Top Asian News 8:42 a.m. GMT

Fighting between armed sectarian groups in restive northwestern Pakistan kills at least 33 people

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Fighting between armed Sunni and Shiite groups in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 33 people and injured 25 others, a senior police officer from the region said Saturday. The overnight violence was the latest to rock Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and comes days after a deadly gun ambush killed 42 people. Shiite Muslims make up about 15% of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities. Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram. The senior police officer said armed men in Bagan and Bacha Kot torched shops, houses and government property.

The Philippine vice president publicly threatens to have the president assassinated

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the “active threat” against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to an elite presidential guards force “for immediate proper action.” It was not immediately clear what actions would be taken against the vice president. “Acting on the vice president’s clear and unequivocal statement that she had contracted an assassin to kill the president if an alleged plot against her succeeds, the Executive Secretary has referred this active threat to the Presidential Security Command for immediate proper action,” a government statement said.

Pakistan is sealing off its capital ahead of a planned rally by Imran Khan supporters

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan is sealing off its capital, Islamabad, ahead of a planned rally by supporters of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan. It’s the second time in as many months that authorities have imposed such measures to thwart tens of thousands of people from gathering in the city to demand Khan’s release. The latest lockdown coincides with the visit of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who arrives in Islamabad on Monday. Local media reported that the Interior Ministry is considering a suspension of mobile phone services in parts of Pakistan in the coming days. On Friday, the National Highways and Motorway Police announced that key routes would close for maintenance.

Laos government pledges justice in mass alcohol poisoning case that has killed 6 tourists

VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — The Laotian government on Saturday officially acknowledged the mass poisoning that has killed at least six tourists, promising it would bring perpetrators to justice. Two Australian teenagers and a British woman died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos. An American man and two Danes also died, though their exact causes of death have not been released. A New Zealander also has been sickened. In a short statement released to the media, the Lao government said it was “profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign tourists” in the town Vang Vieng and offered its condolences to the families of the victims.

UN expert: Myanmar’s desperate military ramps up attacks including beheadings, rapes and torture

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Myanmar’s desperate military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture, with women, children and the elderly among the victims, the U.N. independent human rights investigator for Myanmar said in a new report. Thomas Andrews, a former U.S. congressman from Maine, said in the report to the U.N. General Assembly circulated Friday that the junta has responded to military defeats and the loss of territory by using sophisticated weapons against civilians and seeking to destroy towns that it cannot control. Calling Myanmar “an invisible crisis” because the world’s attention is focused elsewhere, he said, “Escalating atrocities against the people of Myanmar are being enabled by governments that allow, or actively support, the transfer of weapons, weapons materials, and jet fuel to junta forces.” Andrews didn’t name the governments.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist party heads for sweeping win in Maharashtra state election

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party headed for a stunning victory Saturday in state elections in politically significant Maharashtra while the opposition seemed about to clinch victory in mineral-rich Jharkhand. Polling in the two states has been widely seen as a test of Modi’s popularity after his party returned to power five months ago in national elections truncated for a third term without a parliamentary majority, forcing him to form a coalition government with help from regional partners. India’s Election Commission said Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies led with 215 of 288 seats in Maharashtra, India’s wealthiest state and home to the country’s financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai.

South Korea will not attend Sado mines memorial event in Japan amid lingering historical tensions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government said Saturday it will not attend a memorial service near Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event, which stirred longstanding tensions over the abuse of Korean forced laborers at the site before the end of World War II. The decision marked a rare display of friction between the countries since the 2022 inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon has prioritized improving relations with Japan following years of disputes over their bitter history and solidifying three-way security cooperation with Washington to counter North Korean nuclear threats, but has faced accusations at home that he was neglecting the suffering of Korean survivors.

Negotiators work through the night at UN climate talks to try to reach a cash deal for poor nations

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — The United Nations’ annual climate talks pushed into overtime Saturday under a cloud of anger and disappointment as negotiators were well short of a deal on money for developing nations to curb and adapt to climate change. A draft of the final agreement Friday pledged $250 billion annually by 2035, more than double the previous goal of $100 billion set 15 years ago but far short of the annual $1 trillion-plus that experts say is needed. Through the early hours of Saturday morning, The Associated Press saw lead negotiators from the European Union, the United States and other nations going through the empty halls from meeting to meeting as delegates tried to hash out a new version of the deal.

Japan will hold first memorial for ‘all workers’ at Sado gold mines but blurs WWII atrocity. Why?

SADO, Japan (AP) — Japan will hold a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines, which were listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines’ dark history. At these mines, hundreds of Koreans were forced to labor under abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say. The Japanese government said Sunday’s ceremony will pay tribute to “all workers” who died at the mines, but without spelling out who they are — part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan’s history of sexual and labor exploitation before and during the war.

South Korea says Russia supplied air defense missiles to North Korea in return for its troops

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday. The U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom have recently begun engaging in combat on the front lines. North Korea’s troop deployment threatens to escalate the war, and what Russia could give to the North in return has been a source of rampant international speculation. The most alarming development for South Korea and the U.S.