Fresh Start: Podcast News (10/20/2018 Sat.)
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Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app. 

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

Xi meets with Russian defense minister

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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Beijing.

Shoigu conveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin's greetings to Xi while Xi expressed his thanks and asked Shoigu to convey his greetings and wishes to Putin.

Xi said that China-Russia relations have continued to maintain a high-level development and political mutual trust has reached the highest level since the beginning of this year.

"I have met with President Putin three times in the past five months, which embodied the high-level of China-Russia relationship and its distinctiveness," Xi said. (Xinhua)

Premier Li calls upon Asia, Europe to build open world economy

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday urged Asia and Europe to stay committed to building an open world economy.

Li made the appeal when addressing the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Brussels.

The hard-won momentum of the world economic recovery still demands adhering towards the direction of open development and promoting a more inclusive and balanced global division of labor, Li said.

The two continents should also resolutely safeguard the rules-based multilateral trading system and consolidate the foundation for economic globalization and free trade, he added. (Xinhua)

50 feared dead as train runs over people in northern India

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At least 50 people, mostly women and children, reportedly died and many others were injured in India's northern city of Amritsar on Friday when a passenger train ran over them during a festival.  

According to TV reports, an effigy of Ravana was set on fire near the railway tracks at the Dussehra festival, causing panic and leading to the accident.

Rescue work is being carried out and the injured are being rushed to a nearby hospital, said a local government official. (Xinhua)

$215M settlement proposed in alleged USC gynecologist abuse

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The University of Southern California on Friday announced a tentative agreement for a $215 million class-action settlement of claims involving alleged sexual harassment and abuse by a gynecologist who treated hundreds of students.

The agreement will provide compensation ranging from $2,500 up to $250,000 to women who have claimed abuse by Dr. George Tyndall between 1988 and 2016.

About 500 current and former students have now made accusations against Tyndall, claiming he made crude comments, took inappropriate photos, forced them to strip naked and groped them under the guise of medical treatment. (AP)

China raising gasoline price

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China will raise the price of gasoline by 165 yuan ($23.81) per ton and diesel by 160 yuan per ton on Friday at midnight, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The NDRC price monitoring center found that the international price of oil rose and fell from September 30 to October 18, for an average rise compared with the previous price adjustment period. The monitoring center expects that the upcoming US sanctions on Iran will remain a major factor affecting the global crude oil market in the short term. (People's Daily app)

Beijing modifies air pollution alert system

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Beijing's environmental bureau proposed to scrap the lowest blue alert for smog and relaxed the trigger for its orange alert, as the municipality is seeing more clear days.

The new plan also noted that regulators will make more differentiated plans for different industrial enterprises to avoid a "one-size-fits-all" method in curtailing the output of polluting industries.

The average density of PM2.5 in Beijing during the first seven months of this year was 55 micrograms per cubic meter, down 14.1 percent from the same period last year. (Xinhua)

China loses to Italy in semifinals of V'ball World Championship

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China lost to Italy 3-2 in the semifinals of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship on Friday.

"It's a spectacular game. Congratulations to Italy," China coach Lang Ping said after the match.

On the loss, Lang said her team failed to capitalize on a few chances, especially in the third set. 

In another semifinal match earlier in the day, Serbia defeated the Netherlands 3-1 to advance to the final of the World Championship for the first time in history. (Xinhua)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

Who is the author of Don Juan, the famous satiric poem?

(Answer: George Byron, also known as Lord Byron.)

Today’s quote is from American philosopher William James.

“Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.”

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Raymond Mendoza, Terry Guanlin Li, and Da Hang.)