Top Asian News 5:22 p.m. GMT

Indonesian woman detonates bomb, killing herself and child

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The wife of an Islamic militant arrested for plotting attacks in the Indonesian capital detonated a bomb during a siege of their home in North Sumatra, killing herself and her two-year-old child, the national police said Wednesday. The woman is believed to have blown herself up hours after throwing a homemade bomb that injured an officer as police tried to search the house in Sibologa district on Tuesday, Dedi Prasetyo, the national police spokesman, told The Associated Press. Police officers at the location said there were two explosions and smoke at the house about 1:30 a.m., Prasetyo said.

Malaysia backtracks on plans to abolish death penalty

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government backtracked on an earlier plan to abolish capital punishment for all crimes, saying Wednesday the death penalty would remain but would no longer be mandatory for selected offenses. Rights groups slammed the U-turn and urged the government to reconsider. Deputy Law Minister Hanipa Maidin made the announcement in parliament but didn't give any reasons for the change in plans. He was quoted by the country's Bernama news agency as saying the mandatory death penalty would be repealed for 11 offenses, but courts could impose the death sentence for others at their discretion. The government in October had said it planned to fully abolish the death penalty, which has been applicable for nearly three dozen offenses.

Thailand PM croons, brags about successes on official trip

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — Thailand's military-installed prime minister crooned a love song and boasted of his government's achievements Wednesday during an official visit to the country's northeast ahead of the March 24 election. Prayuth Chan-ocha led a 2014 coup ousting an elected government and is seeking this time to take power through more legitimate means. He appeared before a crowd of thousands on a trip that was nominally part of his official duties. The style of the visit closely resembles what many people would consider campaigning, and he has been carrying out such activities for several months. "We achieved so much in five years.

Cardinal Pell sent to prison for abusing 2 boys in Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The most senior Catholic convicted of child sex abuse was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for molesting two choirboys in an Australian cathedral in a crime the judge said showed "staggering arrogance." Cardinal George Pell must serve a minimum of 3 years and 8 months before he is eligible for parole, according to the judge's order. The five convictions against Pell carried a maximum possible sentence of 10 years each. "In my view, your conduct was permeated by staggering arrogance," Victoria state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd said in handing down the sentence. Pope Francis' former finance minister was convicted by a unanimous jury verdict in December of orally raping a 13-year-old choirboy and indecently dealing with the boy and the boy's 13-year-old friend in the late 1990s, months after Pell became archbishop of Melbourne.

Information void in plane crash leads many to take action

In the days since an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed after taking off for Nairobi and killed all 157 people aboard, there have been many questions but not a lot of answers. That absence of information — fear of the unknown — has led dozens of countries to ground the Boeing 737 Max 8, the plane involved in Sunday's crash and another one five months earlier that killed 189 people in Indonesia. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has been largely isolated. It continues to back the plane's airworthiness, saying Tuesday that it is reviewing all available data. U.S.-based Boeing maintains it has no reason to pull the hot-selling jet from the skies.

Criticism of FAA mounts as other nations ground Boeing jets

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is facing mounting criticism for backing the airworthiness of Boeing's 737 Max jets as the number of countries that have grounded the aircraft grows in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash over the weekend. The rest of the world typically takes it cues from the FAA, long considered the world's gold standard for aircraft safety. Yet other aviation safety regulators, including the European Union, China, Australia and the United Kingdom, have decided not to wait for the FAA to act. The Ethiopian disaster came just five months after the deadly crash of another new Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air in Indonesia.

The Latest: Germany refuses to take black box from crash

A spokesman for Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation is telling The Associated Press that the agency was asked by Ethiopian authorities to analyze the black boxes from Sunday's plane crash but declined because it lacked the necessary software. Spokesman Germout Freitag said Wednesday that he doesn't know where the black boxes will be sent next. An Ethiopian Airlines spokesman said flight recorders from the jet will be sent to a European country for analysis because Ethiopia lacks the technology to examine them. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday, killing all 157 people on board.

Q&A: After marathon Afghan talks, is peace at hand?

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The longest direct talks ever held between the United States and the Taliban concluded this week with both sides citing progress toward ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, but many questions remain unanswered. The Taliban are negotiating from a position of strength: They effectively control half the country, and President Donald Trump has made clear he is frustrated with America's longest war and determined to bring the troops home. The two sides have reached a draft agreement on the withdrawal of U.S. troops — a longtime Taliban demand — and the insurgents have rebuffed U.S. efforts to get them to negotiate with the Kabul government.

Vietnamese suspect in Kim killing looking for release

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Just four days ago, the future for Indonesia's Siti Aisyah looked bleak — she was two years into her detention in Malaysia and faced a possible death sentence if convicted of killing the half brother of North Korea's leader. Then the charges were unexpectedly dropped. With Aisyah safely back home in Indonesia after Monday's surprise, the only remaining suspect facing justice in the case is Vietnam's Doan Thi Huong and officials in Hanoi are now refreshing calls for her freedom as well. Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh made the plea in a phone call Tuesday with his counterpart, Malaysia's Saifuddin Abdullah, according to a statement on the ministry website.

Timeline of Cardinal George Pell's career and accusations

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge has sentenced Cardinal George Pell to 6 years in prison on convictions of sexually abusing two choirboys in a cathedral when he was archbishop of Australia's second-largest city more than 20 years ago. A timeline of Pell's career and the criminal case: July 16, 1996: Auxiliary Bishop George Pell is appointed Archbishop of Melbourne. Within months he abuses two choir boys at St. Patrick's Cathedral. March 26, 2001: Pell becomes Archbishop of Sydney. Oct. 21, 2003: Pope John Paul II makes Pell a cardinal. Feb. 25, 2014: Pope Francis appoints Pell to the powerful position of Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.