Author: Muntaha Musaaid

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Despite hiccups brought by the volatile global environment in the first half of 2023 (1H2023), Malaysia’s economy is set to navigate through the second half journey on continuous support from strong households, intact economic fundamentals and improved outlook. Economic experts are in view that the gross domestic product (GDP) target of between four and five per cent sets by the government for 2023 is achievable and the country is on track to realise it. They also believed that the external variables influencing growth, which impacted the economy in 1H2023, including the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s (Fed)…

Brussels (12/7 – 30.77) International investigators interviewing survivors of a mountain massacre that occurred in May 2022 in Tajikistan have collected evidence that government security services carried out a planned massacre of peaceful protestors as part of a larger ethnic cleansing campaign targeting the peaceful Pamiri indigenous people of the mountainous eastern region of the country. Numerous witnesses described how heavily armed troops from both the Ministry of Internal Affairs (VKD) and the intelligence service (GKNB) gunned down Pamiri demonstrators in the town of Vamar/Rushon on 18 May 2022. The non-violent protests had erupted in various cities of the Gorno-Badakhshan…

  THE HAGUE: Malaysia on Tuesday won a Dutch court case over a $14.9 billionaward against the Southeast Asian nation that stems from a 19th century dealwith a Philippine sultan. The verdict is part of a complex legal battle being fought in European courtsthat is rooted in Malaysia’s colonial past, with territorial claims andpotentially billions of dollars worth of state assets at stake.Descendants of the Sultan of Sulu, who once ruled over the tropical islandsthat are part of the southern Philippines as well as Sabah in Malaysia, hadtaken the case to the Hague Appeals Court. They were asking Dutch judges…

Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional is rebalancing its investment portfolio for greater resilience against market volatility, according to its managing director. Khazanah’s net asset value declined 5% to 81 billion ringgit ($17.4 billion) in 2022 from a year ago, hit by global market downtrends, the fund said in March. The Kuala Lumpur-based fund invests more than half of its portfolio in public markets. “What we are focused on doing here is to look at how we can be a bit more resilient in the market,” Khazanah’s managing director Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir told CNBC Monday on the sidelines of the…

Afghanistan correspondent “I just want someone to hear my voice. I’m in pain, and I’m not the only one,” an Afghan university student tells us, blinking back tears. “Most of the girls in my class have had suicidal thoughts. We are all suffering from depression and anxiety. We have no hope.” The young woman, in her early twenties, tried to end her own life four months ago, after female students were barred from attending university by the Taliban government in December last year. She is now being treated by a psychologist. Her words offer an insight into a less visible…

The Finance Ministry has not received any proposals to open a casino in Sarawak, which a state minister previously said would not be objectionable there. Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also said existing ministry policies dictated that no new licences for gambling operations will be issued, and the ministry is currently only renewing and regulating existing permits and licences. “For the honourable member’s information, matters pertaining to gambling falls under federal jurisdiction. “The ministry has not received any application for the proposed opening of a casino in Sarawak,” Anwar said in a written parliamentary reply to Julau MP Datuk…

The leader of the progressive opposition party that won a stunning victory in Thailand’s national election has said that eight parties have agreed to form a coalition government with him as prime minister, despite fears among supporters that his military-aligned opponents may use the unelected Senate to block them. Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said at a news conference that the proposed coalition would have a total of 313 seats in the House of Representatives, a solid majority of its 500 members. But under Thailand’s Constitution, drafted under military rule after a 2014 coup, the lower house and the…

Malaysia’s Immigration Department will station more officers at key entry points into the country in Johor and Kuala Lumpur to reduce congestion in those locations. According to Bernama, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said on Sunday (May 21) that 100 officers will be stationed at strategic locations in Johor, including the Sultan Iskandar Building at the Causeway and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex at the Second Link. Another 100 officers will be assigned to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) 1 and 2 from Monday, he added. “We will assign them to those locations as there were shortages previously in…

The guardians of Champagne will let no one take the name of the bubbly beverage in vain, not even a U.S. beer behemoth. For years, Miller High Life has used the “Champagne of Beers” slogan. This week, that appropriation became impossible to swallow. At the request of the trade body defending the interests of houses and growers of the northeastern French sparkling wine, Belgian customs crushed more than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life advertised as such. The Comité Champagne asked for the destruction of a shipment of 2,352 cans on the grounds that the century-old motto used by the…

PKR’s Johor parliamentarian Hassan Abdul Karim said the Malaysian judiciary must remain independent, neutral, and authoritative to ensure the separation of powers is upheld. He said this was important as without the independence of the judiciary, Malaysians would not be celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri peacefully. “Without that, we will be celebrating Aidilfitri with the fear of rockets falling and firearms being fired, similar to war-torn disputed areas such as in Ukraine and Sudan,” he said. Hassan pointed out that this was despite Malaysian political leaders from opposing parties constantly being “at war” with each other. “Unlike war-torn areas, the difference…