新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2016/02/15（在线收听）

The Beijing Hour

Evening Edition

Spencer Musick with you on this Monday February 15th, 2016.

Welcome to the Beijing Hour, live from the Chinese capital...

Coming up on the program this evening...

More than one-hundered buildings deemed uninhabitable following the deadly earthquake in Taiwan...

Civil groups in Hong Kong taking part in a march to condemn last week's riot in Mong Kok...

The ongoing Zika outbreak bringing to light the neurological disorder microcephaly...

In buisness... Official data shows that China's foreign direct investment has increased 3.2 percent year on year last month...

In sports... CBA action resumes tonight as the playoffs get underway..

In entertainment... Movie ticket sales during the Spring Festival Holiday hit a record high...

Top News

123 Buildings in Taiwan Deemed Uninhabitable after Quake

123 buildings in Tainan City have been listed as dangerous after the recent earthquake in Taiwan.

Tainan's Public Works Bureau says 6 buildings with severe damage must be demolished immediately, while all the buildings are no longer suitable for habitation.

Tainan's vice mayor Zeng Xuzheng says cleaning up and restoring traffic flow remain priorities.

"Our work today is to clean up the waste and steel on the Yongda road, carry out resurfacing, and re-open it open to traffic. Disinfection is also on-going in the surrounding areas, so far we are sterilizing both the south and the north.

Meanwhile, Tainan city prosecutor's office has summoned Lin Minghui, the contractor builder of the Wei Guan Building for questioning.

It has also issued a property sequestration of his company while collecting evidence for possible faulty design and fraud in construction.

The U-shaped Wei Guan Building collapsed seconds after the quake, accounting for 114 deaths

Tainan city mayor Lai Qingde urges some residents to wait before moving back into their homes, and promises government assistance in rebuilding and relocation.

"Although the houses are not listed on the "dangerous list", I would suggest you not to go back. At least wait until we help you make it safe, then you can go back in."

On Monday, the Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief Zhang Zhijun conveyed condolences from mainland leaders to the victims of the disaster.

The search and rescue operation has ended. The bodies of all missing residents have been discovered.

The official death toll of the quake is 116.

Hundreds March in Support of Police after Hong Kong Riot

Anchor

Civil groups in Hong Kong have taken part in a march to condemn last week's riot in Mong Kok and to show support for the police force.

Around 300 people took part in the riot in early hours on last Tuesday. Nearly 100 police officers as well as four journalists were injured.

CRI's Li Jianhua has more.

Reporter

Led by the civil group 'Alliance in Support of Our Police Force', more than 200 demonstrators gathered at Hong Kong's landmark Clock Tower, holding up banners and signboards and shouting slogans in support of the police.

Leticia Lee is the founder of the Alliance and was the main organizer of the pro-police march. She called on the local government to reflect on the situation and thoroughly investigate events.

"All Hong Kong residents should do some soul-searching after this incident, because it takes two to tango. As we all can see, the government has to figure out ways to deal with the anger in our young people. After the arrests of rioters, we have to press on and make clear what they want and what motivated them to participate in such a riot."

Meanwhile, Lam Siu-lun, the honorary president of the Hong Kong Tourism Practitioners' Union says such violent attacks posed a great threat to the city's tourism sector.

"Frankly, any recurrence of violent incidents or riots like this will have a disastrous effect on the situation and keep tourists away for a long time to come."

About 300 people participated in the riot in early hours on last Tuesday at Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong's busiest shopping areas.

The riot erupted after a handful of illegal street vendors refused to halt trading and clashed with law enforcement officials.

Nearly 100 police officers as well as four journalists were injured as a result.

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison Office of the central government in Hong Kong says the government severely condemned the separatists' violent behaviors.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying also called on all political parties not to make excuses for the bloody violence.

"The government is calling on the public, especially the political parties, not to make excuses for, or attempt to rationalize the violence and the motivations behind it, let alone whitewashing the rioters."

Rita Fan, a deputy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, criticized the riot as a cowardly venting of hatred, which brings harm to the Hong Kong people.

