KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Authorities in Nepal have handed to relatives the bodies of 60 of the 72 people killed in a plane crash last week, the airline said. Rescuers were still searching for two bodies at the site where a Yeti Airlines flight with 72 on board crashed on Jan. 15 at the resort town of Pokhara, 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. Among the 10 other bodies recovered, six have been identified and will be returned to relatives soon and four others still need to be identified, the airline said in a statement late Monday. The twin-engine ATR 72-500 aircraft plummeted into a gorge as it was approaching Pokhara International Airport in the Himalayan foothills.
TIANJIN, China (AP) — As technicians in a distant control room watch on display screens, an automated crane at one of China’s busiest ports moves cargo containers from a Japanese freighter to self-driving trucks in a scene tech giant Huawei sees as its future after American sanctions crushed its smartphone brand. The backbone of the “smart terminal” at the Tianjin Port, east of Beijing, is a data network built by Huawei, which is reinventing itself as a supplier for self-driving cars, factories and other industries it hopes will be less vulnerable to Washington’s worsening feud with Beijing over technology and security.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday he has proposed to China that the two countries hold talks between their foreign ministers to quickly resolve any new conflicts in the disputed South China Sea, and blamed Chinese actions for the disagreements. Marcos told Philippine TV networks in an interview that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to his proposal in their talks in Beijing early this month and the two sides are ironing out the details of such an arrangement. There was no immediate reaction from Chinese officials. China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have been locked in an increasingly tense standoff over their overlapping claims in the busy and resource-rich waterway, which is regarded as a potential Asian flashpoint.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Most of Pakistan was left without power Monday as an energy-saving measure by the government backfired. The outage spread panic and raised questions about the cash-strapped government’s handling of the country’s economic crisis. It all started when electricity was turned off during low usage hours overnight to conserve fuel across the country, officials said, leaving technicians unable to boot up the system all at once after daybreak. The outage was reminiscent of a massive blackout in January 2021, attributed at the time to a technical fault in Pakistan’s power generation and distribution system. Many major cities, including the capital of Islamabad, and remote towns and villages across Pakistan were without electricity for more than 12 hours.
BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s pro-democracy resistance forces have attacked military government personnel conducting a population survey, in an attempt to disrupt preparations for an election later this year that they consider illegitimate. Units of the People’s Defense Force, the loosely organized armed wing of the main opposition group, the National Unity Government, have claimed responsibility for several attacks in the past few weeks. At least two police officer have been killed, along with other local officials. The NUG was established by elected lawmakers who were prevented from taking their seats when the army seized power in 2021 and serves as an underground parallel national administration.
TOKYO (AP) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that Japan faces the severest security environment in the region since the end of World War II and pledged to push a military buildup under a newly adopted security strategy, as well as tackle rapidly declining births so the country can sustain national strength. Kishida’s government in December adopted key security and defense reforms, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from the country’s exclusively self-defense-only postwar principle. Japan says the current deployment of missile interceptors is insufficient to defend it from rapid weapons advancement in China and North Korea. In his policy speech opening this year’s parliamentary session, Kishida said active diplomacy should be prioritized, but it requires “defense power to back it up.” He said Japan’s new security strategy is based on a realistic simulation “as we face the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II and a question if we can protect the people’s lives in an emergency.” The strategy seeks to keep in check China’s increasingly assertive territorial ambitions, but it’s also a sensitive issue for many countries in Asia that were victims of Japanese wartime aggression.
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (AP) — Mymy Nhan was a regular at the Star Ballroom for more than a decade, choosing the Los Angeles-area dance hall popular with older Asian Americans as the place to “start the year fresh” with Lunar New Year celebrations, her niece said Monday. Her family now takes some solace knowing that Nhan, one of 11 people shot and killed in Monterey Park by a gunman Saturday night, died after an evening of doing what she loved. “It is comforting to know that she enjoyed her last dance, even though it was her last dance,” said her niece, Fonda Quan.
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (AP) — Investigators searching for a motive Monday in the worst mass shooting in Los Angeles County history said the gunman was previously arrested for illegally owning a firearm, had a rifle at home, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and appeared to be manufacturing gun silencers. Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said investigators had not yet established why 72-year-old Huu Can Tran gunned down patrons Saturday night at a ballroom dance hall he was said to frequent in Monterey Park, where tens of thousands attended Lunar New Year festivities earlier that evening. “What drove a mad man to do this?
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A bill that would ban the sale of kangaroo parts has been introduced in the Oregon Legislature, taking aim at sports apparel manufacturers that use leather from the animals to make their products. Soccer cleats are one of the only products made from kangaroo leather that are routinely sold in Oregon, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The measure would impact Nike, which is based in Oregon and the state’s largest employer. “It’s unconscionable that millions of native wild animals in Australia have been killed for the sake of high-end soccer cleats worn by a subset of elite soccer players,” Democratic Oregon Sen.
LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, on the second leg of an African tour aimed at promoting American investment and ties, said on Monday it’s crucial to immediately address Zambia’s heavy debt burden with China. Yellen was in Lusaka, a capital city that’s visibly dominated by Chinese financing. Visitors to Lusaka arriving at the renovated Kenneth Kaunda International Airport see a facility expanded in 2015 with Chinese money. A ride into the city passes billboards and newly built firms bearing Chinese signage, more evidence of Beijing’s influence and increasing competition with the United States. But the growth that the country has experienced has come with a heavier debt burden.