People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (2/27/2018 Tue.)

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

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Prosecutors seek 30-year jail term for ousted S.Korean President Park

South Korea's ousted former president Park Geun-hye could spend 30 years in jail.

That's if prosecutors have their way.

A massive corruption scandal toppled Park from office early last year.

She was indicted in April last year for bribery, abuse of power and leaking state secrets.

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China develops 400 kph high-speed train

China is developing new bullet trains with speeds of up to 400 kilometers per hour.

An official says they’ve added a permanent magnet drive system to trains, and that automatic and unmanned drive technology will be used in the future.

The maximum speed of China's bullet trains increased to 350 kph.

That’s when the Fuxing bullet trains started operating between Beijing and Shanghai late last year.

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China raises anti-dumping duties on MMA imports

China says it will slap higher anti-dumping measures on a polymer imported from Singapore, Thailand and Japan.

The Ministry of Commerce says it will impose duties of at least 10 percent from the previous six.

The polymer is used as cement in dentistry, orthopedic surgery and ophthalmology.

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Saudi reshuffles top military posts, adds a woman deputy minister

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman reshuffles kingdom’s top military officers and several deputy ministers.

It’s a broad shakeup seen as elevating younger officials to key economic and security areas.

Several new deputies in economic and security-related ministries as well as a handful of new city mayors were appointed.

This includes a woman as deputy labor minister.

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Over 30 dead in Papua New Guinea earthquake: reports

More than 30 people are believed to have died following a powerful earthquake in Papua New Guinea.

Officials say some 300 others were hurt from landslides and sinkholes.

The 7.5-magnitude tremor struck early Monday, with two strong aftershocks rattling the rugged region.

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Merkel wins party backing for coalition while vowing renewal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wins the blessings of her conservative party for a hard-fought coalition deal.

Her Christian Democratic Union voted in favor of a government pact hammered out with the center-left Social Democrats.

Merkel has also moved to quell a right-wing rebellion.

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Apple CEO to co-chair China Development Forum

And Apple CEO Tim Cook will co-chair a global business forum in China next month.

That’s according to the Wall Street Journal.

This will be Cook's fifth appearance at a newsmaking event in China within a year.

Organizers say the forum is an international conference aimed at engaging with the world for common prosperity.

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

(Produced by David Nye, Wang Yi and Zhao Dantong)