Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

BEIJING (AP) - An explosion at a fireworks plant in a central Chinese province killed at least 26 people and injured 61 others, state media reported Tuesday, prompting the halting of all firework manufacturing near the site. The blast occurred at a fireworks plant in the city of Changsha in Hunan province on Monday afternoon, China's official news agency Xinhua said. State media China Daily said that the plant was operated by the Huasheng Fireworks Manufacturing and Display Co. in the Changsha-administered, county-level city of Liuyang, a prominent fireworks powerhouse in the country. Changsha mayor Chen Bozhang said at a media briefing that a search and rescue operation at the scene largely has been completed, but verification of the casualties and identification of the victims was still underway.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Defense chiefs from Japan and the Philippines expressed renewed alarm on Tuesday over what they say is China's intensifying coercive actions in disputed waters, and agreed to start talks on a weapons transfer pact that will allow Tokyo to provide used destroyers to Manila's navy. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi held separate talks with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila to broaden defense ties between the two nations, which are both treaty allies of the United States. On Wednesday, Koizumi will be among representatives from 17 countries, including India and Australia, who will travel to Paoay, in northwestern Philippines, for an annual combat exercise called Balikatan in which U.S., Philippine, Japanese and Canadian firepower will be used in a mock allied assault to sink a ship about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the coast.

BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's government on Tuesday terminated a 2001 Memorandum of Understanding with Cambodia that was meant to provide a bilateral framework for resolving overlapping maritime territorial claims. Cambodia said it regretted the Thai Cabinet's decision but would continue trying to resolve the issue. The two governments signed the agreement to peacefully pursue maritime boundary delimitation and provide a framework for jointly managing marine resources in accordance with international law. But they failed to make any progress after five rounds of talks over the past two decades. The decision to terminate, which does not legally take effect until Thailand sends a formal notification letter to Cambodia, ended hopes in both countries that resolving the competing claims would allow exploitation of offshore oil and gas resources in the disputed area.

NEW YORK (AP) - The expansion of government surveillance efforts in China - and the role that U.S. tech firms played in it - was the foundation of investigative stories from The Associated Press that won a Pulitzer Prize Monday for international reporting. The Pulitzer board recognized AP journalists Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau and Aniruddha Ghosal, along with contributor and independent journalist Yael Grauer, for what it called "an astonishing global investigation into state-of-the-art tools of mass surveillance" that also included a story about the expansion of license plate surveillance of drivers in United States by the U.S. Border Patrol.

FENGLIN, Taiwan (AP) - The Taiwanese town of Fenglin has grown a reputation as a place where life moves slowly and people can catch their breath. Rather than push against this rhythm, the town of around 10,000 has chosen to embrace it and make it part of its identity. Enter the snails. Fenglin has been putting on snail races as a way to celebrate its focus on a slower, sustainable lifestyle that values healthcare, longevity and community connections while bringing in more tourists in the wake of a strong earthquake in 2024 that dampened travel in surrounding areas. "The earthquake two years ago had a relatively big impact on tourism because people are worried an earthquake may happen again," said Hsu Lu, a 32-year-old resident.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist party has wrested control of the opposition stronghold of West Bengal in a key state election. The Election Commission of India released partial results Monday showing the Bharatiya Janata Party won at least 124 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly and was leading in 83 others. Modi's party has never governed West Bengal and had tried for years to dislodge the All India Trinamool Congress government led by state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She is one of Modi's most prominent critics and has held power in the politically influential state since 2011.

TAOYUAN, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said Tuesday it was a basic right for countries to hold state visits, as he returned from his three-day trip to the African kingdom of Eswatini, which his government says China tried to block. Lai was supposed to travel to the country, one of Taiwan's 12 remaining diplomatic partners last month, but had to cancel the initial trip owing to Chinese pressure, Taiwan's government said. China pressured three countries to revoke flight permits, denying Lai transit through their airspace, Taiwan's government said. China did not confirm whether or not they had pressured the countries, but thanked them for their support for Beijing's one-China principle.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - He had met his 6-year-old son only once. A few days together in a life otherwise spent apart. For 15 years, Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun worked in Saudi Arabia, sending money home to his family in one of the poorest areas of Bangladesh. This year, he had planned to return, build a larger house with his savings and spend time with the child he barely knew. Then, on March 8, a missile struck his workers' camp. He suffered severe burns and later died. He was among more than two dozen foreign workers killed across the Middle East after the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Nearly 200,000 people in 124 villages in the northeastern Philippines were affected and over 5,400 fled massive plumes of ash that billowed from Mayon volcano over the weekend due to the collapse of lava deposits from its slopes, officials said Monday. There was no explosive eruption from Mayon, which has been erupting mildly on and off since January, but huge deposits of lava on its southwestern slope suddenly cascaded down in a pyroclastic flow - an avalanche of hot rocks, ash and gas - before nightfall on Saturday, said Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A North Korean women's soccer team is scheduled to play at a regional tournament in South Korea later this month, in a rare sports exchange between the war-divided rivals. The South's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement Monday that the Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women's FC is expected to face Suwon FC Women on May 20 in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women's Champions League in Suwon, south of Seoul. The Korea Football Association, South Korea's soccer body, said the AFC notified it that the North Korean team submitted a list of players and staff set to come to Suwon.