"All of them wore headscarves and masks and would not show their true faces. You had the guts to clash with police and to attack officers with bricks, but had no guts to face the consequences. Were those brave or cowardly acts? I believe it is clear to all Hong Kong residents."

As of Saturday, police had arrested more than 60 suspects and 41 of them have been charged with rioting.

Ma Yan-kwok, barrister with High Court of Hong Kong, described the violence as a severe criminal offence rather than a simple act of assembly.

"Their action has obviously overstepped the limit of freedom of assembly. The case should be dealt with by criminal law. This is a severe criminal offence. I believe it is highly likely that the violators will be convicted as criminals of riot. They need a warning so that their followers won't do it again."

A survey shows more than half of Hong Kong local residents interviewed say they believe the protestors should be held responsible for the incident, and hoped all political parties could set aside prejudices and find a solution through negotiation.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

Chinese, ROK Officials to Discuss Korean Peninsula Issue

The seventh high-level strategic dialogue between China and South Korea will be held in Seoul on Tuesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui and South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will co-chair the dialogue.

Besides bilateral relations, the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is also going to be on the agenda.

The sixth high-level strategic dialogue was held in 2013 in Beijing.

720 Liters of Methamphetamine Seized in Australia

Police in Australia have seized 720 liters of methamphetamine worth over 730 million U.S. dollars.

This marks the country's largest haul of the illicit drug.

Michael Keenan, Australian Justice Minister, said such a successful seizure is the result of joint cooperation between relevant departments from both China and Australia.

"This largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine to date is the result of organized criminals targeting the lucrative Australian ice market from offshore. And very importantly the operation has been informed by the very successful efforts of the Australian Federal Police and Chinese (National) Narcotics Control Commission joint operation Task Force Blaze, that we established in November last year specifically to target the international ice-smuggling market."

He added that the seizure has resulted in 3.6 million individual hits of the drug worth over 900 million U.S. dollars being taken off the streets.

So far, 3 suspects from Hong Kong and another one from the Chinese mainland have been put under police custody, and they will stand trial in Sydney next month.

An earlier statement from Australia Federal Police said the 4 suspects hid the drug in boxes of silicon bra inserts and art supplies, and stored them separately in 5 hideouts in Sydney.

They face a potential life sentence if convicted.

New Favorable Policies Boost NEV Appliers in Beijing

Official data shows that nearly 14-thousand Beijing residents have applied for electric car license plates at the beginning of this year.

That accounts about a quarter of new energy vehicle quota of 2016 in the city.

Auto Commentator Zhang Bin says that the demand for electric cars will be quickened due to the city's new favorable policies.

"When the NEV buyers are exempt from getting a license plate through lottery system before buying a new car, which is free of driving restriction during smoggy days, the demand of NEVs will see explosive growth. People will be more interested in new energy cars instead of other types of cars."

However, the battery qualities and shortage of charging facilities are still hindering the increase of NEVs.

One Beijing resident says that electric cars have positives and drawbacks alike.

"An electric car is good for commuters in the city, but it is inconvenient to go far. The battery can not afford a round trip of at least 400 kilometers, and there are little charging facilities on some express ways."

Beijing local transport authority will issue 60-thousand NEV license plates this year on a first-come, first-serve basis.

An auto insider says that the number of new energy vehicle will reach over 600-thousand this year.

Half Million Revelers Celebrate Spring Festival in London

Around 500 thousand Chinese and British people have gathered in central London to celebrate the Chinese lunar New Year.

A grand parade started from the north of Trafalgar Square, with 30 dragon and lion dance troupes entertaining the crowd.

The celebrations featured acrobatics, martial arts, musical performance as well as Sichuan opera.

It has attracted a number of local residents.

"The kids are having their half term and it's Chinese New Year so it's a good opportunity to bring them out to experience the culture."

"We're from China, although my son was born here, but I'd like him to know about China, to understand Chinese culture and to appreciate where we're from."

Deputy festival director Joseph Wu explained the event's significance.

"Well I think if you come to London today you will see so many people here and it's really a proof of how welcoming London has been to the different communities and different cultures and how much the Chinese have been engaged in the mainstream culture as well. I think today is a real good example of community engagement. It's amazing; everybody is having a good time."

