新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2015/01/30
时间：2015-05-12 07:40:20
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Paul James with you on this Friday, January 30, 2015.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour; we are coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on the programme this evening:
At least 20 people are dead following a bombing at a Shia
mosque2 in southern Pakistan
Over two-dozen people are dead in a series of attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
An online music association has been launched here in China.
In business.... new reports are suggesting embattled Chinese developer Kaisa may have a buyer.
In sports... Zheng Jie and her partner from Taiwan come up just short in the women's doubles final in Australia.
In entertainment.... tragedy strikes on the set of a new film being directed by Martin Scorcese.
But first, a check on what's happening weather wise...
Weather
Beijing will be clear tonight, with a low of minus 8. It will be sunny tomorrow, with a high of 4 degrees.
Meanwhile Shanghai will be cloudy tonight, with a low of 2.
But tomorrow will be sunny, with a high of 6.
Chongqing will be rainy tonight, 5 degrees the lowest. The wet spell continues with slight rains tomorrow, with high of 7.
Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia
Islamabad, sunny tomorrow with a high of 26
Kabul, cloudy at 10.
Over to Australia
Sydney, cloudy, with high of 27.
Canberra also cloudy, at 23
Brisbane cloudy again, but summer temperatures will hit 34 degrees there.
Finally, Perth will be cloudy with a high of 35.
Top News
Deadly blast Pakistan Shia mosque kills 20
At least 20 people are dead following a bombing at a Shia mosque in southern Pakistan.
At least 50 others have been wounded in the attack, which took place following Friday morning prayers in the province of Sindh.
The death
toll4 is expected to rise, as many of the wounded are in a critical condition.
Local reports suggest the blast could have been a suicide attack.
However, local police are not confirming that for the time being.
It's unclear at this point who is behind the blast.
But Sunni
militant5 groups have targeted the Shia minority in Pakistan in the past.
Egypt military targeted in deadly Sinai attacks
At least 26 people, mostly soldiers, have been killed in a series of attacks by Islamist
militants9 in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
A car bomb and rockets hit a military base and a military hotel in the city of El-Arish.
Other attacks have also taken place in the town of Sheik Zuwayid and in Rafah, which is
situated10 along Egypt's border with Gaza.
More than 50 people have been wounded in Thursday's attacks.
A militant group
allied11 to the Islamic State is claiming responsibility.
Thursday's attacks represent some of the worst anti-government violence in Egypt in months.
The attacks come at the same time Egyptians took to the streets to mark the 4-year anniversary of Hosni Mubarak being unseated as President.
--
For more on the violence in Egypt, CRI's Poornima Weerasekara
spoke12 to Ben Liang, a freelance Journalist and an expert on Egyptian affairs.
Fate of Hostages Held by IS Remain Unknown
The fates of the Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot being held by the Islamic State remain unknown, a day after the latest deadline for a possible prisoner
swap13 came and went.
There has been no further communication from the Islamic State after the latest video released on Tuesday.
The Jordanian government says it will only release an al-Qaida prisoner from death row if it is given proof the Jordanian airman is alive.
The Islamic State has already
assassinated14 the other Japanese hostage after the Japanese government refused to give in to a 200 million US dollar
ransom15 demand.
Boko Haram crisis: Chad captures Nigerian town from militants
The Chadian army says it's been able to drive Boko Haram militants out of a town in northeast Nigeria.
The capture of the town, which lies close to the borders of Chad and Niger, comes after two days of heavy fighting.
Both ground and air forces have been used in the assault.
This comes a week after Nigeria allowed Chadian troops to engage Boko Haram militants in its territory.
The Boko Haram
insurgency16 in northeastern Nigeria has begun spilling over into villages and military bases in neighboring Cameroon.
Chad has also sent troops into Cameroon.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has made the fight against Boko Haram one of his key campaign pledges in the lead-up to the presidential elections, which are set to take place on February 14th.
"Before this time about five local governments where under the control of Boko Haram in this state. So many people lost their lives not to talk about properties. As we are talking today Michika local government was recaptured by our
gallant17 forces today. We will soon recover all our territories. All of us here feel burdened. I feel so burdened about the excesses of Boko Haram."
It's estimated over a million people have been displaced in the 6-year insurgency.
Boko Haram, which
literally18 translates to Western Education Is Banned, is fighting to establish Sharia law in northern Nigeria.
