Top Asian News 3:57 a.m. GMT

North Korea says it has raised a capsized destroyer upright as it continues repair

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday it had righted a capsized destroyer and moored it at a pier in the northeastern port of Chongjin as it continues to repair the new warship leader Kim Jong Un has described as a significant asset for his nuclear-armed military. The report by North Korean state media aligned with South Korean military assessments and recent commercial satellite images. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said experts will closely examine the ship’s hull before beginning the next phase of restoration, which will take place at a dry dock at the neighboring port of Rajin and is expected to last seven to 10 days.

As the Trump administration announces its travel ban, many Afghans’ hopes are shattered

ISLAMABAD (AP) — When news of the Trump administration’s travel ban came down including word that Afghanistan was on the list, Negina Khalili’s phone lit up with questions from her family still in Afghanistan and Qatar: What would it mean for them? Were their hopes of someday finding safety in America swiftly slipping away? Under the travel ban announced Wednesday night, the Trump administration has largely barred Afghans hoping to resettle in the U.S. permanently as well as those hoping to come to the U.S. temporarily for things like university study. There are exceptions — most importantly for the special immigrant visa holders who closely supported the U.S.'s two-decade long war in Afghanistan — but the travel ban comes as other forms of support for Afghans who allied with the U.S.

Trump says after Xi call that US and China will resume trade talks

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that his first call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping since returning to office was “very positive,” announcing that the two countries will hold trade talks in hopes of breaking an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals. “Our respective teams will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined,” Trump wrote on his social media platform after the call, which he said lasted an hour and a half. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. side in negotiations.

Private lunar lander from Japan crashes into moon in failed mission

A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon. The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft’s scheduled landing on the moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada apologized to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for ispace.

India will soon start its delayed census, including asking questions about caste

NEW DELHI (AP) — India will start counting its vast population in a mammoth exercise starting next year. The first census in 16 years will be conducted digitally and include controversial questions about caste for the first time since independence. The Home Ministry announced plans to conduct a two-stage count ending March 1, 2027, in a statement Wednesday night. India’s last official census in 2011 counted 1.21 billion people. The country’s population is now estimated to be well over 1.4 billion, making it the world’s most populous country, according to the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The once-in-a-decade population survey was originally due in 2021 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical hurdles.

New Zealand Parliament suspends 3 Māori Party lawmakers who performed haka protest

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand legislators voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days. Three days had been the longest ban for a lawmaker from New Zealand’s Parliament before. The lawmakers from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, performed the haka, a chanting dance of challenge, in November to oppose a widely unpopular bill, now defeated, that they said would reverse Indigenous rights.

South Korean lawmakers approve special investigations into martial law and Yoon’s wife

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s liberal-led legislature overwhelmingly passed bills Thursday to launch special investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law in December and criminal allegations against his wife, targeting the ousted conservative a day after his liberal successor took office. The National Assembly also passed a bill to initiate an independent investigation into the 2023 drowning death of a marine during a search-and-rescue operation for flood victims, an incident the Democratic Party, which holds majority, accuses Yoon’s government of covering up. The bills previously had been vetoed by Yoon during his term and by South Korea’s caretaker government after his Dec.

US declines to label China a currency manipulator, but blasts its transparency policies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. declined to label China a currency manipulator in a new Treasury report released Thursday, but accuses Beijing of standing out among America’s major trading partners for lacking transparency in its exchange rate policies. Treasury’s semi-annual report to Congress — called Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States— comes as the Trump administration seeks to strike a trade deal with China, averting a trade war that has been brewing between the two nations. A Treasury official told reporters previewing the report that the U.S. could in the future find evidence that China is manipulating its currency and will make a determination in the fall whether China has been manipulating the renminbi, also known as RMB.

Cricket fans in India were celebrating their team’s win. A stampede turned that joy into tragedy

BENGALURU, India (AP) — A sea of cricket crazy fans were packed inside the Indian stadium, celebrating a long-awaited victory of their favorite team. Outside, more crowds were pushing at the gates, hoping to catch a glimpse of their cherished cricket stars. The turnout of the crowd was far more than expected. Tens of thousands tried to force their way inside. Then tragedy struck. Panic and a chaotic run toward the stadium gates turned into a deadly crowd crush in India’s southern Bengaluru city Wednesday, leaving at least 11 people dead and more than 30 others injured. Most of the victims, including young students, were trampled upon or suffocated after getting caught in crowds that swelled beyond control.

Indonesia arrests foreign nationals in Bali on drugs charges that could carry the death penalty

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities on the tourist island of Bali on Thursday announced the arrests of several foreign nationals, including an Australian, an Indian, and an American, on suspicion of possessing narcotics, charges that could carry the death penalty. Customs officers at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport arrested an Indian national with the initials H.V., who was carrying a duffel bag, in the customs and excise inspection area on May 29. The officers found narcotic-related items in his belongings, authorities said. Following up on the interrogation of H.V., later that day, officers from the National Narcotics Agency of Bali Province arrested an Australian man with the initials P.R., who has been visiting Bali since 1988.