Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Morning Edition

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court told judges on Monday that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte encouraged death squads to carry out extrajudicial killings using fear and financial rewards. The court in The Hague is holding pretrial hearings for the ex-leader, who is facing three counts of crimes against humanity for deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office. According to prosecutors, police and hit squad members carried out dozens of murders at Duterte's behest, motivated by the promise of money or to avoid becoming targets themselves. "For some, killing reached the level of a perverse form of competition," deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said in his opening statement.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was reelected to the top post of the ruling Workers' Party, with delegates crediting him for bolstering the country's nuclear arsenal and strengthening its regional standing, state media reported Monday. The report from the party congress, a major propaganda spectacle where Kim is expected to outline his political and military goals for the next five years, suggests he will double down on accelerating a nuclear arsenal already equipped with missiles capable of threatening Asian U.S. allies and the American mainland. The party also released a new roster for its powerful Central Committee that confirmed a generational shift in Kim's leadership circle, with aging military chiefs and the 76-year-old head of Pyongyang's rubber-stamp parliament among dozens replaced in the 138-member body.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Rajanish Kakade, an Associated Press photographer whose images documented India 's politics, culture and everyday hustle and bustle of the city of Mumbai for nearly two decades, has died. He was 55. Kakade died at his home in Mumbai on Monday following an illness, his family said. He joined the AP in 2008 and was based in Mumbai, from where he helped shape the visual record of India's financial capital. Before joining the AP, he worked with the Sakal Group media conglomerate and the Hindustan Times newspaper. "Through his work, he captured defining moments with integrity and sensitivity.

HONG KONG (AP) - A Hong Kong court Monday dismissed all appeals in the city's biggest case brought under a Beijing-imposed national security law, upholding the convictions and sentences of pro-democracy activists. Those who appealed were among 47 activists charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion for their involvement in an unofficial primary election. The mass prosecution involving some of the best-known activists crushed much of the city's once-thriving pro-democracy movement that reached a height with massive anti-government protests in 2019. Forty-five of the defendants were sentenced to between four years and 10 years in 2024. Their punishments drawing criticism from foreign governments and rights groups.

BANGKOK (AP) - The Supreme Court's ruling against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs has countries like China and South Korea watching for Washington's next steps, while financial markets took the news in stride. The decision announced Friday could potentially disrupt arrangements worked out in trade negotiations since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries in April 2025. China's Commerce Ministry said it was conducting a "comprehensive assessment of " the ruling against the tariffs Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. "China urges the United States to lift the unilateral tariffs imposed on trading partners," an unnamed ministry spokesman said in a statement.

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese Emperor Naruhito expressed concern about the scars that remain for survivors of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in comments released for his 66th birthday Monday just weeks before the March 11 anniversary. "While recovery of infrastructure has made progress, I feel that reconstruction of livelihoods and community still needs to be addressed," Naruhito said in the remarks made last week. "As I think of those who lost their loved ones and had to cope with complete change of their living environment, I feel their scars have not healed yet ... they stay despite the passage of time."

PANAMA CITY (AP) - The Panamanian government on Monday issued a decree ordering the occupation of two ports at the entrances of the Panama Canal, a move triggered by a final Supreme Court ruling that declared the operating concession held by Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison unconstitutional. The decree authorizes the Panama Maritime Authority to occupy the ports for "reasons of urgent social interest." The occupation includes all movable property within or outside the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals, specifically covering cranes, vehicles, computer systems and software. The saga surrounding the two Panamanian ports is part of a broader rivalry between the United States and China, in which the Central American country became caught in the middle after U.S.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A paramilitary post in northwestern Pakistan came under attack on Monday when a drone loaded with explosives wounded several officers, according to police and local officials. The attackers later ambushed two ambulances being used to transport the wounded, killing three officers and wounding two rescuers. The assault took place in Karak, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, district police spokesman Shaukat Khan said. A search is underway for the attackers. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Khan said Khawarij - a term used by the government for the outlawed Pakistani Taliban - has in recent months used drones to target security posts, raising concerns about the growing sophistication of such attacks.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - A packed bus on its way to Nepal's capital drove off a mountain highway in Nepal early Monday, killing 19 people including a British national and leaving another 25 wounded. There were dozens of people on board the bus, which was heading from the resort city of Pokhara to Kathmandu when it drove off the Prithvi highway after midnight, police said. The bus rolled down a mountain slope and landed on the banks of Trishuli river near Benighat, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. Among those who died was a 24-year-old British national, according to a statement from the Dhading district police office.

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks are falling Monday after President Donald Trump took little time to ramp up his newest tariffs, and as investors continue to punish companies that could be losers in the artificial-intelligence revolution. The S&P 500 sank 1% after Trump said on Saturday that he would place temporary 15% tariffs on other countries. That's up from the 10% rate he had announced Friday in response to a Supreme Court ruling that struck down his sweeping "reciprocal" taxes on imports from around the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 691 points, or 1.4%, as of 11:30 a.m.