Top Asian News 6:51 p.m. GMT

Protests and violence break out again in Bangladesh amid calls for the government’s resignation

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of people protested peacefully in Bangladesh’s capital Saturday to demand justice for more than 200 students and others killed during protests last month, but violence was reported at similar events elsewhere in the country. The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and demanded the resignation of the prime minister as the wave of protest widened beyond students to include people from many walks of life. Some pro-government groups also rallied in the city. The country’s leading Bengali-language Prothom Alo newspaper reported that at least seven protesters were hit by bullets after pro-ruling party groups allegedly opened fire on them as they blocked a road in Cumilla, in the east of Bangladesh.

Death toll from bridge collapse in China’s Shaanxi province raised to 38. Two dozen still missing

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll has risen to 38 from the partial collapse of a highway bridge that plunged two dozen vehicles into a rushing river two weeks ago, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported Friday evening, while a separate tunnel collapse and landslides in southwestern Sichuan province in the early morning Saturday have killed at least two. The report said 24 people were still missing from the July 19 disaster in the province of Shaanxi in China’s northwest. One person was saved. The area where the bridge on the Danning highway fell had experienced heavy rains in the preceding days.

Vietnam’s president is confirmed as the new Communist Party chief — the country’s most powerful role

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Vietnamese President To Lam was confirmed Saturday as the new chief of the Communist Party after his predecessor died July 19. Lam will be the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country’s most powerful political role, state media said. It was unclear if Lam will stay in his role as president. The previous general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, dominated Vietnamese politics since he became party chief in 2011. He was elected to a third term as general secretary in 2021. He was an ideologue who viewed corruption as the gravest threat facing the party.

North Korean leader accuses South Korea of a smear campaign over floods and hints at rejecting aid

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accused South Korea’s “rubbish” media of tarnishing the North’s image by allegedly exaggerating the death tolls from recent floods that hit the country’s northwest region, and hinted that he would refuse Seoul’s offer for aid. Kim made the comments Friday during a visit to an air force helicopter unit, where he praised the troops for helping rescue people from the floods, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday. During the visit, Kim denied claims by South Korean media that 1,000 to 1,500 North Koreans would have died from the floods and that multiple helicopters might have crashed during the emergency response.

Rain-related disasters have killed more than 250 in a deadly week across Asia

In India and China, torrential rains have killed more than 250 people in the past week. Three others died in Pakistan. Widespread flooding has been reported in North Korea near the border with China with no word on whether anyone died. This time of year is monsoon and typhoon season in Asia, and climate change has intensified such storms. Heavy rains have triggered landslides and flooding, devastating crops, destroying homes and taking lives. Historical data shows that China is having more extremely hot days and more frequent intense rains, according to a report released last month by the China Meteorological Administration, which forecasts more of both in the coming 30 years.

A fire sweeps through a building in Manila’s Chinatown, killing at least 11

MANILA, Philippiines (AP) — A fire swept through a part of a small building in Manila’s crowded Chinatown district Friday, leaving at least 11 people dead, police said, adding that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the blaze. About 14 firetrucks battled for more than two hours to control the blaze in an old five-story building in one of the world’s oldest Chinatowns, a densely populated riverside section of the capital. Fire investigator Roderick Andres said the fire started in an eatery on the ground floor, and that several of its staff were among the dead. Most of the dead, he added, were found on the second and third floors, and no one else has been reported missing.

An Australian inquiry blames Israeli military failings for a fatal drone attack on a Gaza aid convoy

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Israeli military’s attack on an aid convoy in Gaza in April that killed seven people was the result of serious failures of defense procedures, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making, according to an Australian investigation that was made public Friday. Australia initiated the investigation to examine Tel Aviv’s response to the widely condemned Israeli Defense Forces’ drone strikes on three World Central Kitchen vehicles on April 1. Australian Zomi Frankcom, three of her aid worker colleagues and three British personal security staff died in the attack. Former Australian Defense Force Chief Mark Binskin was appointed the government’s special adviser on the matter and visited Israel in May.

North Korea’s former No. 2 diplomat in Cuba describes his dramatic, swift defection

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — When Ri Il Gyu, North Korea’s No. 2 diplomat in Cuba, finally decided to flee to South Korea in frustration over his highly repressive, corrupt homeland in November, he finished all necessary prep work alone. About a week later, he told his family to be ready to leave Cuba together in less than eight hours. “My wife first told me not to make such a dreadful joke. So I showed her our plane tickets, and she was speechless,” Ri said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. “I told my kid that there is no future or hope for North Korea.”

Japan asks Denmark to extradite activist Paul Watson, accused of obstructing a whaling research ship

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has asked Denmark to extradite anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who has been in custody in Greenland since his arrest last month under a Japanese warrant, officials said Friday. Watson, a 73-year-old Canadian American citizen, is a former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose high seas confrontations with whaling vessels have drawn support from celebrities and even featured in the reality television series “Whale Wars.” Japan’s coast guard sought his arrest over an encounter with a Japanese whaling research ship in 2010 when he was accused of obstructing the crew’s official duties by ordering the captain of his ship to throw explosives at the whaling ship.

New protests in Bangladesh kill 2, keeping pressure on the government after 200 died in violence

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — New protests erupted in Bangladesh on Friday, leaving two people dead and more than 100 injured — the latest in a wave of unrest that killed more than 200 people last month in violent demonstrations following weeks of rallies over controversial reforms in the job quota system. Over 2,000 protesters gathered in parts of the capital, Dhaka, to rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, some shouting “down with the autocrat” and demanding justice for victims. Police and dozens of students clashed in Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood. Security officers fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters.