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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 | U.S. announces additional $1.85 billion military aid for Ukraine during Zelenskyy's visit
The United States will provide $1.85 billion in additional military assistance for Ukraine, including a transfer of the Patriot Air Defense System, President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
The announcement came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington for his first known overseas trip since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began 300 days ago.
The Patriot system is "a defensive system, it's not escalatory, it's defensive," Biden said in a joint news briefing with Zelenskyy. "We'd love not to have them used, just stop the attacks," Biden added.
The assistance includes a $1 billion drawdown to provide Ukraine with "expanded air defense and precision-strike capabilities" and $850 million in security assistance, Blinken said in a separate statement.
Top 2 | Netanyahu says he has secured deal to form new Israeli government
Israel's Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he had secured a deal to form a new government after weeks of unexpectedly tough negotiations with his coalition partners.
In a separate statement, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party said he informed President Isaac Herzog of the deal in a phone call.
The Likud has yet to sign final coalition agreements with four of its five partners – three extreme-right parties and two Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties. The new government needs to be sworn in by January 2, 2023, according to Israeli law.
The new government, which Netanyahu must now present within a week, will take office after a year that has seen the worst levels of violence in the West Bank in more than a decade, with more than 150 Palestinians and more than 20 Israelis killed.
Top 3 | U.S. surpasses 100 million confirmed COVID-19 cases
As the United States struggles with multiple viruses, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country surpassed 100 million on Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The data indicated that the U.S. COVID-19 case count rose to 100,002,248 since the pandemic broke out almost three years ago, with a total of 1,088,218 deaths, as of 5:21 p.m. Eastern Time.
On the state level, California topped the caseload list, with more than 11.6 million cases, followed by Texas and Florida with confirmed cases of about 8.1 million and more than 7.3 million, respectively.
Top 4 | Australian PM supports push for national gun register
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese showed his support on Tuesday for a proposed national firearm register in the wake of a deadly police shooting.
Albanese said his government would take advice from law enforcement on how information can be better shared to protect police officers and the general public from firearms, flagging discussions as a priority when he next meets with state and territory leaders at the national cabinet.
A public memorial service was held on Wednesday in Brisbane for Constables Rachel McCrow, 29, and Matthew Arnold, 26. The two were shot dead when they were ambushed by Gareth Train, his brother Nathaniel and wife Stacey at a remote property approximately 300 kilometers west of Brisbane while carrying out a missing persons inquiry on December 12.
Top 5 | UK's Rwanda asylum seeker deportation plan is lawful, court rules
Britain's plan to send migrants to Rwanda is lawful, London's High Court ruled on Monday, in a victory for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who has made a high-stakes political promise to tackle the record number of migrant arrivals in small boats.
The policy, which was announced in April, would involve Britain sending tens of thousands of migrants who arrive on its shores more than 4,000 miles away (6,400 kilometers) to Rwanda.
Announcing the court's decision, judges Clive Lewis and Jonathan Swift said it was lawful for Britain to make arrangements with the Rwanda government to send asylum seekers to the country for their asylum claims to be determined there.
Top 6 | Argentina beat France in post-match penalties to lift FIFA World Cup trophy
Argentina beat France on post-match penalties to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The South Americans had taken a two-goal lead in the first half but a quick-fire brace by Kylian Mbappé late in the second half put Les Bleus back level and set the tone for a very tense finish.
Lionel Messi was the first to find the back of the net in the 23rd minute from the penalty spot after Ousmane Dembele clipped Ángel Di María in the penalty area.
Di maria went on to double his side’s lead in the 36th minute after receiving a perfectly weighted pass from Alexis Mac Allister, rounding off a swift counter attack.
Top 7 | Germany cuts the ribbon on first LNG terminal
Germany on Saturday inaugurated its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, built in record time, as the country scrambles to adapt to life without Russian energy.
The rig in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven was opened by Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a ceremony on board a specialist vessel known as an FSRU and named the Hoegh Esperanza.
The Hoegh Esperanza sounded its horn as the chancellor approached.
The ship has already been stocked with gas from Nigeria that could supply 50,000 homes for a year, and the terminal is set to begin deliveries on December 22.
Top 8 | Jan. 6 committee eyes referring criminal charges for Trump
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is considering recommending the Justice Department pursue an unprecedented criminal charge of insurrection and two other counts against former President Donald Trump.
Besides insurrection, an uprising aiming to overthrow the government, the panel is also considering recommending prosecutors pursue charges for obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to a person familiar with the matter who could not publicly discuss the private deliberations and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The committee’s deliberations were continuing late Friday, and no decisions were formalized on which specific charges the committee would refer to the Justice Department.
The panel is to meet publicly Monday afternoon when any recommendation will be made public.
Top 9 | Slovak president dissolves PM Heger's minority government
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova dissolved Prime Minister Eduard Heger's three-party minority government on Friday, after it lost a no-confidence vote in parliament.
The vote has been called by the opposition following months of political crisis.
Caputova asked Heger and his cabinet to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new government can be formed, but also said that political leaders should look at steps to call early elections in the first half of next year.
Top 10 | Serbia seeks NATO approval to return its troops to Kosovo
The Serbian government will ask the NATO peacekeeper commander to allow the country to send up to 1,000 police and army personnel to Kosovo, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.
It is the first time Belgrade has requested to deploy troops in Kosovo since a United Nations Security Council resolution ended the 1998 to 1999 war, during which NATO bombed rump-Yugoslavia comprising Serbia and Montenegro to protect Albanian-majority Kosovo.
"The government will ask for the return of hundreds and no more than 1,000 army and police troops," Vucic said, adding that they will email the request this evening and physically hand it to KFOR, the NATO mission in Kosovo, at a border crossing on Friday.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
