Top Asian News 7:40 am GMT

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — It's a simple melody sung to the plucking of acoustic guitars by schoolchildren sitting around candles: "I beg the skies to show mercy and empathy/ My brothers are in Tham Luang Khun Nang Non/ Let them pass this danger, I beg." The song is dedicated to events unfolding in a flooded mountain cave in northern Thailand, where 12 boys aged 11-16 and their soccer coach disappeared a week ago. It was written and performed by students at Lek Nai Tung Kwang school across the kingdom in Buriram province. The music video has played on national newscasts during round-the-clock coverage of the search and rescue operation at the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in far northern Chiang Rai province.

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — Caves may be magical places in the eyes of explorers, but as millions of Thais following the desperate search this week for a dozen schoolboys and their soccer coach trapped inside a massive flooded cavern have learned, they are also dangerous. "Dark, silent and often impenetrable, caves are deeply mysterious and, as such, they have always had a strong fascination in human societies," said Edoardo Siani, who teaches cultural anthropology at Kyoto University. "They can also be inaccessible and lethal." The teams who have been searching for the boys, including Thai navy SEAL divers struggling through muddy water in pitch-dark chambers, have come up against that inaccessibility.

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll in a head-on collision between a passenger coach and a truck on a highway in central China has risen to 18, with another 14 people injured, police said Saturday. The accident took place Friday evening in Hunan province south of the capital Beijing. Footage from the scene showed both heavily damaged vehicles along the rain-slicked highway. It appeared that one of the vehicles may have crossed a center divider. Speeding, dangerous passing, poorly maintained vehicles and fatigued drivers are most often the cause of serious traffic accidents in China. Friday's disaster appeared to be one of the worst in recent months.

GAUHATI, India (AP) — Five Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed and another six injured as huge boulders rolled down on their bus following a mudslide triggered by monsoon rains in India's remote northeast, police said Saturday. The bus was carrying 20 soldiers on a narrow mountainous stretch to their nearby camp on Friday after a training exercise in Lower Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh state, said police officer S. Singpho. A helicopter evacuated the injured to a nearby hospital, he said. The region is nearly 600 kilometres (375 miles) north of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state. This is the second mudslide-related accident in the state within five days.

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — Thailand's prime minister on Friday visited a flooded cave complex where rescuers have been searching for 12 boys and their soccer coach missing for six days and urged their relatives not to give up hope. "There has to be faith. Faith makes everything a success," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the country's military ruler, told families waiting outside the cave. "Faith in the actions of officials. Faith in our children who are strong and vigorous. Everything will go back to normal." The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their coach entered the sprawling Tham Luang Nang Non cave after a soccer game on Saturday afternoon, but near-constant rains since then have thwarted the search for them.

TOKYO (AP) — A Hello Kitty-themed "shinkansen" bullet train has debuted in Japan. Adorned with the cartoon icon inside out, this one is a dream ride for her fans. The special shinkansen had its inaugural round trip Saturday between Osaka and Fukuoka, connecting Japan's west and south until the end of September. The stylish train is painted pink and white, showcasing Hello Kitty images and trademark ribbons from flooring to seat covers and windows. In one car, a life-size Hello Kitty doll donning a train crew uniform and a hat — decorated with a pink bow of course — greets passengers, offering a chance for selfies.

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government will sell much of the huge stash of jewelry and luxury goods, including diamond necklaces, tiaras and designer handbags that were seized in a money-laundering probe of former leader Najib Razak, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told The Associated Press on Friday. Police said 12,000 pieces of jewelry, 567 handbags, 423 watches and 234 sunglasses were confiscated last month from properties linked to Najib after the shocking electoral defeat of his long-ruling coalition. The police estimate the haul, the biggest in the country's history, is worth over $273 million. Lim told AP in an interview that the government will "try to monetize whatever we can." He said the amount is a drop in the ocean compared to some 50 billion ringgit ($12.4 billion) of losses related to the defunct 1MDB investment fund set up by Najib, including from alleged outright theft and loans used to conceal the graft.

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — The international airport on the Indonesian resort island of Bali reopened Friday afternoon after a nearly 12-hour closure due to a volcanic ash threat that disrupted travel plans for thousands. Nearly 450 flights were canceled Friday, affecting some 75,000 people, as the Mount Agung volcano gushed a 2,500-meter (8,200-feet) column of ash and smoke for a second day. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said tests showed there was no ash in Ngurah Rai International Airport's airspace and the airport reopened at 2.30 p.m. Airlines are likely to remain wary, however. Australian airlines had canceled flights scheduled for Thursday evening while the airport was still operating.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced the end of the government's unilateral cease-fire and ordered forces to restart their operations across the country. Ghani said Saturday in a news conference that the government accepted the people's call for peace and now it is the Taliban's turn to take it into consideration. The Taliban had independently observed a cease-fire to celebrate the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Fitr, which marked the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan. It was the first truce in Afghanistan's brutal 17-year war and both Taliban and government officials embraced the reprieve from fighting with joint celebrations.

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng commented on the massive corruption scandal surrounding the 1MDB state investment fund, ties with China and the country's political future in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. Here are excerpts: 'KLEPTOCRACY AT ITS WORST' Lim said fixing Malaysia's finances will be an "enormous task," with debts and liabilities exceeding 1 trillion ringgit ($247 billion). "We were faced with the magnitude of not just deceit but also outright corruption. I mean this is a different ballgame. We are dealing with global kleptocracy at its worst," he said about alleged theft and money laundering at the 1MDB state fund set up by former Prime Minister Najib Razak.

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