Top Asian News 7:41 am GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A wave of Chinese-financed railways and other trade links in Africa and Asia that have prompted worries about debt and Beijing's ambitions is reducing politically dangerous inequality between regions within countries, a multinational group of researchers said Tuesday. The study led by AidData at the College of William & Mary in Virginia strikes a positive note at a time when governments from Washington to Moscow to New Delhi are uneasy about Beijing's "Belt and Road" initiative. The study of 3,485 projects in 138 nations across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East in 2000-14 found they led to a more equal distribution of economic activity by improving access to jobs and markets.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's president on Tuesday urged both North Korea and the United States to "make bold decisions" to break a deepening diplomatic impasse over the North's nuclear ambitions, saying he'll continue to act as mediator. President Moon Jae-in's comments come days before he's to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the third time this year to discuss how to achieve denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula. Moon said the summit must lead to another "big step" toward denuclearization. The talks come at a crucial moment in the overall diplomacy, which is currently stuck amid recriminations between Washington and Pyongyang on how to follow through on vows made at a summit in June between Kim and President Donald Trump to rid the North of its nuclear weapons.

BEIJING (AP) — China is eliminating a trio of agencies responsible for enforcing family planning policies in a further sign the government may be planning to scrap long-standing limits on the number of children its citizens can have. The move was part of a reorganization of the National Health Commission announced Monday that creates a new single department called the Division of Population Monitoring and Family Development responsible for "establishing and perfecting a specialized system for supporting families." Expectations of an end to birth limits were also raised by the appearance of a postage stamp last month featuring smiling mother and father pigs with three piglets.

BEIJING (AP) — China is rolling out new rules on religious activity on the internet amid an ongoing crackdown on churches, mosques and other institutions by the officially atheist Communist Party. Anyone wishing to provide religious instruction or similar services online must apply by name and be judged morally fit and politically reliable, according to draft regulations posted online late Monday by the State Administration for Religious Affairs. Organizations and schools that receive licenses can operate only on their internal networks that require users to be registered and are barred from seeking converts or distributing texts or other religious materials, the rules said.

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Officials say a bus carrying pilgrims from a Hindu temple in the hills of south India has plunged off a road, killing at least 23 people. More than 20 others were injured. Narendar, a local official who uses only one name, says the driver lost control as he tried to avoid another bus on the crowded road leading from the popular temple Anjaneya Swamy in Telangana state. He says at least 27 people were injured and a probe has been ordered into the cause of the accident.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Tens of thousands of North Korean students rallied in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square in the final major event of the country's 70th anniversary, an elaborate celebration that has showcased the nation's aspirations for economic growth and Korean unity. The rally Monday night featured a sea of university and high school students carrying torches that spelled out giant slogans and words when seen from above the square. Leader Kim Jong Un did not attend. This year's anniversary downplayed the missiles and nuclear weapons that brought the country to the brink of conflict with the United States just one year ago.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan rights workers are warning that the U.S. national security adviser's blistering attack on the International Criminal Court investigating war crimes allegations will strengthen a climate of impunity in Afghanistan, prolong the war and embolden those carrying out acts of violence. In a speech Monday, John Bolton said Washington would not cooperate with The Hague-based court and threatened it with sanctions, saying it put U.S. sovereignty and national security at risk. War crimes allegations in Afghanistan include those allegedly committed by the CIA and U.S. forces. "It's very unfortunate because delivering justice to victims will help to facilitate the peace process in Afghanistan," said Sima Samar, head of Afghanistan's Human Right's Commission.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban insurgents launched separate attacks on Afghan security forces in the country's north, killing at least 52, provincial officials said Monday. Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi, head of the provincial council in Kunduz province, said that at least 13 security forces were killed and 15 others wounded in an attack on a checkpoint they were manning in Dashti Archi district. The firefight began late Sunday and continued into Monday morning. Meanwhile in Jawzjan province, Provincial Police Chief Gen. Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani said the Taliban attacked Khamyab district from different sides, forcing Afghan forces to withdraw from the district headquarters to avoid civilian causalities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has received a request from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a follow-up to their historic June summit, and planning is in motion to make it happen. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that no details had been finalized. Trump had told reporters last week that he was expecting a letter from Kim. Sanders said Trump has received the letter, which she described as "very warm, very positive." The White House will not release the full letter unless Kim agrees it should be made public, she said. "The primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule another meeting with the president, which we are open to and are already in the process of coordinating that," Sanders said at her first press briefing in nearly three weeks.

BANGKOK (AP) _ Police in Thailand shut down a forum organized by foreign journalists to discuss whether senior military officers in Myanmar should face justice for alleged human rights abuses committed by their forces against Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities. About a dozen policemen showed up ahead of Monday evening's scheduled panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and ordered the panelists not to speak. The scheduled speakers included Tun Khin, a prominent U.K.-based Rohingya activist; Kobsak Chutikul, a former Thai diplomat; and Kingsley Abbott, a representative of the International Commission of Jurists, a rights advocacy group.

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