Top Asian News 3:58 a.m. GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The Ferrari driver who allegedly slammed into a motorcycle cop, dragged him along the road and then sped away from the mangled body took just hours to find, as investigators followed a drip, drip, drip trail of brake fluid up a street, down an alley, and into the gated estate of one of Thailand's richest families. The prosecution of Red Bull heir Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya, however, has been delayed for close to five years. The times when Vorayuth has been called in on charges, he hasn't shown up, claiming through his attorney that he was sick or out of the country on business.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's health minister said Tuesday the body of Kim Jong Nam is still in Malaysia, six weeks after the exiled half brother of North Korea's leader was poisoned in Kuala Lumpur. Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam made the announcement as rumors swirled that Kim's body was about to flown out of the country as part of diplomatic negotiations. Custody of the body has been a flashpoint in the case as relations between Malaysia and North Korea deteriorated sharply. Kim was poisoned on Feb. 13 at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur. According to Malaysian investigators, two young women went up to Kim as he waited for a flight and smeared VX nerve agent — a banned chemical weapon — across his face.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has approved the North Korean women's ice hockey team to compete in an international event next month at Gangneung, a venue for the 2018 Olympics. Seoul's Unification Ministry on Wednesday said the North Korean team would be permitted to stay from April 1-9 to participate in the group rounds of the Ice Hockey Women's World Championship. North Korean athletes haven't competed in South Korea since the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon. Relations between the rival Koreas have significantly worsened over the past year after a series of rocket launches by North Korea. The women's world championship is one of the many sports events South Korea plans to host at its Olympic facilities to prepare for next the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.

PARIS (AP) — Chinese immigrants and China's government are protesting a police killing in Paris that prompted violent street clashes and exposed the fears and frustrations of France's large Asian community. Protesters gathered Tuesday in northeast Paris for a second day of demonstrations over the fatal shooting of a Chinese man in his apartment, and police launched an internal investigation into a death that took on diplomatic implications. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had summoned a representative of the French embassy in Beijing Tuesday and urged French officials to "get to the bottom of the incident as soon as possible." Chinese authorities "hope that Chinese nationals in France can express their wishes and demands in a reasonable way," Hua said.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The first government announcement Tuesday was startling: Salvage crews had found bones near the wreckage of the Sewol ferry, which sank in 2014 and killed 304 people. The discovery raised hopes that the remains were of some of the nine people still missing. Such a find would bring a measure of closure in one of South Korea's deadliest maritime disasters. But hours later, investigators from the National Forensic Service concluded that it was all a mistake. The bones were from unidentified animals, not human remains. There was no immediate explanation from the government, which has been widely criticized over its handling of the disaster.

BEIJING (AP) — China's government said Wednesday it has detained a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist and is investigating him on suspicion of "pursuing activities harmful to national security." Spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office Ma Xiaoguang said Lee Ming-che, 42, was in good health, but gave no information about where he was being held or other terms of his detention. Lee disappeared after clearing immigration on March 19 in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory of Macau and never showed up for a planned meeting later that day with a friend across the border in China. "Regarding Lee Ming-che's case, because he is suspected of pursing activities harmful to national security, the investigation into him is being handled in line with legal procedures," Ma told reporters at a news briefing.

BEIJING (AP) — A report from a U.S. think tank says China has nearly completed construction work on three man-made islands in the South China Sea, giving it the ability to deploy combat aircraft and other military assets to the disputed region. The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies analyzed recent satellite photos and concluded that runways, aircraft hangers, radar sites and hardened surface-to-air missile shelters have either been finished or are nearing completion. The report, released Monday, appears to be the most conclusive indication yet that China is using its island-building project to give teeth to its claim over almost the entire South China Sea and its islands and reefs.

TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AP) — Residents of Australia's cyclone-battered tropical northeast emerged from their homes on Wednesday to find roofs lying in their yards, boats flung onto rocks and roads blocked by tangles of fallen trees and power lines, as emergency officials tried to reach communities cut off by the powerful storm. Cyclone Debbie, which slammed into the coast of Queensland state on Tuesday with winds up to 260 kilometers (160 miles) an hour, weakened quickly as it moved inland and was downgraded to a tropical low by Wednesday morning. Australia's military sent vehicles, aircraft and supplies to the region, and clean-up efforts were expected to begin later Wednesday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye has decided to attend a questioning session by a Seoul court before it determines whether she should be arrested over corruption allegations, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors said Park's lawyers have informed them that she will appear at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday when a judge reviews whether to grant the prosecutors' request for an arrest warrant against her. If the court issues the warrant, Park will become the third former president to be arrested over criminal accusations after leaving office since South Korea turned from a dictatorship to a democracy in the late 1980s.

BANGKOK (AP) — Conservationists say they have evidence that the critically endangered Indochinese tiger is breeding in a Thai jungle, giving hope for the survival of an animal whose total population may be less than 300. Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation along with two private organizations announced Tuesday they have photographic evidence of new tiger cubs in eastern Thailand, supporting a scientific survey that confirmed the existence of the world's second breeding population of the tigers. The other breeding ground is in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in western Thailand. The Thai agency, along with Freeland, an organization fighting human and animal trafficking, and Panthera, a wild cat conservation group, said only 221 Indochinese tigers are estimated to remain in two Asian countries, Thailand and Myanmar.