Fresh Start: Podcast News (9/16/2018 Sun.)
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Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app.

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

Super typhoon slams Philippines

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At least 13 people have died and five others went missing as super typhoon Mangkhut hit the northern Philippines early Saturday, disaster officials said.

The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said two emergency responders died in a landslide in the Cordillera Administrative Region of Luzon Island and another girl apparently drowned in Marikina river in Metro Manila.

Secretary Francis Tolentino, presidential adviser for political affairs, told a local radio interview that four other people died in the typhoon including a two-year-old and an eight-month-old baby.  (Xinhua)

Florence downgraded to tropical storm with deaths reported

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Seven people were reportedly killed as Florence, which has been downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm, keeps drenching the Carolinas.

It has brought catastrophic flooding in portions of North and South Carolina, says the National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane was downgraded Friday afternoon to a tropical storm with winds of 110 km/h along the US East Coast.

However, authorities are still warning the danger was far from over.

"We are expecting several more days of rain," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said, describing the amount of rainfall from the hurricane as a "1,000-year event."

Nearly 650,000 customers are without power statewide, Cooper added. (CGTN)

Trump, Pompeo bash ex-Secretary of State Kerry on Iran talks

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US secretary of State Mike Pompeo has unloaded on his Obama-era predecessor John Kerry for “actively undermining” US policy on Iran by meeting several times recently with the Iranian foreign minister, who was his main interlocutor in the Iran nuclear deal negotiations.

In unusually blunt and caustic language, Pompeo said Friday that Kerry’s meetings with Mohammad Javad Zarif were “unseemly and unprecedented” and “beyond inappropriate.” President Donald Trump had late Thursday accused Kerry of holding “illegal” meetings on Iran in a late-night tweet.

Pompeo said he would leave “legal determinations to others” but slammed Kerry as a former secretary of state for engaging with and telling Iran to “wait out this administration.” (AP)

Mongolia to open precious metal testing laboratories to increase gold reserves

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Mongolia said it will open two laboratories for precious metal testing within the next month, an effort to increase the country's gold reserves, the central bank's spokesperson said Friday.

The landlocked country launched a five-month campaign in June to encourage gold miners and individuals to sell their gold to the central bank and commercial banks to increase gold reserves.

According to the Bank of Mongolia, the country's annual gold production has remained below 21 tons since 2005, the year when it reached a record high of 25 tons.

The central bank has purchased 12.2 tons of gold from legal entities and individuals during the first eight months of this year. (Xinhua)

World's first electric driverless heavy truck debuts in Shanghai

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China unveiled an electric self-driving heavy truck in Shanghai on Thursday, according to CCTV, which is also a world first.

Fully developed by China, Q-Truck, the e-truck, features innovation in both design and performance.

It adopted a cab-less design, and installed batteries in the traditional cabin position instead. Facilitated by visual cameras and multiple industrial-level sensors, it has been verified to be able to maintain sound performance in a variety of operating environments.  (CGTN)

Famous Chinese performing artist Zhu Xu dead at 88

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Zhu Xu, a renowned performing artist of Beijing People's Art Theatre, died at 88 on September 15.

Zhu was only 22 when he entered Beijing People's Art Theatre, where he spent the bulk of his career for more than 60 years.

On the stage of Beijing People's Art Theatre, he dedicated dozens of unique and colorful drama characters, leaving deep impressions on audiences. Zhu played in countless dramas home and abroad, such as Wei Moxiang in the "Salesgirl,” Master Jacques in "The Miser,” Ah Q in "The Story of Xianheng Hotel,” Charlie in "Death of a Salesman,” etc.

Aside from dramas, Zhu also impressed people with his numerous films.  (CGTN)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

Who is the father of quantum computing?

(Answer: Israeli-born British physicist David Deutsch)

Today's quote is from English activist Florence Nightingale

“I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse.”

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Raymond Mendoza, Terry Guanlin Li, and Da Hang.)