KPMG Publish AI Report Filled with Hallucinations

KPMG, one of the largest consulting firms in the world, have been accused of publishing a report on the future of AI that is riddled with hallucinations. 

In one instance, uncovered by the AI detection company, GPTZero, the report claims that the Japanese East Japan Railway Company (JR East) are using agentic AI for customer service, linking to a 2019 press release, years before agentic AI became mainstream. 

In another instance, the report falsely claimed that Austrian electricity provider Verbund is using AI agents in households to conduct real-time analytics as part of its “energy-as-a-service ecosystem”. Although Verbund invested in a start-up using agents for grid optimization, there was no evidence to support the claim of real-time analytics in households.  

GPTZero had analyzed the report, Total Experience: Redefining Excellence in the Age of Agentic AI, which was released in October, 2025. Out of 45 total citations, they found only 5 were accurate, with many of the others being entirely fabricated or containing a mix of real authors and fake data (a phenomenon GPTZero dubbed "vibe citing"). Another 28 citations provide paraphrased titles and/or fake components for a real source. The final 12 are too vague or flawed to accurately determine if a source exists.

Additionally, the report highlighted cutting-edge "Agentic AI" case studies for several major organizations. However, companies like UBS, Swiss Federal Railways, UK's Transport for London (TfL), and NHS (Greater Manchester) formally denied these claims, calling them factually incorrect or highly misleading.

The results may have redefined excellence, but not in the way KPMG intended! 

Anyway, the said report, which has now been taken down, has been referenced by multiple customer service publications and a major newspaper in the Czech Republic. 

In addition, researchers noted that the paper is now being referenced as a resource on customer experience by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini. GPTZero allege that an LLM research tool was asked to find appropriate case studies of companies using agentic AI worldwide. 

“This tool seems to have conflated sources, exaggerated claims, and injected references to agentic AI that were copied into the final report without verification”, according to GPTZero, which suspect "no human at KPMG double-checked the citations, the claims, or the sources” before the report was published.

And predictably, KPMG came up with the following "generic excuse": "We expect all our people to follow our guidelines on the responsible use of AI, including human oversight to validate content and verify independent sources".  😅😅😅

Sivasangari Subramaniam was in top form to beat world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe of Japan in straight games to reach the semi-finals of the PSA Tour Finals in Paris, France on Wednesday. 

The Malaysian, ranked No. 5 in the world, won the first-round encounter 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 in 35 minutes. It was Sivasangari's eighth win over Satomi in nine meetings. 

The 27-year-old Sivasangari, who won the Australian and Grasshopper Open titles this year, will face world champion Amina Orfi of Egypt for a place in the final on Friday. 

Orfi, who won the British Open title  earlier this month, has a 7-2 winning record against the Malaysian.

Yes, Lobsters Feel Pain

New research on Norway lobsters adds to a growing body of evidence that these crustaceans feel pain – something scientists have long suspected and even inspired David Foster Wallace's famous 2004 essay "Consider the Lobster". 

In a study published April 13, 2026 in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers found that two drugs used for pain relief in humans – aspirin and lidocaine – significantly reduced the escape responses of Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) when they were electrically shocked. 

The researchers argue that the medicines were muting the animals' pain processing and that the tail flip is therefore a pain reflex, rather than a simple stress reaction. The team says the findings suggest lobsters deserve greater ethical consideration. 

"The fact that painkillers developed for humans also work on Norway lobsters shows how similar we function", Lynne Sneddon, a professor of zoophysiology at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said in a statement. "That's why it's important to care about how we treat and kill crustaceans, just as we do with chickens and cows". 

Countries including Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, Austria and some states in Australia ‪have already banned the boiling of live crustaceans on welfare grounds, and the new findings may add pressure for broader reforms in how these animals are treated and killed. 

