‼️ 🇲🇾 Hamzah Zainudin, a veteran political operator who helped propel two Malaysian prime ministers to power, is seeking to unite PAS and UMNO—the country’s two largest Malay-Muslim parties—through his new Parti Wawasan Negara. Backed by PAS, Hamzah has become parliamentary opposition leader and aims to build a bloc that could destabilize Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s UMNO-backed coalition and emerge as a powerful force ahead of elections due by early 2028.
‼️ 🧠 Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) on Wednesday launched Muse Charm, a palm-sized, 5G-enabled device with a small screen that lets users interact with its Muse AI agent without a phone, set to go on sale by December, alongside new smart glasses models including a camera-less version. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Muse could help generate financial returns for users, noting Meta will keep the agent free for a “huge number of tokens” while planning to introduce a “small” transaction fee.
Alpha Binwani Capital: “The Houthis have gained unprecedented military autonomy by manufacturing weapons inside Yemen, with China-sourced equipment and parts fueling this expansion of their military-industrial complex, according to Yemeni officials, intelligence sources, shipping experts, UN reports, and customs data reviewed alongside recent seizures. Because most components are dual-use, the shipments skirt the UN arms embargo on the Houthis, and there’s no evidence the Chinese suppliers knew the final destination. The development raises the risk of a Houthi blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb, which—layered on existing Iran-US disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz—could further choke Red Sea traffic carrying roughly 12% of global seaborne trade”
‼️ 🏦 Federal funds futures now imply a 70.9% probability that the Fed will hike rates 25 basis points to 4.00%–4.25% at its Oct. 28 meeting, up sharply from 55.4% just a day earlier, as hawkish central bank commentary and fresh inflationary pressures pushed Treasury yields to new multi-year highs on Wednesday.
‼️ Fed Governor Michael Barr said Wednesday that further interest rate hikes will likely be needed, as inflation remains above the 2% target with risks to that goal rising even as labor market risks have eased; despite strong growth and a solid job market, he stressed that price stability is essential to sustaining durable, maximum-employment growth.