Briefs

The US is set to sell US$2 billion ($2.7 billion) worth of weapons to Taiwan. The Pentagon and State Department were reported to have informally notified Congress of the potential deal, which was requested by Taiwan. It includes the sale of 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks, and the resupply of anti-aircraft Stingers and anti-tank Javelin weaponry.

The US is Taiwan’s main weapons provider. In March, China had protested at the US government’s tacit approval to sell more than 60 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan.

IMF confirms trade war risks to growth

The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for global economic growth for the third time in six months, and to the lowest since the global financial crisis. Citing risks to global growth such as the protracted trade tensions between the US and China, the IMF estimates the global economy to grow at 3.3% this year. The fund expects economic expansion to pick up in the second half of the year, provided the US and China do not raise import tariffs against each other.

The IMF has estimated that the trade war will cost US$455 billion in lost output next year.

Managing director Christine Lagarde warned that the trade tensions are jeopardising growth. “The fragility that we had identified and the precariousness of the recovery is actually confirmed,” Lagarde said in a speech in Washington, DC. “We’re now seeing this synchronised deceleration of growth.”

But even as the US continues its tit-for-tat tariffs and other trade sanctions against China, it seems set to open another front against Mexico. US President Donald Trump has declared that “not nearly enough” progress had been made in negotiations with Mexico as he sought to stop immigrants from Central America coming across the US’ southwestern border.

Separately, China’s Huawei Technologies, which has been blacklisted by the US Bureau of Industry and Security, has signed a deal with Russian telecoms company MTS to develop a 5G network in the country over the next year.

5G rolled out in China

Beijing has approved four operating licences for the 5G high-speed cellular network technology in the country. The licences for full commercial deployment were granted to state-owned China Mobile, China Telecom Corp and China Unicom Hong Kong, as well as China Broadcasting Network Corp.

Deploying 5G technology in the country with almost 1.6 billion mobile subscribers is estimated to add RMB6.3 trillion ($1.24 trillion) to economic output, and eight million jobs by 2030. It is expected to boost the development of applications in autonomous driving, robotics, virtual reality and remote surveillance.

China’s major mobile phone manufacturers — Xiaomi Corp, Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp — are expected to offer 5G-compatible mobile devices this year.

Malaysia names new anti-graft chief

Latheefa Koya, a human rights lawyer, has been appointed as chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Latheefa replaces Mohd Shukri Abdull, who has quit. He was on a two-year contract that was due to end only in May next year.

Latheefa was the director of Lawyers for Liberty, a group of attorneys who campaign against issues of injustice, from extrajudicial killings to detention without trial. She was also a central committee member of the People’s Justice Party, or PKR, which is part of the ruling coalition. “This appointment is one of the key steps in the process to reform government institutions,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Her predecessor had served the MACC for 22 years before opting for early retirement as the deputy chief commissioner (operations) on July 31, 2016. He had travelled to Washington, DC in July 2015 to present the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case to the US authorities. He returned to the agency in May 2018, soon after the historic change in government.

In an interview with Malaysian media, Shukri said he had been talking about leaving the agency again for some time. “I have done my job and managed to unite all the MACC officers. We have not only managed to bring 1MDB and SRC [International] to court but also other major cases in the past one year,” he said.

Thai military to lead government again

Thailand’s military chief, Prayuth Chan-O-cha, has been voted in by the Thai Senate and members of Parliament as the country’s new prime minister, following a disputed election in March. Prayuth beat pro-democracy candidate Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. The result was widely expected — the winning candidate needed only a simple majority, of at least 376 votes out of the total 750 votes in the House and Senate. There are 250 senators selected by the National Council for Peace and Order, led by General Prayuth, that was a stipulation of the 2017 constitution.

Prayuth will now lead a coalition party with a razor-thin majority. The allies of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had won the most seats in the election but failed to form a coalition.

YouTube bans extreme content

YouTube is removing thousands of videos and channels that propagate extreme views from its platform. The site said it is banning content that includes videos that promote or glorify Nazi ideology, and others that deny well-documented violent events, such as the Holocaust or the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the US.

The move by YouTube, which is owned by Google, is the latest in a range of measures by social media giants to stem the spread of hate speech and discriminatory views, following widespread criticism of them failing to do so. In early May, Facebook barred seven of its most controversial users from its platform.

Renault offer off the table

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has rescinded its offer for a merger with Renault that would have created the world’s third-largest car manufacturer after Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen Group, with a combined market value of nearly €35 billion ($53.9 billion).

Fiat Chrysler’s withdrawal comes after the French company’s board of directors postponed a vote for a second time. The French government, Renault’s largest shareholder with a 15% stake, had requested for deliberations to be put off. The state had raised demands over jobs, factories and governance, and had also pushed for a board seat and a payout to shareholders.

“It has become clear that the political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully,” Fiat Chrysler said in a statement.

Amazon launches new drone

Amazon.com has unveiled a new delivery drone — a six-feet-wide craft that functions like part helicopter, part sci-fi plane. The drone is incorporated with artificial intelligence that will allow it to fly autonomously. The company expects to use it for test deliveries of household goods within months. It declined to say where the deliveries will be, though past test delivery zones were in the UK.

The new drone is expected to present challenges to regulators, owing to the lack of standards for its robotic features. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is still developing regulations to allow drone flights over urban areas, and to address national security issues. It has granted a special airworthiness certificate, for a year, that will allow Amazon to test its devices in a limited way.

In April, Alphabet’s Wing was the first drone company to secure FAA approval to operate as a small airline, and is said to be planning its own delivery tests. Separately, United Parcel Service has started using drones to move medical samples between hospitals in North Carolina.