Morning Brief

The FBI has raided former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump's lawyers say the FBI had broken into a safe and seized 15 boxes of documents. Reports say the raid is related to an ongoing investigation into whether or not laws were broken when boxes of White House records, some marked Top Secre, were not sent to the National Archives. Robert Shapiro, a Professor of Government at Columbia University in New York, takes us through how these developments might impact the upcoming mid-term elections and Trump's 2024 presidential bid.

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Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said the special cabinet committee on anti corruption had agreed in principle to a political funding bill but is there political will for it and what should it contain to create a fairer political system . Tricia Yeoh, CEO of IDEAS tells us.

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Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said the special cabinet committee on anti corruption had agreed in principle to a political funding bill but is there political will for it and what should it contain to create a fairer political system . Tricia Yeoh, CEO of IDEAS tells us.

Image credit: shutterstock

The FBI has raided former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump's lawyers say the FBI had broken into a safe and seized 15 boxes of documents. Reports say the raid is related to an ongoing investigation into whether or not laws were broken when boxes of White House records, some marked Top Secre, were not sent to the National Archives. Robert Shapiro, a Professor of Government at Columbia University in New York, takes us through how these developments might impact the upcoming mid-term elections and Trump's 2024 presidential bid.

Image credit: EPA-EFE

There has been a landmark ruling by the Federal Court that victims of road accidents should automatically be compensated by insurance companies without requiring legal action to do so. The Judge's ruling is that provisions in the Road Transport Act 1987 should be construed to protect all motorists, including victims of road accidents. Transport consultant, Dr Rosli Azad, takes us through the implications of this and other related developments.

Bank Negara has had to raise interest rates to combat rising inflation, which is already a global phenomenon. This however impacts the people because with higher interest rates, financing costs go up - more expensive home loans, vehicle loans, credit card loans etc. Lower income households are particularly hit, especially those still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic impact. Jason Loh, Head of Social, Law and Human Rights at EMIR Research, believes there may be a solution that can help the B40 while keeping inflation under control.

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More than a week since the arrival of Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan, we ask Chong Ja Ian, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore how likely will tensions between Taiwan and China continue to escalate and what this will mean for US allies around the region

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Interest rates are on the way up as central banks across the Asia Pacific use this tool to tame inflation. In Malaysia, Bank Negara has increased the Overnight Policy Rate twice so far this year from 1.75% in July 2020 and is now 2.25%. The ringgit has however softened - it is at its all-time weakest against the Singapore dollar. Willie Tanoto, Director at Fitch Ratings' Asia-Pacific Financial Institutions team explains what rate hikes can achieve.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bank Negara has had to raise interest rates to combat rising inflation, which is already a global phenomenon. This however impacts the people because with higher interest rates, financing costs go up - more expensive home loans, vehicle loans, credit card loans etc. Lower income households are particularly hit, especially those still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic impact. Jason Loh, Head of Social, Law and Human Rights at EMIR Research, believes there may be a solution that can help the B40 while keeping inflation under control.

More than a week since the arrival of Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan, we ask Chong Ja Ian, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore how likely will tensions between Taiwan and China continue to escalate and what this will mean for US allies around the region