Top Asian News 9:26 a.m. GMT

Indian space agency’s satellite mission fails due to technical issue in launch vehicle

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian space agency’s mission to launch into orbit a new Earth observation satellite failed after the launch vehicle encountered a technical issue during the third stage of flight, officials said Sunday. The EOS-09 Earth observation satellite took off on board the PSLV-C61 launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on Sunday morning. “During the third stage ... there was a fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case, and the mission could not be accomplished,” said V. Narayanan, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Active in space research since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014.

Building fire kills 17, injures others in southern India

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — At least 17 people were killed and several injured in a fire that broke out at a building near the historic Charminar monument in southern Hyderabad city, officials said Sunday. Several people were found unconscious and rushed to various hospitals, according to local media. They said the building housed a jewelry store at ground level and residential space above. “The accident happened due to a short circuit and many people have died,” federal minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader G Kishan Reddy told reporters at the site of the accident. Director general of Telangana fire services Y Nagi Reddy told reporters that 21 people were in the three-story building when the fire started on the ground floor early on Sunday.

British climber scales Everest for 19th time, breaking own record for most climbs by a non-Sherpa

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A British mountain guide has scaled Mount Everest Sunday for the 19th time breaking his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest mountain by a non-Sherpa guide. Kenton Cool, 51, from southwest England, scaled the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on Sunday along with several other climbers and he was doing well and on way down from the summit, said Iswari Paudel of Himalayan Guides Nepal, which equipped his expedition. Cool first climbed Mount Everest in 2004 and has been doing it almost every year since then. He was unable to climb Everest in 2014 because the season was canceled after 16 Sherpa guides were killed in an avalanche, and again in 2015 when an earthquake triggered an avalanche that killed 19 people.

AP PHOTOS: Clashes between India and Pakistan upend lives in a Kashmiri village

GINGAL, India (AP) — Mohammad Younis Khan was among 40 residents seeking shelter in a cowshed when shelling began in Gingal, a scenic mountain village in north Kashmir on the Indian-controlled side of the de facto border with Pakistan. Men, women and children sought refuge in the 3-meter-by-4.2 meter (10-feet-by-14 feet) space, which they felt offered greater safety than their brick and cement homes. Huddled together, they heard the swoosh and thunder of the projectiles being fired from both sides of the border. When they heard a very loud sound from just outside the shelter, they held their breath and expected the worst.

Colombia seeks to join China-based development bank as Latin America drifts away from Washington

MIAMI (AP) — Colombia’s government has applied to join a China-based development bank, another sign of Latin America’s drift away from the U.S. as the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts, trade barriers and crackdown on immigration spurs many leaders in the region to seek closer ties with Washington’s geopolitical rival. Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrapped up a visit to China this week with a stop in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the head of the New Development Bank. The multilateral lender was set up a decade ago as a project of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — the so-called BRICS nations of major developing markets — as a counter to U.S.-dominated institutions like the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.

UN agency, Rohingya refugees allege Indian authorities cast dozens of them into the sea near Myanmar

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian authorities allegedly forced dozens of Rohingya refugees off a naval vessel into the sea near Myanmar last week after providing them with life jackets, a United Nations agency, family members of the refugees and their lawyer said. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement on Thursday, said at least 40 Rohingya refugees were detained in New Delhi and cast into the sea by the Indian navy near the maritime border with Myanmar. The refugees — including children, women and older people — swam ashore, but their whereabouts in Myanmar remain unknown, the agency said.

Philippines Senate race a blow to President Marcos as he feuds with Vice President Duterte

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Key allies of detained former President Rodrigo Duterte and two liberal opposition candidates were among top winners in the May 12 Senate race in the Philippines, according to official results released Friday by the Election Commission. The midterm election outcome provided unexpectedly strong backing for Duterte and boosted his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, ahead of her impeachment trial in the Senate in July. The election also was a blow to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration, whose candidates did not do as well as expected in midterm polls when the president’s influence is usually strong, analysts said.

AP PHOTOS: A death-defying ride and a night’s earnings in Satan’s Barrel

MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) — On the motorbike seat, she started the engine, sped up and began a death-defying performance inside the track known as the Satan’s Barrel. Sri Wahyuni was the star of the most-awaited performance at the night fair in the outskirts of Medan city in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. She began riding the Satan’s Barrel at 17, drawn to it by curiosity while searching for work. Now 25, she’s a key performer in this iconic Indonesian night fair act. Riding in the Satan’s Barrel requires courage. The riders don’t wear helmets on the velodrome track also known as the Wall of Death.

Thai police rescue 2 baby orangutans and arrest a trafficking suspect

BANGKOK (AP) — Two baby orangutans have been rescued from being sold in Thailand’s capital Bangkok and a suspected trafficker arrested, police said. The orangutans were seized Wednesday night and the alleged courier for the seller was arrested at a gas station, police said. The suspect was charged with illegal possession of protected wildlife and faces up to four years in prison if convicted. Police said orangutans generally sell for 300,000 baht ($9,000) each. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists orangutans as critically endangered, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) prohibits cross-border trade in the animals.

Thai construction magnate facing charge over Bangkok tower collapse surrenders to police

BANGKOK (AP) — A construction magnate, builders, designers and engineers surrendered to police Friday on criminal negligence charges over the collapse during the March 28 earthquake of a Bangkok high-rise in which 92 people died. Premchai Karnasuta, president of Italian-Thai Development Co, the main Thai contractor for the building project, as well as designers and engineers, was among 17 charged with the felony of professional negligence causing death, Bangkok deputy police chief Noppasin Poonsawat said. Noppasin said those who met police on Friday formally denied the charges. Several have previously issued public denials in response to allegations in the media. Ninety-two people were confirmed dead in the rubble of the building that had been under construction.