Top Asian News 4:48 a.m. GMT

Philippine Vice President Duterte asks Supreme Court to void her impeachment and block Senate trial

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to void her impeachment and block a Senate trial that could remove her from office. The House of Representatives, which is dominated by the allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., impeached Duterte on Feb. 5 over accusations that included plotting to assassinate the president and large-scale corruption. The Senate was expected to turn itself into an impeachment court to try Duterte after Congress resumes June 2. The vice president, through her lawyers, asked the 15-member high court to annul her impeachment and block the trial because its initiation “was procedurally defective, constitutionally infirm and jurisdictionally void.” Lawyer Israelito Torreon told reporters the complaint was sent to the Senate too fast for some of the House signees to study it.

Australian central bank cuts benchmark interest rate for the first time since October 2020

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s central bank on Tuesday reduced its benchmark interest rate for the first time since October 2020 as the nation’s inflation cools. The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the cash rate by a quarter percentage point from 4.35% to 4.1%. at its first board meeting for the year. The cut was widely anticipated after inflation rose only 0.2% in the December quarter and 2.4% for calendar 2024. Annual inflation peaked at 7.8% two years earlier. The bank manipulates interest rates to keep inflation within a target band of between 2% and 3%. “Inflation has fallen substantially since the peak in 2022, as higher interest rates have been working to bring aggregate demand and supply closer towards balance,” the board said in a statement.

North Korea slams US and Asian rivals for pursuing ‘absurd’ plans to denuclearize North

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday criticized the United States and Asian neighbors for pursuing the “absurd” goal of denuclearizing the North and said it will push to expand its nuclear forces under the direction of its authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un. The statement by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry came after the top diplomats of the U.S., South Korea and Japan met at a security conference in Germany and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening military cooperation and reinforcing an international sanctions regime to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. The North Korean ministry accused the U.S. of trying to realize an “outdated and absurd plan” of denuclearizing the North and warned of “overwhelming and decisive counteraction” against its rivals if it perceives its security is under threat.

China’s Xi promises policy stability at meeting with business leaders, including Alibaba’s Jack Ma

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s President Xi Jinping met with private sector business leaders on Monday, offering them assurances that policies regarding the private sector would not change, state media reported, as government officials work to revive an economy disrupted by a pandemic, regulatory crackdowns and a real estate crisis. Among those present was Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who was part of a focus on a crackdown on the tech industry in recent years. Xi told the audience that the Communist Party and the government’s approach towards the private sector has been incorporated into “the socialist system with Chinese characteristics,” which is how the party describes its governance, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Philippine ex-President Duterte faces criminal complaint over ‘kill senators’ comment at rally

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is facing a criminal complaint Monday over comments he made during a campaign rally when he said 15 senators should be killed in a bombing to allow more vacant seats for his own party’s candidates to fill. The alleged illegal utterances and inciting to sedition were contained in a complaint filed by police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III to the Department of Justice. They are the latest legal trouble to face the former president and his family under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Campaigning is underway for half of the 24 Senate seats for the May 12 mid-term elections in the Philippines.

China says US has ‘gravely backpedaled’ on Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry took issue Monday with a revised U.S. government fact sheet that removed a line on American opposition to independence for Taiwan. The United States has “gravely backpedaled” on its position on Taiwan and sent the wrong message to “separatist forces” on the island, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. Taiwan and China split in 1949 during the civil war that brought the communists to power in China. The defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan and set up a rival government there. Taiwan has its own government and military but has never declared formal independence from China. “We urge the U.S.

Australia plans to deport 3 violent criminals to Nauru

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia will soon deport three violent criminals including a convicted murderer to Nauru even though they are not citizens of the tiny Pacific atoll, after an Australian court ruled that dangerous immigrants can no longer be imprisoned indefinitely. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday that three “violent offenders” had been issued 30-year Nauru visas on Saturday. Opposition leader Peter Dutton said on Monday that more than 200 immigrants with criminal records who could not be deported would remain in Australia despite the Nauru deal. “The government’s claiming they’re going to get rid of three criminals, but there’ll still be more than 200 left,” Dutton told reporters.

A top Chinese official tours Thai-Myanmar border to highlight crackdown on scam centers

BANGKOK (AP) — Efforts to shut down online scam centers in Myanmar appeared to gain momentum on Monday as a top Chinese security official visited both sides of the Thai-Myanmar border ahead of expected large-scale repatriations of workers in the illicit industry. The visit by Liu Zhongyi, China’s vice minister of public security and commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, was part of a stepped-up effort by the three countries to address the online scam problem, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters. Areas of Myanmar bordering Thailand have been serving as havens for criminal syndicates employing an estimated hundreds of thousands of people from Southeast Asia and elsewhere who help carry out online scams including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.

An Indian court sentences a man to life in prison for raping and murdering an Irish backpacker

NEW DELHI (AP) — A court in India’s western Goa state on Monday sentenced a 31-year-old man to life in prison for raping and murdering an Irish woman at a popular tourist resort nearly eight years ago. The body of 28-year-old Danielle McLaughlin was found by a farmer on a beach popular with holidaymakers in Goa in March 2017. An autopsy showed that cerebral damage and constriction of the neck caused her death. Vikat Bhagat was found guilty of the crime on Friday. McLaughlin’s family in a statement had said they and her friends were “thankful to the public prosecutor and the investigating officer for justice.” Usually, rape victims cannot be named under Indian law.

2 people killed when militants ambush trucks with aid for northwestern Pakistan

KURRAM, Pakistan (AP) — Militants in northwestern Pakistan killed a driver and a security official Monday when they ambushed a convoy of trucks carrying food, medicine and other supplies for thousands of residents trapped by sectarian violence, authorities said. It was the third such assault since January in Kurram, a district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where at least 130 people have died in recent months in clashes between rival Shiite and Sunni tribes. The latest attack happened when the trucks were heading to Parachinar, the main city in Kurram, police officials said. Qaiser Abbas, a doctor at a hospital in Parachinar, said a truck driver and one of the security officials escorting the convoy was killed in the attack.