Fresh Start: Podcast News (5/6/2020 Wed.)

05:26, May 06, 2020

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  Podcast: Story in the Story (5/6/2020 Wed.)

  From the Peoples Daily App.This is Story in the Story."Sharing employees" is a form of flexible hiring as part of the sharing economy. Thanks to the giant strides China has taken in the field of high-tech, including information technology and big data, the sharing economy has developed rapidly in the country.According to State Information Center data, the trade volume of the sharing economy in China in 2018 was about $418.22 billion, up 41.6 percent year-on-year, with the number of service providers being about 75 million, an increase of 7.1 percent year-on-year.The outbreak has boosted other forms of businesses including supermarkets, which have faced temporary employee shortages. For example, fresh delivery service platform Freshhema "borrowed" more than 1,000 employees from Xibei.And many online retail platforms such as JD.com and Alibaba have begun to invite other enterprises workers who are temporarily out of work to make up for the shortage of delivery staff.Today’s Story in the Story looks at how China’s service industry sectors are meeting consumer demand by implementing a new and innovative concept known as “employee sharing.”Wang Danqing, a temporary worker, works at a Hema grocery store unit in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. (Photo: chinadaily.com.cn)Most restaurants in China have been forced to shut following the outbreak of COVID-19, and a cash flow crunch has led many to seek bailouts to survive."I am even willing to sell assets like real estate and cars. Ill try my best to maintain the jobs of my 16,328 employees," said Shu Congxuan, founder and chairman of Chinese fast food chain Home Original Chicken.Shu estimates his company has had losses of at least $71 million as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic so far, with about half of its 800 chain stores temporarily closed."For those in operation, the daily income is about one-fourth of what it was previously, as the...

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  Fresh Start: Podcast News (5/5/2020 Tue.)

  Welcome to Fresh Start.This is People’s Daily app.Here are today’s picks from our editors.Global leaders promise $8 billion to fight COVID-19, EU saysGlobal leaders have promised $8 billion to fund research into vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics to tackle COVID-19.World leaders are taking part in a virtual international conference on Monday to thrash out a battle plan to fight the pandemic.Aside from the EU, other co-hosts include Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and the UK.Dozens of other countries will also be attending the summit, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization."This is the funding that is needed right now to ramp up work on vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. (CGTN)First coronavirus case in France appeared in December: expertThe novel coronavirus first appeared in France on December 27, 2019, said Yves Cohen, an intensive care chief from Avicenne Hospital in Paris, during an interview with BFMTV on Sunday.The patient was tested on December 27, a month before the first French cases were confirmed, Cohen said.The expert said the man might be "patient zero." (CGTN)US to rein in flood of virus blood tests after lax oversightUS regulators Monday pulled back a decision that allowed scores of coronavirus blood tests to hit the market without first providing proof that they worked.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it took action because some sellers have made false claims about the tests and their accuracy.Under pressure to increase testing options, the FDA in March essentially allowed companies to begin selling tests as long as they notified the agency of their plans and provided disclaimers, including that they were not FDA approved. (AP)Over 46,000 arrested in Sri Lanka for violating curfewSri Lankan Police said Monday that over 46,000 people had been arrested nationwide for curfew violatio...

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  Fresh Start: Podcast News (4/29/2020 Wed.)

  Welcome to Fresh Start.This is People’s Daily app.Here are today’s picks from our editors.US confirms COVID-19 toll hits 1 millionThe number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 1 million Tuesday afternoon, reaching 1,002,498, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.According to the tally, a total of 57,266 deaths related to the disease have been recorded in the country.New York remains the hardest-hit state, with 291,996 cases and 22,668 deaths, followed by New Jersey where 111,188 cases and 6,442 deaths have been reported. (Xinhua)UK mourns ‘fallen’ front-line workers, expands virus testingThe UK held a minute’s silence Tuesday for all front-line workers who have died from the coronavirus.As clocks struck 11am, senior political leaders, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, joined hospital and nursing home staff in observing the silence. London’s transport networks came to a halt as workers honored colleagues who have died from COVID-19, and the bells of Westminster Abbey went silent.Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 85 front-line workers in the National Health Service had died from the virus, while another 19 have died in care homes.“These are the nation’s fallen heroes and we will remember them,” Hancock said at the government’s daily briefing. (AP)China offers global students free online courses amid COVID-19 epidemicChina launched an international online teaching service Tuesday, offering 193 online college courses for global students for free amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.Entitled iCourse, the online teaching service was established under the guidance of Chinas Ministry of Education.A total of 60 high-quality Chinese universities and colleges have uploaded their courses in fields including medicine and epidemic containment, economics, natural science, art, engineering and agriculture to iCourse. (Xinhua)French shops to reopen on May 11Shops and markets can reopen wh...