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Here are today’s picks from our editors.
China issues contingency plan against locust threat
China on Monday unveiled its contingency plan to monitor and control the spread of locusts from home and abroad to secure grain production and ecological safety.
The plan clarified the goal of locust control, which is to ensure that desert locusts from abroad will not cause harm and domestic locust outbreaks will not turn into a plague, with no more than 5 percent of crops affected.
Local authorities are urged to prevent the invasion of desert locusts from abroad. The plan requires monitoring stations be set up in Tibet, Yunnan, and Xinjiang on potential migration routes of the destructive pests.
To control locusts in domestic agricultural areas, chemical methods will be adopted for areas with a high pest density, while medium- or low-density areas will use biological and ecological control methods, the plan noted. (Xinhua)
Iran temporarily releases some 70,000 prisoners due to COVID-19
Iran has temporarily released 70,000 prisoners due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Tasnim News Agency reported, citing Iranian judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi on Monday.
"Prisoners with underlying medical conditions would be given priority for release," said Raisi.
So far, the death toll from the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran has reached 237. (CGTN)
Boeing pilot training on 737 MAX 'inadequate': Ethiopia crash report
Ethiopia's probe of last year's Ethiopian Airlines crash found that Boeing did not provide sufficient pilot training for the 737 MAX and that crucial flight software was flawed, according to an interim report published Monday.
The crash of the Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX six minutes after takeoff on March 10, 2019, killed all 157 people on board, triggering the global grounding of the MAX and the worst crisis in Boeing's history.
The new interim report published Monday says that the design of the anti-stall flight system "made it vulnerable to undesirable activation.” Specifically, the report points to the fact that the system could be activated by a single angle-of-attack sensor reading. (AFP)
UK police shoot knife-wielding man dead in London
British police say they have shot dead a man who was brandishing two knives near Trafalgar Square in Central London.
The Metropolitan Police force said Monday the shooting wasn't terror related.
The force said officers patrolling the area saw a man acting suspiciously late Sunday. When challenged, he produced two knives and was shot, the force said.
Most British police don't carry firearms, but the area around Parliament is often patrolled by armed officers. (AP)
Germany decides to host refugee children stranded in Greece
Germany's governing parties of the conservative union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) decided to host children in need of protection from Greek refugee camps, the coalition committee announced on Monday.
Greece should be "supported in the difficult humanitarian situation of about 1,000 to 1,500 children on the Greek islands," the coalition committee noted.
According to the committee, these children were either in urgent need of treatment due to a serious illness or unaccompanied and younger than 14 years of age, most of them girls. (Xinhua)
Railway line tracker killed by lion in Zimbabwe
A railway line tracker was killed by a lion in Dete, Zimbabwe's Matebeleland North Province, an official confirmed Monday.
Police and rangers from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) found the 43-year-old victim’s body last Thursday.
There has been a spike in human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe, largely attributed to a growing human population that has led to diminishing natural habitats for wildlife. (Xinhua)
China to play ROK in June in Olympic women's football qualifier
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday announced the Olympic women's football qualifying tournament playoffs between China and South Korea will be postponed until June.
The first leg is due to take place on June 4 in South Korea and the second leg on June 9 in China. Venues and kick-off times have not yet been announced.
Originally, the playoffs were scheduled for early March but the COVID-19 in both countries has forced delays. (CGTN)
Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.
And now for the Question of the Day:
Which sports do sisters Venus and Serena Williams play?
(Answer: Tennis.)
Today’s quote is from Greek Philosopher Thales (624 BC - 546 BC).
"Necessity is the strongest of things, for it rules everything."
(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, and Elaine Yue Lin. Music by Eugene Loner.)