[Recommended humane methods for killing arthropods involve electrical stunning (e.g., Crustastun), followed by rapid mechanical destruction of the nervous system (pithing), such as spiking or splitting the carapace, to ensure instant death. These methods prevent suffering by targeting the ganglia, which are distributed along the body, and should be preceded by cooling in a refrigerator or ice slurry for 15–30 minutes to reduce mobility and, likely, sensitivity]. 

To understand how lobsters respond to painful stimuli, the researchers separated 105 Norway lobsters into multiple groups. These included several control groups of lobsters that weren't shocked, along with two shock groups treated with either lidocaine or aspirin. The lidocaine was dissolved in the individual lobster's tank, while the aspirin was injected into the animal directly.

The researchers then gave a 9.09-volt-per-meter electrical shock for 10 seconds to the three shock groups and observed their behavior before, during and up to two hours after the shock. 

When shocked, the lobsters tried to escape by using a tail flip, a common escape maneuver in some crustaceans that rockets them out of danger in small, rapid spurts. The tail flips were seen only in the electrically shocked group of lobsters, not in the control groups. 

Yet when the animals received lidocaine or aspirin before being shocked, the rate of tail flips dropped sharply: Only seven of the 13 lidocaine-treated lobsters and three of the 13 aspirin-treated lobsters tail-flipped, with more intense responses seen in the untreated group.

According to the researchers, their results suggest that the electrical shocks weren't just triggering muscular contractions in the lobsters but instead created a painful experience. That's because if the behavior was merely electrically stimulated, the painkillers wouldn't be expected to suppress the tail flip. 

Instead, painkiller treatment reduced the escape behavior. From this finding, the researchers suggested that the tail flip may have had a neurological component known as nociception. This is when signals from the body part exposed to the harmful stimulus travel to the brain and trigger a negative internal state associated with pain. 

This study joins a growing body of research indicating that crabs, octopuses and other invertebrates can experience pain. In past studies, hermit crabs shocked inside their shells eventually abandoned their homes to avoid experiencing the painful stimulus.

Octopus (Phylum: Mollusca, Class: Cephalopoda, Order: Octopoda) have shown even stronger clues about pain processing; in one widely cited study, "Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence suggests affective pain experience in octopus" published February 23, 2021 in iScience – they avoided places linked to injury and favored those associated with pain relief. This evidence is beginning to gradually change policies about how these animals are being treated. 

In the UK, crabs, lobsters and octopuses are now recognized as sentient animals "capable of experiencing pain and suffering" under the 2022 Animal Welfare Act.

Decoding Donald Trump's Davos Speech

US President Donald Trump (left) spoke at the World Economic Forum on January 21 in Switzerland. His address was designated as a special session in the official agenda for Davos.

It was a meandering 72-minute speech of dubiety, deception and delirium. 

72 minutes in which he bragged everything is going great guns in the US of A! Grocery prices, energy prices, air fares, mortgages, rents, car payments – are all coming down and they are coming down fast!

72 minutes in which Trump confused Greenland with Iceland. One a colony of Denmark; the other a sovereign country. Multiple times. While explaining why he wants to buy it. 

72 minutes in which he called Greenland “a piece of ice” on which the fate of the Earth would depend: “What I’m asking for is a piece of ice in exchange for world peace”.

72 minutes in which he threatened a NATO ally, Denmark, with these words: “You can say yes, and we’ll appreciate it. You can say no, and we’ll remember it”.  

72 minutes in which he declared that he has “100% Scottish blood and 100% German blood”. Which would make 200%. Evidently math is not his strong suit. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that the United States, after World War II, “gave Greenland back to Denmark”. Too bad that’s not true. The United States never owned Greenland. Never. In 1916 they officially recognized Danish sovereignty. During the war they only obtained temporary military bases. And in 1946 they tried to buy it by offering 100 million dollars. Denmark said no. There was no “giving back”. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that “China has no wind turbines”. China. The country that for 15 consecutive years has been the world’s largest producer of wind energy. The one that builds 45% of all wind projects on the planet. But for Trump, “they don’t have fields of windmills”. They sell them “to the stupid”. 

