The Beijing Hour
Morning Edition
Shane Bigham with you on this Wednesday, April 09th, 2014.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this morning...
The presidents of China and Israel have met in Beijing, talking about cooperation on various fronts and the state of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks...
We have a preview of the Bo'ao forum looking at a wide range of issues related to Asian development...
and signals that could have been from the black box beacons of missing flight MH370 have not been detected since the weekend...
In Business...a deal between Nokia and Microsoft gets approval from Chinese authorities..
In sports...Atletico Madrid and Barca get ready to square off once again...
In entertainment...The Hollywood blockbuster "Noah" has been banned in Malaysia and Indonesia...
But first... lets get a check on the weather...
Weather
Beijing will be cloudy today, but windy coming with a high of 28 degree Celsius.
Overnight temperatures should drop down to around 11.
Shanghai will be sunny during the daytime with a high of 23.
Overnight, it will be cloudy with a low of 12.
In Chongqing, it will be overcast with a high of 24.
Overnight lows are expected to be around 18.
Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia.
Islamabad will be sunny with a high of 28.
Kabul will be sunny with a high of 19.
Over to North America.
New York will be sunny today with a high of 14 degrees.
Washington will be sunny with a high of 17 degrees.
Honolulu, sunny, 27.
Toronto, Canada, will see some sunshine with a high of 9 degrees.
Finally, on to South America,
Buenos Aires will be sunny with a high of 23.
And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with a high of 32 degrees Celsius.
Top News
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his counterpart Israel's Peres
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres here in Beijing.
Xi Jinping says he feels the current Middle East peace talks are at a critical juncture, calling for tangible progress in Israel-Palestine peace talks at an early date.
"At present, the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are at a crucial phase. China hopes Israel can come to a resolution as soon as possible in terms of maintaining Israel's long-term and fundamental interests, and cooperate with the Palestinians and the broader international community to promote the peace talks to achieve substantive developments".
Xi Jinping also notes China is willing to continue high-level exchanges with Israel and to set up an inter-governmental mechanism of economic and technological cooperation as soon as possible.
He calls on both sides to enhance cooperation in such areas as agriculture, environmental protection, education, medical treatment and innovation.
For his part, Peres says Israel hopes China will continue playing an important role in the peace talks.
He also takes time to laud the broader development taking place here in China.
"I consider myself a very lucky person because they (China) invited me in the Year of Horse. But China's horse is not the horse. It moves one place to another place, and it is really galloping from one level to another level. One may think the China's horse has wings to fly high."
Peres kicked off a three-day visit here to China on Tuesday.
This is his second visit to China since becoming Israeli president in 2007.
Peres Interacts with Chinese Netizen through Weibo
Israeli President Shimon Peres has published several photos from his ongoing three-day visit to China on Tuesday to his verified account on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog service in China.
After interacting with the public on his Facebook page in both English and Hebrew, the Israeli president then began responding in Chinese as well.
According to Israel Hayom, a national daily newspaper, the president's personal weibo page will serve as an additional tool to improve Israel-China relations.
It will also focus on Israeli achievements in the fields of science and technology.
The president registered the account early last month and published the first post on Sunday.
Several state leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, also have Weibo accounts to interact with Chinese netizens.
Preview of Boao Forum for Asia 2014
Anchor
This year's Bo'ao Forum for Asia is underway in South China's coastal province of Hainan, with government and business leaders from different parts of the world gathering to discuss a wide-range of issues connected to Asian development.
CRI's Zhang Wan has more from Bo'ao.
Reporter
The Boao Forum for the Asia Annual Conference 2014 is held from Tuesday to Friday, with the theme "Asia's New Future: Identifying New Growth Drivers".
The opening ceremony is scheduled to be held on Thursday, when Chinese Primer Li Keqiang will be attendance to make a keynote speech.
Nine leaders from other countries will also attend this year's Boao Forum, including Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott; Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov, and South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hongwon.
The Boao Forum for Asia was launched in 2001 by 28 Asian nations as a platform for high-level leaders from government, business and academia to discuss pressing global and regional issues. Wu Jun, Executive Director of Boao Forum for Asia, says the mission of the Boao Forum is to strengthen cooperation among countries in Asia.
"What's special for Asia is its diversity. So how do we promote countries in Asia to achieve an agreement on sustainable development and strengthen cooperation among these countries with different cultural backgrounds, political systems and economic modes? Finding that direction for social development among Asian nations is the mission of the Boao Forum for Asia."
This year's conference will include 60 panel discussions, with a focus on reform, innovation and sustainable development. Discussions on reform will include topics such as global financial reform, reshaping the energy landscape, reform in some of the main economic bodies, reviving the competitiveness of emerging markets, the future of central banks, deregulation and the opportunities for private enterprises.
Wu Jun says the annual conference has been growing rapidly over the years.
"The Boao Forum for Asia, from the beginning of its inauguration to four or five years ago, had only 20 to 30 sessions each year. However, during the four-day duration of this year's Boao Forum, we are having 68 sessions and events."
What's more, over a thousand journalists from about 190 media organizations have registered to cover this year's conference.
For CRI, I am Zhang Wan in Bo'ao.
Callin on the Australian PM's visit in China
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot is on a visit to China to attend the ongoing Boao forum.
He will also participate in activities marking Australian Week in China.
During his first Chinese tour as prime minister, one of the important topics to be discussed with Chinese leaders is regarding negotiations for a free trade agreement with China.
For more on that, CRI's Nathan Wakelin-king spoke earlier with Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
(callin with Brown)
Back anchor
That is Professor Kerry Brown from the University of Sydney, speaking with CRI's Nathan Wakelin-king.
ABC Presidentt: Australia-China have wide prospect for media cooperation
At a media roundtable meeting at the ongoing forum, Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Mark Scott, says his country and China have a wide prospect for media cooperation.
The roundtable meeting is co-organized by the CRI and the Bo'ao Forum for Asia.
Chinese, U.S. defense officials begin talks
Visiting US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has met with his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan in Beijing.
As part of their discussions, Chang has taken issue with recent comments made by Hagel when it comes to the establishment of the Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea.
"China's stance regarding East China Sea and South China sea is consistent. China has indisputable sovereignty over Diaoyu Islands and islands of the South China sea, as well as affiliated islands. China hopes relevant parties can help solve some issues regarding island sovereignty and marine demarcation through negotiations."
Hagel was quoted this week in a Japanese publication as saying the Chinese move to establish the Air Defense Identification Zone was unilateral and provocative.
Despite this disagreement, Hagel says they still hope to estabilish a better working relationship between the Chinese and US militaries.
"Exchanges like this at every level of command are critical. They are critical for building mutual understanding and also respect. Our vision is a future where our militaries can work closely together on a range of challenges, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief missions."
This is Hagel's first visit to China as Defense Secretary.
He is on a four-day tour, which has taken him to China's first aircraft carrier.
Australian ship fails to detect further signals
Anchor
An Australian ship which picked up possible pings from the black box recorders of the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner has been unable to detect any further signals.
The multinational search for the missing plane has been ongoing for a month, and continues today.
CRI's Li Jing has more.
Reporter
Equipment on board the Australian vessel Ocean Shield has picked up no trace of the signal since the weekend, when the frequency was initially detected.
Time is running out to find the plane's black boxes as their locator beacons have a battery life of about a month.
Angus Houston, the head of the multinational search team, says it is critical to find the sound again before using a submersible to search for wreckage.
"It is a large area for a small submersible that has a very narrow field of search and of course it's literally crawling along the bottom of the ocean. So it's going to take a long, long time. That's why it's so important to try and get another transmission."
Over the weekend, the Australian vessel using a towed ping locator detected signals twice, with the first one lasting for more than two hours.
Houston says the signals are credible.
Earlier reports said that signal detected by the vessel is at a frequency of about 33 kHz, which is different from the standard level of 37.5.
Houston says the difference is within a reasonable level as the transmission level can change along with the change in pressure on the ocean floor.
Four Chinese naval vessels have been searching the zone where that signal was picked up.
Meanwhile, the search for any trace of the plane on the ocean's surface continued on Tuesday.
An Australian surveillance aircraft spotted some new objects and images have been sent for further analysis.
Up to 14 planes and 14 ships joined Tuesday's search.
