Top Asian News 4:48 a.m. GMT

President Donald Trump's inaugural speech promised "America first" policy, but offered no specifics about America's place in the world. The billionaire businessman and reality television star — the first president who had never held political office or high military rank — promised to stir a "new national pride" and protect America from the "ravages" of countries he says have stolen U.S. jobs. "This American carnage stops right here," Trump declared. In a warning to the world, he said, "From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it's going to be America first." A look at some reactions from around the world: ___ CONCERN IN TOKYO Some Tokyo residents are worried that Trump's "America first" policy will usher in an era of populism and protectionism at the expense of the rest of the world.

SYDNEY (AP) — Thousands of Australians are protesting the start of Donald Trump's presidency that many fear could stir up hatred and bigotry. Protesters at the Women's March rally in Sydney's central Hyde Park on Saturday carried placards with slogans including "Women of the world resist," ''Feminism is my trump card" and "Fight like a girl." Organizer Mindy Freiband told the crowd "this is the beginning of something, not the end." She says hatred, bigotry and racism and not only America's problems. Protester Alyssa Smith, who came with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, says she worries about the future after Trump's election.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors on Saturday arrested President Park Geun-hye's culture minister and her former top presidential adviser over allegations that they blacklisted artists critical of the government. Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun and ex-presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon were allegedly involved in the drawing-up of a blacklist of thousands of artists and cultural figures to exclude them from government funding programs. Three other top former officials have already been arrested over the allegation. The arrests of Cho and Kim came as the Seoul Central District Court approved prosecutors' request to arrest them for alleged abuse of power and other charges.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A U.N. human rights envoy on Friday ended a 12-day visit to Myanmar with a bleak evaluation of the government's ability to deal with the problems facing the country's ethnic minorities. U.N. rapporteur Yanghee Lee in a statement before her departure criticized the government's aggressive response to problems including fighting with the Kachin minority in the country's north and a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in the west. Myanmar's military has been accused of human rights abuses in both areas. "The government's response to all of these problems seems to currently be to defend, dismiss and deny. And this response is not only counterproductive but is draining away the hope that had been sweeping the country," she said, adding that she believed it was not too late to reverse the trend.

BANG SAPHAN, Thailand (AP) — Nature regularly taunts the farmers of Thailand by flooding their fields, but this time she's tossed some of them a potential safety net: the chance to pan for gold. Crops in Bang Saphan district, a rural community 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Bangkok, were decimated by heavy flooding that affected much of southern Thailand in the week after New Year's. Villagers' opportunity to eke out a meager living diminished further when the waters destroyed a local market. Over generations, however, the villagers have learned to turn adversity into opportunity. More than two dozen people were searching for gold Thursday morning along the local canal, called Klong Thong, or "Golden Canal." Many brought food and family along, as well as pans for sifting and small glass bottles to hold whatever they might be lucky enough to find.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that he plans to visit the U.S. as soon as possible to meet with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. Speaking on the eve of Trump's inauguration, he called the U.S.-Japan alliance an "unchanging principle" for his country's foreign and security policy. His urgency to meet Trump reflects worries in Japan about how Trump's "America first" policy will affect U.S. commitments to the Asia region, as well as fallout from any heightened tensions with China and North Korea. Abe was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after the U.S. election, making a stop in New York in November on his way to Latin America.

BEIJING (AP) — China's economic growth sank to a three-decade low in 2016 as its struggling exporters brace for a possible trade battle with President-elect Donald Trump. Growth in the quarter ending in December ticked up to 6.8 percent over 2015, supported by government spending and a real estate boom, a gain from the previous quarter's 6.7 percent, government data showed Friday. Still, for the full year, growth came in at a lackluster 6.7 percent, down from 6.9 percent in 2015 and the weakest since 1990's 3.9 percent. That temporary upturn is unlikely to last, economists said. "We expect clearer signs of a renewed slowdown to emerge during the next couple of quarters," said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report.

BEIJING (AP) — China's increasingly powerful navy received a new commander on Friday with the appointment of the former head of the southern fleet responsible for securing the disputed South China Sea. Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong takes command of a sprawling force that is growing in both size and technological sophistication as China seeks to assert its regional maritime claims and project strength far from home. His previous post gives him rich experience dealing with challenges in what is considered a potential powder keg arising from rival territorial claims and China's determination to assert its primacy over a waterway through which an estimated $5 trillion in global trade passes each year.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar authorities have announced the army detained two Kachin Baptist pastors whose disappearance raised concerns for their safety among human rights groups. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Friday that the office of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's leader, said that the two men were suspected of recruiting and spying for Kachin ethnic rebels, as well as spreading false information on their behalf. The two had disappeared last month after showing journalists a Catholic church allegedly damaged in airstrikes by Myanmar government forces. A government spokesman had previously said that the military denied detaining the two men.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida says it is "unacceptable" that the official website for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics refers to disputed isles in the Sea of Japan under the South Korean name "Dokdo." The website introduces the islets by saying, "Dokdo holds a special place in the hearts of Koreans as they hold pride in defending Korea's easternmost reached territory." Japan calls the islets Takeshima and says it has historical evidence backing its sovereignty since at least the 17th century. South Korea has countered that it has far older historical evidence that the islets it calls Dokdo are theirs.