Top Asian News 4:39 a.m. GMT

At least 53 men massacred in Papua New Guinea tribal violence, police tell Australian media

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — At least 53 men were massacred in a major escalation of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea, Australian media reported Monday. A tribe, their allies and mercenaries were on their way to attack a neighboring tribe when they were ambushed Sunday in Enga province in the South Pacific nation’s remote highlands, Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Acting Superintendent George Kakas told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Police expected to find more dead bodies among the wounded who had escaped into the woods, he said. “These tribesmen have been killed all over the countryside, all over the bush,” Kakas told ABC.

Japan hosts Ukraine reconstruction conference to showcase its support for the war-torn country

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged his country’s long-term engagement in Ukraine’s reconstruction on Monday, calling it an investment in the future, as Japan stresses its commitment to supporting the war-torn country ahead of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. In his keynote speech at a conference Japan co-organized with the Ukrainian government and business organizations, Kishida said Japan wants a long-term public-private partnership based on inclusivity, humanitarianism, technology and knowledge. More than 50 cooperation deals were signed by Japanese and Ukrainian government agencies and companies. “The war in Ukraine is still going on at this very moment and the situation is not easy.

Thai ex-Prime Minister Thaksin is free on parole, but can he restore his old political luster?

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Southeast Asian nation’s most controversial politician for more than two decades, was released on parole early Sunday from a Bangkok hospital where he spent six months serving time for corruption-related offenses. The telecoms billionaire was toppled in a 2006 coup but voluntarily returned from self-exile to Thailand in August last year and reported to prison to begin serving an eight-year sentence. Critics charged that the 74-year-old Thaksin’s early release reeked of a deal that short-circuited justice for political reasons. Current Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, a leading member of the ruling Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai party, expressed congratulations to his predecessor.

China’s coast guard to ramp up patrols near Taiwan’s Kinmen archipelago after 2 fishermen drown

BANGKOK (AP) — China is stepping up patrols in the waters off the coast of Taiwan’s Kinmen archipelago, days after two of its fishermen drowned while being chased by the Taiwanese coast guard, which accused the boat of trespassing. The Chinese coast guard’s Fujian division will regularly monitor the waters off the southern coast of the city of Xiamen — a few kilometers from Kinmen — to strengthen maritime law enforcement, said the coast guard’s spokesman, Gan Yu, in a statement Sunday. Fishermen from Taiwan and China regularly sail that stretch of water which has seen a rise in tensions as the number of Chinese vessels — including sand dredgers and fishing boats — have notably increased in the area.

Solemn monument to Japanese American WWII detainees lists more than 125,000 names

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Samantha Sumiko Pinedo and her grandparents file into a dimly lit enclosure at the Japanese American National Museum and approach a massive book splayed open to reveal columns of names. Pinedo is hoping the list includes her great-grandparents, who were detained in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II. “For a lot of people, it feels like so long ago because it was World War II. But I grew up with my Bompa (great-grandpa), who was in the internment camps,” Pinedo says. A docent at the museum in Los Angeles gently flips to the middle of the book — called the Ireichō — and locates Kaneo Sakatani near the center of a page.

Chinese foreign minister says trying to cut his country out of trade would be a historic mistake

MUNICH (AP) — China’s foreign minister told a gathering of international security policy officials Saturday that trying to shut China out of trade in the name of avoiding dependency would be a historic mistake. Wang Yi spoke at the Munich Security Conference. Host Germany wants to avoid over-reliance on trade with an increasingly assertive China and diversify its supply of key goods in an approach it calls “de-risking.” That’s in line with the approach of other industrial powers in the Group of Seven, which has stressed that it doesn’t seek to harm China or thwart its development. Beijing has criticized the strategy.

Taliban decrees on clothing and male guardians leave Afghan women scared to go out alone, says UN

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan women feel scared or unsafe leaving their homes alone because of Taliban decrees and enforcement campaigns on clothing and male guardians, according to a report from the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. The report, issued Friday, comes days before a U.N-convened meeting in the Qatari capital is set to start, with member states and special envoys to Afghanistan due to discuss engagement with the Taliban and the country’s crises, including the human rights situation. The Taliban — which took over Afghanistan in 2021 during the final weeks of U.S. and NATO withdrawal from the country — have barred women from most areas of public life and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed despite initial promises of a more moderate rule.

Japan’s new flagship H3 rocket reaches orbit in a key test after failed debut last year

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s flagship H3 rocket reached orbit and released two small observation satellites in a key second test following a failed debut launch last year, buoying hope for the country in the global space race. The H3 rocket blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on time Saturday morning, two days after its originally scheduled liftoff was delayed by bad weather. The rocket successfully reached orbit at an altitude of about 670 kilometers (about 420 miles) and released two satellites, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said. “We feel so relieved to be able to announce the good results,” JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa told a news conference.

Indian farmers strike to demand guaranteed crop prices as others attempt to march to New Delhi

NEW DELHI (AP) — Farmers blocked highways and held demonstrations in many rural areas in northern India on Friday to protest over a range of grievances that have also led tens of thousands to march toward the capital in tractors and wagons. Farmers in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab held sit-ins near toll plazas on major highways in the strike, supported by some trade unions. Authorities advised commuters to plan routes carefully to avoid blocked roads. Tens of thousands of farmers began a protest march toward New Delhi earlier this week to demand guaranteed prices for their produce, but were stopped by the police about 200 kilometers (125 miles) away from the capital.

How will Prabowo Subianto, an ex-general who’s never held elective office, lead Indonesia?

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Foreign leaders congratulated Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto on his apparent victory in Indonesia’s presidential election, while rights activists called him a threat. But how he’ll govern remains uncertain after a campaign in which he made few concrete promises besides continuity with the popular outgoing president. The 72-year-old ex-general has never held elective office. He’ll lead a massive, diverse island nation whose economy has boomed amid strong global demand for its natural resources, but he’ll have to contend with global economic distress and regional tensions in Asia, where territorial conflicts and the U.S.-China rivalry loom large. The election outcome capped a long comeback for Subianto, who was expelled from the Indonesian army over allegations his men tortured dissidents, and banned from traveling to the United States and Australia for years.