Australian Defense Minister David Johnston says intense search will continue in the following days.
"I want to confirm that we have at least several days of intense action ahead of us. The weather out there today is reasonable and so you can be assured that we are throwing everything at this difficult, complex task in at least these next several days whilst we believe the two pingers involved are still active."
Locating the black boxes quickly is critical.
Once their locator beacons blink off, locating the black boxes in deep water will be an immensely difficult, if not impossible task.
For CRI, I'm Li Jing.
Iran nuclear talks restart
Iran and six world powers have started a new round of negotiations aimed at settling the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program by late July.
Chief negotiators from Iran and six countries, including U.S. and China, began a two-day meeting at the U.N. complex in Vienna.
Both sides say they want to start drafting a comprehensive agreement in May, some two months before the July deadline for finalizing the accord.
However, the scope of Iran's uranium enrichment program remains the toughest issue.
Iran argues it needs robust enrichment capacities to make low-enriched reactor fuel for its energy needs.
Countries including the U.S. want significant cuts to limit any potential for turning the program into one that can enrich material for nuclear arms.
China, as a member of the 5+1 group, says it is working to help strike a final deal.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei:
"China hope parties concerned can deal with individual concerns and find more common views as well as promote the negotiations to make progress. China will continue playing a positive and constructive role in the talks."
An interim agreement which requires Iran curbing some nuclear activities in return for limited sanctions relief is set to expire in a few weeks.
The negotiations can be extended by another half-year if both sides agree to do so.
US threatens Russia with tougher sanctions
The US is accusing Russia of stirring the unrest in Ukraine, and is threatening further sanctions against Moscow if certain activities do not stop.
US Secretary of State John Kerry delivered the warning after pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine vowed to vote on splitting from the country.
Kerry says Russian Special Forces and agents have been the catalyst behind the unrest.
"It is clear that the United States and our closest partners are united in this effort, despite the costs, and willing to put in effect tough new sanctions on those orchestrating this action, and on key sectors of the Russian economy - in energy, banking, mining. They are all on the table."
Earlier, Russia's foreign ministry accused the U.S. of shifting the blame on Russia, saying the Ukraine government is responsible for the unrest.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says a new draft constitution should be presented to these largely Russian-speaking regions.
"We are only hearing from either Mr Yatsenyuk or Mr Turchynov that there is not going to be any federalization, that they are going to give the regions some sort of extra powers, but, again, this is an arrogant approach. If you are truly ready to give special authority to the regions, then invite them, sit down with them and listen to what they ask for, and only then begin negotiations."
Russia has demanded that Ukraine change its constitution to turn the country into a federation.
Earlier, Ukrainian police cleared pro-Russian protesters from a regional administration building in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.
But protesters continue to occupy government buildings in the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk, calling for a referendum on the status of their regions.
Biz Reports
U.S. stocks closed in green territory after seesaw trading on Tuesday.
Tech shares seemed to stabalize, reversing a three-day losing streak.
The advance follows the S&P's biggest three-day retreat since late January and the Nasdaq's steepest three-day drop since November 2011.
The Dow Jones rose slightly, the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq added more than three quarters of a percent.
European shares fell for a second day on Tuesday as investors sold out some of the year's top performing regional indexes and stocks on fears that earnings season will prove sobering.
London's FTSE 100 lost half a percent.
And both French CAC 40 and Germany's DAX dropped some 0.2 percent.
Call-in with Ben on Nokia-Microsoft tie-up
Anchor
Nokia has received approval from Chinese authorities to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft Corp, adding there has been no request for it to change its patent practices.
Nokia agreed in September to sell the business to Microsoft in a 5.4 billion euro deal.
Nokia and Microsoft had hoped to close the transaction by the first quarter this year but Nokia last month pushed back the expected date to April due to ongoing reviews by antitrust regulators in Asia.
Nokia says that it still expects the Microsoft deal to close this month.
The deal has already got approval from the EU and the US.
As a phone maker, Nokia has paid rivals for the use of their technology licenses as well as charging for its own.
Google and Samsung had asked Chinese regulators to ensure that the deal with Microsoft would not lead to higher licensing fees.
But Nokia says that it has not been accused of unfair practices regarding its patents.
For more on this, we are now joined by Ben Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
Questions
1. Why has the deal taken so long to get the green light, and are there any other hurdles ahead?
2. What does the deal would mean for Microsoft, Nokia, and those companies' competitors?
3. What impact will this deal have on the Chinese smartphone market?
Back Anchor: That was Ben Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.
IMF predicts global recovery would strengthen this year
The International Monetary Fund predicts the global recovery will strengthen this year as output in richer nations picks up, but it warns of rising risks in emerging economies.
It has revised global output growth downward by 0.1 percentage points to 3.6 and 3.9 percent during the two years in its bi-annual projection report.
Economic activity in the euro zone should pick up slightly as countries slow the pace of fiscal austerity, even though the currency bloc continues to suffer from financial fragmentation and weak credit supply and demand.
IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard.
"One reason to worry about the Eurozone is deflation, or low inflation. As you know, our baseline is positive, but with low inflation far below 2 percent. We think there is also a risk of deflation, negative inflation, and we think if this were to happen this will make the adjustment both at the euro level and even more so for the countries in the (inaudible) very difficult. "
At the same time, Blanchard predicted the British economy would be the fastest-growing in the G7 this year.
But for all of its pace since early last year, Britain's economy is only expected to get back to its pre-crisis size in the second quarter of this year, significantly lagging other economies such as the United States and Germany.
The IMF has also cut its growth forecast for Russia warning of downside risks after Moscow's takeover of Crimea.
The Washington-based IMF says better policies are needed to raise the world's productive capacity and avoid a prolonged period of sluggish growth.
More Chinese small firms to enjoy tax breaks
Authorities say more small businesses in China will enjoy tax breaks as part of the government's efforts to promote economic growth and creates jobs.
This follows a Cabinet announcement last week to extend tax breaks for small and micro firms by one year.
The decision means any company with annual taxable income under 100-thousand yuan, or about 16-thousand U.S. dollars, will have its business income tax halved starting from this year till the end of 2016.
Previously companies with annual taxable income under 60-thousand yuan were allowed to have its business income tax halved during 2012 to 2015.
Jack Ma to acquire 20 pct of Wasu Media
Founder of China's e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba, Jack Ma, and a group of partners will pay 6.5 billion yuan, or about 1 billion U.S. dollars, for a 20 percent stake in Wasu Media Holding.
Alibaba and Wasu Digital TV Media Group, dominant shareholders of the Wasu Media Holding company, have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, according to a statement delivered to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Capital raised will be used to develop original content and expand Wasu's Internet TV terminals.
China's leading Internet companies, including Alibaba's rivals Tencent and Baidu, have started acquiring mobile application developers and online video platforms to access opportunities through smartphones, tablets and Internet TV screens.
Wasu Media primarily engages in the new media and cable television business in China. It was listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2012.
According to the China Internet Network Information Center, China has about 500 million mobile Internet users, some 80 percent of all web users, as of the end of last year.
EU files case against Russia over measures on pig imports: WTO
The EU has notified the World Trade Organization of a request for consultations with Russia, over Russian measures on the imports of live pigs, their genetic materials, and products from the EU.
The measures, which included import bans or restrictions, were imposed in late January this year following the detection of two cases of African Swine Fever in wild boar found in Lithuania and Poland.
The 28-nation bloc also alleged that it and its member states have suffered discriminatory treatment from Russia, which has not banned similar imports from Ukraine and Belarus despite the disease also being detected in those countries.
This is the third case filed against Russia since it acceded to the WTO in 2012.
The first two cases were related to the recycling fee on motor vehicles, having been filed respectively by the EU and Japan last year.
A response to the request has to be given within 10 days with consultations within a maximum of 30 days after the date of the receipt of the request.
The maximum period of consultations is 60 days after the reception of the request, unless both parties agree otherwise.
If consultations fail to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.
Japan's Feb. current account returns black for 1st time in 5 months
The Japanese government is reporting its current account balance for February has returned to a surplus for the first time in five month, standing at about 6 billion U.S. dollars.
However, among key components, the balance of trade goods remains in the red.
The surplus in the primary account, which reflects how much Japan earns from its foreign investments, is up 3.6 percent.
This marks the third consecutive month of gains.
