[Sweeney:] Hospitals in China are on alert for a strain of bird flu that's claimed two lives. China's state news agency says the H7N9 substrain hadn't been found in humans before. The two men, aged 27 and 87 lived in Shanghai. A woman in a nearby province infested with the strain is currently in critical condition. Authorities don't know how the trio contracted the virus. Turning to sport now. And Andy Murray has returned to his highest ever world tennis ranking after a hard fought victory in Miami. Let's join World Sport's Alex Thomas for all the details. Hi, there.
[Alex Thomas, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Hi, Fionnuala. Andy Murray has leap-frogged Roger Federer in the world tennis rankings after beating David Ferrer in a match the Scot described as brutal and one of the toughest Master series finals he's ever played. The Spaniard raced into an early lead, taking the opening set by 6-2, but in the second set needing just one point to win the Sony Open. Ferrer challenged a line call instead of playing on. And Murray's shot was ruled in after a video review. Ferrer later admitted it was a bad decision and one he wants to forget about. Murray took that set. And in the second longest final in the event's history lasting two and three quarter hours, the Scot claimed victory to move up to second in the rankings.
[Andy Murray, World Tennis Number Two:] Yeah, I mean I think, you know, any time you're moving up the rankings that's a good sign. I mean, the number one goal for me during the year is to try and win the major events, you know, and then the ranking takes care of itself. If you can play well in the biggest tournament. But getting to number two is, you know, it's a good achievement. You know, I hope I can go higher, but that's incredibly difficult right now with the guys around the top of the game to get there. But I'll give it my best shot.
[Thomas:] NFL player JJ Watt through a 73 mile an hour ceremonial pitch as the new major lead baseball season got underway in Houston. It was the Astros first game since their switch to the American League. And Justin Maxwell's hit at the bottom of the fourth put the home team into a two run lead. The score had advanced to 4-2 at the bottom of the sixth. And that's when Rick Ankiel smacks it to deep right field for three more runs. And the Astros end up winning 8-2, their first season opening victory since 2006. Now former British former secretary David Milliband has quit the board of English Premier League Football Club Sunderland after it had appointed Paolo Di Canio as the team's new manager. The former Milan, Lazio, West Ham, and Celtics striker has described himself as a fascist in the past and famously gave a Nazi style salute to fans in 2005. Di Canio has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the relegation threatened club. It's Champion's League quarterfinal week. And after opening up a seven point lead in Ligue, Paris Saint-Germain now face the might of Barcelona. We sent Pedro Pinto to France over the weekend to see how their preparations are going. He's been speaking to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and new signing David Beckham. Becks told Pedro, he still hasn't turned his back on international football.
[David Beckham, Paris Saint-germain Midfielder:] One of the reasons why I've never retired from the England team is because if there's ever an opportunity to play for them again, then I'm available. You know, I wouldn't want to come out of retirement to be part of the team, you know. So that's one of the reasons why I've never retired. If there is any chance of me playing for my country again, I would never turn that down. So, you know, I'm like I said, I'm almost 38 years old, so the chances are very slight, but you never know.
[Thomas:] You never know if Becks will play for England again, but I do know that you can see the full interview in World Sport later on Monday. It's around 11:30 tonight Central European Time. I'll have another sports update for you in a couple of hour's time. Until then, back to you Fionnuala.
[Sweeney:] Thanks indeed. Positive thinking there on the part of Mr. David Beckham. Well, there's much more to come on News Stream. Pakistan's election campaigns are well underway despite violent attacks and threats of more. We'll check in with one high profile candidate. And violence has a small town in the U.S. state of Texas shrouded in fear. Weeks apart, two prosecutors are shot and killed. We'll take you to the Lone Star State for the latest on the mystery.