Fresh Start: Podcast News (9/15/2019 Sun.)

Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app.

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

China's stricter IPR protection draws more foreign patent applications

China has been actively fostering an environment of strict protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) by law, with a growing number of foreign patent applications, said an official from the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA).

From January to July, foreign applicants in China filed 92,000 invention patent applications, with a year-on-year growth of 8.3 percent, and 149,000 trademark registration applications, up 13.1 percent compared with the same period last year, said Gan Shaoning, deputy head of the NIPA. (Xinhua)

Saudi Arabia's oil supply cut in half after drone attacks: sources

Saudi Arabia’s oil production and exports have reportedly been cut in half, said three sources familiar with the matter, after drone attacks on two Aramco plants on Saturday, including the world’s biggest oil processing facility.

One of the sources said the attacks have impacted 5 million barrels per day of oil production - almost half the kingdom’s current output.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have launched several drone attacks on Saudi targets, have claimed responsibility. (CGTN)

South African president apologizes for xenophobic attacks

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Saturday his country is working hard to end xenophobic attacks being perpetrated by South Africans on foreign nationals.

Speaking at the state funeral for the late former leader of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe in Harare, Ramaphosa said South Africans were not xenophobic and apologized to Zimbabweans and Africans for the bout of the xenophobic violence which has left over 12 people – including two Zimbabweans – dead and hundreds displaced.

Following the violence, the Zimbabwe government this week repatriated 96 nationals from South Africa as xenophobic attacks in the neighboring country intensify. (Xinhua)

Iran says US 'maximum pressure' campaign aims at gov't collapse

Iran's First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said on Saturday that "the United States seeks the collapse of the Iranian government through a maximum pressure campaign," the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Their ultimate goal is the collapse of the Iranian government and their short-term goal is to disintegrate the economy of the country," Jahangiri was quoted as saying.

The White House has vowed "maximum pressure" campaign to push Tehran to the negotiation table to sign a new nuclear deal. (Xinhua)

White House says bin Laden son killed in US operation

The White House says Hamza bin Laden, the son of the late al-Qaida leader who had become an increasingly prominent figure in the terrorist organization, has been killed in a US counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

A White House statement gives no further details, such as when Hamza bin Laden was killed or how the United States confirmed his death.

As leader of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and others plotted the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. US Navy SEALs killed him in a raid on a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011. (AP)

Solid gold toilet stolen from Winston Churchill’s birthplace

Thieves have stolen a unique solid gold toilet worth up to 1 million pounds ($1.25 million) from the birthplace of British wartime leader Winston Churchill.

The toilet, the work of Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, had been installed only two days earlier at Blenheim Palace, west of London.

Police said the toilet was taken early Saturday by thieves who used at least two vehicles. Because the golden toilet had been connected to the palace’s plumbing system, police said its removal caused “significant damage and flooding” to the building, a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with valuable art and furniture. (AP)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

What substance are fingernails made of?

(Answer: Keratin.)

Today’s quote is from Irish poet William Allingham (1824-1889). 

"Autumn's the mellow time."

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