简体中文
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 |**World gathers for 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing
The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games was held at the National Stadium in Beijing on Friday night.
Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Winter Games open after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach delivered a speech.
"This Year of the Tiger is also an Olympic Year," Bach said. "Both the Year of the Tiger and the Olympic Tiger stand for ambition, courage and strength. Today, thanks to this ambition, China is a winter sport country. Well over 300 million people are engaged in winter sports in about 2,000 ski resorts and ice rinks."
**Top 2 |**UN chief calls for human fraternity to address challenges
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for human fraternity to address today's challenges.
In a message on the International Day of Human Fraternity, which falls on February 4, he said the world needs compassion and human solidarity more than ever.
Around the world, there is a rise in hate speech, intolerance, discrimination and even physical attacks against people, simply because of their religion or belief, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. These heinous acts are violations of human rights and affronts to the values of the United Nations, said Guterres.
**Top 3 |**U.S. to deploy almost 3,000 troops to Europe amid fears over Russia invading Ukraine
The U.S. has announced that it will deploy almost 3,000 extra troops to Europe in the coming days amid fears over the ongoing standoff between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia has recently sent more than 100,000 of its own troops to the Ukrainian border, with nations across the world worried that they could soon be deployed in an invasion.
While Russia denies the claims, the country has said that it would take military action unless its security demands are met, after opposing Ukraine's wish to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.
**Top 4 |**Bulgarian president self-isolates after wife tests positive for COVID-19
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has been in self-isolation after his wife Desislava Radeva has tested positive for COVID-19, the press office of the president said in a statement on Wednesday.
Radeva is in good general condition, the statement said.
The president has canceled the meetings scheduled for the next few days, it added.
Radev has self-isolated for the second time since the beginning of this year. On January 11, he did so because Parliament Speaker Nikola Minchev tested positive for COVID-19 hours after a meeting of the country's Consultative Council on National Security where Radev also participated.
**Top 5 |**Biden seeks Supreme Court nominee advice amid criticism over promise to name Black woman
President Joe Biden began what he has said would be a bipartisan process to pick his Supreme Court nominee, hosting meetings at the White House on Tuesday amid Republican criticism of his history-making move to nominate the first Black woman to the bench.
Biden met with Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and the committee's top Republican Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Tuesday afternoon to consult with them on the nomination and confirmation process. Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden has said will advise him on his selection, was also on hand for the Oval Office event.
**Top 6 |**Japanese fighter jet disappears from radar, rescue underway
A Japan Air Self-Defense Force F15 fighter jet disappeared from the radar after taking off from the Komatsu Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa on Monday, Japan's defense ministry said.
A person believed to be a crew member was located in the Sea of Japan, with a rescue being mounted, local broadcaster NHK reported.
NHK said the jet might have crashed and the Coast Guard had dispatched several boats to search the area.
**Top 7 |**Ukraine's NATO membership would hurt bloc's ties with Russia: Lavrov
Ukraine's admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would seriously undermine relations between Russia and the alliance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.
Commenting on statements that NATO is defensive, the top diplomat recalled how the U.S.-led military bloc "bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months, invaded Libya in violation of a UN Security Council resolution, and behaved in Afghanistan."
Lavrov reiterated "the indivisibility of security," the principle that no state should strengthen its own security at the expense of others.
**Top 8 |**Wang Yi: China to contribute more to safeguarding world peace, prosperity in new year
China will join hands with "all countries that love peace and uphold justice" to make new and greater contributions to safeguarding world peace and prosperity this year, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
Wang made the remarks in a Chinese Lunar New Year message to diplomatic corps in Beijing, which was published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday. The Chinese Lunar New Year, Spring Festival, falls on February 1.
Describing 2021 as a year "full of turbulence and challenges," Wang reviewed the spread of COVID-19 across the globe, difficulties faced by the world economy and the complex international situation.
Top 9 | Chinese embassy refutes CNN Portugal's 'misleading' report on Beijing 2022
A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Portugal on Saturday refuted a recent report by CNN Portugal claiming that Portugal will join the "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
CNN Portugal used a headline that read "Portugal joins diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics" in a TV news report, the spokesperson said, calling the headline a "deliberate distortion of facts" and "misleading." The spokesperson expressed strong dissatisfaction with the report.
Nearly 3,000 athletes from about 90 countries and regions, including Portugal, will take part in the upcoming Games, the spokesperson said. Portugal will send its largest delegation ever to the Winter Olympics, which shows that the country attaches great importance to the event, the spokesperson added.
**Top 10 |**Russia does not want war with Ukraine, says foreign minister Lavrov
Russia doesn't want war, but will not ignore its interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to Russian media on Friday.
The minister stressed that the talks on security guarantees with NATO and the U.S. are not over.
The U.S. proposals were better than proposals received from NATO, he said, adding that he expected to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the next couple of weeks.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
