Top Asian News 3:35 p.m. GMT

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.

Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan and wife convicted of marriage law violation in a fourth case

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani court on Saturday convicted and sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife to seven years in prison on a charge that their 2018 marriage violated the law, officials and a lawyer said. The latest verdict follows another case in which Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to 14 years in prison on Wednesday for corruption. It comes ahead of Feb. 8 parliamentary elections in which Khan has already been disqualified because of graft convictions while his party is struggling to run an election campaign. It was Khan’s fourth conviction since 2022, when he was ousted from power.

Maldives government asks India why its coast guard boarded 3 fishing boats

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives government says it has asked for clarification of why Indian coast guard personnel boarded three Maldivian fishing vessels operating within its economic zone earlier this week without consultation. The Maldives defense ministry said in a statement Friday night that its military was informed on Wednesday that personnel from a foreign military had boarded a Maldives fishing vessel, and on reaching the location it was found that they were from the Indian coast guard. The Maldives military also found that Indian coast guard personnel had boarded two more boats, the statement said without explaining what they did on the boats.

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.

Indonesians flock to presidential campaign rallies as criticism against the government mounts

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Indonesians flocked to presidential campaign rallies on Saturday to air their concerns over the state of democracy in the country. President Joko Widodo is facing mounting criticism over his lack of neutrality after he threw his support behind frontrunner Prabowo Subianto, who has picked Widodo’s son as his running mate. Widodo has distanced himself from the governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, under whose banner he ran in 2014 and 2019. The party’s presidential candidate, Ganjar Pranowo, the former governor of Central Java province, addressed a crowd of more than 130,000 supporters and stressed the need for government neutrality in managing military and police forces and civil servants.

Debt-stricken Sri Lanka signs a free trade pact with Thailand

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Debt-stricken Sri Lanka signed a trade pact with Thailand on Saturday in a bid to boost trade and investment as the Indian ocean island nation is struggling to recover from its worst economic crisis that hit two year ago. The Sri Lanka Thailand Free Trade Agreement covering trade in goods, investment, custom procedures and intellectual property rights was signed in the capital Colombo in the presence of Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. Sri Lanka began talks with Thailand on a free trade agreement in 2016. The countries’ two-way trade was worth about $352 million in 2022, with Thailand’s exports at $292 million and Sri Lanka’s exports at $58 million, according to Sri Lankan government’s data.

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.

Papua separatist rebels appeal to New Zealand pilot’s captor to let him go after a year

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Separatist rebels asked for the immediate release Saturday of the New Zealand pilot who’s been held hostage for almost a year in Indonesia’s restive Papua region. Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement, took Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot from Christchurch who was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, on Feb. 7 2023. In a statement, Sebby Sambom, spokesperson of the West Papua Liberation Army — the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement — said they have asked Kogoya to release Mehrtens on a humanitarian basis. “Using the pilot as a guarantee for an independent Papua at a fixed price is absolutely impossible to happen,” Sambom said.

Japan wants everyone to know: Taylor Swift will make it in time for the Super Bowl

TOKYO (AP) — Taylor Swift, who is holding concerts in Japan through Feb. 10, will make it in time for the Super Bowl to see her partner and football superstar Travis Kelce play. To make sure all her fans know, the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. has sent a message on X, formerly Twitter, alluding to her hit songs in bold letters. “Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference, the Embassy can confidently Speak Now to say that if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins,” it said.