1. On the 23rd local time, Emily Murphy, chief executive of the US General Services Administration (GSA), informed the Biden team that she was ready to start the formal transition process. Murphy said in a letter to Biden that more than $7 million in federal funds will be set aside for the transition, and that the Trump administration is also providing federal resources for the transition. Under US federal law, the head of the GSA has the right to allocate transitional funds. GSA’s failure to release funds sparked controversy in the weeks after the media predicted that Biden would win the election. 

2. Oxford Vaccine, jointly developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, announced the results of phase III clinical trials on the 23rd: the vaccine can be as effective as 90% after being adjusted to an appropriate dose. The British government has ordered 100m doses of the Oxford vaccine, enough to vaccinate 50 million people. 

3. Netflix: plans to expand its existing studio in New Mexico with a production expenditure of $1 billion to build one of the largest production centers in North America. The project is expected to create 1000 production jobs over the next 10 years. So far, it has spent more than $200 million in New Mexico and hired more than 2000 production suppliers and more than 1600 actors and staff.

4. The personal Information Protection Committee, South Korea’s central administrative body in charge of personal information protection policy, imposed a fine of 6.7 billion won on Facebook for unauthorized use of user information and brought criminal charges against the investigative authorities. 

5. Japan: the quasi-zenith satellite system plans to launch three more satellites and form a constellation of seven satellites by the end of March 2024 to build its own satellite positioning system. The ultimate goal of the whole system is to maintain the ranging error of navigation space signal at about 0.3 meters in 2036. 

6. The novel coronavirus crisis Management Center in Nepal has decided that all international flight operations can be resumed as long as the destination country agrees. In order to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic, the Nepalese government decided to ban the take-off and landing of ordinary international commercial flights from March 22. After that, the Nepalese government decided that starting from September, ordinary international commercial flights can resume operations to a limited extent and allow specific people from specific countries and regions to enter the country.

7. Nasa: the first space launch system (SLS) rocket has begun to be assembled on the launch platform, and the first flight is planned for next year. SLS is an important part of NASA’s Artemis plan to return to the moon. It is a giant rocket that will send astronauts to the moon. The first manned mission to the moon is scheduled for 2024. Engineers have begun stacking the components that make up the rocket’s two solid rocket boosters, which are scheduled to make its debut in November 2021.

8. Disney: 32000 jobs will be cut in the first half of 2021, mainly in theme parks. The number of layoffs is up from the 28000 job cuts announced in September, mainly because of health incidents that have led to a limited supply of Disneyland visitors. Previously, Disney parks in Florida and outside the United States have reopened. More employees at Disneyland in Southern California will be given unpaid leave because it is uncertain when California will allow the theme park to reopen.

9. Japanese research firm Fomalhaut Techno Solutions has dismantled Apple’s new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. The report shows that the material cost of iPhone 12 is $373 and that of iPhone 12 Pro is $406. South Korean parts accounted for 27.3%, the United States accounted for 25.6%, Chinese mainland accounted for 4.6%.