The Associated Press
Hong Kong police used tear gas and pepper spray to try to disperse thousands of protesters challenging Beijing’s decision to restrict democratic reforms in the Asian financial hub. The clashes raised the stakes in the face-off against Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government, which has taken a hard line against threats to the Communist Party’s rule.
With little warning, Mount Ontake in Japan’s Nagano prefecture erupted on a sunny autumn Saturday — the perfect day for a hike — sending a plume of gas and ash skyward. At least 31 people are believed to have died from unclear reasons — possibly from toxic gases, suffocating ash or falling rocks.
The Asian Games wrapped up its first week of competition in Incheon, South Korea, with triumphs for the Chinese synchronized swimming team, who snapped a selfie with their gold medals, and drama on the weightlifting arena, shooting range and elsewhere.
Indians celebrated putting a spaceship into orbit around Mars on the country’s first attempt for a fraction of the cost the United States has spent on similar missions — a remarkable feat and source of pride for the nation of 1.2 billion people.
In southern India, a former actress who later joined politics and became the top elected official in Tamil Nadu, Jayaram Jayalalitha, was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to four years in prison.
In his first appearance since getting sentenced recently by North Korea to six years of hard labor for espionage, American Matthew Miller spoke briefly to an Associated Press Television News journalist that he is digging in the fields eight hours a day and being kept in isolation but that his health so far isn’t deteriorating. Miller, 24, was filmed in a Pyongyang hotel where he had been brought to make a phone call to his family.
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