PETALING JAYA: The police have identified two individuals believed to be involved in the forgery of documents submitted to FIFA during the registration process of seven heritage players linked to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). On Sept 26 last year, FIFA, in an official statement, confirmed that FAM and the seven players were found to have breached Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. FIFA found that FAM had submitted documents believed to have been forged to verify the eligibility of the players. The national football governing body was fined about 350,000 Swiss francs (about RM1.8mil), while each player was fined about RM11,000, and the seven players were suspended from all ­football-related activities for 12 months. On Nov 3, the FIFA Appeal Committee dismissed the appeals by FAM and the players involved, thereby upholding the earlier decision of the Disciplinary Committee.

KUALA LUMPUR: The implementation of smart lanes, the enforcement of the overloaded lorry policy by the Road Transport Department (JPJ), and Malaysia’s status under the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) will be among matters to be discussed at today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting. Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) will seek clarification from the Investment, Trade and Industry Minister on Malaysia’s position in the implementation and commitment to the ART, compared with South-East Asian countries that have yet to sign or ratify the agreement. Hamzah also wants to know the government’s justification for continuing with the agreement, despite some regional countries having chosen not to do so. After the oral question-and-answer session, the Dewan Rakyat session will proceed with the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address by Members of Parliament. The Dewan Rakyat sitting is scheduled to run for 20 days until March 3.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): Oil and gas services and equipment (OGSE) firm Carimin Petroleum Bhd (KL:CARIMIN) has acquired a 19.5% stake in Sealink International Bhd (KL:SEALINK) for RM39.98 million, making it the largest shareholder in the offshore marine services group. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, Carimin said it purchased the stake comprising 97.5 million shares from Sealink's executive chairman Lo Ling via a direct business transaction at 41 sen per share. "The acquisition provides Carimin with an opportunity to strengthen its financial position in anticipation that the prospects and growth of Sealink group will translate into positive trajectory of Sealink share prices," it said. Lo, 70, emerged as a substantial shareholder in Sealink after he acquired 68.08 million shares on Nov 14, 2025 in an off-market deal, raising his stake to 17.14%. Prior to the share disposal to Carimin, Lo's stake in Sealink stood at 20.06%.

Veteran singer Rahimah Rahim has released new songs to mark her 70th birthday (Picture courtesy of THE STRAITS TIMES). SINGAPORE: Age is clearly just a number for veteran Singaporean entertainer Rahimah Rahim. "Turning 70 is not just a milestone, but a moment for reflection and leaving something meaningful behind," Rahimah shared during a recent interview. After receiving the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's highest arts accolade, in 2021, Rahimah remains focused on paying it forward. With plans for future English and Mandarin releases, her mission remains clear: "I want to support younger musicians.

GEORGE TOWN: After 67.6 tonnes of old clothing were kept out of landfills last year, Penang aims to triple its textile recycling collection this year. “The collection can be doubled or even tripled this year, provided the people continue to cooperate,” she told a press conference at the textile recycling collection centre in Taman Kejiranan Desa Mawar yesterday. Earlier, Rashidah, along with city councillor Rohaizat Hamid and Air Itam assemblyman Joseph Ng checked two textile collection bins at the park. Taman Kejiranan Desa Mawar recorded 1.25 tonnes of textile waste over five months, placing it among the top five areas on the island for textile collection, he said. Through the collaboration, Life Line Clothing Malaysia managed textile waste collection to prevent it from ending up in landfills, he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry will seek government approval to continue the procurement of certain assets if the current freeze is found to affect the operations and readiness of the Armed Forces. Mohamed Khaled emphasised that any procurement decisions will prioritise operational needs and national security interests. The freeze on all procurements by the Defence Ministry and the Home Ministry was announced last week by Anwar as part of efforts to review and improve government procurement governance. However, defence readiness cannot be compromised. If the freeze directly affects the Armed Forces’ capabilities, we will submit a specific request for government consideration,” Mohamed Khaled said.

(Jan 21): A tainted infant formula crisis that started with Nestlé SA is deepening globally with French manufacturers Danone SA and Groupe Lactalis pulling products potentially contaminated with a toxin. A Danone formula product was also pulled from shelves in Singapore. News that the contamination crisis is potentially spreading is a worrisome development for a highly regulated food product that millions of parents rely on globally. A public health agency in Brazil has also said that two babies were ill, potentially caused by Nestlé formula. Clinical evidence is needed to definitively prove a sickness has been caused by the consumption of a food product, it said.