The country itself is split between a Muslim north and
Christian19 south.
Moscow-brokered Syria peace talks end without breakthrough
The latest round of Russian-backed Syrian peace talks have ended without any major breakthroughs.
But the groups did agree to meet again in the near future.
Vitaly Naumkin, who heads the Moscow-based Institute for Eastern Studies, moderated the discussions.
He has
dubbed20 the agreement the Moscow principals.
"All the participants in the talks have reached an understanding and
consensus21 about this document. Both sides have agreed to build a national platform for political
consultations23 so that all Syrians can work together, in inclusive dialogues with no
strings24 attached, to tackle the outstanding problems and contradictions as they aim for the resolution of Syria's crisis."
The four-day session has seen group representing the official Syrian
opposition25 and representatives of the government meet in Moscow.
Syria political opposition groups backed by the United States and its allies were not part of the process.
That
faction26 isn't willing to sit down with the Bashar al-Assad government unless commitments are made for him to step down.
More than 200-thousand people have been killed in the civil war, which began in 2011.
Online Music Copyright Association Launched in China
Anchor:
Around 30 different music companies and platforms in China have launched an Online Music Copyright Association in an attempt to battle
piracy27.
CRI's Wang Mengzhen has the details.
Reporter:
Over 10 well-known record companies in China and abroad have joined the copyright network, including Sony, Warner and Decca records.
Several online music platforms, including QQ, KuGoo and Koowo are also part of the Association.
Shi Lixue is the CEO of Koowo Music box.
"The self-discipline convention regulates us, the web-managers, on our own. If we find any unauthorized online music or music without proper copyright, we have to take it down. At the same time, members of the copyright association can notify us about any pirated music in our system. This way, we can clear it off our lists after we verify it's not copyrighted."
The group is hoping to create self-discipline within the industry.
The association has already published two documents.
One is called the "Anti-Piracy Declaration" while the other is the "Self-discipline Convention".
Piracy and free downloads remain
rampant28 in the online music industry in China, despite attempts to crack down on copyright
infringement29.
Chinese composer Li Haiying is one of those battling for more to be done to protect copyrights.
"I have been involved in two
lawsuits31 with big music companies. But I was reluctant to get involved. I don't think any musicians or artists want to become
embroiled32 in lawsuits, because we don't want to be involved in legal battles all the time. "
Meanwhile, Xie Guomin, CEO of the China Music Corporation, says pirated music has negative consequences for the entire music industry.
"The piracy issue has destroyed the whole system of online music, regardless of the music quality, its market or administration. As such, companies cannot earn much, and listeners are getting watered-down products. Another reason is that we do not have well-defined rules to protect the whole industry."
A recent report conducted by the International
Federation33 of the Phonographic Industry suggests China's online music market ranks 21rd in the world, with its online music consumers reaching over 400-thousand people.
For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.
More Chinese Travelers to Go Overseas for Spring Festival
Anchor:
A new survey is suggesting that two-in-every-five people in China plan to spend their week-long Spring Festival holiday overseas thanks to looser visa policies.
CRI's Niu Honglin has more.
Reporter:
The number of bookings by outbound Chinese tourists has almost doubled this year from the same period last year.
Chinese travel portal ly.com is suggesting Chinese outbound tourists are more willing to travel to neighboring places in Asia than anywhere else.
South Korea tops the destination list, followed by Hong Kong and Macao, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Maldives and Singapore.
Zhang Tiemin is with China International Travel Services.
"Spring Festival tours to Japan and South Korea are extremely popular. So judging from the applications we've got now, tour groups from 16th to 22nd February are
fully34 packed."
Dai
Bin1 with the China Tourism Academy says many countries including the United States, Japan, certain European countries and Australia, have launched easier visa services for Chinese nationals, or have
waived35 their visa requirements all-together.
"Apart from the extended period of validity, visa facilitation also makes it easier and less
costly36 for tourists to obtain visas, including visa on arrival, visa-free and group visa. The eased visa policies have made it more convenient for Chinese people to travel overseas."
The falling exchange rate of several currencies including the U.S. dollar, Australian dollar, Euro and Japanese
yen37 is also proving to be an
incentive38 for many people to travel abroad.
The Lunar New Year is China's most important family holiday, with hundreds of millions of people returning to their hometown to meet with families and old friends.
