Compiled by JUNAID IBRAHIM and C. ARUNO

       THE voice actor for beloved character Nobita from the Doraemon series died recently due to heart failure, reported Sin Chew Daily.

       Yoshiko Ota, 89, died at a hospital in Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture on Oct 29.

       Apart from Doraemon, Ota had lent her voice to other iconic characters in Anime, including Leo in the 1966 Jungle Emperor Leo, Atsuko Kagami in the 1969 Himitsu no Akko-chan, and Baby Panda in Panda! Go, Panda!Ota was born in the Hyogo prefecture on April 25, 1932, where she spent most of her youth.

       In 1947, she joined the all-female musical theatre troupe Takarazuka Revue, where she met her future husband and fellow voice actor Osamu Saka.

       In 2016, Ota was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival for her contributions to early anime works.

       > Veteran actor Tony Leung Ka-fai wept and thumped his chest in an emotionally charged interview about his late colleague and legendary singer Anita Mui, reports Sin Chew Daily.

       Published as a promotion for Mui’s upcoming biopic entitled Anita, Leung spoke of his admiration for the late singer during the interview and was unable to control his emotions.

       Asked what he would say to Mui if she was alive today, Leung choked and replied saying: “Ah Mui, everyone is still fond of you; everyone still loves you”.

       The 63-year-old actor starred alongside Mui in the 1991 film Au Revoir, Mon Amour.The latest biopic, which was directed by Longman Leung, tells of the struggles and journey of how Mui became an award-winning Cantopop sensation.

       The titular role is played by actor Louise Wong and the film will be released in Malaysian cinemas on Nov 18.

       Mui, who is beloved by Hong Kong society, passed away due to cervical cancer in 2003 at the age of 40.

       Despite battling cancer, Mui continued to hold concerts and was best remembered for wearing a wedding dress in one of her farewell concerts in 2003 while singing her tune Song of the Setting Sun.

       “I just hope that when everyone looks up at the stars, you will remember a friend who had once brought you joy, and her name is Anita Mui,” she was heard telling fans while on stage. Mui was known as the “Madonna of the East”.

       > A reporter in Thailand’s Chanthaburi province was stomped to death while filming a team rescuing an injured elephant, reports China Press.

       Parinya Kesarathikui, 46, a reporter for the Thai language daily KomChadLuek, was there to document the team providing medical treatment to the elephant, severely injured in a fight.

       While he was taking photos, the elephant panicked after being shot with a dart filled with antibiotics and charged at the reporter, who fell and was trampled over.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.