Top Asian News 3:56 a.m. GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday that it had test-fired a new type of "tactical guided weapon," its first such test in nearly half a year, and a possible sign of its displeasure with deadlocked nuclear talks with the United States. The test, which didn't appear to be of a banned mid- or long-range ballistic missile that could scuttle negotiations, allows Pyongyang to show its people it is pushing ahead with weapons development while also reassuring domestic military officials worried that diplomacy with Washington signals weakness. The North's leader, Kim Jong Un, observed the unspecified weapon being fired Wednesday by the Academy of Defense Science, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Voting has begun in the second phase of India's general elections amid massive security and a lockdown in parts of the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The city of Srinagar is one of 97 constituencies across 13 Indian states where voting was scheduled Thursday. The election is taking place in seven phases over six weeks in the country of 1.3 billion people. Some 900 million people are registered to vote for candidates to fill 543 seats in India's lower house of Parliament. Voting concludes on May 19 and counting is scheduled for May 23. The election, the world's largest democratic exercise, is seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has won a second five-year term, preliminary election results showed Wednesday, in a victory for moderation over the nationalistic rhetoric of his rival, Prabowo Subianto. Vote counts from five independent survey groups showed Widodo with a clear lead over Subianto, a general during the era of the Suharto military dictatorship who warned Indonesia would fall apart without his strongman leadership. The so-called "quick counts" from reputable survey organizations that use a sample of polling stations have been reliable in past elections. With an average of 80% of sample polling stations counted, the five survey organizations showed Widodo winning 54-56% of the vote, a modest improvement on his 2014 showing.

The Indonesian presidential election is the world's biggest direct vote for a national leader. This year the already vast exercise became even bigger with elections for the Senate and national, provincial and district legislatures held simultaneously. Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands that spans the distance from New York to London, spared no effort to ensure its nearly 193 million eligible voters from hundreds of ethnic groups could make their choices. Ballots were ferried to far-flung areas by helicopter, horse, boat and foot.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — More than 9,500 prisoners were ordered released Wednesday in Myanmar under a presidential amnesty, but they did not include two Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters reporters. The Facebook page of the Office of President Win Myint said he signed a pardon for 9,551 prisoners, including 16 foreigners, to be released nationwide to mark the country's traditional New Year. Official lists of those to be freed are usually not made public, but activists monitor releases, especially at Yangon's Insein Prison, where most important detainees are held. Supporters waited outside the prison for the possible release of the two Reuters reporters jailed for breaking the Official Secrets Act, but they were not freed by late Wednesday afternoon.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Around a third of all conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan say they have suffered from torture or ill-treatment, the U.N. said Wednesday. U.N. officials interviewed a total of 618 detainees held in 77 government facilities across the country between January 2017 and December 2018. The alleged torture included beatings, suffocation and electric shocks. The U.N. said nearly a third of those interviewed provided "credible and reliable" accounts of abuse and mistreatment, without providing an exact number of detainees. The U.S.-backed Afghan government is holding thousands of detainees, many of them captured as part of the ongoing war with the Taliban.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Jet Airways, once India's largest airline, announced on Wednesday that it is suspending all operations after failing to raise enough money to run its services. The company said it has been informed by its lenders, led by state-run State Bank of India, that they are unable to consider its request for funding to keep flying. "Since no emergency funding from the lenders or any other source is forthcoming, the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going," it said in a statement. "It has decided to go ahead with temporary suspension of operations," the airline said.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Terry Gou, chairman of the world's largest contract assembler of consumer electronics, including Apple's iPhones, said Wednesday he intends to run for president of Taiwan, bringing his pro-business and China-friendly policies to what is expected to be a crowded field for next year's election. The Foxconn Technology chairman who also ranks among Taiwan's richest people with a fortune estimated by Forbes at $7.8 billion is seeking the opposition Nationalist Party's nomination for the 2020 presidential race against an incumbent hampered by low public approval ratings. "I am willing to participate in the primary election," Gou said at the party headquarters in Taipei.

BANGKOK (AP) — The Associated Press on Wednesday named Vineeta Deepak, an experienced video journalist and bedrock member of its Indian staff, as its South Asia news director to lead coverage of a region stretching from the heights of the Himalayas to the tropics of the Indian Ocean. From her base in the Indian capital, New Delhi, she will drive AP's multiformat reporting on the world's largest democracy as it exerts its influence abroad while grappling with rising nationalism and growing inequality despite an economic boom at home. She will lead a large team of videojournalists, photographers and reporters stationed across India and in AP bureaus in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Imprisoned former South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday requested a temporarily release so she can be treated for health problems her lawyer says are causing "burning" and "cutting" pain. An official from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it will soon review Park's request. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing office rules against speaking to the media. South Korean criminal law allows prisoners with serious health problems to be treated at hospitals under the eye of prosecutors before returning to prison after recovery. Yoo Young-ha, Park's lawyer, said she has been dealing with disc problems and spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the passageways for spinal nerves, in her neck and back areas, which he said have caused intense pain and sleeping problems.