(Reuters) - Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is not surprised by the fine starts of their Premier League rivals and said on Friday that dropping points was not an option in another fiercely competitive season. Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool occupy the top three places in the league after the opening four games, with champions Manchester City in fifth. "We've played some good football but if you want to be around the really top spots you have to, and you cannot waste points. Klopp praised Palace's strength up front, saying that new boss Patrick Vieira had made a massive difference and turned them into "a proper football side". Palace, who beat Tottenham Hotspur last week to give Vieira his first win, are 11th in the league standings.

JAKARTA: Indonesia may allow foreign tourists to start returning to the popular resort island of Bali and other parts of the country by October after a sharp slide in COVID-19 cases, senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Friday. The Southeast Asian nation intends to move cautiously to reopen its borders following a devastating second virus wave, driven by the Delta variant. Luhut, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, said the addition of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had dropped by 94.5% since a peak in mid-July. Indonesia's health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told Reuters earlier this week that reopening to foreigners also hinged upon 70% of the target population receiving their first COVID-19 shot. Malaysia this week reopened its Langkawi island to domestic visitors, while Thailand has opened Phuket and Samui islands to vaccinated foreign tourists and Vietnam's idyllic Phu Quoc island plans to follow suit.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): Payments for the Prihatin Special Grant (GKP) involving existing and new recipients of GKP 4.0 will have a financial implication of RM500 million to the government, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. In a statement, he said the assistance will benefit more than one million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), easing their financial burden during this challenging period. Under the National People’s Well-Being and Economic Recovery Package (PEMULIH), the GKP 4.0 payments will be made twice beginning Sept 21, 2021, amounting to RM500 and another RM500 in November 2021. “Recipients can check the approval status of GKP 4.0 starting from Sept 20, 2021, on the GKP portal at the website https://gkp.hasil.gov.my,” he said. "Overall, the total allocation that has been and to be channelled to more than one million micro MSMEs under the GKP since Covid-19 hit the country is RM6.08 billion," the prime minister said.

PETALING JAYA: The government will channel a total of RM500mil to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the Prihatin Special Grant (GKP) 4.0 beginning Sept 21, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. The RM500 aid for the SME will be channelled twice - in September and November. He added that so far, RM6.08bil has been channelled to the SMEs under the GKP since the Covid-19 pandemic began. “I hope that this aid will be able to revive the SME sector, which happens to be the engine of economic growth for the Malaysian Family. He added the appeals were verified by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to ensure that the aid benefits those who really qualify for it.

KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World Development Group Bhd (Eco World Malaysia) reported robust sales growth in the third quarter ended July 31, boosted by its success in converting digital leads into purchases during the MCO lockdown period. Adding overseas sales during the first ten-month up until Aug 31, the total group-wide sales has breached the RM4bil mark. Eco World International Bhd reported RM338mil sales in 3Q 2021, and a further RM81mil in August 2021. This lifted its year-to-date sales to RM1.04bil, plus reserves of RM285mil that added to RM1.33bil as of end of August. Eco World Group's share of future revenue as at Aug 31 remained high at RM4.1bil – RM3.72bil contributed by its Malaysian projects whilst EcoWorld Malaysia’s attributable share of EcoWorld International’s future revenue stands at RM386mil.

(BLOOMBERG) -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Lazada Group is creating a new role to lead payments in Southeast Asia for the first time, and tapped a former Alipay executive for the position, according to people familiar with the matter. Dayong Zhang, former general manager of Southeast Asia for Ant Group Co.’s Alipay, will become Lazada’s head of payments, underscoring the e-commerce company’s strategic move to generate growth from the business, according to the people, who asked not to be named. James Chang, Lazada’s Singapore chief executive officer, will take on a broader regional role, becoming the group’s chief business officer, they said. Wee Lee Loh, head of Lazada Group CEO’s office, will replace Chang as the Singapore chief, the people said. Chang was appointed Lazada Singapore CEO in 2019 after joining as co-founder and managing director of Lazada Philippines in 2012, according to his LinkedIn page.

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Gadang Holdings Bhd ’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Gadang Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd (GESB), has secured a RM100.34 million subcontract works for Central Spine Road Package 2 from Binary Vista Sdn Bhd. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company said GESB would be the subcontractor to undertake demolition, site clearance, earthwork and access bridge to Kuala Berang, Terengganu. It said the subcontract is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets of Gadang for the financial year ending May 31, 2022 and onwards, during the duration of the subcontract. "The risks factors affecting the subcontract comprise mainly the normal operational and execution risks which the group would take appropriate measures to address them,” it added.

