SINGAPORE (Feb 23): Malaysia's Pengerang Refining Company (Prefchem) has cut output at its refinery after it shut one of two gasoline-making units until April for repairs, sources familiar with the matter said. The refiner unexpectedly shut one of its two 70,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) residue fluid catalytic cracking units for repairs in early February, two of four sources said. Prefchem's 300,000bpd refinery located at Pengerang, Johor, is currently running at around 50% of its capacity, three of the sources added, down from around 60% last month. For March shipments, PETRONAS Trading Corp (Petco) started offering this week at least one spot diesel cargo loading in March, one of the sources said. Petco has not offered any low-sulphur straight-run fuel oil for February or March so far, traders have separately said.

JOHOR BARU: Four eateries at a well-known shopping mall here were raided by the Immigration Department in an operation that led to the arrest of 19 foreign workers for various immigration offences. He added that the simultaneous raids targeted several food premises around here and involved 25 enforcement officers from the state Immigration Department’s enforcement division. “Initial inspections found that 19 foreign workers were detained for suspected immigration violations. He added the detainees are suspected of committing offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963. Mohd Rusdi added that three Form 29 notices, which are summonses issued to witnesses, were also served during the inspection process to facilitate investigations.

KEPALA BATAS: As Muslims enter the holy month of Ramadan, diabetics are carefully balancing faith and health – adjusting medication, monitoring blood sugar levels and moderating meals to fast safely. Although his condition does not stop him from fulfilling his obligation to fast – one of the main pillars of Islam – he is mindful of his blood sugar levels. Abdul Aziz said his blood sugar levels are slightly better controlled during the fasting month, and he makes it a point to take his medication regularly. He also takes traditional remedies and monitors his blood sugar regularly. Dr Mastura said monitoring blood sugar at key times – before sahur, mid-morning, mid-afternoon, pre-iftar and about two hours post-iftar – is essential to reduce complications.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): A total of 212,543 taxpayers have submitted more than one billion e-invoice transactions in all from 2024 to Feb 23, 2026, said Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong. Liew said the number of transactions provides a clearer picture for addressing tax non-compliance, revenue leakage, and the growth of the black market. “E-invoicing also helps companies digitise their businesses,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday. According to Liew, the government raised the annual sales threshold for e-invoice implementation exemptions twice in 2025 — from RM150,000 to RM500,000 on June 5, 2025, and then to RM1 million on Dec 6, 2025. “This phased approach benefits over one million taxpayers, especially hawkers, small traders and roadside stallholders, by exempting them from the e-invoice implementation requirement,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: American companies trading with Malaysia are impacted by the US tariffs and not the other way around, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. “The tariffs are imposed on American companies who have been trading with Malaysia. Based on our survey, the impact on Malaysian companies has been rather minimal,” he said during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Feb 24). “Based on information from the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) as of Monday (Feb 23), Malaysian companies have not been impacted. I reiterate once again that the tariffs are for American companies trading in our country because Trump’s strategy is to force these companies to invest in the US and not overseas,” he added.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) has found negligence in the handling of a firearms training exercise at the Northern Region Rela Training Centre that resulted in an injury to a trainee. The commission said it had conducted investigations into complaints involving alleged negligence during a firearms training session at training centre on Nov 15, 2024, which led to injuries sustained by a participant of the Basic Induction Course for Rela officers. "We also investigated claims that the firearms training session conducted on the same date did not comply with existing legal provisions. Among the conditions was a requirement that each shooter be assisted by a police officer during the training session. The EAIC stressed that strict adherence to established procedures is crucial to safeguard the safety of personnel and trainees during firearms training exercises.

Earlier, Trump invoked his authority under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a 15% tariff. “We do not know whether the US Congress will agree with the Supreme Court or have differing views. Anwar said the government does not want to make any hasty decisions that could potentially jeopardise the country’s trade interests as the US is a key trading partner. He was responding to a question by Datuk Rosol Wahid (PN-Hulu Terengganu) on Malaysia’s position after the Supreme Court’s decision. This is quite clear, in my understanding, that maintaining any existing provisions does not override Malaysia’s national security or economic interests,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Learning Matrix (MPM) for Year Four pupils will assess students’ progress in literacy, numeracy and basic scientific skills, says Wong Kah Woh. Wong said the MPM would begin for Year 4 this year and for next year for Form 3 students. Wong said PBD is a key assessment tool to obtain information on students’ development, progress, abilities, and level of mastery of the curriculum objectives. “PBD plays a critical role in providing a clear picture of students’ mastery of the Learning Standards outlined in the curriculum. Through this process, teachers can systematically collect information, conduct analysis, and continuously reflect to monitor students’ progress,” he said.

