Top Asian News 3:45 a.m. GMT

Qatar frees 8 retired Indian navy officers whose death sentences over alleged spying were commuted

NEW DELHI (AP) — Qatar has freed eight retired Indian navy officers who had been given death sentences for alleged spying that were commuted last year, India’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The eight men were accused of spying while working at Al Dahra, a consulting company in the oil-rich Gulf state that advises the Qatari government on submarine acquisitions. They were imprisoned in 2022 and handed death sentences in October that were reduced to prison sentences after India said it was exploring legal options and filed an appeal. “We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that seven of the men had returned to India.

Allies of ex-premier Imran Khan secure biggest share of seats in Pakistan’s final election tally

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Allies of imprisoned Pakistani ex-premier Imran Khan won more seats in national elections than the political parties who ousted him from power nearly two years ago, according to a final tally of results published Sunday. The vote last Thursday to choose a new parliament was overshadowed by allegations of vote-rigging, an unprecedented mobile phone shutdown, and the exclusion of Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, from the vote. People from the PTI ran as independent candidates because of moves by the Election Commission and Supreme Court to cripple their party’s participation. One step included stripping the party of its electoral symbol, which helps illiterate voters find candidates on the ballot.

Indonesia’s president, who mingles with people and listens to Metallica, still popular in last term

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Joko Widodo’s phenomenal rise from a riverside slum, where he grew up, to the presidency of Indonesia spotlighted how far the world’s third-largest democracy had veered from a brutal authoritarian era a decade ago. With his second and final five-year term ending in October, Widodo — regarded by some as Asia’s Barack Obama — is leaving a legacy of impressive economic growth and an ambitious array of infrastructure projects topped by a $33 billion plan to relocate Indonesia’s congested capital to the frontier island of Borneo. Dismissed as a political lightweight by rivals when he first won the presidency in 2014, Widodo built a reputation as a soft-spoken reformer who promised to fight poverty and inequalities by exploiting Indonesia’s abundant resources and tourism draw to propel its economy, the largest in Southeast Asia.

54 people are confirmed dead in a landslide that buried a gold-mining village in south Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The death toll from a massive landslide that hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines has risen to 54 with 63 people still missing, authorities said Sunday. The landslide hit the mountain village of Masara in Davao de Oro province on Tuesday night after weeks of torrential rains. Davao de Oro’s provincial government said in a Facebook post that 54 bodies had been recovered. At least 32 residents survived with injuries but 63 remained missing, it said. Among those missing were gold miners who had been waiting in two buses to be driven home when the landslide struck and buried them.

The Lunar New Year of the Dragon flames colorful festivities across Asian nations and communities

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — With fireworks, feasts and red envelopes stuffed with cash for the kids, numerous Asian nations and overseas communities have welcomed Saturday the Lunar New Year. It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later on the first full moon. The dates of the holiday vary slightly each year, falling between late January and mid-February as it is based on the cycles of the moon, Festivities to mark the Year of the Dragon in Taiwan were marked by appearances by newly elected president Lai Ching-te and the speaker of the Legislature, Han Kuo-yu, who represents the opposition Nationalist Party that favors political unification with China.

As Indonesia goes to the polls, women and minority candidates face challenges

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — With a broad smile on his face, Jakarta city council candidate Rian Ernest answers almost every question about his faith with the same line. “I’m Christian, but my wife and children are Muslims, so pray for me to get the guidance,” Ernest said. Ernest is one of thousands of candidates facing the contradictions of seeking office as a member of a minority in the world’s third-largest democracy, which is holding national elections on Wednesday. Elections in the country often reveal a tension between pluralism and the power of conservatives from its Muslim majority. Nearly 90% of Indonesia’s 277 million people are Muslims.

Indonesians join the final campaign events before the presidential election

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The three candidates in Indonesia’s presidential election held their final campaign events in front of tens of thousands of people on Saturday, four days before more than 200 million citizens cast their votes in the world’s third-largest democracy. The frontrunner, former special forces general Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, 36-year-old Surakarta mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, held their final rally at a Jakarta stadium. “On Feb. 14, we will all determine the future of our children and grandchildren. ... We strive to bring prosperity to all Indonesian people. We will continue what has been built by previous presidents,” Subianto said.

Indonesian presidential vote highlights tradeoffs between fast growth and a healthy environment

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A presidential election in Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, is highlighting choices to be made as the country seeks to profit from its rich reserves of nickel and other resources that are vital to the global transition away from fossil fuels. President Joko Widodo capitalized on Indonesia’s abundant nickel, coal, oil and gas reserves as he led Southeast Asia’s biggest economy through a decade of rapid growth and modernization that vastly expanded the country’s networks of roads and railways. Increasingly, voters are demanding that the men vying to succeed him address the tradeoffs between fast growth and a healthy environment in the world’s fourth most populated country.

2 Afghans who were detained at Guantanamo Bay for 14 years have been released, the Taliban say

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Two Afghan prisoners who were held in U.S. custody for at least 14 years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center after 2002 were released from house arrest in Oman, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. Abdul Zahir Saber and Abdul Karim were released as a result of the efforts made by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Taliban interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said. Senior Taliban officials posted photographs of Saber and Karim on social media with messages of congratulations. An official welcome ceremony is being organized in the capital, Kabul, for their return on Monday, Qani said. The two men were held in Guantanamo until 2017, when they were transferred to the Gulf kingdom of Oman, where they spent the next seven years under house arrest, forbidden to travel.

Facing setbacks against resistance forces, Myanmar’s military government activates conscription law

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government on Saturday activated for the first time a decade-old conscription law that makes young men and women subject to at least two years of military service if called up, effective immediately. The announcement of the measure on state television amounts to a major, though tacit, admission that the army is struggling to contain the nationwide armed resistance against its rule. Under the 2010 People’s Military Service Law, passed under a previous military government, males between the ages of 18 and 45 and females between 18 and 35 can be drafted into the armed forces for two years, extendable to five years during national emergencies.