Fresh Start: Podcast News (7/26/2018 Thu.)

Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app. 

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

Chinese president shares thoughts on world's next decade at BRICS Business Forum

From new global growth drivers on the international landscape and global governance system, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday shared his thoughts on the changes the world is going to witness in the next decade.

The next decade will be a crucial one in which new global growth drivers will take the place of old ones, seeing faster changes in the international landscape and the international alignment of forces, and witnessing a profound reshaping of the global governance system, Xi said while addressing the BRICS Business Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Xi called on BRICS members to seize opportunities, increase input in innovation and focus on creating new areas of growth. （Xinhua）

Chinese medical team heading to site of deadly dam collapse in southern Laos 

A Chinese People’s Liberation Army medical team is on track to be the first international help to arrive at the scene of a dam collapse in Laos.

Consisting of 32 people, the emergency rescue team was dispatched to villages submerged in water after the collapse. 

This will be the first international rescue team to reach Attepeu Province. 

Upon arrival the team will provide voluntary medical services. 

Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said Wednesday that some 131 people were still missing after a hydropower dam collapsed in Southern Laos earlier this week.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam was still under construction when it collapsed, triggering flash flooding in seven villages in Sanamxay district in the southern province of Attapeu.

Sisoulith did not comment on the exact death toll although reports from the Lao New Agency said 26 people were confirmed dead. (People’s Daily app - Xinhua)

Death toll of IS attacks in Syria's Sweida rises to 215 

At least 215 people were killed and 180 others injured Wednesday in a spate of attacks and bombings carried out by the Islamic State (IS) in the southern province of Sweida, according to Syrian health department officials.

The death toll includes victims killed by three suicide bombings in the province, and those who carried arms to face IS attacks throughout Sweida’s northeastern countryside.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 IS militants, including suicide bombers, were killed in Wednesday's attacks.

The IS attacks and bombings have come to divert the attention of the Syrian army, releasing pressure on IS-held regions alongside the western countryside of Daraa Province near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (Xinhua)

First lake of liquid water is discovered on Mars

A massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on Mars, raising the possibility that more water – and maybe even life – exists there, international astronomers said Wednesday.

Located under a layer of Martian ice, the lake is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) wide, said the report led by Italian researchers in the US journal Science.

It is the largest body of liquid water ever found on the Red Planet.

Mars is now cold, barren and dry but used to be warm and wet. It was home to plenty of liquid water and lakes at least 3.6 billion years ago.

Scientists are eager to find signs of contemporary water, because such discoveries are key to unlocking the mystery of whether life ever formed on Mars in its ancient past, or if it might persist today. (AFP)

Warner Bros unveils $1 billion indoor theme park in UAE

The fantasy worlds inhabited by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman merged with glitzy reality in the UAE on Wednesday, as Warner Bros opened a sprawling indoor theme park in Abu Dhabi.

The $1 billion (850 million euro) facility boasts 29 rides and six themed areas -- including a cartoon junction and the fictional Gotham City made famous by Batman.

Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi is the entertainment giant's first theme park in the region and is located on Yas Island, on the outskirts of the capital.

Yas is already home to several major attractions including Ferrari World, a Formula One Grand Prix circuit and Yas Water World.

The Warner Bros complex is built across 1.65 million square feet (153,000 square metres) and is pitched at UAE citizens and foreign tourists. (AFP)

Voting for Pakistan's general elections concludes, counting starts

The voting process in Pakistan's parliamentary elections concluded Wednesday evening and counting of ballots has started, Secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Baber Yaqoob said.

Out of the 272 seats of the 342-member National Assembly, the lower house of the country's parliament, elections took place on 270 seats.

A huge turnout of voters was observed across the country, but heavy rains in some areas also affected the turnout, local media reported.

To facilitate the voters, the National Database and Registration Authority issued 650,000 computerized national identity cards over the past five days.

According to the major polls from agencies including Topline Securities, Pulse Consultants and Gallup Pakistan, the election race is between three major parties - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and former President Asif Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party.

Over 30 people, including nine security personnel, have reportedly been killed and over 100 others injured from attacks in different parts of the country on the election day. (Xinhua)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

What was the original name of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa?

(Answer: Cape of Storms.)

Today’s quote is from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu.

“Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.” 

 (Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, and Terry Guanlin Li )