Top Asian News 4:55 a.m. GMT

Man sentenced to death for arson attack at Japanese anime studio that killed 36

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court sentenced a man to death after finding him guilty of murder and other crimes Thursday for carrying out a shocking arson attack on an anime studio in Kyoto, Japan, that killed 36 people. The Kyoto District Court said it found the defendant, Shinji Aoba, mentally capable to face punishment for the crimes and announced his sentence after a recess. Aoba stormed into Kyoto Animation’s No. 1 studio on July 18, 2019, and set it on fire in an attack that shocked Japan and drew an outpouring of grief from anime fans worldwide. Prosecutors said he was seeking revenge after thinking the company had stolen novels he submitted for a contest.

North Korea says it tested a cruise missile, flaunting new nuclear-capable weapon

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday it conducted its first flight test of a new cruise missile, as it expands its military capabilities in the face of deepening tensions with the United States and neighbors. The report in state media came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected the North firing several cruise missiles into waters off its western coast. It didn’t immediately provide more details about the numbers of missiles fired or their flight characteristics. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the Pulhwasal-3-31 missile is still in its development phase and that the launch did not pose a threat to neighbors.

Residents of northern Australia batten down homes, businesses ahead of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Residents have begun battening down homes and businesses with Tropical Cyclone Kirrily forecast to cross the Australian northeast coast on Thursday, bringing destructive winds and flooding rain. Authorities said the storm system was still tracking west across the Coral Sea and that gusts of 140 kph (87 mph) are forecast as the cyclone crossed the mainland on Thursday night. “It’s still making a pretty direct track for Townsville, but it is picking up speed along with its strength as well,” Miriam Bradbury from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday. The Bureau said the cyclone would bring intense rainfall that could cause “dangerous and life threatening flash flooding,” and storm tides between Townsville and Mackay which would exacerbate flooding.

AP PHOTOS: In Vietnam, vibrant Ho Chi Minh City is a magnet that pulls in millions

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) — From the sky, the sprawling Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam appears to erupt from the green expanse of the riverine delta that surrounds it. Millions of lives – an estimated 9.3 million in 2023, according to the U.N. World Urbanization Prospects – intersect in Vietnam’s financial capital. Young couples hold hands and walk by the Saigon River. Thousands perched on scooters wait at traffic lights. Trainee hairstylists give residents free haircuts on the streets. At parks, friends meet and take group photos, or they may get together for beer and karaoke. Kids ride electric hoverboards, or they may play da cau, a sport dating back nearly 1,500 years that involves kicking a shuttlecock.

Sri Lanka passes bill allowing government to remove online posts and legally pursue internet users

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved an internet regulation bill that was highly criticized as a move to stifle speech in an election year while the Indian Ocean island nation copes with an economic crisis that required an international bailout. The Online Safety bill would allow the government to set up a commission with a wide range of powers, which includes ordering people and internet service providers to remove online posts deemed “prohibited statements.” It can also legally pursue people who publish such posts. The government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe submitted the bill for debate on Tuesday, after which it was passed in the 225-member house, where the ruling coalition enjoys majority.

Hong Kong’s top court restores activist’s conviction over banned vigil on Tiananmen crackdown

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s top court on Thursday restored a prominent detained activist’s conviction over a banned vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, marking the latest setback for the city’s democracy supporters. Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, had been sentenced to 15 months in prison in January 2022 for inciting others to take part in the vigil banned by the police on public health grounds during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. For decades, the annual vigil organized by the alliance was the only large-scale public commemoration of the 1989 crackdown on Chinese soil and was attended by massive crowds until authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.

Thai court says popular politician Pita Limjaroenrat didn’t violate law, can remain a lawmaker

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that popular progressive politician Pita Limjaroenrat, who was blocked from becoming prime minister even though his party placed first in last year’s election, did not violate the election law and can retain his seat in Parliament. Pita had been suspended from the legislature pending the court’s ruling on whether he violated the law by owning shares in a media company. He was the executor of his father’s estate which included stock in ITV, a company that is the inactive operator of a defunct independent television station. The court agreed with Pita’s contention that ITV was not an operator of a media business.

China moves to spur its slowing economy and boost markets by cutting required bank reserves

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s central bank said Wednesday it will cut amount of reserves it holds for banks as part of a slew of measures to support the slowing economy. The announcement by the governor of the People’s Bank of China prompted a surge in share prices, with Hong Kong’s benchmark jumping 3.6%. Chinese stock markets have languished in recent months as investors pulled money out, discouraged by a faltering recovery from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sell-off earlier in the week was followed by unconfirmed reports that the government planned to get state-owned investment companies to funnel offshore funds into the markets to help staunch the losses.

Thousands still shelter in freezing weather after 7.1 quake in western China killed key livestock

UCHTURPAN, China (AP) — Aftershocks from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake continued to rock western China on Wednesday, while more than 12,000 displaced people relying on tents and shelters lit bonfires to fend off freezing weather. The quake early Tuesday in a remote part of China’s Xinjiang region killed three people and left five injured, owing both to the sparse population and efforts in recent years to improve the durability of housing around the epicenter in Uchturpan county, near the border with Kyrgyzstan. But at least several hundred livestock, key to local livelihoods, were killed. Footage shown by state broadcaster CCTV showed evacuees eating instant noodles in tents, with bonfires providing heat.

China says it’s working to de-escalate tensions in the Red Sea that have upended global trade

BEIJING (AP) — China, the world’s biggest exporter, says it is deeply concerned about tensions in the Red Sea that have upended global trade by forcing many shippers to avoid the Suez Canal. China has been in “close communication with all parties concerned and making positive efforts to de-escalate” the situation in which Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked international ships with missiles, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing on Wednesday. “China calls for a halt to the harassment and attacks on civilian ships and urges all relevant parties to avoid fanning flames in the area and jointly ensure the safety and security of the route in the Red Sea,” Wang said.