Top Asian News 1:52 a.m. GMT

Chinese hackers and user lapses turn smartphones into a ‘mobile security crisis’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cybersecurity investigators noticed a highly unusual software crash — it was affecting a small number of smartphones belonging to people who worked in government, politics, tech and journalism. The crashes, which began late last year and carried into 2025, were the tipoff to a sophisticated cyberattack that may have allowed hackers to infiltrate a phone without a single click from the user. The attackers left no clues about their identities, but investigators at the cybersecurity firm iVerify noticed that the victims all had something in common: They worked in fields of interest to China’s government and had been targeted by Chinese hackers in the past.

New disputes emerge ahead of US-China trade talks in London

BEIJING (AP) — U.S.-China trade talks in London this week are expected to take up a series of fresh disputes that have buffeted relations, threatening a fragile truce over tariffs. Both sides agreed in Geneva last month to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of recession. Since then, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, “rare earths” that are vital to carmakers and other industries, and visas for Chinese students at American universities. President Donald Trump spoke at length with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track.

Chinese ship runs aground off Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (AP) — A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said Sunday. When Filipino forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island on Saturday because of bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help but later saw that the ship had been extricated, regional navy spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among the crewmembers or if the ship was damaged, Collado said.

Kyrgyzstan removes towering Lenin statue from second city

LONDON (AP) — Authorities in the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, Osh, have removed a towering statue of Vladimir Lenin thought to be the tallest of the revolutionary Soviet leader in Central Asia. The 23-meter (75-foot) monument was erected in 1975 when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union. Photos appeared online Saturday showing the statue flat on the ground after being lowered by a crane. While many countries formerly part of the Soviet Union have moved to downplay their ties to Russia as part of efforts to reshape national identity, the monument was taken down with little public fanfare and officials in Osh framed the removal as routine city planning.

The Taliban leader slams Trump’s travel ban on Afghans and calls the US an ‘oppressor’

The top Taliban leader on Saturday slammed President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Afghans, calling the United States an oppressor, as Afghanistan’s rulers seek greater engagement with the international community. The comments from Hibatullah Akhundzada marked the first public reaction from the Taliban since the Trump administration this week moved to bar citizens from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, from entering the U.S. Trump’s executive order largely applies to Afghans hoping to resettle in the U.S. permanently, as well as those hoping to go to America temporarily, including for university studies. Since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures, banned women from public places and education for women and girls beyond the sixth grade.

From Pakistan to Spain via the Canaries, smugglers are using longer, more dangerous migration routes

DERA BAJWA, Pakistan (AP) — It was supposed to be the final leg of Amir Ali’s monthslong journey to Europe. But he was nowhere near his destination, with only death in sight. The 21-year-old Pakistani had been promised a visa and a flight to Spain. Yet six months, four countries and $17,000 later, he found himself crammed in a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean alongside 85 others, screaming for their lives as seawater sloshed over the gunwales. Forty-four fellow Pakistani migrants perished during the 10-day failed crossing in January from Mauritania’s coast toward Spain’s Canary Islands. The deadly journey cast a spotlight on how globalized and sophisticated smuggling networks on the West African coast — and specifically Mauritania — have become.

Israel retrieves the body of a Thai hostage as 95 people are reported killed in Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel said Saturday it retrieved the body of a Thai hostage abducted into the Gaza Strip during the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war, as Israel’s military continued its offensive, killing at least 95 people in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Nattapong Pinta had come to Israel to work in agriculture. Israel’s government said he was seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed early in the war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023. Thailand’s foreign ministry said the bodies of two other citizens were yet to be retrieved. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive.

Why were so many Thai farmers among the hostages held by Hamas?

BANGKOK (AP) — Israel says it has retrieved the body of a 35-year-old Thai hostage who was abducted into Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. Nattapong Pinta was among 31 Thais taken by the Hamas militant group. Thailand’s foreign ministry in a statement Saturday confirmed that Pinta, the last Thai hostage in Gaza, was confirmed dead. It said the bodies of two others have yet to be retrieved. The ministry has said 46 Thais have been killed during the war. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas. They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel.

Modi inaugurates ambitious rail project connecting Kashmir to Indian plains

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated one of the most ambitious railway projects ever built in India, which will connect the Kashmir Valley to the vast Indian plains by train for the first time. Dubbed by government-operated Indian Railways as one of the most challenging tracks in the world, the 272-kilometer (169-mile) line begins in the garrison city of Udhampur in Jammu region and runs through Indian-controlled Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar. The line ends in Baramulla, a town near the highly militarized Line of Control dividing the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan. The line travels through 36 tunnels and over 943 bridges.

Japanese court rejects damage claims against utility executives over Fukushima disaster

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court ruled former executives at the utility managing the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were not accountable for the 2011 meltdown crisis and do not need to pay damages to the company. The Tokyo High Court ruling on Friday reversed a lower court decision in 2022 ordering four former executives of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings to pay 13 trillion yen ($90 billion) to the company, saying they had failed to take the utmost safety precautions despite knowing the risks of a serious accident in a major tsunami. A magitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed key cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing its three reactors to melt down, spreading large amounts of radiation in the area and keeping tens of thousands of residents from returning home due to radioactive contamination and other safety concerns.