Top Asian News 3:57 a.m. GMT

Pakistan investigating the shooting death of a suspect in the 2013 killing of an accused Indian spy

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities are investigating the shooting death of a man who had been acquitted of killing accused Indian spy Sarabjit Singh in a Lahore prison in 2013, a police official said Sunday. Pakistan has previously accused India’s intelligence agency of being involved in killings inside Pakistan, saying it had credible evidence linking two Indian agents to the deaths of two Pakistanis last year. The man who died in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday was Amir Tamba. He was a suspect in the death of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national who was convicted of spying in Pakistan and handed a death sentence in 1991.

Officer, bystanders hailed for confronting and stopping a man who killed 6 at a Sydney shopping mall

SYDNEY (AP) — A police officer and several bystanders are being hailed for running “towards danger” to confront the attacker who stabbed and killed six people at a suburban Sydney shopping center. The shopping mall, one of the country’s busiest and near the world-famous Bondi Beach, was a hub of activity on Saturday afternoon when 40-year-old Joel Cauchi used a knife to kill five women and one man. He also injured at least a dozen others, including a 9-month-old baby whose mother died during the attack, before a police officer shot him dead. New South Wales Police confirmed Sunday Cauchi had a history of mental illness and investigators weren’t treating the attack as terrorism-related.

India’s Modi vows to boost social spending, make country into a manufacturing hub ahead of election

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday vowed to boost social spending, develop infrastructure and make India into a global manufacturing hub as companies shift away from China, as he unveiled his Hindu nationalist party’s election strategy. Modi hopes to return to power for a third five-year term. He and other leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party unveiled their promises in the world’s largest democracy days before the start of a multi-phase general election. Modi promised to expand social programs introduced during his party’s 10-year rule, including millions of free homes for the poor, along with health care, cooking gas and free grain.

India’s national election will take place in phases over 44 days. Here’s why it takes so long

NEW DELHI (AP) — Nearly 970 million people — or over 10% of the global population — are eligible to vote in India’s general elections that start Friday and last to June 1. The mammoth exercise is the biggest anywhere in the world and will take 44 days before results are announced on June 4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third successive term. He will face off against a broad but flailing alliance of opposition parties that are struggling to challenge his appeal. Most surveys predict Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party will win comfortably, cementing him as one of the country’s most popular and consequential leaders.

Germany’s Scholz arrives in China on a visit marked by trade tensions and Ukraine conflict

BEIJING (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in China on Sunday on a visit focused on the increasingly tense economic relationship between the sides and differences over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Scholz’s first destination was the industrial hub of Chongqing, where he and his delegation of ministers and business leaders were to visit a partially German-funded company and other sites in the vast city, which is a production base for China’s auto and other industries. Scholz is also scheduled to visit the financial hub of Shanghai during his three-day visit, before traveling to the capital, Beijing, to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

Heavy rains set off flash floods, killing 33 people in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Heavy flooding from seasonal rains in Afghanistan has killed at least 33 people and injured 27 others in three days, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. Abdullah Janan Saiq, the Taliban’s spokesman for the State Ministry for Natural Disaster Management, said Sunday that flash floods hit the capital, Kabul, and several provinces. He added more than 600 houses were either damaged or destroyed while around 200 livestock died. The flooding also damaged around 800 hectares of agricultural land, and more than 85 kilometers (53 miles) of roads, Saiq said. Western Farah, Herat, southern Zabul and Kandahar are among the provinces that suffered the most damage, he added.

At least 14 dead and 3 missing as landslides hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island

TANA TORAJA, Indonesia (AP) — Torrential rains triggered landslides on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 people and leaving three others missing, officials said Sunday. Mud fell from surrounding hills onto four houses just before midnight Saturday in the Tana Toraja district of South Sulawesi province, said local police chief Gunardi Mundu. He said a family gathering was being held in one of the affected houses. Dozens of soldiers, police and volunteers joined the search in the villages of Makale and South Makale, in a remote, hilly area, Mundu said. Rescuers early Sunday managed to pull out two injured people, including an 8-year-old girl, and rushed them to a nearby hospital.

Strong earthquake rattles Papua New Guinea, but there is no tsunami alert or reports of damage

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A strong magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Papua New Guinea on Monday, authorities said, but there was no tsunami alert or immediate reports of damage. The quake struck the South Pacific Island nation 110 kilometers (68 miles) southeast of the West New Britain provincial capital Kimbe at a depth of 68 kilometers (42 miles) shortly before 7 a.m. local time (21:00 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said in a statement. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said there was no tsunami alert. Papua New Guinea sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where much of the world’s earthquake and volcanic activity occurs.

China detains 2 over tourist boat capsizing that killed 12, citing lack of safety equipment

BEIJING (AP) — Two people have been detained following the capsizing of a tourist boat on a river in northeastern China that led to the drowning deaths of 12 visitors, state media reported Sunday. The accident occurred Saturday afternoon outside the city of Qinhuangdao near the coast of Hebei province, a few hour’s drive from the capital Beijing. A total of 31 people were thrown into the water. The boat was made by local villagers and was unequipped with life jackets or other safety equipment, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The boat’s owner and operator were held while an investigation into the accident was underway.

Police in Australia identify the Sydney stabbing attacker who killed 6 people

SYDNEY (AP) — Police identified Sunday the assailant who stabbed and killed six people at a busy Sydney shopping center before a police officer fatally shot him. New South Wales Police said that Joel Cauchi, 40, was responsible for the Saturday afternoon attack at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction, in the city’s eastern suburbs and not far from the world-famous Bondi Beach. NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters at a media conference on Sunday that Cauchi suffered from yet unspecified mental health issues and police investigators weren’t treating the attack as terrorism-related. “We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage, it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved,” Cooke said.