How could he or his family justify the payment of a RM50 million fine as part of the conditions to allow him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest without raising questions or suspicions about the source of his money? He can’t. So, his political party UMNO launched a special solidarity fund via a CIMB Islamic bank account to mobilize party members, supporters, and the public.

While Najib and UMNO supporters chipped in, the crowdfunding drive triggered widespread public debate and criticism. Many critics and online users mocked the effort by sending micro-donations (as little as 1 to 5 sen) accompanied by sarcastic or derogatory transaction remarks referencing the 1MDB scandal. A University Malaya student even described the act as “the stupidest thing I have watched in my entire life“.

Indeed, it was incredibly stupid to donate to an unrepentant crook who had stolen from you so that he could be freed from prison, encouraging him to steal from you again. Then KABOOM – UMNO suddenly announced that it successfully collected the required RM50 million fine to fulfill the conditions for his house arrest, and quickly closed the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund on November 6, 2026.

The announcement was both shocking and stunning. Exactly who were the generous donors who helped to raise the RM50 million in less than two months the crowdfunding was launched? Some politicians called for an audit, whilst others called on UMNO and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to answer online claims that seven rural road contractors helped pay Najib’s RM50 million fine.

One man, however, was fabulously panicked – Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He profusely expressed his disagreement with the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) paying Najib’s fine. Yet, at the same time, he said – “If UMNO wants to pay the RM50 million, that is their decision, their business.” If Anwar had not expected UMNO to pay on behalf of Najib, then he is stupider than he looks.

What followed next on Friday (November 6) was a series of chaotic political drama. At least 100 journalists had gathered in Jalan Langgak Duta near Najib’s mansion, some arriving as early as 11am, near an area cordoned off by police, following news that he had paid the fine. The influx of vehicles caused traffic congestion in the exclusive Taman Duta neighbourhood.

Celebration had already started earlier in the day when the 73-year-old former Premier was seen leaving Kajang Prison in a silver vehicle accompanied by a convoy. Confusion then began when it was reported that he was apparently taken to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for merely a medical examination, including dental treatment, rather than being transferred home.

Equally panicked was Transport Minister Anthony Loke, warning that allowing Najib to serve his sentence under house arrest could send “the wrong message to future generations”. But it was only after UMNO president Zahid’s provocation – reminding Loke of his promise to resign – that Loke reiterated that he would resign immediately after Najib returned home to protest against the move to allow the house arrest.

An early Deepavali festival and “murukku”, not to mention Najib’s favourite Starbucks Caramel Macchiato came to a screeching halt when the celebration was cut short after Malaysia’s Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) abruptly suspended the house arrest temporarily on November 6, the same day that Najib’s fine was paid and a High Court order was issued directing his release into house arrest.

The AGC apparently has raised questions on how Malaysia enforces royal pardons and court orders, with the outcome potentially determining when Najib begins serving a separate 15-year prison sentence linked to the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal.

The dispute is whether payment of the fine ends Najib’s sentence in the SRC International corruption case or merely allows him to serve the remainder under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028. Najib had been serving a 12-year sentence since August 2022, with a controversial royal pardon granted by King Sultan Abdullah of Pahang in 2024 halving the sentence and reducing a RM210 million fine to RM50 million, thanks to PM Anwar.

Thanks to Anwar again, a second royal pardon in September 2026, a conditional one granted by the newly crowned King – Sultan Ibrahim of Johor – allowed him to serve the rest of the sentence under house arrest, subject to payment of the fine and other conditions. Like it or not, PM Anwar was responsible in facilitating crooked Najib’s ultimate release from the Kajang Prison.

Anwar-appointed Attorney General Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar said the case involved “complex legal questions” over the implementation of the royal pardon and court orders, describing the situation as unprecedented. “During this period, Najib’s detention status should remain unchanged at his current place of detention, subject to the powers and directions of the relevant authorities,” – he said.

The AGC stated that further legal review is necessary to determine whether payment of the RM50 million fine merely allowed Najib to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest or effectively brought that sentence to an end. The distinction is crucial because Najib faces a separate sentence in the 1MDB case, which the court ordered to begin only after the SRC sentence is fully completed.

However, the burning question is why only now, after Najib successfully paid the RM50 million fine, that the AGC suddenly discovered that the case was so sophisticated and complicated that the entire house arrest episode has to be put on hold. Either A.G. Dusuki has been sleeping on the job, or he suddenly received a last-minute order from Anwar to delay Najib’s release.

Yes, it’s not rocket science that the AGC was acting on an instruction from the Prime Minister Office (PMO). The attorney general was supposed to be the legal eagle of the government. Even if Dusuki was highly incompetent and clueless, it does not make sense that the AGC would make such a stupid blunder at the eleventh hour just before Najib goes home.

Besides, A.G. Dusuki is a member of the Pardons Board advising King Sultan Ibrahim in pardoning Najib. In the same breath, Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh, a lawmaker from Loke’s Democratic Action Party (DAP), was also in the same board. Unless the minutes of the Pardons Board meeting is made public to prove that the King had illegally bulldozed the release of Najib, Anwar government is toast.

To make matters worse, Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail – a lawmaker from Anwar’s own party – had already officially declared Najib Razak’s residence at No. 11, Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta, Kuala Lumpur, as a designated prison. Heck, Najib has even beenbriefed on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or conditions for his home confinement, but was told to keep ti secret.

The AGC stressed that the decision was “not intended to challenge or set aside” the King’s decree but to ensure the royal pardon and court orders were implemented in accordance with the law. Additionally, the AGC is also examining the legal implications of the High Court’s Nov 6 order directing Najib’s immediate release while requiring him to remain under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, as well as the court’s Oct 14 rejection of an application to stay his 1MDB sentence.

On Saturday (November 7), however, the King issued a stern warning against questioning his conditional pardon order, declaring that it was “clear, explicit and unambiguous” and unrelated to Najib’s other cases. The unusually forceful royal intervention has brought the King’s constitutional power of pardon and the judiciary’s authority to interpret court orders into a bigger conflict.

While the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) insists it is not challenging the King, the Palace’s reaction appears to be an angry retaliation to the AGC. If the Attorney General backed down and timidly reversed its own instruction to halt Najib’s house arrest transfer, it would be an admission of wrong legal interpretations, incompetency, and even abuse of power.

If the AGC refuses to back down, not only it could spark a new crisis, but also would increase political pressure on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government. Already, con artist Anwar has cowardly told the Attorney General to seek an audience with the King – most likely to seek forgiveness and agree to allow Najib goes home in order not to anger the monarch.

Either way, Anwar is royally screwed. The “royal hand kisser”, unlike former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, has no balls to confront the Palace when the Monarchs break the law or cross the red lines of judiciary. He only knows how to hide, bullies the weak, or tells critics to blindly respect the Sultans. In the case of A.G. Dusuki, the PM is ready to throw him under the bus after the Palace’s outburst.  

Connecting the dots, it’s not hard to conclude that both Anwar and sidekick Ah Loke had not expected Najib to be able to pay RM50 million so quickly. They thought it would take many more months for the crook to raise the money, and they certainly did not expect UMNO to pay. Anwar can disagree for all he wants, but it is not illegal for UMNO – or even contractors – to help Najib pays his fines.

Both Anwar and Ah Loke thought by the time Najib is able to raise the RM50 million fine, at least the Melaka and Sarawak state elections would be over. It would be even better if it could be dragged till after the next 16^th General Election. That explains why Loke confidently made a U-turn, arrogantly bragging that his resignation will take effect only the exact moment Najib Razak steps into his home.

Najib’s house arrest would be a huge victory to UMNO, whilst at the same time a terrible upset to Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Loke’s DAP. Even if it’s a house arrest, PKR and DAP’s supporters would see it as Najib’s freedom. And they would punish Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan coalition for freeing the crook, despite Anwar’s fake cries of fighting corruption.

From the beginning, it was foolish for power-hungry Anwar Ibrahim to dance to the tune of UMNO. He single-handedly opened the floodgate of his own demise by reviving the Federal Territories portfolio during a Cabinet reshuffle in December 2023 just so that Dr Zaliha Mustafa could be appointed – a compulsory member of the Pardons Board to facilitate Najib’s royal pardon.

Now, Pakatan Harapan is going to pay the price. It would lose badly in the upcoming Melaka election because Najib’s freedom would be seen as Anwar’s betrayal. The more Anwar tries to pass the ball to the King and blames UMNO, the more he would insult the people’s intelligence. Ah Loke’s half-baked resignation would not be enough to appease the angry voters.

