Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, April 12

COLOMBO -- Four new ministers were sworn in before Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday, in a temporary cabinet re-shuffle following the resignation of six ministers a day earlier.

A majority of those sworn in are from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which is headed by President Sirisena.

Six SLFP cabinet ministers vacated their portfolios from Thursday midnight stating they could not continue work in the unity government. (Sri Lanka-Ministers)

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JAKARTA -- The World Bank said on Thursday that Indonesian central bank still have rooms to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged as the international lender forecast there will be no huge amount of capitals exiting from the country amid the normalization program in advanced nations.

Senior Economist of World Bank Derek Chen said the central bank does not need to raise the rate in the near future as the country's rupiah has tended to be relatively stable against the U.S. dollar and performance of the country's bond market remains good. (Indonesia-World Bank)

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KATHMANDU -- Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Thursday said that terrorist activities are the major security challenges for his country.

Addressing an event organized by the Nepali Military Academy in Bhaktapur on Thursday, the prime minister said that the country's security agencies including the Nepali Army should stay alert against domestic extremist forces which have been carrying out violent activities in various forms. (Nepal-Security)

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SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that a denuclearization deal between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States can only improve inter-Korean relations.

Moon made the remarks during a meeting with the elder advisory group of the presidential preparation committee for the upcoming inter-Korean summit, according to the Blue House. (S.Korea-DPRK-U.S.) Enditem