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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 | Xi extends condolences over passing of former Japanese PM Abe
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over the passing of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe had made efforts to promote the improvement of China-Japan relations during his tenure as prime minister and contributed positively to this endeavor, the Chinese president said in the message.
He recalled the important common understanding they reached on building a relationship that meets the requirements of the new era.
Xi also noted that he deeply regrets Abe's sudden passing and stands ready to work with Prime Minister Kishida to continue developing a China-Japan relationship of good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation in accordance with the principles established in the four political documents between the two countries.
Top 2 | Sri Lankan president tells PM he will resign
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially told Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will be resigning as previously announced, the prime minister's office said on Monday morning.
The country's parliamentary speaker had said on the weekend that the president will step down on Wednesday.
Rajapaksa, whose whereabouts remain unknown, had reportedly fled Colombo ahead of mass public protests amid worsening economic crisis.
Top 3 | UK's new PM to be announced on September 5, says Tory lawmaker
The new British prime minister will be announced on September 5, replacing incumbent Boris Johnson, said Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party's backbench 1922 Committee, on Monday.
The first round of voting among Tory MPs (members of Parliament) will be held on Wednesday, he said, adding that contenders will need to receive 30 votes to qualify for the second ballot on Thursday.
The number of contenders will be whittled down to two before MPs break up for the summer recess on July 21, he said.
The final two contenders will then go through a postal ballot of all the Conservative members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer and the winner will become the new Tory leader and UK's next prime minister.
Top 4 | Euro slumps to 20-year low, close to dollar parity
The euro slumped to a 20-year low and approached dollar parity on Monday on concerns that an energy crisis will tip the region into a recession.
In the meantime, the dollar was boosted by expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates faster and further than peers.
The biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, began 10 days of annual maintenance on Monday. Germany and other European countries are watching anxiously to see if the gas comes back on with relations between Russia and the West at their lowest in years because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"The most proximate concern for markets is whether or not Nord Stream 1 is going to come back online," said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto, adding that "the markets will likely price in a recession" for the region if it doesn't.
Top 5 | One-China principle is anchor of stability for Taiwan Straits: Chinese FM
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that the one-China principle is what underpins stability across the Taiwan Straits, as he made a policy speech on adhering to open regionalism with Q&A at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia.
History and practice have repeatedly proved that when the one-China principle is fully recognized and thoroughly followed, the Taiwan Straits would remain calm and the two sides enjoy peaceful development, he said.
"However, when the one-China principle is arbitrarily challenged or even sabotaged, there would be dark clouds or even ferocious storms across the Taiwan Straits."
Top 6 | Liz Truss to run for next UK PM
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has launched her leadership bid to serve as Britain's next prime minister, replacing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"I will fight the election as a Conservative and govern as a Conservative," the lawmaker wrote in an op-ed in The Telegraph on Sunday.
Top 7 | Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrives in Maldives
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrived at the Velana International Airport in the Maldives on Wednesday, according to the Maldivian media, after leaving his country where a severe economic crisis had led to mass protests.
Rajapaksa was received by speaker of the Maldivian parliament Mohamed Nasheed at the airport, according to the Vaguthu Online.
The Sri Lankan president had earlier said he would step down from office on Wednesday.
Sri Lankans are waiting in line outside Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo, that has been occupied by protesters demanding his resignation over the economic crisis.
Top 8 | Japan's ruling coalition makes strong election showing after Abe killing
Japan's conservative coalition government increased its majority in the upper house of parliament in an election on Sunday, two days after the assassination of dominant politician and power broker Shinzo Abe.
Abe, Japan's longest-serving modern leader, was gunned down on Friday during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara in a killing that stunned a country where political violence and gun crimes are rare.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), of which Abe remained an influential lawmaker, and its junior partner Komeito won 76 of the 125 seats contested in the chamber, from 69 previously, according to an exit poll by public broadcaster NHK.
Top 9 | IMF again cuts U.S. 2022 growth forecast to 2.3% as consumer spending cools
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday warned that avoiding recession in the United States will be "increasingly challenging" as it again cut its 2022 U.S. growth forecast to 2.3 percent from 2.9 percent in late June as recent data showed weakening consumer spending.
The Fund also cut its 2023 real GDP growth forecast to 1 percent from 1.7 percent on June 24, when it met with U.S. officials for an annual assessment of U.S. economic policies.
The final report released on Friday was revised to reflect downward revisions to U.S. first quarter GDP and weak consumer spending data in May.
Top 10 | Musk ditches $44-billion Twitter takeover
Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla and the world's richest person, said on Friday he was terminating his $44-billion deal to buy Twitter because the social media company had breached multiple provisions of the merger agreement.
Twitter's chairman, Bret Taylor, said on the micro-blogging platform that the board planned to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement.
"The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk..." he wrote.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
