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

_____

China rejects US charge of so-called 'internet theft' against two Chinese citizens

China rejects groundless charges against two Chinese citizens of so-called “internet theft,” China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular press conference on Thursday in Beijing.

This move has severely violated basic norms governing international relations and is seriously harmful to cooperation between the two countries, Hua said.

“The Chinese government's position on cyber security is consistent and clear. As a staunch defender of cyber security, China has consistently opposed and cracked down on any form of cyber theft and hacking.The Chinese government has never participated in or supported anyone in any form in stealing commercial secrets,” Hua said.

She said the Chinese government has lodged solemn representations to the US side protesting the act. (People's Daily app; With input from CGTN)

_____

US House passes spending bill with funding for Trump's border wall

The US House passed a temporary spending bill Thursday that includes funding for President Donald Trump's long-promised border wall but it is unlikely to get enough votes from the senators.

The Republican-led House approved the measure to keep the federal government running into February, largely along party lines, sending it to the upper chamber.

Senators were told Thursday to prepare for potential votes Friday. The chamber is set to convene at noon.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Thursday that the House bill "clearly will not come close" to getting the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. (Xinhua)

_____

London's Gatwick Airport resumes flights after drone chaos

London's Gatwick Airport says flights are resuming after drones sparked the shutdown of the airfield for more than 24 hours, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded during the busy holiday season.

The airport said in a statement Friday morning that "Gatwick's runway is currently available and a limited number of aircraft are scheduled for departure and arrival."

But the statement urged passengers to check flight status before going to the airport "as departures and arrivals will be subject to delays and cancellations."

The prospect of a deadly collision between what police described as industrial-grade drones and an airliner led authorities to stop all flights in and out of Gatwick, Britain's second-busiest airport by passenger numbers, on Thursday. The drones were first spotted Wednesday evening. (AP)

_____

Ofo urged to smooth deposit channels, speed up refund schedule: MOT

China's Ministry of Transport has urged the trouble-plagued bike-sharing compnay ofo to return deposits in a simple, fast manner after dozens of users were captured lining up outside its headquarter to get deposit refunds. 

The ministry also required Ofo to increase its income, reduce expenditures and enhance the sustainable development ability of the company. "The ministry will also follow up on the case closely with related departments," the spokesperson added.

As of yesterday, Ofo has received more than 10 million online applications for deposit refunds.

Ofo founder Dai Wei has been issued consumption restrictions by a court in Beijing yesterday, which means Dai has been prohibited from any high-end consumption and non-necessities of life and work, due to the failure by him and the Ofo company to pay debts to logistic companies, bike manufacturers and other service providers. (People’s Daily app)

_____

China to boost sports industry to 2 trillion yuan by 2025

The China State Council released guidelines on Friday to speed up the development of the sports industry, aiming to grow it to a 2 trillion yuan (about 290 billion US dollars) industry by 2025.

The sports industry serves as a powerful engine for economic growth. China plans to provide more events and recreational activities for ordinary citizens.

The guidelines also pointed out that China will launch 100 popular competitions, and 100 homegrown events by 2025.

According to the guidelines, China will attach great importance to the development of professional and international sports.

Winter sports will be warmly welcomed ahead of the preparations for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

More companies are encouraged to join the industry. China will also push reforms to streamline the approval process for sports-related companies, and ask related government departments to speed up the process. (Xinhua)

_____

New Development Bank appointed UN General Assembly observer

The 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the "Giving Observer Status to the New Development Bank in the General Assembly" resolution aimed at creating a new bank to help BRICS countries with pragmatic cooperation. 
In March 2013, the 5th BRICS Leaders’ Summit created the BRICS Development Bank. A year later, BRICS leaders signed the "Agreement on the Establishment of a New Development Bank", and the New Development Bank was formally established. 

With initial capital of $100 billion, the activities of the New Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai, have contributed to the development of emerging economies and developing countries in line with UN principles. (People's Daily app)

_____

Thirteen dead after fire in Czech mine

Thirteen miners died and 10 were injured after a fire caused by burning methane erupted in a mine in the east of the Czech Republic, a spokesman said Friday.

"In total we have 13 dead miners, 11 Polish and two Czech," Ivo Celechovsky, spokesman for the OKD mining company, told AFP.

The accident occurred at the CSM mine in the city of Karvina, about 300 kilometres (200 miles) east of Prague, on Thursday afternoon.

"The blast at the CSM mine is a huge tragedy," tweeted Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who will travel to the site on Friday morning along with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki.

Celechovsky said on Thursday the dead Polish miners were from the Poland-based Alpex mining company.

"We're one big family, it's a terrible tragedy," a Czech miner told the local Polar TV.

Czech media said Friday the accident occurred at a depth of 880 metres (about 3,000 feet) and that the fire had not been put out yet.

OKD, which runs the mine, is controlled by the Czech state and expects to extract five million tonnes of coal this year. (AFP)

_____

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

(Produced by He Jieqiong and Zhan Huilan)