Top Asian News 3:55 a.m. GMT

In Indonesia, deforestation is intensifying disasters from severe weather and climate change

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Roads turned to murky brown rivers, homes were swept away by strong currents and bodies were pulled from mud during deadly flash floods and landslides after torrential rains hit West Sumatra in early March, marking one of the latest deadly natural disasters in Indonesia. Government officials blamed the floods on heavy rainfall, but environmental groups have cited the disaster as the latest example of deforestation and environmental degradation intensifying the effects of severe weather across Indonesia. “This disaster occurred not only because of extreme weather factors, but because of the ecological crisis,” Indonesian environmental rights group Indonesian Forum for the Environment wrote in a statement.

Japanese authorities raid a factory making health supplements linked to 5 deaths

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese government health officials raided a factory Saturday producing health supplements that they say have killed at least five people and hospitalized more than 100 others. About a dozen people wearing dark suits solemnly walked into the Osaka plant of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. in the raid shown widely on Japanese TV news, including public broadcaster NHK. The company says little is known about the exact cause of the sicknesses, which include kidney failure. An investigation into the products is underway in cooperation with government health authorities. The supplements all used “benikoji,” a kind of red mold. Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals’ pink pills called Benikoji Choleste Help were billed as helping lower cholesterol levels.

Thai court acquits dozens of protesters who shut down Bangkok’s airports in 2008

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Friday acquitted nearly 70 people of all charges related to mass protests that shut down Bangkok’s two airports in 2008 for about 10 days. The ruling by the Bangkok Criminal Court was the second this year finding that the protesters, who opposed a government headed by allies of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had not committed serious criminal offenses in their activities. Members of the group, the People’s Alliance for Democracy, also briefly seized a state television station and occupied Government House for three months. The court ruled Friday that the airport protests were protected under the constitution because they were peaceful and the protesters were unarmed, public broadcaster Thai PBS and Thai Rath newspaper said.

Migrant workers who helped build modern China have scant or no pensions, and can’t retire

BEIJING (AP) — At 53, Guan Junling is too old to get hired at factories anymore. But for migrant workers like her, not working is not an option. For decades, they have come from farming villages to find work in the cities. Toiling in sweatshops and building apartment complexes they could never afford to live in, they played a vital role in China’s transformation into an economic powerhouse. As they grow older, the first generation of migrant workers is struggling to find jobs in a slowing economy. Many are financially strapped, so they have to keep looking. “There is no such thing as a ‘retirement’ or ‘pensions’ for rural people.

A Filipino villager is nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea. On Friday, over a hundred people watched on as 10 devotees were nailed to wooden crosses, among them Ruben Enaje, a 63-year-old carpenter and sign painter. The real-life crucifixions have become an annual religious spectacle that draws tourists in three rural communities in Pampanga province, north of Manila. The gory ritual resumed last year after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.

‘Oppenheimer’ finally premieres in Japan to mixed reactions and high emotions

TOKYO (AP) — “Oppenheimer” finally premiered Friday in the nation where two cities were obliterated 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers’ reactions understandably were mixed and highly emotional. Toshiyuki Mimaki, who survived the bombing of Hiroshima when he was 3, said he has been fascinated by the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, often called “the father of the atomic bomb” for leading the Manhattan Project. “What were the Japanese thinking, carrying out the attack on Pearl Harbor, starting a war they could never hope to win,” he said, sadness in his voice, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

US-funded Radio Free Asia closes its Hong Kong bureau over safety concerns under new security law

HONG KONG (AP) — The president of U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia said Friday that its Hong Kong bureau has been closed because of safety concerns under a new national security law, deepening concerns about the city’s media freedoms. Bay Fang, the president of RFA, said in a statement that it will no longer have full-time staff in Hong Kong, although it would retain its official media registration. “Actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a ‘foreign force,’ raise serious questions about our ability to operate in safety with the enactment of Article 23,” Fang said. RFA’s move is widely seen as a reflection of the city’s narrowing space for a free press following the enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, locally also known as Article 23 legislation.

45 injured in northwest Cambodia as train hits bus at crossing without barrier

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Forty-five people were injured, five of them critically, when a train crashed into the side of a bus at a rail crossing in northwestern Cambodia Friday, police said. Gen. Sar Theng, the police chief for Pursat province, said the crash in Krakor district occurred around 11 a.m. when the bus attempted to cross the tracks even though the oncoming train had loudly sounded its horn as it approached. The train hit the middle of the bus, pushing it several meters (yards), he said. The bus driver fled, leaving behind the injured passengers, who were aided by police and villagers and taken to hospitals for treatment, he added.

Chinese investigators arrive in Pakistan to probe suicide attack that killed 5 of its nationals

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A team of Chinese investigators arrived in Pakistan on Friday to join a probe into a suicide attack that killed five of its nationals earlier this week, officials said, as Pakistan continued its own investigations into the attack. The slain Chinese engineers and workers were heading on Tuesday to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in northwest Pakistan, when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into their vehicle. A Pakistani driver was also killed in Tuesday’s attack in Shangla, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Beijing condemned the attack and asked Pakistan to conduct a detailed investigation and ensure protection of thousands of its nationals who work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Thailand steps up border control of livestock after anthrax outbreak is reported in neighboring Laos

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s government has ordered officials to closely monitor livestock along the border with Laos after more than 50 people were reported to have contracted anthrax in the neighboring country. Thai authorities have been working closely with those in Laos after receiving reports of the outbreak and have prepared vaccines in case of infections being detected in Thailand, said Narong Leangcharuen, director of the Bureau of Disease Control and Veterinary Services of the Department of Livestock Development. In an interview with Thai state broadcaster NBT on Friday, Narong said the transport of livestock across the border is being strictly controlled.