The Japanese yen has also depreciated against the U.S. dollar by 9.6 percent year on year.
The yen is down 12-percent against the euro so far this year.
A weaker yen helps Japanese exporters by making Japanese products cheaper overseas.
Japan's central bank maintains monetary loosing policy
The Bank of Japan has decided to maintain its current ultra-loose monetary policy in a move to further deal with the country's prolonged deflation.
At the same time, the Japanese central bank is also maintaining its assessment of the domestic economy, saying it expects financials to continue recovering moderately.
The BOJ Policy Board has also decided to continue conducting market operations to increase the country's monetary base at an annual pace between 60 and 70 trillion yen.
Headline News
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his counterpart Israel's Peres
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres here in Beijing.
President Xi says he feels the current Middle East peace talks are at a critical juncture, and is calling for tangible progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at an early date.
He also stated that China is willing to continue high-level exchanges with Israel and to set up an inter-governmental mechanism of economic and technological cooperation, mentioning sectors such as agriculture, environmental protection, and education.
For his part, Peres says Israel hopes China will continue playing an important role in the peace talks.
Peres kicked off a three-day visit here to China on Tuesday.
This is his second visit to China since becoming Israeli president in 2007.
Australian ship fails to detect further signals
The Australian ship that picked up possible signals that could be from the black box recorders of the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner has been unable to detect any further signals.
The signals were detected over the weekend but have not been heard since.
It's now been a full month since the plane disappeared with 239 passengers and crew.
14 planes and 14 ships participated in the search effort on Tuesday.
Officials say the search will continue for the next several days, if need be.
Iran nuclear talks restart
Iran and six world powers have started a new round of negotiations aimed at settling the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
Chief negotiators from Iran and the P5+1 group, made up of the 5-permanment members of the UN Security Council and Germany, began a two-day meeting at the U.N. complex in Vienna.
Both sides say they want to start drafting a comprehensive agreement in May, some two months before the July deadline for finalizing the accord.
But the scope of Iran's uranium enrichment program remains the toughest issue.
An interim agreement which requires Iran curbing some nuclear activities in return for limited sanctions relief is set to expire in a few weeks.
U.S. says Iran's selection of new UN envoy "not viable"
The United States says Iran's choice for its new UN ambassador is not 'viable.'
On Monday, the US Senate passed legislation denying entry into the US for the candidate, Hamid Aboutalebi.
The US is concerned about his alleged involvement in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
On November 4th, 1979 a militant group seized the US embassy in Iran, holding 52 Americans hostage for more than 400 days.
Congress is considering its own legislation regarding this issue.
The Iranian side says Aboutalebi is a qualified diplomat, and Tehran is following up on this issue through appropriate diplomatic channels.
Russia accuses NATO of cold war mentality over diplomatic restrictions
Russia is accusing NATO of holding on to an old "cold war" mentality in its handling of the current dispute over Ukraine.
The comments follow NATO's move to bar all but the most senior diplomats from NATO headquarters in Belgium.
Moscow says restrictions on its diplomats "confirm once again that the alliance is not capable of overcoming the 'cold war' mentality and prefers sanctions over dialogue.'
Ties between Russia and NATO have strained following a string of incidents in Ukraine which have led to that country's split.
Last week, NATO decided to suspend all practical cooperation with the Russian side, while Moscow slammed that decision as a "lose-lose proposition."
The Russians are also critical of NATO moves to beef up the alliance's presence in eastern Europe.
Newspaper Picks
SHANGHAI DAILY
Headline
New agency promises 2-hour solution to public complaints
Summary
The new Shanghai Construction Commission has promised to act first and ask questions later when it comes to resolving problems that cause distress to the public.
Problems such as open manholes, construction waste left on sidewalks, and unlicensed street stalls will be tackled within two hours of the commission receiving a call via its 12319 hotline.
BEIJING MORNING POST
Headline
Microblogs used for govt to hear public
Summary
A report says government departments and officials are using their microblog accounts as channels to hear the public and provide services.
The report suggests the number of verified accounts increased by 46 percent in 2013.
The report has also highlighted continuing disparities among regions and government departments in terms of microblog use.
