Top Asian News 3:48 a.m. GMT

Activists criticize high cost of Pope Francis’ visit to East Timor, one of the poorest nations

DILI, East Timor (AP) — East Timor pulled out all stops for Pope Francis’ historic visit to one of the world’s youngest and poorest countries to the tune of $12 million, drawing rebuke from activists and human rights organizations in a nation where almost half the population lives in poverty. The cost for the two-day visit starting Monday was approved by the government through the Council of Ministers in February, including $1 million to build an altar for a papal Mass. Walls were still being dabbed with fresh paint and banners and billboards filled the streets of the seaside capital, Dili, to welcome the pontiff, who earlier visited Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Spanish prime minister visits China to shore up trade and cultural ties amid EV tariff spat

BEIJING (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials on Monday during his second trip to China in a year-and-a-half that comes amid a spat over electric cars. The center-left Socialist leader will also attend a business forum in Beijing for Spanish and Chinese companies before traveling to Shanghai later Monday. The next day he will attend more business events and the inauguration of a Cervantes Institute, a center that promotes Spanish language and culture. Prior to holding talks and dining with Xi, Sánchez will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Li Qiang, and the head of the ceremonial legislature, Zhao Leji.

Pope Francis enters Papua New Guinea’s remote jungles with humanitarian aid and toys

VANIMO, Papua New Guinea (AP) — Pope Francis traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea on Sunday to celebrate the Catholic Church on the peripheries, bringing with him medicine, musical instruments and a message of love for the people who live there. Francis flew aboard a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 transport plane from Port Moresby to Vanimo, on the northwest coast of the South Pacific nation. There, Francis met with the local Catholic community and missionaries from his native Argentina who have been ministering to them. For an Argentine pope who marveled in 2013 at having been chosen from the “end of the Earth” to lead the church, it was a voyage to another end of the Earth on the longest, farthest trip of Francis’ pontificate.

East Timor looks to the pope’s visit as a reward after 20 years of fragile stability

DILI, East Timor (AP) — East Timor is in a festive mood as it prepares for the arrival of Pope Francis on his first trip to the deeply Catholic country, hard on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the referendum on independence from Indonesia. Francis is due to arrive Monday in one of the world’s poorest countries of 1.3 million people, also known as Timor-Leste, following visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Banners and billboards have filled the streets of the seaside capital, Dili, to welcome the pontiff. “The pope’s visit is the biggest, the best marketing anyone can aspire to promote the country, to put the country on the tourist map,” East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

A blockbuster Chinese video game sparks debate on sexism in the nation’s gaming industry

WASHINGTON (AP) — A blockbuster new Chinese video game hailed as a milestone for the country’s gaming industry has put an unexpected spotlight on longstanding claims of rampant sexism in China’s male-dominated gaming culture. While some gamers are basking in the runaway success of the action-adventure title “Black Myth: Wukong,” others are voicing their complaints about sexism in Chinese gaming and lodging allegations against the game’s Shenzhen-based developer, Game Science, that it posted offensive messages online. Critics posted screenshots of the messages on Chinese social media platform Weibo, with one compilation receiving over 400,000 likes. One of the posts that critics say came from founder Feng Ji uses descriptions of oral sex as a metaphor for the positive responses about the game’s promotional video.

A Filipino preacher on the run from sexual abuse charges surrenders

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino preacher accused of sexual abuse and human trafficking in the Philippines and similar charges in the United States surrendered Sunday to authorities in his religious complex in the south and flown to Manila where he was put in police detention, officials said. Apollo Quiboloy and four other co-accused surrendered in the vast religious headquarters of their group, called Kingdom of Jesus Christ, in Davao city after the police gave a 24-hour ultimatum for them to give up, police said. Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos earlier said Quiboloy was caught by authorities. Quiboloy and his co-accused were flown on a Philippine air force C-130 plane to the capital Sunday night and locked up in a heavily guarded detention center at the national police headquarters, where their mugshots and fingerprints were taken, police spokesperson Col.

Typhoon Yagi kills 14 in Vietnam as officials warn of heavy rain that can cause flooding

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — At least 14 people have died and 176 others injured in Vietnam after Typhoon Yagi slammed the country’s north, state media said Sunday, as officials warned of heavy downpours despite its waning power. Described by Vietnamese officials as one of the most powerful typhoons to hit the region over the last decade, Yagi left more than 3 million people without electricity in northern Vietnam. It also damaged vital agricultural land, nearly 116,192 hectares where rice and fruits are mostly grown. Hundreds of flights were canceled after four airports were closed. The typhoon made landfall in Vietnam’s northern coastal provinces of Quang Ninh and Haiphong with wind speeds of up to 149 kilometers per hour (92 miles per hour) on Saturday afternoon.

Supporters of Pakistan’s imprisoned ex-PM Imran Khan rally to demand his release

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan rallied on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad on Sunday, demanding his release. He has been in prison for more than a year in connection with more than 150 police cases. Khan, the main rival of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, remains a popular figure despite these cases, which critics and his party say are politically motivated. He was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in parliament. Sunday’s rally, one of the biggest this year by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party, or PTI, was held peacefully, though police briefly clashed with some activists.

Villagers reluctant to say goodbye to one of Hong Kong’s last squatter settlements

HONG KONG (AP) — In months, Lo Yuet-ping will bid farewell to a centuries-old village he has called home in Hong Kong for more than seven decades. The Cha Kwo Ling village in east Kowloon is filled with small houses built from metal sheets and stones, as well as old granite buildings, contrasting sharply with the high-rise structures that dominate much of the Asian financial hub. Lo, 72, has spent his entire life here and is among an estimated 860 households required to move under a government redevelopment plan. He said he will miss the rich history, unique culture and warm interpersonal kindness that defined life in the village.

Pope to meet Papua New Guinea Catholics who embrace both Christianity and Indigenous beliefs

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Pope Francis’s visit to Papua New Guinea will take him to a remote part of the South Pacific island nation where Christianity is a recent addition to traditional spiritual beliefs developed over millennia. Francis will visit the diocese of Vanimo on the main island of New Guinea, one of the most remote and disadvantaged in a poor and diverse nation, according to local Bishop Francis Meli. Trappings of modernity are scarce. There is no running water for the more than 120,000 people who live in the diocese, according to a church website. Electricity is a luxury for the few who can afford solar panels or portable generators.