Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

BEIJING (AP) - China on Friday said it has never interfered in U.S. elections and has no interest in doing so, urging Washington to stop making what it described as "groundless accusations" after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of meddling in the 2020 election. In an address to the nation Thursday, Trump again raised doubts about the U.S. elections results in 2020 and accused China of interfering in them. "The relevant allegations by the U.S. are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying China," said China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian. "We have no interest in interfering in US elections and have never done so." In a daily briefing in Beijing, Lin called on the U.S.

HONG KONG (AP) - The United States confirmed Friday that it will not renew an executive order that revoked Hong Kong's special trading status. The decision comes after China signaled that the city's preferential privileges were being restored. The U.S. order, which U.S. President Donald Trump signed in July 2020 in his first term in response to Beijing imposing a national security law to limit dissent in Hong Kong, is not being renewed, according to a Treasury Department spokesperson who was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump's order was last renewed for a year in July 2025.

CHONGQING, China (AP) - A landslide Friday on the outskirts of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing killed at least eight people and left 34 missing, burying residential buildings and forcing more than 1,100 people to evacuate, according to local officials and state media reports. The landslide occurred at around 9:08 a.m. in Pengshui County on the outer edge of the Chongqing municipality, when massive amounts of rocks and soil washed downslope, burying more than 10 residential buildings, state broadcaster CCTV said. Ten people were rescued from the debris, including two who were seriously injured, Pengshui County Mayor Ren Xujiang said.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's parliament enacted a historic revision to the 19th-century Imperial House Law on Friday by insisting only paternal-lineage men can become emperor, sparking concern that the measure could doom the already shrinking imperial family. The revisions include adoption of distant male relatives to father future heirs and allowing princesses to keep their royal status after marrying commoners. Royal watchers and experts fear the new measures could doom the 1,500-year-old hereditary institution by insisting that only males can be emperor. Emperor Naruhito 's 24-year-old daughter is hugely popular, and many Japanese want her to be his successor, but Princess Aiko is ineligible because she is a woman.

TOKYO (AP) - Japan on Friday enacted a controversial new law prohibiting desecration of its national flag, a key right-wing agenda pushed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Opponents say it's an attempt to intimidate the public and silence criticism of her government. The law punishes publicly damaging or defacing the national flag, known as "hinomaru," including livestreaming of the scene in ways that would offend the feelings of others. Opponents say the ambiguous law only intimidates people from using the flag in art, protests or other forms of expression, and could violate constitutional freedom of speech. Japan has a law to punish vandalizing foreign national flags, mainly those displayed at diplomatic facilities, to avoid international disputes.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine government strongly protested to China what it said was the depiction of Filipinos as monkeys in an editorial video publicized by a Chinese state-owned media outlet, and demanded it be taken down. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said Friday that the series of opinion and editorial videos and cartoons, particularly an animated video posted by the China Daily on its Facebook page on July 10, centered on Beijing's rejection of a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated China's expansive claims in the disputed South China Sea. The Philippines initiated the arbitration in 2013, after China seized a shoal west of the Philippines following a tense standoff.

HONG KONG (AP) - An independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades heard arguments on how improper practices that evaded regulatory oversight turned a small fire into a tragedy as the investigation neared its conclusion Friday. The November blaze spread through seven buildings of an apartment complex, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of residents at Wang Fuk Court in the suburban Tai Po district. Many of the residents now live in temporary housing. Committee lead lawyer Victor Dawes said the use of non-fire-retardant scaffolding netting was very likely a key reason for the fire's rapid spread at the complex, which was undergoing a major renovation project when the blaze started.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - For Ruma Aktar, a sewing machine operator at a garment factory in Bangladesh, one single item has transformed her work and improved her life: A pair of reading glasses. Aktar's work is demanding, with each worker expected to produce thousands of garments a day. Precision is essential, and even small mistakes can slow production or result in rejected items. Aktar said her new glasses have helped her thread needles faster - and they've also relieved her headaches and eye strain. "Before I got the glasses, it took me a long time to thread the needle. Now I can thread it in just a short time.

BANGKOK (AP) - A court in Laos has brought charges against a distillery owner in connection with the deaths of foreign tourists in Laos in 2024. The charges will make the accused liable to a prison sentence of between three months and four years and a fine if found guilty, Denmark's foreign ministry announced Friday. Two Danish women, Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, were among six foreigners killed by drinking tainted alcohol at a tourist hostel in Vang Vieng in November 2024. The ministry's statement, issued in Copenhagen and citing Lao authorities, said the charges were selling food that is harmful to health and operating an illegal business.

NEW DELHI (AP) - India rolled out its first domestically built, hydrogen-powered train on Friday, a move aimed at expanding the use of clean energy in its vast rail network. The train made up of two hydrogen-powered driving cars and eight passenger coaches will operate in the northern state of Haryana. It can run at speeds of up to 75 kph (47 mph) and carry a maximum of about 2,600 passengers, railway officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the "NaMo Green Rail" at Haryana's Jind railway station on Friday. "NaMo" is a common abbreviation of Modi's first and last names.