Top Asian News 3:24 a.m. GMT

Flash floods in northern Afghanistan sweep away livelihoods, leaving hundreds dead and missing

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Shopkeeper Nazer Mohammad ran home as soon as he heard about flash floods crashing into the outskirts of a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan. By the time he got there, there was nothing left, including his family of five. “Everything happened just all of a sudden. I came home, but there was no home there, instead I saw all the neighborhood covered by mud and water,” said Mohammad. 48. He said that he buried his wife and two sons aged 15 and 8 years, but he’s still looking for two daughters, who are around 6 and 11 years old.

Flash floods and cold lava flow hit Indonesia’s Sumatra island. At least 37 people were killed

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano’s slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island triggered flash floods that killed at least 37 people and more than a dozen others were missing, officials said Sunday. Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

At least 11 dead, mostly students, in Indonesia bus crash after brakes apparently failed, police say

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) — A bus slammed into cars and motorbikes after its brakes apparently malfunctioned in Indonesia’s West Java province, killing at least 11 people, mostly students, and injuring dozens of others, officials said Sunday. The bus carrying 61 students and teachers was returning to a high school in Depok outside Jakarta, the capital, late Saturday from the hilly resort area of Bandung after a graduation celebration, said West Java police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast. It sped out of control on a downhill road and crossed lanes, hitting several cars and motorbikes before it crashed into an electricity pole, he said.

Canadian police announce the arrest of a fourth Indian suspect in the killing of a Sikh activist

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A fourth Indian national living in Canada has been charged in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader last June that became the center of a diplomatic spat with India. British Columbia’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in a release late Saturday that 22-year-old Amandeep Singh was already in the custody of Peel Regional Police in Ontario for unrelated firearms charges. “IHIT pursued the evidence and gained sufficient information for the BC Prosecution Service to charge Amandeep Singh with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder,” the police statement said. Police also confirmed that Singh is an Indian national splitting his time in Canada in Brampton, Ontario; Surrey, British Columbia; and Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Sherpa guide Kami Rita scales Mount Everest for 29th time, extending his own record again

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — One of greatest climbing guides on Mount Everest has scaled the world’s highest peak for the 29th time, extending his own record for most times to the summit, expedition organizers said Sunday. Kami Rita reached the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak at 7:25 a.m. local time Sunday along with other climbers, said Mingma Sherpa of the expedition organizer Seven Summits Treks. He was reported in good health and already on the way down to lower camps. Kami Rita had climbed Mount Everest twice last year, setting the record for most climbs on the first and adding to it less than a week later.

A police officer was killed in Pakistan-held Kashmir during protests against price hikes

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A protest against rising costs of food, fuel and utility bills turned violent in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, leaving a police officer dead and dozens of people injured, officials said Sunday. Traders in some of the cities in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir pulled their shutters down on Saturday while protesters burned tires to express their anger. A police officer was killed in Dadyal town, authorities said. Police have detained several demonstrators across Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and India. Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, the prime minister in Pakistan-held Kashmir, said he was ready to consider the demands of the protesters but urged them not to indulge in violence.

A plane with 3 aboard lands without landing gear at an Australian airport after burning off fuel

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A light plane with three people aboard landed safely without landing gear Monday after circling an Australian airport for almost three hours to burn off fuel. The twin-turboprop Beechcraft Super King Air had just taken off from Newcastle Airport north of Sydney for a 180-kilometer (112-mile) flight north to Port Macquarie when the pilot raised the alarm, officials said. The plane landed on the tarmac around three hours later at 12:20 p.m. apparently without incident, video showed. Fire engines and ambulances were among emergency services standing at the ready. A police statement said the plane had “mechanical issues,” while Australian Broadcasting Corp.

A fire burns down a shopping complex housing 1,400 outlets in Poland’s capital

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A major fire broke out Sunday morning in a vast shopping complex in the Polish capital that housed some 1,400 shops and service outlets and where many of the vendors were from Vietnam. Huge plumes of black smoke could be seen rising over the vast area. The fire department said that more than 80% of the Marywilska 44 shopping complex burned in the Bialoleka district of Warsaw, and that the roof caved in. Police reported no injuries, but traders were in despair at the loss of their livelihoods. The Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported that some Vietnamese vendors wanted to enter to save their goods from the complex, but were blocked by security guards.

A top Cambodian opposition politician is charged with inciting disorder for criticizing government

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The leader of a recently formed Cambodian opposition party has been charged with inciting social disorder, his lawyer said Saturday, in the third major legal action this month targeting critics of the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet, Sun Chanthy of the Nation Power Party, established late last year, was formally charged Friday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and sent to pre-trial detention in the northwestern province of Pursat, according to Choung Chou Ngy. He said his client could be sentenced to six months to two years in prison if convicted, and that on Monday he will seek his release on bail.

North Korean leader Kim supervises latest test of new multiple rocket launcher

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised another test firing of a new multiple rocket launch system the country plans to deploy to its forces starting this year, state media said Saturday, part of its move to bolster its lineup of weapons targeting South Korean population centers. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Friday’s test confirmed the “advantage and destructive power” of the 240-millimeter multiple rocket launcher and its guided shells. The agency said the system, which the North already tested twice this year, will be deployed to combat units from 2024 to 2026 to replace older weapons.