Family gains citizenship after decades of struggle
AFTER waiting for decades, Fauziah Mohamad, 32, can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as she and her family are officially recognised as Malaysian citizens, reported Utusan Malaysia. Fauziah said the long wait finally ended when she received official identification documents, presented personally by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail. Alongside Fauziah, four of her siblings and her children were granted official identification documents. She said the moment marked more than just paperwork, but a restoration of identity and dignity. “I am not proud of that, but I am aware of it and willing to take big steps to improve,” she said.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 06:35 UTC
ShopBack Pay will be discontinued in Malaysia on March 25
Rewards programme provider ShopBack has announced that its payment service, ShopBack Pay, will no longer be available in Malaysia from March 25. Customers who used ShopBack Pay in-store before March 2 will still be eligible for their Return Cashback. Following this review, we are reallocating investment to areas of the ShopBack platform that best serve partners and customers in Malaysia. This comes after the platform had previously discontinued its ShopBack PayLater financing service in 2024. For more information on the change, ShopBack customers can visit the company's support page.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 06:35 UTC
Hundreds gather at popular Ipoh spot to break fast
IPOH: As dusk fell, hundreds of people gathered at Bulatan Sultan Azlan Shah, spreading picnic mats and sharing homemade dishes and bazaar treats as they waited for the azan (call to prayer) to break fast together. Alieya Abdullah, 21, said the group of five friends had planned since the start of Ramadan to break fast together but only managed to meet on Sunday due to work commitments. All five of them, who studied together at SMK Tambun, bought their meals from a Ramadan bazaar at the roundabout. Housewife Azizah Abdul Latif, 53, brought a spread of homemade dishes to the field to break fast with her veterinarian husband Dr Zulkifli Ahmad, 59, and other family members. “It’s a nice change to break fast in a different atmosphere.”Persatuan Pengamal Media Perak secretary Normawati Adnan, 42, said about 20 Perak journalists broke fast at the roundabout.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 06:35 UTC
Blackpink sets record-breaking album sales
This feat officially sets a new historical record for the K-Pop girl group and also broke its personal best sales record. Blackpink made a triumphant return after a three-year hiatus and released their mini-album on Feb 27. > Hong Kong actress Sisley Choi has sparked speculation that she has officially parted ways with TVB, Oriental Daily reported. > Two giant pandas from two zoos in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, died from severe digestive complications, Oriental Daily reported. Post-mortem examinations confirmed that the pandas died from intestinal obstruction and the twisting of their intestines, both of which led to multiple organ failure.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 06:34 UTC
US, China trade chiefs to meet mid-March before Trump-Xi summit
(March 3): US and Chinese trade negotiators are slated to meet in mid-March, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling a planned summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is pushing ahead despite American strikes against Iran. The future of US fentanyl tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court could also be on the agenda, they added. Trump is traveling to China between March 31 to April 2 to meet with Xi, the first trip by an American president since his visit in 2017. The expected time frame of the meeting means officials will only have about two weeks until the leaders’ summit to finalize any business deals and logistical arrangements of Trump’s visit. Months later, Trump began his first trade war with the world’s second-largest economy.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 03, 2026 06:29 UTC
'Free me': Tom Hank's son, Chet Hanks, stranded in Colombia
Chet Hanks says he’s stranded in Medellin, Colombia where he spent the weekend trying to resolve a passport issue. The 35-year-old son of Hollywood royals Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson told his 600,000 Instagram followers after celebrating a friend’s birthday in Puerto Rico, he decided to drop in on a friend in Colombia. According to Hanks – a dual-citizen traveling with his Greek passport — airport officials stopped him from re-entering the U.S. when he tried coming home. “They tell me that if I’m using a foreign passport, I need a green card to get back into America,” he says. On Sunday, he posted video showing him singing in a bar and a photo taken in a Medellin gym.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 06:09 UTC
TS Law said to be acquiring part of D’Rapport Residences project
Package F comprises 43 unsold commercial units in D’Rapport Residences with a reserve price of RM25 million. The Edge reached out to TS Law Group but the developer declined to comment. In recent years, the group’s property arm TS Law Land has increasingly undertaken transit-oriented developments (TODs) — basically, mixed-use urban projects built around public transport hubs. TS Law Land has introduced several TODs, including Skyline KL in Pudu and Skyline Kuchai as well as Skyline Embassy on Embassy Row, which is a few minutes away from D’Rapport Residences. Adzman Shah Mohd Ariffin, CEO of real estate consultancy and property management firm Exstrata Solutions, says D’Rapport Residences faced delays and heightened scepticism because of Acmar’s track record of stalled projects.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 03, 2026 06:05 UTC
When unethical – and disgusting – tips are disguised as ‘hotel hacks’
