The state of academic freedom has been questioned, following the shutting down of a student-led event about assembly rights. We speak to Dr Khoo Ying Hooi, associate professor at the Department of International and Strategic Studies at Universiti Malaya, for her thoughts on what's happening.

Other stories we covered:

• Malaysia in 23rd spot in global competitiveness index: This is out of 69 economies, and marks the best performance in the index since 2020. Nischal Ranjinath Muniandy, Senior Executive of Research at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs talks to us about the significance of this.

• Sea turtles in Terengganu face renewed threats: Not just from habitat loss and egg poaching, but now from unethical tourist encounters. Some tour operators are disrupting turtle behaviour for photo ops, undermining conservation efforts. We speak to Dr Mohd Uzair Rusli from the Sea Turtle Research Unit at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu about this.

• Glaciers are melting fast: Glaciers are melting at a record-breaking pace, with nearly 40% now beyond the point of recovery. Prof Dr Michael Zemp, Director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service gives us more insight on this issue.

• Politicians joining the podcast space: Former Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli has revived his podcast following his resignation, saying he now has more freedom to speak without the constraints of government ethics. We explore why more politicians are turning to podcasts as their next platform.

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