{
  "id": 2738982,
  "title": "IIUM ends lecturer Solehah Yaacob’s service",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/23/iium-ends-lecturer-solehah-yaacobs-service-2738982",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-23T06:11:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/08/23/iium-ends-lecturer-solehah-yaacob-s-service"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) has terminated the employment of Arabic language lecturer Solehah Yaacob, effective April 27. IIUM stated that Yaacob is no longer a professor at the university and is prohibited from using any title, position, or claiming any affiliation with the institution. This includes all promotional materials, media reports, advertisements, social media content, and any other form of public dissemination.\n\nPreviously, Yaacob garnered public attention due to several controversial views, particularly concerning Malay history and civilization. A video of her claiming that Romans learned shipbuilding from Malays went viral last year, prompting Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir to urge university lecturers to refrain from making claims beyond their areas of expertise. More recently, Yaacob presented a theory suggesting that the abundance of iron ore in ancient Kedah could be attributed to meteor showers in ancient times.",
  "summary": "The academic had attracted public attention over several controversial views, including those concerning Malay history and civilisation.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "UIAM tamat khidmat Solehah Yaacob",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/23/uiam-tamat-khidmat-solehah-yaacob",
        "published": "2026-08-23T05:38:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Solehah Yaacob no longer with IIUM after Roman-Malay shipbuilding claim",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/23/solehah-yaacob-no-longer-with-iium-after-roman-malay-shipbuilding",
        "published": "2026-08-23T07:13:17.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}