More activists and journalists sentenced under Hong Kong national security law. China mourns SUV ramming attack victims. North Korea and Russia's growing partnership. Documentary marks 20 years after deadly tsunami across Southeast Asia.

What is the top news of the week from Asia, the U.S., and around the world? VOA Asia Weekly rounds up the week’s major headlines, along with expert analysis, all in five minutes, produced from Washington, DC.

Building a US-Philippines alliance strong enough to transcend presidential politics.

Welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington. That story is just ahead, but first, making headlines:

45 ex-lawmakers and activists left a Hong Kong court Tuesday. They’ve been sentenced up to 10 years in prison in the city’s biggest case under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Prosecutors said activists aimed to paralyze Hong Kong’s government. Supporters say the trials are an assault on democracy.

“Of course it will silence more people.”

A driver crashed an SUV into a crowd of students, Tuesday. It happened outside a primary school in Hunan province, just as children were arriving at school. State media reported that many bystanders were injured. Authorities have arrested a 39-year-old man in connection with the incident. The crash comes just eight days after a driver killed 35 people in Zhuhai. It’s China’s third major attack this month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gifted more than 70 animals, including an African lion and two brown bears, to a zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russia’s Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov on Monday, state media reported. Kim said the meeting aimed to boost trade and scientific ties between the two countries.

New Delhi shut down schools, banned construction, and restricted non-essential trucks this week as air pollution levels soared to more than 50 times above the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit.

Some 15,000 demonstrators poured into Wellington, New Zealand this week, shutting down busy streets for their "hikoi" march towards parliament. Protestors object to a proposed law to redefine the founding Treaty of Waitangi which reached a partnership with the native Maori people in 1840. The bill has almost no chance of passing.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited the Philippines this week to highlight the expansion and modernization of the alliance in just a few short years. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has more.

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I’m Chris Casquejo.

“The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was like no other.”

It’s been 20 years since a massive Indonesian earthquake launched a tsunami -- killing more than 230,000 people across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and 9 other nations. Documentary filmmakers spent months gathering footage and locating witnesses and survivors to tell the story of that day. Their documentary will be released on November 25th on National Geographic and Disney Plus.

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