SOUTH CHINA METROPOLITAN DAILY
Headline
Microsoft move leaves computer users vulnerable
Summary
More than 200 million Windows XP users here in China are reportedly facing the risk of system crashes, computer viruses and Internet fraud after Microsoft stopped providing regular anti-malware updates for its 13-year-old product.
Microsoft is offering an upgrade to its latest Windows 8 system for 288 yuan or 47 US dollars, about a third of the regular price.
CHINA DAILY
Headline
First 24-hr Beijing bookstore opens
Summary
The Sanlian Taofen Bookstore, owned by China Publishing Group Corp., has announced the 10-day trial of the 24-hour bookstore from Tuesday until April 18, and if the trial goes smoothly the store may never close again.
Established in 1996, the bookstore is in the Dongcheng District of downtown Beijing.
BEIJING NEWS
Headline
Man to stand trial in rumor fabrication
Summary
A man accused of manufacturing and posting rumors online will stand trial in a Beijing court on Friday.
Qin Zhihui, better known by his online name, Qin Huohuo, was arrested last year on suspicion of spreading rumors.
Qin also made micro-blog posts that allegedly damaged others' reputations.
Prosecutors have reportedly accused Qin of slander and causing disturbances.
BEIJING TIMES
Headline
Hong Kong shark fin imports down by third
Summary
The World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong has announced that the volume of shark fin products imported into Hong Kong in 2013 dropped by over 34 percent.
A senior shark program officer says the Hong Kong government has pledged to adopt sustainability-conscious food consumption during official entertainment functions, which includes no consumption of shark fin.
GLOBALTIMES
Headline
Survey launched to raise 'ocean awareness'
Summary
A national newspaper has launched a survey asking its readers about oceans, in a bid to raise public awareness of the nation's territorial waters.
The survey, consisting of 50 questions, covers a variety of topics including China's territorial islands, seawater pollution, oceanic resources, and ocean related laws and conventions.
The newspaper's target readership are high-school, college and university students, as well as people in their 20's.
Special Reports
National Museum of China to show diverse cultures of the world
Anchor
An exhibition of works by Pablo Picasso is now on display at the National Musuem of China in Beijing, marking the 41st anniversary of the passing of the famed Spanish painter.
CRI's Xiong Siqi stopped by to check it out.
Reporter
Acquired by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) in 1991, Picasso's Vollard Suite is considered by many historians to be a masterpiece of twentieth century engravings.
The series, produced by Pablo Ruiz Picasso between 1930 and 1937, reflect the unique, solitary and complex personality of this great Spanish artist.
"Picasso. Suite Vollard," is receiving a warm welcome in China.
"I am from Beijing and often come here with my friends. I'm very happy to see this exhibition. Picasso is one of my favorite artists around the world. I have been to Spain, but I didn't have a chance to see his works then. I never imagined I could see his works here."
"The exhibition had a terrific impact on me. I'm not an art expert, so I can't understand it in a professional way. I just want to know the background knowledge and the story behind the works."
Huang Chen is the head of the museum's public education department. He says such international exhibitions are always popular among the visitors.
"These kinds of exhibitions are highly welcomed here. We can see people are fond of these projects very much from the number of visitors and their reactions. Sometimes, people have to wait outside the entrance, since the space is limited. We have to control the number of people in the exhibition hall within 1-thousand to better protect the exhibits."
The exhibition, "Picasso. Suite Vollard," is jointly organized by the National Museum of China, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Spanish Embassy in China.
It is also one of the activities marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain.
Exhibition curator Alicia Gómez says she believes the exhibition can help the Chinese people to know more about Spanish art, culture and history.
"Each piece of work in the exhibition is unique. The Minotaur is one of Picasso's later works in Suite Vollard. At that time, Picasso was nearly blind; the vibrant and powerful Minotaur is used by Picasso as a kind of alter ego, which allowed him to show his passion and anxiety in life, while remaining hidden. I think this kind of cultural exchange is very necessary and important; it brings people from two countries closer. "
For CRI, this is Xiong Siqi.
Sports
Atletico Madrid get ready to face Barcelona once more
In football,
We are looking at two important games today.
In Madrid.
Atletico Madrid meets Barcelona for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
It will be the fifth meeting between the two sides this season.
