APD | Weekly top 10 hot news (Nov. 20 - Nov.26 )

APD NEWS

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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 | Thousands protest in Sudan against post-coup political deal

Tens of thousands demonstrated on Thursday in Sudan to push back against a post-coup political deal signed earlier this week between its deposed prime minister and the country's military.

In a deal signed on Sunday, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was deposed in a coup last month, would be reinstated as part of a power-sharing deal with the Sudanese military, the Associated Press reported.

Until new elections take place, Hamdok would be leading a technocratic Cabinet subject to military oversight. The Sudanese prime minister, however, contends that he will be able to choose his own Cabinet, according to the AP.


Top 2 | China successfully launches testing satellite with Kuaizhou-1A rocket

China launched its Shiyan-11 satellite into space aboard a Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket at 7:41 a.m. (BJT) on Thursday from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The satellite has since entered its predetermined orbit.

Shiyan-11 is built for testing, but the purpose of the satellite's latest mission has not yet been revealed.

Another series of Chinese satellites called Shijian is used for technology verification. The latest Shijian satellite, the Shijian-21, was launched in October, while the previous Shiyan satellite, the Shiyan-10, didn't work as intended after being successfully launched into the planned orbit.


Top 3 | White House physician releases evaluation on polyp removed during Biden colonoscopy

The polyp removed during President Joe Biden's first colonoscopy in office was identified as a "tubular adenoma" that requires no further action, according to the White House physician.

A memo released Wednesday evening said the polyp, sent to a lab for a histologic examination, is similar to one Biden had removed in 2008.

An adenoma is a "benign, slow-growing but potentially pre-cancerous lesion," physician Kevin O'Connor said in his statement.


Top 4 | Moscow says U.S. rehearsed nuclear strike against Russia this month

Russia's defense minister on Tuesday accused U.S. bombers of rehearsing a nuclear strike on Russia from two different directions earlier this month and complained that the planes had come within 20 kilometers of the Russian border.

But the Pentagon said its drills were announced publicly at the time and adhered to international protocols.

Moscow's accusation comes at a time of high tension with Washington over Ukraine, with U.S. officials voicing concerns about a possible Russian attack on its southern neighbor – a suggestion the Kremlin has dismissed as false.


Top 5 | U.S. envoy on Afghanistan to meet Taliban leaders in Doha next week

The U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan will visit Doha next week for two weeks of meetings with leaders of the Taliban, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday.

West was also part of the U.S. delegation in meetings with Taliban officials in Doha in October, the first such talks between Washington and the Taliban after a chaotic end to the United States' two decade-long war in Afghanistan on August 31.

An abrupt withdrawal of most foreign development support after the Taliban seized power on August 15 from Afghanistan's Western-backed government has sent the economy into freefall. Millions of Afghans face growing hunger amid soaring food prices and a drought.


Top 6 | Tlaib 'fearful' as social spending plan heads to Senate

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said she is "fearful" as the Build Back Better bill moves to the Senate after being passed by the House last week.

In an interview that aired on "Axios on HBO" Sunday evening, Tlaib said she was particularly concerned about what she called "corporate Dems" in the Senate taking control of the package, which includes some $2.2 trillion in new spending on areas including healthcare, education and climate change.

When asked if she was referring to Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), moderate Democrats who have long withheld their support for parts of the plan, Tlaib responded that the opposition was "bipartisan."


Top 7 | Bulgaria's anti-graft president wins re-election: exit polls

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev won a second term in office by a wide margin on Sunday as voters backed his strong anti-corruption message, exit polls showed.

Radev, 58, defeated his challenger Anastas Gerdzhikov, also 58, winning 66 percent to 32 percent in the presidential run-off after nearly winning outright in the first round on November 14, according to exit polls that also registered a record low voter turnout.

The election comes amid widespread discontent against high level graft that ended the decade-long rule of former premier Boyko Borissov in April and led a new anti-corruption party to victory in last week's parliamentary elections.


Top 8 | Political declaration signed in Sudan, including reappointing Hamdok as PM

General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the removed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok signed on Sunday a political declaration, which included reappointing Hamdok as prime minister.

The signing ceremony of the declaration was aired live by Sudan's official TV.

The declaration comprised of 14 items, most notably reappointing Hamdok as prime minister, considering the constitutional document as the constitutional reference for the transitional period, releasing of the political detainees, completing of the transitional period institutions, and investigating the killing and injury of civilians and military personnel during the recent demonstrations.


Top 9 | Mexican authorities intercept trucks with 600 migrants aboard

The Mexican National Institute of Migration (INM) has revealed that it intercepted two semi-trailers carrying 600 migrants in the state of Veracruz on Friday. Those aboard were mainly from 12 Central and South American countries, including 455 males and 145 females, some of whom were pregnant.

The migrants were "crammed" into the trailers of two trucks, said Tonatiuh Hernandez, the local head of the Human Rights Commission.

An AFP video showed several hundred migrants, looking sullen and tired, crowded in a courtyard of the National Migration Institute as police in riot gear stood guard nearby.


Top 10 | Malaysia PM's coalition wins key state vote ahead of national polls

The coalition of Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Saturday scored a crucial win in a state election seen as a test for the country's fractured political parties as they gear up for national polls that could be called by next year.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) won 21 of the 28 seats in the Malacca state on Saturday, granting it a two-thirds majority in the state assembly, according to the election commission.

The state election was triggered after several state assemblymen from the ruling coalition withdrew support for the state's chief minister, leading to the dissolution of the state assembly on October 5.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)