A controversial American live-streamer is facing the prospect of prison in South Korea for his offensive antics, in a case that is shining a light on the rise of so-called “nuisance influencers” seeking clicks overseas.

Ismael, who has built a reputation online for his provocative, often highly offensive video stunts, has been banned by multiple social media companies, after he was accused by critics of harassing locals in countries across Asia in an apparent effort to boost his online viewership.

Earlier this month, Ismael posted an online apology after he was accused of desecrating a South Korean monument to women subjected to sexual slavery in World War II, causing widespread outrage in the country.

The public backlash in South Korea appeared to reflect a broader frustration in the region with foreigners who exploit local customs for online fame, with Ismael being an extreme example of bad behavior.

According to Japanese news reports, foreign content creators have recently been accused of a string of transgressions in the country, from dodging railway fares to doing pull-ups on a shrine gate and “nuisance dancing” on Tokyo subway trains.

It coincides with a souring sentiment on mass tourism among many Japanese people as the country experiences record visitor numbers and a rise in reports of tourists behaving badly.

Earlier this month, a 65-year-old American tourist was arrested in Tokyo for allegedly carving letters into a shrine gate, just two months after a 61-year-old Austrian man was arrested for having sex on the grounds of a shrine.

Ismael’s recent trip to Japan was also met with controversy.

Last year, the live-streamer was arrested in Osaka on suspicion of trespassing in a construction site, according to the Kyodo News agency. Ismael also caused outrage in Japan by posting videos of himself taunting commuters about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while hurling insults.

John Lie, a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said Ismael serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of disregarding cultural boundaries in an interconnected world.

Though it was possible he has a deeper motive, the provocateur’s behavior appeared primarily designed to attract attention in a “quest to be a social media celebrity,” Lie said.

“There’s nothing significant there save his provocateur persona: a garden-variety character in today’s social mediascape,” he added.

Seoul residents awoke to a gleaming world of white this week, as record snowfall caused both disruption and delight across the South Korean capital.

The city recorded 16.1 centimeters (6.3 inches) of snow on Wednesday – the heaviest daily snowfall in November since records began in 1907, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The previous record, set in 1966, saw 9.5 cm (3.7 inches) of snow.

Further heavy snow fell throughout the day and overnight; by Thursday morning parts of Yongin city, south of the capital, had recorded 47.5 centimeters (18.7 inches) of snow, according to KMA.

Photos of the capital show trees sagging under the weight of the snow, and Seoul’s iconic palaces blanketed in white. Residents bundled up in thick coats, with some throwing snowballs, building snowmen and reveling in the fluffy snow.

They weren’t the only ones enjoying the wintry wonderland.

The country’s first ever twin panda cubs – born to nationwide enthusiasm last July – were seen frolicking at the Everland theme park and zoo Wednesday, sliding down a snowy field. It was the cubs’ first time experience in snow after keepers kept them indoors last winter to protect them from the elements, Reuters reported.

But the snow also brought widespread disruption, with travel halted in many places and transportation services suspended.

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 130 homes in Seoul had reported losing power, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Hundreds also lost power in cities near the capital including Gwangju, the Associated Press reported.

More than 150 flights nationwide were canceled or delayed between Tuesday and Thursday, while over 100 ferry services were restricted, the Interior Ministry said. At least 18 roads around Seoul faced restrictions due to the snow, with authorities adding extra subway trains to accommodate the extra demand on public transit.

In Wonju, southeast of Seoul, there was a multi-car pileup on a highway, with videos showing emergency workers surveying damaged cars and directing slow-moving vehicles in other lanes.

President Yoon Suk Yeol was briefed on the snowstorm on Wednesday, and ordered “thorough management to avoid damage to the people,” according to his office. Yoon also asked authorities to ensure there was enough capacity on public transport to cope with rush hour on Thursday.

As of Thursday, heavy snowfall alerts remained in place for southern parts of Gyeonggi province, according to KMA, though the alert for Seoul has been lifted and snow has begun to lighten in the capital.

Six so-called “narco subs” stuffed with cocaine were captured in a Colombian-led international anti-drug operation, authorities in the Latin American nation said Wednesday, as part of a huge global bust.

The mission, involving 62 countries, seized more than 1,400 metric tons of drugs – mostly marijuana – between October 1 and November 14, according to Vice Adm. Orlando Enrique Grisales, chief of naval operations staff for the Colombian Navy.

Among the haul was 225 metric tons of cocaine, 5 tons of which was found aboard a semi-submersible vessel plying a marine trafficking route from Colombia to Australia, he said.

The vessel, intercepted in Pacific waters with enough fuel to reach Australia, is the third such “narco sub” intercepted on the route, Grisales told reporters.

“The first was discovered in Colombian waters, and thanks to the maps it carried, we identified the route. That’s when we began working with Australian authorities,” he added.

Australian police have warned in recent years that international drugs cartels are increasingly targeting the country, where a surge in cocaine use combined with some of the highest street prices in the world has fueled a lucrative illicit market.

