Top Asian News 3:41 a.m. GMT

NAMCHE, Nepal (AP) — Scaling Mount Everest was a dream few realized before Nepal opened its side of the mountain to commercial climbing a half-century ago. This year the government issued a record number of permits, leading to traffic jams on the world's highest peak that likely contributed to the greatest death toll in four years. As the allure of Everest grows, so have the crowds, with inexperienced climbers faltering on the narrow passageway to the peak and causing deadly delays, veteran climbers said. After 11 people died this year, Nepal tourism officials have no intention of restricting the number of permits issued, instead encouraging even more tourists and climbers to come "for both pleasure and fame," said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar's military, accused of massive human rights violations against the Muslim Rohingya minority less than two years ago, is committing war crimes and other atrocities as it engages in new military operations in the western state of Rakhine, the human rights group Amnesty International said Wednesday. Myanmar's army has "killed and injured civilians in indiscriminate attacks since January 2019" as it battles the Arakan Army, a well-trained guerrilla force from the Buddhist ethnic group seeking autonomy for Rakhine, Amnesty said in a report. It accused the military of carrying out "extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill treatment, and enforced disappearances." But it also says the Arakan rebels have committed abuses against civilians, including kidnappings, though on a lesser scale.

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei filed a motion in U.S. court Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of a law that limits its sales of telecom equipment, the latest action in an ongoing clash with the U.S. government. Huawei's chief legal officer Song Liuping said at press briefing that Huawei had filed a motion for summary judgment asking the court to rule on whether it is constitutional for the U.S. to implement a military spending provision that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment. Huawei is the biggest global maker of network equipment, but it is now fighting to maintain access to major markets for next-generation communications as the U.S.

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian man who kidnapped and repeatedly raped a British backpacker during a monthlong ordeal in the country's Outback has been jailed for 10 years. Marcus Allyn Keith Martin, 25, had pleaded guilty in the District Court of Cairns, in the far north of Queensland state, to charges of rape and deprivation of liberty against the 22-year-old woman from Liverpool, England. Prosecutors told the court the pair met in Cairns in January 2017 and had begun a relationship. When the relationship soured, Martin subjected the woman to weeks of physical abuse while forcing her to drive him hundreds of miles (kilometers) south and then into the west of the state.

SYDNEY (AP) — Scott Morrison was sworn in as Australia's prime minister on Wednesday, 11 days after retaining the position in the country's general election. Along with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, Morrison was sworn in by Queen Elizabeth's official representative in Australia, Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, at a ceremony in the capital, Canberra. Also sworn in was Morrison's revamped Cabinet, which includes an equal-record seven women, and Australia's first Aboriginal federal cabinet minister, Ken Wyatt. Wyatt, the new indigenous affairs minister, received a standing ovation from the small gathering at the ceremony when he stepped up to be sworn in.

TOKYO (AP) — Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is wooing Japan for aid, trade and investment in a visit that highlights cordial relations with the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Hasina, who is beginning a third consecutive five-year term, arrived late Tuesday and is set to meet Abe and hold a joint news conference Wednesday. A dinner is also being held in her honor. The leaders will discuss the Bay of Bengal development project and strengthening economic and security partnerships, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Japan has been weary of the security and economic threat of neighboring China and has been courting other nations in Asia as well as the U.S.

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives' parliament has overwhelmingly voted the country's first democratically elected president as the speaker of the house. Mohamed Nasheed received 67 votes from among 87 members. His rival received 17 votes past midnight Tuesday. The speaker also has a role in the Judicial Services Commission that regulates the Supreme Court, and is third in line should the positions of the president and vice president become vacant. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party has swept the parliamentary elections, winning 65 out of 87 seats. Last year, Solih defeated strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom in the presidential vote.

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AP) — The U.S. military says it has identified the remains of three more Americans killed during the Korean War, even as efforts to recover additional remains have stalled amid souring relations with North Korea. One family has been notified and notification of the other two families is pending, Lt. Col. Ken Hoffman, spokesman for the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency, said Tuesday. One set of remains has been identified as those of Army Cpl. Charles S. Lawler, a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. The DPAA said in a statement that Lawler, whose hometown was not provided, had been engaged against enemy forces near Unsan, North Korea, and was reported missing in action on Nov.

KAWASAKI, Japan (AP) — A man carrying a knife in each hand and screaming "I will kill you!" attacked a group of schoolgirls near a school bus parked at a bus stop just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, killing two people and injuring at least 17 before killing himself, officials said. Most of the victims were students at a Catholic elementary school who were lined up at the bus stop near Noborito Park in the city of Kawasaki when the man began slashing them with knives. Officials said police captured the attacker but he died at a hospital from a self-inflicted cut in his neck.

After more than a decade of rapid growth, Chinese travel to the U.S. is falling. And that has cities, malls and other tourist spots scrambling to reverse the trend. Travel from China to the U.S. fell 5.7% in 2018 to 2.9 million visitors, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office, which collects data from U.S. Customs forms. It was the first time since 2003 that Chinese travel to the U.S. slipped from the prior year. Friction between the U.S. and China is one reason for the slowdown. The Trump administration first imposed tariffs on Chinese solar panels and washing machines in January 2018, and the trade war has escalated from there.