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The post Najib Celebration Cut Short – Why Anwar Scramble To Delay House Arrest first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

But “Dajjal” is arguably the most deplorable word the fake holy man has weaponized so far. Even Law Minister Azalina Othman from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a conservative and Malay nationalist political party which Hadi’s trying very hard to suck up to revive a previous UMNO-PAS cooperation in order to grab power, disagreed with Hadi’s extremism.

The word Dajjal comes from an Arabic root meaning “to deceive” – a figure who will appear towards the end of time, before the Day of Judgment. Islamic tradition emphasizes that the trial of the Dajjal will be the greatest test for mankind since the creation of Adam. “Does he know when the Day of Judgment will come? God knows best. I certainly do not know,” – said Azalina.

Hadi said Prophet Muhammad had warned that several lesser Dajjals would appear around the world before the great Dajjal emerged. “A CSA is Dajjal-like as power is no longer regarded as a trust that must be upheld for the benefit of all, but instead becomes a means of coercing others to ensure the government remains in power,” – said the despicable PAS president.

Six Bersatu MPs led by party president Muhyiddin Yassin signed the CSA with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government on October 29, along with Independent Muar MP Syed Saddiq. Additionally, six other independent MPs who had previously declared their support for Anwar’s unity government also signed the agreement. But Hadi was terribly upset over the CSA signed between the 13 MPs and the government.

Under the CSA political pact, Opposition MPs agree to back the Anwar government in key parliamentary votes – such as budgets and confidence motions – without formally joining the ruling coalition. In return, they would get equal constituency development funding matching the allocations currently granted to government backbenchers.

Sure, the opposition’s support in exchange for funding certainly sounds and smells like a bribe transaction. But in case snake oil salesman Hadi forgets, or pretends to have forgotten, this is not the first time a CSA deal has been made. In September 2021, former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob also signed a CSA with then-Opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) led by Anwar.

Therefore, if a CSA between Bersatu and Anwar administration can be demonised as Dajjal-like, then the same CSA between PH and Sabri administration some 5 years ago can be demonised too as Dajjal-like. A munafiq Hadi cannot selectively condemn a CSA in 2026 as Dajjal-like, but legitimise a CSA in 2021 just because PAS was part of the Sabri backdoor government back then.

Besides, the latest CSA agreement was facilitated by Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof, not PM Anwar himself. Was Mr Hadi trying to demonise Fadillah, a lawmaker from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) as the one-eyed man called “Al-Masih ad-Dajjal” – “the Deceitful Messiah” or “the False Messiah” – trying to deceive humanity, especially among the Malay-Muslims?

True, the CSA between Bersatu and the government was signed primarily to save Anwar’s skin. But so was the CSA between PH and the Sabri government in 2021. Both CSA agreements were signed to prevent the government of the day from collapsing. It means Anwar’s government could be overthrown without the CSA, the same threat Sabri was facing in 2021.

The CSA comes at a time of a political recalibration, with growing strains emerging both within the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance and between the unity government partners Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN). Bersatu and PAS, two key components of the PN opposition coalition, have become bitter enemies, whilst PH and BN have increasingly gone hostile with each other.

When “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, it’s only natural that Bersatu, which was backstabbed and betrayed by Hadi when former Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin launched Parti Wawasan Negara following his sacking from Bersatu in early 2026 before admitted unilaterally by PAS into PN, was forced to work with PH for the sake of political survival.

And with PAS leading PN into an alliance with enemy BN ahead of the next 16^th General Election, both Bersatu and PH have a common enemy. There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics, only permanent interests. And the permanent interests for both Bersatu and PH are to join forces, to survive, and to defeat PN and BN.

Still, exactly why was Hadi Awang so mad and furious that he went berserk, summoned the god, and accused those who signed the CSA as Dajjal? That’s because the confidence and supply agreement has torpedoed a plot hatched to overthrow PM Anwar by defeating the Budget 2027. Under the Westminster parliamentary system, failing to pass a government’s budget is treated as an implicit vote of no confidence.

When the Prime Minister said MPs who signed CSA will get constituency funds once the budget is passed, it was the clearest proof that the RM3 million to RM4 million annual funding per constituency comes with strings attached. With Bersatu left to fend for itself, Muhyiddin and his boys have nothing to lose but everything to gain by signing the CSA with the Anwar government.

The government bloc in the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House) currently comprises 146 MPs, including 75 from Pakatan Harapan (PH), 30 from Barisan Nasional (BN), 23 from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and eight from Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS). With the additional support, Anwar would have the backing of 159 MPs, exceeding the two-thirds majority threshold required to pass constitutional amendments.

So, even if BN (30 MPs) suddenly withdraws its support for Anwar, the Premier will still enjoy a comfortable support of 129 MPs in the 222-seat Parliament. Without the CSA, that number would be reduced to razor thin 116 – a dangerous level in the event GPS or GRS, which were part of the previous ruling BN government for over 60 years before the historic May 2018 General Election, decides to switch sides.

Yes, Anwar is game over if BN and GPS vote against Anwar’s Budget 2027, leaving the PM with no choice but to dissolve the parliament before the current parliamentary term expires on Dec 18, 2027. Obviously, the CSA agreement would give Mr Anwar greater political breathing room amid calls from BN, one of the unity government’s key partners, for an early general election.

Even if only BN and PAS vote against the budget without the Borneo states’ participation, Anwar’s budget could still be defeated if the entire government bloc of 116 MPs did not turn up in full force to support it. You just need 5 MPs to go on sick leave, or absent for whatever reason, for PM Anwar to lose power. The 159 MPs thus provide a psychological number to enable Anwar to cling to power.

That also explains why the Prime Minister has been spending so much time and money to appease the Borneo states, granting almost every single demand from them. From Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) to development funds allocation, and from billions in special grants to Sarawak’s own regional airline AirBorneo, PM Anwar could only ask how high when Sabah and Sarawak tell him to jump.

To shore up support from the two East Malaysian coalitions, the Premier had earmarked record sums in Budget 2027 for East Malaysian states – allocating RM18.7 billion to Sabah and RM16.2 billion to Sarawak. By hook or by crook, Anwar must ensure that both states –with a combined 30 MPs – remain on his side till the next national election.

So, it was not a coincidence that the Supply Bill 2027 passed its second reading (policy stage) in the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House) via a voice vote on October 29, 2026 – just hours after the CSA with 13 opposition lawmakers. No opposition MPs rose to call for a division at the end of the debate, unlike in October 2025, when a bloc vote recorded 120 ayes, 67 nays and 35 absent votes.

The Budget 2027 bill is undergoing its committee-stage debate from November 2 to November 26, 2026. After the committee stage, it still requires a third reading in the Dewan Rakyat, approval by the Dewan Negara (Upper House), and royal assent from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) before it is officially enacted. A failure to pass it compels the prime minister to either resign or advise the King to dissolve Parliament and call an election.

More importantly, Hadi Awang wanted an early election due to his deteriorating health. The power-hungry man has admitted to wanting to die while still serving. In the eventuality of his passing, PAS could split between religious clerics (ulama) and technocratic factions. This impact could be reduced if the Islamist party is part of the government, as seen in Bersatu.

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The post Overthrowing Anwar Fails – Why Hadi So Furious He Called CSA “Dajjal” first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

While the core math of a blockchain may be secure, the platforms people use to buy, sell, and store crypto are prime targets for cyberattacks. Major centralized exchanges have suffered massive breaches. And the latest casualty is Binance – losing US$6.3 billion – and was forced to suspend transactions Thursday (October 29) as the exchange investigates the biggest cyber heist in history.

The world’s largest crypto exchange said in a post on X – “We have worked with blockchain partners to freeze affected assets, with around US$3 billion frozen on-chain so far.” Binance’s founder Changpeng Zhao said in a post on X – “It does look like a hack on Binance.” While Binance has temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals, it also said it will cover all losses and “user funds are safe”. 

Zhao, who founded Binance in 2017 but no longer leads the world’s biggest crypto exchange although remains its largest shareholder, added that stablecoin providers Tether and Circle had moved quickly to freeze some US$1.7 billion in stolen assets. For crypto faithful who had been basking in a two-month-long price rebound, the Binance incident is a potential setback.

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies was initially based in China, then moved to Japan, subsequently left Japan for Malta, and now has no official company headquarters. Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about US$162.8 billion in assets under custody as of the exchange’s 2025 annual report.

