Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: latest Updates

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - China's Xi Jinping is traveling to North Korea for the first time in nearly seven years in a trip that offers North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a stage to showcase an increasingly assertive foreign policy anchored by closer ties with his country's former Cold War allies. China, the North's economic pipeline, is expected to reassert its influence over a traditionally allied government that has grown closer to Russia in recent times. The meeting between the two leaders is their first since Kim traveled to Beijing for a World War II event in September 2025. Here is a look at what they may be seeking from their upcoming meeting: After years of prioritizing Russia - dispatching thousands of troops and munitions to support Moscow's invasion of Ukraine - North Korea's leader is now seeking stronger ties with China to break further out of isolation, embracing the idea of a "new Cold War" and projecting Pyongyang as part of a united front against Washington.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a U.S. push for the denuclearization of North Korea an "anachronistic dream," saying Sunday the North will steadily expand its nuclear arsenal in the face of U.S.-led threats. The statement came a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits North Korea for talks with Kim Jong Un, in his first visit to the country in seven years. "The U.S. assertion to backbite the status of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state has no legally binding force and no one will be bound by the U.S.

MREIJEH, Lebanon (AP) - Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs without warning on Sunday, days after a ceasefire agreement in Washington went into effect and despite a U.S. request not to attack Lebanon 's capital. Lebanon's state-run national news agency said two people were killed and 11 wounded. Iran had warned that an attack on Beirut would renew full-scale war across the Mideast, even as Pakistan tries to restart talks between Tehran and Washington. Iran wants a deal to include ending the war in Lebanon. Iran's powerful parliament speaker hinted at retaliation. "The (U.S.) naval blockade imposed against the Iranian people, together with Washington's green light today to the Zionist regime, makes U.S.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Hundreds of supporters of the Cockroach Janata Party, an online joke that has drawn millions of followers across India, gathered for the first time in the capital on Saturday for its biggest real-world test yet. The protest near Parliament in New Delhi marked the movement's first step into street politics after weeks of dominating social media feeds and news headlines, attracting widespread support among young Indians. The immediate trigger for Saturday's protest was the reported irregularity in a recent exam that quickly became a broader outlet for frustration over India's education system and limited job opportunities. "Time to turn this tiny joke into a revolution," the official CJP account on X posted Friday.

HONG KONG (AP) - Chinese-made humanoid robots are making waves with their ability to do backflips, direct traffic, and even make coffee as the companies developing them seek ways to expand and dominate the market. Robot makers in China say they have thousands of orders from both the government and private businesses for humanoids that can do such things as sort parcels at postal centers, as the country finds ways to cope with an aging population and rising labor costs. However, some experts believe demand for humanoids lags the capacity to build them. China and the United States dominate research for what Morgan Stanley estimates is a $5 trillion humanoid robots market.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - A spearfisher was killed on Saturday in Australia's third fatal shark attack in four weeks, police said. The 35-year-old man was spearfishing with family off Michaelmas Island near the port city of Albany in Western Australia state when he was attacked before noon, a police statement said. The man was brought by boat to Albany where paramedics were waiting but he could not be revived, police said. Authorities suspect a 4.5-meter (15-foot) white shark was responsible. The spate of three fatalities is extraordinary in a nation that has averaged around three shark deaths a year in recent decades.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Police in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Saturday arrested dozens of supporters of an outlawed group that in recent years has staged violent protests demanding improved services and greater rights, officials and witnesses said. The arrests came a day after the regional government in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, banned the Joint Awami Action Committee, citing concerns over public order and security. The move followed weeks of tensions between the government and the group over a 38-point charter of demands, including calls for subsidized wheat and electricity. Authorities said 36 of those demands were accepted last year after negotiations involving JAAC representatives, regional officials and Pakistan's federal government.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - A zoo in Taiwan's capital received a pair of endangered red pandas from China on Saturday, in the first exchange of animals in more than a decade as tensions between the two sides run high. The pandas, a 3-year-old male and a 2-year-old female, will be in quarantine for a month and then acclimated to their new home in the Taipei Zoo before they are unveiled to the public. The two pandas have yet to be named. While the male panda immediately began to explore his new home and ate, the female remained cautious and preferred to observe, the Taipei Zoo said.

MUMBAI, India (AP) - Wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was called up by India for the first time on Saturday as he was named in the T20 squad for the tours of Ireland and England, as well as the Asian Games. The 15-year-old opening batter is the youngest cricketer to get an India call-up. If he plays against Ireland on June 26 in Belfast he will overtake Sachin Tendulkar, who was 16 when he made his test debut against Pakistan in November 1989. Sooryavanshi set the Indian Premier League alight this season, finishing as the highest run-getter with 776 in 16 innings. He scored at a remarkable strike-rate of 237.31 and hit 72 sixes.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - A Sherpa guide who survived a week on the treacherous slopes of Mount Everest was recovering at a hospital in Nepal's capital on Friday, while his family angered by a delay in rescue efforts sought legal action against those responsible. Dawa Sherpa was found Thursday crawling in the snowy slopes around the Khumbu Icefall, just above Everest base camp, a week after he went missing. The 57-year-old was flown to a Kathmandu and reunited with his family. He was being treated for frostbite, dehydration and problems in his thighs but was stable and recovering, HAMS Hospital said in a statement.