What exit? China doubles down on zero-Covid pledge despite public frustration China has reiterated its unswerving commitment to its longstanding zero-Covid policy, despite mounting public frustration the stringent measures are costing the very lives they're intended to protect. By Nectar Gan, CNN CNN

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The unrelenting campaign has kept infections and deaths low at great economic and social cost, as new fast-spreading variants make containing the virus near impossible....

EU Commission proposes tougher pollution rules

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm sought on Wednesday to toughen up pollution restrictions to ensure that harmful pollutants are eliminated by 2050 to potentially save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

The European Commission’s proposals center on air, waste and water pollution, and need the backing of the EU parliament and member states before they can be made mandatory. That is likely to take many months.

Air pollution is the biggest threat to the bloc’s 450 million citizens. The proposals include the doubling of limits to permissible fine air particles by 2030. Such particles are make up a significant part of air pollution overall, which the EU says is killing nearly 300,000 people a year.

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The last Covid holdouts in Asia are throwing open their doors for travel -- except for China Across Asia, borders are opening and quarantine measures are lifting as even the last few countries clinging to Covid restrictions embrace a return to travel. By Jessie Yeung, CNN CNN

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But in China -- which has seen its own economy suffer from a strict zero-Covid policy involving tight border controls, snap lockdowns and mandatory quarantines -- there appears to be no end in sight to the restrictions, despite mounting public frustration.

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Hard hit by COVID-19, Black Americans are recovering slowly

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Two years into the pandemic and multiple variants that have resulted in one million deaths across the U.S., Black Americans are still suffering from COVID-19’s public health and economic consequences. The recovery of most people of color has been sporadic and uneven. From permanently closed businesses to limited access to health care, housing and food insecurity, increases in suicide and violent crime and educational setbacks, experts say it will take years before Black Americans are able to fully recover from the pandemic.