Tents at Kutupalong refugee camp. Photo courtesy: AFP _By Sam Jahan in Cox's Bazar and Shafiqul Alam in Dhaka_ Cox's Bazar (AFP) -- One month after the latest influx of Rohingya Muslims began, Bangladesh faces the unenviable dual task of looking after 700,000 wretched people and trying to persuade Myanmar to take them back. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has earned praise for opening up the frontier to the desperate stream of humanity, but, diplomats and experts say, she cannot expect much ..

New York (AFP) -- Amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump's growth agenda, US economists increasingly are worried about risks to the economy, though they see little chance of a recession near term, according to a survey released Monday. The National Association for Business Economists quarterly survey showed little change in the forecasts compared with June in key areas such as economic growth, which was projected at 2.2 percent in 2017 and 2.4 percent in 2018. But the September survey of ..

## Merkel wins fourth term, hit by nationalist 'earthquake' German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo courtesy: AFP Berlin (AFP) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel clinched a fourth term in Germany's election Sunday, but her victory was clouded by the entry into parliament of the hard-right AfD in the best showing for a nationalist force since World War II. Merkel, who after 12 years in power held a double-digit lead for most of the campaign, scored around 33 percent of the vote with her conservative ..

Shanghai (AFP) -- Eleven people died when a blaze engulfed two houses early Monday in an eastern China city prone to fatal fire disasters, the government said. The fire broke out shortly after midnight in the city of Taizhou in Zhejiang province, and left two other people hospitalised in serious condition, a local government statement said. The fire was soon brought under control and its cause was being investigated. Deadly fires are common in China, where fire safety regulations are widely ..

FB has banned a Rohingya militant group from its site, calling it a 'dangerous organization'. Yangon (AFP) -- Facebook said it has banned a Rohingya militant group from its site, designating it a 'dangerous organisation' as information on the deepening crisis is muddied by claims, counter-claims and hate speech on social media. The social network is a key tool in the information war taking place over violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, which has driven more than 420,000 Rohingya Muslims from ..

HTC logo seen during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Photo courtesy: AFP San Francisco (AFP) -- Google is set to announce it is buying part of Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The deal for HTC's smartphone design unit would give the US tech giant more control of its mobile handset hardware as it seeks to bolster its challenge to market leaders including Apple and Samsung. Google did not respond to an AFP query on the report, which said an ..

## Rescuers in grim search for survivors of Mexico quake _By Jennifer GONZALEZ COVARRUBIAS / Yussel GONZALEZ_ Mexico City (AFP) -- Rescuers dug Wednesday for survivors of a 7.1- magnitude earthquake that killed at least 230 people in Mexico, as the nation watched anxiously for signs of life at a collapsed school in the capital. Firefighters, police, soldiers and volunteers worked frantically to remove rubble in scenes repeated across a swath of central states in Mexico's second killer ..

## Duterte says son will be killed if involved in drugs Manila (AFP) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will have his son killed if drug trafficking allegations against the younger politician are true, and that the police who carry out the hit will be protected from prosecution. Paolo Duterte, 42, this month appeared before a senate inquiry to deny accusations made by an opposition lawmaker he was a member of a Chinese triad who helped smuggle in a huge shipment of crystal ..

This is the first time retail fuel prices have dropped across the board in 12 weeks. KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (MySinchew) -- The domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism ministry announced the ceiling fuel prices for the week from September 21 to 27. Prices of RON95 and RON97 will be down by two and three cents respectively to RM2.19 and RM2.49 per liter while diesel will be four cents cheaper at RM2.10. This is the first time retail fuel prices have dropped across the board in 12 weeks.

Liow Tiong Lai says MCA respects DBKL's decision not to approve the application of the Better Beer Festival for security reasons. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily PUTRAJAYA, Sept 20 (MySinchew) -- MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) rejected the application of Better Beer Festival for security reasons, not because of politics or religion. However, he said it should not be a problem if the beer festival were to be held indoors.

## 21 schoolchildren among more than 200 dead in powerful Mexico quake Rescue teams looking for people trapped in the rubble after an earthquake in Mexico City. Photo courtesy: AFP People removing debris of a building collapsing after the quake in Mexico City. Photo courtesy: AFP Mexico City (AFP) -- At least 216 people were killed when a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico on Tuesday, including 21 children crushed beneath an elementary school that was reduced to rubble. The ..

## Bangladesh PM says Myanmar must take back Rohingya Dhaka (AFP) -- Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a new call for Myanmar to take back the some 420,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in the Buddhist-dominated country. Hasina, speaking to Bangladeshi activists in New York where she is attending the UN General Assembly, also called for greater international pressure on Myanmar over the new crisis which has unfolded in the past three weeks, media reports said. "We ..

