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On January 25th, Apple launched promotional activities through some of its direct sales channels. Among them, the iPhone Air, which has only been on the market for three months, has an official price reduction of 2000 yuan, with a maximum discount of 2500 yuan after the national subsidy. On the 25th, customer service at the Apple Store's official Tmall flagship store responded that only the iPhone 16 series is discounted on the official Apple website, and only this store is offering a discount on the iPhone Air through direct sales channels. The customer service representative also suggested adding the product to the shopping cart first. "Everyone's very quick during the promotion." Furthermore, the customer service representative stated that this promotion is limited in quantity. Approximately 13,000 iPhone Air units are participating in the promotion.

January 25 - According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck southern Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, at 11:46 a.m. local time on January 25. The maximum intensity was 3, and the epicenter was at a depth of 50 kilometers. There is no risk of a tsunami.

On January 25th, an international group of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms (META.O), accusing the company of making false claims regarding the privacy and security of its WhatsApp chat service. Meta touts its so-called "end-to-end" encryption as a core feature of WhatsApp, meaning that only the sender and receiver can read messages, and the company itself cannot access them. The company claims this encryption is enabled by default, and in-app messages show that only people in the current chat can read, listen to, or share messages. The plaintiff group filed the lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Francisco, accusing Meta of making false privacy claims. They claim that Meta and WhatsApp store, analyze, and have access to virtually all of WhatsApp users' supposedly private communications, and accuse the company and its executives of defrauding billions of WhatsApp users worldwide. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone stated in an email that the lawsuit is baseless and that the company will seek sanctions against the plaintiffs' lawyers.

January 25th - Xiaomi founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun posted that the new generation SU7 Capri Blue is very beautiful in person, and they are striving to have some demo cars in dealerships before the Spring Festival, so everyone can experience it firsthand. Small orders have already begun.

January 25th - At 10:29 AM on January 25th, the last regular-speed train departed from Guangzhou Railway Station. This marked the official end of regular-speed train service at the century-old station, ushering in a new era of high-speed rail.

January 25th – The Fourth Session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress opened at the Beijing Conference Center on the morning of January 25th. Mayor Yin Yong delivered the government work report. The report proposed vigorously developing high-tech industries. It called for consolidating and strengthening the foundation of the real economy, promoting the expansion of key integrated circuit projects, constructing a high-level international pharmaceutical innovation park, and advancing key projects across the entire ecosystem, including green advanced energy, new energy vehicles, robotics, and commercial aerospace. It also emphasized accelerating the construction of a global digital economy benchmark city, fully implementing the "Artificial Intelligence+" action plan, and building a national artificial intelligence application pilot base. Furthermore, it stressed promoting the construction of a future industry pilot zone and cultivating new growth points such as 6G, quantum technology, and biomanufacturing. Finally, it called for promoting the upgrading of traditional industries and facilitating the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.

January 25th - The Fourth Session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress opened on January 25th. Beijing Mayor Yin Yong delivered the government work report. This year, Beijing will optimize the implementation of key projects, accelerate the construction of key projects such as the "3 x 100" projects, proactively launch eligible major projects from the "15th Five-Year Plan," and solidly prepare project reserves, maintaining a strong momentum of "one project initiation and three backups." The city will continue to optimize its investment structure, strengthen industrial investment, increase investment in improving people's livelihoods and upgrading consumption, leverage the investment capabilities of central government units and municipal enterprises, and promote major projects with a total investment of no less than 200 billion yuan to private capital.

The U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency order to deploy backup power resources to data centers and other critical facilities in Texas during the storm.

January 25th – The Fourth Session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress opened at the Beijing Conference Center on the morning of January 25th. Mayor Yin Yong delivered the government work report. The report stated that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Beijing achieved remarkable results in high-quality economic development. The leading role of scientific and technological innovation has become more prominent. The pioneering reforms in Zhongguancun and the construction of the "two zones" have yielded fruitful results. R&D investment intensity ranks among the top in the world. The number of unicorn companies ranks first among all cities in China. The number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people and the number of national-level specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises have doubled compared to 2020. Three trillion-yuan-level and seven hundred-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters have been cultivated, and the endogenous driving force of economic development has become stronger.

January 25th - The Fourth Session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress opened on January 25th. Beijing Mayor Yin Yong delivered the government work report. The report noted that over the past five years, more than 80% of the city's fiscal expenditure has been allocated to improving people's livelihoods, cumulatively reducing the tax and fee burden on business entities by over 490 billion yuan; the level of coordinated urban-rural and regional development has continuously improved, with rural residents' income growth outpacing that of urban residents for eight consecutive years; the "responding to complaints promptly" approach has driven urban governance reform, and the capacity for smart and efficient governance has been continuously enhanced; services for the elderly and children have been comprehensively improved, and the average life expectancy has increased from 82.4 years in 2020 to 83.9 years, making improvements in people's livelihoods more tangible and accessible.

January 25th - According to foreign media reports, Italian Prime Minister Meloni refuted US President Trump's remarks about NATO allies "disengaging from the front lines" in Afghanistan, calling the statement unacceptable and noting that 53 Italian soldiers have been killed in the conflict. In a written statement released through the Prime Minister's office on Saturday evening, Meloni stated that the Italian government was shocked to learn of Trump's claims that NATO allies were not on the front lines in Afghanistan. She emphasized that since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty for the first and only time in its history, demonstrating "extraordinary" solidarity with the United States. Meloni pointed out that Italy, under this commitment, deployed thousands of troops and fully assumed the responsibilities of the Western Regional Command.

On January 25th, Beijing Mayor Yin Yong delivered the government work report. The report stated that Beijing focused on optimizing new supply and expanding new demand, making good use of the "two major" and "two new" policies tailored to local conditions, actively seeking various funds such as ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, and promoting the pilot program of "self-approval and self-issuance" of local government special bonds; optimizing the investment and financing system and mechanism, promoting major projects with a total investment of approximately 235 billion yuan to private capital; further promoting the construction of an international consumption center city, deepening reforms to facilitate services for overseas personnel, with inbound tourists increasing by 39%, and the city's tourism volume and revenue reaching new historical highs; digital consumption, green consumption, and health consumption flourishing, and service consumption increasing by 5%.

On January 25th, Beijing Mayor Yin Yong delivered the government work report. The report stated that Beijing is accelerating its development into a global benchmark city for the digital economy. Significant progress has been made in the construction of a key artificial intelligence ecosystem. Pilot-scale application bases in medical, manufacturing, and scientific fields have been established in Beijing. The number of registered and launched large-scale models remains the highest in the country. The Beijing Data Group has been established, and the Digital Intelligence Beijing Innovation Center has commenced operation. The added value of the digital economy increased by 8.7%. The report also highlighted the development of future industries, with the world's first humanoid robot marathon and the World Humanoid Robot Games attracting global attention. A small-scale 6G experimental network was completed, and the Zhuque-3 reusable rocket successfully completed its maiden flight into orbit. Several leading achievements in brain-computer interfaces were showcased. Furthermore, the report emphasized the vigorous development of modern service industries, with software and information, technology services, and business services contributing over 50% to economic growth. The efficiency of financial services to the real economy has continuously improved, and the number of listed companies on the Beijing Stock Exchange has reached 288, with a total market capitalization exceeding 860 billion yuan.

Starlink: For users affected by winter storm Fern, the team has enabled emergency text messaging for more T-Mobile users via our direct cellular satellite connections.

January 25th - According to the China Development Bank (CDB), in 2025, CDB will leverage its advantages in medium- and long-term investment and financing, taking proactive measures to support the construction of the "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed rail network. The bank will issue over 200 billion yuan in railway loans throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 27.8%, with the outstanding balance of railway loans exceeding one trillion yuan for the first time.

January 25th - The Fourth Session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress opened on January 25th. Beijing Mayor Yin Yong delivered the government work report. By 2025, Beijing's GDP will reach 5.2 trillion yuan, a growth of 5.4%, 0.4 percentage points higher than the national average. General public budget revenue will increase by 4.8%, the urban surveyed unemployment rate will be 4.1%, and per capita disposable income will increase by 4.4% in real terms. Consumer prices will remain generally stable. Several indicators, including per capita GDP, total labor productivity, and energy consumption, water consumption, and carbon emissions per 10,000 yuan of GDP, will remain among the best in the country for provincial-level regions.

On January 25th, according to CNN, federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shot and killed another man during an immigration enforcement operation. Video footage shows a federal officer disarming the man before a Border Patrol officer shot him. The deceased has been identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretty, believed to be an intensive care unit nurse. Police stated he was suspected of having a legal gun license. The Department of Homeland Security claims the officer acted in self-defense—a claim Minnesota Governor Tim Walz dismissed as nonsense and a lie. During the Trump administration's massive crackdown on immigration, the Department of Homeland Security's statements have been repeatedly contradicted by on-site video footage and challenged in court. Despite the cold weather, anti-ICE protesters continued their march in Minneapolis today.