Top Asian News 3:49 a.m. GMT

India’s opposition, written off as too weak, makes a stunning comeback to slow Modi’s juggernaut

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s bruised and battered opposition was largely written off in the lead-up to the national election as too weak and fragmented to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his powerful Hindu nationalist governing party. It scored a stunning comeback, slowing the Modi juggernaut and pushing his Bharatiya Janata Party well below the majority mark. It’s unchartered territory for the populist prime minister, who needs the help of his allies to stay in power. That could significantly change his governance style after he enjoyed a commanding majority in Parliament for a decade. The election results released Wednesday also marked a revival for the main opposition Congress party and its allies, who defied predictions of decline and made deep inroads into governing party strongholds, resetting India’s political landscape.

South Korean group flies propaganda leaflets across border following North’s trash-balloon launches

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean activists’ group said Thursday it flew large balloons carrying propaganda leaflets toward North Korea, although the North has threatened to send more balloons with manure and trash across the border in response to such campaigns. The launches are escalating animosities, with South Korea suspending a tension-easing deal with North Korea and preparing to resume frontline military activities. North Korea had halted its flights of rubbish-carrying balloons but threatened to resume them if South Korean activists sent leaflets again. The South Korean civilian group, led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak, said it floated 10 balloons tied to 200,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets, USB sticks with K-pop songs and South Korean dramas and one-dollar U.S.

Philippine fishing boat explosion and fire kill 6 crewmembers while 6 others are rescued

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least six crewmembers of a fishing boat were killed when an explosion and a fire hit their vessel at sea nearly 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) off a central Philippine province, coast guard officials said Thursday, adding six others were rescued. Surviving crewmembers, including the skipper of the F/B King Bryan, were still being treated at a hospital or were too traumatized to tell investigators what set off the explosion and fire onboard the vessel Wednesday night off Naga city in Cebu province, coast guard officials said. One of the injured crewmen was in critical condition at a hospital in Cebu, the coast guard said.

India’s Modi is known for charging hard. After a lackluster election, he may have to adapt his style

NEW DELHI (AP) — Since coming to power a decade ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been known for big, bold and often snap decisions that he’s found easy to execute thanks to the brute majority he enjoyed in India’s lower house of parliament. In 2016, he yanked over 80% of bank notes from circulation in an effort to curb tax evasion that sent shockwaves through the country and devastated citizens who lost money. In 2019, his government pushed through a controversial law that stripped the special status of disputed, Muslim-majority Kashmir with hardly any debate in parliament. And in 2020, Modi swiftly brought in contentious agriculture reforms — though he was forced to drop those about a year later after mass protests from farmers.

Modi loses ground in parliament, but his Hindu nationalist policies are here to stay

NEW DELHI (AP) — For the first time since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, the party did not secure a majority on its own in 2024 national election. But the prime minister’s coalition is still expected to run the country for another five years. Modi’s allies generally support pro-Hindu legislation, but making new policies could be complicated by coalition politics and a slimmer majority. Despite a setback, many of the Hindu nationalist policies he’s instituted over the last 10 years remain locked in place: Here is a look at some of these: Soon after winning a second term in 2019, the Modi government stripped the special status of the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir.

India’s Modi prepares for record 3rd term as nations congratulate his government on election victory

NEW DELHI (AP) — The United States, Russia, China, and other nations sent their congratulations Wednesday as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government began preparations for his swearing-in for a record third term following the world’s largest democratic election. Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party met with allies who unanimously elected Modi as the National Democratic Alliance leader. Modi is likely to be sworn in as the prime minister on Saturday, local media said. Official results from the Election Commission showed the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance or NDA won 294 of the 543 seats, more than the 272 needed for a majority but far fewer than had been expected.

Myanmar’s military government denies allegations by ethnic army foe that it killed 76 villagers

BANGKOK (AP) — A spokesperson for Myanmar’s military government denied accusations that army troops and their local allies killed 76 people when they entered a village last week in the western state of Rakhine, state-controlled media reported Wednesday. Rakhine has become a focal point for Myanmar’s nationwide civil war, in which pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armed forces battle the country’s military rulers, who took power in 2021 after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The fighting there has also raised fears of a revival of organized violence against members of the Muslim Rohingya minority, similar to that which drove at least 740,000 members of their community in 2017 to f lee to neighboring Bangladesh for safety.

Emirati leader meets with Taliban official facing $10 million US bounty over attacks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The leader of the United Arab Emirates met with an official in the Taliban government still wanted by the United States on an up-to $10 million bounty over his involvement in an attack that killed an American citizen and other assaults. The meeting Tuesday highlights the growing divide internationally on how to deal with the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 and since have barred girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and otherwise restricted women’s roles in public life. While the West still doesn’t recognize the Taliban as Kabul’s government, nations in the Mideast and elsewhere have reached out to them.

The Taliban publicly flogs 63 people including women accused of crimes. The UN condemns it

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Wednesday condemned the public flogging of more than 60 people, including more than a dozen women, by the Taliban in northern Sari Pul province. At least 63 people were lashed on Tuesday by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, UNAMA said in a statement on social platform X. The U.N. office condemned corporal punishment and called for respect for international human rights obligations. Taliban’s supreme court in a statement confirmed the public flogging of 63 people including 14 women who had been accused of crimes including sodomy, theft and immoral relations. They were flogged at a sports stadium.

Indonesia’s leader says 1st phase of new capital is 80% complete and he’ll have an office there soon

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday said construction of the first phase of the country’s ambitious new capital is 80% complete and he will have an office there once clean water is available next month. “I am very optimistic about the office. We are still waiting for one more thing, the water, in July,” Widodo said in front of the construction site of the new presidential palace in Nusantara on the island of Borneo. Widodo told reporters during his visit to Nusantara that the new capital will be officially inaugurated during celebrations for the republic’s 79th Independence Day in August.