Top Asian News 3:36 a.m. GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — To the Indonesian government, the 39-year-old factory worker and globe-trotting Polish traveler is a danger to the state, a man who plotted with shadowy gunmen to foment revolt in isolated eastern jungles. But to his supporters, Jakub Skrzypski is just an idealistic tourist with no money to his name, a man with an oddball combination of sympathies for right-wing and liberation causes. Even Indonesian police say it's unlikely Skrzypski could have arranged the arms deal they say he promised to make with rebels. But Skrzypski, who is charged with treason, still faces up to 20 years in prison if he's found guilty.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Indian and an Irish sailor rescued from damaged sailboats in the remote southern Indian Ocean will be delivered to land on Tuesday when they reach an island and undergo medical assessments, an official said. The French fisheries patrol boat Osiris rescued injured Indian Abhilash Tomy, 39, and Irishman Gregor McGuckin, 32, late Monday after their boats lost masts in a storm Friday while competing in the around-the-world Golden Globe Race. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which coordinated the rescues in the Australian search and rescue zone 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) southwest of the Australian city of Perth and 3,000 kilometers (1,875 miles) southeast of the French island of Reunion, said the sailors would land at a French research station on remote Amsterdam Island later Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.S. government investigation has found that Myanmar's military targeted Rohingya civilians indiscriminately and often with "extreme brutality" in a coordinated campaign to drive the minority Muslims out of the country. The hard-hitting State Department report released Monday is based on a survey this spring of more than 1,000 refugees among the hundreds of thousands who have fled the crackdown to neighboring Bangladesh in the past two years. The 20-page report does not say whether the abuses constitute genocide and crimes against humanity, as U.N. investigators have surmised. But the U.S. findings make grim reading and are likely to reinforce calls for the Trump administration to make that determination and strengthen sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Last Thursday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the high-profile interviews she'd be doing this week in New York, where she's attending the U.N. General Assembly. Among her appearances: the Today show, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour. She also exchanged tweets with the singer Rihanna about the importance of investing in education. But by Thursday afternoon, Ardern was appearing somber at a hastily called news conference in Wellington, New Zealand's capital. She was firing a lawmaker from her ministerial role following an altercation the lawmaker had with a staff member that some people say turned physical.

HONG KONG (AP) — Authorities in Hong Kong on Monday took an unprecedented step to quash separatist voices by banning a political party that advocates independence for the southern Chinese territory on national security grounds. John Lee, the territory's secretary for security, announced that the Hong Kong National Party would be prohibited from operation from Monday. At a briefing, Lee said the political party led by 27-year-old Andy Chan posed a threat to national security because it wants Hong Kong to be an independent republic and has taken steps to push this agenda. Lee cited as examples alleged plans by the party to recruit members and infiltrate schools to promote its views.

BEIJING (AP) — China and the United States imposed new tariff hikes on each other's goods Monday and Beijing accused Washington of bullying, giving no sign of compromise in an intensifying battle over technology that is weighing on global economic growth. U.S. regulators went ahead with a planned 10 percent tax on a $200 billion list of 5,745 Chinese imports including bicycles and furniture. China's customs agency said it responded at noon by beginning to collect taxes of 5 or 10 percent on a $60 billion list of 5,207 American goods, from honey to industrial chemicals. The conflict stems from U.S.

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Maldives strongman President Yameen Abdul Gayoom conceded that he lost Sunday's election to his challenger, longtime lawmaker Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, in a speech broadcast live on television Monday. Speaking in the Maldives' native language, Dhivehi, Yameen congratulated Solih and said, "I know I have to step down now." The concession and the results were a surprise to Maldives' opposition, who had feared Yameen would rig the vote in his favor. Since getting elected in 2013, Yameen had cracked down on political dissent, jailing rivals — including his half brother and the Maldives' first democratically elected president — and Supreme Court justices.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the president-elect of the Maldives, spent his youth marching in the streets for democracy. He was elected to Parliament at age 32 as an independent candidate, helping to draw up a new constitution. But unlike other reformers of his generation, Solih was never sidelined by a prison sentence or political exile, a fact that propelled him into the role of the opposition party's standard-bearer. Political observers say Solih, 56, known by his nickname, Ibu, has been a quiet force behind the tropical South Asian archipelago's transition to democracy and a rallying point for the opposition in crisis under outgoing strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The surprise victory of opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the Maldives' third multiparty presidential election will shake up politics in the Indian Ocean archipelago. Famed for its sandy white beaches and luxury resorts, the Maldives under outgoing President Yameen Abdul Gayoom saw economic growth, in part due to China's growing influence and investment in South Asia. But after being elected in 2013, Yameen rolled back democratic freedoms, jailing rivals and controlling courts, and was expected to hold onto power. An election-eve raid of Solih's main campaign office cast a pall over Sunday's balloting, triggering fears that the vote would be rigged.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump raised hopes at the United Nations on Monday that a second meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un could occur "quite soon," striking a conciliatory tone one year after he used his debut at the U.N. to deride the autocrat as "Little Rocket Man" and threaten to "totally destroy North Korea." Trump praised Kim as "very open" and "terrific," despite the glacial pace of progress toward denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. officials defended Trump's strategy of engagement with the erstwhile pariah state as the president embarked on a week of meetings with world leaders.