This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China.
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China issues white paper on protecting disabled persons' rights, interests in 70 years
China issued a white paper on the country's efforts to protect the rights and interests of persons with disabilities in the past 70 years.
The paper said the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have always put the people first and provided care for the group with special difficulties, making them participants in, contributors to, and beneficiaries of the country's social and economic development.
But it said a big gap remains between the lives these people lead and lives to which they aspire. (Xinhua)
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China hits back at Rubio on HK statement
The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong strongly opposed US Senator Marco Rubio's statement on HK affairs on Thursday.
The office expressed strong disapproval and firm opposition to Rubio's unwarranted comments, who said that the Central Committee of Communist Party of China used crime groups to attack protesters and broke promises made when Hong Kong was returned to the motherland.
"We strongly urge Rubio to immediately stop any irresponsible and groundless accusations and clamorous intimidation to interfere in China's domestic affairs", the office said. (People’s Daily app)
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DPRK fires 2 unidentified projectiles into eastern waters: S Korea's military
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the eastern waters early Thursday.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles were launched near the DPRK's eastern coastal city of Wonsan, and flew about 430 kilometers.
Military authorities of South Korea and the US were analyzing what the projectiles were.
They were the DPRK's first projectile launches since the country fired projectiles twice in May. (Xinhua)
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China's car sales expected to recover in H2
China's car production and sales are both expected to recover in the next half of this year as car dealers have ratcheted up promotion before new emission standards took effect in some regions ahead of schedule, the China Securities Journal reported Thursday.
Carmakers' efforts in cutting inventory through large scale promotion since the begining of last month had helped to reverse the slipping streak in car sales, said the newspaper.
China's passenger car sales climbed 4.9 percent year-on-year in June to 1.8 million units, ending a falling streak for 12 consecutive months, showed data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). (Xinhua)
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British PM Johnson overhauls cabinet with Brexit hardliners
New British Prime Minister Boris Johnson named Brexit hardliners to top posts on Wednesday.
He replaced most of the cabinet after vowing to get a new divorce deal with the European Union or leave without one by October 31.
The former London mayor has pledged to break the political deadlock that has left Britain in crisis and forced his predecessor Theresa May to delay Brexit twice.
But he faces opposition from within his own Conservative party and across parliament to his threat of a "no deal" exit. (AFP)
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China successfully launches private commercial carrier rocket
A carrier rocket developed by a Chinese private company successfully sent two satellites into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday.
The SQX-1 Y1, developed by a Beijing-based private rocket developer i-Space, is a four-stage small commercial carrier rocket.
The rocket's body has a maximum diameter of 1.4 meters, length of 20.8 meters and takeoff weight of 31 tonnes. It has a lift capability of sending 260 kg of payload to 500 km high sun-synchronous orbit. (Xinhua)
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Record Facebook fine won't end scrutiny of the company
And Facebook survived its latest brush with U.S. privacy regulators, but at a cost of a record $5 billion fine and other restrictions imposed by the Federal Trade Commission.
While the company looks set to prosper in the wake of the FTC case, it faces a series of other investigations into its privacy practices in Europe and across the U.S.
The social network is also gearing up to fight investigations into its allegedly anticompetitive behavior.
This includes Facebook’s habit of buying would-be rivals like Instagram, and blatantly duplicating features introduced by competing services. (AP)
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And that's People's Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.
(Produced by David Nye and Cheng Weidan)