Small tents were also erected where retailers sold traditional Chinese food and New Year accessories.

This year's event which fell on Valentine's Day is one of the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside Asia.

Foreign Firms Remain Confident in China's Economy

Anchor

Despite the economic slowdown China currently faces, the majority of foreign companies still remain confident in the Chinese market and have shown growing interest in investing in the country.

CRI's Luo Wen has more.

Reporter

The American Chamber of Commerce in China has suggested in a recent survey that the business environment in China is getting tougher due to rising labor costs and regulatory challenges such as online controls and monopoly probes.

However, the report also shows China remains a top-three investment priority for 60 percent of the respondents, and close to 70 percent of member firms remain positive about China's economic outlook in the next two years.

Director-General of Japan External Trade Organization's Beijing Office, Yoshihisa Tabata

says Japanese investment to China is rising.

"China's economy is slowing down. But few Japanese firms feel that the fact has a negative effect on the Chinese market. They believe that an economic slowdown is normal under China's "New Normal". Many Japanese companies think that they should expand their businesses in China in the current economic climate."

Chairman of BVWM China Bosman has led German business delegations to China for many times and he is also quite positive about the Chinese market.

"We have quite a good overview about the Chinese market. We brought seven members and many delegations from Germany to China because we want to show our companies opportunities in China so they have more outgoing investments from Germany that means FDI for China."

Data released by China's Ministry of Commerce shows the amount of foreign capital investment reached over 126 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 6.4 percent year-on-year.

The data also shows a total of 26,575 foreign-invested enterprises were set up across China last year, a 12 percent increase on the previous year.

Tang Wenhong, head of Foreign Investment Division of China's Ministry of Commerce, adds that investment in China's burgeoning service industry and high-tech manufacturing continued with a robust growth last year.

"Last year, the actual use of foreign capital in the service industry reached 477 billion yuan, up some 17 percent year on year. The actual use of foreign capital in high-tech manufacturing stood at 58.35 billion yuan, up 9.5 percent year on year."

Earlier this month, China further loosened controls over investment of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors as a means to further open up the domestic capital market.

Under the new policy, the investment amount is subject to a ceiling of 5 billion U.S. dollars, up from one billion U.S. dollars previously.

For CRI, this is Luo Wen.

QA with Winston Wong on Global Stock Market Sell-off

Global stock markets were on their shakiest footing in years during China's lunar new year holiday.

Investors are fleeing stocks and running to safe-havens like bonds and gold, driven by concerns about economic growth and the effectiveness of central banks' policies.

At the same time, tumbling energy prices are upending the economies of oil-producing countries, further slicing into global economic growth.

Only six weeks ago cheap oil prices were still expected to cushion the global economy, and the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates for the first time since 2008 was widely seen as a vote of confidence in the world's largest economy.

For more on the global stock market sell-off, CRI's Zhao Yang spoke with Winston Wong, Managing Director of Shipstone Group Limited

Back anchor

Winston Wong, Managing Director of Shipstone Group Limited, speaking with CRI's Zhao Yang.

Microcephaly in the Spotlight amid Zika Outbreak

Anchor

The ongoing Zika outbreak has brought to light the neurological disorder microcephaly, which causes small heads and brain deformations in new born babies. Because of its rarity, many questions remain unanswered about the condition.

CRI's Victor Ning has more.

Reporter

Brazil has reported over 4,000 Zika-related microcephaly cases since last October. That compares to less than 150 cases reported in the country in all of 2014. The disorder seems to be linked to mothers infected with Zika during pregnancy.

Despite the surging numbers, the Zika virus has not been scientifically proven to cause microcephaly.

Dr. Alan Stanton is a community pediatric consultant at the Heart of England Foundation Trust hospitals.

He says more research is needed to establish a direct link.

"The problem with Zika virus is that we really don't know, at the moment, enough about it to be able to say exactly when it might go on to cause microcephaly. I think there's a huge amount we don't know, we don't even really know absolutely one hundred per cent that Zika virus is causing microcephaly although there seems to be increasing and mounting evidence of that."

