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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 12

Xinhua, January 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani introduced the long-awaited list of minister-designates to Wolesi Jirga, or the lower house of parliament, for approval on Monday, the state-owned national television reported.

The list came more than 100 days after the presidential inauguration and all the ministries have been running by acting ministers. (Afghanistan-Ministers)

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JAKARTA -- Indonesia is gearing up to open and investigate the black box of the crashed AirAsia airliner at home carried out by government-sanctioned National Transportation Safety Committee ( KNKT) as the flight data recorder was managed to be recovered on Monday in an operation carried out by divers from Indonesian navy.

The flight data recorder was retrieved by the divers near the wrecked wing of the Airbus 320-200 at 7:10 a.m. and placed on Indonesian navy ship Banda Aceh before being transported to Jakarta for further investigation. (Indonesia-Plane-Black Box)

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ISLAMABAD -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday arrived in Islamabad on an unannounced two-day official visit to Pakistan in which he will meet Pakistan's political and military leadership and will discuss bilateral relations and the regional security situation, local media reported.

Senior officials from the Pakistani government and a senior official from the U.S. desk of the Foreign Office along with senior protocol officers and senior U.S. embassy diplomats in Islamabad received Senator Kerry when he arrived after completing his visit to India. (Pakistan-Kerry-Visit)

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JAKARTA -- Chief of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) Bambang Soelistyo said on Monday that an operation to lift up the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the crashed AirAsia plane would be conducted early Tuesday.

"Divers are set for tomorrow morning. The operation would commence at 6 a.m.," Soelistyo told a press conference in his office here, adding that signals emitted by the CVR were received by ships equipped with detection equipment. (Indonesia-Plane-Black Box)

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COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka's newly-elected President Maithripala Sirisena swore in a 27-member cabinet along with nine deputy ministers here on Monday.

Sirisena retained the defense minister portfolio in line with his executive powers but handed out top positions to a host of politicians from his coalition, predominantly the United National Party (UNP). (Sri Lanka-Cabinet) Endi