Top Asian News 3:06 a.m. GMT

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.

US and China reach a deal to slash sky-high tariffs for now, with a 90-day pause

GENEVA (AP) — The United States and China agreed Monday to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world’s two biggest economies and setting off a rally in global financial markets. But the de-escalation in President Donald Trump’s trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last.

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.

India and Pakistan faced a new crisis. Here’s a look at their history of armed conflict

NEW DELHI (AP) — After days of intense firefights, Indian and Pakistani authorities said on Monday there were no reported incidents of firing overnight along the heavily militarized region between their countries, the first time in recent days that the two nations were not shooting at each other. India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding to stop all military actions on land, in the air and at the sea, in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to stop escalating hostilities between the two nuclear-armed rivals that threatened regional peace. Within hours of the ceasefire announcement, however, militaries in both the countries accused each other of violations, raising fears if the agreement would hold.

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.

Voting ends in Philippines midterm elections, with detained ex-President Duterte among candidates

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Even though he is detained in The Hague, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was among candidates who vied for some 18,000 national and local seats in Monday’s midterm elections that analysts say will decide if he and his family continue to hold political power. Duterte has been in custody of the International Criminal Court since March, awaiting trial for crimes against humanity over a brutal war on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead during his 2016-2022 presidency. It hasn’t stopped him from running for mayor of his southern Davao city stronghold. Under Philippine law, candidates facing criminal charges, including those in detention, can run for office unless they have been convicted and have exhausted all appeals.

Expired ammunition explodes during disposal in Indonesia, killing 13 people

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An explosion during the disposal of expired ammunitions in Indonesia’s West Java province on Monday killed at least 13 people, including four soldiers, military officials said. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. Members of the Indonesian army were carrying out the disposal of unusable and expired ammunition — which had been stored in a a military warehouse center — in an environmental conservation area in Sagara village of Garut district. The initial explosion was shortly followed by another blast, said Maj. Gen. Kristomei Sianturi, the Indonesian military spokesperson. Nine civilians and four army members were killed, Sianturi said, adding that several other people were being treated for various injuries.

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.

South Korean conductor Myung-Whun Chung named La Scala’s first-ever Asian musical conductor

MILAN (AP) — South Korean conductor Myung-whun Chung was named on Monday the new musical director of the famed Milan opera house, Teatro alla Scala, the first Asian to hold the position. Chung, 72, will replace Riccardo Chailly at the end of next year, and will remain in the role until general manager and artistic director Fortunato Ortombina’s term ends in February 2030, La Scala said in a statement. Chung, who is also a renowned pianist, has conducted many of the world’s most famous orchestras, and is a towering cultural figure in South Korea. La Scala noted his “close and productive” relationship with La Scala’s orchestra, choir and philharmonic, and credited him with doing more than any other any non-musical director to raise La Scala’s international profile.

Designer Prabal Gurung reflects on tough childhood, resilience and runway success in a new memoir

NEW YORK (AP) — Designer Prabal Gurung has always been a storyteller. First, it was through the colorful, Nepal-inspired designs that helped him find early success in the cutthroat fashion world. Now, he’s sharing his life story in words with his bold new memoir, “Walk Like A Girl.” The book, out Tuesday from Penguin Random House, traces his South Asian roots — born in Singapore, he grew up in Nepal and spent time in India — and difficult childhood. He would eventually move to New York to study at the Parsons School of Design, interning for Donna Karan and later working for Cynthia Rowley and Bill Blass.