Top Asian News 1:43 a.m. GMT

Indian, Chinese defense ministers meet amid border tensions

NEW DELHI (AP) — Defense ministers of India and China have met in the Russian capital to try to solve rising tensions along their disputed border in the eastern Ladakh region, where a June clash killed 20 Indian soldiers. India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted about his meeting Friday night with Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe that lasted about two hours. He didn’t give any details about the outcome of the first direct high-level contact between the two sides in the monthslong standoff. The ministers met on the sidelines of a meeting of the defense chiefs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Typhoon Haishen approaching Japan, packing powerful winds

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful typhoon, the second in a week, was barreling toward the southern cluster of Japanese Okinawa islands on Saturday, prompting warnings about torrential rainfall and fierce wind gusts. Weather officials have cautioned about Typhoon Haishen for the last several days, urging people to brace for what could be a record storm and be ready to take shelter and stock up on food and water. The Japan Meteorological Agency said Haishen, packing sustained winds of up to 198 kilometers (123 miles) per hour early Saturday, was on course to hit Okinawa by Sunday, and later the main southern island of Kyushu.

2nd survivor rescued after livestock ship sinks off Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s coast guard rescued a second survivor on Friday in waters where a ship carrying thousands of cows from New Zealand is believed to have sunk during stormy weather, officials said. Hours earlier, an unconscious crew member was also recovered but later died. The survivor, Jay-nel Rosals, a Filipino deckhand, was wearing a life jacket and floating in a raft north of Amami Oshima island in the East China Sea, where rescuers have been searching for the Gulf Livestock 1 ship and its missing crew since it sent a distress signal early Wednesday. Coast guard rescuers earlier Friday found an unconscious man who was floating face down about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the island.

Analysis: China's rise takes the world into uncharted waters

BEIJING (AP) — Twice in the 20th century, Japan challenged the West, first in a military-led attempt to become an imperial power and then as an industrial powerhouse. Now it is China’s turn to take the global stage. Seventy-five years after Japan’s surrender in World War II, and 30 years after its economic bubble popped, the emergence of a 21st century Asian power is shaking up the status quo. As Japan did, China is butting heads with the established Western powers, which increasingly see its growing economic and military prowess as a threat. In turn, China, again like Japan, feels the West is trying to limit its rise, fueling nationalistic sentiment among both its public and leaders.

Gas pipeline blast burns dozens praying at Bangladesh mosque

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — An underground gas pipeline near a mosque exploded during evening prayers outside the capital of Bangladesh, leaving dozens of Muslim worshipers with critical burns, officials said Saturday. The blast occurred Friday night as people were finishing their prayers at Baitus Salat Jame Mosque at Narayanganj, local police chief Zayedul Alam said. At least 37 people were admitted to a burn unit in a state-run hospital in the capital of Dhaka, said Samanta Lal Sen, a coordinator of the unit. Most of them were in critical condition, Sen said. TV stations reported that because of the impact of the gas line blast, at least six air conditioners also exploded inside the mosque.

Thai students turn agitators for educational reform

BANGKOK (AP) — She‘s 15, writes love stories and likes indie music and anime cartoons. So far so normal. But two weeks ago Benjamaporn Nivas upended traditional notions of Thai schoolkids’ behavior by leading hundreds of youngsters in a protest outside the Education Ministry in Bangkok. On Saturday she and her friends plan to do it again, venting their rage in an attempt to shake up the Thai education order, which they say is oppressive, ineffective and in dire need of reform. Benjamaporn, or Ploy as she’s known, and her friends are members of a new high school student activist group they've dubbed the “Bad Students” and they are looking to build on the momentum from their last protest.

Ships, copters fighting fire as tanker drifts near Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Ships and aircraft from Sri Lanka and India intensified efforts to extinguish an oil tanker fire burning for a second day Friday as officials warned of possible massive environmental damage to Sri Lanka’s coast if the ship leaks or explodes. The tanker, carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil, was drifting about 22 nautical miles (40 kilometers) from the coast, army chief Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva said. The tanker's third engineer was hospitalized with injuries and another crew member was initially described as missing but later confirmed to have died. Both are Filipino. The condition of the injured crew member is stabilizing, Silva said.

UK ignores critics, makes ex-Australia PM Abbott trade envoy

LONDON (AP) — The British government appointed former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to a post as unpaid trade advisor on Friday, ignoring criticism of the politician's views on women, gay rights and the environment. The Department for International Trade said Abbott, who led a conservative Australian government between 2013 and 2015, would serve on the U.K.’s Board of Trade. Opposition politicians and gay-rights groups had urged the government not to appoint Abbott, citing his opposition to same-sex marriage, persistent allegations of sexism and statements downplaying the impact of climate change. In power, his government repealed a carbon tax paid by polluting Australian industries.

AP Interview: Mahathir sees new role as powerbroker

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — At 95, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad isn't yet done with politics. The veteran politician, who had returned to power in 2018 but lasted only 22 months, is not giving up the fight against what he said was a return of corrupt practices and a rollback of reforms under his successor, Muhyiddin Yassin. In August, Mahathir formed the Pejuang (Fighters) party, months after his reformist government was ousted in a political coup and he was sacked from his own party. He told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that Malaysia's governing coalition isn't likely to call for early elections due to political infighting and he foresees his new ethnic Malay party to be the powerbroker in the next polls.

Recent data show Chinese fishing fleet still near Galapagos

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Satellite data indicate that a large Chinese fishing fleet remained in international waters near Ecuador's Galapagos archipelago at the beginning of this month, even as China said it would temporarily ban fishing near the UNESCO world heritage site. Vessel tracking data displayed on the public map created by Global Fishing Watch, a group that tracks commercial fishing vessels, shows that the fleet was massed until at least Sept. 1 along the southern border of the exclusive economic zone around the Galapagos, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the islands. That is roughly where the fleet, estimated at several hundred vessels, had been since June, escalating concerns about overfishing and the threat to vulnerable marine species in the nutrient-rich waters around the archipelago that inspired Charles Darwin in the development of his theory of evolution.