Top Asian News 1:05 a.m. GMT

As North Korean and Chinese threats rise, US looks to lock in defense partnerships with Asian allies

GIMHAE AIR BASE, South Korea (AP) — The United States wrapped up its first multidomain exercise with Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea on Saturday, a step forward in Washington’s efforts to strengthen and lock in its security partnerships with key Asian allies in the face of growing threats from North Korea and China. The three-day Freedom Edge increased the sophistication of previous exercises with simultaneous air and naval drills geared toward improving joint ballistic-missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities. The exercise, which is expected to expand in years to come, was also intended to improve the countries’ abilities to share missile warnings — increasingly important as North Korea tests ever-more sophisticated systems.

At least 9 dead including an entire family when landslides hit Nepal villages

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall on Saturday killed at least nine people including an entire family while they were sleeping in Nepal’s mountainous districts, officials said. The landslides buried houses in three separate areas in the country’s mountainous region, about 250 kilometers (156 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority. Five members of the same family were killed when their house was swallowed by a landslide while they were asleep at Malika village in Gulmi district. The victims included a couple, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren including an 8-month-old girl.

An AP Photographer picked his own path when trying to make the perfect Mud People Festival photo

BIBICLAT, Philippines (AP) — Aaron Favila has been working for The Associated Press in the Philippines for 26 years, covering everything from politics to crime to sports to disasters to everyday people. He was at the Mud People Festival in Bibiclat in the northern Philippines for the first time since 2016 when he made this extraordinary photo. Here’s what he had to say about the shot. There are many religious festivals in predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines and each has a unique flavor to it. The Mud People Festival, or “Taong Putik,” is very unique and was worth a revisit because the last time we covered this was in 2016.

What to know about Mongolia as it holds a democratic election in the shadow of authoritarian giants

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — Mongolia, where parliamentary elections were being held Friday, is a sparsely populated and landlocked Asian nation known for its bitter winter cold and independent spirit. As a democracy of just 3.4 million people in the shadow of two much larger authoritarian states, China and Russia, it has taken on symbolic importance in an era when democracy is under pressure or in crisis in many countries, including the United States. In an earlier era, the fierce nomadic tribes of the Mongolian steppe were widely feared, at one point conquering China and expanding west across Asia to the edges of Europe.

Mongolia’s governing party wins only a slim majority in parliamentary election, early results show

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — Mongolia’s governing party won parliamentary elections Friday but by only a slim margin as the opposition made major gains, according to tallies by the party and news media based on near-complete results. Preliminary results released early Saturday indicated the governing Mongolia People’s Party won 68 seats in the 126-seat body, “meaning we have won the election,” Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai said. The results were a setback for Luvsannamsrai and his party, which won 62 of the-then 76 parliament seats in the 2020 election. They will have a much less dominant position in the expanded parliament. Official results had not been announced, due to the difficulties of gathering results from far-flung corners of the nation.

An Indian military tank sinks while crossing a river in a region bordering China, killing 5 soldiers

NEW DELHI (AP) — Five Indian soldiers were killed when a military tank they were travelling in sank while crossing a river in the remote region of Ladakh that borders China, officials said Saturday. The tank sank early Saturday due to sudden increase in the water levels of Shyok River during a military training activity, according to an Indian army command center statement. It said the accident took place in Saser Brangsa near the Line of Actual Control that divides India and China in the Ladakh region. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh called it an “unfortunate accident.” “We will never forget exemplary service of our gallant soldiers to the nation.

Research expert tells UN it has ‘irrefutably’ established missile debris in Ukraine is North Korean

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of a research organization that has been tracing weapons used in attacks in Ukraine since 2018 told the United Nations Security Council on Friday it has “irrefutably” established that ballistic missile remnants found in Ukraine came from North Korea. The United States and its Western allies clashed with Russia and North Korea at the meeting, saying both countries violated a U.N. embargo on arms exports from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name. Russia dismissed the “baseless accusations,” and the DPRK dismissed the meeting as “an extremely brazen act” to discuss “someone’s alleged ‘weapon transfers.’”

Ballot box binge: Votes loom in coming days from Mongolia to Iran to Britain in a busy election year

Even in a busy year of elections around the world, the next few days stand out. Over the next week, voters go to the polls in fledgling democracies like Mauritania and Mongolia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and in stalwart democracies — former imperial powers — Britain and France. In the U.S., President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump were participating Thursday in the first of two TV debates before their expected November standoff. The voters in the upcoming elections face hard choices that could reorient the world at a time of war in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; mutual suspicion among some big powers; and growing public anxiety over things like jobs, climate change, taxes, inflation and the rise of AI.

For India’s garbage pickers, a miserable and dangerous job made worse by extreme heat

JAMMU, India (AP) — The putrid smell of burning garbage wafts for miles from the landfill on the outskirts of Jammu in a potentially toxic miasma fed by the plastics, industrial, medical and other waste generated by a city of some 740,000 people. But a handful of waste pickers ignore both the fumes and suffocating heat to sort through the rubbish, seeking anything they can sell to earn at best the equivalent of $4 a day. “If we don’t do this, we don’t get any food to eat,” said 65-year-old Usmaan Shekh. “We try to take a break for a few minutes when it gets too hot, but mostly we just continue till we can’t.”

Japan and Philippines trying to finish defense pact for signing in Manila as alarm grows over China

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Top defense and foreign affairs officials of Japan and the Philippines will meet in Manila next month to strengthen strategic ties and discuss regional concerns, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday at a time of escalating concerns over China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea. Details of the agenda of the July 8 meetings of Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Defense Minister Kihara Minoru with their Philippine counterparts were not immediately made public, but two officials of both countries told The Associated Press that efforts were underway to finalize a key defense pact which they hope could be signed during the meetings.