Malaysia will ban gasoline stations on its borders with Thailand and Singapore from selling fuel to foreigners, in an attempt to contain the spiraling cost of subsidies, reports said yesterday.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad said the ban would be enforced from Friday and remain in place until the government unveils a new mechanism for selling subsidized fuel to the public.
“This move is a stern act by the government to reduce the leak in subsidies that involves high costs and which should actually be enjoyed by the lower-income group in the country,” he told Bernama news agency.
The ban affects up to 300 gas stations and extends up to 50km from the border in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan; and Johor in the south which faces Singapore.
The move comes as the government conducts a review of its fuel subsidies, expected to cost 43 billion ringgit (US$13.6 billion) this year if oil prices hover around US$120 per barrel.
Malaysia heavily subsidizes gasoline, diesel and natural gas as well as 21 food items, but rising global prices and controls have triggered severe shortages, as well as smuggling across its porous borders and long coastline.
Singaporeans often make day trips across the causeway linking the island state to Malaysia to fill their gas tanks and buy groceries.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS