Top Asian News 3:02 a.m. GMT

North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, Seoul says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday that a North Korea diplomat based in Cuba has fled to South Korea, the latest in a series of defections by members of the North’s ruling elite in recent years. The National Intelligence Service said media reports on the defection of a North Korean counselor of political affairs in Cuba were true. A brief statement by the NIS public affairs office gave no further details. South Korea’s mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier Tuesday that diplomat Ri Il Kyu fled to South Korea with his wife and children last November.

Pakistan’s government accuses ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan of treason, deepening political turmoil

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s government plans to file treason charges against imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan for wrongfully dissolving parliament in 2022 and to ban his political party for allegedly receiving foreign funding, the information minister said Monday. The moves are certain to deepen the country’s political turmoil, which began after Khan’s 2022 ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament. Khan, the main rival of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, remains a popular figure despite a series of criminal cases against him that he and his supporters say are politically motivated. Khan’s spokesman said the government’s latest moves are a desperate response to recent court verdicts throwing out previous convictions against Khan, and an independent human rights commission urged the government to withdraw the plans.

35 people die in a storm that brought heavy rainfall to eastern Afghanistan, Taliban official says

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A storm that brought heavy rainfall to eastern Afghanistan killed at least 35 people on Monday, a Taliban official said. Many others were injured across Nangarhar province, according to Sediqullah Quraishi, provincial director of the information and culture department. Among the dead were five members of the same family who were killed when the roof of their house collapsed in Surkh Rod district, Quraishi said. Four other family members were injured. He said there are women and children among those killed and injured, and that the weather had destroyed many properties and crops in different parts of the province.

China’s Communist Party will signal its approach to the country’s challenges at a meeting this week

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party started a four-day meeting Monday that is expected to lay out a strategy for self-sufficient economic growth in an era of heightened national security concerns and restrictions on access to American technology. While the meeting typically focuses on such long-term issues, business owners and investors will also be watching to see if the party announces any immediate measures to try to counter a prolonged real estate downturn and persistent malaise that has suppressed China’s post-COVID-19 recovery. “There’s a lot of unclarity of policy direction in China,” which is weighing on consumer and investor confidence, said Bert Hofman, the former World Bank country director for China and a professor at the National University of Singapore.

China’s economy slowed in the last quarter as weak consumer demand dragged on growth

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s economy expanded at a slower-than-forecast 4.7% annual rate in the last quarter, the government reported Monday, while emphasizing signs of improvement in factory output, income and investment. The expansion was sharply below the 5.3% annual pace of growth seen in the first quarter of the year. The progress this year, after growth slowed sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been “hard won,” the National Bureau of Statistics said. “Since the beginning of this year, global economic growth momentum has been weak, inflation is sticky, geopolitical conflicts, international trade frictions and other problems have occurred frequently, domestic demand is insufficient, enterprises are under great operating pressure, and there are many risks and hidden dangers in key areas,” it said in a statement.

Thailand is set to roll out a controversial $13.8 billion handout plan in digital money to citizens

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister said Monday that eligible businesses and individuals can register from August for digital cash handouts, a controversial program that will cost billions of dollars and is meant to boost the lagging economy. The government announced in April the widely criticized ambitious plan, named the Digital Wallet, meant to give 10,000 baht (about $275) to 50 million citizens in digital money to spend at local businesses. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin posted on the social platform X, saying the registration will begin Aug. 1 and that he has given instructions to ensure the smooth implementation of the program.

Indonesia’s massive metals build-out is felling the forest for batteries

LELILEF SAWAI, Indonesia (AP) — On a steep trek up to his forest farm on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, Librek Loha let out a cry of dismay. “Aduuuuh,” he said, his voice trailing off. “Landslides, again. They happen all the time now.” The mudslide below Loha´s plantings of cacao, nutmeg and pineapple have exposed more orange, rocky soil — adding to miles of bulldozed forest and river that are leaving the farm an island of green amid red-brown. Where trees once grew, there are dusty warehouses, mountains of black coal and water that runs silty brown. This region of Weda Bay is now one of the world’s largest nickel production facilities.

Nepal’s new prime minister has taken the oath of office at a ceremony in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s newly appointed prime minister took the oath of office Monday at a ceremony in Kathmandu. Khadga Prasad Oli, the leader of Nepal’s largest communist party, was named prime minister on Sunday following the collapse of a previous coalition government. Oli, 72, will be leading a coalition government made up of his Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and the Nepali Congress party, the two largest parties in Nepal. This is his fourth time serving as prime minister of the Himalayan nation. Two deputy prime ministers and 19 ministers appointed by him also took the oath of office.

T-shirts with image of Trump raising his fist after assassination attempt are for sale in China

BANGKOK (AP) — Images of the moment have already been splashed across the world’s front pages and papered many corners of the internet — former President Donald Trump, ear bleeding, with his right hand clenched in a fist above the Secret Service agents surrounding him after he was shot. And now they’re available on T-shirts for as little as $4 on China’s e-commerce platforms. Over the weekend, Chinese retailers leapt into action on Taobao and JD.com, the country’s two biggest e-commerce platforms, to profit from the images after an assassination attempt on Trump at a rally on Saturday. “Make America Great Again,” read one T-shirt, according to screenshots that circulated online.

Rescuers in Nepal recover 11 bodies after a landslide swept 2 buses full of people into a river

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers in Nepal have recovered a total of 11 bodies from the river that two buses full of people were swept into by a landslide, officials said Monday. Rescuers found the bodies in different spots along the riverbanks as they searched for the missing buses and some 50 people who were on board. Government administrator Khima Nanda Bhusal said seven bodies were identified and relatives contacted. Three of the dead are Indians and the remaining four are Nepali nationals. He said four more bodies were also recovered from the river, but because they haven’t been identified, it was unclear if they had been on board the buses.