Top Asian News 2:56 a.m. GMT

India begins to flex its naval power as competition with China grows

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — For decades, India has focused its defense policy on its land borders with rivals Pakistan and China. Now, as its global ambitions expand, it is beginning to flex its naval power in international waters, including anti-piracy patrols and a widely publicized deployment close to the Red Sea to help protect ships from attacks during Israel’s war with Hamas. India sent three guided missile destroyers and reconnaissance aircraft in November when Yemen-based Houthi rebels began targeting ships in solidarity with Hamas, causing disruptions in a key trading route that handles about 12% of global trade. The deployment highlights the country as a “proactive contributor” to international maritime stability, said Vice Adm.

North Korea says it tested cruise missiles with ‘super-large’ warheads in its latest weapons display

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said it tested cruise missiles outfitted with new “super-large” warheads as well as a new type of anti-aircraft missile, extending a streak in weapons demonstrations that has rival South Korea worried. The report Saturday by North Korean state media came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected the North launching multiple cruise missiles into waters off its western coast. It’s the country’s fourth round of launches of such weapons in 2024. North Korean photos of the test showed a low-flying cruise missile striking a target built on a coastal shore, and another projectile soaring into the air after being launched from ground.

Malaysia halves prison term for ex-Prime Minister who oversaw multibillion-dollar 1MDB thefts

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s Pardons Board said Friday it has reduced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply cut a fine, less than two years into his sentence from a corruption case linked to the theft of billions of dollars from state coffers. With the sentence commuted, Najib will be freed by Aug. 23, 2028, the board said in a statement. The board also cut Najib’s 210 million-ringgit ($44.5 million) fine to 50 million ringgit. It is unclear if Najib is still eligible for additional time off for good behavior. If so, he could be out as early as August 2026.

Toddler gets stuck after climbing into a claw machine looking for a toy in Australian shopping mall

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australian police came to the aid of a 3-year-old boy after he became trapped inside a claw machine at a suburban shopping mall. Video of the unusual rescue Saturday was shared on social media by Queensland Police on Thursday. It showed the toddler sitting inside the glass-walled box filled with plush toys, blissfully unaware of his predicament. The boy’s father, Timothy Hopper, said his son had disappeared into the claw machine’s prize dispenser and inside it in a “split second.” “I had zero chance to react to it, it was unbelievable how fast he climbed up there,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Hopper saying.

UN expert says more needs to be done to address human rights abuses in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has taken steps to to address human rights abuses in the country, including the killings of journalists and rights activists, a U.N. expert said Friday. However, more needs to be done, she said, including ensuring accountability. The remarks by United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan came at the end of a nearly two-week visit — at the invitation of the government — to assess rights conditions in the Philippines, where she met with officials and activists, as well as a detained journalist. Khan said she underscored the need for the Marcos administration to seek justice for rights victims under his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

A ship carrying thousands of livestock returns to Australia after month-long ordeal

PERTH, Australia (AP) — A ship carrying thousands of livestock that has been stranded at sea for almost a month has finally docked in Australia, where welfare concerns mean some of the animals are expected to be offloaded. About 16,500 sheep and cattle have been stowed on the MV Bahijah since Jan. 5, when it sailed for the Middle East from the western Australian port of Fremantle before it was ordered by the government, two weeks into its journey, to turnaround due to the ongoing Yemen Houthi rebels attacks in the Red Sea. Since Monday the vessel had been sitting off the west Australian coast as concerns grew for the welfare of the animals on board.

Hospitalized man tells Japanese police he is a highly wanted fugitive, dies four days later

TOKYO (AP) — A man who died at a Japanese hospital this week told police before he passed away that he was one of the country’s most wanted fugitives and had been on the run for nearly 50 years for being part of a radical group that carried out bombings in the 1970s, police said Friday. Police had received a tip and went to the hospital near Tokyo last week to question the 70-year-old man. He told them he had terminal cancer and wanted to die using his real name, Satoshi Kirishima, instead of his alias and disclosed previously unknown details about the bombings, police said.

Singaporeans bemoan U.S. Senator’s ‘ignorant’ grilling of TikTok CEO

SINGAPORE (AP) — After a U.S. senator grilled the Singaporean CEO of TikTok about his nationality and suggested he was affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, Singaporeans are complaining about ignorant — or even racist — views of their country. TikTok CEO Shou Chew and executives of other technology firms such as Meta, X and Snap testified Wednesday before U.S. lawmakers on online harm to children from social media. During the hearing, Chew was repeatedly questioned about his nationality and possible affiliations to the Chinese Communist Party by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. TikTok, which is operated by the Chinese firm ByteDance, has over 150 million users in America.

Residents ask for a full examination of damage to a Japanese nuclear plant caused by a recent quake

TOKYO (AP) — A group of residents of towns near Japanese nuclear plants submitted a petition on Friday asking regulators to halt safety screening for the restart of idled reactors until damage to a plant that partially lost external power and spilled radioactive water during a recent powerful earthquake is fully examined. The magnitude 7.6 quake on New Year’s Day and dozens of strong aftershocks in north-central Ishikawa prefecture left 240 people dead and 15 unaccounted for and triggered a small tsunami. Two idled reactors at Shika nuclear power plant on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa suffered power outages because of damage to transformers.

China pledges more help for its ailing property market, as IMF forecasts economy will slow

BANGKOK (AP) — Markets in China sank Friday despite a fresh flurry of measures to help prop up the ailing property sector, as the International Monetary Fund forecast that the Chinese economy will continue to slow in coming years. The report by the IMF forecast that the economy would expand at a 4.6% annual pace this year, down from 5.2% in 2023. It put growth in 2028 at 3.4%. It noted that housing starts had fallen more than 60% from pre-pandemic levels after a crackdown on excessive borrowing that began in 2020. That’s a pace “only seen in the largest housing busts in cross-country experience in the last three decades,” it said.