新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2015/01/28（打印版）

Survivors and world leaders have gathered at Aushwitz to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi's death camp in Poland...

Several guards have been punished after a prisoner in Heilongjiang province used social media to blackmail several women...

And a new message linked to Islamic State militants includes a threat to kill two hostages the group has been holding...

Beijing will be cloudy with a high of one, overcast tonight with a low of minus 5 degrees Celsius.

Europe is remembering a time of darkness, as Tuesday marked 70 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland by Soviet troops.

The anniversary comes in the shadow of a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe, and the conflict in Ukraine.

Some 300 Holocaust survivors returned to Auschwitz on Tuesday for a memorial event at the former site of the Nazi death camp, joined by world leaders including the presidents of Poland, France, Germany, Austria and Ukraine.

They gathered under an enormous tent erected over the camp's gate and railroad tracks, a spot that marked the end of the final journey for more than a million people murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The site is now a museum.

This year's event is expected to be the last major anniversary that a significant number of survivors will be strong enough to attend, given the youngest are now in their 70s.

Making his speech, Auschwitz survivor Roman Kent became emotional as he issued a plea to world leaders to remember the atrocities and fight for tolerance.

"We survivors do not want our past to be our children's future. I hope - I hope and believe that this generation will build on mankind's great traditions tempered by understanding that this tradition must embrace pluralism and tolerance, decency and human rights for all people."

Some 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed there between 1940 and 1945, when Soviet troops liberated it.

Auschwitz has become probably the most poignant symbol of a Holocaust that claimed six million Jewish lives across Europe.

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski told the ceremony the Germans had made Poland a "cemetery for Jews".

"The German occupier made my country a place of exceptional terror and a place of the demise of European Jews. German Nazis have made Poland into an everlasting cemetery of Jews. They have ended centuries of their presence on our land."

The commemoration comes amid a prevailing sense of anxiety over the growing anti-Semitism and radicalism in Europe and the Middle East, as seen in the recent Paris terror attack by Islamist militants that left 17 people dead including four Jews.

"I cannot ignore what is happening today. Jews are targeted in Europe once again, because they are Jews."

Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited to the ceremony at Auschwitz even though the Soviet Red Army liberated the camp, a move that indicates the deep chill between the West and Russia over Ukraine.

Anniversary ceremonies also took place in other parts of Europe and at Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem.

The Chinese government says it also plans to hold commemorative activities marking the 70th anniversary of the defeat of fascism..

"China, as a nation that was victorious in the Second World War and the main battle ground in the east, made tremendous contribution and sacrifice to the fight against Fascism. Along with other nations, commemorative events will be held in order to remind everyone who loves peace to cherish peace and remember the history, and to demonstrate our firm stance in safeguarding the victory of WWII, the post-war international order and world peace."

14 people working at a prison in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have received penalties after a prisoner reportedly used a smartphone to blackmail several women.

The governor and political commissar of the Nehe prison in Tsitsihar City have been removed from their positions.

Prosecutors say three guards are also being investigated for suspected negligence and abuse of power.

Investigators are going to perform checks at all prisons in the province to ensure security, since the case has exposed loopholes in prison management.

"In the future, we'll learn a lesson from the Nehe case which is regarded as a negative example and take measures to rectify problems within prisons. The top priority should be improving the guards' qualities and standardizing their working style. We'll also fully utilize the prisons' signal blockers to cut off the prisoners' communication with the outside world."

Eyebrows were raised last week when a prisoner, surnamed Wang, was reported to have been chatting and subsequently blackmailing women that lived near the prison via the cellphone app WeChat.

Wang threatened the women with their naked videos and pictures and succeeded in swindling two of the women out of over 110 thousand yuan.

Wang's case has caused public outcry over lax supervision and corruption in China's prisons.

15 policemen in south China's Guangdong Province are under investigation after allegedly beating undercover journalists covering an official dinner that apparently flouted the country's ban on extravagant meals.

Journalists with Southern Metropolis Daily were going to report on public security officials feasting in a high-end restaurant in Shenzhen last week.

The paper said the reporters were beaten and robbed of their mobile phones and cameras, and that police who arrived at the scene later helped the officials get away.

Giant salamander is a protected animal in China, but the policemen say what they had at the dinner was artificially-bred.

Chen Lewei, one of the journalists at the scene, says one of the officials confessed that they were consuming giant salamander.

"One of the officials attending the dinner came to us. He admitted that they were eating giant salamander, but added that the salamander was brought there by a friend from Guizhou."

In response to the scandal, the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau said that the incident took place at a local restaurant, to which a retired policeman from the bureau had invited his former colleagues.

The bureau added that Wang Yuanping, head of its Dongshen branch, is under police investigation on suspicion of "disciplinary violations."

But the report has not revealed who actually paid for the dinner or who beat the journalists.

Turkey's National Police Chief has told Chinese officials that Turkey will never allow any organization or person to conduct activities harmful to China's interests.

The official also vowed to beef up law enforcement and security cooperation with China in a meeting with senior Chinese security officials in Beijing.

During the meeting, the Chinese side called for stronger cooperation with Turkey in combating terrorism, human trafficking and other cross-border crimes.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that police in Shanghai had detained 10 Turkish nationals last November, who allegedly provided assistance for terror suspects in China's Xinjiang to flee the country.

Another message purportedly from the Islamic State group has appeared online, warning that the group plans to kill a Japanese hostage and a Jordanian pilot in IS custody in less than 24 hours.

The Japanese hostage, Kenji Goto, was last seen in a video with a Japanese man named Haruna Yukawa who has allegedly been killed by the militant group.

IS released the video on Tuesday last week demanding a 200 million US dollar ransom for the release of the two men.

Japanese officials held emergency meetings in Tokyo late yesterday after the release of the new online message.

"Amid an extremely difficult situation, we remain unchanged in requesting the Jordanian government's cooperation towards securing an early release of Mr. Goto. This policy has been approved by the Prime Minister (Shinzo Abe), and we have relayed, through the foreign minister, the policy to the (Japanese) task force on the ground."

The message again demanded the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death in Jordan for her involvement in a 2005 terror attack that killed 60 people.

The message says that unless the Jordanian government frees al-Rishawi within 24 hours, Goto and the pilot will be killed, adding that this would be the group's last message.

The Jordanian pilot has been held by the extremists since December after his Jordanian F-16 went down near the group's de facto capital of Raqqa.

The Libyan government has claimed that the attack on a hotel in Tripoli targeted the country's Prime Minister, Omar al-Hassi.

The self-proclaimed National Salvation Government has released a statement saying that some suspicious men stormed into the Corinthia Hotel and headed towards al-Hassi's room after detonating a bomb in the parking lot.

The attackers, identified as loyalists to former leader Muammar Gaddafi threw grenades and fired upon guests in the hotel.

"Two people armed with explosives inside their bags, one of them hugged me, one of them exploded and the other one did not explode."

Eight people, including four members of the security force and four foreign hotel staff, died during the attack.

The statement is far different from media reports that the attackers were from Islamic State affiliates.

The IS offshoot in Libya earlier claimed the attack on its official social media webpage, saying it launched the attack because the hotel contained "non-Muslim diplomatic missions and security companies."

Libya has been deadlocked in turmoil with two rival governments, one headed by the Islamist-backed Omar al-Hassi and another headed by the internationally-recognized secular Abdullah Thinni.

The armed forces loyal to the two sides respectively have been engaged in intense battles since last May, leaving at least 1,000 people dead and more than 100 thousand displaced.

Travel bans have been lifted in New York, New Jersey, and parts of Massachusetts with the easing of the blizzard that swept across the northeastern United States.

