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

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CEOs speak out on gun violence, want Congressional action

The CEOs of more than 100 companies are stepping into the nation’s gun debate, imploring the US Congress to expand background checks and enact a strong “red flag” law.

They said the country’s law on background checks needs to be updated because the current law doesn’t reflect how people buy guns today.

The CEOs’ letter comes after shootings at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, as well as those in West Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

Walmart earlier this month decided to discontinue sales of certain gun ammunition and will also discontinue handgun sales in Alaska. (AP)

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Life expectancy of people in Tibet nearly double in 60 years

The average life expectancy of people in Tibet has risen to 70.6 years, nearly double the figure of 35.5 years in 1959, a senior official of the Tibet Autonomous Region said Thursday.

There are now 1,548 health facilities providing 19,787 beds in Tibet, with nearly 20,000 health and medical workers, said Qizhala, chairman of the regional government, at a press conference held in Beijing.

Medical services have been greatly improved in Tibet, as China has been supporting medical workers there to receive training in other parts of the country and encouraging health facilities in other areas to send personnel to train their counterparts in Tibet, Qizhala said.

The population of the region has grown from 1.23 million in 1959 to 3.44 million at present. (Xinhua)

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1.55-bln-USD projects inked at Shanghai FTZ new section

The Lingang area of the China pilot free trade zone in Shanghai attracted 23 projects, with a total pledged investment of 1.55 billion dollars.

The deals focus on integrated circuits, AI, biomedicine, civil aviation, new energy vehicles and equipment manufacturing.

The FTZ may attract another 70 projects worth 100 billion yuan. (Xinhua)

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China sees progresses of community-level healthcare

Community-level medical infrastructures and ranks of medical workers have been achieving development in recent years, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).

The medical service capacity in county-level hospitals has been dramatically improved, with 80 percent of local residents being able to reach a medical center within 15 minutes, the commission said at a recent press conference.

China has more than 3.96 million community-level medical personnel, and the number of registered doctors and assistant doctors has reached 1.3 million, an increase from 2012 of 7.1 percent and 30 percent, respectively, the commission added. (Xinhua)

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London police arrest 5 over planned Heathrow drone protest

British police say they have arrested five people over a plan by environmental activists to fly drones near Heathrow Airport.

The Metropolitan Police force says three men and two women were arrested in London “on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance.”

A group calling itself Heathrow Pause planned to disrupt Heathrow with drones on Friday to protest plans for a third runway at Europe’s busiest airport. (AP)

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Indonesia forest fires surge, stoking global warming fears

The number of blazes in Indonesia's rainforests has jumped sharply, satellite data showed Thursday, spreading smog across Southeast Asia and adding to concerns about the impact of increasing wildfire outbreaks worldwide on global warming.

Illegal blazes to clear land for agricultural plantations have been raging on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Indonesia deploying water-bombing helicopters and thousands of security forces to tackle them.

Indonesia's forest fires are an annual problem but have been worsened this year by particularly dry weather, and in recent days sent toxic smog floating over Malaysia and triggered a diplomatic row. (AFP)

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Guangzhou to co-build innovation platforms with Hong Kong, Macao

And more than 10 collaborative innovation platforms have been planned to be built in Guangzhou by 2021, with assistance from Hong Kong and Macao.

In the next three years, Guangzhou will set an overall goal to build the international innovation and technology hub, and the comprehensive national science center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Collaborative innovation platforms will be established to encourage the industry-university-research cooperation among enterprises, universities, hospitals and institutes. (Xinhua)

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

(Produced by David Nye and Zhan Huilan)