This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China. 

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Chinese vice premier arrives in Washington for economic, trade consultations

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He has arrived in Washington D.C. on Monday for the upcoming high-level economic and trade consultations with the US.

He leads a delegation with members from major economic sectors of the Chinese government, including the governor of China’s central bank, the Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and several vice ministers. (Xinhua)

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China objects to US charges, extradition of Huawei CFO: spokesman

China has asked US authorities to drop criminal charges and extradition efforts against Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei and treat Chinese firms running in the US fairly.

China is highly concerned with Meng's case, Chinese Foreign Affairs spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Tuesday in a statement following the US indictment against Huawei and Meng.

The statement said China condemns the unreasonable suppression of Chinese firms and is determined to protect their legal and legitimate rights.

China also called Canadian authorities to free Meng and correct the abusive use of the extradition deal with the US, saying it’s inapplicable to Chinese citizens. (People’s Daily app)

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Maduro vows legal action against US over PDVSA sanctions

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pledged to retaliate against the United States for its new sanctions on the country’s state oil company.

This comes following the US decision to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the acting president.

Guaido is the leader of the opposition-led National Assembly which Maduro does not recognize.

Guaido said he would take control of Venezuela's foreign assets to keep Maduro from commandeering them in an eventual full exit from power. (AFP)

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Four dead, 195 injured in Havana tornado

A rare and powerful tornado has devastated sections of Havana, killing four people and injuring 195, as it overturned cars, uprooted trees and destroyed dozens of homes.

Hernandez's Havana neighborhood, Regla, was one of the hardest hit by the tornado, which state media said was comparable in strength to the most powerful hurricanes.

Residents picked their way through overturned vehicles, collapsed walls, overturned lampposts and uprooted trees.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who confirmed the latest toll on Monday, toured the city's darkened streets visiting emergency crews, wrote on Twitter that damage was "severe." (AFP)

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Trump accepts Pelosi invitation to give State of the Union address on Feb. 5

US President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to deliver the State of the Union address on Feb. 5.

In a letter published by the White House later in the day, Trump said he thanked Pelosi for inviting him to deliver the State of the Union address next week.

Pelosi originally invited Trump to deliver his annual address to Congress on Jan. 29, but rescinded the invitation, citing security concerns since federal agencies designated to provide security for the event had not been funded due to a record-breaking partial government shutdown.

The State of the Union address is traditionally made by the US president before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the invitation of the speaker. (Xinhua)

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Donations of organs to be computerized

All donated organs for transplantation must be distributed through a unified computer platform to ensure fair and transparent distribution and traceability, under a regulation released on Monday by the National Health Commission.

The regulation, which takes effect on March 1, bans any organization or individual from distributing donated organs on their own.

Hospitals where transplant surgeries are performed should enter the information of all patients waiting for transplants into the China Organ Transplant Response System and keep it updated, the regulation said.

Organ procurement organizations should get in touch with hospitals promptly after the system has sent notifications of available organs to make sure the information was received. (China Daily)

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Crackdown on waste smuggling a 2019 priority, officials declare

And despite waste imports to China falling almost by half in 2018, China’s Customs authority said cracking down on smuggling will be a priority this year.

It said Customs officers across the country investigated 481 criminal cases related to waste smuggling last year, involving about 1.55 million metric tons of garbage.

Quota selling was also found in the metals processing industry.

Some enterprises holding import licenses for waste metals sold their quotas to smugglers or to unlicensed waste metal processors, both of whom could use the documents to evade detection. (China Daily)

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

(Produced by David Nye and Chi Jingyi)