KOTA KINABALU: A resort offering pangolin soup and meat for an "exquisite" experience for tourists is going to pay expensively after authorities swooped in on their illegal activities. In an integrated crackdown dubbed Ops Khazanah on Feb 23, Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) officials together with the police had raided a resort in Semporna district, after getting information of the operators storing and serving the protected species. “During the raid, a live pangolin as well as several pots containing cooked pangolin in herbal soup were found,” SWD director Soffian Abu Bakar said in a statement, Tuesday (Feb 24). Three individuals were also arrested to facilitate probes under the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, he said. “We are stepping up patrols and enforcement to protect our wildlife in Sabah,” he added.

COMMUNITY leaders in Brickfields are calling for the iconic Little India enclave to be designated a “no-banner zone”, following recent enforcement action against a local restaurant for illegal advertising. The fine was issued under Advertisement By-Laws (Federal Territory) 1982. Rajendran says a ‘no-banner zone’ will only work if monitoring is constant. StarMetro previously reported that DBKL carries out monthly enforcement operations, removing between 25,000 and 30,000 illegal banners and bunting on average. Such advertisements fall under Advertisement By-Laws (Federal Territory) 1982 as well as Vandalism By-Laws (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) 1991.

The lower rate is in line with the universal rate imposed on all countries under US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff regime, implemented using Section 122 legislation. Thus far, Trump has imposed Section 232 tariffs on sectors such as steel, aluminium, automobiles, copper, timber, and advanced semiconductors. Sector-wise, Khaw maintained that the local semiconductor and electronics industry remains the most vulnerable due to Section 232 tariffs. “We already saw and priced in the worst-case scenarios when the tariff rate imposed on the country was at 19%. Hence, it is unlikely that the situation – even as more developments unfold in the coming days – will worsen beyond that, particularly as the global tariff rate is now 15%.

“At this stage, there is no evidence that these deep earthquakes mean increased earthquake danger for Sabah,” Prof Tongkul, who is with UMS’s Natural Disaster Research Centre, said when contacted. Because it was so deep, the shaking felt on the ground was generally mild and spread over a wide area. Sometimes, the stress becomes too great, and a deep earthquake occurs,” he added. Prof Tongkul explained that these deep earthquakes differ from shallow earthquakes such as the 2015 Ranau earthquake. The latest quake is dubbed the strongest registered in Malaysia in 11 years, since the 2015 Ranau earthquake (6.0-magnitude, which claimed 18 lives.

WASHINGTON (Feb 24): Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek's latest artificial intelligence (AI) model, set to be released as soon as next week, was trained on Nvidia's most advanced AI chip, the Blackwell, a senior Trump administration official said on Monday, in what could represent a violation of US export controls. But China hawks fear chips could easily be diverted from commercial uses to help supercharge China's military and threaten US dominance in AI. "This shows why exporting any AI chips to China is so dangerous," said Chris McGuire, who served as a White House National Security Council official under former president Joe Biden. The technique known as distillation involves having an older, more established and powerful AI model evaluate the quality of the answers coming out of a newer model, effectively transferring the older model's learnings. The Information previously reported that DeepSeek had smuggled chips into China to train its next model.

“Back home, the fasting practices vary from family to family. Liu, who is a postgraduate student pursuing education management, said the Ramadan bazaars are among the highlights of the fasting month. In Malaysia, Sana mentioned that she and her family felt welcomed as they observed fasting and fulfilled other Islamic obligations without attracting undue attention. Experiencing the accessibility of mosques here, the community gatherings, and the always-crowded bazaars has been really cool because these types of things do not really exist in Canada,” she said. Since relocating to Malaysia, Sana also described how Ramadan in the country has subtly reshaped daily rhythms.

Regional currencies were steady against a broadly flat dollar index as investors assessed the global trade impact of renewed turbulence surrounding US President Donald Trump's tariff regime. The MSCI index of emerging Asian equities climbed 0.7% to a record peak, buoyed by a 2.1% rise in South Korea's Kospi and a 2.7% gain in Taiwan stocks. Despite the broad weakness, South Korean shares extended their rally, moving closer to the 6,000-point milestone. Taiwan stocks extended their advance to a record high of 34,707.02 points, with top contract chipmaker TSMC up 4%. Singapore stocks lost 0.7%.