hits

Jan. 9 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s stock market rally is drawing a surge of debt-fueled trading into heavyweight shares such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, both of which have set record highs, as regulators and brokerages warn about overheating risk tied to rising margin balances.

The Korea Financial Investment Association said the nation’s total margin loan balance stood at 28.1903 trillion won (about $19.4 billion) on Thursday, a level the industry often associates with late-stage bull market behavior as leverage expands alongside index gains.

Borrowed funds have been concentrating in top market-cap stocks. Samsung Electronics’ margin loan balance stood at 1.8013 trillion won (about $1.24 billion) on Wednesday, the highest since the data series began, according to the report. During a sharp rally in June 2021, the company’s margin balance was around 700 billion won (about $483 million), it said.

SK Hynix has also seen a steady rise in margin borrowing. Its margin loan balance was 1.1504 trillion won (about $793 million), up from 884.1 billion won (about $610 million) at the end of last year, the report said, adding that the balance has increased for four straight sessions amid the record-high move.

Market watchers said a faster pace of gains can raise the chances of market alert actions. Under Korea Exchange monitoring rules, a stock can be designated an investment warning issue when sharp price rises and unusual trading patterns occur over a defined period, the report said.

The report cited SK Hynix’s experience on Dec. 11 last year, when its shares saw volatility after being designated an investment warning issue. The stock closed at 565,000 won (about $390), down about 3.7% from the prior close of 586,000 won (about $404), it said.

Once a stock is designated an investment warning issue, new margin buying is restricted, the report said, adding that authorities can escalate measures if rapid gains persist, including a trading halt in more severe cases.

The Korea Exchange recently revised its rules to limit the impact of “extremely long-term upward trends” in large-cap stocks, but the report said big semiconductor shares can still face market alert measures if short-term surges or abnormal trading emerge.

Margin trading is drawing attention because it can amplify selling pressure during corrections as forced liquidation accelerates when prices fall, the report said, adding that elevated margin balances in large-cap stocks could heighten future volatility.

A market official cited in the report said improved semiconductor conditions and earnings expectations may support share prices for now, but the pace of leveraged inflows and any regulatory signals will be key variables going forward.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

STORM Goretti is continuing to cause chaos across the UK as further travel disruptions are confirmed.

A number of rail lines have suspended services as the first storm of the year batters Britain.

West Midlands Railway officially cancelled routes this morning, Friday, 9 January.

In an official statement, the rail network said it is “unable to provide services until the afternoon”.

“Due to the significant ongoing transport and infrastructure disruption caused by Storm Goretti, we advise passengers not to travel on West Midlands Railway services on the morning of Friday, January 9,” the operator said.

“Passengers wishing to travel on the afternoon on Friday 9th January should check their journeys before they travel as we work to resume services.”

Read More On Storm Goretti

Storm Chaos

When will Storm Goretti end? Met office prediction as snow batters UK

GROUNDED

Full list of cancelled flights across UK today after Storm Goretti closes airports

No rail replacement road services will be provided due to “uncertain road conditions”.

Network Rail are also experiencing disruption after a “very intense heavy snow” hit the West Midlands/Shropshire and Staffordshire areas on Thursday night.

Efforts are being made to clear rail routes, with some services expected to be affected until Sunday, 11 January.

Meanwhile, Avanti West Coast issued “do not travel” advice to anyone planning to use Midlands routes until 1pm on Friday.

“An amended timetable will operate across all routes from 0700 until 1500, when we currently expect services to return to normal,” the train service operator said.

“We strongly recommend travelling outside these times if possible.”

Storm Goretti has also caused disruptions to air travel, with East Midlands Airport and Birmingham Airport forced to cease operations after flurries of snow left runways unusable.

Some areas of the country could see as much as 15-25cm of snow fall and settle as the extreme weather continues for a second day, while Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly were issued a rare red weather warning.

Gusts of 99mph were recorded at St Mary’s Airport on the Isles of Scilly while 90mph winds hit Culdrose, Cornwall where gales brought down power lines and trees.

National Highways said the A30 in Cornwall is closed in both directions between the A394 at Longrock and the A3074 at St Erth.

The closure is reportedly “due to a large number of trees that have fallen and are blocking the road”; Devon and Cornwall Police are assisting at the scene.

Specialist crews are working to clear the trees from the carriageway.

The A628 Woodhead Pass connecting Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire also remains closed in both directions between the A616 for Flouch and the A57 for Hollingworth because of snow.

National Highways has urged drivers to check the weather forecast before travelling today, saying: “Consideration of the weather forecast should be taken before commencing journeys, with considerable delays possible.”

The world No 1 expects to ‌skip events again this year and face likely sanctions rather than put her health at risk.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka has accused tennis authorities of “following their interests” and failing to put player welfare first over what she called an “insane” tennis season.

The Belarusian expects to ‌skip events this year rather than put her health at risk over ‍the course of ‍the season, even though she knows she is likely to be sanctioned by the WTA Tour for doing so, the world number one said on Thursday.

Top players are obliged to compete in all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 ⁠tournaments and six WTA 500 events under WTA rules, with the punishment for missing them ​ranging from rankings points deductions to fines.

In 2025, Sabalenka competed in ‍just three WTA 500 events – Brisbane, Stuttgart and Berlin – making her one of several high-ranked players, including world number two Iga Swiatek, to be docked ranking points.

Asked if she would change ‍her plans for ⁠2026, the four-time Grand Slam champion told reporters: “The season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured …

“The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple of events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season,” she said after beating Sorana Cirstea at the Brisbane ​International.

“Even though the results were really consistent, some of the ‌tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’d been really exhausted from overplaying. This season, we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by ‌the end of the season.

“But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip 1000 events. It’s really tricky, and I ‌think that’s insane what they do. I think they ⁠just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us.”

The number of events in the tennis calendar has been a frequent complaint in recent months among the sport’s biggest names.

Men’s world number one Carlos Alcaraz is another to have voiced concern about the amount of tennis he plays, although he has also signed up to feature in lucrative exhibition matches.

He faces great rival Jannik Sinner in one such event on Saturday in South Korea, barely a week before the Australian Open.

The men’s and women’s circuits have faced criticism due to their 11-month seasons, and both tours came under new scrutiny during the “Asian swing” towards ‌the end of last year, with injuries piling up.

Temperatures regularly plunge to -40C in this city and exposed skin can show first signs of frostbite within 10 minutes.

While we’re currently shivering through a British winter, with temperatures plunging below freezing in many parts of the country, it’s nothing compared to life in the world’s chilliest city.

In this frosty city temperatures regularly plummet below -40C, and every venture outdoors necessitates layers upon layers of clothing. Cars freeze solid, bus stops require heating, and if you’re not adequately prepared, you could freeze in “minutes”.

Welcome to Yakutsk, officially the coldest city on Earth.

Situated in northeastern Siberia, Yakutsk is home to over 372,800 people. The city is built on permafrost and only basks in around four hours of sunlight each day, resulting in incredibly low visibility.

Residents must be well-equipped to handle the severe conditions, and having the right attire is absolutely vital, reports the Express.

One woman, known as Kiun B on YouTube, shares her experiences of living in this icy metropolis. In one video, she reveals just how demanding (and costly) it can be to run everyday errands in such an environment.

With the mercury at a bone-chilling -42C, she explains that layering is key. Her outfit includes two pairs of leggings, thick wool bands over her knees to protect her joints from the cold, insulated trousers, and two jackets as standard.

She also dons specialised fur boots, as regular winter footwear would simply freeze. She warns that without these layers, she would freeze “in minutes.”

And quality winter gear doesn’t come cheap, with a decent coat setting you back up to £600, and boots costing even more.

Despite bundling up, Kiun revealed that the brisk five-minute stroll to her nearest bus stop can be quite a struggle.

The biting cold seeps through her clothes and her hair freezes. After just ten minutes, her nose turned white – an early sign of frostbite, forcing her to dash into the closest shop for warmth.

Another intriguing aspect of life in these conditions is the infrequent use of mobile phones. The severe cold drains batteries swiftly, so Kiun confessed she only uses hers in emergencies.

In addition to battery issues, she mentioned that using them outdoors is difficult as it necessitates removing your specialised gloves to type, risking frozen fingers.

Discussing her diet, Kiun explained that she needs more calories to keep warm in the harsh temperatures. According to her, having two breakfasts is completely normal as it helps her and other locals stay warm.

Fresh produce is considered a luxury, as nothing can really grow on the permafrost.

All fresh fruits and vegetables are imported from warmer climates, leading to prices nearly double those in central Russia. As a result, she relies on items like long-life milk and tinned beef.

Nevertheless, even without any fresh vegetables or meat, weekly groceries for one can still amount to as much as £111.

Root has been feast or famine in this series. Until this Test, his landmark century in Brisbane was one of only two occasions when he passed 20. In Sydney, the city where he was dropped for the only time in his Test career and once batted himself into hospital in extreme heat, the former captain was outstanding.

Without Root, England would have squandered their promising overnight position of 211-3. Harry Brook played a limp poke at Scott Boland to be caught at slip for 84 and Stokes edged a beauty from Mitchell Starc for an 11-ball duck, meaning the tourists lost 2-3 in four overs.

