People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (1/11/2019 Fri.)
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This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China. 

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China declares Chang'e-4 mission complete success

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China announced Friday that the Chang'e-4 mission, which realized the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon, was a complete success.

With the assistance of the relay satellite Queqiao (Magpie Bridge), the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) and the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe took photos of each other.

The scientific instruments aboard the probe worked well, and the images taken by the probe and the detection data have been sent back to ground control, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

At 4:47 p.m. Beijing Time on Friday, the images of the lander and the rover appeared on a large screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, showing the Chinese national flag on both the lander and the rover with the desolate landscape dotted with craters on the far side of the moon as the background. (Xinhua)

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Apple fights back locally with price cut

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Apple Inc, which this week took the rare step of cutting its sales forecast in the face of the rise of China's smartphone makers, has told its Chinese distributors to slash iPhone prices, local media reported Thursday.

Wholesale prices have been cut in China for most iPhones, including the iPhone XS, iPhone XR and iPhone X, by up to 450 yuan ($65.20), the reports said, citing unidentified distributors in Shenzhen.

Apple has not commented and on its official network, including directly operated retail stores and Apple China online, prices remain unchanged.

But it is offering big discounts for iPhone trade-ins. Its aggressive pricing policy in December saw the new iPhone XS selling from 6,599 yuan with a trade-in — more than 2,000 yuan lower than the official price of 8,699.

The prices of the iPhone XR and iPhone XS on Chinese online shopping platforms, such as JD.com, Pinduoduo and Taobao.com, are already about $100 or more cheaper than Apple's prices. (shine.cn)

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Xiongan New Area, Beijing's new sub-center are steadily developing high standards: officials

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Beijing's new sub-center in the Tongzhou District will drive the development of neighboring counties in Lanfang, North China's Hebei Province, officials said at a press conference at the State Council Information Office (SCIO) on Friday.

The "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integrated Development Plan" has been published and circulated for implementation to help ease the withdrawal of more than 2,600 generic manufacturing enterprises in Beijing and enhance over 700 markets.

Meanwhile, the railway system for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is being built, with progress made in public service construction and sharing.

 "With the new year, the Chinese central government and the State Council approved the plan for Beijing's new sub-center, the move is focused on strategic development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Deputy Mayor of Beijing Sui Zhenjiang said. (People's Daily app)

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Abe supports May's deal amid Brexit deadlock

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday to avoid a disorderly Brexit during their meeting in London.

"It is the strong will of Japan to further develop this strong partnership with the UK to invest more into your country and to enjoy further economic growth with the UK. That is why we truly hope that a no-deal Brexit will be avoided, and in fact, that is the whole wish of the whole world," Abe said through a translator at a news conference alongside May.

For the British prime minister, May believed there is a good deal on the table, and for those who want to avoid no-deal, then backing the deal is the thing to do.

"I believe it's in the national interest, because it's a good deal, and therefore I hope that it will get wide support across the whole of parliament," she added. (CGTN)

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China, NASA share data in lunar mission

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Space authorities in China and the United States have been discussing cooperation in lunar and deep-space exploration since the second half of last year, and the two sides exchanged information before the launch of the Chang'e 4 mission to the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration said.

On Thursday afternoon the administration said that before the start of Chang'e 4 mission in December, Chinese scientists involved in the program and their counterparts from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team had "close communication" to discuss the use of the LRO satellite to observe the landing of Chang'e 4 for scientific purposes.

As a result, the US provided orbital data of the LRO to the Chinese team, while the Chinese side informed the US team about the preset site and time of the Chinese lunar probe's landing. Both sides expected the collaboration would bear scientific fruit, the Chinese agency said.

According to public information, the exchange was the first cooperation, though at a rudimentary level, between Chinese and US space programs since 2011, when a US federal law was made to prohibit NASA from bilateral cooperation with China. (China Daily)

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Beijing moves municipal administration center to suburb Tongzhou

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China's capital city of Beijing on Friday moved some key municipal organs to the city's suburb Tongzhou, as the latest move to cure urban illness such as population growth, traffic congestion and resource shortages.

These organs include the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, Beijing Municipal People's Government, and the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Authorities in Beijing have been making efforts to tackle the so-called "Big City Syndrome" – ease traffic congestion, resource shortages and house price inflation. (CGTN)

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70,000 Syrian refugees threatened by winter storm in Lebanon

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Some 70,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, including 40,000 children, came under threat as their shelters were battered by a lasting storm that began on Sunday, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 361 sites were hit and 11,000 Syrians heavily affected till Wednesday, according to a UNHCR report released on Thursday.

UNHCR Representative in Lebanon Mireille Girard was quoted by the National News Agency as saying that it is very important to secure shelters for these refugees before their tents get flooded again.

Volunteers were pumping water from some refugee settlements in the eastern part of the country. They also distributed rubber boots, blankets and other materials to the Syrian refugees. (Xinhua)

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And that's People's Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.

(Produced by Han Xiaomeng and Wang Xiangyu)