This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China.
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China, Thailand hold strategic consultations
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai held strategic consultations on Saturday in Bangkok.
Wang said China and Thailand are comprehensive strategic cooperative partners and that the two sides should enhance strategic communication, boost strategic cooperation and work together to make positive contributions to peace, stability and development in the region.
He welcomed the decision of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha to visit China for the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in April in Beijing. (Xinhua)
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NASA heading back to Moon soon, and this time to stay
NASA is accelerating plans to return Americans to the Moon, and this time, the US space agency says it will be there to stay.
The last person to walk on the Moon was Eugene Cernan in December 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission.
Before humans set foot on the lunar surface again, NASA aims to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by 2024, and is already inviting bids from the burgeoning private sector to build the probe.
NASA's accelerated plans flesh out the Space Policy Directive that Trump signed in December 2017, envisaging a return to the Moon before a manned mission to Mars, possibly in the 2030s. (AFP)
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UK lawmakers slam Facebook, recommend stiffer regulation
British lawmakers issued a scathing report accusing Facebook of intentionally violating privacy and anti-competition laws in the UK.
They called for greater oversight of social media companies.
The report on fake news and disinformation on social media sites followed an 18-month investigation.
Facebook and other internet companies have been facing increased scrutiny over how they handle user data and have come under fire for not doing enough to stop misuse of their platforms by groups trying to sway elections. (AP)
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Mount Qilian National Park to be set up in 2020
Mount Qilian National Park, one of the country's first pilot national parks, is set to be established in 2020.
According to the draft, which seeks public opinion from Feb 15 to 28, the park is located at the border of Northwest China's Gansu and Qinghai provinces, covering a total area of 50,200 square kilometers. Gansu is home to 68.5 percent of the park's area with the rest in Qinghai.
The national park is divided into core protected areas and general control areas.
The core protected areas, which account for 55 percent of the total, include the main headwaters and catchment area in the Qilian Mountains, forests, wetlands and grasslands, and habitats of snow leopards and other endangered species. (China Daily)
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Sanquan Foods moves to contain African swine fever fallout
Sanquan Foods has sealed all batches suspected of being contaminated with African swine fever and is cooperating with an official investigation.
The company referred to media reports, saying that samples from three batches of its pork-filled dumplings had tested positive for an acid associated with African swine fever.
The samples were collected in Hunan and Gansu provinces.
A leaked report which circulated online last week said sample tests on pork products from 11 manufacturers, including Sanquan Foods, returned positive results for African swine fever. (China Daily)
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Palace Museum website overwhelmed by night tour demand
"Palace Museum will extend its opening hours to the evening for the first time for two consecutive nights in celebration of this year's Lantern Festival," museum curator Shan Jixiang said.
After this announcement, tickets for Feb 19 sold out within ten minutes. Quite a few people have pinned their hopes on the second appointment.
But in the middle of the night the ticket booking system broke down — too many people visited the website at the same time.
The crash of the website has disappointed many visitors, yet it shows the appeal of the Palace Museum. (China Daily)
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Australia's major sports pledge to close gender-pay gap
And Australia's major sporting organizations threw their weight behind a drive to close the pay gap between top male and female athletes.
It’s drawing on a landmark cricket deal in the push for more equality.
The chief executives of cricket, golf, rugby union, tennis and swimming were among those to sign up to the "Pathway to Pay Equality" report by the Male Champions of Change Institute, led by former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
It involves a shift in mindset away from male sport being valued more than women's, providing greater equal opportunities from grassroots level up and long-term plans to make it happen. (AFP)
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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.
(Produced by David Nye and Wang Xiangyu)