Microcephaly is not restricted to Zika-infected areas. Dr. Stanton says a number of factors could lead to the extremely rare condition.

“Certainly one in several thousand births would be a realistic figure. A precise figure would depend on all kinds of things for example what's the prevalence of cousin marriages that might lead to various recessive genes being expressed more frequently, what's the prevalence of things like drug misuse, alcohol misuse among pregnant women because those things can also be among causes of microcephaly, plus, of course the various viruses that are associated with with it, but it's an unusual presentation."

The increase in microcephaly in Latin American has led to a flurry of advisories about travel restrictions and delaying pregnancies.

Meanwhile, doctors are still looking to answer many questions about the disorder. It is still unknown if Zika-related brain malformations will be the same as those in children with microcephaly through other causes. Dr. Stanton says the disorder can differ in severity in patients, depending on how their brains have been affected.

"Some children with microcephaly in fact will be absolutely normal in developmental terms and others will have very severe developmental delay, maybe cerebral palsy, maybe epilepsy, maybe behavourial problems, there's quite a large range."

Many mothers did not know they were infected with Zika until their babies were born with microcephaly. Dr. Stanton says often the disorder can't be detected in the fetus until the second trimester. He adds screening is possible if there are inherited risks.

The World Health Organization said last week that scientists could have a definite answer about the link between Zika and microcephaly within weeks, and that the development of a Zika vaccine could take up to 18 months.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.

Video Released Showing Former Israeli PM Denying Wrongdoing

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert left his residence on Monday morning to begin a 19-month jail sentence.

He will be serving time for a bribery conviction and for obstructing justice.

Earlier, a video has been released, showing the former Israeli Prime Minister denying any wrongdoing.

"When I was prime minister I was granted the highest responsibility to protect the citizens of Israel and today I am the one who is going to be locked behind bars. You can guess how this change is painful and strange for me, for my family, my dear ones and supporters. At this time it's important for me to say once more, as I said at court and outside court, I reject outright the bribery accusations against me."

He will be the first former Israeli prime minister to go to jail.

Olmert was accused of taking bribes to promote a controversial real-estate project in Jerusalem.

The charges pertained to a period when he was mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister, years before he became prime minister a decade ago.

Antonin Scalia Dies of Natural Causes: Presidio County Judge

A top elected official from Presidio County in Texas has said that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes.

County Judge Cinderela Guevara made the announcement after consulting with Scalia's personal physician and sheriff's investigators.

"History was being made… and my only concern was to make sure everything was done right and I did my own investigation, which included talking to his physician and after talking to his physician and from what I was told from the US marshal and the sheriff that was there with no signs of foul play that is how I came to the conclusion that in fact that this was in all probability a natural death."

Scalia's body has been taken to a funeral home in Texas as officials awaited word on whether to perform an autopsy.

The U.S. Supreme Court Justice was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch on Saturday morning.

He was 79 years old.

Haitian Interim President Elected ahead of April Contest

A former Haitian Interior Minister has been elected as the country's interim president.

62-year-old Jocelerme Privert was voted on Sunday as the National Assembly's provisional president and has been formally installed.

Privert promised during a speech to lawmakers that his interim administration would foster confidence within all sectors of society.

"I will work with all Haitian men and women to untie this crisis. I will dedicate myself even more to strengthen our social bonds and reinstate our civil and state rights."

The transitional government is to organize the upcoming general elections in April, and the winner will start a 5-year term on May 14.

Haitian stakeholders reached a political agreement on February 7 in a bid to install an interim government.

This came in less than 24 hours before Former President Michel Martelly's ended his 5-year term wihtout a new elected leader in place.

The first round of the presidential run-off last October sparked unrest among opposition members and their supporters, who accused the ruling party of manipulating the vote.

Rising violence and threats in the country have forced the elections to be delayed twice since last December.

Headline News

Railway Passenger Trips Hit Record High as Holiday Ends

Official figures show that Chinese passengers made a record number of trips by train, as people returned to work after a week-long Spring Festival holiday.

Railway passenger trips reached 10.3 million on Sunday, up 10 percent from last year.

Nearly 10 million passenger trips are expected to be made by train on Monday.

The Chinese are expected to make 3 billion passenger trips across the country during this year's 40-day lunar New Year travel rush, or "Chunyun", which lasts from January 24 to March 3.

China Launches Children's Chorus to Preserve Tibetan Epic

A children's chorus has been established in Qinghai Province to preserve a Tibetan epic.

It is inscribed on the UNESCO list of world intangible cultural heritage.

The local authorities say the chorus will sing the Gesar epic that has been preserved by singers and storytellers living on the roof of the world since the 12th century.

China's Major Coal-production Region Slashes Overcapacity

Guizhou, one of China's major coal-producing provinces, shut down 183 mines in 2015 in a bid to cut obsolete capacity.

Through closures, mergers and acquisitions, Guizhou has reduced its number of collieries in operation and under construction to less than 8-hundered from about 17-hundered since 2013.

It aims to close more than 80 more mines this year.

Guizhou is the largest coal producer in southern China, with the country's fifth largest proven reserves.

Tehran Says S-300 Missile System Being Shipped to Iran

It's been confirmed that Russia is shipping S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson says the agreement for the delivery of S-300 systems has been finalized over the past months.

Iran and Russia signed an 800-million-U.S. dollar contract in 2007 to supply Iran with five S-300 systems.

Former Russian Anti-doping Head Dies

The Former executive director of Russian anti-doping agency has been reportedly died, two months after he resigned.

The 50-year-old Nikita Kamayev died suddenly on Sunday after falling ill while skiing.

The cause of his death reportedly could be a massive heart attack.

Kamayev had been acting as RUSADA's executive director since 2011 and stepped down in December 2015.

Biz Reports

Stocks

Anchor

Time to check today's business news, starting with the closing numbers in Asia.

Here is CRI's Fei Fei.

Reporter:

Mainland stocks closed mixed on Monday, the first trading day after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

Shares plunged at the opening with a sweeping downtrend across global capital markets during the holiday when shares here were closed.

But the market regained losses in the afternoon session, led by gold related shares.

At the close,

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.6 percent.

The smaller Shenzhen Index ended almost flat.

The small-cap ChiNext Index moved up some 1 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained more than 3 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia,

Markets rebounded from a three year low, led by a surge in Japan.

Sentiment in Tokyo was boosted by a weaker yen and the upbeat U.S. retail sales data.

The benchmark Nikkei soared 7.2 percent.

South Korea's KOSPI rose 1.5 percent.

Singapore's Straits Times gained 2.7 percent.

And finally, Australia's ASX/200 added 1.6 percent.

Back Anchor

That is CRI's Fei Fei reporting.

China's Yuan Surge Most Since 2005 Backed by PBOC's Supports

The Chinese currency surged on Monday, its most in more than a decade, after the central bank voiced supports for the currency.

The official central parity rate strengthened by some 200 basis points.

Yuan also advanced 1.2 percent in Shanghai while the offshore yuan rose some 0.3 percent.

The premium between onshore and offshore rates dropped to less than 0.1 percent, from 1 percent before the holiday.

China Central Bank: No Reason for Yuan to Fall Further

Anchor

People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan says the Chinese yuan has no basis for further depreciation. The central banks chief blamed foreign speculators in part for the volatility of the yuan.

He said China would keep the yuan basically stable versus a basket of currencies while allowing greater volatility against the U.S. dollar.

In addition, Zhou Xiaochuan suggested that speculators should not be allowed to dominate market sentiment regarding China's foreign exchange reserves and it was quite normal for reserves to fall and rise.

Zhou said he believes yuan exchange reform will help the market be more flexible in dealing with speculative forces.

For more on the Chinese currency reform, CRI's Bob Jones spoke earlier with Mike Bastin, Director of the China Business Centre based in London.

Back Anchor

That was Mike Bastin, Director of the China Business Centre, speaking with CRI's Bob Jones.

China's FDI Grows 3.2% in Jan.

Official data shows that China's foreign direct investment has increased 3.2 percent year on year last month, reaching 88 billion yuan.

That is some 14 billion U.S. dollars.

China's Ministry of Commerce said that FDI in the service industry increased some 6 percent year on year, making up nearly 70 percent of the total investments.

