The Beijing Hour
Evening Edition
Marc Griffith with you this Friday, May 13, 2014.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on the programme this evening...
China urges the U.S. to be cautious on the South China Sea issue
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been sentenced to six years in prison for bribery.
Pro-Russian activists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have declared independence, amid severe criticism from Kiev and Western countries.
In Business, China releases a series of lower-than-expected figures for the past few months, showing that the country's industrial added value expanded 8.7 percent this year, less than forecasts predicted.
In sport, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 4-zero forcing a seventh game in the Eastern Conference ice hockey semi finals.
And in entertainment, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt make a surprise visit to the world premiere of HBO film "The Normal Heart".
Weather
Beijing will be clear tonight with a low of 16 degrees Celsius. Cloudy tomorrow with a high of 24 degrees.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be rainy tonight, with a low of 19, light rain tomorrow, with a high of 23.
Chongqing will be overcast tonight, 19 degrees the low, overcast tomorrow with a high of 24.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, thundershowers with a high of 27.
Kabul, sunny, 21.
Over in Australia
Sydney, sunny, high of 22.
Canberra, sunny, 19
Brisbane, sunny, 25.
And finally, Perth will be overcast with a high of 21.
Top News
China urges U.S. to be cautious on South China Sea
China is urging the United States to behave cautiously when it comes to the South China Sea and refrain from words and deeds that may encourage provocative actions.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has made this clear to his US counterpart John Kerry in a phone conversation.
For his part, Kerry said the US does not take sides in territorial disputes and it is Washington's hope that relevant parties properly handle the disputes to maintain regional peace and stability.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has urged the US to reflect on its acts on issues concerning the South China Sea.
She said Washington's "mistaken comments" have encouraged dangerous and provocative actions in the region.
Israel ex-PM Olmert jailed for six years for bribery
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been sentenced to six years in prison for bribery.
A Tel Aviv court also fined him 1m shekels or around 290 thousand US dollars.
Olmert's spokesman said he would appeal to the Supreme Court and ask to be freed on bail until it had ruled.
The 68-year-old was convicted in March over a real estate deal that took place while he served as mayor of Jerusalem.
He would be the first former head of government in Israel to be jailed.
Russia backs choice of Ukraine's Donetsk, Lugansk regions
ANCHOR:
Pro-Russian activists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have declared independence, amid continuous rejection and severe criticism from Kiev and Western countries.
This follows self-declared referendums in the two regions on Sunday.
Xie Zhao has more.
Report:
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic has celebrated their newly claimed independence with a spectacle of fireworks outside the Donetsk administration building.
Denis Pushilin, co-chair of the Donetsk People's Republic
"Basing itself on the will of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and seeking the restoration of historic justice we ask the Russian Federation to consider the merger of the Donetsk People's Republic within the Russian Federation."
He has reiterated his claim that Donetsk is now a sovereign state and has called on Russia to merge with the Donetsk region.
Moscow says it will respect the choice of the people in the region, and is calling for political dialogue.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Russia's wish is that the implementation of the referendum takes place through dialogue and non-violence, between the representatives of Kiev, Donetsk, and Lugansk, in order to avoid another violent clash. Moscow is happy to push forward the dialogue, including through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe."
Sergei Lavrov has also blamed the United States and Ukraine for hampering the release of proposals on solving the Ukrainian crisis drafted by the OSCE.
In the meantime, China has called for a solution to the Ukrainian crisis under a framework of law and order.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
"China has always followed the policy of no interference in the internal affairs of others. China respects Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. China advocates the resolution of Ukraine's issues should involve fully weighing and considering the concerns and interests of all the parties involved and that relevant differences should be addressed under a framework of law and order."
Sunday's referendums, however, have drawn criticism from Kiev and the West, which rejected the self-rule votes as illegal.
The United States and its European allies say that they do not recognize the referendums held in Donetsk and Lugansk in favor of independence.
White House spokesperson Jay Carney
"So, we do not recognize the results and you have seen the European Union and other leaders say the same. In addition, we're disappointed that the Russian government did not use its influence to forestall these referendums according to President Putin's call on May 7 for them to be postponed."
Following the Foreign Affairs Council meeting Monday, the European Union says that referendums in eastern Ukraine are "illegitimate."
