Top Asian News 3:36 a.m. GMT

$3 billion deal with UK gets Australia closer to having a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia is set to provide 4.6 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion) to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time, the two countries said Friday. The announcement came a day after the two countries signed a defense and security pact to better meet challenges such as China’s increased activity in the South China Sea and South Pacific. U.K. Defense Minister Grant Shapps said the submarine program was expensive but necessary. “Nuclear-powered submarines are not cheap, but we live in a much more dangerous world where we are seeing a much more assertive region with China, a much more dangerous world all around with what’s happening in the Middle East and Europe,” Shapps told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Vietnam’s president resigns in latest twist of anti-graft campaign shaking its fast-growing economy

BANGKOK (AP) — Vietnam’s president resigned in the latest episode of the ruling Communist Party’s “blazing furnace” anti-corruption campaign, and Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan was named acting president. The appointment is Xuan’s second stint as acting president after she stepped in when Vo Van Thuong’s predecessor resigned in early 2023. The turmoil among top leaders is raising questions about Vietnam’s political stability as its fast-growing economy plays an increasingly important role in world supply chains. Vietnam depends heavily on exports and foreign investment, but its leaders have been tightening the party’s grip on power and cracking down on dissent as well as widespread corruption.

India’s main opposition party accuses the government of freezing its bank accounts ahead of election

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Congress party, India’s main opposition political group, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Thursday of stifling democracy and crippling the party by freezing its bank accounts in a tax dispute ahead of national elections. India has announced that a 6-week-long general election will start April 19, with most polls predicting a victory for Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Rahul Gandhi, a former Congress party chief, said it is unable to campaign properly with its accounts frozen. “We can’t support our workers, and our candidates and leaders can’t travel by air or train” he told reporters.

New Delhi’s top elected official arrested in liquor bribery case

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal was arrested Thursday by a federal agency that accused his party and ministers of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago, a top leader of his party said. Atishi Singh, a leader of Kejriwal’s Aaam Admi Party, or Common People’s Party, denied the accusations and said they were fabricated by the federal agency, which is controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s government. Singh said her party will ask India’s Supreme Court to quash Kejriwal’s arrest and that he should be questioned, not arrested, as the investigation is still in progress in the case.

Drought, heat and mismanagement make getting fresh water an increasingly tough task

As the world warms from human-caused climate change, fresh water for drinking, cooking and cleaning is becoming harder to get for many people. That’s because the warming world is leading to erratic rainfall patterns, extreme heat and periods of drought — on top of decades of bad water management and extractive policies around the world. The United Nations estimates that around 2.2 billion people worldwide don’t have access to safely managed drinking water. This World Water Day, Associated Press journalists from around the world interviewed some of the people struggling to get fresh water. LIMA, PERU Justina Flores, a 50-year-old grandmother, lives in a hilly Lima, Peru, suburb with no running water.

Indonesia’s rescue of Rohingya refugees at sea is a reminder of an ordeal that began in Myanmar

BANGKOK (AP) — A dramatic story of survival and rescue off the western coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province has put the spotlight again on the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who make extremely dangerous voyages across the Indian Ocean to seek better lives. Desperate survivors were pulled to safety from their capsized boat by local fishermen on Thursday, after a yet-unknown number perished. For Rohingya refugees living in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh, escaping across the seas might seem like a good option --- but it’s often a deadly one. The U.N. estimates that as many as one in eight people die or disappear in the attempt.

Weeping, weak and soaked, dozens of Rohingya refugees rescued after night on hull of capsized boat

MEULABOH, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian search and rescue ship on Thursday located a capsized wooden boat that had been carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslim refugees, and began pulling survivors who had been standing on its hull to safety. An AP photographer aboard the rescue ship said 10 people had been taken aboard local fishing boats and another 59 were being saved by the Indonesian craft. Men, women and children, weak and soaked from the night’s rain, wept as the rescue operation got underway and people were taken aboard a rubber dinghy to the rescue boat. There were contradictory reports about whether anyone had died in the accident, with survivors saying many who had been aboard when the boat departed from Bangladesh were still unaccounted for, but authorities insisted everyone had been rescued.

Why are striking doctors in South Korea facing license suspensions and what’s next?

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea is poised to start suspending the licenses of thousands of striking junior doctors as a punitive measure against their weekslong walkouts that have shaken hospital operations. Starting next week, the government said it will inform the striking medical interns and residents of its final decision to suspend their licenses for missing a government-imposed Feb. 29 deadline to return to work. It’s still unclear whether the move will prompt the doctors to end their strikes, and the standoff could still deepen as some senior doctors plan to submit resignations on Monday in a show of solidarity with the junior strikers.

IMF says the economic situation in debt-stricken Sri Lanka is gradually improving

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The economic situation in debt-stricken Sri Lanka has started to gradually improve following its worst economic crisis two years ago, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday. Inflation has come down from a peak of 70% in 2022 to 5.9% last month and the country’s economy expanded in the second half of last year following a year and a half of contraction, the IMF said. Sri Lanka’s year-on-year economic expansion in the third quarter of 2023 was 1.6% and in the fourth quarter 4.5%, the IMF said. The economic crisis in early 2022 left Sri Lankans suffering from severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel and power, drawing strident protests that led to the ouster of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

AP Week in Pictures: Asia

March 15-21, 2024 Rohingya refugees stand on their capsized boat before being rescued in the waters off western Indonesia. The Los Angeles Dodgers started their Shohei Ohtani era with a memorable win on a night of firsts. People smeared with color celebrate Lathmar Holi at a temple in Nandgaon, a twin village with Barsana, India, where the festival is held annually. This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images in the Asia-Pacific region made or published by The Associated Press in the past week. The selection was curated by AP photo editor Shuji Kajiyama in Tokyo. ___ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews AP Images on X: http://twitter.com/AP_Images