Reports on the expansion of China's nuclear program, a typhoon hits Japan, and a controversy in Bangladesh over a photo of Muhammad Ali Jinnah

A report by the British newspaper The Telegraph stated that China is expanding its nuclear weapons program in at least seven major locations, despite its declared calls for non-proliferation.

According to the newspaper, an analysis of satellite images showed large-scale construction operations in nuclear facilities and testing areas across the country.

At one site, where China is believed to be producing plutonium triggers designed to activate nuclear weapons, an integrated town has been created to serve the site, including new residential buildings, a playground, and a bus depot used to transport workers to and from the nuclear facility.

At another site, a huge tube 600 meters long was constructed, which scientists are believed to be using to conduct experiments simulating intense explosions, with the aim of knowing the extent to which nuclear weapons can withstand strong shocks and explosions.

Small villages and farms have also been removed to make way for a third site, a nuclear fusion research centre, where Chinese scientists are believed to be using ultra-powerful lasers to study how materials react and change properties during a nuclear bomb explosion.

Experts believe that these photos of the seven sites: Pingtung, Xitong, Lop Nor, Jiuquan, Mianyang, Jinta, and Guangyuan, show that Chinese President Xi Jinping oversaw an unprecedented expansion in the country's nuclear program, despite his repeatedly stating the need to ban and destroy nuclear weapons.

This expansion comes at a time when the Stockholm Peace Research Institute revealed that China's nuclear arsenal had more than doubled under Xi, reaching 620 nuclear warheads by last January, after the number rose from about 600 at the beginning of 2025.

He also noted that China is expanding its nuclear arsenal at a faster pace than any other nuclear state.

In this context, Rene Babiarz, a geo-intelligence expert who has studied the Chinese nuclear program, said: “I believe that a decision was made under President Xi to develop, invest in, and expand the nuclear weapons program.”

He added: “China sees itself as a global superpower, and it challenges the United States.”

In response to what was stated in the report, the Chinese embassy in London said that “China follows a nuclear policy characterized by high responsibility, consistency and transparency,” stressing that Beijing is committed to “a defensive nuclear strategy and a no-first-use policy.”

She added that China “always maintains its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security,” and that it “does not engage in a nuclear arms race and contributes to stability and certainty in the world.”

At least seven people were killed near Tokyo and five are still missing, while power was temporarily cut off in 58,000 homes due to the passing of Typhoon “Dojuan,” according to what the Japanese authorities and the electric company “Tepco” announced Wednesday.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency reduced or lifted most of its warnings of heavy rain and landslides, while “Dojuan” continues, on Wednesday, to move away from the Japanese coast, heading towards the northeast, according to “Agence France-Presse.”

The Fire and Disaster Management Authority reported that five people were killed in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, and that two died in Kanagawa Prefecture, also close to the capital.

She added that rescue teams continued their search for five people missing as a result of landslides caused by heavy rains.

The typhoon also caused a power outage on Tuesday morning in 58,000 homes in Chiba, according to Tepco. More than 460 homes were also damaged, according to the authorities.

More than 1.6 million residents of Tokyo and its surrounding areas were asked to evacuate before the typhoon reached them, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Authority, while more than 275 flights were cancelled.

On Oshima Island, which is administratively affiliated with Tokyo, a record amount of 832 millimeters of rain was recorded within 48 hours, more than double the usual rate in September, according to what the NHK Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Japan typically experiences strong typhoons in late summer and early fall, and scientists suggest that human-induced climate warming is making these types of extreme events more frequent, intense and longer-lasting.

Earlier in September, heavy rains prompted hundreds of athletes participating in the Asian Games hosted by Japan to briefly evacuate their homes in the city of Nagoya (central Japan), where the tournament was held.

The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, died about 8 decades ago, but raising his picture in one of the most prestigious universities in Bangladesh was enough to ignite a debate about history and politics, in an indication of the complex relationship between the two countries that once constituted one state, according to Agence France-Presse.

Jinnah's photo was displayed this month in a new exhibition at the Dhaka University Museum, before it was taken down and torn apart, an incident that reflected a sharp disagreement over the way Bangladesh remembers its complex history.

Abu Tayyab Habaldar, the student who tore up the photo, described Jinnah as “evil.”

The controversy shows the political weight of the legacy of nationalism, religion and language that shaped Bangladesh, and how the 2024 revolution that toppled Sheikh Hasina upended established historical narratives.

Pakistan and Bangladesh were previously two wings of one state that emerged from the bloody partition of India, which was under British rule in 1947, and were separated by more than 1,500 kilometers of Indian territory.

Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan after a bloody war in 1971, during which Pakistani forces were accused of committing large-scale atrocities that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, while Bangladeshi estimates indicate that the number of victims reached millions.

Many in Dhaka are still demanding that Islamabad apologize for the killings.

Leader Jinnah was not an Islamist, but his call for the establishment of a Muslim homeland separate from India made him a prominent symbol for opposition Islamists in Bangladesh, in the context of the debate over the country's identity and history.

Political analyst Altaf Parvez said: “Jinnah has never been celebrated in Bangladesh,” considering that “the ground is fertile for the rise of Islamists, and they need an appropriate leader,” which explains the current controversy surrounding him.

“Part of history”

The Dhaka Central University Students Union (DOXU), which is led by the Bangladesh Chhatra Shibir organisation, said: The student wing of the largest Islamic political party in the country, said the photo was part of a chronological display documenting the university's history.

He criticized the leader of Doxo; SM Farhad, what he described as a “mob attack” to tear down the photo. He told Agence France-Presse: “You can correct us if we made a mistake, even though we did not commit any mistake.”

Critics accused the students' union of trying to rewrite the country's history by highlighting Jinnah, while diminishing the stature of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's first president and leader of its independence.

Habaldar, who tore up the photo, told Agence France-Presse, “Jinnah is the father of Pakistan, but when he stood against the Bengalis and their language, he became evil in our eyes.”

But Mujibur Rahman's legacy also raises widespread controversy. His daughter, Hasina, whose tyrannical rule as prime minister ended in a bloody student-led revolution in 2024, is the object of resentment among those who ousted her. Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia, and the activities of her former party were banned; “Awami League”.

During the protests against her, her father's former house, which had been turned into a museum, was burned.

He was Mujib Rahman; Who led Bangladesh to independence from Pakistan, was in power when he was assassinated along with most of his family members on August 15, 1975.

Farhad said that the university museum also needs updating. He added: “They spared no effort to consolidate the narrative of the (Awami League)... Therefore; “We thought we should renew it.”

But 19-year-old student Mahfooz Rahman believed that removing the pictures was not the solution. He said: “I cannot believe that removing his image is a good thing... He is also part of history.”