TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — At least 15 JetBlue passengers were injured and taken to the hospital after a sudden drop in altitude on a flight from Mexico forced an emergency landing in Florida, officials said Friday.

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The Thursday flight from Cancun was headed to Newark, New Jersey, when the altitude dropped. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was diverted to Tampa International Airport around 2 p.m. “after the crew experienced a flight control issue.”

Between 15 and 20 people were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Vivian Shedd, a spokesperson for Tampa Fire Rescue.

JetBlue says it has taken the aircraft, an Airbus A320, out of service for inspection. The plane has 162 seats, according to the airline’s website. It wasn’t immediately known how many people were on board.

“We will conduct a full investigation to determine the cause,” JetBlue said in a statement. The FAA says it is also investigating.

Pilots told air traffic control that there had been “a flight control issue” and described injuries including a possible “laceration in the head,” according to audio recorded by LiveATC.net.

Medical personnel met the passengers and crew on the ground at the airport, according to an airport spokesperson.

In June, a JetBlue flight landing at Boston’s Logan International Airport rolled off the runway and into the grass. No one was injured but the runway was temporarily closed.

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, KIM TONG-HYUNG and HUIZHONG WU, Associated Press

GYEONGJU, South Korea (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Asia-Pacific leaders on Friday that his country would help to defend global free trade at an annual economic regional forum snubbed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

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Xi took center stage at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that began Friday in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, as Trump left the country a day earlier after reaching deals with Xi meant to ease their escalating trade war.

This year’s two-day APEC summit has been heavily overshadowed by the Trump-Xi meeting that was arranged on the sidelines.

Trump described his Thursday meeting with Xi as a roaring success, saying he would cut tariffs on China, while Beijing had agreed to allow the export of rare earth elements and start buying American soybeans. Their deals were a relief to a world economy rattled by trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump’s decision to skip APEC fits with his well-known disdain for big, multi-nation forums that have been traditionally used to address global problems. But his blunt dismissal of APEC risks worsening America’s reputation at a forum that represents nearly 40% of the world’s population and more than half of global goods trade.

Xi defends multilateralism

“The more turbulent the times, the more we must work together,” Xi said during APEC’s opening session. “The world is undergoing a period of rapid change, with the international situation becoming increasingly complex and volatile.”

Xi called for maintaining supply chain stability, in a riposte to U.S. efforts to decouple its supply chains from China. He also expressed hopes to work with other countries to expand cooperation in green industries and clean energy.

In written remarks sent to a CEO summit held in conjunction with APEC, Xi said China was open for investment and would uphold the multilateral trading system.

“Facts have proven that whoever gains a foothold in the Chinese market will be able to seize the critical opportunity in increasingly fierce international competition,” Xi wrote. “Investing in China is investing in the future.”

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who attended the summit on Trump’s behalf, said a U.S. move to rebalance its trade relationships would ensure that “each country operates on fair and reciprocal terms.” He added that the U.S. is “investing with its trading partners to build resilient production networks that reduce dependence on vulnerable sectors.”

Xi met other leaders on the sidelines

It’s Xi’s first visit to South Korea in 11 years.

On the sidelines of the summit, Xi had bilateral meetings with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Friday.

In his meeting with Takaichi, Xi said he hopes the two countries would commit to building a constructive and stable relationship “fit for the new era.” Takaichi expressed hopes to ease what she called “a variety of” challenges facing the two countries. She said she also hopes to deepen her personal relationship with Xi.

On Saturday, Xi is to meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung for another one-on-one meeting expected to touch on North Korea’s nuclear program.

APEC faces challenges

Established in 1989 during a period of increased globalization, APEC champions free and open trade and investment to accelerate regional economic integration. But the APEC region now faces challenges like strategic competitions between the U.S. and China, supply chain vulnerabilities, aging populations and the impact of AI on jobs. The U.S. strategy has been shifted to economic competitions with China rather than cooperation, with Trump’s tariff hikes and “America first” agenda shaking markets and threatening decades of globalization and multinationalism.

Leaders and other representatives from 21 Asia-Pacific Rim economies are attending the APEC meeting to discuss how to promote economic cooperation and tackle shared challenges. Opening the summit as chair, Lee called for greater cooperation and solidarity.

“It’s obvious that we can’t always stand on the same side, as our national interests are at stake. But we can join together for the ultimate goal of shared prosperity,” Lee said. “I hope we will have candid and constructive discussions on how we can achieve APEC’s vision in the face of the new challenge of a rapidly changing international economic environment.”

Carney reiterated his government’s plan to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade, as he said that “our world is undergoing one of the most profound shifts since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Despite Trump’s optimism after a 100-minute meeting with Xi, there continues to be the potential for major tensions between the countries, with both seeking dominant places in manufacturing and developing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

“It is certainly a contribution to bring the leaders of the two largest economies together for a meeting where they agreed to withdraw their most extreme tariff and export control threats. As a result, worst-case outcomes for global trade were averted,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

“However, APEC is meant to be more than a venue for a trade war truce,” Easley said. “Greater multilateral efforts are needed to address the region’s most pressing economic challenges, including resisting costly and destabilizing protectionism, harmonizing regulations for sustainable trade, and coordinating standards for digital innovation.”

