Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged cross-border attacks overnight in a dramatic escalation of tensions that led Pakistan's defense minister to say on Friday that the two countries are in a state of "open war." Afghanistan launched an attack on Pakistan late Thursday, saying it was in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas Sunday. Pakistan then carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces early Friday, saying it targeted military installations. Tensions have been high for months. Border clashes in October killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of harboring militant groups that stage attacks against it and also of allying with its archrival India.

Pakistan's defense minister says there is a state of "open war" with Afghanistan. Both countries have a long and complicated history harking back to Pakistan's creation in 1947. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan is in an "open war" with Afghanistan, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said Friday, with fighting escalating into the most serious armed confrontation between the two uneasy neighbors since a Qatari-mediated ceasefire in October. The two countries share a long, complicated history harking back to Pakistan's creation in 1947. Bound by traditional social, ethnic and economic ties, relations have nonetheless been volatile and have often descended into armed conflict. Over the last few months, the two have occasionally skirmished along their winding, porous frontier as tension has escalated. The latest confrontation is by far the most serious.

BEIJING (AP) - China's legislature has dismissed 19 members, including nine who are military officers, one week ahead of the start of its annual meeting. The late Thursday announcement did not say why the deputies had been removed, but such removals are generally tied to corruption investigations. An anti-corruption campaign launched by Chinese leader Xi Jinping shows no sign of letting up after more than a decade. The military has been targeted in recent years, including the removal of its top general last month, as Xi seeks to reform and modernize the armed forces. Analysts say the campaign is also a way for Xi, who is in his 14th year in power, to remove potential rivals and ensure loyalty among his subordinates.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A new penal code issued by decree in Afghanistan sets harsher punishments for the mistreatment of animals than for domestic violence against women and solidifies into law inequality based on gender and social status. The decree, which was signed by Afghanistan's Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in January, "defines several crimes and punishments that contravene Afghanistan's international legal obligations," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Thursday in remarks to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. He urged Afghan authorities to rescind the decree. Comprised of 119 articles, the 60-page Decree No. 12 lays out penalties for women who visit their relatives without their husband's permission, and allows husbands and the heads of households to determine and mete out punishment in their own homes.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - A former rapper who ran Kathmandu as a mayor. The young leader of Nepal's oldest political party. And a communist veteran politician hoping to return to power after being ousted in youth-led protests in which dozens were killed last year. They are the three leading contenders as Nepal heads into a crucial nationwide election, the first since the protests led to the fall of former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli's government in September. Whoever prevails will become Nepal's 16th prime minister in less than two decades, underscoring the recurring political instability that has marked the Himalayan nation since the monarchy was abolished in 2008.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Mumbai on Friday for his first official visit to India, seeking to reset relations and deepen trade cooperation with New Delhi after ties deteriorated in recent years under his predecessor. During his four-day trip, Carney is set to hold talks with business leaders and will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday. India's foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday that the meeting between the two leaders would offer an opportunity to reaffirm "the positive momentum and shared vision" for a forward-looking partnership. Talks between Modi and Carney are expected to cover cooperation in trade and investment, energy, critical minerals and technology, the ministry said.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodian officials on Friday welcomed back more than six dozen centuries-old artifacts described as part of the country's cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability. At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom. The artifacts were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, an art collector and dealer who is blamed for having had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.

NEW YORK (AP) - A blood-red moon will soon grace the skies for a total lunar eclipse - and there won't be another until late 2028. The spectacle will be visible Tuesday morning from North America, Central America and the western part of South America. Australia and eastern Asia can catch it Tuesday night. Partial stages of the eclipse with small bites taken out of the moon can be seen from Central Asia and much of South America. Africa and Europe will be shut out. Solar and lunar eclipses happen due to a precise alignment of the sun, moon and Earth.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's government on Friday said it will allow Google to export detailed mapping data of the country to overseas servers under certain security requirements, responding to years of frustration by foreign travelers who found that Google Maps didn't work effectively in the country. After a review by government officials and private experts, authorities approved Google's request to export 1:5,000-scale, high-precision map data on the condition that it implements security safeguards, such as limiting transfers to data necessary for navigation services and excluding contour lines and other sensitive information. South Korean officials for years had rejected requests by foreign tech companies such as Google and Apple to transfer detailed mapping data to overseas servers, often citing security concerns, such as the risk that rival North Korea could exploit sensitive geographic information.