Top Asian News 3:31 a.m. GMT

China’s Communist Party will signal its approach to the country’s challenges at a meeting this week

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party is starting a four-day meeting Monday that is expected to lay out a strategy for self-sufficient economic growth in an era of heightened national security concerns and restrictions on access to American technology. While the meeting typically focuses on such long-term issues, business owners and investors will also be watching to see if the party announces any immediate measures to try to counter a prolonged real estate downturn and persistent malaise that has suppressed China’s post-COVID-19 recovery. “There’s a lot of unclarity of policy direction in China,” which is weighing on consumer and investor confidence, said Bert Hofman, the former World Bank country director for China and a professor at the National University of Singapore.

China’s economy slowed in the last quarter as weak consumer demand dragged on growth

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s economy expanded at a slower-than-forecast 4.7% annual rate in the last quarter, the government reported Monday, while emphasizing signs of improvement in factory output, income and investment. The expansion was sharply below the 5.3% annual pace of growth seen in the first quarter of the year. The progress this year, after growth slowed sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been “hard won,” the National Bureau of Statistics said. “Since the beginning of this year, global economic growth momentum has been weak, inflation is sticky, geopolitical conflicts, international trade frictions and other problems have occurred frequently, domestic demand is insufficient, enterprises are under great operating pressure, and there are many risks and hidden dangers in key areas,” it said in a statement.

Sister of North Korean leader Kim hints at resuming flying trash balloons toward South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed Sunday to respond to what she called a fresh South Korean civilian leafleting campaign, signaling North Korea could soon resume flying trash-carrying balloons across the border. Beginning in late May, North Korea floated numerous balloons carrying waste paper, scraps of cloth, cigarette butts and even manure toward South Korea in a series of late-night launch events, saying they were a tit-for-tat action against South Korean activists scattering political leaflets via their own balloons. No hazardous materials were found. In response, South Korea suspended a 2018 tension-reduction deal with North Korea, resuming propaganda broadcasts briefly and frontline live-fire military drills at border areas.

The leader of Nepal’s largest communist party has been named the country’s new prime minister

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The leader of the Nepal’s largest communist party, Khadga Prasad Oli, was named the Himalayan nation’s new prime minister on Sunday following the collapse of a previous coalition government. A statement issued by the president’s office said Oli will take his oath of office on Monday. A veteran politician and three-time prime minister, Oli will be leading a coalition government made up of his Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and the Nepali Congress party, the two largest parties in Nepal. The last government headed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal collapsed on Friday after Oli’s party, which had been a part of the coalition, withdrew its support to join the new partnership.

China, Russia start joint naval drills, days after NATO allies called Beijing a Ukraine war enabler

BEIJING (AP) — China and Russia’s naval forces on Sunday kicked off a joint exercise at a military port in southern China on Sunday, official news agency Xinhua reported, days after NATO allies called Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war in Ukraine. The Chinese defense ministry said in a brief statement forces from both sides recently patrolled the western and northern Pacific Ocean and that the operation had nothing to do with international and regional situations and didn’t target any third party. The exercise, which began in Guangdong province on Sunday and is expected to last until mid-July, aimed to demonstrate the capabilities of the navies in addressing security threats and preserving peace and stability globally and regionally, state broadcaster CCTV reported Saturday, adding it would include anti-missile exercises, sea strikes and air defense.

King Charles III to visit Australia and Samoa as he recovers from cancer

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III is preparing to visit Australia and Samoa in October, an itinerary that will span 12 time zones and test the monarch’s stamina as he recovers from cancer treatment. The trip, announced on Sunday by Buckingham Palace, marks a watershed moment for the 75-year-old king, who has been slowly returning to public duties after taking a break following his cancer diagnosis in early February. The decision to undertake such a long journey will be seen as a sign of Charles’ recovery, even though the program in Australia will be “limited.” The visit to Australia will be a critical moment for the king as he tries to shore up support for the monarchy at home and abroad.

Extravagant wedding celebrations for the son of Asia’s richest man conclude with a reception

MUMBAI, India (AP) — A wedding reception on Sunday wrapped up the monthslong celebrations as the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, married his longtime girlfriend with a price tag running into the millions. The newlyweds were cheered by friends and relatives at Mumbai’s Jio World Drive -- a convention center built and owned by the Ambani family — as part of the “Mangal Utsav” (a festival of Bliss), which marked what many have dubbed as the wedding of the year. Anant Ambani tied the knot with Radhika Merchant, daughter of pharma tycoons Viren and Shaila Merchant. The wedding rituals, including exchanging garlands by the couple and walking around the sacred fire, began Friday and were completed early Saturday.

New players emerge in fighting in Myanmar’s northeast, as powerful ethnic militias intervene

BANGKOK (AP) — Recently renewed combat in northeastern Myanmar between troops of the military government and ethnic minority militias has in the past few days become more complicated, as two minority groups not previously involved in the fighting stepped into the fray, claiming to act as a third force for stability. The intervention of the powerful fighting forces of the United Wa State Army and the Shan State Army-North highlights tensions among the various ethnic minority guerrilla groups who have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. While many of the groups have alliances with the pro-democracy resistance forces that arose to fight military rule after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, they prioritize their own goals, which include control over territory.

Italian tax police free 33 Indian workers from ‘slave-like’ conditions on farms

ROME (AP) — Italy’s tax police said Saturday they had freed 33 Indian farm workers from “slave-like working conditions” in the northern province of Verona, while seizing almost half a million euros from the two alleged gangmasters. Police said the two alleged abusers, also Indian, persuaded their fellow nationals to come to Italy, paying €17,000 each to obtain seasonal working permits. The men were then obliged to work in farms for seven days a week and up to 10-12 hours a day, paid only 4 euros per hour, in conditions that the Italian police described as “slavery.” Some of the migrants were also asked to continue working for free to pay an additional 13,000 euros for a permanent work permit, which in reality they would have never obtained, the police added.

Global leaders condemn assassination attempt targeting former US President Donald Trump

Global leaders expressed concern Sunday over an assassination attempt targeting former U.S. President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania that left one attendee dead and critically injured two others. Trump’s campaign said the presumptive Republican nominee was doing “fine” after being whisked off the stage though the shooting pierced the upper part of his right ear. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue. U.S. authorities are still investigating the shooting. Argentina’s President Javier Milei said Trump was the “victim of a cowardly assassination attempt that put his life and that of hundreds of people at risk.” In a post on X, Milei also said the apparent assassination attempt highlighted the “desperation of the international left” and its “willingness to destabilize democracies and promote violence to screw itself into power.” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the “inexcusable attack” on the United States and Australia’s shared democratic values.