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Every weekend, Asia Pacific Daily will provide you with a run-down of the latest hot news.
This week, the following hot news you should know:
Top 1 | With the people: Xi Jinping's care for children
June 1 marks the International Children's Day. Caring about children, Chinese President Xi Jinping always encourages them to chase their dreams.
In 2013, Xi visited a school in Lushan County of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the area on April 20. In a prefabricated classroom, he attended a class meeting with pupils and encouraged them to work hard in chasing their dreams.
Nine years later, how are the children who once talked about their dreams with Xi? As the world celebrates the Children's Day, watch this video to see how Chinese children are growing up under Xi's care.
Top 2 | EU agrees to ban over two-thirds of Russian oil imports
The European Union agreed on Monday night to phase out dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal as soon as possible, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The ban will immediately cover more than two-thirds of oil imports from Russia.
Von der Leyen said the banwill "effectively cut around 90 percentof oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year."
The announcement followed an extraordinary European Council summit attended by EU leaders in Brussels on Monday, which focused on a sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
Other measures include "de-Swifting the largest Russian bank Sberbank and banning three more Russian state-owned broadcasters," said European Council President Charles Michel.
Top 3 | Russia test-fires its latest hypersonic Zircon missile
The Russian navy on Saturday conducted another test of a prospective hypersonic missile, a demonstration of the military's long-range strike capability amid the fighting in Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said the Admiral Gorshkov frigate of the Northern Fleet in the White Sea launched the Zircon cruise missile in the Barents Sea, successfully hitting a practice target in the White Sea about 1,000 kilometers (540 nautical miles) away.
The launch was the latest in a series of tests of Zircon, which is set to enter service later this year.
Top 4 | Beijing enters dynamic zero-COVID phase
Beijing entered into a dynamic zero-COVID phase on Friday as 13 districts reported no community infections for seven consecutive days except for Chaoyang, Fengtai, and Changping districts, a local official said at a news briefing on Friday.
The city reported two local COVID-19 infections from 0:00 to 15:00 Friday, with both registered in Chaoyang District and one case screened out of the quarantine areas.
So far, the Chinese capital has logged a total of 1,797 COVID-19 infections since April 22.
Top 5 | Chinese envoy refutes Western rumours about Xinjiang
Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, on Thursday refuted the lies fabricated by some Western countries about the situation in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Dai made the remarks at the United Nations Security Council high-level open debate on strengthening accountability and justice for serious violations of international law.
The Chinese envoy pointed out the accusation of "genocide" and "forced labor" in Xinjiang is a flat-out lie of the century.
Dai stressed the U.S. and UK are afraid their lies about "genocide" and "forced labor" will be debunked in front of the international community and they now even go as far as to mislead the international community with more lies on China.
Top 6 | Shanghai publishes economic recovery and revitalization plans following COVID-19 outbreak
To coordinate COVID-19 control with economic development, the municipal government of Shanghai on Sunday launched an action plan to speed up economic recovery.
The 50-point package of policy items covers measures in eight sectors, mainly about reducing pressure on business, supporting and maintaining the order of reopening, stabilizing trade and investment, as well as encouraging consumption.
The action plan includes vows of greater financial relief for COVID hit industries via more tax cuts and fee reductions, including extending rent relief.
To promote full recovery, the plan said more support and services will be offered to enterprises, such as offering subsidies and smoothing logistics.
Top 7 | China pledges to share development dividends with Pacific Island countries
China will unswervingly expand and deepen opening-up at a higher level, and is willing to share development dividends with Pacific Island countries, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.
Wang made the remarks during a meeting with Henry Puna, general secretary of the Pacific Islands Forum, in Suva, the capital of Fiji.
Fiji is the fourth stop of Wang's 10-day tour, following the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Samoa. The diplomat is on an official visit to Fiji, where he will also chair the second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
Top 8 | U.S. remains suffocated by racism two years after Floyd's death: reports
Two years ago, 46-year-old unarmed African American George Floyd died handcuffed, gasping for air under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.
Footage of his last words pleading, "I can't breathe" set off collective grief and anger, which evolved into a modern-day civil rights movement that had brewed for years. Unfortunately, black Minnesotans say little in the U.S. has changed in advancing black civil rights since, according to The Washington Post's report on Sunday and many other reports.
Despite mounting calls for racial justice and police overhauls, the Floyd tragedy continues unabated in the United States where white supremacy remains widespread, Xinhua reported on Thursday, adding that Floyd's murder was nothing new, it merely came to the fore while many more unknown "Floyds" remain out there.
Top 9 | US state legislators praise abortion access in Mexico
A group of U.S. state legislators from Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and North Carolina toured Mexico and said this week they are impressed by efforts to expand abortion access south of the border.
The legislators visited the country's three largest cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey to meet with activists and Mexican legislators.
They praised the efforts of Mexican activists to guarantee access for women who want an abortion, even those from U.S. states like Texas.
Top 10 | Funerals to begin for Uvalde victims as Biden vows action on guns
Grieving families were to hold the first funerals Tuesday for Texas shooting victims one week after a school massacre left 19 children and two teachers dead, with President Joe Biden vowing to push for stricter gun regulations in the U.S.
Mourners attended wakes in the town of Uvalde on Monday for some of the children gunned down by a local 18-year-old man who was then killed by the police.
In Washington, Biden – who visited the small town about an hour's drive from the Mexico border earlier in the weekend – responded to desperate calls for weapons reform.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