72 minutes in which he said that “all the big oil companies are coming with us to Venezuela”. Too bad that 3 days earlier, the CEO of ExxonMobil told him to his face that Venezuela is “not investible”. Too bad Trump got furious and threatened to exclude Exxon. Too bad the other companies are standing on the sidelines, terrified. But at Davos he said “they’re all coming”. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that “there is practically no inflation” in the United States. US inflation is at 2.7%. Above the Fed’s target. Forecast to rise because of his own tariffs. But for him, “there is practically none”. 

72 minutes in which he attacked the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, calling him “stupid” and “Jerome too-late Powell”. Live. In front of world economic leaders. 

72 minutes in which he told the story of imposing tariffs on Switzerland out of spite, because “a woman” whose name he doesn’t remember “petted him the wrong way”. 

72 minutes in which he said that “yesterday the market crashed because of Iceland”. Iceland. A country with 380,000 inhabitants. That supposedly made Wall Street collapse. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that the United States “paid 100% of NATO”. 100%. When the American share of the NATO budget is about 16%. But for him, 100%. 

72 minutes in which he mispronounced Azerbaijan as “Aber-bajian”. 

72 minutes of conveyer-belt wordiness. A smokescreen of fustian and fantasy. A clumsy catalogue of easily verifiable lies, of made-up numbers, of threats to allies, of insults to officials, of geographical flubs, of boasts contradicted by facts. 

And the world, in bemused silence, watched. 

Swatch Troll Donald Trump's 39% Tariffs

Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, are trolling the 39% tariffs that the United States placed on their home country by selling a watch that flips the location of the 3 and 9 numerals. 

The tongue-in-cheek new watch – dubbed “WHAT IF… TARIFFS?” – is inspired by the “current events unfolding in today’s world”, according to the description on their website. Swatch joke that the new watch is “hopefully just a limited edition”. 

The watch is available only in Switzerland and therefore won’t be subject to the 39% tariffs – among the highest imposed on a European country by US President Donald Trump. 

A Swatch spokesperson told CNN that the watch is a “positive provocation”, and the brand will stop selling the watch when a deal is reached between the United States and Switzerland. 

Demand is “so high that we are full steam ahead with production”, the company added. 

“We need to wake up our government, which seems to have forgotten about this issue”, Swatch said in a statement. 

Their needling is for good reason: The United States is the biggest customer of Swiss watches, with exports amounting to $5.4 billion in 2024, according to data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.

Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan’s hopes of defending their title went up in smoke after they were bundled out in the semi-finals of the 2025 Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships today.

The World Championships runners-up found China’s Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian too hot to handle and went down 14-21, 11-21 in just 35 minutes.

Swiss Court Ban Animal Names for Plant-based Products

Switzerland’s highest court have ruled that plant-based meat alternatives may no longer carry names that directly refer to animals, such as “vegan pork” or “plant-based chicken”; otherwise, it may constitute consumer deception. 

“The term ‘chicken’ refers to poultry, that is, an animal”, the federal court said in a statement, adding that under Swiss law “all information about food products must be in keeping with reality”. 

The court based their decision in part on EU legislation and case law. Switzerland has aligned itself closely with European food labelling standards, following a 2017 overhaul of its food law. 

A majority of the judges had argued that food products not made from animal flesh should not bear the name of an animal species. The underlying principle is simple, if technical: a plant-based patty cannot be labelled a “beef steak”. But descriptors of form or cooking style, such as steak, slice, patty or sausage, remain allowable. Thus, “soy sausage”, “cereal slices”, or “lentil steak” are acceptable. 

One judge noted that the contested labels serve a marketing function. They are designed not only for vegan consumers but also to appeal to flexitarians or the curious, suggesting equivalence with real meat. In this context, preventing confusion among consumers was a key element of their decision. 

