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Here are today’s picks from our editors.
China to strengthen medicine price monitoring
China's National Healthcare Security Administration has issued a guideline to strengthen regular supervision on medicine prices.
The administration will adopt measures including monitoring, warning, information disclosure, and credit appraisal, aiming to establish and improve an effective price monitoring mechanism to better leverage the role of the government under market conditions.
The guideline notes that a unified regional and national-level procurement mechanism will be established to promote information and resource sharing. (Xinhua)
Russia banned from Olympics for four years over doping scandal
The Executive Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has banned Russia from taking part in or hosting major international sporting events for four years over the country's doping non-compliance, said a WADA statement on Monday.
The decision was made unanimously after a WADA Executive Committee meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland the same day.
The ruling means athletes will not be allowed to compete under the Russian flag at major global sporting events, including the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Beijing 2022 Winter Games and football's 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
However, Russian athletes who can prove they are untainted by the doping scandal will be able to compete under a neutral flag. (CGTN)
At least 13 feared dead in volcanic eruption off New Zealand
A volcano off the New Zealand coast erupted Monday with a towering blast of ash and scalding steam as dozens of tourists were exploring the moon-like surface, killing five people and leaving eight others missing and feared dead, authorities said.
Helicopter crews landed on White Island despite the danger and helped evacuate the dozens of survivors, some of them critically injured.
The missing and injured included New Zealanders and tourists from the US, China, Australia, Britain and Malaysia, the prime minister said. (AP)
Turkey to seek alternatives if fails to solve F-35 jet problem with US: minister
Turkey will try to solve the problem with the United States on the delivery of F-35 fighter jets in a "reasonable and sensible" way, Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar said Monday.
"If this is not possible, everyone should know that we will naturally seek other quests," he said.
Turkey has paid some of the debt to the US and should get part of the delivery, but the aircraft were still kept in the United States, he said.
Turkey's procurement of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems prompted the US administration to suspend Ankara's participation in the F-35 joint program in July. (Xinhua)
Saudi allows women to use the same entrance as men, and more
Women in Saudi Arabia will no longer need to use separate entrances from men or sit behind partitions at restaurants in the latest measure announced by the government that upends a major hallmark of conservative restrictions that had been in place for decades.
The decision was quietly announced Sunday in a lengthy and technically worded statement by the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry.
It was a sensitive issue in the past among traditional Saudis who view gender segregation as a religious requirement.
Saudi young girls in recent years have also been allowed access to physical education and sports in school, a right that only boys had been afforded. (AP)
Twin male pandas charm Berlin zoo
The cuteness level at Berlin Zoo doubled on Monday when a pair of twin panda cubs made their public debut, with the zoo revealing the cuddly bundles of fur were both boys.
The little ones were born at the zoo on August 31 but in keeping with Chinese tradition, they were only named after 100 days.
Speaking before a crowd of excited reporters at the Panda Garden, zoo director Andreas Knieriem announced that the cubs would go by the names of Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan.
The cubs will be kept away from visitors "until they can walk properly" and are more familiar with their surroundings, Knieriem said, expected to be sometime in early 2020. (AP)
Mercedes-Benz, Bosch test automated ride-hailing service in San Jose
Mercedes-Benz and Bosch have started a joint pilot project for an app-based automated ride-hailing service in the US city of San Jose, California, the German companies jointly announced on Monday.
The automated Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles would drive along the main traffic routes in San Jose and would be monitored by a safety driver, according to automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz and Bosch.
In mid-2017, San Jose was the first city in the United States to invite private companies to test automated driving in practice. (Xinhua)
Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.
And now for the Question of the Day:
Name the school that Harry Potter attended?
(Answer: Hogwarts.)
Today’s quote is from French philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).
"You always admire what you really don't understand."
(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, and Elaine Yue Lin. Music by Eugene Loner.)