Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

WASHINGTON (AP) - China won't help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz as requested by President Donald Trump, but it is probably welcoming the delay in Trump's highly anticipated trip to Beijing as the U.S. risks getting bogged down in the Middle East, analysts say. The latest developments are unfolding as Trump's Iran war, in its third week, is faced with mounting pressure as oil has stopped moving through the strait and U.S. allies have refused to step up to secure the strait. That has produced concerns that China, the United States' biggest geopolitical rival, could stand to benefit from a war that some say was ill-considered.

CAIRO (AP) - Muslims around the world are bidding farewell to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and will soon start celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Eid is typically greeted with joy and excitement and is marked with congregational prayers and festivities that usually include family visits, gatherings, outings and new clothes. But this year, Eid is approaching amid the Iran war, which has been roiling many countries in the Middle East and leading to far-reaching consequences beyond. In the United States, many Muslims observed Ramadan's religious and social traditions this year under a cloud of worrisome domestic and international events.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is delaying a diplomatic trip to China that had been planned for months but began to unravel as he pressured Beijing and other world powers to use their military might to protect the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Tuesday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office that he would be going to China in five or six weeks' time instead of at the end of the month. He said he would be "resetting" his visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "We're working with China - they were fine with it," Trump said.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday declared a temporary pause in escalating fighting, two days after Kabul blamed Islamabad for a deadly airstrike in the Afghan capital that it said killed hundreds of people at a drug rehabilitation hospital. Both said they were suspending fighting before Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. The three countries have been trying to mediate a cessation of hostilities since Afghanistan and Pakistan renewed cross-border fighting in February, and had also been involved in helping broker a ceasefire between the two in October.

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi headed to the United States on Wednesday for what she expects to be a "very difficult" meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump after he called on Japan and other allies to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz. The three-day visit to Washington was originally expected to focus on trade and strengthening the U.S.-Japanese alliance as China's influence grows in Asia. It is now expected to be overshadowed by the war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran on Feb. 28. "I think the U.S. visit will be a very difficult one, but I will do everything to maximize our national interest and to protect the daily lives of the people when the situation changes daily," Takaichi told parliament on Wednesday, hours before her departure.

HONG KONG (AP) - About 90 ships including oil tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the outset of the war with Iran and it is still exporting millions of barrels of oil at a time when the waterway has been effectively closed, according to maritime and trade data platforms. Many of the vessels that passed through the strait were so-called "dark" transits evading Western government sanctions and oversight that likely have ties to Iran, maritime data firm Lloyd's List Intelligence said. More recently, vessels with ties to India and Pakistan have also successfully crossed the strait as governments stepped up negotiations.

BANGKOK (AP) - A man has been arrested after he was caught climbing into an enclosure of Moo Deng, the adorable pygmy hippo who became a social media sensation, zoo officials said. The Thai man allegedly entered the enclosure on Tuesday evening while a keeper was away and no other visitors were around, the Khao Kheow Open Zoo's Director Narongwit Chodchoy told The Associated Press. Security footage widely shared online shows a man wearing a black beanie, sunglasses, a green tank top, and brown shorts approaching Moo Deng and her mother Jona while holding a tablet, apparently recording or taking photos.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Rescuers recovered more bodies from the rubble of a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul on Tuesday after officials said an overnight airstrike killed more than 400 people in a dramatic escalation of a conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan that is now in its third week. Pakistan rejected Afghanistan's accusation that it targeted the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, insisting its strikes across eastern Afghanistan on Monday were against military facilities. It also dismissed Afghan claims of hundreds of casualties as propaganda. The casualties were taken to several hospitals in the area, where crowds gathered to search for their loved ones among the injured and the dead.

KABUL (AP) - Rescue crews are still digging bodies out of the rubble of a drug rehabilitation hospital in the Afghan capital Tuesday morning, after officials there said an overnight Pakistani airstrike killed hundreds at the facility. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan recorded a trade surplus of 57.3 billion yen ($360 million) in February, according to government data released Wednesday, reversing from a deficit a month earlier. Exports grew at a better-than-expected 4.2% in February to 9.57 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry's seasonally adjusted preliminary data show. Imports grew 10.2% on-year to 9.51 trillion yen following a 2.5% contraction in January. Japan posted a 1.15 trillion trade deficit that month. Import costs are likely to rise as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the war against Iran drives up oil and other energy prices. Japan imports almost all its oil, and Brent crude - the international standard - has jumped in recent weeks to about $100 a barrel.