## Biggest and smallest creatures at top risk of extinction A nearly 6-meter long whale shark. Photo courtesy: AFP Miami (AFP) -- Animals on both the large and small side of the spectrum face the most risk of extinction -- but for very different reasons, each with vast consequences for the planet, researchers said Monday. For big creatures -- including whale sharks, Atlantic sturgeon, Somali ostriches, Chinese giant salamanders and Komodo dragons -- people are the top threat to their survival, ..

## Suu Kyi appeals to global community over Rohingya crisis People listening to a live speech by Aung San Suu Kyi in front of the City Hall in Yangon. Photo courtesy: AFP Naypyidaw (AFP) -- Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi reached out to the global community Tuesday in a broad appeal for support over a refugee crisis the UN has decried as "ethnic cleansing", urging outsiders to help her nation unite across religious and ethnic lines and offering a pathway back to the country for some of the ..

Japan will deploy additional missile defense system in Hokkaido after North Korea has launched a missile over the island. Tokyo (AFP) -- Japan will Tuesday deploy an additional missile defence system on its northern island of Hokkaido, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP, days after North Korea launched a missile over the island. "We are deploying a PAC-3 system at about noon" to a base of the nation's Ground Self-Defense Force in the southern tip of Hokkaido, said Kensaku Mizuseki. According ..

## Suu Kyi rebuffs foreign criticism of Rohingya crisis Aung San Suu Kyi delivering a national address in Naypyidaw. Photo courtesy: AFP Naypyidaw (AFP) -- Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday she does not fear global scrutiny over the Rohingya crisis, pledging to hold rights violators to account and to resettle some of the 410,000 Muslims who have fled army operations in her country. In an address timed to pre-empt likely censure of Myanmar at the UN General Assembly in New York -- delivered entirely ..

## Trump signs resolution condemning white supremacists A demonstrator protesting in front of the White House in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy: AFP Washington (AFP) -- Donald Trump signed into law a Congressional resolution condemning white supremacists on Thursday, after lawmakers maneuvered the president into backing a text triggered by his equivocal response to racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump signed the resolution "rejecting White nationalists, White supremacists, the Ku ..

## 'Missile launch, take cover': Japan's terrifying wake-up call A pedestrian looking at a TV screen displaying a map of Japan and the Korean Peninsula in Tokyo following a North Korean missile test. Photo courtesy: AFP Tokyo (AFP) -- "Missile launch! Missile launch! A missile appears to have been launched from North Korea. Take cover in a building or underground." To the accompaniment of blaring sirens and emergency phone alerts, that was the terrifying loudspeaker message that jolted millions ..

## Olympics: Spiralling costs a risk for Paris 2024 The Esplanade du Trocadero where Olympic rings have been installed near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photo courtesy: AFP The Esplanade du Trocadero where Olympic rings have been installed near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photo courtesy: AFP The Esplanade du Trocadero where Olympic rings have been installed near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photo courtesy: AFP The Esplanade du Trocadero where Olympic rings have been installed near the Eiffel Tower ..

Hollywood police chief Tomas Sanchez addressing the media outside the nursing home where eight residents were killed. Photo courtesy: AFP Miami (AFP) -- Eight residents died at a Florida nursing home which has been without power since Hurricane Irma and the state governor vowed a full investigation Wednesday into what he called an "unfathomable" event. The nursing home deaths brought the total number of storm-related fatalities in Florida to 20 and illustrated the urgency of restoring ..

ASOCIO Chairman David Wong (R2) congratulating Sin Chew for winning the award. From left: PIKOM Chairman Chin Chee Seong, Keu Tien Siong and Loke Chee Soon. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily The Malaysian delegation posing for photograph after the WCIT dinner cum award presentation ceremony in Taipei. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily TAIPEI, Sept 14 (Sin Chew Daily) -- The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2017 was recently held in Taipei, Taiwan, from September 10 to 13. The Malaysian ..

## Trump, Democrats agree on DACA, but no border wall for now Trump speaking at the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy: AFP Washington (AFP) -- Top US congressional Democrats emerged from a meeting with President Donald Trump Wednesday claiming progress on a deal that protects young immigrants and boosts border security, while not including a border wall. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi said they had a "very productive" ..

## Two bodies recovered after boat collision off Singapore Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority handout image showing tug boats moving a capsized dredger to an area near Pulau Senang off Singapore, as search for missing crew members continue. Photo courtesy: AFP Singapore (AFP) -- Divers Wednesday recovered the bodies of two seamen who went missing after their dredger collided with a tanker off Singapore and rescuers were hunting for three still missing. The accident around the busy ..

