Malaysia, China ink partnership to stabilise palm oil supply chain - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia said on Sunday (Apr 2) it has signed a memorandum of understanding with a China government-backed trade association to enhance palm oil trade and cooperation.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board said its partnership with the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products will help Malaysia regain market share in the world's most populous country.

Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm producer, and China, the world's second-largest buyer, will jointly promote the use of Malaysia's sustainable palm oil in China, as well as the design and implementation of new technologies such as artificial intelligence in oil palm plantations.

"China wishes to work with Malaysia in order to secure the palm oil supply to the country," the Malaysian board said in a statement. The memorandum "will help gain China’s confidence towards Malaysian palm oil".

The agreement "shall facilitate China's participation on the technology exploration in the oil palm mechanisation in Malaysia, which will help to increase productivity and reduce reliance on human labour in the plantation," it said.

In 2022, Malaysia exported 3.14 million tonnes of palm oil and palm products to China, making China its most important trading partner for the edible oil after India.

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2023-04-02 06:39:48Z
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Explosion at Indonesia Pertamina's refinery arm unit injures 9 - CNA

JAKARTA: An explosion at a refinery owned by a Pertamina PT unit in western Indonesia injured nine people, the state energy firm said on Sunday (Apr 2), adding to two dozen deaths from two other fires over the past month.

The explosion late on Saturday in a gas compressor caused "minor" injuries from glass shards and damaged several houses in the city of Dumai on Sumatra island, PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI) said in a statement. The cause was under investigation.

A fire on Mar 3 at Pertamina's Plumpang fuel terminal in Jakarta, one of the country's oldest and largest, killed more than 20 people. Three died from a Mar 26 fire on a tanker carrying Pertamina oil to the islands of Bali and Lombok.

KPI apologised for Saturday's incident, a spokesperson said, adding that a "recovery process" was underway after the fire had been extinguished. Several units were affected and stopped by the explosion and fire, but the rest were operating as usual, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question on the impact on production or supply, but KPI said the national fuel stock was "safe".

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2023-04-02 04:06:00Z
CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9leHBsb3Npb24taW5kb25lc2lhLXBlcnRhbWluYXMtcmVmaW5lcnktYXJtLXVuaXQtaW5qdXJlcy05LTMzOTEzMzHSAQA

Malaysia, China trade group ink deal to stabilise palm oil supply chain - Malaysiakini

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce, and Animal By-products (CFNA) to enhance trade and cooperation in the palm oil sector between both countries on palm oil supply chain stabilisation fields.

The MoU was signed in Beijing, China on April 1, 2023 by MPOB deputy director-general (research and development) Zainab Idris and CFNA president Cao Derong. 

“China wishes to...

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2023-04-02 06:19:30Z
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Meet Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over Trump's criminal case - CNA

On Friday, Trump, who was not charged in his company's case, lashed out at Merchan on his Truth Social platform.

"The Judge 'assigned' to my Witch Hunt Case, a 'Case' that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME," wrote Trump, who has launched a campaign to regain the presidency in 2024. "He strong-armed Allen, which a judge is not allowed to do, & treated my companies, which didn't 'plead,' VICIOUSLY."

Merchan did not reply to a request for comment.

The Trump Organization trial is not Merchan's only recent encounter with people close to the former president. Merchan also is presiding over a criminal case involving former Trump campaign and White House adviser Steve Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to a nonprofit that raised funds for building a wall on the US border with Mexico.

Merchan has been a Manhattan criminal court judge since 2009 after prior stints on the state's Court of Claims, which hears cases against the state and its agencies, and family court in the Bronx.

The judge was born in Colombia and moved to the United States at age six, growing up in New York City's borough of Queens, according to news reports. Merchan graduated from Baruch College and Hofstra University School of Law and began his legal career in the same District Attorney's office that is now prosecuting Trump.

Merchan presided over the 2012 case of the so-called "Soccer Mom Madam" Anna Gristina, which garnered lurid headlines in the New York media. Gristina was accused of running a high-end brothel out of her Manhattan apartment and eventually pleaded guilty. Gristina sued Merchan in 2021 to unseal records in her case as part of an effort to vacate her record. Her case was dismissed, according to court records.

In 2011, Democratic US Senator Charles Schumer of New York recommended that President Barack Obama nominate Merchan for a federal judgeship in Brooklyn, saying he would have been the first Colombian-born federal judge, according to the New York Law Journal. Merchan was not nominated for the post.

