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Ex-Malaysia PM urges stronger Asean ties with China, India to replace US
Mahathir was speaking on the sidelines of the Future of Asia forum in Tokyo last week. Mahathir emphasised that trade with China significantly surpasses that with the United States, and noted that there is still potential to further expand trade with India.
Asean reels from US tariffs
The US, under President Donald Trump, imposed tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to 49 per cent, heavily impacting Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies that rely on US exports. Six of the Asean bloc's 10 member states are among the worst affected, likely impacting the Asean's 4.7 per cent growth target for the year.
Following Trump's announcement of a 90-day tariff pause last month, several Asean countries - including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam - initiated trade talks with Washington to mitigate the economic fallout.
Malaysia calls for regional integration
Malaysia's Foreign Minister Mohamad Hassan also called for faster regional economic integration to buffer the effects of global trade disruptions. 'Asean nations are among those most heavily affected by the US-imposed tariffs,' Mohamad said. 'We must seize this moment to deepen regional economic integration; so that we can better shield our region from external shocks.'
Asean has responded by intensifying ties with China and the Persian Gulf, including a landmark trilateral summit held in Kuala Lumpur last month. Trade between Asean, China, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reached over $900 billion last year — nearly double its $453 billion trade volume with the US, according to Aseanstats.
Push for Asean-US dialogue
As the current Asean chair, Malaysia has formally requested a special summit with the US to discuss trade issues. Mohamad expressed hope that the meeting would take place later this year.
China will be 'No 1 country in the world': Mahathir
Mahathir stated that China is on track to become the world's leading power, asserting that the United States lacks the capacity to halt its rise due to growing domestic preoccupations. 'China has been there much longer than the US. I don't think China is going to be easily defeated by the US,' he said. 'I don't think the US will recover and become No 1 again. China looks like it is going to be the No 1 country in the world.'
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India Today
an hour ago
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US to burn $10 million contraceptives after aid freeze, rejects UN help
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The US government will spend $160,000 to incinerate the stocks at a facility in France that handles medical waste, according to four of the sources with knowledge of the matter, following Trump's decision to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAID).The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the negotiations to save the contraceptives from destruction or the plans to incinerate lawmakers have introduced two bills this month to prevent the destruction of the supplies but aid groups say the bills are unlikely to be passed in time to stop the Belgian foreign ministry said Brussels had held talks with US authorities and "explored all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation.""Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured. Nevertheless, Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid this regrettable outcome," it said in a statement shared with Reuters on Tuesday."Sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints," it supplies, worth $9.7 million, are due to expire between April 2027 and September 2031, according to an internal document listing the warehouse stocks and verified by three Shaw, Associate Director of Advocacy at MSI Reproductive Choices, told Reuters the non-profit organisation had volunteered to pay for the supplies to be repackaged without USAID branding and shipped to countries in need, but the offer was declined by the US government."MSI offered to pay for repackaging, shipping and import duties but they were not open to that... We were told that the US government would only sell the supplies at the full market value," said did not elaborate on how much the NGO was prepared to pay, but said she felt the rejection was based on the Trump's administration's more restrictive stance on abortion and family is clearly not about saving money. It feels more like an ideological assault on reproductive rights, and one that is already harming women."She added that many countries in sub-Saharan Africa had relied on USAID for access to contraception and that the aid cuts would lead to a rise in unsafe United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, also offered to buy the contraceptives outright, three sources told Reuters, without disclosing the financial terms of the negotiations broke down, a source with knowledge of the talks said, in part due to a lack of response from the U.S. government. UNFPA declined to of the sources with knowledge of the issue said that the Trump administration was acting in accordance with the Mexico City policy, an anti-abortion pact in which Trump reinstated US participation in January. The pact forbids the US government from contributing to or working with organisations providing funding or supplies that offer access to source said there was no way for the US government to ensure that UNFPA would not share the contraceptives with groups offering abortions, violating the Mexico City source also said the matter was complicated by the fact that the contraceptives in Belgium were embossed with the USAID trademark and Washington did not want any USAID-branded supplies to be rerouted did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the concerns raised by the which says on its website that it fights for a future where everyone can access contraception and abortion, accused the State Department earlier this month of being "hellbent on destroying life-saving medical supplies, incurring additional costs for the US taxpayer in the process." The State Department declined to is a divisive issue in US politics and was a major issue in the 2024 election won by Trump. In 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled to eliminate a nationwide right to abortion, leaving abortion laws to each of the 50 states.'DOZENS OF TRUCKLOADS'One of the two sources who told Reuters the stocks of contraceptives were being trucked to France said it would likely take dozens of truckloads and at least two weeks to move the supplies out of the Geel warehouse, with a third source also confirming the scale of the operation. The French government did not immediately respond to requests for the contractor managing the supply chain for USAID's family planning programme, declined to comment on the plans to destroy the internal USAID memo, sent in April, said a large quantity of contraceptives was being kept in warehouses and they should be "immediately transferred to another entity to prevent waste or additional costs".- EndsTune InMust Watch


Mint
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First Post
3 hours ago
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EU, US inch closer to 15% trade deal amid looming tariff threats
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