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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 | Sri Lankan president to appoint new PM, cabinet this week
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Wednesday he would appoint a new prime minister and cabinet this week, after his elder brother and former premier Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned following deadly violence in the country.
The new prime minister and cabinet will command a majority in the 225-seat parliament, Rajapaksa said, adding he will bring constitutional reforms to grant more power to the parliament.
The president's statement followed comments from Sri Lanka's central bank governor earlier in the day, who said he would quit within weeks unless political stability was restored.
Top 2 | China-Pakistan friendship will not be shaken: Wang Yi
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday said that the friendship between China and Pakistan will be passed on from generation to generation and will not be shaken or changed by a single incident.
Wang made the remarks when meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari via video link, calling on the two sides to thwart any attempt to undermine bilateral ties.
China and Pakistan are unique and time-tested all-weather strategic cooperative partners, Wang noted.
Top 3 | UN: Ukraine civilian deaths "thousands higher" than official toll
The death toll of civilians in Ukraine are thousands more than the official UN record of 3,381, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said at a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
The UN team said that most of the deaths have occurred due to the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area such as missile and air strikes.
The World Health Organization so far has documented some 200 attacks in Ukraine on healthcare facilities. Some people also chose not to go to hospitals due to safety concerns. Curtained access to health facilities and medical care has led to the rising mortality rate.
Top 4 | Somali president announces re-election bid
Somali President Mohamed Farmajo has officially announced his candidacy for re-election in the presidential elections slated for May 15 in the capital, Mogadishu.
Farmajo who made the announcement in a televised speech on Sunday evening expressed his commitment to continue with the progress and development that he has started during his first term in office.
The incumbent president who was elected in February 2017 said he decided to seek re-election in response to the many calls from the Somalis.
Top 5 | UN chief 'appalled' at school attack in Ukrainian town
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "appalled" at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Sunday.
Dujarric said Guterres reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.
The governor of Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, Serhiy Haidai, said on Sunday that 27 people were rescued from the rubble and 60 were "most likely dead" after Russian forces dropped an air bomb on the school in Bilohorivka on the previous day.
Top 6 | Putin sends Victory Day greetings to world leaders
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent congratulations on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War to the leaders and citizens of countries including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
He also sent greetings to Ukrainian veterans of the Great Patriotic War, according to the Kremlin website.
On Saturday, Russia held the final rehearsal for this year's Victory Day military parade. Around 11,000 people, 131 types of weapons and military equipment as well as 77 airplanes and helicopters took part in the dress rehearsal, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Top 7 | John Lee wins HKSAR's sixth-term chief executive election
John Lee won the sixth-term chief executive election in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday, with 1,416 valid "support" votes.
The chief executive designate must obtain support from more than half of the 1,500 Election Committee members, or more than 750 votes, according to Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Chief Executive Election Ordinance.
The returning officer, who oversees the election, received one nomination form during the nomination period – Lee's. As there is only one validly nominated candidate, EC members chose between "support" or "not support" on the ballot on Sunday.
Top 8 | WHO stands with Ukraine, Dr Tedros Adhanom says
The World Health Organization stands with Ukraine amid Russia's ongoing military operation in the country, the agency's Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom, said on Saturday.
Dr Tedros made the remarks in a media briefing in the Eastern European country, where he has been for the last two days.
Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, and despite repeated talks between both sides, the conflict continues to rage on.
Top 9 | German police examine device after claim of plot against Russian media
Berlin criminal investigators and prosecutors are studying a device found and destroyed at a residential building housing Russian news agency staff in the city's Steglitz district, police said.
The device was found on Friday and investigators are looking into how dangerous it had been and who it was aimed at, a Berlin police spokesman said in response to an enquiry. He added that there would be further updates later on Saturday.
Russia's embassy in Berlin said a bottle had been thrown through a window of the apartment block on Friday evening, and that an improvised bomb had been found in the subsequent search, which it said German sappers had identified and deactivated.
Top 10 | China urges efforts to promote ceasefire and cessation of hostilities on Ukraine
China on Thursday called on the international community to create enabling conditions for Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations and do more to facilitate a political settlement, rather than the other way around.
Zhang said China stands firmly for long-term solutions to world peace and wants all countries to "reaffirm their commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter."
He also warned about the threat of a new Cold War, calling the lessons from the Ukraine crisis "profound and deserving of serious reflection."
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
