Top Asian News 10:42 a.m. GMT

Farmers back at protest camp after deep challenge to PM Modi

NEW DELHI (AP) — Tens of thousands of farmers who stormed the historic Red Fort on India's Republic Day were again camped outside the capital Wednesday after the most volatile day of their two-month standoff left one protester dead and more than 300 police officers injured. The protests demanding the repeal of new agricultural laws have grown into a rebellion that is rattling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. On Tuesday, more than 10,000 tractors and thousands more people on foot or horseback tried to advance into the capital, shoving aside barricades and buses blocking their path and at times met by police using tear gas and water cannons.

Indonesian volcano unleashes river of lava in new eruption

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s most active volcano erupted Wednesday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 1,600 meters (5,250 feet) down its slopes. It was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center. After morning rain, ashfall turned into muck in several villages, where the sound of eruption could be heard 30 kilometers (18 away). Police and rescue services told miners to cease work along rivers but no one was evacuated. Authorities in November had evacuated nearly 2,000 people living on the mountain in Magelang and Sleman districts on Java Island but most have since returned.

Google says North Korea-backed hackers sought cyber research

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Google says it believes hackers backed by the North Korean government have been posing as computer security bloggers and using fake accounts on social media while attempting to steal information from researchers in the field. Google didn’t specify how successful the hackers were or what kind of information could have been compromised. Experts say the attacks reflect North Korean efforts to improve its cyber skills and be able to breach widely used computer products, such as Google’s Chrome internet browser and Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system. While the country has denied involvement, North Korea has been linked to major cyberattacks, including a 2013 campaign that paralyzed the servers of South Korean financial institutions, the 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures, and the WannaCry malware attack of 2017.

China asks Indonesia to treat detained sailors fairly

BEIJING (AP) — China's government called on Indonesia on Wednesday to treat a group of detained Chinese sailors fairly but gave no indication what their oil tanker was doing when it was found at sea transferring fuel from an Iranian ship. The Iranian-flagged MT Horse and Panamanian-flagged MT Freya were seized Sunday and are suspected of illegally transferring fuel at sea, shutting off their identification systems and other offenses. Indonesian authorities said 36 Iranian and 25 Chinese crew members were detained. Iran has sold oil on the black market since then-President Donald Trump imposed sanctions in 2018 and threatened to penalize countries that bought Iranian crude.

Asia Today: South Korea adds 559 cases, highest in 10 days

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has reported 599 new coronavirus cases, the highest in 10 days, as health workers scramble to slow infections at religious facilities, which have been a major source throughout the pandemic. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 112 of the new cases came from the southwestern city of Gwangju, where more than 100 have so far been linked to a missionary training school. An affiliated facility in the central city of Daejeon has been linked to more than 170 infections. The Seoul metropolitan area reported nearly 300 cases. South Korea has repeatedly seen big clusters emerge from religious groups, including more than 5,000 linked to the secretive Shincheonji Church of Jesus that drove a major outbreak last spring.

Newly found Fukushima plant contamination may delay cleanup

TOKYO (AP) — A draft investigation report into the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown, adopted by Japanese nuclear regulators Wednesday, says it has detected dangerously high levels of radioactive contamination at two of the three reactors, adding to concerns about decommissioning challenges. The interim report said data collected by investigators showed that the sealing plugs sitting atop the No. 2 and 3 reactor containment vessels were as fatally contaminated as nuclear fuel debris that had melted and fell to the bottom of the reactors following the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake. The experts said the bottom of the sealed plug, a triple-layered concrete disc-shaped lid 12 meters (39 feet) in diameter sitting atop the primary containment vessel, is coated with high levels of radioactive Cesium 137.

Health workers become 1st to get COVID-19 vaccine in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Thousands of health workers lined up across Nepal to get the coronavirus vaccine Wednesday as the Himalayan nation began a three-month vaccination campaign. At the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, doctors were encouraging hesitant colleagues to get the vaccine. “We have to initiate this. If we will not take, then who will take this vaccine? We can’t say we will not take this as we are doctors,” said Dr. Poonam Sharma. Hospital director Dr. Dinesh Kafle said 300 staffers were set to get the vaccine on Wednesday and the remaining 2,000 within a week. Nepal received as a gift from neighboring India 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine manufactured under license by the Serum Institute of India.

Myanmar health workers receive first COVID-19 vaccinations

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Health workers in Myanmar on Wednesday became the first people in the Southeast Asian country to be vaccinated against COVID-19, five days after the first vaccines were delivered from India. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s leader, announced last week that front-line health workers would get priority for inoculations with the vaccine developed by Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. India, which manufactures the vaccine under license, donated 1.5 million doses to Myanmar, enough to inoculate 750,000 people. On Wednesday, Suu Kyi observed vaccinations at a hospital in the capital, Naypyitaw, and told reporters that the inoculation campaign must proceed carefully because the government does not have all the supplies it needs.

China: Military flights warn against interference in Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government said Wednesday that actions like its warplanes flying near Taiwan last weekend are a warning against both foreign interference in Taiwan and any independence moves by the island. Asked about the flights, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said China's military drills are to show the nation's resolution to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. "They are a stern warning against external interference and provocation from separatist forces advocating for Taiwan independence,” she said at a regular briefing, giving the Chinese government's first official comment on the recent flights. China sent eight bombers and four fighter jets into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Saturday, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry.

Relative of virus victim asks to meet WHO experts in Wuhan

WUHAN, China (AP) — A relative of a coronavirus victim in China is demanding to meet a visiting World Health Organization expert team, saying it should speak with affected families who allege they are being muffled by the Chinese government. China approved the visit by researchers under the auspices of the U.N. agency only after months of negotiations. It has not indicated whether they will be allowed to gather evidence or talk to families, saying only that the team can exchange views with Chinese scientists. “I hope the WHO experts don’t become a tool to spread lies,” said Zhang Hai, whose father died of COVID-19 on Feb.