A blizzard warning remains in effect for much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island but has been lifted for the New York area as the city was spared from the storm's brunt.

The blizzard left residents in the hardest-hit parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut digging out as much as 2 feet of snow.

Some in New York criticized the aggressive warnings of officials which resulted in the city's first round-the-clock subways closure in history.

"Based on the information all of us had, it was right to take extraordinary precautions and obviously they were announced many hours in advance. I think by definition, after the fact, everyone is going to look at specifics of how things were handled to see what we can learn for the future."

The US National Weather Service has admitted its forecasts were wrong, saying the storm has moved further east and will be departing faster.

Indonesian authorities have announced they will release a preliminary report on data retrieved from the black boxes of the crashed AirAsia plane on Thursday.

Investigators say the report will include some information about the flight and its passengers, but will not include an analysis on cockpit voice and flight data recordings.

Meanwhile, military officials say they are pulling out of the search and recovery operation for the crashed plane in the Java Sea.

"Based on our consultation with the National Transportation and Safety Committee and AirAsia management, our priority is to find the dead bodies. And for the past two days we have not found any. So, the chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces has ordered us to withdraw all of our assets in the area, to return to base and wait for further developments."

A total of 70 bodies have been discovered so far from Flight 8501, which crashed a month ago with 162 people on board while flying from Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, to Singapore.

Officials say divers have checked the fuselage which still lies underwater and have reported no bodies are inside.

New analysis shows the number of microblogs and weibo accounts run by China's government agencies and officials has reached over 130-thousand.

Among them, over 80-percent of the official weibo accounts are run by government agencies or officials at or below the county level.

An official account run by the Ministry of Public Security became the first government weibo account to secure 10 million followers.

Yu Guoming, deputy director of journalism at Renmin University, says the people running the accounts need to be more savvy.

"A lot of the weibo accounts lack real content. The promptness and frequency of posts also remains a big issue. And at the same time, the logic and tone of the posts are very rigid, which doesn't resonate with the public."

Government departments across China have been mandated to set up weibo accounts in an attempt to be more accountable to the public.

The Forbidden City in Beijing, the home of Chinese emperors for almost 500 years, is mulling to set a limit of 80-thousand visitors per day.

The measure, to be enacted this year, is designed to protect the collections and architecture of the museum, as well as to prevent stampede accidents.

In the past three years, the museum has entertained more than 15-million visitors, with the highest daily total reaching 180-thousand.

The museum will also encourage pre-booking and internet-booking to help staff control crowd numbers.

"We hope to better facilitate internet bookings to enable more visitors to avoid buying tickets at the counters. And they can also arrange their schedules more reasonably and accordingly. It could lower the pressure at our ticket windows and at the entrances of the museum."

The Palace Museum is planning to offer 50-percent off the ticket price for internet-bookings during the off season, which runs from November 1 to March 31.

U.S. stocks suffered big losses on Tuesday, as corporate earnings missed forecasts and economic data came in mixed.

Oil prices gained as OPEC warned that prices may one day jump to 200 dollars a barrel without sufficient investment in production now.

U.S. investors are keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday for any clues on the timing of its next interest-rate hike.

The S&P 500 lost one and a third of a percent, while the Nasdaq dipped almost two percent.

Anxiety over Greece's new anti-austerity leadership and the unexpectedly poor U.S. performance data weighed down European stock markets on Tuesday.

Authorities in the city of Fuzhou in Fujian, as well as provincial officials in Sichuan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Guizhou and Inner Mongolia have begun a program of purchasing spare homes from residents.

These homes are being bought by the respective governments, and will be re-packaged as subsidized housing for low-income citizens.

The scheme, which is still in a trial period, is expected to expand to wholesale purchases from land developers.

It's estimated that 9 out of every 10-homes currently built here in China go un-purchased.

China has announced plans to allow private companies to invest in the country's broadband market, as part of the efforts to quicken the liberalization of the sector.

