Top Asian News 5:52 a.m. GMT

Australian leader urges Facebook to lift its news blockade

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s prime minister on Friday urged Facebook to lift its blockade of Australian users and return to the negotiating table with news publishing businesses, warning that other countries would follow his government’s example in making digital giants pay for journalism. Prime Minister Scott Morrison described Facebook’s move Thursday to prevent Australians accessing and sharing news as a threat. The blockade has escalated a fight with the government over whether powerful tech companies should have to pay news organizations for content. “The idea of shutting down the sorts of sites they did yesterday, as some sort of threat — well, I know how Australians react to that and I thought that was not a good move on their part,” Morrison told reporters.

10 years after Christchurch quake, survivors share stories

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — One woman channeled her anger to ensure buildings are safer. Others have found peace after heartbreaking losses. Ten years after an earthquake killed 185 people and devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, some of those profoundly affected are sharing their journeys. ___ ‘NOT THE STORY OF MY LIFE’ Ann Brower was taking a bus from the seaside suburb of Sumner into the central city when the magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck. Bricks rained down as a building facade collapsed, crushing the roof of the bus and killing all 12 others on board, as well as four more people nearby.

Myanmar protests focus on junta's economic support

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — State railway workers in Myanmar continued to strike Thursday despite a police rampage the previous night targeting them in a sign of the military junta's concern over growing civil disobedience by public workers protesting the coup. Three-quarters of the country’s civil servants are on strike, all private banks are closed and the protests have weakened the economy significantly, said Tom Andrews, the independent U.N. human rights expert on Myanmar. Andrews said the protesters have weakened the economy significantly and are looking for the international community to act. The most important thing the international community can do now “is focused, targeted, tough economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure,” he said in an interview from Virginia, where he lives.

Biden to lay out his foreign policy at G-7, Munich summit

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden will make his first big appearance on the global stage as president on Friday, offering Group of Seven allies and other foreign leaders a glimpse into his plans to dramatically reshape U.S. foreign policy even as he deals with a number of international crises that are coming to a head . In advance of Biden's virtual appearances at a G-7 meeting and the Munich Security Conference, the White House sought to underscore that the new administration will move quickly to reorient the U.S. away from Donald Trump's “America First” mantra by announcing a pair of major reversals of Trump administration policies.

Malaysian court finds portal guilty over readers' comments

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s top court ruled Friday that a popular online news portal was guilty of contempt for publishing readers' comments that criticized the judiciary, a landmark case slammed by media groups as a clampdown on press freedom. Attorney General Idrus Harun filed the charges against Malaysiakini and its Editor-in-Chief Steven Gan over comments made by five readers on the portal last year that he said undermined public confidence in the judiciary. A seven-member panel in the Federal Court ruled 6-1 that Malaysiakini was liable for third-party comments but exonerated Gan. It fined Malaysiakini 500,000 ringgit ($123,685). Gan warned the ruling could restrict discussion of issues of public interest.

World leaders applaud US formal return to Paris climate pact

The United States is back in the Paris climate accord, just 107 days after it left. While Friday’s return is heavily symbolic, world leaders say they expect America to prove its seriousness after four years of being pretty much absent. They are especially anticipating an announcement from the U.S. in coming months on its goal for cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2030. The U.S. return to the Paris agreement became official Friday, almost a month after President Joe Biden told the United Nations that America wants back in. “A cry for survival comes from the planet itself,” Biden said in his inaugural address.

China says it lost 4 troops in 2020 India border clash

BEIJING (AP) — China’s military said Friday that four of its soldiers were killed in a high-mountain border clash with Indian forces last year, the first time Beijing has publicly conceded its side suffered casualties in the deadliest incident between the Asian giants in nearly 45 years. India at the time announced it had lost 20 of its soldiers in the June 2020 fighting atop a high ridge in the Karakoram Mountains in the Ladakh region. Soldiers used their fists, clubs, stones and other improvised weapons to avoid an out-and-out firefight. China was believed to have also suffered casualties but did not provide any details, saying it didn't want to further inflame tensions.

NATO chief urges Afghan govt, Taliban to step up peace talks

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday urged the Afghan government and the Taliban to step up the pace of peace talks amid doubts over whether the military alliance will pull thousands of troops out of the country by a May deadline. NATO has just under 10,000 troops in the war-ravaged country, helping to train and advise the Afghan security forces. Most are not U.S. forces, but those troops could not continue the NATO operation if American transport, logistics and other support were withdrawn. President Joe Biden is reviewing his predecessor’s 2020 deal with the Taliban, which includes a May 1 deadline for a final U.S.

Canada lawmakers to vote on accusing China of genocide

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s main opposition party called Thursday for the House of Commons to formally declare that China is committing genocide against more than 1 million Uighurs in the western Xinjiang region. Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole said a signal must be sent to the Chinese regime. “On a matter like genocide, Canada needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal that we will stand up for human rights and the dignity of human rights, even if it means sacrificing some economic opportunity,” O’Toole said. “Our values are not for sale.” The motion is non-binding on the federal government nor does it lay out what any next steps ought to be.

Pakistan officials say 3 climbers missing on K2 are dead

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Three climbers who went missing earlier this month while attempting to scale the world’s second-highest mountain, K2, should now be considered dead, Pakistani officials said Thursday. The announcement brings closure to a dramatic tragedy on one of the most dangerous mountains to climb in the world. K2 had never been scaled in winter until only last month, when a Nepalese team reached the peak. The three climbers — famous Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara as well as Jon Snorri of Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile — lost contact with their base camp while attempting their ascent of the 8,611-meter (28,250-foot) high K2, sometimes referred to as “killer mountain.” Search efforts for the missing climbers were called off last week amid bad weather.