Host South Korea pushes for joint statement

South Korean officials said they’ve been communicating with other countries to prod all 21 members to adopt a joint statement at the end of the summit so as not to repeat the failure to issue one in 2018 in Papua New Guinea due to U.S.-China discord over trade.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said last week that issuing a joint statement strongly endorsing free trade would be unlikely because of differing positions among APEC members. He instead anticipated a broader declaration emphasizing peace and prosperity in the region.

As the host nation, South Korea placed a priority on discussing AI cooperation and demographic challenges during the summit.

Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

By EILEEN NG

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The U.S. Secretary of Defense said Friday he told his Chinese counterpart during talks in Malaysia that Washington would “stoutly defend” its interests in the Indo-Pacific. He also signed a new agreement aimed at strengthening security ties with India.

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Pete Hegseth described as “good and constructive” his meeting with Chinese Admiral Dong Jun, held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur. He said he raised U.S. concerns over Chinese activities in the South China Sea, around Taiwan and toward U.S. allies and partners in the region.

“I highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on social media platform X. “United States does not seek conflict (but) it will continue to stoutly defend its interests and ensure it has the capabilities in the region to do so.”

China’s defense ministry issued a cautious response, emphasizing its longstanding positions. Dong Jun stressed the reunification of China and Taiwan is an “unstoppable historical trend” and urged the U.S. to be cautious in its words and actions on the Taiwan issue, the statement said.

“We hope the U.S. will translate its statements of not containing China and not seeking conflict into action, and work with China to inject positive energy into regional and global peace and security,” according to the statement.

Their meeting follows a Sept. 9 video call between Hegseth and Dong and reflects ongoing efforts to manage tensions in the Indo-Pacific even as strategic differences, particularly over Taiwan and freedom of navigation, remain pronounced.

Hegseth also met with India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and they signed a 10-year defense framework aimed at expanding military and technological cooperation.

Washington has long sought to develop a deeper partnership with New Delhi, which is seen as a bulwark against China. India is a major defense partner of the U.S and has in recent years embedded advanced American jets, helicopters, missiles and military gear into its armed forces.

“This advances our defense partnership, a cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Our defense ties have never been stronger.”

Singh said the U.S.-India partnership is crucial for ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region. “It is a signal of our growing strategic convergence and will herald a new decade of partnership,” he said on X.

The framework agreement comes amid renewed strains in bilateral ties after President Donald Trump imposed a 50% import tariff on Indian goods in August and criticized New Delhi for continued purchase of discounted Russian oil. India is the second biggest buyer of Russian oil after China.

Hegseth also held talks with his Malaysian and Philippines counterparts.. He reaffirmed committment to maritime security in the South China Sea and said the U.S. would “work relentlessly to reestablish deterrence in the South China Sea.”

Malaysia has previously protested the encroachment of Chinese vessels into its waters but usually prefers quiet diplomacy. That’s in contrast to the neighboring Philippines, which has had major confrontations with China at sea in recent years. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, overlapping claims made by countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Asked to comment about U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to restart nuclear weapon testing for the first time in three decades, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin told a news conference later Friday that ASEAN is a nuclear weapon free zone area and “we try to avoid anything that can bring great calamity to humankind.” He didn’t elaborate.

ASEAN secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn separately said some ASEAN members may seek more details from Hegseth about U.S. nuclear testing at a planned ASEAN-U.S. meeting on Saturday.

“For the security and safety of the world, I think it’s important … to bear in mind that the world should never see the use of another nuclear weapon,” he said.

Trump made the comments Thursday on social media, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China. There was no signs the U.S. would start detonating warheads, but Trump offered few details in what seemed to be a significant shift in U.S. policy.

ASEAN defense ministers will continue talks Saturday with dialogue partners including the United States, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Russia.

Rajesh Roy in New Delhi and Ken Moritsugu and Chen Shihuan in Beijing contributed to this report.

By AAMER MADHANI and EDNA TARIGAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump made sure during his visit to Asia this week to praise regional allies who have backed his push to bring about a permanent end to the Israel-Hamas war.

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As he handed out plaudits, Trump appeared to go out of his way to name-check one leader in particular — Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto — for his help in Gaza.

“I want to thank Malaysia and Brunei as well as my friend, President Prabowo of Indonesia, for their incredible support of these efforts to secure the new day for the Middle East,” Trump told leaders at the Association of Southeast Nations summit in Malaysia. “It really is a new day.”

In the weeks since Israel and Hamas agreed to a fragile ceasefire and hostage deal, Indonesia, which boasts the biggest Muslim population in the world, has emerged as an intriguing partner to a White House keen on making peace in the Middle East a defining legacy of his presidency.

