Top Asian News 2:42 a.m. GMT

Bangladeshi forces clash with supporters of ousted leader Hasina, leaving at least 4 dead

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladeshi security forces on Wednesday clashed with supporters of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leaving at least four people dead and scores injured, a hospital official and local media said. The violence erupted in the morning and spread as a new political party formed by students who led the uprising against Hasina in August last year announced a march toward southwestern Gopalganj district, Hasina’s ancestral home, and her Awami League party’s stronghold. Authorities later imposed an overnight curfew in the district. Since Hasina’s ouster 11 months ago, Bangladesh has been marked by chaos and unchecked mob violence.

US will build repair facilities for the Philippine navy near the disputed South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The U.S. Navy will construct two facilities for the repair and maintenance of Philippine military boats in a province facing the South China Sea, where confrontations between the Philippine and Chinese coast guards have flared. The U.S. Embassy said Wednesday the project will take place at Oyster Bay and Quezon town in western Palawan province. It said in a statement that it underscored the treaty allies’ aim to maintain a “free, open and resilient Indo-Pacific.” Palawan faces the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety, and is the headquarters of the Philippine military’s Western Command, which deploys navy patrol ships, surveillance vessels and aircraft to defend its territorial interests.

How an email error sparked a secret scramble to bring thousands of Afghans to Britain

LONDON (AP) — British governments past and present face allegations of avoiding scrutiny and undermining democracy after the revelation that thousands of Afghans have been resettled in the U.K under a program that was hidden from the media, the public and lawmakers in Parliament. Key information was also kept from the Afghans themselves, who had assisted U.K. forces and whose personal details had been disclosed in a huge data leak. Many plan to sue the British government for putting them in danger from the Taliban. Some are left in Afghanistan as the current British government says the resettlement program will end.

Canada’s Couche-Tard drops offer to buy Japanese 7-Eleven convenience stores

TOKYO (AP) — Canadian retail chain Alimentation Couche-Tard is dropping its proposal to acquire Seven & i Holdings Co., the Japanese operator of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, citing frustration in ongoing negotiations that showed “a lack of constructive engagement.” The 7-Eleven parent company rejected an offer last year, but Couche-Tard, which runs the global Circle K chain, was still interested and tried to coax a deal with the Japanese chain known here as “conbini.” In a letter dated July 16 and sent to the Seven & i board, Couche-Tard stressed it had made a good offer earlier this year in a proposal of 2,600 yen ($17.50) per ordinary share in cash, which it said represented a 47.6% premium to the stock price.

Nvidia CEO downplays role in lifting US ban on chip sales to China

BEIJING (AP) — The head of Nvidia downplayed his role in getting the U.S. government to lift a ban on selling an advanced computer chip in China and said it will take time to ramp up production once orders for the AI-processor come in. CEO Jensen Huang, speaking Wednesday in the Chinese capital Beijing, was upbeat about the prospects for the H20 chip, which was designed to meet U.S. restrictions on technology exports to China but nonetheless blocked in April. He met U.S. President Donald Trump before his trip and his company announced this week it had received assurances that sales to China would be approved.

Chinese court sentences a Japanese man to more than 3 years in prison on espionage charges

BEIJING (AP) — A Japanese man was sentenced Wednesday to three and a half years in prison in China on espionage charges, according to the Japanese embassy in Beijing. The embassy did not identify the man, who has been detained since March 2023. Japan’s Kyodo News Agency described him as a man in his 60s and an employee of Astellas Pharma Inc., a major Japanese pharmaceutical company. The man was charged with espionage in August and his first hearing was held in November but no details were released. The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court did not immediately make an announcement after handing down the sentence.

Photos of the giant rats leading land mine detection efforts in Cambodia

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AP) — Rats may send some squealing, but in Cambodia, teams of the not-so-little critters have become indispensable in helping specialists detect land mines that have killed and maimed thousands in the Southeast Asian country. The African giant pouched rats, which can grow up to 45 centimeters (around 18 inches) and weigh up to 1.5 kilograms (more than 3 pounds), are on the front line, making their way nimbly across fields to signal to their handlers when they get a whiff of TNT, used in most land mines and explosive ordnance. “While working with these rats, I have always found mines and they have never skipped a single one,” said Mott Sreymom, a rat handler at APOPO, a humanitarian demining group that trains and deploys rodent detection teams across the world.

Death of Australia’s ‘Outback Killer’ leaves whereabouts of British backpacker’s body unknown

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police fear Bradley John Murdoch, known as the “Outback Killer,” has taken to his grave the secret of how he disposed of the body of British backpacker Peter Falconio who was murdered in arid central Australia 24 years ago. Murdoch died Tuesday night, aged 67, in the palliative care unit of the Alice Springs Hospital, officials said Wednesday. He was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019 and was recently transferred to the hospital from the Alice Springs prison. His death leaves the mystery of the whereabouts of Falconio’s body unsolved. The Northern Territory Police Force said investigators remain “committed to resolving this final piece of the investigation.” “It is deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio’s remains,” a police statement said.

Cambodia makes 1,000 arrests in latest crackdown on cybercrime

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Wednesday said that an order by Prime Minister Hun Manet for government bodies to crackdown on criminal cybercrime operations being run in the country had resulted in the arrest of more than 1,000 suspects so far this week. Hun Manet issued the order authorising state action for “maintaining and protecting security, public order, and social safety.” “The government has observed that online scams are currently causing threats and insecurity in the world and the region. In Cambodia, foreign criminal groups have also infiltrated to engage in online scams,” Hun Manet’s statement, dated Tuesday, said.

Gunmen fire on a passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan and kill 3 people

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen opened fire on a passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least three people and wounding seven others, police and government officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the Kalat district of Balochistan province, where a number of separatist militant groups are seeking independence from Pakistan’s government. The bus was traveling from the Balochistan provincial capital of Quetta to the southern port city of Karachi when gunmen opened fire in Kalat and then fled the scene, local police chief Habib Nichari said. Ambulances were transporting the dead and wounded to a nearby hospital, he said.