Top Asian News 7:20 a.m. GMT

A year on, WHO still struggling to manage pandemic response

GENEVA (AP) — When the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic one year ago Thursday, it did so only after weeks of resisting the term and maintaining that the highly infectious virus could still be stopped. A year later, the U.N. agency is still struggling to keep on top of the evolving science of COVID-19, to persuade countries to abandon their nationalistic tendencies and help get vaccines where they’re needed most. The agency made some costly missteps along the way: It advised people against wearing masks for months and asserted that COVID-19 wasn’t widely spread in the air. It also declined to publicly call out countries — particularly China — for mistakes that senior WHO officials grumbled about privately.

Still recovering, Japan marks 10th disaster anniversary

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit its northeastern region, where many survivors' lives are still on hold. Carrying bouquets, many walked to the coast or visited graves to pray for relatives and friends washed away by the tsunami. Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga were among those observing a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. — the minute the shaking started — at a memorial in Tokyo. The magnitude 9.0 quake that struck on March 11, 2011, was one of the biggest on record and set off a massive tsunami that swept far inland, destroying towns and causing meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

EXPLAINER: How dangerous is the Fukushima nuke plant today?

OKUMA, Japan (AP) — A decade ago, a massive tsunami crashed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Three of its reactors melted down, leaving it looking like a bombed-out factory. Emergency workers risked their lives trying to keep one of history's worst nuclear crises from spiraling out of control. Proper equipment has now replaced ragged plastic hoses held together with tape and an outdoor power switchboard infested by rats, which caused blackouts. Radiation levels have declined, allowing workers and visitors to wear regular clothes and surgical masks in most areas. But deep inside the plant, danger still lurks. Officials don't know exactly how long the cleanup will take, whether it will be successful and what might become of the land where the plant sits.

Myanmar's searing smartphone images flood a watching world

The images ricochet across the planet, as so many do in this dizzying era of film it, upload it, tell it to the world: scenes from a protest-turned-government crackdown, captured at ground level by smartphone users on the streets of Myanmar. Images shot across barricades and furtively through windows. From behind bushes and through smudged car windshields. Horizontal video. Vertical video. Video captured by people running toward chaos and away from it. People shouting. People helping. People demanding. People dying. The world is watching violent events unfold in Myanmar for many reasons, but perhaps one above all: because it can. It is a dynamic completely unlike the uprising that spread through the Southeast Asian nation in the pre-internet, pre-smartphone summer of 1988.

Chinese lawmakers set to tighten control on Hong Kong

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ceremonial legislature plans to endorse the Communist Party’s latest move to tighten control over Hong Kong by reducing the role of its public in picking the territory’s leaders. The measure adds to a crackdown against a protest movement calling for greater democracy in Hong Kong. The crackdown has prompted complaints Beijing is eroding the autonomy promised when Hong Kong return to China in 1997 and has hurt its status as a global financial center. The National People’s Congress, which was due to end its annual meeting Thursday, will endorse “improvements to the electoral system” of Hong Kong, the body’s Standing Committee said.

Biden's deal with Seoul points to a swift shift on alliances

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new agreement with South Korea on sharing the cost of keeping U.S. troops on the Korean peninsula is early evidence that President Joe Biden is shifting America's approach to alliances in Asia and beyond. It shows he will cut allies a break to build unity in competition against China and Russia. President Donald Trump had demanded South Korea pay billions more to keep American troops on its soil. In his view, the United States was getting fleeced by what he suggested were freeloaders masquerading as allies. Initially, Trump insisted the South Korean government pay five times as much as it previously had.

Hong Kong court grants bail to 5th activist, jails another

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Thursday granted bail to a fifth pro-democracy activist and former lawmaker but revoked bail for another, after both were charged with subversion under the national security law. They're part of a group of 47 activists and former lawmakers who were arrested over their involvement in an unofficial primary election last year, aimed at determining the strongest candidates in a legislative election that was later postponed due to the pandemic. Authorities say the primary was part of a plot to paralyze the government and subvert state power, as at least some of the activists had planned to vote down major bills and force Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to resign if their pro-democracy camp had gained a legislative majority.

China blasts BBC report after summoning UK ambassador

BEIJING (AP) — China is complaining anew about recent reporting by the BBC, days after summoning the British ambassador to Beijing to register displeasure over a recent article she penned defending press freedom. The Chinese Embassy in London posted a statement on its website Thursday saying it had written to the BBC expressing “strong dissatisfaction" and urging the broadcaster to “abandon bias, correct its mistake and report China in a objective, fair and balanced manner." On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador Caroline Wilson over her article posted on the embassy’s Chinese microblog in which she said critical reporting of China did not imply hatred or disrespect for the country itself.

S. Korean court upholds acquittal in abusive facility case

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Supreme Court has upheld a controversial 1989 ruling that acquitted the owner of a massive institution that housed vagrants, children and the disabled of serious charges despite the enslavement and abuse of thousands of those trapped there in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Thursday’s decision was a setback for survivors who have been seeking justice for their plight as well as compensation. No one yet has been held accountable for the deaths, rapes, beatings and forced work that took place at the state-funded Brothers Home in Busan, abuses that were documented by an Associated Press report in 2016.

Indonesia’s Sinabung volcano unleashes new burst of hot ash

MOUNT SINABUNG, Indonesia (AP) — A rumbling volcano on Indonesia’s Sumatra island unleashed an avalanche of searing gas clouds flowing down its slopes during eruption on Thursday. No casualties were reported. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province was shooting smoke and ash as high as 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) into the air and hot ash clouds traveled up to 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) southeast, Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center said. There were no casualties from the eruption, said Armen Putra, an official at the Sinabung monitoring post. He said villagers were advised to stay 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the crater’s mouth and should be aware of the peril of lava.