In An Act Of Boycott, Malaysia Makes Its Own ‘McDonald’s’

Police officers stand guard following the attack on a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, December 15, 2025. REUTERS/Flavio Brancaleone

A Sydney fruit shop owner who wrestled a gun from one of the alleged attackers during the mass shooting at Bondi Beach is recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery for bullet wounds to his arm and hand, his family said.

Forty-three-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed was identified on social media as the bystander who hid behind parked cars before charging at the gunman from behind, seizing his rifle and knocking him to the ground.

Australian police on Monday said a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son carried out the attack at a Jewish celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday afternoon, killing 15 people in the country's worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.

Ahmed's cousin Mustafa told 7News Australia that doctors had informed the family that Ahmed was stable following surgery.

"He is a hero, he is a hundred percent hero," Mustafa said.

"Still he is in the hospital and we don't know exactly what's going on inside ... but we hope he will be fine."

Tributes have poured in from leaders both abroad and at home.

U.S. President Donald Trump called Ahmed "a very, very brave person" who saved many lives. Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales state where Sydney is located, has hailed him "a genuine hero" and said the video was "the most unbelievable scene I've ever seen".

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for Ahmed with just over A$200,000 ($132,900) raised in a few hours. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman was the largest donor, contributing A$99,999 and sharing the fundraiser on his X account.

($1 = 1.5049 Australian dollars)

Source: Reuters

Oil was steady near the lowest level in almost two months as fears of a glut outweighed heightened geopolitical tensions.

Brent traded near $61 a barrel after closing at the lowest level since Oct. 20 on Friday, while West Texas Intermediate was below $58. Oil is set for an annual loss on expectations for a swelling surplus as OPEC+ and other producers pump more despite consumption growth remaining sluggish.

Still, geopolitical uncertainty has injected some risk premium into prices and kept oil from tumbling. Ukraine continues to attack Russian infrastructure, hitting a major refinery as well as an oil depot over the weekend. The US has dispatched envoys for another round of talks to try and end the war.

Elsewhere, Iran said it seized a foreign tanker in the Gulf of Oman it suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, while the US last week intercepted a vessel off Venezuela as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on the regime of Nicolas Maduro.

Oil trading activity is expected to be thin heading into the Christmas and New Year holidays, which will likely mean choppy trading.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

China and Saudi Arabia agreed to have closer communication and coordination on regional and international issues, with Beijing lauding Riyadh's role in Middle East diplomacy, statements following a meeting between the nations' foreign ministers on Sunday showed.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a three-nation tour in the Middle East that began in the United Arab Emirates and is expected to end in Jordan. He met with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in Riyadh on Sunday.

A joint statement published by China's official news agency Xinhua did not elaborate on what issues the countries will strengthen coordination on, but mentioned China's support for Saudi Arabia and Iran developing and enhancing their relations.

"(China) appreciates Saudi Arabia's leading role and efforts to achieve regional and international security and stability," the statement released on Monday said.

The statement also reiterated both countries' support for a "comprehensive and just settlement" of the Palestinian issue and the formation of an independent state for Palestinians.

At a high-level meeting, Wang told his Saudi counterpart that China has always regarded Saudi Arabia as a "priority for Middle East diplomacy" and an important partner in global diplomacy, a Chinese foreign ministry statement on Monday said.

He also encouraged more cooperation in energy and investments, as well as in the fields of new energy and green transformation.

The countries have agreed to mutually exempt visas for diplomatic and special passport holders from both sides, according to the joint statement.

Source: Theedgemarkets

The outcome reinforces market expectations the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will raise interest rates at its two-day policy meeting ending on Friday.

The headline index measuring big manufacturers' business confidence stood at +15 in December, the "tankan" survey showed, up from +14 in September and matching a median market forecast.

The reading, which marked the third straight quarter of improvement, was the highest since December 2021.

An index gauging big non-manufacturers' sentiment stood at +34 in December, unchanged from the September reading. It compared with a median market forecast for a reading of +35.

Big companies expect to increase capital expenditure by 12.6% in the current fiscal year ending in March 2026, the tankan showed, compared with a median market forecast for a 12% rise.

Japan's economy shrank in the three months to September as exports fell in the face of U.S. tariffs. But analysts expect growth to rebound in the current quarter, as exports and factory output show signs of recovery.

With inflation exceeding its 2% target for well over three years and price rises broadening, the BOJ is widely expected to keep interest rates to 0.75% from 0.5% this week.

Source: Reuters

Ukraine's offer to forgo joining the NATO military alliance probably will not significantly change the course of peace talks, two security experts said on Sunday.

During negotiations with U.S. envoys over a potential Ukraine-Russia peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday offered to drop Ukraine's NATO aspirations. Zelenskiy had said security guarantees from the United States, Europe and others instead of joining NATO was a compromise from Ukraine.

"This doesn't move the needle at all," said Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. "It's an effort to appear reasonable."

NATO membership for Ukraine has not been realistic in a long time anyway, said Logan and Andrew Michta, a professor of strategic studies at the University of Florida. Michta called Ukraine's NATO admittance a "non-issue" at this point.

There are other ways for nations to try ensuring Ukraine's security, Logan said. U.S. President Donald Trump, in response to Zelenskiy's offer, may commit to the same things the United States has already done to support Ukraine, such as sending weapons and sanctioning Russia, Logan said.

Not everyone dismissed Zelenskiy's offer.

Brett Bruen, a former foreign policy adviser in the Obama administration and now head of the Global Situation Room consultancy, called Ukraine's concession "significant and substantive."

"It's a way for Zelenskiy to contrast Ukraine's willingness for significant concessions for peace at a time when Moscow has been short on any significant concessions," Bruen said. "The question is what did Zelenskiy get in return for backing off a pretty ironclad promise to the Ukrainian people?"

Bruen speculated Trump may have promised to patrol Ukraine's skies or respond to aircraft incursions. The United States may also increase supplies of military aid if Russia were to re-launch a large-scale military offensive, he said.

"Ukraine has got to hedge bets on what Trump promises but they need more than a word," he said. "They need action, some element, that is going to ensure Trump can't easily wiggle out of these situations."

Source: Reuters

National Economic Council head Kevin Hassett said he'd consider President Donald Trump's policy opinions if picked to lead the Federal Reserve, but that the central bank's interest rate decisions would remain independent.

The president "has very strong and well-founded views about what we ought to do," Hassett, Trump's top economic adviser at the White House, said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation.

"But in the end, the job of the Fed is to be independent and to work with the group of people that are on the Board of Governors, the FOMC, to drive a group consensus on where interest rates should be," he said.

Hassett was responding to questions about Trump's comment Friday that he should be able to make recommendations on rates set by the Fed.

Trump and senior advisers have pressed Fed Chair Jay Powell to lower rates for months — while also weighing his choice to replace Powell, whose term at the helm of the Fed ends in May.

Hassett is seen as the frontrunner for the post, though Trump also met last week with former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. The president named the two men as his top choices to the lead the Fed in a Wall Street Journal interview on Friday.

"We'll soon have a good head of the Fed who's going to want to see interest rates go down," the president said during a holiday reception at the White House on Sunday. "But we're fighting through higher interest rates."

Hassett sought to suggest on Sunday that Trump is one of many experts that can fairly be consulted, even if he ultimately offers only advice.

Even as Fed chair, "I would be happy to talk with the president every day until both of us are dead because it's so much fun to talk" with him, Hassett told CBS.

He rebuffed the notion that the president's voice would have equal weight to voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, however, saying the policymakers would be free to reject his opinion and "vote in a different way."

"No, no, he would have no weight," Hassett said. "It's just, his opinion matters if it's good, if it's based on data."

Source: Bloomberg Europe