Top Asian News 4:07 p.m. GMT

China rings in Year of Rabbit with most COVID rules lifted

BEIJING (AP) — People across China rang in the Lunar New Year on Sunday with large family gatherings and crowds visiting temples after the government lifted its strict “zero-COVID” policy, marking the biggest festive celebration since the pandemic began three years ago. The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China. Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle, with this year being the Year of the Rabbit. For the past three years, celebrations were muted in the shadow of the pandemic. With the easing of most COVID-19 restrictions that had confined millions to their homes, people could finally make their first trip back to their hometowns to reunite with their families without worrying about the hassles of quarantine, potential lockdowns and suspension of travel.

Chris Hipkins confirmed as New Zealand leader, picks deputy

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Chris Hipkins was confirmed Sunday as New Zealand’s next prime minister and he chose Carmel Sepuloni as his deputy, marking the first time a person with Pacific Island heritage has risen to that rank. Hipkins got the unanimous support of lawmakers from his Labour Party after he was the only candidate to enter the contest to replace Jacinda Ardern, who shocked the nation Thursday when she announced she was resigning after more than five years as leader. Hipkins will be officially sworn in to his new role on Wednesday. He will have less than nine months before contesting a tough general election, with opinion polls indicating his party is trailing its conservative opposition.

Bali welcomes back 1st flight from China as COVID rules ease

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — A direct flight from China landed in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for the first time in nearly three years on Sunday after the route was suspended due to the pandemic. At least 210 people were on board the chartered plane operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air from Shenzhen in China’s southern Guangdong province. Some Chinese tourists who arrived at the airport in Bali said they were glad to have the chance to travel internationally again after China ended its strict COVID-19 restrictions. “I feel very happy and relaxed. It was a long time we did not go abroad,” said An Pei, a Chinese tourist who was on the flight.

The AP Interview: Envoy says Taiwan learns from Ukraine war

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taiwan has learned important lessons from Ukraine’s war that would help it deter any attack by China or defend itself if invaded, the self-ruled island’s top envoy to the U.S. said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. Among the lessons: Do more to prepare military reservists and also civilians for the kind of all-of-society fight that Ukrainians are waging against Russia. “Everything we’re doing now is to prevent the pain and suffering of the tragedy of Ukraine from being repeated in our scenario in Taiwan,” said Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s representative in Washington. “So ultimately, we seek to deter the use of military force.

Big waves to deliver storied Hawaii surf contest The Eddie

HONOLULU (AP) — One of the world’s most prestigious and storied surfing contests is expected to be held Sunday in Hawaii for the first time in seven years. And this year female surfers will be competing alongside the men for the first time in the 39-year history of The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational. The event — alternatively known simply as The Eddie — is a one-day contest held in Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore only when the surf is consistently large enough during the winter big wave surfing season from mid-December through mid-March. The wind, the tides and the direction of the swell also have to be just right.

Turkmenistan’s president expands his father’s power

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan’s president has appointed his father to lead the country’s newly formed supreme representative body, further expanding the older man’s clout in the gas-rich Central Asian nation. Serdar Berdymukhamedov, 41, named his father, former President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, as chairman of Halk Maslahaty, or People’s Council, late Saturday. State television showed 2,000 members of the council greeting the presidential order with a standing ovation. The president, who was elected in March 2022 to succeed his father, also signed a law granting his father the title of the “national leader of the Turkmen people.” The elder Berdymukhamedov initiated the creation of the People’s Council as the upper house of parliament in 2021 and previously presided over it.

The AP Interview: Yellen says debt standoff risks ‘calamity’

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an Associated Press interview Saturday she expects Congress will ultimately vote to raise America’s debt limit, but demands by House Republicans for spending cuts in return for backing an increase are “a very irresponsible thing to do” and risk creating a “self-imposed calamity” for the global economy. The Biden administration and Republican lawmakers have been at loggerheads over how to increase the government’s legal borrowing capacity. On Thursday, the government bumped up against the $31.381 trillion debt cap, forcing the U.S. Treasury Department to take “extraordinary” accounting steps to keep the government running.

Indian wrestlers end protest over sexual harassment

NEW DELHI (AP) — Top Indian wrestlers on Saturday called off a sit-in protest near the parliament building following a government assurance that a probe into their allegations of sexual harassments of young athletes by the federation would be completed in four weeks. “We are ending our protest,” wrestler Bajrang Punia said. The wrestlers and their nearly 200 supporters held a sit-in protest for three days at Jantar Mantar accusing the federation president of sexually and mentally harassing young female athletes. The protesters had sought the immediate removal of Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh and some other officials pending an inquiry against them.

IAEA says Fukushima water release to follow safety standards

TOKYO (AP) — The head of a U.N. nuclear agency task force assessing the safety of Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the wreaked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea said Friday that Japanese regulators have shown their commitment to comply with international safety standards. International concern over the plan has been widening. Last week, the head of the 18-nation Pacific Island Forum, which includes Australia, New Zealand and other island nations, expressed concern about any impact of radiation from the water on the livelihoods of people in the region which suffered in the past from atomic bomb tests, and urged Japan to suspend the plan.

More bodies found in Tibet avalanche; death toll rises to 28

BEIJING (AP) — More bodies were found Friday following an avalanche that buried vehicles outside a highway tunnel in Tibet, raising the death toll to 28, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. Images from the scene at the exit of the tunnel connecting the city of Nyingchi in Tibet’s southwest with an outlying county showed about half a dozen backhoes digging through deep snow. Reports said around 1,000 rescuers had joined the effort. Tons of snow and ice collapsed onto the mouth of the tunnel on Tuesday evening, trapping drivers in their vehicles. Many of the people were headed home for China’s Lunar New Year holiday, which starts Sunday.