A deadly magnitude-5.6 earthquake killed 272 people on Indonesia's main island of Java on November 21. Search and rescue efforts continued even on November 24 as 39 remained missing. The local government, charities and volunteers provided food, medical services and mental health counseling for those affected. Over 6,000 rescuers were organized by the Indonesian government to search for survivors and many were rescued.

The first football World Cup hosted in Asia kicked off in Qatar's capital, Doha on November 25 sending millions of fans across the world into a frenzy. The tournament saw its first big surprise when former champions Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia 2-1.

Malaysia's king appointed long-time opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as the country's prime minister on Thursday, ending five days of unprecedented post-election crisis after last week's general election. At his maiden press conference, Anwar said he would defend the rights of the Malay-Muslim majority, Islam as the official religion of Malaysia and the position of the Malay rulers, while emphasizing that the rights of all Malaysians would be similarly protected vigorously.

After weeks of speculation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on November 24 chose Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new chief of army staff.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb made the announcement on Twitter, saying the prime minister had made the choice exercising his constitutional authority. She further said that Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza had been picked as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. The current army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa is set to retire on November 29

Outgoing chief Qamar Javed Bajwa was originally supposed to retire in 2019. However, his tenure was extended for three years by then-Prime Minister Imran Khan in August 2019, just three months before he was set to retire.

Taikonaut Chen Dong has set a national record for spending the most time living in space over multiple missions.

The China Manned Space Agency said on November 22 that the two-time space traveler, who is currently aboard the orbiting China Space Station, had become the first Chinese person to stay in orbit for more than 200 days.

Chen broke the record set by China's first female taikonaut Wang Yangping, who spent a total of 198 days in orbit over two missions.

Worldwide, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka holds the record for a total of 878-days spent on both the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station over multiple missions. That's equivalent to nearly two and a half years in space.

(Cover: Damaged houses after an earthquake in Cianjur, West Java province, Indonesia, November 23, 2022. /CFP)