Top Asian News 4:38 p.m. GMT

An American pastor detained in China for nearly 20 years has been released

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Christian pastor from California has been freed from China after nearly 20 years behind bars and is back home in the U.S., the State Department said Monday. David Lin, 68, was detained after he entered China in 2006, later convicted of contract fraud and sentenced to life in prison, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and advocacy groups. “Praise God! We got the call late last night!!! Dad is free and over Alaska now,” the pastor’s daughter, Alice Lin, said by text message Sunday to Bob Fu, a longtime supporter and the founder of China Aid, an U.S.-based advocacy group for persecuted activists in China.