Top Asian News 3:54 a.m. GMT

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — A father and son who fled the civil war in Syria for "the safest country in the world" were buried before hundreds of mourners Wednesday, the first funerals for victims of shootings at two mosques in New Zealand that horrified a nation known for being welcoming and diverse. The funerals of Khalid Mustafa, 44, and Hamza Mustafa, 15, came five days after a white supremacist methodically gunned down 50 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch — a massacre that he broadcast live on Facebook. Hamza's high school principal described the student as compassionate and hard-working, and said he was an excellent horse rider who aspired to be a veterinarian.

Australia's prime minister says he has asked the Turkish president to withdraw his accusation of an anti-Islam motive behind Australia and New Zealand sending troops to Turkey in the World War I Gallipoli campaign. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was denouncing Islamophobia after an Australian was arrested in the killings of 50 worshippers in two mosques in New Zealand. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said "all options are on the table" if Erdogan does not withdraw his comments. Turkish ambassador Korhan Karakoc said he had a "frank" conversation with Morrison when the envoy was summoned to Parliament House on Wednesday. Thousands of Australian and New Zealand citizens gather at the Gallipoli peninsula on April 25 each year to commemorate the start of the failed British-led campaign in 1915 to open a new front in the war against Germany.

PHIMAI, Thailand (AP) — It's election season in Thailand and a campaign truck is rolling at the crack of dawn through the streets of the northeastern town of Phimai, blaring the slogan "Vote Thaksin, Get Thaksin." It's a bit disconcerting, since the Thaksin everyone in Thailand knows is former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted by a 2006 military coup and living in self-imposed exile since 2008 to avoid serving a prison term for a conviction on a conflict of interest charge. This small-town Thaksin, distributing campaign handbills as he walks ahead of the truck, is a 46-year-old schoolteacher. He happily explains that sharing his name with the 69-year-old former prime minister is no coincidence, and that he changed his former name — Veerawit Chuajunud — to Thaksin Chuajunud as a vote-getting tactic.

MILAN (AP) — Premier Giuseppe Conte pledged Tuesday to make Italy the first Group of Seven nation to join China's ambitious Belt and Road initiative, despite objections from the United States and concerns within his governing coalition. Speaking to parliament, Conte said that Italy's signing of a memorandum of understanding for the infrastructure-building venture, which is due to happen during the Chinese premier's visit this week, would not "in the least" put into question Italy's position within the strategic trans-Atlantic alliance or with European partners. Italy's signature would be considered a major legitimation of the project that envisions overland and maritime routes connecting China with Europe.

MOSCOW (AP) — President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday after three decades in power, raising uncertainty over the future course of the Central Asian country. In a televised address to the oil-rich nation, the 78-year-old Nazarbayev said he has made the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, effective Wednesday. He did not give a specific reason for the surprise move, but noted that he would have marked 30 years on the job later this year and added that he sees his mission as securing a smooth transition of power.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine authorities have seized more than 160 kilograms (350 pounds) of methamphetamine concealed in tea wrappers in their second-largest drug haul this year in a sign of how the problem has persisted despite the president's bloody crackdown on illegal drugs. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino says three Chinese nationals and a Chinese-Filipino man, who works as an interpreter, were arrested late Tuesday during "buy-bust" raids in an upscale residential enclave and outside a shopping mall in metropolitan Manila. Aquino said Wednesday the drugs were concealed in tea wrappers similar to those seized in Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar and indicated an international syndicate was behind the trafficking.

THA MUANG, Thailand (AP) — Fall armyworms, a longtime American pest, are munching their way around the globe, raising alarm now in Asia after entrenching themselves in Africa. Experts say the insect was first found outside the Americas in 2016, in Africa, where it has infested up to half of some crops of maize, sorghum and millet. It's now spread through Yemen and South Asia to Thailand and China. This new arrival to her territory worries Uraporn Nounart, a specialist on farm pests at Thailand's Agriculture Department. "We never had this one before. They just were found late last year and in January in this area.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Ignoring widespread criticism, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday again showed excerpts of a video taken by the attacker who killed 50 people in mosques in New Zealand, to denounce what he called rising hatred and prejudice against Islam. Speaking at a campaign rally in the northern town of Eregli, Erdogan also criticized New Zealand and Australia for sending troops to Turkey in the World War I Gallipoli campaign, claiming their motive was anti-Islam-oriented. He called on New Zealand to amend its laws to ensure that the attacker is severely punished. "What business did you have here?

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — International journalists' organizations are criticizing the status of press freedom in South Korea after the country's ruling party singled out a Bloomberg reporter with South Korean nationality over what it claimed was a "borderline traitorous" article insulting President Moon Jae-in, resulting in threats to the reporter's safety. The Democratic Party initially said Tuesday that it had no immediate plans to withdraw a March 13 statement by spokesman Lee Hae-sik, who attacked the reporter by name over a September article whose headline described the liberal Moon as acting as the "top spokesman" of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the U.N.

GENEVA (AP) — A panel convened by the World Health Organization said it would be "irresponsible" for scientists to use gene editing for reproductive purposes, but stopped short of calling for a ban. The experts also called for the U.N. health agency to create a database of scientists working on gene editing. The recommendation was announced Tuesday after a two-day meeting in Geneva to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges of such research. "At this time, it is irresponsible for anyone to proceed" with making gene-edited babies since DNA changes could be passed down to future generations, the experts said in a statement.