Top Asian News 4:31 a.m. GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A Marine refueling plane and a fighter jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan's southwestern coast after a midair collision early Thursday, and rescuers found one of the seven crew members in stable condition while searching for the others, officials said. The U.S. Marine Corps said that the 2 a.m. crash involved an F/A-18 fighter jet and a KC-130 refueling aircraft during regular training after the planes took off from their base in Iwakuni, near Hiroshima in western Japan. The crash took place 320 kilometers (200 miles) off the coast. Japan's Defense Ministry said the aircraft carrying seven crew members in total collided and crashed into the sea south of the Muroto Cape on Shikoku island in southwestern Japan.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies for possible extradition to the United States. China demanded her immediate release, and a former Canadian envoy to China warned the case might lead to retaliation by the Chinese against American and Canadian executives. Justice Department spokesman Ian McLeod said Meng Wanzhou was detained in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday. The arrest took place on the same day Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the trade war after the close of the G-20 summit in Argentina. They agreed to a 90-day truce in an escalating trade war that is threatening world economic growth and has set global investors on edge.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine immigration authorities say they have arrested an American Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting altar boys in a remote central town in a case one official described as "shocking and appalling." Bureau of Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval says the Rev. Kenneth Bernard Hendricks, who has been indicted in Ohio for illicit sexual conduct in the Philippines, was arrested Wednesday in a church in Naval town in the island province of Biliran. Sandoval said Thursday that an Ohio court had issued a warrant for the arrest of 77-year-old Hendricks, who has been living in the Philippines for 37 years.

BEIJING (AP) — China issued an upbeat but vague promise Wednesday to carry out a tariff cease-fire with Washington but gave no details that might dispel confusion about what Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed to in Argentina. China has yet to confirm Trump's claim that Beijing committed to cut auto tariffs and buy more American farm exports. That, coupled with conflicting statements by Trump and U.S. officials, helped trigger a tumble in U.S. stock prices Tuesday amid doubt about the chances for a lasting settlement of a battle over technology that threatens to chill global economic growth. "China will start from implementing specific issues on which consensus has been reached, and the sooner, the better," the Commerce Ministry said on its website.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Day after day, rampant speculation about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's possible trip to Seoul is making headlines in South Korea, despite no official confirmation from either government. Many analysts say it would be extremely difficult for Kim to fulfill by the end of this year his reported promise to become the first North Korean leader to visit South Korea, given limited time for preparation and impasses in global diplomacy on his nuclear weapons. But others say we will not know until the year is over, noting that several previously unthinkable events have happened in the past months, including Kim's June summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A powerful earthquake that struck in the southern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday sent jitters around the region after authorities warned of possible tsunamis, but there were no initial reports of destructive waves or major damage. The magnitude 7.5 quake hit in the afternoon near the French territory of New Caledonia at a shallow depth, where earthquakes are generally more damaging. It was felt as far away as Vanuatu, about 630 kilometers (390 miles) away Tsunami sirens blared across New Caledonia minutes after the quake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves of between 1 and 3 meters (3 and 10 feet) were possible along some coasts of New Caledonia and Vanuatu, before later lifting the warning.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal jury convicted a Hong Kong businessman Wednesday of bribing the presidents of two African nations to secure oil rights for a Chinese energy conglomerate, a case that stretched from the halls of the United Nations and highlighted the often blurry line between nongovernmental organizations and private enterprise. Dr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho was found guilty of seven of eight counts, including conspiracy, money laundering and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a case that involved several former presidents of the United Nations General Assembly. Ho's attorneys did not dispute that he made the payments, including $2 million secreted in gift boxes delivered to the president of Chad in 2014.

TOKYO (AP) — The former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested in Japan on suspicion of underreporting his income, seems prepared to fight out his case and has asked for thriller books, according to the Brazilian consul general. Joao de Mendonca Lima Neto, one of the few visitors Ghosn has been allowed to see under Japan's stringent rules, said Ghosn was healthy and holding up well. "My impression is that he is a strong man in the sense that he will fight this out properly. He doesn't look worried," Mendonca told The Associated Press on Wednesday at Brazil's consulate in Tokyo.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian stock prices skidded Thursday following the arrest of a senior official at Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei that could derail progress in China-U.S. trade talks. KEEPING SCORE: Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 2.6 percent to 26,117.28 and Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 2.1 percent to 21,435.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6 percent to 5,635.60, while South Korea's Kospi sank 1.3 percent to 2,072.79. The Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.3 percent to 2,615.82. Shares also fell in Taiwan and all other regional markets. HUAWEI: The news of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou's arrest sent shares sharply lower. Share prices rallied early in the week following President Donald Trump's agreement with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping over the weekend to hold off on further retaliatory moves in a festering trade war.

BEIJING (AP) — Germany's top official for human rights was due to visit Tibet Wednesday for a dialogue with Chinese counterparts after being denied permission to visit the heavily policed northwestern region of Xinjiang. German Human Rights Commissioner Barbel Kofler said in a statement that she had wanted to travel to Xinjiang, where an estimated 1 million members of the Turkic Muslim Uighur minority have been held in political re-education camps in what China calls a campaign against terrorism and religious extremism. "I am shocked by reports of the treatment of the Turkic Uighur minority," Kofler's statement said. She said she would "continue to push for permission to visit Xinjiang soon." Former inmates and monitoring groups say those interned in the camps are subjected to prison-like conditions and forced to renounce their religion and cultural background while swearing loyalty to Communist Party leader and President Xi Jinping.