Malaysia - Page 3

Psy, the South Korean pop superstar best known in the Western world for international 2012 hit “Gangnam Style,” denied being involved in a sprawling prostitution scandal ensnaring the head of the gigantic record label YG Entertainment.

Doan Thi Huong, the second of two women accused of murdering North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, in 2017, was released from prison in Malaysia on Friday. Her co-defendant, Siti Aisyah, was abruptly released in March, with all charges dropped.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi previewed the third annual Belt and Road Forum by defending China’s infrastructure plan as a constructive program, rather than the string of debt traps depicted in U.S. criticism. He prodded the U.S. to stop interfering with Belt and Road by persuading prospective members to back away from the project.

TIME magazine’s 2019 list of the world’s 100 Most Influential People, published on Wednesday, includes the self-professed “proud” anti-Semitic prime minister of Malaysia, who has publicly disparaged Jews as “hook-nosed.”

Three weeks after charges were suddenly dropped against her Indonesian co-defendant, 30-year-old Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam pled guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to three years and four months in jail for the murder of Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

The case against Siti Aisyah, one of the two women charged with murdering North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s half-brother with a chemical weapon in February 2017, was suddenly released and sent home to Indonesia on Monday. Aisyah has been jailed in Malaysia for the past two years as the prosecution moved forward.

Between 300 and 550 Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadis remain active in the Philippines, a testament to the lingering threat posed by the jihadi group despite efforts by U.S.-backed local forces.

TEL AVIV – Malaysia’s prime minister said his country has a “right” to deny entry to Israelis and that it was “unfair to label him as anti-Semitic” due to his anti-Semitic remarks, which have included calling Jews “hook-nosed” and claiming they have an obsession with money. 

Muslim-majority Malaysia will no longer host any events that include Israel on the guest list, foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah said Wednesday.

Malaysia’s decision to ban Israeli swimmers from joining a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics has been called “disappointing” by Olympic organizers.

Contents: Malaysia’s ‘1MDB scandal’ continues to grow as biggest financial scandal in world history; 1MDB corruption mastermind Jho Low remains hiding out in China; WSJ: China used bribery, corruption and ‘leverage on other nations’ in Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal

Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V abruptly abdicated on Sunday after wearing the crown for only two years. The former 15th king of Malaysia did not explain why he departed early, but there is speculation it had something to do with his personal life.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian police said Wednesday that four tourists from Finland have been arrested for distributing Christian materials at public places on a resort island. The police chief of Langkawi island, Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim, said the two

A top Australian official seized Friday on past comments from Malaysia’s prime minister seen as anti-Semitic, amid a diplomatic war of words over the possibility of Canberra moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Trade tensions between China and the United States are a hot topic of conversation at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which kicked off on Tuesday in Singapore.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte skipped three major events at the annual Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on Wednesday and has announced he will not attend the summit’s traditional gala dinner, prompting concerns at home about his health and his willingness to confront China in the South China Sea abroad.

The government of Malaysia confirmed on Thursday the release of 11 Uighur refugees who entered the country illegally after breaking out of a Thai immigrant detention center, allowing them to travel to Turkey as they had requested.

TEL AVIV – The Malaysian prime minister resumed his long-standing antisemitic rhetoric, describing Jews as “hook-nosed” and denying the Holocaust during an interview with the BBC.

The United Nations applauded the self-professed anti-Semite prime minister of Muslim-majority Malaysia after his tirade against Israel during the international body’s annual gathering of the General Assembly, the world’s biggest stage for peace and diplomacy.

An Islamic court in Malaysia has found a 30-year-old woman guilty of prostitution and sentenced her under sharia law to caning as well as six months in jail.

Two women in Malaysia were publicly caned in a religious court on Monday after they were found guilty of attempted sex with each other in a car. 

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed announced the cancellation of two major infrastructure projects that were part of China’s international “Belt and Road” initiative, rejecting the projects as too expensive since Malaysia is already grappling with a debt crisis.

The term anti-Semitism is an entirely false construct designed to shield Jews from criticism for any wrongdoing, making them the only race that is beyond reproach, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Monday.

Contents: China mocks America’s ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy at ASEAN meeting; Concerns grow over China’s debt strategy for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has accepted an invitation to conduct a “joint maritime exercises” with the communist government of China, likely in the South China Sea waters between China and their nations, Singapore confirmed on Friday.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said on Wednesday that the incoming government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad intends to take a firmer stand against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a Malaysia-based General Sales Agent (GSA) on Monday for collaborating with and acting on behalf of Iran’s government-operated and U.S.-sanctioned Mahan Air.

Authorities in  Malaysia arrested former Prime Minister Najib Razak on Tuesday, the country’s anti-corruption body announced.

The South Korean resort island of Jeju provides a fascinating case study in refugee politics as the small island wrestles with an unexpected surge of refugees from Yemen’s civil war.

A Malaysian CEO was killed after his mobile phone allegedly exploded while charging, according to a report.

South Korea has long faced the possibility of dealing with a refugee crisis from North Korea if the government collapses, but a wave of refugees coming from an entirely different direction have taken Seoul by surprise and caused a political crisis. The administration of President Moon Jae-in is under enormous pressure to deal with asylum seekers fleeing the horrific civil war in Yemen.

A little over a month into his administration, Malaysia’s 92-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed addressed the matter of Chinese territorial aggression in the South China Sea by recommending the use of “small boats” instead of “warships” to hold Beijing at bay.

Islamic terrorists are relocating from the Middle East to Southeast Asia, home to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, China’s state-owned Global Times warned this week.

Authorities in Malaysia reportedly detained 15 suspected terrorists — including a student, a housewife, six Malaysians, six Filipinos, and a Bangladeshi restaurant owner — on Friday for allegedly smuggling firearms into the Muslim-majority country and plotting attacks on several non-Muslim places of worship.

Contents: Malaysia shocked when 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad becomes prime minister; Mahathir promises to reduce Malaysia’s debt and China’s influence

The Netherlands and Australia are holding the government of Russia legally responsible for providing pro-Moscow separatists the missile system used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people onboard, including an American citizen.