Top Asian News 7:13 p.m. GMT

Thailand’s reformist Move Forward Party, dissolved by court order, regroups as People’s Party

BANGKOK (AP) — Just two days after being disbanded by court order, Thailand’s main progressive political party regrouped Friday under a new name and vowed to continue its fight for reforms despite continuing opposition from the conservative establishment that blocked the party from taking power despite finishing first in last year’s election. Leaders of the dissolved Move Forward Party announced they were forming a new party to be called the People’s — or Prachachon — Party. Critics say the party’s dissolution was the latest attack on the country’s progressive movement in a yearslong legal campaign by conservative forces. Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the Move Forward Party violated the constitution by proposing to amend a law that criminalizes insulting the royal family.

Bangladesh protests are not the first time student uprisings have helped bring about radical change

BANGKOK (AP) — In Bangladesh, weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs turned into a broad uprising that forced the prime minister to flee the country and resign. The demonstrations began peacefully last month and were primarily led by students frustrated with the system that they said favored those with connections to the ruling party. But it turned violent on July 15 as student protesters clashed with security officials and pro-government activists. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled this week after the unrest during which nearly 300 people died, including both students and police officers. Students or other young people have frequently played pivotal roles in popular uprisings that have brought down governments or forced them to change policies.

Attack on Pakistani army posts leaves 3 soldiers and 4 insurgents dead

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants attacked three army posts in northwest Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan on Friday, triggering intense shootouts that killed three soldiers and four insurgents, the military said. The attacks happened in the Tirah Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement. It said a search operation was underway in the area to eliminate any other insurgents and security forces were “determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism.” The military gave no further details, but a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban in a statement claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Gul Bahadur group is based in Afghanistan, authorities say.

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus takes the helm in Bangladesh, to seek peace and prepare elections

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took the oath of office as head of Bangladesh’s interim government Thursday after protests forced out former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this week. The key tasks for Yunus now are restoring peace in Bangladesh and preparing for new elections following the ouster of Hasina, who fled to India after weeks of student protests over job quotas grew into an uprising against her increasingly autocratic 15-year rule. The figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath to Yunus for his role as chief adviser, which is the equivalent to a prime minister, in the presence of diplomats, civil society members, top businessmen and members of the former opposition party at the presidential palace in Dhaka.

AP PHOTOS: Bangladesh’s turbulent half-century, from coups to climate shocks

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh has had a turbulent existence since gaining independence in 1971 following a war with Pakistan. Its first coup occurred in 1975, when President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated. Two more coups that year ended with Ziaur Rahman seizing power. In 1981, Rahman was assassinated by rebels who stormed a government guest house. In 1982, successor Abdus Sattar was overthrown in a coup led by Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who later assumed the presidency. Power was then traded between two formidable women, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. Hasina was toppled this week by a student-led uprising. Her archrival Zia was freed this week from house arrest.

The scrutiny Khelif and Lin face over their sex at the Olympics is a repeating problem in sports

It’s 15 years ago this month that a teenage runner from South Africa was publicly scrutinized over her sex at a major sports event. The lesson everyone was meant to take from that was: never again. Yet, the humiliation Caster Semenya faced has been repeated for two women competing in boxing at the Paris Olympics, exposing more female athletes to hurtful remarks and online abuse in a contentious divide over sex, gender and identity in sports. While Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan could be basking in the pride of winning fights for their countries, they are instead having their sex questioned in front of the world after the Olympics-banned boxing federation claimed they failed sex verification tests last year but has given little information about them.

Philippine court blocks government’s effort to close news outlet that criticized former president

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine appeals court reversed a regulator’s 2018 order to shut down a prominent news outlet in a decision made public Friday, marking a legal victory for journalists who angered former President Rodrigo Duterte by reporting critically on his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs and alarming human rights record. The Court of Appeals ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission to restore the certificates of incorporation of Rappler, an online news outfit founded by 2021 Nobel peace prize co-winner Maria Ressa, in a decision issued July 23. It wasn’t immediately clear if the SEC will appeal the ruling.

Japan’s Kishida cancels Asia trip after scientists urge preparations for a possible ‘megaquake’

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida canceled a planned trip to Central Asia on Friday to lead the government’s response after scientists urged people to prepare for a possible “megaquake” off the country’s southern coast. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first ever “megaquake advisory” on Thursday warning of a possible future major earthquake triggered by the underwater Nankai Trough, after a magnitude 7.1 quake shook just off the eastern coast of Kyushu island earlier in the day. The trough, which runs along Japan’s Pacific coast, was the source of past devastating earthquakes. Seismologists at the agency held an emergency meeting after Thursday’s quake to analyze whether it had affected the nearby trough and reassessed the risk of a major quake.

Those Samsung smartphones given to Olympic athletes? They may violate sanctions on North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials on Thursday said providing Samsung smartphones to North Korean athletes at the Paris Olympics would violate U.N. Security Council sanctions against the country over its nuclear and missile program. The South Korean technology giant is a major Olympic partner, and its newest Galaxy Z Flip 6 smartphones are being given to all athletes competing at the Games. The International Olympic Committee confirmed that the phones were sent to the Olympic village, then later said the North Korean athletes had not received them. It’s unclear where the phones might have went. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said smartphones are among the items banned under Security Council Resolution 2397 passed in 2017, which prohibits the supply, sale or transfer to North Korea of “all industrial machinery.” The resolution doesn’t make a distinction between North Korea’s government and its people, and South Korean officials made clear the smartphones would be banned however they entered the country.

South Korean authorities question individual who crossed the border from the North

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean authorities on Thursday were questioning a suspected North Korean resident who crossed into the South, according to South Korea’s military. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters that South Korean soldiers secured an unidentified individual who was likely North Korean and handed that person over to relevant authorities for questioning. The joint chiefs didn’t immediately provide details on how the person crossed the border, from where and whether it was an attempt to defect to the South, citing the ongoing investigation. The military statement came after South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing anonymous military sources, reported that a North Korean resident crossed an estuary where the Han River meets the Yellow Sea and was taken by South Korean troops at the South’s western border island of Gyodong.