Nation

RM40bil in housing financing guarantees available for 100,000 first-time homeowners, says Nga

KUALA LUMPUR: The Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP) aims to help over 100,000 individuals own their first homes by the end of this year, with RM16bil in financing guarantees open for applications.

Vietnam

2,000-year-old brick tomb unearthed Vietnam's Quang Ninh province

QUANG NINH: An ancient tomb covering a total area of 150sq m has been excavated in Vang Danh Ward in the northern province of Quang Ninh, revealing many major archaeological findings.

Nation

Anwar flags ‘songlap and sakau’ culture in defence procurement industry

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim warned that the defence and security procurement industry has become a hotbed with "songlap and sakau" (embezzlement and misappropriate) culture.

Nation

Cops nab local for robbing Vietnamese of RM8,000

KUALA LUMPUR: A man who allegedly robbed a Vietnamese woman here was arrested within a day of the incident.

Commodities

Gold crosses US$4,800 for the first time as US, EU spar over Greenland

GOLD prices surged to a record high above $4,800 per ounce on Wednesday, buoyed by safe-haven demand and a softer dollar as U.S. President Donald Trump's pursuit of Greenland threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe and upend the NATO alliance.

Technology

Gates and OpenAI team up for AI health push in African countries

LONDON, ‌Jan 21 (Reuters) - The Gates Foundation and OpenAI are ‌setting up a $50 million partnership to help ‌African countries use artificial intelligence to improve their health systems.

Commodities

Oil prices fall as risks from Kazakh production halt subside

TOKYO: Oil prices fell on Wednesday as an expected build-up of U.S. crude inventories outweighed a temporary halt in output at two large fields in Kazakhstan and geopolitical pressure from U.S. threats of tariffs over its bid to gain control of Greenland.

Sabah & Sarawak

Non-performing Sedco subsidiaries to face closure, reforms

KOTA KINABALU: Subsidiaries under the state Sedco Group that fail to turn profitable within a year will be shut down or undergo buyouts, its newly appointed chairman Datuk Masiung Banah says.

Cambodia

Cambodia commits to ‘cut off the head’, dismantle scam operations

PHNOM PENH: A senior official from the committee tasked with eradicating technology-based scam crimes has informed a Chinese diplomat that Cambodia will cooperate with partner countries to "cut off the heads and dismantle the nests of criminal groups to the very root".

AI

AI agents ‘perilous’ for secure apps such as Signal, Whittaker says

Artificial intelligence agents that autonomously carry out tasks pose a threat to secure apps such as Signal, according to Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation.

Markets

ACE Market-bound Ambest aims to raise RM27.5mil from IPO

PETALING JAYA: Ambest Group Bhd, an engineering support services provider specialising in precision machining, aims to raise approximately RM27.50 million through its initial public offering (IPO) on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on Feb 6, 2026.

Corporate News

Steel Hawk unit secures contract for fire rated doors in Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR: Steel Hawk Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary Steel Hawk Engineering Sdn Bhd has secured a subcontract from Eternity Mode Sdn Bhd for the procurement, construction and commissioning of fire rated doors in Sabah.

China

Viral China hiking trail shaped like a horse closed off over safety concerns

BEIJING: With the Year of the Horse approaching, local authorities in Guangzhou's Panyu district have introduced a horse-shaped mountaineering route in a forest park, after previously closing a similar adventure route mapped by hikers on social media platforms

Nation

Military procurement to face tighter scrutiny under new defence industry policy, says Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR: A tighter freeze and enhanced scrutiny will be imposed on military and similar security procurement as part of an urgent overhaul aligned with the newly launched Defence Industry Policy (DIPN), says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Technology

L'oreal to invest $383 million in Indian beauty tech hub

Jan 21 (Reuters) - French ‌cosmetics giant L'oreal said on Wednesday ‌it will set up a beauty tech ‌hub in the south Indian city of Hyderabad with an initial investment of over 35 billion rupees ($383.4 ‍million).

Technology

OpenAI to start offering chatbot ads to advertisers, The Information reports

Jan 21 (Reuters) - OpenAI ‌has started offering its new chatbot ads to ‌dozens of advertisers, The Information reported on Tuesday, ‌citing people familiar with the matter.

Corporate News

Binastra unit accepts RM742.86mil building contract in Johor

KUALA LUMPUR: Binastra Corp Bhd said its wholly-owned subsidiary Binastra Builders Sdn Bhd has accepted a contract from Maxim Pelangi Sdn Bhd for main building works of a 72-storey serviced apartment in Plentong, Johor.

Thailand

Thai PM orders swift aid disbursement for border victims after Election Commission approval

BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered the expedited disbursement of financial assistance to residents affected by incidents along the Thai-Cambodia border, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday (Jan 20).

Nation

Vice Admiral Datuk Sabri sues Chegubard over graft allegations

KUALA LUMPUR: President of the National Defence Studies Centre (Puspahanas) Vice Admiral Datuk Sabri Zal has filed a lawsuit against political activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard.

Indonesia

Lab tests reveal E. coli contamination in free meals that sickened 800 students in Central Java

JAKARTA: Laboratory tests have confirmed E. coli contamination in food and water served under the free nutritious meal programme that sickened more than 800 students in Grobogan, Central Java earlier this month.