Top Asian News 2:04 a.m. GMT

Pope to meet Papua New Guinea Catholics who embrace both Christianity and Indigenous beliefs

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Pope Francis’s visit to Papua New Guinea will take him to a remote part of the South Pacific island nation where Christianity is a recent addition to traditional spiritual beliefs developed over millennia. Francis will visit the diocese of Vanimo on the main island of New Guinea, one of the most remote and disadvantaged in a poor and diverse nation, according to local Bishop Francis Meli. Trappings of modernity are scarce. There is no running water for the more than 120,000 people who live in the diocese, according to a church website. Electricity is a luxury for the few who can afford solar panels or portable generators.

Japan’s leader makes a farewell visit to Seoul and reaffirms sympathy for Korean colonial victims

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Less than a month before leaving office, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Seoul and reaffirmed his sympathy for the suffering of Koreans during Japan’s colonial rule, as he and his South Korean counterpart Friday underscored the need to maintain warming ties between the Asian neighbors. Since early last year, Kishida and conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have worked together to repair ties badly frayed over grievances stemming from Japan’s brutal 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula. As a result, the two countries revived high-level talks and withdrew reciprocal economic restrictions imposed due to wrangling over the issue of Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies during the colonial period.

Pope urges end to Papua New Guinea tribal conflicts and fair, sustainable extraction of resources

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — Pope Francis called Saturday for an end to tribal conflicts that have wracked Papua New Guinea for decades and appealed for equitable development of its natural resources during a visit that also surfaced its problem of violence against women. Dancers in swishing grass skirts performed for Francis as he opened his first full day in the South Pacific country with a mix of political and church business. He met with the governor general and dignitaries from around the region, and then addressed government authorities before visiting with local priests, nuns and street children.

A million people are relocated as Typhoon Yagi makes 2 landfalls in southern China

HONG KONG (AP) — A powerful typhoon made two landfalls in southern China Friday after it swept south of Hong Kong, bringing many aspects of life in the region to a halt and forcing about a million people in the country’s south to leave their homes. The Hainan province’s meteorological service said Yagi, which earlier packed winds of up to about 245 kph (152 mph) near its center, made landfall in the tropical vacation island’s Wenchang city at around 4:20 p.m. China’s national meteorological authorities said Yagi was the strongest autumn typhoon to have landed in China. It made a second landfall in Xuwen County in neighboring Guangdong province on Friday night.

Prince Hisahito becomes the first royal male in Japan to reach adulthood in 4 decades.

TOKYO (AP) — In a big milestone for Japan’s royal family, Prince Hisahito turned 18 on Friday, becoming the first male royal family member to reach adulthood in almost four decades. It is a significant development for a family that has ruled for more than a millennium but faces the same existential problems as the rest of the nation — a fast-aging, shrinking population. Hisahito, who is set to become the emperor one day, is the nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito. His father, Crown Prince Akishino, was the last male to reach adulthood in the family, in 1985. Hisahito is the youngest of the 17-member all-adult imperial family, which currently has only four men.

What’s at stake in Sri Lanka’s first presidential vote since its economic meltdown?

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka will hold its presidential election on Sept. 21 in a crucial vote that will decide the future of the South Asian nation still struggling to recover from its economic collapse in 2022, which provoked mass protests and forced the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and later resign. The election is seen as a referendum on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s two-year-long rule that has overseen a fragile recovery of the country’s economy. He faces a tough challenge from the leader of the opposition in parliament, as well as from a left-leaning politician with a powerful alliance, who is gaining popularity among young voters.

AP Week in Pictures: Global

Aug. 30 - Sept. 5, 2024 Cadets sing the national anthem, an woman dances, a health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child and boys row on the Sava river in Serbia. Children visit a Blow Up Experience installation, actress Mahlagha Jaberi poses for photographers and Chinese J-10 fighter jets perform during the Egypt International Airshow. This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images published in the past week by The Associated Press. ___ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews X: http://twitter.com/AP_Images

Japanese man arrested in Belarus on charges of acting as special services agent

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Japanese man has been arrested in Belarus and is facing charges of working for Japan’s special services by photographing military and civilian infrastructure near the border with Ukraine. A report on Belarusian state TV on Thursday said suspect Masatoshi Nakanishi was arrested in July. and faces seven years in prison if convicted. The TV report said Nakanishi took 9,000 photographs of military installations, airfields, railway lines, bridges and other infrastructure in the Belarusian-Ukrainian border area. Nakanishi had lived in Gomel, Belarus’ second-largest city, near the border, since 2018 and taught Japanese at a local university, the report said.

The AP Interview: East Timor’s president says the pope’s visit isn’t time to dwell on past sins

DILI, East Timor (AP) — The president of East Timor sees Pope Francis’ upcoming visit as a prime opportunity to promote Asia’s youngest country on the world stage, not a time to confront the legacy of abuse by influential members of the clergy in the deeply Catholic nation. During an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, President José Ramos-Horta also predicted progress soon on a major energy project with Australia, and urged China and the United States to act as “benevolent superpowers” as they compete for influence in the Southeast Asian country. The 74-year-old former independence fighter and Nobel laureate returned to the presidency in 2022 with campaign pledges that included tackling poverty, creating jobs and improving political stability.

Students in Bangladesh forced out the country’s leader a month ago. Where do things stand now?

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A month ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people and pushed the country to the brink of chaos. What began as student protests over government jobs became a large-scale revolt against the country’s longest-serving prime minister. Hasina, 76, fled to India on Aug. 5 as anger against her government swelled. But the ouster triggered more violence. Police went on strike and mobs rampaged across the country until a new interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in. Here is where things stand now, a month after the country was roiled by its worst bloodshed in decades: Since he was sworn in, Yunus declared that his key tasks would be to restore peace and law and order, fight corruption, and prepare for new elections.