Fresh Start: Podcast News (1/28/2018 Sun.)
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Welcome to Fresh Start. 

This is People’s Daily app.

Here are today’s top picks from our editors.

Milos Zeman wins Czech presidential election

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Pro-Russian incumbent Milos Zeman was re-elected Czech presidential on Saturday, narrowly outpacing his pro-European liberal rival Jiri Drahos, official results showed.

Zeman took 51.95 percent of the vote against 48.04 percent for Drahos, Czech Television reported quoting official results. (AFP) 

2015 Paris terror attack suspect extradited to France

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Mohamed Bakkali, one of the suspects in the 2015 Paris attacks that left 130 people dead, was extradited to France on Friday and charged with complicity and attempted terrorism, French media reported.

Bakkali was arrested in Belgium shortly after the November 2015 attacks, in which gunmen hit bars and restaurants in a popular neighborhood of Paris, as well as the Bataclan concert venue and the national stadium.

On Friday, Belgian authorities released him to their French counterparts but on the condition that any sentence he served would be in Belgium. (CGTN) 

North Korea blasts US for sanctions

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North Korea on Saturday accused the US of “pouring cold water” on the entire Korean Peninsula by issuing a new round of sanctions. A spokesperson for North Korea said the sanctions are “an obvious infringement upon sovereignty and a grave act of provocation.”

US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it would enforce sanctions on more than 10 individuals, several entities and vessels under the allegation that they violated US Sanction Laws. (Xinhua) 

Death toll rises to 63 in latest Kabul attack

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A suicide bombing has killed at least 63 people and injured 151 others in the center of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, according to BBC.

Attackers drove an ambulance laden with explosives past a police checkpoint into a street that was only open to government workers. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. (People’s Daily app) 

White House asks for Van Gogh painting but offered golden toilet instead

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The Guggenhein Museum declined a White House request to borrow a painting by Vincent van Gogh and has instead offered to loan one of its exhibits – a golden toilet.

The White House requested to borrow Landscape with Snow, van Gogh’s 1888 work depicting a man and a dog walking through a field, for President Trump and First Lady Melania’s private living quarters, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

In an email, the museum politely turned down the request and suggested offering contemporary Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s piece, the golden toilet named “America.”

The White House has not commented. (Xinhua)

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal released in corruption probe

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Three associates of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal say the billionaire has been released after nearly three months in detention at a luxury hotel. He was detained in November along with 10 other princes and prominent Saudi businessmen suspected of corruption.

The associates said that the prince was released on Saturday from the Ritz-Carlton, where he has been held since November 4th. They said it was not immediately clear what financial settlement or terms of release the prince had agreed on.

Prince Alwaleed is chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, which has investments in Twitter, Lyft, Apple and other companies. (AP) 

Bill Clinton repays a favor to Fleetwood Mac at MusiCares ceremony

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Their 1977 song “Don’t Stop” helped power Bill Clinton into the White House in 1922, and on Friday it was the former US president doing the honors for Fleetwood Mac.

Clinton presented Fleetwood Mac with statuettes as the 2018 MusiCares honorees, making them the first band to win the annual award given to a musician for creative achievements and charitable work.  (CGTN)

Hainan to build tropical rainforest national park

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The island province of Hainan in south China is planning to build a tropical rainforest national park to better protect the local ecology, the provincial governor said.

The island accounts for about one third of the country’s tropical forest and is home to multiple rare or endangered species. (Xinhua) 

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

Quote of the Day:

As Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland said,"I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then." 

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Ziyi Zeng, and Regina Barna.)