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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 | 'You Need a Little Education': GOP Lawmaker Confronts Tucker Carlson on U.S.-Ukraine Ties
A Republican congressman told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he needs more education on the United States' relationship with Ukraine.
Representative Mike Turner of Ohio appeared on Carlson's show Wednesday night to discuss U.S.-Ukraine relations after he joined 14 other Republicans in a letter asking President Joe Biden to increase support to Ukraine amid a buildup of Russian military forces along the border.
Turner said Russia's actions are a threat to the United States and its allies, but Carlson asked why the U.S. should take Ukraine's side and not Russia's.
Carlson also asked why it is in America's interest to send more troops to "risk their lives" in Ukraine after a "tragic, cowardly and counterproductive exit" from Afghanistan.
Top 2 | UN chief voices concern over migrant crisis at Belarus-Poland border
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following with concern the situation at the Belarus-Poland border, where thousands of migrants and refugees are stuck in cold weather, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
The spokesman also referred to remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who said that she was appalled at the large number of migrants and refugees who continue to be left in a desperate situation in near-freezing temperatures at the border, and that governments in the region cannot allow more lives to be lost.
The Belarusian Red Cross came to the Belarus-Polish border on Tuesday to distribute humanitarian aid to the tent area built by refugees.
Top 3 | Rep. Paul Gosar addresses backlash to violent anime edit, likening the video to 'symbolic portrayal' of fight over immigration policy
Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar addressed backlash to a violent anime edit he posted on his Twitter account this weekend, likening the video to a symbolic representation of the impending Congressional fight over immigration policy.
The Arizona lawmaker on Sunday tweeted an edited anime scene depicting a character with his face edited onto it using two swords to slash the back of the neck of a large character featuring Ocasio-Cortez's face. The "Attack on Titan" parody also featured the Gosar character approaching a figure featuring President Joe Biden's face with his blades drawn.
Gosar included the caption "Any anime fans out there?"
The tweet, which had surpassed 3 million views as of Monday night, has since been removed following outcry from many of his Democratic colleagues, including Ocasio-Cortez herself.
Top 4 | US govt to streamline immigration rules for recent Afghan arrivals
The US government will streamline immigration procedures for recent Afghan arrivals to speed up their resettlement in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday.
Some 70,000 Afghans have landed in the United States as part of "Operation Allies Welcome," launched amid the August evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan, as the country fell to the Islamist Taliban following the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
Afghans who arrived in the United States on or after July 30 this year will be able to take advantage of simplified procedures to get a prized "green card," or permanent resident status, as well as various work permits, the DHS said in a statement.
They will also not have to pay filing fees, which can run up to thousands of dollars.
Top 5 | Islamic State violence dents Taliban claims of safer Afghanistan
Last month, the family of Mawlavi Ezzatullah, a member of Afghanistan's Hizb-e Islami party, received a WhatsApp message from his phone: "We have slaughtered your Mawlavi Ezzat, come and collect his body."
Ezzatullah's killing, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, was one of a steady stream of assassinations and bombings that have undermined Taliban claims that they have brought greater security to Afghanistan after 40 years of war.
Victims have ranged from former security officials from the ousted government to journalists, civil society activists, mullahs, Taliban fighters and apparently random targets like Ezzatullah, whose family said he had no enemies they knew of.
The Taliban have said their victory has brought stability to Afghanistan, where thousands of people were killed in fighting between the group and Western-backed forces between 2001 and 2021 before the hardline Islamists emerged victorious.
Top 6 | PM Boris Johnson avoids parliament as UK lawmakers' standards debated
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, fighting opposition party accusations his government is corrupt, said he took the issue very seriously, despite not attending parliament as the subject was being debated.
Johnson has been engulfed in a row centered on his handling of the proposed suspension of Conservative Party lawmaker Owen Paterson last week, for breaching rules on paid lobbying.
The prime minister pushed parliament to protect Paterson by getting his Conservative Party MPs to vote for a change to the rules. But the backlash to this decision led to a U-turn the following day, with Paterson then quitting parliament.
It was the latest incident in a series of scandals to hit his government.
Johnson said on Monday he believes the process of investigating lawmakers still needs to be changed.
Top 7 | Spurred by reopening, more migrants head for U.S.-Mexico border
Emboldened by news that the United States and Mexico will reopen shared land-border crossings, hundreds of migrants have arrived at Mexican border cities like Tijuana, hoping the reset will make it easier to cross and seek U.S. asylum.
Starting on Monday, the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border will be open again to non-essential travel after a 20-month closure aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. Both countries have succeeded in lowering new infections and vaccinating border communities.
Another drive to enter the United States could increase pressure on Washington to tighten the border after a jump in migrants this year from troubled areas of Central America and the Caribbean tested President Joe Biden.
Top 8 | COVID-19: Number of booster jabs administered in UK reaches 10 million
Ten million COVID-19 booster jabs have now been administered in the UK, latest figures show.
The milestone - hailed by the prime minister - was reached after 409,663 third shots were given out on Saturday, taking the total to 10,062,704.
Another 35,045 first doses and 23,952 second doses were also administered, meaning 50,234,416 people have had at least one jab and 45,836,791 have had two.
The third shots are currently available to those aged over 50 and those deemed most at risk from coronavirus.
The rollout began in September, and people in England have had to wait until six months after their second dose before they have been eligible to book.
Top 9 | Chris Christie says Trump should move on and 'tell the truth' about the 2020 election
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said former President Donald Trump needs to "tell the truth" about the 2020 election and move on.
Christie also had advice for the GOP, saying that if it wants to build on electoral wins - like Glenn Youngkin's win in Virginia's heated gubernatorial race last week - Republicans need to move past Trump's voter-fraud claims.
In an interview with CNN this weekend, Christie said he thought Trump could be a "very positive force for Republican candidates" in the 2022 midterm elections if he would start "talking about the future and tell the truth about the election and move on."
The former governor spoke to CNN after a Las Vegas event where he addressed supporters at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference. According to the Coalition's website, among the big GOP names at the three-day event were former Vice President Mike Pence, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Top 10 | Inquest rejects submarine theory over 2004 French fishing boat sinking
The 2004 sinking of a French fishing boat in UK waters, with the deaths of five people, was an accident, a British coroner has ruled, rejecting claims it was dragged down by a submarine.
The Bugaled Breizh sank off Cornwall, southwest England, in good weather nearly 18 years ago.
Lawyers for the French victims' families argued that a submarine on exercises could have become tangled with the boat's nets and pulled it down.
But, after an inquest with weeks of evidence at London's High Court, Judge Nigel Lickley ruled: "The Bugaled Breizh sank ... as a result of a fishing accident.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
