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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 | 20th CPC National Congress to set China's main tasks in next 5 years
Sri Lanka's six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in Thursday as president of the crisis-hit South Asian nation.
Wickremesinghe, 73, who was elected by legislators on Wednesday, took his oath of office before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at parliament complex, according to a statement from his office.
Wickremesinghe won 134 votes in the 225-member parliament on Wednesday after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned from his post last week.
Former Public Administration Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, a schoolmate of Wickremesinghe, is tipped to become prime minister.
Top 2 | EU submits new draft text to revive Iran nuclear deal
The European Union's foreign policy chief said Tuesday he has submitted a new draft text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying there is no room left for further major compromises.
"I have now put on the table a text that addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore the JCPOA," the EU's Josep Borrell wrote in an essay in the Financial Times. He was referring to the 2015 deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
"After 15 months of intense, constructive negotiations in Vienna and countless interactions with the JCPOA participants and the U.S., I have concluded that the space for additional significant compromises has been exhausted," he added. "It is not a perfect agreement, but it addresses all essential elements and includes hard-won compromises by all sides."
It comes after Iran warned on Monday it would not be rushed into a "quick" deal reviving its faltering 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, as negotiations in Vienna remain deadlocked.
Top 3 | Shenzhou-14 taikonauts enter Wentian lab module
The Shenzhou-14 crew entered the Wentian lab module at 10:03 a.m. BJT on Monday, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced, marking the first time that Chinese astronauts have entered a lab module in-orbit.
According to the plan, China will carry out in-orbit works, such as integrated attitude control of the space station and tests on Wentian's small robotic arm as well as the larger robotic arm on the core module.
Extravehicular activities supported by Wentian's airlock module and the small arm will also be conducted.
Top 4 | China, Indonesia vow to foster a community with a shared future
Earlier this month, Indonesia's Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway saw the laying of ballasted tracks begin on its main line, marking a solid step of this landmark Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project and signaling the pragmatic cooperation between China and Indonesia.
With a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the railway built with Chinese technology will cut the journey between Jakarta and Bandung, the country's fourth-largest city, from more than three hours to around 40 minutes.
While meeting Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping Tuesday voiced the hope that key bilateral cooperation projects, including the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project, would advance smoothly. Meanwhile, Widodo called the high-speed railway project another milestone of bilateral friendship.
Top 5 | Iran says the U.S. needs to show it wants nuclear deal revived
Iran said Wednesday the United States needs to show "in practice" that it wants a revival of the 2015 nuclear agreement, after an EU coordinator urged parties to accept a draft text of the deal.
"America always maintains that it wants an agreement, so this approach should be seen in the text of the agreement and in practice," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a phone conversation, according to Iran's Foreign Ministry.
"If America takes a realistic step toward finding a solution and reaching an agreement, a good agreement will be available to all parties," Amir-Abdollahian added.
Top 6 | Kim Jong Un says DPRK ready for any military clash with U.S.
Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has said his country is ready to mobilize its nuclear war deterrent and counter any U.S. military provocation, state media reported on Thursday.
Kim made the remarks during a speech at an event to mark the 69th anniversary of the July 27 Korean War armistice, which left the two Koreas – the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK) – technically still at war, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
"Our armed forces are thoroughly prepared to respond to any crisis, and our nation's nuclear war deterrence is also fully ready to mobilize its absolute strength faithfully, accurately and promptly to its mission," he said.
Kim also warned against any preemptive strikes by the new ROK administration.
Top 7 | Heatwave in Europe underscores need for effective action to combat climate change: WHO
As the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) reels from the effects of a prolonged heatwave responsible for a series of ferocious wildfires and escalating record-breaking high temperatures, regional governments have been urged by the WHO to implement the Paris climate agreement, whose position has been reinforced "as a health treaty" by the COP26 (United Nations Climate Change Conference) Health Programme.
"Governments need to demonstrate political will and genuine leadership in implementing the global Paris Agreement on climate change, with collaboration replacing division and empty rhetoric," WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said in a statement on Friday.
According to Kluge, 1,700 people have died as a result of the current heatwave in Spain and Portugal, and wildfires have spread from southern Europe to as far north as Scandinavia. This week, with the "scorching summer season barely halfway done," fires in London have destroyed 41 homes.
Top 8 | Somali president embarks on tour of Egypt
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in Cairo on Sunday to begin an official visit of Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
The Egypt visit is Mohamud's seventh foreign trip since he returned to power in May after winning the Horn of African country's presidential election.
According to Somalia's presidency, Mohamud and El-Sisi are scheduled to hold bilateral talks focused on strengthening Somali-Egyptian relations, economic ties and security and education cooperation between their two countries.
Top 9 | UN chief appoints Li Junhua of China as next under-secretary-general for economic, social affairs
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday appointed Li Junhua of China as the next under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs.
Li, who is currently ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of China to Italy and San Marino, will succeed Liu Zhenmin of China, to whom Guterres expressed gratitude for his commitment and dedicated service to the world body, according to a statement issued by the secretary-general's office.
Born in 1962, Li began his career at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985, and has served in various capacities, including as ambassador to Myanmar and as director general of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences at the ministry.
Top 10 | 'Beacon of hope': Deal signed to resume grain exports from Ukraine by sea
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the Ukraine grain deal as a "beacon on the Black Sea" at the signing ceremony attended by the representatives from Türkiye, Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Friday.
"There is a beacon on the Black Sea. A beacon of hope – a beacon of possibility – a beacon of relief - in a world that needs it more than ever," said the UN chief.
Ukraine and Russia on Friday signedseparate "mirror" deals on grain exportwith Türkiye and the UN to free up grain exports from Ukraine's besieged Black Sea ports.
The agreement, in two copies, was signed by TurkishDefense Minister Hulusi Akar with Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, and with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, respectively.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
