Top Asian News 4:55 a.m. GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing on Sunday to protest Canada's detention of a senior executive of Chinese electronics giant Huawei at Washington's behest and demand the U.S. cancel an order for her arrest. The official Xinhua News Agency said Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng "lodged solemn representations and strong protests" with Ambassador Terry Branstad against the detention of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. Meng, who is reportedly suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran, was detained on Dec. 1 while changing planes in Vancouver, Canada. The Xinhua report quoted Le as calling Meng's detention "extremely egregious" and demanded the U.S.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made an emotional apology Monday to the family of a 22-year-old British tourist who police say was murdered. Ardern spoke about the nation's reaction to the case several hours after the man that police accuse of killing Grace Millane made his first appearance in court. Police on Sunday found a body in a forested area near Auckland which they believe is Millane's. "From the kiwis I have spoken to, there is this overwhelming sense of hurt and shame that this has happened in our country, a place that prides itself on our hospitality," Ardern said at her weekly media briefing, using a colloquial term for New Zealanders.

BEIJING (AP) — China state media say 10 people have been charged with various offenses over rioting at a gathering of military veterans protesting for better benefits. It wasn't clear whether the suspects are veterans. However, the violence at the Oct. 4-7 gathering in the eastern city of Pingdu points to continued tensions between the authorities and ex-servicemen despite the establishment this year of a Cabinet agency to oversee veterans' affairs. Multiple protests have been staged in recent years, including in the capital, Beijing, to demand better pensions and health care. Violence is rare though, and organizers generally try to keep a low public profile to avoid drawing the ire of Communist authorities, who seek to prevent any demonstrations that could challenge their control over society.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's economy shrank at a worse than anticipated annualized rate of 2.5 percent in July-September due to weaker consumer demand and corporate investment. The revised figure released Monday was more than double the 1.2 percent contraction reported earlier. Economists say the setback for the world's third-largest economy is likely temporary. The data from the Cabinet Office shows the seasonally adjusted gross domestic product — the total value of a nation's goods and services — dipped 0.6 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter. Japan's economy returned to expansion in the April-June quarter but contracted in the quarter before that.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government has called for an Australian-based refugee soccer player to be immediately released from detention in Thailand. Hakeem al-Araibi was detained in Bangkok in November on an Interpol warrant issued at the request of Bahrain. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Sunday she has raised the matter with her Thai counterpart, Don Pramudwinai, requesting that al-Araibi be allowed to fly back to Melbourne as soon as possible. He plays for a soccer team in the Victoria state league. "Australia is concerned by the ongoing detention of Mr. Hakeem Ali al-Araibi and calls for his immediate return to Australia," Payne said.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian troops killed three rebels on the outskirts of disputed Kashmir's main city on Sunday, ending a nearly 18-hour-long gunbattle, officials said. Indian paramilitary spokesman Sanjay Sharma said the three militants were killed on the outskirts of Srinagar. Two counterinsurgency police officials and a soldier were wounded, he said. Sharma said Indian troops had surrounded a neighborhood on Saturday on a tip that militants were hiding there. As the troops began conducting searches, militants opened gunfire, triggering intense fighting in which three combatants were killed, he said. Police identified one of the slain militants as a teenage boy who had joined rebel ranks in August.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say an overnight blast targeting a religious gathering of an ethnic party has wounded six people in the southern port city of Karachi. Saturday night's blast took place as hundreds of supporters of a faction of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were present in the neighborhood of Gulistan-e-Johar. No one has claimed responsibility and authorities say all of the wounded are listed in stable condition. The attack happened a day before Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to visit Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement party represents the Urdu speaking population and its two factions have an uneasy relationship with each other.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan authorities have suspended the head of the soccer federation and five other senior officials amid allegations of sexual and physical abuse of female athletes. Jamshed Rasooli, a spokesman for the attorney general, announced the suspensions Sunday, saying the move was intended to allow for a transparent investigation into the accusations publicized by the Guardian late last month. The British newspaper cited senior figures associated with the team as saying the abuse took place at the federation's headquarters in Kabul and at a training camp in Jordan last February. The Guardian also cited Khalida Popal, a former head of women's soccer in the Afghanistan Football Federation who was forced to flee the country in 2016, as saying that her own investigation uncovered physical and sexual abuse, death threats and rape.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Malaysian Muslims rallied Saturday in Kuala Lumpur against any attempt to strip the ethnic Malay majority of its privileges, in the first massive street gathering since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's alliance won a historic vote in May. The rally, backed by the country's two largest opposition Malay parties, was initially aimed at protesting a government plan to ratify a U.N. treaty against racial discrimination. Critics allege that ratifying the treaty would end Malay privileges under a decades-old affirmative action policy. The plan to ratify was eventually abandoned, but organizers decided to proceed with what they called a "thanksgiving" rally.

BEIJING (AP) — China's export growth sank in November as global demand weakened, adding to pressure on Beijing ahead of trade talks with Washington. Exports rose 5.4 percent over a year ago to $227.4 billion, a marked decline from the previous month's 12.6 percent increase, customs data showed Saturday. Imports rose 3 percent to $182.7 billion, a sharp reversal from October's 20.3 percent surge. That adds to signs a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy is deepening as Chinese leaders prepare for negotiations with President Donald Trump over Beijing's technology policy and other irritants. Chinese exports to the United States rose by a relatively robust 12.9 percent over a year ago to $46.2 billion.