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Xinhua Asia Pacific news summary at 1010GMT, April 21

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Asian African Business Summit(AABS) kicked off here on Tuesday morning with Indonesian President Joko Widodo delivering a brief opening speech. "I believe this forum will be a facility for the business sector to materialize Bandung Spirit through strengthening of mutually- benefiting cooperation on trade and investment that give contribution to the acceleration of economy and prosperity of the people on the two continents,"said the president. (Asia-Afirca- Business Summit)

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WELLINGTON -- The main body of a New Zealand military training contingent left for Australia on Tuesday en route to Iraq to help in the fight against Islamic State insurgents.

The contingent was farewelled by Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae and senior New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) commanders, said an NZDF statement. (New Zealand-Iraq-Deployment)

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- At least two passers-by were killed while 21 others injured Tuesday in an explosion of an ammunition depot in Kandahar, the capital of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, police said.

"The huge explosion took place at around 07:45 a.m. local time at the Mirwas Mina area of the city. The blast was caused after ammunition in a police station depot was exploded accidentally," General Rahmatullah Atrafi, deputy provincial police chief, told Xinhua. (Afghanistan-Explosion)

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COLOMBO -- The Sri Lankan government said on Tuesday that the decision to summon the country's anti-bribery and corruption commissioner to parliament for an explanation over her move to summon the former president over bribery allegations was " unacceptable."

Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera told reporters that the decision by the parliament speaker to summon the commission chief was completely unacceptable as the anti-graft body functioned independently.

Speaker Chamal Rajapakse, who is also a brother of former president Mahinda Rajapakse, summoned Director General of the commission Dilrukshi Dias Wickremasinghe to the parliament on Monday after a group of opposition parliamentarians staged a protest in the parliament over Rajapakse's bribery allegations. ( Sri Lanka-Summon-Corruption commissioner)

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JAKARTA -- South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said here Tuesday that infrastructure holds great potential for Asian- African cooperation.

The deputy president also called for Asian countries with capital and technical expertise to partner with Africa. "Africa's ability to trade is hampered by a lack of physical infrastructure," Ramaphosa said while addressing the Asian-African Business Summit (South Africa-Infrastructure Investment)

- - - - WELLINGTON -- French naval frigate FNS Vendemiaire and a group of French lawmakers will arrive in Wellington this week to participate in centenary commemorations of the First World War.

The French Embassy in New Zealand said Tuesday that the warship, which had been in Vanuatu helping with Cyclone Pam relief efforts, would arrive Wednesday.

The crew would attend a dawn service parade on official duty alongside New Zealand Defence Force troops to mark the centenary of the ill-fated Gallipoli landings in the campaign against the Ottoman Empire, said an embassy statement. (France-New Zealand- Frigate) Endi