Top Asian News 2:55 a.m. GMT

Myanmar quake death toll rises to 1,644 as resistance movement announces partial ceasefire

BANGKOK (AP) — A unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts was announced on Saturday by Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, which coordinates the popular struggle against the ruling military. The country’s death toll from the disaster soared to 1,644. The figure was a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 announced just hours earlier, highlighting the difficulty of confirming casualties over a widespread region and the likelihood that the numbers will continue to grow from Friday’s 7.7 magnitude quake. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139. In neighboring Thailand, the death toll rose to 17.

The Latest: Countries sending humanitarian aid after Myanmar earthquake

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from Myanmar’s powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake keeps climbing amid rescue efforts. The military government said Saturday that 1,644 people have been killed, with thousands of others injured and dozens missing. Myanmar’s main resistance movement, meanwhile, announced a partial ceasefire to facilitate relief efforts. The earthquake struck midday Friday, followed by several aftershocks, including one that measured 6.4. In Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, leaving 10 people dead. Several countries, including Malaysia, Russia and China have dispatched rescue and relief teams. Here is the latest: Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, which coordinates the popular struggle against the ruling military, has announced a unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.

Myanmar at a glance: Embroiled in civil war, now facing more devastation after powerful earthquake

Even before a powerful 7.7-magnitude quake hit Myanmar on Friday, more than 3 million people in the country had been displaced, and hundreds of thousands were cut off from vital food and health programs as a result of a destructive four-year civil war that international groups claim has indiscriminately targeted civilians. Social media videos depicted widespread destruction after the earthquake hit an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, and was followed by a strong 6.4-magnitude aftershock, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. Information and movement throughout the country remain very tightly controlled, making it more difficult for any rescue efforts or even an assessment of the official death toll.

Korean commission finds adoption program rife with abuse, highlighting AP investigation

A South Korean commission found the country violated its children’s human rights by facilitating a foreign adoption program rife with fraud and abuse. The landmark report released Wednesday followed complaints from hundreds of adoptees in Europe, the United States, and Australia, and represented the most comprehensive investigation into a foreign adoption program that sent some 200,000 South Korean children abroad. The report aligns with what The Associated Press documented in an investigation last year. That investigation described how birth mothers were pressured or deceived into giving up their children while adoption agencies bribed hospitals to route babies their way. Many adoptees have grown up to discover their documents were fabricated, the AP found.

Hegseth vows to strengthen alliance with Japan as he joins Iwo Jima memorial service

TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Saturday praised American-Japanese friendship and trust while attending a memorial service on Iwo Jima to honor those who died in a pivotal World War II battle. Japan is Hegseth’s second stop after the Philippines on his first Asia trip. His visit comes as Beijing has been showing increasing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea and President Donald Trump made threats to impose trade tariffs on the East Asian country, a key U.S. ally. Hegseth landed on Iwo Jima, now known as Iwoto, the island where Japanese and American soldiers faced off in one of the war’s fiercest battles.

US, Japan, Philippines stage navy drills in disputed South China Sea as a Chinese ship keeps watch

ABOARD BRP JOSE RIZAL, South China Sea (AP) — The United States, Japan and the Philippines on Friday staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance. The Chinese frigate attempted to get closer to the waters, where the warships and aircraft from the three allied countries were undertaking maneuvers off the Scarborough Shoal in an unsettling moment, but it was warned by a Philippine frigate by radio and kept away. “There was a time when they attempted to maneuver closer but, again, we challenged them,” Philippine navy Commander Irvin Ian Robles told reporters on board the frigate BRP Jose Rizal.

Hegseth tells Philippines the Trump administration will ramp up deterrence against China threat

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea. Hegseth, who was visiting the Philippines, blamed the previous Biden administration for insufficient actions that emboldened aggressors like China over the years. He said the U.S. military was being rebuilt under President Donald Trump and was re-establishing its “warrior ethos” in the region, but did not elaborate. “What we’re dealing with right now is many years of deferred maintenance, of weakness, that we need to reestablish strength and deterrence in multiple places around the globe,” Hegseth told a news conference with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, after meeting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

China’s Xi makes strong push for greater foreign investment as economy continues to lag

BEIJING (AP) — In an address to major global business leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged foreign investors to have faith in China’s business prospects, the latest move to revive the world’s second-largest economy that has been dragged down by a property bust and a loss of momentum. “China has always been and will certainly be an ideal, safe and promising investment destination for foreign investors,” Xi told executives, including Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota, Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics and Stephen Allen Schwarzman, CEO of investment firm Blackstone. China remains a major exporter of products to countries around the world and boasts a domestic market of 1.4 billion people.

Australia to hold general elections on May 3 with inflation and a housing shortage major issues

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australians will go to the polls on May 3 for general elections with high costs of living and a shortage of housing likely weighing against the government as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ‘s center-left Labor Party seeks a second three-year term. Albanese drove to Governor-General Sam Mostyn’s official residence on Friday to trigger the election and announced the date later at a news conference at Parliament House. “Over the last few years, the world has thrown a lot at Australia. In uncertain times, we cannot decide the challenges that we will face, but we can determine how we respond,” Albanese said.

South Korea’s worst wildfires are now almost contained following rain and cooler weather

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The most destructive wildfires ever to hit South Korea were almost contained, authorities announced Friday, after rain and cooler temperatures helped fire crew put out the blazes that have killed 28 people and razed vast swaths of land since last week. In a televised briefing, Korea Forest Service chief Lim Sang-seop said that all main fires at four of the hardest-hit areas in the southeast have been fully contained. The forest service’s website shows efforts to extinguish the wildfires remain at only one place as of Friday afternoon. The government’s disaster response team earlier said that wildfires at other sites have been put out.