SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reconfirmed Tuesday that Seoul and Washington are discussing its involvement in U.S. nuclear asset management in the face of intensifying North Korean nuclear threats, after President Joe Biden denied that the allies were discussing joint nuclear exercises.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. flew to China on Tuesday for a three-day state visit, saying he looks forward to his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as they work to boost bilateral ties.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A pilot, two British visitors and a Sydney woman have been identified as the four people killed in a collision of two helicopters over the waterfront at an Australian tourist hotspot.
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Two children were killed and five other civilians wounded in a blast in a village in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday, a day after assailants sprayed bullets toward a row of homes, leaving at least four dead, police said.
MACAO (AP) — Only a few tourists crisscrossed the wavy black and white paving of Macao's historic Senado Square on a recent weekday and many of the shops were shuttered.
The gaming hub on China’s south coast near Hong Kong has endured some of the world’s strictest anti-virus controls for nearly three years, and a loosening of border restrictions after China rolled back its “zero-COVID” strategy in early December is widely expected to boost its tourism-driven economy.
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union nations will try again on Wednesday to mold a coordinated approach on if and how authorities should check incoming airline passengers from China for any new COVID-19 variants after several member nations announced individual efforts over the past week.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's political and military leadership on Monday vowed that no nation will be allowed to shelter militants who stage attacks against the country — an apparent reference to neighboring Afghanistan.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his family waved to throngs of New Year’s well-wishers from the balcony at the Imperial Palace on Monday in the return of a celebration halted for the past two years by the pandemic.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Thousands of people in the Philippines remained in emergency shelters in the wake of devastating Christmas flooding, as the death toll climbed to 51 with 19 missing, authorities said Monday.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Two helicopters collided in an Australian tourist hotspot Monday afternoon, killing four people and critically injuring three others in a crash that drew emergency aid from beachgoers enjoying the water during the southern summer.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court said Monday that the government’s surprise decision in 2016 to demonetize high-value bills was legal and taken after consultation with India's central bank.
The five-judge constitution bench was hearing petitions challenging the currency ban that rendered 86% of India’s currency invalid without warning.
BEIJING (AP) — Australia and Canada have joined a growing list of countries requiring travelers from China to take a COVID-19 test prior to boarding their flight, as China battles a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that were in place for much of the pandemic.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A senior U.N. official in Afghanistan met on Sunday the deputy prime minister of the Taliban-led government to discuss a ban on women working for non-governmental groups that Afghan authorities have announced in a series of measures rolling back women's rights.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A bomb exploded near a checkpoint at Kabul's military airport Sunday morning killing and wounding “several” people, a Taliban official said, the first deadly blast of 2023 in Afghanistan.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the “exponential” expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal and the development of a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported Sunday, after he entered 2023 with another weapons launch following a record number of testing activities last year.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — An army operation in Pakistan's northwest targeting militants triggered a firefight that left a soldier and four fighters dead, the army's media wing said Sunday.
The development comes weeks after Pakistani Taliban detainees overpowered their guards at a counter-terrorism center in the northwest, snatching police weapons, taking hostages and seizing control of the facility.
NEW YORK (AP) — New Year's celebrations swept across the globe, ushering in 2023 with countdowns and fireworks — and marking an end to a year that brought war in Europe, a new chapter in the British monarchy and global worries over inflation.
BEIJING (AP) — China “stands on the right side of history,” the country's leader Xi Jinping said Saturday in a New Year’s address that came as questions swirl over his government’s handling of COVID-19 and economic and political challenges at home and abroad.
BANGKOK (AP) — Authorities in military-ruled Myanmar announced a suspension of the normal four-hour curfew to allow New Year's celebrations in three biggest cities, but opponents of army rule urge people to stay away and claimed security forces might stage an attack and blame it on them.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in its latest weapons display on Saturday, a day after rival South Korea conducted a rocket launch related to its push to build a space-based surveillance to better monitor the North.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Hotels and restaurants across South Asia have had to adapt and reimagine dining out since the pandemic ripped through the region, forcing many out of business.
Those that have survived are tapping local sources and going online.
TOKYO (AP) — A landslide destroyed about a dozen homes in northern Japan on Saturday, leaving at least two people missing, and troops were on their way to help in the rescue effort, officials said.
LONDON (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo completed a lucrative move to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on Friday in a deal that is a landmark moment for Middle Eastern soccer but will see one of Europe's biggest stars disappear from the sport's elite stage.
BEIJING (AP) — After three years of quarantines pushed them close to shutting down, restaurant owner Li Meng and his wife are hoping for business to rebound after China rolled back severe anti-virus controls.
PARIS (AP) — France, Spain and England will implement tougher COVID-19 measures for passengers arriving from China, authorities said Friday.
France's government is requiring negative tests, and is urging French citizens to avoid nonessential travel to China.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has failed so far to create a path to residency for Afghans who worked alongside U.S.
BANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption Friday, sentencing her to seven years in prison in the last of a string of criminal cases against her, a legal official said.
HONG KONG (AP) — Beijing ruled Friday that Hong Kong's leader has the power to decide whether foreign lawyers can be involved in national security cases in the city — a decision that could effectively block a prominent pro-democracy publisher from hiring a British barrister for his high-profile trial.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military confirmed it test-fired a solid-fueled rocket Friday after its unannounced launch triggered brief public scare of a suspected UFO appearance or a North Korean missile launch.
POIPET, Cambodia (AP) — The search for bodies in the wreckage of a burned-out casino hotel complex in western Cambodia has concluded with 26 people confirmed dead, a senior official said late Friday.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Almost three years after officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Indonesia, the country’s leader said Friday they are lifting all coronavirus-related restrictions nationwide.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday started requiring COVID-19 tests for all passengers arriving from China as an emergency measure against surging infections there as the Asian island country faces its own rising case numbers and record-level deaths.
Dec. 23-29, 2022
This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in Asia and Pacific.
The gallery was curated by AP photo editor Masayo Yoshida in Tokyo.
BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. military says a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to an Air Force plane over the South China Sea, forcing the American pilot to maneuver to avoid a collision.
TOKYO (AP) — Arata Isozaki, a Pritzker-winning Japanese architect known as a post-modern giant who blended culture and history of the East and the West in his designs, has died of old age. He was 91.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen thanked navy and army personnel on Friday for their service defending the island, after China sent a record-breaking number of warplanes and ships toward Taiwan this week.
POIPET, Cambodia (AP) — A massive fire at a Cambodian hotel casino Thursday injured over 60 people and killed at least 19 — a number that officials warned would rise after the search for bodies resumes Friday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is assessing Beijing's rollback of its strict anti-infection controls but refrained Thursday from immediately following EU member Italy in requiring coronavirus tests for airline passengers coming from China.
BEIJING (AP) — Moves by several countries to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak — and that the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Major aid agencies on Thursday warned that Afghans will die because of the Taliban order banning women from working at nongovernmental groups, and stressed that female staff are crucial for the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance across war-battered Afghanistan.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A freight truck collided with a bus on a highway near the South Korean capital Seoul on Thursday, causing a fire that killed at least five people and injured 37 others, officials said.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea staged large-scale military drills Thursday to simulate shooting down drones as a step to bolster its readiness against North Korean provocations, three days after the North flew drones into its territory for the first time in five years.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines says President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hopes to sign a number of agreements during a visit to Beijing next week that comes amid ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.