Top Asian News 12:37 a.m. GMT

North Korea boasts of ‘the world’s strongest’ missile, but experts say it’s too big to use in war

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea boasted Friday that the new intercontinental ballistic missile it just test-launched is “the world’s strongest,” a claim seen as pure propaganda after experts assessed it as being too big to be useful in a war situation. The ICBM launched Thursday flew higher and for a longer duration than any other weapon North Korea has tested. But foreign experts say the test failed to show North Korea has mastered some of the last remaining technological hurdles to possess functioning ICBMs that can strike the mainland U.S. The North’s Korean Central News Agency identified the missile as a Hwasong-19 and called it “the world’s strongest strategic missile” and “the perfected weapon system.” The official media outlet said leader Kim Jong Un observed the launch, describing it as an expression of North Korea’s resolve to respond to external threats to North Korea’s security.

Taiwanese driver recounts his narrow escape during Typhoon Kong-rey

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A ride-hailing driver recounted Friday how he had narrow escape when a huge tree smashed onto his vehicle as Typhoon Kong-rey swept over Taiwan, also sweeping away metal roofs and sending landslides onto roads and railway tracks and into houses. Song Zi-jie had just dropped off riders in Taipei, the capital city, and was stopped at a red light on Thursday night when a tree was uprooted and fell squarely onto the passenger compartment of his car. He felt the roof hit his head and reclined his seat but couldn’t open the rear door. He lay there until police found him.

Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh rally to demand protection from attacks

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of minority Hindus rallied Friday to demand that the interim government in Muslim-majority Bangladesh protect them from a wave of attacks and harassment and drop sedition cases against Hindu community leaders. About 30,000 Hindus demonstrated at a major intersection in the southeastern city of Chattogram, chanting slogans demanding their rights while police and soldiers guarded the area. Other protests were reported elsewhere in the country. Hindu groups say there have been thousands of attacks against Hindus since early August, when the secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown and Hasina fled the country following a student-led uprising.

Australian judge rules senator broke race law by telling rival legislator to return to Pakistan

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge ruled Friday that anti-immigration party leader Sen. Pauline Hanson breached a racial anti-discrimination law by crudely telling Pakistan-born Sen. Mehreen Faruqi to return to her homeland. Faruqi sued Hanson in Federal Court over a 2022 exchange on the social media platform X, then called Twitter, under a provision of the Racial Discrimination Act that bans public actions and statements that offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate people because of their race, color or national or ethnic origin. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Faruqi, deputy leader of the Australian Greens party, posted, “I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonized peoples.” Hanson, the leader of the One Nation party, replied that Faruqi had immigrated to take “advantage” of Australia, and told the Lahore-born Muslim to return to Pakistan, using an expletive.

Toxic smog cloaks India’s capital as Diwali firecrackers push air pollution to hazardous levels

NEW DELHI (AP) — A thick layer of toxic smog cloaked India’s capital on Friday as smoke from firecrackers used to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, pushed air pollution to hazardous levels. New Delhi’s air quality index plunged into the “severe” category, according to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency. In many areas, levels of deadly particulate matter reached seven times the World Health Organization’s safety limit. Authorities in the capital have banned the use and sale of traditional firecrackers since 2017, asking people to opt for environmentally friendly ones or light shows instead, but the rule is often flouted.

Spiritual, not spooky. After Halloween, Christians observe All Saints’ Day

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — It’s the time of year — tradition says — when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is lifted. That traditional belief has morphed over the centuries into the spooky and secular celebration of Halloween. But on Friday, Christians in many countries around the world are celebrating All Saints’ Day, a somber and spiritual day in the church’s liturgical calendar that shares pagan roots with Halloween. The word “Halloween” derives from “All Hallows Eve,” which means the eve of All Saints’ Day, a holiday that has also been known as All Hallows. It honors martyrs and saints — those who were hallowed, or deemed holy — a tradition begun by the Roman Catholic church in the early medieval period.

Japan and EU announce a security and defense partnership as regional tensions rise

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and the European Union announced a security and defense partnership on Friday as they seek to step up military ties, including joint exercises and exchanges between their defense industries, amid growing tensions with China, North Korea and Russia. It is the first security partnership that the EU has concluded with an Indo-Pacific country, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters. “We live in a very dangerous world. We live in a world of growing rivalries, climate accidents and threats of war. And there is only one antidote to this challenging world, which is partnerships among friends,” Borrell said.

British businessman to remain in custody on charge of killing Indonesian woman in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AP) — A British businessman was ordered Friday to remain in custody after being charged with murder in Hong Kong over the death of an Indonesian woman at a park waterfall. Jamie Tzewee Chapman, 34, did not enter a plea in the court appearance and his lawyer did not request bail. The judge adjourned the case to January to allow time for further investigation. Chapman and his wife, a Hong Konger, were arrested Tuesday when they returned to the city from mainland China. His wife had been held on suspicion of assisting an offender before being released on bail pending further investigation, police said Thursday.

Minnesota farm town reshaped by migrants wrestles with real changes beyond the political vitriol

WORTHINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Two Guatemalans wearing traditional embroidered skirts bought coconut boba teas on an October afternoon at the bustling downtown Asian market. In decades past, the building served as this rural town’s hardware store where farmers shopped for hammers, nuts and bolts. Over the past generation, immigrants from Southeast Asia, East Africa and now predominantly Central America have transformed this once overwhelmingly white community on the vast prairie. Students of color constitute more than 80% of those enrolled in K-12, Spanish is most children’s first language, and soccer is far more popular than football. “ Literally everything has changed,” said Chad Cummings, a city councilor and co-owner of the local radio stations — including a new 24/7 Spanish-language one.

Bomb targeting police assigned for polio drive kills 9 people, including 5 children, in SW Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in restive southwest Pakistan on Friday, killing nine people including five nearby children, and wounding 17 other people, officials said. Local police chief Fateh Mohammad said the attack occurred in Mastung, a district in Balochistan province. He said a motorized rickshaw carrying schoolchildren was nearby when the bombing happened, resulting in the deaths of five children, a police officer and two passersby. Some of the wounded were moved to a hospital in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, said Wasim Baig, a spokesman for the health department.