Top Asian News 3:50 a.m. GMT

New Zealand halts millions of funds to Cook Islands over its China ties

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has halted millions of dollars in funding to the Cook Islands over the “breadth and content” of agreements the smaller Pacific nation made with China, officials from the New Zealand Foreign Minister’s office said Thursday. New Zealand, which is the smaller Pacific nation’s biggest funder, won’t consider any new money for the Cook Islands until the relationship improves, a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters told The Associated Press. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown told lawmakers in Parliament on Thursday that the funding was “not halted, it’s paused,” and downplayed the significance of the amount frozen.

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.

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.

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 river overflows in southern China, stranding people and turning streets into canals

BEIJING (AP) — Rescue workers used rubber dinghies to evacuate people and deliver food and water Wednesday after floodwaters overwhelmed towns in southern China’s Guangdong province. About 30,000 people have been evacuated in Huaiji County after days of heavy rain, state broadcaster CCTV said. More than half of the county’s roads were submerged and power and internet outages were widespread. The Suijiang River overflowed in an urban area, turning wide swaths of streets into canals. Aerial footage showed high-rise apartment buildings and leafy green trees sticking up from a sea of mud-colored water. In some parts, the water reached about halfway up the first floor and left only the tops of cars visible.

Air India faces disruptions as crash prompts deeper checks and flight delays

NEW DELHI (AP) — Air India is facing disruptions following last week’s fatal crash as additional safety inspections on its Dreamliner fleet have led to flight delays, cancellations and growing passenger anxiety. India’s aviation safety regulator ordered deeper checks on Boeing 787 aircrafts operated by the airline soon after its London-bound flight crashed during take-off in Ahmedabad city June 12, killing at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew. The precautionary inspections, as well as the closure of airspace in some Middle Eastern countries, have strained Air India operations across domestic and international routes. Since the crash, Air India has cancelled operations for 83 wide-body flights, including 66 Dreamliners, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s aviation safety regulator.

Indonesian police detain 3 Australian men suspected of killing a fellow national in Bali

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police say they are detaining three suspects for murder after an Australian tourist was shot to death at a villa in the resort island of Bali. “We have successfully arrested three suspects last night,” Bali Police Chief Daniel Adityajaya told reporters in Denpasar, the provincial capital. “The three suspects are Australian men and they are now being held and questioned for further investigation,” he said. Zivan Radmanovic, a 32-year-old from Melbourne, was killed just after midnight on June 13 at a villa near Munggu Beach in Bali’s Badung district. A second man, a 34-year-old from Melbourne, was left beaten in the attack.

India and Canada to restore diplomatic services nearly two years after killing of Sikh separatist

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Canada agreed to restore diplomatic services nearly two years after Ottawa accused New Delhi of alleged involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader, which turned into a row straining relations between the two countries. The announcement was made after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, met Tuesday on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. “The leaders agreed to designate new high commissioners, with a view to returning to regular services to citizens and businesses in both countries,” a statement from Carney’s office said.

Meet the bug that uses the stars to navigate hundreds of miles

NEW YORK (AP) — An Australian moth follows the stars during its yearly migration, using the night sky as a guiding compass, according to a new study. When temperatures heat up, nocturnal Bogong moths fly about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) to cool down in caves by the Australian Alps. They later return home to breed and die. Birds routinely navigate by starlight, but the moths are the first known invertebrates, or creatures without a backbone, to find their way across such long distances using the stars. Scientists have long wondered how the moths travel to a place they’ve never been. A previous study hinted that Earth’s magnetic field might help steer them in the right direction, along with some kind of visual landmark as a guide.