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

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China's Chang'e-4 probe soft-lands on moon's far side

China's Chang'e-4 probe touched down on the far side of the moon at 10:26 am Thursday, becoming the first spacecraft soft-landing on the moon's uncharted side never visible from Earth, according to China National Space Administration.

Chang'e-4 blasted off from Earth on December 8 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and flew for 26 days before touching down on the moon's hidden hemisphere.

The probe will allow scientists to conduct more accurate deep space observation, taking advantage of the fact that the far side never faces the Earth and is free from radio interference. (People’s Daily app)

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Apple cuts revenue forecast on weak China sales

Apple Inc on Wednesday cut the revenue forecast for its latest quarter, citing fewer iPhone upgrades and weak sales in China, and its shares tumbled in after-hours trade.

Wednesday was the first time that Apple issued a warning on its revenue guidance ahead of releasing quarterly results since the iPhone was launched in 2007. (China Daily)

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Serial killer Gao Chengyong executed for killing 11 women over 14 years

Approved by the Supreme People’s Court, the criminal Gao Chengyong was executed Thursday morning. The procuratorate sent personnel to supervise on the spot, according to the official Weibo of Baiyin Intermediate People’s Court in Northwest China’s Gansu Province.

Gao committed robbery, intentional homicide, rape and corpse desecration between May 1988 and February 2002, resulting in the death of 11 female victims.

The case is difficult and complicated, causing a huge social impact and high public concerns. (People’s Daily app)

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Sahara desert swings between wet and dry every 20,000 years: study

A study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances has shown that the Sahara desert and North Africa in general swing between wet and dry climates every 20,000 years.

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said this climatic pendulum was mainly driven by changes to the Earth's axis as the planet orbits the sun, which in turn affect the distribution of sunlight between seasons.

The increased solar flux in North Africa can intensify the region's monsoon activity, which in turn makes for a wetter, "greener" Sahara, according to the researchers.

Accordingly, when the planet's axis swings toward an angle that reduces the amount of incoming summer sunlight, it produces a drier, parched climate like what we see today. (Xinhua)

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China's high-speed railway length to top 30,000 km in 2019

China plans to build 3,200 km of new high-speed railways in 2019, with the total length expected to exceed 30,000 km, the country's top railway operator said Wednesday.

The country saw an expanding high-speed railway network over the years, with a total length of 29,000 km by the end of 2018, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total high-speed railway in the world. China aims to build 30,000 km of high-speed railways by 2020, a general manager of the China Railway (CR), told a work conference.

China's railways are expected to transport 3.54 billion passengers and 3.37 billion tonnes of goods this year, the general manager said. (Xinhua)

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Disney hauls in $7.325 billion at box office in 2018

Disney posted its second best year at the box office ever, ranking in $7.325 billion worldwide for everything from "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War" to hit animated sequel "Incredibles 2" and the latest "Star Wars" film.

Disney remains the only studio to ever post more than $7 billion in annual box office receipts. In 2016, it recorded its best year at $7.6 billion. (AFP)

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5.3-magnitude earthquake strikes Southwest China's Sichuan Province

And an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.3 struck Gongxian County, Yibin, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, at 8:48 am (Beijing Time) on Thursday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The quake's exact location is 28.20 degrees north and 104.86 degrees east and the quake's epicenter is 15 kilometers deep, said the center. (People’s Daily app)

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

(Produced by Cheng Weidan)