It’s not the first time “narco subs” have been seized by authorities. Traffickers started using the vessels in the late 1990s as Colombian cartels looked for ways to evade US law enforcement patrols in the Caribbean Sea to transport their illegal cargo into the United States.

The 225-ton seizure of cocaine is a huge haul. In a report this year, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that in 2022, global cocaine production reached 2,700 tons, a record high.

A Chinese acrobat who lost his wife and performance partner to a terrifying fall on stage last year was seriously injured in another show this week, state media reported.

Zhang Kai, 39, plunged several meters to a hard cement ground while performing an aerial silks routine on Monday night, after two pieces of fabric he was holding broke loose from the top of a crane.

The horrific moment was captured by Zhang’s own livestream of his performance in Henan province on Douyin, the sister app of TikTok in China, according to the state-run Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.

Zhang, who suffered injuries to his face and leg fractures, was out of life-threatening danger as of Wednesday but remained in the intensive care unit, his family told the Chengdu Business Daily, another state-owned newspaper.

Zhang’s late wife, surnamed Sun, fell to her death during an aerial silks performance with her husband in a village in Anhui province in April last year, sparking horror and outcry on social media over the lack of safety measures for performers.

Online footage of that incident showed the couple being pulled high into the air by a crane above a large outdoor stage. As they swung in mid-air, Sun wrapped her arms around her husband’s head and hung off him during a transition act. But she lost her grip and plunged to the hard stage amid screams from the crowd. Zhang attempted to catch her with his legs but failed, the footage showed.

The tragedy caused shock on Chinese social media. Many users questioned why Sun did not wear any safety belt, and why there was no safety net or crash mat on the ground. Others called for stricter regulations on the acrobatic industry and better protection for performers.

An investigation into last year’s incident by the local government found the company which hosted the show had not obtained prior approval from authorities and failed to provide essential safety protection and emergency measures during the performance. The use of a crane in the performance was also a violation of regulations, the government said.

China’s Acrobats Association issued a statement at the time, calling for acrobatic groups and performers to pay greater attention to safety measures.

On his Douyin bio, Zhang, a father of two, said last year’s incident “took away the person I loved most, leaving me alone to support the entire family.”

Before Monday’s performance, Zhang said in a video on Douyin that he took the gig to stand in for a friend who was supposed to perform but couldn’t make it to the show that night, calling it a “new challenge.”

“Maybe when you guys see this, like me, you will feel a mix of sadness and an indescribable emotion,” he said as he turned his phone to show the construction crane used to hang the performance silks. “Later I’ll use this account to show you guys on livestream.”

On Douyin, many users wished Zhang a speedy recovery. Some urged him to switch to another job for his kids, citing the risks.

China has suspended a top military official and placed him under investigation for corruption, the defense ministry said, as leader Xi Jinping broadens a sweeping purge in the upper ranks of the world’s largest military.

Admiral Miao Hua, a member of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), China’s top military body led by Xi, is under investigation for “serious violation of discipline” – a euphemism for corruption, Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said at a news conference Thursday.

Miao, 69, heads the Political Work Department of the CMC. He is widely seen as a close ally of Xi, having served in the army in the coastal province of Fujian when Xi was a senior official there in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The news of Miao’s suspension and investigation comes a day after the Financial Times reported that China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun had been placed under investigation for corruption, citing current and former US officials.

The Defense Ministry spokesperson dismissed the report as “sheer fabrication.”

“Those rumor mongers harbor evil motives. China expresses strong dissatisfaction over such smears,” he said.

Xi has waged a sweeping crackdown on corruption in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) since last year, focusing on the Rocket Force, an elite branch overseeing the country’s nuclear and conventional missiles.

The purge led to the downfall of several senior generals, including former defense minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe, who were expelled from the party in June over corruption allegations.

The ongoing turmoil in the upper ranks of the military comes as Xi is seeking to make China’s armed forces stronger, more combat-ready and more aggressive in asserting its disputed territorial claims in the region. As part of Xi’s ambition to transform the PLA into a “world class” fighting force, China has poured billions of dollars into buying and upgrading equipment.

Since last summer, more than a dozen high-level military officers and aerospace executives in the military-industrial complex have been stripped of their public roles.

Most of the generals purged were linked to the Rocket Force or military equipment, including Li and Wei, the former defense ministers.

Last summer, Li disappeared from public view after only months into the job, and weeks after a surprise shake-up of the leadership of the Rocket Force. He was removed from his post in October, without any explanation, and replaced by Dong, the current defense minsiter.

Miao, the latest top military official to be investigated, is widely seen as a political patron of Dong, who is also an admiral and once served as the top commander of the PLA Navy.

A Fujian native, Miao rose through the ranks in the political departments of the military. He was appointed the political commissar of the Navy in 2014 before being promoted to the director of the CMC’s Political Work Department in 2017.

Xi has made rooting out corruption and disloyalty a hallmark of his rule since coming to power in 2012, and the purges suggest that campaign is far from over within the military.