Top Asian News 1:44 p.m. GMT

Australian prime minister indulges in panda diplomacy as state visit in China nears end

BEIJING (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has toured a panda breeding facility in the final stages of an extended state visit that has cast China as a fellow champion of a global fair trade system under threat from the United States. The panda diplomacy stop Thursday in the central Chinese city of Chengdu highlighted Australia’s special status as the only Southern Hemisphere country to host a pair of the rare Chinese native animals. Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon visited a pen where they saw Fu Ni, a giant panda who had been on loan to Australia’s Adelaide Zoo until last year.

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.

Myanmar’s military government recaptures strategic town from rebels - report

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar ‘s military has recaptured a strategic gateway town from rebel forces after nearly a year, state-media reported Thursday, marking a rare turnaround in the country’s northeast, where an alliance of ethnic militias seized a large swath of territory in an offensive that began in late 2023. Nawnghkio, which sits on a major highway trading route linking central Myanmar to China, had been under the control of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, a group in the Three Brotherhood Alliance, since July last year. Its recapture by the army comes after a long period where the military government had been seen as being on the defensive against an array of rebel forces in the civil war that is being fought over much of the country.

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.

Heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan kill 54 people in 24 hours

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Heavy monsoon rains killed at least 54 people in eastern Pakistan in 24 hours, bringing the total rain-related deaths in the country to 178 over the past three weeks, officials said Thursday. Rainfall has triggered flash floods and inundated several villages as the country experiences 82% more rainfall this month compared to the same period in July 2024, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said. Since June 26, Pakistan has reported 178 deaths from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest, Sindh in the south and Balochistan in the southwest, officials said. The 54 deaths in the past day occurred in Punjab province, which received 124% more rainfall between July 1 and July 15 than the same period the previous year, forecasters said.

At least 4 dead and 1,300 evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Two days of heavy downpours in South Korea have killed at least four people and forced more than 1,300 others to evacuate, officials said Thursday. One person was killed when their car was buried by soil and concrete after a retaining wall of an overpass collapsed in Osan, just south of Seoul, during heavy rain on Wednesday, the Interior and Safety Ministry said. Three other people were separately found dead Thursday in a submerged car, a stream, and a flooded basement in southern regions. Ministry officials said they were still investigating whether those deaths were directly caused by heavy rain.

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.

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.