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Here are today's picks from our editors.

Wang Yang elected as China's top political advisor

Wang Yang was elected chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, Wednesday afternoon.

Wang was elected at the fourth plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, at which 24 vice chairpersons were also elected by over 2,100 CPPCC National Committee members. (Xinhua)

Chinese social media erupts over Hawking's death

Social media in China was flooded with condolences for British physicist Stephen Hawking on Wednesday.

Hashtag "Hawking passed" gained millions of clicks while the last post he made on Weibo received over 10,000 comments an hour after the tragic news.

Despite his physical difficulties, Hawking insisted on visiting the Great Wall during his trip to China. (People's Daily app)

Angela Merkel re-elected as German Chancellor

Merkel is starting her fourth term as the head of government after winning by a narrow margin on Wednesday, marking the end of five months of political uncertainty in Germany.

She will lead a fragile domestic coalition to manage potential trade war with US while dealing with an uncertain future of the European Union.

Merkel's popularity took a hit in 2015 as she adopted an open-door policy for refugees and caused the surge of right-wing politics. (People's Daily app)

Britain to expel 23 Russian diplomats over spy poisoning

In the single biggest expulsion for over 30 years, the UK is expelling 23 Russian diplomats as part of a response to the Salisbury poisoning.

The UK government has accused Moscow of poisoning and killing a former double agent last week who was under Asylum status in the UK.

Russian Embassy in UK condemned the hostile action and said the deterioration of Russia-UK relationship lies with the current political leadership of Britain. (People’s Daily app)

China's securities regulator issued record penalty for market manipulation

As an ongoing effort to root out illegal practices in the financial market, China's securities regulator Wednesday levied a record penalty of 5.67 billion yuan ($900 million) on a domestic company for manipulating stock prices.

The penalty fell on Beibadao (Xiamen) Logistics Group, which reaped illegal profits of 945 million yuan by manipulating shares of newly-listed companies, including Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank and Jiangsu Jiangyin Rural Commercial Bank. (Xinhua)

Nuclear reactor restarted in Japan

The No.3 reactor of a nuclear plant on the Sea of Japan coast resumed activity on Wednesday despite opposition from locals.

The restarting of the reactor marks the first time since the Fukushima nuclear disaster seven years ago. (Xinhua)

Trump taps Kudlow to be top economic adviser

US President Donald Trump has picked TV commentator and economic analyst Larry Kudlow to replace Gary Cohn as the top White House economic adviser, US media reported on Wednesday.

Although the White House has not confirmed the decision, Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Kudlow, a Republican who served as an economic adviser to former President Ronald Regan and worked on Wall Street, had "a very good chance" at being selected to replace Cohn.

Last week, Kudlow criticized the president's decision to place steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. (Reuters)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

Today’s quote is from Stephen Hawking:

 “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Zeke Ziyi Zeng and Bob Nehme.)