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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 | Niger closes airspace as it refuses to reinstate president'
Niger closed its airspace on Sunday until further notice, citing the threat of military intervention from the West African regional bloc after coup leaders rejected a deadline to reinstate the country's ousted president.
Earlier, thousands of junta supporters flocked to a stadium in Niamey, the capital, cheering the decision not to cave in to external pressure to stand down by the deadline following the July 26 power grab.
The coup, the seventh in the past three years in West and Central Africa, has rocked the Sahel region, one of the world's poorest.
Top 2 | Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan arrested after corruption conviction
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested Saturday after a court handed him a three-year jail sentence for corruption, a development that could end his future in politics.
The court ruled that Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 but remains the country’s leading opposition figure, had concealed assets after selling state gifts. Police moved quickly to take the former cricket star from his home in the eastern city of Lahore to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, senior police officer Ali Nasir Rizvi said.
Efforts to put the divisive politician behind bars have stepped up ahead of general elections this year because his popularity and large support base, combined with his ability to mobilize massive crowds, pose a threat to the ruling coalition and its backers in Pakistan’s powerful military that has been the final arbiter of the country’s politics since independence from Britain in 1947.
Top 3 | Cambodian king appoints Hun Manet as new PM
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on Monday issued a royal decree making four-star general Hun Manet, 45, the country's new prime minister for a five year-term government following a request from incumbent Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.
"The designated prime minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia has duties to prepare the members of the government in order to ask for the adoption of confidence from the National Assembly," Sihamoni said in the royal decree.
To officially become the country's new leader, Hun Manet and his new cabinet must win a confidence vote in parliament set for August 22. He is expected to be sworn in on the same day.
Top 4 | China urges Philippines to prevent situation from escalating or getting out of control
China hopes the Philippines can meet China half way and stop unilateral actions, preventing situation from escalating or getting out of control, China's ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said on Tuesday.
Huang made the remarks when meeting with Philippine Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Theresa P. Lazaro.
On August 5, in disregard of China's repeated goodwill gestures and sincerity, the Philippines sent two vessels that intruded into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao and tried to deliver construction materials for overhauling and reinforcing the grounded military vessel.
Top 5 |** U.S. judge sets hearing on evidence in Trump's 2020 election case**
A federal judge presiding over former U.S. President Donald Trump's trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election has ordered his attorneys and federal prosecutors to appear in court on Friday for a hearing to help determine how evidence can be used and shared in the case.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan set the hearing for Friday at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT), shortly after Trump's attorneys and members of U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith's office had clashed in a joint court over when to schedule the proceeding.
Prosecutors had said they were available all week, while Trump's lawyers had asked for a postponement until early next week.
Top 6 |** Victim dies after stabbing rampage in South Korea**
A victim in Thursday's stabbing rampage in a commuter town near Seoul has died, Yonhap News Agency reported on Sunday.
The woman in her 60s was pronounced dead at a hospital at around 2 a.m. on Sunday, according to local police.
A man rammed his car into passersby, then got out and stabbed multiple people in a shopping mall in Seongnam City on Thursday, leaving 14 people wounded, 12 of them in critical condition. He was arrested on-site.
Top 7 | Iran's envoy says to prioritize economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia
Iran's newly appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati said expansion of bilateral economic cooperation will be the priority of his mission.
He made the remarks in an interview with Iran's IRIB news agency published Saturday, in which he commented on the latest developments regarding the resumption of operations of the Iranian embassy.
Enayati, who will soon be dispatched to Riyadh to begin his mission, said among the embassy's future priorities are increasing the presence and activities of the Iranian private sector in Saudi Arabia, supporting joint investments, signing a customs agreement, and expanding bilateral cooperation in maritime transportation.
Top 8 | Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi returns to parliament
Rahul Gandhi returned to India's parliament on Monday after a Supreme Court ruling, boosting the profile of his Congress party and its opposition allies ahead of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
The vote is not expected to affect the popularity of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which enjoys a strong majority.
However, the return of Gandhi, the scion of one of India's most renowned political dynasties, to parliament is expected to strengthen the voice of the newly formed, 26-party opposition alliance led by Congress.
Top 9 | Saudi-hosted meeting on Ukraine ends with pledge to continue talks
The talks on the Ukraine conflict concluded on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where participants agreed on continuing international efforts to build common ground for peace.
Saudi Arabia's Media Ministry said participants had agreed on the importance of continuing consultations to pave the way for peace. European officials have said participants planned to establish working groups to address specific problems raised by the conflict.
Eighteen months after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began last February, any prospect of direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow appears remote as fighting rages along the front line.
Top 10 | Prosecutors ask judge to issue protective order after Trump's threatening post
The U.S. Justice Department has asked the federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after he released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him.
Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning evidence in the case, a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power.
The order would limit what information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
