Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) - Rural communities in southwestern Japan were struggling to get their lives back to normal Thursday, two days after a powerful earthquake set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes, killing at least 25 people. Time was running out to find survivors, as rescuers continued to work in the Kumamoto area on Japan 's southern main island of Kyushu, where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Tuesday. The number of those missing was unclear. Of the deaths given in the latest tally, 25 have been confirmed as related to the disaster, but there were nine more deaths under investigation as likely to be connected, the Kumamoto prefectural government said.

HONG KONG (AP) - When former Macao pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam San was arrested in July 2025, his family and observers of the politics in the Chinese special administrative region were shocked. A year on, little is known about his case even by his daughter. Au is the first publicly known arrest under Macao's national security law since its 2009 enactment and critics say his case signals Beijing's emphasis on security and intolerance of dissenting voices, even though Macao's pro-democracy activism has never been as influential as the movement in neighboring Hong Kong. Au is accused of providing false information to anti-China organizations overseas to incite hatred against Beijing and the government in Macao, which has become a Chinese casino hub.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The noise is everywhere in Hanoi. The crack of a hydraulic breaker, the groan of excavators, the crunch of brick and concrete being torn apart. As Vietnam pushes for double-digit economic growth, its capital is pursuing an ultramodern vision for the next 100 years. In the first half of 2026 alone, Hanoi spent $2.4 billion clearing land for nearly 1,500 projects, transforming one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited capitals. Authorities say the redevelopment includes flood-controls and measures to reduce air pollution as Hanoi adapts to extreme weather from climate change. Vietnam is among the nations most vulnerable, enduring frequent and intense typhoons, floods and extreme heat.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia has started documenting and screening thousands of detained Myanmar nationals as part of a repatriation program agreed with Myanmar, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said Thursday. Saifuddin said Myanmar had committed to accept up to 5,000 of its citizens currently living in Malaysia and an unspecified number currently in Cox's Bazar, a town in south east Bangladesh. Malaysia had identified up to 4,000 Myanmar nationals in its 19 detention depots, who will be moved to a single site for security screening and documentation purposes, he said. "We will certainly meet the target of 5,000 individuals once this process is complete," Saifuddin told to reporters, adding that the foreign ministry will handle the next stage of the repatriation process with Myanmar.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - The death toll from an overnight deadly militant attack on a police post in northwestern Pakistan rose to 11 early Thursday, police and a government official said. Security forces killed 15 militants in an hourlong gunbattle after they targeted the Khazina police post in Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, police official Irfan Khan said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault. Suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which has stepped up attacks on Pakistani security forces in the region in recent months. Among those killed was Diyar Khan, a senior police officer who led reinforcements to the scene, according to a provincial police statement.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Australia's online safety watchdog has filed legal action against messaging app Telegram, saying the platform failed to remove extremist content including videos of white supremacist mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and the New Zealand city of Christchurch as well as Islamic State group beheadings. The United Arab Emirates-based app, which reports having 1 billion users worldwide, faces a fine of up to 54.6 million Australian dollars ($38 million) if convicted in the Australian Federal Court for "alleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday. The civil action is a test of Australia's 2021 law requiring tech platforms to work to keep illegal and pro-terrorism material off their networks.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - Monsoon rains collapsed the roof of a multistory house in eastern Pakistan, killing at least nine family members and injuring several others, officials said Thursday. Pakistan has been experiencing above-normal rainfall in recent years, with scientists linking the trend to climate change. Although the country contributes less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, research shows it is among the nation's most vulnerable to climate change. The deluges have killed over 100 people in rain-related incidents since late June, including 14 children who died after the roof of a tutorial center collapsed. A loud crash woke up residents of the Baghbanpura neighborhood of Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province, Wednesday night when the house crumpled.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - An Australian public library has had a book returned an estimated 150 years late and has no way of tracking down the errant borrower, a librarian said on Thursday. The book "Antiquities of Athens," published in 1858, was returned to the library in the seaside town of Kiama last week by a man who had found it during recent home renovations inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace, Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson said. "We've never had anything that old come back to us," Hudson said. "I follow lots of libraries on social media and often you'll get things that are maybe 30 or 40 years old when they're cleaning out estates and stuff like that," she added.

SINGAPORE (AP) - A French student was fined 600 Singapore dollars ($465) after pleading guilty Thursday to a public nuisance charge in Singapore for filming himself licking a straw from an orange juice vending machine and putting it back in what lawyers described as a social media stunt. Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, admitted to licking the straw and returning it to the vending machine while recording the act for his online followers. It happened at a shopping mall in March and he was charged in April after his video spread rapidly. Another charge of mischief was taken into consideration during sentencing.

NEW DELHI (AP) - In an affluent neighborhood in Delhi, electric vehicle charging stations near a popular shopping area were busy with drivers powering up their scooters, trucks and cars. India's capital city is in dire need of more charging facilities, EV drivers say, to implement an ambitious plan to phase out gas vehicles in one of the world's most polluted cities. "Charging facilities are not up to the mark yet," said Shyam Singh, a marketing executive who owns a two-wheel electric scooter, adding that it is hard for long-distance drivers to switch to EVs because the current battery range is not enough.