Malaysia - Page 5

Two poison-slinging female North Korean agents have reportedly assassinated Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of dictator Kim Jong-un.

Contents: Trying to keep up in a world in a state of hysteria; Leading Muslim government advisor in Myanmar (Burma) is assassinated; Ethnic cleansing of Myanmar’s Rohingyas threatens regional stability

Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay confirmed this week that Manila had sent Beijing a formal protest about the development of military infrastructure in the South China Sea, where China has invested heavily in colonizing sovereign Philippine territory.

With freedom of expression increasingly under threat by authoritarian governments worldwide, 2016 yielded a crop of loud, defiant tunes from an assortment of envelope-pushers, political dissidents, and would-be pop icons.

Contents: Evidence of Burma ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas continues to mount; Burma’s Rohingya attacks generate calls for military action in Malaysia; Jihadists become radicalized by the Rohingya slaughter

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign feared backlash from labor groups, particularly the AFL-CIO, following President Barack Obama’s decision to improve Malaysia’s human rights standing in order to help push the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

An anti-corruption watchdog has urged actor Leonardo DiCaprio to return his earnings from the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street if the money is found to be linked to the billions of dollars misappropriated from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund that was earmarked for development in the Southeast Asian country.

The government of Malaysia has decreed that no food items contain the word “dog” in them, as dogs are forbidden as both food and pets under Islamic sharia law.

Executives from a rainforest charity that has been critical of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s reported ties to a Malaysian embezzlement scheme were reportedly denied entry to the London premiere of the actor’s climate change documentary on Saturday night.

A charity focused on rainforest preservation has called on actor and environmental advocate Leonardo DiCaprio to step down from his role as a UN Messenger of Peace for climate change due to his own charity’s reported connection to a $3 billion Malaysian embezzlement scheme.

In a private speech shortly after leaving her post as Secretary of State, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton reportedly asserted that China has “a right to assert themselves” with regard to the South China Sea, a region in which the communist government has usurped the sovereign territory of six countries.

Two Malaysian economic groups have created a new logo to distinguish products made by Muslims from those made by others in order to boost Islamic businesses.

As Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio unveiled his climate change documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, the actor faced increased calls from activists to return donations given to his environmental-focused Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation that have been linked in news reports to funds allegedly misappropriated in the world’s largest embezzlement scheme.

Singapore has become the first Asian country to document active local Zika transmission, confirming up to 115 locally acquired cases so far. The tropical island, long an attractive destination for Indian and Chinese tourists, threatens to take the epidemic ravaging Latin America and south Florida global.

The ongoing controversy involving the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s alleged ties to an international embezzlement scandal has intensified after the Bruno Manser Fund, a Swiss-based foundation, challenged the troubled charity to return questionable donations.

Having arrested native rapper Namewee for releasing a music video that allegedly “insulted Islam,” Malaysian officials are demanding Interpol help find the Taiwanese rap group Jiu Yi Yi (911), who are also featured in the video.

Leonardo DiCaprio has backed out of a pricey fundraiser lunch for Hillary Clinton that the actor had been scheduled to host at his Los Angeles home this week. Pop star Justin Timberlake and his wife Jessica Biel will instead host the event at their home.

Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio has in recent years become almost as famous for his charity foundation’s opulent fundraising soirées as he has for his meaty roles in Hollywood dramas like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Revenant.

Malaysia has relinquished the rights to host the 2017 FIFA Congress, a sports official said Monday after the predominantly Muslim country refused to issue visas to Israeli delegates.

Malaysian officials have confirmed a report that the pilot of missing Malaysia Airlines 370, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, flew a path into the southern Indian Ocean on his flight simulator — a new piece of information that arouses suspicions once again on Shah’s state of mind when the plane disappeared two years ago.

China’s ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, told media Monday that it was essential for China to ignore the Hague’s verdict against it in the South China Sea case in order to “protect the dignity of international law.”

Human rights activists are expressing concerns about Malaysia’s new security law, which gives the Prime Minister broad powers to declare states of emergency, impose curfews, seize property, and carry out arrests.

A section of wing from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 shows evidence it was extended upon landing, suggesting a rogue pilot brought it down, an air crash expert says.

An Argentine judge officially requested that Singapore or Malaysia extradite Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a former foreign minister, for his role in orchestrating a 1994 attack on an Israeli organization.

A state-run Chinese newspaper has run an editorial calling the governments of Japan and the United States the “eunuchs” of new Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, following a humiliating loss for Beijing at the Hague over its claims in the South China Sea.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters Wednesday that the nation has “the right” to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea following the rejection of Chinese territorial claims in the region by the Hague.

Islamic State terrorists hurled a grenade into Kuala Lumpur’s Cuban-themed nightclub Movida on June 28, injuring eight. Officials have confirmed it is the first successful ISIS attack in Malaysian history.

Contents: ASEAN makes humiliating South China Sea reversal under pressure from China; Obama administration reevaluates plans for Afghanistan troop withdrawal

After a splashy launch in December, Rayani Air has come to an ignominious end in June. According to Dawn.com, Malaysia’s first sharia-compliant airline wasn’t aviation-compliant. Following complaints from passengers, a safety audit that evidently didn’t go well, and a crippling strike by pilots, the government shut the carrier down.

Following rumors that the government of China is considering establishing an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over disputed territories in the South China Sea, Taiwan’s new defense minister confirmed the island would not respect such a zone if Beijing attempts to impose it.

Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Mongolia on his way to China, warned Beijing Sunday that declaring an air defense zone over the South China Sea to be a “provocative and destabilizing act.”

A report in the South China Morning Post cites Chinese sources as stating that Beijing is preparing to impose an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea, which would require all aircraft to allow China to track their movements in the region, even over the sovereign territory of other nations.

A number of jihadist groups in Southeast Asia have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and up to 1,000 people have left Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to join the terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria, reports BBC.

Kidnappings by the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf group have prompted Indonesia to call for joint maritime patrols with the Philippines and Malaysia.

The Chinese government is fighting off protests from American officials that it landed a military plane on Fiery Cross Reef, a disputed territory both Vietnam and the Philippines claim, alleging the flight was necessary to save a worker having a medical emergency.

A Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) member of Malaysia’s parliament said he opposes banning child marriages because such a move would lead girls to seek out casual sex.