WORLD

Bill Gates is now the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States owning 2,42,000 acre across the country.

Gates, the founder of Microsoft and the fourth richest person in the world, owns farmland in 18 states in the US – either directly or through deals by his Cascade Investments with third-party entities, according to The Land Report.

Reporters could not independently verify the report.

His portfolio includes farmland in Arkansas (47,927 acre), Arizona (25,750 acre), California (4,905 acre), Colorado (2,270 acre), Florida (14,828), Idaho (9,233 acre), Illinois (17,940 acre), Iowa (522 acre), Michigan (2,167 acre), Mississippi (16,963 acre), Nebraska (20,588 acre), New Mexico (1 acre), North Carolina (874 acre), Ohio (8,915 acre), Washington (16,097 acre), Wisconsin (1,188 acre), Wyoming (975 acre).

Describing the US decision to ban all cotton and tomato imports from the Xinjiang region as a "rude interference", China on Thursday said this will "harm" the security of global supply chains and "impede" economic recovery against novel coronavirus. 

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Wednesday said that all imports of tomato and cotton products from Xinjiang will be banned due to the use of forced labour. 

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said that it opposed the move by the US, calling it Beijing's internal matter. 

"China opposes the rude interference of certain countries in China's internal affairs," MOFCOM spokesperson was quoted as saying in a tweet by Global Times. 

US House of Representatives has initiated a session to impeach outgoing President Donald Trump. In a tweet earlier on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) said, "Tonight, I have the solemn privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump."

Trump has been charged with 'incitement of insurrection'.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi named Jamie Raskin, Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Stacey Plaskett, Madeleine Dean and Joe Neguse as Representatives who will manage the impeachment in the House.

The House is currently debating the impeachment motion moved against Donald Trump. If the process falls through, Trump will be the first US President to have been impeached twice.

Malaysia has declared a coronavirus emergency that will suspend Parliament at least until August and halt any bids to seek a general election, but critics charged it was a political move by embattled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to stay in power.

The palace said in a statement Tuesday that King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah consented Monday to Muhyiddin's proposal for an emergency until 1 August to curb the virus spread, which has reached a critical level.

In a televised speech, Muhyiddin assured citizens that the emergency was “not a military coup and a curfew will not be enforced.” He said his civilian government will remain in charge and that Malaysia is still “open for business."

An investigator with Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) said the Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea with 62 people on board over the weekend possibly broke apart when it hit waters based on debris found so far.

"We don't know for sure, but if we look at the debris, they're scattered in an area that is not too wide," Nurcahyo Utomo told Reuters on Monday.

"It possibly ruptured when it hit waters because if it had exploded midair, the debris would be distributed more widely," he added.