Top Asian News 3:20 a.m. GMT

A-bomb survivors use Nobel Peace Prize to share anti-nuke message with the young

TOKYO (AP) — The recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is a fast-dwindling group of atomic bomb survivors who are facing down the shrinking time they have left to convey the firsthand horror they witnessed 79 years ago. Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was awarded for its decadeslong activism against nuclear weapons. The survivors, known as hibakusha, see the prize and the international attention as their last chance to get their message out to younger generations. Terumi Tanaka, 91 and who survived the Nagasaki bombing at age 13, said he hopes the award will help raise public awareness about the need to join hands to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.

Macao’s former top judge is elected as the Chinese casino hub’s first leader born in mainland China

MACAO (AP) — Macao’s former top judge, Sam Hou Fai, was chosen as the Chinese casino hub’s next leader in a largely ceremonial election on Sunday, setting him up to become the city’s first chief executive born in mainland China. Almost the entire election committee stacked with Beijing loyalists — 394 of 398 — voted for Sam, the sole candidate, in a departure from the long-standing custom of having chief executives who were born in the former Portuguese colony, typically from influential business families. The remaining four were blank votes. The shift in the city’s leadership to someone from the legal profession is likely to create expectations of a declining influence from business circles, which critics have often accused of colluding with officials, analysts say.

Sister of North Korea’s leader threatens South Korea over drone flights

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday accused South Korea of deliberately avoiding responsibility for the alleged flights of South Korean drones over the North’s capital, and warned of a “terrible calamity” if they continue. The statement by Kim Yo Jong came a day after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry claimed that South Korean drones carrying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets were detected in the night skies over Pyongyang on Oct. 3, and Wednesday and Thursday this week. The ministry said North Korean forces will prepare “all means of attack” capable of destroying the southern side of the border and the South Korean military, and respond without warning if South Korean drones are detected in its territory again.

Hindus in Bangladesh celebrate their largest festival under tight security following attacks

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Schoolteacher Supriya Sarker is glad to celebrate Bangladesh’s largest Hindu festival of Durga Puja but feels the festivities would be more jubilant without the fear and violence that overshadow this year’s event. The weeklong celebration that ends in the Muslim-majority Bangladesh on Sunday with immersions of the Hindu Goddess has strained the Hindu community with reports of vandalism, violence and intimidation in parts of Bangladesh, which has seen harassment and attacks on Hindus, who make up about 8% of the country’s nearly 170 million people, or more than 13 million people. Despite pledges to keep the festival safe, this year’s version was subdued coming following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and attacks on minority groups, especially Hindus.

An Australian police sergeant likely to be charged over a Nazi salute

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian state police chief apologized to the Jewish community on Saturday after a sergeant allegedly performed an outlawed Nazi salute. The 65-year-old instructor on domestic violence policy and law at the Victoria state police academy in Melbourne is facing charges for the gesture and for praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler with the words, “Heil Hitler” on Tuesday and Wednesday in front of academy staff and recruits, Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said. “I want to express just here at the outset my disappointment, my disgust, my anger at this appalling conduct,” Patton told a press conference.

Tribal clashes kill at least 11 people in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Tribal clashes killed at least 11 people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday and injured eight, including women and children, a local official said. Tensions rose in Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after two people were critically injured in a shooting incident between rival tribes. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the shooting. Vehicles were targeted in different areas of the district, leading to more casualties, said senior official Javedullah Khan. Khan said efforts were being made to secure travel routes and restore normalcy. The injured were taken to a hospital. Pir Haider Ali Shah, a former parliamentarian and member of a tribal council, said elders had arrived in Kurram to mediate a peace agreement between the tribes.

Pregnant Philippine women arrested in Cambodia for surrogacy could be prosecuted after giving birth

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Thirteen pregnant Philippine women accused of illegally acting as surrogate mothers in Cambodia after being recruited online may face prison terms after they give birth, a senior Interior Ministry official said Saturday. Interior Ministry Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng, who leads the country’s fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation, said police found 24 foreign women, 20 Philippine and four Vietnamese, when they raided a villa in Kandal province, near the capital of Phnom Penh, on Sept. 23. Thirteen of the Philippine women were found to be pregnant and were charged in court on Oct.

China’s finance minister says there is room for more economic stimulus but offers no plan

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government is looking at additional ways to boost the economy, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an said Saturday, but he stopped short of unveiling a major new stimulus plan that analysts and stock investors were hoping for. Lan’s remarks left the door open for such a plan in the future but he did not divulge what is under consideration. “There are other policy tools that are being discussed that are still in the pipeline,” he said at a news conference, adding that there is “ample room” in the government budget to raise debt and increase the deficit. China’s economy has remained sluggish despite the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions at the end of 2022.

Nobel Peace Prize given to Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo for its work against nuclear weapons

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.” Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a shift in his country’s nuclear doctrine, in a move aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons. It appeared to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

Blinken tells ASEAN the US is worried about China’s ‘dangerous’ actions in disputed sea.

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian leaders Friday that the U.S. is concerned about China’s “increasingly dangerous and unlawful” activities in the disputed South China Sea during an annual summit meeting, and pledged the U.S. will continue to uphold freedom of navigation in the vital sea trade route. His comments at a meeting with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ drew swift condemnation from Beijing, which blamed U.S. and other military presences from beyond the region for instability in the waterway, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety. China has overlapping claims with ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan.