Top Asia Pacific Breaking News Stories

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – The teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made her first known visit to a sacred family mausoleum, a step that experts say bolstered her status as her father’s potential heir. The visit, which occurred on New Year’s Day on Thursday, even sparked speculation that the girl, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and aged about 13, could be named a high-level official at the upcoming ruling Workers’ Party congress. Images carried by North Korea’s state media on Friday showed Kim Ju Ae standing in the front row with her parents and deeply bowing at Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, where the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather are on display.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesia on Friday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape. Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022.

ISLAMABAD (AP) – A court in Pakistan’s capital sentenced seven people, including three journalists, two YouTubers and two retired army officers, to life imprisonment on Friday, after convicting them of inciting violence during riots in 2023 and spreading hatred against state institutions. An anti-terrorism court judge, Tahir Abbas Sipra, announced the verdict in Islamabad after completing trials held in absentia. None of the accused were present in court. They have been living abroad after leaving the country in recent years to avoid arrest. Those convicted include former editor Shaheen Sehbai; two other journalists, Sabir Shakir and Moeed Pirzada; YouTubers Wajahat Saeed Khan and Haider Raza Mehdi; and retired army officers Adil Raja and Akbar Hussain.

TOKYO (AP) – Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his family waved to a crowd of flag-waving New Year’s well-wishers gathered at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Friday. Standing with his wife Masako and the rest of the royal family, he wished a happy new year to people lined up below the palace balcony, some shouting, “banzai” – Japanese for “long live.” The annual New Year’s appearance by the emperor and his family draws huge crowds to the palace’s usually cloistered grounds in central Tokyo. People stand in long lines, weathering the cold, for each of the five appearances during the day, as the imperial family remains relatively popular.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – The first place in the world to legalize voluntary euthanasia 31 years ago could this year become the last part of Australia to secure the same legal reform as the Northern Territory government on Friday announced plans to legislate for doctor-assisted dying for a second time. The Northern Territory’s world-first laws passed in 1995 were overturned by the Australian Parliament two years later and after four terminally ill patients were legally helped to die. Since then, all six Australian states have passed assisted dying laws and the Australian Parliament has lifted the ban on the two territories, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory, passing such laws of their own.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) – In Pakistan, an old saying goes: “He who has not seen Lahore has not been born.” To feel its heartbeat, one must wander the city’s winding alleyways that are alive with movement and color. Centuries-old homes were built with small, weathered bricks instead of mud and lean gracefully into the streets, their walls etched with the delicate patterns of history. Many have been restored, painted with frescoes and motifs, allowing the grandeur of the Mughal era to shine anew. The alleys are narrow, sometimes barely wide enough for one person to pass. But within these tight corridors flows a quiet, enduring rhythm of courtesy, as residents step aside for one another with an unspoken grace.

Dec. 26, 2025 – Jan 1, 2026 This photo gallery, curated by photo editor Leslie Mazoch, highlights some of the most compelling images worldwide published by The Associated Press in the past week. ___ See last week’s top photos of the week Follow AP visual journalism: AP photography: https://apnews.com/photography Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Thursday vowed to defend the self-ruled island’s sovereignty in the face of China’s “expansionist ambitions,” days after Beijing wrapped up live-fire military drills near its shores. “In the face of China’s rising expansionist ambitions, the international community is watching to see whether the Taiwanese people have the resolve to defend themselves,” Lai said in his New Year’s address. “As president, my stance has always been clear: to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, strengthen national defense and the resilience of the whole society, and comprehensively construct an effective deterrence and democratic defense mechanism,” he added.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – An Air India pilot was arrested at Vancouver International Airport last week as he was preparing for a flight, with Canada’s transportation agency warning the airline that it faced loss of its flight authorizations if it did not comply with rules about alcohol consumption. Transport Canada said in a statement Friday that the incident took place on Dec. 23, and it would engage with Air India and Indian aviation authorities to ensure “appropriate followup actions” were taken. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the arrest occurred after a “report of concern” involving an airline crew member.

ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan experienced its deadliest year in over a decade in 2025 as combat-related deaths surged 74%, with militants accounting for more than half the death toll, according to a new report released by an independent think tank. Islamabad often accuses Kabul of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by Pakistani militants, a claim Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies. Tensions between the two neighbors have been high since October following border clashes that killed dozens and wounded hundreds. The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, or PICSS, said violence in Pakistan left 3,413 people dead – up from 1,950 in 2024 – with 2,138 militants killed.