Top Asian News 4:19 a.m. GMT

South Korean police considering overseas travel ban on President Yoon over martial law

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Police are considering placing an overseas travel ban on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as they investigate possible rebellion charges over his brief imposition of martial law last week, reports said Monday. Yoon’s martial law decree last Tuesday, which brought armed special forces troops into Seoul streets, is plunging South Korea into huge political turmoil. On Sunday, he avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him, with most ruling party lawmakers boycotting a floor vote. But the opposition parties vowed to submit a new impeachment motion against him this week. On Monday, Yonhap news agency cited police as saying that they are considering banning Yoon from leaving the country as they investigate charges of rebellion.

Australian synagogue fire declared terrorism in a decision that increases investigation resources

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian law enforcement authorities on Monday declared an arson attack on a synagogue last week a terrorist act in a decision that increases resources available to the investigation. Arson squad detectives have been investigating the blaze that extensively damaged the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on Friday. But the investigation was taken over on Monday by the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team which involves Victoria state Police and Australian Federal Police as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation’s main domestic spy agency. “The decision ... to transition the Adass Israel Synagogue fire attack to the Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team is a crucial turning point in this investigation,” Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett told reporters.

Tonga’s prime minister quits moments ahead of no-confidence motion in parliament

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni abruptly resigned in parliament on Monday ahead of a planned no-confidence vote in his leadership, capping a period of fraught relations between his government and Tonga’s king. Sovaleni, who took office in 2021, did not specify a reason for his departure but his resignation halted the no-confidence motion expected on Monday. It was not immediately clear who would succeed him. His resignation comes less than a year before a national election in Tonga, a South Pacific island nation of 105,000 people, and it highlighted the occasional tensions between Tonga’s monarchy and elected lawmakers in a still-young democracy after reforms that transferred powers from the royal family and nobles to regular citizens in 2010.

South Korea’s democracy held after a 6-hour power play. What does it say for democracies elsewhere?

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In an era of rising authoritarianism, at the heels of a six-hour martial law decree that unfolded while many South Koreans slept, something noteworthy happened: Democracy held. The past week in Seoul, officials and academics warn, is what a threat to democracy looks like in 2024. It’s a democratically-elected president declaring martial law over the nation he leads, asserting sweeping powers to prevent opposition demonstrations, ban political parties and control the media. It’s members of the military attempting to block lawmakers from exercising their power to vote on cancelling the power grab. And here’s what it took to defeat President Yoon Suk Yeol ‘s lurch toward government by force: Unified popular support for democracy.

Taiwan reports 14 Chinese warships and 4 balloons near the island

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China sent 14 warships, seven military aircraft and four balloons near Taiwan between Saturday and Sunday, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the island it claims as its own. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the island in response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s recent visit to Pacific allies, including U.S. stops in Hawaii and Guam. China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy of 23 million people, as its own territory, and bristles at other countries’ formal exchanges with Taiwan. The United States, like most countries, doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country but is its main unofficial backer and sells it arms.

Supporters of Bangladesh Nationalist Party march in protest at attacks in India

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of members of three youth and student bodies belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party marched toward the Indian High Commission in the country’s capital on Sunday to denounce attacks on a diplomatic mission and alleged desecration of Bangladeshi flags in India. The protests came a day before India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, is due to visit Dhaka amid growing tension between the two neighbors in recent months. It will be the first high-profile diplomatic visit by an Indian official since the fall of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is in exile in India, in August.

Giant statue of the Buddha in New Jersey becomes interfaith hub and spiritual home for many

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Just off a state highway in New Jersey, one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States appears unexpectedly in the middle of a backyard. It rises 30 feet high from the woods in Franklin Township, near Princeton, where it was built a decade ago under the leadership of a Sri Lankan monk ordained in Theravada, one of the oldest forms of Buddhism. His dream? Uniting people of all faiths. Today, the statue in the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center has become a hub for interfaith efforts and a spiritual home for practicing Buddhists, Hindus and Christians, reflecting New Jersey’s diverse religious landscape.

An elephant dies of apparent heart failure in Pakistan weeks after family reunion

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — An elephant died Sunday of apparent heart failure at a Pakistani safari park, an official said, less than two weeks after being reunited with her sister. Sonia, who was almost 19, is the second elephant to die in two years in the southern city of Karachi, where she had lived since 2009. She was reunited recently with her sister Madhubala, who was transferred from Karachi Zoological Garden last month to be with her family members. Madhubala was separated from sisters Sonia and Malika about 15 years ago. The director of the safari park, Syed Amjad Hussain Zaidi, said the results of Sonia’s post-mortem will be shared in the coming days.

AP PHOTOS: An Indian state prepares for a Hindu festival that’s the largest such gathering on Earth

PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Hindus venerate rivers, and none more so than the Ganges. The faithful believe that a dip in its waters will cleanse them of their past sins. Wherever other sacred rivers flow into the Ganges, the benefits of bathing at the confluence on auspicious days increases manyfold. A devotee can hope to begin a journey to achieve Hindu philosophy’s ultimate goal — the release from the cycles of birth and death. The most propitious of these days occur in cycles of 12 years. When the time comes for Prayagraj, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, millions flock to the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers during a festival called the Maha Kumbh Mela.

China’s ban on key high-tech materials could have broad impact on industries, economy

BANGKOK (AP) — China has banned exports of key materials used to make a wide range of products, including smartphones, electric vehicles, radar systems and CT scanners, swiping back at Washington after it expanded export controls to include dozens of Chinese companies that make equipment used to produce advanced computer chips. Both sides say their controls are justified by national security concerns and both accuse the other of “weaponizing” trade. Analysts say the latest restrictions could have a wide impact on manufacturing in many industries and supply chains. “Critical mineral security is now intrinsically linked to the escalating tech trade war,” Gracelin Baskaran and Meredith Schwartz of the Center for Strategic International Studies, wrote in a report on Beijing’s decision.