KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution has withdrawn its appeal against the acquittal of the late Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail, founder of Big Blue Taxi Premium Services, on charges of cheating a company director over a cleaning contract at the KLCC building seven years ago. Deputy Public Prosecutor Anis Wahidah Mohamad informed High Court judge Nurulhuda Nur'ain Mohamad Nor that the prosecution was withdrawing the appeal following Shamsubahrin's death at the age of 60 on Wednesday (Feb 11). "Since the respondent's death has been formally notified with a death certificate from Kuala Lumpur Hospital, the prosecution sees no point in proceeding with the appeal. Accordingly, the appeal is withdrawn," said Anis Wahidah. Judge Nurulhuda Nur'ain subsequently struck out the appeal.

PETALING JAYA: Johor Plantations Group Bhd has achieved a better quarter – its profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2025 came in at RM87.9mil, higher than the RM80.5mil posted in the same quarter a year ago. According to the group, its better earnings were supported by resilient processing volumes across crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK), despite softer market pricing towards year-end. A higher OER translates to the extraction of more oil from each tonne of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) processed. The year 2025 was a year of disciplined execution translating into strong financial outcomes. He added the higher volumes of FFB processed across its mills reflect both operational strength and effective engagement with independent smallholders, including both Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certified suppliers.

“Credit is the bedrock of any modern economy, and Malaysia thrives on credit,” Liew remarked in his address. As a tech-driven data hub, the platform uses predictive analytics and intelligent decision tools to support informed credit and risk decisions across commercial and personal contexts. “We’ve built a recommendation engine that suggests companies to you based on its nature of business, revenue, and geo-proximity to your business,” Liew explained. “If your debts or credit terms go south, you can contribute to our credit ecosystem, which will affect the credit scores of the individual or company that you submit,” he added. Built upon a three-tiered foundation of data, intelligence and technology, One Credit combines a wide range of business, credit and contextual data points, reducing reliance on fragmented sources while applying analytics to uncover patterns, risks and relationships.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): Strong domestic demand helped Malaysia outperform expectations, lifting fourth-quarter 2025 GDP to a three-year high of 6.3% and full-year growth to 5.2%, above the government’s forecast, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF). The MOF said this momentum pushed full-year 2025 GDP growth to 5.2%, up from the 5.1% achieved in 2024, putting it well ahead of the government’s official forecast range of 4% to 4.8%. The MOF said the economy is expected to remain on a steady trajectory in 2026, supported by resilient domestic demand, firm household consumption, and continued investment momentum. Higher tourism activity under Visit Malaysia 2026, alongside increases in the minimum wage and civil servant salaries, will further reinforce consumer spending. “At the same time, the Madani government will continue to uphold fiscal discipline to safeguard long-term sustainability while supporting growth momentum,” the ministry added.

PETALING JAYA: With ten new active tuberculosis (TB) clusters detected in seven states, health experts have warned those travelling to mask up. Those with possible symptoms should also seek medical treatment early. Watch out for the symptoms below.

SHANGHAI (Feb 13): China's yuan dipped on Friday, but is set for a 12th week of gains in its longest winning streak in 13 years, as exporters rushed to bring home receipts from booming trade ahead of the Lunar New Year. Some analysts also see the rising yuan and China's buoyant stock market feeding each other, but say the central bank has enough tools up its sleeves to forestall the currency appreciating too quickly. For the week, the yuan has gained roughly 0.4% in its best weekly performance this year. Trading typically thins ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, but the stock market has held at a relatively high level "without pulling back", the brokerage said in a report. "The recent strength in yuan's exchange rate is contributing to the stock market resilience."

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has rejected allegations of a breach of government regulations within the Commission, as reported by Bloomberg media. “All investigations undertaken by MACC are conducted strictly in accordance with the law, guided by evidence, and carried out independently, without fear or favour. As an enforcement agency, MACC’s functions and roles are governed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and are subject to oversight by five independent bodies. Chairman of MACC’s advisory board, Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, said any media reports on MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki’s personal shareholdings should be based on facts, not perceptions. “The board takes serious note of the Bloomberg report involving Azam and its implications for the integrity and credibility of the institution as a whole.

JOHOR BARU: A 26-year-old teacher has been charged at a Magistrate’s Court here with outraging a foreign woman’s modesty in his car while moonlighting as an e-hailing driver. ALSO READ: E-hailing driver remanded in probe of sexual harassment viral videoDeputy public prosecutor Nurul Syafiqah Sha’ari requested for bail of RM10,000. "(There is also no risk of) the accused... repeating his actions as he is no longer working as an e-hailing driver. On Feb 2, a video made the rounds on social media showing an e-hailing driver’s alleged sexual misconduct towards a Vietnamese passenger. Police arrested 26-year-old man on Feb 4 following a report lodged by the victim on the same day.

GENTING HIGHLANDS: Not all corruption cases classified as No Further Action (NFA) will be permanently closed. Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) operations review panel chairman Datuk Ahmad Rosli Mohd Sham said certain cases could be reassessed and reopened if weaknesses were found in the earlier investigation or if new angles warranted further scrutiny. He said one of the panel's key functions is to evaluate NFA cases that did not result in prosecution, including identifying areas where investigations could be improved. At the same time, Ahmad Rosli said the panel was satisfied with the MACC’s efficiency, particularly in completing investigation papers within the stipulated timeframe. He said the majority of cases were concluded within the targeted period, and observed the guideline that investigations should not exceed 12 months.

Competitiveness today depends on execution speed and coherence across land planning, infrastructure, governance, and talent systems, said Johor Corporation (JCorp) president and chief executive officer, Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim. He said Johor’s experience — shaped by deep industrial networks, cross-border collaboration, and growing digital and infrastructure readiness — reflects a broader reality of global volatility. Syed Mohamed emphasised that regional competitiveness is shifting from scale to velocity. Syed Mohamed said building optionality into the regional economic model allows regions to capitalise on the current trend of global fragmentation. It is structural — and fast becoming the baseline,” Syed Mohamed added.

In November, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enraged China by suggesting that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force. It was the first time since 2022 that the agency has seized a Chinese fishing boat. The arrest of another Chinese fishing boat captain in 2010 off those islands in the East China Sea became a major diplomatic incident between the two countries. Japan and China have close economic ties but Takaichi's comments about Taiwan have sent relations spiralling downwards again. After Takaichi's comments, Beijing summoned Tokyo's ambassador, warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan and conducted joint air drills with Russia.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): With gold demand rising across the globe, Tomei Consolidated Bhd announced the launch of GoldNow, a shariah compliant mobile application that allows individuals to buy, accumulate and store gold with as little as 0.1g. According to its press release, GoldNow aims to make gold purchases more accessible to the masses by lowering the barriers to entry. “This strategic move enables Tomei to tap into a new market segment — individuals who may not have previously considered gold due to the perception of entry costs — thus driving new customers acquisition and broadening participation in holding gold.”After purchases are done, GoldNow users can track their gold holdings via the app and are given the option to redeem their gold in-store. Tomei store visitors are encouraged to adopt the mobile app, especially those who have yet to make their first purchase with the company. “This dual pathway strengthens customer engagement, ensuring that both digital and retail channels complement each other and foster long-term customer loyalty.”

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): Enterprise information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider RedPlanet Bhd has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) to facilitate its transfer from the LEAP Market to the ACE Market. The IPO involves a public issue of 70 million new shares and an offer for sale of up to 10 million existing shares, according to the draft prospectus filed with Bursa Malaysia on Friday. Its shareholders have approved the listing transfer following an extraordinary general meeting on Nov 10, 2025. Its clientele spans government agencies, multinationals and local corporates across sectors including utilities, rail, energy, infrastructure, ICT, engineering and environment. For the financial year ended June 30, 2025, the company made a net profit of RM5.18 million on the back of RM33.3 million in revenue.

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. existing-home sales posted a sharp decline in January, according to data issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday. The existing-home sales in the United States recorded a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million units in January, down 8.4 percent from the previous month, the deepest decrease since February 2022. The national sales of existing homes in January also fell 4.4 percent from the same period of 2025, according to data issued by the NAR. "The decrease in sales is disappointing. Sales price of U.S. existing homes increased by 0.9 percent year on year in January, according to the NAR.

GENEVA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- FIFA announced Thursday that over 120 countries and regions will compete in the qualifying tournaments of the 2026 FIFAe Finals, which underlines the growing football esports worldwide. The new season starts with the FIFAe League, and the winning teams advance to the continental qualifiers before the best teams in each region earn qualification for the Finals. FIFA also introduced FIFAe World Rankings and FIFAe Performance Index systems.