Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, May 4

South Korean media outlets on Thursday harshly criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to revise the so-called pacifist constitution, demanding a complete renunciation of war.

As Japan marked the 70th anniversary of its constitution on Wednesday, Abe said he planned to amend the constitution by 2020 to make clear the status of its military, known as Self-Defense Forces (SDF). (South Korea-Japan-Criticism)

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NEW DELHI -- India test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-II ballistic missile on Thursday, state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) reported.

The missile was fired from wheeler Island, off the coast in eastern state of Odisha. According to the broadcaster, the missile has a strike range of 2,000 km. (India-Missile)

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KABUL -- Gulbudin Hekmatyar, leader of Afghanistan's Hizb-e-Islami, or Islamic Party, is due to return to Kabul on Thursday, ending decades of exile and fighting against the government, said a statement released by the presidential palace.

"President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is scheduled to deliver a speech at the ceremony to welcome Hekmatyar," the statement said. (Afghanistan-Hekmatyar)

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MANILA -- A Philippine Air Force pilot and two crewmen died and another pilot was injured when their UH-1D helicopter crashed during a military exercise in Tanay town in Rizal, east of Manila on Thursday afternoon.

Lt. Xy-zon Meneses, spokesman of the Army's second Infantry Division, said the aircraft crashed at around 3 p.m. local time in Sitio Hilltop in barangay Sampaloc while preparing to land at a vacant lot. (Philippines-Helicopter crash) Endit