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

______ 

Typhoon Maria to sweep Chinese coastal areas

China’s eighth typhoon of the year has made landfall.

Forecasters say Maria hit Fujian Province Wednesday morning.

The storm brought gales of up to 160 kilometers per hour.

Torrential rain and powerful winds may cause destruction to the eastern Chinese cities of Wenzhou, Fuzhou and Ningde. 

Forecasters say the worst conditions will pass south of Shanghai. (Xinhua)

_____

Death toll reaches 176 in rain-deluged western Japan

The death toll from torrential rains battering western Japan reaches 176.

Authorities say 80 people remain unaccounted for as search and rescue missions continue to try to find people still stranded in buildings cut off from roads due to flooding, buried beneath rubble from landslides, or in swollen rivers.

Thousands of people in the affected regions are still struggling without water supply, with the welfare ministry saying that 254,084 homes spanning the hardest-hit prefectures of Hiroshima and Okayama are still without water. (Xinhua)

_____

Thai officials apologizes for blaming travel firm 

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan apologizes  for blaming Chinese tour operators for last week’s boat accident that killed at least 44 tourists.

Thai authorities say the incident remains under investigation. 

On Monday, Prawit blamed the tour agency for ignoring the storm warning, which the agency denies.

The agency says the only notice local boat companies received was the one issued on the afternoon of July 5, when the storm had already arrived. (Global Times)

_____

New tarriff threat 'totally acceptable:' MOFCOM

China says the new US tariff threat is totally unacceptable and it is hurting itself as well as the world by imposing additional tariffs.

The Ministry of Commerce comments came shortly after US President Donald Trump's administration said it would levy 10 percent tariffs on an extra $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

The ministry added that the US tariff move is in essence a hit to the global industrial and value chain. (People's Daily app)

______ 

Trump says meetign with Putin, not NATO, may be 'easiest'

US President Donald Trump says his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin "may be the easiest" part of his forthcoming European tour.

This, as he clashed with EU allies again ahead of a NATO summit.

He has vowed not to be what he calls "taken advantage" of by the European Union.

He is accusing the EU of freeloading by relying on the US for its defense while blocking US imports into the bloc. (AFP)

______ 

All 11 people on board survive plane crash in US state Alaska

All 11 people on a float plane that crashed in Alaska have been rescued.

Two Coast Guard helicopter crew members safely hoisted the 11 people from the side of a mountain and the survivors were then taken to a staging area before being transferred to a hospital. 

All of them were reported to have minor injuries.

The crash site is 2,000 feet above sea level in a mountainous area. (Xinhua)

______  

China launches two satellites for Pakistan

And China launches two satellites for Pakistan from a satellite launch center in northwest China.

The PRSS-1 is China's first optical remote sensing satellite sold to Pakistan.

The satellite will be used to survey land and resources, monitor natural disasters, agricultural research, urban construction, and to provide remote sensing information to the Belt and Road region. (Xinhua)

_____

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

(Produced by Davide Nye, Jiang Zhuqing and Zhao Dantong)