Cybersecurity research firms TRM Labs and Pangolin Intelligence said the heist appears to have been conducted by North Korea’s TraderTraitor – North Korea’s elite hacking unit – based on robust on-and off-chain intelligence. The group has been behind many of the largest crypto hacks in recent memory. “This was absolutely North Korea,” – said Nick Carlsen, a senior investigator on the Global Investigations team at TRM.

But how did it happen? Binance revealed in a statement on X that an initial investigation into the incident suggested it involved “a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop,” which allowed the attacker to “submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions.” In a follow-up statement on X early Friday, Binance said a “subsequent investigation has uncovered additional points of breach.”

The bulk of the heist unfolded in around 20 minutes beginning late on Thursday (Oct 29). TRM said the attackers were able to order wallets that Binance uses to empty into hacker-controlled wallets, mirroring a 2025 heist at crypto exchange Bybit, which the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had attributed to Pyongyang, where North Korea-linked hackers made off with almost US$1.5 billion of tokens – the biggest crypto hack before now.

North Korea has been repeatedly accused of using cryptocurrency theft to generate revenue to help fund its weapons programmes. In 2025, North Korean hackers are believed to have stolen at least US$2.02 billion in cryptocurrency, according to experts. Crypto theft is likely one of its biggest money-makers. The nature of crypto as an electronic currency makes these kind of transfers easier to execute and hard to reverse. 

“This was a complex attack, and we are doing all we can in coordination with law enforcement to resolve it. We are still gathering the facts, and will share more directly as we have them,” – Binance said Friday, adding that withdrawal service should resume in 45 hours. The company is working with law enforcement to “to confirm the identity of the criminals and bring them to justice.”

Exchange thefts and malfeasance have been an ever-present backdrop of crypto’s almost two-decade ascent, the most famous of which was the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX in November 2022. In what remains perhaps the most notorious hacking incident, Japan-based Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox was struck in 2011. Mt. Gox eventually went bankrupt.

When stablecoin providers freeze stolen funds, hackers cannot move, transfer or cash out of those specific tokens. They essentially blacklist the hacker’s crypto wallet address, trapping the tokens inside the wallet before hackers can convert them into other cryptocurrencies or launder them through a mixer (such as Tornado Cash), or converting them into fiat currency.

However, not all crypto can be frozen as freezing only applies to centralized fiat-backed stablecoins that possess administrative “kill switches”. Therefore, hackers often try to swap freezable stablecoins into unfreezable assets (such as ETH or BTC) or split them across multiple chains within minutes of a heist before blacklists take effect. It is a race against time.

Crypto exchanges are tempting targets for hackers. Unlike stock exchanges, which facilitate trading but don’t actually hold securities on behalf of investors, many crypto exchanges store cryptocurrencies for their customers. As a result, many exchanges have suffered heists in which hackers extract customers’ funds from the exchanges’ crypto wallets in the hope of cashing out.

“This is a huge hit in absolute dollar terms,” – said Kevin March, co-founder of JPEG Trading. He expects the loss to be manageable for Binance given the exchange’s US$1.2 billion insurance fund and the swift move by Tether and Circle to freeze stolen assets. Binance.US, the exchange’s U.S. arm, said it isn’t affected by the security incident. 

The impact of the hacking saw Bitcoin slumped 3% at the end of the U.S. session and a further 3% in Asia trading, falling below US$77,000 to its lowest level since September, with other tokens also selling off. “The rumoured Binance hack is definitely driving down coin prices,” – said Fredrick Collins, chief executive and co-founder of crypto data platform Velo Data.

Binance said the company had set aside around US$6.34 billion of company funds internally to cover the losses, without giving details about where the funds had come from. The company has a US$1 billion bitcoin reserve fund designed to protect customer assets in the event of security breaches, according to its website. Changpeng Zhao said the company owned SpaceX shares worth more than US$1 billion.

Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, said in an X post that it froze more than US$1.5 billion of the stablecoin “related to a potential Binance exchange hack”. Jeremy Allaire, who runs Circle Internet Group, said US$800 million of its coin had been frozen amid “reports of a potential exploit involving Binance”. Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly US$200 million in funds.

Even before the biggest cyber heist in history, sentiment was already fragile after a spate of crypto security incidents. In recent months, hundreds of millions of dollars were drained from Bitget, while tampering tied to Ledger devices also led to millions of dollars in losses. “Attackers are operating at unprecedented speed and scale but the tools to track and trace operate at that speed too”, – said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs.

Traders had already been bracing themselves for greater volatility in the crypto market this week, with US$11 billion in options set to expire on Oct 30. This comes days ahead of the US midterm elections taking place next week, when Democrats could potentially retake one or both chambers of Congress and open the door to greater regulatory scrutiny for the industry.

The Binance incident came on the same day event-contract venue Polymarket halted trading on its international exchange for an hour after it said that a third-party software provider was compromised. More than 700 Polymarket users were drained of US$2.7 million in funds, said blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps in a post on X. 

“It’s a huge damage to crypto because of the consistent successful hacks in the space,” – said Tian Zeng, CEO of crypto hedge fund Third Eye. “The fact that exploits keep happening makes it dangerous in the age of newest AI models being released every two weeks.” Even though the blame is on North Korea, the simple fact that Binance could be hacked again could shake faith in digital assets.

In the past, Binance has weathered years of legal and regulatory problems. In 2023, the company pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering laws and paid US$4.3 billion in penalties to the U.S. government. Mr. Zhao was sentenced to four months in federal prison.After his release, Mr. Zhao received a pardon from President Donald Trump. 

The attack on Binance was a stunning illustration of the risks of trading crypto, a renegade branch of finance. For years, the industry has sought mainstream respectability, pouring money into politics and earning the support of President Trump, who pledged to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet.” But the industry remains a wild west, vulnerable to hacks and fraud.

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The post How Binance Lost $6.3 Billion To North Korean Hackers first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

“I never thought about leaving the country. Nobody will silence me” – he claimed, insisting he would surrender his passport. On the same Monday, Bolsonaro also pledged on to lead the opposition against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the veteran leftwinger who defied the opinion polls to a victory. Yet, less than 24 hours after losing Brazil’s presidential election, Bolsonaro appeared to have vanished.

After pulling away from his home in Brasília on Monday evening, a convoy of four dark cars split in different directions, leaving journalists and authorities scrambling to determine which one carried Bolsonaro. On Tuesday, the conservative senator and his family headed to the Argentine border, hundreds of miles away seeking refuge on American soil.

That night, at 10:50 p.m. local time, Bolsonaro, his wife and their two daughters crossed the Tancredo Neves International Bridge into Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, near where the borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. After crossing the border, Bolsonaro’s vehicle was escorted by Argentina’s airport security police to the immigration checkpoint at Iguazú Falls International Airport.

The operation was being monitored from Puerto Iguazú by Santiago Caputo, a top Milei aide, according to a former Argentine intelligence chief. Caputo was in direct contact with Eduardo Bolsonaro to coordinate, according to a person involved in the operation. At the airport, a private jet owned by Baires Fly, a charter airline, was waiting for the Bolsonaro family after the plane arrived from Buenos Aires a day earlier.

At 11:30 p.m., Bolsonaro boarded the Gulfstream – flight LV-JQW – which flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador, to refuel on its way to the U.S. The flight then departed shortly after midnight, and the flight manifest reviewed by The Wall Street Journal lists Bolsonaro, traveling on an Italian passport, alongside his wife and two daughters. The jet landed at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport at around 9:30 Wednesday morning.

He has claimed not only to be the victim of political persecution, but to have been the real winner of an election that was stolen from him. Shortly after arriving in Miami, Bolsonaro said he was the victim of a “politically motivated witch-hunt”. He also claimed that the result of the election had been manipulated. “I did not flee Brazil. I left for the sake of Brazil,” – he said.

But newly re-elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has criticised Bolsonaro’s shameful act of fleeing the country, saying “those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear”. Bolsonaro’s arrival in Florida ended days of confusion over his whereabouts, after he was reported to have travelled to Argentina, and then prematurely reported to have already entered the U.S. on Tuesday.

As Brazilian and international outlets reported that Bolsonaro had left the country, he was still in Brazil, while a private jet waited for him across the border in Argentina. At 12:21 a.m. Wednesday, the Gulfstream G400 took off from Puerto Iguazú and whisked him to Ecuador and then Miami, where his entry was facilitated by Trump allies his family spent years cultivating. 

The getaway – which relied heavily on deception and decoys – sparked a global guessing game that left even some of Bolsonaro’s closest allies in Washington and Brazil in the dark about his whereabouts. After Bolsonaro stepped off the plane in Miami on Wednesday morning wearing a navy polo shirt and a backpack, uniformed officers used umbrellas to shield him and his family from cameras.

