Top Asian News 3:33 a.m. GMT

Mongolia ignores an international warrant for Putin’s arrest, giving him a red-carpet welcome

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin received a red-carpet welcome to Mongolia on Tuesday, as the country ignored calls to arrest him on an international warrant for alleged war crimes stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The trip, which concluded Tuesday night, was Putin’s first to a member nation of the International Criminal Court since it issued the warrant in March 2023. Ahead of his visit, Ukraine urged Mongolia to hand Putin over to the court in The Hague, and the European Union expressed concern that Mongolia might not execute the warrant. The warrant put the Mongolian government in a difficult position.

Pope has packed first full day in Indonesia with visits to president, clergy in a test of stamina

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis has a packed day of meetings on his first full day in Indonesia on Wednesday, seeing political and religious leaders and setting a rigorous pace for an 11-day, four-nation trip through tropical Southeast Asia and Oceania that will test his stamina and health. Cannons boomed at the presidential palace, setting a flock of white pigeons aflutter, as Francis joined Indonesian President Joko Widodo for the welcome ceremony along with President-elect Prabowo Subianto. A marching band, stiff-legged troops and children in traditional Indonesian dress welcomed the first pope to visit in 35 years. After their private meeting, Widodo and Francis were addressing government authorities and the diplomatic corps.

Bus crashes into students and parents in eastern China, killing 11 and injuring 13, police say

BEIJING (AP) — A bus crashed into a group of students and their parents at a school in eastern China early Tuesday, killing 11 people and injuring 13, police said. The students and parents were at the gate of a middle school in Tai’an city in the eastern province of Shandong just before 7:30 a.m., the Dongping county police department said in a posting on social media. Six parents and five students were killed, it said. One of the injured was in serious condition while the others were listed as stable, the department said. The driver was in police custody and the incident was under investigation, it said.

Islamic State group claims Kabul suicide attack that killed at least 6

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Tuesday for this week’s suicide bombing at a prosecutor’s office in Kabul that killed at least six people and injured 13. The group said in a statement on its news outlet Amaq that the assailant detonated his explosive-laden vest Monday as investigators and other employees were leaving work, in an attack to avenge people detained in prisons run by the country’s Taliban government. IS claimed the blast killed 45 people, a far higher number of victims than the death toll of six given Monday by Taliban officials following the blast in the capital’s southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood.

Outgoing Japanese leader Kishida will visit South Korea for a summit on improving ties

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Japan’s prime minister will arrive Friday in South Korea for what will likely be the last summit between the two leaders, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said Tuesday. It said outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s two-day visit was arranged after he “actively expressed hope” to end his term on a high note in bilateral relations. In what would be their 12th summit talks, the leaders will discuss further developing two-way ties and strengthening the countries’ cooperation in regional and global issues, the office said. A series of local election losses earlier in the year sparked calls for change within Japan’s governing party, which was also dealing with a fundraising scandal.

UAE leader pardons 57 Bangladeshis imprisoned for rallying in the Arab nation over turmoil back home

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The leader of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday pardoned 57 Bangladeshi nationals convicted in rapid trials over their involvement in protests in the Arabian Peninsula nation about unrest in their home country. The decision by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, came after he held a telephone call last week with Bangladesh’s interim prime minister, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Yunus took over Bangladesh after demonstrators drove longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country. The arrests in the UAE underlined the strict laws criminalizing speech and public protest in this Gulf Arab country that is home to the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Fierce storm blows out of northern Philippines after leaving 14 dead in landslides and floods

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A fierce storm was blowing out of the northern Philippines Tuesday after leaving at least 14 people dead in landslides, floods and swollen rivers, disaster-response officials said. Tropical Storm Yagi swept past Paoay town in Ilocos Norte province into the South China Sea with sustained winds of up to 75 kilometers (47 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 125 kph (78 mph), according to the weather bureau. It was forecast to strengthen into a typhoon as it barrels northwestward over the sea toward southern China. Storm warnings remained in most northern Philippine provinces, where residents were warned of the lingering danger of landslides in rain-soaked mountain villages and floodings in the farming lowlands of Luzon, the country’s most populous region.

2 people are rescued from a disabled yacht off the Australian coast

SYDNEY (AP) — Two people were rescued unharmed Tuesday after spending a night aboard a disabled yacht in heavy seas off the Australian coast. The 60-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman were rescued at 7:30 a.m. from their 19-meter (62-foot) yacht, which was abandoned 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of the New South Wales state coast, Police Chief Inspector Anthony Brazzill said. The pair were expected to reach Sydney aboard a police boat Tuesday night. The pair had activated their emergency beacon around 1 p.m. Monday, about 185 kilometers (115 miles) east of the New South Wales coastal town of Nowra, police said.

Heavy monsoon rains and floods kill at least 33 in south India and 5 children in Pakistan this week

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Heavy monsoon rains and floods have killed at least 33 people in southern India and five children in Pakistan over the past two days, authorities said Tuesday. In India’s Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states, houses collapsed and were swept away by torrential downpours while floods disrupted road and rail traffic, officials said. The weather service issued a red alert for 11 districts, predicting more rains in the region, Telangana’s top bureaucrat, Shanta Kumari, said. More than 4,000 people have been moved to 110 government-run relief camps in Telangana since Monday, according to the state’s top elected official, A.

Iran summons Australian envoy over LGBTQ+ celebration in Tehran embassy

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Tuesday summoned the Australian ambassador in Iran over the publication of photos from a celebration in the embassy to mark Australia’s LGBTQ national day on Sept. 1, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. IRNA said the foreign ministry summoned the Australian ambassador to Tehran, Ian McConville, and condemned the publication of photos on social media, calling it insulting and contrary to Iranian and Islamic culture, as well as international norms. In response, McConville said that his country had not insulted Iran or Iranian culture, adding there was no reference to Iran in the post on Instagram.