What we know about Israel killing Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil

What we know about Israel killing Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil

Khalil was killed and her colleague injured in what Lebanese officials are calling a ‘double-tap’ strike by Israeli forces

Amal Khalil, a Lebanese journalist working for the daily Al Akhbar newspaper, reports near a destroyed bridge in Qasmiyeh, Lebanon, March 22, 2026 [Mohammed Zaatari/AP]

By Caolán Magee
Published On 23 Apr 2026


Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has accused Israel of crimes against humanity for killing journalist Amal Khalil and wounding her colleague Zeinab Faraj in an air strike in the village of al-Tayri in southern Lebanon.

Khalil and Faraj were reporting on an earlier Israeli attack on a vehicle on Wednesday, when they were targeted while fleeing towards a building to take shelter.

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Paramedics rescued Faraj and recovered Khalil’s body from the rubble hours later.

Here’s what we know so far:

The journalist was last heard from at about 4:10pm local time (13:10 GMT), when she called her family members and the Lebanese military, according to colleagues and media reports.

She had taken cover inside the house after an earlier Israeli air raid killed two people near the car in which she was travelling with Faraj.

Rescue workers initially tried to reach the veteran Al Akhbar journalist, but came under Israeli fire and were forced to withdraw, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

A second strike then hit the house where the two journalists had sought refuge. Khalil’s body was recovered shortly before midnight, more than seven hours after the attack.

Khalil was killed in what Lebanese officials described as a “double-tap” strike in al-Tayri.



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Rescuers were able to pull Faraj, who was seriously wounded, from the scene and recover the bodies of two people killed in the first strike. But efforts to reach Khalil were delayed after Israeli forces fired on emergency workers, the ministry said.

Khalil had been covering a renewed escalation of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which resumed in early March amid wider regional tensions linked to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Khalil is the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon this year.

Born in 1984 in Baysariyyeh, southern Lebanon, she had covered the region for Al Akhbar since the 2006 war. Her latest reporting focused on Israeli demolitions of homes in villages where Israeli troops are positioned inside Lebanon.

In an interview earlier this year with The Public Source, Khalil said her reporting sought to highlight the resilience of residents in Lebanon’s border villages.

“I debunk the enemy’s narrative of targeting only military sites by showing evidence of them bombing homes, farms, and killing children,” she said. “Through my work, I have tried to be in solidarity with these people – the people of the land.”

Israel condemned for the killing

In a statement to Al Jazeera, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Khalil’s killing “must be a wake-up call for the international community to enforce international law, urgently investigate Israel’s 262 killings of journalists across the region, and hold all those responsible to account”.

“The Israeli military’s obstruction of medical crews from rescuing wounded civilians is a brutal and recurring crime we have already witnessed in Gaza and now again in Lebanon. Khalil, an unarmed civilian journalist, remained trapped under the rubble for more than seven hours while the Red Cross was prevented from reaching her,” said the CPJ’s regional director, Sara Qudah.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun offered his condolences over Khalil’s death and wished Faraj a swift recovery.

In a post on X, Aoun accused Israel of the “deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists” in an effort to “conceal the truth of its aggressive acts against Lebanon”.

Reporting from Tyre, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett said Khalil was “a well-known and respected journalist here in Lebanon”.

Pett said Khalil had received direct threats during the last war from an Israeli phone number on WhatsApp, warning her to stop reporting.

“In fact, [they were] telling her that she should leave Lebanon if she wanted her head to remain on her shoulders,” Pett said.

The Israeli military denied reports it had prevented rescue teams from reaching the scene and said it does not target journalists.

Less than a month ago, three journalists were killed in another reported “double-tap” attack in southern Lebanon. Their vehicle was struck, then hit again, while rescue workers who arrived afterwards also came under attack.

Following that incident, the Israeli army posted an image alleging one of the journalists was a member of Hezbollah’s elite forces, but later acknowledged the photo had been altered.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos described the latest attack as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

US to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian boats laying mines in Hormuz, Trump says

US to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian boats laying mines in Hormuz, Trump says

US says it intercepted another tanker carrying Iranian oil as Trump underscores alleged infighting with Iran leadership

An IRGC boat off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran [File: Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA via Reuters]

By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 23 Apr 2026


President Donald Trump has said he ordered the United States Navy to “shoot and kill” any Iranian boat laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could jeopardise the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.

The US president also said on Thursday that the military will heighten its efforts to remove explosives from the strategic waterway.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled-up level!”

Iranian officials have repeatedly promised that their country would defend itself and respond to any US attack.

Hormuz – which had been open without interruption before the war – has emerged as a major point of contention in this war.

Iran closed down the strait in response to the US-Israeli military campaign, and it is now suggesting that it has rights to the passage that links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean – parts of which go through Iranian territorial waters.

The closure of Hormuz has spiked oil prices, putting political pressure on Trump at home in the US, where the price of one gallon (3.8 litres) of petrol has surpassed $4, up from $3 before the conflict.

A satellite image shows a fleet of small boats at sea, north of the Strait of Hormuz near the Kargan coast, Iran, April 22 [File: European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout via Reuters]

Dueling blockades

About 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas flowed through Hormuz before the war.

After a two-week ceasefire came into effect last month, Trump announced a naval siege on Iranian ports and kept it in place even after Tehran announced reopening Hormuz in response to the inclusion of Lebanon in the truce.

Iran has set lifting the blockade as a precondition for resuming talks with the US.

Trump extended the ceasefire that was set to expire on Wednesday, but Washington has kept its blockade on Iran-linked ships.

The Pentagon said on Thursday that the US military conducted a “maritime interdiction and right-of-visit” to a tanker carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.

Earlier this week, the US military also said it seized an Iranian vessel and ordered dozens of others to turn around.

Meanwhile, Iran has also captured foreign commercial vessels around the Hormuz Strait, which it said were in violation of naval regulations.

The duelling blockades risk re-igniting the war. The US has not set a deadline for the extended truce.

The White House said on Wednesday that Trump is “satisfied” with the siege on Iran.



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Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was pursued and killed by Israel


Trump says Hormuz ‘sealed up tight’

Although Iran has all but halted vessel traffic in the waterway, Trump said on Thursday that the US has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz”, adding that the passage is “sealed up tight”.

The US president also reiterated his claim that the Iranian leadership is divided.

“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners’, who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates’, who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”

Earlier in the day, Trump shared a post by conservative commentator Marc Thiessen, calling for the assassination of Iranian officials who oppose diplomacy with the US.

“If there are two factions in Iran, one that wants a deal and one that doesn’t, let’s kill the ones who don’t want a deal,” it said.

Despite Trump’s repeated claims, there has been no evidence of a rift within the leadership in Iran.

Although US and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several top officials, there have been no major defections within the ruling system.

Last month, Khamenei was replaced by his son Mojtaba, who had been wounded in US attacks, according to the Pentagon.



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Mojtaba Khamenei is yet to make a public appearance since he succeeded his slain father, raising speculation about his health.

But Iranian officials, including the lead negotiators – Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – have voiced a unified position in rejecting the US blockade.

Iranian leadership also agreed to the ceasefire and enforced it earlier this month.

On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry praised the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideologically driven military branch spearheading the war effort.

“We salute the noble defenders and guardians of the homeland, and honour the memory of the crimson-shrouded martyrs of the IRGC,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X, marking the anniversary of the establishment of the Revolutionary Guard.

Israeli strike kills five in Gaza, including three children

Israel has committed 2,400 violations of the ‘ceasefire’ deal it struck with Hamas in October, Gaza’s Government Media Office says.

By Al Jazeera Staff and Anadolu

Published On 23 Apr 202623 Apr 2026

An Israeli air strike has targeted a group of civilians in northern Gaza, killing at least five Palestinians, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

“Five Palestinians, including three children, were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a group of civilians near Al-Qassam mosque in Beit Lahia,” local health officials said in a statement late on Wednesday.

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“Their bodies were taken to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City,” it added, without specifying the age of the children. The hospital confirmed receiving the bodies.

