Babies Are Special Targets of Israeli killings

The attacks by Israel on Gaza show a targeted annihilation of newborns and infants that should be punished, the head of a UN panel that probed the excesses determined. 

The violence unleashed by Israeli forces was “unjustified and disproportionate… in considerable terms”, Justice S Muralidhar, the chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, said in an exclusive interview on Tuesday when he presented his findings.

The Gaza war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 07, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Israel’s subsequent military operation devastated much of Gaza, killing over 73,000 Palestinians and injuring more than 173,000, according to the local health authorities. 

Citing a pattern of targeted attacks on children, Muralidhar (left) pointed out: “When you shoot a 10-day-old baby breastfeeding on his mother... through his head, you can by no means label such a baby as an enemy of the State of Israel and justify these kinds of attacks”. 

He drew attention to the fact that Israeli quadcopters with thermal imaging cameras can clearly distinguish a child from an adult. 

That children were being singled out for callous murder is clear from the number of “instances of babies with gunshot wounds to their head and neck to cause maximum damage”. Babies were aimed at with “tiny cube-shaped pellets” that “spread like a cluster of ammunition and destroy all the internal organs”.  

“So it became very clear… that babies were special targets”, Muralidhar, who once served as chief justice at the high court in India's state of Odisha, disclosed. 

The pattern clearly emerged from the totality of the evidence, including forensic and medical records.

Israel carried out airstrikes on the most densely populated areas, knowing that children would constitute a sizable proportion of the population, he noted, stating: “The demolition of the hospitals is [done] with patients still... in the hospital”. 

Muralidhar revealed that “one of the elements of genocide is to prevent childbirths”, claiming that for Israeli forces, “mothers who are pregnant are targets, and they are denied any nutritious intake, so the mothers are malnourished”. 

Not only hospitals but orphanages too and the report cited over 58,000 parentless children in just two years. 

Muralidhar lamented the failure of all UN member states to prevail upon Israel to comply with the three Gaza orders of the International Court of Justice, to address the prevention of genocide and the protection of civilians in Gaza as per the ⁠Genocide Convention. 

Well, that's the UN for you, all talk and no action! 😡😡😡

Lebanon, Syria, Gaza: The Forever Occupation

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated on Wednesday his country will keep its troops in occupied areas of Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza indefinitely. 

“Our policy for defending the borders of the State of Israel... is clear”, Katz said, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “The IDF will not withdraw and will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza for an unlimited period of time”. 

Katz also renewed an earlier warning to Iran, saying it would be struck with “full force” if it retaliated over Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon. 

The warning echoed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent pledge that Israel’s pursuit of “total victory” over Iran and its allied groups “never ends”. 

Tehran has made an end to Israeli military operations in Lebanon one of its key conditions in the ongoing peace talks with the US. 

If you must know, in recent months, the IDF have pushed deeper into southern Lebanon, establishing what Israeli officials describe as a security buffer zone. According to media reports, by June, Israeli forces controlled roughly 2,000 square kilometers of Lebanese territory – nearly one-fifth of the country.

Let me repeat here that Iran's decision to sign the MOU and pursue (indirect) "negotiations" is WRONG! 😡😡😡

The 'Cancel ChatGPT' Trend

If you do not already know, the US and other militaries increasingly deploy AI as part of their arsenals. 

Israel’s military have used drones with autonomous capabilities in Gaza and have extensively used AI to fill their targeting bank in Gaza. The US military used AI targeting for strikes in Iraq and Syria in recent years. 

Claude, the AI model developed by Anthropic, was used by the US military during their operation to kidnap Nicolás Maduro and wife from Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal had revealed on February 14. The US raid on Venezuela involved bombing across the capital, Caracas, and the killing of 83 people, according to Venezuela’s defence ministry. 

Anthropic’s terms of use prohibit the use of Claude for violent ends, for the development of weapons or for conducting surveillance. 

AI companies have grappled with how their technologies should engage with the defence sector, with Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei (right), calling for regulation to prevent harms from the deployment of AI. Amodei has also expressed wariness over the use of AI in autonomous lethal operations and surveillance in the US. 

This more cautious stance has apparently rankled the US defence department, with the secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, saying in January that the department wouldn’t “employ AI models that won’t allow you to fight wars”.

Anthropic wanted safeguards in place but the the Department of War weren't agreeable. 

Enter OpenAI: the company swooped in to sign a deal with the US military, claiming they have "more guardrails" than the one Anthropic rejected, including around mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, with "red lines" that OpenAI plan to enforce going forward. 

