MANILA -- Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, the former Philippine president and son of two of the country's greatest democracy icons, died from kidney disease on Thursday at the age of 61.

His cremated remains are to be interred on Saturday alongside his parents at the Manila Memorial Park. A funeral mass began at 10 a.m. local time, at the Ateneo de Manila University, Aquino's alma mater, where his funeral urn had been on view on Friday.

Aquino's passing

SYDNEY -- China and Australia are trading blows again in rapid-fire fashion, taking their already fraught relationship to new lows and undermining even academic cooperation on a problem as universal as climate change.

Beijing's Commerce Ministry this week lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization over old Australian tariffs on railway wheels, wind turbines and stainless steel sinks, days after Canberra went to the WTO over China's 200% tariffs on Australian wine.

Also this week, a UNESCO committee chaired by China recommended Australia

SEOUL -- Hybe, the company that manages K-pop sensation BTS, has opened a "museum" in Seoul that lets visitors explore the music of the seven-member boy band and other artists.

Five minutes' walk from Yongsan Station in the heart of Seoul, Hybe Insight occupies a 4,700-sq.-meter space in the basement of the company's new headquarters. Hybe, formerly called Big Hit Entertainment, opened the museum in May to showcase its artists' music and stage

NEW YORK -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani does not like to wear suits. But the 72-year-old former professor, who once renounced his U.S. citizenship for his presidential bid in Afghanistan, swapped his usual comfortable, flowing outfit for his Western-style best for his trip to Washington this week.

Ghani's mission on this two-day visit to the U.S. capital: to persuade the American leadership to delay the U.S. forces' pullout, or at the

HANOI -- One of the key COVID-19 vaccination sites in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern commercial hub, was overwhelmed on Friday as tens of thousands of people rushed to get their shots.

Crowds formed in different venues across Vietnam's largest city, triggering fears of a spike in infections.

On Friday, long lines were seen outside key vaccination sites, with thousands of citizens waiting their turn.

The chaos started to emerge earlier this week after the central government in the capital Hanoi ordered the

TOKYO -- Toshiba CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa will serve as interim chairman of the company's board after the ousting of Osamu Nagayama at the annual general meeting, the Japanese industrial group said Friday night.

George Olcott, whose nomination to the board as a new outside director was approved by shareholders, has declined the appointment. Toshiba said it had accepted his decision.

The announcement comes after shareholders rejected proposals to reappoint Nagayama as well as outside director Nobuyuki Kobayashi, a member of Toshiba's audit committee, following an independent investigation

YANGON/BANGKOK -- Myanmar's military on Feb. 1 detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in a general election in November . But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud.

For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page.

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SEOUL -- South Korea's Posco said Friday it will form a joint venture to manufacture automotive steel in China with HBIS Group, the country's second-biggest steel producer.

Each side will invest $300 million into the 50-50 venture, constructing a plant that makes galvanized steel sheets to supply China's growing auto industry.

"We will establish our competitive advantage in the world's largest automotive steel market through the joint venture," Posco Chairman Choi Jeong-woo said

NAGOYA -- Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda has invested 5 billion yen ($45.3 million) of his own money into a group unit building a smart city dominated by self-driving vehicles.

The investment in Woven Planet Holdings during the last fiscal year ended March was revealed in its annual securities report filed Thursday.

Woven is working on cutting-edge mobility technologies as well as Toyota's "Woven City," a prototype for next-generation cities to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The Tokyo