Commodities
About a week after a joint U.S.-Israel military strike on Iran, sending global oil prices above US$100 a barrel, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim started to panic. He immediately warned that the government’s subsidies to maintain RON95 petrol at RM1.99 per litre can last for only two months. That was the clearest hint that his […]
... written on Mar 24 2026Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have given mixed and confusing signals on how long the Iran War would go on. By now, Tehran should realize that it was a tactic to keep the regime guessing. It’s part of psychology warfare – pretending to be weak and disunited to let the enemies’ guard down. It also […]
... written on Mar 21 2026Did Iran really think Donald Trump would surrender after the regime has disrupted one of the world’s most important waterways, the Strait of Hormuz? Not only is Tehran suspected of the attacks on at least 16 foreign commercial ships in the Persian Gulf area since the war began on February 28, but it is also jamming signals […]
... written on Mar 15 2026Iran has weaponized the Strait of Hormuz to create a global oil crisis. As a result, crude oil prices skyrocketed to almost US$120 a barrel on Monday, before fell on Tuesday sparked by President Trump’s comment that the war would be over “very soon.” Brent, the global benchmark, was still 27% higher than on the eve […]
... written on Mar 12 2026Russia is arguably the “only winner”, if not one of the biggest winners, in the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran. Not only does the conflict trigger a spike in oil prices, which translates into stronger revenues for Russia, which remains one of the world’s largest oil exporters despite Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, […]
... written on Mar 10 2026Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had thought that it was safer to be on friendly terms with a hostile Iran rather than confront it. When China brokered a deal in March 2023 to restore diplomatic relations between two bitter rivals in the Middle East, Saudi and Iran, the peace proposal […]
... written on Mar 09 2026China’s attempt to show humanoid robots during last year’s Chinese New Year Spring Festival Gala was laughed at by the West. Around that time, public demonstrations of the humanoids often drew scepticism, such as a robot marathon in April that made headlines for stumbles, crashes and breakdowns. It was the same scenario when Elon Musk laughed at China […]
... written on Feb 24 2026Chandra Jarvis has worked 13 years at the Vitro plant in Crestline, a distressed rural town of some 4,500 residents. Wages helped the 48-year-old single mother support her daughter through nursing school and her son through high school. She said working at the plant, where she is known as “Momma,” provides her and co-workers both […]
... written on Feb 10 2026Forced to “kowtow” to China after Beijing retaliated to United States’ tariff war by slapping export restrictions on several rare earth elements, processing technologies, lithium battery materials, and other items, U.S. President Donald Trump reluctantly signed a trade truce with the Chinese government. It was a humiliation to the economic superpower, but Trump had no card […]
... written on Feb 05 2026Donald Trump has flown to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. In his opening address, not only the U.S. president bragged about the U.S. economy – citing reduced inflation, high economic growth and a record-setting stock market – but also happily mocking and ridiculing Europe, while repeating his claim that only the […]
... written on Jan 22 2026
