People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (12/13/2018 Thu.)
People's Daily app
1544706760000

12171621eih4.jpg

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

_____

Taiwan companies report record profit in mainland

13104447tvsu.jpg

Close to 1,200 Taiwanese listed and over-the-counter companies in the Chinese mainland reported a record profit of $7.2 billion in the first three quarters of the year.

That’s according to the island's finance authority.

The number of such companies invested in the mainland accounted for 75.4 percent of the total in Taiwan.

663 are listed companies and 529 are OCT companies. (Xinhua)

_____

9 dead, 46 injured in high-speed train crash in Ankara

VCG111181536404.jpg

At least nine people were killed and 46 others injured in a high-speed train accident in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday morning, the Ankara governor said.

According to the Governor, three of the injured are in serious condition.

The high speed train traveling from Ankara to the central province of Konya collided with an empty commuter train, the governor told reporters.

Two carriages overturned as the train crashed into a locomotive and derailed. (Xinhua)

_____

UK's May wins no-confidence vote by MPs unhappy over Brexit

13104423hb1n.jpg

British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a political crisis over her Brexit deal.

She beat a no-confidence vote by Conservative lawmakers that would have ended her leadership of party and country.

But the margin of victory leaves May a weakened leader who has lost the support of a big chunk of her party over her handling of Britain's exit from the European Union.

It also came at a steep price as she promised not to run for re-election in 2022.

The threat to May had been building as pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers grew increasingly frustrated with the prime minister's handling of Brexit.

Many Brexit supporters say May's deal fails to deliver on the clean break with the bloc that they want. (AP)

_____

21-year-old convicted of murdering Chinese student in Los Angeles

13142439jb86.jpg

A 21-year-old suspect was convicted on Wednesday of first-degree murder and other charges for his role in the 2014 murder of Xinran Ji, a Chinese graduate student at the University of Southern California.

The jurors handed down the verdict after about two hours of deliberation, convicting Alberto Ochoa of one count each of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree robbery.

Ochoa, who faces life in prison without parole, will be sentenced on March 8 next year, though he is entitled to a parole hearing after spending 25 years behind bars under California state law given his age at the time of the crimes.

Ochoa and three others confronted 24-year-old Xinran Ji, who was walking home from a study group near the university campus early on July 24, 2014. Ochoa struck the victim with a metal bat before he ran away.

Andrew Garcia, another defendant in the case, eventually caught up to Ji and hit him repeatedly with the bat. Ji made his way back to his apartment where he was found dead hours later by a roommate. (Xinhua)

_______

Pompeo warns deterrence 'on the horizon' over Russian acts on Ukraine, Venezuela

13073033p14b.jpg

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the West's deterrence is "on the horizon" in response to Russia's recent confrontation with Ukraine and its military moves in Venezuela.

Noting that the United States has obviously seen the incidents in the Kerch Strait, the top US diplomat said that Washington has been working with European partners "to make sure they understand the importance of protecting that waterway and pushing back against the Russians in a way that actually leads to deterrence from this kind of aggression from Vladimir Putin.”

On Nov. 25, Russia seized three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait, saying the Ukrainian ships breached the Russian border. The Ukraine side called Russia's move an "act of aggression" and imposed a martial law in certain regions of the country for 30 days. (Xinhua)

_______

First global compact for migration adopted in Morocco

130740497x2j.jpg

The Intergovernmental Conference in Marrakech has adopted the first ever global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.

Member States came together in Marrakech to embrace the compact that sets a framework for international cooperation to better address the complex situation facing the world’s 258 million migrants.

The compact is not legally binding. Its guiding principles reaffirm states’ sovereign rights to determine their national migration policies and to govern migration within their jurisdictions.  As migration experiences and challenges vary across the world, the global compact is a flexible instrument that can meet the needs of every country and stimulate joint cooperation at all levels.

The compact will be presented to the UN General Assembly in New York for endorsement at the end of next week. (People’s Daily app)

_____

Boy who killed his mother released without punishment

13091820btx6.jpg

And the possible return to school of a 12-year-old sixth grader who killed his mother has sparked concern among his classmates' parents.

The boy was initially taken into custody for the killing, but was released without punishment.

The boy killed his mother with a kitchen knife after she beat him after discovering he had stolen and smoked all the cigarettes she brought home from banquets.

Under Chinese law, those younger than 14 years of age cannot be criminally charged. (China Daily)

_____

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

(Produced by David Nye and Zhan Huilan)