Top Asian News 4:29 a.m. GMT

What’s at stake in Indonesia as the world’s third-largest democracy elects a new president?

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, will open its polls on Wednesday to nearly 205 million eligible voters in presidential and legislative elections, the fifth since Southeast Asia’s largest economy began democratic reforms in 1998. The sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands and more than 270 million people from about 1,300 ethnic groups is a bastion of democracy in Southeast Asia, a diverse and economically vibrant region of authoritarian regimes, police states and nascent democracies. The presidential election will determine who will succeed President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, who is serving his second and final term. The election is shaping up to be a three-way race among current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.

Pakistan’s election left no clear winner. So who is likely to govern and what happens next?

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s parliamentary elections left no clear winner. Allies of imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan won the most seats in the lower house of parliament in the elections last Thursday. It was a shock outcome given the obstacles: His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party could hold no campaign rallies, had no polling agents on election day and faced internet restrictions. They won 93 out of 265 National Assembly seats. It’s not enough to form a government, however. The other two mainstream parties, led by Khan’s rivals, also failed to secure enough seats to form a government on their own. They are the PML-N of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the PPP, led by political dynasty scion Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari.

Pakistan’s premier defends the delay in releasing election results and denies the vote was unfair

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister on Monday defended the widely criticized delay in announcing the results of last week’s parliamentary election, saying authorities took only 36 hours to count over 60 million votes while grappling with militant attacks. Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar insisted that a “level playing field” was available to all political parties, including that of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, and pointed out that election results in 2018, when Khan won office, had been announced after 66 hours. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, won more seats than any other in Thursday’s election, but only because its candidates ran as independents after the party was expelled from the vote.

First stone-built Hindu temple in the Middle East rises in the UAE ahead of Modi’s latest visit

ABU MUREIKHA, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pink sandstone spires decorated with deities and the pious soar above what was once a barren patch of desert between Abu Dhabi and Dubai — now the site of the first stone-constructed Hindu temple in the Middle East. The soon-to-open BAPS Hindu Mandir signals how far the United Arab Emirates has come in acknowledging the different faiths of its expatriate community, long dominated by Indians across construction sites and boardrooms. The temple nods back in its seven spires, the number of sheikhdoms in this autocratic federation on the Arabian Peninsula. It is also a sign of how close relations have become between the UAE and India.

Foreign aid drops sharply as Taliban abuses jeopardize the Afghan health system, group says

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Human Rights Watch said Monday that Afghanistan’s public health system has been hit hard following a sharp reduction in foreign assistance, coupled with serious Taliban abuses against women and girls, jeopardizing the right to healthcare of millions of Afghans. In a report, the New York-based watchdog said this has left the “Afghan population increasingly vulnerable to severe malnutrition and illness” among other effects of inadequate medical care. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 drove millions into poverty and hunger after foreign aid stopped almost overnight. Sanctions against the Taliban rulers, a halt on bank transfers and frozen billions in Afghanistan’s currency reserves, have cut off access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the aid-dependent economy before the withdrawal of U.S.

Cambodia reports a new bird flu case, the brother of a 9-year-old who died of the virus

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The brother of a boy who died last week from bird flu has tested positive for the virus, Cambodia’s Health Ministry said Monday. The 9-year-old’s death in the northeastern province of Kratie was the first from bird flu in Cambodia this year, after four were reported last year by the World Health Organization. Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, normally spreads in poultry and wasn’t deemed a threat to people until a 1997 outbreak among visitors to poultry markets in Hong Kong. Most human cases have involved direct contact with infected poultry, but there have been concerns that the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people.

A defense minister and 2 former governors vie for Indonesia’s presidency

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesians on Wednesday will elect the successor to popular President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second and final term. It is a three-way race for the presidency among current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo. Subianto, who is widely seen as the front-runner, has picked Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his running mate. About 205 million people are eligible to vote in the world’s third-largest democracy and the most populous Muslim-majority nation. Here is some information about the candidates and their running mates. Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is the only candidate with links to the 1967-98 Suharto dictatorship, when he was a lieutenant general.

Qatar frees 8 retired Indian navy officers whose death sentences over alleged spying were commuted

NEW DELHI (AP) — Qatar has freed eight retired Indian navy officers whose death sentences for alleged spying were commuted last year, India’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. The eight men were accused of spying while working at Al Dahra, a consulting company in the oil-rich Gulf state that advises the Qatari government on submarine acquisitions. They were imprisoned in 2022 and handed death sentences in October that were reduced to prison sentences after India said it was exploring legal options and filed an appeal. “We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and homecoming of these nationals,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that seven of the men had returned to India.

Indonesia police to charge 2 Chinese nationals in furnace explosion at Chinese-owned nickel plant

PALU, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police on Monday named two Chinese nationals as suspects in the explosion of a smelting furnace at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Sulawesi Island that killed 21 workers and injured dozens of others. Four Chinese and nine Indonesian workers died instantly on Dec. 24 when the furnace at PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, or PT ITSS, exploded while they were repairing it. Eight others died in the following days while being treated at hospitals, bringing the total number of fatalities to 21, including eight workers from China. The furnace was located inside a nickel processing-based industrial area under the management of PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as PT IMIP, in Morowali regency of Central Sulawesi province.

Facing setbacks against resistance forces, Myanmar’s military government activates conscription law

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government on Saturday activated for the first time a decade-old conscription law that makes young men and women subject to at least two years of military service if called up, effective immediately. The announcement of the measure on state television amounts to a major, though tacit, admission that the army is struggling to contain the nationwide armed resistance against its rule. Under the 2010 People’s Military Service Law, passed under a previous military government, men aged 18 to 45 and women 18 to 35 can be drafted into the armed forces for two years, extendable to five years during national emergencies.