Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's intelligence agency said on Sunday it is establishing an information-reporting channel for Chinese nationals to offer tips securely, at a time when tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled island remain elevated. In a statement, Taiwan's National Security Bureau said they are launching a webpage that will act as a secure channel for Chinese nationals to provide intelligence-related information, saying that an increasing number of people have recently approached relevant agencies in Taiwan wishing to "provide various types of information." "In recent years, China's economy has faced mounting difficulties, while political control has remained tight," the statement said.

PARIS (AP) - From the outset, China wasn't included when major powers gathered in 1975 at a chateau outside Paris to fix the slumping global economy, the first of what have become annual summits by the G7 club of wealthy nations to forward their interests. No surprise there. Imagining Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong brainstorming with U.S. President Gerald Ford and other leaders would have been unthinkable. China was in turmoil, nowhere close to becoming the economic giant it is now. Mao had also helped defeat France and U.S. forces in Vietnam, by militarily supporting Ho Chi Minh's communists that took power.

BEIJING (AP) - China said Saturday it firmly opposed the U.S. adding several prominent Chinese businesses to its list of military companies, and that the move ignored the consensus reached during U.S. President Donald Trump's summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month. The Pentagon on Monday added several non-state-owned Chinese companies, including electric vehicle maker BYD, tech giants Alibaba and Baidu to its list that seeks to identify Chinese companies it deems to have ties to the Chinese military, preventing them from landing U.S. defense contracts. By adding these firms to the list, "the U.S. side has ignored the consensus reached during the meeting between the heads of state of the two countries in Beijing," a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Saturday in a statement.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - A 3.5-meter (11-foot) shark critically injured a woman off a popular Sydney beach on Saturday, and she managed to grab onto a lifeguard's paddleboard before they made it to shore. The 35-year-old suffered serious leg and arm injuries in the attack at 11:15 a.m. off Coogee Beach, a police statement said. "I saw the shark come out of the water and just the size of it shocked me," lifeguard Charlie Verco told Sydney's The Sunday Telegraph newspaper. He was in the area on his 5.5-meter (18-foot) paddleboard and was the first rescuer to the scene. "I kept paddling towards her and the shark took her underwater and I was going, 'What do I do now?' A couple of seconds later, she popped up again," Verco said.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Five Indian Air Force personnel were killed when a transport aircraft crashed during a routine training flight in the northeastern state of Assam, officials said Saturday. The AN-32 transport aircraft crashed near Jorhat area in Assam, the Indian Air Force said in a statement posted on X. Images from the crash site showed wreckage of the aircraft strewn across a field. The air force extended its condolences to the families of those killed and said it stood with them in their grief. In March, two Indian Air Force pilots were killed when a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet crashed during a routine training mission in Assam.

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.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Hundreds of members of Nepal's LGBTQ+ community and their supporters took to the streets of Kathmandu on Saturday to celebrate Pride Month. Nepal has a growing LTGTQ+ community and has made significant gains for the rights of sexual minorities in the past few years. The government elected in March under Prime Minister Balendra Shah has formed the Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities and Social Security, the first time a department has been dedicated to deal with the issues of women and sexual minorities. Nepal became one of the first in Asia to allow same-sex marriage.

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.