TOKYO: A total of 87 Japanese nationals and their family members have evacuated from Iran and Israel amid intensifying tensions in the Middle East, the Japanese government said Friday. According to Kyodo news agency, the evacuees arrived by bus in Azerbaijan and Jordan as local airports remained closed and none had health issues, Foreign Minister…
KUALA LUMPUR: The national karate squad did well by winning four gold medals at the 12th Southeast Asian Karate Championships in Bandar Seri Begawan, which concluded yesterday. The gold medals came from C. Shamalarani in the women’s senior kumite under 50 kg, K.S. Thevendran Kaliana Sundram (men’s senior kumite under 55 kg), Sureeya Shankar Hari…
TURKEY: Sitting in his spacious office with a view of the Black Sea, Tayfun Denizer smiles: his rainbow trout, raised in submerged cages, have made him a wealthy man. “Our exports surged from $500,000 in 2017 to $86 million last year, and this is just the beginning,“ said Denizer, general manager of Polifish, one of…
KUALA LUMPUR: A strong showing at the Japan and China Opens next month could lift national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to the world No. 1 ranking and boost their seeding prospects at the world championships, said head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi. He said clinching the world’s top ranking could help…
SYDNEY: Australia has shuttered its Tehran embassy and ordered officials to leave Iran, the government said Friday, citing a “deteriorating security situation”. It joins a string of countries closing diplomatic missions in Iran since Israel launched air strikes a week ago, claiming its arch enemy was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Australia…
KUALA LUMPUR: National women’s hockey team head coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim is confident that his charges can recover from their group losses to win the classification match against Italy in the 2024–25 FIH Nations Cup 2 in Poland on Saturday. Mohd Nasihin urged the squad, dubbed the Malaysian Tigress, not to give up hope…
KUALA LUMPUR: The national Under-15 (U-15) team has been selected to participate in the 2025 Emerging Matildas and Emerging Socceroos Championships in Australia this July. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), in a statement today, said this is the first time a national team has been invited to play in these rebranded youth tournaments. “Following…
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that Beijing had “no fundamental conflicts of interest” with New Zealand, as he welcomed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on an official visit. Luxon’s trip comes at a time of tension with New Zealand’s close partner the Cook Islands over its ties with Beijing. The self-governing Pacific island…
WELLINGTON: Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown on Friday defended a string of contentious deals with China, saying they did not “compromise” the Pacific island nation’s sovereignty. The agreements prompted major donor New Zealand to halt aid funding to close partner the Cook Islands, citing a “lack of consultation”. The Cook Islands has a “free…
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd has projected the upcoming Sales and Service Tax (SST) expansion in July 2025 to have a limited direct impact on the automotive sector. In a research note, it said vehicle sales are already subject to a 10 per cent sales tax, while maintenance and repair services incur an 8.0…
