JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Indonesia posted an unlikely budget deficit as of February due to a double-digit drop in state revenues, adding to concerns about the health of government finances this year. The shortfall stood at 31.2 trillion rupiah in the first two months of 2025, equivalent to 0.13% of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati...
KUALA LUMPUR: Parliamentarians must stop playing politics with every issue just for the sake of their political parties or factions, says His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia. "Yang Berhormats must be a bulwark of unity and not agents that cause a split among the rakyat. "So, stop playing politics with every issue for the sake of...
BEIJING (SCMP): China’s second-wealthiest man on Wednesday made a surprise demand that the country’s richest man, founder of ByteDance, apologise for the perceived role that TikTok’s Chinese sibling Douyin has played in “spreading rumours and misinformation”. Zhong Shanshan, 69 – founder and chairman of China’s largest packaged drinks company Nongfu Spring and the country’s second-richest person,...
PETALING JAYA: Police have confirmed that Bukit Aman CID's Special Investigation Unit (USJT) is investigating celebrity chef Datuk Redzuawan Ismail, better known as Chef Wan (pic), over a social media post involving Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai. Chef Wan had commented on an outfit worn by the Indian actress on the red carpet at the Cannes Film...
BEIJING (Reuters): Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 26 told the United States’ top diplomat Antony Blinken that the world’s two biggest economies should be “partners, not rivals”, adding that there were a “number of issues” to be resolved in their relations. “The two countries should be partners, not rivals,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster...
MELAKA: The organising of Aidilfitri Madani events at various levels, especially in states, can serve as closure to various recent issue and boost the muhibbah spirit among the multiracial society in the country. The Prime Minister’s senior political secretary, Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said it included the Aidilfitri Madani events in six states that...
JAKARTA (Reuters): Asian currencies were subdued on Monday, with the Indonesian rupiah extending losses on concerns the country's finance minister may resign, while Singapore's dollar was largely flat after monetary policy was left unchanged, as expected. The Indonesian rupiah, among one of the worst performing currencies so far in 2024 after falling nearly 3%, slipped 0.2%...
JOHOR BARU: Do not play the "blame game" regarding the country's local rice supply issues, as it was inherited from previous governments, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu. The Agriculture and Food Security Minister said the ministry had recently introduced the Local White Rice Special Programme as a short-term measure to ensure sufficient local rice in the...