But ChatGPT users are far from happy about it. They aren't at all convinced – especially when it comes to the "all lawful purposes" language used in the deal, which was announced on February 27.

And a growing number of people are canceling their ChatGPT subscriptions and switching to other AI chatbots instead, including Claude. A quick browse of social media or Reddit is enough to see that there's an escalating backlash to the move. 

Some Redditors are posting guides to extracting yourself and your data from ChatGPT, while others are accusing OpenAI of having "no ethics at all" and "selling their soul" by agreeing to allow their AI models to be used by the US military complex. 

I reckon this is a debate that's going to run and run, but in the meantime, Anthropic's Claude overtook OpenAI's ChatGPT to hit No. 1 on the App Store. As per Business Insider on March 01, 2026.

Punch the Monkey and Selective Empathy

An abandoned baby monkey broke millions of hearts online, after being spotted hugging an orangutan stuffed toy given to him as a substitute for his mother. 

Not only that but over the long holiday weekend in Japan, fans queued for up to an hour to catch a glimpse of him, the Ichikawa City Zoo said in a post on X, with more than 5,000 visitors recorded Monday.

Punch (his full name is Punch-kun), the young Japanese macaque (Scientific name: Macaca fuscata) at the zoo, became everybody's favorite after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week. And he was seen dragging around and playing with the soft toy that zookeepers gave him. 

Without maternal guidance to help him integrate, Punch turned to the plushie for comfort.

At the same time, there's a post by "KHAN Speaks" on Facebook that surely must make us ponder and reflect: 

A monkey moves you. 
But a massacred child doesn’t – 
Because the media didn’t tell you to feel. 

The whole world is crying today. 
Tears everywhere. 
Broken hearts. 
Because a monkey lost its toy. 

Celebrities shared it. 
Media pushed it. 
People wrote essays on humanity. 

But tell me – 
Where were these tears when Gaza’s children lost their parents? 
Where was this heartbreak when tiny bodies were pulled out from rubble? 

When a child hugged the dead body of a mother – not a toy? 
Suddenly the world went silent. 

No hashtags. 
No profile picture filters. 
No viral empathy.

This is hypocrisy. 
This is selective empathy. 

Empathy that wakes up only when it’s comfortable. 
When it doesn’t question power. 
When it doesn’t expose crimes. 
When it doesn’t cost anything. 

Remember this: 

Empathy that chooses sides is not humanity. 
It’s conditioning. 
And history will remember who cried for toys and who ignored children buried under bombs.

😢😢😢

We really do have to ask ourselves the hard questions!

Israel's Genocide in Gaza Continues

The cold-blooded murders won't stop! 😡😡😡

And the Israeli genocide in Gaza cheerfully continues! 😡😡😡

HELL ON EARTH! 😡😡😡

And Israel’s genocide in Gaza left more than 39,000 children without parents.

A flagitious fact is that Alaa al-Din al-Aklouk, spokesperson for the National Committee for Missing Persons, had made the appallingly atrocious attestation last November that Gaza has become “the world’s largest graveyard”.

In bloodied Gaza, agony and anguish are ever present, ceasefire or no ceasefire! 😭😭😭

Nobody can ever imagine what Gazans suffer! 😭😭😭

And daily, their deaths multiply! 😭😭😭

Kaja Kallas Says It’s Time for Booze

EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas has privately suggested that the state of the world might make it a “good moment” to start boozing, Politico reported on Wednesday. 

The comment comes as Kallas faces direct calls to step down over her handling of the bloc’s foreign policy. 

The Estonian reportedly made the remark during an informal discussion with leaders of political groups in the European Parliament, according to Politico which cited two people who were present. According to the sources, Kallas (right) said that even as a teetotaller, the current global situation could justify starting. Poor woman, methinks, it's an open admission of personal stress.

Her ‘joke’ comes amid heightened tensions across the globe, including US threats towards Denmark's Greenland, Iran and Venezuela, the ongoing Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, and mounting criticism of Brussels from within the EU. 

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (left) stated last week that “we must replace the European Union’s High Representative for Policy, Ms. Kallas”, arguing that the bloc is in an unprecedented crisis and that the leadership is incapable of solving problems, knowing only how to “hate Russia”.

Meanwhile, some Western European leaders were recently caught up in a drug-abuse controversy after a video went viral in May supposedly showing French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with objects speculated to be drug paraphernalia during a train journey to Kiev, Ukraine. 

Macron’s office have vehemently denied the claims, stating the object in question was a tissue and calling the story “disinformation” spread by “France’s enemies”. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, however, suggested at the time that if the suspected objects were indeed drug-related, it would explain “a lot of recent ideas and proposals” coming from Kiev’s European backers. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also commented on the footage stating that it “opened the veil of the stinking Sabbath” of Western politics, adding that “the fate of Europe is decided in every sense by drug addict placeholders”. She also recalled a Western ambassador telling her in 2022 that it was “normal” to take drugs in the EU and that many Western leaders used cocaine.

Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan's defensive frailties once again came into focus as the world No. 2 were clearly outplayed by Japan's Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in the semi-finals of the India Open today. 

The Malaysians fell 21-16, 21-13 to the world No. 6 Japanese as Yuki-Mayu's attacking exposed gaps at the backcourt. 

Thinaah admitted that they struggled to cope with their opponents' pace and intensity, particularly during rallies. Despite producing flashes of quality, the duo were often forced into passive positions, allowing Yuki-Mayu to dictate play with sharp angles and quick interceptions at the net. 

The Malaysians' next mission is the Indonesia Masters next week.

Harbin Has the World's Biggest Snowman

The world’s biggest snowman standing 62 feet (19 meters) tall dwarfs a city in northeastern China after an 11-day construction effort by 164 workers. 

The smiling icy giant in Harbin required 124,000 cubic feet (3,500 cubic meters) of snow and took 64 sculptors plus 100 construction workers to build, with help from snow-making machines. It was completed on December 16th.

The entire build was livestreamed for global audiences. The six-story snowman has become a star attraction each winter since making its debut in 2019. 

Last winter, nearly 100 million tourists visited Harbin during the holidays, generating more than $19 billion. 

The city is also home to the world’s largest seasonal Ice and Snow World theme park, which opened December 17.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, lashed out at the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, calling Francesca Albanese a "witch" after she presented her latest report “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime”, before the UN General Assembly on October 28, 2025.

Albanese responded: “If I had the power to make spells, I would use it not for vengeance. I would use it to stop your crimes once and for all”!

The 24-page report exposed the complicity of states in enabling Israel’s livestreamed genocide against Palestinians. It asserted that countries facilitating Israel and shielding it from accountability have enabled Tel Aviv to “embed its regime of settler-colonial apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territory”. It added that the Gaza genocide needs to be understood as an “internationally enabled crime”.

Sixty-three countries were complicit in enabling Israel's actions through various forms of support, including military, diplomatic, and economic ties. 

The United States was cast in the lead role. Other countries include: United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Czechia, Romania, Slovenia, Austria, Greece, Poland, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland and others.

Don't Shop at Lush Unless You Support Gaza

Mark Constantine, co-founder of Lush – a UK cosmetics company known for making and selling fresh, handmade beauty products (like bath bombs, soaps, shampoos) with a strong ethical stance, focusing on natural ingredients, fighting animal testing, and reducing packaging (selling products "naked") – stated that individuals who disagree with his views, particularly on issues like Gaza, should not purchase products from his stores. 

He explained that he uses company profits to further his causes and believes in being kind, sympathetic, and compassionate, suggesting those who are 'unkind to others' would not get along with him. 

Earlier this year, Lush shut all their UK stores and closed their website for a day in solidarity with people in Gaza, displaying messages like "Stop starving Gaza, we are closed in solidarity". 

Constantine affirmed that customers should indeed avoid shopping at Lush if they oppose his stance, as their money would support his actions.

There is a huge appetite for Malaysian durians in China!

On December 18, a 1,500kg shipment of Malaysian durians sold out in just one hour at a supermarket in Hainan province. 

The sale launched at 12:00 PM at Wanghao Supermarket in Haikou’s Longhua District attracting hundreds of shoppers who had queued for hours. All varieties including Musang King, Black Thorn, Red Prawn, D101, and D13 all were sold out by 01:00 PM. According to a report from HAINAN.NET, some customers waited in lines spanning tens of meters for up to two hours. 

This event coincided with the first day of the Hainan Free Trade Port’s full customs clearance, which now permits duty-free imports. These durians were harvested in Malaysia and flown overnight from Kuala Lumpur to Haikou to ensure freshness. 

Due to the zero-tariff policy, prices were approximately half the usual market rate, ranging from ¥78 to ¥98 (approximately RM45-RM56) per 500g.

FIFA Peace Prize Made Specially for Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has become the first ever recipient of FIFA's new peace prize at the gaudy and gauche 2026 World Cup draw – a compensatory gift for an ego-bloated leader whose dream of winning the Nobel remains unfulfilled. 

Gianni Infantino, the head of world football's governing body and a close ally of Trump, presented the 79-year-old with the award during the ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Friday. 

The narration to sing praises for Trump ran through the dodgy list of eight conflicts that Trump claims to have settled during his 10 months in office. It did not mention his extrajudicial killing of dozens of unnamed, untried people on small boats in the Caribbean, nor his loud threats to attack Venezuela. Any chance of VAR on this decision?

The audience who were present was treated to slow-motion video of Trump at the Gaza peace summit – which, in case you didn't know, the killings continue unabated, Trump meeting the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, Trump signing the Abraham accords, Trump with the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda – and of Infantino giving him a thumbs-up like a proud football dad. 

"Thank you very much. This is truly one of the great honours of my life", Trump said with a self-satisfied smug. 

Infantino said Trump won the award for "exceptional and extraordinary" actions to promote peace and unity around the world. 😂😂😂

Once the convoluted draw had concluded, the event ended like a Trump rally with the Village People belting out "YMCA". The president happily got his prize and Infantino got his man.

FIFA announced the annual prize in November, saying they would recognise people who bring "hope for future generations". Of course, their inaugural recipient was hardly a surprise. 

This event has been described as a bizarre mishmash of light entertainment and international affairs, with a little football sprinkled in. In fact, The Athletic called the whole affair "FIFA's carnival of cringe"!

By now, the bewildered world knows Infantino has a tight relationship with Trump.  After all, football's head honcho has visited the White House more than any world leader since Trump's return to office in January. FIFA even opened a new office in Trump Tower in New York. 

The most logistically complex World Cup in history will be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19, with 16 more teams added to the global showpiece, up from the 32 nations involved in Qatar in 2022.

Donald Trump Puts Pressure on Norwegians

US President Donald Trump is pressuring the Norwegian government and the Nobel Committee in an unprecedented push for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Experts reportedly remain skeptical that the campaign will succeed, however. 

The Norwegian Nobel Committee are set to announce the Peace Prize winner on Friday. Analysts are doubtful that Trump will be selected, citing his domestic and international record, as well as the fact that the prize honors actions taken in 2024, when he had not yet taken office. 

“Putting pressure on the committee, going on talking about ‘I need the prize, I’m the worthy candidate’ – it’s not a very peaceful approach”, Nina Graeger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told FT. 

According to Norwegian officials, as cited by FT, Trump raised the issue in a call with Norwegian Finance Minister and former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. 

There is also concern in Oslo about potential retaliation, including tariffs or other punitive measures, if Trump is not selected, the newspaper noted. The controversy has reportedly been exacerbated in recent weeks after Norway’s sovereign wealth fund divested from US company Caterpillar due to their equipment being used by Israel in Gaza. 

Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan underlined their title credentials after cruising into the women's doubles quarter-finals of the Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, on Thursday. 

The world No. 2 were in ruthless form as they crushed Indonesia's Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari 21-17, 21-13 and extending their winning streak against the world No. 27 to three matches this season. 

The result kept the Malaysians firmly on track to defend their runners-up points from last year's edition, where they reached the final before falling to China's world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning.

An Insult To The United States

Donald Trump has suggested that denying him the Nobel Peace Prize would amount to an insult to the United States. 😂😂😂

The US president complained on Tuesday that he has repeatedly been overlooked for the award, even though he believes his record qualifies him. The president pointed to his latest 20-point Gaza peace plan, claiming it was the eighth conflict he has helped resolve in as many months. 

I can tell you here and now that his Middle East proposal ain't gonna work. It calls for Israel to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences, as well as 1,700 Palestinians detained since the start of the war, in exchange for Hamas freeing 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas members can be granted amnesty after that if they “commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons”. 

Israel will gradually withdraw from Gaza as a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF), led by Arab partners, takes over security in the battered territory, according to the arrangement. Meanwhile, a Palestinian committee, overseen by an international body dubbed the “Board of Peace”, will run Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority are ready to take over. 

The proposal claims to recognize the "aspiration" for a Palestinian state and tries to present a “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”.  

Straight away, we can see that the scheme swathed in hyperbolic language is both impractical and unrealistic. For sure, there won't be a buy-in. (Okay, except maybe the lackeys, lapdogs, and lickspittles!)

