Top Asian News 3:53 a.m. GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Without close friends in Asia, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to be using every opportunity, even the emperor's accession, to court President Donald Trump. Abe is scheduling a rushed visit to Washington to meet with Trump and celebrate first lady's birthday, and then is inviting him to be first foreign leader to meet the new emperor, the two countries announced Friday. Tokyo and Washington said that Trump and first lady Melania Trump will make a state visit to Japan at the end of May, just weeks after Crown Prince Naruhito ascends Japan's Chrysanthemum throne. Naruhito's 85-year-old father, Emperor Akihito, is ending his three-decade reign on April 30 by abdicating.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Dozens of protesters took to the streets in Bangladesh's capital to demand justice for an 18-year-old woman who died after being set on fire for refusing to drop sexual harassment charges against her Islamic school's principal. Nusrat Jahan Rafi told her family she was lured to the roof of her rural school in the town of Feni on April 6 and asked to withdraw the charges by five people clad in burqas. When she refused, she said her hands were tied and she was doused in kerosene and set alight. Rafi told the story to her brother in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and he recorded her testimony on his mobile phone.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday rejected a North Korean demand that he be replaced as President Donald Trump's top negotiator, as the United States and Japan vowed to continue to enforce tough sanctions on North Korea until it dismantles its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Pompeo's refusal to step down and the joint U.S.-Japanese pledge made at a meeting of their foreign and defense ministers at the State Department threw more uncertainty over the possible resumption of stalled denuclearization talks. The talks have been at an impasse over sanctions since Trump's second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended without any agreement in late February, and the North has warned it may not return to the table without immediate sanctions relief.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's former President Hamid Karzai said Friday that peace in his homeland, ravaged by more than 17 years of war, will only be possible when Afghans from all sectors of society sit together and negotiate — including the Taliban. Karzai expressed disappointment that a scheduled gathering for Afghan-to-Afghan talks in Qatar was postponed indefinitely after a falling out over who should attend. It would have marked the first time that Taliban and Kabul government officials sat together. The talks, which were to start Friday in Doha, where the Taliban maintain an office, were considered a significant first step toward finding a negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan, America's longest conflict, and the eventual withdrawal of U.S.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma has long been an example of how the power of big dreams, strong leadership and sheer elbow grease can create massive fortunes in China's go-go economy. Yet, recent remarks by the head of Chinese online business giant Alibaba that young people should be prepared to work 12-hour days, six days a week have prompted a public debate over work-life balance in the country. Ma is one of China's richest men and his comments brought both condemnation and support as China's maturing economy enters a period of slower growth — and young people look to escape the drudgery their parents often had to endure.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government said it will resurrect a multibillion-dollar property and transportation project in Kuala Lumpur involving a Chinese state company, calling it a contribution to China's global "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is traveling to China next week to attend the second Belt and Road forum, said Friday the Cabinet agreed to reinstate the Bandar Malaysia project, which is expected to cost 140 billion ringgit ($33.8 billion). It comes a week after Malaysia resumed a China-backed rail link project after the Chinese contractor agreed to cut the construction cost by one third to 44 billion ringgit ($10.6 billion).

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is getting ready for its biggest celebration in years with the advent of the Reiwa era of soon-to-be emperor Naruhito. That means big opportunities for businesses hoping consumers will splash out on long holidays and memorabilia. Many Japanese will get their longest ever "Golden Week" holidays, 10 days to mark May 1's beginning of the new era following Emperor Akihito's abdication on April 30, and some are taking advantage of deep discounts. The expected downsides: monster traffic jams and struggles to keep store shelves stocked with so many people getting time off. Kenzo Watanabe and his fiancée Chiharu Yanagihara paid just 48,000 yen ($428) for an all-inclusive wedding ceremony that normally would cost nearly 70,000 yen ($625).

BEIJING (AP) — China downplayed the political implications of its global Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, saying Friday that it aimed to boost multilateralism amid protectionist trends in the U.S. and elsewhere. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that a conference to promote the initiative to be held next week in Beijing would draw leaders from 37 countries, underscoring heavy demand for Chinese investment. "The Belt-and-Road Initiative follows the principle of cooperation and collaboration with shared benefits. It embodies the spirit of multilateralism," Wang said at a news conference. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has made the initiative a signature policy, agreed last month to seek fairer international trade rules and address the world's economic and security challenges, in what appeared to many as a rebuke to President Donald Trump's protectionist policies.

SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) — Several Roman Catholic devotees were nailed to wooden crosses in a gory Good Friday ritual in the Philippines, and others flogged themselves or took part in religious plays to reenact Jesus Christ's suffering. Four men and a woman, some wearing crowns of twigs, were escorted by villagers dressed as Roman centurions and nailed to crosses on a dusty hill in San Pedro Cutud village. Similar reenactments played out in nearby farming towns in the northern Philippines. Thousands, including many tourists, watch the annual spectacle. The Catholic Church frowns upon it, instead calling on the faithful to mark Lent with prayers and acts of charity.

TOKYO (AP) — A tiny Japanese baby who weighed just 258 grams (9 ounces) when he was born five months ago is going home from the hospital. Ryusuke Sekino was shown on Japanese TV on Friday sitting in his mother's arms, looking somberly around at media cameras. His mother, Toshiko Sekino, told reporters she was worried and cried a lot at first because he was so fragile and had transparent skin. She said she now is able to breastfeed him and is looking forward to taking him home on Saturday and giving him a bath there. The University of Iowa keeps a Tiniest Babies Registry, which shows the previous smallest surviving boy weighed 268 grams (9.5 ounces) when he was born last year in Japan.