Top Asian News 4:16 p.m. GMT

Thousands of Afghans have been brought to Britain in secrecy after a data leak

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of Afghans, including many who worked with British forces, have been secretly resettled in the U.K. after a leak of data on their identities raised fears that the Taliban could target them, the British government revealed Tuesday. The government said it is closing the program, which a rare court order had barred the media from disclosing. “To all those whose information was compromised, I offer a sincere apology today,” Defense Secretary John Healey said in the House of Commons. He said he regretted the secrecy and “have felt deeply concerned about the lack of transparency to Parliament and the public.” Healey told lawmakers that a spreadsheet containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who had applied to come to Britain after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was accidentally released in 2022 because of a defense official’s email error.

Bangladesh struggles to contain the fallout of an uprising that toppled its leader last year

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh was on the cusp of charting a new beginning last year after its former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from power in a student-led uprising, ending her 15-year rule and forcing her to flee to India. As the head of a new interim government, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus promised to hold a credible election to return to democracy, initiate electoral and constitutional reforms and restore peace on the streets after hundreds were killed in weeks of violence that began on July 15, 2024. A year later, the Yunus-led administration has struggled to contain the fallout of the uprising.

The scale of Afghans returning from Iran is overwhelming, says UN official

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The pace and scale of Afghans returning from Iran are overwhelming already fragile support systems, a senior U.N. official warned Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people crossing the border daily exhausted and traumatized, relying on humanitarian aid. So far this year, more than 1.4 million people have returned or been forced to return to Afghanistan, including over 1 million from Iran. Iran and Pakistan in 2023 launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living in the country illegally. They set deadlines and threatened them with deportation if they didn’t leave. The two governments deny targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland over the decades to escape war, poverty or Taliban rule.

Australian Prime Minister complains to President Xi about Chinese live-fire exercises

BEIJING (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he complained to China’s President Xi Jinping during a meeting on Tuesday about a Chinese naval live-fire exercise off the Australian coast that forced commercial aircraft to change course. The exercise, held in February, saw a Chinese flotilla partially circumnavigate Australia in international waters beneath a busy commercial flight path in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. The mission was widely regarded as a display of Chinese military strength and was among several issues raised in what Albanese described as a “very constructive meeting.” “President Xi said that China engaged in exercises, just as Australia engages in exercises,” Albanese told reporters, referring to freedom of navigation missions conducted by Australian military in the disputed South China Sea.

Japan calls China’s military activity its biggest strategic challenge

TOKYO (AP) — Japan cautioned against China’s rapid acceleration of military activity stretching from its southwestern coasts to the Pacific, describing the moves in a new defense report Tuesday as the biggest strategic challenge. China’s growing military cooperation with Russia also poses serious security concerns to Japan, along with increasing tension around Taiwan and threats coming from North Korea, the Defense Ministry said in the annual report submitted to the Cabinet. “The international society is in a new crisis era as it faces the biggest challenges since the end of World War II,” the report said, citing significant changes to the global power balance while raising concerns about an escalation of the China-U.S.

China’s economy grows at a robust pace as trade truce eases pressure from US tariffs

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s economy slowed slightly in the last quarter as President Donald Trump’s trade war escalated, but it still expanded at a robust 5.2% pace, the government said Tuesday. That compares with 5.4% annual growth in January-March. The government said Tuesday that in quarterly terms, the world’s second largest economy expanded by 1.1%. In the first half of the year, the Chinese economy grew at a 5.3% annual pace, the official data show. However, some analysts said actual growth may have been significantly slower. Zichun Huang of Capital Economics noted that investments in fixed assets such as factory equipment rose only 2.8% in the first half of the year, implying 2.9% annual growth in May and a mere 0.5% increase in June.

Private spaceflight ends with a Pacific splashdown for astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private spaceflight featuring the first astronauts in more than 40 years from India, Poland and Hungary came to a close Tuesday with a Pacific splashdown. Their SpaceX capsule undocked from the I nternational Space Station on Monday and parachuted into the ocean off the Southern California coast, less than 24 hours later. The crew of four launched nearly three weeks ago on a flight chartered by the Houston company Axiom Space. Axiom’s Peggy Whitson, the most experienced U.S. astronaut, served as commander. Joining her were India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, whose countries paid more than $65 million apiece for the mission.

India orders airlines to inspect certain Boeing models after Air India crash

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s aviation regulator ordered on Monday airlines operating several Boeing models to examine fuel control switches, days after an investigation into last month’s Air India plane crash found they were flipped off, starving both engines of fuel. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation stated the directive would apply to Boeing 787 Dreamliners and select Boeing 737 variants and that airlines must complete inspections and submit their findings to the regulator by July 21. A preliminary report into the Air India crash that killed 260 people in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad found that the switches shifted within one second of each other, cutting off fuel supply to both engines.

18 survive speedboat capsizing in Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Residents of Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands found several people stranded on Monday after a speedboat carrying 18 people capsized during a storm the day before, authorities said. All were in good condition. The boat, carrying mostly local administration officials, capsized while on its regular two-hour journey from Sikakap, a town in the Mentawai Islands district in West Sumatra, to the town of Tuapejat, according to Lahmudin, heads of the local Disaster Management Agency, who, like many Indonesians, uses only a single name. Ten passengers, including three children and a local parliament member, clung to the wreckage and were found on Guluk Guluk beach, while the other was found near the village of Matobe, according to Mentawai Islands district chief, Rinto Wardana.

Thai police arrest woman who allegedly seduced and blackmailed Buddhist monks

BANGKOK (AP) — Police in Thailand arrested a woman Tuesday who allegedly enticed a string of Buddhist monks into sexual relationships and then pressured them into making large payments to cover up their intimacy. The possible violation of the celibacy rule for monks has rocked Buddhist institutions and gripped public attention in Thailand in recent weeks. At least nine abbots and senior monks involved in the scandal have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau said. Wilawan Emsawat, in her mid-30s, was arrested at her home in Nonthaburi province north of the capital Bangkok on charges including extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods.