More than 20 million consumers have applied for China’s electronic products trade-in subsidies since the government launched the pro-consumption program three weeks ago, data from the commerce ministry showed Sunday.

Some 20.09 million consumers applied for the subsidies to buy 25.41 million units of electronic products such as mobile phones as of Saturday, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China started to offer subsidies for electronic products trade-in from Jan 20 as the country expanded the scope of consumer goods trade-in program to further boost consumption, which provides consumers with up to 500 yuan ($69.7) apiece on the purchase of digital products.

Card payment giant China UnionPay said it has recorded 6.27 million subsidized transactions with sales value totaling 20.58 billion yuan in the reporting period.

Driven by the government incentives, mobile phone sales in China jumped by 74 percent in volume and 65 percent in value on a weekly basis in the week prior to the Spring Festival, which fell on Jan 29 this year, market data revealed.

China launched an action plan to promote large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods in March 2024 as part of efforts to boost domestic demand and support economic growth. Official data showed that the trade-in scheme has boosted sales of automobiles by 920 billion yuan last year, and that of home appliances by 240 billion yuan. (Article from China Daily)

President Donald Trump has revoked security protection for former top US health official Anthony Fauci.

Dr. Fauci has faced death threats since leading the country’s COVID-19 response.

Trump also revoked security protections for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton and former envoy Brian Hook, who all faced threats from Iran.

As the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Fauci faced death threats during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as criticism from Republicans over mask mandates and other restrictions.

Dr. Fauci has reportedly now hired his own private security team that he will pay for himself.

Trump has also revoked the security clearances of 51 intelligence officials who had claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop had all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.

The United Nations Human Rights office says Israeli operations in the West Bank have killed at least 12 Palestinians since Tuesday and could threaten the newly agreed ceasefire in Gaza.

Reuters is reporting that hundreds of resident in Jenin fled their homes as the military demolished a number of houses on the third day of a major operation in the West Bank city on Thursday.

The operation was launched within days of the start of a ceasefire in Gaza that saw the first exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails since a brief truce in November 2023.

Israeli officials said the Jenin operation was aimed at neutralizing Iranian-backed militant groups in the refugee camp adjacent to the city, a major hub for armed Palestinian groups for years.

But the UN rights office raised the alarm over the killing of what it said were mostly unarmed people, calling for an immediate end of the violence and a halt on expanding settlements.