Xinhua Photos of the Day (June 19)

APD NEWS

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BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The world in the past 24hrs. A selection of the best daily press photos from Xinhua.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) meets with French President Emmanuel Macron at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, on June 18, 2020. Johnson and Macron held talks Thursday at 10 Downing Street, the first meeting between heads of state in Britain since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)

Staff members disinfect a waiting room of Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, June 18, 2020. Following the upgrade of emergency response to COVID-19 from Level III to Level II in Beijing, the railway station has taken strict measures to prevent and control the spread of the epidemic. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

A staff member checks the sanitary condition of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, June 18, 2020. The Eiffel Tower will reopen on June 25. Sanitary measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of tourists. The Paris landmark has been closed for over three months due to the COVID-19 lockdown. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

A passenger wearing a face mask is seen on an airplane from Cairo to Hurghada, Egypt, on June 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Amirjan Elim patrols along a ditch in Datung Township of Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 14, 2020.

Located deep in a valley, Datung Township is surrounded by towering mountains. These mountains have become a barrier for local residents to access to the national power grid. To solve the power supply problem, the town in the late 1980s organized villagers to build a ditch along the Datung River and introduced a hydropower generator. For years, the small-sized hydropower station just barely meets local power needs. Besides, the station is often paralyzed with the watercourse being blocked by garbage, ice and fallen rocks.

Amirjan, 34, has been in charge of the hydropower station maintenance since 2007. He patrols along the watercourse at least three times per day to make sure normal operation of the generator. "In autumn I need to clear away fallen leaves in time. In winter I need to break the river ice into pieces. If flood comes, I need to repair the ditch."

Thanks to the poverty alleviation efforts by local government, residents of Datung Township are expected to use the electricity supplied by the national grid by the end of this June. The small-sized hydropower station would then become a backup power supply.

Amirjan is looking forward to seeing local residents have better power supply as well as a better life. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

A woman walks past an advertisement billboard marking the listing of JD.com in Hong Kong, south China, June 18, 2020. JD.com started trading on the Hong Kong market Thursday as the third U.S.-listed Chinese mainland company that completed a secondary listing in Hong Kong. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

People watch a movie inside their cars at a drive-in cinema amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)

Photo taken on June 17, 2020 shows a bridge in Xuan'en County of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo by Song Wen/Xinhua)

A visitor takes photos of a lavender field in Sigong Village, Lucaogou Township of Huocheng County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 16, 2020. With a cultivated area of 56,000 mu (about 3,733 hectares), the lavender industry of Huocheng County has created more than 15,000 jobs in 2019, with a yearly output value of about 1.5 billion yuan (about 212 million U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Zhao Ge)

Oriental white storks are seen before being released on the banks of the Poyang Lake in Wannian County, east China's Jiangxi Province, June 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)