Top Asian News 4:35 a.m. GMT

Australians protest British colonization on a national holiday some mark as ‘Invasion Day’

SYDNEY (AP) — Thousands of Australians protested the anniversary of British colonization of their country with large crowds Friday urging for Australia Day to be moved and for a day of mourning on the holiday some call “Invasion Day.” The holiday marks the arrival of 11 British ships carrying convicts at Port Jackson in present-day Sydney on Jan. 26, 1788. For many activists, the day marked the beginning of a sustained period of discrimination and expulsion of Indigenous people from their land without a treaty. Thousands of people, many of whom waved Indigenous flags, rallied in front of the Victoria state parliament in Melbourne, calling for an official day of mourning to be declared across Australia.

Chinese vice foreign minister visits North Korea in latest diplomacy between countries

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday it was hosting a visit by a Chinese government delegation led by Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, as it continues its efforts to strengthen ties with Beijing and Moscow in the face of deepening confrontations with Washington. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Sun’s delegation arrived in the capital, Pyongyang, on Thursday after crossing the land border between the countries. The report didn’t provide further details about the visit. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been trying to boost the visibility of its partnership with China and Russia as he tries to break out of diplomatic isolation and strengthen his regional footing by joining a united front against the United States.

Voting begins in tiny Tuvalu in election that reverberates from China to Australia

SYDNEY (AP) — Voting started Friday in the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, in a national election that could reverberate from China to Australia. With just over 11,500 people, Tuvalu is one of the smallest nations in the world, but the election for the 16-seat parliament was being closely watched. After the vote count, parliamentary negotiations will form a new government and elect the prime minister. Polls opened at 8 a.m. and were to close at 4 p.m. Prime Minister Kausea Natano is running again, but even reelection to parliament won’t guarantee him the top post. Finance Minister Seve Paeniu is challenging him, and opposition leader Enele Sopoaga is hoping to again be prime minister, after losing out to Natano after the 2019 election.

Nepal asks Russia to send back Nepalis recruited to fight in Ukraine and the bodies of those killed

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal has asked Russia to send back hundreds of Nepali nationals who were recruited to fight against Ukraine and repatriate the bodies of those who died in the conflict, Nepal’s top diplomat said Thursday. The Russian army is estimated to have recruited more than 200 Nepali nationals to fight in Ukraine and at least 14 of them have died there, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We have asked Russia to immediately stop the recruitment of Nepali nationals in their army, immediately return those who are already serving in the army, repatriate the bodies of those killed, and treat and return those who were wounded in the fighting,” Saud said.

France’s Macron tours historic sites with India’s Modi and will be the chief guest for Republic Day

NEW DELHI (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron toured historic sites in western India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and was set to be the chief guest at the country’s national day celebrations. Modi greeted Macron at an 18th-century observatory in Jaipur and the two stood in an open jeep as they were driven for about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile). Macron waved at the crowds lining the streets that welcomed the leaders with a showering of rose and marigold petals. Large cutouts of their images with the inscription “India-France Friendship” dotted the route. Macron also visited a 17th-century fort in the city that is a popular tourist destination.

Man sentenced to death for arson attack at Japanese anime studio that killed 36

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court sentenced a man to death after finding him guilty of murder and other crimes Thursday for carrying out an arson attack on an anime studio in Kyoto that killed 36 people. The Kyoto District Court said it found the defendant, Shinji Aoba, mentally capable to face punishment for his crimes and announced the sentence of capital punishment after a recess in a two-part session on Thursday. Aoba stormed into Kyoto Animation’s No. 1 studio on July 18, 2019, and set it on fire. Many of the victims were believed to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

South Korean lawmaker is injured in an attack weeks after the opposition leader was stabbed

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean governing party lawmaker was treated for lacerations at a Seoul hospital after being attacked Thursday by an unidentified man who repeatedly struck her in the head with a rock-like object. A police official in Seoul’s Apgujeong district said a suspect was arrested at the scene of the attack on lawmaker Bae Hyunjin in southern Seoul. The attack, which came weeks after a man stabbed opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in the neck in the southern city of Busan, raises further concerns about the country’s intensely polarized politics. Security camera footage showed the suspect, wearing a gray skullcap and a mask, approaching Bae inside the hallway of a building and seemingly initiating a conversation before striking her with what appeared to be a small rock.

Japan’s precision moon lander has hit its target, but it appears to be upside-down

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s space agency said Thursday that its first lunar mission hit the tiny patch of the moon’s surface it was aiming for, in a successful demonstration of its pinpoint landing system — although the probe appears to be lying upside-down. Japan became the fifth country in history to reach the moon when the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, touched down on the Moon early on Saturday. But trouble with the probe’s solar batteries made it hard at first to figure whether the probe landed in the target zone. While most previous probes have used landing zones about 10 kilometers (six miles) wide, SLIM was aiming at a target of just 100 meters (330 feet).

Danish report underscores ‘systematic illegal behavior’ in adoptions of children from South Korea

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish report on Thursday said adoptions of children from South Korea to Denmark in the 1970s and 1980s was “characterized by systematic illegal behavior” in the Asian country. These violations, the report said, made it “possible to change information about a child’s background and adopt a child without the knowledge of the biological parents.” The report was the latest in a dark chapter of international adoptions. In 2013, the government in Seoul started requiring foreign adoptions to go through family courts. The move ended the decadeslong policy of allowing private agencies to dictate child relinquishments, transfer of custodies and emigration.

China expands access to loans for property developers, acting to end its prolonged debt crisis

BANGKOK (AP) — China has rolled out new rules meant to expand access to commercial bank loans for property developers as Beijing doubles down on its effort to end a prolonged crisis in the real estate industry. The policies will allow real estate companies to use bank loans pledged against commercial properties such as offices and shopping malls to repay their other loans and bonds and to cover operating expenses. They were announced late Wednesday by the People’s Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the Finance Ministry. Beijing has moved this week to stabilize ailing financial markets and boost the economy by freeing up more money for lending in various ways.