APD | Weekly top 10 hot news (Feb. 11 - Feb. 15)
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 | Top diplomats of ROK, U.S. vow to ensure successful summit
Top diplomats of ROK, U.S. vow to ensure successful summit
The top diplomats of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States met Thursday to discuss efforts to achieve the complete dismantlement of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear weapons program, both sides said.
ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke on the sidelines of an international conference in Poland ahead of this month's second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump announced last week he would hold a second summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi on February 27 and 28.
Top 2|Maduro slams Trump-Duque meeting as 'feast of hatred toward Venezuela'
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has castigated a recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Colombian counterpart Ivan Duque, during which the Venezuelan crisis was discussed.
On Monday, Christoph Harnisch, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Columbia, said his organisation will not assist in delivering the goods to Venezuela because the ICRC does not consider US assistance to be humanitarian aid.
Venezuela is facing escalating political tensions. In January, opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself the country’s interim president and was immediately backed by both Washington and Bogota, as well as a number of other states. Constitutionally elected Maduro, for his part, has received support from China and Russia, among other countries.
Top 3 | Israel, U.S. conclude massive joint military exercise amid heightened regional tensions
Israeli and U.S. armies concluded on Thursday a joint exercise simulating the defense of Israel from surface-to-surface missile attack, the Israeli military said.
The Juniper Falcon 19 exercise, which was held on Feb. 10-14, involved the U.S. European Command and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Israel has become increasingly concerned about the presence of Iranian forces in war-torn Syria, where they fight alongside the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israel sees Iran as its arch-enemy and has carried out hundreds of deadly airstrikes in Syria, saying the attacks target Iranian sites in the country.
Top 4| Brussels bar talk spooks Brexiteers ahead of fresh votes
An overheard conversation in a Brussels bar has added a fresh twist to the Brexit drama as MPs prepare to cast votes on a motion and amendments in the British parliament on the Valentine's Day.
Olly Robbins, the UK's chief Brexit negotiator, told colleagues in a hotel bar in the Belgian capital this week that MPs would ultimately be offered a choice between a marginally reworked version of Prime Minister Theresa May's deal and a long delay to Brexit in a vote in late March.
Top 5 | U.S. Treasury imposes fresh sanctions against Iranian entities, individuals
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Wednesday announced sanctions against two Iran-based entities and their associated individuals.
The designated New Horizon Organization supported the efforts of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to recruit and collect intelligence, while Net Peygard Samavat Company attempted to install malware to compromise the computers of U.S. personnel, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
Top 6|New round of China-U.S. trade talks starts in Beijing
China and the United States started a new round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Beijing on Thursday morning.
The opening ceremony of the talks was jointly chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
This round of high-level consultations will conclude on Friday.
Top 7| NATO has no plans to deploy new ground-based systems with nukes in EU - official
Russia issued a mirror-like response to the US decision to suspend the INF Treaty in order to officially exit it in 6 months later. However, Moscow assured that it would not deploy weapons violating the historic accord even if developed them until such US-made weapons appear in Europe and other regions.
The alliance has no plans to deploy new ground-based systems with nuclear weapons in Europe, even following the termination of the INF Treaty, NATO's Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller said in an interview with the German news outlet Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Top 8| Emiliano Sala's body to be returned to Argentina on Friday
Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala's body is to be returned to Argentina on Friday, the mayor of his hometown of Progreso, Julio Muller, told AFP Tuesday.
Sala's body was in the English Channel last week. He was flying to his new team, English Premier League side Cardiff City, from his old French club Nantes when his over the Channel on January 21.
Sala, who was 28, died of "head and trunk injuries," an inquest in England heard on Monday.
Top 9|Budget deal allows far less money than Trump wanted for wall
Congressional negotiators reached agreement to prevent a government shutdown and finance construction of new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, overcoming a late-stage hang-up over immigration enforcement issues that had threatened to scuttle the talks.
Republicans were desperate to avoid another bruising shutdown. They tentatively agreed Monday night to far less money for President Donald Trump’s border wall than the White House’s $5.7 billion wish list, settling for a figure of nearly $1.4 billion, according to congressional aides. The funding measure is through the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.
The agreement means 55 miles of new fencing — constructed through existing designs such as metal slats instead of a concrete wall — but far less than the 215 miles the White House demanded in December. The fencing would be built in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
Top 10|Potential pullout of French troops from Syria under discussion - envoy in Russia
The potential withdrawal of French troops from Syria is currently under discussion, French Ambassador in Russia Sylvie Bermann told Sputnik.
"This issue is currently being discussed," the ambassador said, when asked if France would stay in Syria.
US President Donald Trump announced in mid-December that the US troops would withdraw from Syria.
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(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
