1. Apple plans to increase production by 96 million iPhone, units in the first half of 2021, up 30 per cent from the same period last year. Apple has told its suppliers that the number of phones will reach 230 million next year, but that target may change. Meanwhile, Apple suppliers said the demand outlook was pretty good, with stronger-than-expected demand for Pro and ProMax, flat demand for 12 and slightly weaker 12mini.

2.Statistical Italy: the death toll in Italy will exceed 700000 this year. The last time this happened in Italy was in 1944, during World War II. In 2019, the death toll in Italy is about 647000.

3. German newspaper Bild: EU Drug Regulatory Agency EMA intends to approve Pfizer / BioNTech candidate COVID-19 vaccine on December 23rd. Germany may start vaccination work before the end of the year, or on December 26.

4. TikTok is gradually replacing more mature applications such as Instagram in the Middle East as the favorite social software for post-1995 users, with triple-digit revenue growth in Saudi Arabia compared with last month, making it the market with the highest revenue growth for TikTok. 

5. MSCI Index companies: after the US government issued a directive in November that US investors are not allowed to trade some Chinese company stocks, it decided to remove 10 Chinese company stocks from the portfolio of constituent stocks in the global investable index series, effective from the close of trading on January 5. These stocks include SMIC H shares, China Communications and Construction A shares and H shares, China Satellite, China Railway Construction A shares and H shares, China Railway Corporation A shares and H shares, Haikang Satellite TV and China Science dawning. 

6. Us Treasury: Japan’s holdings of US debt fell to $1.2695 trillion in October, while China’s holdings also fell to $1.054 trillion. China reduced its holdings by another $7.7 billion in October, making it still the second-largest creditor to the United States. This is the fifth month in a row that China has reduced its US debt holdings, with a reduction of US $9.3 billion in June, US $1 billion in July, US $5.4 billion in August and US $6.3 billion in September. The position is the lowest since January 2017, according to Reuters.

7. Russian President Vladimir Putin: in 2020, Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 3.6%, which is lower than that of Europe and the United States. In addition, no decision has been made on whether to run in the 2024 presidential election.

8. French President Marco Macron tested positive for novel coronavirus nucleic acid, according to a notice issued by the Elysee Palace. According to the prevention and control regulations, Macron will be quarantined for seven days from now, and he will continue to carry out his work and related activities remotely.

9. In October, Japan’s US debt holdings fell to US$1.2695 trillion, making it still the largest creditor of the United States. China’s position fell to US$1.054 trillion, still the second-largest creditor of the United States. This is the fifth month in a row that China has reduced its holdings of US debt, and its holdings have fallen to the lowest level since January 2017.