The previous four games have yet to produce a winner with two scoreless draws and two 1-all draws.
Atletico Madrid is struggline right now with injuries to several key players.
Top-scorer Diego Costa suffered a thigh injury in the first-leg at Camp Nou and played only 30 minutes.
It's still not known if he will play in the second-leg matchup.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone concedes that Diego Costa is as important as Messi in Barcelona.
On the other hand, in a news conference held by Barcelona, coach Tata Martino says Leo Messi holds the key to his side qualifying for the semi-finals.
Over in Munich.
Bayern Munich will compete with the visiting Manchester United.
The two sides are level at 1-1 following the first leg at Old Trafford.
At Tuesday's news conference, United manager David Moyes told the assembled media he was looking forward to the clash at the Allianz Arena.
"It's a massive game, one which all the players are looking forward to, and we'll do everything we can to reach the semi-final."
Bayern is a five-time European champion. The team has been in great form for much of this season.
But they have failed to win in the three games played since clinching the German Bundesliga title at the end of March.
Andy Murray wants new coach in place before French Open
Ahead of the Queen's Club Championships in June, reigning champion Andy Murray has paraded his trophy at the famous west London venue.
Murray parted ways with former mentor Ivan Lendl in March and says he wishes to secure a replacement ahead of the French Open, which begins on May 25th.
But finding the right individual is not easy.
"I'm sure when a football team are trying to find the perfect manager, the managers don't always want to do it. It's not always as simple as just picking the first person that comes to your head."
Murray has had a tough start to the 2014 tennis season.
NBA lineup
It's game day for in the NBA.
Six games this morning.
Detroit against Atlanta.
Brooklyn clashes with Miami.
San Antonio faces Minnesota.
Dallas takes on Utah.
Oklahoma City plays Sacramento.
And finally, Huston will compete with the LA Lakers.
More than 2,000 workers at Olympic Park are on strike
More than 2,000 construction workers have continued their strike at Rio's 2016 Olympic Park.
They striking workers are demanding higher pay and health care benefits.
The strike has been on since last Thursday.
At one point, a scuffle broke out between striking workers and guards, but no injuries have been reported.
The construction consortium responsible for the park has vowed the strike will not affect delivery dates.
The park is slated for delivery in the first half of next year.
The Olympic Park is one of the focal points of Rio's Olympic Games and will host judo, basketball, tennis, handball and cycling events at a host of purpose-built facilities.
The international broadcast centre and the main media base will also be located in the park, which is being built on the site of Rio's former Formula One track.
Rio won the right to host the 2016 summer Olympics in 2009 and will become the first South American city to host the world's biggest multi-sport event.
Brazil will also host soccer's World Cup this June and July.
Sri Lanka's cricket team welcomed by fans in Colombo
The newly crowned World Twenty20 winning Sri Lankan cricket team has received a roaring welcome upon its arrival in Colombo on Tuesday.
The team then attended a news conference at the VIP Lounge at the Airport in the capital.
At the conference, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said that Sri Lanka Cricket had prohibited both Mahela Jayawardene and himself from speaking to the media during the World Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh.
Before leaving for Bangladesh, Sangakkara revealed in an interview with a local newspaper that it would be his final World Twenty20.
He says that they were asked to refrain from speaking to media because the cricket board was annoyed by the players' decisions to announce their retirements.
Sangakkara and Jayawardene retired from T20 internationals at the end of the tournament.
When asked how long they would continue in the other two formats of the game, Sangakkara said he cannot make a prediction for the future, but vowed that they would continue to fight for team and country.
After the news conference, the team was taken on an open bus parade, where they were greeted by thousands of fans.
Rachid Elmorabity of Morocco lead on the third stage of Marathon des Sables
Rachid Elmorabity of Morocco has taken a lead at the third stage of the Marathon des Sables.
Elmorabity set the pace in the final section of the 38km stage to win by 50 seconds on Tuesday.
He finished in two hours, 58 minutes, and 47 seconds, ahead of compatriots Abdelkader Elmouaziz, and the reigning champion Mohamad Ahansal.
But Ahansal has led the race at all three intermediate checkpoints and has been attempting to break his opposition by setting a fast pace.
