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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 | Moscow Warns of Dire Consequences in Event of Provocations Similar to HMS Defender Incident
Russia's Foreign Ministry has warned that anyone who carries out provocations similar to the UK HMS Defender incident, that occurred on 23 June, would face dire consequences, according to the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Ryabkov also told reporters that the security of Russia comes first, adding that the country can appeal to common sense and call on other countries to respect international law, but if such a stance does not help, Russia can use its armed forces to defend its borders.
"If our [Western] colleagues do not understand, we can bomb not only the course, but also the targets", he added.
Top 2 | Senators to pitch bipartisan infrastructure plan to Biden
A bipartisan gang of senators is seeking President Joe Biden’s support for a $953 billion infrastructure plan, raising hopes for a breakthrough agreement after arduous negotiations on his top legislative priority.
Biden has invited members of the group of 21 senators, Republicans and Democrats, to the White House on Thursday. The pared-down plan, with $559 billion in new spending, has rare bipartisan backing and could open the door to the president’s more sweeping $4 trillion proposals.
The senators have struggled over how to pay for the new spending. The tentative framework dipped by $20 billion after a shift in funds for broadband internet, according to details from a person familiar with the proposal who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.
Top 3 | Harris to visit US-Mexico border area regarding migration
Vice President Kamala Harris will make her first visit on Friday to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, following criticism from members of both parties for failing to go earlier despite her role leading the Biden administration’s response to a steep increase in migration.
Harris will visit the El Paso area, accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to a statement Wednesday from Harris senior adviser Symone Sanders.
Harris has faced months of criticism from Republicans, and even some frustration from those in her own party, for not visiting the area.
Top 4 | Prince Charles Bankrolled Harry & Meghan Until Last Summer Despite Their Claims of Being 'Cut Off'
Royal accounts show that Charles, Prince of Wales, continued to bankroll Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, handing over a “substantial sum” for months after they sensationally stepped away from life as working royals, reported the Daily Mail.
As Clarence House and Buckingham Palace opened up their yearly financial accounts on Wednesday, statements made by Prince Harry during the Oprah Winfrey interview, where he suggested that his family “literally cut me off financially” in the “first quarter” of last year are now called into question.
The royal accounts show that until the summer of 2020 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were still listed as receiving money from Prince Charles's Duchy of Cornwall income, despite quitting the monarchy at the end of March last year.
Top 5 | EU Must Seek 'Direct Contact' With Putin to Settle Differences, Merkel Says
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that the European Union had to create a "format for dialogue" with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin to settle differences.
"In my opinion, we as the European Union must also seek direct contact with Russia and the Russian president", Merkel told the Bundestang. Climate and security were among the EU's common strategic interests with Russia, the chancellor argued.
She added that it was "not enough for the American president to talk to the Russian president".
Top 6 | South Korea to loosen social distancing rules on July 1
South Korea will relax social distancing rules and allow private gatherings of up to six people in the greater Seoul area from the current four starting July 1, the government said on Sunday.
The announcement comes as South Korea has inoculated 29.2% of its population as of Saturday, putting it on track to meet a target of 70% by September.
Daily new infections have held stubbornly in a range of 400 to 700 for the past few weeks, but have stayed below 600 for more than a week so far.
Top 7 | Uproar as Swedish National Museum Adds 'Insane' Racism Warnings to Classic Art
The Swedish National Museum has added politically-flavoured warning texts to swaths of its collection.
Most of the warnings concern classic 19th-century paintings and the Nordic national romanticism movement in particular, which prompted Leif Gren, an archaeologist at the Swedish National Heritage Board, to accuse the museum of placing "facilitating pointers" to provide the public with "misleading politicisation" in an opinion piece for Vestmanlands Läns Tidning.
According to Gren, 19th-century "bourgeois art" is presented as rife with "deception, falsehood, political manipulation, sexism, and racism". Among other things, 19th-century art is portrayed as patriarchal, reactionary and borderline dangerous, disregarding "the strong liberal climate" of that era, Gren noted. By contrast, 20th-century art, which increasingly embraces the Social Democratic tradition, is displayed as cultural success, he noted, which moves the focus away from art itself and prevents visitors from thinking for themselves.
Top 8 | Judge Raisi to Win Iranian Presidential Race by Landslide, Preliminary Results Show
Iran's Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi has received 17.8 million votes out of 28.6 after around 90% of ballots counted, the elections office says.
Top judge of the Islamic Republic Ebrahim Raisi is expected to win the Iranian presidential election after receiving more than 50% of the votes counted, Jamal Orf, the head of the country's election campaign, stated on Saturday.
"[A total of] 28.6 million of our compatriots voted. Taking into account that the vote count is still underway, this is preliminary data. At the same time, Ebrahim Raisi has received more than 17.8 million votes to date", Orf said, as broadcast by Iranian television.
Top 9 | China urges Canada not to use human rights as a political tool
Jiang Duan, a senior official at China's mission to the United Nations in Geneva responded to Canada's call for access to the western Xinjiang region by highlighting their own human rights violations.
Canada had urged China to make its western Xinjiang region fully accessible to independent observers on behalf of 40 other countries within the UN’s top human rights body, echoing concerns over vocational training centers where Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities had been sent.
“From 2006 to 2014 alone, tens of thousands of migrants were arbitrarily detained by Canada.” Jiang said at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Top10 | Obama backs Manchin's voting rights compromise
Former President Barack Obama put his weight behind Sen. Joe Manchin’s voting rights proposal in Congress, urging Republicans to join with Democrats to pass the legislation.
Obama said that the Manchin proposal is “a product of compromise,” and that it is “an effort by maybe the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, or maybe the most conservative Democrat in Congress … to come up with some commonsense reforms that the majority of Americans agree with, that Democrats and Republicans can agree with.”
Obama said he was taking the unusual step of commenting on a debate in Congress because the stakes for the country are high, in his view.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
