Top Asian News 5:31 a.m. GMT

Blast at Thai factory shakes Bangkok airport, area evacuated

BANGKOK (AP) — A massive explosion at a factory on the outskirts of Bangkok early Monday shook an airport terminal serving Thailand's capital, injured at least 11 people and prompted the evacuation of residents from the area, authorities said. The fire broke out at around 3 a.m. at a foam and plastic pallet manufacturing factory in a southeastern area just outside Bangkok near Suvarnabhumi Airport. Firefighters could be seen in photos from Thai media climbing through twisted steel wreckage to get their hoses close enough to the flames as they fought to control the blaze. Other photos showed nearby homes with their windows blown out and wreckage in the streets, with black smoke billowing over the area even hours later.

Japan searches for dozens missing in resort town mudslide

TOKYO (AP) — Rescue workers slogged through mud and debris Monday looking for dozens feared missing after a giant landslide ripped through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least three people. National broadcaster NHK reported that 80 people were unaccounted for. Officials were preparing to release their names in hopes of reaching some that might not have been caught in the landslide. Initially, 147 of those people were unreachable, but that number was revised downward after city officials confirmed some had safely evacuated or were away when the disaster struck, it said. The disaster is an added trial as authorities prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, due to start in less than three weeks, while Japan is still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

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 noontime 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 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 the 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.

Suez Canal says deal reached to free seized vessel

CAIRO (AP) — The Suez Canal Authority on Sunday said it has reached an agreement to settle a financial dispute with the owners of a hulking container ship that blocked the crucial waterway for nearly a week earlier this year. The authority did not reveal details on the settlement deal with the Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the Japanese owner of the Ever Given. It said the deal will be signed in a ceremony in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Wednesday. The vessel would be also freed Wednesday, it said. The head of Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority, Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, said last month the parties had agreed on a compensation amount.

Taliban take districts in NE Afghanistan from fleeing troops

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban's march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several hundred of whom fled across the border into Tajikistan, officials said Sunday. More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province as Taliban fighters advanced toward the border, Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement. The Afghan troops crossed over at about 6:30 p.m. local time Saturday “Guided by the principles of humanism and good neighborliness,” the Tajik authorities allowed the retreating Afghan National Defense and Security Forces to cross into Tajikistan, said the statement Since mid-April, when U.S.

Tokyo assembly split after vote amid pandemic Olympics fears

TOKYO (AP) — An election in Japan’s capital has left the Tokyo city assembly splintered amid worries about health risks during the Olympics, opening in three weeks, as coronavirus cases continue to rise. In Sunday’s balloting for 127 seats, Gov. Yuriko Koike’s Tomin First party was elected in 31 seats, down from 46. The Liberal Democrats, the ruling party on the national level, won 33 seats, up from 25. Public opinion surveys show about 60% of respondents want the Games canceled or postponed again. Behind the fears is the lagging vaccination rollout, with only about 10% of the population fully vaccinated.

Indonesia hospital: 33 COVID patients die amid oxygen outage

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Dozens of coronavirus patients died after a public hospital on Indonesia’s main island of Java ran out of liquid oxygen amid a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases, a hospital official said Sunday. At least 33 patients with severe coronavirus infections died after the central supply of liquid medical oxygen ran out late Saturday at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital in Yogyakarta city due to delays from suppliers over the weekend, said hospital spokesman Banu Hermawan. The oxygen shortage in the city’s largest hospital was due to an increase in patients arriving in deteriorating condition, Hermawan said. At least 63 virus patients died during treatment for COVID-19 in the hospital since Saturday — 33 of them during the period when the central liquid oxygen supply ran out — even though the hospital switched to using oxygen cylinders during the outage, he said.