Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People's Daily app.

Here are today's picks from our editors. 

Xi's article on cultural confidence to be published

An article by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on strengthening cultural confidence will be published Tuesday in the eighth issue of the Qiushi Journal. 

The article is titled "A Country, or A Nation, Cannot Be Devoid of Soul." 

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed in the article that writers, artists and theorists should consolidate cultural confidence, stay in step with the times, take a people-centered approach, serve the people with fine works and guide the public with high moral standards. 

"All practitioners in culture, literature, art, philosophy and social sciences shoulder the important tasks of enlightening thoughts, nurturing sentiments and warming hearts," Xi states in the article. (Xinhua) 

Premier Li meets Japanese officials

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and other cabinet ministers for the fifth high-level economic dialogue between China and Japan on Monday. 

Li said China and Japan are important neighbors. Since last year, through joint efforts, bilateral relations have returned to the right track and achieved new development. 

On the basis of the principles enshrined in the four China-Japan political documents, the two sides should promote the long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations in the spirit of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future. 

For his part, Taro Kono said that Japan is willing to enhance cooperation with China in areas such as innovation, finance, environmental protection, hydrogen-energy, tourism, youth, smart city and the third-party market, deepen coordination in multi-lateral areas and promote the RCEP negotiation to achieve new progress this year. (Xinhua) 

China's largest trade fair opens with strong Belt and Road presence

The 125th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, opened Monday in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, with over half of the companies in attendance hailing from Belt and Road countries and regions. 

The spring session of the biannual fair holds import exhibitions in its first and third phases, with 1,000 booths booked by 650 enterprises from 38 countries and regions. 

These include 383 companies from 21 countries and regions taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including Russia, Poland, the Philippines and Israel, said Xu Bing, spokesperson for the fair. 

The fair, which will be held from April 15 to May 5, is widely seen as a barometer of China's foreign trade. (Xinhua) 

Blaze engulfs Notre-Dame cathedral

A fire broke out at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Monday, sending flames and smoke into the sky, according to French authorities and eyewitnesses.

A Notre Dame spokesman said the entire wooden interior of the cathedral would likely come down, and that the vault of the edifice could be threatened too.

Authorities began investigating if renovation work on the cathedral was a factor in starting the fire.

No injuries or fatalities were immediately reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron postponed a televised address to the nation and went straight to the cathedral to assess the damage.

Completed in the 13th century, the religious landmark and is considered a feat of architecture. (People's Daily app - AP) 

S. Korean president says to push for summit with DPRK leader

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday he will actively push for another summit meeting with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), to help resume dialogue between the DPRK and the US. 

Moon said he hoped to make concrete and effective discussions with Kim "in any place and formality at the DPRK's convenience" regarding ways to bear advanced fruits going beyond the past two DPRK-US summits. 

In late February, the second Kim-Trump summit, which was held in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, ended with no agreement. (Xinhua) 

FIFA bans disgraced ex-Brazil football chief Marin for life

On Monday, FIFA officials slapped a lifetime ban on the disgraced former boss of Brazilian football, Jose Maria Marin, after a US court convicted him of massive corruption. 

The 86-year-old Marin was one of the key figures swept up in the graft scandal that began with a series of stunning arrests in 2015 and subsequently upended world football. 

Marin had already been sentenced to four years in a US prison after a court in New York found him guilty in connection with nearly $6.6 million dollars in bribes from sports marketing companies in exchange for contracts to broadcast major tournaments. 

FIFA's ethics committee said in a statement that Marin had participated in various bribery schemes. (AFP) 

Kenya's Cherono wins men's Boston Marathon in sprint to tape

The two-time Boston Marathon champion turned onto Boylston Street with a sliver of a lead, leaning in front of two others with the finish line in sight.

But one of them was Lawrence Cherono, the fastest man in the field. 

Cherono outkicked Lelisa Desisa and passed him just steps away from the tape, winning the 123rd Boston Marathon in 2 hours 7 minutes 57 seconds on Monday to claim his first major victory. 

Kenneth Kipkemoi was third, another 8 seconds behind, one of seven Kenyans in the top 10. (AP) 

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

Which instrument has forty-seven strings and seven pedals?

(Answer: Harp.)

Today's quote is from Irish poet Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774).

"Hope is such a bait, it covers any hook."

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, and Elaine Yue Lin. Music by Eugene Loner.)