On one hand, Smith’s role in a stand of 94 with Root was valuable, but the wicketkeeper was fortunate to last so long. He was caught off a Cameron Green no-ball on 22, then edged and miscued the same bowler. The dismissal to Labuschagne’s bouncer plan as the second new ball approached was an appalling piece of cricket.

By this point, Root had moved to three figures from his overnight 72. After edging Neser over the slips on 94, he drove the same bowler down the ground to join Australia great Ricky Ponting on 41 Test tons – only India’s Sachin Tendulkar and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis have more. He celebrated with the same shrug of the shoulders he pulled in Brisbane.

On he went, adding 52 for the seventh wicket with Will Jacks. He passed 150 for the 17th time in Tests – only four other players have done so more.

Root eventually offered a leading edge to a diving Neser in the bowler’s follow-through, part of England’s final collapse of 4-9. After more than six and a half hours at the crease, he later left the field holding his lower back, and England face an anxious wait on his condition.

A REALITY star just clapped back against trolls in the sassiest way, uplifting women of all shapes and sizes.

The former Love Triangle contestant, 29, has grown tired of trolls making unnecessary remarks about her weight.

So she snipped out one of the nasty comments and posted a simple yet effective response – immediately shutting the troll down.

Sadie Bass got dolled up in a gorgeous forest green bodycon dress with a plunging neckline.

The darts at the waists cinched in her fabulous figure, while she confidently smiled her red lips towards the camera.

She finished the look off by curling her hair into a vintage-esque wave that flowed freely down her shoulders.

AMOR TO SHOW

Casa Amor stunner set to sign for All Stars after shock love triangle in villa

the one

Reality stars reveal they’re moving in together a year after meeting

“is this body CHUBBY or curvey… am confused,” said the rude comment Sadie pasted next to the clip of her in the stunning down.

But Sadie clapped back: “This body is *HOT I hope that clears up any confusion x” while mouthing along to Michael Jackson‘s Dirty Diana, flaunting her beauty.

As Sadie flipped her hair and modelled the dress to perfection during the clip, her fans couldn’t get enough.

“Damn straight,” said one user in the post’s comments on Instagram.

A second added: “Always sexy and beautiful xxx.”

A third empathised with Sadie’s feelings about women being labelled: “Beautiful!

“I had an ex who called me chunky and I was upset at the fact he even had to put a label on it.”

Captioned, “People’s obsession with categorising women’s body types is BORING. can we leave it in 2025 pls???”, fans adored Sadie’s striking between sass and profound messaging.

Sadie appeared on season two of the Channel 4 reality show Love Triangle.

It’s where she met her partner Danny, who she moved in with in the middle of last year.

Love Triangle sees six singletons (the pickers) who text two potential lovers and then have to pick one for a blind date.

Viewers watch contestants meet for the first time after exchanging flirty texts, before moving in together and learning more about one another.

Some of the couples on the show were introduced to a third person (Sadie, in Danny’s case).

At the end of the series the picker has to choose who they want to be with out of the love triangle.

The winter has made a life of relentless suffering worse for the people of Gaza, particularly for the wounded, children and elderly, with hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian territory displaced by Israel’s genocidal war desperately trying to survive on the scant humanitarian aid Israel is allowing in.

Nine-year-old Assad al-Madhna lost his left hand when Israeli fire hit a group of children playing in al-Zuwayda in central Gaza. The same attack also wounded him in the leg.

Now, as winter envelops the besieged enclave, Assad’s pain increases as the metal rods and pins holding his leg in place stiffen in the cold, making every step slower and agonising.

“I can’t play with other children as in winter, my legs and hands hurt a lot,” he told Al Jazeera.

“I haven’t received any prosthetic, struggle to change my clothes, and going to the toilet in this cold is a real challenge,” he said, adding: “Without my parents, I can’t manage it. At night, the severe cold becomes unbearable.”

A truce between Israel and Hamas since October 10 has been fragile, a ceasefire in name only, according to Palestinians and rights groups, after two years of destructive war.

Despite the truce, Palestinians in crowded camps – often in damaged tents and surrounded by mud – still face severe humanitarian conditions, trying to survive with few or no resources, making life the hardest for the most vulnerable.

‘No heating at all’

Eighteen-year-old Waed Murad survived an attack that wiped out her entire family – seven relatives in one strike.

She now lives with a life-altering injury, and when the temperatures drop, her nerve pain intensifies, sleep slips away, and the little recovery she had is threatened.

“I can’t keep myself warm because of the severe cold with the metal bars and pins always freezing,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I am living in a tent with no heating at all. Every time I hear the wind, I feel the pain will get worse, as the cold will affect the metal fixation devices even more.”

In the enclave, temperatures at night have ranged between eight and 12 degrees Celsius (46 and 53 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days.

Nearly 80 percent of buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to United Nations data.

About 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.

