简体中文
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 |** China, GCC states agree to strengthen strategic partnership**
China and states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreed on Friday to strengthen their strategic partnership.
In a joint statement issued following the China-GCC summit held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia leaders of both sides stressed the importance of taking their strategic partnership into a new era in such fields as politics, economy and culture.
They called for mutual support for realizing their common interests, while GCC countries said they will support China's efforts in promoting economic development, and safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. GCC states also pledged to abide by the one-China principle.
Both sides spoke highly of Qatar's success in hosting the ongoing FIFA World Cup, and commended the positive role the games have played in promoting people-to-people, cultural as well as cross-civilization exchanges. They also condemned some vicious media attacks against Qatar.
Top 2 |** Ashes of Jiang Zemin scattered into sea**
Ashes of beloved Comrade Jiang Zemin were scattered into the sea at the estuary of the Yangtze River on Sunday, in accordance with the wishes of Jiang himself and his family.
Jiang passed away in Shanghai on November 30 at the age of 96. His remains were cremated on December 5 in Beijing.
Top 3 | Borrell: EU fails to agree on 9th package of sanctions against Russia
EU members failed to agree on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia during a foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
The package proposed by the European Commission should include up to 200 individuals, companies and organizations, including three banks, military-industrial complexes, in addition to energy and mining companies.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier said the eight packages of sanctions the EU had introduced so far are already biting hard and now the bloc wanted to raise the pressure on Russia with a ninth package.
Top 4 | US: Russia, Iran moving toward full defense ‘partnership’
The Biden administration is accusing Russia of moving to provide advanced military assistance to Iran, including air defense systems, helicopters and fighter jets, part of deepening cooperation between the two nations as Tehran provides drones to support Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday cited U.S. intelligence assessments for the allegations, saying Russia was offering Iran “an unprecedented level of military and technical support that is transforming their relationship into a full-fledged defense partnership.”
Kirby said Russia and Iran were considering standing up a drone assembly line in Russia for the Ukraine conflict, while Russia was training Iranian pilots on the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter and Iran could receive deliveries of the plane within the year.
Top 5 | China to end digital travel code service on December 13
China will stop operating its digital travel code service on December 13, according to a statement released by the code's official account on Monday.
The telecommunication-based travel code was launched on February 13, 2020. As a part of China's COVID-19 prevention and control measures, the code has been used to check the travel history of people in the country. Users could access it through WeChat or Alipay.
Top 6 | Zelenskyy discusses grain deal, ongoing conflict with Biden and Erdogan
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed expanding the scope of the grain deal and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict with the presidents of Türkiye and the U.S. over the phone on Sunday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Zelenskyy that Türkiye continued to work towards meeting the humanitarian needs of the Ukrainian people in the "difficult winter months."
"The grain corridor could be expanded to include different food products and other commodities," said Erdogan.
He also expressed hope that relevant parties were "approaching a solution" to the issue of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine.
Top 7 |** Peru's top court mulls detaining ex-President Castillo for 18 months**
Peru's Supreme Court is considering the prosecution's request for up to 18 months of preventative arrest for former President Pedro Castillo after he was charged with rebellion and conspiracy, the court said on Wednesday ahead of a new hearing.
Castillo was ousted in an impeachment trial last week and arrested after trying to dissolve the country's Congress. His initial detention is set to end in the coming hours and prosecutors are now looking to move him from preliminary detention to preventative arrest.
Top 8 | Global charity warns of deadly malnutrition in Somalia
More than 500,000 children in Somalia are expected to face the most deadly form of malnutrition by April 2023 due to severe drought, higher food prices, conflict and disease, a global charity warned on Wednesday.
Binyam Gebru, deputy country director for Save the Children in Somalia, called for sustained international funds to prevent a repetition of the massive loss of lives seen in the 2011 famine.
"There is no getting away from it: millions more children are facing malnutrition, life-changing illness, and death," Gebru said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
The statement came a day after the United Nations projected that half of the population, or 8.3 million people, are expected to be in crisis levels of hunger by April 2023.
Top 9 | Biodiversity conservation is the consensus of the international family
The global society has reached a consensus on protecting biodiversity, as 196 parties ratified the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the CBD is held in Montreal, Canada. The parties are discussing "The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework," to achieve the goal, "Living in harmony with nature by 2050."
The framework addresses underlying causes of biodiversity loss, to reduce pressures and to promote the sustainable use of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity, to enhance the benefits to humans from biodiversity and ecosystem services. It requires urgent actions from all stakeholders to transform traditional economic, social, and financial development, so that biodiversity erosion will stabilize by 2030 and the natural ecosystem can recover in 2040 and improve by 2050.
Biodiversity refers to the diversity of genes, proteins, individuals, species, ecosystems, and biome levels. We are concerned about three primary levels: genetic, species, and ecosystem diversities. Biodiversity could be divided into taxonomic groups such as the diversities of fungi, lichens, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms, flowering plants, corals, soft-boned fishes, hard-boned fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Losing genes may reduce individuals' adaptability to environmental changes and harm their viability, thus threatening species' survival.
Top 10 | Peru's new leader swears in cabinet, 8 of them women
Peru's new President, Dina Boluarte, unveiled a new cabinet Saturday following the ouster of her predecessor Pedro Castillo.
Boluarte, Peru's first woman president, who was vice president under Castillo, oversaw a ceremony at which 19 ministers – eight of them women – took the oath of office at the presidential palace.
Peru's Congress on Wednesday swore in Boluarte as the country's new president, complying with the line of succession, after voting to impeach Castillo for alleged "permanent moral incapacity."
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
