Top Asian News 3:38 a.m. GMT

Renewed anti-government protests leave nearly 100 dead, hundreds more injured in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Nearly 100 people were killed and hundreds more injured Sunday as renewed anti-government protests swept across Bangladesh, with protesters calling for the prime minister to resign and the prime minister accusing them of “sabotage” and cutting off mobile internet in a bid to quell the unrest. The country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo, said at least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, died in the violence. The Channel 24 news outlet reported at least 85 deaths. The military announced that a new curfew was in effect Sunday evening for an indefinite period, including in the capital, Dhaka, and other divisional and district headquarters.

Thailand’s progressive Move Forward party might be dissolved, but its former chief remains hopeful

BANGKOK (AP) — The charismatic Thai politician who led his young, progressive party to a stunning general election victory a year ago is urging supporters not to lose hope, even if the party is disbanded by a legal order. Thailand’s Constitutional Court will rule Wednesday on whether the Move Forward Party violated the constitution by proposing to amend a law that forbids defaming the country’s royal family. A petition to the court requested the party’s dissolution and a 10-year ban on political activity by its executives, including former chief Pita Limjaroenrat. Move Forward won the most seats in the 2023 election, but was blocked from taking power and now heads the opposition.

North Korean leader marks the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline units

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea marked the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline military units at a ceremony where leader Kim Jong Un called for a ceaseless expansion of his military’s nuclear program to counter perceived U.S. threats, state media said Monday. Concerns about Kim’s nuclear program have grown as he has demonstrated an intent to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons along the North’s border with South Korea and authorized his military to respond with preemptive nuclear strikes if it perceives the leadership as under threat. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the launchers were freshly produced by the county’s munitions factories and designed to fire “tactical” ballistic missiles, a term that describes systems capable of delivering lower-yield nuclear weapons.

Australia lifts terrorism threat level from ‘possible’ to ‘probable,’ but says no specific threat

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian government on Monday elevated the nation’s terrorism threat alert level from “possible” to “probable,” citing concerns about increasing radicalization among young people and community tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. It is the first time the threat level has been elevated to the midpoint of the five-tier National Terrorism Threat Advisory System since November 2022. The level had been “probable” the previous eight years. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added that while government officials think the current climate makes terrorism an increased danger, they didn’t know of any specific threats. “I want to reassure Australians probable does not mean inevitable, and it does not mean there is intelligence about an imminent threat or danger,” Albanese told reporters.

Germany and the Philippines agree to rapidly finalize a defense pact to address security threats

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Germany and the Philippines agreed Sunday to rapidly finalize a defense pact that would allow joint military training and possible sale of German weapons to address security threats, including China’s growing aggression in the South China Sea, which Manila’s defense chief said was “the sole cause of tensions” and conflicts in the disputed waters. China has long claimed much of the entire seaway, a key global trade and security route, and vowed to defend its territorial interests at all costs. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the proposed Arrangement on Defense Cooperation that he and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius discussed in talks in the capital, Manila, could be concluded as early as this year given current security concerns.

Russia’s Putin offers disaster aid to North Korea to help it cope with recent flooding damage

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin offered humanitarian assistance to help North Korea cope with damages from recent floods, both countries said, in another sign of expanding relations between the two nations. In a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, Putin “extended deep sympathy and support” and conveyed his willingness to provide immediate disaster aid to help North Korea recover from the floods, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday. Russia’s state news agency Tass carried a similar report, saying that Putin told Kim in the message: “You can always count on our assistance and support.” Ties between North Korea and Russia have been improving significantly amid widespread outside beliefs that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.

Death toll from bridge collapse in China’s Shaanxi province raised to 38. Two dozen still missing

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll has risen to 38 from the partial collapse of a highway bridge that plunged two dozen vehicles into a rushing river two weeks ago, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported Friday evening, while a separate tunnel collapse and landslides in southwestern Sichuan province in the early morning Saturday have killed at least two. The report said 24 people were still missing from the July 19 disaster in the province of Shaanxi in China’s northwest. One person was saved. The area where the bridge on the Danning highway fell had experienced heavy rains in the preceding days.

Vietnam’s president is confirmed as the new Communist Party chief — the country’s most powerful role

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Vietnamese President To Lam was confirmed Saturday as the new chief of the Communist Party after his predecessor died July 19. Lam will be the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country’s most powerful political role, state media said. It was unclear if Lam will stay in his role as president. The previous general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, dominated Vietnamese politics since he became party chief in 2011. He was elected to a third term as general secretary in 2021. He was an ideologue who viewed corruption as the gravest threat facing the party.

They ran for their lives as boulders and water banged at their door. Now everything is buried in mud

WAYANAD, India (AP) — When Deva Das was jolted awake by the roar of gushing water and boulders banging at the door, he grabbed his parents and his kids and began running for higher ground. The family waded through slush and muck, climbed a hill, and stayed there in the pouring rain for nearly four hours. When day broke Tuesday, rescuers found the family and brought them down. When the 40-year-old agricultural laborer got back to the site of his village in southern India’s Kerala state, there was nearly nothing left. Houses were gone, buried under mud or wiped away. Trees were uprooted, and roads were swept away.

Rain-related disasters have killed more than 250 in a deadly week across Asia

In India and China, torrential rains have killed more than 250 people in the past week. Three others died in Pakistan. Widespread flooding has been reported in North Korea near the border with China with no word on whether anyone died. This time of year is monsoon and typhoon season in Asia, and climate change has intensified such storms. Heavy rains have triggered landslides and flooding, devastating crops, destroying homes and taking lives. Historical data shows that China is having more extremely hot days and more frequent intense rains, according to a report released last month by the China Meteorological Administration, which forecasts more of both in the coming 30 years.