Kiev has also rejected the referendums, saying the recent events are a Russian plan aimed at destabilizing the situation in his country.
For CRI, This is Xie Zhao.
UN chief calls for ceasefire in South Sudan
UN chief Ban Ki-moon is calling for an immediate end to the fighting in South Sudan.
The secretary-general made the appeal while briefing the UN Security Council on the current situation in South Sudan.
"This is an entirely man made calamity and it needs the engagement of all actors to change course. I see five priorities. First, the fighting must end immediately. People need to be able to go back to their land to plant and tend their crops in peace."
Heavy fighting has been taking place around the city of Bentiu, despite the signing of a ceasefire just hours earlier.
The South Sudanese government and rebel forces are accusing one-another of instigating the fighting.
The government also says the elections scheduled for next year are going to be postponed for two or three years in order to bring about reconciliation first.
The Chinese government has also made a comment on the situation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.
"We hope the two sides in South Sudan implement the ceasefire agreement and create favorable conditions for a comprehensive and proper solution to the conflict. China will continue to work with the regional bloc IGAD and related parties to help restore stability in South Sudan. "
South Sudan was plunged into violence after President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of trying to oust him in a coup.
Thousands have been killed, and over a million have been displaced since the fighting broke out five months ago.
Boko Haram releases new video on abducted schoolgirls
Islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram has released a new video showing a group of abducted school girls in Nigeria.
It is the first video evidence of the girls since around 300 of them were kidnapped in northeast Nigeria a month ago.
The video shows about 130 of the girls wearing hijabs and reciting prayers in Arabic.
An armed man is also visible in the video.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has issued a demand, calling on the Nigerian government to release the group's members currently being detained.
"I swear to almighty God you will not see them again until you release our people that you captured."
He says the offer only applies to the children who have not converted to Islam.
Nigeria's Interior Minister has already rejected the offer, saying it's unacceptable for a terrorist group to set conditions.
The Nigerian government says its considering all options to secure the release of the schoolgirls.
Mike Omeri is the Director General of the National Orientation Agency.
"All options are open, at the moment because all options are open, we are interacting with experts, military and intelligence experts from other parts of the world so these are parts of the options that are available to us and many more. If it is necessary that we use whatever kind of action to free our girls from the captivity that they are in now we will do it."
Nigeria's government has already accepted an offer of help from China, the United States and Britain.
French President Francois Hollande is also offering to hold a summit in Paris with Nigeria and its neighbors in a bid to deal with the Boko Haram abductions.
US deploys manned planes to find abducted Nigerian girls
The US has revealed it is flying manned surveillance missions over Nigeria to try to find more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
The US is also said to be sharing commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerian government.
It comes after militants released a video of about 130 girls, saying they could be swapped for jailed fighters.
However, Nigeria's interior minister has dismissed the offer, saying no exchange would take place.
India exit polls shows BJP takes lead
Exit polls are suggesting the main opposition BJP may have won a parliamentary majority in India.
The polling is indicating that the BJP and its political allies have taken anywhere from 249 to 289 seats in the lower house of parliament.
272-seats are needed to secure a majority in the 543 seat lower house.
The ruling Congress-led Alliance is believed to have only secured 110 to 115 seats.
India's election commission says the five-week long election has seen the highest voter turnout.
Akshay Rout is the director general of India's Election Commission.
"The national voter's turnout in this election for this Lok Sabha general election 2014 is 66.38 percent, which is the highest ever in the history of Indian national elections."
The previous record was 64 percent set in 1984 after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The official results of the elections are due on Friday.
Russian, Iranian presidents, UN chief to visit China for CICA summit
The leaders of Russia, Iran and the United Nations are due to visit China next week for an international conference.
The Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia is to be held in Shanghai next week.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will also pay their state visit to China.
And UN chief Ban Ki-moon is due to start his China visit on Sunday.
More Chinese cities tighten security amid terror threats
More Chinese cities have stepped up security and tightened armed patrols on the streets following a string of violent attacks.
Armed police in Guiyang, capital of the southwest Guizhou Province, have been asked to patrol the city 24 hours a day.
Meanwhile, fully-armed patrol teams are deployed at the city's railway station, bus station and airport.
