Welcome to Fresh Start.

This is People’s Daily app.

Here are today’s picks from our editors.

Xi meets the press as second BRF concludes

Chinese President Xi Jinping met the press Saturday at the closing of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

Agreements worth more than $64 billion were signed at a CEO conference during the forum, President Xi said Saturday when meeting the press.

The number of practical outcomes achieved in the run up to and during the Second Belt and Road Forum was 283, Xi said.

Participants at the forum agreed the BRF is an important platform for multilateral cooperation, and should be held on a regular basis, said Xi. (People's Daily app)

Cold functional test starts at China's first Hualong One nuclear project

Cold functional tests began Saturday on a reactor of China's first nuclear power project using Hualong One technology, a domestically developed third-generation reactor design.

The test was conducted on a circuit of the No. 5 nuclear power unit in the city of Fuqing, eastern China's Fujian Province, to evaluate the performance of the circuit system and its supporting facilities under high-pressure conditions, according to the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

The CNNC said the test started 50 days ahead of schedule. (Xinhua)

Trump says US to withdraw from int'l arms trade treaty

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the United States is withdrawing from an international arms trade treaty signed by the Obama administration, marking Washington's latest exit from an international pact.

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which regulates international trade in conventional weapons from small arms to military aircraft, was approved by the UN General Assembly in 2013. It was signed by then US President Barack Obama but has not been ratified by the US Senate.

The White House claimed the pact is "misguided" and constrains US ability to sell arms to its allies and partners. (Xinhua)

Sri Lankan president bans radical groups following Easter explosions

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena banned the National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) and another radical group suspected of being behind the Easter Sunday explosions which killed over 250 people and injured 500, the President's Office said in a statement on Saturday.

Police said over 100 suspects had been arrested so far and a massive search operation was underway to detain more suspects, linked to the NTJ and other radical groups operating in the country.

President Sirisena said on Friday that there were about 140 people in Sri Lanka suspected to have links to the Islamic State group and assured all would be arrested in the coming days. (Xinhua)

2 pandas to leave for Russia for 15-year research project

A pair of giant pandas will leave for Moscow, Russia for collaborative research, a panda research base in southwest China's Sichuan Province said Friday.

Male Ru Yi, born in 2016, and female Ding Ding, born in 2017, are scheduled to depart Chengdu on April 29 and arrive in Moscow at 10:00 pm Beijing Time the same day, the research base said.

The pair of giant pandas will live in the Moscow Zoo for 15 years, according to the research project. (Xinhua)

New study reveals nearly 200,000 viral populations in Earth's oceans

A new research uncovered nearly 200,000 viral populations in Earth's oceans, about 12 times more than the number previously identified by scientists.

Researchers at The Ohio State University (OSU) drew "the first global map of viral diversity" based on marine samples from the North Pole to the South Pole and from the ocean surface to as deep as 4,000 meters, according to a press release published Thursday on the university's website.

They found that viral diversity was high in the Arctic Ocean. This contradicts some previous studies which showed the tropics rather than the poles are the hotspots of viral biodiversity. (Xinhua)

Dying to Survive wins three titles at Directors' Guild Awards

Some of China's most influential film celebrities gathered on Friday in Beijing to witness the announcement of the winners of this year's China Film Directors' Guild Awards.

The film 'Dying to Survive' was the big winner on the night, walking away with three awards.

Director Wen Muye received the Young Director of the Year award.

'Dying to Survive' also won the Actor of the Year award and Film of the Year award.

The judging panel for the awards praised the film's focus on real-life social issues and the actors' vivid portrayal of them on screen. (China Plus)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

Where is the muscle called the trapezius found?

(Answer: Base of the skull.)

Today’s quote is from French writer Voltaire (1694-1778).

"The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs."

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Brian Lowe, and Chelle Wenqian Zeng. Music by Eugene Loner.)