Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 (Bernama) — Malaysia has expressed deep concern and disappointment after a veto was exercised to block the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from admitting Palestine as a full member of the United Nations on April 18.

In a statement issued by Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday, this came despite a clarion call from an overwhelming majority of UN-member states.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia on Friday expressed its disappointment over a U.S. decision to use its veto to deny Palestine's full membership in the United Nations.

It also called into question the sincerity of the United States to realize the inalienable rights of the Palestinians, including their right to self-determination, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

GUIYANG, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, has identified more than 900 new pulsars since its launch in 2016.

The number of new pulsars discovered by FAST is more than three times the total number of pulsars found by foreign telescopes during the same period, Han Jinlin, a scientist with the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), said on Wednesday.

SINGAPORE, April 16 (Bernama) — Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will remain in the new Cabinet as a senior minister, local media reported, quoting Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday.

The Straits Times reported that Wong, who is set to assume the role of Singapore’s Prime Minister from Lee on May 15, will announce details of his new Cabinet in a press conference a few days before the swearing-in ceremony.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Bernama) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised the outlook for Malaysia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) by a notch to 4.4 per cent this year from its earlier prediction of 4.3 per cent.

Malaysia’s economy expanded by 3.7 per cent in 2023.

In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) entitled “Steady but slow, resilience amid divergence”, IMF predicted the GDP growth to remain at 4.4 per cent in 2025.

It projected Malaysia’s current account balance at 2.4 per cent in 2024 and 2.7 per cent in 2025.

TOKYO, Apr 18 (NNN-NHK) – Toyota Motor Corp. said, it is recalling 135,305 units of its Prius hybrid car in Japan, due to a risk of doors opening during driving.

Three cases of complaints related to the rear door handle glitch have been reported so far, while no accident has been confirmed, according to the automaker’s recall filing with Japan’s transport ministry yesterday.

31 March 2024; MEMO: Police in Malaysia have arrested three people suspected of supplying firearms to an Israeli passport holder, who was detained earlier this week at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.