But spending the holiday traveling abroad is also quickly becoming a notable alternative.
It's believed between the first and third day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the prices for tour packages are likely to be pushed up by around 25-percent due to the increased demand.
For CRI, I am Niu Honglin.
Wechat Ads under Fire
Anchor:
A new survey is suggesting most people who use Wechat aren't happy with the new ads that have been added to the Moments function.
CRI's Luo Wen has more.
Reporter:
Recent online voting conducted by China Central Television shows more than 80 percent of Wechat users consider the ads to be commercial
harassment39.
"I am disgusted with it. Wechat Moments is a platform that should help me learn what's going on with my friends and let my friends know what I am doing now. Ads among my friends' feeds is an
annoyance40."
The popular messaging app, owned by Tencent, began testing sponsored ads last week.
The ads are pushed to 200 million Wechat users daily.
Zhang Jun, spokesman for Tencent, says the company attaches great importance to the user experience.
"An ad will appear in a place no higher than the fifth post on the page. A user will receive only one ad within a certain period of time while it will disappear automatically if left unnoticed for hours."
Brands invited to take part in the test include BMW, Coca-Cola, and Cadillac.
Users receive different ads depending on their past behavior, and are invited to "like" and post comments.
This promoting strategy soon triggered a stir.
Many wechat users have mocked it, some with self-deprecating humor, noting that they've been identified as being able to afford only a bottle of coke, while others receive ads for
automobiles41.
Experts suggest that besides ad content and the way it circulates, marketers should also pay attention to how users "like" an ad recommended by friends.
WeChat boasts more than 450 million monthly active users.
But despite a drastic increase in user population, it has struggled to monetize that user base.
For CRI, I am Luo Wen.
Biz Reports
First, let's have a look at the numbers across the Asian markets this Friday evening.
Joining me on the desk is Poornima Weerasekara.
Reporter:
Chinese markets continued on a slide to end the week.
13 accounts on the Shenzhen bourses have been found to have been manipulated by a certain brokerage firm.
At close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell over one and a half percent.
The Shenzhen
Component44 Index gave up nearly 1 percent.
Insurance firms and brokerages again led the losses, both dumping over 3 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 1 percent.
South Korea's KOSPI dipped marginally.
Singapore's Straits Times index shed four fifths of a percent.
And lastly, Australia's ASX 200 picked up nearly a third of a percent.
Alibaba Faces Possible Class
Lawsuit30 in the States over Fake Goods White Paper
Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba have gone through a second-straight day of selloffs on the Nasdaq following the release of the company's fourth quarter revenues.
The company's sales jumped 40 percent this past quarter.
However, the 4.2 billion dollars in revenue still missed market expectations of 4.4 billion.
At the close on Thursday, Alibaba's shares declined nearly 9 percent,
carving48 22 billion dollars off the company's estimated market value.
This comes as the company faces a potential class action lawsuit from a group of its
investors49 in the coming days.
A group of Alibaba investors has hired US law firm Pomerantz to investigate whether Alibaba is liable to its
shareholders50 in its dispute with the Chinese government connected to an analysis of fake goods being sold on Alibaba's main e-commerce platform, Taobao.
The White Paper on shoddy goods sold on Chinese e-commerce sites became public earlier this week, which has suggested Taobao is the worst among all the e-commerce companies reviewed, with just over one-third of its products meeting quality standards.
However, there are allegations the analysis, which was completed last year, should have been available in July, which is at least 2-months before Alibaba went public with its 20-billion dollar IPO.
Frustrated51 investors want lawyers to investigate whether it was China's business regulators, or the company itself, which
withheld52 the analysis.
Taobao has publically refuted the results of the analysis, suggesting the
inspector53 in-charge didn't do enough screening of the products themselves.
Chinese regulators have refuted this allegation.
China Power Investment and State Nuclear Set to
Merge54
A
merger55 of China's top two nuclear power companies has been approved by the cabinet.
The State Council has given the green-light to the
integration56 of China Power Investment and the State Nuclear Power Technology.
They're coming together to create a new
conglomerate57 which focuses on overseas contracts.
A cabinet meeting earlier this week has earmarked high-speed trains and nuclear energy as two key engines for Chinese export.
News of the merger has sent the shares of both companies up over 4-percent this Friday.