At the first checkpoint, Elmorabity was nearly four minutes behind Ahansal.
At the third checkpoint, he was only eight seconds behind, before overtaking Ahansal.
At the end of the stage Elmorabity had extended his overall lead to 10 minutes, 22 seconds.
Laurence Klein of France still leads the women's category with Nikki Kimball of the United States in second.
Stage four begins today. It is the 76km extended stage that the leading runners will complete in a day but not the slower runners.
They will run all day and into the night, which means they will complete the running in the early hours of the morning or even after sunrise.
Entertainment
Outpouring of condolences for Geldof family following death of Peaches
A day after the sudden and unexplained death of Peaches Geldof at the age of 25, sympathy has been pouring out from all walks of life.
The daughter of musician and campaigner Bob Geldof was found dead at her home in Kent, England, on Monday.
Fifi Geldof posted the message on Instagram: "My beautiful baby sister… Gone but never forgotten. I love you Peaches x."
Elsewhere Irish President Michael D Higgins, who was due to meet with Bob Geldof during his visit to the UK, gave his condolences. As did Bjorn and Anni-Frid of the band Abba who were in London marking 40 years since they first won the Eurovision song contest.
They echoed the thoughts of many:
Bjorn Ulvaeus: "Yes, it's..."
Anni-Frid Lyngstad: "It's very sad."
Bjorn Ulvaeus: "Yes, it's very sad. We don't know any more than what we heard..."
Anni-Frid Lyngstad: "...what we heard on the news. But this is terrible news for any parent."
Bjorn Ulvaeus: "We have children and our thoughts go out to him and I think we can understand completely. So terrible."
I could go on as the outpouring has been huge, everyone in the world of fashion, music, television and so on, who ever met her have all been speaking of their shock as well as fond memories ....
Kent county council have said a post mortem will be carried out later on Wednesday, though it may take some time before the results are released.
Chinese 'chicken cup' makes record 36 million dollars US at auction
A Chinese porcelain cup dating back to the Ming Dynasty has reached a record breaking 36 million US dollars at an auction in Hong Kong.
The 500-year-old piece which is just eight centimeters – or 3.1 inches - in diameter, was snapped up by Liu Yiqian, a collector from Shanghai.
With an estimated fortune of around 900 million US dollars he is listed as China's 200th richest person.
The cup, which is decorated with chickens, was made during the reign of the Chenghua Emperor who ruled from 1465 to 1487.
According to Sotheby's auction house only 17 such cups exist with three in private hands and the rest in museums.
This cup is likely to be displayed in Liu's Long Museum in Shanghai, which he opened with his wife two years ago.
Noah banned in Indonesia and Malaysia
(Noah)
Indonesia and Malaysia have become the latest Muslim nations to ban the Russell Crowe Biblical epic Noah, on the grounds that it is a negative depiction of the prophet.
Depictions of any prophet are shunned by Islamic law to avoid worship of a person rather than God.
A representative of the Malaysian film censorship board said the move was made to "protect the sensitivity and harmony in Malaysia's multicultural and multi-religious community."
The film has already been banned in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.
De Niro and Rosenthal talk ahead of 12th Tribeca Film Festival
Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal have been talking ahead of the 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival.
The pair founded the festival in 2002 in response to the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, as a way to help revitalize Lower Manhattan.
Now in 2014 the new One World Trade Center is standing proudly where the former towers were as the tallest building on the New York skyline.
De Niro says he's happy that the festival continues even after lower Manhattan recovered from the 9/11 attacks.
"We had no idea it would be still going when we started it and we're very happy about that and I hope that it becomes a part of New York tradition forever and we'll always improve and expand in certain ways and get richer and richer every year."
The Tribeca Film Festival runs April 16 through April 27.
That’s it for this edition of the Beijing Hour.
A quick recap of headlines before we go.
The presidents of China and Israel have met in Beijing, talking about cooperation on various fronts and the state of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks...
we have a preview of the Bo'ao forum looking at a wide range of issues related to Asian development...
and signals that could have been from the black box beacons of missing flight MH370 have not been detected since the weekend...
In Business...a deal between Nokia and Microsoft gets approval from Chinese authorities..
On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers, this is Shane Bigham in Beijing hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together. |