31/10/2025

FRIDAY | OCT 31, 2025

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Trump, Xi reach agreement

Singapore to use ‘green’ jet fuel SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Aviation Authority announced yesterday the country will procure sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through a new company set up by the government, as part of its efforts to reduce the costs of cutting flight emissions. Singapore has set a target to raise the share of green fuel usage to 1% at its Changi and Seletar airports by next year, funding it through a levy that would be imposed on all passengers and cargo flying out of the country. It aims to raise the share of SAF to 5% by 2030, subject to global developments and the wider availability and adoption of the fuel. The new state company, known as SAFCo, would be responsible for collecting the levy and would use the proceeds to set up a fund to purchase the fuel and distribute it to passenger and cargo airlines. Civil Aviation Authority director-general Han Kok Juan said suppliers would be invited to participate in a tender to offer their products at a fixed price. Han added that SAFCo has already engaged with multinational corporations and received “tremendous interest”, adding that a large purchaser in Singapore would be able to secure economies of scale. – Reuters Legislation introduced in July forbids “any speech, organising, inciting, protesting or distributing leaflets in order to destroy a part of the electoral process”. – AFP Artistes arrested in Myanmar YANGON: Myanmar authorities announced yesterday the arrest of three artistes for undermining the upcoming junta-organised election, wielding new speech laws that rights monitors say oppress dissent. Myanmar’s military snatched power in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil war, but is trumpeting elections scheduled to start in December as an opportunity for reconciliation. Rebel groups have pledged to block the polls from their enclaves and numerous rights monitors have said voting cannot be free and fair under restrictions imposed in junta-controlled territory. State media said three artistes were arrested at their homes on Monday under legislation introduced this year punishing speech deemed damaging to the election with up to a decade in prison. The Global New Light of Myanmar said the men – a director, actor and a comedian – were detained “for making false and misleading criticism on social media” of other artistes who produced a pro-election film. The movie, aired on repeat on state TV, contains scenes with a village doctor urging opposition fighters to lay down their weapons and endorse the election, due to start in phases on Dec 28. The newspaper said the three arrested men “failed to contribute their artistic expertise towards the success of the upcoming election”. “Instead, they criticised and attacked other artistes who were cooperating in the process.“

according to Seoul’s presidential office, echoing the two leaders’ first meeting, in which they pledged to act as a “peacemaker” and a “pacemaker” for peace on the Korean Peninsula. But tensions with North Korea remain high after Pyongyang brushed aside Lee’s outreach and instead continued deepening links with Russia. Trump said on Wednesday he was not able to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to the South, ending speculation over a possible summit. – AFP kitchen staff to reduce portions of the food to maintain freshness and avoid poisoning. The agency added that Prabowo on Wednesday formed a team of ministers, including the health minister and the agency chief, to better supervise the programme. The government has earmarked 171 trillion rupiah (RM43.1 billion) for the programme this year, but the agency would only be able to spend 99 trillion rupiah (RM24.9 billion) by year-end. – Reuters countries reached a “fundamental consensus on addressing each other’s primary concerns”. “I am willing to continue working with President Trump to lay a solid foundation for China-US relations.” As well as trimming the fentanyl tariffs, Beijing had sought an easing of export controls on sensitive US technology and a rollback of new US port fees on Chinese vessels aimed at combating China’s global dominance in shipbuilding, ocean freight and logistics. Trump made no immediate comment on US concessions but said China would purchase “tremendous amounts” of US soybeans and other farm products “starting immediately”. Previous trade deals, which brought down retaliatory tariffs on the US side and restarted the flow of rare earth magnets from China, are due to expire on Nov 10. But Beijing dramatically expanded its controls on rare earths earlier this month, minerals used in everything from cars to fighter jets, on which they have a global stranglehold. “They are not going to impose the rare earth controls,” Trump told reporters. He also signed various pacts with Japan and Southeast Asian nations on diversifying supplies of rare earths during his trip, although blunting China’s dominance in that area may take years. He added that they did not discuss chipmaker Nvidia’s state-of-art Blackwell artificial intelligence chip, walking back the previous day’s remarks about potentially helping the company to export a scaled-down version of its current flagship GPU processor, a key component in the AI race. – Reuters

