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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 | Biden, Xi discuss need to avoid conflict amid global competition
President Joe Biden told Chinese leader Xi Jinping late Thursday that the United States wants to “responsibly manage the competition” between the two countries, in hopes of avoiding conflict.
The two leaders held their second call since Biden took office at a time when Washington and Beijing are increasingly at odds on issues ranging from cybersecurity to trade, and the White House stressed that the discussion was about high-level themes.
“The two leaders had a broad, strategic discussion in which they discussed areas where our interests converge, and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge. They agreed to engage on both sets of issues openly and straightforwardly,” the White House said in a readout of the call. “The two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict.”
Earlier in the day, a senior Biden administration official told reporters that Biden pursued the conversation with Xi after it became clear that lower-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials were failing to achieve breakthroughs on key issues. A leader-level discussion seemed necessary.
Top 2 | Taliban announce key members of new Afghan government
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the names of some of the key members of the new Afghan government at a press conference on Tuesday.
According to the spokesperson, the Taliban's Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada will be the emir of Afghanistan. The word emir refers to the "supreme commander" in Arabic and is still the title for monarchs of Qatar and Kuwait. The position would grant Akhundzada the final say on all political, religious and military affairs.
Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund will be the acting prime minister while political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will be his deputy, Mujahid announced.
Top 3 | Chinese, U.S. envoys hold talks on climate change
China's Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua held talks upon invitation with visiting U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry in Tianjin from Tuesday to Thursday, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said Friday.
The two sides conducted candid, in-depth and pragmatic dialogues and had a full exchange of views on key issues, including the seriousness and urgency of global climate change, plans for bilateral talks and cooperation on climate change, and the upcoming United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
The two sides shared the policies and actions on climate change adopted by their respective countries. China has set up a leading group on peak carbon and carbon neutrality, and is working on a policy system to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, according to the Chinese side.
Top 4 | West African regional bloc suspends Guinea after coup
West Africa's main political and economic bloc suspended Guinea's membership on Wednesday following a weekend military coup that ousted President Alpha Conde.
During a virtual summit, leaders from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded a return to the constitutional order and Conde's immediate release, and also agreed to send a high-level mission to Guinea as soon as Thursday, said Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Alpha Barry.
No immediate economic sanctions against Guinea was announced from the summit.
Top 5 | Taliban claim complete control of Afghanistan's Panjshir
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Monday said the group had "completely conquered" and taken control of Panjshir province, the last area in Afghanistan being held by resistance forces.
"Our latest efforts to bring peace to the entire country succeeded as the Panjshir province is completely conquered and came under control of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," Mujahid wrote on Twitter.
Mujahid said Taliban attacked and eliminated scores of resistance forces in Panjshir on Sunday night, while dozens fled after Taliban advances in the mountainous valley.
In the meantime, the opposition or the so-called National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) led by Ahmad Massoud denied the Taliban's claims of seizing the valley.
Top 6 | Trudeau's early Canada election call backfires, polls suggest
Canada's Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finds himself behind in polls ahead of a snap election he called hoping his management of the COVID-19 crisis would propel him to victory.
Trudeau called the September 20 election last month, two years ahead of schedule. At the time, his Liberals were well ahead and looked likely to regain the majority in parliament they lost in 2019. His main rival, Conservative leader Erin O'Toole, has repeatedly attacked him for calling a vote during the pandemic.
The latest polls by Nanos, Ekos and others show Liberal fortunes have faded as voters have grown fatigued with Trudeau, 49, who has been in power since 2015. One Liberal strategist said on Friday the early-vote call had backfired as it was seen as "wrong" and "greedy" by electors.
Top 7 | Biden to visit New York and New Jersey in aftermath of Hurricane Ida
President Biden on Saturday announced that he will travel to New Jersey and New York on Tuesday to survey damage from Hurricane Ida.
As the remains of Hurricane Ida moved up the East coast this week, at least five states in the Northeast experienced record-breaking rainfall, causing flooding and falling debris.
At least 48 people died in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York.
The trip will come days after Biden met with residents of Louisiana to offer federal assistance in the aftermath of the storm, which left over 1 million people without power.
Top 8 | White House signals new COVID-19 measures coming for unvaccinated Americans
President Biden will announce on Thursday new steps in his administration's COVID-19 response that involves testing, mandates, and school measures depending on a person's vaccination status, the White House said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday that the new components would affect people across the country.
"There are six steps the president's announcing, there will be new components," Psaki said. "Some of that will be related to access to testing, some will be related to mandates, some will be related to how we ensure kids will be protected in schools."
The president indicated last week, following the jobs report, that his administration is looking for ways to make it safer for kids to return to school and for workers to return to the office.
Top 9 | Florida gunman kills 4 including baby, wounds 11-year-old girl
A self-described survivalist in body armor shot and killed four people, including a woman and her 3-month-old baby boy in her arms, before surrendering to the police in central Florida on Sunday, officials said.
The shooter, identified as Bryan Riley, 33, a former U.S. Marine, also wounded an 11-year-old girl who underwent surgery for seven gunshot injuries, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told a news conference.
Riley, who had no connection to the victims, engaged in a shootout with police before giving up. He later tried to grab a police officer's gun while being treated in the hospital for his own gunshot wound before being subdued again, Judd said.
Top 10 | New York Democrats ripped by their constituents
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, reportedly does not blame New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for underpreparedness regarding the lethal storm that hit the city.
She blamed climate change, but some of her Queens constituents disagreed.
"I don't blame climate change. I blame the mayor," one resident said after de Blasio, Ocasio-Cortez, and other officials toured her block, according to the New York Post.
"There was absolutely no warning," the resident continued. "I wasn't expecting water from my own drain to be the one that's going to kill me."
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
