SINGAPORE – To tackle issues of media freedom, quality journalism and newsroom transformations, the head honchos of news organisations across the region came together on Tuesday (May 7) for the inaugural meeting of the World Editors Forum (WEF) Asia Chapter. Members of the new chapter elected The Straits Times editor Warren Fernandez, who is also […]
China has said its negotiators are still preparing to travel to the United States for an 11th round of trade talks, despite President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat aimed at pushing Beijing to strike a deal. Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday that he would increase tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent on […]
KUALA LUMPUR – The United States government has returned the first tranche of money recouped from state fund 1MDB to Malaysia. Malaysia’s Attorney-General Tommy Thomas announced on Tuesday (May 7) that a sum of US$57 million (S$77.6 million) has been banked into an asset recovery account the government set up for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). […]
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States will impose a 17.5 percent tariff on Mexican tomato imports starting on Tuesday, as the two countries were unable to renew a 2013 agreement that suspended a U.S. anti-dumping investigation, a Mexican official said on Monday. The U.S. Commerce Department said in early February that the United States […]
President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday to raise tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods and slap wide-ranging new taxes in a high-stakes move to ramp up pressure on China to reach a trade deal. The proposal to levy new tariffs, which would cover almost all Chinese exports to the United States, comes […]
MELBOURNE (REUTERS) – A protester threw an egg at Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at an election campaign event on Tuesday (May 7), grazing him in the head with it, footage on Australian television showed. Security guards swiftly pounced on the female protester, who was wearing a beanie and casual clothes, and dragged her away. […]
MILAN (Reuters) – Italian banks have backed a 720 million euro rescue plan ($806 million) for rival Carige that will hand control of the Genoa-based bank to U.S. asset manager BlackRock, the head of a banking fund said on Monday. Carige was placed under special administration by the European Central Bank at the start of […]
JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim should stop their public feud, says Johor PKR chief Hassan Karim. He urged the two to make use of the holy month of Ramadan to put an end to their public dispute. “Dr Mahathir is […]
JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – A coalition of civil society organisations has challenged a judicial review petition on Bali’s ban on single-use plastics, which has been accused of violating other environmental regulations. Dr Andri Gunawan, an environmental law expert from the University of Indonesia and a member of the coalition, said the group […]
WITH TRADE TALKS ON THE LINE, TRUMP RETURNS TO A FAVOURITE THREAT Days before trade negotiators from the US and China are scheduled to meet for the umpteenth time, US President Donald Trump fires off a series of bombshell tweets threatening to new tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods. Why is Trump doing […]