Top Asian News 3:52 a.m. GMT

Hong Kong editors who face prison in sedition case told court about journalistic ideals

HONG KONG (AP) — Writing to the Hong Kong court that convicted him of sedition, former Stand News editor Patrick Lam said he regretted missing a chance to tell a police officer about independent journalism. Lam and his ex-colleague Chung Pui-kuen, both former top editors of the now-shuttered Stand News, will learn their sentences Thursday after being found guilty last month in a landmark case widely seen as a barometer of media freedom in Hong Kong. They were the first journalists to be convicted of sedition since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. They face up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) under a colonial-era sedition law that has been increasingly used to crush dissent.

Residents in India-controlled Kashmir vote in the second phase of polls surrounded by heavy security

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Under elaborate security, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir began casting their votes Wednesday in the second phase of a staggered election for a local government. About 2.6 million residents are eligible to elect 26 of the 239 candidates in six districts, including in the biggest regional main city of Srinagar, where voters in some polling booths queued outside early in the morning. It is the first such election in a decade, and the first since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s semi-autonomy in 2019. The former state was also downgraded and divided into two centrally governed union territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir.

Sri Lanka’s new president calls a parliamentary election for November to consolidate his mandate

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolved Parliament late Tuesday and called for a parliamentary election in less than two months in an effort to consolidate power after his weekend election victory. A government notification said that Parliament was dissolved effective midnight Tuesday, and that the parliamentary election was set for Nov. 14, in an expected move that Dissanayake had vowed to take during his election campaign. Dissanayake’s party holds only three seats in the 225-member Parliament and the snap election could help him take control of the chamber while his approval ratings remain intact following his win in Saturday’s polling.

Thailand legalizes same-sex marriage, allows couples to wed starting in January

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s landmark marriage equality bill was officially written into law Tuesday, allowing same-sex couples to legally wed. The law was published in the Royal Gazette after endorsement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and will come into effect in 120 days. This means LGBTQ+ couples will be able to register their marriage in January next year, making Thailand the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage. The bill, which grants full legal, financial and medical rights for marriage partners of any gender, sailed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate in April and June respectively.

North Korea vows response to US submarine’s visit to South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed Tuesday to boost the country’s nuclear war capability and take other steps to protest the recent arrival of a nuclear-powered U.S. submarine in South Korea. North Korea has repeatedly vowed to expand its nuclear arsenal, but the latest threat by Kim Yo Jong came after North Korea dialed up regional tensions by unveiling a uranium-enrichment facility and testing a new ballistic missile earlier this month. In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong said that the submarine’s visit “clearly reveals the frantic military and strategic attempt of the U.S.” She said North Korea’s nuclear war deterrent must be bolstered “both in quality and quantity continuously and limitlessly” in response.

China test-fires an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean

BEIJING (AP) — China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The launch by the People’s Liberation Army was part of routine annual training. It added the launch complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target. It is unclear how often China conducts tests over such a distance. In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific. A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the center of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.

New Caledonia marks anniversary of French colonization with tight security and simmering tensions

NOUMEA, New Caledonia (AP) — New Caledonia marked the anniversary on Tuesday of France’s takeover of the Pacific archipelago with tight security and simmering tensions between the pro-independence Indigenous Kanak people and the white settler communities loyal to Paris. The 171st anniversary of the French colonization of New Caledonia, which is east of Australia and 10 time zones ahead of Paris, comes four months after protests by Kanaks against French President Emmanuel Macron’ s voting reforms in New Caledonia turned violent, leaving 13 people dead and widespread destruction. The violence on the archipelago of about 270,000 people widened the gap between communities that have long faced an existential dilemma over New Caledonia’s status within France.

Man smashes Ai Weiwei sculpture at exhibition opening in Italy

ROME (AP) — A man smashed a sculpture by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei during the private opening of his exhibition in the northern Italian city of Bologna, in an act of vandalism that the show’s curator described Tuesday as a “reckless and senseless act.” The large blue and white “Porcelain Cube” was part of the exhibition “Who am I?” inaugurated at Bologna’s Palazzo Fava on Saturday. Italian media reported that local police arrested a 57-year-old Czech man, who said he was an artist. He was known for targeting important works of art in the past. It is still unclear how the man gained access to Friday’s invitation-only event, but the museum confirmed that the exhibition opened to the public as planned on Saturday.

Former Singaporean minister pleads guilty to receiving illegal gifts

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A former Singaporean cabinet minister pleaded guilty to charges of receiving illegal gifts Tuesday, in the Asian financial hub’s first ministerial criminal trial in nearly half a century. Former Transport Minister S. Iswaran pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing justice and four of accepting gifts from people with whom he had official business. The court set Oct. 3 for sentencing, Channel News Asia reported. Iswaran, 62, was initially charged with 35 counts but in a twist at the start of the trial, prosecutors said they would proceed with only five, while reducing two counts of corruption to receiving illegal gifts.

12 Singaporean military personnel injured when 2 armored vehicles collide in Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Twelve military personnel have been injured when two Singaporean armored vehicles collided during a training exercise in Australia, officials said Wednesday. The personnel “sustained non-serious injuries” when one Hunter Armored Fighting Vehicle “rear-ended another” Tuesday at Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area in Queensland state, a Singapore Defense Ministry statement said. The injured were flown by helicopter to a hospital for treatment, and Rockhampton Hospital said in a statement that all has been discharged by Wednesday. The Singapore Armed Forces are conducting Exercise Wallaby, its largest overseas unilateral exercise involving 6,200 personnel. The annual exercise involving army and air force has been conducted in a training area that covers an expanse of remote Australian coastline four times larger than Singapore, since 1990.