Israel has committed 2,400 violations of the “ceasefire agreement” with Hamas in October, Gaza’s Government Media Office said. These included targeted strikes, arrests, blockades and forced starvation of Gaza’s residents.

More than 20,000 children were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in two years of its genocidal war, according to a Save the Children report in September. The charity said that, on average, at least one child was killed every hour, over 1,000 of them under one year old, with thousands more suffering injuries, trauma or separation from parents.

By November 2023, the situation in Gaza was already described by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as a “graveyard for children”.

Last week, the gender equality organisation, UN Women, reported that an average of at least 47 women and girls were ⁠killed each day ⁠during the war in Gaza – more than 38,000 in total between October 2023 and December 2025, including over 22,000 women and 16,000 girls.

“Women and girls accounted for a proportion of deaths far higher than those observed in previous conflicts in Gaza. Those killed were mothers, they were daughters, sisters, and friends – deeply loved by those around them,” said Sofia Calltorp, the agency’s humanitarian action head. The agency reported “this suffering continues”, despite the supposed ceasefire.

Since the US-brokered “ceasefire” took effect in October, at least 786 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, according to Gaza’s health ministry. At least 32 of those deaths were in this month alone, among them Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah, who was killed in a drone strike west of Gaza City on April 8.

Israel has also been accused of violating the “ceasefire” agreement by restricting the entry of agreed quantities of food, medicine, medical supplies and shelter materials into Gaza, where about 2.4 million Palestinians, including 1.5 million displaced, are living in desperate conditions.

***

Evil Beasts of Babylon, spawns of Moloch

👿👿👿

S'gor assembly erupts as PN moves to discipline DAP rep over 'treasonous' pig farm remarks

S'gor assembly erupts as PN moves to discipline DAP rep over 'treasonous' pig farm remarks


Published: Apr 23, 2026 3:56 PM
Updated: 6:46 PM


A shouting match reportedly broke out during Selangor assembly proceedings today, after Perikatan Nasional representatives attempted to raise an emergency motion to refer Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Wong Siew Ki for disciplinary proceedings.

This is over Wong’s call on the state government to consider adopting a modern pig farming system, which the PN representatives see as an affront to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s decree that there shall be no further pig farming in Selangor.

According to Oriental Daily, the issue was raised today when Dr Afif Bahardin (PN-Taman Medan) stood up to raise an emergency motion. This was at 11.30am as David Cheong (Harapan-Kajang) was debating the royal address.

Dr Afif Bahardin

Afif sought to refer Wong to the rights and privileges committee for disciplinary proceedings to determine if disciplinary action, including potential suspension, was warranted.

He also asked Selangor speaker Lau Weng San, who was presiding over the session at the time, why his motion was not approved.

Lau reportedly replied that while his office has received the motion, he has yet to review the document and wants to study it before deciding whether to allow the emergency motion.


Failed intervention by opposition leader

Selangor opposition leader Azmin Ali (PN-Hulu Kelang) attempted to intervene and mediate, but inadvertently escalated the situation by claiming Wong’s remarks were not only insolent but amounted to treason against the sultan.

During the commotion, Abbas Salimi Azmi (Harapan-Seri Serdang) moved for Lau to exercise his powers to eject any assemblyperson causing a disturbance if order could not be restored.

Azmin Ali


The matter was briefly put on hold when deputy speaker Kamri Kamaruddin took over the chair.

Preakas Sampunathan (Harapan-Kota Kemuning) then cited the standing orders, accusing PN of misleading the house and demanding they retract the “treason” accusation.

However, the PN representatives stood their ground, leading to a shouting match between Azmin, Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN-Sijangkang), and Hilman Idham (PN-Gombak Setia) on one side, and Preakas, Tony Leong (Harapan-Pandamaran), and Abbas on the other.

The report said this left Cheong unable to continue with his speech.

Ex-appeals judge, lawyer question if N Sembilan chieftains accorded ruler due process

Ex-appeals judge, lawyer question if N Sembilan chieftains accorded ruler due process

Zikri Kamarulzaman
Published: Apr 23, 2026 2:33 PM
Updated: 5:57 PM


A former Court of Appeal judge and a senior lawyer have questioned whether the Negeri Sembilan chieftains had followed due process before they moved to oust Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir as state ruler.

