People's Daily Tonight: Podcast News (2/9/2018 Fri.)

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

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Funding bill clears US Senate amid shutdown drama, House next

The US Senate passed a critical spending bill early Friday after an hours-long delay forced Congress to miss a midnight deadline and sent the government tumbling into a shutdown.

The bipartisan measure, which passed 71 to 28, was later headed to the House of Representatives for what is expected to be a pre-dawn Friday vote.

But the fate of the bill remained uncertain in the lower chamber of the US Congress.

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Rescuers continue to search for missing people in Taiwan earthquake

Rescuers Friday were continuing their search for seven people trapped in a collapsed building about 60 hours after a powerful earthquake struck Taiwan's Hualien County.

The seven include five mainland tourists and a Canadian couple who were staying on the second floor of the 12-story Yun Men Tsui Ti building when the 6.5-magnitude quake hit the county late Tuesday night.

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Woman sentenced to death for arson

A woman in East China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to death on Friday for starting a fire that killed a family of four in 2017, local authorities said.

Mo Huanjing, a former nanny of the family of Lin Shengbin, was guilty of arson after she set fire to his apartment in Hangzhou  city on June 21, 2017.

The fire killed Lin's wife Zhu Xiaozhen and their three young children.

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J-20 begins to be commissioned

China's latest J-20 stealth fighter has been commissioned into the air force's combat service, a spokesperson confirmed Friday.

The J-20 is China's fourth-generation medium and long-range fighter jet. It made its maiden flight in 2011 and was first shown to the public at the 11th Airshow China in Guangdong Province in 2016.

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DPRK delegation arrives in South Korea for Winter Olympics

A plane carrying a high-ranking delegation from DPRK arrived at a South Korean airport on Friday, local TV footage showed.

The delegation will attend the opening ceremony of the 23rd Winter Olympics set to kick off Friday night in South Korea's eastern county of PyeongChang.

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China appoints veteran journalist to head state broadcaster

China's cabinet has appointed a veteran journalist to head the state broadcaster -- the China Central Television.

Shen Haixiong, 51, also takes over the role as deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, according to a statement issued by the State Council on Friday.

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Chinese State Councilor says China, US can address trade issue by opening up markets

Visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi said here Thursday that China and the United States could properly address the bilateral trade issue by opening up markets and "making a bigger cake of cooperation."

While meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Yang said China is committed to comprehensive reform at home, peaceful development and win-win cooperation.

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

(Produced by Han Xiaomeng, Qu Qiuyan and Zhao Dantong)