Malaysia border control glitch hits travellers
Among major gateways affected since Friday afternoon are Kuala Lumpur International Airport's two main terminals, as well as southern land crossings with Singapore.
"It should be more than tens of thousands of travellers who have to wait longer at the manual counters to clear immigration," estimated Zakaria Shaaban, director-general of Malaysia's Immigration Department.
Zakaria was unable to give a precise number of people affected when asked by AFP.
"We don't have many manual counters over in Johor because we have converted most of them into autogates," Zakaria said, referring to the southern state neighbouring Singapore.
Malaysian daily The Star said the breakdown has been described as the "worst ever", involving over 200 machines and affecting only foreign passport holders.
Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority warned people intending to travel to Malaysia to expect delays.
"Those who are already at the land checkpoints and need to U-turn can approach officers for assistance," it said in a Facebook post.
Since June 2024 travellers from 63 countries, as well as accredited diplomats and their families, have been allowed to use Malaysia's self-service machines for immigration clearance.
The Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency said initial investigations found the "technical disruption" was due to a data integration issue.
"This caused the delays in the cross-checking process within the MyIMMS (immigration) system," it said in a statement.
"All manual counters have been fully activated and additional personnel have been deployed to manage the flow of visitors and control the queues at the best capacity," the agency added.
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New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Arsenal fans across continents: 3am kick-offs, church services, and Bergkamp DVDs
For UK-based fans, pre-season is when they get a taste of what it's like to be an international fan. This summer's tour to Singapore and Hong Kong has given British fans early afternoon kick-offs during the working week. Recent tours to the U.S. have been trickier, leaving them with the dilemma of whether sleep is really that important as kick-off times stretch into the early hours. Advertisement For Arsenal fans across the world, these considerations are weekly rather than annual. While the 60,000 who rock up to the Emirates Stadium every other week may be a visible example of fandom, Arsenal's impact goes way beyond that small pocket of north London. The club celebrate that with stadium artwork, including a collage of more than 150 international supporter clubs. But what is it like to be an international fan? The Athletic has spoken to five people, across five continents, to find out. There's probably no better place to start than time zones. Arsenal's most common kick-off time since 2020 has been at 4.30pm UK time on Sundays. That is Sky Sports' prime spot on 'Super Sunday'. Nathan Asi grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. They are 11 hours ahead of London in the winter and 12 in the summer. 'If you see a 10.30 kick-off time, you're blessed,' he tells The Athletic. 'Kick-offs are usually around 1.30-3am, so you just stay up the entire night. I either watch by myself or we go to a friend's house. 'When I'm hanging out with my friends, we all support different teams and wear our own kits.' Everyone has their own story on how they became a football fan, even if some are similar. Asi's friend group in Auckland is made up of a Manchester City fan who followed his dad's path, a West Ham fan whose favourite player was Mark Noble, and a Brighton & Hove Albion fan who wanted to root for an underdog. Without the geographic connection, the spark for Asi's support of Arsenal may be familiar for those who grew up in the late 1990s and early noughties. 'My dad is a big Ajax supporter and his favourite player growing up was Dennis Bergkamp,' he adds. 'When Bergkamp moved to Arsenal, he began following them, too. He had this DVD of all of Bergkamp's goals for Arsenal, so I grew up watching Bergkamp highlights over and over again from the age of four or five.' Elsewhere in the region, Arsenal Women have a strong Australian contingent, with Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, and Kyra Cooney-Cross. In fact, an Australian flag was in view from a local apartment when Arsenal Women had their Champions League-winning celebrations at the Emirates Stadium. Some love being shown for Australia from a nearby apartment — Art de Roché (@ArtdeRoche) May 26, 2025 When it was pointed out to Catley, she stopped the interview to take a picture of it, before saying: 'This time last year, we were playing in Melbourne and there were almost more Arsenal shirts in the crowd than for the Aussies. It's overwhelming and very special to be a part of.' Arsenal's ability to connect people in unexpected ways is just as strong on the opposite side of the globe. Supporter clubs under the umbrella of Arsenal America, founded in 2001, have helped build Arsenal's footprint Stateside. They have over 70 branches. Laurie Laker, Arsenal America's head of communications, was born in Taunton, Somerset. Arsenal runs through generations of the Laker family, with Laurie's uncle playing for the reserve teams in the 1960s and his grandfather collecting autographs from Herbert Chapman's teams from the 1930s. Advertisement He moved to the U.S. aged 11 in 2001, but football fell by the wayside. 'I kept in touch with it over chatrooms, but didn't get introduced to Arsenal America until I was in graduate school in New Hampshire in around 2013,' he tells The Athletic. 