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Top Asian News at 6:30 p.m. GMT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Fraud tribunal throws out quarter of Afghan MPsKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ A special Afghan tribunal overturned nearly 25 percent of last year's legislative election results Thursday, alleging massive fraud and putting into question who will control the parliament _ one of the few checks on President Hamid Karzai. Lawmakers on the parliament floor shouted about the "illegal" special tribunal and threatened to hold demonstrations against what they saw as a power grab by Karzai. Thai PM rallies crowds at sensitive protest siteBANGKOK (AP) _ Thailand's prime minister rallied thousands of campaign supporters Thursday at the scene of last year's deadly anti-government protests, defending his crackdown on demonstrators there as the best he could do under difficult circumstances. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva acknowledged the rally's location was symbolic but said it was not intended to stir unrest or division as some of his opponents alleged. More than 90 people died, mostly protesters, in the violence last year, some of the country's worst in 20 years. Mom in Philippines told Vargas in US to keep quietMANILA, Philippines (AP) _ The Filipino mother of a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who came out as an illegal immigrant in the U.S. told The Associated Press that she tried to persuade him to keep quiet. Jose Antonio Vargas' mother, Emelie Salinas, sent him from the Philippines to live with his grandparents in California when he was 12 and has not seen him in person since. Fear, relief in Afghanistan at US withdrawal planKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ Afghanistan's president on Thursday welcomed U.S. plans to withdraw 33,000 troops over the next year as a chance to show his nation can defend itself, but many of his countrymen worried it would bring more violence to a country that's known decades of war. President Hamid Karzai, who has warned the U.S. and NATO they risk becoming occupiers after nearly 10 years of war, called the plan "a good measure" and asserted that the Afghan youth would guard their nation against Taliban and other insurgents who have just begun a new offensive. Bangladesh: Ex-PM's son sentenced over bribesDHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ A Bangladesh court Thursday sentenced the fugitive son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to six years in jail for laundering money taken as bribes from two global companies _ a verdict that could trigger violent protests by opposition parties. Judge Mohammad Mozammel Hossain said in his verdict Arafat Rahman was guilty of smuggling more than 200 million takas ($2.66 million) to Singapore. The judge also fined Rahman 190 million takas ($2.53 million) and asked authorities to get the smuggled money returned. Report: More Asian millionaires than European onesHONG KONG (AP) _ Booming Asia had more millionaires than Europe for the first time last year and is fast closing in on North America for the top spot, a report released Thursday said. The Asia-Pacific region was home to 3.3 million people in 2010 worth $1 million or more, excluding their homes, an increase of roughly 10 percent from the year before, according to the 15th annual World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch's wealth management division and consultancy Capgemini. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei: Free in body, not voiceBEIJING (AP) _ Outspoken artist and government critic Ai Weiwei talked about giving himself a haircut Thursday but said little else in his first day out of detention, living under a gag order that underscores concerns about China's growing use of extralegal methods to muzzle dissent. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Ai was released from nearly three months of detention late Wednesday after confessing to tax evasion and pledging to repay the money owed. His family denies the allegations and activists have denounced them as a false premise for detaining an artist who spoke out against the authoritarian government and its repression of civil liberties. Singapore fund's Tan resigns to run for presidentSINGAPORE (AP) _ Tony Tan, a top executive at a Singapore state investment fund and a leading media company, said Thursday he would leave both to run for president of the city-state. The next election will likely be a referendum on the ruling People's Action Party, which has dominated politics since independence in 1965 but won parliamentary elections last month with its lowest vote percentage amid growing voter resentment. Samsung plans to release results of cancer probeSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ Samsung plans to soon release the results of an independent probe into health and safety conditions at its South Korean semiconductor factories after employee illnesses and deaths raised fears of cancer risks. The release would take place "in coming weeks," the company said in a statement Thursday. Company spokesman Nam Ki-yung said it would be sometime in July. New China-Vatican row brewing over bishopsBEIJING (AP) _ China's state-controlled Catholic church says it will move swiftly to appoint new bishops in dioceses where there are none, in a step that is certain to worsen frictions with the Vatican. Filling the more than 40 empty bishop's seats is an urgent task because the vacancies are causing serious problems in the handling of church affairs, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted a spokesman for the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association as saying on Thursdsay. Parts of Beijing flooded, flights canceledBEIJING (AP) _ Parts of Beijing have been flooded by torrential rain, and airport officials say the downpour forced the cancellation of 150 flights. Water poured into underground crossings and subway stations and submerged cars in low-lying areas Thursday afternoon. Some parts of the city received 2 inches (50 millimeters) of rain in just a few hours, sending crowds scrambling for whatever shelter they could find. China pushing for end to renewed violence in SudanBEIJING (AP) _ China is pressing both sides in Sudan to end renewed violence that is threatening a landmark peace agreement, Beijing's special envoy for African affairs said Thursday. Leaders in both Khartoum in the north and Juba in the soon-to-be-independent south must peacefully settle disputes that have led to new fighting in the Abyei and South Kordofan regions, said Liu Guijin, who said he conveyed that message to top officials during a recent visit to Sudan. Chinese warships cross high seas off Japan islandTOKYO (AP) _ Japan's Defense Ministry said Thursday 11 Chinese warships were spotted in international waters off the country's southern island of Okinawa. No territorial violations were claimed by Japan, but the movements are sensitive because Japan and China have a dispute over small islands in the East China Sea. Japan nuke plant struggles with contaminated waterTOKYO (AP) _ A system to treat contaminated water that is impeding repairs at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant is not performing as well as hoped but should be functioning fully next month, a government official said Thursday. Since the March 11 tsunami, workers have cooled the reactors and spent fuel by pumping fresh water, which becomes contaminated with radiation. About 110,000 tons of tainted water have accumulated, threatening to leak into the sea and posing health risks and logistical hurdles to the workers struggling to make repairs at the plant. Hong Kong scholar freed after China cuts sentenceBEIJING (AP) _ A historian jailed in China for leaking military secrets _ reportedly from books about the Korean War _ was released two years early Thursday in what a rights group said was an increasingly rare act of clemency for a political prisoner there. Xu Zerong, a Hong Kong-based, Oxford-trained political scientist, was sentenced in late 2001 to 10 years in jail for leaking state secrets and another three years for illegal business operations. The heavy sentence alarmed fellow academics and drew the attention of human rights groups. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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