Top Asian News 10:28 a.m. GMT

Detained Philippines ex-President Duterte wins mayoral race in his home city

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was elected as mayor in his home city by a landslide, official results showed Tuesday, despite his detention by the International Criminal Court. The Davao election board proclaimed Duterte won the race for Davao mayor, with the official tally showing that he garnered over 660,000 votes, or eight times as many as his closest rival. Elated supporters chanted “Duterte, Duterte” when the result was announced. His youngest son, Sebastian, the incumbent mayor of Davao, was declared Davao vice mayor. His eldest son, Paolo, was reelected as a member of the House of Representatives, and two grandsons won in local races, an indication of the family’s continued influence.

Russia is responsible for downing MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, global aviation agency’s council finds

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization on Tuesday found Russia responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives more than a decade ago, in a ruling that raises the prospect of victims’ families being paid compensation. A Dutch-led international investigation concluded in 2016 that the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur airliner was shot down on July 17, 2014, from Ukrainian territory held by separatist rebels using a Buk missile system delivered from Russia. Moscow denies any involvement in the MH17 tragedy. The Netherlands and Australian governments brought the case against Moscow before the Montreal-based global aviation agency in 2022, and on Tuesday welcomed the verdict.

Australian Cabinet sworn in after landslide election victory

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Cabinet was sworn into office Tuesday after the center-left Labor Party was reelected in a landslide May 3. With vote counting continuing, Labor expects to hold between 92 and 95 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives. The party held 78 seats in the previous Parliament. The conservative opposition alliance of parties is on track to win 41 seats in one of its worst election results. The Cabinet held its first meeting after the swearing-in ceremony. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese plans to fly to Jakarta on Wednesday to meet Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. He then intends to fly from Indonesia to Rome to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday.

Bangladesh’s interim government strips former ruling party of registration, barring it from polls

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Election Commission has cancelled the registration of the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, preventing it from participating in the next national election, which is expected to be held by June next year. The decision on Monday came hours after the country’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus issued an official notification banning the Awami League party and its affiliated bodies from conducting activities online and elsewhere. Monday’s formal notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs was issued two days after the interim Cabinet decided to ban all activities of the party under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act until a special tribunal concludes a trial for the party and its leaders.

An airstrike in central Myanmar kills up to 22 people at a bombed school, reports say

BANGKOK (AP) — An airstrike by Myanmar’s military on a village in the country’s central Sagaing region hit a school on Monday, killing as many as 20 students and two teachers, according to a member of a resistance group, an aid worker and media reports. The morning attack on Ohe Htein Twin village in the region’s Tabayin township, also known as Depayin, also wounded dozens of students, they said. State-run MRTV television denied the reports of the airstrike on Monday evening’s news broadcast, saying subversive media outlets were intentionally spreading fake news. The military has increasingly used airstrikes to counter a widespread armed struggle against its rule, which began in February 2021 when it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

China’s army of food delivery drivers get by with help from discount ‘loving meals’

BEIJING (AP) — After the lunchtime rush, it’s time for China’s food delivery drivers to eat. Liu Lijie, halfway through a 13-hour workday, parked his electric scooter in front of a restaurant in Beijing for his go-to choice, lamb noodle soup with a side of pickles, for 12 yuan ($1.65), a discount of 6 yuan off the regular price. The reduced-price meal is part of a movement that offers free or discounted meals to people in need, no questions asked. Known as “aixincan” (eye-sheen-zan), or “loving meals,” they are available at some restaurants in major Chinese cities, home to large populations of migrant workers who come looking for jobs.

Bangkok officials end search operation at the skyscraper that collapsed following an earthquake

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities on Tuesday officially ended the search operation at the building under construction in the capital, Bangkok, that collapsed following an earthquake that killed dozens over a month ago. The 7.7 magnitude quake on March 28 centered in Myanmar, more than 800 miles (1,200 kilometers) away, killed at least 96 people in Bangkok, mostly at the collapsed site. More than 3,000 were killed in Myanmar. Eighty-nine bodies have been retrieved from the rubble while seven people remain unaccounted for at the site, officials said. They said they would continue to test hundreds of pieces of human remains to identify those still missing.

Philippine volcano briefly erupts, belching ash plume into the sky

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A restive volcano in central Philippines briefly erupted Tuesday, spewing a 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) ash plume and debris into the sky as its rumblings were heard nearby. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said a moderately explosive eruption occurred at the summit crater of Kanlaon Volcano before dawn, lasting five minutes based on seismic and infrasound data. “The eruption generated a greyish voluminous plume that rose approximately 4.5 kilometers above the vent before drifting to the southwest,” the institute’s bulletin added. Ash fell in at least nine villages southwest of the volcano on Negros island, but no injuries or damage was reported.

14 people die from drinking toxic liquor in India

NEW DELHI (AP) — At least 14 people died and six were hospitalized in critical condition after consuming toxic liquor overnight in northern India, police said Tuesday. Seven people were arrested on allegations they supplied the toxic liquor in five villages around 19 kilometers (12 miles) from the city of Amritsar in northern Punjab, senior police officer Maninder Singh said. The police have launched a crackdown to destroy the network of spurious liquor supplies in the area following the incident, Singh said. The local administration deployed medics to the villages to check on people who drank the contaminated liquor, said Sakshi Sawhney, a senior government official in Amritsar.

Trump’s mediation offer renews focus on Kashmir after India-Pakistan clash risked broader war

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A series of military strikes last week by India and Pakistan brought the nuclear-armed rivals closer to a broader war. The possibility of a nuclear conflagration seemed real and the fighting only stopped when global powers intervened. Experts say the crisis deepened the neighbors’ rivalry as both crossed a threshold with each striking the other with high-speed missiles and drones. The tit-for-tat strikes also brought Kashmir again into global focus, as the U.S. President Donald Trump offered mediation over the simmering dispute that has long been described as the regional nuclear flashpoint. Paul Staniland, South Asia expert and a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said the four days of fighting shows that “India now feels substantial space to directly target Pakistan, as well as that Pakistan is willing to escalate in response.” Unlike in past years, when fighting was largely limited to Kashmir, the two armies last week fired missiles and drones at each other’s military installations deep inside their cities and exchanged gunfire and heavy artillery along their frontier in Kashmir.