Asia Pacific

US and Boeing investigators examine the site of a deadly South Korean plane crash

A team of U.S. investigators including representatives from Boeing have examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea.

The world welcomes 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges

Driver runs down two New Zealand police officers, killing one

South Korean court issues warrants to detain impeached President Yoon and search his office

Thousands march in Bangladesh calling for the ousted prime minister’s prosecution

South Korean adoptees and families rocked by fraud allegations

Peg Reif was among more than 120 who contacted The Associated Press this fall, after a series of stories and a documentary made with Frontline exposed how South Korea created a baby pipeline, designed to ship children abroad as quickly as possible to meet Western demand.

Initial results of imprecise census in Myanmar show a slight population drop

Myanmar’s military government has announced that provisional results of a census taken in October put the Southeast Asian nation’s population at about 51.3 million, a slight drop from the last official nationwide count of about 51.5 million taken 10 years ago.

Pakistani security forces suffer deadliest year for a decade while fighting insurgency, report finds

Pakistan’s security forces suffered their highest casualties in nearly a decade while battling insurgency in 2024, an Islamabad-based research group said in a report.

South Korean families pray for relatives who vanished into North Korean prisons a decade ago

It’s been 10-11 years since six South Koreans have been detained in North Korea, but there are still no words on whether they are still alive.

Hotel fire in popular Bangkok tourist area kills 3 foreigners

Thai police say a fire broke out at a hotel in a popular tourism area in Bangkok, killing three foreigners and injuring several other people.

South Korea plane crash is the deadliest in a year marked by several fatal aviation accidents

South Korea’s worst aviation disaster in decades also was the year’s deadliest plane crash worldwide.

What we know about the deadly Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea

South Korean officials are looking for the cause of a passenger jet crash that killed 179 people, in one of the deadliest disasters in the country’s aviation history.

18 passengers killed in 2 separate road accidents in Pakistan

Authorities say 18 passengers have been killed in two separate road accidents in Pakistan. Police say the first accident happened on a highway Monday in eastern Punjab province when a speeding passenger bus overturned.

The Taliban say they will close all NGOs employing Afghan women

The Taliban say they will close all national and foreign nongovernmental groups employing Afghan women, the latest crackdown on women’s rights since they took power in August 2021.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died. He was 100 years old and had spent roughly 22 months in hospice care.

North Korea’s Kim vows the toughest anti-US policy before Trump takes office

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he will implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president.

Jetliner skids off runway and bursts into flames while landing in South Korea, killing 179

A jetliner skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames in South Korea after its landing gear apparently failed to deploy.

Chinese workers found in ‘slavery-like conditions’ in Brazil taken to hotels as probe gets underway

Dozens of Chinese workers have been taken and put up in hotels in Brazil’s tropical northeastern region after local labor authorities found them at a construction site for electric vehicle automaker BYD.

Chinese man sentenced to death for killing 35 people after driving into a crowd

A court in China has sentenced a man to death for killing 35 people last month by driving into crowd, in an attack that raised national concern about mass killings.

South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly votes to impeach acting President Han

South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly has voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo.

Leaders and politicians pay homage to India’s former prime minister, Manmohan Singh

Authorities in India have declared a seven-day mourning period to honor Manmohan Singh as politicians and public paid tributes to the country’s former prime minister widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program.

Japan Cabinet OKs record defense budget as it pushes strike-back capability to deter regional threat

The Japanese Cabinet has approved a record 8.7 trillion yen ($55 billion) defense budget plan for 2025 as Japan accelerates building up its strike-back capability with long-range cruise missiles and starts deploying Tomahawks to further fortify the country against growing threat from China, North Ko

Pakistan military raids insurgent strongholds in the restive northwest, killing 13 fighters

Pakistan’s military says troops have faced off with insurgents in three separate shootouts in the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, killing 13 militants.

Cambodian court gives an opposition leader 2-year prison term, keeping pressure on critics

A Cambodian court has convicted an opposition party leader of inciting social disorder and sentenced him to two years in prison, the latest legal assault on opponents and critics of the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet.

Chinese automaker BYD slams reports of poor conditions at a factory site in Brazil

A spokesperson for Chinese automaker BYD has objected to reports about poor conditions at a construction site in Brazil where it is building a factory, saying the allegations were aimed at “smearing” China and Chinese brands.

South Korean opposition submits motion to impeach the country’s acting president as strife deepens

South Korea’s main opposition party has submitted a motion to impeach the country’s acting leader over his reluctance to fill three Constitutional Court vacancies ahead of the court’s review of rebellion charges against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol stemming from his short-lived martial law decr

Former Presidential candidate in Taiwan, Ko Wen-je, indicted for corruption

Prosecutors in Taiwan indicted former presidential candidate and Taiwan People’s Party founder Ko Wen-je on corruption charges, accusing him of taking bribes during his time as mayor of Taiwan’s capital.

Heat wave leads to warnings of potentially devastating wildfires in southern Australia

Communities and firefighters across Australia’s second-most populous state are bracing for potentially devastating wild fires as a heat wave fanned by erratic winds presented the worst fire conditions in several years.

Prayers and tears mark 20 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people

People are gathering in prayer and visiting mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.

Airstrikes target suspected Pakistani Taliban hideouts in Afghanistan

Officials say rare Pakistani airstrikes have targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighboring Afghanistan, dismantling a training facility and killing some insurgents.

Japanese atomic bomb survivors say Nobel Peace Prize gives fresh impetus to disarmament push

Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki said being recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize has given them a new incentive to push for nuclear disarmament ahead of the 80th anniversary next year of the attacks.

Japanese premier says stronger alliance with US is key to regional stability, seeks to meet Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says strengthening his country’s alliance with the United States is key to regional security and expressed his desire to meet with U.S.

Hong Kong police issue arrest warrants and bounties for six activists

Hong Kong police have announced a fresh round of arrest warrants for six activists based overseas, with bounties set at $1 million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to their arrests.

US and UK criticize Pakistani military court convictions of civilian supporters of Imran Khan

The United States and the United Kingdom have expressed deep concern over the recent handing down of convictions by Pakistani military courts to 25 civilian supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan over last year’s riots.

Tonga’s parliament elects a new prime minister after his predecessor quit this month

Tonga’s parliament has elected Aisake Eke as the country’s new prime minister. The vote came in a special session of the house on Christmas Eve.

20 years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, a boy found in the mud embraces being known as ‘Baby 81'

The boy once known as “Baby 81,” who was pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education.

Court sentences Cambodian businessman to 31 years in prison for killing of young couple

A Cambodian real estate entrepreneur, whose killing of a young couple sparked public outrage, has been sentenced to the maximum 31 years in prison.

Bangladesh seeks extradition of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina from India

Bangladesh has sent a formal request to India to extradite ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She fled in August amid the student-led protests that ended her 15 years in power.

Imran Khan’s party holds talks with Pakistan’s government to seek former PM’s release

The opposition party of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan has held a first round of talks with the government to secure the release of its leader and other activists, officials said.

Chinese court issues suspended death sentence to man who drove car into a crowd of schoolchildren

A Chinese court issued a suspended death sentence to a man for driving his car into a crowd of elementary school students and parents in southern Hunan province last month.