Malaysia Edition: Price hikes on hold amid tariff fears
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Malaysia is delaying price hikes as it grapples with US President Donald Trump's tariffs that threaten to trigger a global economic slowdown. This includes revising plans to cut subsidies for RON95 petrol – the fuel most commonly used by Malaysian motorists – and postponing a planned expansion of the sales and services tax.
On top of tariffs and price hikes, local business owners are also concerned about a plan by Malaysia and China to extend a mutual visa-free scheme from 30 days to 90 days. They fear that the influx of mainland Chinese will lead to people working illegally while on tourist visas.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur is doing its best to get on Washington's good side, announcing on Monday an immediate change of rules to curb false labelling of transhipped items.
Follow ST's coverage as we continue to bring you the latest developments.
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Straits Times
8 minutes ago
- Straits Times
World leaders react to US attack on Iran
Patrons of the Chapel Street Cafe watch as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation following U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. June 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez The reaction of world leaders after U.S. forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday Iran time ranged from Israel lauding President Donald Trump's decision to the U.N. calling for de-escalation and some countries condemning the attacks. ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, RECORDED STATEMENT: "Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history... History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime the world's most dangerous weapons." U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES, STATEMENT "I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security. There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world. I call on Member States to de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law. At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos. There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace." VENEZUELA FOREIGN MINISTER YVAN GIL, ON TELEGRAM: "Venezuela Condemns U.S. Military Aggression Against Iran and Demands an Immediate Cessation of Hostilities. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela firmly and categorically condemns the bombing carried out by the United States military, at the request of the State of Israel, against nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan complexes." MEXICO FOREIGN MINISTRY, ON X: "The ministry urgently calls for diplomatic dialogue for peace between the parties involved in the Middle East conflict. In keeping with our constitutional principles of foreign policy and our country's pacifist conviction, we reiterate our call to de-escalate tensions in the region. The restoration of peaceful coexistence among the states of the region is the highest priority." CUBA PRESIDENT MIGUEL DIAZ-CANEL, ON X: "We strongly condemn the US bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The aggression seriously violates the UN Charter and international law and plunges humanity into a crisis with irreversible consequences." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
27 minutes ago
- Straits Times
As Iran and Israel battle, the rest of the Mideast fears what's next
On June 21, President Donald Trump granted Israel's request that the United States intervene by having US forces attack three nuclear sites in Iran. PHOTO: AFP As Iran and Israel battle, the rest of the Mideast fears what's next Follow our live coverage here. ISTANBUL – Across a swath of the Middle East, fighter jets and missiles regularly streak across the sky. The newest war in the region, this time between Israel and Iran, has once again put millions of people in the crossfire of a conflict that they want nothing to do with. The war has embroiled two well-armed, long-time enemies who are ethnic and political outliers in the region but whose fight, many of their neighbors worry, could swiftly spill beyond their borders. 'We are constantly afraid, and the psychological toll has been heavy,' said Ms Rawan Muhaidat, 28, a mother of two in the town of Kafr Asad in northern Jordan. The sight of Iranian missiles overhead, and the booms of air defences shooting them down before they reach Israel, have terrified her children, who cower between her and her husband as they worry that their home could be struck. 'Every time a rocket passes and explodes, we think, 'This is the one,'' Ms Muhaidat said. On June 21 , President Donald Trump granted Israel's request that the United States intervene by having US forces attack three nuclear sites in Iran, he said, including a nuclear enrichment facility buried deep underground. Such a move, experts say, could push Iran to retaliate against US military bases or allies across the Middle East, or to activate proxy forces, like the Houthis in Yemen, to snarl trade routes or damage oil infrastructure, harming the global economy. 'We're opening a Pandora's box,' Dr Narges Bajoghli, an associate professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University, said before Mr Trump's announcement. 'Iran is not going to raise the white flag of surrender.' The war highlights how significantly the power structure across the Middle East has shifted in recent years. Just over a half-decade ago, Israel largely focused on its conflict with the Palestinians while waging a shadow war with Iran through occasional assassinations and other covert attacks. But it avoided direct confrontation, partly for fear of retaliation from the network of militias that Iran supported in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. At that time, most Arab countries shunned Israel, a Jewish-majority democracy, for its treatment of the Palestinians, and many resented the predominantly Persian Iran for what they considered its destructive meddling in the Arab world. But a few Arab states began to see Israel as a potential partner in dealing with their own concerns about Iran and established formal diplomatic relations. That picture has now changed. The deadly surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in October 2023 heightened Israel's sense of vulnerability, and the country has become increasingly aggressive in striking out against perceived threats far beyond its borders. For Iran, the wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and the ouster last year of President Bashar Assad of Syria, decimated its regional proxy network and left it even more isolated. Powerful Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, pursued their own diplomatic tracks with Tehran to decrease tensions. Now they also hope to avoid a war in their neighbourhood that could put them in the crosshairs because of their partnerships with the United States. The current conflict began June 13, at a bad time for the international institutions that were established to try to contain such hostilities. Israel's war in Gaza, which began after Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack, has killed more than 50,000 people and caused widespread destruction and hunger in Gaza. Few seem to expect that the warring parties in the new conflict will be held accountable for killing civilians or striking hospitals, as Israel has done repeatedly in Gaza – sometimes because Hamas has built tunnels beneath them – and as Iran did in Israel on June 19 . Expectations are low that action by the UN Security Council will stop the war, not least because the United States would almost certainly veto any measure that called for its end. And Iran's foreign minister, Mr Abbas Araghchi, told senior European officials during talks in Geneva on June 20 that Iran would not negotiate under fire. Mr Trump dismissed the European efforts anyway, saying, 'Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us.' The lack of international action to stop the war has left Mr Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel free to proceed as they choose, Dr Bajoghli said. 'We're entering a new international era, a new world order, and it seems to in some ways be an old world order of force and the law of the jungle, but with 21st-century technology and weaponry,' she said. Israel initiated the war with a multi-pronged surprise attack that damaged Iranian military and nuclear sites, largely destroyed air defences and killed top nuclear scientists and military officials in their homes, as well as a number of civilians. Iran has responded by firing barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel, some of which have struck civilian apartment towers. At least 224 people have been killed in Iran and 24 in Israel. Mr Netanyahu has said that Israel launched the attack to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, which Israel would consider an existential threat. He has also suggested the more expansive goals of regional transformation and regime change. 'We are changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself,' he said on June 16 . Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran has not decided to seek a nuclear weapon, although that could change if the United States bombs Iran's underground enrichment facility in Fordo or if Israel kills Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. For his part, Ayatollah Khamenei has threatened to retaliate if the United States strikes Iran. 'The harm the US will suffer will definitely be irreparable if they enter this conflict militarily,' he said in a televised address on June 18 . The war is hugely unwelcome in the rest of the Middle East, where other governments would prefer to put the region's conflicts behind them so they can rebuild what has been destroyed and focus on strengthening their economies. There is little affinity for either of the warring parties. Most Arab states shun Israel, and even governments that have established diplomatic relations with it have condemned how it has fought in Gaza and its attack on Iran. But that does not mean they support Iran. In a predominantly Sunni Muslim region, most Arab governments see Iran's revolutionary Shiite theocracy as anathema, and many people in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere resent Iran's interventions in their countries. Many Middle East leaders have complicated reactions to the war, said Dr Dina Esfandiary, the lead Middle East analyst at Bloomberg Economics, a research group. 'Officials in the region are quietly glad that Iran's top brass is being taken out bit by bit, that Iranian proxies and their leaderships are being taken out bit by bit,' she said. 'That, from their perspective, gets rid of one of the real threats in the region for them.' But many also fear an expanded role in the Middle East for Israel, she added, given the tremendous military and diplomatic support it receives from the United States. That leaves other countries wondering, she said, 'Where is Israel going to go next?' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
US forces bomb Iran nuclear sites, Trump says Fordow gone
WASHINGTON: US forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a "very successful attack", President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Jun 21), adding that the crown jewel of Tehran's nuclear program, Fordow, is gone. After days of deliberation, Trump's decision to join Israel's military campaign against its major rival Iran represents a major escalation of the conflict. "All planes are safely on their way home," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, and he congratulated "our great American Warriors." He was due to deliver a televised Oval Office address at 10pm local time (10am Singapore time, Sunday). CBS News reported that the US reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the US plans and that regime change efforts are not planned. Trump said US forces struck Iran's three principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Esfahan and Fordow. He told Fox News six bunker buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites. US B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," Trump posted. "Fordow is gone." "IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR," he added. Reuters had reported earlier on Saturday the movement of the B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry massive bombs that experts say would be needed to strike Fordow, which is buried under a mountain. An Iranian official, cited by Tasnim news agency, confirmed that part of the Fordow site was attacked by "enemy airstrikes". Israel's public broadcaster Kan cited an Israeli official saying the country was "in full coordination" with Washington on the US attack. A White House official said Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the strikes. The strikes came as Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat that has resulted in deaths and injuries in both countries. Israel launched the attacks on Iran, saying that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Diplomatic efforts by Western nations to stop the hostilities have been unsuccessful. In recent days, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have argued that Trump must receive permission from the US Congress before committing the US military to any combat against Iran. Israeli military officials said earlier on Saturday that they had completed another series of strikes in southwestern Iran, having targeted dozens of military targets. Israel launched attacks on Jun 13, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies. At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the health ministry. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed by Iranian missile attacks, according to local authorities, in the worst conflict between the longtime enemies. More than 450 Iranian missiles have been fired towards Israel, according to the Israeli prime minister's office.
