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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 | Biden unveils Pentagon group to evaluate U.S.'s China strategy
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Wednesday a new Defense Department task force aimed at assessing the U.S. military’s China strategy, CNBC reported.
The new Pentagon group, made up of approximately 15 experts, will be responsible for providing recommendations on China-related matters to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Findings and recommendations are due within four months, according to the report.
Top 2 | Tokyo Olympics organizers to discuss chief's 'inappropriate' remark
The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee is planning to meet this week to discuss the uproar over the remark made by their chief Yoshiro Mori, according Kyodo News.
Mori, an 83-year-old former prime minister, provoked anger for suggesting that meetings with women take longer than usual, adding further public doubt over the safe and smooth hosting of the Summer Olympics.
On Tuesday, the Japan Olympic Committee chief said Mori's comments on women were "extremely inappropriate" and against the Olympic spirit.
Top 3 | French government seeks to set age for sexual consent at 15
France’s government wants to set the age of sexual consent at 15 and make it easier to punish long-ago child sexual abuse, amid growing public pressure and a wave of online testimonies about rape and other sexual violence by parents and authority figures.
Calling such treatment of children “intolerable,” the justice ministry said in a statement that “the government is determined to act quickly to implement the changes that our society expects.”
“An act of sexual penetration by an adult on a minor under 15 will be considered a rape,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said Tuesday on France-2 television. Consent would no longer be able to be cited to diminish the charges, but exceptions would be made for teenagers having consensual sex, he said.
Top 4 | UN has first contact with Myanmar military since state of emergency
The United Nations has had its first contact with the military in Myanmar since the country announced a one-year state of emergency this week, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday, repeating calls for civilian leaders to be freed.
"Our special envoy today had a first contact in which she expressed clearly our position to the deputy military commander," Guterres told reporters, referring to Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener.
The declaration of the state of emergency came after the military detained President U Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government figures of the National League for Democracy (NLD) early on Monday.
Top 5 | Italy's 5-Star members vote over Draghi as political crisis nears end
Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement began voting on Thursday on whether to support a cabinet led by former European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, in what could be one of the final steps before a new government is formed.
Draghi, who received the mandate to lead a new cabinet after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned, has held two rounds of talks with parties to pull together an administration.
A host of groups from left to right pledged to support him and he would not need the 5-Star votes to have a majority in both houses of parliament.
Top 6 | Countries must ramp up climate pledges by 80 percent to hit key Paris target, study finds
The pledges countries made to reduce emissions as part of the 2015 Paris agreement are woefully inadequate, and the world must nearly double its greenhouse gas-cutting goals to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, according to research published Tuesday.
“The commitments are not enough,” said Adrian Raftery, a University of Washington statistics professor and co-author of the study, published in Communications Earth & Environment.
The study found that even if countries were to meet their existing pledges, the world has only about a 5 percent chance to limit the Earth’s warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels — a key aim of the international agreement.
Top 7 | India asks Twitter to remove 1,178 accounts: government sources
India has asked Twitter Inc to take down 1,178 accounts the country says are backed by arch rival Pakistan or operated by sympathizers of a separatist Sikh movement, two technology ministry sources said on Monday.
India’s security agencies said some of the accounts were being operated from outside of the country, one of the sources said, declining to be named as the order is not public. The order also involved the Twitter accounts of some supporters of the movement for an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan.
Many of these accounts were sharing and amplifying misinformation and provocative content on the ongoing farmers protests, the source added.
Top 8 | Boris Johnson's Government Criticised for Attempts to Reform NHS Amid Coronavirus Crisis
The UK government has come under attack for its attempts to reform the National Health Service (NHS) in England amid the coronavirus pandemic, which critics say undermines the fight against the infectious disease. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the reform will make the NHS "more innovative and responsive" pointing to the problems the system experienced during the pandemic. Although the move was commended by some health experts, other questioned the timing of it.
"NHS staff across the country have worked so hard for the past year, intensive treatment units are still full, we're still seeing dreadful statistics and the government decides to bring out yet another NHS reorganisation", said Dr David Wrigle vice-chair of the British Medical Association."I think some of my colleagues think it sort of beggars belief really, that this is happening at this time when the NHS is in turmoil. You know, we don't need reorganisation we need a period of stability and investment".
Labour Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Prime Minister Boris Johnson should personally explain why the government made the reform of NHS its pressing priority when the system is "in the midst of the biggest crisis".
Top 9 | WHO urges adjustment of vaccines to factor in new coronavirus strains
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom on Monday called for the adjustment of COVID-19 vaccines to factor in the new strains of the virus.
Tedros made the remarks at a media briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he noted South Africa's decision to halt its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a study showed its jabs were minimally effective at preventing mild to moderate disease caused by a variant first identified the country.
"It also seems increasingly clear that manufacturers will have to adjust to the evolution of the virus, taking into account the latest variants for future shots, including boosters," said the WHO chief.
Top 10 | Russian Deputy FM: Any Agreement to Replace New START Treaty Requires Discussing US Missile Defence
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has stated that any possible replacement of the New START treaty with a new pact would be impossible without a discussion concerning US missile defence.
"If the US is not ready to move on [this] then there are little chances of having a new deal to replace the New START, we should focus on the missile defence problem. Otherwise, arms control will be in question", Ryabkov said at a press conference.
The diplomat also noted that Russia and the United States have begun negotiating a schedule of checks and consultations that are part of the extended New START deal.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
