Asia Pacific

Tuvalu’s Minister of Climate Change Maina Talia has told Al Jazeera that his country is fighting to stay above rising sea levels and needs “real commitments” from other countries that will allow Tuvaluans to “stay in Tuvalu” as the climate crisis worsens.

The low-lying nation of nine atolls and islands, which is situated between Australia and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, is fighting to maintain its sovereignty by exploring new avenues in international diplomacy.

But, right now, the country needs help just to stay above water.

“Coming from a country that is barely not one metre above the sea, reclaiming land and building sea walls and building our resilience is the number one priority for us,” Talia told Al Jazeera in an interview during the recent United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“We cannot delay any more. Climate finance is important for our survival,” Talia said.

“It’s not about building [over the] next two or three years to come, but right now, and we need it now, in order for us to respond to the climate crisis,” he said.

Talia, who is also Tuvalu’s minister of home affairs and the environment, said the issue of financing will be a key issue at the upcoming UN COP30 climate meeting in Belem, in the Brazilian Amazon, in November.

‘You pollute, you pay’

Tuvalu is one of many countries already pushing for a better deal on climate financing at this year’s COP, after many advocates left last year’s meeting in Azerbaijan disappointed by the unambitious $300bn target set by richer countries.

Describing the COP climate meeting as having become more like a “festival for the oil-producing countries”, Talia said Tuvalu is also exploring a range of alternative initiatives, from a push to create the world’s first fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty to seeking to add its entire cultural heritage to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Representatives of oil-producing countries are now attending the COP climate meetings in “big numbers”, Talia said, in order to try and “really bury our voice as small developing countries”.

“They take control of the narrative. They take control of the process. They try to water down all the texts. They try to put a stop to climate finance,” Talia said.

“It’s about time that we should call out to the world that finance is important for us to survive,” he said.

“The polluter pay principle is still there. You pollute, you pay,” he added.

Talia also said that it was frustrating to see his own country struggling to survive, while other countries continue to spend billions of dollars on weapons for current and future wars.

“Whilst your country is facing this existential threat, it’s quite disappointing to see that the world is investing billions and trillions of dollars in wars, in conflicts,” he said.

A report released this week by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) found that 39 small island countries, which are home to some 65 million people, already need about $12bn a year to help them cope with the effects of climate change.

That figure is many times more than the roughly $2bn a year they are collectively receiving now, and which represents just 0.2 percent of the amount spent on global climate finance worldwide.

GCA, a Rotterdam-based nonprofit organisation, also found that island states are already experiencing an average $1.7bn in annual economic losses due to climate change.

Tuvalu is not only focused on its own survival – the island state is considered to be facing one of the most severe existential threats from rising sea levels – it is also continuing to find ways to fight climate change globally.

“That’s why Tuvalu is leading the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Talia said.

About 16 countries have now signed on to the treaty, with Colombia offering to host the first international conference for the phase-out of fossil fuels next year.

“We see its relevance for us,” Talia said of the treaty.

“We want to grow in number in order for us to come up with a treaty, apart from the Paris Agreement,” he said.

‘We need to hold the industrialised countries accountable’

Even as Tuvalu, a country with a population of less than 10,000 people, is fighting for immediate action on climate change, it is also making preparations for its own uncertain future, including creating a digital repository of its culture so that nothing is lost to the sea.

Talia, who is also Tuvalu’s minister for culture, said that he made the formal preliminary submission to UNESCO two weeks before the UNGA meeting for “the whole of Tuvalu to be listed” on the World Heritage List.

“If we are to disappear, which is something that we don’t want to anticipate, but if worst comes to worst, at least you know our values, our culture, heritage, are well secured,” he told Al Jazeera.

Likewise, Talia said his country doesn’t see its 2023 cooperation pact with Australia, which also includes the world’s first climate change migration visa, as an indication that the island’s future is sealed.

“I don’t look at the Falepili Agreement as a way of escaping the issue of climate change, but rather a pathway,” he said.

“A pathway that we will allow our people in Tuvalu to get good education, trained, and then return home,” he said, referring to the agreement giving some Tuvaluans access to education, healthcare and unlimited travel to Australia.

The agreement text includes an acknowledgement from both parties that “the statehood and sovereignty of Tuvalu will continue, and the rights and duties inherent thereto will be maintained, notwithstanding the impact of climate change-related sea level rise”.

Talia also said that a recent ruling from the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, declared that states have a responsibility to address climate change by cooperating to cut emissions, following through on climate agreements, and protecting vulnerable populations and ecosystems from harm.

The ICJ ruling “really changed the whole context of climate change debates”, Talia said.

“The highest court has spoken, the highest court has delivered the judgement,” he said of the case, which was brought before the ICJ by Tuvalu’s neighbour Vanuatu.

“So it’s just a matter of, how are we going to live that, or weave that, into our climate policies,” he said.

“We need to hold the industrialised countries accountable to their actions,” he added.

Saudi Arabia beat Indonesia 3-2 while Qatar and Oman end goalless as fourth round of qualifiers begin.

Saudi Arabia have fought back to earn a 3-2 win over Indonesia in Group B of Asia’s World Cup qualifiers as Feras Al-Brikan’s double boosted their hopes of securing a place at next year’s finals in North America.

