The Persistent Kedah Claim to Penang

In Malaysia, Kedah's pugnacious Menteri Besar, Muhammad Sanusi Nor (right), is still going on, tak habih habih about how Penang belongs to Kedah. 

His big, brash argument? Back in 1791, the British "leased" the island from Kedah. 

He says his claim is totally different from the old Sulu Sultanate's failed attempt to claim Sabah. Why? Because Kedah's sultanate still exists and he's doing everything "according to the law". 

Meanwhile, Chow Kon Yeow (left), Penang's Chief Minister basically said: "Look, the Sulu heirs tried the same historical claim thing with Sabah and failed. The constitution matters more than old stories". 

But Sanusi ain't giving up! He's already got lawyers working on the case. They'll have all the documents ready in three to four months. (Hmm, I thought he already got everything siap sedia before he first made this absurd assertion in June 2023?) 

While Sanusi is busy daydreaming about taking Penang, maybe he should spend that time actually developing his own state! Just a thought. It's like that kid in class who doesn't study but spends all his time scheming how to steal someone else's homework. In the real world, success comes from hard work – not from cooking up wild claims about your neighbour's property. But hey, lawyers gotta cari makan too, right? 😉

Liverpool hosted Newcastle United yesterday as they aimed to take their strong Champions League form back into the Premier League.

And they did. The former overcame the latter 4-1, their first league win of 2026! For sure, a big win for Liverpool! 

The Magpies struck the first blow in the thirty-sixth minute. A short-lived head start though because Hugo Ekitike sprinkled some magic dust on himself and produced a brilliant brace, 41st and 43rd minutes to turn his team's fortunes around. 

It was Florian Wirtz who created the equaliser as he danced through a crowd of black-and-white shirts before cutting the ball across to Ekitike, who finished clinically first time at the near post. And the Frenchman wasn't done yet. He latched onto Milos Kerkez’s pass down the left channel, drove into the box and fired past the goalie into the bottom corner to put Liverpool ahead. 

The third goal came when the Reds won the ball on the halfway line, surged forward and Wirtz played it wide to Mohamed Salah who then drove it back for Wirtz to send a pinpoint shot in off the far post in the 67th minute. 

And the fourth was when Ibrahima Konaté prodded home after the opposing goalkeeper dropped a Dominik Szoboszlai corner in stoppage time.