People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (10/29/2018 Mon.)
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This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China. 

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Lion Air plane with 189 aboard crashes into sea off western Indonesia

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A Lion Air Boeing 737 flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang crashed in the sea Monday morning.

Rescuers have found the plane’s wreckage about two nautical miles from Jakarta.

The plane took off at 6:20 am local time and lost contact 13 minutes later. 

Lion Air said the brand-new aircraft was on a one-hour-and-10-minute flight to Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra.

It was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and eight crew members.

The crash is the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea in December 2014, killing all 162  people on board. (People's Daily app & AP)

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China-France Oceanography Satellite successfully launched 

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The first oceanic satellite jointly developed by China and France was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

The China-France Oceanography Satellite, or CFOSat, will be sent into a 520-kilometer orbit above the earth. 

Along for the ride are six satellites based on platforms developed for scientific and technological experiments.

The mission was designed to conduct round-the-clock observations of the global wave spectrum, effective wave height and ocean surface wind fields. 

It will help to characterize the dynamics of waves and promote the accurate prediction of surges and marine tropical storms. (People's Daily app & Xinhua)

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Jair Bolsonaro wins Brazil presidency after rough campaign

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Far-right congressman Jair Bolsonaro won the presidency of Latin America’s largest nation.

This, as voters looked past warnings that the brash former army captain would erode democracy, and embraced a chance for radical change after years of turmoil.

With 97 percent of ballots counted, Brazil’s top electoral court said Bolsonaro had won with 55.4 percent of the votes. 

His opponent, leftist Fernando Haddad of the Workers’ Party, had 44.4 percent.

Bolsonaro went into Sunday the clear front-runner after getting 46 percent of the vote to Haddad’s 29 percent in the first round. 

After opinion polls had Bolsonaro leading by as much as 18 percentage points, the race had tightened the last few days after several Brazilian heavyweights came out against Bolsonaro.

They argued that he was a direct risk to the world’s fourth largest democracy. (AP)

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Merkel's CDU suffers severe setback in Hesse election

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The Christian Democratic Union led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered big in Sunday's state election in Hesse.

Although CDU retained its position as the biggest party, it was reduced to 28 percent of the votes.

That’s a sharp decline from the 38.3 percent in the previous election.

The Social Democratic Party received 20 percent, also down from its 30.7 percent five years ago.

The centrist Greens were seen as the biggest winner, securing 19.5 percent of the votes, a record high in the state election.

The populist Alternative for Germany won 12 percent, crossing the threshold and winning seats in the state parliament. (Xinhua)

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Rescuers go all out following bus plunge in Chongqing

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A bus with a dozen passengers onboard suddenly veered onto the wrong side of the road and collided into a private car before plunging into the Yangtze River in Chongqing on Sunday.

Police said more than 10 people, including the driver, were on the bus when it broke through road fencing and drove off a bridge.

Two bodies had been retrieved from the river as rescue work continues. 

Over 20 rescue boats have arrived to carry out salvage operations. (Xinhua)

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China opens consulate general in Duterte's hometown

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China has officially opened a consulate in the southern Philippine city of Davao.

That's the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that setting up a consulate in Davao reflects the deepening friendship between China and the Philippines, and serves the all-round growth of cooperation between the two countries.

He said Davao City had enjoyed political stability, social harmony and prosperity, and had become one of the most tranquil cities in the Philippines. (Xinhua)

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Leicester City confirms chairman dies in helicopter crash

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And English Premier League club Leicester City confirmed on Sunday night that their Thai Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people were killed in a helicopter crash. 

The aircraft took off from the center circle of the stadium after their 1-1 draw with West Ham in the Premier League. 

Witnesses said the helicopter began to spin and crashed in the corner of a car park just hundreds of meters away from the stadium before bursting into flames.

A police officer rushed towards the helicopter and attempted to pull open the door to save those inside.

But an "explosion" turned the wreckage into a fireball and forced the officer back. (Xinhua)

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

(Produced by David Nye and Qiao Wai)