria 2-1 in their Group H opener.
Two substitutes, Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens, scored for Belgium.
Both sides played cautiously until the 25th minute when Valencia striker Sofiane Feghouli converted a penalty to lift Algeria to 1-0 lead.
Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini came off the bench in the second half and tied the score with a close-range header.
Dries Mertens then gave Belgium the 2-1 lead in the 80th minute.
-----
Off the pitch,
Fabio Coentrao of Portugal has been forced out of the World Cup due to injury.
Coentrao suffered a muscle injury in his right thigh in Portugal's 4-nil defeat to Germany yesterday morning.
Portuguese players Hugo Almeida and Rui Patricio also sustained muscle injuries.
However, they're expected to be available when Portugal takes on the United States on Saturday.
 
 
Eugenie Bouchard out in Hertogenbosch
 
In tennis,
Rising Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard has suffered a shock defeat in the last tune-up before Wimbledon, losing to American Vania King 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands.
At the same time, second seeded Dominika Cibulkova has also been knocked out by Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Top-seeded Simona Halep has cruised into the second round, getting past Olga Govortsova of Belarus 7-5, 6-2.
She will next face Annika Beck of Germany.
----
In the men's draw,
Second seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco overcame a shaky start to beat France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Third-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut cruised past Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 6-3.
Nicolas Mahut needed three sets to get past Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
 
 
China's Li Yanmei wins triple jump at Czech Golden Spike event
 
In athletics,
Chinese triple jumper Li Yanmei has taken the women's title at the Golden Spike athletics World Challenge in the Czech Republic.
Li took the title with a jump of 14.03-meters, besting compeditors from Portugal and Germany.
Also at the competition, Chinese hurdler Xie Wenjun has taken bronze in the men's 110-meter hurdles.
The highlight of the track meet in the Czech Republic was American sprinter Justin Gatlin, who has clocked the fastest time of the year so far in the men's 100-meters, notching a time of 9.86-seconds.
 
 
Tiger Woods said to be progressing with rehab
 
Tiger Woods is said to be making progress in his recovery from back surgery.
It's also being reported that Woods has been practicing in South Florida.
Woods has already missed two majors this year while recovering from back surgery.
He last played on March 9th at Doral, where he closed with a 78, despite the pain in his lower back.
Woods is the tournament host next week for the Quicken Loans National at Congressional.
However, he's not expected to take part.
It's still unclear if Woods will be ready for this year's third major championship, the British Open, which begins on July 17th.
 
 
Miami's Shane Battier retires after 13 NBA seasons
 
In basketball,
The Miami Heat's veteran forward Shane Battier has retired following his 13-year NBA career.
Battier played his final game Sunday as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Heat in Game 5 to win the Finals.
Battier is reportedly set to begin a career as a college basketball analyst for ESPN.
Battier averaged 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists over 977 career regular season games.
It's also been reported that Miami's center Chris Anderson is going to opt out of his 1.5 million dollar contract for next season to become a free agent.
----
In other news,
San Antonio point guard Tony Parker says he expects teammates Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili will return next season.
The trio of Parker, Duncan and Ginobili have been together for four of the Spurs' five NBA title runs.
The three combined for 49 points on Sunday in a 104-87 romp that clinched the title.
However, many observers suspect that Tim Duncan, who is now 38, may have played his last game in the NBA on Sunday.
 
 
Canucks, Sabres waive players
 
In news from the National Hockey League,
With the July 1st free-agency deadline approaching, the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres are moving to make room in their sallary cap.
The Canucks have placed forward David Booth on waivers, with the idea of buying out his contract.
Booth has one more year left on his deal with Vancouver worth 4.5-million dollars.
At the same time, Buffalo has done the same with Vinne Leino.
The under-performing Leino was set to make 11-million dollars over the remaining 3-years of his contract.
Each team in the NHL is allowed one buy-out before July 1st, when the new sallary cap restrictions come into play.
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On the flip side, the Montreal Canadiens have signed forward Dale Weise to a new 2-year contract extension.
The Canadiens picked up Wiese this past season from the Vancouver Canucks.
The San Jose Sharks have signed forward Mike Brown and goaltender Alex Staylock to new 2-year contracts.
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Meanwhile, its being reported the Pittsburgh Penguins have been talking to both Mark Crawford and Ron Wilson about potentially filling their vacant coaching position.
 
 
Entertainment
 
 
Shanghai University and Vancouver Film School establish joint film school in Shanghai
 
At the Shanghai International Film Festival,
Shanghai University and Vancouver Film School, have officially announced they've established a joint film school in Shanghai.
Starting from this autumn the school will admit its first 100 students from China and around the world, offering four majors; film production, 3D animation and visual effects, sound design for visual media and makeup design for film and television.
Nearly 80 percent of teachers at the school will come from North America, even including some who have won Oscars and Emmy Awards.
 
 
Dozens attend auditions in Toronto for Rob Ford: The Musical
 
Staying with Canada,
And over in Toronto dozens of larger actors have been auditioning for Rob Ford: The Musical, the stage play about the city's mayor.
Ford has made international headlines over the past year, with scandalous confessions, expletive-laden videos and Jimmy Kimmel appearances causing fascination.
Anthony Bastianon, who wrote the music for the production, has said it will not be a straight send up of the politician but will aim to tell all sides and show a three dimensional character.
Rob Ford, who's admitted to smoking crack cocaine, has put his reelection campaign on hold for now as he attends rehab for substance abuse. He's expected to return to public life in early July.
 
 
Hand written John Lennon lyrics on sale at Christie's pop culture auction in London
 
If you're interested in getting your hands on a piece of celebrity memorabilia, and you have a bit of cash to spare, then you should look to London where Christies is holding a pop culture exhibition.
Nicolette Tomkinson is the Director of the auction house:
"..we have a whole range of items from things as recently as Oasis, some really iconic pieces from the Beatles, lots of costume, we have dresses from Grace Kelly, from Madonna, from Julia Roberts, so a whole range of different stars and film icons."
Some of the key pieces on sale are a page of hand-written song lyrics by John Lennon. The words to 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite' are expected to go for a high estimate of 150,000 pounds (255,000 dollars US).
An Oasis drum kit is expected to go for 15,000 and a dress made for Grace Kelly has a 50,000 pound estimate.
 
 
Chinese actress Huang Yi posts domestic violence evidence on Weibo
 
Chinese actress Huang Yi has taken to social media to show people injuries allegedly caused by her husband Huang Yiqing.
After filing for divorce the 36-year-old actress has turned to Weibo posting photos of her with bruises, along with police and hospital records.
In one picture two visible dents can be seen in her forehead.
Huang's management said it was time for the "public to know the truth" and that the actress has been living under threats and intimidation during her marriage.　
Her husband later uploaded a video of the couple bickering at home after what appeared to be a violent fight.　The actress can be seen crying and shouting on the phone, asking a friend to come over because her husband had struck her.
 
 
That’s it for this edition of the Beijing Hour.
A quick recap of headlines before we go.
Business dealings have dominated the agenda as part of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's time in the UK.
A major conference has been held in Washington about how to protect the world's oceans.
The latest round of Iranian nuclear talks are set to head into their 2nd day today in Vienna.
In Business... CNOOC and BP have inked a new deal connected to liquefied natural gas.
On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers, this is Paul James in Beijing hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together.