APD | Weekly top 10 hot news (Jun 02- Jun 09)

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 calls for cultural confidence to build modern Chinese civilization

696a5fd6c8c34a9aa0d7b06a8b460bb0.png

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for shouldering the new cultural missions of continuing to promote cultural prosperity and strengthen cultural confidence to build a modern Chinese civilization.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a meeting on cultural inheritance and development on Friday.

In the run-up to the meeting, Xi took two separate trips to the China National Archives of Publications and Culture and the Chinese Academy of History on Thursday and Friday, where he visited various exhibitions and learned current progresses made in archive preservation and historical research.


Top 2 | At least 261 dead in India's worst rail accident in over two decades

13ad2a62570340d3b422ec7e39448f76.pngAt least 261 people have died and 650 injured in India's worst rail accident in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a three-train collision in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on Friday evening.

More than 3,500 passengers were on board the two passenger trains that collided, and the death toll is expected to rise as many are still trapped in the wreckage.

The railways ministry announced an investigation into the crash and the cause is not yet clear.


Top 3 |** Biden signs bill to raise U.S. debt limit**

52f783ba74b24d89bd59cb643287ab38.png

U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 into law on Saturday afternoon to avoid a historic default on government debt.

The bipartisan act suspends the public debt limit through to January 1, 2025, and increases the limit to the actual debt level on January 2, 2025.

According to Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank, U.S. federal government debt would exceed $35 trillion by January 2025, which equals more than $100,000 per U.S. citizen.


Top 4 |** Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship successfully lands in N China**

7991e813006845ec9f56e45ef61a53ad.jpg

China's Shenzhou-15 astronauts, or taikonauts, returned to Earth safely on Sunday after an over 180-day mission in the country's orbiting space station.

The re-entry capsule with the three taikonauts aboard – Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu – touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 6:33 a.m. Beijing Time, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The CMSA declared the Shenzhou-15 mission a complete success after the medical team waiting on site confirmed that the trio was in good health.

Fei Junlong, the commander of the mission, was the first to come out of the capsule.


Top 5 | Russia open to dialogue with U.S. on arms control: Kremlin

6e943bde05804d23b14f9932a0a4ae76.png

Russia remains open to dialogue with the United States on arms control as it is "extremely important," but Moscow is waiting for specific proposals from Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

During a daily briefing, Peskov said it was "important and positive" that U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan recently said that the United States is ready to begin talks without preconditions with Russia on steps to limit nuclear arms after the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) expires in 2026.


Top 6 | Cambodian PM says AUKUS nuclear proliferation a concern for ASEAN

17e00bf7a61c41e1994a0332f311a726.png

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that the tripartite AUKUS alliance, a military pact among the U.S., Britain and Australia, is becoming a concern for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Under the AUKUS alliance, which was announced in September 2021, Australia will be able to build nuclear-powered submarines with technology provided by the U.S. and Britain.

Experts say the AUKUS scheme represents the first time a loophole in the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and has been used to transfer fissile material and nuclear technology from a nuclear weapons state to a non-weapons state.


Top 7 | UN continues to push for Russian ammonia exports despite pipeline sabotage: spokesman

ecfd5424ed4a46a6a848fd741ab41b51.png

The United Nations continues to engage with stakeholders on the export of ammonia from Russia despite the latest sabotage of the ammonia pipeline via Ukraine, said a UN spokesman on Wednesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that "a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group" blew up the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in Ukraine's Kharkov region on Monday night.


Top 8 | Iran reopens embassy in Saudi Arabia after 7-year closure

0b5c5a1862344b14aeefcfa720612573.png

Iran reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, several months after Tehran and Riyadh agreed to end years of antagonism under a Chinese-brokered deal.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Bigdeli addressed the opening ceremony in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, highlighting the importance of the occasion for the relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Bigdeli said that, with the re-hoisting of the flag of Iran in Saudi Arabia and vice versa, the cooperation between the two countries enters a new era.


Top 9 | China and Argentina strengthen economic and trade ties

2f94d566baba4466926134e2198d16ea.jpg

Last Friday, Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa visited China with the aim of renewing the currency swap agreement between the two countries. According to the Secretary-General of the Center for Argentine Studies, renewing this agreement would significantly alleviate the pressure on the Argentine central bank's foreign exchange reserves. By doing so, the country can benefit from improved economic stability. Check out the video for more!


Top 10 |** UN Security Council urges ceasefire, humanitarian access in Sudan**

028f9c17401243d9986001110b88bb89.jpg

The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Friday urged parties concerned in Sudan to immediately cease hostilities and facilitate humanitarian access.

In a press statement, the members of the Security Council emphasized "the need for the parties to immediately cease hostilities, facilitate humanitarian access and establish a permanent ceasefire arrangement and to resume the process towards reaching a lasting, inclusive and democratic political settlement in Sudan."

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned all attacks on the civilian population, United Nations and associated personnel and humanitarian actors, as well as civilian objects, medical personnel and facilities, and the looting of humanitarian supplies," said the statement.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)