Top Asian News 3:55 a.m. GMT

Fierce storm blows out of northern Philippines after leaving 14 dead in landslides and floods

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A fierce storm was blowing out of the northern Philippines Tuesday after leaving at least 14 people dead in landslides, floods and swollen rivers, disaster-response officials said. Tropical Storm Yagi swept past Paoay town in Ilocos Norte province into the South China Sea with sustained winds of up to 75 kilometers (47 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 125 kph (78 mph), according to the weather bureau. It was forecast to strengthen into a typhoon as it barrels northwestward over the sea toward southern China. Storm warnings remained in most northern Philippine provinces, where residents were warned of the lingering danger of landslides in rain-soaked mountain villages and floodings in the farming lowlands of Luzon, the country’s most populous region.

Pope opens Asia odyssey with stop in Indonesia to rally Catholics, hail religious freedom tradition

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is heading to Indonesia to start the longest trip of his pontificate, hoping to encourage its Catholic community and celebrate the tradition of interfaith harmony in a country with the world’s largest Muslim population. Francis plans to take a rest day upon arrival Tuesday in Jakarta, given the overnight flight from Rome and the rigors of an 11-day voyage zigzagging across time zones that will also take him to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. However, the Vatican said the 87-year-old pope would meet Tuesday with a group of refugees, migrants and sick people at the Vatican residence in Jakarta.

Bus crashes into students in eastern China, killing or injuring at least 10, state media say

BEIJING (AP) — A bus crashed into a group of students in eastern China on Tuesday, killing or injuring at least 10, state media reported. The students were waiting at the gate of a middle school in Tai’an city in Shandong province shortly after 7 a.m., Xinhua news agency said. The bus was specially customized for transporting students, it said. The cause of the accident was being investigated. School safety, including overloaded school buses and poorly designed buildings, has long been a problem in China. In 2017, a dozen people, including 11 kindergarten pupils, were killed when a school bus crashed and burst into flames in a tunnel in the eastern Chinese city of Weihai, also in Shandong province.

2 people are rescued from a disabled yacht off the Australian coast

SYDNEY (AP) — Two people were rescued unharmed Tuesday after spending a night aboard a disabled yacht in heavy seas off the Australian coast. The 60-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman were rescued at 7:30 a.m. from their 19-meter (62-foot) yacht, which was abandoned 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of the New South Wales state coast, Police Chief Inspector Anthony Brazzill said. The pair were expected to reach Sydney aboard a police boat Tuesday night. The pair had activated their emergency beacon around 1 p.m. Monday, about 185 kilometers (115 miles) east of the New South Wales coastal town of Nowra, police said.

AP PHOTOS: Pope Francis’ Asia trip marks 60 years of papal visits to the region

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Pope Francis’ visit to Southeast Asia, the longest trip in his papacy, is the latest in decades of regular papal visits to the Asia-Pacific region. Papal travel is a thing of the modern era, starting with Pope Paul VI, who became the first pontiff to leave Italy in more than 150 years when he made his famous pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1964, shortly after becoming pope. His next visit was to India later that same year, marking the first time a pope had ever visited Asia. It was one of many firsts for Paul VI, who was also the first pope to fly in an airplane, the first to leave Europe and the first to visit countries on six continents, earning him the nickname “the Pilgrim Pope.” Others by Paul VI, according to the Vatican, included a 1970 trip with stops in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ceylon — today Sri Lanka — and the Philippines, where a would-be assassin unsuccessfully attempted to stab him at Manila airport.

Pacific leaders’ summit erases mention of Taiwan after Chinese anger, fracturing a shaky accord

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (AP) — Turmoil over China’s push for influence in the South Pacific has overshadowed the region’s most important diplomatic summit after a Pacific island leader apparently pledged to erase an affirmation of Taiwan’s involvement in the meeting from its closing statement, at Beijing’s behest. The Pacific Islands Forum — a group of 18 island nations, plus Australia and New Zealand — initially included a reassertion of the standing of self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, in a public communique Friday outlining leaders’ agreements after their weeklong annual meeting. But it was then removed on Saturday.

A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in the Afghan capital say a suicide bomber carried out an attack Monday, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others. The blast took place in the southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief. The dead included one woman, he said, while 13 people were wounded, all of them civilians who were taken to a hospital for treatment. A police investigation is underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Islamic State group’s affiliate, a major rival of the ruling Taliban, has carried out previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.

South Korea’s president skips opening ceremony of parliament as strife with opposition deepens

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Yoon Suk Yeol boycotted the formal opening of South Korea’s parliament on Monday as his squabbles with the opposition deepen over allegations of wrongdoing by top officials and his wife. It’s a tradition for South Korean presidents to deliver a speech at opening ceremonies for National Assembly sessions, and Yoon is the first to skip the event since the country’s transition from a military dictatorship to democracy in the late 1980s. Yoon, a conservative who narrowly won the election in 2022, has struggled to navigate a parliament controlled by liberals who have stymied his agenda and called for investigations into allegations of corruption and abuse of power involving his wife and government officials.

North Korea shows new drone attacking a target as Seoul and US hold large military exercises

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a demonstration of new exploding drones designed to crash into targets, state media said Monday, as the U.S. and South Korea engage in joint military drills. North Korean test photos showed a white drone with X-shaped tails and wings supposedly crashing into and destroying a target resembling South Korea’s main K-2 battle tank. Most combat drones stand off from targets and fire missiles. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday’s test involved various types of drones built to fly different ranges to attack enemy targets on land and sea and flew along various routes before accurately hitting test targets.

Military-run Myanmar to hold a census next month to prepare for election slated for 2025

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar will hold a national census next month to compile voter lists for a general election and to analyze population and socioeconomic trends, the head of the military government said. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s announcement on Sunday comes as Myanmar is roiled by a civil war in which the army has been forced onto the defensive against pro-democracy militants as well as ethnic militias seeking autonomy in much of the country. A group that leads the pro-democracy struggle, the National Unity Government, expressed skepticism that the military government intends to hold an election any time soon and advised people to use “caution” in complying with any census questions.