Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

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.

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.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Hindu holy men and mostly young devotees openly puffed on cannabis smoke on Sunday, marking one of Nepal's biggest annual festivals. Tens of thousands lined up to pray at the Pashupatinath, the temple of the Hindu god Shiva in the capital Kathmandu, during the Shivaratri festival. Marijuana is usually banned in the South Asian country, but exceptions are made to celebrate Shiva, who has strong links to the practice and has often been depicted smoking pot. Devotees prayed and danced to religious songs at the temple, a landmark for Hindus who constitute about 81% of Nepal's population.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Bangladesh's incoming leader said Saturday that he would work to build a more democratic country, overcoming challenges related to weak institutions after his party secured an election victory. Tarique Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a majority in Thursday's election in the 350-member Parliament. An 11-member alliance led by the Jamaat-e-Islami party, the country's largest Islamist party, is poised to form the opposition. It was the first election since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a mass uprising in 2024. An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus oversaw the largely peaceful election.

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said Sunday. Venezuela had faced U.S. sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. President Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to pressure then-President Nicolás Maduro before Maduro was apprehended in January during an American military operation. Several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast in the wake of the raid, including the ship that was boarded in the Indian Ocean overnight.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Tarique Rahman spent 17 years in self-imposed exile. Now, he is poised to become the prime minister of Bangladesh - and follow in the footsteps of his mother. Thursday's national election seemed to hand Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party a majority, according to local media reports, marking a significant political shift in the South Asian nation of more than 170 million people. The BNP has also claimed victory. For Rahman, the turnaround is dramatic. The 60-year-old returned from London in December to a country in turmoil. Within days, his mother, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, died from long illness.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan will undergo treatment for an eye condition at a specialized medical facility, a Cabinet minister said Saturday, days after the Supreme Court ordered a medical evaluation amid growing concerns about his eyesight. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote on X that an examination would be conducted by leading eye specialists as part of Khan's ongoing treatment which began in late January after Khan reported a partial loss of vision in his right eye. The minister did not say at which medical facility and when Khan would be treated. "A detailed report will also be submitted to the Supreme Court.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Friday it was "sensible" for a South Korean government official to express regret for alleged civilian drone flights over North Korea but warned of counterattacks if they recur. The statement by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Tuesday expressed "deep regret" over the alleged flights and stressed that Seoul's liberal government seeks "mutual recognition and peaceful coexistence" between the war-divided rivals. North Korea threatened retaliation last month after accusing South Korea of launching a surveillance drone flight in September and again in January.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia has begun training a contingent of up to 8,000 soldiers it plans to send as part of an international peacekeeping force to Gaza, the first firm commitment to a critical element of U.S. President Donald Trump's postwar reconstruction plan. Indonesia has experience in peacekeeping operations as one of the top 10 contributors to United Nations missions, including in Lebanon, and has been deeply involved in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, including funding a hospital. But many Indonesians are skeptical of President Prabowo Subianto 's plans to join Washington's proposed Board of Peace and participate in the International Security Force with only vague details so far on how they will operate, seeing it as simply kowtowing to Trump's agenda as the two countries negotiate a trade deal.

GENEVA (AP) - The return of millions of Afghans from neighboring Pakistan and Iran is pushing Afghanistan to the brink, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday, describing an unprecedented scale of returns. A total of 5.4 million people have returned to Afghanistan since October 2023, mostly from the two neighboring countries, UNHCR's Afghanistan representative Arafat Jamal said, speaking to a U.N. briefing in Geneva via video link from Kabul, the Afghan capital. "This is massive, and the speed and scale of these returns has pushed Afghanistan nearly to the brink," Jamal said. Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown in Oct. 2023 to expel migrants without documents, urging those in the country to leave of their own accord to avoid arrest and forcible deportation and forcibly expelling others.