State Nuclear Power Technology is among the three state-owned nuclear giants.
The state-run giant is the company trying to create so-called 3rd generation nuclear power technology.
China Power Investment has a
license58 to export technology to overseas markets.
China's
Fiscal59 Revenue Growth Hits an over Two-decade Low
Fiscal revenue growth in China dropped to a 23-year low this past year, posting an increase of 8.6-percent.
This is down from the 10.2-percent rise in government revenues in 2013.
Slower growth in industrial profits is being
pointed60 to as the main reason for the slowdown.
A decline in land-sales is also a significant factor.
The
Ministry61 of Finance also contends its changes to the tax structure have contributed to the decline in revenues.
Sunac China Buys 49 percent Stake in Kaisa
It appears embattled Chinese property firm Kaisa is going to be "pulled from the fire."
Caixin Media is reporting Sunac China has agreed to buy a 49.3-percent stake in the troubled land developer.
The price-tag hasn't been disclosed.
Sunac is going to purchase its nearly 50-percent stake from the Kwok brothers, who still
technically62 control the developer.
One of the brothers has fled China after the company's assets were frozen last year.
Kaisa had been approached by China Vanke's Shanghai branch about a possible deal.
But that
partnership63 fell through after Kaisa's attempt to sell-off properties in the cities of Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Shanghai were blocked by regulators.
Lions Gate Plans on Film Production Deal with China's Hunan TV
Anchor:
North American production firm Lions Gate Entertainment has announced plans for a 1.5-billion US dollar film project with Hunan TV, China's second largest broadcaster.
As part of the deal, Lions Gate will distribute Chinese films produced by Hunan TV in overseas markets.
At the same time, Hunan TV will enjoy exclusive rights to distribute four Lions Gate movies in China per year.
For more on the new deal, the Beijing Hour's Shane Bigham spoke earlier with Doug Young, associate professor at Fudan University and former China company news chief at Reuters.
China Gold Consumption Shrinks by One Third in 2014
Gold has posted its biggest single-day drop in over a year, dipping 2.4-percent overnight.
Gold is now trading at 12-hundred-55-dollars-90-cents US, down 31-dollars-30-cents through Thursday's trading.
The downturn comes after the US Federal Reserve re-affirmed it is still on track to raise interest rates later this year.
Tencent Secures NBA Exclusive Live Streaming rights with 100 million USD
Chinese internet giant Tencent has secured the exclusive live-streaming rights for NBA games.
The company is paying 100-million US dollars to become the only network in China to legally screen every game of all 30 teams.
Tencent is also paying for the ability to allow other network platforms to broadcast the games as part of its
licensing64 agreement.
Headline News
Egypt military targeted in deadly Sinai attacks
At least 26 people are dead and 58 others wounded in a series of attacks by militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt's state Television is reporting a car bomb and
mortars65 hit military targets in El-Arish,
killing66 a number of soldiers.
Other attacks have also taken place in the nearby town of Sheik Zuwayid and at the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.
Tensions have been running high across Egypt this week amid protests marking the 4th anniversary of the 2011 uprising that
ousted67 former President Hosni Mubarak.
EU expands sanctions on Russia
The European Union has extended its sanctions on Russia until September.
Despite opposition from the new Greek government, The EU has
decided68 to extend its sanctions against Moscow for its failure to help end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The sanctions cover more than 100 Russian and Ukrainian figures.
These are the same people and groups which were originally hit with sanctions after Russia's
annexation69 of Crimea in March.
In extending the sanctions, the European Union has decided not to expand them.
U.S. Senate panel votes to advance Iran sanctions bill
The US Senate
Banking70 Committee has voted to advance a new bipartisan sanctions bill on Iran for a full-floor vote.
The bill would provide tougher sanctions if Iran fails to sign up to a new nuclear deal by the end of June.
A full Senate vote isn't expected until the end of March.
US President Barack Obama has been advising Congress not to put the bill forward, suggesting it could upset the balance of
negotiations71.
Diplomats72 from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, have been meeting with their Iranian counterparts to try to pave the way for a final deal by June 30th.
Highway collision kills six in southwest China
A motor vehicle accident in Chongqing has left 6-people dead.
Eight others managed to survive after a car collided with a minibus on the Yuwan Highway this Friday morning.
The cause of the crash is unclear at this point.
