Author: Muntaha Musaaid

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 16,000 people including Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim turned up at a rally on Tuesday night (Oct 24) as Malaysia staged another show of support for the Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that has claimed thousands of lives. Participants from all ages and from all walks of life, including students, professionals, refugees, religious leaders and politicians, gathered at a rally organised by the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) at an indoor stadium in Kuala Lumpur. Among the rally-goers – many wearing white and chanting for Palestine to be free – was graphic…

Berlin (05/11 – 40) The international transport corridor “Tajikistan-Europe” will be expanded. The initiative for the implementation of the “Crossroads of the World” project was announced at the IV International Tbilisi Silk Road Forum, which concluded in the capital of Georgia. The project envisions the development of connections between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Iran. This means that the Silk Road, which once passed through the North Caucasus, will now be connected to the South Caucasus hub. “In this way, another node is added to the multimodal corridor ‘China – Tajikistan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey – Europe’,”…

London, Delhi, Mumbai (28/10 – 10) England’s title defense in the 2023 Cricket World Cup is practically over, after their fourth defeat in five group-stage matches. Jos Buttler and Co. are coming to the tournament in India as the defending champions, having won their first title in history with the 2019 edition. The 2023 Cricket World Cup turns out to be a disaster for Matthew Mott’s team. From day one onwards, England’s show in the tournament has been painfully dismal, losing by 9 wickets at the hand of New Zealand in the 5 October opening match. They seemed to have…

The travel industry is allocated a cool RM350mil in the National Budget 2024, which was tabled recently by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. With an increase of RM100mil compared to the previous budget, the allocation will be used for tourism activities and promotions, including organising promotional campaigns for Visit Malaysia Year – which was previously set for 2025, but is now scheduled for 2026 (VMY2026). The government will also be focusing on niche tourism markets such as ecotourism, scuba diving, golf, weddings and medical tourism. We spoke to four local travellers to get their perspective on the newly unveiled…

Hydrogen and renewable energy are promising areas for bilateral cooperation between Türkiye and Japan, the ambassador of Japan to Ankara, Takahiko Katsumata, told Anadolu in an exclusive interview. Japan is one of the nations considered for the initiative to build Türkiye’s second nuclear power station in Sinop, a province near the Black Sea. In addition to potential collaboration on a large-scale nuclear power project, both nations are also anticipated to work together on smaller-scale clean energy projects. Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Nishimura Yasutoshi, met in Istanbul on…

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s economy is expected to continue to moderate in the near term based on data in July and August, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). DOSM noted that Malaysia’s economy exhibited moderate growth during the first half of 2023, expanding by 4.2 per cent. Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the half-year performance came after a 5.6 per cent growth in the first quarter and 2.9 per cent in the second quarter. “Total trade in July 2023 declined 14.4 per cent from RM252.8 billion in the same month last year to RM216.4 billion. Exports…

Malaysian civil society groups and human rights activists are accusing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of breaking campaign promises to stamp out corruption as well as review and cancel laws that curb free speech and stifle dissent. Anwar’s government is instead using some of the same laws to curtail criticism of his administration or appease conservative elements, they said. And the PM, who came to power 10 months ago, is cracking down on corruption selectively, his critics allege, noting how prosecutors this week dropped dozens of graft charges against the head of a party propping up Anwar’s federal government. The laws…

Education plays a vital role in the future of a nation. Countries which have a quality education system which cater to the trends of the future tend to stand out. Singapore, Finland and South Korea are a few countries which excel because their education system is free from political and other considerations. A good question to pose for Malaysia is: what has the country achieved in terms of primary and secondary education in the last few decades? Over the last few decades, the education system of the country has continued to evolve, with each new education minister bringing a new…

The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (HUR) revealed that since the beginning of 2022, approximately 55,000 to 60,000 residents from the occupied territories of Ukraine have been forcibly conscripted into the Russian army. Andriy Chernyak, a representative of the military intelligence agency, disclosed this alarming information, shedding light on the harsh realities faced by the occupied regions. “This is a forced mobilization: the occupiers caught people on the street, they came to those few enterprises that were still working, and forcibly took people away – they simply changed clothes and sent them to the front,” the press service of…

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has launched programs to promote renewable energy in a country that has relied heavily on fossil fuels, hoping to lead Southeast Asia in transition to a greener economy. But the ambitious targets, such as having renewables supply 70% of the total energy supply by 2050, have experts stressing that the government needs to roll out complementary regulatory frameworks to support the transition. Unveiling the first phase of the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) last week, the government identified 10 flagship catalyst projects and initiatives – ranging from constructing renewable energy zones and creating biomass demand to capturing…