PETALING JAYA: 400m runners Shereen Samson Vallabouy and Umar Osman delivered gold and silver medals respectively to give Malaysia a glittering start at the New Taipei City Athletics Open in Taiwan on Saturday (June 6).Shereen topped the women’s 400m final with a winning time of 52.73s, ahead of Sri Lanka’s Shenari Ambepitiya Gamage (53.16) and Australia’s Sophia Gregorovic (53.86).The Malaysian had bettered her season’s best time earlier in the day, clocking 53.85s in the semi-finals, before going even faster in the final.It was also Shereen’s second gold medal of the year, following her victory at the Singapore Open in April.In…
Author: Isla
SpaceX’s mega-IPO just drew a hard line through Asia’s two biggest pools of Chinese capital. Underwriters for the company’s upcoming public offering have instructed syndicate banks to refuse orders from investors located in Hong Kong and mainland China, a compliance measure tied directly to US export restrictions on defense-related technologies. The directive, issued on June 5, applies to both institutional and private banking clients in the affected regions. It does not appear to impact other Asian markets. A $75 billion offering meets Cold War-era export law SpaceX builds rockets and satellites that fall squarely under the International Traffic in Arms…
India’s new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) takes charge in a chaotic global and regional security environment where the armed forces face a host of challenges, ranging from an unfinished integration agenda plagued by turf wars to a lack of adequate clarity on force structures and how future wars will play out. Added to this basket are sub-optimal outcomes with little accountability emerging from the inescapable indigenisation agenda, an example of which is the delayed induction of the LCA Tejas MK1A. In such a milieu, the CDS will have to prioritise his tasks at a time when a resource crunch looms,…
The General Office of the State Council on Friday released a document outlining measures to strengthen supervision, prevent risks and promote the high-quality development of private investment funds. The guidelines deliver a systematic upgrade of supervision by improving mechanisms, addressing regulatory shortcomings and enhancing cross-department coordination. According to the guidelines, authorities will crack down on major illegal and non-compliant activities to foster a good environment for standardized, healthy and stable development of the private investment fund industry. The guidelines lay out specific arrangements in improving the private investment fund rule system and strengthening supervision over government investment funds and state-owned…
Chinese President Xi Jinping has replied to a letter from Chinese and U.S. students participating in “A Shared Voyage: China-U.S. Youth Friendship Program,” encouraging them to make new contributions to the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations. “I am delighted to know that the students from both countries had embarked on an unforgettable friendship voyage aboard the China-U.S. Youth Friendship vessel,” Xi said, adding that the story of China-U.S. friendship is written by the people, and the future of China-U.S. relations is shaped by the youth. Since the launch of the initiative of inviting 50,000 young Americans to…
A new feature section that will be published in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) presents one of the most comprehensive examinations to date of ultra-processed food (UPF) as a public health crisis shaped not only by nutrition, but by corporate practices, political influence, and regulation failures.The collection of editorials, analytic essays, and research articles adds to the growing body of evidence linking UPF consumption to chronic disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, dementia, and premature death. The feature section also breaks new ground by examining how major tobacco companies helped build and scale the modern UPF…
Dubai, UAE – Dubai Humanity has operated an air shipment of 20 metric tons of vital medical supplies from the World Health Organization’s proactive stockpile. This is in support of efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, via Uganda.This came under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.The shipment departed from Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai World Central. It is expected to cover the estimated needs of hundreds of patients for four weeks, and support approximately 280 health facilities.Basic medical…
Dubai: With summer holidays prompting families to search for affordable staycation and travel options, Dubai Police has issued a fresh warning against online scams involving fake chalet and holiday home rental offers advertised on social media platforms and websites.The warning comes as part of Dubai Police’s ongoing “Be Aware of Fraud” campaign, which aims to educate the public about increasingly sophisticated online scams targeting residents and visitors.Authorities revealed that fraudsters are exploiting the holiday season by posting attractive rental offers at prices significantly below market rates to lure victims into transferring money before discovering that the advertised properties either do…
Key Takeaways●Indonesia’s central bank and finance ministry launched an emergency policy synchronization to halt a severe rupee sell-off that has breached the psychologically crucial 18,000 mark against the U.S. dollar.●Bank Indonesia will boost yield attractiveness to reverse aggressive foreign capital flight and increase remuneration on government cash deposits to support aggressive open market operations.●Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa announced that high-profile state spending programs, including the $28 billion Free Nutritious Meal initiative, are fully flexible and face imminent cuts if fiscal deficits threaten macroeconomic stability.●Prominent economists warn that the financial rout—which has wiped massive value off blue-chip banking stocks like…
Changes to Hong Kong’s public transport subsidy scheme saved the government HK$69 million (US$8.8 million) in the first month, with fewer elderly and disabled commuters taking expensive long-haul routes for short trips, the welfare minister has said.Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Saturday that, following revisions to the concessionary fare scheme that took effect on April 3, the average government subsidy for trips costing more than HK$10 fell from HK$4.90 in March to HK$4.50 per journey in April.“The reduction in government subsidies means that fewer people are taking long-distance rides than before,” Sun said.Under the new…