People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (8/20/2019 Tue.)
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This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China.

China urges U.S. to drop plan to sell Taiwan F-16V fighters

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China has urged the United States to immediately cancel a plan to sell Taiwan F-16V jet fighters.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Gang Shuang said the U.S. must bear all consequences unless it stops arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan. 

Geng made the remarks after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had approved the sale of eight billion U.S. dollars in F-16V jet fighters to Taiwan. (CGTN)

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13 Chinese tourists killed, 31 injured in bus crash in northern Laos

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Thirteen Chinese nationals were killed and 31 others injured in a bus crash in northern Laos, the Chinese Embassy in Laos confirmed on Tuesday.

The crash happened on Monday afternoon when a tour bus carrying 43 Chinese tourists, one Chinese tour assistant and two Lao nationals including the driver and a tour guide, skidded off a road.

The bus was traveling from the country's capital city Vientiane to a northern tourist town when it crashed 40 km from its destination.

All the injured were sent to hospitals and two of them were in serious conditions.

The two Lao nationals were slightly injured.

Local police said the crash was probably caused by a brake failure. (Xinhua)

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Coastal provinces record robust half-year growth

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Coastal provinces in East and South China recorded robust economic growth in the first half of the year.

This, despite escalations in trade tensions.

China's National Bureau of Statistics said the GDP of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces expanded by 7.1 percent, 6.5 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, in the first six months, outpacing the country's 6.3 percent figure.

Guangdong also achieved a record-high GDP of 5.05 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, placing it first among all provincial localities.

Jiangsu was next at 4.86 trillion yuan. (China Daily)

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India's 2nd Moon Mission enters lunar orbit

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India's second Moon Mission, or Chandrayaan-2, successfully entered into the Moon's Orbit on Tuesday, confirmed the country's space agency.

This is said to be the biggest milestone achieved by Chandrayaan-2 so far.

Launched on July 22, it's lander will attempt to make a soft-landing on the Lunar surface on Sept. 7. 

Earlier this month, Chandrayaan-2 had sent the first set of pictures of the Earth.

India vies to become the fourth country, following the United States, Russia and China, to land on the Moon.

The nearly 150 million U.S. dollars worth of Moon Mission aims at gathering data on water, minerals and rock formations on the lunar surface. (Xinhua)

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U.S. tests first ground-launched cruise missile after INF treaty exit

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The Pentagon said it tested a conventionally-configured ground-launched cruise missile with a range of more than 500 kilometers.

It's the first such test since the United States pulled out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

In a statement, the Pentagon said the test took place on Sunday at San Nicolas Island, California, and the missile hit its target after flying more than 500 kilome-ters.

The US formally withdrew from the landmark 1987 pact with Russia on August 2 after determining that Moscow was violating the treaty.

The Kremlin has denied the accusation. (Xinhua)

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Domestic animated blockbuster 'Ne Zha' to sail overseas
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China's popular animated film Ne Zha will sail overseas. 

Well Go USA Entertainment, a distribution label specializing in bring top Asian film titles to US cinemas will release the film exclusively in select 3D and IMAX theaters across North America later this month, followed by a nationwide expansion in early September. 

It will also hit the big screen in Australia and New Zealand in late August. 

The film has earned more than 550 million US dollars in China, making it the biggest animation ever in the country. (China Daily and Xinhua)

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Spain offers to accept migrants from rescue ship

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Spain has offered to take in the charity vessel Proactiva Open Arms with more than 100 migrants on board.

This, as it slammed what it calls Italy's inconceivable refusal to allow it to dock.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ordered the port of Algeciras to be ready to receive the boat Open Arms.

That boat is currently in limbo off the Italian island of Lampedusa. (China Daily)

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

(Produced by David Nye, Yang Yang and Wang Xiangyu)