Of more than 300,000 tents requested to shelter displaced people, “we have received only 60,000,” Shawa told the AFP news agency, pointing to Israeli restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory.

Israel slammed for banning NGOs

Meanwhile, the international community has condemned Israel’s recent announcement of a suspension of the operations of several international nongovernmental organisations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned and called for the measure to be reversed.

“This announcement comes on top of earlier restrictions that have already delayed critical food, medical, hygiene and shelter supplies from entering Gaza.”

“This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said in a statement.

Several countries in the Middle East and Asia called on Israel to allow “immediate, full, and unhindered” deliveries of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as winter storms lash the bombarded Palestinian enclave.

In a statement on Friday, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Pakistan and Indonesia warned that “deteriorating” conditions in Gaza had left nearly 1.9 million displaced Palestinians particularly vulnerable.

“Flooded camps, damaged tents, the collapse of damaged buildings, and exposure to cold temperatures coupled with malnutrition, have significantly heightened risks to civilian lives,” the statement read.

Earlier this month, Gaza experienced a similar spell of heavy rain and cold.

The weather caused at least 18 deaths due to the collapse of war-damaged buildings or exposure to cold, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

On December 18, the UN’s humanitarian office said 17 buildings collapsed during the storm, while 42,000 tents and makeshift shelters were fully or partially damaged.

Coronation Street legend Beverley Callard, who starred as Rovers landlady Liz McDonald, has hit back at accusations she has taken weight loss medication to get into shape

Beverley Callard has insisted she has not been using jabs to lose weight. The actress, 68, who is best known for her legendary portrayal of former Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald on Coronation Street, is also a qualified fitness instructor alongside her television career and took to social media on Friday to show off her trim new figure.

But some followers did not believe that she had simply adopted a healthier diet and exercise regimen to drop the pounds and accused her of turning to “skinny jabs” as a quick fix.

In the video, Beverley said: “No girls, I am not on a skinny jab. I have worked out my whole life and I have been working my a** off, literally. Although I must say, I would not knock anybody who is on it. Just do what you’ve got to do.” The former I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! star, who was last seen in her signature soap role in 2020, also used the caption of her post to quash the accusations.

READ MORE: Coronation Street’s best storylines and most iconic characters ‘revealed’ by fansREAD MORE: Coronation Street icon ‘convulses’ as she is ‘possessed by spirits’ on new TV show

She wrote: “Just addressing some of the comments I’ve been getting recently about my weight… as there have been quite a few! I’ve spent my whole life doing fitness and working my arse off… literally! Each to their own when it comes to weight loss, but I’m not on any weight loss jabs. Just clearing that up!”

During the height of her television fame in the mid to late 1990s, Beverley released a series of workout videos and also wrote a fitness-themed column for the Mirror. Fans of the Two Pints of Lager and A Packet of Crisps actress rushed to the comments section to throw praise on the star.

One wrote: “You have always looked amazing @beverleycallard ignore all the comments those who love you and follow you know you’ve done this with healthy eating & good exercise happy new year to you & keep doing what your doing xx”

Another said: “I still use your exercise DVD, it’s still fab! You need to upload it or do a new one!” and a third wrote: “I’ve been working out to your DVDs for years. Along with Rosemary Conley, you are my favourite fitness instructor. I’d love to train with you for real if you ever decide to hold some local classes.”

Since quitting her role as Liz, Beverley moved from Manchester to Norfolk with her husband Jon McEwan and quickly started offering exercise classes in her local area. When she launched them in 2022, she said: “I can’t wait to meet you all. Thank you to all of you who have been in touch already! Those of you who have emailed but not filled in the questionnaire yet, please send me them!

“If you’re interested in being one of my 25 strong women and part of my new fitness classes.” Beverley was an aerobics teacher before she was cast as Angie Richards in Emmerdale in 1983, and when she left Coronation Street for the first time in 1998, she decided to focus on her fitness career once again.

She then appeared as Liz again from 2003 until 2011, and then again from 2013 until 20202. Once she left for the final time, Beveley admitted she had worked six days a week and filmed from 7am to 10pm in the evening.

Beverley also took a swipe at the writers of the long-running ITV soap as she spoke of why she doesn’t think the “scripts are as good now”, in comparison to when she first made her appearance as Liz in 1989.

In an interview with The Sun, Beverley said of her decision to leave: “As an actor, you’re scared to say no to a job, but the scripts came and I thought I’ve just got to trust my instincts really. It’s not nine to five, it’s like seven until ten at night and it’s six days a week, it’s really full on and you have no life, like it used to be a lot harder years ago when the cast was smaller. I personally don’t think the scripts are as good now, I think we’re overloaded with soap operas, which is a shame.”

* Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News , Flipboard , Apple News, TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage