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Here are today’s picks from our editors.

Xi sends congratulatory letter to World Conference on Science Literacy

President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the World Conference on Science Literacy 2018, which opened in Beijing Monday.

Science and technology (S&T) is the primary productive force, and innovation is a crucial driving force behind development, Xi said.

Strengthening the coordinated innovation of the S&T industry and all sectors of the society while advancing openness and cooperation between countries is a significant way to enhance the role of the S&T development in the progress of human society, he said.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, read the letter at the conference's opening ceremony, and delivered a speech.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also sent a congratulatory letter to the conference.

Themed "Science Literacy for a Shared and Better Future," the conference has over 1,000 participants, including representatives from 23 international science organizations and 58 national science organizations from 38 countries. (Xinhua)

Denuke, eased military tension to be main agenda for upcoming inter-Korean summit 

The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and defused military tension between the two Koreas will be on the main agenda for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Im Jong-seok, Moon's chief of staff, said during a press briefing Monday at the Seoul press center that Moon will make efforts to encourage North Korea and the US to resume sincere talks in a bid to let North Korea advance its denuclearization and for the US take corresponding measures.

Moon and Kim will also discuss ways to improve inter-Korean relations, especially making in-depth discussions on how to fundamentally eliminate the pain of Korean families who have been separated since the end of the Korean War, the presidential chief of staff said. (Xinhua)

Ukrainian president greenlights termination of key partnership agreement with Russia

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to enforce a decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on terminating the key partnership agreement with Russia, the presidential press service said in a statement on Monday.

Adopted earlier this month, the NSDC decision envisages that the Ukrainian-Russian Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership, which expires on March 31, 2019, will not be prolonged by Ukraine.

Iryna Lutsenko, the Ukrainian president's representative in the parliament, said Poroshenko will submit to the parliament a draft law on the suspension of the agreement, while the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will officially inform Moscow about the move by Sept. 30. (Xinhua)

IMF making progress on new Argentina crisis loan deal

International Monetary Fund officials are "making important progress" on a new crisis loan deal for troubled Argentina, which continues to see its currency decline, the fund said Monday.

The team in Buenos Aires continues work to agree on a new package of measures that would allow rapid approval by the board of the lending institution, the IMF said in a statement.

The IMF and Buenos Aires agreed in June on a three-year, $50 billion rescue lending program but Argentina has since asked for a more rapid disbursement.

Buenos Aires has received $15 billion so far but any changes will require the approval of the IMF board. (AFP)

China urges Sweden to guarantee safety and legitimate rights of Chinese tourists 

China has called on Sweden to guarantee the safety and legitimate rights of Chinese tourists, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Monday.

"In the early morning of Sept. 2, three Chinese tourists, including two elderly, were brutally treated by local police on the outskirts of Stockholm," Geng told a routine press briefing.

"The Chinese Embassy in Sweden and Chinese Foreign Ministry have successively lodged representations with the Swedish side, calling on the Swedish side to conduct a thorough investigation, respond to the Chinese tourists' reasonable appeal in a timely manner and inform the Chinese side as soon as possible.

"As of now, the Chinese side has neither received any update of the investigation from the Swedish side, nor any response from the Swedish police to the Chinese embassy's demand for a face-to-face communication," Geng said.

"This is not in line with diplomatic and international common practices," Geng said. "We urge the Swedish side to attach importance to the Chinese side's concern and take concrete measures to guarantee Chinese tourists' safety and legitimate rights."  (Xinhua)

Beijing sets a 2020 environmental improvement goal

The Beijing municipal government released a new environmental plan, in its continued bid to improve the Chinese capital city's air quality. By 2020, the city wants to have cut by 25 percent the heavy pollution days' ratio and by 30 percent nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compound emissions.

New statistics showed that among the pollutant sources of Beijing's fine particles (PM), moving and dusting sources have increased, while coal and industrial sources have decreased.

Clean energy consumption is another goal for Beijing. The plain areas of the city are expected to realize the "no-coal" goal by the end of 2018. The rural mountainous areas of the city will adopt the clean energy consumption plan from 2019. (China Plus)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

Who is the author of Red Sorghum?

(Answer: The novel was written by Mo Yan and published in 1986. It was Mo's first novel and remains one of his best-known works.)

Today’s quote is from English philosopher Francis Bacon.

“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.”

 (Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, and Lance Crayon.)