Starting on Monday, Beijing police deployed 150 armed patrol vehicles to city streets.
China has seen a string of violent attacks since March, with two attacks at train stations in Kunming and Urumqi, which left 32 dead and more than 200 injured.
Resident Detained for Posting Rumors on Foreign Websites
A Beijing resident motivated by financial gain, has been detained for posting false information on a foreign website.
The police say he seriously harmed China's image.
Sixty two year old Xiang Nanfu published a number of false stories on the website "Boxun" from 2009 onwards under the username "Feixiang", which means "flying" in Chinese.
The Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau says the fabricated information posted by the suspect included the claim that the Chinese government harvested organs from living people and also buried people alive.
The police say Xiang's actions were instigated and paid for in U.S. dollars by a man surnamed Wei who was in charge of the website.
The police also say the false information seriously misled the public and Internet users and denigrated the image of the state.
Xiang was taken into custody on May 3. He is said to have confessed to his crimes and apologised.
The police investigation is continuing.
IPCC is due to issue its fifth assessment report
Anchor:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is set to release its fifth assessment report.
The report says that if the international community does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures will increase significantly.
Our reporter Alexander Acoutt has more.
Report:
It has taken more than 800 scientists from 70 countries to complete the assessment report in 6 years.
Zheng Guoguang, director of the China Meteorological Administration, takes us through the conclusions of the report.
"First, more observations have confirmed the fact of global warming. Second, causal relationship between human activities and global warming has been confirmed. Third, climate change has had a negative impact on ecosystems and human society. Fourth, global warming will be lasting. And fifth, future warming represents a risk to the economic development of humanity."
The report also says that if we don't reduce our greenhouse gas emmissions, global temperatures will probably rise by 4 degrees compared with what they were at the start of the industrial revolution.
Lin Erda, one of the Chinese researchers who put together the report, says they've found that temperature change has influenced multiple sectors, including water resources, agriculture and human health.
"Storm surges have created risks to people's livelihoods in small island nations. Inland flooding has also influenced big cities. Droughts and floods are posing threats to food security, drinking water and rural life."
Noting the threat of climate change, the Chinese government is moving to try to transform its energy consumption in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emmissions.
Zheng Guoguang from the Meteorological Administration says one of the biggest challenges here in China is convincing local governments to reduce their use of fossil fuels.
"First, we should strengthen risk management and improve the slowdown of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, we should take action to adjust our own lifestyles. Secondly, we need to change our assessment systems when it comes to large regional projects which may affect the climate. Third, we need to tackle greenhouse gas emmissions at a national level."
All the experts we talked to also agreed that tackling climate change has to be a global initative.
For CRI, this is Alexander Acoutt.
Suspect killed in bus fire in SW China: authority
Local authorities have identified the arson suspect in a bus fire in southwest China's Sichuan province.
The government of Yibin city says 51-year-old Yu Yuehai was believed to have set fire to the bus, killing himself and injuring many others.
Yu used to be a middle school teacher. His motive for the arson is still under investigation.
Altogether 77 people have been hospitalized, including three who were seriously injured and nine in critical condition.
Biz Reports
Stocks
First off, let's have a quick look at the closing numbers in Asia.
Asian stock markets rose today after Wall Street hit record highs, with Japan's Nikkei leading the gains as the yen weakened.
The Nikkei Average climbed nearly 2 percent as a weak yen usually boosts the share prices of Japanese exporters.
Hong Kong's market also went up, helped by the gains in the property market.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent.
But here on the mainland, shares closed lower, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both dipping 0.1 percent, dragged down by lower-than-expected economic data.
Elsewhere in the region,
India's Sensex rose to a record high after exit polls suggested the business-friendly Bharatiya Janata Party is on course to win the general election.
South Korea's Kospi was up 1 percent.
Australia's ASX rose 0.7 percent.
And bourses were closed for holidays in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
China's April retail sales up 11.9 pct
On the Macro-economics front,
China has released a series of slower-than-expected figures for the past few months.
The National Bureau of Statistics says the country's industrial added value expanded 8.7 percent year on year in the first four months. Previous forecast was 8.9 percent.
China uses industrial added value to measure the business operations of designated large enterprises, whose annual main business activity turnover surpasses 20 million yuan, or some 3 million US dollars.
The value-added output of state-owned enterprises rose 4.8 percent in the period, while joint stock companies grew by 10 percent.
Meanwhile, Retail sales and fixed-asset investment spending also came in below forecasts.
Retail sales increased by just under 12% in April, and fixed-asset investments rose some 17% in the four months period.
China's 'shadow banking' sector valued at $5.4 trillion
And speaking of shadow banking,
A new report shows that China's "shadow banking" sector is now valued at 4.4 trillion US dollars.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report also warns of potential risks to the financial system.
According to the report, the shadow banking network is equivalent to nearly one fifth of the domestic banking sector's total assets.
But the figure is lower than an earlier estimate by ratings agency Moody's, which put shadow banking activities at 4.8 trillion US dollars in 2012, more than half of the country's GDP.
Central bank tells banks to quicken mortgage lending
China's central bank has reportedly asked commercial banks to speed up the granting of home loans and to set mortgage rates at reasonable levels.
Media reports say the People's Bank of China made the request at a meeting with commercial banks on Monday.
Home mortgage interest rates reached 6.7 percent in the first quarter, up 17 basis points from the fourth quarter of last year.
China's home prices rose at double-digit rates in most cities last year, but the market has shown signs of cooling since late 2013.
Tight mortgages are considered one of the reasons for the cooling of the property market this year.
Data released today shows that property investment slowed in April, while home sales fell on a year-on-year basis.
Q&A on China's new bank lending
Anchor:
Meanwhile, Bank lending here in China has weakened in April.
New data shows Chinese banks loaned 775-billion yuan last month, down from the 1 trillion loaned the previous month.
Meanwhile, the value of the Renminbi has dipped to its lowest level in some 8 months.
The central bank set its daily parity rate at 6.1636 on Tuesday.
The yuan has fallen about 3% since the start of this year.
For more on this, CRI's Paul James spoke earlier with Gao Shang, an analyst with GuanTong Futures.
…
Back Anchor:
Gao Shang, Analyst with GuanTong Futures.
China Mobile to Launch New 4G Tariff Polices to Attract Users
On the corporate front,
China Mobile is revising its 4G tariff policies to attract more users.
The leading telecom operator has suggested on its official Weibo account that, beginning Wednesday, the remaining data of its 4G users at the end of the month will not be zeroed out.
Leftover data from the current month will automatically be added to the amount of data provided to the user the following month.
It has been around six months since China Mobile launched its 4G service.
But by April this year it only had four million users, far below its target of 30 million by the end of the year.
More details on the policy will be released today.
Headline News
China urges U.S. to be cautious on South China Sea
China is urging the United States to behave cautiously when it comes to the South China Sea and refrain from words and deeds that may encourage provocative actions.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has made this clear to his US counterpart John Kerry in a phone conversation.
For his part, Kerry said the US does not take sides in territorial disputes and it is Washington's hope that relevant parties properly handle the disputes to maintain regional peace and stability.
Ukraine election will play 'crucial role': German FM
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Ukraine's presidential vote on May 25 will be "crucial" in bringing the country out of its crisis.
Steinmeier is in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, amid fresh attempts to find a diplomatic solution.
On Monday, pro-Russia activists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine declared a separate state after holding votes on self-rule on Sunday.
A separatist leader in Donetsk has called for the region to become part of Russia.
Kiev, the US and EU say the referendums were illegal, while Russia has called for the results of Sunday's vote to be implemented.
Israel ex-PM Olmert jailed for six years for bribery
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been sentenced to six years in prison for bribery.
A Tel Aviv court also fined him 1m shekels or around 290 thousand US dollars.
Olmert's spokesman said he would appeal to the Supreme Court and ask to be freed on bail until it had ruled.
The 68-year-old was convicted in March over a real estate deal that took place while he served as mayor of Jerusalem.
He would be the first former head of government in Israel to be jailed.
Jordanian ambassador to Libya freed
Jordan's kidnapped ambassador to Libya has been freed by his captors and is on his way home.
Jordan's foreign minister confirmed the news on state television.
Ambassador Fawaz al-Itan was kidnapped last month by gunmen who demanded an Islamist militant be released from a Jordanian jail in exchange for the diplomat's freedom.
There's no immediate indication whether that demand had been met.
