People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (10/17/2019 Thu.)

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

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Trump threatens more sanctions on Turkey if high-level talks fail

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened that Ankara will face "devastating" sanctions if high-level discussions between the two sides do not "work it out.”

Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are heading to Turkey to demand a ceasefire for Turkey's offensive in Syria, which Turkish President Recep tayyip Erdogan has rejected.

The US on Monday rolled out a package of sanctions on Turkey over its military operations in Syria, including blacklisting senior Turkish officials, halting trade negotiations and raising tariffs on steel imports from the country. (Xinhua)

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China greenlights seven IPOs on sci-tech innovation board

China's securities regulator has given the green light to the registration-based initial public offering (IPO) of seven companies on the science and technology innovation board.

Companies will be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's sci-tech innovation board, commonly known as the STAR market, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement.

The companies and their underwriters will confirm the IPO dates and publish their prospectuses following discussions with the stock exchange.

The STAR market, inaugurated in June and designed to focus on companies in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors, eases the listing criteria but adopts higher requirements for information disclosure. (Xinhua)

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China reduces holdings of US Treasuries in August

China reduced its holdings of US Treasuries to 1.1 trillion dollars in August.

It was the second consecutive month in which the holdings dropped.

China is the second largest foreign holder of US Treasuries.

It cut its holdings by 6.8 billion US dollars in August, following a drop of 2.2 billion in July.

Japan surpassed China as the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries in June, after boosting its holdings by 21.9 billion dollars in the month.

The two Asian countries held about one-third of foreign holdings of US Treasuries in August. (Xinhua)

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Nearly 100 injured in Catalan protests

After another night of clashes in Catalonia, which left nearly 100 people injured according to emergency services, activists again blocked roads on Thursday in the northeastern region of Spain.

For the third night running, protesters clashed violently with riot police in the Catalan capital on Wednesday night, torching cars and garbage bins, as they expressed their fury over the sentencing of nine Catalan separatist leaders to long jail terms over their role in a failed independence bid. 

Emergency services said 58 people were injured in Barcelona, including a 17-year-old who was hit by a police van. Another 38 people were injured in protests in other Catalan cities.

Police arrested 33 people across the region, including 12 in Barcelona which recorded the most violent protests. (AFP)

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Japan plans to postpone imperial parade over typhoon: media

Japan plans to postpone a major imperial parade celebrating the new emperor's ascension to the throne.

This, after nearly 80 people were killed in a devastating typhoon.

But reports say the religious rites and imperial banquet associated with the event are still expected to go ahead.

Emperor Naruhito officially succeeded his father Akihito in May.

But a series of ceremonies and rites celebrating his enthronement are scheduled this month and later this year, including the parade and the official enthronement ceremony originally planned for next Tuesday. (AFP)

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China prepares for space station construction

China is preparing for the upcoming high-density space missions to construct China's space station, and the Long March-5B carrier rocket, set to launch capsules for the space station, is expected to make its maiden flight in 2020.

China's first astronaut Yang Liwei and seven other experts in the fields such as spacecraft, carrier rocket, space technology application, monitoring and communication systems have been appointed deputy chief designers of the program.

China aims to complete the construction of the space station around 2022. Weighing 66 tonnes, the Tiangong space station will be T-shaped with the Tianhe core module at the center and the Wentian and Mengtian experiment capsules on each side. (Xinhua)

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Over 4,000 athletes settle in Village of Military World Games

And over four thousand coaches and team officials from 87 International Military Sports Council member nations have settled in the Athletes Village of the Military World Games.

The 7th Military World Games open on Friday, and is expected to be the largest edition ever.

On Wednesday, 17 contingents, including the host country, were welcomed to the Village, and more welcome and flag raising ceremonies will be held on Thursday. (Xinhua)

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

(Produced by David Nye and Wang Zi)