Top Asian News 4:53 a.m. GMT

Feleti Teo is named Tuvalu’s new prime minister after elections that ousted Taiwan supporter

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tuvalu’s former Attorney General Feleti Teo was named prime minister of the tiny South Pacific nation Monday after elections a month ago ousted the last government leader. Teo was the only candidate nominated by his 15 lawmaker colleagues and Governor General Tofiga Vaevalu Falani declared him elected without a vote, government secretary Tufoua Panapa said in a statement. The swearing-in ceremony for Teo and his Cabinet will be held later this week. It was not immediately clear how the new government will affect China’s influence in the country of around 11,500 people halfway between Australia and Hawaii, though one expert said he does not expect any change in diplomatic recognition, at least in the short term.

Seoul gives young doctors 4 days to end walkouts, threatening suspended licenses and prosecutions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Junior doctors in South Korea have four days to end their walkouts or they will have their medical licenses suspended and face prosecution, the government said Monday. About 9,000 medical interns and residents have stayed off the job since early last week to protest a government plan to increase medical school admissions by about 65%. The walkouts have severely hurt the operations of their hospitals, with numerous cancellations of surgeries and other treatments. Government officials say adding more doctors is necessary to deal with South Korea’s rapidly aging population. The country’s current doctor-to-patient ratio is among the lowest in the developed world.

Two Chinese bloggers in exile warn that police are interrogating their followers

SHANGHAI (AP) — Two prominent Chinese bloggers in exile said police were investigating their millions of followers on international social media platforms, in an escalation of Beijing’s attempts to clamp down on critical speech even outside of the country’s borders. Former state broadcaster CCTV journalist Wang Zhi’an and artist-turned-dissident Li Ying, both Chinese citizens known for posting uncensored Chinese news, said in separate posts Sunday that police were interrogating people who followed them on social media, and urged followers to take precautions such as unfollowing their accounts, changing their usernames, avoiding Chinese-made phones and preparing to be questioned. Li Ying, known as Teacher Li, came to prominence as a source of news about the White Paper protests, a rare moment of anti-government protests in mainland China in 2022.

The Taliban hold another public execution as thousands watch at a stadium in northern Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban held a public execution on Monday of a man convicted of murder in northern Afghanistan as thousands watched at a sports stadium, the third such death sentence to be carried out in the past five days. The execution took place in heavy snowfall in the city of Shibirghan, the capital of northern Jawzjan province, where the brother of the murdered man shot the convict five times with a rifle, according to a witness. Security around the stadium was tight, said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organizers ask police not to march at the annual parade

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Organizers of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras asked police not to march at their annual parade this weekend, after the alleged murder of a couple by a police officer, prompting the police commissioner on Tuesday to urge the ban be reversed. Police on Tuesday discovered the bodies of former television reporter Jesse Baird, 26, and his flight attendant partner Luke Davies, 29, who were allegedly shot dead in Baird’s Sydney home on Monday last week. New South Wales Police Force Senior-Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon, who dated Baird until late last year, was charged on Friday with the murders of both men.

Japan’s moon lander survives a second weekslong lunar night, beating predictions

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s first moon lander responded to a signal from Earth, suggesting it has survived a second freezing weekslong lunar night, Japan’s space agency said Monday. JAXA called the signal, received late Sunday night, a “miracle” because the probe was not designed to survive the lunar night, when temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit). The craft, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, made a “pinpoint” touchdown on Jan. 20, making Japan became the fifth country to successfully place a probe on the moon. But the probe landed the wrong way up, with its solar panels initially unable to see the sun and had to be turned off within hours.

Pakistani ex-Premier Nawaz Sharif’s daughter takes over top provincial post. Rivals boycott her

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — The eldest daughter and close aide of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday became the country’s first-ever female chief minister in eastern Punjab province. Her rivals accused authorities of nepotism and boycotted the session of the provincial assembly. Mariam Nawaz, 50, became chief minister in a 220-0 vote in her favor, beating out her rival Rana Aftab, nominated by the Sunni Ittehad Council and an ally of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Opposition lawmakers supporting Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022, boycotted the 371-member Punjab Assembly session Monday.

Tep Vong, the leader of Cambodia’s Buddhist community, dies at 93

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Tep Vong, the senior monk who headed Cambodia’s Buddhist community and was vital for its rejuvenation in the wake of the Khmer Rouge genocide in the late 70s, has died. He was 93. Cambodia’s Ministry of Cult and Religion said Tep Vong died Monday after an extended illness. Tep Vong in 2006 was granted the title of the Great Supreme Patriarch, making him the religious chief of both the Mahanikay and Dhammayut orders of Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia. About 97% of Cambodia’s 17 million people are Buddhists. He had been close to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and its leader, Hun Sen, who served as prime minister for 38 years before stepping down last year.

Most UN Security Council members demand Taliban rescind decrees seriously oppressing women and girls

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than two-thirds of the U.N. Security Council’s members demanded Monday that the Taliban rescind all policies and decrees oppressing and discriminating against women and girls, including banning girls education above the sixth grade and women’s right to work and move freely. A statement by 11 of the 15 council members condemned the Taliban’s repression of women and girls since they took power in August 2021, and again insisted on their equal participation in public, political, economic, cultural and social life -- especially at all decision-making levels seeking to advance international engagement with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers.

Cambodia’s ruling party wins Senate election, paving the way for Hun Sen to act as its president

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party has won an expected landslide victory in the election for the country’s Senate, the National Election Committee has confirmed. The committee on Monday began releasing results by constituency, after earlier announcing that a provisional count showed the Cambodian People’s Party won 55 of the 58 seats that were contested on Sunday. The chamber has 62 members, with two senators appointed by King Norodom Sihamoni and two others by the National Assembly, which is the lower house of Parliament. The vote paves the way for Hun Sen, who is the ruling party president, to become Senate President, allowing him to hold an official position in government after stepping down last year after serving for 38 years as prime minister.