(Feb 27): Nintendo Co’s shares pared gains due in part to expectations that partner banks may trim roughly ¥300 billion (US$1.9 billion or RM7.5 billion) worth of strategic stakes in the Kyoto-based game maker. Banks including MUFG Bank and the Bank of Kyoto are expected to unload shares, while Nintendo plans to conduct a buy-back, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Representatives of Nintendo and the Bank of Kyoto were not immediately available for comment. Nintendo’s stock price was up around 2% Friday afternoon in Tokyo, down from a high of 4.1%. “If this is paired with a buy-back, this has little impact on stock liquidity,” said Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda.

(Feb 27): City Developments Ltd (CDL), the Singapore property group controlled by one of the country’s wealthiest families, saw its profits triple last year, helped by a renewed housing boom and divestments to trim debt. Net income jumped to S$630 million (US$498 million or RM1.94 billion) in 2025 from S$201 million a year earlier. It has focused on selling assets to cut debt, achieving about S$2 billion in divestments last year. Property development contributed most to the revenue jump, with a 24% increase year-on-year, driven mainly by Singapore projects. CDL’s chairman and family patriarch Kwek Leng Beng accused his CEO son in February 2025 of attempting a boardroom coup.

MILAN (Feb 27): Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena said it would complete the merger with Mediobanca by the end of the year and target a profit of 3.7 billion euros (US$4.4 billion) for the combined group in 2030. The figure, which excludes one-off items, compares with 2.4 billion euros in 2025, Monte dei Paschi (MPS) said on Friday, as it presented a multi-year strategy after acquiring the larger rival last year. It will now buy the remaining 14% and take Mediobanca private to secure the full 700 million euros in savings expected from the tie-up. Planning to pay out 100% of the profits in the coming years, MPS said it would distribute 16 billion euros in dividends by 2030. MPS said the high payout would still allow it to keep some three billion euros in cash above a targeted 13% core capital threshold, which it could use for additional deals or to remunerate investors.

Carney will meet business leaders in Mumbai and start talks on a comprehensive trade agreement, which is expected to be completed by November, his foreign minister told Reuters. He is scheduled to travel on to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand told Reuters there have been conversations between Canada and India at the highest levels regarding concerns about criminal activity with possible links to India. Fending off American hegemonyAfter India, Carney will visit Australia, where he will address parliament and discuss military, trade and defence links. En route back to Ottawa, Carney will meet Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and talk about boosting trade in autos, energy and critical minerals.

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 1,800 members of the police force were arrested for drug-related offences between 2020 and 2025, according to the Home Ministry. The ministry said the arrests, made under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234), involved 91 officers and 1,778 other personnel. The remaining 911 cases are either still under investigation, in court, or awaiting pathology and chemistry reports to complete investigations. Onn Abu Bakar (PH–Batu Pahat) had asked about the number of police officers and personnel involved in drug abuse between 2020 and 2025, and the actions taken against them. A total of 324 were dismissed, while the remainder received warnings, including demotions,” the ministry said.

GEORGE TOWN: If only there were a foreign workers’ hostel on the north side of the island, then Long (not his real name) would not need to rent a RM1,900 a month condominium for his six foreign workers. We follow the landlord’s and management’s rules because we need our workers within walking distance from work,” said Long, 38. She said she understood the need for foreign workers to live near their workplaces and hoped employers would help them integrate into residential areas. Penang has approved several workers’ hostels, classed as ­centralised labour quarters (CLQ), near industrial zones. H’ng said the CLQ system allowed foreign workers in ­specific areas to be housed more organised, reducing scattered housing in residential areas.

JASIN: Two people were killed in a head-on collision involving two cars on Jalan Serkam-Bemban, near Jasin, on Thursday evening (Feb 26). The second sedan was also carrying the driver's elderly mother and his 40-year-old brother," he said in a statement on Friday (Feb 27). He said preliminary investigations indicate that the first sedan skidded into the opposite lane upon reaching the scene, leaving the second sedan driver unable to avoid the collision. "The first sedan driver suffered internal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The second sedan driver sustained injuries to his arm and body, while his brother suffered chest injuries.

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Police uncovered an illegal plastic waste processing operation and seized machinery and materials worth RM2.432mil in a raid at Sungai Lembu here on Feb 24. "Investigations found the premises had been processing recycled plastic without approval from the department. "Further checks found several washing machines, an extruder machine, 120 sacks of unprocessed plastic waste and 100 sacks of processed plastic pellets, all valued at RM2.432mil," he said in a statement Friday (Feb 27). Initial investigations indicate the premises had been operating since early 2025, sourcing plastic waste from nearby semiconductor factories for processing before supplying the materials to factories producing plastic-based products. The case has been handed over to the Penang DOE for further action under Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

(Feb 27): Hyundai Motor Co will invest nine trillion won (US$6.3 billion) to build an artificial intelligence data centre, robot factory and hydrogen plant in South Korea, as the automaker accelerates its push into into new technologies. The largest part of the investment will be a 5.8 trillion won AI data centre equipped with 50,000 GPUs to support autonomous vehicle development and robot learning, according to a statement from South Korea’s land ministry on Friday. A further one trillion won has been allocated to open a water electrolysis facility capable of producing 80 tonnes of green hydrogen a day, while 1.3 trillion won will be spent on a solar plant to power the AI and hydrogen initiatives. “The logistics and industrial robots to be mass-produced at this factory will be connected to the AI ​​data centre for constant learning,” Lee said at a ceremony for the investment agreement. “This area will be reborn as a future city where everyone conveniently uses robots in their daily lives.”

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 26): The provision of protection and rewards for whistle-blowers is among the proposed new provisions under the Competition Act 2010 (Act 712), which is in the final stage of amendments, said Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali. He said the Cabinet had given policy approval for the amendments, while the draft bill (Blue Bill) is in its final stage of refinement before being resubmitted to the Cabinet. “I expect to bring this Blue Bill to the Cabinet either as soon as possible or towards the end of Ramadan. He said Act 712 currently had no specific provisions on whistle-blower protection, while the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (Act 711) does not apply to enforcement by MyCC. This is because action under the Competition Act 2010 is civil in nature, whereas Act 711 only covers exposes relating to disciplinary and criminal offences.

The IMF’s executive board rubber-stamped the deal on Thursday (Feb 26), following a staff-level agreement reached between the Fund and Kyiv in late November. “Ukraine and its people have weathered a long and devastating war for over four years with remarkable resilience,” Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, said in a statement Thursday. However, it comes as Hungary holds up a €90 billion (US$106 billion) European Union loan package to Ukraine. Donors’ support is key for Ukraine, as the IMF calculated a financing gap of around US$136.5 billion over the programme period. This is the second IMF programme for the country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Wellness influencer Gabriela Martins Santos de Moura has died at 31 following complications during an in vitro fertilization procedure. The Brazilian therapist reportedly suffered cardiorespiratory arrest at the private Sao Paulo clinic where she was undergoing the procedure, according to local outlet G1. Her family said Santos de Moura was hospitalised in a coma for eight days before her death on Tuesday (Feb 24). “Today the world became a little quieter; we lost a great friend, godmother, therapist, family member!” he wrote, according to a translation. They say life is short, but Gabi proved that life can be immense if we have the courage to pursue our dreams.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 26): AirAsia has advised its guests to expect possible flight delays following the temporary closure of Runway 3 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). In a travel advisory issued on Thursday, the airline said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd had announced the temporary closure of the runway to facilitate ongoing rectification works. “As a result, some flights may experience delays due to operational and runway capacity adjustments at the airport,” AirAsia said in a post on X. The airline said guests would be notified directly if and when there are changes to their flights. “Guests are encouraged to check their flight status on the AirAsia MOVE app or visit airasia.com/flightstatus for the latest updates,” it said.

HERE’S what I noticed recently. We now “wave” our smartphones more often than we wave hello. This is simply because we have gone cashless. E-payments have taken over our lives to the extent that the smartphone is now your most important possession.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 26): Sales of Proton and Perodua cars will continue to dominate the domestic market at around 61% for the period 2020 to 2025, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) said. However, it began to show a downward trend on average to 26.2% from 2023 to 2025. "Although the overall market share for the four Japanese vehicle brands was almost the same for the years 2021 and 2022, the total vehicle sales value for all brands increased by RM9.5 billion. "This situation directly affects Japanese vehicle manufacturers which do not offer EV models," it said. "Based on Chery's annual sales value record, the average sales value per unit of Chery vehicles also increased from RM116,000 to RM127,000.