Top Asian News 9:58 a.m. GMT

Crocodile attacks in Indonesia are on the rise. It’s left residents on edge

BUDONG-BUDONG, Indonesia (AP) — Nearly seven months after a crocodile attack almost took her life, Munirpa walked to the estuary outside her home with her husband and her children, ready to brave a reenactment. Munirpa, who like many Indonesians only uses one name, recounted how one early morning in August, she threw her household garbage into a creek about 50 meters (164 feet) away from her house, as she normally would. She didn’t see what was coming next. By the time she realized a crocodile had attacked her, the four-meter-long (13-foot) beast had already sunk its teeth into most of her body, sparing only her head.

TikTok becomes a tool of choice in cat-and-mouse game between migrant smugglers and authorities

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The videos roll through TikTok in 30-second flashes. Migrants trek in camouflage through dry desert terrain. Dune buggies roar up to the United States-Mexico border barrier. Families with young children pass through gaps in the wall. Helicopters, planes, yachts, tunnels and jet skis stand by for potential customers. Laced with emojis, the videos posted by smugglers offer a simple promise: If you don’t have a visa in the U.S., trust us. We’ll get you over safely. At a time when legal pathways to the U.S. have been slashed and criminal groups are raking in money from migrant smuggling, social media apps like TikTok have become an essential tool for smugglers and migrants alike.

India and New Zealand look to bolster ties after reviving free trade talks

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, met Monday seeking to deepen their defense and economic ties, a day after the countries announced the revival of negotiations for a free trade agreement. Modi and Luxon met in New Delhi and signed agreements on enhancing cooperation in defense, food processing, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and critical minerals. Luxon said he held “highly productive meetings” with Modi and other Indian leaders that will improve ties between India and New Zealand. The defense relationship includes joint military training, he said. “New Zealand is committed to doing more with India across a wide range of areas — defense and security, trade and economics, people-to-people ties, education, tourism, sports and culture,” Luxon said at joint press conference with Modi.

Kashmir’s Sufi music lovers are sticking with the audio cassette

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Farooq Ahmad Shaksaaz presses a button on his 1970 Sharp cassette player, and with a hefty clack the machine whirrs to life. As the Kashmiri tailor stitches, the machine crackles for a moment before Ghulam Ahmad Sofi’s otherworldly voice fills his shop with verses about divine love and the pain of separation from the beloved creator of the universe. Shaksaaz, a tailor in the Kashmiri city of Srinagar, inherited his passion for local Sufi music from his grandfather along with a meticulously preserved collection of audio cassette tapes from the 1970s, which he often listens to as he works.

Indonesia’s cocoa farmers work with businesses to fight the bitter impact of climate change

TANJUNG REJO, Indonesia (AP) — The loud whirr of a chainsaw sounds through the forest as a small group of farmers gathers around a tree filled with red seed pods. With one slow stroke, a severed knobby branch hits the ground. “Now it will help the tree grow new fruit,” farmer Tari Santoso says with a smile. Thousands of cocoa farmers across Indonesia like Santoso are working with businesses and other organizations to protect their crops from the bitter impacts of climate change and underinvestment that have pushed cocoa prices to record levels. Cocoa trees are high maintenance: Grown only near the equator, they require a precise combination of steady temperatures, humidity and sunlight.

Suicide car bomber hits buses carrying security forces, killing 7 in southwestern Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide car bomber targeted a convoy of buses carrying security forces in restive southwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least five officers and two civilians, the military and police said. Ten people were also wounded in the attack in Naushki, a district in Balochistan, said Zafar Zamanani, a local police chief. The dead and wounded, some of whom in critical condition, were transported to a hospital. Authorities said separatist rebels opened fire on the buses after the car bombing. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. A military statement said “sanitization operations in the area would continue and perpetrators of this henious and cowardly act will be brought to justice.” Last week, rebels attacked a train and took about 400 people hostage.

A Chinese shipyard completes a second submarine for ally Pakistan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A Chinese shipyard has completed a second submarine for the Pakistan navy, further strengthening military ties between the two countries. The diesel-electric Hangor class craft was launched on Thursday at China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s shipworks in the central city of Wuhan on the Yangtze River, Chinese state media reported Sunday. Pakistan contracted to buy eight of the submarines, the final four of which are to be built by the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works in the Pakistani port city of the same name. The Hangor class is believed to be an export version of China’s 039A submarine, with a crew of 38 plus eight spaces for special forces troops and equipped with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles.

Taiwan marathon organizers apologize after giving out prizes in the shape of a Chinese machine gun

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The organizers of a marathon in southern Taiwan, including a member of the self-governing island republic’s legislature, apologized Sunday after giving out prizes in the shape of a golden Chinese machine gun. Legislator Hsu Chi-chieh, of the ruling Democratic Progressive party that favors the island’s independence from China, apologized and said the use of the image of a Chinese QBZ-95 on trophies for top winners was an unintentional mistake. Those given the trophies would be given the option of choosing a different one. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and threatens to use force to bring it under its control.

Chinese jet fighter crashes during training mission

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A Chinese fighter jet crashed during a training mission with the pilot parachuting to safety, state media said. The brief report by Xinhua News Agency stated Saturday that the crash happened near a town on China’s southernmost island province of Hainan, home to numerous air force and naval bases, radar stations and other military infrastructure aimed at shoring-up China’s claim to the vast, strategic South China Sea. The report didn’t provide any further details except that the cause of the accident was under investigation. China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, is highly secretive and rarely reports on accidents, despite having the world’s largest navy and standing army.

Huge crowds march in rival rallies for and against South Korea’s impeached president

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of South Koreans on Saturday filled the streets of downtown Seoul in massive rival rallies for and against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, as the Constitutional Court nears a decision on whether to formally remove him from office over his imposition of martial law in December. Waving banners and signs demanding the ouster of the conservative president, big crowds of anti-Yoon protesters packed the streets near the court, where police had recently tightened security in anticipation of the ruling expected as early as next week. Yoon’s supporters rallied in nearby streets, waving South Korean and U.S.