Top Asian News 3:48 a.m. GMT

Former Singapore minister sentenced to a year in prison for receiving illegal gifts

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A former Singaporean cabinet minister was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of receiving illegal gifts, in a rare criminal case involving a minister in the Asian financial hub. Former Transport Minister S. Iswaran had pleaded guilty last week to one count of obstructing justice and four of accepting gifts from people with whom he had official business. He was the first minister to be charged and imprisoned in nearly half a century. Justice Vincent Hoong, in his ruling, said holders of high office “must be expected to avoid any perception that they are susceptible to influence by pecuniary benefits,” according to Channel News Asia.

Typhoon Krathon shuts parts of Taiwan for a third day as it nears the island with extreme rains

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — A slow-moving typhoon approaching Taiwan led to school and office closures for a third consecutive day Thursday, with authorities asking people to stay indoors. Typhoon Krathon, packing fierce winds and torrential rainfall, was around 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the major port city of Kaohsiung on Thursday morning, traveling northeastward at a speed of 4 kph (2.5 mph), according to the island’s Central Weather Administration. It was expected to make landfall later Thursday on Taiwan’s densely populated west coast. The typhoon, packing maximum sustained winds near the center of 137 kph (85 mph) and gusts of 173 kph (107 mph), is expected to continue to weaken as it moves inland.

In South Korea, deepfake porn wrecks women’s lives and deepens gender conflict

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Three years after the 30-year-old South Korean woman received a barrage of online fake images that depicted her nude, she is still being treated for trauma. She struggles to talk with men. Using a mobile phone brings back the nightmare. “It completely trampled me, even though it wasn’t a direct physical attack on my body,” she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. She didn’t want her name revealed because of privacy concerns. Many other South Korean women recently have come forward to share similar stories as South Korea grapples with a deluge of non-consensual, explicit deepfake videos and images that have become much more accessible and easier to create.

Bodies of the children and teachers who died in a Thai school bus fire return home for funeral

LAN SAK, Thailand (AP) — The bodies of almost two dozen young students and teachers who died in a bus fire in a suburb of Bangkok were returned late Wednesday to central Thailand, where they began their ill-fated school field trip. Friends, relatives and Buddhist monks waited past midnight for the last of several convoys carrying remains, as well as relatives who had to travel to Bangkok to help with DNA identification of the severely burned victims. The bodies were received at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam, the temple in this town in Uthai Thani province that houses the school attended by the victims.

AP PHOTOS: Nepalese grapple with loss after floods kill over 200 people

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Bishworaj Khadka, a cook in Lalitpur, could hear the Nakhu River becoming louder and louder as he sat with his wife and daughter-in-law in their house situated at the river’s edge. It hadn’t stopped raining for about 12 hours and the swollen river was getting dangerously close. When they felt the first reverberations through the living room floor, the family rushed out the door. The rest is a blur in Bishowraj’s mind. He had only managed to stuff some money into his pocket. Barely 15 minutes later, the house caved in before their eyes. Bishowraj took his family to his brother’s place, farther up from the river’s edge.

An American bomb from WWII explodes at a Japanese airport, leaving a crater on the taxiway

TOKYO (AP) — An unexploded U.S. bomb from World War II that had been buried at a Japanese airport exploded Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights, Japanese officials said. No one was hurt, and there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan, Land and Transport Ministry officials said. An investigation by the Self-Defense Forces and police confirmed the explosion was caused by a 500-pound U.S. bomb and there was no further danger. Officials were determining what caused its sudden detonation. A video recorded by a nearby aviation school showed the blast spewing pieces of asphalt into the air like a fountain.

US bans new types of goods from China over allegations of forced labor

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it would ban the import of goods from a Chinese steel manufacturer and a Chinese maker of artificial sweetener, accusing both of being involved in the use of forced labor from China’s far-west region of Xinjiang. The action broadens the scope of the U.S. effort to counter products from entering the country that the government says are tied to human rights abuses. The additions to the entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act marks the first time a China-based steel company or aspartame sweetener business have been targeted by U.S.

5 Chinese nationals charged with covering up midnight visit to Michigan military site

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. authorities charged five Chinese nationals with lying and trying to cover their tracks, more than a year after they were confronted in the dark near a remote Michigan military site where thousands of people had gathered for summer drills. The five, who were University of Michigan students at the time, were not charged for what happened at Camp Grayling in August 2023. Rather they are accused of misleading investigators about the trip and conspiring to clear their phones of photos, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. The FBI noted in the Tuesday court filing that there have been instances of college students from China taking photos of vital defense sites in the United States.

Japan’s new government welcomes ‘forward-looking’ congratulatory message from China

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s new government said Wednesday it hopes to improve ties with China after receiving a “forward-looking” congratulatory message from Beijing on the election of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Ties between Japan and China have been strained by a territorial dispute, Japan’s wartime history, and most recently, the killing of a Japanese schoolboy in China. In a message on Tuesday congratulating Ishiba, Chinese President Xi Jinping said it was in the interests of both countries to pursue peaceful coexistence, friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation. Xi also expressed hope that Japan would work with China to meet each other halfway and build a constructive and stable relationship reflecting the requirements of the new era.

An anti-whaling activist will stay in detention in Greenland while Japan seeks extradition

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A court in Greenland ruled Wednesday that anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson must remain in detention until Oct. 23 while Denmark’s Justice Ministry decides whether to approve his extradition to Japan. It was unclear when Denmark will decide whether to send him to Japan, where he is accused of obstructing a whaling research ship’s work with violence in 2010. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted in Japan. “They have deliberately thrown such objects so it is to harm people,” prosecutor Mariam Khalil said in court, according to the Greenland newspaper Sermitsiaq, referring to potassic acid thrown at the Japanese vessel by Watson’s team.