ASIA

Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture saw a striking start to the fruit auction season when a set of seven premium “Nanamitsuki” apples from Nanae town sold for a combined ¥100,000 (about ₺31,500) at the Hakodate wholesale market. The sale matched last year’s record and highlighted a growing market for luxury, farm-to-auction fruit 🚄

Incident Overview The Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced that Ammunition Private Kaan Öcal, serving his conscription term in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), suffered a sudden heart attack while on duty and was pronounced dead on 13 November 2026. Officials state the event occurred during a posted 🚄

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval unit reported that an LNG carrier east of the Strait of Hormuz struck a naval mine and suffered a large explosion. The unit’s statement said the incident occurred a few hours earlier, without providing casualty figures or detailed damage assessments. Iranian authorities highlighted the 🚄

Sea-Based Chunmoo Test Program and Purpose Hanwha Aerospace will perform live-fire tests from a maritime platform off the southern US coast to validate a containerized Chunmoo launcher’s readiness for shipboard deployment. The November 2026 trials will measure missile launch stability, container thermal and shock performance, and software integration with shipboard 🚄

Malaysia selects ATMACA over NSM based on cost, schedule, and integration Malaysia’s Ministry of Defense announced a decision to procure ROKETSAN’s ATMACA anti-ship missiles for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet, after evaluating bids from Turkey, France and Italy Officials cite a combination of lower total acquisition cost, an accelerated 🚄

Overview of the GJ-11 (Xuanlong) and recent public release The People’s Liberation Army released new footage showing the GJ-11 “Xuanlong,” a flying-wing unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for low observability and strike missions. The video highlights structural features—such as a flattened aft fuselage, embedded exhaust nozzle, retractable landing gear, 🚄

Case summary and timeline Esther Wanja Muthoni, a 40-year-old Kenyan domestic worker in Riyadh, was convicted in October 2026 of engaging in sexual relations outside marriage and sentenced to 100 lashes and one year of exile. She gave birth in August 2025 to a son in her employer’s staff accommodation. 🚄

IRGC Announces End of 2,000 km Voluntary Range Limit The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) publicly declared that the voluntary 2,000-kilometer restriction on its ballistic missile operations is no longer in effect. IRGC spokesperson Brig. Gene. Hossein Mohebbi stated this change in Tehran and said the corps will demonstrate its 🚄

The Interlace: an overview of the project and its design intent The Interlace reimagines residential density by arranging thirty-one six‑storey blocks into a horizontal cluster rather than a conventional vertical tower. Completed in 2013 on roughly 8 hectares, the complex places 1,040 apartments around eight large courtyards to maximize daylight, 🚄

China’s Large-Scale Afforestation: Strategy, Results, and Constraints China launched a systematic afforestation program in 1978 to stop sand encroachment, protect croplands, and stabilize vulnerable ecosystems. Planners combined dense tree planting with dune fixation techniques, soil amendments, and selection of drought-tolerant species. By November 2024 officials reported a continuous green belt 🚄

Background and current status of the Abu Dhabi talks The United States convened negotiations in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the war approaching its fifth year. Delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the US — together with European partners — began closed-door sessions focused on territorial adjustments and the architecture of 🚄

Singapore launches dedicated gold custody for foreign central banks and official institutions Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has activated a tailored gold custody service that lets foreign central banks and official institutions hold reserves in Singapore. The service uses the national vault with an initial capacity of 500 tons and 🚄