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Every Saturday, 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 | DPRK FM says Trump declares war on his country, White House denied
DPRK's foreign minister Ri Yong-ho said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump has "declared a war" on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
DPRK's foreign minister Ri Yong-ho
"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to take countermeasures, including the right to shoot down U.S. strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country," Ri said.
In response, the White House denied that the United States had declared war on Pyongyang.
"We have not declared war on North Korea(DPRK) and frankly the suggestion of that is absurd," White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders told a regular briefing in Washington.
Top 2 | Japan's Abe tells ruling LDP to dissolve lower house for snap election
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a meeting of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Monday that he will dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap election, government sources said.
The contentious general election, being called despite accusations from the opposition camp that Abe is merely trying to extend his grip on power, while avoiding accusations of cronyism in parliamentary debate, is slated for Oct. 22.
The Japanese premier, besides economics, is also widely expected to campaign on a newly-intensified security platform, as regional threats are being consistently hyped-up by the ruling camp here and have led to consistent increases in tax-payer-backed defense spending and budget requests.
Top 3 | Trump outlines major tax cut plans
US President Donald Trump has called for major tax cuts as part of a longstanding Republican effort to overhaul the US tax system.
A framework released by Republicans calls for lowering the tax rate for corporations from 35% to 20%, among other changes.
The president said the revamp will make the US more competitive and help middle class families.
Top 4 | Trump's son-in-law Kushner used private email for White House business
U.S. President Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, has used a private email account alongside his official White House account to exchange messages with other administration officials.
The emails included correspondence about media coverage, event planning and other subjects. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Kushner complied with government record-keeping rules by forwarding all the emails to his official account.
Donald Trump vowed during the 2016 presidential election campaign that Democratic rival Hillary Clinton would "be in jail" for her use of a private email server for official correspondence when she was Secretary of State.
Top5 | German elections 2017: Angela Merkel makes history with fourth term, but so does Far-Right
German Chancellor Angela Merkel clinched an historic fourth term in Germany's election on Sunday. Merkel, who after 12 years in power held a double-digit lead for most of the campaign, scored around 32.9 per cent of the vote with her conservative Christian Union (CDU/CSU) bloc.
The far-right party, Alternative for Germany, or AfD, got some 13 percent of the vote — nearly three times the 4.7 percent it received in 2013 — a significant showing of voter anger over immigration and inequality as support for the two main parties sagged from four years ago.
Top 6 | Thai court sentences ex-PM Yingluck in absentia to five years in jail, and PM Prayuth says Yingluck is in Dubai
Thailand's Supreme Court on Wednesday found ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra guilty of malfeasance in a loss-ridden rice subsidy program and sentenced her in absentia to five years in jail.
According to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had unofficially confirmed that Yingluck is currently hiding out in the United Arab Emirates' city of Dubai following her escape from Thailand last month.
Top 7 | Saudi Arabia to let women drive at last
Saudi Arabia's King Salman has issued a decree allowing women to drive for the first time, state media say.
Government ministries are to prepare reports within 30 days and the order will be implemented by June 2018, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to forbid women from driving. Under the current system, only men are allowed driving licences and women who drive in public risk being arrested and fined.
Top 8 | Trump: military force for DPRK not preferred, but would be 'devastating'
U.S. President Donald Trump warned the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) on Tuesday that any U.S. military option would be “devastating” for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington’s first option to deal with the country’s ballistic and nuclear weapons program.
“We are totally prepared for the second option, not a preferred option,” Trump said at a White House news conference, referring to military force. “But if we take that option, it will be devastating, I can tell you that, devastating for North Korea(DPRK). That’s called the military option. If we have to take it, we will.”
Bellicose statements by Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks have created fears that a miscalculation could lead to action with untold ramifications, particularly since Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.
Top 9 | UN chief urges Myanmar to end military operations in Rohingya crisis
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has urged Myanmar’s authorities to immediately end military operations that have sent more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, calling the crisis “the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency and a humanitarian and human rights nightmare”.
Guterres warned that the humanitarian crisis was a breeding ground for radicalisation, criminals and traffickers. And he said the broader crisis “has generated multiple implications for neighbouring states and the larger region, including the risk of inter-communal strife”
Top 10 | Iraqi Kurdish leader claims victory in independence referendum
Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said on Tuesday that Kurds had voted “yes” to independence in a referendum held in defiance of the government in Baghdad and which had angered their neighbors and their US allies.
In a televised address, Barzani said the “yes” vote had won, and he called on Iraq’s central government in Baghdad to engage in “serious dialogue” instead of threatening the Kurdistan Regional Government with sanctions.
The Kurds, who have ruled over an autonomous region within Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, consider Monday’s referendum to be a historic step in a generations-old quest for a state of their own.
**Related: **
APD Review | Merkel 4.0: Durable politician at the age of troubles
APD Review | Divisiveness, thy name is Donald Trump
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
