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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 |**Echoing Biden, Blinken says he believes Russia committing 'war crimes' in Ukraine
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that he personally believes war crimes have been committed in Ukraine, a day after President Joe Biden labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" for the first time since Putin launched his invasion.
Before the U.S. officially labels Putin's actions as war crimes, Blinken said State Department experts from the Office of Global Criminal Justice are documenting and evaluating evidence for a formal determination and will share the findings with those responsible for accountability. But he acknowledged reports on intentional attacks from the bombing of a Drama Theater housing children to opening fire at people waiting in line for bread.
Just moments before Blinken stepped out to speak, a State Department official confirmed to ABC News that a U.S. citizen was killed Thursday in Ukraine after Chernihiv regional police reported an American was killed by Russian shelling there. Two American journalists, a filmmaker and a Fox News cameraperson, were also killed this week covering the war.
Top 2 | Bill backs up new 988 suicide prevention line with funding
In advance of the rollout of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's new three-digit number, legislators have announced a bill to help fund its implementation.
The bill includes federal funding and guidance for states and localities preparing for the July launch, including mental health block grants and $100 million to partner with cities on mobile crisis response teams to help stabilize people in need. It would also increase the amount of federal funding for the Lifeline, which runs a national backup network to receive calls that can't be picked up at the state and local levels, and provide $10 million for an awareness campaign about the new 988 number -- modeled after 911.
The 24-hour hotline has been in service since 2005 and has received more than 20 million calls.
**Top 3 |**Money flows to states for cleaning up environmentally hazardous orphaned wells
A major effort to combat climate change -- reducing methane emissions -- is now underway as $1.15 billion flows to states to help close unused oil and gas wells that release pollution and greenhouse gases.
The funds stem from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which in total allocated $4.7 billion over nine years for a new federal program to address orphan wells. This is the first funding phase.
There are over 130,000 orphaned wells across the country, according to a preliminary analysis from the Department of the Interior.
**Top 4 |**S. Korea: DPRK seems to have failed in unidentified projectile launch
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) seemed to have failed in its launch of an unidentified projectile, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Wednesday.
The JCS said in a statement that the DPRK launched the projectile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at about 9:30 a.m. local time (0030 GMT), noting that it appeared to have failed soon after the liftoff.
It said the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States were conducting additional analysis.
**Top 5 |**Biden signs $1.5t omnibus spending bill into law
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a $1.5-trillion omnibus spending bill for the fiscal year 2022 to fund the federal government through the end of September.
The bill, which was approved by U.S. Congress last week, includes $730 billion in non-defense funding and $782 billion in defense funding.
The legislation also provides $13.6 billion in supplemental funding to boost humanitarian, security and economic assistance related to the Ukraine conflict.
**Top 6 |**China's envoy to UN says world does not need cold war, but growth and progress for all
The world does not need a new cold war and bloc confrontation but growth and progress for all, according to the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Zhang Jun.
Zhang made the remarks at a meeting of the Security Council of the world organization on cooperation with the OSCE.
The Chinese envoy's remarks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued to seek more sactions against Russia.
**Top 7 |**Pentagon's John Kirby says latest airstrike indicates Russian forces are 'broadening their target sets'
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Russian forces are "broadening their target sets" after rockets hit a Ukrainian military base near the Polish border overnight.
The Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, located about 10 miles from Poland and an hour west of Lviv, sustained damage from the airstrike. Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskiy said at least 35 people were killed and another 134 injured during the attack on the Ukrainian military training base. Kirby confirmed no Americans were present.
Raddatz followed up, citing Ukraine's defense minister calling the strike "a terror attack near the NATO border" and "saying action must be taken to stop this, close the sky."
**Top 8 |**Iran 'temporarily' suspends normalization talks with Saudi Arabia: report
Iran has "temporarily" suspended normalization talks with Saudi Arabia, Iran's Press TV reported on Sunday.
The Iranian side has "unilaterally and temporarily" suspended the talks which were slated to be held in Iraq next week, according to the report.
The report did not specify the reason for the pause or a date for resuming the negotiations.
Following several rounds of talks brokered by Iraq, Iran sent three diplomats to Saudi Arabia in January as a delegation to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to resume their activities in Jeddah after a six-year hiatus.
**Top 9 |**Pentagon team revived to speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine and allies
The U.S. Department of Defense is turning to a special team to respond to increased demand for new weapons sales and requests to transfer existing weapons among U.S. allies as countries including Ukraine scramble to obtain arms following the armed conflict, three people familiar with the effort told Reuters.
The Pentagon's Office of Acquisition and Sustainment, the weapons buyer for the U.S. Department of Defense, has been fielding increased demand from European allies hoping to ship weapons to Ukraine through third party transfers or to buy arms to bolster their own defenses, the sources said.
The rapid response team was revived in recent days to coordinate and cut through the bureaucracy around sales and transfers while prioritizing requests from allies, the sources also said.
**Top 10 |**G7 says it will take steps to deny Russia 'most favored nation' status
G7 nations said on Friday they would take steps to deny Russia a "most favored nation" status, which would revoke benefits of Russia's membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S., European Union and G7 countries were moving to revoke Russia's "most favored nation" trade status. The U.S. will also take steps to ban the import of Russian seafood, diamonds and vodka, he said.
In 2019, Russia was the 26th largest goods trading partner of the United States. Russian exports to the U.S. in 2021 totaled $29 billion, according to the U.S. Trade Representative's office.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
