Top Asian News 4:47 p.m. GMT

The Taliban leader slams Trump’s travel ban on Afghans and calls the US an ‘oppressor’

The top Taliban leader on Saturday slammed President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Afghans, calling the United States an oppressor, as Afghanistan’s rulers seek greater engagement with the international community. The comments from Hibatullah Akhundzada marked the first public reaction from the Taliban since the Trump administration this week moved to bar citizens from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, from entering the U.S. Trump’s executive order largely applies to Afghans hoping to resettle in the U.S. permanently, as well as those hoping to go to America temporarily, including for university studies. Since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures, banned women from public places and education for women and girls beyond the sixth grade.

From Pakistan to Spain via the Canaries, smugglers are using longer, more dangerous migration routes

DERA BAJWA, Pakistan (AP) — It was supposed to be the final leg of Amir Ali’s monthslong journey to Europe. But he was nowhere near his destination, with only death in sight. The 21-year-old Pakistani had been promised a visa and a flight to Spain. Yet six months, four countries and $17,000 later, he found himself crammed in a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean alongside 85 others, screaming for their lives as seawater sloshed over the gunwales. Forty-four fellow Pakistani migrants perished during the 10-day failed crossing in January from Mauritania’s coast toward Spain’s Canary Islands. The deadly journey cast a spotlight on how globalized and sophisticated smuggling networks on the West African coast — and specifically Mauritania — have become.

Israel retrieves body of Thai hostage as 95 more people reported killed in Gaza offensive

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel said Saturday that it had retrieved the body of a Thai hostage abducted into the Gaza Strip during the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war, as the Israeli military continued its offensive, killing at least 95 people in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Nattapong Pinta’s body was returned to Israel in a special military operation. Pinta came to Israel to work in agriculture. Israel’s government said that he was seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed early in the war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023. Thailand’s foreign ministry reported that the last Thai hostage in Gaza was confirmed dead, and said the bodies of two others are yet to be retrieved.

AP PHOTOS: Afghans mark Eid al-Adha on its fourth year since the return of the Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghans in Kabul have marked Eid al-Adha over the past two days with traditional prayers, animal sacrifices and family gatherings as the city observed the fourth such celebration since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Early in the morning, there were some open-air prayer grounds across the capital. Taliban police patrolled the streets and stood guard near prayer sites as crowds moved through the city. At animal markets around Kabul, residents haggled over sheep and goats to be sacrificed in accordance with Eid customs. Vendors did brisk business as families prepared for the holiday feast. For many, it was a rare chance to celebrate amid ongoing economic hardship.

How an innovative portable shelter could help India’s outdoor workers beat the heat

BENGALURU, India (AP) — An innovative portable shelter recently exhibited in one of India’s largest cities shows how smart, cheap ways to help workers escape the heat are gaining traction in a country that’s particularly vulnerable to climate change-driven extreme temperatures. The Neralu shelter, winner of a design contest in the southern city of Bengaluru, was displayed at the Sweat and Concrete 2025 event in late May alongside a theatrical performance about heat impacts on outdoor workers and exhibits on heat-related studies. Organizer Kanishk Kabiraj said the aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness about how extreme heat is endangering the health and livelihoods of the country’s outdoor workforce.

Why were so many Thai farmers among the hostages held by Hamas?

BANGKOK (AP) — Israel says it has retrieved the body of a 35-year-old Thai hostage who was abducted into Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. Nattapong Pinta was among 31 Thais taken by the Hamas militant group. Thailand’s foreign ministry in a statement Saturday confirmed that Pinta, the last Thai hostage in Gaza, was confirmed dead. It said the bodies of two others have yet to be retrieved. The ministry has said 46 Thais have been killed during the war. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas. They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel.

Modi inaugurates ambitious rail project connecting Kashmir to Indian plains

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated one of the most ambitious railway projects ever built in India, which will connect the Kashmir Valley to the vast Indian plains by train for the first time. Dubbed by government-operated Indian Railways as one of the most challenging tracks in the world, the 272-kilometer (169-mile) line begins in the garrison city of Udhampur in Jammu region and runs through Indian-controlled Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar. The line ends in Baramulla, a town near the highly militarized Line of Control dividing the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan. The line travels through 36 tunnels and over 943 bridges.

China’s Panchen Lama pledges loyalty to the Communist Party in a meeting with Xi

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The man picked by Beijing as the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism pledged adherence to the ruling Communist Party’s dictates Friday during a rare face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, state media reported. Gyaltsen Norbu, who is rarely seen in public, met behind closed doors with Xi Jinping in Zhongnanhai, the government compound in the center of Beijing, about 3,700 kilometers (about 2,300 miles) from his home monastery of Tashilhumpo, high on the Tibetan steppe. Gyaltsen Norbu, 35, said he would “firmly support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and resolutely safeguard the unity of the motherland and national unity,” the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong charged under Beijing-imposed security law for a second time

HONG KONG (AP) — Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong on Friday was charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security under a Beijing-imposed law that critics say has crushed Hong Kong’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement. The prosecution was the second time Wong has been charged under the sweeping national security law. He was already convicted in a separate subversion case linked to an unofficial primary election and was sentenced last year to four years and eight months in jail for that charge. The prosecution accused Wong, 28, of conspiring with fellow activist Nathan Law and others to ask foreign countries, institutions, organizations or individuals outside of China to impose sanctions or blockades, or engage in other hostile actions, against Hong Kong and China.

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.