Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

BANGKOK (AP) - Most of the people who were killed in a huge fire in a Bangkok music bar were found trapped in windowless bathrooms where they may have sought to escape the flames that claimed at least 27 lives, authorities said Monday as investigations began. The blaze at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar was the city's deadliest in 17 years. It broke out late Sunday in a northern part of the Thai capital, and firefighters needed half an hour to bring it under control. The fire left 25 people hospitalized in critical condition, city officials said. Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation.

A fire at a beer hall in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, killed at least 27 people and injured dozens, prompting an investigation into its cause and the factors contributing to the casualties, including whether any emergency exits may have been obstructed. The blaze at Na Ladprao bar in northern Bangkok is one of the deadliest club fires in Thailand since 2009, when 67 people died in a fire at a nightclub on New Year's Day. Here is a look at some other nightclub, bar and music venue fires that have led to significant death tolls: - January 2026: A fire at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year's Day left 41 people dead and over 100 injured.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The bodies of 15 Indian tourists who died when a speedboat capsized off southern Vietnam last week were being returned home Monday. The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four Vietnamese crew members when it overturned near shore Saturday afternoon, shortly after leaving Hon May Rut Ngoai island near Phu Quoc, Vietnam's largest island, authorities said. The boat's captain, Nguyen Hong Hai, 57, is under investigation for alleged violations of waterway transport safety regulations, state media reported. The flight carrying the remains from Ho Chi Minh City would arrive in Mumbai late Monday, the Indian Embassy said on social media.

KUBUQI DESERT, China (AP) - For half a century, millions of workers have repeated a task across the deserts in northern China: inserting forearm-length sticks into shifting sand, first in a row, then in an intersecting line, gradually forming a grid. Then saplings are planted at the center of each small square. The technique, known as "straw checkerboards," is a simple yet widely used method to stabilize sand dunes against the wind and help plants take root by using water supplied through an irrigation system. The widespread lattice it created across the sand has become the iconic image of China's decades-long campaign against the spreading of desert conditions, known as the Three-North Protective Forest Program or the Green Great Wall.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Sam Neill, the smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose prolific career moved from art films to blockbusters as he dodged velociraptors in "Jurassic Park" and played Holly Hunter's husband in "The Piano," has died. He was 78. In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor's social media page. His death was "sudden and unexpected," the statement said, adding that he "remained cancer free" when he died. A cause of death wasn't specified.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Thai authorities are investigating a Bangkok bar fire that killed at least 27 people and injured dozens more, the latest in a long history of catastrophic fires at bars, clubs, and other nightlife venues worldwide. Experts say the high death toll may reflect factors common to past entertainment venue fires, including inadequate safety measures. The blaze, which broke out shortly before midnight Sunday, apparently spread rapidly across a ceiling lined with flammable decorative materials before reaching the main entrance. Local media suggest crowded conditions, obstructed escape routes, and panic may have hampered evacuation. Here's what to know about the fire: Videos shared online by witnesses show a blaze engulfing the Na Ladprao music bar as thick black smoke pours from the front entrance and people scramble to flee.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A pickup truck carrying wedding guests was crushed between two trucks on a busy highway on Indonesia's main island of Java, killing 13 people and injuring five others, police said Monday. The crash occurred Sunday afternoon on the northern coastal highway near Kiajaran Kulon village of Indramayu regency, as the group was returning home after attending a wedding in neighboring Parean village, local traffic police chief Undang Syarif Hidayat said. He said the victims were traveling in an open-bed pickup truck when the vehicle slowed and stopped near a median opening to make a U-turn on the highway when it was struck from behind by a wing-box truck traveling in the same direction.

Peyvand Naimi has spent more than six months in an Iranian prison, accused of killing state security agents during nationwide protests, although his family says no formal charges or evidence have been presented. "The Baha'is will not be released," the family says it was told by the prosecutor. Ever since the Baha'i faith was founded in Persia - now Iran - in the 19th century, its followers there have been persecuted, usually more harshly during times of crisis. This year, amid massive anti-government protests and war with the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic has mounted a fierce crackdown on the country's largest non-Muslim religious minority, human rights groups say.

SINGAPORE (AP) - A court case involving a French teen charged for filming himself licking a straw from a vending machine and then putting it back was postponed Monday as prosecutors sought to clarify if he could continue his studies if convicted. Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, was widely expected to plead guilty to charges of mischief and public nuisance. Proceedings were halted after prosecutors sought more time to check if the teen's student pass will be revoked in the event of a conviction. The court adjourned the case until July 30. Maximilien allegedly committed the offense at a shopping mall on March 12 and was charged April 24 after the video he posted on social media spread rapidly.

BEIJING (AP) - Typhoon Bavi weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday, hours after making landfall in eastern China 's Zhejiang province, but was still bringing days of strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the country. The storm's intensity continued to weaken as it moved northwestward across eastern China into the province of Anhui on Sunday afternoon, according to China's national weather center. Strong winds and heavy rain are expected to impact many eastern and northeastern Chinese cities on Sunday and Monday, the National Meteorological Center said, adding that heavy to torrential rain was recorded Sunday afternoon in provinces, including Anhui.