We’ve seen those “hacks” online where hotel guests film themselves cooking food using kettles. This “hotel hack” really shouldn’t be followed. Another hotel hack to avoid is drying clothes using a microwave (if your hotel room has one). Reactions have been largely negative because, of course, plenty of hotel guests enjoy brewing coffee (sans undies) in their rooms. Rumours have started circulating that Tara Woodcox, the influencer who posted the original video, is now facing lawsuit for her unethical hack.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 06:01 UTC
More than just a linguistic relic
THE term “quit rent” used to make me shake my head. Rent where? I knew it meant cukai tanah, but I never bothered with its origins because the costs were inconsequential. A Tanjung Bungah terrace property was charged RM60 a year. A piece of farmland in Seberang Perai, RM3.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 05:59 UTC
Airline ticket prices soar on Asia-Europe routes after Gulf airport closures
Reuters' checks of several airlines' websites on Tuesday showed few near-term bookings available and high prices on offer for flights from Asia to London. An economy-class ticket for a one-way flight was available for 71,190 baht (US$2,265) on March 15, with prices dropping to 27,045 baht by March 18. Taiwan's EVA Airways said bookings for its Europe-bound flights had surged as Asian and European passengers seek alternative routing options. Mainland Chinese airlines' websites showed fares on China-UK routes have also surged far above normal levels, with economy-class seats largely unavailable on near-term departures. A return economy-class ticket from Beijing to London typically costs under 10,000 yuan (US$1,452.71), but Air China's only option for Wednesday is business class, with a one-way ticket priced at 50,490 yuan.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 03, 2026 05:54 UTC
Xi eyes consumers to lead new era for China’s unbalanced economy
(March 3): For decades, China’s leaders have failed to heed calls to rebalance the economy toward consumption as they pursued an investment-heavy, export-oriented growth strategy. With overcapacity cutting prices, a property slump eroding wealth and US President Donald Trump’s protectionist push going global, the old growth model is challenged like never before. China’s social security safety net is meagre, especially for those living in the countryside, which encourages so-called precautionary savings. “Transitioning to a consumption-led growth model should be the overarching priority,” the IMF’s executive directors said in a statement alongside the Washington-based lender’s Article IV annual review. To spur consumers, the government in July started providing subsidies for purchases of services including bathing assistance and rehabilitation nursing for some disabled senior citizens.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 03, 2026 05:50 UTC
Rosmah fails in final bid to remove trial judge
PUTRAJAYA: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has failed in her final bid to recuse the trial judge, Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, from presiding over her graft case. The Federal Court here unanimously dismissed Rosmah's appeal on grounds that there was no appealable error that warranted the apex court's intervention. Justice Mohamed Zaini had convicted Rosmah in her graft trial involving a RM1.25bil solar hybrid project in Sarawak. "The Court of Appeal concluded that the trial judge had prepared himself the grounds of judgment without relying on the draft. She was granted a stay of execution on the sentences pending her appeal against her conviction and sentence at the Court of Appeal.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 05:48 UTC
My Say: Malaysia’s systemic trap: Why reform stalls
It revealed that Malaysia’s uneven commitment to stability, growth and integrity had failed to produce a durable safety net. Malaysia’s long reliance on broad fuel subsidies illustrates this systemic trap in concrete terms. Unfortunately, this systemic trap is tightening under the weight of global shifts. If this systemic trap persists, Malaysia risks being bypassed by neighbours who can offer the reform momentum and transparency that modern capital now demands. Without sustained institutional reform, Malaysia risks deepening the very dependencies that erode the confidence on which durable growth depends.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 03, 2026 05:31 UTC
Chiew Sien in long race against time to reach Birmingham
PETALING JAYA: It will be a last minute dash to Birmingham for national mixed doubles shuttler Lim Chiew Sien after her original flight to the All-England was cancelled at the last minute. “First thing first I have to book another flight to Birmingham because anyhow I still have tournament to attend. The others are already there except me, but nobody wants what’s happening in the world, right?” said Chiew Sien. Despite her disappointment, Chiew Sien admitted this was not the first time she had experienced a last minute flight cancellation. 38 Chiew Sien-Tien Ci also featured in the tournament but bowed out in the opening round after losing to Danish pair Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 05:14 UTC
Velesto wins US$157mil drilling contract
PETALING JAYA: Velesto Energy Bhd has been awarded a drilling contract by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd to undertake drilling activities worth US$157mil. In a statement, the oil and gas firm said its Naga two jack-up rig would undertake drilling activities, with operations having commenced last month for a period of five years. “The contract is expected to contribute positively to the group’s rig utilisation and earnings visibility from 2026 to 2030,” it saidVelesto president Megat Zariman Abdul Rahim pointed out that the five-year engagement for Naga two reflected the group’s continued progress in maximising the utilisation of its core assets while strengthening earnings visibility. “The contract aligns with the group’s focus on disciplined execution across its operating markets in South-East Asia and Malaysia.”Naga two is an independent-leg cantilever jack-up drilling rig with a drilling depth capability of 30,000 ft and has a rated operating water depth of 350 ft.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2026 05:05 UTC