The concerns stem from the wording of Article 10 of the Negeri Sembilan constitution - the law which allows the Undang Yang Empat to remove the ruler.

Specifically, Article 10 states there must be a full and complete inquiry before the undangs can make a decision to dethrone the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

When declaring their decision to dethrone Tuanku Muhriz, the Undang Yang Empat had launched an investigation against the ruler on March 5 for alleged transgressions in his royal duties.

They deemed the unspecified transgressions to have been committed deliberately, thus besmirching the royal institution.

In an opinion piece published by The Edge, former appeals judge Hishamudin Yunus noted that while he is not privy to the allegations against Tuanku Muhriz or whether the chieftains had followed due process, Tuanku Muhriz had a right to be heard according to the principles of natural justice.

Former appeals judge Hishamudin Yunus

"On the assumption that there had been no due process carried out in the call for abdication, then the proclamation purportedly issued by the three undangs and (Sungai Ujong undang) Mubarak Thahak is not valid," he said.

Hishamudin is a Negeri Sembilan native whose great-great-grandfather, Wan Saeto Rubah, was once undang of Johol.


‘Not given notice’

Constitutional lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar raised similar concerns.

"It does not appear that Tuanku Muhriz was given notice of the alleged defect or defects relied on by the undangs, nor was he afforded any opportunity to be heard.

"This raises a serious question as to how it is that undangs can be said to have conducted the 'full and complete enquiry' that Article 10 imposes as a pre-condition to their exercise of the power to remove the ruler," he said in a letter published on FMT.

Additionally, both Hishamudin and Malik said another reason the undangs' proclamation may be invalid is the fact that Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun was not a party to the decision.

Article 10(2) states that after the undangs conduct their inquiry and decide to remove a ruler, the Yang di-Pertuan Besar will cease to be in power "provided that as soon as possible thereafter а proclamation to that effect shall be issued under the hands of the undangs and the menteri besar".

Hishamudin opined that without the menteri besar, the proclamation is legally unenforceable.

Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun


Aminuddin has rejected the proclamation, citing Mubarak's removal from office, while not commenting on the three other undangs support for Tuanku Muhriz's ouster.

Article 29 of the state constitution states that the undangs’ decisions are deemed to have “been duly exercised or performed if such powers were exercised or such duties were performed by at least three undangs or by as many of them as may be living at the time of the exercise of such powers or the performance of such duties.”

While acknowledging Article 29, Hishamudin said that Mubarak's participation in the proclamation makes its validity questionable.

Mubarak’s removal ‘invalid’

A faction of nobles and clansfolk in Sungai Ujong had moved to remove Mubarak as undang last May over unspecified transgressions, including acts which allegedly breached Islamic law and customs.

The move was then reported to have been accepted by the Negeri Sembilan Council of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and the Ruling Chiefs (Dewan Keadilan dan Undang) during a meeting on April 17.

Former menteri besar Rais Yatim, however, claimed that during the council meeting, the undangs of Johol, Jelebu, and Rembau, as well as the Tunku Besar Tampin, had disagreed with Mubarak's removal.

Former menteri besar Rais Yatim


Rais argued that this made Mubarak's removal invalid. It is unclear if Mubarak was given a chance to explain himself.

However, his supporters had claimed that authorities had investigated the Sungai Ujong clansfolk's allegations against him and found no wrongdoing.

Further, Mubarak's camp alleged that two nobles who moved to oust him had also been removed from office over alleged corruption.

Malik said it must be established whether there was any basis for whether or not Mubarak was removed by the council on April 17.

"If this is the case, then the matter ends there.

"Although the menteri besar has confirmed the removal, further confirmation from the Negeri Sembilan Council of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and the Ruling Chiefs may have a calming effect," he added.

