The 49-year-old ruler’s resignation comes after weeks of speculation on social media and in newspaper reports saying that he had married a Russian former beauty queen.

Sultan Muhammad V, who is from Kelantan, had taken a two-month break “following treatment” beginning Nov 2.

During that period, photos that were said to be of the couple’s wedding began making rounds online, with reports naming Sultan Muhammad’s love interest as 25-year-old Oksana Voevodina, the winner of the Miss Moscow 2015 title.

Here are five things you need know about Ms Voevodina and her rumoured relationship with Sultan Muhammad.

WHO IS MS VOEVODINA?

Ms Voevodina, who is from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, described her young self as a “bandit” who liked skates and bikes, and boys who took part in these competitions, reported British tabloid Daily Mail.

She said that the Miss Moscow pageant in 2015 had been a random opportunity, as she was asked to join together with her friend, who eventually did not make the cut.

Ms Voevodina is believed to be a business graduate from the elite Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Daily Mail added.

She previously worked as a model in China and Thailand, but had once dreamed of becoming a fashion designer.

British newspaper The Sun reported that Ms Voevodina was among 11 contestants on a Russian Reality television show inspired by MTV’s Temptation Island.

The Royal Wedding. 

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V married #MissMoscow2015 beauty queen #OksanaVoevodina in the Russian capital.

The vibrant ceremony was held at the Barvikha Concert Hall in Moscow.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT HER FAMILY?

Malaysia lifestyle news site Says.com reported that Ms Voevodina’s mother was a beauty contestant in the early 1990s, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

She had also spoken about having her father by her side during the finals of the 2015 Miss Moscow contest.

HOW DID SHE MEET SULTAN MUHAMMAD?

According to the Daily Mail, who spoke to a beauty contest director, Ms Voevodina is said to have met him 18 months ago in Europe when she was modelling luxury watches.

WHERE AND WHEN DID THEY TIE THE KNOT?

Malaysian newspaper The Star reported that the ceremony supposedly took place at a concert hall in the Moscow suburb of Barvikha on Nov 22.

Guests at the wedding ostensibly tucked into halal food, and the event was alcohol-free, reported Russian news outlet Islam News.

One of the viral photos shows the beaming couple clad in Malay traditional outfits.

Ms Voevodina, who had reportedly converted to Islam in April last year, also donned a headscarf. She has since taken on the name Rihana Oxana Gorbatenko.

She had told friends then that “I think that the man must be the head of the family and of course shall not earn less than a woman”, according to British newspaper The Telegraph, which quoted Russian media reports.

SPOTTED IN GERMANY?

Days before their wedding, the couple had purportedly visited a fertility clinic in Germany, reported Russia’s English-language television channel RT, which spoke to insiders.

Ms Voevodina’s press secretary Maria Shakhova confirmed the Germany trip with RT, adding that it was for “treatment”.

The report also said that Sultan Muhammad was anxious to start a family after he did not have children in his first marriage.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V married Miss Moscow 2015 beauty queen Oksana Voevodina in the Russian capital, yesterday.

The notice, issued by agencies including the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Transport, said bad behaviour includes a range of actions on roads, railways, urban transport, passenger vessels and in civil aviation: from interfering with safe driving on buses to taking others’ seats on high-speed trains or disrupting social order on an aircraft.

Offenders will be banned from rail or air travel for a period of time.

According to the national credit information sharing platform, creditchina.gov.cn, 5,099 people have been banned from purchasing air tickets since June, with 1,604 banned from buying train tickets.

The notice said all misbehaviour should be included in offenders’ credit records. For example, violations on trains, which include smoking, travelling without tickets, failing to pay surcharges upon arrival, reselling tickets, using a fake ID or disrupting public order or railway safety, should all be recorded.

It said transport authorities should strengthen education and training of personnel to better deal with misbehaviour, encourage passengers to participate in stopping criminal behaviour that interferes with safe driving and cooperate with public security departments to punish bad behaviour.

The campaign focusing on the transport sector is part of a broader move to improve behaviour, toughen sanctions on wrongdoers and enhance public security and order amid an ongoing national campaign promoting Chinese credibility.

“A social credit system is indispensable for any modern government,” said Professor Zhu Lijia, professor of public management at the Chinese Academy of Governance. “Instead of giving fines or other light penalties, putting severe offenders on a public blacklist will be more effective in constraining their behaviour.”

This year’s seven-day Spring Festival holiday runs from Feb 4 to 10, starting with Lunar New Year’s Eve.

More than 2.99 billion trips are expected to be made during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, beginning on Jan 21, including 2.46 billion by car, 413 million by rail, 73 million by plane and 43 million by ship.

Initial report said the blaze started from the first floor of Genting Crown Casino building in Poipet, Banteay Meanchay province which is adjacent to Aranyaprathet’s Klong Luek district of Thailand.

It is believed that there are unknown number of people trapped in the building.

Osman Kaymak, governor of the northern Turkish province of Samsun, told Anadolu that seven others were rescued after the Volgo Balt 214 vessel encountered trouble 80 nautical miles from Samsun and had sent a distress call at 8.10am (0510 GMT).

The crew members found alive were taken to hospital.

The governor’s office had initially said there were a total of 13 crew members including nine Ukrainians, two Azerbaijanis and two Russians.

    But the Russian embassy in Ankara said on Twitter that there were no Russians on board and Kiev’s envoy to Ankara, Andriy Sybiha, said there were 11 Ukrainian crew members.

He also said four Ukrainian citizens were among the dead.

The cause of the incident was not given by Turkish authorities but Sybiha said on Twitter that the ship “sank off the coast of Samsun due to weather conditions”.

The king stepped aside Sunday following intense speculation about his future after reports surfaced in recent weeks that he had taken medical leave, and then wed the former Miss Moscow.

As the country reacted with shock to the news, Malaysia’s Islamic royal families met at the national palace to push ahead with the task of picking a king to take over from Muhammad V, 49, who gave up the throne after just two years.

Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal, Syed Danial Syed Ahmad, said after the meeting that a new king and his deputy would be elected on January 24 and installed on January 31.

    Swearing in ceremonies for Malaysian kings are lavish affairs, marked by honour guards and Islamic prayers and attended by hundreds of guests in traditional finery.

Muslim-majority Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the country’s nine states.

The royal households take it in turn to provide the country’s king, and it is usually known before the formal election who will become the monarch.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s royalty command great respect, especially from Muslim Malays, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

But the succession may not be as straightforward this time as the next in line to the throne, Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang state, is elderly and reported to be ailing. Royal officials said he did not attend Monday’s meeting due to ill health.

– Game of thrones –

After him, the next in line under the rotation system is the sultan of southern Johor state.

Sultan Nazrin Shah of northern Perak state is the acting king, as he is the current deputy and performed Muhammad V’s duties after he went on medical leave at the start of November.

Despite mounting speculation in recent days the king might give up the throne, there was still palpable shock across the country at the first abdication of a king since the end of British rule in 1957.

“I am naturally stunned. The (king) is a man of the people,” Siti Nur Fahimah Razali, a 25-year-old trader from the king’s home state of Kelantan, told the New Straits Times newspaper.

The relatively youthful Muhammad V was known for his relaxed persona and love of off-road driving and other extreme sports.

But there had been growing unease at his reign after reports emerged in foreign media in late November — several weeks after the king went on leave — that he had married the Russian, Oksana Voevodina, in a lavish ceremony in Moscow.

Royal officials in Malaysia have not so far commented on the reported wedding, or said what condition prompted him to take medical leave.

But such a marriage is unlikely to sit well with the country’s conservative royal households.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had a tense relationship with the royals during his first stint as premier from 1981 to 2003 as he sought to curb their powers, said the government accepted Muhammad V’s abdication, official news agency Bernama reported.

The leader said he hoped that a new king would be elected soon while insisting the government would not “interfere in this matter”, it said.