'I walked into the Boston Arsenal America pub and was confronted by about 70 people singing the same songs I'd known since I was a kid. I wondered 'Where's this been for the last 10 years?'. Since then, it's been one of the most important parts of my life.' Also a supporters club branch manager for Twin Cities Gooners (Minneapolis-St. Paul), part of Laker's role is to help organise matchday gatherings in Minneapolis. That will involve finding a reliable pub to show matches that can be open an hour or so ahead of kick-off. They average around 250-300 supporters in attendance for big matches, but that figure can drop for midweek matches when people are at work. Arsenal's earliest kick-off times (12.30pm UK time) could range from 5.30am to 7.30am depending on what coast you live on in the States. That's why Laker says: 'It's not about replicating the matchday experience that people get at the Emirates. 'The social element is really important in motivating you to get out of bed and essentially commute to a pub that could either be around the corner or half an hour away. It's about being in a space with people who are part of your community, but who you may not have met without that space. Sometimes they become lifelong friends.' That community aspect can manifest itself in many ways. Arsenal Kenya were founded in 2010 by Deno Alves and officially recognised by Arsenal in 2012. Their banners incorporate the Swahili phrase 'Hakuna Matata', which means 'No worries' in English and was popularised by the 1994 film The Lion King. They have 2o branches across the country's 47 counties, and some may be familiar with videos of the Nairobi group's church services where almost everyone attends in Arsenal gear. Rather than being church services specifically about Arsenal, they are normal Sunday services that may fall on the day of a game. Churches will be informed about the incoming sea of red shirts, but will also have their regular attendees. 'There are so many Arsenal fans it's like a takeover,' Alves tells The Athletic. 'Almost three-quarters of attendees will then be wearing Arsenal jerseys. That understandably makes headlines.' Advertisement While Nairobi is mostly Christian, other cities such as Mombasa have a Muslim majority, so some areas will have interdenominational services that incorporate multiple religions. The communities also help on a more personal level. Since its formation, Arsenal Kenya has built an emergency kitty for registered members who may be in need. That could help people who have accidents, need burials, or in more long-term ways. — Arsenal Kenya Supporters' Club (@ArsenalKenya_AK) February 13, 2025 'An actual example is a lady called Rose,' Alves says. 'In 2011, she used to come to our events and we noticed she appeared alone. She was an orphan, but was also having a baby of her own and was very sick. 'She passed away a few months later, leaving behind a newborn baby. We educated that child, took care of her bills, and now she's in high school. She's called Blessing and we had a charity tournament last August in her name. When she gets through university, it will go to another cause.' As was the case with Asi in New Zealand, players are still the ones who can transcend a club beyond their own borders. The influx of top African talents such as Kanu, Kolo Toure, Lauren and Emmanuel Adebayor helped Arsenal's presence grow on that particular continent around the turn of the century. In South America, the appreciation of players works slightly differently. Colleen Cheyenne Wilson is from east London. She regularly attended matches growing up, but has lived in Colombia for the past two years and works as a teacher. She tells The Athletic: 'This area loves Real Madrid. Even if I thought Arsenal would have a good chance against them in the Champions League, that wasn't the perception here. 'To not just beat them, but do it twice with the phenomenal performances of Declan Rice really changed the perception of Arsenal. Advertisement 'Bukayo Saka was the first player on people's lips when talking about modern Arsenal. I've not heard the word 'Rice' said so much since those games. I got so many texts saying 'Wow, Rice. What a player. I had no idea!'. That was culturally significant not just in Arsenal's history, but all over South America, and he probably doesn't even know it.' Champions League games are often the hardest to catch in South America. They take place during the working day, but luckily, a public holiday fell on the days when Arsenal faced Madrid. That did not mean Wilson felt more support for the club as the semi-final clashes with Paris Saint-Germain approached, however. 'They get really into the tribalism,' she says of her students. 'There are videos of me in my Arsenal shirt going around to terrorise all of them because they're huge Real Madrid fans. When it came to the PSG games, every day I came in they'd chant 'PSG! PSG!'. They even stuck PSG shirts all over the school. 'Tribalism is rooted here because football is life. Even off-licenses and malls have TVs only with football matches on.' That tribalism also works differently in Colombia compared with England. While members of supporters groups are die-hard, more casual fans will support their own Colombian team and maybe two European teams, such as Real Madrid and Manchester City. With that the case in Wilson's class, she had the perfect chance to get back at them when Arsenal thrashed City 5-1 in February. 'We'd been bantering throughout the year, so it was a bubbling pot,' she says. 'I thought, 'They're not going to want to see me if Arsenal win'. So I had a photo of Myles Lewis-Skelly doing the Haaland celebration hidden, and as soon as I turned on the projector, they all started screaming.' My students support City and today was the first day back… — colleenchey (@colleenchey) February 4, 2025 In some places, it is not always easy to find somewhere showing the game. The Athletic had first-hand experience of this out in Tokyo, Japan, back in November 2023. Pubs in the city centre, Shibuya, were showing Manchester City versus Liverpool, but not Brentford versus Arsenal immediately after. It was understandable. Arsenal were kicking off at 2am, so it was time to embark on an hour-long post-midnight walk to find Highbury — The Home of Beer in Shinjuku, where you were greeted with a simple question: What do you think of Tottenham? Around 10-15 people were inside at kick-off, when the pub transformed into more of a cinema. The shutters outside came down, the lights were turned off, and the TV volume shot up. The locals watching spoke Japanese between themselves for the majority of the game, other than the occasional 'Shoot!' or 'Go!' in English. Well, that was until about 4am. Advertisement The game was goalless until the 89th minute, when Bukayo Saka picked out Kai Havertz at the back post to win the game in the last minute. It was Havertz's second goal for Arsenal, and his first since a new chant had begun for him. The locals went straight into full English: 'Sixty million down the drain, Kai Havertz scores again!' It was 6am by the time The Athletic hit the pillows in Yokohama, but this is the experience of many international fans, not just of Arsenal. 'I tread both lines,' Laker says. 'You might never get to see this team play in the flesh, so you will pour everything into watching them at 5am with your mates at the pub. That becomes your Emirates Stadium. The idea that international fans are not proper fans is b*******. 'These are people just like me, they just happen to be born somewhere else. Being an international fan takes a hell of a lot of commitment, time, money and a lack of sleep. 'It's a very different experience but no less important.'
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
Singer Slams White House For Using ‘Jet2 Holiday' TikTok Trend
Jess Glynne, the British singer whose song 'Hold My Hand' is included in the viral 'Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday' TikTok audio, slammed the White House for using the sound in a video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers deporting migrants. The White House used a popular TikTok sound, "Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday," in a video of authorities detaining migrants. (Photo by) Getty Images The official White House social media accounts posted a video Tuesday night depicting ICE agents deporting migrants, set to a viral TikTok sound that users typically use in videos depicting their vacation disasters or other chaotic incidents. The sound, in which a British woman narrates a vacation deal offered by the Jet2 airline, includes a clip of singer Jess Glynne's 2015 hit 'Hold My Hand.' The White House captioned its post: 'When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation,' adding, 'Nothing beats it!' Glynne slammed the White House in a post on Instagram Wednesday morning, stating the post makes her 'sick' because her music is about 'love, unity, and spreading positivity - never about division or hate.' The post went viral on social media, garnering 7 million views as of Wednesday afternoon, with some users expressing outrage: 'Jet2 should sue the White House and I'm not even joking,' one user posted on X, garnering 81,000 likes. Jet2 has not responded to the White House's post (Forbes has reached out for comment). The 'Jet2 Holiday' sound comes from a commercial that aired in 2024, though the airline has been using Glynne's song in advertisements for years. In the ad, Jet2 offers a deal on a vacation package through Jet2holidays, a subsidiary company that sells vacations and tours. The sound has become one of this summer's biggest TikTok trends. The audio has been used in nearly 2 million videos, many of which portray chaotic incidents, such as a person getting knocked over by a splash from a water slide or a woman almost getting hit by a rebounding axe at an axe throwing range. The most-liked video using the Jet2 sound, with nearly 38 million likes, depicts someone opening a huge curtain at a hotel only to reveal a tiny window. Jet2 has posted videos using the sound, and Glynne has referenced the trend onstage at her concerts. Last week, Glynne and the commercial's narrator, Zoe Lister, met on a British radio show, where they performed the viral sound together. How Has The White House Used Memes On Social Media? The 'Jet2 holiday' video is the latest example of the Trump administration using memes on its social media accounts. In a post earlier this month, the White House superimposed President Donald Trump's face onto Superman, coinciding with the release of the new 'Superman' movie, captioning the post: 'Truth. Justice. The American Way. Superman Trump.' On Valentine's Day, the White House account posted a card that said: 'Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we'll deport you.' The administration acknowledged its tendency to communicate through memes in a post a few weeks ago: 'Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we can't post banger memes,' the White House posted. The 'Nothing Beats A Jet2 Holiday' TikTok Trend, Explained—And How The Airline Capitalized On Viral Ad (Forbes) Trump administration leans in on memes, AI and MAGA messaging online (NBC News)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Why plane turbulence is really becoming more frequent
Andrew Davies was on his way to New Zealand to work on a Doctor Who exhibition, for which he was project manager. The first leg of his flight from London to Singapore was fairly smooth. Then suddenly the plane hit severe turbulence. "Being on a rollercoaster is the only way I can describe it," he recalls. "After being pushed into my seat really hard, we suddenly dropped. My iPad hit me in the head, coffee went all over me. There was devastation in the cabin with people and debris everywhere. "People were crying and [there was] just disbelief about what had happened." Mr Davies was, he says, "one of the lucky ones". Other passengers were left with gashes and broken bones. Geoff Kitchen, who was 73, died of a heart attack. Death as a consequence of turbulence is extremely rare. There are no official figures but there are estimated to have been roughly four deaths since 1981. Injuries, however, tell a different story. In the US alone, there have been 207 severe injuries - where an individual has been admitted to hospital for more than 48 hours - since 2009, official figures from the National Transportation Safety Board show. (Of these, 166 were crew and may not have been seated.) But as climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence. "We can expect a doubling or tripling in the amount of severe turbulence around the world in the next few decades," says Professor Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading. "For every 10 minutes of severe turbulence experienced now, that could increase to 20 or 30 minutes." So, if turbulence does get more intense, could it become more dangerous too - or are there clever ways that airlines can better "turbulence-proof" their planes? The bumpy North Atlantic route Severe turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane going through disturbed air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt. Estimates show that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a total of more than 35 million flights that now take off globally. Of the severe injuries caused to passengers flying throughout 2023 - almost 40% were caused by turbulence, according to the annual safety report by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The route between the UK and the US, Canada and the Caribbean is among the areas known to have been affected. Over the past 40 years, since satellites began observing the atmosphere, there has been a 55% increase in severe turbulence over the North Atlantic. But the frequency of turbulence is projected to increase in other areas too according to a recent study - among them, parts of East Asia, North Africa, North Pacific, North America and the Middle East. The knock-on effect of climate change There are three main causes of turbulence: convective (clouds or thunderstorms), orographic (air flow around mountainous areas) and clear-air (changes in wind direction or speed). Each type could bring severe turbulence. Convective and orographic are often more avoidable - it is the clear-air turbulence that, as the name might imply, cannot be seen. Sometimes it seemingly comes out of nowhere. Climate change is a major factor in driving up both convective and clear-air turbulence. While the relationship between climate change and thunderstorms is complex, a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture - and that extra heat and moisture combine to make more intense thunderstorms. Linking this back to turbulence — convective turbulence is created by the physical process of air rising and falling in the atmosphere, specifically within clouds. And you won't find more violent up and downdrafts than in cumulonimbus, or thunderstorm clouds. This was the cause of the severe turbulence on Andrew Davies's journey back in 2024. A report by Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau found that the plane was "likely flying over an area of developing convective activity" over south Myanmar, leading to "19 seconds of extreme turbulence that included a drop of 178 feet in just under five seconds". One study from the US published in the Science journal in 2014 showed that for 1C increase in global temperature, lightning strikes increase by 12%. Captain Nathan Davies, a commercial airline pilot, says: "I have noticed more large storm cells spreading 80 miles plus in diameter in the last few years, something you'd expect to be rare." But he adds: "The large cumulonimbus clouds are easy to spot visually unless embedded within other clouds, so we can go around them." More from InDepth Boeing's 787 Dreamliner was deemed the 'safest' of planes. The whistleblowers were always less sure HS2 was doomed to be a mess, say insiders - because of a 'problem in this country' How the rise of green tech is feeding another environmental crisis Clear-air turbulence could also soon rise. It is caused by disturbed air in and around the jet stream, (a fast-moving wind at around six miles in the atmosphere, which is the same height as where planes cruise). Wind speeds in the jet stream travelling from west to east across the Atlantic can vary from 160mph to 250mph. There is colder air to the north and warmer air to the south: this temperature difference and change in winds is useful for airliners to use as a tailwind to save time and fuel. But it also creates the turbulent air. "Climate change is warming the air to the south of the jet stream more than the air to the north so that temperature difference is being made stronger," explains Prof Williams. "Which in turn is driving a stronger jet stream." 'It should worry us all' The increase in severe turbulence - enough to lift you out of your seat - could potentially bring more incidents of injury, or possibly death in the most severe cases. And some passengers are concerned. For Mr Davies, the prospect of more turbulence is worrying. "A lot. Not just for me, but my children too," he explains. "I'm pleased there hasn't been an incident as severe as mine but I think it should worry us all". More than a fifth of UK adults say they are scared of flying, according to a recent YouGov survey, and worsening turbulence could make journeys even more of a nightmare for these people. As Wendy Barker, a nervous flyer from Norfolk, told me: "More turbulence to me equals more chance of something going wrong and less chance of survival." Aircraft wings are, however, designed to fly through turbulent air. As Chris Keane, a former pilot and now ground-school instructor says, "you won't believe how flexible a wing is. In a 747 passenger aircraft, under 'destructive' testing, the wings are bent upwards by some 25 degrees before they snap, which is really extreme and something that will never happen, even in the most severe turbulence." For airlines, however, there is a hidden concern: that is the economic costs of more turbulence. The hidden cost of turbulence AVTECH, a tech company that monitors climate and temperature changes - and works with the Met Office to help warn pilots of turbulence - suggests that the costs can range from £180,000 to £1.5 million per airline annually. This includes the costs of having to check and maintain aircraft after severe turbulence, compensation costs if a flight has to be diverted or delayed, and costs associated with being in the wrong location. Eurocontrol, a civil-military organisation that helps European aviation understand climate change risks, says that diverting around turbulence-producing storms can have a wider impact - for example, if lots of aircraft are having to change flight paths, airspace can get more crowded in certain areas. "[This] increases workload for pilots and air traffic controllers considerably," says a Eurocontrol spokesperson. Having to fly around storms also means extra fuel and time. In 2019 for example, Eurocontrol says bad weather "forced airlines to fly one million extra kilometres, producing 19,000 extra tonnes of CO2." With extreme weather predicted to increase, they expect flights will need to divert around bad weather such as storms and turbulence even more by 2050. "Further driving up the costs to airlines, passengers and [increasing] their carbon footprint." How airlines are turbulence-proofing Forecasting turbulence has got better in recent years and while it is not perfect, Prof Williams suggests we can correctly forecast about 75% of clear-air turbulence. "Twenty years ago it was more like 60% so thanks to better research that figure is going up and up over time," he says. Aircraft have weather radar that will pick up storms ahead. As Capt Davies explains, "Before a flight, most airlines will produce a flight plan that details areas of turbulence likely throughout the route, based on computer modelling." It is not 100% accurate, but "it gives a very good idea combined with other aircraft and Air Traffic Control reports once we are en-route". Southwest Airlines in the US recently decided to end cabin service earlier, at 18,000ft instead of the previous 10,000ft. By having the crew and passengers seated with belts on ready for landing at this altitude, Southwest Airlines suggests it will cut turbulence-related injuries by 20%. Also last year, Korean Airlines decided to stop serving noodles to its economy passengers as it had reported a doubling of turbulence since 2019, which raised the risk of passengers getting burned. From owls to AI: extreme measures Some studies have taken turbulence-proofing even further, and looked at alternative ways to build wings. Veterinarians and engineers have studied how a barn owl flies so smoothly in gusty winds, and discovered wings act like a suspension and stabilise the head and torso when flying through disturbed air. The study published in the Royal Society proceedings in 2020 concluded that "a suitably tuned, hinged-wing design could also be useful in small-scale aircraft…helping reject gusts and turbulence". Separately, a start-up in Austria called Turbulence Solutions claims to have created turbulence cancelling technology for light aircraft, where a sensor detects turbulent air and sends a signal to a flap on the wing which counteracts that turbulence. These can reduce moderate turbulence by 80% in light aircraft, according to the company's CEO. Then there are those arguing that AI could be a solution. Fourier Adaptive Learning and Control (FALCON) is a type of technology being researched at the California Institute of Technology that learns how turbulent air flows across a wing in real-time. It also anticipates the turbulence, giving commands to a flap on the wing which then adjusts to counteract it. However Finlay Ashley, an aerospace engineer and member of Safe Landing, a community of aviation workers calling for a more sustainable future in aviation, explained that these types of technology are some time away. "[They're] unlikely to appear on large commercial aircraft within the next couple of decades." But even if turbulence does become more frequent, and more severe, experts argue this isn't cause for worry. "It's generally nothing more than annoying," says Captain Davies. But it might mean more time sitting down, with the seat-belt fastened. Andrew Davies has already learnt this the hard way: "I do get a lot more nervous and don't look forward to flying like I used to," he admits. "But I won't let it define me. "The moment I sit down, my seat belt goes on and if I do need to get up, I pick my moment - then I'm quickly back in my seat, buckled up again." Top Image credit: Ivan-balvan via GETTY BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. 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