Their arrival followed an extraordinary effort by a small circle of influential Trump allies, senior U.S. officials and Argentine President Javier Milei to help him fly to the U.S. and secure entry, despite a Brazilian court order barring Bolsonaro from leaving the country. Bolsonaro thanked President Trump for welcoming him to a “land of freedoms” and Milei for his “courage” and “sense of justice”.

After Trump personally approved admitting Bolsonaro and his family to the U.S. on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved to issue them visas. But the family entered the country under humanitarian parole, which allows them to remain for one year. Argentina’s government confirmed that Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters had crossed the border into Argentina and boarded a private flight to Ecuador, at 11.30pm on Tuesday night.

The operation to whisk Bolsonaro out of Brazil to the U.S. began on Monday, as allies grew concerned that he could face arrest. Although the criminal investigations into Bolsonaro predated the election, the Supreme Court order barring him from leaving Brazil and requiring him to surrender his passports came shortly after his defeat and fueled accusations that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was determined to punish his political rival.

Working with Flávio Bolsonaro’s well-connected younger brother Eduardo, a small group including Trump adviser Jason Miller secured a charter jet to take him from Argentina to Florida. The Trump administration’s decision to provide refuge to Bolsonaro marks the culmination of the family’s yearslong lobbying campaign to enlist the U.S. president and his inner circle in its legal and political battles at home.

The personal alliance between the two most powerful political families in the hemisphere has reshaped relations between the U.S. and Brazil. Last year, Trump imposed steep tariffs on the country citing its treatment of Bolsonaro and sanctioned the same Supreme Court justice who barred Bolsonaro from leaving Brazil.

Now, what began as a domestic political and legal battle in Brazil is becoming a test of how far Trump is willing to wield American power on behalf of a foreign political dynasty – with potentially far-reaching consequences for the second-largest democracy in the Americas. 

Bolsonaro intends to set up a political operation in exile from the U.S. But with the U.S. midterm elections days away, the White House has given little indication that it intends to go beyond offering Bolsonaro refuge or that Trump will expend political capital challenging da Silva’s re-election victory, despite pressure from allies in Washington.

Trump declined to comment when reporters asked him about Bolsonaro declaring himself the rightful president of Brazil. “I thought they were treated very unfairly,” – he said on Wednesday about the Bolsonaros, who he described as “very fine people” earlier in the day. “But I won’t get involved – it was a very strange election, that’s for sure.”

Da Silva’s victory in Sunday’s runoff election against Bolsonaro was recognized by more than 50 countries, including Latin American leaders across the political spectrum. He defeated Bolsonaro by more than 4.4 million votes, a margin that international observers said left no doubt about the integrity of the country’s electoral data. Trump, however, has so far refused to formally recognize da Silva’s victory, instead suggesting that the results might have been rigged. 

Bolsonaro’s arrival in the U.S. follows in his father’s footsteps. In December 2022, Jair Bolsonaro landed at Orlando International Airport after losing an election to da Silva and refusing to concede. The elder Bolsonaro stayed for around three months, living at the home of a friend before returning to Brazil. He was later convicted of plotting a coup to stay in power, which culminated in an uprising in Brasília that drew comparisons to the Capitol riots of January 2021. 

Flávio’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, meanwhile, has been living in Texas after taking leave from Brazil’s Congress. While in the U.S., he lobbied officials there in an attempt to influence the coup trial of his father, which led to the U.S. imposing punitive tariffs on Brazil and sanctions on key officials. Eduardo was convicted in absentia over this by Brazil’s highest court earlier this year.

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The post How Bolsonaro Fled To U.S. After Losing Brazil Election first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

Back then, the PN coalition’s key component parties were Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). Bersatu president Muhyiddn Yassin and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang were best friends – till they realized that they didn’t have the number to form a government in the 222-seat Parliament. Backstabbing, betrayal, and bad blood soon plagued PN.

Four years later and with the 16^th General Election on the horizon, panic hit PN when the Registrar of Societies (RoS) officially cancelled Perikatan Nasional’s registration on October 20, 2026. A last minute effort on October 22 enabled the opposition coalition to secure a “temporary” legal reprieve from deregistration, clearing an immediate hurdle just nine days before nomination day for Melaka’s state election.

The two best friends four years ago have now become bitter enemies. Both political parties have condemned, bad-mouthed, ridiculed, and mocked each other. So much for Malay-Muslim unity. Without power and access to national coffers, former backdoor Prime Minister Muhyiddin is a pariah to Hadi. Through a series of scheming and strategic moves, PAS took over the helm of the PN coalition.

The severe infighting between PAS and Bersatu has triggered not only a major leadership crisis and legal battle within the opposition coalition, but also opened up an opportunity for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to hammer the final nail in the coffin of PN. The deregistration crisis started due to a complaint by Bersatu that it was excluded from a Supreme Council meeting on July 16 in breach of Clause 7.1 of the coalition’s constitution.

Even though the Malaysian High Court has allowed the coalition to resume political activities while it pursues a judicial review, the court’s victory would do little to resolve internal rift within PN. While the Home Minister and RoS have filed an appeal against the stay, internal tensions persist as Bersatu questions the legality of emergency council meetings called amid the dispute.

From the beginning, the alliance between Bersatu and PAS was more about a marriage of convenience for personal gain rather than a genuine Malay-Muslim unity. It was for projects, perks, positions, and pensions. The moment Muhyiddin lost power and failed to form a government, the so-called Malay-Muslim unity disintegrated and they began fighting for candies like kids.

PAS now sees Bersatu as a parasite rather than a Malay hero, who has been depending on the Islamist party’s strong grassroots network and machinery to win elections. Bersatu, on the other hand, saw PAS as a convenient tool to ride on due to PN’s branding to attract Malay nationalist voters. As a founder of Perikatan Nasional, Muhyiddin and his supporters perceived Bersatu as the supreme party.

When Hadi made his move which eventually forced Muhyiddin to resign as chairman of PN on January 1, 2026, it was not merely a slap in the face of the Bersatu president, but also a declaration of war. Worse, Hadi has shown a preference for Bersatu Deputy President Hamzah Zainudin over Bersatu President Muhyiddin Yassin, leading to friction within not only Bersatu but also Perikatan Nasional.

True, the fallout between Hamzah and Muhyiddin was primarily due to tensions escalated over who would lead Bersatu, followed with accusations of political betrayal. As a direct result of this internal warfare, the Bersatu Disciplinary Board officially sacked Hamzah in February 2026. However, Hadi’s “divide and rule” tactical move by unilaterally naming Hamzah as Opposition Leader was a painful betrayal to Muhyiddin.

Mr Muhyiddin’s retaliation was simple – “If I can’t have it, nobody can”. Bersatu’s complaint to the RoS, alleging that it had been excluded from a PN supreme council meeting in July, describing it as a breach of the coalition’s constitution by rival grouping ​PAS, was clearly a scorched-earth strategy – destroys everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war.

He knew that the bloc could face de-registration because no matter how PN responded, it would not be able to provide a satisfactory response to the RoS. Even if it’s true that Anwar administration deliberately took advantage of the situation, PAS can’t blame the government because it was PAS’s mistake to exclude Bersatu from PN supreme council meeting.

Even before the latest RoS cancellation of PN’s registration, Bersatu-PAS tensions had become increasingly visible since last December, when eight Perlis assemblymen, five of whom were from Bersatu, withdrew support for the state’s PAS chief minister in a move widely seen as orchestrated by figures aligned with Bersatu president Muhyiddin – deepening mistrust between both parties.

Besides, as PAS develops closer ties with the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), both Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance and Bersatu are facing a common enemy – PAS. In Melaka, Barisan Nasional (BN), which is led by UMNO, and PAS have already agreed on a seat-sharing arrangement to contest the state election – 21 seats for BN and the remaining 7 for PAS and its allies.

Make no mistake – both Bersatu and PAS need the PN logo. In August’s Negeri Sembilan election, Bersatu announced its candidates separately and contested under its own symbol, including against PN candidates in eight constituencies. But Bersatu failed to win any of the 24 seats it contested independently, while PN – under PAS control – won seven.

Obviously, Bersatu has nothing to lose if PN is de-registered since it is “prohibited” from using it by PAS. The simple fact that Hadi Awang fiercely condemned the cancellation of PN registration by the Registrar of Societies proves that the Islamist party needs the PN brand more than anyone can imagine, despite some boasting that PAS has no issue contesting under its own logo.

If indeed PAS extremists were cocksure that the PAS’ green moon logo is more powerful, then it should contest in Melaka using it instead of whining, crying and bitching about PN de-registration. Hadi and his lieutenants knew that without PN logo, PAS would be left with its hardcore Malay extremists support – isolating Malay nationalist voters to choose between UMNO and Bersatu.

Additionally, losing the PN logo could also weaken the opposition’s appeal beyond its traditional support base, particularly among non-Malay voters. Even though ethnic Chinese and Indian voters dislike and distrust PAS, the PN logo nevertheless projects an image that is less extreme and more moderate compared to the PAS logo itself.

More importantly, PAS needs the PN logo to boost the chances of its smaller allies such as Wawasan, Gerakan, and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) to mount a coordinated challenge against Barisan Nasional (BN) during seat negotiation in the next general election. On its own, PAS logo only sells in Kelantan and Terengganu. It was PN – not PAS – that managed to capture Kedah and Perlis.

It’s not rocket science that PAS wanted to become the dominant force like UMNO, the backbone of the country’s ruling government for over 60 years until it lost power for the first time in the May 2018 General Election. In fact, the Malaysian Islamic Party has openly stated its ambition to claim the Prime Minister’s post and lead the federal government in the upcoming 16th General Election.

PAS currently holds 43 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, making it the largest single party in Parliament. Even if it could flip all the seats won by Bersatu and recapture all the 73 parliamentary seats won under Perikatan Nasional banner in 2022, it still cannot form a simple-majority government. That’s why Hadi has to suck up to UMNO – even ready to play second fiddle and bow to “Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi.”

No single political party in Malaysia can form a federal or state government on its own due to the country’s multi-ethnic composition. But there’s one biggest problem – Sabah and Sarawak. With a total of 56 parliamentary seats – accounting for about 25.3% of the 222 total seats in the Parliament – PAS cannot claim the Premiership without support from the Borneo states.

While both Borneo states often align with whichever coalition rules Putrajaya to secure development funds, Sabahans and Sarawakians largely reject PAS Islamist party and its conservative religious politics because of their distinct multicultural, multi-religious, and secular-leaning social fabric. There is no room for extremist politics in Borneo.

That explains why Hadi creates his own puppet – Hamzah and his Wawasan – as front end to hoodwink the Chinese, Indians, Sabah and Sarawak. That also explains why PAS, by hook or by crook, must contest national elections under the Perikatan Nasional banner. And this is also why not only Bersatu and Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan, but also Zahid-led Barisan Nasional, wanted to destroy PN.

PAS, not to mention Wawasan, would be severely weakened without PN as its umbrella, which in turn would benefit the Malay nationalist party UMNO. The Islamist party’s gain is UMNO’s loss as both fish for the same Malay votes in the same pond. Therefore, it’s hard to see how PN under PAS leadership would be able to challenge the PN’s de-registration.

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The post Why Bersatu, PH, Even BN Wanted To Destroy “PN Logo” first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

Had Indonesia been Israel responsible for the current haze crisis, leading to the Southeast Asian’s worst wildfire and air pollution disaster in 11 years, PM Anwar would have sued Israel for open burning and causing millions of people to breathe in highly toxic smoke. Had Jakarta been Tel Aviv, he would not have said that Malaysia has “done everything we can” regarding the transboundary haze crisis.

Had Indonesian Government Communications Agency chief Syahganda Nainggolan been an Israeli minister who said – “We do not just send smoke, but when there is no smoke, we send oxygen” – Anwar Ibahim would have mocked, ridiculed, and criticized the stupid remarks. But Saudi, Iran, and Indonesia are Muslim countries, whilst the Houthis, Iranians, and Indonesians are Muslim brothers.

So, hypocrite Anwar dares not excessively condemn Iran-backed Houthis the same way he had condemned Israeli’s attacks in Gaza. The Hamas supporter also dares not slam Tehran about the Iranian regime’s blockade of Hormuz which spiked the global oil prices. And he certainly has no balls to lecture, let alone pressure, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to solve the haze issues.

The “munafik” only dares to attack foreign Jewish and domestic non-Malays. Even then, he only selectively attacks non-Muslims. He happily welcomed pro-Israel Donald Trump, dancing together when the U.S. president stepped on Malaysian soil in October 2025. And now, PM Anwar has found a new way to attack Israel – Waze – under the pretext of national security.

Unable to solve the haze problems, the prime minister chose to ban civil servants – effective October 21, 2026 – from using navigation ​app Waze, citing security concerns linked to its origins in ‌Israel. Founded in Israel, Waze uses satellite signals and ​crowd-sourced data from drivers to offer real-time traffic information. However, it was acquired by Alphabet-owned Google ​in 2013.

On Thursday (Oct 22), a day after Anwar hastily ordered the ban, Waze said that claims it collected sensitive government ​information or allowed any entity to exploit personal user data were completely ​false – “Waze operates under strict privacy policies that protect user data and comply with global legal data protection standards.”

The burning question is exactly why an app which recorded 6.3 million monthly active users as early as 2019, with about 2.5 million users located in Kuala Lumpur alone, has suddenly become a national security threat? And why practise double standards by banning only Waze, but not Google Maps, despite the fact that both apps are owned by Google? 

Does the genius Anwar realize that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin both have Jewish heritage? When did he find out that Waze, being used in Malaysia since around 2012, has become a dangerous app? Crucially, why PM Anwar welcomed Google’s US$2 billion (RM9.4 billion) investment in Malaysia back in May 2024, if indeed Israel is such a threat?

Anwar had said the government was looking into potential security risks arising from ‌the ⁠use of Waze, which means there isn’t any proven threat yet. At best, it’s an anti-Jews and anti-Israel fearmongering campaign by exaggerating risks or spreading rumours. At worst, it’s a distraction tactic to divert attention from Anwar’s political scandals, corruption, corporate mafia and cronyism.

Yes, it has nothing to do with Waze collecting user personal information, but everything to do with enriching Anwar’s cronies. Suspiciously,the Premier has recommended the use of TuJu, a domestic mapping app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority, a statutory government body, in partnership with a private firm named Prosignal Consortium Sdn Bhd.

One of Prosignal’s directors is Selat Klang state assemblyman Abdul Rashid Asari, who previously chaired LLM when the collaboration started in 2022. He has also declared political support for Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari (aligned with Anwar Ibrahim’s Unity Government) in March 2024. The chairman of Prosignal Consortium is Mohammed Abdullah (the Undang Luak of Johol).

Interestingly, other prominent figures on the board of the company included former IGP (Inspector-General of Police) Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, who is a non-executive director. Its Deputy Chairman & Managing Director, Mohd Edzreen Mohd Din, was a former Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) staff member. It’s obvious why Anwar is pushing TuJu over Waze using Israel as a punching bag.

Get real, every app collect user information – from Google to Facebook, and from Waze to Instagram. Heck, even TuJu admits that “We may collect personal information that you provide to us directly.” Therefore, Anwar must first provide evidence that not only Waze has collected sensitive government ​information or exploited personal user data, but also prove that the locally developed TuJu is secure.

It’s totally irresponsible for anti-Jews Anwar to accuse Waze of exploiting, misuse, or manipulating user information without a shred of evidence, but blindly promoting TuJu which is actually built on Google’s mapping and location data. Worse, public money was used without an open tender when Prosignal Consortium Sdn Bhd was chosen to co-develop the TuJu navigation app.

The real problem with loss-making TuJu is not only about its directors, shareholders and links with politicians, but also about the app itself. TuJu has drawn complaints from app review platforms and users on social media, with some reporting inaccurate route guidance, glitches and a lack of real-time traffic information. It also lacks speed limit alerts and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support.

A copycat of Waze, half-baked Tuju makes the app more dangerous than a replacement for Waze. The Google-owned app may be subject to the laws of the Israeli government, but at least it is not an application that is defective like TuJu that could threaten the “personal security” of its users. Arguably, even if Waze is collecting information, there’s nothing to be afraid of as long as you’re not a Hamas terrorist.

Even Yeo Bee Yin, a government lawmaker who is also DAP (Democratic Action Party) national publicity secretary, could easily smell Anwar’s stupidity when she advised the narcissist PM to consult industry experts and navigation technology specialists before deciding whether to impose a nationwide ban on Waze – warning that a hasty decision could disrupt millions of Malaysians who rely on the application.

Yeo said the proposed ban could affect more than six million road users who depend on real-time navigation. She questioned why Gulf Cooperation Council nations had not banned Waze despite their proximity to the Middle East conflict and stringent national security measures. “A reactionary ban risks unnecessary public disruption, economic friction for the gig economy and reputational damage to Malaysia’s digital landscape,” – she said.

Anwar hardcore supporters could choose to remove Waze for all we care. But the racist and radical PM has no right to tell what app the people can use or cannot use just because he is trying to fish for Malay-Muslim votes by weaponizing Israel. It’s not a coincidence that nearly four years in office, he suddenly targets Waze when Melaka and Sarawak state elections are around the corner, with the 16^th General Election coming soon.  

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The post Can’t Fix Haze, So Attack Waze – It’s About Distraction & Cronies first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

The streaming titan’s shares are down 42% in the last 12 months alone and have been nearly cut in half from their all-time high last summer. It abruptly replaced content chief Bela Bajaria last week just hours after a layoff of 1,000 employees (roughly 6% of the company) – its biggest round of layoffs in four years – that she helped engineer. But it was not the end of jobs cut.

By Monday (Oct 19), film chief Dan Lin lost his job, too. The ousters of two of the company’s top creative executives are signs that the streaming giant’s leaders feel the service needs to overhaul its content offerings. Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a memo that entertaining the world “requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources”.

Behind closed doors, Sarandos had actually complained internally for months that Americans were spending less time watching Netflix and that the service was short on new hit shows. He also has told colleagues that he wants the company, which has experimented with everything from video games to podcasts, to strengthen its core TV and movie offerings.

On Tuesday (October 20), Netflix reported third-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates and revenue that was in line as Wall Street eyes the company’s engagement and advertising metrics. The company’s revenue was almost 12% higher year over year, boosted by growth in membership and an increase in subscription prices.

Net income for the quarter was US$3.66 billion, or 87 cents (versus 82 cents estimated) per share in terms of EPS (earning per share), compared with US$2.55 billion, or 59 cents a share in the same period last year. However, the company narrowed its 2026 full-year forecast, saying it now expects revenue to reach US$51.1 billion – below Wall Street’s expectations of US$51.2 billion for the year.

As a result, shares of Netflix fell about 6% in extended trading on Tuesday. Central to Netflix’s value offering has been its cheaper, ad-supported tier. Yet, the company on Tuesday lowered its full-year revenue guidance for its ad business. Netflix said it now expects 2026 ad revenue of around US$2.7 billion, down from the roughly US$3 billion the company had previously forecast.

Problems at the company that ushered in Hollywood’s streaming revolution have been building for a year as it has struggled to come up with hits on the level of “Stranger Things” or “Squid Game.” Netflix needs to – desperately – prove that it can produce hit movies and TV series again to stop a slide that has erased more than US$135 billion in market value in 2026.

The stock price is down 26% in 2026, putting Netflix among the 10 worst performers in the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index and on track for its worst year since 2022, and it is coming off a 14% decline in September. In fact, its stock has sagged since its failed US$82.7 billion bid launched last year for Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studios and HBO Max, which investors saw as a sign of weakness.

Although adding HBO Max and the Warner Bros. studio could have given Netflix a boost, investors worried that its leaders had run out of ideas for growth since Netflix hasn’t historically turned to major dealmaking. Besides that narrative, shareholders were concerned about Netflix taking on a massive debt load and going through a complex integration process.

Crucially, like many media companies, it is struggling to attract audiences spending more time watching YouTube and TikTok. User engagement has “stalled” owing to a lack of popular content despite heavy spending driven by a crowded, competitive entertainment landscape. Netflix’s struggles to keep viewers hooked have become increasingly apparent.

As of the end of September, Netflix hadn’t added net subscribers any month this year in the U.S., according to analytics firm Antenna, which tracks U.S. consumer purchases of subscriptions through sources such as credit-card bills. The good news is the rate at which U.S. subscribers cancel the Netflix service remains the lowest in the industry at just 2.1% in September.

Netflix grew global viewing hours by merely 2% year over year to 97 billion in the first half of 2026. Investors are worried that slowing engagement growth could hurt Netflix’s ability to retain customers and persuade them to pay more. Engagement is also “the golden compass for advertisers” since higher usage helps them reach broader audiences.

Worse, Netflix won the fewest Emmy Awards in a decade in 2026, and as admitted by its own co-chief executive officer Ted Sarandos – the company is “not growing” fast enough. “The content’s getting very expensive, and there are just still too many players,” – said Ken Mahoney of Mahoney Asset Management. “I think there are so many better tech stories out there than Netflix that have sticky customers.”

While Netflix is still leading its paid peers in viewership and profits, free streaming services like YouTube, Tubi, and The Roku Channel are gaining popularity, especially among younger audiences. YouTube’s viewership share on US TVs was 14.2% in July – nearly double Netflix’s 7.8% share, according to Nielsen. Roku’s free streamer and Tubi are also formidable competitors with shares of 2.9% and 2%, respectively.

Sure, the company has expanded its content offering to boost engagement. Some newer categories, such as live sports, have been more successful than others, such as video games. But only 3.5% of Netflix’s subscribers play games monthly, according to a recent internal memo. That business is tracking about 10% behind its 2026 reach and engagement goals.

Video podcasts and creator content have allowed Netflix to add hundreds of hours of programming at a fraction of the cost of scripted series. During the company’s last earnings call, Sarandos emphasized that building up these new formats takes time and that they are “evolutionary, not revolutionary.” In short, neither games nor podcasts have been a game changer so far.

Executives have debated behind closed doors whether to change the release cadence of certain shows to improve engagement. Netflix typically drops all the episodes of a season at once, while many competitors release new episodes weekly. Sarandos has resisted the change. Netflix data shows that members prefer an all-at-once binge versus a weekly cadence, according to the company.

In another change, it is starting to bet on major theatrical releases for some films after years of releasing most films directly online and giving a handful a few weeks on a limited number of screens. The company is releasing films including “Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory” and “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” in theaters globally at least 45 days before they will be available to watch at home, the strategy typically used by traditional studios.

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It was a calculated tactical move to soften the potential backlash ahead of the Melaka and Sarawak state elections, as well as to pacify angry supporters in the upcoming 16^th General Election. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was supposed to “reject” the secretary-general of Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) resignation, and Ah Loke would then say –“Hey, I had offered to resign, but my boss rejected.”

The comical part was when Anwar and Loke could not meet to discuss the so-called resignation, despite both leaders travelling on the same plane to China and staying in the same hotel – and probably having breakfast together – for a working visit to Shanghai in September. They talked and behaved as if they were living in a different dimension.

The scam would have seen a happy ending – Loke retracting his resignation out of respect for Anwar – if not for the opposition’s mocking of the DAP chief’s hilarious stunt. Kedah Chief Minister Sanusi mocked and laughed at Anthony Loke’s resignation strategy, labeling it as “firecracker politics” and a choreographed political “drama”, ready to backtrack and find excuses to stay in power.

Humiliated, Ah Loke had no choice but to insist on resigning, while Anwar said he was still waiting for the official resignation letter from the transport minister. The bullshit resignation plan has been exposed. Minister can unilaterally resign under Article 43 of the Federal Constitution without waiting for the Prime Minister’s permission. They scrambled to cook up a new excuse.

And the new excuse has become the best invention since sliced bread – Loke’s resignation will officially take effect only on the exact day Najib actually begins his house arrest. Until then, Loke remains active as the Transport Minister. Obviously, the “conditional timeline” was merely a stunt to appease angry grassroots voters while keeping DAP in the ruling government.

It was already bad that DAP under the weak and spineless leadership of Loke chose not to resign en bloc – if indeed the political party was against Najib’s pardon allowing him to serve the rest of his jail term under house arrest. It becomes worse that power-hungry Loke now chose not to resign as promised, but makes a laughable half-baked self-imposed condition to resign at a later date.

The delaying tactic to resign is both pathetic and disgusting. Najib remains in Kajang Prison until he pays his RM50 million fine, making the actual start date of his house arrest – and Loke’s final day in office – completely uncertain. DAP leaders, who had been condemning UMNO leaders in the past 60 years for their refusal to resign out of accountability and responsibility, are now no better than UMNO.

At least UMNO has been honest about their “shameless doctrine” of not resigning even when caught with pants down stealing and plundering. DAP, screaming about CAT (Competency, Accountability, and Transparency) and lecturing about eliminating corruption, enforcing equality, securing justice, upholding the rule of law, fighting for a free and fair Malaysia, and whatnot now looks like a huge hypocrite and liar.

By setting a new condition to resign, Ah Loke hopes to hoodwink supporters that he is still a leader with “principle”. Given a chance, he would not want to quit. But if he doesn’t resign, then he is no different than Akmal Saleh, the notorious UMNO Youth Chief who had also “offered” to resign as a Melaka state executive councillor (Exco) in April 2026, only to stays after his resignation was rejected by Melaka Chief Minister.

When Anwar and Loke discussed behind closed doors how “not to resign”, Akmal Saleh was a benchmark. Loke’s resignation must be engineered and designed to look slightly better than Akmal’s to prevent ridicule and mocking. Loke cannot be on the same level as Akmal. Eventually, the condition was set to resign effective only when Najib pays his RM50 million fine.

Get real – if Anthony Loke was sincere about resigning, he should have resigned the same way former Economic Minister Rafizi Ramli did, and not beat around the bush with some bullshit conditions. If there was no intention to resign in the first place, just don’t offer to resign. After all, Ah Loke has stated that the Democratic Action Party respects the King’s constitutional authority to grant a royal pardon for Najib.

So, if Loke was indeed respecting the King’s authority, why must he at the same time announced his offer to resign as Transport Minister in protest of the conditional pardon for crooked Najib? He has to bloody make up his mind – don’t resign if respects the King, or resign if disagrees with the King. Which is which? That’s the problem when a forked-tongue politician twists and spins till his own tongue got tangled.

Exactly where was Loke, and the entire DAP top leaders for that matter, when the Prime Minister facilitated Najib’s jail sentence reduction from 12 years to 6 years, and a 75% discount to the crook’s RM210 million to RM50 million on February 2, 2024? Yes, Ah Loke kept quiet, pretending as if nothing had happened when Najib was gifted with huge discounts. Why offer to resign now, but not in 2024?

Of course, the 16^th General Election was still far away back in 2024, thus, DAP couldn’t be bothered. The resignation drama may see another U-turn after PM Anwar dropped a hint – Anthony Loke should stay on and continue work as Transport Minister. Anwar – the chief architect of Najib’s royal pardons in exchange for power – said the country needed leaders with principles who cared about the people at the bottom.

Both Anwar and Ah Loke are as hopeless as the corrupt United Malays National Organization (UMNO). This country needs new blood, someone like Ummi Umairah Bakhit of Universiti Malaya, who courageously questioned public donations to former Prime Minister Najib Razak – a convicted crook in the SRC International corruption and money laundering case.

Ummi raised the issue during a dialogue with former minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari and Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur recently. “The stupidest thing I have watched in my entire life is people donating to our former prime minister, Najib Razak, someone who clearly has a worldwide corruption case, 1MDB, and is clearly linked to corruption,” – she said.

Yes, if a young university student like Umni could smell such stupidest donation given by some stupidest people to a billionaire crook called Najib, what type of stupid Prime Minister would go to the extent of defending Najib’s jail and fines discounts? And what type of stupid DAP leaders would continue to stay in a government that rewarded such a crook with luxury mansion arrest?  

Worse, Najib has received the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and terms for his house arrest, but the Prisons Department under Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution – a lawmaker from Anwar’s People’s Justice party PKR – has instructed him not to disclose the details to the public or the press, suggesting special privileges for the despicable ex-Premier.

The criticism of UMNO’s shameless fundraising campaign to help Najib pay his RM50 million fine has seen Ummi being threatened and harassed online instead. Had Ummi been a Chinese ethnicity, you can bet your last dollar that she would have been expelled by University Malaya, and the episode would have been politicized as Malay and Islam were under attack by kafirs.

Crucially, if even an unknown university student like Ummi dares to risk everything to defend her belief, principle and dignity, why are leaders like Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Transport Minister Anthony Loke so cowardly in expressing similar displeasure about Najib’s house arrest? Even a simple decision to resign has to be exploited, manipulated, and backtracked without an ounce of shame.

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The post This Student Has More Principle Than PM Anwar & Ah Loke first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

The unexpected new speed limits were disrupting Ukrainian battlefield missions. The crisis saw how Denys Sienik, the top Ukrainian diplomat in Washington, D.C., sent a frantic message to U.S. lawmakers seeking for help in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Sienik warned it would give Russia an upper hand in the war and make it tougher for Kyiv to intercept strikes against Ukrainian civilians.

By the time Washington’s morning rush hour was under way, it was too late. Russia had already launched deadly attacks against Ukraine that killed several people in Kyiv and hit communications and energy facilities used by Ukraine’s military. At least 600,000 people across the country were left without electricity, and residents said they received no warning of incoming drones before they hit.

Ukrainian officials suspected President Trump had ordered Elon Musk, who owns the company that operates Starlink, to throttle Ukraine’s access to the satellite systems. The crawling speed effectively rendered most of the drones used by Ukraine to strike behind the frontlines inoperable – and, it later emerged, affected the most effective air defence system to stop Russian jet-powered attack drones bombing Kyiv.

However, Musk said that Starshield, the military-grade sister service to Starlink, is controlled by the U.S. government, and “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately the U.S. president”. Musk added that Starlink is for “civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company”.

While both companies are owned by Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink is a civilian service that uses satellites in low Earth orbit to provide internet access, particularly in remote areas, while Starshield is designed for government and military use. The latest episode underscore the extent to which the U.S.-Ukraine relationship has soured in recent weeks as Trump has sought an end to the war.

Recently, Trump has offered to buy Moscow’s oil in a lucrative 300,000 tonnes diesel deal, demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky step down and declared an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. The U.S. president was upset that his demand for Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries, which he has blamed for the high cost of diesel, was being ignored by Zelensky.

The two leaders fell out in the spring of 2025 during a disastrous visit by Zelensky to the Oval Office, where the US president said – “You don’t have the cards” to win the war. The row was followed by a brief pause in intelligence sharing and a desperate scramble by European allies to calm the row.

The White House declined to answer questions on the Starlink matter. In a statement, the White House said “the President and his team remain committed to continuing to play a constructive role in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, and he remains optimistic that we’ll ultimately get a peace deal done.”

They said Trump was working first to de-escalate the fighting between Russia and Ukraine, then bring a new offer to Moscow that would grant it access to economic and political benefits if it adheres to a more-lasting ceasefire. Administration officials say Trump remains committed to ending the war and is the only person who can parley with both Putin and Zelensky to forge a viable peace deal.

Administration officials also characterized Trump’s offer to buy Russia’s diesel fuel as a way to both lower U.S. gas prices and dangle an economic incentive in front of Putin to bring him back to the negotiating table. They argued that Donald Trump remained open to a future economic relationship between the U.S. and Russia once the war is resolved.

But Ukrainian officials and European allies are now incensed at Trump. In an interview with the Financial Times, Zelensky said Ukraine would restart strikes on Russia’s oil refineries after a pause prompted by Trump’s declaration of an energy ceasefire. Ukraine’s difficulty in accessing the satellite terminals followed U.S. warnings that Trump could cut off intelligence support or military sales to Kyiv.

The latest tension between Trump and Zelensky started with a meeting in New York. Zelensky flew to the U.S. in mid-September for a United Nations summit – confident that a lot of things were going his way. Ukraine had blunted Russian advances on the battlefield and Zelensky had several positive meetings with Trump under his belt, including a chummy North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in July.

But at the meeting, Trump grilled Zelensky on why Ukraine was striking Russian oil refineries. While hitting such infrastructure is a crucial part of Ukraine’s strategy to hit Moscow where it hurts most, Ukraine’s successful drone campaign against Russia, however, has taken between 40% and 50% of the country’s refining network offline – pushng up energy prices.

Some Republican lawmakers have cheered on Trump’s deal with Russia as a reprieve for American consumers squeezed by high energy prices, while others have rebuked it as a misguided freebie for a Russian leader wholly uninterested in peace. Since Trump’s discussion with Zelensky, the U.S. has asked Ukraine a half dozen times to halt the strikes.

But Ukraine has continued to hit Russian oil refineries as Ukrainian officials argued that Moscow refused to agree to any energy truce. Trump increasingly soured on Zelensky as Ukrainian strikes continued. The president grew annoyed that Ukraine was using U.S. resources to target Russia’s energy exports in a way that he thought could hurt American consumers.

In early October, senior Ukrainian and European officials flew to Miami to meet with two top Trump aides in a bid to revive peace talks. The discussions on October 9, led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, were aimed at drafting new proposals to end the war that would be acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine.

