Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

Typhoon kills more than 180 in Philippines before moving to Vietnam

Typhoon Kalmaegi has battered the Philippines, killing at least 188 people and leaving 135 missing, according to the country's disaster agency on Friday. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a nationwide state of calamity. In Cebu, the hardest-hit province, the full scale of the destruction became clearer as floodwaters receded, revealing flattened homes, overturned vehicles and streets cluttered with debris. 

Over 200,000 people were evacuated before Kalmaegi made landfall on Tuesday. "The challenge now is debris clearing... These need to be cleared immediately, not only to account for the missing who may be among the debris or may have reached safe areas but also to allow relief operations to continue," Raffy Alejandro, a senior civil defense official, told the media. On Thursday, the storm hit Vietnam, forcing authorities to cancel hundreds of flights and order people to stay indoors.

New crew takes over China Space Station

The three taikonauts on China's Shenzhou-21 mission entered the China Space Station and met the Shenzhou-20 crew early on Saturday morning (November 1), starting a new round of in-orbit crew handover. This marks China's seventh space rendezvous. The two mission commanders reunited in orbit three years after their first meeting in space. 

The return of China's Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship, originally scheduled for Wednesday, will be delayed due to a suspected impact from tiny space debris, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Powerful quake hits northern Afghanistan, kills 27

A powerful magnitude-6.3 earthquake left at least 27 people dead and 1,000 others injured in northern Afghanistan early on Monday. The quake struck near the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, damaging its historic Blue Mosque. According to the Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority, hundreds of homes were either completely or partially destroyed. 

Aid groups said the numbers are concerning just before the Afghan winter, when temperatures fall below freezing. The difficulties faced by relief workers due to poor road conditions and other infrastructure problems are "immense," said Hosam Faysal, head of delegation for Afghanistan at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Cold front hits South Korea, plummeting temperatures below zero

A strong cold front affected much of South Korea during the week, beginning on Monday. Temperatures in many inland areas dropped below freezing. Driven by a continental high-pressure system moving south from northern China, morning temperatures fell by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius compared to Sunday. 

The Korea Meteorological Administration issued cold wave advisories for several inland regions, including parts of Seoul. The Korean Herald reported that "Gyeonggi Province's Paju recorded a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, while Cheorwon, Gangwon province, dropped to minus 3.1 degrees Celsius." The weather system also brought strong winds and high waves to coastal areas. 

Japan sends troops to combat deadly bear attacks

Japan's military deployed troops to the country's mountainous north on Wednesday to help trap bears after a request from local authorities struggling to deal with a wave of attacks. The operation started in the town of Kazuno, where residents have been told for weeks to avoid the dense forests around it, stay indoors after dark, and carry bells to scare bears that might forage near their homes. 

There have been over 100 bear attacks, with a record 12 people killed across Japan since April. Two-thirds of those deaths occurred in Akita Prefecture, where Kazuno is located.

(Cover: A woman walks along a muddy street in Liloan, Cebu province, Philippines, after Typhoon Kalmaegi on November 6, 2025. /CFP)