Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has not ruled out the possibility that the recent network failure, which resulted in a systems disruption at the KL International Airport, was caused by an act of malicious intent.

“Nevertheless, we will put this in the hands of the authorities to do a full investigation on the matter,” the airport operator said in a statement today.

It also said the network was “stabilising well.” 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is facing seven charges of misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds, will know his fate on Nov 11.

On that day, High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who presided over the trial, will make a decision whether to call Najib to enter his defence or to acquit him from the charges.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug 27 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia’s state-run oil and gas firm, Pertamina, saw an enormous net profit growth of 112 percent to 9.4 trillion rupiah (about 660 million U.S. dollars), in the first half of this year, a Pertamina executive said.

Pertamina Finance Director, Pahala Mansury, said, the net profit growth figure came up from six percent Cost of Goods Sold (CoGS) reduction, during the period, compared to that in the same period last year.

ANKARA, Aug 26 (NNN-BERNAMA-ANADOLU) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo or Jokowi on Monday cited overpopulation, environmental degradation and economy as reasons for the country’s move to relocate its new capital to the Island of Borneo from Jakarta.

The location of the new capital will straddle two districts — Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara — in East Kalimantan Province.

The construction of the new capital is likely to begin in 2021, and the relocation is expected to begin in 2024.

HANOI, Aug 27 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Vietnam rolled out the red carpet to welcome visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his three-day official visit to the socialist republic Tuesday.

Dr Mahathir was accorded an official welcome at the Presidential Palace where he was greeted on arrival by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Dr Mahathir inspected the guard of honour before the national anthems of Malaysia and Vietnam were played. 

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday that she had met with a group of young people about the pro-democracy protests gripping the city, but she showed no sign of budging in a continuing stalemate over the movement’s demands.

BEIJING (AP) — For 15 years, Yalqun Rozi skillfully navigated state bureaucracies to publish textbooks that taught classic poems and folk tales to millions of his fellow minority Uighurs in China’s far western region of Xinjiang.

That all changed three years ago when the ruling Communist Party launched what it says is a campaign against ethnic separatism and religious extremism in Xinjiang. Suddenly even respected public figures like Rozi were being arrested, caught up in a crackdown that critics have said amounts to cultural genocide.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s president says the country’s capital will move from overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta to a site in sparsely populated East Kalimantan province on Borneo island, known for rainforests and orangutans.

President Joko Widodo said Monday intense studies over the past three years had resulted in the choice of the location on the eastern side of Borneo island.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares rose Tuesday as investors found reason to be cautiously optimistic again about the potential for progress in the costly trade war between the U.S. and China.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% in afternoon trading to 20,491.03. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.6% to 6,481.60, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.7% to 1,930.54. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched up 0.1% to 25,707.14. The Shanghai Composite added 1.7% to 2,911.62.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, reiterating Pakistan’s complete support to eight million Kashmiris in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) for their indigenous struggle for their fundamental rights and self-determination, observed that Modi had committed a huge and historical blunder, providing a historic opportunity for Kashmiris to get freedom from the illegal Indian occupation.