Xi inspects China's mega water diversion project

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in the city of Nanyang in central China's Henan Province.

During the inspection, he listened to introductions to the construction, management and operation of the middle route of the water diversion project, and the ecological conservation of the water source region.

He also learned about the resettlement of people relocated because of the project, and measures to develop specialty industries and boost the incomes of resettled residents.

As of late March, the mega water project had transferred over 40 billion cubic meters of water to the country's arid northern areas.

More than 130 million people had directly benefited from the project since the first phase of its eastern and middle routes began supplying water.

China's small-satellite smart manufacturing facility starts operations

China's first smart manufacturing facility for small satellites in Wuhan is ready for official production operations, with the first satellite rolling off the production line yesterday.

The first satellite is self-developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

The production line has an annual capacity of 240 small satellites weighing less than one tonne.

The facility can improve the production efficiency of small satellites by more than 40 percent with smart manufacturing techniques.

East China province reports two confirmed COVID-19 cases

Two confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in Anhui.

Local authorities say the two cases were detected in the city of Lu'an and Feixi county.

They say a 29-year-old local woman and a 27-year-old woman from outside Anhui had close contact during a training session at a photo studio in Lu'an.

About 178 people who were in close contact with the patients have been placed under quarantine.

Taiwan reports 13 new local COVID-19 cases

Taiwan yesterday reported 25 new COVID-19 cases, with 13 local infections.

Nine of the 13 local cases are contacts of a COVID-19 patient confirmed on Tuesday who lives in New Taipei City.

Four other local cases have links to an established cluster involving teahouses in Taipei's Wanhua District.

The twelve imported cases are from the Philippines, India, and Uganda.

The total number of confirmed cases on the island has risen to over 12 hundred, including 12 deaths.

India to begin Covaxin vaccine trials for children

The Drugs Controller General of India has approved phase 2 and 3 Covaxin trials on children aged from two to 18.

The country's health ministry says the national regulator gave the greenlight to manufacturer Bharat Biotech after careful examination.

The clinical trials are expected to involved more than 500 healthy participants, with the two doses of the vaccine given to them 28 days apart.

Fully-vaccinated Americans can return to life without masks: CDC

U.S. health authorities say fully-vaccinated Americans no longer need masks indoors or outdoors, including in crowds.

The mask mandate was cancelled after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention faced criticism for being too slow to provide a path back to normalcy for fully vaccinated people.

However, the requirement to wear masks during travel on public transportation still stands.

87-year-old Israeli woman killed by Gaza rocket attack

An 87-year-old Israeli woman died in a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip yesterday.

Authorities say the woman was hit in the head when running to the shelter as air raid sirens were sounded.

She became Israel's eighth victim since Monday when the country launched attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military says at least 1,750 rockets have been fired by Gaza Palestinian militants toward Israel since Monday, but the country's Iron Dome system intercepted most of the rockets.

In Gaza, Israel continued to pound the besieged Palestinian enclave with airstrikes and shellings.

Israel also massed forces near the border fence separating Gaza and Israel.

The Hamas-ruled Health Ministry says 103 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the Israeli assaults.

UEFA confirm UCL final move to Porto

UEFA has confirmed that this year's Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea will be moved to Porto in order to ensure that English fans could attend.

Six thousand fans will be allowed to attend from each team at the football stadium.

The Portuguese government says English fans attending the final in Porto will have to fly in on the day of the match and will need to stay in a 'bubble' before flying back straight after the game.