Top Asian News 3:40 a.m. GMT

China’s congress ends with a show of unity behind Xi’s vision for national greatness

BEIJING (AP) — China’s national legislature wrapped up its annual session Monday with the usual show of near-unanimous support for plans designed to carry out ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s vision for the nation. The weeklong event, replete with meetings carefully scripted to allow no surprises, has highlighted how China’s politics have become ever more calibrated to elevate Xi. Monday’s agenda lacked the usual closing news conference by the premier, the party’s No. 2 leader. The news conference has been held most years since 1988 and was the one time when journalists could directly question a top Chinese leader. The decision to scrap it emphasizes Premier Li Qiang’s relatively weak status.

India announces steps to implement a citizenship law that excludes Muslims

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Monday announced rules to implement a 2019 citizenship law that excludes Muslims, weeks before the Hindu nationalist leader seeks a third term in office. The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec. 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations. The law was approved by Indian Parliament in 2019, but Modi’s government had held off with its implementation after deadly protests broke out in capital New Delhi and elsewhere.

13 years after Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan remembers the dead and vows to keep rebuilding

TOKYO (AP) — Japan marked the 13th anniversary of the massive earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear meltdown and left large parts of Fukushima prefecture uninhabitable on Monday with a minute of silence and memorial events, where officials pledged continued support for rebuilding. The 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami that ravaged parts of Japan’s northeastern coast on March 11, 2011 killed about 20,000 people and drove thousands from their homes in the prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima. At 2:46 p.m. — the time when the earthquake struck — people across Japan stopped to observe a minute of silence. In Tokyo’s central Ginza shopping district, people stopped to pray on the sidewalk as a bell rang out, marking the moment.

Conditions inside Fukushima’s melted nuclear reactors still unclear 13 years after disaster struck

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Monday marked 13 years since a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the country’s northern coasts. Nearly 20,000 people died, whole towns were wiped out and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was destroyed, creating deep fears of radiation that linger today. As the nation observes the anniversary, the AP explains what is happening now at the plant and in neighboring areas. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, causing a tsunami that battered northern coastal towns in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. The tsunami, which topped 15 meters (50 feet) in some areas, slammed into the nuclear plant, destroying its power supply and fuel cooling systems, and causing meltdowns at reactors No.

South Korean detained earlier this year is accused of espionage in Russia, state news agency says

A South Korean citizen arrested in Russia earlier this year on suspicion of spying is to remain in custody until mid-June, Russia’s state news agency Tass said Monday. The news agency said it is the first time that a South Korean has been arrested for espionage in Russia. Tass said the man, identified by the agency as Baek Won-soon, was detained “at the start of the year” in the far eastern city of Vladivostok and was taken to Moscow at the end of February. He is being held in Lefortovo Prison, where a court on Monday ordered his detention extended until June 15, Tass said.

US is constantly assessing expansion of export controls on chips that could boost China’s military

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States is constantly assessing the need to expand export controls to stop China from acquiring advanced computer chips and manufacturing equipment that could be used to boost its military, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Monday. The U.S. export controls were first launched in 2022 to counter the use of chips for military applications that include the development of hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence. Last year, the U.S. Commerce Department broadened the export controls, sparking protests from China’s Commerce Ministry that the restrictions violated international trade rules and “seriously threaten the stability of industrial supply chains.” China said it would take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its rights and interests and urged Washington to lift the export control as soon as possible.

At least 26 dead and 11 missing after flash floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island

PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers recovered more bodies as waters began to recede after flash floods and landslides caused by torrential rains on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, which have killed at least 26 people and left 11 missing, officials said Monday. Monsoon rains and rising rivers have submerged nine districts and cities in West Sumatra province since Thursday. Late Friday, a major mudslide caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in Pesisir Selatan district. Relief efforts for have been hampered by power outages, damaged bridges and roads blocked by thick mud and debris, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

2 backcountry skiers from New Zealand reportedly killed in avalanche in Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Two backcountry skiers have died in a mountain avalanche on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, according to news reports. The dead in Monday’s avalanche on the 1,898 meter Mt. Yotei were from New Zealand, according to the New Zealand Herald. The snow slammed into three people in a group of six, according to Japan’s Kyodo News. The man who survived was injured in his shoulder.

Pakistan swears in newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s 19-member Cabinet

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The 19-member Cabinet of Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was sworn into office on Monday and held its first meeting. The prime minister appointed several top government posts and promised to tackle the country’s unrelenting economic crisis. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath of office to the ministers at the presidential office in the capital of Islamabad, with Sharif in attendance. Sharif was elected as prime minister by the parliament on Sunday, a month after parliamentary elections and after his Pakistan Muslim League-N party formed a coalition with several allies. Sharif held the same position from April 2022 to August 2023, when he replaced archrival Imran Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly.

The monster wins one at last as ‘Godzilla Minus One’ nabs the Oscar for visual effects

Godzilla finally made it to the Oscars this year — and slayed. The movie “Godzilla Minus One,” set in the waning days of World War II, won the Oscar for best visual effects, pushing aside such big-budget behemoths as “Guardians of the Galaxy 3,” “Napoleon” and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.” “Godzilla Minus One,” from writer-director Takashi Yamazaki, marked the first time the prehistoric reptilian monster was nominated for an Oscar in the franchise’s 70-year history. It is the 37th film in the film series, which usually uses Godzilla as a sober symbol of nuclear holocaust and atomic trauma.