Asia News Headlines

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — An 80-year-old Japanese man who began the year with his fourth heart operation became the oldest conqueror of Mount Everest on Thursday, a feat he called "the world's best feeling" even with an 81-year-old Nepalese climber not far behind him.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities detained three anti-government figures, charged a student activist with sedition and seized hundreds of opposition newspapers Thursday, raising political tensions after recent national elections triggered claims of fraud.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A Taliban car bomb targeting a police vehicle killed 11 policemen and one civilian Thursday in an area of southwest Pakistan wracked by Islamic militancy and a violent separatist insurgency, police said.

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — An 80-year-old Japanese man who has had four heart operations in recent years became the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest on Thursday — although his record may last only a few days. An 81-year-old Nepalese man, who held the previous record, plans his own ascent next week.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's financial markets gyrated wildly Thursday, underscoring the vulnerability of its economy to a loss of investor confidence as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempts shock monetary easing to end two decades of stagnation.

LONDON (AP) — Financial markets around the world were roiled Thursday after Japanese stocks suffered their biggest slide since the country was hit by a devastating tsunami more than two years ago.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities once arrested an American citizen now known to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country, but he escaped after being released on bail.

SINGAPORE (AP) — The parents of an American software engineer found dead in his Singapore apartment last year have left the city-state before the end of a coroner's inquest. They say they have lost faith in the process and their lawyer says they will push for a U.S. congressional investigation.

TOKYO (AP) — Keeping the meltdown-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeastern Japan in stable condition requires a cast of thousands. Increasingly the plant's operator is struggling to find enough workers, a trend that many expect to worsen and hamper progress in the decades-long effort to safely decommission it.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Gunmen kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's national cricket team captain near his home in an eastern city, officials said Thursday.

BANGKOK (AP) — Japanese stocks plummeted Thursday after a spike in government bond yields and unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing spooked investors sitting atop months of massive gains in share prices. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo nosedived 7.3 percent to close at 14,483.98, its worst drop since the 2011 tsunami.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The defects and errors that led to the world's deadliest garment-industry accident extend from the swampy ground the doomed Rana Plaza was built on, to "extremely poor quality" construction materials, to the massive, vibrating equipment operating when the eight-story building collapsed, a committee …

BANGKOK (AP) — Japan's benchmark stock index has plummeted after a spike in government bond yields and unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing spooked investors.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities detained two anti-government figures and charged a student activist with sedition Thursday, raising political tensions after recent national elections triggered claims of fraud.

TOKYO (AP) — Yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds briefly topped 1 percent for the first time in a year on Thursday, unnerving some investors at a time when Japan's already overburdened government finances are vulnerable to rises in interest rates. Japanese shares fell sharply.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A car bomb targeting a police vehicle killed 11 policemen and one civilian Thursday in an area of southwest Pakistan wracked by a separatist insurgency and Islamic militancy, police said.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A government investigation found that "extremely" poor quality construction materials and a series of violations caused the collapse of a garment factory building in Bangladesh that has been called the worst garment-industry disaster in history, the committee head said Thursday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Prosecutors in Malaysia are pursuing rape charges against a 40-year-old man who allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl and then married her.

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets slid Thursday, pulled down by a contraction in China's manufacturing that adds to signs that the shaky recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is slowing.

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets fell Thursday, weighed down by a contraction in China's manufacturing that adds to signs a shaky recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is slowing.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hard-line Islamist students protested in the Afghan capital demanding the repeal of a presidential decree for women's rights that they say is un-Islamic. It was the latest sign of a backlash against the legal protections passed in the 12 years since the toppling of the Taliban regime known for …

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — An 80-year-old Japanese extreme skier who climbed Mount Everest five years ago, but just missed becoming the oldest man to reach the summit, is back on the mountain to make another attempt at the title.

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (AP) — American Samoa plans to take away frequent flier miles from government workers who travel on behalf of the U.S. territory and use the loyalty points to help medical patients and students travel off the islands when necessary.