“For me, I’m always ready to play for my country if I’m needed, but my expectations of myself are higher,” said Zii Jia. “To be honest, if I’m playing in third singles, it won’t be an advantage,” said Zii Jia. 45) are currently all ahead of Zii Jia in the rankings, which makes it difficult for him to play in either first or second singles. Zii Jia is next looking to perform better in the Indian Open, which starts next Tuesday (Jan 13) in New Delhi. Zii Jia has also registered to compete in the Indonesian Masters (Jan 20-25) in Jakarta and the Thailand Masters (Jan 27-Feb 1) in Patum Wan.

OSLO (Jan 7): Equinor does not plan a return to Venezuela, after leaving the country in the early part of this decade, the Norwegian oil and gas company's CEO told Reuters on Wednesday. "At the moment, that's not on the table," Anders Opedal said on the sidelines of a business conference. "We pulled out of Venezuela because we wanted to reallocate capital." Equinor entered Venezuela's oil and gas industry in the mid-1990s, investing billions of dollars onshore and offshore and identifying the country as a core part of its operation, but ultimately pulled out after some 25 years. Equinor's Opedal said rebuilding Venezuela's oil industry to extract more of the country's heavy oil will demand huge investment.

KLANG: Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man in Taman Wangsa. Selangor deputy police chief Deputy Comm Mohd Zaini Abu Hassan said the police were notified of the incident at around 12.30am on Wednesday (Jan 7). "Investigations showed that two suspects had approached the 43-year-old victim on a motorcycle before firing two shots and fleeing the area. “The body has been sent to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) for a postmortem," he said in a statement. The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

KUALA LUMPUR: Men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao made a good start in the Malaysian Open by beating China’s Wang Zhengxing. 28 Jun Hao rose to the occasion in front of the home fans, claiming an impressive 21-17, 21-17 win over world No. 29 Zhengxing in 48 minutes at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Wednesday (Jan 7). Leong Jun Hao. -MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The StarIt was the first meeting between the Malaysian and the 23-year-old Zhengying.

17 Roy King-Wan Arif took 38 minutes to get past the world No. The previous encounter between both pairs was at last year’s Australian Open, with V Shem-Sol gyu winning their second round match then. Roy King-Wan Arif will now meet third seed Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty after they defeated Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-heui-Yang Po-hsuan 21-13, 21-15. Second seeds Pearly-Thinaah only took 30 minutes to win 21-11, 21-9 at the Axiata Arena in the opening round of the Super 1000 tournament. Pearly-Thinaah will now face Indonesia’s Febriana Kusuma-Meilysa Puspitasari in the second round.

(Jan 7): BlueScope Steel Ltd rejected an US$8.8 billion (RM35.68 billion) takeover bid by US steelmaker Steel Dynamics Inc and Australian conglomerate SGH Ltd. The company’s board unanimously decided the offer “very significantly” undervalued BlueScope, it said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 7). Steel Dynamics and SGH — controlled by billionaire Kerry Stokes — offered A$30 (RM82) per share for the Australian steelmaker. The US buyer would have taken over the North American facilities and SGH would have retained the remainder if the takeover proposal had been accepted. The company owns a steel mill in Ohio, about 80 miles from a Steel Dynamics-owned operation, as well as a building products business.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 7): The government will not burden the people by reducing the Budi Madani Ron95 (Budi95) quota based on income classification to avoid additional constraints for household expenditure, said Treasury Secretary-General Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican. He said the government's main concern right now is to analyse the data gathered from the beginning of the Budi95 programme to see the success of the implementation. "Let's first analyse the data to look for potential unusual utilisation before we look at changing the parameters. In terms of the 300-litre quota for Budi95, Johan Mahmood said government data showed that the average consumption is about 83 litres per month, and 90% of people eligible for Budi95 used less than 200 litres per month. Explaining further, Johan Mahmood also emphasised that the government currently will not be implementing a more targeted subsidy programme based on income class despite some proposal for a more precise mechanism.

Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik advanced to the Malaysia Open second round at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, on Wednesday. - NSTP FILE PICKUALA LUMPUR: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik completed a perfect day for the national shuttlers on Wednesday, advancing to the second round of the Malaysia Open. 2 defeated Americans Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith 21-11, 21-19 at Axiata Arena to maintain their winning streak against the world No. They will meet either China's Chen Xu Jun-Liu Yang or Taiwan's Liu Kuang Heng-Yang Po Han in the second round. Earlier, mixed doubles Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai, men's singles Leong Jun Hao, and men's doubles Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King also advanced to the second round of their respective events.

