Top Asian News 4:18 a.m. GMT
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Myanmar’s desperate military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture, with women, children and the elderly among the victims, the U.N. independent human rights investigator for Myanmar said in a new report. Thomas Andrews, a former U.S. congressman from Maine, said in the report to the U.N. General Assembly circulated Friday that the junta has responded to military defeats and the loss of territory by using sophisticated weapons against civilians and seeking to destroy towns that it cannot control. Calling Myanmar “an invisible crisis” because the world’s attention is focused elsewhere, he said, “Escalating atrocities against the people of Myanmar are being enabled by governments that allow, or actively support, the transfer of weapons, weapons materials, and jet fuel to junta forces.” Andrews didn’t name the governments.
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — The United Nations’ annual climate talks pushed into overtime Saturday under a cloud of anger and disappointment as negotiators were well short of a deal on money for developing nations to curb and adapt to climate change. A draft of the final agreement Friday pledged $250 billion annually by 2035, more than double the previous goal of $100 billion set 15 years ago but far short of the annual $1 trillion-plus that experts say is needed. Through the early hours of Saturday morning, The Associated Press saw lead negotiators from the European Union, the United States and other nations going through the empty halls from meeting to meeting as delegates tried to hash out a new version of the deal.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday. The U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom have recently begun engaging in combat on the front lines. North Korea’s troop deployment threatens to escalate the war, and what Russia could give to the North in return has been a source of rampant international speculation. The most alarming development for South Korea and the U.S.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his past negotiations with the United States only confirmed Washington’s “unchangeable” hostility toward his country and described his nuclear buildup as the only way to counter external threats, state media said Friday. Kim spoke Thursday at a defense exhibition where North Korea displayed some of its most powerful weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to target the U.S. mainland as well as artillery systems and drones, according to text and photos published by the North’s Korean Central News Agency. While meeting with army officers last week, he had pledged a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program.
VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — A second Australian teenager who fell critically ill after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos has died in a hospital in Bangkok, her family said Friday, bringing the death toll in the mass poisoning of foreign tourists to six. Holly Bowles, 19, had been in critical condition on life support following the poisoning in Laos more than a week ago. “We are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace,” her family said in a statement sent to Australian Network 10 and other Australian media. “We find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly brought so much joy and happiness to so many people.” An officer at Vang Vieng’s Tourism Police office, who refused to give his name, told The Associated Press on Friday that a “number of people” had been detained in the case but that no charges have yet been filed.
BANGKOK (AP) — Two Australian teenagers and a British woman died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos. An American man and two Danes also died, though their exact causes of death have not been released. A New Zealander also has been sickened. The U.S. State Department issued a warning to travelers to be “alert to the potential risk of methanol poisoning.” But what is methanol, and how do you avoid it? There are three main types of alcohol: ethanol, methanol and isopropyl. Ethanol is what is found in consumer spirits and is the only one intended for consumption.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Protesters in Pakistan’s restive northwest chanted anti-government slogans and tensions flared Friday after funeral prayers were held for 42 Shiite Muslims who were ambushed and killed by gunmen a day earlier in one of the region’s deadliest such assaults in recent years. The victims were traveling in a convoy of several vehicles from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when the attack took place Thursday. Those killed included six women and 20 others were injured. Survivors said the assailants emerged from a vehicle and sprayed the buses and cars with bullets.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian Cabinet minister on Friday rejected X Corp. owner Elon Musk’s allegation that the government intended to control all Australians’ access to the internet through legislation that would ban young children from social media. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Musk’s criticism was “unsurprising” after the government introduced to Parliament on Thursday legislation that would fine platforms including X up to 150 million Australian dollars ($133 million) if they allow children under age 16 to hold social media accounts. “The idea that Elon Musk is not delighted with our steps to try and protect kids online is not an especially big surprise to us, nor does it trouble us greatly,” Chalmers told reporters.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, one of Asia’s richest men, may be facing his biggest challenge yet with an indictment by U.S. prosecutors for alleged fraud and bribery. But it’s unclear just how the case will affect his businesses and own future — as well as the Indian economy and government. On Friday, shares in some of the Adani Group’s companies began ticking back up after they plunged a day earlier following the announcement of the charges in New York. The stock prices of six of his 10 listed companies rose slightly, between 1% to nearly 4%.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te will visit the self-governing island’s allies in the South Pacific, where rival China has been seeking diplomatic inroads. The Foreign Ministry announced Friday that Lai would travel from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau. The trip comes against the background of Chinese loans, grants and security cooperation treaties with Pacific island nations that have aroused major concern in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia and others over Beijing’s moves to assert military, political and economic control over the region. Taiwan’s government has yet to confirm whether Lai will make a stop in Hawaii, although such visits are routine and unconfirmed Taiwanese media reports say he will stay for more than one day.