Top Asian News 3:16 a.m. GMT

Sri Lanka will hold presidential election on Sept. 21, its first since declaring bankruptcy in 2022

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka will hold a presidential election on Sept. 21 that will likely be a test of confidence in President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s efforts to resolve the country’s worst economic crisis. The date was announced by the independent elections commission Friday, which said nominations will be accepted on Aug. 15. Wickremesinghe is expected to run while his main rivals will be opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Dissanayake, who is the leader of a leftist political party that has gained popularity after the economic debacle. It will be the first election in the South Asian island nation after it declared bankruptcy in 2022 and suspended repayments on some $83 billion in domestic and foreign loans.

Myanmar violence, South China Sea tensions are top issues as Southeast Asian diplomats meet in Laos

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers and top diplomats from key partners including the United States and China are gathering in the Laotian capital on Thursday for the start of three days of talks expected to focus on the increasingly violent civil war in Myanmar, tensions in the South China Sea and other regional issues. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will participate in the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Vientiane, which come as both Beijing and Washington are looking to expand their influence in the region. China is also Russia’s most important ally in its war against Ukraine, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived on Thursday to take part in the meetings.

Ethnic armed groups in Myanmar claim capture of regional military headquarters and gem mining center

BANGKOK (AP) — Ethnic armed groups claimed on Thursday to have captured two strategically important towns in northeastern Myanmar: Lashio, which houses the major regional military headquarters, and Mogok, the center of the country’s lucrative gem-mining industry. Their fall would be the biggest in a series of setbacks suffered by Myanmar’s military government this year, and raises questions about whether the ruling military council could be forced to give up trying to hold contested territory in order to consolidate a defense of the central heartland. The ruling military council denied its Lashio headquarters had been taken over, and two town residents contacted by phone said fighting there was continuing.

China issues rare praise to Philippine president for his ban on Chinese online gambling operators

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China issued a rare compliment to the administration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Thursday for his order banning widespread and Chinese-run online gaming operations. Marcos accused some of venturing into crimes including financial scams, human trafficking, kidnappings, torture and murder. Relations between China and the Philippines under Marcos have been strained since he allowed an expanded U.S. military presence in the country under a 2014 defense pact and hostilities between their forces started to flare in the disputed South China Sea last year. A Philippine campaign to expose China’s aggressive actions in the disputed waters through the press to gain international support has sparked a scathing war of words.

North Korean charged in cyberattacks on US hospitals, NASA and military bases

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A North Korean military intelligence operative has been indicted in a conspiracy to hack into American health care providers, NASA, U.S. military bases and international entities, stealing sensitive information and installing ransomware to fund more attacks, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. The indictment of Rim Jong Hyok by a grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, accuses him of laundering the money through a Chinese bank and then using it to buy computer servers and fund more cyberattacks on defense, technology and government entities around the world. The hacks on American hospitals and other health care providers disrupted the treatment of patients, officials said.

Philippine oil tanker sinks in Manila Bay, raising fears of a possible major spill near the capital

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine oil tanker sank in Manila Bay early Thursday after encountering huge waves, leaving a crewman dead and 16 others rescued in a late-night operation by the coast guard. The force was also assessing whether the vessel was leaking oil — in what could be a major spill — that could reach the bustling capital. The tanker Terra Nova left Bataan province en route to the central province of Iloilo with about 1.4 million liters (370,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil stored in watertight tanks when it got lashed by huge waves and took on water. The crew struggled to steer the tanker back to port but it eventually sank shortly after midnight, coast guard spokesperson Rear Adm.

Amid tensions with China, some US states are purging Chinese companies from their investments

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — As state treasurer, Vivek Malek pushed Missouri’s main retirement system to pull its investments from Chinese companies, making Missouri among the first nationally to do so. Now Malek is touting the Chinese divestment as he seeks reelection in an Aug. 6 Republican primary against challengers who also are denouncing financial connections to China. The Missouri treasurer’s race highlights a new facet of opposition to China, which has been cast as a top threat to the U.S. by many candidates seeking election this year. Indiana and Florida also have restricted their public pension funds from investing in certain Chinese companies.

Brazil apologizes for post-WWII persecution of Japanese immigrants

Sao Paulo (AP) — The Brazilian government on Thursday apologized for human rights violations in the persecution and internment of Japanese immigrants in the years after World War II. “I want to apologize on behalf of the Brazilian state for the persecution your ancestors suffered, for all the barbarities, atrocities, cruelties, tortures, prejudice, ignorance, xenophobia and racism,” said Eneá de Stutz e Almeida, president of the Amnesty Commission, an advisory board of Brazil’s Ministry of Human Rights that analyzes amnesty and reparation requests to victims of political persecution in the country. The board approved the apology plea in a session in Brasilia attended by members of the Brazilian government and prominent members of the Japanese community.

Chinese and Russian bombers patrolling off Alaska raise concerns about growing military cooperation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska, in a new show of expanding military cooperation that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday raises concerns. The flights Wednesday were not seen as a threat, and the bombers were tracked and intercepted by U.S. and Canadian fighter jets. But it was the first time that Chinese bomber aircraft have flown within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. And it was the first time Chinese and Russian aircraft have taken off from the same base in northeast Russia. “This is a relationship that we have been concerned about throughout — mostly because we’re concerned about China providing support to Russia’s illegal and unnecessary war in Ukraine,” Austin told reporters.

Typhoon Gaemi hits China’s coast after leaving 25 dead in Taiwan and the Philippines

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A strong typhoon made landfall on China’s southeastern coast on Thursday evening after sweeping across the nearby island of Taiwan, where it caused landslides and flooding in low-lying areas and left three dead. Typhoon Gaemi had swept up the western Pacific, intensifying seasonal rains earlier in the week in the Philippines, where the death toll climbed to 22. Offices and schools in Taiwan were closed for a second day on Thursday and people were urged to stay home and away from the coastline. Two people were killed on Wednesday before the storm made landfall around midnight, and a 78-year-old man died after his home was hit by a mudslide on Thursday afternoon, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said.