Good morning. Here's what you should know today.

Key Highlights

  • Judiciary on the cusp of crisis

  • AGC undermines JAC's role

  • Trump raises tariff on M'sia

Judiciary on the cusp of crisis

Scandal involving the judiciary is on the brink of becoming a full blown crisis.

At the heart of the matter are concerns about whether the government is meddling in judicial appointments, as well as allegations that a Federal Court judge had engaged in judicial interference.

PKR lawmakers led by Rafizi Ramli are calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the matter, saying it might be as bad as the VK Lingam scandal.

It has gained support from the Malaysian Bar, who is also planning a march to the Prime Minister's Office next week.

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AGC undermines JAC's role

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General's Chambers downplayed concerns about the judiciary.

Regarding the judicial interference allegations against a judge, the AGC said it was pure speculation about "procedural irregularities".

The AGC also appeared to suggest that the prime minister can ignore the Judicial Appointments Commission's (JAC) recommendations, citing a need to "protect" judicial independence.

This is at odds with Anwar Ibrahim's insistence that he is not interfering with the judiciary.

Rafizi, meanwhile, said the AGC is fuelling speculation that Anwar disagreed with the JAC's recommendations.

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Trump raises tariff on M'sia

Malaysia doesn't appear to be making any progress on getting a better tariff rate from the Donald Trump administration.

Instead, Trump raised tariffs on Malaysian goods from 24 percent to 25 percent.

The announcement came after the US president threatened to impose a 10 percentage point tariff hike against countries aligning with the Brics economic bloc - which includes Malaysia.

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