by Associated Press BC-AS--Asian News Digest, AS Associated Press - 27 March 2015 01:32-04:00 ASIA: KOREAS-TENSION SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea urges North Korea to immediately release two of its citizens detained in the country over alleged espionage, the latest in a series of arrests in the North of foreign nationals. The North's state media said late Thursday that the two were detained last year for allegedly collecting confidential state information and attempting to spread "bourgeois lifestyle and culture" in the North at the order of South Korea's spy agency and the U.S. By Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 500 words, photos. SEAFOOD FROM SLAVES-REACTION — Thailand's junta leadervows to take legal action against companies using forced labor, after an Associated Press investigation revealed that fish caught by enslaved migrant workers was being exported from Thai ports to global markets. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha acknowledged he had seen this week's AP article and said his government was stepping up efforts to combat the scourge and prosecute those responsible. By Todd Pitman and Thanyarat Doksone. SENT: 430 words, photos. SINGAPORE-LEE KUAN YEW — Singaporeans hoping for a glimpse of long-time leader Lee Kuan Yew's coffin are being urged to stay away from the sprawling queue as waiting times reach 10 hours. The government said it "strongly advises" the public not to join the queue and to instead visit community tribute sites set up across the island. By Jeanette Tan. SENT: 280 words. MYANMAR-ARMED FORCES — Myanmar's powerful military commander pledges o work to support successful elections in November, calling it "an important landmark for democracy implementation," and warned that the army will not tolerate instability or armed threats. This year's elections will be the first to be held by the semi-civilian government that swept to power after a 2010 vote widely seen as rigged in favor of the military-backed rulers. SENT: 330 words, photos. CHINA-ACTIVISTS DETAINED — A Chinese anti-discrimination civic group says it is considering legal action over a police raid on the group's offices that was apparently prompted by its advocacy for five women's rights activists whose detentions have drawn international scrutiny. By Christopher Bodeen. SENT: 510 words. UNITED STATES-ASIAN BANK BLUES — U.S. resistance to a Chinese-led Asian regional bank has left it isolated among its Asian and European allies and given some heft to China's frequent complaints that Washington wants to contain its rise as a world power. By Matthew Pennington. SENT: 680 words, photos. UNITED STATES-THAILAND — The U.S. says it hopes that Thailand's leader, who took power in a military coup last year, wasn't serious when he made a threat to execute journalists. Sent 130 words. AUSTRALIA-SURVEILLANCE. Australia's parliament has created a new law that will force Australian telecommunications companies and Internet providers to store customers' personal data for the convenience of law enforcement agencies, despite questions over who will pay for it and how it will affect the work of journalists. SENT: 380 words. PAKISTAN — Police and hospital officials say a roadside bomb has struck a bus carrying police officers in southern Pakistan, wounding at least 10 people. SENT. JAPAN-ECONOMY. Japan reports lackluster inflation and wages data for February that suggested that its economic recovery remains in the doldrums. Core inflation excluding volatile food prices was 2.0 percent in February, down from 2.2 percent in January. SENT: 200 words. INTERNATIONAL FRANCE-PLANE CRASH - The account of the final moments of Germanwings Flight 9525 prompts calls for tougher cockpit rules and questions about the motives of the quiet man whose breathing never wavered as he destroyed the plane and the lives inside. By Angela Charlton and David McHugh. SENT: 1,300 words with photos, video, interactive. With: FRANCE-PLANE CRASH-MENTAL HEALTH, FRANCE-PLANE CRASH-CO-PILOT. (Both sent) IRAN-NUCLEAR TALKS - The United States is considering letting Tehran run hundreds of centrifuges at a once-secret, fortified underground bunker in exchange for limits on centrifuge work at other sites, officials tell The Associated Press. By George Jahn and Matthew Lee. SENT: 780 words, photo. MIGRANTS-JOURNEY TO EUROPE — Each month, a tide of humanity pours through the hills of Greece, Macedonia and Serbia in hopes of entering the heart of the 28-nation European Union through its vulnerable back door in the Balkans. Most don't make it on their first attempt. By Dalton Bennett and Shawn Pogatchnik. SENT: 2,800 words, photos. With video EUROPE MIGRANTS. An abridged version of 1,260 words also moved. With MIGRANTS-JOURNEY TO EUROPE-TIMELINE, MIGRANTS-ROAD TO EUROPE-KEY ROUTES (all sent). YEMEN - SANAA, Yemen — Saudi Arabia and its allies open up a new Mideast conflict, launching airstrikes in Yemen to push back Shiite rebels allied to Iran. Egyptian officials say a ground operation is planned, a move that would further escalate the turmoil in the fragmented, chaotic country. By Ahmed al-Haj and Hamza Hendawi. SENT: 1,500 words, photos, video, audio. YEMEN-WHY IT MATTERS - Five reasons why the world should care about Yemen's crisis. SENT: 710 words, photos. With: MIDEAST-PROXY WARS - Yemen has become the latest theater in the proxy war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran. By Zeina Karam and Lee Keath. SENT: 1,240 words, photos. UNITED STATES-IRAQ - The top U.S. general for Iraq says the United States agreed to launch airstrikes over the strategic city of Tikrit only if Iranian-backed militias agreed to retreat. By Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns. SENT: 870 words, photo. With: ISLAMIC STATE - TIKRIT, Iraq - Iraqi troops started the final phase of an offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Vivian Salama. SENT: 650 words, photos. VATICAN-CHILE-BISHOP — Several members of Pope Francis' sex abuse advisory board are expressing concern and incredulity over his decision to appoint a Chilean bishop to a diocese despite allegations that he covered up for Chile's most notorious pedophile. By Nicole Winfield. SENT: 1,170 words, photos. BRITAIN-RICHARD III - A maligned monarch found under a parking lot is buried in pomp, as Britain embraced comeback King Richard III, a long-reviled ruler who is experiencing a remarkable posthumous renaissance. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. ENTERTAINMENT TV-DOWNTON ABBEY - The producers of "Downton Abbey" say the upcoming sixth season of this popular drama will be its last. SENT: 820 words, photos. With: DOWNTON ABBEY-DEATHS (sent). TERMINATOR'S BACK - As promised, the Terminator and the man who originated the steely machine — Arnold Schwarzenegger — are back July 1 for another go in "Terminator: Genisys," and Paramount Pictures, eager for a sorely needed blockbuster, has already fired up a machine of its own — the publicity kind. By Film Writer Lindsey Bahr. SENT: 620 words, photos. ___ HOW TO REACH US: The editor in charge at the AP Asia-Pacific Desk in Bangkok is Scott McDonald. Questions and story requests are welcome. The news desk can be reached at (66) 2632-6911 or by email at asia@ap.org. The Asia Photo Desk can be reached at (81-3) 6215-8941. Between 1600 GMT and 0000 GMT, please refer queries to the North America Desk in New York at (1) 212-621-1650. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call (1) 877-836-9477. News Topics: General news, Germanwings Flight 9525 crash, Forced labor, Arrests, War and unrest, Armed forces, Accidents, Transportation accidents, Plane crashes, Government and politics, Economy, Events, Crime, Law and order, Military and defense, Accidents and disasters, Transportation, Aviation accidents and incidents, Business People, Places and Companies: Prayuth Chan-ocha, Lee Kuan Yew, Saddam Hussein, Pope Francis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, United Kingdom, Iran, South Korea, Japan, United States, East Asia, Thailand, France, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Yemen, Western Europe, Asia, North America Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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