Top Asian News 3:44 a.m. GMT

North Korea shows new drone attacking a target as Seoul and US hold large military exercises

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a demonstration of new exploding drones designed to crash into targets and pledged to spur development of such weapons to boost his military’s war readiness, state media said Monday. Kim has been flaunting his growing military capabilities amid tensions with Washington and Seoul. North Korean photos of the test showed a white drone with X-shaped tails and wings supposedly crashing into and destroying a target resembling South Korea’s main K-2 battle tank. Most combat drones stand off from targets and fire missiles. The test, which state media said took place Saturday, came as the U.S.

Rohingya refugees mark the anniversary of their exodus and demand a safe return to Myanmar

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who live in sprawling camps in Bangladesh on Sunday marked the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus, demanding safe return to Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The refugees gathered in an open field at Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar district carrying banners and festoons reading “Hope is Home” and “We Rohingya are the citizens of Myanmar,” defying the rain on a day that is marked as “Rohingya Genocide Day.” On Aug. 25, 2017, hundreds of thousands of refugees started crossing the border to Bangladesh on foot and by boats amid indiscriminate killings and other violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Chinese coast guard ships fire water cannons and block Philippine fisheries vessel in disputed sea

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons and blocked and rammed a Philippine fisheries vessel Sunday in the disputed South China Sea, where hostilities between the Asian neighbors have flared alarmingly at sea and spread into the air in recent weeks. China and the Philippines blamed each other for the tense confrontations in the high seas off Sabina Shoal, which has become a new flashpoint, where both have deployed coast guard ships on suspicion that either one may take steps to seize the uninhabited atoll. The Chinese coast guard said that it took action against a Philippine vessel, which entered waters in the vicinity of Sabina and ignored warnings, leading to a minor collision.

A flash flood on Indonesia’s eastern Ternate Island sweeps away buildings and leaves 13 dead

TERNATE ISLAND, Indonesia (AP) — Torrential rains caused a flash flood on Indonesia’s eastern Ternate Island, sweeping away residential areas and leaving 13 people dead on Sunday, officials said. The deluges cut off the main road and access to the village of Rua in North Maluku province, the most hard-hit area, and buried dozens of houses and buildings under the mud. Search and rescue teams worked with locals to recover the bodies and look for those still missing. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency says high-intensity rain is still possible in the Ternate City area and its surroundings in the coming days.

Taliban vice and virtue laws provide ‘distressing vision’ for Afghanistan, warns UN envoy

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public provide a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future, a top U.N. official warned Sunday. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the U.N. mission in the country, said the laws extend the “ already intolerable restrictions ” on the rights of women and girls, with “even the sound of a female voice” outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers last Wednesday issued the country’s first set of laws to prevent vice and promote virtue. They include a requirement for a woman to conceal her face, body and voice outside the home.

China opposes US sanctions on firms over alleged ties to Russia’s war efforts

BEIJING (AP) — China on Sunday expressed its opposition to the latest U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies over their alleged ties to Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying it will adopt necessary measures to safeguard the rights and interests of the country’s businesses. The U.S. on Friday announced sweeping sanctions on hundreds of firms in Russia and across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, accusing them of providing products and services that enable Russia’s war effort and aiding its ability to evade sanctions. The U.S. Department of State said it was concerned by “the magnitude of dual-use goods exports” from China to Russia.

2 separate bus crashes in Pakistan leave at least 36 people dead, officials say

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Two separate bus crashes hours apart in Pakistan on Sunday left at least 36 people dead and dozens more injured, officials said. The first happened when a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims returning from Iraq through Iran fell from a highway into a ravine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, police and officials said. The driver lost control on the Makran coastal highway when the brakes failed, while passing through Lasbela district in Baluchistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said. Authorities in Baluchistan said that arrangements were being made to send the bodies of the pilgrims to Punjab province for burial.

Hundreds of police raid a religious compound in search of Filipino preacher wanted for child abuse

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Hundreds of police officers backed by riot squads raided a vast religious compound in a southern Philippine city Saturday in search of a local preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking, police officials said. A supporter of the group, called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, reportedly died due to a heart attack during the massive police raid that started at dawn in the group’s compound in Davao city, livestreamed online by a local TV network owned by the group, police said, adding that the death was not related to the police operations. Officers brought equipment that could detect people behind cement walls.

Nikki Haley in Taiwan says an isolationist policy is not healthy while expressing support for Trump

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on a visit to Taiwan Saturday that an isolationist policy isn’t “healthy” and called on the Republican Party to stand with her country’s allies, while still putting in good words for the party’s nominee, Donald Trump. Haley, who ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, told reporters in the capital, Taipei, that supporting U.S. allies, including Ukraine and Israel, is vital. She underscored the importance of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, to be brought under control by force if necessary. “I don’t think the isolationist approach is healthy.

Philippines says flares fired from a Chinese island base threatened its fisheries plane

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine fisheries bureau plane was threatened by flares fired from a Chinese island base while conducting a routine patrol in the South China Sea, Philippine officials said Saturday, the latest territorial spat between Beijing and Manila over one of the world’s busiest trade routes, with confrontations spreading from the disputed waters to the airspace above. China has been at odds with several other countries in the Asia-Pacific for years over its sweeping maritime claims, including almost all of the South China Sea. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ Cessna 208B Grand Caravan plane was flying near Subi Reef on Thursday when it spotted flares being fired from the fishing atoll, which China has transformed into a militarized island base, a Philippine government interagency task force said in a statement.