3+ min ago (217+ words) HANOI (Reuters): Vietnam's State Treasury raised 6.05 trillion dong (US$229 million) in a weekly government bond auction this week, down from US$350 million raised last week. The uptake was also lower, with 43% of the bonds on offer sold, compared with 66% last week, according to a Hanoi Stock Exchange filing. The auction took total government bond sales so far in 2025 to 293 trillion dong, according to exchange data, less than 60% of the government's target of 500 trillion dong this year. Proceeds from bond sales are mainly used to fund Vietnam's public investments, one of the key drivers of economic growth. At Wednesday's auction, the treasury sold 6.05 trillion dong out of the 9 trillion dong of 10-year bonds on offer at a coupon of 3.86%. It failed to offload any of the total of 5 trillion dong of 5-, 15- and 30-year bonds on offer. On the corporate side, Vietnamese…...

20+ min ago (185+ words) IPOH: A 78-year-old man was found dead in a house in Kampung Koh, Manjung on Sunday (Nov 30) with his head and face covered in blood, believed to be murdered. Manjung OCPD Asst Comm Hasbullah Abd Rahman said the victim was discovered in the living room by family members around noon. "Preliminary police investigations found that the victim was found by family members lying on his back, covered in blood from injuries to the head and face. "Police found a hoe with bloodstains on it, believed to be the weapon used by the suspect," he said in a statement the same day. He said the body was sent to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun for a post-mortem, which revealed that the cause of death was due to multiple blunt and sharp injuries to the head. Members of the public who have information…...

34+ min ago (304+ words) Monday, 01 Dec 2025 KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign investors sustained their net selling position for a second straight week, with year-to-date outflows rising to RM20.27bil, according to CIMB Securities. However, weekly net selling eased 53.1% week-on-week to RM484.9mil. In contrast, CIMB said local institutional investors were the largest net buyers last week, although net inflows dipped 69.4% week-on-week to RM267.0mil. This lifted their year-to-date net inflows to RM18.2bil. Local retail investors extended their net buying streak to a second week, with net purchases jumping 4.6 times week-on-week to RM128.3mil and lifting their year-to-date net buy position to RM568.5mil. "Local nominees remained net buyers at RM69.7mil last week, rising 49.3% week-on-week, while proprietary investors turned net buyers at RM19.9mil despite a 76.9% week-on-week drop," CIMB said. Between Nov 21 and 27, foreign investors saw their largest net selling in industrial products at RM359mil, utilities at RM321mil and construction at RM66mil, with Tenaga Nasional, Press Metal and Sunway topping the list. However, they…...

55+ min ago (331+ words) PETALING JAYA: Malaysian bowlers Rafiq Ismail and Syazirol Shamsuddin bagged a bronze in the men's doubles at the IBF World Championships amid a challenging outing for the national squad in Hong Kong on Saturday (Nov 29). Syazirol and Rafiq got their momentum going early, particularly in the round of 24 in Group C. The duo topped their group decisively with 12 points, registering a commanding scratch total of 1,134 pinfalls across five games. Rafiq and Syazirol's scores of 246, 212, 217, 243, and 216 propelled them past established European contenders from Denmark and Sweden and into the semi-finals. "Rafiq and I are proud of our performance today because we were placed in a tough group. Despite that, we managed to break through and advance to the semi-finals," Syazirol said. Their reward, however, was a fierce semi-final duel against Romania's Mihai-Alin Dragnia and Mate Balazs-Becsi. Rafiq and Syazirol started confidently, clinching…...

1+ hour, 7+ min ago (161+ words) GEORGE TOWN: Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) has identified the need for additional reinforcement work on its pipeline along Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim, Sungai Ara, Bayan Lepas, near here, following the sinkhole incident on Nov 4. Penang Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari, said IWK has requested an extension of the road closure in the area until Dec 12. "The progress and duration of the works will depend on the weather conditions at the site," he said when contacted by Bernama on Sunday (Nov 30). The sinkhole, located on Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim, was initially believed to have been caused by a leaking pipe, which led to underground water leakage in the area. Earlier, social media posts raised public concern when a sinkhole appeared near a road junction, heightening safety worries in the vicinity The sinkhole, situated in front of Sekolah…...

1+ hour, 26+ min ago (405+ words) The visit comes just a month before an election in Myanmar that has been criticized as neither free nor fair. Lukashenko's visit is seen by critics as giving the appearance of support to the polls. Since Myanmar's military takeover, Belarus has been a major supporter and supplier of its government, along with China and Russia. It is one of only a few countries that have been visited by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar's military government, who traveled there in March and June. Like Myanmar, the government of Belarus is widely seen as authoritarian. Myanmar's military leaders have been shunned and sanctioned by many Western nations for ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, and for committing major human rights violations in trying to crush the resistance to army rule. The only other…...

1+ hour, 55+ min ago (176+ words) GEORGE TOWN: Pacific West Dragon Boat Club showcased their prowess at the Penang International Dragon Boat Regatta (PIDBR) 2025, winning two major categories to reinforce their status as one of the event's leading crews. The team won both the Malaysia Premier Open 400 and the International Premier Open 400, securing the TYT Challenge Trophy and the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival (PIDBF) Challenge Trophy, respectively. Penang Governor, Yang di-Pertua Negeri (TYT) Tun Ramli Ngah Talib, was present at the event to present the prizes to the winners. State tourist committee chairman Wong Hon Wai accompanied the governor during the prize-giving ceremony. Organised by the state government, PIDBR 2025 was held at Strait Quay from Nov 28 to 30. "We are proving that Penang is an international city, where heritage and modernity coexist, and where every visitor can feel our warmth, vibrancy, and professionalism," said Wong. The…...

2+ hour, 6+ min ago (198+ words) VIENTIANE (Xinhua): A handover ceremony for the China-aided Lao national seismic monitoring network project was recently held in the Lao capital, Vientiane. The project, which was launched in 2017, has established 15 modern integrated seismic stations across Laos, as well as the country's first national earthquake data centre. The project has also trained Lao technical personnel in network operation and maintenance, data processing, and information dissemination, enabling the country to independently and quickly report earthquakes of magnitude 3 and above, thereby enhancing its disaster prevention, mitigation, and emergency response capabilities. Speaking at the ceremony, Lao Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Saynakhone Inthavong noted that Laos had lacked a nationwide earthquake monitoring system for many years. He said the aid project is highly significant, as it will greatly strengthen the country's earthquake monitoring capacity, allowing Laos to obtain earthquake information quickly and in…...

2+ hour, 12+ min ago (288+ words) UNDERGROUND mapping of a 300m stretch of Jalan Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur will be carried out to determine its safety, following two sinkhole incidents since last year. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories), Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa, said the mapping would be conducted by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Ikram. "This is to determine where the utility infrastructures, including sewage and water pipes, are located and identify areas where the possibility of sinkholes could happen again," she said after a site visit to Jalan Masjid India on Sunday (Nov 30). She added that the study would take one month to complete, including proposed upgrades. Dr Zaliha also said the public report of the Masjid India sinkhole last year would be published by the end of the year. "The public report is ready, but we need to make…...

2+ hour, 23+ min ago (569+ words) Brief, controlled bouts of oxygen deprivation " essentially moments of safe suffocation " can alleviate severe depression as effectively as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and ketamine, two of the most powerful treatments known to psychiatry, Chinese scientists have concluded. This radical new approach, called acute intermittent hypoxia, harnesses a natural mechanism triggered by a temporary drop in oxygen in the brain and activates a naturally occurring compound known as adenosine, which acts as a biochemical "master switch" that rapidly reverses depressive symptoms. The research team has developed a prototype device and is now conducting clinical trials involving 30 patients in collaboration with Beijing Anding Hospital, a renowned psychiatric institute affiliated with Capital Medical University. Their discovery may also solve one of psychiatry's longest-standing mysteries: how established treatments such as ECT and ketamine affect the brain, as well as help researchers develop alternative and safer…...