Planted Foods AG had been told to stop using meaty nomenclature in May 2021 by the Zurich Cantonal Laboratory, an organisation which aim to regulate food and water safety. The latter told the Swiss plant-based protein manufacturer that their use of animal species names in their labelling was misleading. 

But Planted Foods took the case to court and the Zurich Administrative Court had adjudged in the company's favor. However, an appeal was lodged to the federal court which then ruled on Friday to overturn that decision.

Donald "Forrest" Trump's Tariff Threats Apply To All Countries

President Donald Trump said on March 31 the tariffs he plans to impose in the coming days would include “all countries”, not just those with the largest trade imbalances with the United States. 

Trump has promised a “Liberation Day” on April 02, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies to aggressively address trade practices that his government deem unfair. 

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had highlighted that the upcoming tariff salvo is to target the 15 percent of partners – he labeled them the “Dirty 15” – that have persistent trade imbalances with the United States.

While the official list remains unpublished, the targeted nations are likely to align with those mentioned in last month's Federal Register notice from the US trade representative, the Wall Street Journal suggested. 

The largest goods trade deficits with the United States in the previous year, ranked from highest to lowest, were China, EU, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and South Africa. 

Whatever the case may be, Trump is insisting that “the tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us, meaning they will be kinder than those countries were to the United States of America over the decades”. 

He defends the levies as a way to raise government revenue and revitalize US industry. "We’re going to charge countries for doing business in our country and taking jobs, taking our wealth, taking so much out of our country", he had declared.  

And, on March 26, he announced 25% tariffs on all cars shipped to the United States, a significant escalation in a global trade war. According to USA Today, it would go into effect on Wednesday, April 02 and begin to be collected on Thursday, April 03. 

As Trump’s top trade aide Peter Navarro said the tax on auto imports could raise $100 billion a year. 

“And in addition, the other tariffs are going to raise about $600 billion a year, about $6 trillion over a 10-year period”, Navarro told Fox News on Sunday.

On Monday, Asian shares followed US futures in falling because of the riskiness over what the upcoming tariffs could be. Stock markets in Japan and South Korea, whose carmakers are likely to be disproportionately affected by the US measures, were hit especially hard.

Sad to say, Trump is only deluding himself. The tariffs will boomerang back at him, for sure. You wait and see!

Swiss Chocolate Ingredients at the Heart of a Lawsuit

Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprungli are contesting a class action lawsuit filed by US consumers over alleged high levels of heavy metals found in their dark chocolate bars, particularly the 70% and 85% cocoa varieties. 

 

The lawsuit, launched in February 2023, was triggered by a 2022 Consumer Reports investigation that detected elevated levels of lead and cadmium in 23 out of 28 chocolate bars they tested from various brands, including Lindt. 

 

Consumers in US states, including Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, and New York, argue that they paid premium prices for Lindt chocolates believing they were purchasing high-quality, safe products. The plaintiffs claim that Lindt violated state labelling rules by failing to disclose the presence of heavy metals.

 

But Lindt, in trying to wiggle out of the suit, said that their promise of being "expertly crafted with the finest ingredients" – which was stated on their packaging – was merely "puffery". 

 

But Lindts' flippant defense dropped like a lead balloon with the Eastern District of New York court, when a September 2024 decision dismissed their motion to end the legal proceeding. US District Judge Ann M Donnelly noted that Lindt’s marketing claims could lead consumers to expect a level of safety and purity that, according to the plaintiffs, was not met.

 

Top seed Sivasangari Subramaniam (left) fell at the last hurdle in the women's final of the ACE Malaysia Squash Cup today. 

 

World No. 10 Amina Orfi of Egypt outfought her to win 3-2: 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 8-10, 11-6 in 88 minutes.

