Top Asian News 8:47 a.m. GMT

WHO team visits Wuhan hospital that had early COVID patients

WUHAN, China (AP) — A World Health Organization team on Friday visited a hospital where China says the first COVID-19 patients were treated more than a year ago as part of the experts' long-awaited fact-finding mission on the origins of the coronavirus. The WHO team members and Chinese officials earlier had their first in-person meetings at a hotel, which WHO has said were to be followed by field visits in the central city of Wuhan. “First face to face meeting with our colleagues. Correction: facemask to facemask given the medical restrictions," Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans tweeted around 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT).

China derecognizes British National Overseas passport

BEIJING (AP) — China says it will no longer recognize the British National Overseas passport as a valid travel document or form of identification amid a bitter feud with London over a plan to allow millions of Hong Kong residents a route to residency and eventual citizenship. The announcement by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday throws up new uncertainty around the plan just hours after the U.K. said it would begin taking applications for what are called BNO visas beginning late Sunday. Under the plan, as many as 5.4 million Hong Kong residents could be eligible to live and work in the U.K.

Myanmar election commission rejects military’s fraud claims

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s election commission rejected allegations by the military that fraud played a significant role in determining the outcome of November’s elections, which delivered a landslide victory to Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party. The decision, announced Thursday, came amid heightened tensions after the military, which had ruled Myanmar for five decades until 2015, refused to rule out the possibility of a coup if their complaints were ignored. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party captured 396 out of 476 seats in the Nov. 8 polls, allowing them to form the government for another five years.

India's opposition shuns Parliament, backs farmers' demands

NEW DELHI (AP) — Major Indian opposition parties boycotted the opening day of Parliament’s budget session on Friday in solidarity with protesting farmers engaged in a 2-month standoff over new agricultural laws the government refuses to repeal. The protests were marked by violence on Tuesday, India’s Republic Day, when tens of thousands of farmers riding tractors and on foot stormed the 17th century Red Fort in a brief but shocking takeover shown live on news channels. Clashes between the protesters and government forces left one protester dead and nearly 400 police officers injured. India’s ceremonial President Ram Nath Kovind listed the government’s priorities in an address to Parliament.

Bangladesh sends 3rd group of Rohingya refugees to island

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Authorities in Bangladesh sent a third group of Rohingya refugees to a newly developed island in the Bay of Bengal on Friday despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process. The government insists the relocation plan is meant to offer better living conditions while attempts to repatriate more than 1 million refugees to Myanmar would continue. On Friday morning, 1,778 refugees started their journey to the island of Bhasan Char in four navy vessels from the southeastern port city of Chattogram, after they were brought from crammed camps in Cox’s Bazar district, said M.

Dangerous Liaison: New Zealand virus quarantine flaw exposed

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The woman who took a flight back to New Zealand was supposed to avoid all physical contact with others for 14 days as she went into mandatory quarantine. The man working at the quarantine hotel was supposed to be the last line of defense. But the two started passing notes to each other, including one written on the back of a face mask. Then she ordered a bottle of wine, which he delivered to her room. When he didn't return 20 minutes later, a security manager sent to investigate found the pair together in what authorities are describing as an inappropriate encounter, one in which physical distancing wasn't maintained.

Asia Today: Sri Lanka vaccinates 1st health workers, troops

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka on Friday began inoculating frontline health workers, military troops and police officers against COVID-19 amid warnings about infections among medical workers. Sri Lanka on Thursday received 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine donated by India and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. The government says 150,000 frontline health workers and 115,000 selected military and police will be the first recipients. The Indian Ocean island nation’s regulatory body approved the vaccine last week as doctors were warning that front-line health workers should be quickly inoculated to prevent the medical system from collapsing due to infections among medical staff.

Tibetan culture advocate released after 5-year prison term

BEIJING (AP) — A Tibetan shopkeeper convicted of inciting separatism based on his comments in a New York Times documentary was released Friday after serving a five-year prison sentence, advocacy groups said. Tashi Wangchuk’s release was reported by the writers group PEN America and the International Campaign for Tibet. There was no official comment and his lawyer did not answer calls to his cellphone. Tashi was detained on Jan. 29, 2016, after his comments appeared complaining about the erosion of Tibetan culture and language in the tightly secured region. Tashi never received a fair trial and was a victim of a “broader campaign of Chinese authorities cracking down on ethnic minority rights,” PEN spokesperson Stephen Fee said in a statement.

For some Muslims, hope, uncertainty after travel ban lifted

Mohammed Al Zabidi celebrated in 2017 when he learned he had been selected in the U.S. green card lottery, which picks people at random from a large pool of applicants. It was a chance to escape his war-torn homeland of Yemen and pursue his dreams in the United States. “I won! I won!” Al Zabidi cheered. He borrowed money to finance his trip, bought clothes for his new life in America and packed souvenirs for friends there. With no U.S. Embassy in Yemen, he made a grueling journey to Djibouti for his visa interview. But there, after he had been initially approved, his luck ran out: “CANCELLED WITHOUT PREJUDICE,” read the bold, black, all-caps stamp on the unused visa in his passport with a Trump administration travel ban on several Muslim-majority nations, including his, in place.

Investigator blames exhaust leak for Sydney seaplane crash

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A pilot was confused and disoriented from inhaling poisonous fumes in the moments before his seaplane plunged into a river near Sydney in 2017, killing him and his five British passengers, a crash investigation found Friday. Canadian pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, and the passengers had elevated levels of carbon monoxide in their blood. Investigators found cracks in the exhaust system of the DHC-2 Beaver plane that was built in 1963 and bolts missing from a firewall that would have allowed carbon monoxide to leak from the engine bay into the cabin. “The pilot would have almost certainly experienced effects such as confusion, visual disturbance and disorientation,” Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Greg Hood said in a statement.