Top Asian News 3:41 a.m. GMT

Pakistani police search for gunmen who abducted bus passengers and killed 11 in the southwest

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police searched for gunmen who killed nine people after abducting them from a bus on a highway in the country’s southwest. The same attackers earlier killed two people and wounded six in another car they forced to stop. The abductions took place on Friday in Baluchistan province, which has long been the scene of an insurgency by separatists fighting for independence. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. It said it had information from sources that plain-clothed spies were on the bus, according to a statement from the group. The gunmen killed the nine men after checking their ID cards to ensure they were intelligence officers.

Water guns are in full blast to mark Thai New Year festivities despite worries about heat wave

It’s water festival time in Thailand where many are marking the country’s traditional New Year, splashing each other with colorful water guns and buckets in an often raucous celebration that draws thousands of people, even as this year the Southeast Asian nation marks record-high temperatures causing concern. The festival, known as Songkran in Thailand, is a three-day shindig that starts Saturday and informally extends for a whole week, allowing people to travel for family celebrations. The holiday is also celebrated under different names in neighboring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, which like Thailand have populations that are predominantly Theravada Buddhist. Songkran is immensely popular — predicted this year to attract more than 500,000 foreign tourists and generate more than 24 billion baht ($655 million) in revenue, according to the state tourism agency.

Police in Australia identify the Sydney stabbing attacker who killed 6 people

SYDNEY (AP) — Police have identified the assailant who stabbed six people to death at a busy Sydney shopping center before he was fatally shot by a police officer. New South Wales Police said Sunday that Joel Cauchi, 40, was responsible for the Saturday afternoon attack at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction, in the city’s eastern suburbs and not far from the world-famous Bondi Beach. NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters at a media conference on Sunday that Cauchi suffered from yet unspecified mental health issues and police investigators weren’t treating the attack as terrorism-related. “We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved,” Cooke said.

A Chinese official meets North Korean leader Kim in Pyongyang in highest-level talks in years

BEIJING (AP) — A top ranking official Chinese official reaffirmed ties with North Korea during a meeting Saturday with the country’s leader Kim Jong Un in the capital Pyongyang, China’s state media reported, in the highest-level talks between the allies in years. The visit by Zhao Leji, who ranks third in the ruling Communist Party hierarchy and heads the ceremonial parliament, came as North Korea has test fired missiles to intimidate South Korea and its ally, the United States. The Xinhua News Agency reported that Zhao told Kim at the meeting concluding his three-day visit that China, the North’s most important source of economic aid and diplomatic support, looked forward to further developing ties, but made no mention of the political situation on the peninsula or the region.

Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, must get gambling addiction treatment, judge says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s former longtime interpreter agreed Friday to undergo court-ordered gambling addiction treatment after federal prosecutors accused him of stealing $16 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off debts. The initial federal court appearance by Ippei Mizuhara marked the first time the interpreter has been seen in public since the scandal exploded last month. From the field at Dodger Stadium hours after Friday’s proceeding, Ohtani said he was “very grateful” for the investigation and would focus on baseball going forward. Mizuhara exploited his personal and professional relationship with Ohtani to plunder millions from the two-way player’s account for years, at times impersonating Ohtani to bankers, prosecutors said.

US, Japan and South Korea hold drills in disputed sea as Biden hosts leaders of Japan, Philippines

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (AP) — A U.S. carrier strike group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has held a two-day joint exercise with its allies Japan and South Korea as U.S. President Joe Biden met for talks with leaders from Japan and the Philippines at the White House. The military and diplomatic maneuvers are meant to strengthen the partners’ solidarity in the face of what they see as China’s aggressive military actions in the region. A number of U.S. and South Korean guided missile destroyers and a Japanese warship joined the drills in the disputed East China Sea, where worries about China’s territorial claims are rising.

Real estate tycoon’s death sentence is a turning point in Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The unusually harsh death sentence given to a real estate tycoon in Vietnam was a pivotal moment in the decadelong “Blazing Furnace” anti-corruption campaign as the Vietnamese business community wrestled with an uncertain future Friday. Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, who was sentenced to death Thursday by a court in Ho Chi Minh city for orchestrating the country’s largest ever financial fraud case, was one of Vietnam’s most important businesspeople for years. She has been convicted for fraud amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP — and for illegally controlling a major bank and allowing loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion, state media outlets reported.

Pope will travel to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore in longest trip of papacy

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will visit Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Singapore in September, the Vatican announced Friday, confirming the longest trip of Francis’ papacy that is sure to test his health, stamina and mobility. The Vatican confirmed the Sept. 2-13 visit, saying the 87-year-old pope would visit Jakarta, Indonesia; Port Moresby and Vanimo, Papua New Guinea; Dili, East Timor; and Singapore. Further details will be announced later. Francis’ health has become a source of increasing concern and speculation, even though the pontiff is able to carry on with a rigorous schedule of meetings at the Vatican and even excursions to local parishes.

‘HELP’ sign on beach points rescuers to men stuck nine days on remote Pacific atoll

Three men stranded on an uninhabited Pacific island survived for more than a week and used palm fronds to spell out HELP on the beach – leading to rescue by Navy and Coast Guard aviators who spotted the sign from several thousand feet in the air. They had embarked March 31 in a 20-foot boat with an outboard motor from Pulawat Atoll, a small island with about an estimated 1,000 inhabitants in the Federated States of Micronesia about 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers) east of the Philippines. The men were fishing when they hit a coral reef, putting a hole in the boat’s bottom and causing it to take on water, Lt.

Far fewer young Americans now want to study in China. Both countries are trying to fix that

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he sees interest among fellow scholars wane even after China reopened. Common concerns, he said, include restrictions on academic freedom and the risk of being stranded in China. These days, only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of close to 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at U.S. schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see as diminishing economic opportunities and strained relations between Washington and Beijing.