This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China.
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China to punish cities missing air quality targets
China will penalize cities that miss air quality targets this winter.
An Environment ministry official said China has vowed to reduce the average PM2.5 density by 3 percent year on year between Oct. 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.
However, the average PM2.5 density in the area rose 9.2-percent from October 2018 to Jan. 19, 2019.
He attributed the rise to unfavorable weather conditions in the area since last fall.
China will implement tougher ultra-low emissions standards in the steel industry, make more efforts to promote the use of clean energy and reduce coal con-sumption. (Xinhua)
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Beijing new airport conducts first test flight
Beijing Daxing International Airport embraced its first test flight, as a plane for inspection landed steadily on Tuesday morning.
It means the construction of Daxing Airport will enter the acceptance and handover stage.
The follow-up inspections will include runways, landing system, and lighting.
The construction of the airport will be completed on June 30 and will be open for air traffic before September 30 as planned. (People's Daily app&Chinadaily.com.cn)
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Russia: 14 sailors killed when ships catch fire in Black Sea
At least 14 people were killed when two Tanzanian-flagged commercial vessels caught fire in the Black Sea.
Reports said the fire erupted while fuel was being pumped from one tanker to another. The blaze spread from one ship to the other, prompting the crews to jump overboard.
A Russian federal maritime agency said the two ves-sels had a combined 31 crew members who are citi-zens of Turkey and India.
Russian navy ships have joined rescue operations. (AP)
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Australian Defense Minister to visit China
Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne will make his first visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Minister of National Defense, General Wei Fenghe, who met Pyne in Singapore in 2018.
Pyne departed on Tuesday for a six-day overseas trip that will also take him to Singapore and Japan.
He said in a statement that the defense relationship with China was key to security in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Australian government is committed to maintaining a long-term constructive relationship with China that is founded on shared interests and mutual respect, the minister said. (Xinhua)
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US black female senator joins race for presidency
US Senator Kamala Harris announced her presiden-tial bid on Monday.
She joined a large pool of Democrats who seek to challenge US President Donald Trump next year.
In a promotional video, Harris rolled out her campaign slogan as "For the People", stressing truth, justice and decency as the center of her agenda.
Harris is known for her tough stance against the cur-rent US administration.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she grilled the nominee for attorney general Jeff Sessions, among others.
Harris is the sixth Democratic politician to announce the presidential bid. (Xinhua)
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Tokyo court rejects Ex-Nissan chair Ghosn’s bail request
A Tokyo court has rejected former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn’s latest request for bail.
The decision by the Tokyo District Court came a day after Ghosn promised to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, give up his passport and pay for security guards approved by prosecutors to gain release from a Tokyo detention center.
Ghosn has been in custody since Nov. 19. A Tokyo court rejected an earlier request for bail last week. (AP)
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China's demographic dividend still exists: senior official
And China's demographic dividend still exists, with a senior official saying there is no need to overinterpret news of dipping population growth and birth rates.
Official data shows the mainland population grew by 5.3 million from last year.
The demographic dividend refers to the economic potential resulting from shifts in a population's age structure in terms of working and non-working population.
The official said China has a workforce pool of about 900 million people, with over 700 million of them employed. (CGTN)
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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.
(Produced by David Nye, Chen Lidan and Wang Xiangyu)