Top Asian News 3:49 a.m. GMT

POTOMAC FALLS, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump says that the United States is prepared to act alone if China does not take a tougher stand against North Korea's nuclear program. Trump's comments in an interview with the Financial Times come just days before he is set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida. The two are expected to discuss a number of issues, including North Korea, trade and territorial disputes in the South China Sea during their meeting on Thursday and Friday. "Yes, we will talk about North Korea," Trump told the newspaper for a story that appeared Sunday on its website.

TOKYO (AP) — President Donald Trump is suggesting ahead of his meeting later this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping that he can handle Washington's North Korea problem with or without Beijing's help — "totally." Is the self-proclaimed master of the deal doing what he does best — talking up his game? Even Trump said going it alone is not his Plan A. While declaring the U.S. is ready to deal with Pyongyang on its own, Trump stressed in an interview with the Financial Times that he'd rather — much rather, actually — have Beijing on board. China, he noted, has the most influence over the North economically and politically.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president has sacked his interior secretary and close political ally amid reports of alleged corruption in what his officials say is a warning that he will not tolerate any wrongdoing even in his Cabinet. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Tuesday that President Rodrigo Duterte announced the dismissal of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismail Sueno at the end of a Cabinet meeting late Monday, citing loss of trust and confidence. Sueno has had a reported rift with his three undersecretaries, who accused him of corruption and other wrongdoings. Abella says the president checked those accusations before he decided to dismiss Sueno, who was among allies that convinced Duterte to run for president last year.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali pirates have seized a small boat, and its 11 Indian crew members, and taken the vessel to along the central coast, a state official said Monday. It is the latest ship targeted by Somalia's resurgent hijackers. The pirates on Monday afternoon anchored the sailboat on the coast off Elhur, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Hobyo, which was a center of the piracy that was rampant several years ago, said Ahmed Mohamed, an official with the Somali state of Galmudug. Local elders are trying to negotiate with the pirates to secure the release of the crew and the boat, he said.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A liberal South Korean opposition leader who wants to improve ties with rival North Korea and pursue sweeping reforms became his party's presidential candidate Monday, boosting his status as front-runner in next month's election of a successor to recently ousted President Park Geun-hye. If Moon Jae-in is elected, it would end nearly a decade of conservative rule in South Korea, during which ties with North Korea have plunged to one of the lowest points in decades due to the North's nuclear and missile tests and the South's response. Analysts say Moon's softer approach toward North Korea could produce discord with Washington.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan said Monday that it is returning its recalled ambassador to South Korea despite a continuing impasse over a "comfort woman" statue, but insisted it is not caving in to Seoul's position. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida announced that Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine will fly back to Seoul on Tuesday, along with the Japanese consul-general in the South Korean city of Busan. Kishida said the decision came as Seoul goes through a period of transition and Japan needs to study and develop ties with the new government that succeeds impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye. It is important for the two governments to coordinate closely and exchange information amid ongoing missile threats from North Korea, he said.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An outbreak of typhoid fever among a church community in New Zealand has caused one death and left at least 14 other people hospitalized, health authorities said Tuesday. A person who traveled to the Pacific Islands recently apparently contracted the disease there then spread it to others in New Zealand, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said. Most of the cases began emerging last week, and Coleman said authorities don't believe the disease has been spread through water contamination. "So it's person-to-person contact," Coleman said. "It's a congregation sharing food together, being in close contact." Health authorities said all those infected are members of the Samoan Assembly of God, a Pacific church in Auckland.

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say an anti-terrorism court has given police three days to finish the interrogation of four men suspected in the killing of 20 devotees at a shrine in eastern Punjab province. The custodian of a local shrine and his accomplices are said to have killed the 20 after intoxicating them amid a dispute over custodianship of the shrine. Police officer Shamsher Joya says the four appeared before the court on Monday where Judge Zahid Iqbal extended their custody pending the investigation. The killings took place in a village near the city of Sargodha. The shrine's custodian, Abdul Waheed, and his four alleged accomplices drugged the 20 men and women on Saturday night at a house near the shrine.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials confirm that at least four provincial intelligence service agents have been killed in an attack by Taliban insurgents in eastern Ghazni province. Two provincial officials from eastern Paktika province confirmed on Monday that the deputy provincial director for Paktika, Abdul Wahib Khan, as well as his driver and two other people were killed in the ambush on Sunday. The attack took place when their convoy was travelling from Ghazni toward Paktika province. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to talk about intelligence-related issues. The officials added that there were reports of others being wounded, but the exact number was not known.

BEIJING (AP) — Fed up with the theft of toilet paper from public bathrooms, tourist authorities in China's capital have begun using facial recognition technology to limit how much paper a person can take. The unusual move — part of a "toilet revolution" — is another step in China's vast upgrading of public facilities. Bathrooms at tourist sites, notorious for their primitive conditions and nasty odors, are a special focus of the campaign, a response to a vast expansion in domestic travel and demands for better-quality facilities from a more affluent public. "Today in China, people are highly enthusiastic about tourism, and we have entered a new era of public tourism," said Zhan Dongmei, a researcher with the China Tourism Academy.