But when Kushner and Witkoff revealed the president was considering the diesel deal with Russia, the Ukrainian and European officials were shocked. In the six-hour meeting, Kushner and Witkoff pushed the Ukrainians and Europeans to come up with a new package of proposals for Russia to end to the war. That same day, Trump held a 90-minute phone call with Putin, announcing the diesel deal shortly after hanging up.

Several angry Republican lawmakers called the White House after the announcement. They said the deal handed Russia a win without any concessions and went against a 2022 law that bars U.S. importing of Russian energy without prior congressional consultation. Trump declared on social media an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine anyway.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, told reporters – “The energy truce proposed by Trump was not specified in detail, so it cannot be claimed that Russia is failing to observe it.” When Russia carried out a massive strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure late on Tuesday evening, it launched 39 ballistic missiles and 120 attack drones against Kyiv and Kharkiv. 

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The post How Trump Weaponize Starshield To Punish Disobedient Zelensky first appeared on FinanceTwitter.

In fact, the “drama prince” personally assured Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian back in January 2026 in a phone call that the kingdom respects Iran’s sovereignty and opposes using its territory for strikes. However, Tehran was not born yesterday and knew that the Saudi Crown Prince has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to intensify and continue the war against Iran.

It’s not hard for MBS to see that the U.S.–Israeli military campaign was a “historic opportunity” to dismantle Iran’s hardline government, remove a long-term regional threat, and potentially target critical energy infrastructure like Kharg Island. After all, the modern rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia is a geopolitical and sectarian power struggle that began since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Mohammed bin Salman started the year on a high note. He had just visited the White House where he was embraced by President Trump. Even after the war with Iran kicked off, Saudi Arabia looked relatively well positioned. It could export oil through a pipeline that bypassed the blocked Strait of Hormuz. MBS seriously believed Saudi could escape unscathed whilst watching with popcorn as U.S.–Israeli bombed Iran to oblivion.

But his fantasy was crushed on Saturday (Oct 10) when at least one Houthi missile slammed into the Saudi capital’s international airport, killing at least 13 people and injuring hundreds more, many seriously. It was the single deadliest attack on the U.S. or its Gulf allies in the Iraa War. A 28-year-old Egyptian flight attendant bled to death after her arm was blown off, one of several victims to lose limbs.

Worse, two terminals were struck and their roofs partially collapsed. Video showed passengers rolling suitcases past a trail of blood on the floor as the airport was evacuated. Authorities reported more attacks on the closed airport on Sunday, saying a projectile caused a fire in Terminal 4 and led to one death as well as injuries.

The attacks by the Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group, were the biggest escalation yet in their campaign ⁠against Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in recent weeks. Though the violence might appear at first sight to be restricted to the Arabian Peninsula, it could have global consequences, pushing up fuel prices and so international inflation.

The Houthis initially stayed on the sidelines of the conflict launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran earlier this year. As recently as this summer, Saudi officials briefed journalists that the Houthi situation was under control. But last month, the Islamist militia movement seized control of key territory and gained virtual control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The Yemeni government forces and local allies began a major counteroffensive last week to drive back the Houthis from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which dominates the Red Sea, a critical shipping route for oil and gas exports from the region, whilst also hit other Houthi positions. Saudi Arabia is in the Houthis’ crosshairs because it supports Yemen’s UN-backed government and its forces. 

Before the attacks on Saudi airports, the Houthis have already hit energy facilities – including the kingdom’s main east-west pipeline and refineries – showing the growing threat along the southern border. The Houthis’ timing is partly opportunistic but largely strategic as Iran is using its proxy to attack high-profile targets in the kingdom such as oil infrastructure and the capital’s airport to send a message.

The new threat from the Houthis to the Red Sea and to Saudi Arabia highlights the massive leverage Tehran and its allies can exert on global oil and gas supplies, countering recent US pressure in bold move on the conflict’s chessboard. Not only does it trigger massive disruptions to Saudi civil aviation in years, but it also is forcing airlines across Europe and Asia to suspend services.

Businesses in Riyadh’s financial hub have told employees to work remotely, authorities in Riyadh have asked schools to switch to online classes this week, and top energy executives were ⁠dropped from the schedule of a high-profile conference this week in the capital. The costs of the war have already widened the budget deficit and threaten to push the economy into contraction.

How Prince Mohammed handles this test will have consequences that stretch well beyond the kingdom. Saudi Arabia is a major source of funding for the global tech industry and artificial intelligence projects. It is also a crucial provider of basing and overflight rights to the U.S. military. Trump told reporters over the weekend that the U.S. was in communication with the Houthis, but might join Saudi strikes on the militant group.

Saudi Arabia has invested enormous sums in its military – the kingdom is the world’s eighth biggest spender on weapons – but Houthi attacks are very hard to stop. “Saudi air defences have been able to intercept some Houthi missile and drone attacks, but Saudi Arabia is so large that it’s simply impossible for them to consistently defend themselves,” – said Thomas Juneau, a security analyst at the University of Ottawa.

To make matters worse, Saudi officials said they are running low on interceptors needed to fend off further strikes. Intensifying attacks on Riyadh, which is 500 or more miles from Houthi territory in Yemen, have transformed parts of the Saudi capital into a battle zone, with residents taking cover as explosions ring out across the city.

Reprisals against the Houthis and efforts to pre-emptively destroy the movement’s offensive capabilities are not easy either. The U.S. bombardment in 2025 showed how hard it is to destroy the militia’s capabilities, which have been much enhanced over recent years, in part through Iranian advice and investment. Whether Trump has the appetite to fight the Houthis on behalf of Saudi is a huge question mark.

A month ago, the Saudi Crown Prince called President Trump twice, urging him to launch strikes against the Houthis as the Iran-backed group closed in on a vital Red Sea chokepoint and attacked Saudi tankers there. However, Trump had declined, trying to avoid direct military involvement – even after the Houthis had taken control of a key island in the strait.

Saudi Arabia’s request last month (September) for direct U.S. military action marks a sharp reversal from July, when Riyadh told Washington it could handle the Houthis on its own. When the Saudis failed, it began seeking increasing levels of U.S. support. But Trump’s priority is to keep American forces focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz – and avoid opening another front.

Now, the 41-year-old crown prince is shuttling between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers and is guarded by a handpicked security team. The Saudi leader has few good options. Any military response risks getting drawn in deeper to an asymmetric conflict in which the Houthis have shown they have the ability to inflict significant and symbolic damage.

MBS has plowed funds over the past decade into a slate of ambitious mega projects with extraordinarily complex engineering requirements aimed at signaling the kingdom’s modernization and drawing investment and tourism. They include the futuristic city of NEOM, an enormous cube-shaped building in Riyadh, and a desert ski resort. 

The total cost ran to the trillions of dollars, aggressive for a government with an annual budget of around US$350 billion. The costs and economic damage of war with Iran are making that already implausible math impossible to balance. Foreign investment fell in the first two quarters of the year and is running well behind the crown prince’s 2030 target. 

Rising defense and infrastructure costs threaten to siphon away money needed for the economic diversification drive. Even the kingdom’s push to become an AI hub now carries new risks, with data centers emerging as targets. Many of the enormous projects spearheaded by Prince Mohammed are stalled or under review. 

In January, Saudi Arabia gave up on plans to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. It still has to find a way to fund the World Expo in 2030 and the soccer World Cup four years later. The Saudi Finance Ministry now expects GDP to shrink by 3.6% in 2026. The kingdom was able earlier in the year to pump oil across the desert to the Red Sea to escape Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. 

But in July, the Houthis announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, putting Red Sea shipping at risk. In September, an attack on the East-West pipeline struck at the kingdom’s main escape route from Hormuz. Then the militants took aim at Saudi aviation, putting pressure on another pillar of the economy. The Houthis have hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh at least four times.

The new outbreak of violence came as Prince Mohammed was working to contain the confrontation with Iran. While supportive of continued economic pressure on Iran, the crown prince was telling his advisers to keep the diplomatic channel open with Iran and make clear the kingdom’s intentions weren’t confrontational. The kingdom has even called for help from its military ally Pakistan.

Yet, Tehran is quietly using the Houthis to screw MBS, who is now facing an economy weakened by heavy spending and miscalculations of the Houthi threat. So much fortelling President Trump that Washington should pursue diplomatic solutions and avoid massive strikeson Iran that could trigger a wider regional war. He has miscalculated and underestimated both the Houthis and Iran.

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The post Airport Attacks – How Iran-Proxy Houthis Screws Saudi Crown Prince first appeared on FinanceTwitter.