20 h. ago BTS’ comeback concert sees South Korean city’s hotel prices soar by up to 10 times

BTS’ long-awaited full-group comeback concert in Busan is still months away, but hotel prices in the South Korean southeastern port city have already hit exorbitant levels, rekindling anger over “rip-off” room rates whenever mega-events come to town. Some properties have reportedly hiked prices by up to 10 times and even asked guests with existing bookings to cancel so they could resell at higher prices. The K-pop group is returning as a full act for the first time since all members completed...

Politics

21 h. ago Malaysian reporter arrested for sedition after controversial question at Gaza lecture

Former Free Malaysia Today (FMT) journalist Rex Tan was arrested at about 12.45am on Saturday after being summoned to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. The arrest was confirmed by his lawyer, Rajsurian Pillai, who said Tan was detained under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 505(c) of the Penal Code. It followed a sensitive question alleged to contain racial elements that was raised during a public lecture in Kuala Lumpur. At...

Events

33 h. ago UK teen who praised Southport murderer jailed for possessing al

A British teenager who praised the killer of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event and said he planned to bomb British rock band Oasis’ reunion concert was sentenced to detention on Friday for possession of an al-Qaeda manual. McKenzie Morgan, 18, was arrested at his home in Wales after sending messages on the social media platform Snapchat in which he praised Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three girls and stabbed 10 others in July 2024, prosecutor Corinne Bramwell...

Events

33 h. ago How Much Wind Power Does China Actually Produce? The U.S. Department of Energy Contradicts President Trump’s Remarks.

How Much Wind Power Does China Actually Produce? The U.S. Department of Energy Contradicts President Trump’s Remarks.  Spencer Fane

Politics

37 h. ago Malaysia’s Umno chief denies he ‘sidelined’ Najib to secure his own legal freedom

The president of Malaysia’s Umno has denied abandoning disgraced ex-prime minister Najib Razak to save himself, as fissures emerge in the former ruling party over the mixed legal fortunes of two of its top leaders. Umno grass-roots members have urged President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to quit Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government in protest after the High Court blocked Najib’s bid to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest last month. It also handed the one-time party figurehead a...

Politics

38 h. ago South Korean church’s ‘special force’ targets young Australians amid crackdown at home

A controversial church facing possible disbandment over religious-political collusion in South Korea is aggressively expanding its presence across Australia by targeting young people at universities and shopping centres, according to a former member who has accused the group of weaponising fear to shield it from criticism. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, founded in 1984 by Lee Man-hee, who claims to be the second coming of Jesus Christ, has an estimated 200,000 followers in the East Asian...

Events

46 h. ago Horrified Malaysian mother disowns daughter after mutilation threats by ‘vile’ loan sharks

The constant threat of genital mutilation of her daughter and son-in-law by loan sharks was so harrowing that a woman in Malaysia has resorted to disowning her own flesh and blood. “The loan sharks are vile. They threatened to sever the private parts of my daughter and her husband,” said the 60-year-old housewife who only wanted to be known as Heng. “A loan shark also sent me gory photos of people with severed genitals, claiming he had carried out the acts himself. It was so upsetting that I...

Events

56 h. ago Minneapolis on edge as Trump threatens to use Insurrection Act and send in troops

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration’s massive immigration crackdown. The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

Politics

59 h. ago FMT apologises for racial question linking Malaysia’s ‘Chinese problem’ and Palestine

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) has issued an apology after one of its reporters posed a question during a public lecture that was believed to have carried racial overtones. In a statement on Wednesday, FMT said that the incident occurred during a public lecture featuring United Kingdom politician George Galloway titled “Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors” held on January 12. “FMT wishes to put on record that it had no prior knowledge of the journalist’s intention to raise the...

Politics

63 h. ago Malaysia says X must prove Grok is safe before ban is lifted: ‘abuse is not freedom’

Malaysia is amenable to lifting its ban on Grok – but only if Elon Musk’s microblogging site X proves that its AI chatbot can no longer be used to generate sexualised images of women and minors, according to its communications minister. “X must prove that there will no longer be incidents of videos or images that can be misused by users. If that is settled, we can release the temporary ban,” Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Thursday. Over the weekend, Malaysia and Indonesia became...

Events

69 h. ago BTS fans in Malaysia ecstatic over comeback concerts but fear scalpers

The announcement that BTS will return to Malaysia after more than a decade has sent K-pop fans into a frenzy, with many calling it a once-in-a-lifetime moment. The South Korean supergroup will stage two concerts in Kuala Lumpur on December 12 and 13, marking its first appearance in the country since 2015, when it performed its Red Bullet Tour at Mega Star Arena. This will also be BTS’ first-ever concert in Kuala Lumpur as its previous Malaysia performance was held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. For...

Politics

3 d. ago Hong Kong Cantopop singer Raymond Lam cancels 2 concerts in Japan amid China friction

Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actor Raymond Lam Fung has cancelled two coming concerts in Japan, adding to a growing list of high-profile entertainment disruptions amid escalating diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. Japanese promoter Promax Inc said on Wednesday that Lam’s “Go With The Flow in Japan” tour – originally scheduled for January 31 and February 1 at the Tokyo Garden Theatre – had been postponed indefinitely. “After careful consideration and extensive discussions with all...

Politics

3 d. ago Man fined US$2,200 in Malaysia for masking Singapore number plate to buy subsidised fuel

The man who was caught on video pumping subsidised RON95 fuel into his Singapore-registered car in Johor was on Wednesday fined 9,000 ringgit (US$2,217) for obstructing the registration number of his vehicle. Malaysian Long Sa Kow, who is a Singapore permanent resident, was charged under Section 108 (3) (E) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for allegedly exhibiting an altered or tampered vehicle registration number. The offence carries a fine of between 5,000 ringgit and 20,000 ringgit, a prison...

Economics

3 d. ago Can Singapore’s farming future grow in Malaysia’s US$123 million agriculture hub?

Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city state with high prices and little vacant land. The to-be agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbours, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is...

Economics

3 d. ago China doesn’t fear the Donroe Doctrine Beijing already has plans for its near abroad

China doesn’t fear the Donroe Doctrine Beijing already has plans for its near abroad  UnHerd

Politics

3 d. ago Japan’s ‘love hotel’ mayor stages comeback, shattering political taboos

A former mayor who quit her job amid a scandal over an alleged affair with a married subordinate has staged a political comeback in Japan, in a result analysts say shows how attitudes towards women in public life are shifting. Akira Ogawa, 43, was re-elected as mayor of Maebashi, the capital of Gunma prefecture, on Monday, mere months after resigning under intense public pressure. Running as an independent, Ogawa secured nearly 63,000 votes – around 10,000 more than her closest challenger –...

Politics

4 d. ago Indonesia hails ‘99.9% successful’ free meals scheme amid food safety, oversight concerns

Indonesia’s ambitious free nutritious meals programme has fed more than 55 million people in its first year, a scale-up President Prabowo Subianto has hailed as a major step in tackling childhood malnutrition, even as critics warn that rapid expansion has come at the expense of oversight, food safety and fiscal discipline. Launched with fanfare last year, the scheme provides free meals to schoolchildren, infants and pregnant women, with the government framing it as a long-term investment in...

Politics

4 d. ago Malaysians joke they have ‘no oil, only palm oil’ after US Embassy shares space photo

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur’s attempt to show off an awe-inspiring throwback image from space instead triggered a distinctly Malaysian burst of self-deprecating humour, casting the country as strategically uninteresting amid Washington’s recent foreign policy moves. On Friday, the embassy posted a 2016 photograph taken from the International Space Station showing lightning flashing in clouds high over Malaysia. The caption says the Southeast Asian nation had “never looked more electric”,...

Politics

4 d. ago Malaysia’s judiciary faces ‘immense pressure’ as court cases surge 60%, chief justice warns

Malaysia’s top judge has warned that the country does not have enough judges to deal with a growing workload, stressing that this has placed an “immense and growing pressure on the justice system”. In his speech at the Opening of the Legal Year 2026 on Monday, Chief Justice of Malaysia Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said that the number of court cases in Malaysia had surged in the past few years by about 60 per cent. He cited how criminal case registrations had risen from 1,522,005 cases in 2021 to...

Events

4 d. ago Can Europe rebuild its strength to trade with China without fear?

China and the European Union began 2026 with another trade clash. As the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism entered its definitive phase, Brussels tightened compliance and Beijing warned of countermeasures. However, this week, the two sides signalled progress on defusing the electric vehicle dispute; the EU issued guidance to Chinese EV exporters on submitting minimum price plans. The juxtaposition underlines the point: even when one high-profile area shifts from escalation to technical...

Politics