People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (8/21/2019 Wed.)
People's Daily app
1566383650000

PD Tonight.jpg

8



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

_____

Chinese ambassador to the UN states China’s position at Security Council High-level Debate

微信图片_20190821181908.jpg

China’s permanent representative to the United Nations said peace and security in the Middle East bears on not only the fundamental interests of countries in the region, but also on global stability and development.

Zhang Jun stressed the need for the international community to work harder to seek political settlement of regional hotspot issues, support the United Nations in playing a central role, promote dialogue and negotiations, commit to manage the situation constructively and take into account the legitimate rights and interests of all parties.

He added that upholding the legitimate rights of the Palestinians is the common responsibility of the international community. (People's Daily app) 

_____

Chinese robot market sees rapid growth

微信图片_20190821181852.jpg

The China's robot market has achieved a scale of $4.25 billion in the first half of 2019, introduced Huai Jinpeng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, on Tuesday during the 2019 World Robot Conference in Beijing.

The scale of Chinese robot market will achieve $8.68 billion in 2019 with a $5.73-billion scale of industrial robot, $2.2 billion of service robots and $750 million of robots for special purposes, according to the Report on Chinese Robotic Industry Development 2019 newly-published at the conference.

Compared to a 12.3-percent average growth rate of the world robot industry from 2014 to 2019 and an expected scale of $29.41 billion in 2019, the report shows the growth rate of China hit 20.9 percent in the same period. (China Daily)

_____

Trump cancels Denmark meeting over Greenland proposal

微信图片_20190821181912.jpg

US President Donald Trump says an upcoming trip to Denmark is on hold because its prime minister isn't interested in selling Greenland to the US.

Trump was scheduled to depart at the end of August on a trip that included stops in Denmark and Poland.

Denmark owns Greenland. Trump recently floated the idea of buying the island but said as recently as Sunday it wasn't a priority.

Denmark had called the idea "absurd." (AP)

_____

UK officials to skip most EU meetings from Sept. 1

e7d450376cc94935ac0cf02f2fee6c1a.jpg

British officials will stop attending most EU meetings from September 1 except for those on "matters of ongoing national interest" such as security, the government said on Tuesday.

The Brexit ministry said in a statement that the time spent preparing for the meetings in Brussels would be better used in readying the country for leaving the European Union on October 31.

"This decision reflects the fact that the UK's exit from the EU on 31 October is now very close and many of the discussions in EU meetings will be about the future of the union after the UK has left," the statement said.

The ministry said decisions on whether or not to attend a particular meeting would be made on a case by case basis. (CGTN)

_____

Three pro-Kurdish mayors sacked in Turkey

微信图片_20190821181902.jpg

Turkish authorities have sacked three mayors and arrested over 400 people in the country’s southeast.

In a statement, the Turkish Interior Ministry claimed the suspended mayors "had been proven to be engaged and affiliated with terrorist organizations”.

It added that municipalities in the Kurdish southeast had become "logistical centers … for supporting terrorist activities."

The arrests are likely to cause further disarray in Turkey's hopes for a peaceful resolution to its decades-old Kurdish conflict. (CGTN)

_____

Beijing reports H5N6 flu case

微信图片_20190821181857.jpg

Beijing's disease control authority has confirmed a human infection case of the H5N6 bird flu virus.

The 59-year-old patient came to Beijing three months ago and had been exposed to slaughtered poultry before developing symptoms on Aug. 6, the municipal center for disease control and prevention said on Wednesday.

The case was confirmed on Aug. 17 as an infection of H5N6 virus, said the center.

The municipal government has implemented responsive measures in accordance with relevant requirements for prevention and control.

H5N6 is a bird flu strain with most infections caused by exposure to live poultry. So far, no human-to-human transmission of the virus has been reported. (Xinhua)

_____

Lin-gang Special Area launched in Shanghai

微信图片_20190821182159.jpg

And the Lingang Special Area, a newly added part of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone in Shanghai, was officially launched on Tuesday.

Many expect the area to become a new driver for China's deepened opening-up.

Shanghai authorities released a management guideline for Lingang to facilitate overseas investment, commodity and capital flows, transportation, employment and information exchanges.

Plans are for Lingang to grow into a special economic zone with strong global market influence and competitiveness by 2035. (China Daily)

_____

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

(Produced by David Nye and Wang Xiangyu)