Top Asian News 4:09 p.m. GMT

Thai prime minister’s leaked phone call with Cambodia’s Hun Sen sparks outrage and political turmoil

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faced growing calls for her resignation in a deepening political crisis set off by a leaked recording of her negotiating with Cambodia’s former leader in the two nations’ latest border dispute. Paetongtarn apologized to the public on Thursday, after a major coalition partner used the leaked phone call to pull out of the fragile government led by her Pheu Thai Party. Paetongtarn has already been criticized for a perceived soft stance toward Cambodia, especially by right-wing nationalists who are longtime foes of her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The latest border dispute involved an armed confrontation May 28 in a relatively small contested territory in which one Cambodian soldier was killed.

Foreigners evacuated by air, land and sea as Israel-Iran conflict worsens

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Countries are evacuating their nationals from Israel and Iran by air, land and sea as conflict rages between the bitter rivals. Days of attacks and reprisals by the two enemies have shuttered airspace across the Middle East, severely disrupting commercial flights and leaving people unable to get in or out of the region easily. Some governments are using land borders to get their citizens out by road to countries where airports remain open. Thousands of foreigners have already left since the conflict started last Friday when Israel launched surprise missile strikes on Iran. Bulgaria has moved all its diplomats from Tehran to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, the Balkan country’s prime minister said Thursday.

New Zealand has suspended millions in funding to the Cook Islands over its growing China ties

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in funding to the Cook Islands over the “breadth and content” of agreements the smaller Pacific nation has made with China, officials said Thursday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who is on his first official visit to China, said the Cook Islands had not been transparent and open about its comprehensive strategic partnership with China. “We’ve suspended some of the aid money until we can get clarity on those issues,” he said in Shanghai. Relations between the smaller Pacific island nations and their regional backers Australia and New Zealand have stumbled in recent years as Beijing vies to increase its sway in the region.

A look at soaring border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people gathered in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday for a march to show their solidarity with the government and military, amid soaring tensions with neighboring Thailand following a border row that erupted last month. Here’s what to know about the latest dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbors. The recent dispute was triggered in May after armed forces of Thailand and Cambodia briefly fired at each other in a relatively small “no man’s land” constituting territory along their border that both countries claim as their own. Both sides have said they acted in self-defense.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters strive to set world record to honor her 80th birthday

BANGKOK (AP) — Thousands of supporters of Myanmar’s jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi celebrated her 80th birthday Thursday by attempting to set a world record for the most birthday greeting videos, while others took to the streets in demonstrations against the military government that ousted her. Kalo Say Htoo, an organizer of the birthday video campaign, said the original goal was to collect 80,000 greeting videos to honor Suu Kyi and achieve a recognized Guinness World Record. The number of videos collected surpassed 103,000 on Thursday, tripling the current record of 32,207 achieved in 2017, organizers said. Suu Kyi was arrested in February 2021 when the military seized power from her democratically elected government.

South Korea’s last circus, Dongchoon, holds up as it marks centennial

ANSAN, South Korea (AP) — No more elephant and monkey acts. No more death-defying motorbike stunts. No more singing or acting on stage. Several hundred spectators still clapped constantly when acrobats with Dongchoon Circus Troupe, South Korea’s last and 100-year-old circus, twirled on a long suspended fabric, juggled clubs on a large, rotating wheel and rode a unicycle on a tightrope under the big top. “As I recall the hardship that I’ve gone through, I think I’ve done something significant,” Park Sae-hwan, the head of the circus, said in a recent Associated Press interview. “But I also feel heavy responsibility because if Dongchoon stops, our country’s circus, one genre in our performing arts, will disappear.

Photos of South Korea’s last circus

ANSAN, South Korea (AP) — The century-old Dongchoon Circus Troupe is the last circus in South Korea. Such entertainments peaked before most South Korean homes had televisions. They had animal acts, magic shows, acrobatic performances and singing and acting on stage. Then the audiences faded, and the performers left the circuses to work in TV and film. Now there is just Dongchoon and its acrobats, who are all Chinese. Park Sae-hwan, the head of the circus, said in a recent Associated Press interview, that he feels a heavy responsibility “because if Dongchoon stops, our country’s circus, one genre in our performing arts, will disappear.

Japan’s royal couple mourn A-bomb victims ahead of Hiroshima’s 80th anniversary

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito paid respects to atomic bombing victims in Hiroshima as the city marks the 80th anniversary of the tragedy later this year. Naruhito, accompanied by his wife, Empress Masako, bowed deeply at the cenotaph for the atomic bombing victims and offered bouquets of white flowers. The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed the city, killing 140,000 people. A second bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century aggression in Asia. Naruhito has repeatedly stressed the importance to remember and keep telling the tragedy of the war to younger generations.

Volcanic eruption in Indonesia forces evacuations and flight cancelations

LEMBATA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted with giant ash and smoke plumes again Wednesday after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) into the sky Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon. An eruption Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10,000 meters (about 32,800 feet) into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150 kilometers (nearly 93 miles) away. The eruption alert was raised Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) from the crater.

A Chinese Ph.D. student is sentenced to at least 24 years in prison for raping multiple women

LONDON (AP) — A British judge on Thursday sentenced a Chinese Ph.D. student to a minimum of 24 years in prison for drugging and raping 10 women in England and China. Zhenhao Zou, 28, was convicted of the attacks, which took place between 2019 and 2023, during a four-week trial earlier this year at Inner London Crown Court. Judge Rosina Cottage on Thursday described Zou as “very bright young man” who used a manipulative “charming mask” to hide that he is a “sexual predator.” Zou was studying for a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at University College London in 2023 when the first woman came forward to allege that he had raped her.