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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1030 GMT, May 10

Xinhua, May 10, 2017 Adjust font size:

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea on Wednesday appointed new prime minister, intelligence agency chief, presidential chief of staff and chief of the presidential security service.

Lee Nak-yon, an incumbent governor of South Jeolla province, was named as the first prime minister of the Moon government. (South Korea-Cabinet)

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COLOMBO -- 550 prisoners were released from prisons across Sri Lanka on Wednesday on a presidential pardon to commemorate the United Nations (UN) Vesak Day celebrations, the Department of Prisons said.

Those released were prisoners facing minor offenses. President Maithripala Sirisena had issued the pardon following a proposal made by Prison Reforms Minister D.M. Swaminathan to the Justice Ministry following a recommendation by the Prisons Department. (Sri Lanka-Vesak Day)

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PHNOM PENH -- Nine eggs of Royal Turtle were hatched and taken to Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Centre in southwestern Cambodia for raising and possibly breeding in the future, a conservationist group said Wednesday.

The Royal Turtle, also known as Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis), is one of the world's most endangered freshwater turtles and listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List as Critically Endangered. (Cambodia-Turtles)

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DHAKA -- The third Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media Summit on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) kicked off here on Wednesday.

The theme of the summit this year is "Information For All: Media Saving Lives."

Over 200 eminent experts and media practitioners from around the globe joined the summit to develop practical projects to put media at the heart of education for climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness. (Bangladesh-ABU Media Summit)

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KABUL -- The annual report released by Afghanistan's Central Statistics Organization (CSO) revealed that the militancy-plagued country's economic growth rate was 3.6 percent in 2016, reported the English newspaper Afghanistan Times on Wednesday.

"Afghanistan's economic growth rate was 3.6 percent last year, while the country's population increased by 2 percent in 2016, reaching to 29.2 million," the paper quoted the report of the CSO as saying. (Afghanistan-Growth) Endit