Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol and his former defense minister were sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday in a case alleging Yoon ordered drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024 to heighten tensions with North Korea and justify declaring martial law at home. The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon and his ex-defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, guilty of aiding an adversary and abusing their power, saying they sought to provoke North Korea into launching armed attacks or other serious retaliation against South Korea to manufacture a national emergency. It said the moves harmed South Korea's military interests by exposing its capabilities, undermining its ability to conduct future operations and prompting North Korea to strengthen its defense posture.

BANGKOK (AP) - An American scholar who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy was arrested by authorities in China on suspicion of spying, China's foreign ministry said Friday. The scholar, Min Zin, was suspected of "engaging in espionage activities that endanger China's national security," said China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian. It is uncommon for Beijing to arrest a U.S. citizen on national security allegations. The case comes just a month after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing as the two countries aim to reset a tumultuous relationship. A Burmese activist who knows Min Zin said he disappeared June 3 after going to Kunming, in China's Yunnan province, for a conference.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Hundreds of Indonesian students rallied Friday in Indonesia's capital, demanding lower fuel and food prices and urging President Prabowo Subianto to roll back costly state spending programs as economic pressures mount. The protest was held after the prices of some fuel jumped 32% this week for the first time since the United States launched its war against Iran more than three months ago. About 1,500 protesters attempted to march toward the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, a key Jakarta landmark, after Friday prayers. Anti-riot police blocked many of them from reaching the site, which has long been off-limits for rallies because of its location at the heart of the city's main business and commercial district.

BANGKOK (AP) - A Myanmar rights group is urging FIFA to reverse its decision to grant exclusive World Cup broadcast rights to a U.S.-sanctioned company linked to the country's military government that seized power of the five years ago. The group, Justice For Myanmar, told The Associated Press on Friday it only learned this week that international soccer's governing body FIFA had granted the exclusive Myanmar broadcast rights to Mytel after the telecoms operator launched its local advertising campaign for the World Cup. Mytel, one of Myanmar's four telecom operators, is a joint venture between the Myanmar military and Vietnam's military-controlled Viettel.

BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, a lawyer and the eldest of King Maha Vajiralongkorn's children, has died at 47, the Bureau of the Royal Household said. She died Thursday evening at a Bangkok hospital where she had been cared for since falling unconscious due to illness three years ago, according to the statement issued Friday. "This loss is not merely bad news announced to the people, but an immeasurable grief in the hearts of the entire nation," Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a televised speech. He said the princess was "a pride of Thailand," and that "her commitment to building a society of kindness, justice, and equality, will forever remain as a moral legacy for the nation, a guiding light for generations of Thais." A small group of mourners gathered in an atrium at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, where the princess had been treated.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine officials said Friday that years of disaster-preparedness drills helped prevent a larger casualty toll when one of the strongest earthquakes in 50 years struck the south and left 46 people dead with 38 others missing. The 7.8 magnitude offshore quake, which struck Monday off Sarangani province, injured at least 688 people and displaced more than 45,000 people, about half them still in emergency shelters, after the quake damaged more than 12,600 houses across farming towns and cities. The numbers of dead and missing were considerably lowered after multiple verifications, the Office of Civil Defense said in a statement.

A Doctors Without Borders paramedic was among women arrested during a recent crackdown for alleged dress code violations in Afghanistan, the medical aid organization said Friday. The paramedic was arrested for not wearing a face covering while on her way to work at a hospital in the western city of Herat, and was detained for two days, according to Sarah Champion, the aid group's program manager for Afghanistan. The organization, also known by its French acronym MSF, said in a statement Thursday it was "outraged by the arrest and detention of one of its employees as part of the enforcement of dress code requirements in the city." "This incident is not isolated.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine government said Friday that China's imposition of sanctions, including an entry ban, against Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. was "an unfriendly act" that could further strain relations, while he vowed to continue defending Manila's interests against Beijing's aggression. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing announced late Thursday that Teodoro and his family have been banned from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macao, over what it described as "irresponsible remarks" he has made that undermined Beijing's interests. The Chinese government also prohibited individuals and groups in China from having any transactions with Teodoro and his family.

BANGKOK (AP) - A Thai woman appeared in a Myanmar court on Thursday to answer charges of murder in the killing of an American diplomat in Yangon, according to two attorneys familiar with the case. The woman, whose identity has not been released, was charged with murder as well as a charge under the country's immigration code that applies to any foreign national who commits a crime in Myanmar, according to one of the attorneys. It was not clear whether she entered a plea or had legal representation during the hearing in Kamayut Township Court. She faces the possibility of a sentence ranging from 10 years in prison to the death penalty if she is convicted of murder.

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Rescuers recovered the remains of all 22 soldiers aboard a military helicopter that crashed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir the previous day, officials said Thursday, confirming there were no survivors, as senior government and military officials attended a mass funeral for the victims. The helicopter crashed Wednesday in Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, apparently because of a technical fault, according to Pakistan's military. An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause. An Associated Press reporter counted 22 coffins draped in Pakistan's national flag at a funeral ceremony. Witnesses and regional officials said the remains of the soldiers were recovered from the badly burned wreckage.