Top Asian News 3:15 a.m. GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The last six members of a Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday for a series of crimes in the 1990s including a sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Thirteen members of the group had received death sentences. The first seven, including cult leader Shoko Asahara, were hanged about three weeks ago. The cult, which envisioned overthrowing the government, amassed an arsenal of chemical, biological and conventional weapons in anticipation of an apocalyptic showdown. Its name Aum Shinrikyo means Supreme Truth. The group's most notorious crime was the subway attack in 1995 that sickened 6,000 people and caused panic during the morning commute.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist, was visiting Switzerland in September when she got a phone call from her father. Kem Sokha, the leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, told his daughter that government agents were raiding their family's home in Phnom Penh. "He told me: 'They're handcuffing me now,'" Kem Monovithya, 36, recalled in an interview with the Associated Press. Months later, her father remains in prison, facing charges of treason, and she is in the United States. She said she can't go home because she fears she, too, will be arrested as part of a government crackdown that has banned the political party her father led, shut down news outlets and scattered hundreds of Cambodian politicians, human rights activists and journalists into exile in the U.S., Australia, Thailand and other countries.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — In North Korea, summer is not a good time to be a dog. In the sizzling heat, North Korea's biggest brewery is pumping out twice as much beer as usual, Pyongyang residents are lining up to get their "bingsu" — a syrupy treat made with shaved ice — and restaurants are serving up bowl after bowl of the season's biggest culinary attraction: spicy dog meat soup. Euphemistically known as "dangogi," or sweet meat, dog has long been believed to be a stamina food in North and South Korea and is traditionally eaten during the hottest time of the year, giving a sad twist to the old saying "dog days of summer." The dates are fixed according to the lunar calendar and dog meat consumption centers around the "sambok," or three hottest days — July 17 and 27, and Aug.

TOKYO (AP) — A large white and blue truck pulls up outside a stadium in central Japan and slowly expands into a place of worship. Welcome to the Mobile Mosque. As Japan prepares to host visitors from around the world for the 2020 Summer Olympics, a Tokyo sports and cultural events company has created a mosque on wheels that its head hopes will make Muslim visitors feel at home. Yasuharu Inoue, the CEO of Yasu Project, said the possibility that there might not be enough mosques for Muslim visitors in 2020 is alarming for a country that considers itself part of the international community.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistanis voted for a new government Wednesday in an election marred by violence and allegations of fraud. The winner will face a crumbling economy and bloodshed by militants whose latest attack saw a suicide bomber kill 31 people outside a polling station. Electoral authorities said official results declaring an outright winner were not expected before late Thursday morning. However, early unofficial results gave cricket star Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party a commanding lead over his main rival, Shahbaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League. Jubilant Khan supporters danced to the beat of drums at his party headquarters in Islamabad, sensing a victory.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — He's a thrice-married playboy who hangs out with Mick Jagger. But he's also an Islamist who has kept company with a cleric and spiritual adviser to many in Afghanistan's Taliban movement. He has denounced Washington's intervention in Afghanistan, but also has criticized Pakistan's turn toward China, which has invested billions of dollars in the country. Former international cricket star Imran Khan turned to politics more than two decades ago and may be on the verge of becoming Pakistan's next prime minister in Wednesday's parliamentary elections. The 65-year-old opposition leader has disparaged liberals, attacked feminism, embraced radical religious parties and vowed to uphold Pakistan's blasphemy law.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan is set to elect its third consecutive civilian government in Wednesday's parliamentary elections. A look at the main candidates and their parties: ___ SHAHBAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE Shahbaz Sharif took over as chief of the beleaguered center-right former ruling Pakistan Muslim League party after the Supreme Court last July ousted his elder brother and then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office on charges of corruption stemming from the leaked Panama papers. Shahbaz was twice chief minister in Punjab province, where 60 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people live. Nawaz Sharif, who is now in jail appealing a 10-year prison term for corruption, has had a tumultuous relationship with Pakistan's powerful military despite entering politics at the military's behest.

ATTAPEU, Laos (AP) — Rescuers searched Wednesday for scores of villagers left missing when part of a newly built hydroelectric dam broke in southeastern Laos, flooding the surrounding countryside and killing at least 24 people, officials said. Thousands of people lost their homes when the South Korean-built dam gave way on Monday, flooding surrounding villages. Hundreds took shelter in nearby towns, traveling by bus and pickup trucks and sleeping on plastic sheeting. "The water came so quick we just left the house and ran away," said Phon Vuongchonpu, whose family of 12 fled as the floodwater rose to roof level. "We've lost everything: motorbike, furniture our cows and pigs." Bounyong Phommachak, a Red Cross official, said 24 bodies had been recovered and 96 people were officially listed as missing.

American companies were put on notice this week by the Trump administration that they could face steep fines, or even criminal charges, if their business involves North Korean workers anywhere in their supply chain. A State Department advisory, published online, also provided the most detailed and comprehensive public listing to date of more than 40 countries and about a dozen industries where North Koreans were employed in 2017 and 2018, in violation of United Nations sanctions. The workers are typically paid a fraction of their salaries, while the rest, as much as 70 percent, is taken by North Korea's government.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say a suicide car bombing aimed at an intelligence service convoy has injured three people in Kabul. Kabul police chief Daud Amin said the bomber struck Thursday morning west of Kabul and the area has been blocked off by the intelligence service. An official in the Health Ministry says three people who were wounded were taken to the hospital. Gafoor Azizi, a district police chief in western Kabul, said two vehicles caught fire. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group carried out the attack on intelligence service employees returning from a mission and killed several of them.