Norwegian general is first woman to lead UN force
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed the first woman to command a United Nations peacekeeping force.
Maj. Gen. Kristin Lund from Norway will replace Chinese Maj. Gen. Liu Chao on Aug. 13 as commander of about 1,000 U.N. peacekeepers in Cyprus.
55-year-old Lund joined the Norwegian army in 1979.
She has served in Lebanon, the first Gulf War, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
Court Upholds Death Sentence for Businesswoman
An east China court says it has upheld the death sentence with a two-year reprieve for a businesswoman found guilty of financial fraud.
The Jiangsu Provincial Supreme People's Court dismissed Gu Chunfang's appeal for leniency, and upheld the first-instance verdict given by Suzhou Intermediate People's Court in October last year.
The 42-year-old businesswoman was charged with financial fraud involving 1.7 billion yuan, over 270 million U.S. dollars.
Newspaper Picks
China News Service
"China developing super-fast maglev"
China is developing a kind of "super maglev" transportation system with a vacuum tube design, which would enable a magnetic levitation train to travel up to 2,900 kilometers per hour.
Initiated by a research institute under Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the project uses the technique of running the train inside a vacuum tube and removing air resistance to enable it to travel at super high speeds.
The leader of the program, Deng Zigang, said the research team has already tested China's first megathermal superconducting maglev loop.
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Xinhua News Agency
"China's young migrant workers better educated: report"
A report from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that China's young migrant workers are better educated and more willing to spend money than their parents' generation.
A third of young migrant workers, who were born after 1980, hold senior high school diplomas or higher, 19.2 percentage points more than the older generation.
They spent an average of 939 yuan, around 150 dollars per month last year, 19.3 percent more than the older generation.
Young migrant workers prefer to work in bigger cities, with 54.9 percent seeking jobs in large or medium-sized cities, compared with 26 percent for the older generation.
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Live Science
A new study says playing games on tech devices won't make kids younger than age 3 any smarter.
But the research did find that toddlers who played non-educational games on smartphones, e-readers and tablets received lower scores in verbal tests, compared with toddlers who used touch screen devices for other purposes, such as watching educational shows or pressing buttons on the screen.
About 60 percent of the parents in the study said that they believed their kids did gain educational benefits by using a touch screen device.
But the researchers did not find that the kids' cognitive development benefitted from the use of the devices in any way.
Special Reports
Experts: City planners need to be far-sighted in city planning
Anchor: Over the weekend, Shenzhen, a city in south China's Guangdong province, experienced its heaviest rainfall since 2008. Large amounts of rainwater caused severe flooding in the city. Experts point out that better city planning is sorely needed in China's high-speed urbanization.
Li Dong has more details.
Reporter: The heavy rainfall flooded 20 key areas across the city on Sunday. Two-thousand cars were submerged in the streets and the operations of more than five-thousand buses were suspended. High-speed rail services linking Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the provincial capital, was halted.
A local resident who runs a business in one of the flooded areas says that the flooding is not a rare occurrence. Flooding has happened every year since she moved into the area.
"Each year, when there is big rainfall, water floods into my store. The drainage system is always stuck. It's happened five or six times since last year."
Despite the city's drainage infrastructure being worked on over the past 30 years, the city has time and again dealt with heavy flooding every time it experienced heavy rainfall.
When Shenzhen was first built as a modern city, the municipality's original design, including its drainage system, was based on a population capacity of one million. However, Shenzhen's population exceeded 10 million several years ago.
Pan Jiahua, director of the Institute of Urban and Environment Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says city planners were not forward thinking, and did not plan for how the city would develop in the future.
"Take Shenzhen as an example; we didn't realize the speed and scale of the city's development could be so fast. Plus, there was not much cooperation between planners responsible for different sections. This resulted in the fact that the designs of our cities now are still focused on the ground and surface rather than the infrastructure underground and long-term design. So, the current underground drainage system is wholly insufficient to sustain the city's fast development."
Pan Jiahua says the infrastructure design of some foreign cities can be used as reference for Chinese city planners. For example, in Paris, the drainage pipes are 50 meters under the ground, rather than close to the surface, the length of these underground pipes reached 2,300 kilometers in total, far longer than its metro line.
