Charles Santiago

The world energy shock is coming — it will deepen inequality in ways we've seen before. Our new @newstatesman piece argues that without urgent government action, the Strait of Hormuz crisis will ripple through our economies and rip apart our societies. Here's why. 1/

Msians should stop looking down/ sneering at other countries which are scrambling to respond to the consequences of the Iran conflict. Malaysia is not an exception. We are going to be hit hard. We need to prepare. 1/n

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! 🌙 Saya ingin mengucapkan selamat menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada semua umat Islam. Semoga perayaan ini membawa kebahagiaan, keberkatan, dan kejayaan kepada anda dan keluarga anda. Maaf zahir dan batin.

This is probably the most important article of the month: an op-ed by Oman's Foreign Minister, who mediated the talks between the U.S. and Iran, in which he writes that the U.S. "has lost control of its foreign policy" to Israel. He repeats that a deal was possible as an outcome of the talks (something confirmed by the UK's National Security Advisor, who also attended: x.com/i/status/20341…) and that the military strike by the U.S. and Israel was "a shock." Interestingly, given he is one of Iran's neighbors and given that Oman has been struck multiple times by Iran since the war began (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran…), he writes that "Iran’s retaliation against what it claims are American targets on the territory of its neighbours was an inevitable result" of the U.S.-Israeli attack. He describes it as "probably the only rational option available to the Iranian leadership." He says the war "endangers" the region's entire "economic model in which global sport, tourism, aviation and technology were to play an important role." He adds that "if this had not been anticipated by the architects of this war, that was surely a grave miscalculation." But, he adds, the "greatest miscalculation" of all for the U.S. "was allowing itself to be drawn into this war in the first place." In his view this was the doing of "Israel’s leadership" who "persuaded America that Iran had been so weakened by sanctions, internal divisions and the American-Israeli bombings of its nuclear sites last June, that an unconditional surrender would swiftly follow the initial assault and the assassination of the supreme leader." Obviously, this proved completely wrong, and the U.S. is now in a quagmire. He says that, given this, "America’s friends have a responsibility to tell the truth," which is that "there are two parties to this war who have nothing to gain from it," namely "Iran and America." He says that all of the U.S. interests in the region (end to nuclear proliferation, secure energy supply chains, investment opportunities) are "best achieved with Iran at peace." As he writes, "this is an uncomfortable truth to tell, because it involves indicating the extent to which America has lost control of its own foreign policy. But it must be told." He then proposes a couple of paths to get back to the negotiating table, although he recognizes how difficult it would be for Iran "to return to dialogue with an administration that twice switched abruptly from talks to bombing and assassination." That's perhaps the most profound damage Trump did during this entire episode: the complete discrediting of diplomacy. If Iran was taught anything, it is: don't negotiate with the U.S., it's a trap that will literally kill you. The great irony of the man who sold himself as a dealmaker is that he taught the world one thing: don't make deals with my country. Link to the article: economist.com/by-invitation/…

Bonds that Bind? A trully heart warming Malaysian story. Its time for race & religious bigots 2 learn from a -3yr old Malay child & his 'appa' & 'amma'- abt love that binds. Tis Hari Raya let's commit 2 build a 🇲🇾 that is compassionate & loving towards each other.@anwaribrahim

“Families arrive at the cemetery after sunset. They come carrying rugs and cushions, food and water, and candles or lanterns that they place on the small, freshly dug graves. Parents carefully clean the tombstones of their buried children. They arrange the spaces around them and settle in for the night—a quiet vigil that will continue until dawn.”

Microplastics are already inside us and they are affecting our health. Professor Ragusa explains where the real problem lies and why it's not just about plastic. Are you ready to find out what each of us needs to do to solve this problem? For more details, follow the link.

