Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ezra Jin Mingri was inside a detention center in southern China on the morning of July 3, worrying that he would likely spend at least 15 years behind bars. The 57-year-old Chinese Christian pastor had even previously wondered whether he would live to see freedom again. In the span of 24 hours, Jin was 15 time zones away, digging into an In-N-Out hamburger in Los Angeles and watching fireworks with his family on the eve of Independence Day, marking America's 250th anniversary. "It's so dramatic. It's unimaginable," the pastor told The Associated Press outside the nation's capital. He said he was suddenly released after being held since October, then put on a plane to the U.S.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike on Friday that helped galvanize a youth movement that's become one of India's largest protests in recent years, as demonstrators took to the streets, vowing to continue protesting until the education minister resigns. Wangchuk's fast became a rallying point for India's "Cockroach" protests, which began more than a month ago demanding education reforms after alleged leaks in some of the country's most competitive entrance exams. Since then, the movement has tapped into broader public anger over unemployment, government accountability and economic opportunity, drawing professionals, families and activists to demonstrations in New Delhi and cities across the country.

NEW DELHI (AP) - The food arrives almost as steadily as the protesters. Every few minutes, delivery riders on motorbikes pull up outside the protest site with bags of burgers, snacks and bottled water. Volunteers collect the food, stack it along other donated supplies and distribute it to demonstrators. Supporters across India are helping sustain the country's "Cockroach" movement by ordering meals through online food delivery apps for protesters camped in the capital. The steady stream of food has become a visible sign of the growing support for a youth movement that has emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in years.

GUWAHATI, India (AP) - Flooding in India's northeastern Assam state has killed at least 50 people and displaced 700,000 after days of heavy monsoon rain that overflowed the Brahmaputra River, officials said Friday. The river, one of Asia's largest that originates in China's Tibet region and flows about 900 kilometers (560 miles) through Assam, flooded villages, swept away homes and forced nearly 300,000 people into government-run relief camps, officials said. Authorities provided food and relief supplies to flood victims including airdrops from helicopters, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Nearly 900 villages were submerged and more than 7,000 homes were without electricity, he said.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A United Nations committee voted Friday to inscribe a major archaeological site in the West Bank and a set of castles in southern Lebanon as World Heritage sites, despite objections from Israel, which had urged the committee to reject the bids. The decision at a U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in South Korea came days after Israel's Foreign Ministry urged the committee to reject efforts to designate the small West Bank town of Sebastia and the Lebanese castles, calling the nominations a "weaponization of cultural heritage." At their meeting in Busan, members of the UNESCO committee decided to place Sebastia and five castles in Lebanon's Mount Amel area on both the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger after reviewing the nominations on an emergency basis, citing ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Chinese coast guard ships blasted water cannons at two Philippine government fisheries vessels Friday in the South China Sea, the third confrontation this week, as top diplomats met in Manila for the annual foreign minister meetings, with the skirmishes in the disputed waters high on the agenda. China claims virtually the entire sea passage, a key global trade route, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling based on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that invalidated Beijing's expansive claims. The latest high-seas faceoff happened near Scarborough Shoal for the second day in a row. The Philippine coast guard said a Chinese coast guard ship approached a Philippine government fisheries vessel at a distance of seven meters (23 feet) in what it called a "reckless" maneuver that created a serious risk of collision.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Bangladesh's President Mohammed Shahabuddin, appointed during the rule of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned Friday halfway through his term following years of political turbulence in the South Asian country. A new government headed by Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Hasina's archrival, came to power with a landslide victory in February after 18 months of interim rule under Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Hasina stepped down and fled to India in August 2024 following an anti-government movement that ended her 15-year rule. Hasina fiercely criticized the interim administration led by Yunus.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - A suicide bomber backed by gunmen attacked a security checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, killing 15 members of the security forces, the military said Friday. In a statement, the military said troops repelled the overnight assault in Tank, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and killed 12 militants. The military blamed the attack on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The group is separate from but allied with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of providing sanctuary to TTP militants, an allegation Kabul denies. There was no immediate comment from the group. According to the military, the attackers attempted to storm the checkpoint but were pushed back by security forces before ramming an explosives-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall, triggering a powerful blast that severely damaged the checkpoint.

BEIJING (AP) - China announced on Friday it was adding 14 European entities to an export control list in retaliation for the European Union penalizing 14 Chinese enterprises as part of its latest round of sanctions against Russia. Chinese companies will not be allowed to export dual-use items, which can be used for both civilian and military purposes, to the 14 European organizations, China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement. Additionally, foreign companies are barred from providing to the 14 entities dual-use items made in China. The European companies affected include Czech vehicle manufacturer Tatra Trucks, Italian electric motor maker Lafert SpA, German manufacturer Sindlhauser Materials GmbH and French drone manufacturer Cavok UAS.

ALFONSO, Philippines (AP) - The House of the Virgin Mary is a shrine located in Ephesus, Turkey, where the mother of Jesus is believed to have spent her final years. Thousands of miles away, nestled in a field outside Manila, a replica in the Philippines welcomes devotees in Asia's biggest Catholic nation. "The idea began as a place of refuge," said Dennis Paez, the priest who led the project. "This is a place where no questions (are) asked." The replica was inaugurated in 2024 in Alfonso, a town in Cavite province about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of the capital. Since opening, it has hosted Catholic pilgrimages, including celebrations for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in mid-July.