简体中文
Every Saturday, 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 | US to impose 'largest ever' DPRK sanctions
**
The United States is imposing a fresh set of sanctions on DPRK - the "largest ever", President Trump says. The measures target more than 50 ships and maritime transport companies in DPRK.
DPRK is already under a range of international and US sanctions over its nuclear programme and missile tests. But it continued tests last year, including tests of a nuclear weapon and a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the US.
The US says the new sanctions are designed to put a further squeeze on DPRK, cutting off sources of revenue and fuel for its nuclear programme and clamping down on evasion of already existing restrictions.
Top 2 | White House: Talks with DPRK must lead to ending nuclear program
The White House said any talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) must lead to an end to its nuclear program after senior officials from Pyongyang visiting South Korea said on Sunday their government was open to talks with the United States.
Top 3 | Syria war: Shelling and strikes despite Eastern Ghouta 'pause'
Fighting continued in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area in Syria during the first daily five-hour "pause" ordered by the government's ally Russia.
Activists said there were government air and artillery strikes, while Russia said rebels shelled a "humanitarian corridor" meant to let civilians leave.
As a result, there were no UN aid deliveries or medical evacuations.
Some 393,000 people are trapped in the enclave near Damascus, which has been besieged by the government since 2013.
Medics say more than 500 people have been killed since the government intensified its bombardment nine days ago in an attempt to retake the enclave.
Meanwhile, France has urged Russia to use its influence over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to secure a 30-day truce covering the whole country.
Top 4 | DPRK tells UN sanctions will 'never work'
Sanctions on Pyongyang aim to pressure it to abandon its nuclear ambitions, not to "bring down" the country, Republic of Korea's foreign minister told the UN Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, while the envoy from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), addressing the same gathering, dismissed sanctions as ineffective.
"Sanctions are not an end in themselves and not meant to bring down North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) but to make it understand that its future lies not in nuclear weapons but in working with the global community towards denuclearization," ROK's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told representatives from countries including the United States, China, France as well as the DPRK.
Top 5 | Trump's longest-serving aide Hope Hicks quits White House
Hope Hicks, a long-serving adviser to Donald Trump, has quit her role as White House communications director.
The 29-year-old said she wanted to leave to explore opportunities outside Washington, having worked with Mr Trump as an aide throughout his presidential campaign and before that at The Trump Organisation.
Top 6 | S. Korean prosecutors demand 30-year sentence for ex-President Park
South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a 30-year imprisonment for ousted President Park Geun-hye, according to local media reports.
Prosecutors said that Park privatized her presidential power, mandated by people, and damaged constitutional value, demanding Park be fined 118.5 billion won (110.5 million U.S. dollars).
Park, 66, was removed from office in March last year as the constitutional court upheld her impeachment, which the National Assembly already supported.
The ousted president was taken into custody in the same month, and was indicted on 18 counts of corruption.
Top 7 | Florida high school shooting: Mixed emotions as students return to class
Students had mixed emotions as they returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School today for the first time since the mass shooting that killed 17 people and sent shock waves across the nation.
One student told ABC News he's "not mentally ready yet" to return to class after the Valentine's Day shooting that killed his best friend, while another student said she's happy to get back "to come together to grieve."
Top 8 | US steel and aluminium imports face big tariffs, Trump says
Ordering combative action on foreign trade, U.S. President Donald Trump declared Thursday the U.S. will impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, escalating tensions with China and other trading partners and raising the prospect of higher prices for American consumers and companies.
With “trade war” talk in the air, stocks closed sharply lower on Wall Street.
Trump said firm action was crucial to protect U.S. industry from unfair competition and to bolster national security. However, his announcement came only after an intense internal White House debate. It brought harsh criticism from some Republicans and roiled financial markets with concerns about economic ramifications.
** Top 9 | DPRK refutes US accusation of producing chemical weapons with Syria**
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday slammed U.S. accusation regarding "a theory of cooperation of manufacturing chemical weapons" between the DPRK and Syria.
The U.S. accusation is "preposterous fabrication," director of the Press of the Institute for American Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, said Thursday night in a statement, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"It is well-known to the world that the United States has fabricated at its will a sophistry, only to have used it as an excuse to stage an aggression against a sovereign state," said the statement.
When civilians in the region of eastern Syria were said to be subjected to "the use of chemical weapons," the United States "set in motion its government patronized-machine" to assert itself that this cooperation is reflected in the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee Report, said the KCNA.
** Top 9 | Trump names 2020 campaign manager**
U.S. President Trump has appointed digital strategist Brad Parscale to lead his 2020 re-election effort, his campaign announced Tuesday.
"Brad was essential in bringing a disciplined technology and data-driven approach to how the 2016 campaign was run," said senior White House official Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. "His leadership and expertise will be help build (sic) a best-in-class campaign."
The Trump campaign pledged its apparatus would not only prepare for the president's re-election, but also play a role in the 2018 midterm elections this year.
Parscale, who will serve in the role of campaign manager, is a longtime Trump aide whose connection to the president stretches back well before the president's campaign began in 2015.
Related :
APD Review | It’s not OK how Trump tells lies on climate change
APD Review | Trump and the mirage of gun control
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