Kevin Diks put Indonesia ahead from the spot in the 11th minute on Wednesday, but Saleh Abu Al-Shamat levelled six minutes later before Al-Brikan scored either side of half-time to secure the points despite a second Diks penalty two minutes from time.

Saudi Arabia next face Iraq in Jeddah on Tuesday and know that a win over Graham Arnold’s side will guarantee their place in December’s draw for the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Indonesia and Iraq will face one another on Saturday.

The Indonesians went in front when Hassan Al-Tambakhti stuck out an arm as Dean James swung in his free kick from the right and Diks stepped up to clinically place his spot kick beyond Nawaf Al-Aqidi.

The lead was short-lived as Al-Shamat steered his right-footed strike from the edge of the area beyond Maarten Paes’s dive to his left.

With nine minutes left in the half, the home side went in front. Yakob Sayuri’s needless pull on Al-Brikan’s shirt saw referee Ahmad Al-Ali called to the pitch-side monitor, and the Kuwaiti awarded a penalty that Al-Brikan slammed home.

Al-Brikan put the result beyond doubt in the 62nd minute with a clinical close-range finish.

Paes threw himself to his right to keep out Musab Al-Juwayr’s low drive only for Al-Brikan to pounce on the rebound and send the ball back under the body of the Indonesia goalkeeper.

Diks struck again from the penalty spot after Nawaf Bu Washl hit the ball with his arm as he went down in his own area in a tussle with Ole Romeny while Mohammed Kanno’s injury-time red card made for a nervous finish for Herve Renard’s side.

Qatar’s World Cup hopes hit by plucky Oman

Oman kept hosts Qatar at bay to earn a 0-0 draw in the countries’ opening clash in Group A of the fourth round of Asia’s World Cup preliminaries earlier on Wednesday, denting both nations’ hopes of automatic qualification for the 2026 finals.

Qatar captain Akram Afif went closest to claiming the points for Julen Lopetegui’s side at Doha’s Jassim bin Hamad Stadium when he wastefully steered his shot wide 49 minutes into a tense game of few chances.

The Carlos Queiroz-coached Omanis, who are looking to qualify for the World Cup for the first time, will face the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in the next game in the three-team group. Qatar will take on the Emiratis on Tuesday.

The winners of the group will qualify directly for the finals while the team finishing second advances to a playoff with the runner-up from Group B, which is being played in Saudi Arabia.

Qatar dominated the opening exchanges but struggled to turn that superiority into opportunities. Only midfielder Boualem Khoukhi threatened the Oman goal with a strike from distance in the 13th minute that flew wide of the target.

The Omanis were largely kept on the back foot although Issam Al-Sabhi did fashion an opening in the 27th minute that goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada gathered, and Amjad Al-Harthi steered a header over the bar late in the half.

Afif should have put the hosts ahead soon after the interval when the Omanis gifted him possession in their own half, but the Asian Player of the Year uncharacteristically side-footed his shot the wrong side of the post.

Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Jordan and Uzbekistan have already claimed six of Asia’s eight guaranteed berths at the expanded 48-team finals. A possible ninth spot is available via an intercontinental playoff in March.

At least three people have died and several are missing after torrential rain from Typhoon Matmo caused widespread flooding across northern Vietnam.

Masanaga Kageyama was on a flight to Chile for the Under-20 World Cup when the crew raised the alarm.

A senior Japanese Football Association official has been sentenced to an 18-month suspended jail term in France for “viewing child pornography images” during a plane journey.

Masanaga Kageyama, the association’s technical director, was arrested during a stopover at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on the way to Chile last week, according to Le Parisien newspaper.

It is believed he was heading to Chile for the Under-20 World Cup.

“The facts were discovered by the plane’s flight crew, who raised the alarm after noticing that the convicted man was viewing child pornography images on the plane,” the court prosecutor’s office in Bobigny, north of Paris, said on Tuesday.

The court sentenced the 58-year-old on Monday to a suspended jail term of 18 months and a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,830) for importing, possessing, recording or saving pornographic images of a minor below the age of 15.

His sentence includes a ban on working with minors for 10 years and a ban on returning to France for the period.

Kageyama will also be added to the French national sex offenders’ register.

Le Parisien reported that flight attendants caught him viewing the images on his laptop in the business class cabin of an Air France flight.

He claimed to be an artist and insisted the photos had been generated by artificial intelligence.

During his court appearance, the report said, Kageyama admitted viewing the images, saying he did not realise it was illegal in France and that he was ashamed.

He was held in police custody over the weekend until his court appearance on Monday. He was released after the hearing.

Kageyama is responsible for implementing measures to strengthen Japan’s football teams, including the national team, as well as educating coaches and nurturing youth players.

He was a professional J-League footballer himself and also coached several J-League clubs. He had also managed Japan’s under-20, under-19 and under-18 teams.

Pukpuk treaty commits the two neighbours to greater military cooperation, although the text is yet to be released.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG) James Marape have signed a mutual defence treaty in Canberra, with the leaders saying the text of the agreement will be available soon.

Marape told reporters on Monday in the Australian capital that the treaty was drawn up “out of geography, history and the enduring reality of our shared neighbourhood”.

“It is about one bigger fence that secures two houses that has its own yard space,” Marape said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The Papua New Guinean leader disagreed that the pact was drawn up due to broader geopolitical issues, in an apparent reference to the military interests of countries like China and the United States in the Pacific region.

“This treaty was not conceived out of geopolitics or any other reason,” Marape said.

“We maintain friendships to all enemies, we advocate peace wherever we engage, in as far as foreign relations concern,” PNG’s leader added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the treaty “makes very explicit” that there will be “interoperability” between the two neighbouring countries’ “defence assets”, adding that “our greatest asset is our people”.

The ABC reported that this meant the two countries would share the same rights as current members of the Five Eyes agreement, which Australia shares with Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US.

Marape’s office said last week that the agreement will create a path for 10,000 Papua New Guineans to serve in the Australian Defence Force, as his country also aims to build up its own defence force to 7,000 troops.

Papua New Guinea has a population of some 12 million people, of which about 40 percent live below the poverty line, in stark contrast to its richer neighbour, Australia.

The signing of the Pukpuk treaty comes weeks after Papua New Guinea celebrated 50 years of independence from Australia, which assumed control of its northern neighbour as a colonial power in 1902, after both countries were colonised by the UK.

In August 2013, Australia signed a memorandum of understanding with Papua New Guinea, which saw thousands of migrants arriving in Australia by boat detained on Manus Island in offshore detention.

The controversial detention centre closed in 2017, leaving hundreds of refugees stranded.

Australia is also seeking to sign a security agreement with Fiji, after a similar agreement covering both security and climate change with Vanuatu stalled last month.

Australia also recently signed a landmark treaty with Tuvalu, the world’s first agreement offering visas to help people facing displacement due to the climate crisis to resettle.

Climate change remains a key security concern for many countries in the region, with Australia bidding to host the 2026 UN COP climate change meeting, alongside its Pacific neighbours.

The bid has yet to materialise as Turkiye is also formally campaigning to host the same meeting.

Sidoarjo, Indonesia – Sixteen-year-old Muhammad Royhan Firdaus had just finished praying on the first floor of the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Javan city of Sidoarjo on Monday when something struck him on the head.

When he looked up, he saw pieces of the ceiling falling upon him and the other boys, all aged 12 to 18.

“I thought it was an earthquake,” he said. “We all started to run.”

But it wasn’t an earthquake.

For several weeks, construction work had been taking place at the school, where builders were pouring concrete on two upper floors. The weight of the concrete caused the building to collapse in layers that Indonesian officials described as resembling a “pancake”.

Muhammad fell several times as he fled and was hit by debris, including large chunks of crumbling cement. Fuelled by adrenaline, he said he felt “nothing at the time” but once he was outside and had collapsed on the ground, he realised his leg was broken. He had also fractured his shoulder so severely that doctors at Siti Fajar Hospital in Sidoarjo had to insert a metal pin to hold it together.

While more than 100 students managed to flee the building, as of Sunday, the number confirmed killed had risen to 40.

Rescue teams are still trying to recover bodies, with about 27 more students thought to be under the rubble. On Thursday, it was announced that thermal drones had found “no further signs of life”.

‘A tragic accident’

In the aftermath of the deadly incident, questions have been raised about the safety of the structure and why construction work was going on while students were inside.

But neither Muhammad nor his mother, Yuni, had any concerns about him returning to the school, where he had studied since he was 12.

“I am not scared to go back to the school,” Muhammad said as his mother expressed hope that he could continue his studies there once it has been rebuilt.

“We consider this a tragic accident,” Yuni added, explaining that she had no desire to blame school authorities.

All but one of the dozen parents Al Jazeera spoke to said they want their child to return to the school.

Syamsul Arifin, who teaches the sociology of religion at Muhammadiyah University in the nearby city of Malang, explained that Islamic boarding schools like Al-Khoziny play an important role in conservative religious communities, and it is against this backdrop that the reluctance to attribute blame must be understood.

“While parents may be understandably shocked or saddened by the incident, they are unlikely to want to blame the owners or leaders of the school where there is essentially a patron and client relationship,” he said.

These schools offer “a sacred canopy for students that protects and comforts them, which is why their parents submit to the leaders [of the schools] completely,” Arifin added.

‘Religious authority’

Indonesia has more than 30,000 Islamic boarding schools, known as pesantren, where students live in dormitories and study under religious scholars called kyai, or ustadz.

Pesantren focus on religious education, although many, like Al-Khoziny, also teach secular subjects.

In East Java province alone, there are almost 7,000 pesantren.

“Kyai and ustadz are incredibly well respected, particularly in [conservative areas like] East Java because they are considered people of great knowledge and wisdom,” Arifin explained.

They also play a central role in community life, with others regularly consulting them for spiritual guidance, he added.

“They are considered closer to God because of how religious they are, which is why people have such extraordinary respect for them.

“So when something like this happens that raises questions about a potential lack of safety, parents revert to theology and a very traditional way of thinking about religious authority.”

Al-Khoziny was established in 1927, and several of the “founding fathers” of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organisation in the world, taught or studied there, Arifin said. This helped to cement its position “as a centre of religious knowledge and spirituality”.

