Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

BEIJING (AP) - China's Xi Jinping warned President Donald Trump on Thursday that their two countries could clash over Taiwan if the issue is not handled properly, an unusually harsh admonition that stood in contrast to the American leader's praise for his counterpart. The exchange at a highly anticipated summit in Beijing underscored just how far apart Trump and Xi still are on thorny issues, including the war in Iran, trade disputes and Washington's relations with Taiwan, which is self-ruled but which China claims as part of its territory. It also suggested that Trump's three-day visit to China is likely to be longer on pageantry and symbolism than substantive political or economic breakthroughs.

HONG KONG (AP) - China on Thursday stepped up its tough stance on Taiwan, an island democracy it deems its territory, warning the United States that Beijing and Washington will "have clashes and even conflicts" if the issue is not handled properly. China's President Xi Jinping stressed during his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that the " Taiwan question " is the most important issue in ties between Beijing and Washington, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry. "'Taiwan independence' and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water," Xi told Trump, according to the statement. Xi's stern tone reflected China's growing pressure on the U.S., Taiwan's largest unofficial ally.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A Philippine senator wanted by the International Criminal Court for an alleged crime against humanity has fled from the Senate, where he sought refuge to evade arrest, officials said Thursday. Sen. Ronald dela Rosa 's exit from the heavily guarded Senate came after volleys of gunshots were fired Wednesday night by the building's security personnel during an argument with a government agent, sparking chaos that apparently helped the senator to slip out. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made a late-night TV statement to ask the public to remain calm. A police investigation was underway, including into suspicions that the incident was instigated to provide dela Rosa a cover to escape.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Foreign ministers from the BRICS nations began a two-day meeting in New Delhi on Thursday as the expanding bloc faces divisions over the war in Iran, rising energy prices and growing global economic uncertainty. The meeting brings together diplomats from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa along with newer member countries. It comes as the war in Iran has disrupted global energy supplies and driven up oil prices and coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Russia's top diplomat Sergey Lavrov are attending.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday condemned Norway's move to revoke the export license for a naval missile system for Malaysia's navy, warning it could damage confidence in European defense suppliers. Anwar said he raised Malaysia's "vehement objection" during a phone call with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, after Oslo blocked delivery of the Naval Strike Missile system and launcher components intended for Malaysia's littoral combat ship program. "Malaysia has honored every obligation under this contract since 2018: scrupulously, faithfully and without equivocation," Anwar said in a statement. "Norway, it appears, has not felt compelled to extend us the same courtesy and demonstration of good faith." The missile manufacturer, Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS, said export licensing decisions are handled entirely by Norwegian authorities, according to Malaysian national news agency Bernama.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) - Dust storms, heavy rain, and lightning damaged homes and other structures and killed at least 96 people in northern India, officials said Thursday. The storms also injured more than 50 people as they swept across several districts late Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. Officials said some deaths were caused by falling trees, collapsing structures and lightning. Police and disaster response teams used chainsaws and cranes to clear fallen trees from roads and railway tracks in several districts. Storms are common in northern India during the hot season from March to June, before the annual monsoon rains arrive.

The United Nations and rights groups say Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have detained at least three journalists on undisclosed charges in recent days. The U.N. mission in Afghanistan expressed "serious concern" Thursday over the detentions, as well as over "reports of assaults against journalists and confiscation of property during search operations by the de facto authorities." Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, Afghanistan ranks among the worst countries in the world in terms of press freedom, with the 2026 index from Reporters without Borders ranking it 175 out of 180. "A free, independent, and safe press is essential for transparency, accountability, and the well-being of Afghan society," the U.N.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Efforts to arrest a Philippine senator wanted by the International Criminal Court on a charge of murder as a crime against humanity led to a burst of gunfire Wednesday and a standoff in the Senate building. No one was hurt during the tense scene in Manila. It came two days after the court based in The Hague unsealed an arrest warrant for Ronald Marapon dela Rosa, who served as national police chief under former President Rodrigo Duterte and helped carry out his anti-drug crackdowns in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed. Issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of no fewer than 32 people between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he led the police force.

NEW YORK (AP) - A man accused of running a secret Chinese spy outpost from a nondescript office building in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood was convicted Wednesday of acting as an illegal foreign agent. Lu Jianwang, 64, was also convicted of obstructing justice by deleting text messages that U.S. prosecutors said included orders from Beijing to silence, harass and intimidate pro-democracy dissidents. He was acquitted on a related conspiracy charge. The weeklong trial in Brooklyn federal court pitted U.S. concerns about China's crackdown on dissidents against the defense's contention that prosecutors twisted a well-meaning Chinese American community leader's bureaucratic misstep to put him in prison.