PETALING JAYA: A few airasia Ride customers on Merdeka Day (Aug 31) were surprised by their driver that day, who turned out to be none other than prominent banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak. Further in the video, Nazir picks up airasia Group executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun. Nazir tells Kamarudin that passengers who chose him as their driver would get a free ride. Airasia Ride services were also extended to Langkawi as of Thursday, and there are plans to launch at other cities across the nation in future. Airasia Ride is the newest e-hailing service in town and has received more than 5,000 driver applications.

The FBM KLCI closed down 6.75 points, or 0.43% to 1,548.51. For the week, the benchmark index fell 1.74%. On the other hand, Petronas Dagangan tumbled 76 sen to RM19.02, Nestle shed 70 sen to RM134 and SAM Engineering fell 48 sen to RM14. Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 26 sen to RM20.24, IOI Corp declined 14 sen to RM3.77 and Top Glove gave up 14 sen to RM3.06. The Hang Seng index closed up 1.03% to 24,920.76 and Shanghai Composite Index added 0.19% to 3,613.97.

PUTRAJAYA: The price of chicken may be controlled if prices at every level of the distribution chain continue to face unreasonable increase, says the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry. The increase in the prices of primary ingredients for chicken feed, namely soy, corn and palm oil several times this year was blamed for the increase in the price of the produce. The enforcement team had also issued 145 notices to traders at various chicken distribution chains to warn against indiscriminate price hikes. “We are aware that the increase in the price of chicken feed resulted in the increased price of chicken. About 80% of the chicken feed is imported.

Ronny Chieng made it a point to remind his Malaysian fans that his birth country still holds a special place in his heart. The Malaysian-born actor and comedian who now resides in Manhattan, New York, wished all Malaysians a Happy Malaysia Day in a Marvel Studios' promo clip. On Sept 16, Marvel Studios Malaysia posted a short YouTube video of the Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings actor showcasing his fluent Bahasa Malaysia. Saya anak Malaysia,” said Chieng. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings is scheduled to open at cinemas in Malaysia on Oct 7.

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): A businessman known as “Datuk Ken" and his wife pleaded not guilty at the Selayang Magistrate's Court here to four charges of using their residence as a common gaming house. According to the charges, Liow was charged with three counts of using his residence in Bandar Country Homes, Rawang, Selangor, as a common gaming house, between 5.15pm and 6.15pm, on July 6. His wife, Chen, was charged with one count of a similar charge, at the same place and date, at 5.15pm. All charges are framed under Section 4 (1)(a) of the Common Gaming House Act 1953 which provides a maximum RM50,000 fine or three years' jail. Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Wan Nur Iman Wan Ahmad Afzal offered bail of RM10,000 in one surety for each charge.

Brent crude futures fell 35 cents, or 0.5%, to $75.32 a barrel at 0646 GMT, erasing Thursday's 21 cent gain. "Crude prices are having another good week despite broad weakness across commodities that stemmed from a resilient U.S. dollar," said Moya. As of Thursday, about 28% of U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude production remained offline, two-and-a-half weeks after Hurricane Ida hit. "We're going to go into more (supply) deficit conditions - that certainly seems to be the view." Preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude exports in September have slipped to between 2.34 million bpd and 2.62 million bpd from 3 million bpd in late August.

Since we weren’t sure of its gender back then, we named it Kiki, as Kiki is a somewhat neutral name. Since it was still MCO 3.0 then, my nephew went online to buy it a cage, some cat food and other stuff. As we saw Kiki grow, we also saw its cuteness and some kitty temperaments which were entertaining and somewhat humorous to us. In the mornings, Kiki waits in its cage for me to feed it its regular kitten food before it wanders off into the garden. During the afternoons, after food, Kiki will have its nap.

Three-year-old Asher Wang Qi Chuen's dream is to live in a camper van. “I want to have a camper van as my dream house. I love my dream house because I can ride on my horse and grow vegetables! I can watch TV in my room too.”Seven-year-old Brandon Tang Chee Harng, says: “My dream house is tall, comfy and beautiful. Kuga Kaori, seven, says: “My magic dream house looks small from the outside but it’s magically large inside.” – Compiled by Sheela ChandranFind the hidden words!