Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

BANGKOK (AP) - Myanmar 's military government ordered East Timor 's senior diplomat to leave the country after judicial authorities from the fellow Southeast Asian country accepted a criminal complaint against Myanmar's armed forces, state media said Monday. The move sharply escalates tensions between the two countries and is a rare step between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which East Timor joined only last year. There was no immediate response from East Timor's government to efforts to contact it by phone and online for comment. East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, is Asia's youngest nation. It gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.

SYDNEY (AP) - A man accused of killing 15 people in a mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Sydney's Bondi Beach appeared in court Monday for the first time since his release from the hospital. Naveed Akram appeared in Sydney's Downing Center Local Court via a video link from the maximum security Goulburn Correctional Center 200 kilometers (120 miles) away. He did not enter pleas to the charges against him, including murder and committing a terrorist act. The brief court appearance focused on extending a gag order that suppresses the identities of victims and survivors of the attack who have not chosen to identify themselves publicly.

BEIJING (AP) - British and Canadian citizens can enter China without a visa starting Tuesday, bringing to 79 the number of countries granted visa-free access in a bid to boost tourism and business. China has expanded eligibility for the program significantly in the last two years. Visitors can stay for up to 30 days for business, tourism, exchange programs and to visit family and friends. Most Europeans qualify for visa-free entry, along with some from select countries in other regions including Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Citizens of a few other countries, including the United States and Indonesia, can enter for 10 days if they are in transit - meaning they have a ticket departing for a different country than they arrived from.

BANGKOK (AP) - A defamation case by Malaysia's telecoms regulator against an Australian resident in Thailand was formally withdrawn from a Thai court on Monday after mediation, the sued man and his lawyer said. The case has caused concern among free speech advocates because it was seen as a form of cross-border repression. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, or MCMC, had already acknowledged in a statement earlier this month that it had reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 12, which would the drop criminal proceedings against Murray Hunter. That said it was also withdrawing a civil case in Malaysia against Hunter.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Explosives rigged to a motorcycle went off near the gate of a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least two people, including a child, and wounding several others, police and rescue officials said. The blast also damaged nearby shops. The attack took place in Bannu, a district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police official Fida Mohammad said. He did not provide any further details and only said the dead and wounded had been taken to a nearby hospital. Though no group immediately claimed responsibility, suspicion was likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP.

BEIJING (AP) - An explosion and fire at a fireworks shop in eastern China has killed eight people and left two others with minor burns ahead of the Lunar New Year, authorities said. The Sunday afternoon blast in a village in Jiangsu province was caused by a resident setting off fireworks improperly near the store, the Donghai county government said in a statement. It did not provide further details on what happened. Setting off firecrackers at midnight on the Lunar New Year is a tradition in China, but many places have banned fireworks in recent years, at least in part because of air pollution.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - A team of doctors treating Imran Khan has reported "improvement" in his eyesight, his personal physician said Monday, but added he could neither confirm nor deny the assessment as Pakistan's authorities have not granted him access to the imprisoned former premier. Dr. Aasim Yusuf made the remarks in a video message posted on X a day after a panel of eye specialists examined Khan at Adiala prison, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, following an order from Pakistan's Supreme Court. Yusuf said prison doctors briefed him by phone Sunday about an "improvement" in Khan's eye condition and the treatment he has received since late January when Khan underwent a procedure at a hospital in Islamabad after complaining of partial vision loss.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Monday it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong Un to honor the war dead. State media photos showed Kim Jong Un walking through the new street - called Saeppyol Street - and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, as he pledged to repay the "young martyrs" who "sacrificed all to their motherland." In recent months, North Korea has intensified propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight in Russia's war against Ukraine, such as establishing a memorial wall and building a museum.

CAIRO (AP) - Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it's a time for increased worship, religious reflection and charity. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast. Ramadan is followed by the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons. The start of the month traditionally depends on the sighting of the crescent moon. This year, the first day of Ramadan is expected to be on or around Feb.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia's military said Sunday that up to 8,000 troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission, the first firm commitment to a critical element of U.S. President Donald Trump's postwar reconstruction plan. The Indonesian National Armed Forces, known as TNI, has finalized its proposed troop structure and a timeline for their movement to Gaza, even as the government has yet to decide when the deployment will take place, army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Donny Pramono said. "In principle, we are ready to be assigned anywhere," Pramono told The Associated Press, "Our troops are fully prepared and can be dispatched at short notice once the government gives formal approval." Pramono said the military prepared a composite brigade of 8,000 personnel, based on decisions made during a Feb.