SHINee's Jonghyun dies in suicide with coal briquettes

Kim Jong-hyun, the lead singer of popular South Korean boy band SHINee died on Monday in a suicide.Yonhap news agency said authorities found burned coal briquettes, which produce carbon monoxide, in a frying pan in Kim's hotel room.

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2016, file photo, Kim Jong-hyun, a member of South Korean K-pop group SHINee, poses for the media before a showcase for the group's album "1 of 1" in Seoul, South Korea. Kim Jong-hyun, better known by the stage name Jonghyun, was found unconscious at a residence hotel in Seoul and was pronounced dead later at a nearby hospital, Seoul police said Monday Dec. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

Kim Jong-hyun, better known by the stage name Jonghyun, was found unconscious at a residence hotel in Seoul and was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, Seoul police said.

Police said Kim's sister told them that the singer sent her text messages such as "Final farewell" and "I've had difficulties" before his death.

Jang Hee-yeon, lead singer of rock group Dear Cloud, posted what she called Kim’s suicide note online, with a photo of the total darkness.

“I’m broken from the inside ... It’s amazing that it hurts this much. No one alive is more tormented nor weaker than myself.” Kim wrote, ending the note by saying: “Tell me this is enough, that I did well. Even if you can’t smile, don’t send me off blaming me. You did well, you did good. Goodbye.”

Kim debuted in 2008 as the main singer of SHINee, and cultivated a career as both a group member and a solo singer-song writer. His last public appearance was at a solo concert titled "Inspired" on Dec. 9-10 in Seoul, and he was scheduled to hold concerts with SHINee members in Tokyo and Osaka in February, Yonhap said.

South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates among developed countries. A string of high-profile figures, including a former president and business executives, have killed themselves in recent years.

LONDON (AP) — Pressure was mounting Sunday on American rapper Ye to be pulled from his headline role at a London music festival this summer, after criticism from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Pepsi already has withdrawn its lead sponsorship role of the Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park in north London between July 10-12. Other sponsors of the event, including Budweiser and PayPal, are being urged to follow suit.

Pepsi didn't provide an explicit reason for its decision to pull out of the event, even though publicity for the festival promoted the event under the branding “Pepsi presents Wireless.”

“Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival," the company said in a statement Sunday.

Ye was booked perform in front of around 150,000 revellers over the course of the festival’s three nights.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, changed his name in 2021, and he has drawn widespread controversy in recent years for a series of antisemitic remarks, and has voiced admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year, he released a song called “Heil Hitler” — a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.

The 48-year-old musician apologized in January for his antisemitic remarks in a letter published as a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”

Fans of his at a sold-out concert Friday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, his first major U.S. performance in nearly five years, appeared to separate his personal beliefs and public statements from his music — and were ready to forgive after his January apology letter.

However, Starmer said it was “deeply concerning” that the rapper was booked to perform at the long-established festival,

“Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted clearly and firmly wherever it appears," he said in remarks published by The Sun on Sunday newspaper. "Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”

Ye's scheduled appearance follows signs of growing antisemitism in the U.K.

Two men and a 17-year-old boy were ordered to remain in custody on Saturday on charges of torching four ambulances run by a Jewish community-service in northwest London. And last October, two men died in an attack on a Manchester synagogue.

Phil Rosenberg, president of the board of deputies of British Jews, said it was “absolutely the wrong decision” to allow Ye to play.

Wireless Festival didn't immediately comment when contacted.

FILE - Kanye West, known as Ye, watches the first half of an NBA basketball game between the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Lakers, on March 11, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)