Travel Picks: Top 10 golf resorts around the world

LONDON: If your idea of a nature hike involves driving an elusive ball over acres of meticulously manicured greens, then bookmark this list of premier putting destinations created with golf enthusiasts in mind, hand-picked by the boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith (www.mrandmrssmith.com).

Chinese premier criticizes EU move on trade measures

SHANGHAI: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang criticized the European Union over its plans to investigate alleged anti-competitive behavior by Chinese mobile telecom equipment makers and to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China, state media reported.

Justice Department opposes AMR's $20 million severance for CEO Horton

NEW YORK: A plan by American Airlines' parent to exit bankruptcy and merge with US Airways Group is coming under fire from the U.S. Department of Justice over nearly $20 million in severance pay earmarked for outgoing boss Tom Horton.

News Corp to take charge of up to $1.4 billion this quarter

NEW YORK: News Corp said on Friday it will write down the value of its Australian and U.S. publishing assets by up to $1.4 billion, as the company prepares to split its business between its newspaper and entertainment operations.

Wall Street Week Ahead: Investors look for signs in the rally's break

NEW YORK: The stock market's break in its recent rally this week left investors wondering if they're seeing a turning point or just a blip in the upward path.

Unhappy with how your fave series is faring? Amazon gives you a say

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon is once again shaking up traditional publishing models. This time, it's giving fans a chance to add their own personal touches to their favorite fiction - and get paid in the process.

Visa, Mastercard ask U.S. court to declare card fees are lawful

NEW YORK: Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, opening another front in an eight-year battle over credit card fees paid by retailers, on Friday asked a federal judge to declare that the fees do not violate antitrust law.

Wall Street posts first weekly loss since mid-April on Fed angst

NEW YORK: The S&P 500 declined for a third day on Friday, with the three major stock indexes posting their first negative week since mid-April on lingering concern that the central bank may scale back its stimulus measures to support the economy.

IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in court

PARIS: French magistrates decided on Friday not to place IMF chief Christine Lagarde under formal investigation over her role in a 285-million-euro (243.6 million pounds) arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Politics of development pays dividend

WITH the Barisan Nasional winning handsomely in the resource rich state of Sarawak in the 13th general election (GE), and a record number of seven ministers and four deputy ministers elected into the federal Cabinet, Sarawak’s appeal has notched up significantly in a matter of weeks.

A thematic play seen

INVESTORS are back and participating actively in the stock market since the 13th general election. Counters across various sectors are up, notably led by blue chips followed by second liners.

Sarawak counters hogging the limelight

Below are some Sarawak companies listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia that have caught investors’ attention

Getting GST acceptance will be tough

Jagdev Singh Sidhu says there’s a compelling reason for the Government to consider introducing goods and service tax at 7% to cut fiscal deficit and maintain subsidies.

A yen for the unloved dollar standard

Tan Sri Andrew Sheng gives analyses the populist and expert views of how the yen measures against the “unloved US dollar standard”.

Bitten by the music bug

When he’s not trailing compliance responsibilities, Raslan is busy with music.

Up close and personal with Datuk Richard Curtis

Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd group MD gets ...

Make our pastime profitable

ALTHOUGH the magnetic corporate world always attracts more attention than the less glamorous small and medium-size enterprise (SME) industry, the latter is closer and perhaps more important to us than we realise.

Should citizens boycott

THE call to “boycott” has been made too common lately, what with the ensuing political frays.

Tasty Facebook party poopers

DOES taking pictures of food and posting them on social media mean you have a mental health problem?

First-half 2013 figure seen to surpass that of the same period last year

PETALING JAYA: Vehicle sales in the first six months of 2013 should surpass the sales achieved in the first half of last year, despite initial hesitation by customers adopting a “wait-and-see” attitude leading up to the 13th general election (GE13).

More can be done to promote private retirement scheme

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) believes that more can be done to encourage the public to take up the private retirement scheme (PRS).

Tycoon may be planning IPO of football club Cardiff City

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian billionaire Tan Sri Vincent Tan is exploring an intial public offering (IPO) of UK football team Cardiff City for as early as this year, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in a deal that would follow the team’s recent promotion to the Premier League.

MFEA sees sales of home-made furniture abroad declining 10%

GEORGE TOWN: The Malaysian Furniture Entrepreneurs Association (MFEA) expects overseas sales of locally-made furniture to decline by 9% to 10% in the first quarter of this year.

YKGI eyes Indonesian, Thai markets

KUCHING: Yung Kong Galvanising Industries Bhd (YKGI) is targeting to begin exporting its steel products to Indonesia and Thailand in the fourth quarter of this year.

CREC-TBM’s overseas plans hinge on machines sold to Malaysia

ZHENGZHOU: The performance of the two tunnel boring machines sold to Malaysia will determine China Railway Tunneling Equipment Co Ltd’s (CREC-TBM) plans for overseas expansion.

