Top Asian News 4:12 a.m. GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful nighttime earthquake in the southern Philippines killed at least four people, injured more than 120 others, damaged buildings and an airport and knocked out power, officials said Saturday. The late Friday quake with a magnitude of 6.5 roused residents from sleep in Surigao del Norte province, sending hundreds to flee their homes. The quake was centered about 14 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of the provincial capital of Surigao at a relatively shallow depth of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles), said Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology. Nearly 100 aftershocks have been felt, officials said, adding that schools were being reopened as evacuation centers for residents wary of returning to their damaged homes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, fresh off patching up ties with China, reassured Japan's leader Friday that the U.S. will defend its close ally. Together, the pronouncements illustrated a shift toward a more mainstream Trump stance on U.S. policy toward Asia. Welcoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the White House with a hug, Trump said he wants to bring the post-World War II alliance with Japan "even closer." While such calls are ritual after these types of meetings, from Trump they're sure to calm anxieties that he has stoked by demanding that America's partners pay more for their own defense.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Tens of thousands gathered at the national mosque in Jakarta for mass prayers on Saturday urging Indonesians to vote for Muslims in city and district elections being held across the country next week. The crowds overflowed from Istiqlal Mosque in the heart of the capital into the surrounding streets. Clerics gave sermons calling on people to protect Islam and to vote for Muslim candidates. Police have denied hard-line groups permission to march through the city. Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono estimated the crowds at 60,000 to 70,000 people. Protests against the minority Christian governor of Jakarta drew hundreds of thousands to the city's streets in November and December and shook the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

BEIJING (AP) — The Pentagon said a close encounter between a Chinese early warning aircraft and a U.S. Navy patrol plane over the South China Sea appeared to be unintentional and both pilots maintained professional radio contact, in the first such incident known to have taken place under President Donald Trump's administration. A Chinese KJ-200 flew within 1,000 feet (305 meters) of a U.S. Navy P-3C in international airspace over Scarborough Shoal near the Philippines on Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters in Washington. He said the Chinese aircraft "crossed the nose" of the P-3, forcing it to make an immediate turn.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Volunteers in New Zealand managed to refloat about 100 surviving pilot whales on Saturday and are hoping they will swim back out to sea after more than 400 of the creatures swam aground at a remote beach. Department of Conservation Golden Bay Operations Manager Andrew Lamason said about 300 whales died but others are swimming in the bay near the beach and have joined up with a new pod of pilot whales. The 416 stranded whales, most of them already dead, were discovered early Friday on Farewell Spit at the tip of the South Island. Rescuers managed to refloat several dozen whales on Friday but many beached themselves again overnight.

THIMI, Nepal (AP) — For generations, the residents of the ancient Nepali town of Thimi supplied the rest of the Himalayan country with everything from tiny clay lamps used in temples to massive grain storage jars. Locals still mix clay and throw it on potters' wheels, then leave pots to dry and harden in the sun. But not for long. As more young people leave town for better paying jobs in other parts of Nepal or abroad, fewer families have to eke out an income from the relatively low-returns business of clay pottery. For almost 50 years, Ratna Bahadur Prajapati made clay pots and sold them in the nearby market.

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii authorities may have been violating their own state law for years by issuing commercial fishing licenses to thousands of foreign workers who were refused entry into the country, The Associated Press has found. About 700 of these men are currently confined to vessels in Honolulu without visas, some making less than $1 an hour. They work without most basic labor protections just a few miles from Waikiki's white sand beaches, catching premium tuna and swordfish sold at some of America's most upscale grocery stores, hotels and restaurants. The AP found that under state law, these workers — who make up most of the crew in a fleet catching $110 million worth of seafood annually — may not be allowed to fish at all.

BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump reaffirmed Washington's long-standing "one China" policy in a call with Beijing's leader, a move that could ease anger in China over his earlier suggestions that he might use Taiwan as leverage in negotiations over trade, security and other sensitive issues. More than two months after deviating from decades of American diplomacy regarding Taiwan by accepting a phone call from the self-governing island's president, Trump appeared to be trying to reassure Beijing he would not seek to upend relations between the world's two largest economies. "This is an important step," said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser on Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

CAIRO (AP) — The head of the Egyptian national airline, EgyptAir, says the company has transported a 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) woman in a cargo plane to India for a series of surgeries. Egyptian media describe 36-year-old Iman Abdel-Atti as the world's heaviest woman and say she hasn't left her house in 25 years. Safwat Masalam told reporters that Abdel-Atti departed from Alexandria's Borg al-Arab airport on Friday. Pilot Bassem Gohar, a company official, said the company used cranes to lift her from a car into the plane. On his Twitter account, physician Muffi Lakdawala said Abdel-Atti is 500 kg and requested that the foreign ministry grant her a medical visa.

President Donald Trump sharply reversed himself Thursday after months of suggesting he wouldn't hold himself to the long-standing "one China" policy, under which the United States only maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan. A history of Trump's statements on Taiwan since November: ___ Dec. 2, 2016 — Trump speaks by phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, breaking four decades of protocol. It's the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken with Taiwan's leader since 1979, when the United States switched diplomatic ties to Beijing. "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency," Trump tweets.