Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

SURAT, India (AP) - Before dawn breaks over the Indian industrial hub of Surat, textile worker Sibaram Pradhan is already awake, sitting on the floor in a cramped room he shares with as many as nine other men. Sweat beads on his forehead even at 6 a.m. as sweltering heat and humidity make days and nights hot across India this summer. Like numerous others from his home state of Odisha in eastern India, Pradhan works in a power loom factory that produces polyester cloth in Surat, among the largest hubs for synthetic fabrics in the world. The 35-year-old is among the millions of workers in South Asia who endure appalling living conditions combined with hot, humid, poorly ventilated and incredibly loud factory floors as climate-driven extreme heat is only becoming worse across the region.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the treason conviction and 14-year prison sentence of two journalists who posted photographs on Facebook last year related to border clashes with Thailand, prompting new accusations from rights groups that Prime Minister Hun Manet 's government is influencing the courts to quash press freedoms. The high court issued its decision after a short hearing, ruling that the convictions of Phorn Sopheap of Battambang Post TV Online and Pheap Pheara of TSP 68 TV Online were firmly grounded in Cambodian law, said Kang Pothe Vireak, one of the defense team.

BEIJING (AP) - China on Thursday defended its recent patrols in waters east of Taiwan, one day after Britain, France and Germany expressed alarm about what they described as "novel Chinese activity." While the three European countries said the activity, which they did not specifically identify, endangered regional stability, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said China's law-enforcement and patrol activities were aimed at maintaining regional stability and maritime order. China deployed coast guard ships in response to an announcement by Japan and the Philippines that they would discuss their maritime boundaries in waters that Beijing views as its own. "These are necessary actions in response to Japan's and the Philippines' manipulation of maritime delimitation issues and infringement upon China's maritime rights and interests," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a daily briefing.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The last Australian woman held in a Syrian camp for families of Islamic State group fighters has been given permission to return to Australia under strict conditions, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Thursday. The woman and her nine-year-old daughter had planned to return to Australia in February with a group of Australian women and children held in the Roj camp, but was prevented from leaving by a temporary exclusion order. Australia created the orders in 2019 to prevent defeated IS fighters from returning from the Middle East for up to two years. The woman is the only known target of such an order.

BEIRUT (AP) - Shiite Muslims around the world on Thursday marked Ashoura, a holy day symbolizing sacrifice and martyrdom that holds special significance for many this year after months of war in Iran and Lebanon. Ashoura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in A.D. 680 Imam Hussein was killed with his family and companions after refusing to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliphate. The event cemented the schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam and remains a powerful symbol of resistance against oppression and injustice. This year, Ashoura comes after months of war in Iran and Lebanon, homes to two of the world's largest Shiite populations.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Raju Rathore's Hindu faith and devotion to Imam Hussein converge in Pakistan's port city of Karachi during Muharram, one of Islam's sacred months. Religious observances during this period are primarily associated with Shiite Muslims. But in Rathore's hometown some members of the Hindu community also commemorate the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein. "Muharram is very important to me and I want to keep participating in it for as long as I live," said Rathore, whose parents migrated from India's Gujarat state after the Partition of India in 1947. "I go there in devotion to Imam Hussein." Hussein was killed alongside family members during the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the seventh century.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea has commissioned a 5,000-ton destroyer that leader Kim Jong Un touts as a symbol of the country's growing naval and nuclear capabilities, state media reported Wednesday, as Pyongyang seeks to expand its ability to project military power at sea. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim told a commissioning ceremony Tuesday at the western port of Nampo that warships such as the Choe Hyon show that the nuclear armament of his navy is progressing as planned. KCNA said the Choe Hyon was formally placed into service with North Korea's navy after the ceremony and will be tasked with defending the country's western coast.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The leader of a secretive South Korean church was arrested on suspicion of election influence Wednesday as authorities widened an investigation into allegations that he illegally recruited thousands of followers into the conservative People Power Party. The Shincheonji Church has denied the accusations against Lee Man-hee, 95, a self-proclaimed messenger of Jesus who founded the congregation in the 1980s. The church says it has about 200,000 followers. Since January, a special team of prosecutors and police has been investigating alleged ties between religious groups such as Shincheonji and the Unification Church and politicians. The inquiry is part of broader investigations under South Korea's current liberal government into the presidency of former conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted from office and convicted of rebellion over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.

World leaders and Venezuelan celebrities reacted Thursday with messages of solidarity and offers of assistance after two powerful earthquakes shook the South American nation, killing at least 164 people, injuring more than 1,000 and trapping many beneath collapsed buildings. Wednesday evening's 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. Venezuelan officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble. Here are some of the reactions from world leaders and celebrities to the earthquakes in Venezuela.

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested two people on suspicion of selling seditious publications and receiving funds from foreign political organizations, acting under a recent national security law. The government's statement early Thursday did not identify those arrested. But local media outlets, including the Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao, quoted unidentified sources saying one was Hunter Bookstore's owner Leticia Wong. Wong, a pro-democracy former district councilor, has remained outspoken after many leading activists were jailed under a crackdown following massive anti-government protests in 2019. If confirmed, her arrest would be widely seen as the latest step to stifle dissent in the Asian financial hub.