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Every weekend, Asia Pacific Daily will provide you with a run-down of the latest hot news.
This week, the following hot news you should know:
Top 1 | Barrett confirmation rises as issue in Kentucky Senate race
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took a victory lap Wednesday for shepherding Amy Coney Barrett onto the U.S. Supreme Court, while his Democratic challenger questioned his priorities.
Amy McGrath said the Republican should have done more to deliver more coronavirus aid to hurting Kentuckians. She called it a symptom of what ails the Senate, saying that under McConnell's leadership “everything’s been polarized, everything has been red or blue, dysfunctional.”
McConnell countered that he's “never seen the Democrats so radical" and tried linking McGrath to her party's progressive leaders — a tested GOP tactic in Kentucky. He also recounted his role in President Donald Trump's impeachment acquittal in the Senate, telling a campaign audience: “I led the opposition to impeaching Donald Trump and I’m proud of it.”
Top 2| Trump tries to turn back a tidal wave of early voting
Throughout the 2020 campaign, President Trump has pursued a strategy to try to keep voter turnout low in the general election, which, conventional wisdom holds, helps Republicans.
On Wednesday, for example, the president made clear that he wanted states to stop counting ballots soon after Election Day, regardless of whether they had been cast legally.
Trump was referring to a ruling by the Supreme Court that allowed Wisconsin to discard mail-in ballots postmarked before Nov. 3 but not received by the state until after 8 p.m. on that date. The five Republican-appointed justices all agreed with the decision, which turned in part on the question of federal versus state judicial authority over election procedures. The three liberal justices dissented. A concurring opinion by Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh said the deadline was necessary “to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after Election Day and potentially flip the results of an election.”
Top 3 | Responding to Pompeo's anti-China message in India, Beijing calls it a lie
Just a week ahead of America's presidential election, senior U.S. officials stepped up their anti-China message – widely pushed by the Trump administration – during a visit to India, a move that quickly drew opposition from Beijing.
addition to signing military expansion deals with their Indian counterparts, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and defense chief Mark Esper also paid tribute to the soldiers who had reportedly died in the military standoff with China earlier this year.
Later in a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Esper called for deepening ties between the two countries. That, he said, is particularly important "in light of increasing aggression and destabilizing actions by China."
Top 4 | Turkish leaders condemn Charlie Hebdo cartoon of Erdogan
Turkish officials on Wednesday railed against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo over its cover-page cartoon mocking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and accused it of sowing “the seeds of hatred and animosity.”
The cartoon could further heighten tensions between Turkey and France, which erupted over French President Emmanuel Macron’s firm stance against Islamism following the beheading of a teacher who showed his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad for a free speech class.
The Prophet cartoons upset many in the Muslim world. But it was Erdogan who led the charge against France and questioned Macron’s mental state. France then recalled its ambassador to Turkey for consultations, a first in French-Turkish diplomatic relations.
Top 5 | Russia orders national mask mandate as coronavirus cases surge
Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking his most drastic measures yet to curb the second wave of COVID-19. Putin on Tuesday implemented a nationwide mask mandate, as coronavirus cases surge globally.
Under the new mandate, effective Wednesday, masks will be mandatory in crowded public spaces, such as public transportation, parking lots and elevators, according to the order published on the website for the federal health watchdog agency Rospotrebnadzor, also known as the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing.
The department has also banned all entertainment activities, including bars and restaurants, between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. It recommended strengthening safety protocols on public transport, taxis, shops, restaurants and theaters.
Top 6 | U.S. imposes fresh sanctions on Iran's oil sector
The United States on Monday imposed fresh sanctions against individuals and entities of Iran's oil sector, doubling down its maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) were designated for their financial support to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and other senior executives of NIOC and NITC were also on the sanction list.
Top 7 | Australian Citizens Party accuses ASPI report of academic fraud
The Australian Citizens Party (ACP) published an article criticizing the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and accusing it of using dubious sources and academic fraud in reports on China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The ASPI report alleged that a number of Chinese factories were "using forced Uygur labor" and Chinese authorities were "remolding the Muslim population."
"ASPI's supporting reference doesn't back up the allegations. In fact, it reveals the subsidy is paid primarily to cover expenses incurred by labor hire companies and job placement agencies," wrote ACP in regards to the report's author Vicky Xu.
Top 8 | Pence continues campaign despite top aid tests positive for COVID-19
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, a spokesperson said. The new case has added to the list of infected persons connected to Donald Trump's administration.
Marc Short began quarantine and assisted in the contract tracing process, Pence's spokesperson Devin O'Malley said in a statement. "Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence both tested negative for COVID-19 today and remain in good health," he added.
Pence, who has been campaigning ahead of the November 3 election, will not go in self-isolation and maintain his current schedule in consultation with White House doctors, said the spokesman.
Top 9 | Russia's Medvedev Says Concerned Over Attempts to Replace UN With 'Club of Democratic Nations'
Medvedev, the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, has expressed concern over attempts by certain countries to undermine the role of the United Nations by creating a "club of democratic nations".
Medvedev noted that the mechanisms laid down in the UN Charter have largely helped humanity to avert World War III, although international players have not always learned the right lessons from the past.
The prominent Russian politician added that the world had still managed to repeat past mistakes.
Top 10 | Trump, Biden scrap on oil, virus with just over a week to go
President Donald Trump and his allies fought for support in pivotal battleground states Friday after a debate performance that gave new hope to anxious Republicans. Democrat Joe Biden, campaigning close to home, tried to clean up a debate misstep while urging voters to stay focused on the president’s inability to control the worsening pandemic.
The surge of activity with just 11 days remaining in the 2020 contest highlighted the candidates’ divergent strategies, styles and policy prescriptions that are shaping the campaign’s closing days. More than 52 million votes have already been cast, with an additional 100 million or so expected before a winner is declared.
The coronavirus debate has pushed Trump onto the defensive for much of the fall, but for the moment it is Biden’s team that has been forced to explain itself. In the final minutes of Thursday night’s debate, the former vice president said he supports a “transition” away from oil in the U.S. in favor of renewable energy. The campaign released a statement hours later declaring that he would phase out taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuel companies, not the industry altogether.
Related news:
APD | Southeast Asian countries should welcome Chinese investments
APD | Muslims respect others and expect reciprocation
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
