【听 · 焦点】国务院机构改革方案公布

China unveils massive cabinet reshuffle plan

China has unveiled a massive plan to reshuffle the cabinet, aiming to improve the structure, efficiency and service of the country's government.

The institutional reform plan of the State Council will be submitted to the on-going annual session of the national legislature for deliberation.

There will be 26 ministries and commissions of the State Council after the reshuffle.

Among the new entities are a ministry of natural resources, a ministry of veterans affairs, and a ministry of emergency management.

There will be also new administrations under the State Council, such as an international development cooperation agency, and a state immigration administration.

China to fulfill commitments to Paris Agreement: FM spokesman

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang says that China will strictly fulfill its commitments to the Paris Agreement and it is confident about improving its environment.

As to the concern over air quality, the spokesman says China has made remarkable progress in curbing air pollution.

A recent study by a University of Chicago team has found Chinese cities significantly cut serious air pollution in the past four years.

The study says Chinese cities on average have cut concentrations of fine particulates PM2.5 by 32 percent in just four years.

Michael Greenstone, a professor behind the study, says the data suggests that China is winning its war against pollution.

The study has contributed the remarkable progress to China's "aggressive, and in some cases extraordinary, measures" to reduce its pollution in a relatively short time span.

Trump inspects border wall prototype with Mexico

U.S. President Donald Trump has inspected prototypes for a border wall with Mexico.

Trump inspected prototypes made of concrete, steel and other materials in California, which also marked his first visit to the state since assuming office.

The square prototypes are 9.1-meter-long on all sides and placed 10 meters away from the old fence between California's border with Mexico.

Trump urged Congress to fund the project, which will cost 18 billion U.S. dollars and take 10 years to build.

He previousy claimed that the Mexican government would pay for the wall but has now changed his words to say that the wall will pay for itself since it will stop crimes.

OPCW confirms Iraq has destroyed all chemical weapons remnants

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has congratulated Iraq on its complete destruction of its chemical weapons remnants.

Iraq's initial declaration was submitted in March 2009.

It referred to remnants of chemical weapons stored in two storage bunkers.

Due to the hazardous conditions within the bunkers, Iraq was not able to conduct a detailed on-site inventory immediately after the initial declaration.

Destruction activities started last year, once the on-going security situation had been addressed.

Late November and again in February, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed that the four former chemical weapons production facilities in Iraq were completely destroyed.

Detectives busy at house of dead Russian businessman

Russian exile and businessman Nikolai Glushkov has been found dead in his London home.

The death came a week after Russian exile Sergei Skripal was left critically ill from nerve agent poisoning in the city of Salisbury.

Police said there was no evidence to suggest a link to the March 4 poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Glushkov was an associate of Boris Berezovsky, a late Russian oligarch.

An inquest failed to determine whether he had killed himself or died from foul play.

Glushkov was arrested in 1999 and put on trial for embezzling 7 million US dollars from Aeroflot.

Civilians evacuated from eastern Ghouta, thousands flee Afrin

146 civilians have left the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital Damascus.

The people, including children and those with medical conditions, reached a government-controlled area northeast of Damascus through a humanitarian corridor.

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The government has for long called for the evacuation of civilians from Eastern Ghouta, accusing the rebels of hindering the process.

More civilians are expected to be evacuated in the coming days.

Spring Festival travel rush witnesses 3 billion passenger trips

Official data suggest China's Spring Festival travel rush this year produced nearly 3 billion passenger trips.

The Ministry of Transport says the figure has stayed consistent with that of last year.

The 40-day process, which has been dubbed the "world's largest human migration," ended this year on Monday.

The annual travel rush around the festival occurs when people travel to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year with their families.

To cope with surging traffic, nearly 300 pairs of extra trains were added to the railway network every day this year.

Over 5-thousand extra flights were also arranged to carry passengers.

Third-party surveys suggest three-quarters of travelers were either satisfied with or saw improvement in their travel experience this year, up 4 percentage points from last year.

（以上文稿仅供参考）

上期回顾： 习近平会见韩国总统特使郑义溶

上期答案：Santos suspended the talks after a three-month bilateral ceasefire expired in early January, and the rebels immediately went on the offensive, launching a deadly attack on a police station in northern Colombia.

跟随英语环球，天天进步就从这每日一题开始吧！