Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Sri Lanka transferred more than 200 sailors from an Iranian naval vessel to shore Friday after it sought assistance while anchored outside the country's waters, as tensions mounted in the Indian Ocean following the sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine. Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said 204 sailors of the IRIS Bushehr were brought to Welisara Naval Base near the capital, Colombo. They underwent border control procedures and medical tests, but none were found to have health issues. About 15 others have been left aboard the ship with Sri Lankan naval personnel for assistance because they had reported a fault with the ship.

TOKYO (AP) - A second Japanese national has been detained in Iran, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Friday and demanded the early release of both people. The ministry confirmed the second person had been detained before the Feb. 28 military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel. The ministry said the detainee is safe and in good health but gave no other details such as the timing of the detention or whether it is related to the detention of a Japanese journalist reported last month. Japanese officials had confirmed the first person's detention though they refused to give the detainee's identity.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistani and Afghan forces launched multiple strikes at each other in cross-border clashes on Friday, and each side claimed to have killed dozens more enemy troops in what has been the deadliest fighting yet between the two neighbors - a conflict that Islamabad has declared to be an "open war." Repeated appeals from the international community for restraint have had no effect as the fighting, now in its ninth day, continued unabated. Also on Friday, a suicide car bomber struck a security post in the district of North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. One civilian was killed and 18 were wounded, several of them seriously, a local doctor, Mohammad Asif, said.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Hundreds of minority Shiites rallied Friday in Pakistan's capital and elsewhere in the country to denounce the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes, as the U.S. Embassy In Islamabad issued a security alert warning Americans of possible violence. Amid heavy police presence, about 300 protesters staged a sit-in in Islamabad, holding posters of Khamenei and chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." Islamabad police had parked shipping containers on roads leading to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad to prevent any potential escalation. Pakistani authorities said the protesters had agreed not to march toward the embassy in Islamabad, located about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the sit-in.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Election officials were counting votes Friday, a day after a parliamentary election in Nepal which was the first nationwide poll since a violent, youth-led uprising forced the former government from power in September. The Election Commission said they had begun vote counting in 53 of the 165 constituencies by Friday morning, and expect to begin work in the remaining areas by the end of the day. Some of the polling stations are high up in remote mountain villages, which are accessible only by days of hiking, leading authorities to arrange the transport of ballot boxes by helicopter to counting centers.

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong pro-democracy ex-publisher Jimmy Lai will not appeal the national security conviction for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month, his legal team said Friday. Lai, an outspoken critic of China's ruling Communist Party who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily, was found guilty in December of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiring with others to publish seditious articles. His Hong Kong legal team told The Associated Press via a text message about the decision, which ends a yearslong legal battle. The lawyers would not comment on the reason for not appealing.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan and Canada signed a strategic agreement Friday aimed at strengthening cooperation in defense, economic and energy security as military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel fueled concern about international oil supplies. Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Canadian counterpart Mark Carney shared the importance of energy security at a time of "geopolitical uncertainty," according to a statement by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. During the talks in Tokyo, the two leaders agreed to work together to diversify energy resources and expand trade and investment to support energy supply chains, according to the road map released by the ministry.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. imposed travel bans on three Chilean officials over the possible construction of a submarine fiber optic cable with China, while warning Peru against ceding control over a Chinese-built mega port. Under pressure from President Donald Trump, who had threatened to take the Panama Canal back under U.S. control, the Panamanian government seized two ports at either end of the canal that had been run by a Hong Kong company. And when the U.S. captured Venezuela's then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, China saw its extensive interests in the oil-rich country suddenly vulnerable. The Trump administration in recent weeks has taken forceful steps in one Latin American country after another aimed at curbing the influence and economic dominance of China.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said Friday. Hafid in a statement to media said that she just signed a government regulation that will mean children under the age of 16 can no longer have accounts on high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox. The implementation will start gradually from March 28, until all platforms fulfill their compliance obligations. "The basis is clear. Our children face increasingly real threats. From exposure to pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, and most importantly addiction.

KUNSHAN, China (AP) - A glimpse of what the future of flying taxis might look like can be seen in this southeastern Chinese city. In a hangar in Kunshan, more than 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) west of the port of Shanghai, a sort of gigantic drone was preparing for a demonstration. Called the Matrix, it's a 5-ton electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, or eVTOL, considered the largest electric aircraft built so far, at least in China. The Chinese company AutoFlight, founded in 2017, developed the Matrix, which can carry up to 10 passengers. It has a 20-meter (about 66 foot) wingspan, and is 17.1 meters long and 3.3 meters tall.