Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong's pro-democracy former media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced Monday following his conviction in December under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, could face up to life in prison in the case that has stirred criticism from some foreign governments. The judiciary said Friday on its website that it's calling for the sentencing session at 10 a.m. Monday. Lai was an outspoken critic of China's ruling Communist Party and was arrested in 2020 under the national security law that Beijing deemed necessary for the city's stability following anti-government protests the previous year.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - A suicide bomber targeted a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and wounding at least 169 others, officials said, a rare bombing in Pakistan's capital as its Western-allied government struggles to rein in a surge in militant attacks across the country. Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the wounded to nearby hospitals. Some of the wounded in the attack on the sprawling mosque of Khadija Al-Kubra were reported to be in critical condition. Rescuers and witnesses described a harrowing scene, with bodies and wounded lying on the mosque's carpeted floor.

BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's political parties geared up Friday for their last campaign rallies before voters head to the polls on Sunday for a general election being held against a backdrop of chronically slow economic growth and heightened nationalist sentiment. There also have been accusations of shady financial influence linked to cybercrime and rampant corruption among officials ahead of the election that is likely to be a tight race among three major parties with no outright winner expected. Here is what to know. The snap vote was triggered in December by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who dissolved parliament to preempt a potential no-confidence motion over an issue of constitutional change.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's top automaker Toyota reported a 43% drop in quarterly profit Friday and announced that its chief financial officer, Kenta Kon, will become its new chief executive and president. Kon, a Toyota veteran, will replace Koji Sato in both roles in April. Approval by shareholders is expected in June. "This expresses our determination to move toward change with all our might," Sato told reporters, calling the latest personnel changes part of a "gear shift." Sato remains vice chairman at Toyota Motor Corp. Kon, who has hands-on experience in various fields including automated driving, was tapped as an expert on ways to improve company earnings, according to Toyota.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian and Australian leaders signed a bilateral security treaty Friday that both governments say will deepen ties between the often-testy neighbors. The treaty was signed in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, three months after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced in Sydney that negotiations on the pact had been substantively concluded, highlighting their ambition to better utilize their countries' past security agreements inked in 1995 and 2006. Albanese hailed the signing as a significant extension of existing security and defense cooperation. The text of the treaty has not been released. "It demonstrates the strength of our partnership and the depth of our trust," Albanese said at a news conference with Prabowo at the Merdeka Palace.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - China and South Africa signed a framework agreement for a new trade deal on Friday as Africa's leading economy looks to other options following the high import tariffs imposed on it by the U.S. and its diplomatic fallout with the Trump administration. South Africa's Ministry of Trade and Industry said the agreement would start negotiations over a deal that would give some South African goods, such as fruit, duty-free access to the Chinese market. The ministry said it expected the trade deal to be finalized by the end of March. In return, the trade ministry said China will get enhanced investment opportunities in South Africa, where its car sales have seen rapid growth.

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (AP) - A tropical storm set off flooding and a landslide in the southern Philippines, leaving at least eight people dead, displacing more than 28,000 and trapping residents in houses in two flooded villages, officials said Friday. Tropical Storm Penha slammed ashore onto the southeastern province of Surigao del Sur from the Pacific late Thursday. It weakened into a tropical depression Friday night and was last tracked off the central province of Cebu with sustained winds of up to 55 kilometers (34 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 75 kph (47 mph), according to the country's weather agency.

PANAMA CITY (AP) - Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday said he hoped an ongoing legal battle with a Hong Kong firm over operations of Panama Canal ports would "not escalate," but that Panama's government would remain firm in its ruling against the company. "Panama is a dignified country and will not allow itself to be threatened by any country on earth," Mulino said in his morning press briefing, responding to rebukes by the Chinese government. Mulino's comment comes a week after Panama's Supreme Court ruled that a concession held by a subsidiary of Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings in the Panama Canal was unconstitutional.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - A burst of color lit up Lahore's night sky overnight as Pakistan's cultural capital relaunched the Basant kite-flying festival after nearly two decades. Authorities said Friday that the celebration has been allowed only under strict safety regulations, warning that the use of hazardous kite strings that endanger lives could lead to arrests. Kite-flying had been banned in the province since 2005 following a series of fatal accidents. Razor-sharp metal- or glass-coated strings used in competitive kite fighting killed about a dozen people, mostly motorcyclists and bystanders two decades ago, prompting the government to impose broad restrictions across Punjab and effectively halt Basant.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - An Indian teacher and activist known for creating hundreds of learning centers and painting educational murals across the walls of slums won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize on Thursday. Rouble Nagi accepted the award at the World Governments Summit in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, an annual event that draws leaders from across the globe. Her Rouble Nagi Art Foundation has established more than 800 learning centers across India. They aim to have children who never attended school begin to have structured learning. They also teach children already in school. Nagi also paints murals that teach literacy, science, math and history, among other topics.