Top Asian News 4:23 a.m. GMT

Taiwan condemns China for conducting shooting drills off its coast

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan on Thursday condemned China’s military exercises after Beijing designated an area to conduct shooting drills off the self-governed island’s southwest coast. China considers the island a renegade province to be taken by force if necessary and in recent years has increased military activity around Taiwan’s waters and airspace. “China is the biggest troublemaker for regional peace and stability, and the sole and greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region,” Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in its statement. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a 24-hour period it detected 45 aircraft, 14 navy vessels and one ship from the Chinese military operating around Taiwan, of which 34 had crossed into its waters and airspace.

Over 7,000 workers from scam centers in Myanmar are awaiting repatriation after a regional crackdown

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) — A new crackdown on online scam centers has led to over 7,000 people from around the world being held in a Myanmar border town awaiting repatriation, and those helping them say the unprecedented number is straining the resources of Thailand just across the border and leading to delays. The crackdown coordinated among Thailand, Myanmar and China follows Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s visit to Beijing this month, where she told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Thailand would act against the scam networks that have drawn in hundreds of thousands of people. They are often lured under false pretenses to work in scam centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where they financially exploit people around the world through false romances, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.

North Korea opens to a group of international travelers for the 1st time in years

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A small group of foreign tourists has visited North Korea in the past week, making them the first international travelers to enter the country in five years except for a group of Russian tourists who went to the North last year. The latest trip indicates North Korea may be gearing up for a full resumption of its international tourism to bring in much-needed foreign currency to revive its struggling economy, experts say. The Beijing-based travel company Koryo Tours said it arranged a five-day trip from Feb. 20 to Feb. 24 for 13 international tourists to the northeastern North Korean border city of Rason, where the country’s special economic zone is located.

Tens of thousands gather for Hindu festival at Nepal temple, with many lighting up marijuana joints

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees gathered at a revered temple in Nepal’s capital on Wednesday to celebrate one of the country’s biggest religious festivals. In the Bankali forests near Pashupati, the temple of the Hindu god Shiva, holy men and devotees puffed on cannabis smoke, a practice that is normally illegal but is permitted during the Shivaratri festival. Devotees have been praying and dancing to religious songs at the temple, which is one of the most important for Hindus around the world. About 81% of Nepal’s population is Hindu. Many Hindus from neighboring India also traveled to Kathmandu for the festival.

AP PHOTOS: Devotees across India celebrate the Shivaratri festival in honor of Hindu god Shiva

Millions of devotees across India are celebrating the Shivaratri festival that honors the Hindu god Shiva, one of the main deities of Hinduism. The devotees celebrate the festival in temples by pouring water or milk over the Shiva linga, a stone sculpture symbolic of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Some also observe a fast during the day and stay up all night, singing and dancing to religious songs. At some temples, Hindu holy men, also known as Sadhus, smoke marijuana — a practice that is normally illegal but is permitted during the Shivaratri festival — and smear their bodies with ash in devotion.

What is Ramadan and how do Muslims observe the Islamic holy month?

CAIRO (AP) — Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it’s a time of increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast. Ramadan is followed by the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Ramadan’s religious rituals and spiritual essence unite diverse Muslim communities around the world. The plights of some fellow Muslims and some issues that have resonance beyond borders — including conflicts and political turmoil — can become part of the focus of the month’s prayers, giving or advocacy for many.

Stress and fear roil a tiny, rapidly militarizing Japanese island near Taiwan

YONAGUNI, Japan (AP) — This tiny island on Japan’s western frontier has no chain convenience stores. Nature lovers can dive with hammerhead sharks and watch miniature horses graze on a hill. But the wooded mountain ranges now carry radar sites. A southern cattle ranch has been replaced with the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force’s Camp Yonaguni. Japan and its ally, the United States, hold joint military exercises here. Plans are underway to add a new missile unit and expand a small airport and port. All of the buildup has cemented the island as a front line in a potential clash over Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China claims as its own.

New Zealand says China has agreed to consider concerns about its recent military drills

BEIJING (AP) — China has agreed to consider concerns that its military did not give enough notice before staging live-fire exercises in the waters between New Zealand and Australia last week, the foreign minister of New Zealand said Wednesday. The drills prompted passenger flights between the two countries to divert in midflight after Chinese naval vessels warned pilots they were flying above a live-fire exercise. “I think it would be true to say that he took our concerns on board,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said after meeting and having dinner with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in the Chinese capital. Peters said he put the issue in the context of the close ties that the two countries have developed since 2008.

Pakistan’s transgender community finds hope and dignity at a culinary school

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — For transgender students involved in a very special project at a culinary school in Pakistan, there is more to a class than just learning the art of cooking. Neha Malik used to dance at parties and weddings for a living and was, occasionally, a sex worker. Since January, she has been enrolled in a new course for the trans community at the Culinary & Hotel Institute of Pakistan. The free six-month program in the city of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, welcomed its first group of 25 trans students in January; the second group of 25 began training on Feb.

18 dead in a bus crash in eastern Thailand

BANGKOK (AP) — A chartered bus overturned in eastern Thailand early Wednesday morning, killing 18 people and injuring 31, officials said. The accident occurred in Prachinburi province during an overnight journey from northern Thailand to coastal Rayong province for a municipal study tour. The Department of Land Transport said it would coordinate with police in investigating the latest road accident and would intensify inspections of all public transport vehicles to ensure they meet safety standards. Road safety is a major problem in Thailand, which according to the World Health Organization ranks ninth out of 175 member countries for road traffic deaths.