South Korea responds to a missile launch from the North

Today's headlines: Taliban sources confirm the presence of foreign fighters in Afghanistan; Covid shutters Shanghai's Disneyland park; more and more tigers are disappearing across Asia; Kazakhstan open shelters for Russians who escaped mobilisation; the children of Kherson will be moved to Crimea.

KOREA

Both North and South Korea launched missiles that landed in the waters off their respective coasts for the first time. Seoul responded by launching three air-to-surface missiles three hours after rockets from Pyongyang landed less than 60 km from the city of Sokcho. North Korea had threatened the South and the US to end the joint military exercises that are being held these days.

CHINA

Visitors to Disneyland in Shanghai yesterday were locked inside due to a sudden lockdown after 10 new cases were reported over the weekend: local authorities banned entry and only allowed exit by presenting a negative test. No reopening date has been announced. In the meantime, the rides continue to operate.

AFGHANISTAN

Taliban sources confirmed that several foreign nationals believed to be al-Qa'ida members are in Baghlan province. These fighters were repositioned after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, "they are all armed and drive around in the Suvs of the former intelligence forces". Tajikistan, which shares 1,400 km of border with Afghanistan, has repeatedly expressed concern about the situation.

ASIA

More and more tigers are disappearing in Asia. This was reported in a report by the organisation Traffic, which monitors the poaching of endangered species and the illegal trade in wild animals, which is very active in South-East Asia. Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia have seen an increase in the seizure of tigers from facilities where they grow in captivity. In addition, 75% of the social accounts related to poaching are based in Vietnam.

MALAYSIA

The ruling Umno party has excluded eight key allies of Prime Minister Ismail Sabro Yaakob from the list of candidates for the elections scheduled for 19 November. The move indicates that the relationship between the premier and Umno chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who also heads the Barisan Nasional coalition, is increasingly strained. At the moment, the coalition has 166 out of 222 seats in parliament.

EGYPT

The well-known Anglo-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, imprisoned in Egypt, has started a hunger strike before the COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. From Sunday he will also stop drinking water. The activist had already served five years in prison for participating in an unauthorised protest; in 2021 he was sentenced to another five years for 'spreading false news'.

KAZAKHSTAN

In Almaty, Kazakhstan, two shelters were opened for Russians who fled the mobilisation, where they will be able to shelter for up to two weeks free of charge while waiting to find a residence, thanks to funding from the humanitarian association 'The Ark' (Kovčeg), which offers help to needy Russians all over the world.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

More than 4,600 primary and secondary school pupils have been evacuated from the annexed Kherson region of Ukraine to be redistributed to schools in the Crimea and Krasnodar region, as informed by the region's Education Minister Tatiana Kuzmič, where the school year will officially start on 7 November. 

• Asia
• Today