Top Asian News 4:57 a.m. GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Police in Australia have detained five men suspected of planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of the country's second-largest city, officials said Friday. The suspects had been inspired by the Islamic State group and planned attacks on Melbourne's Flinders Street train station, neighboring Federation Square and St. Paul's Cathedral, Victoria state Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said. The arrests came after a truck smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 12 people. A manhunt is underway for the person behind that attack, which prompted increases in security around the world.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — If Santa Claus stops in North Korea this year, he'll find some trees and lights and might even hear a Christmas song or two. But he won't encounter even a hint of what Christmas actually means — not under a regime that sees foreign religion a very real threat. There are almost no practicing Christians in North Korea. But there used to be. And while the trappings of the holiday season they once celebrated haven't been completely expunged, any connections they had to the birth of Jesus have been thoroughly erased. Take Christmas trees, for example.

SYDNEY (AP) — A man was charged with two counts of murder on Friday in a notorious, 20-year-old case that terrified residents of Western Australia and became one of the country's longest-running investigations. The development in the so-called "Claremont serial killings" case comes two decades after three women vanished from the wealthy Perth suburb of Claremont in Western Australia. The remains of two of the women — Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon — were later found in remote areas; the third, Sarah Spiers, remains missing. Over the years, hundreds of police officers tried and failed to crack the case. Authorities offered hefty cash rewards for information, took DNA samples from 2,000 Perth taxi drivers and even recruited a convicted Perth serial killer, David Birnie, for his insight.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused South Korea of committing "political terror" by stepping up efforts to encourage defections by North Koreans overseas, especially diplomats. Ju Wang Hwan, a ministry official working in its Institute for Disarmament and Peace, said North Korean diplomats around the world have received emails with attachments containing articles that look like they are from North Korean state media. He said the articles have been changed to confuse and influence their intended readers by "viciously slandering our supreme leader and our socialist system." "This is clearly political terror, trying to cause social chaos and bloodshed inside a sovereign state," Ju said in an interview in Pyongyang.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Emperor Akihito has marked his 83rd birthday, thanking the people for their concern and effort to accommodate his apparent abdication wish. Akihito said in birthday remarks released Friday that he is "profoundly grateful that many people have lent an ear to my words and are giving sincere thought" to the issue. Akihito also greeted thousands of well-wishers from the palace balcony. Akihito, in a rare address in August, indicated his wish to abdicate, citing concerns that his age and health conditions may start limiting his ability to fulfill his duties. A government-commissioned panel of experts is discussing a possibility of enacting a special law allowing his abdication, without touching more controversial issues, including an option of allowing a female emperor.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Pyongyang's pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel, which poetically enough was built with some help from Egyptians, is one of the world's strangest landmarks and most conspicuous construction-project fails. Intended to be the world's tallest hotel, it has yet to host a guest, even though it's nearly as old as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The perennial mystery: Will it ever? Nearly 30 years after ground was broken, the tower looms eerily dark in the Pyongyang night, a single light at the top blinking a silent warning to aircraft. By day, residents walk quickly to and from the nearby subway station with nary a glance upward at its 105-story presence.

BEIJING (AP) — China has reported at least seven cases of bird flu in humans across the country this month, including two deaths, as authorities take steps to guard against an outbreak. Five cases of H7N9 bird flu infections have been diagnosed in central Anhui province since Dec. 8, and two people have died, state media reported. In Shanghai, officials said this week that a man was diagnosed with H7N9 and is being treated in a city hospital. Another case has been reported in Xiamen in coastal Fujian province, where poultry sales have been halted. In rural Jinzhai county in Anhui province, local officials on Thursday announced a two-week closure of a meat market after a shopkeeper was diagnosed with H7N9.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Friday mocked outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over his apparent ambitions to run for South Korean president, calling him an opportunistic "chameleon in a human mask" who's dreaming a "hollow dream." The North's state-run Uriminzokkiri website said Ban's alleged presidential ambitions were absurd because the way he handled his job as U.N. chief for the past 10 years has left him living in "criticism and shame." The article said Ban had a bad reputation in South Korea's domestic politics because he's an opportunist who "sets sail wherever winds blow and changes colors by the circumstance." "There is an old saying that you stretch your feet no longer than your blanket will reach, and his harboring presidential ambitions despite living in all sorts of criticism and shame could only described as an incomparably hollow, silly dream," Uriminzokkiri said.

BEIJING (AP) — China has warned that ties with the U.S. will likely see new complications and the only way to maintain a stable relationship is by respecting each other's "core interests." Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks Thursday appeared to underscore that China's position on Taiwan is non-negotiable, weeks after President-elect Donald Trump suggested he could re-evaluate U.S. policy on Taiwan. It also mirrored Beijing's relatively measured posture toward the incoming U.S. administration despite signs of growing wariness. Wang told the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, that China will strive to boost cooperation with the U.S. but he foresaw "new, complicated and uncertain factors affecting bilateral relations" under the Trump administration.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan police say gunmen have stormed the home of a lawmaker in the capital, killing eight people and leaving the parliamentarian wounded after he jumped from the roof to escape. The Taliban claimed the attack, which began late Wednesday, saying they targeted a meeting of military officials. Police officer Sadiq Muradi says the gunmen attacked the house of Mir Wali, a lawmaker from the restive southern Helmand province. They battled his guards for several hours, eventually killing eight people, including family members, friends and members of his security detail. Three attackers were killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack.