Top Asian News Stories

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) – An overnight exchange of fire between Afghan forces and Pakistani troops along the two countries’ tense border killed five Afghan civilians and wounded five others, while three civilians were also wounded on the Pakistani side, officials from the two countries said Saturday. Each side has blamed the other for triggering the clash in violation of a tenuous two-month ceasefire. Those killed in the border area near the Afghan city of Spin Boldak, in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, included three children and one woman, said Ali Mohammad Haqmal, the head of information of Spin Boldak District. Pakistani police and a hospital official in the Pakistani city of Chaman, Mohammad Awais, said three people, including a woman, were wounded in the shooting and shelling that came from the Afghan side.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Chinese forces fired three flares from an island toward a Philippine plane undertaking a routine patrol Saturday in the disputed South China Sea, but the incident did not cause any problem and the aircraft proceeded with its surveillance mission, the Philippine coast guard said. It was not immediately clear how far the flares that Filipino officials said were fired from the Chinese-occupied Subi Reef were from the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft of the Philippine fisheries bureau. Chinese officials did not immediately comment on the incident, Beijing has claimed virtually the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route, and has vowed to staunchly defend its sovereignty.

TOKYO (AP) – Prominent American playwright and actor, Jeremy O. Harris, known for his Tony-nominated “Slave Play,” was arrested in Japan on suspicion of smuggling the psychedelic drug ecstasy, officials said Saturday. Officers at Naha Airport on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa arrested Harris on Nov. 16 for an alleged violation of customs law for having 0.78 grams (0.0275 ounces ) of the crystalized drug, also known as MDMA, in a container in a tote bag he was carrying, according to Okinawa Regional Customs spokesperson Tatsunori Fukuda. Harris, 36, had left London’s Heathrow Airport two days earlier and transited in Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport before arriving in Naha for sightseeing, Fukuda said.

HONG KONG (AP) – Hong Kong’s national security police arrested a man on Saturday in the first publicly confirmed arrest relating to criticism of authorities over a high-rise apartment blaze that killed at least 159 people. Police said he had been accused of posting “information with seditious intention” on social media. “That mainly included (materials intending to) incite hatred among (others) toward the Hong Kong government and the central government,” Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police National Security Department, told reporters. “For example, he pointed to the Hong Kong and the central governments as instigators of exploiting the tragedy to cause chaos and turmoil,” he said.

HONG KONG (AP) – The deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades is piling pressure on Beijing’s “patriots-only” governance system, casting a shadow on elections widely seen as a further step to tighten control over the city’s legislature. Sunday’s vote to elect new lawmakers to Hong Kong’s 90-member Legislative Council comes just 11 days after a massive fire engulfed seven towers in a high-rise apartment complex, killing at least 159 people in the financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948. With many voters in the city grown politically apathetic since China’s crackdown shut out the pro-democracy camp in recent years, Sunday’s turnout rate will be a key barometer of public sentiment toward the government and its handling of the fire.

CHENGDU, China (AP) – French first lady Brigitte Macron caught up with an old friend – a giant panda born in France – at the tail end Friday of a visit to China with President Emmanuel Macron. At a panda reserve in southwest China that Yuan Meng now calls home, the first lady marveled at how big he has grown. She helped chose his name – which means “accomplishment of a dream” – when he was born in a French zoo in 2017. “When they’re born, they’re like this,” she said, holding up two fingers a short distance apart. Meanwhile, the chunky male roamed in his enclosure, feasting on bamboo and ignoring bystanders who cried out his name, hoping to elicit a reaction.

NEW DELHI (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at an annual summit and agreed to diversify mutual economic ties, as the United States presses India to revise its decades-old partnership with Russia. The 23rd Russia-India Summit comes at a pivotal moment as the U.S. pushes for a Ukraine peace deal while seeking global cooperation. It will test New Delhi’s efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the nearly four-year war in Ukraine grinds on. Putin was received by Modi at an airport in New Delhi on Thursday. The Indian leader gave Putin a bear hug and a tight handshake with the gusto of an old friend.

ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistani troops and Afghan forces exchanged fire late on Friday along the two countries’ tense border but no casualties or damage were reported. Each side blamed the other for triggering the clash in violation of a fragile ceasefire in place for the past two months. Negotiations between Kabul and Islamabad aimed at easing border tensions and upholding the truce broke down in November but the cesefire – brokered by Qatar in October – has mostly held. The exchange came a day after Pakistan said it would allow the United Nations to send relief supplies into Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham border crossings, which have been mostly closed for nearly two months amid escalating tensions.

NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s aviation watchdog temporarily rolled back restrictions on airline crew duty hours, days after the previous order disrupted operations at major Indian airports as the country’s biggest airline, IndiGo, scrambled to restore normal services. The new regulations mandated longer rest periods and limited night flying hours for crew and pilots to address concerns about fatigue and safety. India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said late Friday the suspension of the new rules would go into effect immediately. “Without compromising on air safety, this decision has been taken solely in the interest of passengers, especially senior citizens, students, patients, and others who rely on timely air travel for essential needs,” the ministry said in a statement.

ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan’s military pushed back Friday after imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan called the country’s army chief “mentally unstable.” The army labeled Khan “mentally ill” and accused him of using family visits and social media posts to attack the armed forces and sow division. Army spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, without directly naming Khan, described him as a “narcissist” whose political ambitions had grown so extreme that he believed “if I am not in power, nothing else should exist.” Chaudhry told a televised news conference that people meeting Khan in prison were being used “to spread poison against the army.” His remarks came after one of Khan’s sisters met with him at a prison, and said her brother was angry at army chief Gen.