The accident comes amid the start of the annual traffic rush ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, which is just 3-weeks away.
A man in Heilongjiang has been executed for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old.
Bai Yunjiang and his wife colluded to rape and murder the 16-year old.
The couple
lured74 the teenager to their home in the city of Jiamusi, then attempted to drug and rape her.
The attempt to
sedate75 the victim failed, and couple ended up killing her.
The wife has been put in prison for life.
During her
testimony76, the wife revealed she had cheated on her husband numerous times, and when he found out, she lured the girl to their home in an attempt to please him.
Newspaper Picks
CHINA NEWS SERVICE
"Post Spring Festival to bring job-
hopping77 spree"
The Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year, is expected to see another peak in job hopping as workers receive their year-end bonuses, according to the Beijing Morning Post.
Other opportunities after the Lunar New Year may also be an important motivation for departing employees.
The Beijing Second Intermediate Court says about nine percent of the
labor78 dispute cases it handles are related to issues of
unpaid79 year-end bonuses and employment changes after China's most important festival.
It also says that more than 70 percent of job-hoppers are under 35 years old and work in labor-intensive industries, such as construction, logistics, sales,
catering80, and the production and processing
sectors81.
Experts suggest that in order to prevent labor disputes, employees should inform employers 30 days in advance and finish all necessary handovers before terminating their labor contracts.
--
CHINA DAILY
"China's
gender82 imbalance concerns reborn"
Pregnant villagers in east China have been
alleged83 to be illegally determining the sex of their unborn children.
Lian
Fang84, a political
advisor85 in Shandong Province, said doctors in Shandong's rural areas have been surreptitiously purchasing B ultrasound machines and hiding them in villagers' back rooms.
Once the equipment is used to
ascertain86 fetal gender, unborn boys are usually kept while unborn girls are typically
aborted87, Lian said at Shandong's "two sessions".
Preference for boys is not
uncommon88 in China, particularly in the countryside, where thousands of years of
feudal89 values are still casting a shadow over people's attitudes.
A local official said the male to female proportion had exceeded 120 to 100 in some parts of Shandong.
Statistics show that, as of the end of last year, the Chinese mainland held nearly 34 million more males than females.
--
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA
A surgical robot fitted with multiple arms has carried out its debut operation in England, in a technology breakthrough that will make new treatments possible for the first time.
The Da Vinci XI, which is hand-operated by surgeons, has the ability to make tiny and precise
incisions92, replacing some traditional operations that require cutting patients open and months of recovery, with far less invasive keyhole surgery.
Surgeons at London's Royal Marsden Hospital hailed the technology as pushing the boundaries in surgery, particularly in cancer care, as they completed the first operation on a patient with a
tumor93 on Thursday.
During the operation, four arms of the robot were used
simultaneously94 to make separate
microscopic95 incisions on the 58-year-old woman, while two surgeons controlled them.
The Royal Marsden Hospital said the robot is the latest model to arrive in England from the US.
--
BBC
"Child
obesity96 rates 'leveling off' among under-10s"
A new study suggests that the rise in childhood obesity, which has left one in three UK children overweight, may be beginning to level off in the under-10s.
There was a steady rise in the proportion of overweight children between 1994 and 2003, but in the past decade it has remained at about 30%.
The King's College London researchers add obesity rates among 11- to 15-year-olds are still rising, however.
Experts believe that being significantly overweight is responsible for a wide range of health problems such as heart disease, type 2
diabetes97, some cancers, and
infertility98.
The number of
obese99 people in the UK has more than trebled in the past 25 years.
Obesity levels among children have also been rising. One in three children in the UK is now overweight, while one in five is obese.
Special Reports
China's Water and Ink Works to Go to Venice
Biennial100 Exhibition
Anchor:
Beijing-based Today Art Museum, China's first private museum, is putting on a water-ink art show in Italy.
CRI's Zhang
Wan3 has more.
Reporter:
The Venice Biennial is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years, usually in odd years, in Venice, Italy.
Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been developed into one of the most
prestigious101 cultural gala in the world, promoting new
artistic102 trends and organizing international events themed on contemporary arts.
Yang Jie, an experienced curator, values this platform and also plans an exhibition that
revolves103 around the development and future of China's water-ink.
"We install a total of seven libraries from time to time in history at the
venue47. Chinese traditional classic pieces by painters dating back to different historic era will be on display and they will be interpreted via modern approaches. This way the exhibition is expected to provoke deep thinking on what are the core values of modern as well as traditional water and ink works of art."
Despite the large wave of enthusiastics collecting valuable Chinese water-ink works, Yang Jie thinks not all collectors are able to well interpret meaning behind those artworks.
"In recent years, China's water-ink works have
evoked108 fanatic109 enthusiasm worldwide. There's lack of correct understandings about the core values of this unique expression of Chinese art, The Venice Biennale, a
renowned110 world leading-edge platform of art, offers us a chance for an in-depth
consultation22 on the Chinese water and ink works."
This Chinese
orientated111 water-ink exhibition will be held in Venice, Italy in May.
BACK ANCHOR:
That is CRI's Zhang Wan reporting.
Sports
Tennis: Cross-Strait pair fall to Sands-Safarova at Aussie Open
In tennis action:
American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic won the Australian Open women's doubles title in their first tournament as a combination.
They beat the cross-strait pairing of Chan Yung-jan of Chinese Taipei, and the mainland's Zheng Jie 6-4, 7-6 in today's final.
It marked the first time a new pairing has won a Grand Slam title since Nathalie Dechy of France and Russia's Dinara Safina took the 2007 U.S. Open title.
Zheng said that a lack on confidence on her part may have contributed to the loss:
"I think the first two serves went well, but I was not confident enough to break my opponent's serves. Both sets were pretty close, so if I could have broken her serve and took more winners, the match would have turned out differently."
Chan said that she nonetheless has a lot to look forward to in her career:
"We are upset about losing the game of course, but our opponents really did a good job, we congratulate them sincerely. I still have a long way to go I know, but luckily, I am still young and have a lot of fire in me."
Chan and Zheng twice served for the second set. Mattek-Sands
clinched112 the match with a backhand to the open court in the tiebreaker.
Mattek-Sands, who received treatment on her right hamstring several times during the match, won the 2012 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Horia Tecau of Romania.
Earlier in the mixed doubles semi-final, Leander Paes' incredible behind-the-back volley leveled the opening set for him and his partner Martina Hingis.
The pair went on to beat Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the final.
CBA: Guangdong Southern to face Zhejiang Chouzhou
In CBA action tonight:
Guangdong Southern will face Zhejiang Chouzhou;
The Sichuan Blue Whales take on Chongqing;
Dongguan hit the court against Zhejiang Guangsha;
Jiangsu and Beijing will go at it in the capital;
Shanxi take on Guangdong Foshan;
Jiangsu Tong Xi will face Jilin Northeast;
Tianjin will battle Shandong;
Liaoning is on the road in Qingdao;
The Bayi Rockets are in Shanghai to face the Sharks;
And Fujian will host Xinjiang.
Taking a look at rankings as the playoffs draw near:
Guangdong Southern is first in the league with 33 wins, followed closely by Liaoning who have 30.
Qingdao and the Beijing Ducks are tied with 26 wins a piece, followed by Jilin, Shanxi and Guangsha, all with 25 wins this season.
In 8th place is Dongguan with 24 wins.
NBA: Memphis thrash Denver 99-69.
It was a light schedule in the NBA today:
Zach Randolph had 15 points and 17
rebounds113 as the Memphis
Grizzlies114 built an early lead and never look back to a 99-69 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night.
Courtney Lee, Nick Calathes and Beno Udrih scored 11 apiece for the Memphis, who won its fifth straight. Marc Gasol had 10 points and Jeff Green added 13 points.
Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried each scored 10 points for Denver, which lost for the eighth time in the last nine. Ty Lawson contributed nine points and six assists.
In other action:
The Indiana Pacers beat out the New York Knicks 103-82.
The Milwaukee
Bucks115 took down the Orlando Magic 115-100.
And it was the Los Angeles Lakers over the Chicago Bulls 123-118.
Golf: Bernd Wiesberger takes lead at Dubai Desert Classic
In more golf action:
Austria's Bernd Wiesberger continued his excellent recent form to take the first round lead at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Wiesberger, who was sixth in Abu Dhabi and third in Qatar after being pipped by playing partner Branden Grace in the final round, carded eight birdies in a flawless round of 64.