A sharp nine-cent rise for diesel! One and four cents for RON95 and RON97 respectively. KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 (MySinchew) -- The domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism ministry announced the ceiling fuel prices for the week from September 14 to 20. RON95 will be up one cent to RM2.21 per liter, while RON97 and diesel will be dearer by four and nine cents respectively to RM2.52 and RM2.14.

## Apple lays claim to smartphone future with new flagship iPhone X Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller introducing the new iPhone X during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theatre on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. Photo courtesy: AFP The new iPhone X on display during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theatre on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. Photo courtesy: AFP Cupertino (AFP) -- Apple laid claim to the future of ..

Demonstrators holding up a defeced poster of Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest in front of the UN office in Tehran. Photo courtesy: AFP Yangon (AFP) -- Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has scrapped plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly later this month, her spokesman said Wednesday, as the Nobel laureate faces intense global scrutiny over the Rohingya refugee crisis. "The state counsellor won't attend the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly," said government spokesman ..

## Singapore gets first female president without a vote Halimah Yacob waving to supporters with her husband at the nomination centre. Photo courtesy: AFP Singapore (AFP) -- An establishment stalwart was named Singapore's first female president Wednesday but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote. Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority, did not have to face an election for the ..

## Five crew missing after boat collision off Singapore An Indonesian-registered tanker collided with a Dominican-registered dredger off Singapore. Singapore (AFP) -- Five sailors were missing after their dredger collided with a tanker off Singapore Wednesday, authorities said, just weeks after a deadly accident in the same area involving a US warship. A search effort was launched for the four Chinese members of crew and one Malaysian after the accident around the busy Singapore Strait, the ..

A road littered with debris outside Naples after Hurricane Irma swept through the area. Photo courtesy: AFP A child playing at a flooded gas station in Everglades City after Hurricane Irma swept through the area. Photo courtesy: AFP _By Leila Macor with Sebastien Blanc in Naples, Florida_ Miami (AFP) -- Millions of Florida residents were without power and extensive damage was reported in the Florida Keys but most of the Sunshine State appeared to have dodged forecasts of catastrophic damage ..

## Bangladesh plans to move reluctant Rohingya to remote island Rohingya refugees from Myanmar arriving at a new camp in Unchiprang near the Bangladeshi border. Photo courtesy: AFP Dhaka (AFP) -- Thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled violence in Myanmar in search of refuge could be forced to make their new homes on a barren Bangladeshi island that floods every year. The Bangladesh government has appealed for international support to move the Rohingya to the island as the impoverished ..

## UN to discuss Rohingya crisis after 'ethnic cleansing' claim Indian activists protesting against the Myanmar government over the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in New Delhi. Photo courtesy: AFP Cox's Bazar (AFP) -- The United Nations Security Council will hold an urgent meeting to discuss violence churning through western Myanmar, after the UN's rights chief warned that "ethnic cleansing" appeared to have driven over 300,000 Rohingya Muslims from the country. Rakhine State was plunged into ..

## Myanmar violence may have killed more than 1,000 Seoul (AFP) -- More than 1,000 people may already have been killed in Myanmar, mostly minority Rohingya Muslims -- more than twice the government's total -- a senior United Nations representative told AFP on Friday, urging Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out. In the last two weeks alone 164,000 mostly Rohingya civilians have fled to Bangladesh, overwhelming refugee camps that were already bursting at the seams. Others have died trying to flee the ..

## Only BR1M recipients can get full PTPTN loans: Zahid Deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says only students or their guardians who are in the list of BRIM beneficiaries are entitled to full PTPTN loans. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily PUTRAJAYA, Sept 7 (Sin Chew Daily) -- Deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says only students or their guardians who are in the list of BRIM beneficiaries are entitled to full PTPTN loans. "As for families earning less than RM8,000 ..

Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was present at the Palace of Justice here today to testify at the proceedings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into foreign exchange losses by Bank Negara Malaysia around the 1990s. PUTRAJAYA, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was present at the Palace of Justice here today to testify at the proceedings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into foreign exchange losses by Bank Negara ..

## Thousands of Indonesian Muslims protest against Myanmar Jakarta (AFP) -- Indonesian Muslims protested outside the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday demanding an end to violence against the countrys Rohingya Muslim minority. Thousands of demonstrators, many in white Islamic robes and skullcaps, walked through the capitals streets to converge outside the embassy in downtown Jakarta. Persecution of the Rohingya, reviled as illegal immigrants and mostly denied citizenship in Myanmar, has ..

RCI chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan/ Photo courtesy: Bernama PUTRAJAYA, 7 Sept (Bernama) -- Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) director in the foreign exchange management department told the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) that former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad never entered the forex trading room. Azman Mat Ali, 54, responded "he never did" to a question by Dr Mahathir's lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla on whether Dr Mahathir did enter the trading room (in London) when he (Azman) was ..