APD | Weekly top 10 hot news (Aug 27- Sep 02)

APD NEWS

text

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 | Xi congratulates Tuimalealiifano on re-election as Samoa's head of state

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday sent a congratulatory message to Tuimalealiifano Sualauvi Vaaletoa II on his re-election as Samoa's head of state.

Noting that China and Samoa are comprehensive strategic partners featuring mutual respect and common development, Xi said that bilateral relations have made great progress since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

China attaches great importance to the development of relations with Samoa, he said.


Top 2 | China in Afghanistan: A year of achievement and aspiration

This August marks the first anniversary of the humiliating American troop's withdrawal from Afghanistan. Washington's two-decade long military occupation dragged the Afghans into chaos with clouds of uncertainty.

Afghanistan was isolated from the Western world when China embraced its neighbor with open arms. Accordingly, it's high time to assess Beijing's rebuilding of war-torn Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led war collapsed the Afghan economy and left it largely dependent on foreign aid. After the Taliban formed an interim government last year, Beijing announced plans to donate $37 million worth of humanitarian assistance to Kabul, which has already been delivered. China is providing another $7.5 million as emergency aid to quake-hit Afghanistan and would cooperate with Kabul on disaster management and prevention. China's economic assistance to Afghanistan is healing the havoc wreaked by the U.S. military.


Top 3 | Iran says won't accept IAEA's 'excessive' demands - media

Iran will not accept the United Nations nuclear watchdog's "excessive" demands, the spokesperson of the country's Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) said on Tuesday.

A report by the semi-official Tasnim news agency cites Behrouz Kamalvandi to say it is not possible to implement IAEA's demands.

After months of indirect talks, Tehran and Washington are engaged in talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal.


Top 4 | UN steps up flooding assistance to Pakistan

The UN team is stepping up its response to severe rains and flooding across Pakistan that have reportedly killed at least 1,136 people, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

The UN and the Pakistani government are planning a flash appeal of $160 million for immediate relief activities to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The appeal will be launched on Tuesday, simultaneously from Geneva and Islamabad, Dujarric told media at a daily press briefing.


Top 5 | Meeting of CPC Central Committee Political Bureau proposes convening 20th CPC National Congress on Oct. 16 in Beijing

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Tuesday held a meeting on the preparatory work for the seventh plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and the 20th CPC National Congress. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting.

The meeting decided that the seventh plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee is to be convened on October 9 in Beijing. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee will propose to the plenary session that the 20th CPC National Congress is convened on October 16 in Beijing.

It was stressed at the meeting that the 20th CPC National Congress is a congress of great significance to be convened at a crucial moment, as the whole Party and the entire nation embark on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country in all respects, and advance toward the Second Centenary Goal.


Top 6 | Pakistan foreign minister appeals for more aid for relief work

Further flood waters are a major concern, huge losses have been caused to crops and the agricultural sector, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said in an interview with CGTN, adding that more aid for relief work is needed.

Unusual heavy monsoon rains have caused devastating floods in both the north and south of the country, affecting more than 33 million people and killing more than 1,000.

It is very difficult to communicate the scale and the impact of the disaster. The communities are looking to drain out the water, while there's nowhere for the water to be drained out.


Top 7 | Angola holds funeral of ex-leader Dos Santos

Angola held a funeral on Sunday for the country's former president José Eduardo dos Santos.

Dos Santos was laid to rest at the Republic Square, Dr António Agostinho Neto Memorial.

Some African leaders attended the burial held in Angola's capital Luanda, including the Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa.


Top 8 | Chinese premier extends congratulations to Pujiang Innovation Forum

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory letter to the Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai on Saturday.

Themed "Low Carbon: A New Mission for Global Innovation," the forum kicked off Saturday and will continue until Tuesday.

Low-carbon development is crucial for the green future of the world, while innovation is the engine for such development, Li said in the letter.

As the largest developing country in the world, China is seeking low-carbon and green development amid its modernization process, which is unprecedented in history and demands arduous efforts, he said.


Top 9 | Putin orders financial benefits for people coming to Russia from Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday inked a decree introducing financial benefits for people who left Ukrainian territory to come to Russia, including pensioners, pregnant women, and disabled people.

The decree, published on a government portal, establishes monthly pension payments of 10,000 roubles ($170) for people who have been forced to leave the territory of Ukraine since February 18. Disabled people will also be eligible for the same monthly support, while pregnant women are entitled to a one-off benefit.

The decree says the payments will be made to citizens of Ukraine and the self-styled Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics - two breakaway Russian-backed entities in eastern Ukraine that Moscow recognised as independent in February in a move condemned by Ukraine and the West as illegal.


Top 10 | France, Algeria sign declaration of 'irreversible progress' in ties

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared on Saturday, August 27, a "new, irreversible dynamic of progress" in their nations' ties, concluding a visit by the French president aimed at ending months of tensions.

The three-day visit comes less than two months after Algeria marked six decades of independence following 132 years of French rule and a devastating eight-year war.

It also comes as European powers scramble to replace Russian energy imports – including with supplies from Algeria, Africa's top gas exporter, which in turn is seeking to expand its clout in North Africa and the Sahel.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)