Israel allows shipment of civil defense vehicles into Gaza 1st time in 12 years

07:36, December 18, 2019

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  Monthly pig stocks rise for 1st time in a year amid favorable policies

  Chinas stock of hogs rose 2 percent in November, the first monthly increase in about a year, signaling that favorable policies to boost hog production despite the epidemic of African swine fever have taken effect, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Monday.Citizens buy pork at a local supermarket in Zhengzhou. (Photo: IC)The inventory of breeding sows also went up by 4 percent in November, building on an uptick of 0.6 percent in October, the ministry added. Previously, the sow stock had been on a decline for about 19 months."With both significant indexes having bottomed out recently, the countrys hog production capacity is faring better and becoming steady," Yang Zhenhai, chief of the ministrys Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine Bureau, said in a statement posted on the ministrys website.Hog farms with more than 5,000 pigs are demonstrating a stronger rebound as their inventories for both pigs and sows have increased for three months in a row, he said.The output of pork feed also increased by nearly 7 percent in November over the previous month, maintaining the upward momentum that began in September, Yang added.African swine fever, first detected in China last April, has decimated the countrys massive hog herds and forced up the prices of pork, the most consumed meat in the country.Yang said prices for pigs and pork reported marked drops in November thanks to improved confidence in the number of pig herds gradually returning to a normal level.However, pork supplies will stay tight as peak seasons for Chinese to consume pork are drawing near.Peak seasons fall around New Years Day on Jan 1 and Spring Festival on Jan 25, according to Yang."It will take about six months for the expanding pig herds to be translated into increased pork products on the market," he said. "Given that the stock of hog herds from June to August had been shrinking, consumers will continue to feel the supply strain.&...

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  China's smartphone shipments to rise in 2020

  File photo: CGTNBEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinas smartphone shipments will rise in 2020, buoyed by the increasing popularity of 5G phones, according to the global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC).Shipments of smartphones in China are estimated to edge up 0.7 percent year on year in 2020, as 5G phones spread across the market and give hesitant consumers the final nudge to switch models, said the IDC.The IDC expects 5G phone shipments to lead 5G network users in the short term, while one in every five phones will be connected to the faster and stabler network by 2021.Prices of more than 20 percent of 5G phones will dip below the 2,000 yuan (about 285.8 U.S. dollars) mark next year, according to the IDC.IDC data showed shipments of 5G phones in China reached 485,000 units in the third quarter of this year, most of which were flagships priced at over 700 U.S. dollars.

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  Moments of the week (12/16-12/22/2019)

  Members of China's 36th Antarctic expedition withdraw the gravity piston sampling device on China's polar icebreaker Xuelong 2 in the Cosmonauts Sea on Monday. The expedition will conduct multidisciplinary experiments related to the sea, atmosphere, ice shelf and biology.Esperance Sportive de Tunis's supporters cheer for their team during the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 second round match between Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal FC and Tunisia's Esperance Sportive de Tunis at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, capital of Qatar, Monday.A man in costumes attends the annual Christmas Run in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday. About 3,800 people attended this year's race. Rescuers transfer a survivor of a coal mine flooding accident at the Shanmushu coal mine owned by the Sichuan Coal Industry Group in Gongxian County of Yibin City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Wednesday. Thirteen miners have been rescued after being trapped for over 80 hours in the pit, local authorities said Wednesday. The fifth-term chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and members of the executive council of Macao SAR being sworn in at an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and the inauguration of the fifth-term government of the city, at the Macao East Asian Games Dome in south China's Macao, Friday.Parts of the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China,covered in snow on Monday. Colorful Christmas lights and decorations outside a house in Toronto, Canada, Tuesday. A protest against the new citizenship law in Kolkata, India, Wednesday. Countrywide protests against the controversial law have rocked various Indian states, officials said. South Korean team members celebrate during the awarding ceremony of the 2019 East Asian Cup in Busan, South Korea, Wednesday. A group wedding ceremony for railway construction workers in Bangkok, capital of Thailand. China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Limited organized the event for ...