 

I had expected Sivasangari to triumph but it was not to be. 😞😞😞

Swiss Court Rules Workers To Clock Out For Bathroom Breaks

A court in Switzerland – where time is money for its famed watchmaking industry – has ruled that a dial manufacturer was justified in telling workers: If you need a bathroom break, clock out and take it on your own time.

 

An investigative report by public broadcaster RTS this month revealed how a regional court in western Neuchatel ruled that watch dial maker Jean Singer & Cie SA was within their rights to require staffers to punch out for toilet time.

 

The case has exposed what some say is a labor-law loophole in a rich Alpine country with a reputation for running like clockwork.

 

Word of the clock-out requirement leaked to labor inspectors on a site visit during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, according to the ruling, which was delivered in June but made public late last month.

 

They subsequently ordered the company to end the practice, alleging a violation of federal labor law that protects workers’ personal needs and arguing that it could cause workers to “hold it in or not hydrate, which could lead to serious physiological disorders”, the ruling said.

 

In their legal action against the order, Singer insisted their staffers had “a great deal of freedom” during their breaks – whose length was “left to the discretion of each employee” – and the clock-in system didn’t involve telling managers why staff took breaks.

 

Pascal Moesch, a lawyer for the 105-year-old family-run business, told RTS that the company believed the issue was generally about “an interruption of work – whether a toilet break, meal breaks, rest breaks, phone breaks, (or) a nature walk. So regardless of the reason for the break, it requires clocking-out”. 

 

The court said that while Swiss law was clearer on issues like the hygiene of restrooms and the rights of company leaders to make decisions suited to the specific needs of their businesses, a “loophole” remains when it comes to bathroom breaks – a hint that lawmakers might need to intervene to fill it. 

 

In their ruling, the court wrote that “Swiss law does not mention the right of employees to go to the toilet, even though this is a basic physiological need”.

Italy and Switzerland Agree to Shift Shared Border in the Alps

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent and the impact on its glaciers has been stark. And in Switzerland, they are melting at an alarming rate. 

 

The country’s glaciers lost 4% of their volume last year, second only to the record-setting 6% lost in 2022. This downward trend shows no sign of ending, said Matthias Huss (left), a glaciologist at the Swiss university ETH Zürich and director of GLAMOS, the Swiss glacier monitoring network.

 

“In 2024, glaciers continued to lose ice at a high speed despite much snow in winter that was expected to bring some relief”, he told CNN. “Some glaciers are literally falling apart, small glaciers are disappearing”.

 

Even with the most ambitious climate action, up to half the world’s glaciers may be gone by 2100. It’s causing a cascade of impacts. 

 

It makes the landscape more unstable, prone to dangerous landslides and collapses. In 2022, eleven people lost their lives when a glacier collapsed in the Italian Alps. Not only that but as glaciers recede, they are also losing their vital role in contributing freshwater, which could aggravate shortages during heat waves.

 

Another impact is the shifting of national borders. While national boundaries are often thought of as fixed, large sections of the Swiss-Italian border are defined by glaciers and snow fields. “With the melting of the glaciers, these natural elements evolve and redefine the national border”, the Swiss government said in a statement Friday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The section of the border under the iconic Matterhorn Peak, one of the highest summits in the Alps which straddles between Italy and Switzerland, is set to be redrawn as the glaciers that mark the boundary melt.

 

The border changes were agreed back in 2023 and the Swiss government officially approved the adjustment on Friday. The process for approval is underway in Italy. As soon as both parties have signed, the agreement will be published and details of the new border made public, according to the Swiss government.

 

 

The Champions League match between Liverpool and Bologna yesterday saw the former beat the Italian side 2-0.

 

In the twelfth minute, Alexis Mac Allister converted from close range following Mohamed Salah's excellent low cross from the right side. And the Reds sealed the win in style with Salah's 49th Champions League goal, cutting in on to his left foot and curling a wonderful shot into the top corner in the seventy-fifth minute.