Malaysians urged to be ready for digital wave

KUALA LUMPUR: With digital as the new world order, Malaysians should prepare themselves to face this “new wave” to keep Malaysia in pace towards achieving developed country status by 2020, says an expert.

Misif: Mergers vital for local steel millers to compete

KUCHING: Local steel millers may need to merge in order to have at least five million tonnes of production capacity per annum.

HyppTV goes for bigger market share

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) Internet protocol television (IPTV) service HyppTV, which is fast becoming more significant part of the group, is upping the ante to grab a larger market share.

Growth in personal loan segment causing concern

CONCERN seems to be building with the year-on-year (yoy) portfolio growth seen in the personal loan sub-segment of the lending business in the country. The risks to holding these in a lender’s portfolio have generally been acknowledged and recognised in the industry given their volatile nature especially during an economic slowdown.

Matrix Concepts building Negri houses for KL commuters

FROM a family who used to rear hogs in Bukit Pelanduk, a sleepy corner of Negri Sembilan, Datuk Lee Tian Hock has come a long way.

Mixed views on direction of inflation

WITH inflation still benign, Bank Negara may maintain the benchmark overnight policy rate (OPR) given that domestic demand has remained resilient in the first quarter despite the gross domestic product (GDP) growth coming in slower-than-expected in the first quarter due to a weaker external environment.

Klang Valley a haven for UOA Dev

FOR niche developer UOA Group, flexibility is the key.

Study approved plan before buying house

FIRST off is the regulation which is below.         

Living through your midlife

MANY times our wake-up call comes at midlife in the form of a meltdown. It is at midlife that we are brought to a situation where we need to change our behaviour, attitude, beliefs or even lifestyle.

Who has the better chance of bagging that high-salary post?

WHEN it comes to hiring suitable talents, it would be ideal to have a potential employee with the relevant qualifications as well as one that has practical experience.

Snapshorts

Google makes the world go round

Review by Abby Wong

Leo Burnett’s new revenue sources

LEO Burnett, one of Malaysia’s largest and most well-known advertising agencies, has grown way above the industry average over the last two years.

Challenger brands can learn from Sun Tzu Art of War

WE are living in a highly competitive business environment, according to Branding Association of Malaysia president Datuk Eric Chong, and Sun Tzu Art of War provides the right recipe for aspiring entrepreneurs.

4As shows flexibility in Boomerang programme

THE Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) gave a three-month extension under its Boomerang Membership Accreditation Programme (BMAP) at its biennial general meeting (BGM) last month.

New GM appointed for UM

IPG Mediabrands Malaysia has appointed Jennifer Yean (pic) as general manager of its largest media agency, UM.

No rosy Chinese forecasts

BEIJING: As evidence mounts that China’s economy is losing momentum, economists are fast abandoning their rosy recovery forecasts and bracing for what could be the country’s slowest growth rate in 23 years.

Taiwan chops 2013 growth forecast to 2.4%

TAIPEI: Taiwan slashed its 2013 economic growth outlook yesterday, showing deepening concern that lacklustre global demand is crimping pivotal tech exports to China and the United States.

Philippine March imports down

MANILA: The Philippines’ imports in March fell for a third straight month, with the pace of decline accelerating from February and raising concerns that growth may slow for the export-reliant economy as global demand for its high-tech shipments falters.

PM: Aussie economy strong despite end to Ford ops

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard moved to allay fears about the economy, saying it had strong fundamentals, after US carmaker Ford announced an end to production in the country.

German consumers more likely to spend, index reaches 6.5 in June

BERLIN: Higher real wages have German consumers feeling more inclined to spend than at any point since the US subprime crisis, further boosting German recovery hopes and brightening the outlook for the eurozone.

Kyat slumps as imports flood into Myanmar

YANGON: Myanmar’s currency has plunged more than 7% over the past month to the lowest since it was floated last year, raising concern about economic stability in Asia’s newest democracy.

Vietnamese inflation lowest in eight months

HANOI: Vietnamese inflation slowed to its weakest pace in eight months in May, official data showed yesterday, in the latest sign that the communist-run economy is cooling.

Australia’s Crown sells Echo stake for A$264mil

SYDNEY: Australian casino company Crown Ltd sold its 10% stake in rival Echo Entertainment Group, signalling billionaire owner James Packer is confident of winning approval for a high-roller casino in Sydney.

Global Foreign Exchange Market

FED chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony to the Joint Economic Committee that “premature tightening risks slowing or ending recovery” drove the USD index to close above 84 – highest in the last 5½ years.

Eye on stock

VERSATILE Creative Bhd has been on the mending course since early March after bottoming out at the 19 sen level.

No landscape damage

Overnight US markets extended their upward thrust, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 121.18 points to an all-time high of 15,354.40 and crude oil prices by 86 cents to US$96.02 per barrel the previous Friday. Elsewhere, most stock exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region drifted higher on sustained buying.