Trump: Journalists should be allowed into Gaza
Israel has not allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza since the start of its war in October 2023, unless they are under Israeli military escort.
'I'd like to see that happen. Sure,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'I would be very fine with journalists going. And it's a very dangerous position to be in, as you know, if you're a journalist, but I would like to see it.'- Reuters
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Malay Mail
2 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Bursa Malaysia aims for 1,590 next week as US tariff signals and Budget 2026 drive investor momentum
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — Bursa Malaysia is expected to rise next week towards the 1,590 resistance level, contingent on supportive global risk sentiment and incremental clarity over semiconductor tariff trajectories, said an analyst. UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said that given the weekend timing of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Malaysia's equity market will absorb any geopolitical repricing effects when trading resumes next week. 'Domestically, the investment narrative will be shaped by further disclosures on the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) project allocations, while the approach of Budget 2026 — now under two months away — will heighten focus on stakeholder engagement sessions as potential precursors to fiscal policy direction ahead of the Prime Minister's parliamentary tabling,' he told Bernama. On the inflation front, Mohd Sedek said Malaysia's July Consumer Price Index (CPI), due for release on Friday, Aug 22, will offer the first high-frequency read on the pass-through impact of the broadened Sales and Service Tax (SST) regime. 'We project headline CPI at 1.2 to 1.3 per cent year-on-year, up from 1.1 per cent in June, with core inflation expected to remain contained,' he said. Globally, Mohd Sedek said, investor attention is set to converge on Wednesday's release of the Federal Open Market Committee minutes and the Jackson Hole Symposium (Aug 21-23) — both considered potential catalysts for repricing policy-rate expectations if a pivot narrative gains momentum. 'Pre-Jackson Hole signalling from Washington has intensified, with the Trump administration adopting a more assertive communications posture than the Federal Reserve's (Fed) measured, data-dependent stance. 'Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has escalated his call from a 50-basis-point cut to a cumulative 150-basis-point reduction, amplifying political pressure on the Fed. 'This shift, combined with personnel changes at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the nomination of dovish candidates to the Federal Reserve Board, reflects a coordinated strategy to influence Fed chair Jerome Powell's policy trajectory,' he said. He added that any eventual dovish recalibration could be positioned domestically as both a political and macroeconomic victory, reinforcing the administration's narrative of executive influence over monetary normalisation. On a weekly basis, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 19.36 points to 1,576.34 on Friday from 1,556.98 a week earlier. The FBM Emas Index gained 129.27 points to 11,731.06, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 132.95 points to 11,512.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 20.67 points to 11,654.85, the FBM 70 Index improved 155.15 points to 16,660.68, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 106.57 points to 4,713.45. By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 499.25 points to 18,080.07, the Plantation Index increased 77.91 points to 7,504.03, and the Energy Index went up 4.11 points to 740.83. Weekly turnover dropped to 11.10 billion units worth RM11.87 billion from 12.65 billion units worth RM11.65 billion in the previous week. The Main Market volume shrank to 7.16 billion units valued at RM11.06 billion compared with 7.66 billion units valued at RM10.61 billion previously. Warrants turnover declined to 3.37 billion units worth RM453.56 million from 3.62 billion units worth RM508.07 million in the preceding week. The weekly ACE Market volume grew to 1.64 billion units valued at RM593.87 million versus 1.37 billion units valued at RM529.84 million previously. — Bernama
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Trump says Putin agrees with him US should not have mail-in voting
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump pose on a podium on the tarmac after they arrived to attend a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agrees with him that letting voters send in ballots by mail puts honest elections at risk. "Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting," Trump told Fox News Channel's "Hannity" after a nearly three-hour meeting between the leaders in Alaska. "He said there's not a country in the world that uses it now." Trump, who promoted the false narrative that he, not Democrat Joe Biden, won the 2020 election, cited his agreement with Putin over absentee voting as he pressed his fellow Republicans to try harder to advance overhauls to the U.S. voting system that he has long sought. Trump has voted by mail in some previous elections and urged his supporters to do so in 2024. Putin, who has been Russia's president or prime minister since 1999, was elected to another term in office with 87% of the vote in a 2024 election that drew allegations of vote rigging from some independent polling observers, opposition voices and Western governments. The most formidable opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony in 2024. Russia's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his conversation with Trump. The Russian president has previously said some U.S. elections were marred by fraudulent voting, without presenting evidence. The position mirrors Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud following the 2020 election. Justice Department and Senate investigations found that Moscow tried to influence campaigns to help Trump win in the 2016 election. U.S. intelligence officials have said they believe Russia tried to do the same in 2020 elections and preferred Trump to win in 2024. Trump and some of his top aides long have asserted that he and his presidential campaigns were falsely accused of colluding with Russia, a claim he brought up again in Alaska on Friday. The U.S. intelligence community never reached such a conclusion. Trump, who has not ruled out seeking a third term in office despite a constitutional prohibition, on Friday showed impatience with Republicans for not prioritizing election reform legislation. "The Republicans want it, but not strongly enough," Trump said during the interview. "You can't have a great democracy with mail-in voting." Some Republicans, echoing Trump's claims, argue that changes like restricting absentee voting and requiring identification could reduce the risks of ballot tampering, impersonation or other forms of fraud that independent analysts say is rare. Nearly three dozen countries from Canada to Germany and South Korea allow some form of postal vote, though more than half of them place some restrictions on which voters qualify, according to the Sweden-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an intergovernmental advocacy group. The Trump administration has stepped back from commenting on the fairness or integrity of elections conducted by many foreign countries in a significant departure from Washington's traditional approach of promoting democratic elections overseas. (Reporting by Reuters Washington bureau; Editing by William Mallard)
Malay Mail
3 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Trump says semiconductor tariffs coming soon, could reach 300pc to force tech firms back to US
WASHINGTON, Aug 16 — US President Donald Trump said yesterday he plans to announce tariffs on steel and semiconductors in the coming weeks. 'I'll be setting tariffs next week and the week after, on steel and, I would say, chips. Chips and semiconductors, we'll be setting sometime next week, the week after,' Trump said onboard Air Force One as he headed to Alaska for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said the levy rate would be 'lower at the beginning' but 'very high after a certain period of time,' as a way to encourage businesses to relocate operations to the United States. The president said his policy would prompt companies in key industries like automobiles and artificial intelligence to relocate in order to 'beat the tariffs,' which could be 200 or 300 per cent. Trump has also said he would employ this strategy with pharmaceuticals. On August 6, Trump announced a 100 per cent tariff on semiconductors from firms that do not invest in the United States. Trump has already instituted tariffs on steel, announcing an initial 25 per cent levy that was later doubled to 50 per cent. — AFP
