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AdvertisementSouth KoreaAsiaSoutheast AsiaSouth Korea indicts Japanese woman for forcibly kissing BTS’ JinThe suspect, who kissed the K-pop star without consent at an event in Seoul last year, was charged with indecent assault
Reading Time:1 minuteWhy you can trust SCMPThe Korea TimesPublished: 8:13am, 18 Nov 2025A Japanese woman in her 50s has been indicted without detention for forcing a kiss on Jin of BTS during a public fan event last year.AdvertisementThe Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office said that the suspect was charged on Monday with indecent assault.
She is accused of approaching Jin (real name Kim Seok-jin) during a fan meeting held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul’s Songpa district in June last year, shortly after he completed his military service. She forced a kiss on Jin’s cheek without consent.
A photo showing Jin pulling away as if in discomfort spread online.
Following the incident, several fans filed complaints through the National Petition System, accusing h..

President Donald Trump has said Americans could see $2,000 tariff dividend checks in 2026, but no exact date has been set yet, although he hinted at the timeline.The payments are expected to come from revenue raised through tariffs.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said the checks will not arrive in time for the Christmas shopping season. “It will be next year. The tariffs allow us to give a dividend. We’re going to do a dividend and we’re also going to be reducing debt,” he said.The MAGA chief first floated the idea of tariff dividends earlier this month, suggesting that high-income earners would be excluded, though he did not define a specific income threshold. Trump said his Truth Social platform, “A dividend of at $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone. Those against the tariffs are FOOLS!” Rebate for families making less than $100,000
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained last week that the administration was stil..

White House posted a photo of POTUS and FLOTUS and called it 'power couple' Amid the latest sex scandal, social media went all in after newly leaked Epstein emails hinted that Donald Trump might have had a scandalous connection to someone called “Bubba” — a nickname long associated with former President Bill Clinton. The outrage went viral when many interpreted the phrase as a crude, sexual reference: “Trump blowing Bubba.”Democrats accused Trump of scrambling to deflect blame. He called the controversy a “hoax” on Truth Social and called for the DOJ to investigate Clinton’s ties to Epstein, insisting the outrage was a politically motivated attack. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt also defended the MAGA chief. The White House recently shared a photo of President Trump with First Lady Melania, captioning them as the “power couple.” Social media users quickly noted the timing, pointing out that these posts often appear whenever Trump is linked to Bill Clinton in the newly leake..

AdvertisementLegislative Council election 2025Hong KongPoliticsWhat are Hong Kong Legco election candidates prioritising in their manifestos?The Post reviews the manifestos of all 161 candidates for December 7 poll, but only 38 contenders offer versions in English
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPMatthew ChengPublished: 8:30am, 17 Nov 2025Integration with mainland China and boosting Hong Kong’s sluggish economy have dominated the manifestos of candidates contesting functional and Election Committee constituencies in the Legislative Council election, while those running for directly elected seats have prioritised livelihood concerns, the Post has found.
AdvertisementA check by the Post of all 161 candidates’ manifestos on the government’s election website also found that only 38 of them, or 23 per cent, provided English versions.
Of the 161 hopefuls competing in the December 7 poll, 60 are contesting the 30 seats in the sector-based functional constituencies, while another 50..

AdvertisementMalaysiaThis Week in AsiaEconomicsIn Malaysia’s Johor, silicon dreams meet parched realitiesAs global tech titans invest billions in data centres to power the AI revolution, the state’s most precious resource is fast evaporating
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPUshar DanielePublished: 8:00am, 17 Nov 2025Malaysia’s southern state of Johor is being transformed by a torrent of tech investment.AdvertisementGlobal heavyweights – Microsoft, Nvidia, ByteDance – are pouring billions into vast data centres, the digital foundries that underpin the international AI industry and cloud economy.
For Malaysia’s government, these investments are nothing short of transformative, representing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to vault ahead in Southeast Asia’s technology race.
But for Johor residents like Muhammad Azrien Mohammad Ali, the future arrives with a simple, daily anxiety: will water still flow from the tap?
“This year I have experienced three water disruptions,” the 3..