Top Asian News 3:54 a.m. GMT

Australia and New Zealand sending planes to evacuate nationals from New Caledonia’s unrest

SYDNEY (AP) — The Australian and New Zealand governments announced Tuesday they were sending planes to evacuate their nationals from violence-wracked New Caledonia. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed Australia had received clearance from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens and other tourists from New Caledonia amid violent unrest that has beset the French Pacific archipelago where indigenous people have long sought independence from France. “We continue to work on further flights,” Wong wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday. The Department of Foreign Affairs said 300 Australians were in New Caledonia. New Zealand also announced it was sending a plane Tuesday to evacuate 50 of its nationals from Noumea, the Pacific island’s capital, in the first in a series of proposed flights to bring its citizens home.

Corn, millet and ... rooftop solar? Farm family’s newest crop shows China’s solar ascendancy

JINAN, China (AP) — Shi Mei and her husband earn a decent enough living by growing corn and millet on their small farm in eastern China’s Shandong province. In 2021, they diversified by investing in solar energy — signing a contract to mount some 40 panels on their roof to feed energy to the grid. Now, the couple get paid for every watt of electricity they generate, harvesting the equivalent of $10,000 per year that Shi can track through an app on her phone. “When the sun comes out, you make money,” Shi said. The Shi family is on the leading edge of a solar boom in China, which has long dominated global solar manufacturing but didn’t always install a lot of it at home.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist politics face a test as India holds fifth stage of national election

AYODHYA, India (AP) — When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a Hindu temple on the site of a razed mosque in the holy city of Ayodhya in early 2024, he was making a bet on mixing Hindu nationalism and politics ahead of a national election in which he’s seeking a rare third term. On Monday, that bet faced a test as the northern city swarmed with voters, many of them Hindu devotees, lining up in scorching heat as India began the fifth phase of its six-week-long staggered national election. Modi’s Hindu nationalist politics have resonated with many supporters, and most polls show his Bharatiya Janata Party in the lead.

Climbing limits are being set on Mount Fuji to fight crowds and littering

TOKYO (AP) — Those who want to climb one of the most popular trails on Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji will have to book a slot and pay a fee as crowds, littering and climbers who try to rush too fast to the summit cause safety and conservation concerns at the picturesque stratovolcano. The new rules for the climbing season, starting July 1 to Sept. 10, apply for those hiking the Yoshida Trail on the Yamanashi side of the 3,776 meter- (nearly 12,300 feet-) high mountain that was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2013. Only 4,000 climbers will be allowed to enter the trail per day for a hiking fee of 2,000 yen (about $18).

WikiLeaks founder Assange wins right to appeal against an extradition order to the US

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal an extradition order to the United States on espionage charges, a London court ruled Monday — a decision likely to further drag out an already long legal saga. High Court judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson ruled for Assange after his lawyers argued that the U.S. government provided “blatantly inadequate” assurances that he would have the same free speech protections as an American citizen if extradited from Britain. Assange, 52, has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website’s publication of a trove of classified U.S.

Taiwan’s new President Lai in his inauguration speech urges China to stop its military intimidation

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, said in his inauguration speech Monday that he wants peace with China and urged it to stop its military threats and intimidation of the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory. “I hope that China will face the reality of (Taiwan)’s existence, respect the choices of the people of Taiwan, and in good faith, choose dialogue over confrontation,” Lai said after being sworn into office. Lai pledged to “neither yield nor provoke” Beijing and said he sought peace in relations with China. But he emphasized the island democracy is determined to defend itself “in the face of the many threats and attempts at infiltration from China.” Lai’s party, the Democratic Progressive Party, doesn’t seek independence from China but maintains that Taiwan is already a sovereign nation.

Studio Ghibli takes a bow at Cannes with an honorary Palme d’Or

CANNES, France (AP) — Studio Ghibli, the Japanese anime factory of surreal ecological wonders that has for 39 years spirited away moviegoers with tales of Totoros, magical jellyfish and floating castles, was celebrated Monday by the Cannes Film Festival with an honorary Palme d’Or. In the 22 years that Cannes has been handing out honorary Palmes, the award for Ghibli was the first for anything but an individual filmmaker or actor. (This year’s other recipients are George Lucas and Meryl Streep.) Hayao Miyazaki, the 83-year-old animation master who founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 with Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, didn’t attend the ceremony, but he spoke in a video message taped in Japan.

Pope trip to Luxembourg, Belgium confirmed for September, 2 weeks after challenging Asia visit

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has added a stop in Luxembourg to a trip to Belgium in September, a three-day visit that will come as he is recovering from a much longer and challenging trip to Asia. The Vatican on Monday announced the Sept. 26-29 dates of the planned trip, saying Francis would first stop in Luxembourg and then travel onto Brussels, Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium. Belgium’s bishops had previously announced that Francis was coming to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the country’s two main Catholic universities. Francis’ stop in Luxembourg is apparently something of a nod to Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the Jesuit archbishop of Luxembourg who is playing a major role in Francis’ big synod, a years-long reform project for the Catholic Church.

Candidates begin registering in complicated process to select Thailand’s new Senate

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand on Monday officially began the selection of new senators, a process that has become part of an ongoing war between progressive forces hoping for democratic political reforms and conservatives seeking to keep the status quo. Hopeful candidates headed to district offices across the country on the first day of registration to compete for one of the 200 seats in Parliament’s upper house. The power of the Senate — although limited compared to the House of Representatives, which is tasked with law-making responsibilities — was demonstrated dramatically when it blocked the progressive party that won the most seats in last year’s election from forming a new government.

Nepal’s prime minister wins confidence vote in parliament, his fourth since taking office

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s prime minister will continue leading his shaky governing coalition after winning his fourth vote of confidence in two years on Monday. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called the vote in Nepal’s lower house of parliament after a minor party in his coalition broke apart and its members withdrew support from the government. Dahal won the vote with 157 votes, a majority of the 272-member house. Dahal has struggled to keep his coalition together since becoming prime minister in December 2022 following an inconclusive election. Dahal’s Nepal Communist Party Maoist Center came in third in that election, but was the first party to piece together majority support.