Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

TOKYO (AP) - A Japanese court sentenced a man who admitted assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to life imprisonment on Wednesday. The case has revealed decades of cozy ties between Japan's governing party and a controversial South Korean church. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, earlier admitted to killing Abe in July 2022 as the former prime minister was giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. Abe, one of Japan's most influential politicians, was serving as a regular lawmaker after leaving the prime minister's job when he was killed in 2022 while campaigning in the western city of Nara.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A South Korean court ruled Wednesday that the ill-fated imposition of martial law by the then President Yoon Suk Yeol constituted an act of rebellion, as it sentenced his prime minister to 23 years in prison for his involvement. Ex-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo became the first Yoon administration official convicted of rebellion charges in relation to the martial law imposition in December 2024. The verdict is expected to set the stage for upcoming rulings involving Yoon and his other associates, who also face rebellion charges. Han, who was appointed by Yoon, served as one of the three caretaker leaders during the martial law crisis that led to Yoon's impeachment and eventually his removal from office.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - The toll from a deadly fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan's largest city could rise sharply after Wednesday's discovery of body parts thought to belong to over a dozen people, officials said. Searchers for the first time reached a shop in Gul Plaza in Karachi where many people had sought refuge during Saturday's fire. Before the discovery, 29 people had been confirmed dead, according to police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed. She confirmed that the city's main hospital received more than two dozen body parts during the fifth day of searches. Javed Nabi Khoso, a government administrator, said initial estimates suggest the remains recovered from the shop may belong to 15 to 25 people.

TOKYO (AP) - The world's largest nuclear power plant restarted Wednesday in north-central Japan for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown, as resource-poor Japan accelerates atomic power use to meet soaring electricity needs. The first steps in energy production at the No. 6 reactor of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant are important because the operator is Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the same utility that runs the ruined Fukushima Daiichi plant. TEPCO's past safety issues at Fukushima have led to public worries about operations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which also sits in an isolated, quake-prone region. TEPCO said staff at the No.

NEW YORK (AP) - Handprints on cave walls in a largely unexplored area of Indonesia may be the oldest rock art studied so far, dating back to at least 67,800 years ago. The tan-colored prints analyzed by Indonesian and Australian researchers on the island of Sulawesi were made by blowing pigment over hands placed against the cave walls, leaving an outline. Some of the fingertips were also tweaked to look more pointed. This prehistoric art form suggests the Indonesian island was home to a flourishing artistic culture. To figure out how old the paintings were, researchers dated mineral crusts that had formed on top of the art.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand will hold a national election on Nov. 7, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced Wednesday. Luxon, the leader of a center-right government, will seek a second term in office, with the election likely to be a ballot on whether his pledges to improve the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic have gained enough traction to convince voters still struggling with living and housing costs. The main center-left opposition Labour Party, lead by Chris Hipkins, has regained support since its poor showing in the previous 2023 election and analysts forecast a tight race. New Zealand elections are held every three years with the government selecting the exact date.

HONG KONG (AP) - Two former leaders of a Hong Kong pro-democracy group that for decades organized a vigil commemorating people killed during Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen crackdown are set to stand trial in a case brought under a national security law that has all but silenced dissent in the city. A third co-defendant is expected to plead guilty at Thursday's hearing. Observers say the disappearance of the only large-scale public commemoration of the 1989 crackdown within China is part of a decline in Western-style civil liberties, which Beijing promised to maintain for 50 years when it took control of the former British colony in 1997.

LONDON (AP) - Britain's government on Tuesday approved a huge new Chinese Embassy in central London, despite strong criticism from lawmakers across the political spectrum that it could become a base for espionage and intimidation of opponents. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed formally signed off on plans for the building near the Tower of London, after years of delays and legal challenges. Critics have long expressed concerns that the supersized embassy, set to be the biggest Chinese Embassy in Europe, will heighten risks of Chinese intelligence-gathering as well as amplify the threat of surveillance and intimidation of Chinese dissidents in exile.

TOKYO (AP) - Rescuers spotted wreckage believed to be from a sightseeing helicopter carrying three people that went missing near one of Japan's most active volcanoes, authorities said Wednesday. The helicopter lost contact during what should have been a scenic 10-minute flight over Mount Aso in southern Japan on Monday, according to a flight operator and local authorities. Local police said wreckage, possibly of the missing helicopter, was spotted inside the crater of Nakadake, one of Mt. Aso's five peaks, on Tuesday. However, strong winds and volcanic gases hampered the rescue operation, fire department officials said. Takumi Morioka, head of the helicopter tour operator Takumi Enterprise, said during a news conference Wednesday that the pilot and the two passengers were unaccounted for and that he hoped they survived.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday welcomed Parliament's passing of anti-hate speech and gun laws in response to two shooters killing 15 people at a Jewish festival in Sydney last month. Authorities say the attack was inspired by the Islamic State group. "At Bondi, the terrorists had hate in their hearts, but they had guns in their hands," Albanese told reporters, referring to the father and son gunmen accused of attacking Jewish worshippers during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. "We said we wanted to deal with that with urgency and with unity and we acted to deliver both," Albanese added.