Top Asian News 3:49 a.m. GMT

Pope and imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque make joint call for peace, environmental protection

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis joined the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque in pledging to work together to promote peace and protect the environment on Thursday, issuing a joint call for interfaith friendship and common cause at the heart of Francis’ visit to Indonesia. In an encounter rich with symbolic meaning, Francis traveled to Jakarta’s iconic Istiqlal Mosque for an interfaith gathering with representatives of the six religions that are officially recognized in Indonesia: Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Protestantism. There, he and the grand imam, Nasaruddin Umar, stood at the ground-level entrance to the “Tunnel of Friendship,” an underpass which connects the mosque compound with the neighboring Catholic cathedral, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Students in Bangladesh forced out the country’s leader a month ago. Where do things stand now?

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A month ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people and pushed the country to the brink of chaos. What began as student protests over government jobs became a large-scale revolt against the country’s longest-serving prime minister. Hasina, 76, fled to India on Aug. 5 as anger against her government swelled. But the ouster triggered more violence. Police went on strike and mobs rampaged across the country until a new interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in. Here is where things stand now, a month after the country was roiled by its worst bloodshed in decades: Since he was sworn in, Yunus declared that his key tasks would be to restore peace and law and order, fight corruption, and prepare for new elections.

For many investors and intellectuals leaving China, it’s Japan — not the US — that’s the bigger draw

TOKYO (AP) — One by one, the students, lawyers and others filed into a classroom in a central Tokyo university for a lecture by a Chinese journalist on Taiwan and democracy — taboo topics that can’t be discussed publicly back home in China. “Taiwan’s modern-day democracy took struggle and bloodshed, there’s no question about that,” said Jia Jia, a columnist and guest lecturer at the University of Tokyo who was briefly detained in China eight years ago on suspicion of penning a call for China’s top leader to resign. He is one of tens of thousands of intellectuals, investors and other Chinese who have relocated to Japan in recent years, part of a larger exodus of people from China.

Seeking an alternative to China’s pressure-cooker schools, families move to Thailand

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) — The competition started in second grade for DJ Wang’s son. Eight-year-old William was enrolled at a top elementary school in Wuhan, a provincial capital in central China. While kindergarten and first grade were relatively carefree, the homework assignments started piling up in second grade. By third grade, his son was regularly finishing his day around midnight. “You went from traveling lightly to carrying a very heavy burden,” Wang said. “That sudden switch, it was very hard to bear.” Wang, who traveled often to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand for his job in tourism, decided to make a switch, moving his family to the city that sits at the base of mountains.

Chinese migrants flock to Mexico in search of jobs, a future and, for some, a taste of freedom

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Despite her well-paying tech job, Li Daijing didn’t hesitate when her cousin asked for help running a restaurant in Mexico City. She packed up and left China for the Mexican capital last year, with dreams of a new adventure. The 30-year-old woman from Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, hopes one day to start an online business importing furniture from her home country. “I want more,” Li said. “I want to be a strong woman. I want independence.” Li is among a new wave of Chinese migrants who are leaving their country in search of opportunities, more freedom or better financial prospects at a time when China’s economy has slowed, youth unemployment rates remain high and its relations with the U.S.

Chinese and African leaders hold a summit on deepening cooperation in a divided world

BEIJING (AP) — Dozens of African leaders have descended on Beijing for a summit that signals China’s influence in a continent that it hopes will be a key ally in pushing back against a U.S.-led global order. Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to the assembled leaders Thursday that relations with all African countries that have diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the “strategic” level. “We have always understood and supported each other, setting an example for a new type of international relations,” he said at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. China has become a major player in Africa since the forum was founded in 2000.

South Korea says North Korea has again launched trash-carrying balloons across the border

PAJU, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is flying more trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea, officials said Thursday, in the latest round of Cold War-style psychological warfare between the rivals. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected more balloons launched from North Korea on Thursday morning following launches the previous evening. Since May, North Korea has flown thousands of balloons toward South Korea to drop substances such as wastepaper, cloth scraps, cigarette butts and even manure, in what it described as retaliation against South Korean civilian activists who fly anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border. North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un.

The AP Interview: East Timor’s president says the pope’s visit isn’t time to dwell on past sins

DILI, East Timor (AP) — The president of East Timor sees Pope Francis’ upcoming visit as a prime opportunity to promote Asia’s youngest country on the world stage, not a time to confront the legacy of abuse by influential members of the clergy in the deeply Catholic nation. During an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, President José Ramos-Horta also predicted progress soon on a major energy project with Australia, and urged China and the United States to act as “benevolent superpowers” as they compete for influence in the Southeast Asian country. The 74-year-old former independence fighter and Nobel laureate returned to the presidency in 2022 with campaign pledges that included tackling poverty, creating jobs and improving political stability.

A Greenland court extends an anti-whaling activist’s custody as Japan seeks his extradition

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A court in Greenland on Wednesday again extended the time in custody for a prominent anti-whaling activist as Denmark considers an extradition request from Japan. The court ruled that Canadian-American Paul Watson must remain in detention until Oct. 2 while Denmark’s justice ministry considers the request. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, which doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Japan. Watson is the former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whose high-seas confrontations with whaling vessels have drawn widespread attention. He was arrested on July 21 when his ship docked in Greenland’s capital. Japan’s coast guard sought his arrest over an encounter with a Japanese whaling research ship in 2010, when he was accused of obstructing the crew’s official duties by ordering the captain of his ship to throw explosives.

The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year

The world creates 57 million tons of plastic pollution every year and spreads it from the deepest oceans to the highest mountaintop to the inside of people’s bodies, according to a new study that also said more than two-thirds of it comes from the Global South. It’s enough pollution each year — about 52 million metric tons — to fill New York City’s Central Park with plastic waste as high as the Empire State Building, according to researchers at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. They examined waste produced on the local level at more than 50,000 cities and towns across the world for a study in Wednesday’s journal Nature.