Top Asian News 3:52 a.m. GMT

South Korea sends 6 rescued North Koreans back across sea border

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea sent six North Koreans back across the rivals’ sea border on Wednesday morning, months after they drifted south in wooden boats in March and May. It came after months of failed efforts to contact North Korea to coordinate the repatriation of the six individuals, who officials say consistently expressed a desire to go back. Despite the lack of communication, a North Korean patrol boat appeared at the handover point as the six individuals headed back aboard a repaired wooden boat, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry. What would have been a routine event in years past was complicated by the North’s decision to cut off communications with the South in recent years.

Rescuers search for 19 missing and recover 9 bodies after flooding in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Dozens of rescuers searched the banks of a mountain river Wednesday looking for people missing after monsoon floods swept away Nepal’s main bridge connecting to the country to China and caused at least nine deaths. Police said dozens of rescuers were already at the area and more are expected to join the rescue efforts. Nine dead bodies have been recovered from the river. Security forces have rescued 55 people, including four Indians and a Chinese person so far, according to the Rasuwa District Administration Office. Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, along with top ministers and officials, flew to the area.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over persecution of women and girls

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Tuesday for the Taliban’s supreme leader and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court on charges of persecuting women and girls since seizing power nearly four years ago. The warrants also accuse the leaders of persecuting “other persons nonconforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as ‘allies of girls and women.’” The warrants were issued against Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada and the head of the Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani. The court’s prosecution office called the decision to issue warrants “an important vindication and acknowledgment of the rights of Afghan women and girls.” It added that the judges’ ruling “also recognizes the rights and lived experiences of persons whom the Taliban perceived as not conforming with their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, such as members of the LGBTQI+ community, and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls and women.” Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government, rejected the court’s authority.

China extends visa-free entry to more than 70 countries to draw tourists

WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign tourists are trickling back to China after the country loosened its visa policy to unprecedented levels. Citizens from 74 countries can now enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, a big jump from previous regulations. The government has been steadily expanding visa-free entry in a bid to boost tourism, the economy and its soft power. More than 20 million foreign visitors entered without a visa in 2024 — almost one-third of the total and more than double from the previous year, according to the National Immigration Administration. “This really helps people to travel because it is such a hassle to apply for a visa and go through the process,” Georgi Shavadze, a Georgian living in Austria, said on a recent visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

‘Lord of the Rings’ director backs long shot de-extinction plan, starring New Zealand’s lost moa

WASHINGTON (AP) — Filmmaker Peter Jackson owns one of the largest private collections of bones of an extinct New Zealand bird called the moa. His fascination with the flightless ostrich-like bird has led to an unusual partnership with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to bring back lost species. On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences announced an effort to genetically engineer living birds to resemble the extinct South Island giant moa – which once stood 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall – with $15 million in funding from Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh. The collaboration also includes the New Zealand-based Ngāi Tahu Research Centre.

China imposes export ban on companies tied to Taiwan’s military

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China imposed export controls Wednesday on eight companies tied to Taiwan’s military as the self-ruled island started annual military exercises. China’s Commerce Ministry added eight Taiwan-based firms including aerospace and shipbuilding companies, to an export control list, citing national and regional security concerns. The banned companies include defense supplier Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), drone maker Jingwei Aerospace Technology Co., and CSBC Corporation, Taiwan’s largest shipbuilding company. The new rules, effective immediately, prohibit the export to the listed enterprises of “dual-use items,” a term referring to goods that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Residents wear masks as volcanic ash blankets villages near erupting Indonesian volcano

MAUMERE, Indonesia (AP) — Residents wore masks to protect themselves from thick volcanic ash that blanketed roads and green rice fields in villages in south-central Indonesia as rumbling Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted Tuesday for a second straight day. The eruption at dawn sent lava and clouds of ash up to 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) high. That followed an eruption around midday Monday that sent a column of volcanic materials up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky and an evening burst that spewed lava and send volcanic ash as high as 13 kilometers (8 miles) into the air.

Japan’s emperor meets with Mongolian president to boost democratic ties in authoritarian region

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito met with Mongolia’s president Tuesday during a visit to the landlocked Asian nation that marks a step toward closer relations between the democracies in a region dominated by Russia and China. Naruhito met with President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh following a welcoming ceremony in the capital Ulaanbaatar on the second day of a weeklong visit. Japan has made a priority of boosting trade with the sprawling nation of 3.5 million, whose resources of coal, copper and other minerals are largely exported to China. “President Khurelsukh emphasized that the state, government, and people of Mongolia deeply appreciate and are sincerely grateful for the unwavering and heartfelt support provided by the government and people of Japan in consolidating democracy, fostering sustainable social and economic development, and enhancing human resource capacity in Mongolia,” Mongolia’s official Montsame news agency reported.

Swiss village cashes in as tourists pay to visit dock featured in hit K-drama ‘Crash Landing On You’

GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss village has cashed in on a pay-for-entry turnstile used by avid tourists who flock each day to a lakeside dock featured in the hit South Korean Netflix series “Crash Landing On You,” often to snap souvenir photos. Local leaders in Iseltwald and tourism officials insist the village’s 406 inhabitants aren’t getting rich off the influx of visitors, who pay 5 Swiss francs ($6.30) to access the dock. In 2024, entries brought in nearly 245,000 francs ($307,000), while a one-franc public pay toilet collected about 58,000 francs more, said village clerk Gabriela Blatter. Proceeds have gone mostly to garbage disposal, restroom cleaning, additional work hours and custodial staff hires, she said.

The mushroom poisoning trial captivated Australia. Why Erin Patterson did it remains a mystery

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The high-profile case of the so-called Death Cap Mushroom Cook is likely to remain a topic of conversation across Australia for years to come. For more than two months, the triple-murder trial has gripped the public’s attention with details of how Erin Patterson murdered three of her estranged husband’s relatives by deliberately serving them a lunch of poisonous mushrooms. It was no surprise that on Tuesday — the day after the guilty verdict was delivered by the court in Victoria — media websites, social media and podcasts were scrambling to offer analysis on what motivated her. Newspaper headlines described Patterson, 50, as a coercive killer with narcissistic characteristics.