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Man gets 13 weeks jail in Singapore after assaulting father, forcing him to sleep outside

Man gets 13 weeks jail in Singapore after assaulting father, forcing him to sleep outside



A 40-year-old man in Singapore was jailed 13 weeks after repeatedly locking his 74-year-old father out of their HDB flat and assaulting him, forcing the elderly man to sleep at the void deck.. — TODAY pic

Wednesday, 22 Apr 2026 5:34 PM MYT


SINGAPORE, April 22 — A man in Singapore who repeatedly locked his 74-year-old father out of their Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat, forcing him to sleep at the void deck, was reportedly sentenced to 13 weeks jail after pleading guilty to assaulting the elderly man.

Bennie Lee Wei Ming, 40, was sentenced after admitting to two assault charges involving his father, according to Singapore’s The Straits Times.


Deputy Public Prosecutor Law Yan An reportedly told the court that Bennie had prevented the elderly man from returning home at night over the course of six months before the assault offences.

The prosecutor said Bennie would sometimes allow his father back into the flat only after requiring him to buy breakfast.


During the same period, Bennie’s mother was also forced to leave the unit and stayed with her daughter. Court documents said there was not enough space in the daughters home for both parents.


On February 22, Bennie kicked his father three times and punched his arm twice after the older man refused to buy testosterone patches for him. Court proceedings heard Bennie believed he had a perceived testosterone deficiency.

The father was later barred from entering the flat again and had to sleep at the void deck overnight.


When the victim tried to return at about 5am on February 23, Bennie again demanded the patches, threatened that “this story won’t end”, and also threatened to burn down the flat before punching his father twice near the left eye.

Two other charges, including one count of using criminal force on his mother, were taken into consideration during sentencing.

***

Among Chinese, this would be a rare though not  completely absent affair, that of a son (or children) beating up or abusing the father (or mother). Years back I recall reading a news article of another Singaporean couple kicking out the man's parents (dad and mum), forcing them to sleep in the stairwell, after the parents had signed over the condo to the son - what an ungrateful unfilial wretched S-Whole.

That could be why the Singapore government (years back) promoted Confucianism and the meaning of filial piety - intending for young Sing couple to look after their parents instead of shoving the old couple off to the State welfare system.

Mind you, there could be nasty parents who would riled their children humongously by their unpleasant eccentricities. For example, I have an old kampong matey whose children have cut him off completely from their family as he has been a womaniser of invincible degree. He would demand of a subservient child enormous help in managing his la liaison amoureuse - can't help him mate.

Iran war live: Israel kills Lebanese journalist; Tehran-US talks stalled

By Heba Habib and Nils Adler

Published On 23 Apr 202623 Apr 2026

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• Senior Iranian officials have blamed Washington for stalled peace negotiations due to the United States naval blockade of the country’s ports, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it captured two foreign vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on a third ship for violating maritime regulations.
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran wants “dialogue and agreement” but “breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations”.
• White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said no deadline has been set by US President Donald Trump for the extension of his ceasefire on Iran, adding that it will be the president’s decision when the truce ends.
• Lebanon has condemned Israel for the targeted killing of Lebanese newspaper correspondent Amal Khalil and the wounding of journalist colleague Zeinab Faraj, despite a negotiated ceasefire between both countries, which Israel has violated daily with deadly attacks and demolitions of Lebanese homes.

18m ago

 (07:30 GMT)

Netanyahu is ‘deliberately abandoning’ Palestinian citizens of Israel, says opposition leader

“Over 700 murders in three years leave no room for doubt: the criminal minister appointed by Netanyahu is deliberately abandoning the lives of Arab citizens”, Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan has posted on X.

“Netanyahu handed over all of our internal security to a convicted arsonist just to survive politically, and this failed government has turned criminal organisations into the landlords of the territory,” he wrote.

Besides being subjected to discriminatory legislation, Palestinian citizens of Israel face violence in Israel.

In 2025, 300 people were murdered in Israel – 252 were Palestinian citizens.

Israel’s census said there were about 1.9 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship in 2019.

Most are descendants of Palestinians who remained in Israel when it was founded in 1948.

About 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled, and thousands more were killed by Zionist militias, in the lead-up to Israel’s creation.

40m ago

 (07:10 GMT)

What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?

The US-Israel war on Iran is dominating headlines, but the Israeli army continues to carry out brutal attacks across the occupied West Bank.