While in Munich, Germany, the 13 underground reservoirs can store a large amount of water if the rainfall is severe, and they release the water gradually into the city's drainage system, so the pipeline won't be suddenly overloaded.
Pan Jiahua emphasizes during China's urbanization process, the design of a city's infrastructure and service facility should be planned for long-term sustenance.
"This isn't the first time heavy rainfall has caused flooding in Shenzhen—or other cities. It shows that there are problems in the planning, design and management of our cities in the face of China's new phase of urbanization."
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that China's proportion of permanent urban residents stands at 53.7 percent. According to China's new urbanization plan, by 2020, China's ratio of permanent urban residents to total population will reach about 60 percent.
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
Sports
Total different wins for Miami Heat and Portland Blazers
In the NBA playoffs,
Miami Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-96 to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semi finals on Monday at the Barclays Centre.
LeBron James tied his playoff career high with 49 points to lead the Miami Heat to another important victory and got the match point of the series.
After the game, Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat's head coach explained LeBron James' key role.
"Look he reads the game. We've talked about this many times. He reads the game as well as anybody that's played this game and whatever's needed. He was simply indefatigable, is that how you say that? And just the entire game on both ends of the court, having to manage foul trouble and make plays on both ends. But he did it, his aggressiveness within the context of what we do."
Game 5 of the series is scheduled for Wednesday in Miami.
Meanwhile, the Portland Blazers really had nothing to lose with a 0-3 result in the series with San Antonio Spurs.
In Tuseday's game, Portland Blazers beat San Antonio Spurs 103-92 with great difficulty and avoided the fate of being swept away by the rivalry.
Manchester City celebrate Premier League title
Manchester City players and fans have celebrated their second English Premier League title in just three years.
In Manchester, tens of thousands of City fans turned out to honour their team.
Yesterday, Manchester City beat West Ham 2-nil and clinched the league championship.
The celebrations began with highlights of the season screened to fans in front of Manchester's Town Hall as team members showed off the trophy.
It was a scene of great excitement, with everyone enjoying themselves, including the players themselves.
"I think everyone is seeing it around the club, the atmosphere has been positive. The team has been positive, everyone has been positive this season. You know, winning the league and winning the ...You know we have done the double really guys...I mean this the achievement of the manager and the whole team as well. You can see only smiles today."
Excited fans even climbed onto bus stops, road signs and shop fronts to get a better look at the players.
The squad will now fly to Abu Dhabi to meet owner Sheikh Mansour and play a post-season friendly against Al Ain on Thursday.
The Italian Open has kicked off in Rome on Tuesday
In tennis,
The Italian Open has begun in Rome.
In the first day's match on Tuesday, Chinese player Peng Shuai lost to Varvara Lepchenko 1-6/love-6, and her compatriot Zhang Shuai beat American player Lauren Davis 6-4/6-0.
And other victories went to 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, twelfth seed Grigor Dimitrov and fourteenth seed Mikhail Youzhny.
But home favourite Fabio Fognini - seeded thirteenth - had no luck and was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.
And second-ranked Novak Djokovic is back after withdrawing from last week's Madrid Open with a right wrist injury.
Roger Federer was also seen on the practice courts after taking last week off to welcome the birth of his second set of twins.
The Italian Open in Rome is the last key clay-court warmup before the French Open starts in two weeks.
Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins and level the playoff series
In the NHL playoffs,
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 4-zero on Monday to force a seventh game in the Eastern Conference semi finals.
With a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semi finals, the Boston Bruins visited the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
The always exciting and important first goal was scored by the home side and got the crowd on their feet.
The Montreal Canadiens gained another three goals, successfully blocking Boston's attacks.
During the game, Carey Price made 26 saves to ensure the shut-out.
The crucial game 7 is scheduled for Wednesday, May 14 in Boston.
New York Mets beat the New York Yankees 9-7
In baseball,
The New York Mets beat the New York Yankees 9-7 in the 2014 Subway Series opener on Monday night.
The match was held at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
Former Yankee Curtis Granderson returned to the game after agreeing to a four-year deal worth $60 million with the Mets during the off season.
With the Mets ahead 1-zero at the start of the second inning, Brett Gardner gave the Yankees the lead with a grand slam off Mets staring pitcher Bartolo Colon. The home run was Gardner's second long ball of the season.
