Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The United States and the Philippines kicked off one of their largest combat exercises Monday in an annual display of allied military might aimed at deterring aggression in Asia, despite Washington's preoccupation with the war in the Middle East. The large-scale drills will expand this year to include new full-time participants including Japan and Canada, which have signed visiting forces agreements with Manila, the Philippine military said. More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel will participate in the Balikatan - Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder - exercise. The event will last nearly three weeks and include mock battle scenarios and live-fire maneuvers in locations including Philippine provinces facing the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

TOKYO (AP) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday sparked a short-lived tsunami alert and prompted authorities to advise of a slightly higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) - A passenger bus slid off a Himalayan highway and rolled down a steep, rocky slope onto a road below in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday, killing at least 21 people and injuring about 45 others, officials said. The 42-seater bus was carrying more than 60 people from Ramnagar town to Udhampur city when it hit an auto-rickshaw at a sharp curve in the mountainous region, civil administrator Prem Singh said. The bus veered off the road and fell down about 100 feet (30 meters) onto the road below, Singh said. The people on the three-wheeler also were injured, he added.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Google's investment in Indonesia's ride-hailing company GoTo wasn't in anyway connected to the country's Education Ministry's decision to procure Chromebooks for schools during COVID-19 pandemic, former Google executives testified in court on Monday. The testimony undercut a central allegation by prosecutors in the closely watched corruption trial of Nadiem Anwar Makarim, the co-founder of Gojek and the education minister at the time of the procurement. It took place during the transition to remote learning in schools when classrooms were forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Makarim, 41, was arrested in September following an investigation into the procurement of Chromebook laptops that prosecutors say caused $125 million in state losses.

HONG KONG (AP) - Keung Mak knew what he would see and he already was hurting, but he had to go back. For the first time since Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades engulfed his apartment building in November, Mak stepped into his former home again Monday. His social worker had previously shown him a photo of the devastation. The ceiling of the apartment where he and his wife lived for over 40 years and raised their children was burned so badly that steel rebar was visible. The floor was littered with broken tiles and parts of the apartment needed reinforcement to prevent collapse.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Monday it test-launched ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads in the second such test this month, likely underscoring its push to expand its capabilities to penetrate U.S. and South Korean defenses. The report by the North's official Korean Central News Agency appeared to refer to the multiple ballistic missile launches South Korea, Japan and the U.S. detected Sunday off North Korea's east coast. KCNA photos showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter, both wearing black leather jackets, watching from a coastal observation point as a projectile soared over the water, trailing gray smoke.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A fire that tore through a Malaysian coastal settlement on Borneo Island destroyed about 1,000 homes and displaced over 9,000 people, authorities said. The fire started early Sunday in the Sandakan district and spread rapidly through rows of wooden houses constructed on stilts above the sea, according to the fire and rescue department. Officials said strong winds and the close proximity of the structures helped fuel the fire, while narrow access routes and low tide conditions made it harder for emergency crews to reach affected areas and contain the flames. No deaths have been reported, though thousands of residents have been forced from their homes and moved to temporary shelter.

NEW DELHI (AP) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday, with both leaders pledging to nearly double bilateral trade to deepen economic and strategic ties. Modi said India and South Korea aim to increase trade between their countries from about $27 billion to $50 billion by 2030 by strengthening supply chains, improving market access and encouraging greater investment. "India and South Korea are going to transform their trusted ties into a futuristic partnership," he said. Talks between Modi and Lee come as both countries are looking to strengthen ties amid global economic uncertainty and supply chain disruptions triggered by the Iran war.

NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices are climbing Monday following the latest rise of tensions between the United States and Iran, but the moves are more modest than they were earlier in the war. U.S. stocks, meanwhile, are giving back a bit of their record-breaking rally. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from its all-time high and is on track for just its second drop in 14 days after the United States seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 71 points, or 0.2%, as of 12:43 p.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship it said had tried to evade its naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, and Iran's joint military command vowed to respond, throwing a fragile ceasefire into question days before it expires. It was the first interception since the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said. With the U.S.-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump 's earlier announcement on new talks with Iran now stood.