 

Liverpool still have six more matches to come in the league phase, including home matches against German champions Bayer Leverkusen, managed by ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, and 15-time European champions Real Madrid.

 

But they have made a good start to the competition and are fifth in the 36-team table, already in a strong position to push for automatic qualification to the last 16.

Olympic Swimmers Swear By Coke

Olympic swimmers, some of the healthiest people on the planet, swear by Coke! 

 

A fair number of them are turning to an unlikely, unscientific solution to ward off getting sick from competing in the polluted waters of the Seine in Paris, France: drinking cans of Coke. 

 

“The myth of Coca-Cola is true”, Moesha Johnson (right) of Team Australia, said. “We will often have a Coca-Cola afterward just to try to flush out anything inside of us”.

 

Top swimmers swear by the stuff to prevent infection, according to athletes of three teams who spoke with The Wall Street Journal. 

 

“There’s no harm in drinking a Coke after a race”, New Zealand’s Ainsley Thorpe (left) said, after the Women’s Triathlon last week. “If you Google it, it says it can help”.  

 

That strategy, which swimmers from the US, New Zealand, and Italy all discussed with the paper, may not be scientifically sound, even if it’s popular. 

 

Dr Maria Abreu, president of the American Gastroenterological Association, told WSJ that Coke is less acidic than a healthy stomach, meaning it likely wouldn’t add any infection-fighting power.

 

FYI, the Olympians have also been taking cocktails of probiotics before and after their races to combat the polluted river in Paris.

 

Water quality in the Seine has been a persistent concern in Paris so far. Swimming in the river has largely been prohibited for the last century because it’s way too toxic. Despite French officials spending $1.5 billion on infrastructure improvements ahead of the games, including to make the Seine cleaner, issues have persisted. 

 

A  test run of the marathon swim course in the Seine was postponed on Tuesday over concerns about water quality, though the triathlon mixed relay went ahead as planned the day before. 

 

Last week, Belgium pulled its team from the mixed relay event after an athlete who previously swam in the river got sick, and a swimmer for Switzerland also missed the competition due to illness. 

 

The IOC should know better that swimming the Seine is never a good idea. 

 

“I would never have selected the Seine”, Davey Jones, professor of Environmental science and public health at Bangor University, told BBC Science Focus. “I know it’s iconic, but it also runs through a hugely urbanised area which is always a recipe for disaster when it comes to potential exposure to chemicals or biological pathogens”.

 

You should know too that other athletes treat the soda like an energy drink to help restore some of the sugar lost while competing, as a 12-ounce can contains 39 grams of the sweet stuff, or nearly 10 teaspoons.

 

“My coach advised me to [drink Coca-Cola] to restore those glycogen levels immediately”, American Katie Grimes (left) told the outlet. “Not Diet Coke, just straight up Coke. Nothing does it better than that”.

 

Henry Miller, American novelist, short story writer and essayist is spot on when he says: "Without a Coca-Cola, life is unthinkable".

Popularity of US Falling Globally

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America's popularity as a global power is waning worldwide, particularly in Muslim-majority countries, according to the 2024 Democracy Perception Index published Wednesday, while both China and Russia have improved their standing over the past year. 

 

Even, Europe is joining the trend. 

 

“For the first time since the start of the Biden administration, many Western European countries have returned to net negative perceptions of the US. This rise and decline, from negative attitudes to positive [and] back to negative attitudes is particularly stark in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland”, said Frederick DeVeaux, senior researcher for Latana, the German company that compiled the index, on behalf of Alliance of Democracies, an NGO headed by former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

 

Canvassing some 63,000 respondents across 53 countries, the index which claims to be the biggest global temperature test of democracy, summarizes attitudes toward democracy, geopolitics and global power players. 

