Top Asian News 4:37 a.m. GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine court found former first lady Imelda Marcos guilty of graft and ordered her arrest Friday in a rare conviction among many corruption cases that she's likely to appeal to avoid jail and losing her seat in Congress. The special anti-graft Sandiganbayan court sentenced Marcos, 89, to serve 6 to 11 years in prison for each of the seven counts of violating an anti-corruption law when she illegally funneled about $200 million to Swiss foundations in the 1970s. Neither Marcos nor anyone representing her attended Friday's court hearing and no one issued any reaction on her behalf.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A fire that likely blocked a crucial exit at a low-cost dormitory-style housing facility in central Seoul killed at least seven people and injured 11 others on Friday, according to fire authorities who were investigating possible safety lapses in the building. The blaze has been extinguished, but it's possible that the death toll could rise, officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters said. The fire probably started near an exit door on the building's third floor, Kwon Hyeok-min, chief of Seoul's Jongno District Fire Station, told reporters. The facility's residents were mostly manual laborers who made their living on day-to-day jobs, he said.

BEIJING (AP) — Lu Yushan, a retired salesman, has advice for investors in China's slumping stock market: Sell. Lu's shares soared over the past decade. But the 65-year-old cashed out this year, driven away by plunging prices, insider trading scandals, a cooling economy and a tariff war with Washington. "Investors should get out," said Lu, watching flickering prices on a wall-mounted display at a Beijing brokerage. "I am here just for fun and not to make money." President Xi Jinping's government is struggling, with limited success, to dispel such gloom and talk stock prices back up with promises of tax cuts, more bank lending and a media campaign led by its economy czar.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police say a suspected Islamic militant's attack on a police station in Jakarta has been thwarted by an officer who shot the man in the hand. Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono says the knife and machete-wielding man repeatedly shouted "God is Great" as he attacked officers at the station in Jakarta's north early Friday. One police officer suffered light injuries to his arm and another shot the attacker's hand, forcing him to drop the machete. Police are a frequent target of attacks by militants in Indonesia, who see them as representing the power of the secular government that they want replaced by an Islamic state.

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese broadcaster canceled a live TV appearance of the Korean band BTS after a photo went viral of a band member wearing a T-shirt showing an atomic bombing juxtaposed with the celebration of Korea's liberation from Japan after World War II. Japanese social media was filled with chatter over the photo of Jimin wearing the shirt with an image of a mushroom cloud with the English words "patriotism" and "Korea." TV Asahi said it had talked with the band's recording company to try to learn why he wore the T-shirt. The broadcaster's statement also apologized to viewers who had looked forward to the band's appearance, which had been scheduled for Friday.

TOKYO (AP) — Naomi Osaka used a powerful forehand and a matching serve to win the U.S. Open against Serena Williams two months ago, soaring as high as No. 4 this season in the WTA tennis rankings. Off the court — on the marketing front — she has the same potential. Maybe more. "It's very, very rare to find a Japanese-born female athlete who appeals to an international audience," said Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert and creative director at Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco, California. Serena Williams topped the Forbes list of the highest-earning female athletes this year at $18 million, almost all endorsements.

Indian brides display henna designs on their hands during a mass wedding ceremony of 35 couples. In other images from the Asia-Pacific region this week, a Nepalese vendor sells powder during Tihar, the festival of lights, in Kathmandu. In New Delhi, toxic smog shrouds the landmark India Gate following massive fireworks during the Diwali festival, a major Hindu holiday. A relative throws pedestals at a place where a Lion Air Boeing plane crashed at sea in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board. ___ This gallery was curated by Associated Press photo editor Masayo Yoshida in Tokyo. ___ Visit the AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com

SYDNEY (AP) — Surgeons in Australia begun separating conjoined twins from Bhutan in a delicate operation expected to last most of the day. The 15-month-old girls, Nima and Dawa, are joined at the torso and share a liver and possibly a bowel. They arrived in Australia last month and their surgery started Friday morning after doctors deemed them ready. The doctor leading the team of 18 surgeons, nurses and anesthetists said the operation possibly could go into the night. "We keep making guesses as to how long this will take, but the reality is until the operation starts and ultimately we get to see what is connecting the girls, we won't really know how long," said Joe Crameri, Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital's head of pediatric surgery.

LYON, France (AP) — Interpol's secretary general said Thursday that the international police organization's rules forbid him from probing into the fate of the Chinese government official who served as Interpol president for almost two years before he vanished during a trip to China. In his first public remarks about the disappearance of Meng Hongwei, Interpol Secretary General Juergen Stock said he "encouraged" Chinese authorities to provide information about Meng's location and legal status but can do no more. Stock spoke to journalists as Interpol member prepare to elect a new president to replace Meng during a general assembly in Dubai on Nov.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A week after Pakistan's Supreme Court acquitted her of blasphemy, a Christian woman who had been on death row for eight years was freed from detention Thursday, but her whereabouts are a closely guarded secret following demands by extremists that she be hanged in public. The case of Aasia Bibi has become a political minefield for Prime Minister Imran Khan. He is trying to placate the Muslim extremists who have threatened to topple his government, while keeping the 54-year-old mother of five safe from a lynch mob and also finding a way to allow her to leave Pakistan without bringing rioters into the streets.