Top Asian News 7:24 a.m. GMT

Party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning president wins majority in parliament

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won a majority in parliament, according to official election results Friday, providing a solid mandate for his program for economic revival. Dissanayake’s National People’s Power Party won at least 123 of the 225 seats in parliament, according to partial results released by the Elections Commission. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya, or United People’s Power Party, led by opposition leader Sajith Premedasa had 31 seats. Dissanayake was elected president on Sept. 21 in a rejection of traditional political parties that have governed the island nation since its independence from British rule in 1948.

South Korean opposition leader gets a suspended jail term for violating election law

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was convicted of violating election law and sentenced to a suspended prison term Friday by a court that ruled he made false statements while denying corruption allegations during a presidential campaign. If it stands, the ruling could significantly shake up the country’s politics by potentially unseating Lee as a lawmaker and denying him a shot at running for president in the next election. But Lee, who faces three other trials over corruption and other criminal charges, is expected to challenge any guilty verdict and it remains unclear whether the Supreme Court would decide on any of the cases before the presidential vote in March 2027.

Australia’s plan to ban children from social media proves popular and problematic

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult. The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first. The leaders of all eight Australian states and mainland territories have unanimously backed the plan, although Tasmania, the smallest state, would have preferred the threshold was set at 14.

APEC leaders to open Lima summit as Trump prepares to return to office

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Representatives from 21 members representing the Pacific Rim are meeting in Peru on Friday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the first global summit since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory featuring several major world leaders. The annual gathering brings together countries and members that jointly account for almost two-thirds of global GDP and half the world’s trade, according to organizers. They confirmed heads of government attending in Lima include outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden, China’s President Xi Jinping, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, among others, as the world wonders how a new U.S.

China’s president unveils a megaport in Peru, but locals say they’re being left out

CHANCAY, Peru (AP) — On the edge of Peru’s coastal desert, a remote fishing town where a third of all residents have no running water is being transformed into a huge deep-water port to cash in on the inexorable rise of Chinese interest in resource-rich South America. The megaport of Chancay, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is turning this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into an important node of the global economy. From the presidential palace in Lima, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the port inauguration ceremony, China’s President Xi Jinping watched a livestream of the ribbon-cutting alongside his Peruvian counterpart, Dina Boluarte, late Thursday.

With Peru in the global spotlight for APEC, so is one of the world’s least popular presidents

LIMA, Peru (AP) — It was a big day for Peru’s accidental president, Dina Boluarte, whose official schedule has been blank for months. On Thursday, the high-profile Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima thrust Boluarte — among the world’s least popular presidents, with a mere 4% public approval rating — into the bright lights of a convention center packed with world leaders, prominent CEOs and visiting dignitaries. It’s not just that Boluarte, long a low-profile and low-paid civil servant, has never before rolled out the red carpet for powerful leaders like U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping since taking office in December 2022.

North Korea tests exploding drones as Kim calls for mass production

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea tested exploding drones designed to crash into targets and leader Kim Jong Un called for accelerating mass production of the weapons, state media said Friday. The country’s latest military demonstration came as the United States, South Korea and Japan engaged in combined military exercises involving advanced fighter jets and a U.S. aircraft carrier in nearby international waters, in a display of their defense posture against North Korea. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency published photos of Kim talking with officials near at least two different types of unmanned aerial vehicles. They included those with X-shaped tails and wings that look similar to the ones the country disclosed in August, when Kim inspected another demonstration of drones that explode on impact.

Japanese Princess Yuriko, wartime Emperor Hirohito’s sister-in-law, dies at 101

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Princess Yuriko, the wife of wartime Emperor Hirohito’s brother and the oldest member of the imperial family, has died after her health deteriorated recently, palace officials said. She was 101. Yuriko died Friday at a Tokyo hospital, the Imperial Household Agency said. It did not announce the cause of death, but Japanese media said she died of pneumonia. Born in 1923 as an aristocrat, Yuriko married at age 18 to Prince Mikasa, the younger brother of Hirohito and the uncle of current Emperor Naruhito, months before the start of World War II. She has recounted living in a shelter with her husband and their baby daughter after their residence was burned down in the U.S.

Van falls off mountain highway in Nepal, killing 8 and injuring 4

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A passenger van veered off a mountain road early Friday in western Nepal, killing eight people and injuring four others, the army said. The van rolled about 200 meters (650 feet) below the road before dawn near the village of Shaileshikar, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. The van was returning to the village with people who had been to a festival in a nearby town. The army said it used a helicopter to rescue the four injured people and flew them to a hospital for treatment. It was not clear what caused the crash.

Clean energy could create millions of tons of waste in India. Some are working to avoid that

KENCHANAHALLI, India (AP) — On the edges of a dense forest in southern India, six women in a small garage are busy stitching cloth bags, pants, hospital gowns and office uniforms with automated sewing machines. About four years ago, power cuts constantly interrupted their work. Heavy rain disrupted transmission lines and air conditioners pumping in extreme heat exhausted the grid. But now a small black box in a corner of the garage, not much larger than an office printer, keeps their operations running. The battery pack, made from used electric vehicle batteries, keeps their sewing machines and lights on even when the main power is off.