 

One clearly sees the divide between the global north and south when survey respondents were asked if they thought their country should cut economic ties with Russia over its Special Military Operation in Ukraine, and whether they should do the same if China brings Taiwan back into its fold. [Note: The survey used "war" to refer to Russia's SMO and "invades" to refer to China's goal of reunification of the rebel province with the mainland].

 

Not surprisingly, Russia shows positive perceptions in most regions surveyed, with the exception of Europe. And the same with China, despite the persistent European skepticism.

 

[FYI, the 2024 data was collected between February 20 and April 15; the sample was 62,953 and averaged 1,200 respondents per country. Nationally representative results were calculated based on the official distribution of age, gender and education in each country’s population, but in countries whose populations are less connected to the Internet, the sample was more educated and younger than the overall average].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celtic are on the brink of another Scottish Premiership title after emerging from a stormy derby against 10-man Rangers with a vital 2-1 victory yesterday. 

 

A Matt O'Riley strike in the 35th minute and an own goal from a Gers player who diverted Daizen Maeda's cross into his own net three minutes later mean Brendan Rodgers' side move six points clear of their rivals with two games left and a better goal difference. 

 

Celtic now just need one point from games against Kilmarnock (May 15) and St Mirren (May 18) to secure a third straight title!

US Vetoes Palestinian Membership in UN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The United States on Thursday vetoed a widely supported resolution at the UN Security Council that would have paved the way for the state of Palestine to gain full membership at the United Nations.

 

Twelve members out of the 15-member Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, while the UK and Switzerland abstained and of course, the US voted against it.  

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (right) condemned the move as a display of the US’s defiance of Palestine’s “rights, history and land”, as well as the “sanctities of the Palestinian people”.

 

This is the second Palestinian attempt at full membership: Abbas first delivered the application in 2011 but failed due to not enough support from UN Security Council members.

 

Is this not proof that the US is anti-Palestine?

Food & Wine, an American magazine that claims to be the global authority on food and drink culture, had looked at the world’s best airports for food and drink – and it's no surprise that Singapore’s renowned Changi Airport has been declared No. 1. 

 

Changi has more than 200 food vendors from which to choose, as well as a hawker street market, robot bartenders and an outpost of Raffles where you can drink a signature Singapore Sling.

 

As one of the world's busiest airports by international passenger and cargo traffic, it has been rated as the "World's Best Airport" by Skytrax a dozen times, and was the first airport in the world to hold the accolade for eight consecutive years. Not this year though. For 2024, the recognition is awarded to Doha’s Hamad International Airport in Qatar.

Antony Blinken's Boeing Curse

Even US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cannot escape from the Boeing curse. 

 

Blinken and other State Department officials who are in Europe for talks about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza were forced to ride by car between Paris and Brussels Wednesday because the Air Force C-40 jet, a modified version of the Boeing 737 used commercial airlines, developed unspecified problems, according to the press pool traveling with him. 

 

Blinken travels on aircraft from the Air Force fleet. The top US diplomat arrived without incident to the Belgian capital for a meeting of the NATO foreign ministers. This is the second time this year that Blinken has had an issue with a Boeing plane while traveling. 

 

In January, when Blinken was about to return from Switzerland, the same model of plane suffered what the traveling press was told was a critical failure related to an oxygen leak, and he was forced to fly home in a smaller jet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool kept fans on tenterhooks before winning 3-1 against bottom club Sheffield United in yesterday's Premier League game. 

 

The Reds are now two points clear of Arsenal and have a three-point gap on defending champions Manchester City with eight games to go – but while those title rivals had routine wins on Wednesday, Liverpool went through the wringer 24 hours later.

 

In fact, the Reds were gifted a 17th-minute lead when Darwin Nunez charged down the Blades goalkeeper's clearance with the ball rebounding into the net. But in the 58th minute, the Sheffield side forced an own goal from Conor Bradley.

