AJA Newsbites is a curated roundup of major news and developments from across Asia, brought to you by members of Asia Journalist Association (AJA)
Lee Sang-ki, THE AsiaN, Korea
The “Gimcheon Gimbap Festival,” held on October 25–26 in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, a city of 130,000 people, drew about 150,000 visitors over two days, up from 100,000 last year. After criticism of last year’s “gimbap-less festival,” the city quadrupled the number of vendors and prepared 100,000 gimbap rolls, but supplies still ran out by 5 p.m. Parking lots and shuttle buses were expanded fivefold, yet nearby roads turned into temporary parking areas. The city attributed the surge to the global “frozen gimbap” trend and viral K-pop scenes featuring the dish. A local resident said, “I’ve lived in Gimcheon for 55 years and have never seen crowds like this. Gimbap has replaced plums as the city’s new specialty.”
Chhay Sophal, Cambodia News Online, Cambodia
US President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday witnessed Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet and his Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul sign a Peace Deal in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The agreement comes after prolonged border disputes between the two neighboring kingdoms, which most recently escalated into a five-day bloody conflict from July 24 to 28, 2025.
On the first day of the 47th ASEAN Summit, held from October 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur and attended by numerous world leaders, President Trump met with Prime Minister Anutin prior to the signing ceremony. During the summit, Timor-Leste officially became the 11th member of ASEAN on Sunday. Timor-Leste’s accession was made possible through years of groundwork, diplomatic coordination, and initiative led by Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Cambodia’s former Prime Minister and current President of the Senate.
The ASEAN community—comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam—now has a combined population of approximately 680 million and a total gross domestic product of about US$4 trillion.
Nasir Aijaz, Sindh Courier, Pakistan
Pakistan’s security forces have thwarted infiltration attempts by two large groups of terrorists and eliminated 25 infiltrators in separate operations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the military’s media wing said on Sunday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the infiltration attempts from Afghanistan occurred as delegations from Islamabad and Kabul were holding peace talks in Türkiye, following a Doha-brokered ceasefire after deadly clashes between the two neighboring countries.
The ISPR stated that security forces detected the movements of two large groups of militants on October 24 and 25 in the general areas of Ghaki in Kurram district and Spinwam in North Waziristan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as they tried to cross into Pakistan from the Afghan side. During intense exchanges of fire, five Pakistani soldiers embraced martyrdom, the statement added.
Bhanu Ranjan, Asia Journalist Association, Bangladesh
The river dolphins of Bangladesh, particularly the Ganges and Irrawaddy dolphins, are rapidly losing their habitats, according to a recent research report by the Forest Department.
The study, titled “Bangladesh Ganges and Irrawaddy Dolphin Atlas,” was jointly conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Forest Department. The report identified at least ten key sites within major river systems as important winter habitats for dolphins. It states that industrial waste, agricultural chemicals, and the upstream Farakka and Teesta barrages have significantly reduced water flow, leading to a decrease in dissolved oxygen levels. Additionally, many dolphins are being killed after becoming entangled in local fishermen’s nets.
Meanwhile, a discussion meeting held in Dhaka on October 26 to mark International Freshwater Dolphin Day proposed that acts of cruelty against dolphins be considered a cognizable and non-bailable offense under the new draft of the Wildlife Act.
Pooneh Nedai, Shokaran Magazine, Iran
The Iranian film “Natoor Dasht” (directed by Seyed Mohammadreza Kheradmandan and produced by Mahdi Faraji) has been selected for the 31st Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad” in Belarus. Produced by the Sooreh Cinema Organization, the film will compete in the festival’s main competition section.
Natoor Dasht stars Hadi Hejazifar, Mirsaeed Molaevian, Shabnam Ghorbani, Saeed Aghakhani, Ali Mosaffa, Babak Karimi, and others. The screenplay, co-written by Kheradmandan and Hamid Akbari Khameneh, is inspired by a true story titled “Yasna.”
Two other Iranian films—the animated feature “Dream City” (directed by Mohsen Enayati) and the drama “Kianoush’s Garden” (directed by Reza Keshavarz Hadad)—have also been selected to compete in other sections of the festival.
The Listapad Film Festival, which celebrates artistic and meaningful cinema, will take place in Minsk, Belarus, from October 31 to November 7, 2025.
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