Top Asian News 4:47 a.m. GMT

Storm-weary Philippines forcibly evacuates thousands as another typhoon hits

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A new typhoon barreled across an agricultural region in the northeastern Philippines on Monday after thousands were evacuated to safety while still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by three successive storms in the last three weeks. Typhoon Toraji slammed into northeastern Aurora province and was forecast to blow over the mountainous Luzon region, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — just the day before — inspected the damage from the last storm and led the distribution of food packs to residents in Cagayan and Ilocos provinces. Marcos skipped this week’s Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum in Peru to oversee recovery efforts from back-to-back storms.

Japan’s struggling leader faces another vote in parliament after his party’s election loss

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, after his governing coalition suffered the worst election loss in more than a decade, faces another vote in parliament on Monday, though he is likely to be re-elected as leader and remain in power. Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito together lost their majority in the 465-seat Lower House, the more powerful of Japan’s two-house parliament, in the Oct. 27 election due to continued voter outrage over financial misconduct by his party and its lukewarm response. A special parliamentary session convenes later Monday to pick a new leader. A vote is mandatory within 30 days of a general election.

The Singles’ Day shopping festival loses its shine under China’s lagging economy

HONG KONG (AP) — Merchants and consumers alike found the Singles’ Day shopping festival Monday less shiny than in years past as e-commerce firms look abroad for growth. The annual event named by the numeric form of its Nov. 11 date was started by e-commerce platform Alibaba, which offered attractive discounts to entice shoppers to spend big. The extravaganza has since expanded to other platforms like JD.com and Pinduoduo in China as well as abroad. While Singles’ Day was previously a one-day event, shopping platforms in China now kickstart the festival weeks ahead to drum up sales volume. The festival has also traditionally been regarded as a barometer of consumer sentiment.

Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Rivals of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday thwarted a plan by her Awami League party to hold a rally in Bangladesh’s capital, seen as a potential first effort to make a comeback on the streets since she fled the country in August amid a mass uprising. The rally in Dhaka by Hasina’s party was to commemorate the death of a party activist on Nov. 10, 1987, which had sparked a mass protest against former military dictator H.M. Ershad. He was eventually ousted from office, ending his nine-year rule in 1990. The day is commemorated as “democracy day.” In 1991, Bangladesh switched to a parliamentary democracy from a presidential form of government, and since then Hasina and her rival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, became the most powerful political figures in the country.

Militant attack on Pakistani border leaves 5 Iranian security forces dead, state media says

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A militant attack near the Pakistani border with Iran left five Iranian forces dead, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Sunday. The report said the dead were ethnic Baluch members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s volunteer Basij force and were killed in Saravan city in Sistan and Baluchistan province. Saravan is some 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier in the day, state TV reported that Revolutionary Guard forces killed three terrorists and arrested nine others in a military operation. The report did not specify which group the suspects belonged to.

The Taliban will attend a UN climate conference for the 1st time

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban will attend a U.N. climate conference for the first time since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the country’s national environment agency said Sunday. The conference, known as COP29, begins Monday in Azerbaijan and is one of the most important multilateral talks to include the Taliban, who do not have official recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. The National Environmental Protection Agency posted on social media platform X that a technical delegation had gone to Baku to participate. Matiul Haq Khalis, the agency’s head, said the delegation would use the conference to strengthen cooperation with the international community on environmental protection and climate change, share Afghanistan’s needs regarding access to existing financial mechanisms related to climate change, and discuss adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Indonesia’s new leader calls for collaboration with China before heading to the US

BEIJING (AP) — Indonesia’s new leader called for collaboration rather than confrontation with China after the signing of $10 billion in new deals at a business forum on Sunday in the Chinese capital before heading to the U.S. President Prabowo Subianto told the forum that his country wants to be part of China’s emergence as not only an economic but also a “civilizational power.” “We must give an example that in this modern age, collaboration — not confrontation — is the way for peace and prosperity,” he said. Subianto wrapped up the first stop of his first overseas trip since taking office three weeks ago.

China delimits a contested South China Sea shoal in a dispute with Philippines

BEIJING (AP) — China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it had seized from the Philippines, a move that’s likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims. The Foreign Ministry on Sunday posted online geographic coordinates for the baselines around Scarborough Shoal. A nation’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are typically defined as the distance from the baselines. Both China and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal and other outcroppings in the South China Sea. China seized the shoal, which lies west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, in 2012 and has since restricted access to Filipino fishermen there.

Children’s book by chef Jamie Oliver is withdrawn after criticism from Indigenous Australians

LONDON (AP) — A children’s book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticized for causing offense to Indigenous Australians. The Guardian newspaper reported Saturday that the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation blasted “Billy And The Epic Escape,” which was published earlier this year, for employing a series of tropes and stereotypes about Indigenous Australians, including their relationships with the natural and spiritual worlds. The group criticized one of the fantasy novel’s subplots, which tells the story of an Indigenous girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences.” In a statement, Oliver, 49, said he was “devastated” to have caused offense and apologized “wholeheartedly.” “It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,” he said.

North Korean GPS manipulation disrupted dozens of planes and vessels, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military said North Korea disrupted GPS signals from border areas for the second-straight day on Saturday, affecting an unspecified number of flights and vessel operations. Tensions between the rival Koreas have escalated as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flaunts his advancing nuclear and missile program and engages in electronic and psychological warfare, such as flying thousands of balloons to drop trash and anti-South Korean propaganda leaflets in the South. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean operations to manipulate GPS signals were detected from around the western border city of Kaesong and the nearby city of Haeju on Friday and Saturday, and said the activities disrupted dozens of civilian aircraft and several vessels.