Top Asian News 4:37 a.m. GMT

Indonesia showcases returned artifacts it had sought for decades from the Netherlands

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Centuries-old stone Buddha statues and precious jewelries repatriated by the Dutch government to its former colony are on display at Indonesia’s National Museum, providing a glimpse into the country’s rich heritage that the government had struggled to retrieve. The collection is part of more than 800 artifacts that were returned under a Repatriation Agreement signed in 2022 between Indonesia and the Netherlands, said Gunawan, the museum’s head of cultural heritage. The objects are not just those looted in conflict, but also seized by scientists and missionaries or smuggled by mercenaries during the four centuries of colonial rule.

North Korea prepares to send more troops to Russia after suffering casualties, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military said Friday it suspects North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia after its soldiers fighting in the Russian-Ukraine war suffered heavy casualties. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also assessed in a report distributed to journalists that North Korea is continuing its preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile intended to reach the United States. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House may brighten Pyongyang’s prospects for high-level diplomacy with the U.S., as he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times during his first term. Many experts say Kim likely thinks his evolving nuclear program and expanding military cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin could give him a greater leverage than during his 2018-19 summits with Trump.

ICC prosecutor requests warrants for Afghan Taliban leaders over persecution of women

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor announced on Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Afghan Taliban officials for the repression of women. Karim Khan said in a statement he asked judges to approve warrants for the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing the men of crimes against humanity for gender-based persecution. “These applications recognize that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban,” Khan said. Since they took back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from jobs, most public spaces and education beyond sixth grade.

South Korean investigators call for indictment of detained President Yoon

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean investigators asked prosecutors to indict the country’s detained President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law last month, as it accused him of rebellion, abuse of power and obstruction of parliament on Thursday. Yoon defended his actions again Thursday as he appeared at a court hearing for the second time, saying the Dec. 3 martial law decree was only meant to inform the public of the danger of an opposition-controlled National Assembly. He argued that the martial law imposition ended early because he quickly withdrew troops after the assembly voted down his decree.

Pakistan’s parliament passes bill with sweeping controls on social media

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s lower house of parliament on Thursday passed a controversial bill that will give the government sweeping controls on social media, including sending users to prison for spreading disinformation. The bill was quickly passed after lawmakers from the opposition party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan staged a walkout to denounce the law. Critics say the government is seeking to further suppress freedom of speech. Farhatullah Babar, a leading human rights activist, said the latest changes to cybercrime law were aimed at “further stifling the freedom of expression through setting up of multiple authorities under executive control, enlarging the print of unaccountable intelligence agencies.” He said the law also “gives sweeping powers to the executive not only over the contents of the message but also the messengers, namely the social media platforms” Under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, which was introduced in the National Assembly Wednesday, authorities would create an agency with the power to order the immediate blocking of content deemed “unlawful and offensive” from social media, such as content critical of judges, the armed forces, parliament or provincial assemblies.

Thai LGBTQ+ couples register marriages as law gives them equal status

BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand made Thursday a life-changing occasion, registering their marriages legally on the first day a law took effect granting them the same rights as heterosexual couples. The enactment of the Marriage Equality Act makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, after Taiwan and Nepal. By the end of Thursday some 1,832 same-sex couples had married nationwide, according to the Department of Provincial Administration. Well over 1,000 registered at district offices, while 185 couples registered their union at a daylong gala celebration at a shopping mall in central Bangkok.

AP PHOTOS: Same-sex couples in Thailand share their joy over new marriage equality law

BANGKOK (AP) — It’s a big day for LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand. On Thursday, they gained the legal right to register their marriages, making it the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to recognize same-sex unions, after Taiwan and Nepal. In central Bangkok, a popular shopping mall held a daylong gala to help accommodate the hundreds of same-sex couples who wanted to register their marriages on the very first day. Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society has broadly conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life, while also saying they’ve seen great improvement in recent years.

South Korea will remove concrete structure at Muan airport, the scene of deadly plane crash

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will remove a concrete structure at an airport runway that may have been involved in a devastating plane crash that killed all but two of the 181 people on board last month. Some experts and observers have said Muan International Airport’s localizer — a concrete fence at the end of the runway that houses a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft safely during landings — likely made the crash of the Jeju Air plane worse, though the incident is still under investigation. The Boeing 737-800 skidded off the airport’s runaway on Dec. 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into the concrete structure and bursting into flames.

Nearly 250 million children missed school last year because of extreme weather, UNICEF says

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — At least 242 million children in 85 countries had their schooling interrupted last year because of heatwaves, cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather, the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a new report Friday. UNICEF said it amounted to one in seven school-going children across the world being kept out of class at some point in 2024 because of climate hazards. The report also outlined how some countries saw hundreds of their schools destroyed by weather, with low-income nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa hit especially hard. But other regions weren’t spared the extreme weather, as torrential rains and floods in Italy near the end of the year disrupted school for more than 900,000 children.

Gunmen kill 2 soldiers, wound 12 others deployed to secure a UN project in the southern Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded 12 others who were deployed to secure a U.N. livelihood project in the southern Philippines, military officials said Thursday. The attack Wednesday in Sumisip town in Basilan province sparked a clash in which two gunmen were also killed, they said. The military said the attackers included members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an armed Muslim group that signed a 2014 peace deal with the government. An army truck carrying soldiers assigned to secure a U.N. Development Program project was fired on in an ambush by the attackers, the military said.