Here are some of the latest incidents reported today by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa:

• Israeli police ran over a 20-year-old Palestinian man in the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem, then arrested him without treating his injuries.
• There were raids in several areas in Bethlehem and Beit Jala, and six people, including a lawyer, were arrested in Hebron.
• Two brothers were arrested by Israeli forces in the city of Tulkarem at dawn
• Israeli forces also stormed the towns of Silwan, Bir Nabala and Anata.
• A young man was surrounded by Israeli forces while he was with his family and arrested in the Wadi al-Joz industrial area. There are reports that Israeli forces detonated stun grenades to disperse citizens and pointed a weapon at members of the young man’s family.

The return of Khairy

The return of Khairy



Thursday, 23 Apr 2026 8:53 AM MYT

By Praba Ganesan



APRIL 23 — Umno turns 100 in 2046, and there’s every chance if it heads the federal government then Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar is prime minister.


Of course, if in 1961 someone posited Mahathir Mohamad will be PM 20 years on and repeats the act in his nineties they’d be laughed off to a mental health facility.


Barring deaths, here’s how the leadership clubhouse would look like in 2046. Anwar Ibrahim is 99, Zahid Hamidi 93, Mohamad Hasan 89 and Hadi Awang 99.

The leadership vacuum in the horizon.


Which is why staying in the race is far more critical than having clever things to say in the interim. The last 80 years of national politics instructs this, almost too cruelly. The battle is one of attrition, not talent.


Forty years ago, Donald Trump was synonymous with sordid divorces rather than sorties into Iran. Imagine that! Time always confounds the unprepared.

So, it can be great for 70-year-old Khairy in 2046.


Suitable for the vacant position

A dozen years ago, this column prophesied “…the stars are aligning well for Khairy.”

At that juncture, he was sports minister after being sidelined four years before for being his father-in-law Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s sidekick between 2000 to 2009. After being out in the cold, a political pathway re-emerged to Seri Perdana.

But I forewarned then, he is not the hope middle class Malaysia yearns for. Najib Razak picked him after four years of toeing the line and unflinching loyalty. The period when Terengganu Investment Authority metamorphosed into 1MDB and the Wolf of Wall Street was in production. The Oxford boy radiated obedience throughout. He is well trained not to look where trouble brews.

Today, Khairy picks Umno as the best vehicle for his personal ambitions, not because he wants Malaysia to be ambitious. Malaysians tend to misunderstand his personal urgency.

Am I being unfair? Let’s enquire.



Khairy Jamaluddin (left) shares a moment with former Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman on April 17, 2026. — Picture from Facebook/Dato Sri Tajuddin Rahman



Where is his vision for Malaysia? Three years in the wilderness, he played it cool in his podcasts, and jumped about in a radio studio. However, he did not stand unequivocally for anything. Committing to a position would require defending a position. A halfway, non-committal sort of yes and no, is much easier to squirm away from.

The years away have been a prolonged job interview. To appear strong but not actually too strong as to alienate people he’d need later.

The political celebrities lined up to be on his show because no one was excoriated when invited on. It was in mutual interest. You look good, I look good, but nothing of substance occurs.

As for the viewers?

Malaysians are trained to look on as the blueblood sits on stage and speaks down to them while being cordial to each other.

Neither Khairy nor partner Shahril Hamdan echo David Frost or mimic even a weak version of Hardtalk. No one is embarrassed.

Compare Khairy with Mahathir in his years out of power after being sacked by Umno’s second president Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid.

His Malay Dilemma explained the Malaysia he saw and the Malaysia he was determined to engineer. While many disagree with Mahathir, not the least this column, there is no confusion about where Mahathir stands on ethnic superiority and the Malay-first agenda.

You know why you hate Mahathir, or love him as the misguided tend to be.

With Khairy, you are certain he is for all the great things which are possible, unless if they are not great things, then he is not so much for them. The details, he prefers to skip.

He will give the ideas more polish, and avoid the faux pas avalanche Rafizi Ramli hits with alacrity. One is a diplobrat, the other merely a brat.

