Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Asian leaders Wednesday that Iran's demand to control and collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz would threaten the world's economy and set a precedent that could be repeated elsewhere in the world. Rubio spoke at the start of an annual meeting in the Philippine capital, Manila, with counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations who have expressed alarm over the resurgent fighting in the Middle East that has battered their region. Despite Washington's preoccupation with Iran, Rubio said, "We're with ASEAN 100%." "If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation-state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don't pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region," he said.

GUWAHATI, India (AP) - Toxic gas prevented rescuers from reaching 13 workers trapped in a collapsed hydropower tunnel in India on Wednesday after a gas explosion two days earlier killed 12 workers. The blast triggered by a buildup of methane gas tore through the tunnel Monday at the 500-megawatt Teesta Hydroelectric Project in northeastern Sikkim state in the Himalayas. Authorities have recovered the bodies of 12 workers who died inside the tunnel about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the state capital Gangtok. Rescue teams equipped with specialized breathing equipment and night-vision gear were having difficulty entering the tunnel because of the gas and a buildup of water, administrative official Anupama Tamling said.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A Pakistani airstrike that hit a drug treatment center in the Afghan capital Kabul in March, killing hundreds of civilians, should be investigated as a possible war crime, human rights organization Amnesty International says. In a social media post on Wednesday, the rights group said it had "found no evidence to support" Pakistan's claims that the Omid drug rehabilitation center was being used for military purposes or to store ammunition and weapons. Afghanistan has said the strike on March 16 killed about 400 civilians in the facility. Pakistan has disputed the death toll, and has insisted it was targeting a military facility.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Rescue crews in Afghanistan searched Tuesday for survivors and bodies in the rubble of houses destroyed by devastating flash floods that authorities said have killed at least 23 people and left more than 100 missing. The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said Tuesday that 80 people also were injured when floods struck the eastern province of Nuristan on Monday, causing an undetermined number of buildings to collapse. The provincial capital city of Parun was among the areas affected, authorities said. Video footage from Parun showed scenes of utter devastation, with piles of mud, rocks and rubble where buildings used to be.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Supporters of India's youth-led Cockroach movement demanding educational reforms and government accountability refused to leave their New Delhi protest site Tuesday, a day after their thousands-strong march toward Parliament drew police tear gas, beatings and a new wave of sympathy from across the country. The movement, now attracting professionals and families beyond students, represents a rare public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's government, reviving criticism over its handling of dissent and use of force to respond to protests. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and dozens of his Congress party lawmakers showed their support Tuesday with a sit-in outside Modi's residence before police forcibly removed them in a dramatic escalation.

NEW DELHI (AP) - What began as an online joke has evolved into one of the most significant protest movements in India being led by young people hoping to change the established political structure and the damage they believe the government has caused. Calling themselves the "Cockroaches," young Indians are channeling anger over failings in the education system into a broader campaign for government accountability. In doing so, they also have mounted one of the most visible public challenges in recent years to the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here is what to know: The immediate trigger for the protests was public anger over alleged leaks of some of India's most competitive entrance examinations for medical colleges and government jobs.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto replaced the head of the country's nutrition agency for the second time in two months on Wednesday, deepening uncertainty over the future of his troubled multi-billion-dollar free meals program. Sudaryono, who like many Indonesians uses only a single name, was appointed the same day that Nanik S. Deyang resigned just 45 days after replacing the previous head, Dadan Hindayana. Hindayana was dismissed because of his involvement in a corruption case related to the ambitious program, and has been arrested on related allegations. Sudaryono, who served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture under the previous administration, said after his appointment was announced that the program still needs to be improved.

Germany has deported a Uyghur man to China where there are concerns he could be detained as a member of an ethnic group that has been targeted by the Chinese government, his mother told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Arafat Adil, 21, a dual Chinese-Turkish national who has lived in Turkey with his family since they moved there from China in 2017 and who was seeking asylum in Germany, was deported from the Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday, said his mother, Guzelay Adil. Arafat Adil landed Wednesday morning in Beijing where he was taken into custody and interrogated, Guzelay Adil said. She said she was hoping her son would be allowed to board a flight to Istanbul around midnight on Thursday.

An Australian woman has given birth to identical quadruplet girls after a pregnancy doctors described as incredibly rare. Jenitar Sau Na'amoana, who is 34 years old and already had four children, delivered the babies last week at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Queensland state. "We are very excited to be able to care for this amazing little family, a big family now," Dr. Alexa Bendall, a maternal fetal medicine specialist who cared for Na'amoana, said in an interview released by the hospital. The babies were conceived naturally and came from one fertilized egg that split into four, "which was incredible," Bendall said.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan recorded a trade deficit in June, according to government data released Wednesday, as the higher price of oil imports helped cause the second straight month of red ink. Japan 's trade deficit totaled 406.9 billion yen ($2.5 billion) in June, the Ministry of Finance reported, a reversal from the 122 billion yen surplus recorded a year ago. Japan's exports rose 19% from a year ago to 10.9 trillion yen, growing at a brisk pace including semiconductor shipments. Japan's exports grew to various nations, including the U.S. and China. Imports gained 25% to 11.3 trillion yen. A weak yen also helped drive both exports and imports higher.