Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three years after Honduras parted ways with Taiwan and forged diplomatic ties with China in hope of economic gain, shrimp farmers in the Central American country are in revolt. Their sales to Taiwan fell to a mere $16 million in 2025, down from more than $100 million in 2022, and the Chinese didn't fill the void as hoped. "We were deceived," said Javier Amador, executive director of the National Aquaculture Association of Honduras, as he described the promises from former President Xiomara Castro of better opportunities with China when she severed ties with Taiwan and opened an embassy in Beijing in 2023.

BEIJING (AP) - China has signaled continuity rather than change for its economy, setting a slightly lower target for growth this year in the midst of a property slump and other headwinds at home and growing uncertainty abroad. Premier Li Qiang announced a target of 4.5% to 5% annual growth in his report presented to the opening session of this year's meeting of the National People's Congress. That compares to actual 5% growth last year and a target of about 5% in the three years before. It's the lowest growth target since 1991. "While recognizing our achievements, we are also clear-eyed about the difficulties and challenges we face," Li said, reading much of the 35-page report in a more than hourlong address.

BEIJING (AP) - China on Thursday set its lowest economic growth target since 1991 at the opening of its annual national congress, in what some economists interpreted as a reflection of pragmatism as a weak domestic economy bites. Beijing also released the full draft of its five-year plan up to 2030 outlining its economic and political policy priorities, with a focus on boosting self-reliance in areas like artificial intelligence, robotics and other advanced technologies as China's rivalry with the U.S. heats up. The weeklong congress is expected to approve the five-year plan in coming days. Here are the key takeaways from Chinese Premier Li Qiang's annual government work report at the congress and China's next five-year plan: Li unveiled an economic growth target of 4.5% to 5% for 2026 - the lowest target since 1991 - and the first downgrade following an official "around 5%" target set for between 2023 and 2025.

GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) - An Iranian warship that was sunk by a U.S. submarine near Sri Lanka had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading out into international waters in the Indian Ocean on its way home, New Delhi said. The sinking underscored the scope of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and its spread in the Middle East and beyond. It also ignited a debate in India about maritime security in the Indian Ocean - a region where New Delhi maintains a significant naval presence. On Wednesday, Sri Lanka's navy recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 Iranian sailors from the IRIS Dena, which sank in international waters off the coast of the island nation - a rare instance of a submarine torpedoing a ship since World War II.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Voting was peaceful in Nepal's first nationwide election Thursday since a violent, youth-led uprising forced the government from power in September. Turnout was about 60% and only a few minor incidents were reported, according to Nepal's acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari. Vote counting would begin immediately after the ballot boxes are collected and transported to counting centers across the Himalayan nation, which could be as early as Thursday night. Results were expected by the weekend. Helicopters will be used to ferry boxes from polling stations in remote mountain villages in the northern region by Friday morning, Bhandari said.

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - Azerbaijan on Thursday accused Iran of a drone attack on its territory that injured four civilians, and it vowed to retaliate as the war in the Middle East reached into another country. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iranian drones attacked its exclave of Nakhchivan and damaged an airport building. President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of carrying out "a groundless act of terror and aggression," and said his military has been told to prepare and implement retaliatory measures. The Caspian Sea nation halted truck traffic across the nearly 700-kilometer (over 400-mile) border with Iran. Iran's general staff of the armed forces denied it had launched a drone toward Azerbaijan's territory.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The Canadian and Australian prime ministers on Thursday called for a de-escalation of the Iran war but added the Iranians must never gain a nuclear weapon. Canada's Mark Carney and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed the war during their meeting in Australia's capital, Canberra. The meeting came after news that a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey's airspace. "We want to see a broader de-escalation of these hostilities with a broader group of countries than just the direct belligerents involved," Carney said at a press conference with Albanese.

BANGKOK (AP) - Global energy trade is in turmoil as war around the Persian Gulf chokes off oil and natural gas shipments, causing prices to soar. Asia is the most exposed since it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of it shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway that carries a fifth of global trade in crude oil and liquified natural gas, or LNG. About 13 million barrels of oil per day moved through the corridor in 2025, according to energy consultancy Kpler. That's about a third of all seaborne crude, the unrefined petroleum that is processed into fuels such as gasoline and diesel.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected his new destroyer for two straight days ahead of its commissioning and observed a test of cruise missiles fired from the warship, vowing to accelerate the nuclear-armament of his navy, state media said Thursday. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim, during his visits to the western shipyard of Nampo on Tuesday and Wednesday, also inspected the construction of a third destroyer of the same class as his 5,000-ton warship, the Choe Hyon, first unveiled in April 2025. Kim has hailed the development of Choe Hyon as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military.

ICHIKAWA, Japan (AP) - Punch the baby orphan macaque is outgrowing the orangutan plushie that comforted him through early rejection from his mother and other monkeys. Images of Punch dragging around the toy bigger than him drew attention to the residents of a zoo near Tokyo. When other monkeys shooed the baby away, Punch rushed back to the toy orangutan, hugging it for comfort. But he's been using the toy less. On a recent day, Punch was seen climbing on the back of another monkey, sitting with adults and sometimes getting groomed or hugged. "It was good to see him grow, and I'm reassured," said Sanae Izumi, a 61-year-old Punch fan from Osaka who came to the zoo because she was worried about the baby monkey.