 

And then, in the seventy-sixth minute, Alexis Mac Allister scored a brilliant 20-yard strike into the top corner to put the Reds 2-1 up. Substitute Cody Gakpo added a 90th-minute third as Liverpool rightfully returned to the top of the table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool's title destiny is in their own hands. They know if they beat Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Everton, West Ham, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Wolves, it will secure them the Premier League title and confirm them as top-flight English champions for the 20th time.

Western Countries Stop Funding UNRWA

In another act of hostility to Palestine, multiple Western countries have suspended funding for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) as of Saturday, according to Reuters, after Israel alleged that 12 of the agency's staff are linked to Palestinian "militants" and had participated in the October 07 Hamas attack on the country. 

 

[Note: Israel has not furnished any evidence to back up its claim against UNRWA].

 

These countries are USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, and Australia. UNRWA commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini (left) condemned these governments, warning such actions threatened the agency’s humanitarian work in the region. 

 

“Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us”, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 

 

The funding shutoff is expected to affect hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed aid to the agency, which provides shelter and food for displaced Palestinians – a category that currently encompasses over 85% of residents of the Gaza Strip. 

 

FYI, Israel has long accused the UN and their member organizations of sympathizing with Hamas. In October, the Jewish state even demanded the resignation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (right), accusing him of “justifying terrorism”!

 

Yesterday, Liverpool reached the FA Cup fifth round with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Norwich City.

 

The Reds opened the scoring through Curtis Jones in the 16th minute before the Canaries drew level six minutes later. Darwin Nunez restored Liverpool's lead when he caught Conor Bradley's pass and drilled a low effort into the bottom left corner in the twenty-eighth minute.

 

And it was 3-1 in the fifty-third minute when Diogo Jota latched on to a wayward header from a Canaries defender before thumping a low shot into the net. Ten minutes afterwards, second-half substitute Virgil van Dijk, left completely unmarked from a Dominik Szoboszlai corner, headed home Liverpool's fourth before a sixty-ninth minute Norwich strike gave their fans something to cheer about. 

 

The Reds restored their three-goal lead through Ryan Gravenberch in the fifth minute of added time when he converted Bradley’s cross. 

 

Liverpool now face a home fifth-round tie with Southampton or Watford, who will replay their round-four match after drawing 1-1 on Sunday.

 

 

 

Moscow Opens Criminal Case Over Arrest Warrant

The International Criminal Court prosecutor and judges who issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin have become the targets of a criminal case, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced today. (Refer to my post "An Out of Season April Fool's Joke" yesterday).

 

In a Telegram post, the committee said that they had opened cases against ICC prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan (right), as well as judges Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez. 

 

Russia’s investigative committee have described the ICC prosecutions as “obviously illegal, since there are no grounds for criminal liability”. They also pointed to the 1973 UN Protection of Diplomats Convention which grants heads of state absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign countries. 

 

The committee already consider Khan’s actions a crime under Russian law for “knowingly bringing an innocent person to criminal liability, combined with unlawfully accusing a person of committing a grave or especially grave crime”. He is also charged with preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state "with the intention of complicating international relations". 

 

In any case, the ICC are not recognized in Russia. And it is disregarding the ICC warrant as having no legal basis, with ex-president Dmitry Medvedev suggesting it is a sign of the collapse of international law. 

 

Still on Credit Suisse – refer to my post "Gold Surges Amidst Banking Crisis" yesterday. 

 

The Swiss government have forced through the takeover of stricken bank Credit Suisse by rival UBS for almost $3.25 billion – well below their market value – amid fears that a failure to protect depositors would trigger a new global banking crisis. 

 

After a frenzied weekend of frantic talks, the Swiss government and the banking regulator brokered a deal once it became clear a $54 billion loan to Credit Suisse from the Swiss central bank had failed to halt the precipitous slide in their share price. 

 

The agreement of terms before markets open on Monday morning is particularly important because Credit Suisse are categorised by the global Financial Stability Board as one of just 30 “systemically important” lenders in the global banking system.