Fresh Start: Podcast News (12/28/2018 Fri.)

Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app.

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

CPC meeting reviews work rules on political, legal affairs

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee reviewed regulations on the Party's work related to political and legal affairs at a meeting on Thursday.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting.

With the new intraparty regulations, the Party's successful experience in its long-term leadership over political and legal affairs has been institutionalized, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The formulation of the rules is a crucial measure to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, modernize China's system and capacity for governance and realize the organic unity of law-based governance of the country and rule-based governance over the Party, it said.

It demanded Party committees at all levels to strengthen leadership over the work related to political and legal affairs correspondingly. (Xinhua)

UAE to reopen Damascus Embassy after 7 years

The United Arab Emirates will reopen its embassy in Damascus Thursday, an official said, the latest sign of efforts to bring the Syrian government back into the Arab fold.

The UAE broke ties with Syria in February 2012, as the repression of nationwide protests demanding regime change was escalating into a devastating war.

The UAE does not have an ambassador to Syria yet, but two diplomats are expected to attend Thursday's ceremony. (AFP) 

Indonesia hikes danger level for deadly tsunami volcano

Indonesia on Thursday raised the danger alert level for an erupting volcano that sparked a killer tsunami at the weekend.

Authorities also widened a no-go zone around rumbling Anak Krakatoa to five kilometers (three miles) -- up from a previous two kilometers -- and warned shell-shocked residents to stay away from the coast, after more than 400 were killed by Saturday night's killer wave. 

Authorities raised the crater's status to high alert, the second-highest warning on the country's four-point danger scale, while aviation officials ordered flights to be redirected away from the area. (AFP) 

Saudi king orders Cabinet shakeup after Khashoggi’s killing

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued a wide-ranging overhaul of top government posts on Thursday, including naming a new foreign minister, following international fallout from the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi nearly three months ago. 

He also ordered a shakeup of the kingdom’s supreme council，which is headed by the king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that oversees matters related to security. 

The changes appear to further consolidate the crown prince’s grip on power by appointing to key posts advisers and members of the royal family seen as close to him. (AP) 

American rapper Lil Pump apologizes for racist Instagram video

Lil Pump used the term "Ching Chong," a derogatory name used to mock Chinese people, in a video he posted on Instagram. He also slanted his eyelids in a gesture intended to be disrespectful to Asian people. 

The video immediately sparked public outrage. Lil Pump apologized on social media for his actions, saying that he loves people from all races and wants to send out positive energy during the holiday season. (China Plus) 

American man first to solo across Antarctica unaided

An Oregon man became the first person to traverse Antarctica alone without any assistance on Wednesday, trekking across the polar continent in an epic 54-day journey that was previously deemed impossible.

Colin O'Brady, of Portland, finished the bone-chilling, 1,500-kilometer journey as friends, family and fans tracked the endurance athlete's progress in real time online.

Though others have traversed Antarctica, they either had assistance with reinforced supplies or kites that helped propel them forward. (AP) 

Postnatal depression happens to fathers, linked to depression in teenage daughters: study

A study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry showed that almost one in 20 new fathers experienced depression in the weeks after their child was born.

Also, the researchers from University of Cambridge found a link between postnatal depression in men and depression in their daughters as they reached adulthood.

The risk applied only to daughters; sons were not affected, according to researchers, who identified the link based on more than 3,100 families in Bristol. (Xinhua) 

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow. 

And now for the Question of the Day: 

Who wrote the play "The Merchant of Venice"? 

(Answer: William Shakespeare.)

Today's quote is from Greek poet Pindar (552 BC - 433 BC). 

"The test of any man lies in action." 

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, Elaine Yue Lin, and Chelle Wenqian Zeng.)