Fresh Start: Podcast News (12/13/2019 Fri.)
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Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app. 

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

79 mln air passengers expected during 40-day Spring Festival travel rush

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About 79 million trips are expected to be made by air during the Spring Festival travel rush, an 8.4 percent year-on-year rise, according to China's aviation regulator Thursday.

During peak days, the daily average number of flights handled by the regulator will exceed 16,000, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said. (Xinhua)

Britain starts general election voting

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Polling stations opened in 650 constituencies across Britain at 7 am Thursday in the country's general elections.

This is the second general election Britain witnessed since its Brexit referendum in 2016.

The general election was called in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock, which has gripped Britain ever since the seismic 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union. 

After struggling to lead a minority administration, Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson hopes to secure a majority government that will enable him to take Britain out of the bloc on January 31. (Xinhua)

Russia expels 2 German diplomats in tit-for-tat retaliation over murder case

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The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday declared two employees of the German Embassy in Russia unwelcome and demanded they leave Russia within seven days in retaliation for Germany's expulsion of two Russian diplomats earlier this month.

The Russian side protested against the "groundless decision" of the German Federal Foreign Office on Dec 4 to expel two members of staff at the Russian embassy as "the Russian authorities have not cooperated sufficiently" in the investigations into the murder of a Georgian national.

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, 40, a Georgian male of Chechen descent, was killed in a Berlin park on Aug 23. (Xinhua)

2 die in India's Assam state as protests against Citizenship legislation turn violent

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At least two people died from police gunfire in India's northeastern state of Assam's capital city Guwahati on Thursday, media reported.

According to the reports, the victims were protesters who were agitating against the passage of the "Citizenship (Amendment) Bill" by the country's parliament this week.

The bill establishes provisions for guaranteeing Indian citizenship immigrants from six communities in three countries -- Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. 

The state's local residents argue that with the passage of the bill, immigrants from neighboring country Bangladesh would influx the state swamping indigenous communities, burdening resources, and threatening their language, culture and tradition. (Xinhua)

Russia's only aircraft carrier on fire in port

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Russia's only aircraft carrier caught fire Thursday while undergoing maintenance in an Arctic shipyard, news agencies reported, raising concerns for the future of the navy flagship.

Russian media quoted local emergency services as saying at least 10 people had been injured in the blaze, with six reported to be in intensive care.

A source at the Zvezdochka shipyard said the fire broke out during welding operations. More than 400 people were on board when the blaze started. (AFP)

World's oldest artwork uncovered in Indonesian cave: study

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An Indonesian cave painting that depicts a prehistoric hunting scene could be the world's oldest figurative artwork dating back nearly 44,000 years, according to new research.

Spotted two years ago on the island of Sulawesi, the 13-foot wide painting features wild animals being chased by half-human hunters wielding what appear to be spears and ropes, said the study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

The human-animal figures, known in mythology as therianthropes, suggested that early humans in the region were able to imagine things that did not exist in the world, the researchers said. (AFP)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

What is the word used to describe an animal/plant that is both male and female? 

(Answer: Hermaphrodite.) 

Today’s quote is from British poet George Herbert (1593-1633).  

"If a donkey bray at you, don't bray at him."

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, and Elaine Yue Lin. Music by Eugene Loner.)