Top Asia and Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

BANGKOK (AP) - Chen Zhi boasted of pulling in $30 million a day, prosecutors in the United States said - a suspected criminal mastermind and onetime internet cafe manager who authorities say presented himself as a legitimate businessman. But in reality, they say, he ran online gambling sites, scams and other illegal businesses from a sprawling headquarters along the Cambodian coast. On Thursday, Chen was in custody in China, at the center of what authorities at the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said was a "major achievement" in law enforcement cooperation between them and the Cambodian government. The ministry said that Chen was in its custody and that it soon would issue arrest warrants for key players in his network.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - An avalanche of garbage and debris buried or trapped workers in low-slung buildings at a landfill in the Philippines, killing two people, injuring a dozen and leaving 36 others missing, officials said Friday. Thirteen people were rescued alive overnight, but one of them later died, authorities said. A second body was discovered later. Rescue teams were searching for three dozen people still trapped after the mountain of garbage, earth and debris collapsed on them Thursday afternoon in the village of Binaliw in Cebu city, officials and police said. The dead and missing were all workers in the landfill and waste management facility, officials said.

BANGKOK (AP) - The United States, which played a major role in ending border clashes last year between Thailand and Cambodia, will be providing $45 million in aid packages to the two Southeast Asian countries to help ensure regional stability and prosperity, a senior U.S. State Department official said Friday. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre made the announcement in an online media briefing in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, where he was meeting with senior Thai officials to discuss the implementation of last October's ceasefire, also known as the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord. Longstanding competing claims to territory along the Thai-Cambodian border was the root cause of the fighting.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Filipino Catholics joined an annual procession of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ in the Philippine capital Friday, with some using the gathering to express outrage over a corruption scandal involving influential legislators. After a midnight mass joined by tens of thousands of worshippers at a seaside park in Manila, the wooden Jesus the Nazarene statue was placed on a four-wheel open carriage before dawn at the start of the procession that Manila Mayor Isko Moreno claimed could draw millions of devotees throughout the day and into the late night.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Cambodia's arrest and extradition of a powerful tycoon accused of running a vast online scam network marks a rare strike against an industry that has stolen tens of billions of dollars worldwide. U.S. and U.K. authorities say Chen Zhi led a transnational criminal enterprise that exploited trafficked workers and defrauded victims worldwide. For victims, the scams often start small: a text offering a part-time job, asking about weekend availability or simply saying "hello." On the other end is often a laborer halfway around the world, forced to work 12- to 16-hour days, sending message after message until someone responds.

BEIJING (AP) - A week in which longtime tensions between neighbors China and Japan ratcheted up economically and politically drew to a close with no sign of improvements Friday as the Chinese ambassador in Tokyo rebuffed his host nation and the Japanese reported delayed shipments to suppliers in China because of the spat. The two developments capped a week where China made clear its displeasure with Japan by instituting new export controls, condemning what it called Tokyo's renewed militarism and cozying up to another regional neighbor, South Korea, during its leader's visit to Beijing. On Friday, the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, People's Daily, kept the jabs coming.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a wide-ranging royal commission into antisemitism, weeks after two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish holiday event at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people. The commission will investigate the nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism generally as well as the circumstances of the Bondi mass shooting, Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Thursday. It will also make recommendations for law enforcement, strengthening social cohesion and countering the spread of extremism. A royal commission, which is the most powerful form of government-commissioned inquiry that can be held in Australia, has the power to summon witnesses and request documents as evidence.

TORONTO (AP) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday that he will visit China next week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as Canada looks to reduce its reliance on the United States, which has threatened its economy and sovereignty. It is the first visit to China by a Canadian prime minister in more than eight years. Xi invited Carney to China when they met during an Asia-Pacific summit in October. The visit comes as the two countries move to restore stronger ties after years of tensions. "We're forging new partnerships around the world to transform our economy from one that has been reliant on a single trade partner, to one that is stronger and more resilient to global shock," Carney said in a statement on Wednesday.

GUWAHATI, India (AP) - Various species of migratory birds arrived on Wednesday at a wetland in the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, India. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

BEIJING (AP) - They're at it again. China and Japan - frenemies, trading partners and uneasy neighbors with a tortured, bloody history they still struggle to navigate - are freshly at each other's rhetorical throats as 2026 begins. And it's over the same sticking points that have kept them resentful and suspicious for many decades: Japan's occupation of parts of China in the 20th century, the use of military power in East Asia, economics and politics - and, of course, pride. From insinuations that Chinese citizens face dangers in Japan to outright accusations of resurgent Japanese imperialism, this first week of the year in China has been marked by the communist government scorning Tokyo on multiple fronts and noticeably embracing the visiting leader of another crucial strategic neighbor: South Korea.