Top Asian News 4:03 a.m. GMT

The opposition alliance that aimed to oust Modi appears to be cracking just before India’s elections

NEW DELHI (AP) — Last year more than two dozen opposition parties in India came together to take on Narendra Modi, one of the country’s most popular prime ministers in generations. But the broad alliance, beset with ideological differences and personality clashes, is cracking at a crucial time, just months before the country votes in a national election. Riven by rivalries, political defections and ideological clashes, the INDIA alliance, formed to unseat Modi and defeat his Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral juggernaut, is in shambles, analysts say. Meanwhile, support for Modi is on the rise after he opened a Hindu temple in northern Ayodhya city last month, fulfilling his party’s long-held Hindu nationalist pledge.

Taliban holds public execution for 2 men, who are killed by gunfire in a stadium as thousands watch

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban carried out a double public execution Thursday at a stadium in the country’s southeast, where relatives of the victims of stabbing deaths fired guns at two convicted men while thousands of people watched. The Taliban’s Supreme Court ruled that the two men were responsible for the stabbing deaths of two victims in separate attacks, according to a court statement. It identified the two as Syed Jamal from central Wardak province and Gul Khan from Ghazni — though it was unclear who carried out the stabbings, the two convicted men or others. The statement also said that three lower courts and the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, had ordered the executions in retribution for their purported crimes.

US Congress members praise Taiwan’s democracy in a visit that’s certain to draw China’s scrutiny

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A group of United States Congress members met with Taiwan’s president Thursday in a show of bipartisan support that is certain to draw scrutiny from China, which opposes such visits and sees them as a challenge to its claim of sovereignty over the self-governing island. Two years ago, a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan resulted in China dispatching warships and military aircraft to all sides of the democratic island, and firing ballistic missiles into the waters nearby. In a meeting Thursday with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, highlighted the bipartisan support for the U.S.-Taiwan partnership, which he described as “stronger and more rock-solid than ever now.” The U.S., like most countries, doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan as a country but maintains robust informal relations with the island and is bound by its own laws to provide it with the weapons it needs to defend itself.

Pakistan blocks X for the sixth day as activists criticize the social media platform’s shutdown

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s media regulators have blocked the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, with users across the country on Thursday enduring the sixth day of sweeping disruptions, partial and complete shutdowns. There was no comment on the outage by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and government officials have not responded to repeated queries from The Associated Press for comment. Human rights activists have demanded a full restoration of internet services and access to social media. Washington has also urged Pakistan to lift restrictions on X. The outage was first observed over the weekend when the political party of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced protests against what it says were rigged Feb.

Atlanta is the only place in US to see pandas for now. But dozens of spots abroad have them

SAN DIEGO (AP) — It will still be months before the San Diego Zoo gets new pandas, the first such bears sent to the United States by China in decades. For now, the only U.S. zoo left with any is in Atlanta. But globally there are many places to check out the cuddly black-and-white bundles of fur as they munch on bamboo, climb trees and lounge on their backs. The bear is native to China, where it is considered a national treasure. Here are some of the places where pandas can be seen, including possibly in the wild in China. Zoo Atlanta has four pandas, including the first twins born in the United States in more than a quarter century.

Container ship hits bridge in south China, killing 5 and knocking section of roadway into the water

BEIJING (AP) — Five people died after a large container ship hit support pillars for a bridge over a river in southern China early on Thursday, sending a section of the roadway and five vehicles crashing down. Three small trucks, a bus and a scooter fell off the bridge south of the city of Guangzhou, authorities said. The bus, the scooter and one of the trucks landed inside the empty ship, and the other two trucks fell into the water. One side of the ship hit a bridge support and then the bow hit another pillar, causing a section of the bridge deck to collapse, authorities said, blaming it on “improper operation by the crew.” The collapse of the Lixinsha Bridge also cut off water and access to an island that is home to about 8,000 people, mostly farmers, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Avalanche kills a Russian skier while 5 others are rescued at a resort in Indian-held Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A Russian skier was killed and five others were rescued, along with their local guide, after an avalanche hit a popular Himalayan ski resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday, officials said. The officials said that at least six Russian skiers and their local guide were hit by the avalanche and buried in snow high in the mountains of the tourist town of Gulmarg. Rescuers pulled six survivors from the snow. Officials did not immediately identify the dead Russian skier. Gulmarg is nestled in the Pirpanjal mountain range in the western Himalayas and has one of Asia’s largest ski terrains, where thousands of domestic and international tourists visit.

Montenegro court rules to extradite Terraform Labs founder to the US. An appeal is pending

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — A court in Montenegro has ruled that Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon should be extradited to the United States to face fraud charges rather than to his native South Korea, a court official in the Balkan Country said Thursday. Kwon, 32, was arrested nearly a year ago in Montenegro on an international arrest warrant in connection with a $40 billion crash of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrency, which devastated retail investors around the world. Both South Korea and the U.S. have requested Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro. High Court spokeswoman Marija Rakovic said Kwon’s lawyers have three days to appeal the ruling.

A stray whale’s death in a Japanese bay raises questions about the cause and the cost of disposal

TOKYO (AP) — A whale as long as a train car that died after straying into a Japanese bay is set to be buried until it naturally becomes a skeletal specimen for a local museum. It’s the third year in a row that whales have become stranded in Osaka Bay, raising questions about the reasons why and the cost of handling the incidents. The animal was believed to be a male sperm whale, about 12 meters (39 feet) long and weighing an estimated 20 tons, and was earlier spotted in the Sakai Semboku Port in mid-January. It had since been spotted in a number of locations in Osaka Bay, until Sunday, when a boat captain reported to the coast guard that the whale was not breathing.

A UN agency targets 35% growth in aquaculture production by 2030 to meet demand and fight hunger

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization on Thursday set a target to further increase aquaculture production to meet a rising demand for seafood and to fight global hunger and undernourishment. The FAO hopes to see 35% growth in the sector by 2030, according to a report adopted at the end of a three-day Asia and Pacific regional conference in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. Officials said the world’s aquaculture production has increased by 54% since 2011 and remains one of the fastest growing agricultural producing sectors. The new target is part of the FAO’s “Blue Transformation” road map, which seeks to transform the world’s aquatic food systems by the start of the next decade.