Top AsiaPacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The door that once led to a family room now faces nothing but the void. Most of the floor is gone, as are the walls and roof. This used to be Syed Murtaza Sadar's home in Kabul, on top of the barber shop and public bath that was his family's business. Those, too, are nearly all gone, reduced to bricks and rubble. Sadar and his family were forced to tear down most of the building themselves. "This was our house and now I am destroying it with my own hands," the 25-year-old said, taking a brief break from pulling down a brick wall.

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) - An airplane crew searching for a cargo vessel that went missing with six people on board near the U.S. territory of Saipan spotted an overturned ship but could not confirm whether it was the one that was lost, the Coast Guard said Saturday. The HC-130 Hercules crew saw the vessel early in the day about 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) northeast of the Mariana's last known position, the Coast Guard said. It was 34 nautical miles (63 kilometers) northeast of Pagan, a small island north of Saipan. The Mariana, a 145-foot (44-meter) dry cargo vessel registered in the U.S., suffered engine failure Wednesday as a massive typhoon bore down on Saipan and nearby islands with fierce winds and relentless rain.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Australia and Japan signed contracts on Saturday to deliver the first three of a 10 billion Australian dollar ($6.5 billion) fleet of Japanese-designed warships, with the first due for delivery in three years. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build the first three Mogami-class frigates in Japan. Australia plans to build another eight in a shipyard in Western Australia state. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles attended a signing ceremony aboard the Mogami-class frigate JS Kumano, which is part of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, docked off the Australian city of Melbourne. The Kumano had taken part in the recent Exercise Kakadu, biennial multinational maritime drills hosted by Australia.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Australia's most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, walked free on bail from a Sydney prison on Friday, 10 days after he was charged with war crimes in the killings of five people while serving in Afghanistan. Judge Greg Grogin granted Roberts-Smith bail in a Sydney court around five hours earlier, ruling the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal had established exceptional circumstances to justify his release from custody. Prosecutors had opposed bail and argued there was a risk that Roberts-Smith would flee Australia or interfere with witnesses and evidence. Roberts-Smith, 47, was arrested on April 7 and charged with five counts of war crime murder involving the deaths of five Afghans in Uruzgan province in 2009 and 2012.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The Iran war's global energy shock is causing some nations in Asia and Africa to boost nuclear power generation and spurring atomic energy plans in non-nuclear countries on both continents. Asia, where most of the Middle Eastern oil and natural gas was headed, was hit first and hardest by disruptions to shipping routes carrying those fuels - swiftly followed by Africa. The U.S. and Europe are also feeling the pinch as the conflict drives up energy costs. African and Asian nations with nuclear plants are increasing their output as they scramble for short-term energy supplies, while non-nuclear countries are accelerating long-term nuclear plans to safeguard against future fossil fuel shocks.

RAVE, India (AP) - Decorated bamboo poles were raised by members of the Agri-Koli community as part of a centuries-old, annual tradition honoring the goddess Raiba Devi in the village of Rave near Mumbai, India, on Friday. ____ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Sri Lanka has sent home 238 Iranian sailors, including 32 who survived a U.S torpedo attack that sank their ship in the Indian Ocean, officials said Friday. A U.S. submarine sank the IRIS Dena on March 4 while the ship was returning home after taking part in a naval exercise on invitation from India. The Sri Lankan navy recovered 87 bodies and 32 were hospitalized. A second Iranian ship was brought to a southern Sri Lankan port after its crew reported technical problems. Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Franklin Joseph said Friday that everyone except for a few crew members from the second ship had been repatriated earlier this week.

NEW DELHI (AP) - A bill to reserve a third of seats for women lawmakers failed to pass in the lower house of India's Parliament on Friday, along with a separate, linked proposal to expand the national legislature by redrawing voting boundaries. The measure was seen as one of the most significant changes to India's political system since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, but fell short after two days of debate involving both government and opposition lawmakers. It sought to mandate implementation of 33% representation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, a move aimed at increasing female participation in a system where women remain underrepresented.

Nearly two decades after drug addiction sent him to rehab as a teenager, 36-year-old Michael Nalewaja had settled into a quiet life in Alaska where he worked as an electrician. That all came crashing down days before Thanksgiving 2025, when he and a mutual friend unknowingly took a lethal cocktail of fentanyl and carfentanil they may have mistaken for cocaine. "I heard the word 'autopsy' and I literally just collapsed to the floor," his mother, Kelley Nalewaja said, recalling the call she received from his wife. "Even if somebody had been there prepared with Narcan - even if somebody had called 911 in time - he was not going to survive." Carfentanil, a weapons-grade chemical that authorities say is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl, has seen a drastic resurgence across the U.S., killing hundreds of unsuspecting drug users.

BANGKOK (AP) - Myanmar's former President Win Myint was freed Friday as part of a broad prisoner amnesty by newly inaugurated President Min Aung Hlaing to mark the traditional New Year, state-run media reported. The pardon order applied to more than 4,500 prisoners, but it was not immediately clear how many people imprisoned for opposing military rule were included and there was no sign that 80-year-old former leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be freed. Win Myint is Suu Kyi's longtime loyalist and was elected as president in 2018. He served as president while Suu Kyi led the government as state counsellor because the military-drafted constitution barred her from holding the presidency.