Xi in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of the US president’s whirlwind Asia trip, on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations. “I thought it was an amazing meeting,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he departed Busan, ranking the talks a “12 out of 10”. He said tariffs imposed on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57% by halving the rate of tariffs related to trade in fentanyl precursor drugs to 10% from 20%. Trump also said Xi would work “very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of American overdose deaths.He added that the tariff was reduced “because I believe they are really taking strong action”. The cordial meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation summit, lasted nearly two hours. Trump repeatedly talked up the prospect of reaching agreement with Xi since US negotiators on Sunday said they had agreed a framework with China that would avoid 100% US tariffs on Chinese goods and achieve a deferral of China’s export curbs on rare earths, a sector it dominates. But with both countries increasingly willing to play hardball over areas of economic and geopolitical competition, many questions remain about how long any trade detente may last. As they sat down to begin talks at a South Korean air base yesterday, Xi told Trump via a translator it was normal for the superpowers to have frictions now and then. Xi added that a few days ago, trade negotiators for both

o Tariffs on Chinese imports to be reduced in exchange for crackdown on fentanyl

BUSAN: United States President Donald Trump said yesterday he had agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking

down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming US soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing. Trump’s face-to-face talks with

Trump greeting Xi at Gimhae International Airport in South Korea. – REUTERSPIC

South Korea gets nod to build nuclear submarine GYEONGJU: United States President Donald Trump said yesterday he has given approval for ally South Korea to build a nuclear powered submarine, a day after the two countries said they have reached a broad trade deal. He met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday in the southern town of Gyeongju, where the US leader arrived for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. investment and shipbuilding, while Trump said the agreement was “pretty much” finalised. “I have given them approval to build a nuclear powered submarine, rather than the old fashioned, and far less nimble, diesel powered submarines that they have now,“ Trump said on social media yesterday. “Shipbuilding in our country will soon be making a big comeback.“ On Wednesday, Lee asked Trump to “make a decision to allow us to receive fuel for nuclear-propelled submarines”. “We are not proposing to build submarines armed with nuclear weapons. Rather, diesel submarines have inferior submerged endurance, which limits our ability to track North Korean or Chinese submarines,“ Lee told Trump. Indonesia probes food poisoning cases involving 700 students JAKARTA: An official said Indonesian authorities are investigating food poisoning cases involving about 700 children in Yogyakarta province this week, after students ate meals prepared under President Prabowo Subianto’s key free school meal programme. The group has called for the programme to be suspended. Authorities have said improper food storage and late delivery of cooked meals are often to blame for the issue. Gunungkidul regional head of running the programme, said authorities were investigating the Gunungkidul cases and had temporarily closed nearby kitchens. There are 11,000 kitchens across the sprawling archipelago. Seoul’s presidential aide said on Wednesday the two countries had reached a broad deal covering In a separate post, he wrote: “South Korea will be building its nuclear powered submarine in the Philadelphia shipyards, right here in the good ol’ USA. The dessert at a luncheon for Trump featured the word “peace”,

She also said earlier this month free meals are expected to reach some 70 million recipients by the end of the year, lower than the government’s initial target of 83 million due to a lack of kitchens. The agency said separately on Wednesday that it had instructed

Endah Subekti Kuntariningsih said on Wednesday about 660 students from two separate schools fell ill from food poisoning after eating free school meals. National Nutrition Agency chief Dadan Hindayana, who is in charge

According to data from a local NGO, the school meal programme, rolled out in January, was a major election campaign promise from Prabowo, but some 15,000 children have fallen ill as of Oct 29.