US-China trade war cools down; Ukrainian parliament approves new cabinet

Ukraine denies prisoner swap with Russia

Ukrainian sailors (right) are escorted to a court in Simferopol, Crimea, Russia in January. Photo:Reuters.

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 30 denied that a prisoner swap with Russia was underway and that discussions were ongoing. The statement came after Ukraine's Attorney General posted comments on Facebook saying that the prisoner swap with Russia had been completed and that the sailors and filmmaker Sentsov were on their way home.

Ukraine hopes to secure the release of dozens of prisoners, including 24 sailors captured by Russia in the Kerch Strait last year, as well as filmmaker Oleg Sentsov. “Discussions on a prisoner swap are ongoing. Information that the exchange has been completed is not true,” the Ukrainian president’s office said in a statement. Russia’s Interfax news agency also quoted a source in Moscow denying that a prisoner swap with Kiev had taken place.

US - China cool down trade war

US President Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Osaka in June. Photo:AFP.

Days after the tariffs that sparked the trade war, the US and China expressed their desire to de-escalate tensions. "China has many retaliatory measures, but we think the issue that should be discussed is removing tariffs on $550 billion worth of goods to prevent the trade war from escalating. The most important thing is to create the necessary conditions for continuing negotiations," said Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng on August 29.

Iranian supertanker redirects to Türkiye

Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya off the coast of the British territory of Gibraltar on August 18, 2019. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

The Iranian supertanker at the center of the standoff between Washington and Tehran changed course again on August 30 and headed back toward Türkiye, according to shipping tracker Marine Traffic. The Adrian Darya, formerly known as Grace 1, is now headed toward the southeastern Turkish port of Iskenderun.

This is the third time the ship has changed its destination in the past 10 days. Iskenderun, 200 km north of Syria’s Baniyas refinery, is believed to be the Iranian tanker’s original destination. The Adrian Darya was released after being detained off the coast of Gibraltar in mid-August, sparking a five-week dispute over the ship’s alleged trip to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.

Ukrainian parliament approves new cabinet ministers

Photo: TASS

The Ukrainian parliament (Vekhrovna Rada) has approved the new government, which includes 15 ministers and two deputy prime ministers. A total of 281 Ukrainian lawmakers voted in favor of the new government, which needed only 226 votes to pass. According to Russia's TASS news agency, several Ukrainian ministries have been merged into one, including the Ministry of Energy and Ecology, the Ministry of Economy and Agrarian Policy, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, and the Ministry of Veterans and Uncontrolled Territories. Interior Minister Arsen Avkov retained his position, as did Finance Minister Oxana Makarova. The remaining ministers were appointed new ministers. Dmitry Kuleba was elected Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. Mikhail Fedorov was appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Digital Information.

Earlier, on August 29, the Ukrainian Parliament overwhelmingly voted to approve President Volodymyr Zelensky's nomination for the position of Prime Minister. Accordingly, lawyer Oleksiy Goncharuk - who is currently Deputy Chief of the Presidential Office - was appointed as the new Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Japan's Defense Ministry Requests Record Budget to Upgrade Weapons

F35-B fighter jet. Photo: military

Japan's Defense Ministry on August 30 requested a record budget of 5.32 trillion yen (about 50.3 billion USD) to purchase fighter jets and defense missiles to enhance the country's defense capabilities. According to the request of the Defense Ministry, this is the defense budget for this year, starting from last April, and compared to last year, this budget estimate increased by 1.2%, marking the 8th consecutive year of increase.

The defense budget is expected to be spent on projects to buy six F35-B fighter jets capable of vertical takeoff and upgrading two destroyers to become aircraft carriers to support the F35-B aircraft. In addition, this record budget is also spent on plans to buy the US-made Aegis missile defense system and develop Japan's next-generation fighter jets.