Top Asian News 4:57 a.m. GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has asked Pakistan to investigate the fatal shooting of a local journalist n the country's southwest. In a statement, the media watchdog Saturday demanded action against those responsible for the killing of 37-year-old Muhammad Jan, who was returning home late Thursday night when targeted by unidentified assailants. The journalist had worked for the Urdu-language daily Qudrat and was teaching at a school. No group claimed responsibility for the killing, but Pakistan is considered one of the deadliest countries for journalists. According to the watchdog, 59 journalists have been killed in Pakistan from 1992 to 2016.

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai air force pilot has died when his fighter jet crashed at an air show during the country's Children's Day. Amateur video footage shows the JAS 39 Gripen jet maneuvering over the Hat Yai air base in southern Thailand when it suddenly lost altitude and crashed in a ball of fire away from spectators. The Ministry of Defense is investigating the cause of the crash on Saturday. Deputy government spokesman Werachon Sukondhapatipakerachon says Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha expressed condolences to the pilot's family. Children's Day is usually observed with public outings at military bases.

BEIJING (AP) — Writer Lu Yong had merely wanted to show support for a professor who had taken flak online for criticizing Mao Zedong, the founder of the communist state who died more than four decades ago. Yet minutes after raising a sign to defend Deng Xiangchao's right to free speech, Lu found himself surrounded by a group of Mao supporters who grappled at his face. Other companions were punched and kicked. Video taken hours later showed the Mao loyalists parading through the campus of eastern China's Jinan University with large banners while chanting "Down with Deng Xiangchao, down with traitors." Within days, Deng was forced to retire and stripped of his Communist Party titles.

BEIJING (AP) — China's sole aircraft carrier has returned home following a far-ranging three-week training mission during which its combat capabilities were closely scrutinized and speculation soared over what future role the flat-top will play amid China's growing military ambitions. The Defense Ministry said the 60,000-ton Liaoning sailed in to the eastern port of Qingdao on Friday along with its battle group that includes destroyers, frigates, a supply ship and anti-submarine craft. The ministry quoted the group's commander, Rear Adm. Chen Yueqi, as saying the drill simulated real combat as closely as possible and "achieved all targets set for it." China commissioned the carrier in 2012 and declared it combat ready in November, shortly after which it launched its first live-fire exercises.

SYDNEY (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Australia on Saturday for talks with the nation's leader on trade and regional security issues amid China's growing military might in Asia. Abe arrived in Sydney with his wife, Akie, and a business delegation on Friday night after a visit to the Philippines where he pledged $8.7 billion worth of business opportunities and private investments along with equipment to fight terrorism. Australia is Abe's second stop in a four-nation swing intended to boost Japan's trade and security engagements amid concern over China's emergence as a military power in the Pacific. After Australia, he visits Indonesia and Vietnam.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry, making his last trip as the top U.S. diplomat, defended the 12-nation trade pact that the incoming administration said it would scrap and urged countries to refrain from provocative acts in the South China Sea. "I can't predict what the new administration is absolutely going to do with the trade, but I can absolutely tell you that the fundamental reasons for the TPP haven't changed," Kerry told students of University of Technology and Education in southern Ho Chi Minh City on Friday, referring to the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ecuador has taken over from Thailand as chair of the Group of 77 which promotes the interests of the 134 developing countries it represents at the United Nations, including China. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa told Friday's handover ceremony that the group will continue promoting "social and economic equality." He said this can only be done if "poverty, inequality and exclusion" are eradicated and people live with "sovereignty, dignity and in peace." Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said his country focused in 2016 on how to implement the 17 U.N. goals for 2030 to promote development and good governance, and preserve the environment.

TOKYO (AP) — "Comfort women," used by the Japanese military for sex, were present wherever the army invaded and occupied Asia countries from the early 1930s through the end of World War II. That aspect of wartime history was kept quiet until the early 1990s, when a South Korean woman came forward, joined by some others, seeking Japanese help and accountability. Since then, the two countries have been divided over how badly Japan treated comfort women and how it should atone for past behavior. That hasn't changed despite a 2015 agreement intended to resolve differences. After South Korean activists installed a "comfort woman" statue in front of the Japanese consulate in the South Korean port city of Busan, Japan announced last week that it would temporarily recall its ambassador to South Korea and suspend economic talks.

SITTWE, Myanmar (AP) — The U.N. human rights envoy for Myanmar arrived Friday in tense Rakhine state, where soldiers are accused of widespread abuse of members of the Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority, including torture, rape and killing of civilians and the burning of thousands of homes. U.N. rapporteur Yanghee Lee began a three-day visit to western Myanmar to probe the situation in northern Rakhine, where an army crackdown has driven an estimated 65,000 people to flee across the border to Bangladesh in the past three months. The crackdown began in October after nine policemen were killed in attacks by a shadowy group along the border.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The Indonesian business partner of President-elect Donald Trump will be attending next week's inauguration and also plans business meetings with Trump family members, his spokesman said Friday. Trump's ties to Hary Tanoesoedibjo are among the many conflicts of interest he could face as the 45th U.S. president. The property billionaire's presidency is shaping up to have unprecedented potential to muddy U.S. national interests with his personal business interests. Tanoesoedibjo, usually known as Tanoe, is the founder of media and real estate conglomerate MNC Group and also has political aspirations in Indonesia. The ethnic Chinese and Christian businessman has founded a political party and has said he wants to be president, though that is unlikely in Muslim-majority Indonesia because of historical antipathy to its tiny Chinese minority and the country's current climate of rising religious intolerance.