Fresh Start: Podcast News (1/12/2020 Sun.)

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Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app. 

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

China announces top 10 sci-tech news events of 2019

Lists of China's and the world's top 10 sci-tech news events, jointly selected by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, were announced Saturday in Beijing.

The 10 major Chinese scientific and technological news events included the first-ever soft landing on the moon's far side by Chang'e-4 probe, the discovery of the largest ever stellar black hole by Chinese astronomers, as well as the successful in-orbit tests of the country's first space-based gravitational wave detection experiment satellite Taiji-1.

The development of the new type of brain-inspired chip by Chinese scientists and the discovery of a lower jaw fossil from the ancient Denisovans who lived around 160,000 years ago were also selected. (Xinhua)

Taiwan leadership election result unveiled

Tsai Ing-wen, candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and her running mate Lai Ching-te won Taiwan's leadership election Saturday, according to the island's election commission.

Tsai and Lai got more than 8.17 million ballots, or 57.1 percent of the total vote, while Han Kuo-yu, candidate of Kuomintang (KMT), and his running mate Chang San-cheng obtained over 5.52 million ballots, or 38.6 percent of the vote.

James Soong, the People First Party candidate, and his running mate Sandra Yu got more than 600,000 ballots, or 4.3 percent of the vote. (Xinhua)

Iran's IRGC accepts 'responsibility' for Ukrainian plane crash

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the aerospace commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said Saturday that the IRGC accepts responsibility for the crash of a Ukrainian plane over Iran's airspace.

The Iranian commander said that since Iran was on "high alert" on Wednesday because of the US threats of possibly hitting 52 spots in the country, the operator of the missile launch site was concerned about a possible "US cruise missile."

Hajizadeh adding that the missile operator also encountered some communication problems and "he made a bad decision, triggered the missile and hit the plane." (Xinhua)

French gov't temporarily removes 'pivotal age' of 64 in pension reform bill

The French government announced on Saturday that it temporarily removed from its pension reform bill the contested "pivotal age" of 64 for a full pension, two years longer than the current policy, which has been the main source of tension during weeks of union-led strikes.

There would be a conference, as demanded by unions, to study ways of financing the pension system, which must come up with proposals by the end of April. (Xinhua)

Boeing's ousted CEO departs with $62 mln, even without severance pay

Boeing Co's ousted chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, is leaving the company with $62 million in compensation and pension benefits but will get no severance pay in the wake of the 737 MAX crisis.

Muilenburg was fired from the job in December as Boeing failed to contain the fallout from a pair of fatal crashes that halted output of the company's bestselling 737 MAX jetliner and tarnished its reputation with airlines and regulators. (CGTN)

Eyeing Moon, NASA hosts first public astronaut graduation ceremony

NASA on Friday celebrated its latest class of graduating astronauts at a public ceremony in Houston, honoring a diverse and gender-balanced group now qualified for spaceflight missions including America's return to the Moon and eventual journey to Mars.

After completing more than two years of basic training, the six women and seven men were chosen from a record-breaking 18,000 applicants and represent a wide variety of backgrounds and specialties, from pilots to scientists, engineers and doctors.

The group included two candidates from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which has participated in a joint training program with the United States since 1983. (AFP)

Nigerian businessman takes fight against malaria to Antarctica

Ned Nwoko, founder and president of Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation (PNNF), a humanitarian group, has taken the organization's ‘Malaria Eradication In Africa Project’ to Antarctica to address the scourge in Africa.

According to Nwoko, the expedition to Antarctica, the earth’s southernmost continent on the geographic South Pole, is to interact with leading researchers working on more effective drugs for the control of the deadly disease. (CGTN)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

How many whiskers does the average cat have on each side of its face?

(Answer: Twelve.)

Today’s quote is from American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864).  

"Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty."

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Brian Lowe, and Paris Yelu Xu. Music by Eugene Loner.)