Top Asian News 3:57 a.m. GMT

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The leaders of Japan and the United States sought to remind the world that even the most bitter enemies can become allies, during a historic pilgrimage to the hallowed waters of Pearl Harbor. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not apologize, but conceded Japan "must never repeat the horrors of war again." Seventy-five years after Japan's surprise attack, Abe and President Barack Obama peered down Tuesday at the rusting wreckage of the USS Arizona, clearly visible in the tranquil, teal water. In a show of respect for the war dead, Obama and Abe dropped purple petals into the water and stood in silence.

BEIJING (AP) — The relatives of a Chinese man who died in a high-profile alleged police brutality case have decided not to sue, citing immense pressure, their lawyer said Thursday. The move comes despite thousands among China's middle class signing online petitions to protest the dropping of charges against police in a rare but concerted display of white-collar outrage with Beijing. The signatories of at least two online petitions organized through university alumni networks are infuriated by the Beijing prosecutors' decision last Friday to drop charges against five police over the death of Lei Yang, a 29-year old graduate of prestigious Renmin University, in police custody in May.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States says China has the right to sail in international waters after a Chinese aircraft carrier cruised past Taiwan and into the contested South China Sea. Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported Monday that the aircraft carrier and five warships sailed 90 nautical miles south of Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China. Beijing says it is a routine training exercise. China has previously accused U.S. warships of making provocative passes through the South China Sea. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday the U.S. recognizes lawful uses of the sea, and the same rights apply to the U.S., China and other nations.

BEIJING (AP) — Four people detonated explosives at a Communist Party office in the far western region of Xinjiang, killing one person and injuring three others, according to local authorities who described it as a terrorist attack. The attackers were then shot dead by police. The report in Tianshan Net, a news portal run by Communist Party officials in Xinjiang, is the first such publicly reported fatal attack in Xinjiang for months in a region where information is strictly controlled by authorities and reporting access has tightened over the past couple of years. Xinjiang has seen violence against civilians in recent years that authorities have blamed on radicals among the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority seeking independence from Beijing.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 32 people were wounded when two bombs exploded while they were watching a boxing competition in a central Philippine town as part of an annual Roman Catholic holiday festival, police and other officials said Thursday. Sixteen of the wounded were admitted to various hospitals while 16 others went home after treatment of their injuries from the late-Wednesday twin blasts in Hilongos town in Leyte province, said Senior Inspector Jenyzen Enciso, the provincial police spokeswoman. Police recovered an 81 mm mortar cartridge and a cellphone apparently used to detonate the homemade bombs, she said. Nobody has claimed responsibility and investigators were trying to identify the attackers.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada visited a Tokyo shrine that honors convicted war criminals among the nation's war dead on Thursday, drawing a rapid rebuke from neighboring South Korea. Inada's visit to Yasukuni Shrine came just two days after she accompanied Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a visit to Hawaii's Pearl Harbor, where he offered condolences to those who died in the Japanese attack there in 1941. "Regardless of differences in historical views, regardless of whether they fought as enemies or allies, I believe any country can understand that we wish to express gratitude, respect and gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives for their countries," Inada said.

LAIZA, Myanmar (AP) — Ethnic Kachin rebels long at war with Myanmar troops say the government has only escalated fighting since Aung San Suu Kyi took over as leader, crushing the hopes that had led many ethnic minorities to support her party and leaving them with no confidence in the peace process that Suu Kyi has identified as a priority. Rebels and observers say government offensives including airstrikes have increased since Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party took control in March. Suu Kyi's government has said little about the attacks, and the Kachin Independence Organization accuses her of cooperating with the military.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's opposition politicians on Wednesday called for nullifying a settlement reached between Seoul and Tokyo on compensation for South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military in World War II. Their statements on the anniversary of the deal came amid growing efforts to erase some of the key policies of impeached President Park Geun-hye. Facing political and public pressure, the Education Ministry on Tuesday backtracked from a much-criticized plan to require middle and high schools to use only state-issued history textbooks from next year. Woo Sang-ho, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said the party will work to invalidate the sex slave agreement if it wins the presidential elections that could take place in just months, echoing similar promises made by the party's potential candidates.

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian officials seized more than a ton of cocaine worth about 360 million Australian dollars ($260 million) in what police on Thursday dubbed one of the largest drug busts in the nation's history. Fifteen men were arrested following a 2 ½-year federal and state police investigation into suspected drug trafficking by commercial fishermen in Sydney, New South Wales police said in a statement. In March, officials seized 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of cocaine in the South Pacific island nation of Tahiti that police say was bound for the Australian market. On Sunday, police seized 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of cocaine that was found on a boat in the town of Brooklyn, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Sydney.

TOKYO (AP) — The president of top Japanese advertising company Dentsu Inc. said Wednesday he will resign to take responsibility for the suicide of a worker who had clocked massive overtime in her first months on the job. President Tadashi Ishii said at a Tokyo news conference he will tender his resignation at a board meeting in January although he will stay through March as a courtesy to shareholders. Earlier Wednesday, government authorities filed papers demanding prosecutorial charges against the unidentified Dentsu employee suspected of driving Matsuri Takahashi to suicide from overwork. Japanese society values conformity and tends to revere workaholic lifestyles.