SEPANG: Phillip Lim Choon Tee, 50, convicted of murdering a surgeon in Australia two decades ago, has expressed regret for his actions as he returned to Malaysia on Wednesday night.

Speaking to a reporter from Australian daily, Herald Sun, on his flight back from Sydney, Lim said:

"I am sorry  for what I have done."

Stating that he was "ashamed" to show his face, Lim also said he wanted to apologise to Dr Chang's grieving family.

"I'm sorry for the pain and grief I've put them through."

KUALA LUMPUR: Increasing the maternity leave period to 90 days is unlikely to see workers getting pregnant more frequently.

Touching on the possible impact on work productivity due to longer maternity leave, Women's Development Collective executive director Maria Chin Abdullah said the extra leave is, in fact, an invaluable long-term investment for the nation.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bateel Asia Sdn Bhd, a global brand in the premium confectionery industry, plans to strengthen their presence in the corporate market by the end of this year.

Currently the brand has only one retail outlet outside the Middle East, which is in Malaysia, and plans to expand its business by opening another outlet this year in the Klang Valley.

PUTRAJAYA: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has dismissed rumours that its healthcare arm, Pantai Holdings Bhd, is selling its two government concessions to focus solely on its private hospital business.

According to a Khazanah spokesman who declined to be named: "The story is speculative in nature and we do not comment on speculation."

PETALING JAYA (Updated): The doctor who pronounced A. Kugan dead took the stand in court this morning in front of judge Aslam Zainuddin on day two of the trial at the Sessions Court.

Dr Baldev Singh Gill (left) said he is a general practitioner at the Mediveron Clinic in USJ 10, about 200 metres from the Taipan police station.

PETALING JAYA: The first day of testimony on the death of A. Kugan in a police lockup in January last year ended this morning with the prosecution requesting for a visit to the scene at Taipan police station in USJ, Subang Jaya next Monday.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Abazafree Mohd Abbas was granted permission do so by Sessions Court Judge Aslam Zainuddin.

Earlier, Abazafree questioned Taipan police station D9 unit head ASP Rodney Pasla Haris, 31, to explain how the unit operated.

KUALA LUMPUR: While non-governmental organisations (NGOs) say the new system of monitoring foreigners is long overdue, they cautioned against improper implementation.

The felt that the system should have been implemented earlier as the problems of overstaying foreign workers was not something new.

The new system, to come into force soon, was announced by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in Putrajaya yesterday.

SEPANG: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is looking into expanding its portfolio to two other countries in the Asean region by the end of this year.

MAHB's chief executive officer and managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid said, currently, MAHB is managing three airports in Delhi, Hyderabad and Istanbul and the two new Asean airports will be the latest addition to its portfolio.

Bashir, however, did not elaborate on the details and the status of discussion. He mentioned that everything will be finalised by end of this year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Domino’s Pizza, an expert in the pizza delivery services, aims to increase the number of its  outlets to 50 by the end of this year.

Dommal Food Services Sdn Bhd's chief operating officer, Ba U Shan-Ting, said they were confident in achieving the target as they have been adding four to five outlets per year in the past few years.

The partnership is aimed at equipping SMEs with the knowledge needed to market their products internationally and gain a competitive advantage in the challenging economy.

Citibank currently holds more than 20 per cent of the credit card usage market, and over one million customers.

KUALA LUMPUR: AXA Affin Life Insurance Bhd unveiled its adoption of the AXA global brand signature "redefining standards" this morning.

It represents AXA Affin's identity and commitment to redefine the standards of their business by breaking the traditional codes of insurance and financial services.

The global signature was adopted after an in-depth consumer research revealed that there was a clear lack of trust in the financial industry.

SUBANG JAYA: Ticket bookings for Firefly are expected to be made easier by the first quarter of 2010 as the airline is currently in talks with several telecommunication companies and financial institutions.

If the deals fall through, customers will be able to pay for their flight bookings using their ATM cards, banks and post offices.

Those who do not own credit cards will now be able to purchase their flight tickets online and they can use their ATM cards to pay. They can also bank in or pay at post offices.

SUBANG JAYA: Firefly has managed to achieve sales of up to RM500,000 simply via Facebook up to September 2009.

That has been the most effective social media advertising for the airline. Since the Firefly Facebook page was set up, the airline already has 11,756 fans.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tutti Frutti a popular premium soft-serve frozen yoghurt from America signed its first licensee this afternoon.

With a five-year tenure, the licence agreement between Tutti Frutti Trading Sdn Bhd and Platinum Deli Enterprise involves an initial investment of RM265,000.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, general manager for Tutti Frutti in Malaysia, Zain Azrai Azhar Simin, said as the master licensee, the company has embarked on an extensive branding and marketing campaign to get more licensees.

KELANA JAYA: Malaysia Airlines launched its MHmobile-flymas.mobi service - a comprehensive menu of mobile phones functionality available to airline passenger

KUALA LUMPUR: Celcom (M) Bhd today announced its third-quarter financial result which is also the highest ever quarterly profit amounting to RM404 million.

This also represents a double digit quarter-on-quarter growth of 10 per cent. Revenue also grew by four per cent.

Meanwhile, earnings was up by five per cent while growth in momentum based on year-on-year for revenue increased by 12 per cent.