Ingrid Kvangraven ingridhk.com (@ingridharvold) explains how the economics discipline systematically erases colonialism, imperialism, and uneven development from its models — and what that erasure costs the majority of people on the planet. youtu.be/SZUSrglFDz0?si…

💥Even former @GoldmanSachs CEOs are saying it: Tax the super-rich💥 .@lloydblankfein: Wealth is only flowing to asset-holders. What to do? ✅A more progressive tax system ✅Free childcare & healthcare ✅A higher minimum wage ✅Cut the waste, but tax the wealthy 🎦

We are also concerned by attempts to manufacture political legitimacy through tightly controlled electoral processes conducted amid widespread violence and repression. Elections held under such conditions cannot represent the genuine will of the people. APHR Co-Chair @mpklang.

JUST IN: Malaysia just declared the U.S.-Malaysia trade deal null and void. Not suspended. Not under review. Null and void. “It is not on hold. It is no longer there.” Those are the words of Malaysia’s Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani. On the record. This week. The deal was signed five months ago in Kuala Lumpur by President Trump and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the ASEAN Summit. It cut tariffs from 47 percent to 19 percent. It was presented as proof that reciprocal trade works. It was the template. It no longer exists. The trigger was a Supreme Court ruling on February 20 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump. The Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorise presidential tariffs. IEEPA was the legal foundation beneath virtually every reciprocal tariff deal the administration signed. The Court pulled the foundation. Malaysia looked at the structure standing on nothing and walked away. No other country has done this yet. But fifteen nations are now under new Section 301 investigations launched March 11 and 12, covering structural excess capacity across sixteen economies and forced labour practices across sixty. The USTR pivoted to Section 301 within weeks of the ruling because it is the only remaining statutory vehicle for broad tariff authority. The pivot tells you the administration knows the legal ground shifted. The question every trade desk should be asking this morning is not whether Malaysia matters. Malaysia covers 12 percent of its exports to the US under the deal. The question is who follows. Every reciprocal trade agreement signed under IEEPA authority between 2025 and February 2026 now sits on the same voided legal foundation. Every counterparty government has the same option Malaysia just exercised. Every trade minister in every capital that signed one of these deals is reading the same Supreme Court opinion and asking the same question: is our agreement still enforceable? The answer, as of February 20, is that the legal basis no longer exists. The deals were signed under authority the Court has since ruled the President did not have. Malaysia is the first government to say that out loud. It will not be the last. The cascade risk is not theoretical. Roughly $500 billion in annual US trade flows run through the nations now under Section 301 investigation or bound by IEEPA-era reciprocal agreements. If even a fraction of those counterparties follow Malaysia’s precedent, the result is a simultaneous renegotiation of America’s trade architecture during a period when the Hormuz crisis is already driving energy and food inflation, the Fed is trapped at 3 percent core PCE with no room to cut, and US farmers cannot afford $900-per-ton ammonia. Carl Quintanilla posted the headline with the kind of brevity that tells you even CNBC does not know how to frame this. Because the frame is uncomfortable. The administration built a tariff architecture on a legal authority the Supreme Court ruled it never had. The first country to notice just tore up the deal on live television. The trade architecture, the fertiliser supply chain, the insurance market, the naval coalition, the planting calendar. One by one, the systems the global economy assumed were stable are revealing themselves as fragile. Malaysia just pulled another thread. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

The Prime Minister of Qatar told Tucker Carlson that Qatar’s ties with Hamas began years ago at the request of the U.S. government. He says all the money flowing into Gaza is routed through Israel and Mossad.

#Malaysian businessman Victor Chin, who was mentioned in a Bloomberg report, speaks. He said any ‘corporate mafia’ probe must examine the role of #MACC & police Thread theedgemalaysia.com/node/796333

8. Investigative powers should not be used in ways that appear to intimidate or discourage civic participation. Malaysia’s democratic progress has been built on the willingness of citizens to speak, critique, and hold power to account. That space must be protected, not narrowed

7. For this reason, it is vital that authorities draw a clear line between legitimate threats to constitutional order and the ordinary exercise of free expression.

STATEMENT: Criminalising Dissent Endangers Malaysia’s Democratic Progress Read below