Author: Bulat Kechik

AMD supplier is first among peers to diversify into Southeast Asia Malaysia — Austria-based AT&S says it will begin mass producing chip substrate in Kulim, Malaysia, this year, making it the first supplier of such materials to diversify into Southeast Asia amid the ongoing U.S.-China tech war. “It’s wise for companies to have diversified footprints. You don’t put all the eggs into one basket,” AT&S CEO Andreas Gerstenmayer told Nikkei Asia on the sidelines of the company’s factory opening ceremony on Wednesday. Substrates — the material on which chips are built — are made by only a handful of companies,…

China accused the Philippines of violating its sovereignty on two separate occasions over the weekend after its neighbor to the southeast undertook supply missions to South China Sea features claimed by both countries. Beijing also said one of the Philippine ships had rammed one of its coast guard vessels near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal. The incidents took place at Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal, two of the most hotly contested areas in the region. China asserts historical rights to upward of 80 percent of the trade-rich sea as its territory, while the Philippines claims its ships have a right to operate within its exclusive…

China and the United States have been urged to work together and lead the way on global ocean governance. An event held on the Chinese island of Hainan earlier this month heard that progress will not be possible without cooperation between the two superpowers, who were urged not to let regional maritime disputes overshadow efforts to address issues such as piracy, climate change and other environmental threats. China is embroiled in a number of territorial disputes with neighbouring countries, including the Philippines, and coastguard and other ships from the two countries have been involved in a series of confrontations recently.…

YTL Power International revealed on Friday that it will collaborate with GPU chip maker Nvidia to build an AI data centre in Malaysia by the middle of next year. Under the deal, YTL and Nvidia will build an AI infrastructure in YTL’s 500-MW Green Data Center Park in Kulai, Johor. YTL’s telecoms arm, YTL Communications (which offers 4G and 5G services under the “Yes” brand), will own and manage it. YTL said in a statement that the project will provide energy-efficient AI infrastructure to scientists, developers and startups in Malaysia. It will also enable YTL to create AI-powered apps and…

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lawfully dealt with a transit by US and Canadian warships in the Taiwan Straits on Wednesday. This comes at a time when the US has deployed two aircraft carriers near China in its attempt to maintain hegemony amid global security tensions, experts said on Thursday. Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said in a press release on Thursday that the USS Rafael Peralta destroyer and the HMCS Ottawa frigate on Wednesday made a transit through the Taiwan Straits, an event that the US has hyped. The PLA Eastern Theater Command organized naval…

JOHOR BARU: Five private schools in Johor have received bomb threats sent via email. Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat confirmed that the schools in Permas Jaya, Masai, Gelang Patah, Kulai and Muar have received the email between 11am and 6.18pm on Tuesday (Nov 21). “After receiving the reports, teams of policemen including the bomb squad and canine unit were sent to the schools to investigate the alleged threat,” he said. “We searched the school areas and no suspicious object was found. The locations have been deemed safe,” he added in a statement on Tuesday. He said that…

KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Research is upbeat about the real estate sector following the recent meeting between Malaysia and Singapore to accelerate the progress of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The bank-backed research firm said companies that can potentially benefit significantly include UEM Sunrise Bhd (UEM), Sunway Construction Group Bhd and AME Elite Consortium Bhd. Further details regarding tax incentives and cross-border electricity trading are expected to be announced in the coming months, the research firm noted. To note, Singapore intends to import 30 per cent of its electricity supply from low-carbon sources by 2035, while Malaysia has recently lifted…

MANILA >> A senior Filipino diplomat known for his past expletive-laced tirade against China joined a coast guard trip to the disputed South China Sea last week and saw Beijing’s ships block and nearly collide with Philippine vessels, including one he was on. Teodoro Locsin Jr. was on one of two Philippine coast guard vessels that escorted two Philippine boats to deliver food and other supplies to a Filipino marine territorial outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal on Oct. 4, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear why the public disclosure…

JOHOR BAHRU – The police have apprehended three individuals believed to be involved in the murder of a 25-year-old Malaysian man. Johor Bahru South Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said that the suspects, who are in their 20s, were arrested at about 5.30am on Friday. “At 3.41am on Friday, we received information from the public about a fight involving sharp objects that had occurred in the Johor Bahru area, which resulted in the death of a local man. “Based on preliminary investigation, we found stab marks on the victim’s chest, stomach, ribcage, shoulder, and back as well as wounds on his…

SEOUL (dpa): North Korea’s state media have harshly criticized South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his warning about Pyongyang’s arms deals with Moscow. A commentary carried by the KCNA news agency on Monday accused Yoon of acting as a “loudspeaker for the US” and talking viciously about North Korean and Russian relations. “It is self-evident that such a guy with a trash-like head cannot understand the profound and enormous meaning of the development of the DPRK-Russia friendly relations,” the commentary said. A spokesman for the Unification Ministry in Seoul condemned the remarks as vulgar and said they were not…