At the same time, investments from the U.S. saw tremendous rise, up over 460 percent, followed by Europe and Japan.

Western China also reported gains in FDI with a growth of 17 percent.

Chinese Banks See More Bad Loans in 2015

Official data shows that Chinese banks saw more bad loans last year.

The bad loan rates stood at 1.67 percent by the end of last year, up 0.03 points from 2014.

The total amount of bad loans was valued at some 1.3 trillion yuan or close to 200 billion U.S. dollars.

The banking sector raked in net profit of 1.6 trillion yuan in 2015, an increase of 30 billion yuan year on year.

China's Jan. Export Down 6.6%, Imports Down 14.4%

China's exports have dropped 6.6 percent year on year last month, while imports declined 14.4 percent.

The monthly foreign trade surplus widened 12.2 percent year on year to more than 400 billion yuan or 62 billion U.S dollars.

Trade with China's three biggest trade partners, the European Union, the United States and the ASEAN countires, all dropped around 10 percent.

The official customs data also showed exports and imports by state-owned companies dived but private firms reported slight increases in both.

Experts attributed the weaker data to the global volatility in commodities and exchange rates at the end of last year.

At the same time, the General Administration of Customs noted that a benchmark index for exports saw the first increase in one year, signaling less export pressure in the second quarter of this year.

China's Crude Imports Fall to Three-month Low in Jan.

The official customs data showed that China's crude oil imports have fallen 20 percent last month to their lowest level since October.

The volume was also down some 5 percent from a year earlier at 27 million metric tons or about 6.3 million barrels a day.

Oil product net exports dived 76 percent to 350 thousand tons, a seven-month low.

Experts said that it is natural to see a smaller inbound shipment as stockpiles are quite full now.

In December, a record 7.8 million barrels a day of crude imports was reported.

At the same time, the country's major oil refiners are reducing production this year because of the low oil prices.

China Maintains the Prices for Retail Fuel

China's top economic planner has decided to maintain the current prices of gas and diesel.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the global oil prices remained below the pricing floor of 40 dollars a barrel.

Based on the pricing system, the domestic retail fuel prices will maintain unchanged.

Oil resumed its decline below $30 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.5 percent in New York after surging 12 percent on Friday, while Brent in London slid 0.2 percent.

Chinese Spring Festival Holiday Retail Sales and Tourism Expand

China's retail sales during the week-long Spring Festival holiday have grown over 11 percent from the same period last year.

Stats from the Ministry of Commerce show that retail sales and restaurant receipts totaled about 750 billion yuan or some 120 billion U.S. dollars.

At the same time, tourism revenue was also up 16 percent year on year, to nearly 370 billion yuan.

Official data shows that overseas travel became more popular with the number of outbound group tours hitting 8.6 million, up 3 percent.

The most popular destinations include Japan, Thailand, China's Taiwan, South Korea and Australia.

Sports

Eight Teams Begin CBA Play-offs

CBA action resumes tonight after a 10-day lull.

Eight teams kick the play-offs into full swing.

Last season's champions Beijing Ducks face Xinjiang first on their title defense.

Xinjiang won both their regular season encounters and have a bigger squad to choose from.

Beijing will be determined to turn things around in this new beginning.

Regular season winners Liaoning are playing Zhejiang.

Shandong and Guangdong are the most well-matched teams in this first round of the play-offs.

Finally it is the Zhejiang Lions against Sichuan.

The first four teams that win the best-of-five series will progress into the next phase.

Bryant Bows out of NBA All-Stars with Win, Westbrook Named MVP

Over in the NBA,

Kobe Bryant marked his final NBA All-Star Game with the Western Conference's 196-173 success, while the Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook was named the Game MVP for the second time in a row.

Bryant notched 10 points and checked out with 66 seconds left among a standing ovation.

Bryant says he had a lot of fun at his farewell All-star Game.

"It was fun. I mean, I had a blast. You know, playing with those guys and laughing and joking with them on the bench. I got a chance to stop Pau (Gasol) on the post, redeem myself from what he did to me when Chicago came to town. But all those things were just fun. I had a great time. I had a great great time."

The 37-year-old announced last November that this will be his last season after a career that spanned 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

MVP Westbrook scored 31 points.

The All-Star Game which took place in Toronto is the first time it has been held outside the United States.

It also set a new record for combined points in history.

Weekend Football Review

In football action from the Premier League,

Arsenal sank a last-ditch winner to gun down 10-man Leicester City 2-1 and close in on the lead.

Visiting Leicester finished the first half with a 1-0 lead on penalty.

Danny Simpson was sent off shortly into the second half having received two yellow cards.

It would prove the turning point of the game.

The Gunners threw everything at the Foxes until their defense came undone.

Mesut Ozil's precise free kick picked out Danny Welbeck who headed home the winner as the clock ticked beyond the four-minute stoppage time.

Arsenal came to second place behind Leicester at two points down.

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri who had always said they are not dreaming about the title yet, is starting to believe in their strengths.

"But listen, I think our fans are proud of us because we are doing something special and they want my players to continue in this way - fight. Maybe you could imagine how Leicester win also at Arsenal, nobody can stop them (Leicester) - no. Every match is difficult and Leicester, that's this in this Premier League this season... it's difficult to play against us."

The Foxes are also being hunted by Tottenham who defeated Manchester City 2-1 and moved to joint second place.

Liverpool ended their five-game winless drought with a 6-0 thrashing of bottom placed Aston Villa.

In La Liga,

Barcelona demolished Celta de Vigo 6-1 to reassert their lead on the table.

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez brought the night to a climax with a penalty. Messi rolled the ball off the spot for Suarez who stormed in and converted to complete his hat trick.

In the Bundesliga,

Leaders Bayern Munich downed Augsburg 3-1 in their Bavarian derby.

Robert Lewandowski's sublime form continues to bring solace to the injury-hit squad. His double sent him to top of the scorers' standings with 21 goals.

More Silver, Bronze Medals for China at Winter Youth Olympics

More good news for team China from the Winter Youth Olympics in Norway,

Speed skater Ma Wei won a silver medal in men's 1000 meter final behind South Korea's Hwang Dae-heon.

Liu Shaoang who represents Hungary is third.

Earlier on the women's side,

Chinese skaters failed to top the podium but rounded the other two spots.

Han Mei and Li Huawei were second and third in women's 500 meter final.

The gold medal went to Kim Min-sum of South Korea.

Tennis Results

In tennis,

Hometown favorites Chan Yung-Jan/Chan Hao-Ching won the doubles title at the Taiwan Open, defeating a Japanese pair in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

Top seed Venus Williams is the singles winner.

Elsewhere,

Roberta Vinci cruised past Belinda Bencic in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to win the Saint Petersburg WTA event.

In men's action,

Kei Nishikori has won his fourth consecutive title in Memphis, getting past Taylor Fritz in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

And Martin Klizan came from behind to upset Gael Monfils in three sets to win the World Indoors Tournament in Rotterdam.

Dominic Thiem battled three sets for the ATP title in Buenos Aires.

Tsonga Making Debut at Rio Open in Preparation for French Open

Thiem who ousted Rafael Nadal in Argentina is staying in South America for this week's Rio Open.

He will face Pablo Andujar in the first round.

Top seed Nadal is against compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta.

David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are seeded number two and three.

Tsonga is making his debut in Rio's clay court for the French Open at Roland Garros in May.

"Playing on clay is also good for me. I have a major (Grand Slam) in my country on clay court and at this time of the season we don't have clay court tournaments. So, it was good also to keep playing on the clay court and get used to it a little bit more and trying to be a better player on this surface."

Other seeded players in Rio include John Isner, Jack Sock and Fabio Fognini.

Schartzel Winner in South Africa; Taylor Wins Pebble Beach Pro-Am

In golf,

Pre-tournament favourite Charl Schwartzel has cruised to victory by eight shots at the Tshwane Open in South Africa to claim his 11th European Tour title and 8th on home soil.

Denmark's Jeff Winther finished 2nd.

At the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California,

Vaughn Taylor closed with a round of 7-under 65 to win the tournament by one shot over four-time winner Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson dropped a birdie putt at the 18th to miss the chance to force a playoff.

World number three Jason Day finished at joint 11th place at 9-under.

Top ranked Jordan Spieth wound up tied for 21st place at 7-under.

Entertainment

China's Box Office Soars 87% over Spring Festival

Movie ticket sales in China during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, plus Valentine's Day, hit a record high of about 535.4 million U.S. dollars, up 87.13 percent from last year.

Stephen Chow's latest comedy, "The Mermaid" nabs the crown for country's box office receipt with 270 million U.S. dollars by Sunday.

Following "The Mermaid" are Chow Yun-Fat's "The Man From Macau 3" grossing 120 million U.S. dollars, and The Monkey King 2 starring Aaron Kwok pulling in 115 million U.S. dollars.

The three movies contributed to more than 90 percent of China's box office during the same period.

DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda 3" was simply drowned out by the three blockbuster films, with a box office of 31 million U.S. dollars during the holiday, bringing its total to 125 million U.S. dollars since its debut on Jan 29.

China's movie market has been growing fast in recent years. The country's box office in 2015 has reached 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of nearly 50 percent from a year earlier.

Chinese Web Drama "Go Princess Go" to Get a Sequel and Movie Adaptation

Gan Wei, the producer of hit Chinese web drama "Go Princess Go", announced recently that the drama is set to get a sequel and a movie adaptation.

Moreover, plots of the sequel and movie will take views of audiences as references, fully creating a work for young people.

Launched online on Dec. 13 last year, "Go Princess Go" soon aroused heated discussions among young people and went viral, with the highest single-day video views over 200 million.

Chinese actress Crystal Zhang and actor Peter Sheng, who have leading roles in the drama, are also quickly gaining popularity following the drama's debut.

By only costing a mere 140,000 U.S. dollars to produce, "Go Princess Go" proved its viewership prowess as it made an estimated 630,000 U.S. dollars, thanks to more than 2 million viewers.

By using hilarious languages and the current popular time-travel theme, it is no doubt that "Go Princess Go" has become the No. 1 web drama in China at present.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet React after BAFTA Win

Leonardo DiCaprio has reunited with his "Titanic" and "Revolutionary Road" co-star Kate Winslet at the BAFTA awards show.

DiCaprio picked up his first ever BAFTA award on Sunday, winning Best Actor for his role in the revenge drama "The Revenant".

Winslet scored the Best Supporting Actress honor for her role in "Steve Jobs", and she dedicated her award to women who have suffered criticism.

Backstage, DiCaprio described his love for cinema since teenage.

"I grew up in this industry. Ironically I felt very detached from it, even when I lived in east LA, in Hollywood, I always felt like it was this distant thing that I couldn't touch, so to have worked in this industry ever since I was 13 years old, having done twenty some-odd movies to be here now and have to be for a film like this that we worked so very hard on, really feels amazing and I feel it."

Starring as Joanna Hoffman, the colleague of the late Apple co-founder, Kate Winslet took the opportunity to encourage young women to fight for their parts.

"And so what I feel like saying in those moments is to any young woman who has ever been put down by a teacher or a friend or even a parent, just don't listen to any of it because that's what I did. I didn't listen and I kept on going and I overcame all of my fears and I got over a lot of insecurities and just keep doing it and keep believing in yourself."

It was Winslet's third BAFTA win, after winning awards for "Sense and Sensibility" in 1996 and "The Reader" in 2009.

Kate Winslet and Keira Knightley to Join Will Smith in "Collateral Beauty"

Kate Winslet and Keira Knightley are both confirmed to join the New Line ensemble drama "Collateral Beauty" starring Will Smith.

Directed by "The Devil Wears Prada" director David Frankel, the cast also stars Helen Mirren, Ed Norton, Michael Pena and Naomie Harris.

The Allan Loeb-written script centers on a New York ad man whose life falls on a downward spiral after he experiences a personal tragic event. His colleagues try to help him out of his depression not in a way that anyone imagined.

That's it for this edition of the Beijing Hour...

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On behalf of the Beijing Hour team, its Spencer Musick in Beijing. Join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour, to open a window to the world together...