‘Hoping for a miracle’

Muhammad Ali studied at Al-Khoziny just as his father had before him. That was why he chose to send his own son, 14-year-old Muhammad Fajri Ali, to the school.

The boy was in the school when it collapsed and has not yet been found. Ali has been camping at the site since he heard about the collapse on social media on Monday.

“I am hoping for a miracle,” he said.

Ali explained that senior members of the school’s leadership had met with the parents and apologised.

“Before we gathered to see them, we [the parents of the missing students] held a meeting and decided as a group that we would not blame the school or anyone else for what happened,” he said.

“I shook hands with [the school leadership] and they hugged me,” Ali said, adding, “It was the will of God.”

Mohammad Abduh, a lecturer in civil engineering at Muhammadiyah University, has analysed images of the destroyed building and believes it is likely that the construction work on the school’s upper floors caused the collapse.

“This immediately caused a weakness in the structure, particularly when pouring things like cement, which causes vibration and takes time to dry,” he explained, adding that it was also possible that the pillars used to support the structure were not big enough to hold up the upper floors.

“Often in Indonesia, we see a phenomenon of ‘living structures’ where floors or rooms are added to existing buildings over time. This can become a problem if it was not the plan from the outset,” he said.

“In this case, it may have been that they wanted to add bedrooms or classrooms, but without thinking of the added weight of the floors.”

The school was reportedly building a prayer room and ablutions area on the upper floors.

“Whatever the case, when building works are ongoing, no one should be doing any other activities inside,” Abduh explained.

Rescued trekkers reach China’s Qudang township while 200 others still face treacherous Everest conditions awaiting help.

Rescuers have guided more than 350 people to safety after they were stranded by blizzard-like conditions on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.

In total, more than 500 people were caught by surprise when unusually heavy snow and rainfall lashed them on the way in the Tingri region of Tibet, one of the main routes to ascend the world’s tallest mountain.

Those rescued on Sunday were taken to the small township of Qudang, on the Tibetan side of the peak, CCTV reported.

Some 200 trekkers who remained stranded in treacherous conditions as of Sunday were due to arrive in Qudang in stages under the guidance and assistance of rescuers organised by the local government, CCTV reported.

The CCTV report did not indicate whether local guides and support staff accompanying the trekking parties had been accounted for. It was also unclear if trekkers near the north face of Everest, also in Tibet, had been affected or not.

Heavy snowfall in the valley, which lies at an elevation averaging 4,200 metres (13,800 feet), began on Friday evening and persisted throughout Saturday.

Ticket sales and entry to the entire Everest Scenic Area were suspended from late Saturday, according to notices on the official WeChat accounts of the local Tingri County Tourism Company.

“It was so wet and cold in the mountains, and hypothermia was a real risk,” said Chen Geshuang, who was part of an 18-strong trekking team that made it to Qudang.

“The weather this year is not normal. The guide said he had never encountered such weather in October. And it happened all too suddenly,” Chen told the Reuters news agency.

In neighbouring Nepal, Sherpa communities have been adapting to increasingly unpredictable conditions as climate change contributes to more frequent and dramatic climate shifts in the Himalayas, posing risks to climbers and the Sherpa communities who work there.

In a situation update shared on Sunday, Nepal’s Tourism Board said that search and rescue operations were ongoing after the weather “improved significantly” across Nepal, with “clear skies in Kathmandu and many other parts of Nepal”.

The update came after heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods across Nepal, killing at least 47 people since Friday.

Thirty-five people died in separate landslides in the eastern Ilam district bordering India. Nine people were reported missing after being swept away by floodwaters, and three others were killed in lightning strikes elsewhere in the country.

The floods and landslides in the mountainous regions come as South Asian countries continue to battle ongoing floods, including in Pakistan, where some four million people have been affected.

Red Bull’s Verstappen finished second, and McLaren’s Norris, finishing third, now has a 22-point lead in the drivers’ standings.

George Russell of Mercedes has won the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, as McLaren clinched the Formula One constructors’ championship.

Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen and the two McLarens were to fight it out for the other podium spots on Sunday as Briton Russell took the chequered flag under the lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit to claim his second victory of the season.

“It feels amazing,” said Russell. “We don’t really know where this performance came from, but really, really happy.

“I was really nervous at the beginning when I saw Max on the soft [tyres], but that first stint was great from us.”

Norris put pressure on Verstappen towards the end of the race, but had to settle for third ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, the pair earning enough points to seal a second consecutive constructors’ title for the team.

“It was a tough race,” said Norris. “Max didn’t make any mistakes. I gave it my all today, and got close.

“I’m happy with today. I got forward two positions. We won as a team, the constructors’ once again.”

Piastri’s lead over Norris in the drivers’ standings was cut to 22 points, while Verstappen is 63 points behind the Australian with six races remaining in the season.

“I think second was the maximum result today,” said Verstappen.

“I think the whole race was quite difficult, more difficult than I hoped for, for a lot of different reasons.”

The celebrations for the constructors’ title in the McLaren garage might be muted, however, with Piastri fuming at the way Norris forced his way past his teammate on the opening corner.

Kimi Antonelli was a distant fifth in the other Mercedes with Charles Leclerc sixth ahead of his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Fernando Alonso was eighth for Aston Martin, while Haas driver Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz, who started at the back of the grid after the Williams cars were disqualified from qualifying, took the final points in ninth and 10th.

The crown is secured 👑🔐

McLaren win their second consecutive Constructors’ Championship, but it’s still all to play for behind 👇#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/QOIH6jfKEr

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 5, 2025

Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer won his first career MotoGP after newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez and polesitter Marco Bezzecchi collided on opening lap.

Rookie Fermin Aldeguer earned the first victory of his fledgling MotoGP career at the Indonesia Grand Prix, while newly crowned champion Marc Marquez crashed out and was injured after a crunching collision with Marco Bezzecchi.

Gresini Racing rider Aldeguer surged past KTM’s Pedro Acosta to take the lead on the 10th lap, eventually finishing well clear of the competition on Sunday.

The win will have helped Aldeguer erase the pain of his second-placed finish in Saturday’s sprint, where he led for most of the 13-lap race before finishing second behind Bezzecchi.

Acosta finished second, with Aldeguer’s teammate Alex Marquez completing the podium.

Aldeguer is the first rookie to win a MotoGP race since Jorge Martin achieved the feat at the Austrian Grand Prix in 2021. His victory at the Indonesian Grand Prix makes the 20-year-old the second youngest MotoGP winner in history.

Marc Marquez crashes, suffers collarbone injury

Pole-sitter Bezzecchi had an awful start to the race, finding himself in sixth place after the first two turns, and the Aprilia rider was a touch too forceful in his desperation to climb back up into the lead.

As he charged back into the fray, Bezzecchi nudged the rear of Marquez’s Ducati and the pair hurtled into the gravel at high speed, with Marquez appearing to be in significant discomfort after the fall.

The Spaniard, who won his seventh MotoGP championship at last week’s Japanese Grand Prix, was hunched over on the side of the track for a couple of minutes before staggering to his feet and lurching away while clutching his shoulder.

The crash continued a dreadful streak of luck for Marquez at the Mandalika International Circuit, where he has never been able to finish a Grand Prix in four attempts.

There did not appear to be any bad blood between Bezzecchi and Marquez, however, as they shared a quick handshake before Marquez was taken to the medical centre.

Post race, it was revealed that Marquez had suffered a collarbone injury as a result of a collision with Bezzecchi, the team said.

“As a result of today’s crash at Indonesian GP, Marc Marquez has suffered an injury to his right collarbone,” Ducati said in a statement on social media.

“The Spanish rider will travel tonight to Madrid (Spain) for further medical tests and to decide on the treatment to follow.”

The injury was on the shoulder of the arm Marquez fractured in the 2020 July season-opening Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, which ruled him out for an extended period and required several surgeries.

Ducati’s afternoon then went from bad to worse a few laps later when two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia’s bike slipped out from underneath him and dumped him onto the asphalt.

The Italian, who has endured a torrid campaign this year, cut a frustrated figure as he looked up to the sky and gestured angrily with folded hands.

Earlier on Sunday, KTM Ajo’s Jose Antonio Rueda won the Moto3 race in Indonesia to clinch the 2025 title.

A shocking murder rocks South Korea when a young woman, obsessed with true crime stories, kills a random stranger to satisfy her darkest curiosity. But how can fascination with real-life murder cases spiral into deadly actions?

Are true crime podcasts and shows fueling dangerous fantasies? Can constant exposure to violence blur the line between entertainment and reality? We investigate the chilling case, examine the media’s responsibility, and ask: Does true crime content do more harm than good?

In this episode:
-Dr. Alex Taek-Gwang Lee, professor of cultural studies at Kyong Hee University
-Craig Wainwright, victim of false allegations

Kim Jong Un says Pyongyang will counter the buildup of US forces in the Korean Peninsula.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to develop additional military measures and allocate more strategic assets to respond to the buildup of US forces in the south, as the country prepares for a major anniversary parade.

“In direct proportion to the buildup of US forces in [South] Korea, our strategic interest in the region has also increased, and we have accordingly allocated special assets to key targets of interest,” Kim was quoted in a report published by the state media KCNA on Sunday.

Kim’s latest statement comes just days after South Korea reported that Pyongyang has accumulated large quantities of highly-enriched and weapons-grade uranium, signalling a sharp increase in the country’s stockpile of nuclear material.

“I believe our enemies should be concerned about the direction their security environment is evolving,” Kim said at a military exhibition event ahead of the parade.

North Korea “will undoubtedly develop additional military measures” to prepare to respond to the buildup of US forces, he added without elaborating further.

In recent weeks, Kim had directed top officials to strengthen the nation’s “nuclear shield and sword”, saying only a “nuclear counteraction” could safeguard his country’s security.

On Friday, October 10, Kim is set to lead a large-scale military parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. At this event, the country is also expected to display its latest weaponry and other military hardware.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted analysts as saying that Pyongyang may showcase the next-generation Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile during the parade.

It added that North Korea could also test-launch the same weaponry around the date leading to the anniversary.

Yonhap quoted South Korea’s military as saying “there are signs” that Pyongyang is preparing to welcome tens of thousands of people at the parade, which will be held on the night of October 10.

South Korea stated that it has also detected movements of vehicles and some military equipment, but did not provide further details.

Kim has maintained a hardline rhetoric towards South Korea and its close ally, the United States, despite signs of diplomatic outreach from US President Donald Trump and Seoul.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung, who took office in June, has also promised a more dovish approach towards Pyongyang compared with his hawkish predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol.

North Korea has also been tightening military ties with Russia and has been supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine by sending troops and artillery.

Kim has also been deepening alignment with China and recently travelled to Beijing to attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Putin.

Authorities say they are using heavy equipment to look for the 49 people who remain missing.

The death toll from the collapse of a boarding school in Indonesia’s East Java province has risen to 14, according to officials, as rescuers battle to recover dozens of students believed still buried under the rubble.

Hundreds of students, most of them teenage boys, were inside the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the town of Sidoarjo when it collapsed on Monday, initially killing at least five students and injuring about 100.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Suharyanto told reporters on Saturday that rescuers found nine bodies on Friday, raising the death toll to 14.

“As of today, we are still searching for 49 people who are still missing,” said Suharyanto, who goes by one name, as reported by broadcaster Kompas TV.

More victims could be found, Suharyanto said, as rescuers moved to use heavy machinery to clear locations where the victims were believed to be buried underneath the rubble.

“After the last victim was found last night, we are focusing on a massive cleanup, with heavy equipment entering the collapsed areas,” he said.

Suharyanto said victim identification had been complicated by the fact that most of the victims were under 18 and did not have government identity cards or fingerprint records.

“Some of the bodies were too badly damaged to be recognised visually,” he said.

The total number of victims recorded is 167, of which 104 have been found and are safe, said Abdul Muhari, head of the Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre at the BNPB.

Fourteen survivors are receiving hospital treatment, while 89 have been discharged. One has been transferred to another hospital, added Muhari.

The school collapse was so violent that it sent tremors across the neighbourhood, according to residents.

Investigators have been looking into the cause of the collapse, but initial signs pointed to substandard construction, experts have said.

The rescue operation was complex because vibrations in one place could affect other areas, officials said.

But the families of the missing agreed on Thursday for heavy equipment to be used, after the 72-hour “golden period” for the best chance of survival came to an end.

The rescue operation was complicated by an earthquake that struck overnight on Tuesday, briefly halting the search.

Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will choose the country’s fifth leader in five years on Saturday following the resignation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

After governing Japan almost continuously since the 1950s, the conservative party has been in disarray following successive election defeats and a series of political scandals.

The LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito lost their governing majority in lower house elections in October last year, a defeat followed by a drubbing in upper house polls in July.

After leading a badly damaged minority government for nearly a year, Ishiba announced on September 7 that he would step down.

Whoever takes over the LDP will face a public frustrated over the cost of living, an ascendant populism epitomised by the “Japan first” Sanseito party, and the headwinds of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

LDP lawmakers and some one million rank-and-file party members will choose from five candidates, ranging from the son of a former prime minister to the protege of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Their choice could determine whether Japan will enjoy a period of political stability or continue down the path of the “rotating prime ministership,” which marked Japanese politics in the late 1990s and early 2000s, said Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies.

“Even though it’s not historically abnormal for Japan to have a high turnover rate, this is a very bad time for Japan to not have stable political leadership,” Hall told Al Jazeera.

Here’s a look at the candidates:

Shinjiro Koizumi

Koizumi, 44, is the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and one of two frontrunners in the race.

Earlier this year, he stepped in as the minister of agriculture at a time when the price of rice – Japan’s beloved staple food – was rising sharply.

Koizumi’s work on Japan’s “rice crisis” won him a surge in public support, and he is also popular with a large swath of the LDP, said Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy.

“Mr. Koizumi is supported by traditional LDP heavyweights and the centre of the party. He does not have a particular policy position, so he is flexible to meet demands from older LDP values,” Suzuki told Al Jazeera.

Viewed as a political moderate, Koizumi has pledged to work with opposition parties to reform the tax system while lowering the public debt ratio, and to pursue balanced policies geared towards economic growth with fiscal discipline.

His relatively young age and educational background could still keep him from winning the leadership despite his popularity, said Stephen Nagy, a visiting fellow with the Japan Institute for International Affairs.

Koizumi attended Kanto Gakuin University and later Columbia University, but three of his rivals – Toshimitsu Motegi, Yoshimasa Hayashi, and Takayuki Kobayashi – graduated from the more prestigious University of Tokyo and Harvard.

“Whether we like it or not, educational pedigrees bring respect in society and in the LDP,” Nagy told Al Jazeera.

Sanae Takaichi

Takaichi, 64, is the only woman in the race and the leading challenger to Koizumi.

A former economic security minister, Takaichi skews towards the right-wing flank of the LDP and has “strong conservative credentials” as Abe’s former protege, Nagy said.

All the candidates have focused on how to revive Japan’s economy after decades of stagnation, putting forward broadly similar expansionary policies, said Sota Kato, research director at the Tokyo Foundation.

Still, Takaichi is “closer in stance” to “Abenomics”, the three-pronged strategy of fiscal expansion, monetary easing and structural reform championed by her mentor, Kato told Al Jazeera.

Takaichi is known for conservative views on social issues, including immigration and same-sex marriage, and foreign affairs, including China-Japan relations.

While her views have earned her the support of the conservative wing of the LDP, they are at odds with more centrist members.

“Some believe she is exactly what the LDP needs to pull support away from the opposition parties, such as Sanseito … Others believe she will push more centrist voters away,” Nagy said.

Yoshimasa Hayashi

Hayashi, 64, is considered the “dark horse” of the election due to his experience and amenable personality, according to Kato of the Tokyo Foundation.

Currently serving as chief cabinet secretary, Hayashi previously held high-profile posts including defence chief and minister of foreign affairs, and is campaigning on an economic policy focused on fiscal discipline.

Like Koizumi, he is viewed as a political centrist.

“From the perspective of LDP lawmakers, Hayashi provides a sense of stability compared to figures like Koizumi or Takaichi,” Kato said.

“If Hayashi secures more votes than either Koizumi or Takaichi in the first round of voting and proceeds to the second round, his chances may improve.”

Hayashi cited his extensive ministerial experience while campaigning and argued that Japan should strengthen its cooperation with “like-minded” democratic countries to push back against China, Russia and North Korea.

Toshimitsu Motegi

Motegi, 69, is a former secretary-general of the LDP who also did stints as minister of foreign affairs and minister of economy, trade and industry.

His platform includes cuts to petrol and diesel prices, wage increases for nurses and childcare workers, and incentives to encourage investment.

His economic policies “fall somewhere in between” those of Takaichi and Koizumi, the latter of whom has placed greater emphasis on fiscal discipline than his more conservative rival, according to Kato of the Tokyo Foundation.

Motegi and Hayashi both have factional support within the LDP, but this may not translate into enough votes to win the leadership position, according to the University of Tokyo’s Suzuki.

“Mr Motegi and Mr Hayashi are very experienced politicians, but they represent the old-fashioned LDP. They have certain support within the party, but they are not popular among the public,” he said.

Takayuki Kobayashi

Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, is a former economic security minister and previously ran for leader of the LDP.

His platform has heavily focused on economic growth and assisting citizens with cost-of-living issues.

Kobayashi has the support of many younger LDP members, but his youth and experience are potential handicaps, according to Nagy.

“Kobayashi is seen as very accomplished, smart, internationally minded, but still too young to fight with the 80-year-old sharks in the LDP,” he said.

His view was echoed by the University of Tokyo’s Suzuki.

“Mr Kobayashi is a new generation politician who has been a rising star, but not yet popular enough,” Suzuki said.

“Motegi, Hayashi and Kobayashi are very competent in policies and their sharpness in discussion, but these qualities are not the issue for this party leadership contest. The most important issue is the popularity and reactivation of the LDP,” he added.

Latest move underscores efforts to normalise ties and draw closer in wake of Trump’s policies, stiff tariffs.

India and China plan to resume direct flights this month between some of their cities after a five-year suspension as relations between the two countries begin to thaw, Indian authorities have announced.

The closer ties come in the face of the United States President Donald Trump administration’s aggressive trade policies.

Direct flights between the two countries were suspended during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and did not resume as Beijing and New Delhi engaged in prolonged border tensions.

On Thursday, India’s embassy to China said in a post on social media platform WeChat that flights between designated cities will resume by late October, subject to commercial carriers’ decisions.

The resumption is part of the Indian government’s “approach towards gradual normalization of relations between India and China,” the embassy added.

India’s largest carrier IndiGo announced on Thursday that it would resume flights from Kolkata, India, to Guangzhou, China, from October 26.

The resumption comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China for the first time in seven years to attend last month’s meeting of regional security bloc, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

There, Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that India and China were development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to strengthen trade ties amid global tariff uncertainty fuelled by Trump.

The US president raised the tariff rate on Indian imports to a stiff 50 percent last month, citing the nation’s continuing purchases of Russian oil. He also urged the European Union to slap 100 percent tariffs on China and India as part of his efforts to pressure Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.

Relations between China and India plummeted in 2020 after security forces clashed along a disputed border in the Himalayan mountains. Four Chinese soldiers and 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the worst violence in decades, freezing high-level political engagements.

Showgirl breaks Spotify records as Taylor Swift’s most pre-saved album, highlighting her enduring popularity.

Taylor Swift has dropped her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, and already, it is the most pre-saved album ever on the Spotify streaming platform.

Showgirl even broke the record set last year by none other than Swift’s last album, The Tortured Poets Department.

The 35-year-old artist reunited with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback for her hotly anticipated collection of bouncy pop songs.

“Tonight all these lives converge here, the mosaics of laughter and cocktails of tears … I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right,” Swift posted on Instagram after the album’s release, along with photos of her in showgirl outfits.

The megastar described the album as a “self-portrait” and thanked Martin and Shellback, adding: “If you thought the big show was wild, perhaps you should come and take a look behind the curtain,” referring to her record-shattering Eras Tour.

The 12 tracks reveal a lighter, happier Swift – in love with her NFL Super Bowl champion fiance, Travis Kelce, and happy to have bought back her music catalogue.

Ahead of release, Swift said the new album “comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life”.

Fans will be combing through the lyrics and liner notes for “Easter eggs” – coded words and phrases that could reveal things about Swift’s life or future projects.

The second-seeded American reached her first semifinal since the French Open in June.