“It’s been a perfect storm for long-dated JGBs,” said Koutny, who helps oversee Vanguard’s US$500 billion (RM2.03 trillion) of actively-managed fixed income assets. JGBs clawed back some of those losses in volatile trading on Wednesday, pushing the 30-year yield 14bps lower to 3.74%. What has riled investors is Takaichi’s promise to temporarily lower sales tax on food in order to strengthen her slim majority in the country’s Lower House. With Japan relying on more than 20% of its revenue from consumption tax, Koutny said, “any tinkering around there has a meaningful impact for the fiscal position of the government”. For Vanguard’s Koutny, a shift to more prudent fiscal spending plans or a hawkish turn by the BOJ to commit to a rate hike in March or April “would be key for us to resume any buying”.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): Elridge Energy Holdings Bhd (KL:ELRIDGE) is expanding its regional biomass fuel footprint by securing a one-year biomass fuel supply agreement with Thailand-based Berkana Power Company Ltd. Under a memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday (Jan 21), Elridge's wholly owned Bio Eneco Sdn Bhd will deliver an estimated 100,000 tonnes of biomass fuel for a year to Berkana Power via 10 shipments. Elridge Energy CEO Oliver Yeo said the agreement reflects Bio Eneco’s ability to support regular, high-volume biomass fuel deliveries for regional power generation demand, adding that Thailand remains an important market for biomass energy. Elridge Energy is principally involved in the manufacturing and trading of biomass fuel products, particularly palm kernel shells and wood pellets. Its customers are mainly biomass fuel trading companies that sell to end-users such as industrial manufacturers and biomass power plant operators, with operations primarily across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan, the group’s annual report showed.

Herwadey Hashim, 45, the former senior private secretary to Azlan, was testifying during re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Noralis Mat. Herwadey said Azlan provided him with the telephone number of the company's owner, Shafie Ismail, the prosecution's tenth witness, to arrange Azlan's overseas travel. "At first, I understood that En Shafie was the owner of Sri Kedawang. On Dec 3 last year, Herwadey told the court that Azlan had recommended Sri Kedawang for overseas travel arrangements, as he had used their services while serving at Wisma Putra and found it to be excellent. He also agreed that, in practice, his actions in making these travel arrangements were lawful and did not breach any regulations.

(Jan 21): Hyundai Motor Co overtook General Motors Co as the world’s fourth-most valuable automaker as the South Korean firm’s robotics push fuelled a blistering stock rally. The Atlas robot is built by Hyundai’s Boston Dynamics unit and is set to start work in the carmaker’s plants in 2028. Hyundai Motor is the only company that can rival Tesla Inc in the physical AI market, according to KB Securities analyst Kang Seongjin, who more than doubled his price target to 800,000 won. Hyundai Motor closed at 549,000 won (RM1,511.99). Affiliates including logistics arm Hyundai Glovis Co, parts supplier Hyundai Mobis Co and tech firm Hyundai Autoever Corp have risen alongside the automaker to all hit records this month.

For this family, the monthly food rations provided by Penang’s Mutiara Food Bank have transitioned from helpful supplement to essential lifeline. The food bank is a programme where food surplus is collected and channelled to the needy for free. Penang folk receiving perishables from the Mutiara Food Bank via the Taman West MPKK in Jelutong, Penang. By having the staples covered by the food bank, the couple could reallocate their limited cash. Mechanics of food rescueThe Mutiara Food Bank was established by the Penang government in 2017 as a response to both poverty and food waste.

Maybank aims to boost ROE through organic growth by improving asset-liability management, cutting costs, allocating capital on high-return areas, and growing non-interest income. CIMB Securities said the plan marks a shift from lending-focused expansion to fee income growth and capital-efficient operations which focuses on execution of the plan. It raised its target price to RM11.70, highlighting a sustained improvement in asset quality, higher low-cost deposits, and an attractive ~6% dividend yield. AmInvestment Bank, one of the few with a 'hold' rating on the stock, said Maybank’s FY2030 ROE aspiration appears stretched and largely reliant on a favourable macro environment rather than internal factors. Achieving 9% annual growth in non-interest income over five years is also tough given its large base; it projects 6.1% growth in FY2026 and 3.9% in FY2027.

(Jan 21): China’s Zhipu is limiting access to its coding assistant after strong demand for a new AI model syphoned off computing resources. Zhipu said its recent launch of its GLM-4.7 large language model triggered a surge of users, resulting in temporary computing resource constraints. US sanctions have constrained its access to top-tier Nvidia Corp AI accelerators, pushing the company to work more closely with domestic provider Huawei Technologies Co. This month Zhipu also released a new multimodal model that it says is the country’s first to be fully trained using domestic chips. The company said that its open-source image generation model, GLM-Image, is the first state-of-the-art multimodal model to complete training using Huawei’s Ascend chips.

DAVOS (Jan 21): Meta Platforms' new artificial intelligence lab has delivered its first high-profile AI models internally this month, the company's chief technology officer said on Wednesday. "They're basically six months into the work, not quite even," Bosworth said, adding that the team's AI models were "very good". Media outlets reported in December that Meta was working on a text AI model codenamed Avocado slated for a first-quarter launch, along with an image and video-focused model codenamed Mango. Bosworth, known as "Boz", did not specify which models were delivered internally. He said, however, that Meta's big gambits from 2025 were starting to show favourable returns.