Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A leadership standoff in the Philippine Senate ended Wednesday with the removal of an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte as leader of the chamber, which will soon start the impeachment trial of his daughter, incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte. With 13 of 24 senators backing him, Sherwin Gatchalian, an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was elected Senate president. His rival, Alan Peter Cayetano, a key supporter of Duterte, conceded defeat. Both had claimed leadership of the Senate in the last two weeks based on contrasting legal interpretations of the quorum that led to their elections.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Police in Vietnam rescued more than 400 cats in a major bust of a cat meat crime ring last week in Ho Chi Minh City, and at least 40 of them have been reunited with their owners. However, following the dayslong police operation, several of the cats died because of the harsh conditions they were found in, animal welfare groups said. They didn't elaborate or provide an exact number on the cats who didn't make it. Since the operation, veterinarians and volunteers have flocked to care for the cats at a temporary rescue center set up at a facility run by the Ho Chi Minh City Criminal Police Division.

MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin hosted leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday as Russia seeks to bolster business and other ties with the nations of the regional bloc. The two-day meeting, being held in Kazan, is set to consider ways to expand Russia's "strategic partnership" with ASEAN nations that include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam, according to Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov. The regional bloc has maintained relations with Moscow as a "dialogue partner" and engaged Russian officials in annual top-level meetings, he said. The summit in Kazan, on the Volga River, marks the 35th anniversary of Russia-ASEAN relations.

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese government fair trade watchdog officials have raided six major ice cream makers on suspicion of price fixing. Tokyo-based Meiji Co. said in a statement Tuesday that it had been raided on suspicion of violating anti-monopoly laws. "We accept with sincerity the fact that our company was raided, and we promise to cooperate fully with the Japan Fair Trade Commission investigation," it said. Five other companies, Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Morinaga & Co., Lotte Co., Ezaki Glico Co. and Akagi Nyugo Co., issued similar statements. It wasn't clear when the raids took place. In addition to ice cream, the companies make various food items, desserts and confectionery goods, including pudding, chocolate bars and chewing gum, sold widely at supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide.

KANCHANABURI, Thailand (AP) - A depot on World War II's infamous "Death Railway" has resurfaced from beneath a reservoir where the site has remained underwater for decades, prompting researchers to race to western Thailand to survey the remnants of Nithe Station. Thousands of Allied prisoners of war and Asian laborers toiled and died building the railway, a supply route through mainland Southeast Asia for the occupying Japanese forces. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand recently drained the reservoir at Vajiralongkorn Dam for maintenance, revealing the station. Historians are seizing the uncommon opportunity to further study the site in Kanchanaburi province for artifacts and to verify details.

KANCHANABURI, Thailand (AP) - After decades beneath the surface, a submerged station from World War II's infamous "Death Railway" has resurfaced in Thailand. Maintenance at Vajiralongkorn Dam drained the hydropower facility's reservoir, revealing Nithe Station for the first time in more than 40 years. Researchers are racing to survey the site, which was a major depot on the historic 415-kilometer (257-mile) route that connected then Siam and Burma, modern day Thailand and Myanmar. But it is a race against time, as the completion of the dam's maintenance in August and Southeast Asia's rainy season may soon reflood the area. During World War II, around 60,000 Allied prisoners of war, as well as hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers, were forced to build the railway by the Empire of Japan.

PALU, Indonesia (AP) - A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook part of central Indonesia 's Sulawesi island Tuesday, killing at least one resident, injuring dozens of people, damaging homes and infrastructure and rattling residents of a city devastated by a quake and tsunami eight years ago, officials said. The initial quake was centered inland about 43 kilometers (27 miles) east-southeast of Palu, and the U.S. Geological Survey said it was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep. The strong shaking sent people fleeing into open areas in and around Palu, a city of about 400,000 people and the capital of Central Sulawesi province.

BANGKOK (AP) - The Iran war has exposed major risks for Southeast Asia that could cost the region billions of dollars, if it doesn't diversify sources of energy more quickly, according to an International Energy Agency report released Tuesday. An overreliance on oil and gas transported through the Strait of Hormuz left the region particularly vulnerable to shocks from the Iran war, a "stark wake-up call" for its energy security, the report says. It notes that rising sales of electric vehicles, a renewed interest in nuclear power and a boom in rooftop solar and other renewable energy installations show that the war is spurring change.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Monday calling on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to swiftly reverse their crackdown on women and to combat militant groups inside Afghanistan that Pakistan accuses of carrying out cross-border attacks. China's U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong, whose country sponsored the resolution, said the hope is that the Afghan government will "take more proactive measures to protect human rights, especially the rights of women, and project an image of openness, inclusivity and responsibility." The resolution extends the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan until June 17, 2027, and authorizes it to support humanitarian aid deliveries "without discrimination" and to promote national and local governance "without any discrimination based on sex, religion or ethnicity, with the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women, ... minorities, youth and persons with disabilities." The resolution's adoption follows the arrest of at least 30 women in the western city of Herat this month for allegedly violating the Taliban's strict dress code.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in the Philippines on Tuesday that Europe is worried over tensions in the disputed South China Sea where a major flare-out could endanger freedom of navigation as has happened in the Strait of Hormuz. In a joint appearance with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila, where Steinmeier is on a state visit, the German president referenced the blockade of the Hormuz as a result of the Iran war and said European leaders were concerned about continuing territorial confrontations in the South China Sea, particularly between the Philippines and China. The United States lays no claims to the South China Sea but has repeatedly warned it's obligated to help defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack.