Tennis-Raducanu title very special, says Murray
LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Murray has described Emma Raducanu's U.S. Open title as "very special" after she became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title for 44 years on Saturday. Nine years after Murray won the first of his three Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open, 18-year-old Raducanu stunned the tennis world by beating fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in Flushing Meadows. Raducanu, the first qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam title, did not drop a set throughout the tournament. It's great what she did and a huge opportunity for British tennis now." The 34-year-old Murray, who has long shouldered the burden of British tennis, said he knew how good Raducanu was when she reached the Wimbledon fourth round earlier this year.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 23:03 UTC
Fly infestation taking a toll on Manjung folk
FOR years, the people of Sitiawan in Manjung, Perak, have been dealing with the problem of fly infestation. According to the affected residents, the fly infestation in Manjung has been going on for many years, with some locals putting it at some 30 years. In 2019, Lumut villagers claimed that nearby poultry farms had contaminated the water supply, thereby drawing swarms of flies. Former Manjung district councillor Khairil Azhar Khairuddin, 45, said he spent at least RM100 every month on organic fly repellent sprays. “The Manjung District Office and the district Veterinary Services Department have conducted several operations.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 23:00 UTC
Soaring aluminium hits $3,000 for first time in 13 years
LONDON: Aluminium prices touched US$3,000 a tonne for the first time since 2008 on Monday as restrictions on output in China, the biggest producer, fuelled fears that supply will run short. The benchmark contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 1% at $2,894.50 a tonne at 1600 GMT after touching $3,000. Yunnan aluminium smelters had already shut down nearly 1 million tonnes of annual capacity by August, researcher Antaike said this month. ALUMINA: Futures of the aluminium ingredient on the Comex exchange have surged 20% this month to $365 a tonne. POSITIONING: Speculators are betting on higher prices, raising their net long in LME aluminium to 35% of open contracts by Thursday, from 19% a week earlier, brokers Marex Spectron said.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 16:18 UTC
Confederation warns tax hikes may impact growth
But at a time of ultra-low government borrowing costs and a recovery that’s starting to stumble, many have questioned the timing. Raising business taxes too far has always been self-defeating as it stymies further investment.”Danker’s remarks, emailed in advance by his office, highlight the growing unease among corporate leaders about Johnson’s approach toward business. Danker said Johnson and Sunak should “flip business taxation on its head” and reward investment. While Sunak introduced a special tax break on investment in March, it’s due to phase out at the end of the 2022-2023 tax year, the same time as corporation tax rises to 25% from 19%. Danker, pushing for more incentives, pointed to decline in business investment to about 10% of output in 2019 from 14.7% in 1989.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Big Tech cloud services could face resilience test, says Bank of England
LONDON (Reuters) - Amazon, Google and other tech companies providing cloud computing to banks in Britain may have to comply with minimum resilience standards and testing, a senior Bank of England official said on Monday. The BoE, along with regulators in Europe and the United States, is worried about the reliance of banks on a handful of Big Tech firms for cloud computing in increasingly critical banking services, and the impact an outage at one of them could have on financial stability. "This is a big topic both within the UK and internationally," Victoria Saporta, BoE executive director for prudential supervision, told an event held by the Institute of International Finance, a global banking industry body. A global approach would be best, she said. "Our current thinking is that the most effective ... approach to managing these risks from critical third party services providers is through a combination of minimum resilience standards aimed directly at critical third parties ... coupled with resilience testing of these critical third parties," Saporta said.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 13:52 UTC
Commodities prices are surging again
(BLOOMBERG) -- After a summer breather, the commodities the world relies on for construction, manufacturing and keeping the lights on are surging again. China’s emissions clampdown has also seen nickel hit the highest since 2014 and pushed local steel prices higher. Iron ore futures in Singapore are down about 45% from a peak set in May as China’s steel restrictions crimped demand expectations. Even so, there are signs that high commodity prices are further feeding through to consumers. Data last week showed China’s factory-gate inflation accelerated to a 13-year high, while prices paid to U.S. producers increased more than forecast.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 12:56 UTC
Mah Sing shares budget 2022 wish list, targets first-time home buyers
KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd hopes the government could introduce additional initiatives to ease the homeownership journey for first-time home buyers and expedite the recovery of the property industry as part of its wish list for Budget 2022 which will be tabled in Parliament on Oct 29, 2021.In a statement today, the property developer said enhanced measures to ease homeownership for first-time home buyers, review Malaysia My Second Home programme’s (MM2H) new criteria, and lower minimum threshold for foreign property ownership to RM600,000 are among the items on its wish list.Founder and group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum proposed that the government offer more measures targeting first-time homebuyers, specifically in home financing to boost homeownership. "This includes reinstating the maximum loan tenure to 40 years which refers to gross income rather than net income for loan applications, higher debt service ratio as well as setting a higher margin of financing up to 100 per cent for first property buyers to help the M40 and B40 groups who are affected during the pandemic,” he said.Leong also said that the government could consider the possibility of implementing the developer interest bearing scheme (DIBS) for first-time homebuyers, as this would allow them to have the option to not service their loan interest and rentals at the same time during the construction period. "Additionally, we propose that the government extend the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) for another year. "We hope the government can review and standardise the minimum threshold to RM600,000 across all states, especially in the areas with high property overhang such as the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang. "With the current currency rate, it will attract foreigners to invest in tangible investments and this will help to reduce the property overhang,” he said.Other items on the wish list are to terminate the real property gains tax (RPGT) on properties sold after five years as an impetus to boost the secondary market, reduce the compliance cost to lower house prices to benefit home buyers, as well as to introduce incentives for developments incorporating green features.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 08:37 UTC
MB: 100 teachers in Terengganu have rejected vaccination
KUALA TERENGGANU (Bernama): About 100 teachers in Terengganu have refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19, says Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar (pic). He said, however, this represented only a small percentage of the overall number of teachers serving in the state. He added that this was a factor for Terengganu not moving to Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan yet. “We need ICU occupancy to be at 50% to move to Phase Three. "Even though the daily ICU admissions is low, occupancy gets higher over the 21 days,” he said, adding that ICU occupancy was expected to drop in three weeks.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 08:03 UTC
Sabah top cop: Viral post on inter-district travel being allowed is fake
KOTA KINABALU: A recent viral social media posting that inter-district movement is allowed in Sabah is fake, says state Police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah. He said in a statement on Monday (Sept 13) that an investigation showed the posting referred to a ruling issued in May last year. "For now, Sabah still follows standard operating procedures (SOP) under Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan. "The current ruling does not allow inter-district travel except for emergencies, for work with an employer's letter, Covid-19 vaccination appointments, essential services, long-distance couples and parents who wish to visit children below 18. "Individuals from the same household and adults who are fully vaccinated are allowed to go out in a car based on the vehicle's seating capacity," he said.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 07:52 UTC
Teenage hero: 14-year-old girl raises funds for cancer patients
It was that summer, at 10 years old, that Ohlson-Ellis took her aspirations to run a lemonade stand and made them a reality. Titled Lemonade, the song debuted in August on streaming platforms, with 15% of each download going to NorthShore Kellogg Cancer Center. During the pandemic, when the lemonade stand was put on hold, she tutored kids in math over Zoom. “It’s such a great, simple idea (a lemonade stand). She wants people to come out and hear songs from the album and do a fundraiser for the cancer center.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 07:30 UTC
FSMOne’s wealth management solutions create long-term value for investors
Increasing technological advancements in financial technology (fintech) have paved the way for the online investment platform market to blossom. According to market research company Reports and Data, the global online investment platform market is expected to reach a value of US$4.995 billion (RM20.7 billion) by 2028. Wong WeiyiPutting investors firstTo ensure investors' peace of mind, FSMOne has taken precautions to ensure optimal security for their accounts. Furthermore, the platform offers competitive foreign exchange (FX) rates for US and Hong Kong dollars. Following the launch of US and Hong Kong securities on FSMOne, Wong reveals that the company is also looking at more exchanges, such as the Singapore Exchange.
Source:The Edge Markets
September 13, 2021 07:30 UTC
Oil rises to one-week high as US supply concerns dominate
SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose for a second session on Monday as concerns over shut output in the United States, the world's biggest producer, following damage from Hurricane Ida supported the market, along with expectations for higher demand. About three-quarters of the offshore oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, or about 1.4 million barrels per day, has remained halted since late August, roughly equal to what OPEC member Nigeria produces. U.S. refiners are coming back faster than oil production from the impact of Hurricane Ida, a reverse of past storm recoveries. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the largest oil producer in the U.S. Gulf, on Thursday cancelled some export cargoes because of damage to offshore facilities from Hurricane Ida, signalling energy losses would continue for weeks. China said on Monday it will announce details of planned crude oil sales from strategic reserves in due course.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 07:07 UTC
UMW records 9,512 automotive sales in August
KUALA LUMPUR: UMW Group posted a surge in automotive sales to 9,512 units in August, a significant improvement over 2,105 units sold in the previous month, as its showrooms and automotive assembly plants restarted operations. "Both, UMW Toyota Motor and its associate company Perodua, registered improved sales in August despite operating for less than half the month," it said in a statement on Monday. UMW Toyota Motor delivered 2,524 units, 74% higher than 1,450 units in July, underpinned by sales of the Toyota Vios, Yaris and Hilux, which made up 69% of total sales for the month. He added that he expects the automotive sales momentum to continue for the remainder of the year, especially with the extension of the sales tax exemption to Dec 31, 2021. Article type: metered User Type: anonymous web User Status: Campaign ID: 46 Cxense type: free User access status: 3Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 06:43 UTC
Perhilitan captures seven wild elephants in Jeli
JELI (Bernama): The Kelantan branch of the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has captured seven wild elephants in Kampung Lawar here after the mammals started encroaching on villagers' farms last month. Kelantan Perhilitan director Ady Ermanty Haniff Mohamed Hanif said the animals were captured on Sept 7, 8 and 10 following reports from villagers, who came across a herd of wild elephants roaming their farms. He said two other male elephants were caught at the same location on Sept 10. "This herd of wild elephants is believed to be from the same group that was captured near Kampung Bukit Ipoh, Jeli, last month. "They were believed to have come out of the Gunung Basor Permanent Forest Reserve (HSK) to find food sources, and the population of wild elephants inhabiting the forest reserve is estimated to be more than 30,” he said.
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 06:11 UTC
OM Holdings' JV commences drilling in Bryah Basin
KUALA LUMPUR: OM Holdings Ltd's joint venture with Bryah Resources Ltd has commenced drilling for manganese in the Bryah Basin, 150km north of the central Western Australian town of Meekatharra. The drilling will primarily focus on the Bryah West, Redrum, Mollie and Clover targets, it said. The manganese JV includes the Horseshoe South Manganese Mine, which is the largest historical manganese mine in the region. Following the completion of A$500,000 Tranche 3 funding to earn a 40% JV interest, OM has committed A$500,000 to fund Tranche 4 to raise its JV interest to 51%. Article type: metered User Type: anonymous web User Status: Campaign ID: 46 Cxense type: free User access status: 3Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights
Source:The Star
September 13, 2021 05:48 UTC