Sixteen cities including Shanghai and Guangzhou have been selected for the 3-year program beginning on March 1, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Private companies in these cities can apply for the program to either directly construct broadband infrastructure, or rent resources to operate as service providers.

The Ministry hopes the move will stimulate healthy competition in the country's telecommunications industry, and eventually enhance infrastructure construction and broadband services.

Currently, China's broadband market is dominated by three state-owned telecoms operators - China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Mobile.

Shanghai's banking regulator is telling commercial lenders in the city to run stress tests related to credit for real estate development.

The move comes as governments in several cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, have blocked the sale of properties linked to a number of developers including Kaisa Group and state-owned China Overseas Land and Investment.

The above-mentioned two developers suffered a credit crunch after lenders refused to extend more lending in the face of a sharp downturn in the property market.

Despite concerns over the legality of the move, city governments moved swiftly to freeze the companies' properties to protect creditors, a step that has been followed in several other cities.

For more on the issue, we are now joined live by Ben Cavender, Principal at China Market Research.

Chinese industrial regulators have set an 8-percent industrial output growth target for this year.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says while the target is lower than last year, authorities contend it is not a low target, noting China's economy has entered a period of slower growth.

The ministry also says the 8-percent target also takes into account a lower expected rate of GDP growth this year.

Industrial output in China grew 8.3-percent last year, down from the 9.7 percent growth seen in 2013

China has announced it will impose a consumption tax on some types of batteries and paint to encourage environmental protection.

A 4 percent tax will be levied on the production, processing, and import of batteries and coating from February 1.

But cleaner batteries including mercury-free, nickel-hydrogen, lithium, and solar cell varieties will be exempt.

Shanghai, a financial hub in eastern China, plans an integrated platform to manage state-owned assets in a bid to improve efficiency and increase transparency.

The platform will be managed as an enterprise, by the Shanghai International Group and Guosheng Group, two commission subsidiaries that supervise state-owned assets.

The integrated platform will enable state-owned enterprise or SoEs to explore areas including mixed ownership, diversification of share ownership, and payment reform in a bid to become more competitive, more professional, and more international.

SoEs in Shanghai contribute more than 20 percent to the city's taxes, and produce 20 percent of profits created by all Chinese SoEs.

Officials in Shanxi have announced they won't be approving the creation of any new coal mines for the next five years.

There will also be a moratorium on upgrades to collieries with an annual capacity of under five million tonnes that intend to become open-cast mines.

The move is meant to try to tackle excess capacity in the coal-rich northern Chinese province.

The most recent inspection results show that Taobao's certified products rate was only just over 37 percent, the lowest rate among China's major shopping websites.

The results from the Administration for Industry and Commerce are for the second half of 2014.

But Taobao has fired back, saying the company features over a billion products online and the AIC inspected only 51 samples, suggesting the inspection results are not based on significant numbers.

AIC has responded that it conducted its inspections according to the law, and the current inspection process is an important tool in estimating market risk and cracking down on illegal companies.

US cruise operator Carnival Corp has signed a memorandum of understanding with China Merchants Group to explore the possibility of two joint ventures to tap into the country's cruise industry.

One venture would source new ships designed and built in China, while the other would aim to develop turnaround and transit ports in and around China.

CMG, China's oldest state enterprise, founded in 1872, focuses on transport, infrastructure, and real estate development.

Europe is remembering a time of darkness, as Tuesday marked 70 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

Some 300 Holocaust survivors returned to Auschwitz for a memorial event at the former site of the Nazi death camp, joined by world leaders including the presidents of Poland, France, Germany, Austria and Ukraine.

Auschwitz survivors called to world leaders to remember the atrocities and fight for tolerance.

Anniversary ceremonies also took place in other parts of Europe and at Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem.

Travel bans have been lifted in New York, New Jersey, and parts of Massachusetts with the easing of the blizzard that swept across the northeastern United States.

A blizzard warning remains in effect for much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island but has been lifted for the New York area as the city was spared from the storm's brunt.

The US National Weather Service has admitted its forecasts were wrong, saying the storm has moved further east and will be departing faster, resulting in much less snow.

Turkey's National Police Chief has told Chinese officials that Turkey will never allow any organization or person to conduct activities harmful to China's interests.

The official also vowed to beef up law enforcement and security cooperation with China in a meeting with senior Chinese security officials in Beijing.

During the meeting, the Chinese side called for stronger cooperation with Turkey in combating terrorism, human trafficking and other cross-border crimes.

Health authority here in Beijing says a measles outbreak reported in the city's downtown Dongcheng district is under control.

A total of 23 cases have been reported as of Monday, in a high-rise building on Chaoyangmen Street.

Health officials are calling on the public to seek timely medical treatment if they develop symptoms of high fever, rashes and coughing.

A Long March-7 carrier rocket has arrived at the launch site in the city of Wenchang of south China's Hainan province.

Scientists will run a series of tests on the rocket in preparing for its maiden flight scheduled for 2016.

The liquid-fuelled carrier rocket is designed to launch China's first cargo spacecraft, which is currently under development.

The unmanned cargo spacecraft will carry supplies to China's future manned space station.

The Shanghai Education Commission says new security and surveillance devices are to be installed in laboratories that contain lethal chemicals.

This follows a 2013 case whena post-graduate medical student at Fudan University murdered his roommate by contaminating their water dispenser with a toxic chemical that he had stolen from a university lab.

The committee says stricter accountability rules in procurement of chemicals will also be issued.

A survey in Chongqing shows that respiratory disease has increased at least 2 percent as heavy smog continues.

Experts suggest people reduce outdoor activities and use professional-grade masks when going out.

A patient suffering a severe head injury has been taken to hospital in Beijing by helicopter.

Medical workers say the man accidentally hurt himself during a business trip in Inner Mongolia.

A gay rights activist has accused a Beijing hospital of providing conversion treatment, and called on the government to stop the practice in all hospitals.

The woman, using the pseudonym of Xiao Fan, reported a psychiatric hospital to the Health Bureau in Beijing.

She said she sought help from the hospital after breaking up with her girlfriend, and doctors said she would be fine "once the disease of homosexuality was cured."

Local experts say the project is environmentally friendly and can reduce fees that households pay for air conditioning.

A package of measures designed to improve care for the elderly has been introduced in Zhejiang province.

The newly introduced regulation will give the province legal powers to categorize different types of care services, and requires communities to establish sufficient facilities for the elderly.

China and Pakistan are now celebrating the 2015 China-Pakistan Year of Friendly Exchanges.

The event will witness a series of activities to promote cultural exchange and the understanding between youth, media, and think tanks as the two sides work to forge a "community of shared destiny."

For more on this event, our reporter Qian Shanming earlier spoke with Sun Weidong, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan.

Back Anchor: That was Qian Shanming speaking earlier with Sun Weidong, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan.

Australia defeated the United Arab Emirates 2-0 to advance to the 2015 Asian Cup final on Tuesday.

Australia opened their account from a set piece just three minutes after kickoff, when defender Trent Sainsbury headed in from a corner to give the Socceroos the lead.

Australia doubled their advantage at the 14th minute when a cross into the box found its way to Jason Davidson - the fullback knocking it home to make it 2-0 to the Asian Cup hosts.

"It was just a dream come true. Since I was a young boy and left home when I was 14, my dream always was to play for the Green and Gold and to represent my country and to score a goal and to help the team get to the Asia Cup final is just a dream come true."

Australia move on to Sydney where they will face South Korea for the title on Saturday at Stadium Australia.

Rafael Nadal is out, having been beaten 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 in the quarter-finals by seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych on Tuesday.

Nadal saved two match points in the 12th game of the final set, sending it to a tie-breaker. Berdych led 5-2 and finally ended the encounter on Rod Laver Arena on his fourth match point when Nadal netted a return of serve.

"I felt very good since the beg of match and I felt really, really confident especially because the plan we set up before the match was the right one and I was able to execute it quite well through those three sets and that was just a few things I felt good on court and that's it, it was not an easy opponent and I'm really happy the way I handled it, especially at the end of the third set."

The Czech ended a 17-match losing streak against Rafael Nadal earlier in the day to reach his second successive Australian Open semi-final.

Berdych will face Briton Andy Murray in the semi-finals after Murray beat crowd favourite Nick Kyrgios in straight sets.

Murray got the better of the aggressive world number 53's serve time and again to close out a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 victory.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova put the brakes on Eugenie Bouchard's quest for a first major title, beating the young Canadian 6-3, 6-2 to progress into the semi-finals.

"I kept my focus throughout the whole match and didn't feel I had too many let-downs--which is important--and when I did have a few slips I was able to come out with great first serves and really powerful returns, but overall I'm really happy with the way the match went."

Sharapova will face fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the last four, after the 10th seed beat Romania's Simona Halep in straight sets in the day's first quarter-final.

Fourth-seed defending champion Stan Wawrinka will face fifth-seed Japanese Kei Nishikori.

The Haidan District People's Court in Beijing also fined him 5 thousand yuan, around 800 US dollars for providing venues for drug users.

According to the court, the son of famous actor Zhang Guoli had provided venues for recreational drug use on two occasions.

Because Zhang had admitted to police before an investigation was launched, he received a lighter sentence.

Zhang pleaded guilty, saying he had learnt from his mistake and would never break the law again.

His sentence comes less than a month after Jaycee Chan, son of Chinese kung fu star Jackie Chan, was sentenced to six months in prison for drug offenses in Beijing.

"Amelie" actress Audrey Tautou and "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner will be among the eight judges at this year's event.

Festival boss, Dieter Kosslick, said once again, the films at the "Berlinale" will reflect the world's most important issues.

"This year we have, a lot of these items, it's about religious things, it's about torturing people, it's about history, it's about abusing. I mean we have all these kind of films, it's astonishing enough but I think as the world is more and more globalized, we have more and more these subjects artists are taking."

"Rush" actor Daniel Bruhl, "The Host" director Bong Joon-ho, "Hannibal" producer Martha De Laurentiis and Claudia Llosa, the director of "The Milk of Sorrow," will also be among those deciding who gets the Berlinale's Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards.

Chinese director and actor Jiang Wen's film "Gone with the Bullets" will have its international premiere at the festival, and is also part of the competition.

Organizers of the Fifth Beijing International Beijing Film Festival have announced that a range of classic movies will be shown at the event.

The "Godfather" trilogy, "Avatar", and "Once Upon a Time in America", will be some of the films screened, as well as international debuts and Box Office hits.

Around 300 foreign and domestic films will be shown in nearly 30 theaters around Beijing during the festival.

They will be shown as exhibition motion pictures and competition pictures for the Tiantan Awards.

The annual Beijing International Film Festival will be held from the 16th to the 23rd of April.

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has made a public apology for using the word "colored" to describe black actors in a recent interview.

The Shirlock Holmes star said he makes "no excuse" for "being an idiot", and offered his sincere apologies.

He used the term when he was talking about racial inequality in the performing arts in the UK, and the need for rapid improvements the industry.

The Oscar nominee faced criticism on Twitter, and the organization "Show Racism the Red" said in a statement that while Cumberbatch highlighted a very important issue, in doing so, he has also inadvertently highlighted the issue of appropriate terminology and the evolution of language.

Following Cumberbatch's apology, the organization tweeted, honest & thoughtful apology from Benedict Cumberbatch, using his role model status to educate and encourage others to learn from his error.

新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2015/01/28（在线收听）