Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Teams in Pakistan searched on foot for the remains of 10 climbers killed in an avalanche on the world's 12th-highest mountain as poor weather kept helicopters out of the air Tuesday, authorities said. Helicopters were on standby but unable to fly by noon for the ongoing search and recovery operation on Broad Peak, the regional government said in a statement Tuesday. The climbers from Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, China, Britain and the United States were swept away by the avalanche Thursday in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which the Alpine Club of Pakistan called one of the country's deadliest mountaineering disasters.

NEW DELHI (AP) - For weeks, India's young protesters waved signs mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government and rallied under an unlikely name: the Cockroach Janta Party. They secured a concession few have extracted from Modi during his more than 12 years in power: a cabinet minister's resignation. Modi has been one of India's most dominant prime ministers in decades, winning elections while cultivating an image of decisive leadership. His government has rarely been seen to yield to public pressure. The resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month, however, was a notable exception, experts say. Pressured by the "Cockroach" movement, the concession underscored the rising political influence of India's population younger than 25, who make up nearly half the country, and a shift toward digital-first organizing.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A group of eight South Korean students were detained Tuesday for allegedly breaking into a United States air base while shouting anti-U.S. slogans, South Korean authorities said. U.S. military personnel detained the four male and four female students after they allegedly entered Osan Air Base near the capital Seoul. They were later transferred to the custody of South Korean authorities, police said. The students were being investigated under a law protecting military installations in South Korea, according to police, who said they all had invoked their right to remain silent during questioning. Police said the students shouted slogans at the site including, "Let's smash U.S.

ROME (AP) - Child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan's provinces and is expected to worsen as funding shortfalls force cuts in food distributions and other support, the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday. "We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking," John Aylieff, WFP's country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement, adding that "it is already too late for too many." WFP said 142 health centers closed in 2025 because of aid reductions and more than 13,000 children lost access to nutrition treatment. It did not mention any specific donor such as the United States, where the Trump administration has made sweeping cuts in foreign aid.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan needs to adapt to new methods of warfare like using artificial intelligence and drones that have been deployed in Ukraine and the Middle East and to strengthen its defense industry, the government said Tuesday. Japan has bolstered its military capability and spending in recent years and has started deploying long-range cruise missiles as a deterrent to China's military activity. The 598-page defense paper adopted by the Cabinet on Tuesday reiterated that China is Japan's biggest strategic challenge. Japan is alarmed by the growing presence and frequency of Chinese warships in the Pacific Ocean. The annual white paper outlines Japan's military activity and priorities and analysis of military trends in specific countries.

BANGKOK (AP) - Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with the International Committee of the Red Cross' representative in the capital on Monday, the military-backed government said, a rare moment of contact with the outside world for the Nobel laureate who has been held out of public view since the military seized power in 2021. Two photographs published with the announcement showed Suu Kyi shaking hands with Arnaud de Baecque, the ICRC's representative to Myanmar, and meeting with him in a wood-paneled room. The Presidential Press and Information Bureau, which released the photographs, said the meeting was held Monday morning but did not disclose the location or provide details about what was discussed.

TOKYO (AP) - Residents in Japan's quake-hit southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto put out heaps of debris for collection as the region baked under intense heat. The heat and a lack of water supplies have added to the challenges in the severely damaged areas where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi briefly visited for the first time since a magnitude 7.1 quake hit Kumamoto Prefecture on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday. Thirty-eight people died during the quake, including one who died of apparent heat stroke while taking shelter in a car in hot weather and one other whose cause of death is still being investigated, prefectural officials said Monday.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - The Pacific Island country of Nauru has changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, its president said, matching the spelling and pronunciation in the national language. The country's international code will change from NRU to NRO and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan. Commonly known abroad by the pronunciation of Now-roo, the new name is spoken as Now-ero. The move would return the remote South Pacific island nation to its traditional name, a statement posted Thursday to the government's Facebook account said. The country became known internationally as Nauru only because its local name was difficult for foreigners to pronounce and was a matter of convenience rather than one of choice, according to an earlier government statement.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Floods and mudslides triggered by heavy rains have left at least seven people dead in Sri Lanka 's tea-growing mountainous regions, forcing the closure of some schools, officials said on Tuesday. Heavy downpours over the last two days have flooded homes, fields and roads in many parts of the country. The mountainous areas in the central region are the worst hit, according to the government's Disaster Management Center. At least five people died after being buried in mudslides that overran two houses in the central region, while two others died in floods, said Pradeep Kodippili, the center's spokesperson.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian rescuers searched for possible missing passengers Monday after rescuing 231 people from a ferry that caught fire the previous day off the main island of Java, leaving at least five people dead. Passengers described leaping overboard and staying afloat for hours before rescue. The Mutiara Sentosa 2 ferry was traveling from Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya in East Java to the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi. Initial reports said it was carrying 271 people, including 39 crew members, based on the ship's manifest, when the fire broke out between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.