Top Asian News 2:01 a.m. GMT

Fuel to Air India plane was cut off moments before crash, investigation report says

NEW DELHI (AP) — Fuel control switches for the engines of an Air India flight that crashed last month were moved from the “run” to the “cutoff” position moments before impact, starving both engines of fuel, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday. The report, issued by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, also indicated that both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting, which caused a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff. The Air India flight — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad.

Rubio and Wang stress cooperation after talks in Malaysia as US-China tensions simmer

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed Friday to explore “areas of potential cooperation” between Washington and Beijing, and stressed the importance of managing differences, following their first in-person meeting as they wrapped up a two-day regional security forum in Malaysia. Rubio and Wang met Friday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, regional forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as tensions between the two global powers continue to rise over trade, security, and China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Look, we’re two big, powerful countries, and there are always going to be issues that we disagree on,” Rubio told reporters after the meeting.

South Korea, US and Japan hold aerial drill in demonstration of strength against North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Top South Korean, U.S. and Japanese military officers urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities that threaten regional security, as the three nations flew advanced warplanes for a joint exercise in a show of force against the North. The development came Friday as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was to travel to North Korea amid booming military and other cooperation between the two countries that have raised concerns among their neighbors. During their regular meeting in Seoul on Friday, the chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan discussed North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and Russia’s potential transfer of military technology to North Korea in return.

US commander says China has failed to coerce rival states in South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China has failed to intimidate rival claimant states into surrendering their sovereign interests in the disputed South China Sea despite its intensifying “bullying tactics” and the United States and other allied countries are ready to further boost deterrence against Beijing’s aggression, the U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said. Adm. Stephen Koehler, who oversees the largest naval fleet command in the world, gave assurances Friday in a Manila forum of U.S. commitment to help defend freedom of passage and the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region. The Pacific Fleet’s mission, he said, was to deter aggression across the region with allies and partners “and to prevail in combat if necessary.”

Albanese will meet with Xi next week on a trip focused on Australia-China business ties

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with China’s leader Xi Jinping on an upcoming trip he said Friday would focus on closer business ties. Albanese departs Saturday for the trip that includes stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, and meetings with Xi, Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji of the National People’s Congress. Details on those meetings weren’t disclosed. Albanese plans to meet business, tourism and sport representatives in Shanghai and Chengdu, his office said. He will lead a business delegation and will attend a CEO roundtable scheduled for Tuesday in Beijing. “Certainly in areas such as green energy for example, there is a real prospect of further engagement,” Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

Trump to host Philippine president to discuss trade and security in Asia

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump will host his Philippine counterpart in the White House this month to discuss how the longtime treaty allies can further deepen their security and economic engagements, Philippine officials said Friday. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s will visit the United States from July 20 to 22 but Philippine officials were still finalizing details of his meeting with Trump with the U.S. State Department, the Philippine government said. The allies have boosted mutual defense engagements, including large-scale combat exercises in the Philippines, to strengthen deterrence against China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the region. Among the proposed topics for discussion is strengthening “peace through deterrence,” Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez told The Associated Press by telephone.

At least 23 dead after airstrike on Buddhist monastery in Myanmar

BANGKOK (AP) — An airstrike on a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar ‘s central Sagaing region killed at least 23 people who were taking shelter in the compound, separate sources said Friday. The overnight aerial attack on the monastery in Lin Ta Lu village, in Sagaing region’s Sagaing township, injured about 30 other people, of which 10 were in a critical condition, according to a member of a resistance group. The resistance member — who spoke on condition of anonymity — told The Associated Press that 23 civilians including four children were killed after a jet fighter dropped a bomb around 1 a.m.

Cambodian lawmakers pass constitutional amendment allowing government to revoke citizenship

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment that would allow the government to draft legislation seeking to revoke the citizenship of anyone found guilty of conspiring with foreign nations to harm the national interest. The 125 members of National Assembly unanimously passed the proposal Friday and legally amended Article 33 of Cambodia’s constitution, enabling the government to immediately draw up a bill allowing citizenships to be stripped for the first time. The latest legal move by supporters of Prime Minister Hun Manet was viewed by critics as a way to suppress internal dissent and eliminate policital opponents of his administration and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

German tourist found alive 12 days after she was lost in the Australian Outback

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — German tourist Carolina Wilga was found alive in Australia’s remote Outback on Friday, 12 days after she went missing and a day after her abandoned van was discovered, police said. The last known sighting of the 26-year-old backpacker, and the last day family and friends heard from her, was June 29. She was seen a general store in the wheat farming town of Beacon, 320 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of the Western Australia state capital Perth. Beacon had a population of 123 during the 2021 census. A member of the public found Wilga wandering on a forest trail late Friday, Western Australia Police Force Insp.

Gunmen abduct and kill 9 passengers from 2 buses on a southwestern Pakistan highway

Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan abducted and killed nine people after stopping two passenger buses on a highway Thursday night, officials said. The overnight attacks occurred in the Zhob and Loralai districts of Balochistan province as the buses traveled from the provincial capital, Quetta, to Punjab province, district administrator Saadat Husain said Friday. The attackers fled the scene and a search is underway to track down the assailants. Authorities recovered the bodies along the highway, Husain said. Ashfaq Chaudhry, an administrator in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan district, said the attackers appeared to target passengers from Punjab specifically. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the abduction and killings of the bus passengers.