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2023-04-01 13:51:08Z
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Trump indictment ends decades of perceived invincibility - CNA

NEW YORK: When Donald Trump steps before a judge next week to be arraigned in a New York courtroom, it will not only mark the first time a former US president has faced criminal charges. It will also represent a reckoning for a man long nicknamed “Teflon Don”, who until now has managed to skirt serious legal jeopardy despite 40 years of legal scrutiny.

Trump, who is the early frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, is expected to turn himself in Tuesday (Apr 4). He faces charges including at least one felony offence related to hush money payments to women during his 2016 campaign. Like any other person facing trial, he will be booked, fingerprinted and photographed before being given the chance to enter a plea.

The spectacle that is sure to unfold will mark an unprecedented moment in American history that will demonstrate once again how dramatically Trump - who already held the distinction of being the first president to be impeached twice - has upended democratic norms. But on a personal level, the indictment pierces the cloak of invincibility that seemed to follow Trump through his decades in business and in politics, as he faced allegations of fraud, collusion and sexual misconduct.

“Boy, after all this time it’s a bit of a shock,” Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio said of the indictment. “You know I always thought of him as the Gingerbread Man, shouting, ‘You can’t catch me!’ as he ran away.”

“Given his track record,” he said, “I had trouble imagining he would ever be held accountable.”

“These are not things that Donald Trump ever thought in his entire life, nor I, for that matter, that he would ever be confronted with,” Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime fixer and a key witness in the case who served jail time for the payments, told CNN.

Of course, some of the celebration by Trump's detractors may be premature. The former president could seek to have a judge quickly dismiss the case. And even if it moves forward, there's no guarantee of conviction. Intensifying investigations in Atlanta and Washington are seen as potentially more serious legal threats.

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2023-04-01 04:32:59Z
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Trump 'shocked' by indictment but 'ready to fight' - CNA

WASHINGTON: Following his historic indictment on criminal charges, Donald Trump was preparing on Friday (Mar 31) to go where no former US president has gone before - a prosecutor's office to be booked, fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken.

Trump's pending arrest, expected on Tuesday, throws a political grenade into the 2024 presidential race, in which the 76-year-old real estate tycoon is hoping to return to the White House.

A New York grand jury indicted Trump on Thursday over a US$130,000 hush-money payment made to a porn star to buy her silence during his 2016 campaign.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and accused the Manhattan district attorney who brought the charges, Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, of waging a "political witch-hunt" to derail his new White House bid.

Trump's lawyers said the former president, who is currently at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, would surrender to New York authorities on Tuesday to face the charges, which remain under seal.

Extra security has been deployed for days around the downtown Manhattan courthouse where Trump is expected to be booked and arraigned before a judge.

"The president will not be put in handcuffs," said Joe Tacopina, one of Trump's attorneys.

"I'm sure they'll try to make sure they get some joy out of this by parading him."

Trump would plead not guilty and there was "zero" chance he would accept a plea deal, Tacopina told NBC's Today show.

"It's not going to happen. There's no crime," he said.

Trump was initially "shocked" at the indictment, his attorney said, but "he's now in the posture that he's ready to fight this".

In predicting his indictment, Trump called for protests and warned that it could lead to "potential death and destruction" for the country.

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2023-03-31 16:24:00Z
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No big power should dictate Malaysia's future: PM Anwar - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday (Mar 31) that the Southeast Asian nation will not allow any big power to dictate its decisions and future direction. 

“Nobody should dictate us. As a free and independent nation, we will decide what is best for us,” Mr Anwar was quoted as saying by Bernama on the third day of his official visit to China.

“And we decide based on core values and principles, which are to make sure that we have good governance and policies that will benefit the country and the people.”

He added: “We should also maintain this position in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) because ASEAN was set up as a free and neutral zone.” 

Mr Anwar was responding to a question on the rivalry between China and the United States during a public lecture at the renowned Tsinghua University in Beijing, following his attendance at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in Hainan. 

Inaugurated in 2001, BFA aims to promote common development through regional economic integration.

On Malaysia’s relationship with China, Mr Anwar reportedly said that Malaysia does not see China as a competitor nor a threat, even if some disagreements exist between the two countries. 

“Since there is no outright threat from China, we are happy to be a good neighbour, a friend and to benefit from their success,” he said. 

He added that Malaysia wants to build excellent relationships with all countries, including China and the US. 

Malaysia - along with several ASEAN member states like Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam - is a claimant state in the South China Sea together with China. Other countries like the US and its allies have also challenged China’s territorial claims. 

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2023-03-31 09:18:53Z
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