Top Asian News 2:45 a.m. GMT

Japan executes man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering 9 people in his apartment

TOKYO (AP) — A man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo was executed Friday, Japan’s Justice Ministry said. Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the “Twitter killer,” was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killings in 2017 of the nine victims, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media. He was also convicted of sexually abusing female victims. The execution was carried out as calls grow to abolish capital punishment in Japan since the acquittal of the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate Iwao Hakamada last year. Shiraishi was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in high secrecy with nothing disclosed until the execution was done.

Photos of the busy ports on the Yangtze River after China-US trade friction cools

CHONGQING, China (AP) — Activity at Chinese ports has rebounded since U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping agreed to resume trade talks and put off imposing massive tariffs on each other’s exports. That’s true, also, of inland ports along China’s mighty Yangtze River. The Chongqing International Logistics Hub Park, more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the nearest sea port, serves as a critical element of a land-sea trading corridor and part of China’s vast Belt and Road Initiative connecting with countries across Europe, Africa and Asia. About 20 trains leave every day, some for Russia and others toward Europe via Central Asia.

Cambodia ex-leader Hun Sen and Thailand’s prime minister make separate visits to tense border areas

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s powerful former leader Hun Sen and Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, on Thursday made separate visits to border areas as the two countries remain locked in an ongoing dispute that has resulted in strict land crossing restrictions and several economic boycotts. Hun Sun and Paetongtarn didn’t meet. Relations between the neighboring nations have deteriorated following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in contested territory along their border. While the two sides have agreed to de-escalate their dispute, they have continued to implement or threaten measures that have kept tensions high.

Vietnam ends death penalty for 8 crimes, may spare real estate tycoon

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has lifted the death penalty for eight crimes in legal reforms that may spare the life of a real estate tycoon imprisoned in the country’s largest financial fraud case. The legal reforms in Vietnam ended the death penalty for eight crimes, including trying to overthrow the government, damaging state infrastructure, making and selling fake medicine, starting wars, spying, drug trafficking, embezzlement, and taking bribes. Vietnamese lawmakers passed the reforms on Wednesday, according to state media. Truong My Lan, sentenced to death for her involvement in Vietnam’s largest financial fraud case, will be eligible to have her sentence reduced after the reforms, her lawyer said Thursday.

Investigators begin analyzing data from black boxes of Air India flight that crashed

NEW DELHI (AP) — Investigators have begun analyzing data extracted from the black boxes of the ill-fated Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed about two weeks ago, killing at least 270 people, India’s civil aviation ministry said on Thursday. The data is crucial as it will help shed light on the cause of the country’s worst aviation disaster in recent memory. A team led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, or AAIB, has started looking at the data with support from the U.S. National Transport Safety Board, the ministry said in a statement. “These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences,” the ministry said.

Commuter traffic stops for whales on Australia’s humpback highway

PORT STEPHENS, Australia (AP) — The ferry was late, but not because of the usual traffic. Sydney commuters watched from an idling boat this month as humpback whales the size of buses surfaced nearby, halting the vessel’s passage across the harbor. The curious mammals seemed to be watching them back. In June and July, it’s not uncommon for whales to stop water traffic in Sydney. Winter heralds the opening of the so-called humpback highway, a migratory corridor along Australia’s east coast used by about 40,000 of the massive creatures as they travel from feeding grounds in freezing Antarctica to tropical breeding areas off Queensland state.

3 dead and a dozen missing as torrential rains cause flash flood in north India

NEW DELHI (AP) — Three people died and at least a dozen are feared missing after being swept away in a flash flood triggered by torrential rains in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, local authorities said on Thursday. A rescue operation has been launched to trace the missing, said Dinesh Sharma, a local government spokesperson in Kangra. The town is about 18 kilometres (11 miles) from Dharamshala, a popular tourist destination known for its Tibetan culture and as the home of Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama. Sudhir Sharma, a lawmaker from Dharamshala, said in a social media post that at least 15 to 20 workers resting in a temporary shed near the site of a hydroelectricity power project were swept away after water levels at a local reservoir rose suddenly late Wednesday.

The top US diplomat in Hong Kong criticizes China and the city for curtailing freedoms

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s top American diplomat said Thursday that the policies of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have curtailed freedoms, pointing to the case of jailed prominent activist Jimmy Lai and what he called “transnational regression.” At a reception for the U.S. Independence Day, U.S. Consul General Gregory May, who will join the U.S. Embassy in Beijing next month after a three-year term in Hong Kong, told reporters he is a “big fan“ of Hong Kong, and that its people and spirit made the city a good place. “Hong Kong is a great city. What is not great is the policies of the mainland Chinese government, the Hong Kong government, that have eroded freedom,” he said.

North Korea will open its biggest tour site next week, though it still largely blocks foreigners

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea next week will open a signature coastal tourist site that it says will usher in a new era in its tourism industry, though there is no word on when the country will fully reopen to foreign visitors. The Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone has hotels and other accommodations for nearly 20,000 guests who can swim in the sea, engage in sports and recreation activities and eat at restaurants and cafeterias on site, state media said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured the site and cut the inaugural tape at a lavish ceremony Tuesday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday.

Reeling from Trump rebukes, Europe weighs deeper ties with China

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Jilted, betrayed, dumped, or defiant. It’s hard to describe the European Union after relentless attacks from its once-dependable ally, the United States. The threat from Donald Trump’s second administration against Greenland, its sweeping tariff plans and courtship of Moscow have firmed up some European leaders’ vows to reduce their reliance on America. That has not gone unnoticed in another global power. China hopes for a Europe detached from the U.S. and is sensing an opportunity now to divide the West. For the past several years, the EU moved in lockstep with Washington to levy tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and sanction Chinese officials accused of rights violations.