Top Asian News 4:42 a.m. GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The astonishing assassination of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother rippled across Asia on Wednesday as Malaysian investigators scoured airport surveillance video for clues about the two female assailants and rival South Korea offered up a single, shaky motive: paranoia. Kim Jong Nam, 46, was targeted Monday in a shopping concourse at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, said a senior Malaysian government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case involves sensitive diplomacy. He had not yet gone through security. Kim, who died on the way to a hospital, told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray, the official said.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The alleged murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother could be the best cloak-and-dagger thriller North Koreans will never get to hear. And if they did, they'd likely need some plot explainers — few know Kim Jong Un even had a half-brother. While no country in the world has a cult of personality surrounding its leaders as intensive as North Korea's, the narrative is carefully groomed and highly selective, leaving even some of the most basic details unknown to the general public. Predictably enough, the existence of an elder half-brother — and particularly a somewhat rebellious, free-wheeling one — has never been part of the North's official leader narrative.

SHANGHAI (AP) — There's a Trump toilet, a Trump condom, a Trump pacemaker and even a Trump International Hotel among hundreds of trademarks in China that don't belong to Donald Trump. But after a decade of grinding battle in China's courts, the president was expected to get an unlikely win this week: the rights to his own name. Trump's late victory in the fight to wrest back one sliver of his brand — the trademark for building construction services — could signal a shift in fortune for the U.S. president's intellectual property in China. At stake are 49 pending trademark applications — all made during his campaign — and 77 marks already registered in his name, most of which will come up for renewal during his term.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned North Korea late Monday over its latest ballistic missile launches and warned of "further significant measures" if Pyongyang doesn't stop nuclear and missile testing. A council statement agreed to by all 15 members followed strong condemnation by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of the latest launch and U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to deal with North Korea "very strongly." The Security Council condemned Saturday's launch and a previous test Oct. 19, saying North Korea's activities to develop its nuclear weapons delivery systems violate U.N. sanctions and increase tensions. It called on all U.N.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Voting was underway for governor of the Indonesian capital after a divisive campaign in which the monumental problems facing Jakarta took a backseat to religious intolerance and racial bigotry. More than 13,000 polling places opened to accommodate the 7.1 million people eligible to vote. The election is one of dozens taking place Wednesday across Muslim-majority Indonesia. Incumbent Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, a minority Christian and ethnic Chinese, is vying against Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who is the son of a former president, and Anies Rasyid Baswedan, a moderate now courting the votes of conservative and hard-line Muslims.

BEIJING (AP) — Eight people were killed in China's far western Xinjiang region, including three knife-wielding assailants, in the latest outbreak of violence in the volatile territory, authorities said Wednesday. According to a statement posted on the local government's website, the attack occurred Tuesday evening in Pishan county in southern Xinjiang, home to China's Uighur ethnic minority. It said the three also injured five others before being shot dead by police. Uighurs are predominantly Muslim, Turkic-speaking people distinct from the Chinese-speaking Han national majority. They have long chafed under the rule of Beijing, more than 1,800 miles (3,000 km) away from the provincial capital of Urumqi.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Sri Lankan asylum seekers held on Pacific island camps who could potentially find new lives in the United States are free to return home without fear of persecution, Sri Lanka's prime minister said Wednesday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made the comments during a visit to Australia in which he discussed with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull cooperation on combating people smuggling. No Sri Lankan asylum seeker has reached Australia by boat since 2013. But Sri Lankans, Iranians and Afghans are the largest national groups among more than 2,000 asylum seekers living on the Pacific islands nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to "deal with" North Korea, calling it "a big, big problem" without mentioning the ballistic missile it test-fired over the weekend or any planned American response. The Pentagon was more pointed in its assessment of the problem. A spokesman said technical advancements in North Korea's ballistic missile programs, demonstrated in the latest test-launch from a mobile launcher, pose a "clear, grave threat" to U.S. security. That assessment reflected concern as well as frustration among U.S. officials, who see North Korea pushing ahead, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, with development of missiles capable of striking U.S.

DARWIN, Australia (AP) — A German couple who disappeared in the Australian Outback were unprepared for the harsh environment and likely died before anyone noticed they were missing, police said on Wednesday. Northern Territory police launched a search for Gisela and Wilfred Thor on Sunday after a ranger found the couple's car at Trephina Gorge, a nature park northeast of the Outback town of Alice Springs. The couple, who arrived in Australia in early February, had set off for the gorge two days earlier. Police discovered the body of 76-year-old Wilfred on Monday and his 73-year-old wife the next day. Police Duty Superintendent Rob Burgoyne told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors are attempting for a second time to arrest Samsung's de facto leader, who is being investigated on bribery allegations in connection with a massive political scandal. Special prosecutors investigating the influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of the country's president said Tuesday they have asked a court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics. They also are seeking an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin, who oversees the company's external relations. Both Samsung executives are being investigated on charges of bribery offering, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.