WASHINGTON, July 5 — United States President Donald Trump yesterday signed into law a massive package of tax and spending cuts at the White House, staging an outdoor ceremony on the Fourth of July holiday that took on the air of a political rally.

WASHINGTON/HANOI, July 3 — The United States will place a lower-than-promised 20 per cent tariff on many Vietnamese exports, Donald Trump said yesterday, cooling tensions with its 10th-biggest trading partner days before the US president could raise levies on most imports.

WASHINGTON, July 3 — A federal judge yesterday blocked United States President Donald Trump’s asylum ban at the US-Mexico border, saying Trump exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal immigration an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes.

WASHINGTON, July 2 — United States President Donald Trump urged Iran-backed Hamas militants yesterday to agree to what he called a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Palestine’s Gaza that will be delivered by mediating officials from Qatar and Egypt.

WASHINGTON, July 2 — The Republican-led US Senate voted overwhelmingly yesterday to remove a 10-year federal moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-cut and spending bill.

DUBAI, June 27 — Iran will respond to any future American attack by striking the United States’ military bases in the Middle East, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday, in his first televised remarks since a ceasefire was reached between Iran and Israel.

BRUSSELS, June 26 — European Union leaders are to tell the European Commission today that a quick trade deal with the United States will come at the cost of Washington getting better terms, or they can escalate the fight in hope of something better.

WASHINGTON, June 26 — United States President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, was pulled into political contention over US vaccine policy yesterday, describing the medications as “life-saving” and telling a Senate panel she has not seen evidence linking vaccines and autism.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — The ringgit extended its gains against the United States dollar today, buoyed by comments from US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell highlighting uncertainty over the inflationary impact of tariffs.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s initiative to broker a ceasefire between Iran, Israel, and the United States successfully defused tensions in the Middle East, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

WASHINGTON, June 24 — United States President Donald Trump accused both Israel and Iran of violating a ceasefire today hours after he announced it, expressing particular frustration with Israel for announcing major new strikes on Tehran.

SEPANG, June 24 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke confirmed several Malaysian flights to the Middle East have been cancelled following airstrikes on a United States military base in Qatar today.

WASHINGTON, June 24 — United States President Donald Trump said today a ceasefire between Israel and Iran is now in place and asked both sides not to break it, raising hopes of an end to the 12-day war even as deadly attacks were reported in both countries.

MOSCOW, June 23 — Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that “unjustified” attacks by the United States on Iran’s nuclear sites were pushing the world towards great danger and promised to try to help the people of the Islamic Republic, though he gave no specifics.

ISTANBUL/MOSCOW, June 23 — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent his foreign minister to Moscow today to ask President Vladimir Putin for more help from Russia after the biggest military action from the United States against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution over the weekend.

KUCHING, June 22 — Interference by major powers such as the United States in the Iran-Israel conflict will only worsen the situation and undermine regional stability as well as the global economy, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.

WASHINGTON, June 22 — An organisation that monitors flight risks warned today that the United States’ strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites could heighten the threat to American operators in the region as airlines continued to avoid large parts of the Middle East due to ongoing missile exchanges.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — Malaysia’s discussions with the United States trade representative and commerce secretary on tariffs are progressing well, said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

ISKANDAR PUTERI, June 19 — Malaysia remains firmly opposed to unilateral tariffs and continues to uphold a multilateral, rules-based international trading system, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said discussions between Malaysia and the United States on the imposition of US unilateral tariffs went smoothly.