That aside, Trump's Nobel push received support from the leaders of Israel and Cambodia earlier this year. Pakistan also nominated Trump for the prize, crediting him with diffusing its conflict with India. However, New Delhi has refuted claims of outside involvement in brokering the ceasefire. 😲😲😲

According to Defence Security Asia on Tuesday, defense analysts are confirming through newly released satellite imagery that China has officially commenced construction of its fourth aircraft carrier, designated as the Type 004, at the Dalian shipyard in Liaoning province. 

The Type 004 is expected to be a nuclear-powered supercarrier displacing between 110,000 and 120,000 tons, making it not only the largest warship ever built in Asia but potentially the largest in the world. This signals a monumental leap in Beijing’s quest to rival US naval supremacy.

Defence experts note that the vessel’s sheer displacement would allow it to host not only a larger air wing but also expanded command-and-control facilities, enabling it to function as a floating joint operations hub for the PLA Navy. 

Its nuclear propulsion system is believed to draw heavily from China’s experience with the Type 093 and forthcoming Type 095 nuclear-powered attack submarines, giving Beijing a degree of technological confidence despite its lack of carrier-specific operational history.

Malaysia's FIFA Ranking is Expected to Improve

Malaysia's national football team Harimau Malaya are on course to reach their highest FIFA ranking in two decades following back-to-back victories in this month’s international friendlies. 

According to Sinar Daily on Wednesday, based on unofficial calculations, the national squad under Peter Cklamovski are set to move up five places to 120th in the world, an improvement from their previous position at 125th. 

The progress comes after Malaysia collected 9.75 points from their two matches on home turf.

On September 08, world No. 125 Malaysia secured a 1-0 victory over No. 98 Palestine in an international friendly at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri in Johor, Malaysia, thanks to an early strike from Joao Figueiredo in the second minute. 

Interestingly, national team coach Peter Cklamovski handed starts to Shahrul Saad, Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar and Dominic Tan, who all put in strong performances to thwart Palestine's attacks alongside Quentin Cheng. 

Two days earlier, they won 2-1 against Singapore at Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Cklamovski fielded heritage players Dion Cools, Jon Irazabal, Facundo Garges and La'Vere Corbin-Ong in defence. 

Both times, Malaysia played well. A good omen.

Women's pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan cruised into the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open today.

The world No. 2 and defending champions defeated compatriots, world No. 20 Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing 21-12, 21-15 in 31 minutes in what was their first ever encounter.

From Department of Defense to Department of War

It is no surprise that the Trump administration are cultivating and promoting a "warrior ethos" within the Pentagon. The US is, after all, a warmongering nation. 

If you don't already know, the country has been involved in conflicts for most of its history, though not necessarily a "non-stop" war in the conventional sense; however, the period since the Vietnam War (1955–1975) has seen continuous US military engagements. Examples include the First Gulf War (1990–1991), the Somali Civil War (1992–present), the Kosovo War (1998-1999), the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), and the Iraq War (2003–2011). Not to mention that the US is still presently waging a proxy war in Ukraine.

In this year itself, the US even joined Israel to go against Iran. In an operation called "Midnight Hammer", on June 22, the US deployed B-2 stealth bombers with the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), also known as a "bunker buster", to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. In fact, 125 aircraft were involved, including refueling and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft. 

Israel's strikes on Iran came against the backdrop of its ongoing war in Gaza and a broader escalation of its military actions across the region, including Israeli military activity in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and the occupied West Bank. And the US is complicit because it is a primary supplier of weaponry to the Zionist regime, much as it does for the [Z]elensky regime in Kiev.   

And so, on Friday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, reverting to the agency’s former namesake which came into being way back in 1789. 

I certainly agree with him because the name change is more “appropriate”, given the US propensity to wage war, whether overtly or covertly. 

The said order authorizes the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Defense and subordinate officials to use secondary titles such as “Secretary of War”, “Department of War”, and “Deputy Secretary of War” in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts, and non-statutory documents within the executive branch, according to a White House fact sheet. 

The order also instructs Pete Hegseth (now the "secretary of war") to propose both legislative and executive actions to make the name permanently US Department of War.

World No. 8 Sivasangari Subramaniam's bid to defend her London Squash Classic crown came to an end in the semi-finals after falling to Egypt's Amina Orfi. 

The Malaysian battled for 68 minutes before going down 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5 yesterday. It was the 26-year-old's fourth defeat in five meetings with 18-year-old Amina, a three-time world junior champion.