That was enough to top a star-studded leaderboard, with former World Number One Lee Westwood, South Africa Open winner Andy Sullivan, American Peter Uihlein and big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts a shot further back.
World number one Rory McIlroy also made an excellent start as he attempted to turn his recent good form into victory at Emirates Golf Club, but a wayward drive led to a
bogey116 at the ninth - his last - and left him two adrift of Wiesberger.
NFL: Superbowl Preview
The Seattle Seahawks will defend their Super Bowl title on Sunday against the New England
Patriots117, who are aiming for their fourth Super Bowl victory.
The game pits one of the league's best
offenses118, directed by quarterback Tom Brady, against the vaunted Seattle
defense119.
In the regular season, the Patriots were 11th in yards per game with 1,073, while the Seahawks led the NFL in total defense, allowing only 267.1 yards per game.
If New England wins, Brady would tie Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for the most Super Bowl rings with four apiece, cementing his status as one of the best ever to play the position.
If Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll leads his team to
consecutive120 Super Bowl titles, he can become just the seventh to do so, joining the ranks of Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Shanahan and Bill Belichick.
South Korean officials meet to discuss Park Tae-hwan doping case
A team of South Korean sports officials has met to discuss preparations around an upcoming doping hearing for Park Tae-hwan.
Representatives from the Korean Olympic Committee, the Korea Swimming Federation and from Park's camp met behind closed doors on Friday in Seoul.
Entertainment
One person dead and two injured on Martin Scorsese film set
One person has died and two were injured on the set of Martin Scorsese's new film 'Silence' in Taiwan.
The three were working as
contractors121 to reinforce a building on the Central Motion Picture corporations Studios lot. The lot had been deemed unsafe for production when the accident happened.
Li Liang-shan, a crew member for the film explains what happened.
"So the manager of the construction department hired three workers to work inside the building and five from outside to reinforce the structure. But at 10:05 a.m. (0205 GMT) today, the whole ceiling just
collapsed122 all of sudden."
Silence, which is still in pre-production, is the Oscar-winning director's first
theatrical123 film since The Wolf of Wall Street.
The movie will star Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.
Katy Perry reveals details about her Superbowl half time show
Katy Perry says her Super Bowl halftime performance will make you Roar with animals.
The singer said her performance on Sunday will include a lion and sharks.
"I think what I bring is just some light-heartedness. I will tell you that I think I'm probably the only person in Super Bowl halftime history that will ever bring both a lion and sharks to the show."
Lenny Kravitz will join the pop star at the University of
Phoenix127 Stadium in Arizona. Perry said her performance will also include an "old school" female singer who she declined to identify but said would be instantly familiar from the get-go.
Perry, 30, said she feels blessed to perform on the Super Bowl stage "at such a young age." She said she enjoyed past Super Bowl performances from Beyoncé and Madonna, and what she adds "is some lightheartedness."
A record setting 111.5 million viewers watched the halftime spectacle in the US last year and many millions more
tuned128 into the international broadcast.
Justin Bieber released video apologizing for his
arrogance129
Justin Bieber has come clean about the bad behavior that's
marred130 his recent career in a video posted on his Facebook page.
The star had just finished taping the Ellen show earlier in the day, his first public appearance in quite some time. Bieber explained in his video that he felt nervous about how he would be perceived.
"I was afraid of what people were thinking about me right now. I didn't want to come off as
arrogant131 and
conceited132 basically how I've been
acting133 in the past year, year and a half. I'm not who I was pretending to be. I'm a person who genuinely cares. "
During his appearance on the Ellen show, he surprised her with birthday gifts including flowers and a pack of Calvin Klein underwear.
The past few years have been especially rocky for the pop star who has been caught doing pretty much everything, from underage drinking to egging his neighbour's house and abandoning a monkey in Germany.
Star Wars toy sells for ?18,000
A Star Wars toy that cost ?1.50 when it came out 35 years ago has sold at
auction134 for ?18,000, or around 27,000 U.S dollars.
The figure of
bounty135 hunter Boba Fett was put up for auction by Craig Stevens from the UK. He is a former chairman of the UK Star Wars Fan Club.
He bought the figure still in its original packaging for ?50 in 1990.
The Boba Fett figure is thought to be one of only four or five to exist in such a
pristine136 condition.
Craig Stevens described it as a
wrench137 to sell but said he wanted to raise cash to buy a new house for him and his wife.
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