Top Asian News 2:49 p.m. GMT

Evacuations ordered after Thai chemical factory explodes

BANGKOK (AP) — A massive explosion at a chemical factory on the outskirts of Bangkok early Monday killed at least one person, injured dozens more and damaged scores of homes, while prompting the evacuation of a wide area over fears of poisonous fumes and the possibility of additional denotations. Dense clouds of black smoke continued to billow from the site late in the day. Winds shifted and started blowing toward the city’s center, and evacuation centers were set up in a school and a government office for those forced from their homes. The fire broke out at around 3 a.m. at a foam and plastic pellet manufacturing factory just outside Bangkok near Suvarnabhumi Airport, with the explosion blowing out windows of surrounding homes and sending debris raining from the air.

Japan searches for dozens missing in mudslide; 4 dead

ATAMI, Japan (AP) — Rescue workers dug through sludge and debris Monday looking for dozens of people who may be trapped after a a torrent of mud, trees and rocks ripped with a roar through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least four people. Eighty people were still unaccounted for two days after the landslide, according to Shizuoka prefectural disaster management official Takamichi Sugiyama. Officials planned to release their names, hoping that perhaps some were away when the disaster struck, since many of the apartments and houses in Atami are second homes or vacation rentals. Initially, 147 people were unreachable, but that number was revised downward after officials confirmed some had safely evacuated or were simply not at home.

Philippine military's worst air disaster kills 50, wounds 49

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops found the last five dead from the crash of a transport aircraft in the south, raising the death toll to 50 in the military's worst air disaster, officials said Monday. The Lockheed C-130 Hercules was carrying 96 mostly combat troops when it overshot the runway while landing Sunday at the Jolo airport in Sulu province, military officials said. It slammed into a coconut grove beyond the airport and burst into flames in a disaster witnessed by horrified soldiers and villagers. Troops, police and firefighters rescued 49 military personnel, including a few who jumped off the aircraft before it exploded and was gutted by fire.

Taiwan's push to shortcut vaccine approval sparks debate

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — At the end of May, Chen Pei-jer, a member of an expert committee in Taiwan to evaluate COVID-19 vaccines for use on the island, resigned. Chen's resignation came after he learned that Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration planned to take a regulatory shortcut in approving two vaccines being developed in Taiwan. The shortcut would allow the shots to be given to people for emergency use before the vaccines have finished the final stage of testing. The proposed shortcut comes as Taiwan scrambles to get vaccines amid its worst outbreak of the pandemic, and has also recorded its first cases of the highly contagious delta variant originally found in India.

Indonesia seeks more oxygen for COVID-19 sick amid shortage

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Parts of Indonesia lack oxygen supplies as the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients who need it increases, the nation's pandemic response leader said Monday, after dozens of sick people died at a public hospital that ran out of its central supply. “Due to an increase of three to four times in the amount (of oxygen) needed, the distribution has been hampered,” said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister. The government is asking oxygen producers to dedicate their full supply to medical needs and will import it if needed, Pandjaitan said at a virtual news conference.

Malaysians suffering amid lockdown fly white flag for help

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — When Mohamad Nor Abdullah put a white flag outside his window late at night, he didn’t expect the swift outpouring of support. By morning, dozens of strangers knocked on his door, offering food, cash and encouragement. Malaysia's nationwide lockdown to curb a coronavirus surge was tightened further on Saturday, banning people in certain areas from leaving their homes except to buy food and necessities. It lurched Mohamad Nor into desperation. He ekes out a living by selling packed nasi lemak, a popular dish of coconut milk rice with condiments, at a roadside stall every morning, but that income has vanished and government aid was insufficient.

Malaysia to reopen Parliament July 26 after royal pressure

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government announced Monday that Parliament will resume July 26, caving into pressure from the king to lift the legislature's suspension under a coronavirus emergency imposed in January. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin obtained royal assent in January to declare an emergency until Aug. 1 to curb a spike in coronavirus cases, but critics slammed the decree as a ruse to help him stay in power amid challenges to his leadership from both the opposition and within his coalition. The emergency suspended Parliament but includes no other measures. Muhyiddin’s government remains in control and has extraordinary powers to introduce laws without parliamentary approval.

Malaysia pledges to tackle forced labor after US downgrade

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government pledged Monday to take steps to eliminate forced labor after the country was downgraded by the U.S. to the worst level in an annual report on human trafficking. Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan said the government is taking the downgrade seriously and has ramped up efforts to battle human trafficking, including increased prosecution for companies involved in forced labor. The U.S. State Department’s annual “Trafficking in Persons” report, released July 2, cited the coronavirus pandemic as contributing to a surge in human slavery between 2020 and 2021. It said Malaysia, which had been on a watchlist for three years, was downgraded to Tier 3 for failing to meet minimal standards for the elimination of trafficking and was not making significant efforts to do.

Indian activist Stan Swamy, jailed under terror law, dies

NEW DELHI (AP) — Father Stan Swamy, a jailed Jesuit priest and longtime Indian tribal rights activist, died Monday in the western Indian city of Mumbai. He was 84. His lawyer and doctor told the Bombay High Court that Swamy, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, died of cardiac arrest. The court was hearing a plea for bail on medical grounds after Swamy had been denied bail in March. The activist had been moved to a private hospital from Tajola Central Prison in May after his health began rapidly deteriorating. He was admitted to the ICU, where he tested positive for COVID-19.

New Zealand records warmest-ever June as ski fields struggle

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has recorded its warmest June since recordkeeping began, as ski fields struggle to open and experts predict shorter southern winters in the future. A range of factors led to the record, including more winds coming from the milder north rather than the Antarctic south, and unusually warm ocean temperatures, said Gregor Macara, a climate scientist at the government-owned National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. He said the vagaries of weather will change from month to month. “But the underlying trend is of increasing temperatures and overall warming,” Macara said. The average temperature in June was 10.6 degrees Celsius (51 Fahrenheit), the research agency reported Monday.