And Chris Young hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the eighth inning.
The Mets hit a total of four home runs in their 9-7 win over the Yankees. The Mets went 4-zero against them last year.
Another two nations announced squads for World Cup
In football,
The head coaches of England and Costa Rica have announced their preliminary squads for the forthcoming World Cup.
England manager Roy Hogson named his 23-man squad for the World Cup in Brazil on Monday.
He has selected several young players, with Frank Lampard among the veterans to make the cut in a youthful looking group.
19-year-old Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley, the 20-year-old Everton midfielder, are going to the World Cup despite only notching up five appearances between them.
And Hodgson has selected four strikers: Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool and Rickie Lambert of Southampton.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica's head coach Jorge Luis Pinto also named his preliminary 30-man squad on Monday.
Goalkeeper Keylor Navas and forwards Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell and Alvaro Saborio headed the list of players named on Monday.
Coach Jorge Luis Pinto resisted naming any major surprises in the lineup and is using the same core of players who helped Costa Rica to qualify as the top team from their region.
Entertainment
Hit Korean Series 'Love From The Stars' To Be Made As Chinese Movie
Smash hit Korean TV drama "My Love From The Stars" is said to be made into a feature length movie for release in China.
Chinese production company Meng Jiang Wei has acquired the rights to produce a two hour version of the SBS series.
It will originally air in Korea from December and on Chinese online video platforms shortly after.
The company will edit material from the existing show rather than produce new material. The release is expected in the summer.
The show features Kim Soo-hyun as an alien trapped on earth for 400 years, who works as a somewhat cynical college professor in the present day.
He becomes romantically linked to a beautiful, but obnoxious pop-star/actress, played by Gianna Jun, Korea's most glamorous movie star.
Hugh Jackman Enjoys Playing Wolverine More Than Ever
Hugh Jackman Enjoys Playing Wolverine More Than Ever
Hollywood star Hugh Jackman who has been playing the part of Wolverine for many years said that he enjoys playing it more than ever.
"Of course I know the character better than I did fourteen or fifteen years ago. You are always looking for a different size of the character to play. In theater we have a saying it's not about making it different every night. It's about making it deeper. So you don't have to change it every night. You have to keep looking and look for deep qualities. And I've been lucky enough to play one character of a film for fourteen or fifteen years. And for me I feel it's getting deeper and playing every side of it. As an actor I enjoy it more than ever. "
Together with "Games of Thrones" actor Peter Dinklage and Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, Jackman attended a press conference on the forthcoming new film "X-Men: Days of Future Past" in Beijing today.
The film "X-Men: Days of Future Past" also stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. It tells the story of Wolverine travelling back to the past to save doomed mutants.
The film is to hit Chinese screens simultaneously with the US on May 23rd.
Angelina Jolie makes surprise visit to 'Normal Heart' premiere
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have made a surprise visit to the world premiere of HBO film "The Normal Heart".
Although the couple are not starring in the film, Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment is one of the producers.
"The Normal Heart" follows the story of a gay activist who tries to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS during its onset in the early 1980s.
Based on the award-winning play by Larry Kramer, the film chronicles the early days of the AIDS epidemic and the discrimination against those suffering from the disease.
The film has an all-star cast including Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts,and Matt Bomer.
Jim Parsons, the award-winning star of the television sitcom, "Big Bang Theory" also playing a role in the movie.
Parsons admitted there was an adjustment period when he got in front of the camera.
"Glee" creator Ryan Murphy bought the rights to the play a few years ago, and has directed the film version.
"The Normal Heart" premieres on HBO on Friday next week.
A quick recap of headlines before we go.
Pro-Russian activists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have declared independence, amid severe criticism from Kiev and Western countries.
Islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram has released a new video showing a group of abducted school girls in Nigeria.
It is the first video evidence of the girls since around 300 were kidnapped in northeast Nigeria a month ago.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is set to release its fifth assessment report, claiming that global temperatures will rise significantly if more is not done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In Business, China releases a series of lower-than-expected figures showing that the country's industrial added value expanded 8.7 percent this year, less than forecasts predicted.
In sport, the Montreal Canadiens have beaten the Boston Bruins 4-zero forcing a seventh game in the Eastern Conference ice hockey semi finals.
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