Dr Mahathir receives courtesy call from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad received a courtesy call from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his delegation at his office in Perdana Putra here today. In several tweets with attached pictures on his Twitter handle @chedetoffical, Dr Mahathir said during their meeting, Ismail expressed…

Greek parliament elects its first female president

ATHENS, Jan 22 (NNN-ANADOLU) — The Greek parliament on Wednesday elected the country’s first female president. Sakellaropoulou won the support of 261 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. 33 MPs voted present while there were also six absentees. The former judge was backed by ruling New Democracy party, leftist party Syriza and…

Lim: Malaysia’s economic strength sees it retaining A3 credit rating from Moody’s

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Solid economic fundamentals and the government’s commitment to institutional reforms have convinced Moody’s that Malaysia deserves its high sovereign credit rating of A3 with a stable outlook, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng. “Malaysia’s competitive economy, strong medium-term growth prospects and effective institutions are…

Saudi Arabia imposes new charge of SAR300 for Haj visa

SEPANG, Jan 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Saudi Arabian government will charge haj pilgrims SAR300 (about RM326) each for visa issued beginning 1441H/2020M haj pilgrimage season, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa. Mujahid said the newly introduced charge by the Saudi Arabian government would…

Former Sabah MCMC deputy director charged for misappropriating funds

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 22 (Bernama) — Former deputy director of Sabah chapter of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was charged at the Special Corruption Court here today with six counts of dishonest misappropriation of property totalling RM17,930. The 41-year-old woman, however, pleaded not guilty and claimed trial to all charges…

Assemblyman pleads not guilty to charge of supporting LTTE

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan pleaded not guilty in the High Court here today to a charge with giving support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist group via his Facebook account. Saminathan, 35, made the plea after the charge was read to him in…

Najib’s SRC Trial: Court allows Najib to bring in handwriting expert

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The High Court here Wednesday allowed former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s application to call a handwriting expert to verify his signatures on some documents linked to his SRC International Sdn Bhd trial. Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali held that under the law, an…

HR Ministry set on expanding jobs, training and social security for M’sians

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Human Resource Ministry is focused on providing employment opportunities, expanding social security coverage and empowering Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) this year. Human Resource Minister M. Kula Segaran said the government in order to provide employment opportunities was negotiating with Japan to send skilled workers there. For that purpose a…

FFP not guilty of conspiracy to overthrow monarchy – Thai’s Constitutional Court

BANGKOK, Jan 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Thailand’s Constitutional Court today ruled that the key figures of opposition Future Forward Party (FFP) are not guilty of opposing the country’s constitutional monarchy. In its ruling, one of the nine judges,  Taweekiat Meenakanit, said there is “no clear evidence” of the conspiracy to overthrow the…

Darell set to meet ministers, CEOs of MNCs at WEF in Davos

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Darell Leiking is scheduled to meet and discuss bilateral trade and investment issues with his counterparts from Switzerland, Turkey and Palestine at The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos. He will also be meeting chief executive officers (CEOs)…