Top Asian News 11:48 p.m. GMT

Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party moves to disband as freedoms dwindle

HONG KONG (AP) — When Yeung Sum co-founded the city’s largest pro-democracy party more than 30 years ago, he knew building a democratic Hong Kong would be a “difficult dream.” Still, it was not impossible. Today, his Democratic Party is moving toward dissolution, a symbolic marker of the diminishing Western-style civil liberties and high degree of autonomy that the ruling Communist Party in Beijing promised to keep intact in the former British colony for at least 50 years when it returned to China in 1997. Pro-democracy protests that paralyzed Hong Kong in 2019 led to a crackdown that has all but silenced dissent through restricted elections, media censorship and a China-imposed national security law that saw some of Yeung’s party members jailed.

3 suspected militants and an Indian army officer killed in Kashmir fighting

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Three suspected militants and an army officer have been killed in two separate gunbattles in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said Saturday. Army soldiers laid a cordon in a forested area in southern Kishtwar district on Wednesday following a tip that a group of insurgents was operating there, an army statement said. A search in the area by soldiers led to a firefight with militants, initially leaving one militant dead late Wednesday, the statement said. It added that despite inclement weather, troops maintained their cordon in the area, triggering more exchanges of gunfire that resulted in the killing of two more militants on Saturday.

Japanese leader says he hopes Osaka expo will help reunite a divided world

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, speaking at Saturday’s opening ceremony for the Osaka expo, expressed his hope that the event will help restore global unity in a world plagued by conflicts and trade wars. “The world, having overcome the coronavirus pandemic, is now threatened by an array of divisions,” Ishiba said. “At a time like this, it is extremely meaningful that people from around the world gather here and discuss the theme of life and experience cutting-edge technology, diverse ideas and culture.” Expo 2025 Osaka officially opens Sunday, with the theme of life, world and the future, and Japan hopes to bring unity and portray a future society.

Some 100,000 rally against Israel in Bangladesh’s capital

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday to condemn Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. The protesters, estimated at some 100,000, gathered at the Suhrawardy Park in the Dhaka University area. They carried hundreds of Palestinian flags and chanted slogans such as “Free, Free Palestine.” Many among them beat the images of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing them of backing Israel. Symbolic coffins and effigies representing civilian casualties were carried during the rally. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and Islamist groups and parties expressed their solidarity with the rally.

Could Trump’s tariffs slow emissions? Sure, experts say, but at great cost overall

President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs have stirred widespread anxiety about a severe economic downturn -- and curiosity, for some, about how it might affect the world’s warming climate. Experts say a slowdown in international trade might have a brief and slight benefit in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which come in part from fuels like gas and oil that are used to move goods around the world via ships, planes and vehicles. But any such benefit in reducing emissions, which cause climate change, will be swamped by sharply rising costs worldwide that will hurt efforts to transition to green energies.

China hits back at US and will raise tariffs on American goods from 84% to 125%

BEIJING (AP) — China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown. While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday. Washington’s repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs.

AP PHOTOS: Furniture exporters in Malaysia race to beat Trump’s 90-day tariff window

MUAR, Malaysia (AP) — In southern Malaysia, furniture manufacturers are in a race against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. After threatening to impose a 24% tax on all goods imported from the Southeast Asian country, Trump said Tuesday he would cut rates 10% for most countries for 90 days. Factories here took that as a deadline to fill as many orders from U.S. customers as possible before the higher rate kicks in. Muar, in Malaysia’s Johor state, is a major hub for Malaysia’s furniture industry, and the U.S. is its largest export market, accounting for roughly 60% of total exports. At the Corporate Specialist kitchen furniture factory, workers were packing goods and loading them onto containers as fast as they could on Friday.

High winds and sandstorms prompt Beijing to cancel hundreds of flights and close parks

BEIJING (AP) — High winds and the threat of sandstorms Saturday prompted Beijing to cancel hundreds of flights and close public parks, as massive gales felled hundreds of trees, crushing cars and damaging older homes across China’s capital. Beijing’s two massive international airports, Beijing Capital and Daxing, canceled 693 flights by 2:00 p.m. with warnings of more violent weather on its way, especially in the country’s north and along coastal areas. More flights and trains were canceled in other parts of China. Some parts of the country recorded their most powerful winds in more than 75 years, registering at up to 148 kph (92 mph).

Worker rescued from collapsed subway construction site in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean rescue workers on Saturday pulled a man from a collapsed subway construction site near the capital of Seoul and continued searching for another believed to be trapped inside. Im Gwang-sik, an official with Gwangmyeong city’s fire department, said the survivor was trapped about 30 meters (98 feet) underground in the rubble for approximately 13 hours, and was conscious when found and taken to a nearby hospital. Gwangmyeong city authorities had earlier withdrawn workers from the construction site and halted traffic in the area after receiving reports that a ventilation shaft was at risk of collapsing.

The UN decries ongoing combat in Myanmar as earthquake relief faces big challenges

BANGKOK (AP) — Human rights experts for the United Nations are expressing urgent concern about ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s civil war, despite ceasefires called by major parties to facilitate relief efforts after the country’s devastating March 28 earthquake. At the same time, a new U.N. report said that because of the earthquake, the Southeast Asian country is facing increased humanitarian needs while a food shortage and a health crisis appear to be looming. “At a moment when the sole focus should be on ensuring humanitarian aid gets to disaster zones, the military is instead launching attacks,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N.