Fans of K-pop phenomenon BTS, known as the Army, will soon be able to get their hands on official dolls of band members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook.

At the recent Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, United States-based toy maker Mattel announced that it would soon release BTS dolls, which the company on Monday also shared on Twitter.

“We signed a multi-category license contract with BTS agency, Big Hit Entertainment, and we plan to create things like dolls, collection figures, toys, games and role-playing accessories,” Mattel said in a statement, as quoted by Kompas.com.

The collection will be released mid-year.”The dolls are made based on the clothes that BTS wore on the ‘Idol’ music video,” the toy company added.

Mattel vice president Sejal Shah Miller said BTS was a cultural phenomenon that surpassed any age, culture and language barriers.

“Through this collaboration, we hope to create a new way for people around the world to connect with BTS,” Miller said.

Previously, BTS collaborated with LINE Friends to create characters such as Koya, RJ, Tata, Cooky, Shooky, Mang and Chimmy.

Queen biopic Bohemian Rhaspody pulled a major upset, taking home two top prizes — best drama film and best actor for Rami Malek, who played the band’s frontman Freddie Mercury.

Civil rights dramedy Green Book took home three prizes overall, and Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma won two Globes.

FILM

Best film, drama: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best film, musical or comedy: Green Book

Best actor, drama: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Best actress, drama: Glenn Close, The Wife

Best actor, musical or comedy: Christian Bale, Vice

Best actress, musical or comedy: Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Best supporting actor: Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Best supporting actress: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best director: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma

Best foreign language film: Roma (Mexico)

Best screenplay: Green Book — Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly

Best original song: “Shallow” (from A Star Is Born) — Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt

Best animated feature: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Read also: At Golden Globes, inclusion the big winner

TELEVISION 

Best drama series: The Americans (FX)

Best drama actor: Richard Madden, Bodyguard

Best drama actress: Sandra Oh, Killing Eve

Best musical or comedy series: The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

Best musical or comedy actor: Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method

Best musical or comedy actress: Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Best supporting actor (all categories): Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal

Best limited series or TV movie: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Best limited series or TV movie actor: Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story

Best limited series or TV movie actress: Patricia Arquette, Escape at Dannemora

FILMS WITH MULTIPLE WINS

Green Book — 3

Bohemian Rhapsody — 2

Roma — 2

    The king stepped aside Sunday following intense speculation about his future after reports surfaced in recent weeks that he had taken medical leave, and then wed the former Miss Moscow.

As the country reacted with shock to the news, Malaysia’s Islamic royal families set about the task of electing a new king to replace Muhammad V, 49, who gave up the throne just two years into his term.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the country’s nine states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty.

    The royal households take it in turn to provide the country’s king, and it is usually known before the formal election who will become the monarch.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s royalty command great respect, especially from Muslim Malays, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

A special meeting of the rulers was held at the palace in Kuala Lumpur to set a date for a new king to be elected, official news agency Bernama reported.

It will happen in the coming weeks, with the new king expected to serve a full, five-year term.

The national palace did not respond to requests for comment.

Sultan Nazrin Shah of northern Perak state is the acting king, local media reported. He is the current deputy king and performed Muhammad V’s duties after he went on medical leave at the start of November.

Despite mounting speculation in recent days the king might give up the throne, there was still palpable shock in the Muslim-majority country at the first abdication of a king since the end of British rule in 1957.

“I am naturally stunned. The (king) is a man of the people,” Siti Nur Fahimah Razali, a 25-year-old trader from the king’s home state of Kelantan, told the New Straits Times newspaper.

Among those wishing the former king well was scandal-plagued former premier Najib Razak, who wrote in a Facebook post: “We Malaysians pray for his health and that he is protected by Allah. Long live the king!”

But there had been growing unease after reports emerged in foreign media in late November — several weeks after the king went on leave — that he had married the Russian, Oksana Voevodina.

Royal officials in Malaysia have not so far commented on the reported marriage.