Top Asian News 3:12 a.m. GMT

Smell of death permeates Myanmar cities after quake kills over 1,600 and leaves countless buried

MANDALAY, Myanmar (AP) — The smell of decaying bodies permeated the streets of Myanmar’s second-largest city on Sunday as people worked frantically by hand to clear rubble in the hope of finding someone still alive, two days after a massive earthquake struck that killed more than 1,600 people and left countless others buried. The 7.7 magnitude quake hit midday Friday with an epicenter near Mandalay, bringing down scores of buildings and damaging other infrastructure like the city’s airport. Relief efforts have been hampered by buckled roads, downed bridges, spotty communications and the challenges of operating in a country in the midst of a civil war.

What to know about Myanmar’s civil war, which is complicating earthquake relief efforts

BANGKOK (AP) — The Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar has been plagued by wars and natural disasters since it became independent from Britain in 1948, when it was still called Burma. Relief efforts from Friday’s devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake will be especially complicated with the country in embroiled in civil war, which began after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The main resistance movement against military rule has issued a statement saying it is unilaterally initiating a two-week ceasefire beginning Sunday in areas of the country affected by the quake. There was no immediate reaction from the military government, which even before the earthquake — in addition to employing massive repression and state violence — heavily restricted much-needed aid to the more than 3 million people displaced by war.

Medical supplies in great need as international assistance flows into Myanmar after earthquake

BANGKOK (AP) — Emergency aid has streamed into Southeast Asia in the two days since a massive earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand. Relief efforts are focused on Myanmar, where the estimated death toll rose to 1,644 by Sunday afternoon. The number of dead from Friday’s 7.7 magnitude quake is expected to increase, while the number of injured was 3,408 and 139 people were missing as of Sunday. The earthquake’s epicenter was near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city with 1.5 million people. In neighboring Thailand, the death toll rose to 17. While food, medicine and other vital supplies have reached Myanmar, a report issued Saturday by the U.N.

A 7.0 earthquake causes slight damage in Tonga and brief tsunami evacuations

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit near Tonga early Monday morning, causing slight damage and brief evacuations before the threat of a tsunami hitting the Pacific island country passed. Tsunami sirens could be heard after the 1:18 a.m. quake urging residents to move inland in a live video streamed by the Tonga Broadcasting Commission. People in the capital, Nuku’alofa, were seen moving inland or to higher ground before officials gave the all-clear for residents to return home. Tongans posting on social media reported being able to place calls to most islands in the archipelago. Taekwondo athlete Pita Taufatofua posted to Facebook that items fell from shelves and tables and pictures fell from the walls during the shaking.

Declining Eid travel and spending dampen holiday spirit as soaring prices hit Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The usual festive mood of Eid al-Fitr holiday to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan has been subdued in Indonesia this year as people grapple with soaring prices for food, clothing and essential goods. Consumer spending ahead of the biggest religious holiday for Muslims, which was celebrated on Sunday in Indonesia, has declined compared to the previous year, with a predicted slowdown in cash circulation due to fewer travelers. Each year in Indonesia, nearly three-quarters of the population of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country travel for the annual homecoming known locally as “mudik” that is always welcomed with excitement.

Hegseth calls Japan indispensable in the face of Chinese aggression

TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Japan on Sunday an “indispensable partner” in deterring growing Chinese assertiveness in the region and announced upgrading the U.S. military command in Japan to a new “war-fighting headquarters.” Hegseth, who is on his first Asia trip with Japan as his second stop, also stressed the need for both countries to do more to accelerate the strengthening of their military capability as the region faces China’s assertive military actions and a possible Taiwan emergency. “Japan is our indispensable partner in deterring Communist Chinese military aggression,” Hegseth said at the beginning of his talks with Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Tokyo.

The Taliban leader says there is no need for Western laws in Afghanistan

The Taliban leader said Sunday there was no need for Western laws in Afghanistan and that democracy was dead as long as sharia laws are in effect. Hibatullah Akhundzada made the comments in a sermon marking the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, in the southern city of Kandahar’s Eidgah Mosque. The 50-minute audio of his message was published on X by the Taliban government’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. “There is no need for laws that originate from the West. We will create our own laws,” Akhundzada said, speaking in Pashto, while emphasizing the importance of Islamic laws. The Taliban’s interpretation of sharia has led to bans on Afghan women and girls, who have been excluded them from education, many jobs and most public spaces.

Pakistan says it killed 10 civilians during an anti-militant operation in the northwest

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan said it killed 10 civilians during an anti-militant operation in the country’s northwest and promised to investigate the circumstances. Authorities made the admission Saturday evening about the deaths, which occurred in the early hours of that morning in a remote hilltop area of Katlang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is rare for Pakistan to reveal civilian casualties resulting from anti-militant activities and it was not immediately clear how the Saturday operations were carried out. According to provincial government spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif, reports indicated the location was being used as a “hideout and transit point for terrorist” elements.

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.

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.