SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose for a second day on Thursday, buoyed by expectations that demand in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, will improve as refineries try to return to service after outages and as the dollar weakened. Brent crude futures rose 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $83.37 a …

PETALING JAYA: A cat breeder was robbed at knife-point of his mobile phone and two cats worth nearly RM10,000. Relating the ordeal, 26-year-old Ryan Cheah said he first met the suspect on the first day of Chinese New Year. “The man came to my house and purchased a cat on …

Alphabet Inc’s Google is introducing new open large language models that it’s calling Gemma, reversing its general strategy of keeping the company’s proprietary artificial intelligence technology out of public view. Gemma, which will handle text only, has been built from the same research and technology used to create the company’s …

KUALA LUMPUR: More work can be done to improve Malaysia’s ranking on the global perception index, says Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali. The Chief Secretary to the Government said the country’s position on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) could be further improved, including by expediting the implementation of the National …

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd’s 92.5% indirectly held Indonesian subsidiary PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk (CIMB Niaga) posted a 26.7% year-on-year (YoY) jump in pre-tax profit (PBT) to IDR8.4 trillion in 2023 (FY23), translating to earnings per share of IDR259.45. “Our stellar performance in 2023 is a reflection of …

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s labour productivity posted a positive growth of 0.7% in the fourth quarter of (Q4) 2023 with total hours worked increased by 2.3% to register 9.4 billion hours, according to the Statistics Department. Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said Malaysia’s economy moderated to 3.0% in Q4 …

(Reuters) – Dutch chipmaking equipment supplier BE Semiconductor Industries beat its fourth-quarter targets on Thursday, boosted by demand for its hybrid bonding technology and AI-enabled computing applications from chipmakers expanding their capacity. Semiconductor firms have been ramping up production capacity to meet global demand for high-end chips that power modern …

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average topped its all-time peak on Thursday, after unexpectedly strong revenue forecasts from U.S. chip designer Nvidia lifted Asian tech stocks. Chinese equities recovered from early weakness and looked set to extend a winning run to an eighth straight session amid optimism over Beijing’s stimulus efforts. …

KUALA LUMPUR: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry here has disposed of goods seized worth RM1.2mil. Ministry deputy secretary (user empowerment and management) Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the disposal of these items were part of its mega disposal ceremony at Kompleks Sentral Segambut on Thursday (Feb 22). “Various …

KUCHING: Tributes continued to pour in for the late Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud as last respects were paid at his state funeral on Thursday (Feb 22). Anglican Bishop of Kuching Datuk Danald Jute said Taib’s passing is a loss to Sarawak, and the Christian community shared in the family’s sorrow. …