Trump has said that a priority tied to that plan, if the fragile ceasefire can hold, is building on his first-term Abraham Accords effort that forged diplomatic and commercial ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

White House officials believe that a permanent peace agreement in Gaza could pave the way for Indonesia as well as Saudi Arabia — the largest Arab economy and the birthplace of Islam — to normalize ties with Israel, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

For his part, Subianto has shown eagerness to build a relationship with Trump and expand his nation’s global influence.

Earlier in October, at a gathering in Egypt to mark the ceasefire, Subianto was caught on a hot mic talking to the U.S. leader about a Trump family business venture. He appeared to ask Trump to set up a meeting with the president’s son Eric, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, which has two real estate projects underway in Indonesia.

But Indonesia, much like Saudi Arabia, has publicly maintained it can’t move forward on normalizing relations with Israel until there’s a clear pathway set for a Palestinian state.

“Any vision related to Israel must begin with the recognition of Palestinian independence and sovereignty,” said Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang.

Could Trump’s dealmaking pave the way?

There may be a reason for the administration to be hopeful that the ceasefire deal has created an opening for Indonesia to soften its position. The White House might also have some cards it could play as it pitches Subianto.

Jakarta badly wants to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and Trump’s backing would be pivotal. Indonesia views joining the 38-member OECD as an opportunity to raise Indonesia’s international profile, access new markets, and attract investment from other organization members.

Greater U.S. investment in Indonesia’s rare earths industry could also be inviting to Jakarta, which boasts a top-20 world economy.

Indonesia has set its sights on dominating the global nickel market, and is already responsible for about half of the metal used around the world. Demand has skyrocketed as automakers need it for electric vehicle batteries and clean electricity projects that require larger batteries.

“Trump’s transactional dealmaking opens up possibilities that otherwise might not exist,” said Daniel Shapiro, a former top State Department official who worked on Israel-Indonesia normalization efforts during the Biden administration. “If the Indonesians have something they’re seeking from the United States — whether it’s in the realm of tariff relief, other types of trade arrangements, or security arrangements — this could represent an opportunity.”

Indonesia pledged troops and helped with Trump’s 20-point plan

Indonesian officials were among a small group of leaders from Muslim and Arab nations whom the White House used as a sounding board to help the administration fine-tune Trump’s 20-point ceasefire and hostage proposal. And Trump at this week’s summit in Malaysia again conferred with Subianto and other leaders about U.S.-led efforts to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the private leaders’ conversation.

And Subianto, at the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly days before the ceasefire agreement was reached, pledged 20,000 Indonesian troops for a prospective U.N. peacekeeping mission in Gaza. In the remarks, Subianto reiterated his country’s call for “an independent Palestine” but underscored the need to “recognize and guarantee the safety and security of Israel.”

Rabbi Marc Schneier, a president for the interfaith group Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and an advocate of the Abraham Accords effort, said Subianto’s pledge for troops and his rhetoric about Israel suggest that the Indonesian leader could be primed to make the leap.

“Yes, he’s talking about a Palestinian state, but he’s also being clear that he wants a Palestinian state that does not come at the expense of a Jewish state,” Schneier said. “That’s what gives me hope.”

Indonesia’s historic backing of Palestinian state

Trump met with Subianto and other leaders soon after the U.N. remarks, and seemed as impressed with the Indonesian president’s style as he was with the pledge to a peacekeeping mission. Trump said he particularly enjoyed watching Subianto “banging on that table” in his U.N. speech.

But Subianto is likely to face deep skepticism from the Indonesian public on Israel normalization efforts.

Indonesian leaders, dating to the Republic’s first president, Sukarno, have sought to burnish an image of “a country that leads the fight against world colonialism,” said Dina Sulaeman, a scholar at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia. The country had a protracted struggle for independence, freeing itself from Dutch colonial rule in its late 1940s revolution.

Indonesian leaders’ historical support for Palestinian statehood is also at odds with the current government in Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which remains adamantly opposed to a two-state solution.

“So, if Indonesia suddenly wants to join the Abraham Accords and normalize Israel’s occupation of Palestine, the good image that the Indonesian government has built … over decades will collapse,” Sulaeman said.

The Trump administration had talks with the Indonesians about joining the Abraham Accords in its first term. The Biden administration, which tried to pick up on the normalization effort, also had “serious talks” with the Indonesians, Shapiro said.

Shapiro said he was directly involved in talks between the Biden administration and senior Indonesian officials about using a November 2023 state visit by then Indonesian President Joko Widodo to offer preliminary announcements “about moving forward” on a normalization effort. But the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel scuttled the effort.

“My judgment is there is good possibility, assuming the ceasefire holds,” Shapiro said of Trump’s chances of getting Jakarta to sign the accords. “How and when that deal can begin to take shape — that remains to be seen.”

Tarigan reported from Jakarta.