Coco Gauff put down a spirited challenge from 66th-ranked Eva Lys to earn a 6-3 6-4 victory in Beijing on Thursday and reach the China Open semifinals for a second successive year.

Gauff, who is bidding to become the first woman to win back-to-back titles at the WTA 1000 event, had battled through three-setters in the previous two rounds and had to overcome stiff resistance from the German.

“I’m happy with how I played today. She’s a tough opponent, she hit a couple of great shots on the run,” Gauff said.

“I think I need to stay confident in my game and not be too passive when I have the lead. I played one passive point in this match, but otherwise I played well.”

It was a fast and furious start to the first set as both players fired off a string of winners and traded early breaks as the momentum swung wildly.

Following a run of five straight breaks of serve it was defending champion Gauff who finally seized control, taking a 5-3 lead when Lys sent a backhand wide and then consolidating to clinch the first set.

The world number three appeared to have found her range on serve in the second set and eased through a couple of holds, but a brief wobble and a few double-faults from the American added some late drama.

Serving for the match at 5-4, however, Gauff held her nerve to close out the win in an hour and 28 minutes.

The two-time Grand Slam champion next faces either compatriot Amanda Anisimova or Italian Jasmine Paolini, who meet in the second quarterfinal on Thursday.

Emergency workers in Indonesia have rescued five people from the rubble of an Islamic school that collapsed during prayers. At least six people have been killed, 60 are still missing, and dozens more were injured at the Al Khoziny school in East Java.

Indonesian authorities have deployed heavy machinery to shift massive sections of a collapsed school, with approximately 59 teenage students still unaccounted for, three days after the devastating structural failure.

After consulting with families of the missing students and detecting no further signs of life beneath the rubble, officials made the decision to proceed.

“In any case, we will be very, very careful when using the heavy machines,” stated Coordinating Minister Pratikno, emphasising that despite the bleak outlook, operations would continue with extreme caution.

The catastrophe occurred on Monday when the prayer hall at the century-old al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in Sidoarjo, eastern Java, collapsed, burying hundreds of people. According to officials, two unauthorised additional floors were under construction above the two-storey building, and the foundation evidently failed during concrete pouring.

Currently, five people are confirmed dead, more than 100 are injured, and more than two dozen hospitalised with serious injuries, including head trauma and fractures. The victims were primarily male students aged between 12 and 19 from grades seven to 12. Female students, who were praying in a different section of the building, escaped.

As the critical 72-hour window – when survival chances significantly diminish – passed, nearly 220 workers continued their efforts at the site with ambulances on standby. The arrival of numerous body bags, however, indicated the increasingly grim situation.

Suharyanto, head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, acknowledged, “We are no longer considering the possibility of survivors remaining, but we will still proceed with caution,” while noting uncertainty about the exact number of missing individuals. “We really hope that these 59 people are not there under the rubble.”

Hundreds of family members have maintained a constant vigil at the school since Monday, sleeping on government-provided mattresses in corridors while waiting for updates.

Among them is Hafiah, whose 15-year-old ninth-grade son Muhammad Abdurrohman Nafis is missing. “I can’t give up, I have to believe that my son is still alive, he is a hyperactive boy … he is very strong,” she said, remembering how eagerly he had eaten his favourite satay rice during her visit just one day before the collapse. With his junior high graduation approaching, Nafis had planned to study mechanical engineering in high school.

“I can’t give up as the rescue team is currently trying to help our children out,” Hafiah added, expressing her profound helplessness.

Programme, which started after Korean War as a way of removing mixed-race children from society, violated human rights.

South Korea’s president has apologised for a notorious foreign adoption scheme set up after the 1950-53 Korean War that caused “anxiety, pain, and confusion” to more than 14,000 children sent abroad.

President Lee Jae-myung said in a Facebook post on Thursday that he was offering “heartfelt apology and words of comfort” to South Koreans adopted abroad and their adoptive and birth families, seven months after a Truth and Reconciliation Commission said the programme violated the human rights of adoptees.

The commission, which investigated complaints from 367 adoptees in Europe, the United States and Australia, held the government accountable for facilitating adoptions through fraudulent practices, including falsifying records to portray children as abandoned orphans and switching identities.

Lee said he felt “heavy-hearted” when he thought about the “anxiety, pain and confusion” that South Korean adoptees would have suffered when they were sent abroad as children, and asked officials to formulate systems to safeguard the human rights of adoptees and support their efforts to find their birth parents.

Mass international adoptions began after the Korean War as a way to remove mixed-race children born to local mothers and American GI fathers from a society that emphasised ethnic homogeneity, with more than 140,000 children sent overseas between 1955 and 1999.

Foreign adoptions have continued in more recent times, with more than 100 children on average, often babies born to unmarried women who face ostracism in a conservative society, still being sent abroad for adoption each year in the 2020s.

After years of delay, South Korea in July ratified The Hague Adoption Convention, an international treaty meant to safeguard international adoptions. The treaty took effect in South Korea on Wednesday.

Former president Kim Dae-jung apologised during a meeting with overseas adoptees in 1998, saying: “From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry. I deeply feel that we have committed a grave wrong against you.”

But he stopped short of acknowledging the state’s responsibility for the decades of malpractice.