Uyaina Arshad and her husband have chosen not to guess their coming baby's gender (NSTP/RAIHANA MANSOR)KUALA LUMPUR: Actress and television host Uyaina Arshad is counting down the days until her new bundle of joy arrives, but she and her husband, Raja Syahiran, are keeping the baby's gender a closely guarded secret—even from themselves. "My husband and I want the baby's gender to be a surprise for everyone, including ourselves. What's more important is that he or she arrives safe and healthy," Uyaina said, adding that the couple has already finalised the baby's name. "My husband gave me a credit card to shop for gold, on the condition that I did not overspend. Uyaina and Raja Syahiran tied the knot on Dec 21, 2021, and are already parents to two sons, aged 2 and 4.

(Jan 7): China’s central bank extended its gold-buying streak to 14 months, underscoring sustained official demand for bullion as prices surged to records. Bullion held by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) rose by 30,000 troy ounces last month, according to data released on Wednesday. Gold had a volatile run in the last month of 2025, surging to a record before paring some gains. The data highlighted official-sector demand as a key pillar to support gold prices into this year, as countries continued to see bullion as a hedge against the dollar. The true scale of PBOC purchases remains difficult to pin down, as numerous estimates put the actual buying higher.

MUMBAI (Jan 7): UBS Investment Bank expects the Indian rupee to weaken to 92 per US dollar by March, making the case that any relief from a potential US-India trade deal announcement would likely be undermined by the central bank replenishing foreign exchange reserves. The RBI can be expected to restore those reserves in periods of stability, Arora said in a media conference call on Tuesday. A capital flow, growth issueIndia’s equity outflows accounted for much of the rupee’s nearly 5% fall in 2025, with lingering US tariffs adding to the pressure. Arora argues that pressure on India’s capital account stems more from growth concerns than trade uncertainty, with relatively expensive equity valuations playing a key role. Though India has reported robust real GDP growth, slower nominal growth figures have weighed on earnings expectations, contributing to record selling of Indian equities by foreign investors last year.

Beijing’s ban on exporting any dual-use items to Japan for military use — as well as a separate threat to step up rare-earths curbs — strike at well-known vulnerabilities in Japan’s supply chains. Any tit-for-tat response from Tokyo would risk compounding economic woes, especially for Japanese carmakers that require Chinese-source inputs to produce electric vehicles. The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Kalgoorlie, Australia. After the 2010 embargo, Japan moved to diversify its sources of rare earths. Raising concerns about China’s export controls there would be an easy sell, since other members share similar concerns about critical minerals and industrial security.

SAO PAULO, Jan ‌6 (Reuters) - Neymar has agreed to extend his contract ‌with Santos until the end of 2026, the ‌Brazilian club said on Tuesday, as he maintains hopes of a World Cup call-up despite recent injuries. "Santos is my place, I'm at home," ⁠Neymar said in a video published on ‌the Brazilian club's social media. The former Barcelona and Paris St Germain star, Brazil's all-time top scorer with 79 goals, has not featured for the five-time World Cup winners since 2023. Brazil will face ‌Scotland, Morocco and Haiti in Group C of the World Cup, running from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, ​Mexico and the United States. (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo; additional reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Sonali Paul)

MUMBAI (Jan 7): TPG Capital is in talks to buy a stake of up to 20% in Indian securities firm IIFL Capital Services, according to two sources familiar with the deal. US buyout group TPG, TPG Capital's parent, declined to comment, while IIFL Capital Services did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier on Wednesday, local newspaper the Economic Times reported that TPG was closing in on a deal to acquire 30% to 40% of IIFL Capital Services. The deal size was estimated to be in the range of 36.36 billion rupees to 48.48 billion rupees (US$404.3 million to US$539.1 million). IIFL Capital Services shares rose as much as 5.3% to 411.30 rupees in early trading before paring gains to trade 1.4% higher in the afternoon session.

(Jan 7): Revolut Ltd is in talks to acquire Turkish digital bank FUPS to start offerings its services in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Revolut said the company doesn’t comment on “market rumours or speculation.” FUPS declined to comment. The platform garnered a US$75 billion (RM304.32 billion) valuation in November, cementing its status as one of Europe’s most valuable startups. FUPS, a little known Turkish bank offering fintech services, received a licence in 2022 with a founding capital of 1.5 billion liras, which amounted to just over US$81 million at the time. As of September, the company had 60 employees, according to most recent data available from the Turkish Banks Association.