This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China.
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Xi congratulates Kim on re-election as chairman of DPRK State Affairs Commission
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent congratulations Friday to Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, on his re-election as chairman of the country’s State Affairs Commission.
Xi said Kim's re-election demonstrated the trust in and support for Kim from the Party and people of the DPRK.
The Chinese president said he believes that under the guidance of Kim's new strategic line, the people of the DPRK will make bigger achievements in various undertakings in national construction and development.
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Nearly 500,000 international students study in China
A total of 492,185 international students from 196 countries and regions studied in China in 2018, the Ministry of Education said Friday.
The number increased by 3,013 over that of 2017, said a ministry statement.
They studied in 1,004 colleges in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
About 60 percent of the international students were from Asia, with the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Pakistan ranking in the top three, the statement said.
About 63,000 of them were sponsored by Chinese government scholarships, the ministry said.
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Israeli spacecraft crashes in attempt to land on moon
An Israeli spacecraft crashed into the moon just moments before touchdown.
It was supposed to be a history-making first privately funded lunar landing.
The spacecraft lost communication with ground control during its final descent.
Moments later, the mission was declared a failure.
The mishap occurred in front of a packed audience that included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and was broadcast live on national television.
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China's unmanned submersible bears fruit in Indian Ocean mission
China's unmanned submersible "Hailong III" has collected various biological and geological samples in the southwest Indian Ocean.
The First Institute of Oceanography said Thursday that Hailong III, carried by its mothership Dayang Yihao (Ocean No.1), is executing its 52nd voyage in the southwest India Ocean.
The submersible recently completed three dive operations in a hydrothermal area of the mid-ocean ridge in four days, with the longest near-bottom observation lasting six hours.
The institute said samples including macrobenthos, clean seawater, deep-sea fish and deep-sea sediments had been collected. A variety of parameter measurements have also been carried out.
Scientists on board said that the submersible had a stable performance, and samples collected during the voyage could help study the ecosystem of the mid-ocean ridge of Indian Ocean.
The remote operated vehicle was developed by Shanghai Jiaotong University.
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New Zealand's new gun laws get final assent to take effect
New Zealand’s governor general formally signed sweeping gun laws outlawing military style weapons.
This comes less than a month after a man used such guns to kill 50 people and wound dozens at two mosques in Christchurch.
Governor General Patsy Reddy signed the bill as police said a gun buyback program will be announced to collect the now-banned weapons.
The weapons will be illegal starting at midnight Friday, but police said a brief amnesty program will be in effect until details of the buyback are announced.
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Ex-Obama WH counsel charged with lying in lobbying probe
Former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig has been indicted on charges of making false statements and concealing information in a federal foreign lobbying investigation that intersected with the Russia probe.
Craig was charged Thursday in a two-count indictment that accuses him of willfully concealing material facts from the Justice Department about work he performed for the Ukrainian government. The indictment, announced by the US attorney for the District of Columbia, came a day after Craig's lawyers said he expected to be charged in the probe spun off from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
In a video statement, the 74-year-old Craig said the prosecution against him was "unprecedented and unjustified" and that he's confident a judge and jury would agree.
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Beijing section of Beijing-Xiongan Expressway to break ground in Q4
And the Beijing section of the Beijing-Xiongan Expressway is expected to break ground in the fourth quarter of the year.
The Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said it has finished the project design of the Beijing section and will submit the proposal for approval.
The expressway is one of Beijing's 27 major road and transportation projects this year.
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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.
(Produced by David Nye, Chi Jingyi and Qu Qiuyan)