Two general elections, maybe more

Now that Umno took back the boy wonder, it needs to offer him a spot. A worthy spot.

But men like party deputy president Mohamad Hasan who inherited Khairy’s Rembau parliamentary seat in 2022, rather he jogs and not sprints to the next general election.

I said before GE15 that Khairy in the Dewan Rakyat is an unnecessary threat to Tok Mat. Still true today.

Maybe a bit of jeopardy by shipping him out to Kedah — maternal links — instead of letting Khairy have a crack at Jelebu, Jempol or Kuala Pilah — all traditional Umno seats in Negeri Sembilan. Tok Mat runs the table in Negeri Sembilan for Barisan Nasional.

Khairy has repeated a bit too enthusiastically that he is here to serve the party and not to pursue party positions. They may restrict him to serving in the short-term.

In the “keep him on a short leash” scenario, the party welcomes his campaigning for GE16 without being a candidate and rewards him with a minister position via the senator route. Just like Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz before he fled to PKR. This way, president Zahid Hamidi and Tok Mat are in control.

Zahid did not craft Rumah Bangsa and disguise it as a race love initiative instead of the party recruitment tool it actually is, only to have the recruits usurp him.

The party president may not be worldly, but he is a great warlord in the organisation.

Either way, it’s forward

The conveyor belt is now firmly in motion. Khairy’s ascension in the party is inevitable but the timeline is up for debate.

Even if he fails to become numero uno, he’d be a central figure in the party. The other question, increasingly pertinent, is how central will Umno be to Malaysian politics in the long term?

It has steadily lost pace in the last four elections; is an uptick on the cards because of Khairy?

At least, Khairy has more room to manoeuvre from inside rather than looking in from outside.

He can reap Umno’s success by staying loyal. Already it nauseates hearing him express his gratitude to Zahid whom he fought against for the presidency in 2018.

The old acrimony has dissipated. He is mum about Zahid’s get out of jail play with the 47 charges and the Bar Council’s efforts to U-turn the DNAA at the appeals court.

The only thing he cannot stop yapping about is his ardent love for Umno. A party which has a pedantic fervour to claim “the others” are threatening Malays while looking directly at a large section of middle-class Malaysia which roots for him. The party of principle and justice, just not for all Malaysians.

All of this is academic. The only objective of this column this week is to remind you, very little has ever changed, whether with Khairy, Umno or their common agenda. Twelve years later, it is clearer the road to glory for one man.

The consummate diplomat. They are excellent emissaries but forget not representatives are vague to do their master’s bidding.

Khairy did the tai-chi for three years, to look serious and fun, verbose and sporty, to look the part. But always in audition mode.

While it gets you the gig, leadership sets the agenda. Hanging on for the Umno lifeboat, which has arrived, shows he never was willing to “take it on” by himself. It might ultimately not be what he’s built for.

That’s what you get with this package.

‘If only it could be like that’: Indonesian minister raises, then rejects idea of tolling Malacca Strait like Iran’s Hormuz

‘If only it could be like that’: Indonesian minister raises, then rejects idea of tolling Malacca Strait like Iran’s Hormuz



Ships navigate through the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans and carrying a significant share of global energy and cargo flows. — Shipfinder satellite image on Google Map

Thursday, 23 Apr 2026 1:09 PM MYT


JAKARTA, April 23 — Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has sparked discussion after briefly suggesting the country could consider charging ships using the Strait of Malacca, before quickly clarifying that the idea was not feasible.


The remarks came amid renewed global attention on strategic waterways following Iran’s reported move to impose charges on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz during heightened regional tensions.


“We are on a strategic global trade and energy route, but we do not charge ships passing through the Strait of Malacca.

“Now Iran is looking to charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” Purbaya was quoted by Singapore-based news outlet The Straits Times as saying during a financial symposium here yesterday.


“If we split it three ways between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, that could be quite something, right?” he added.


Moments later, he backtracked.

“If only it could be like that, but that’s not the case,” he was quoted saying in his speech, pointing to the legal, geopolitical and practical constraints involved.


Purbaya noted that while Indonesia sits along one of the world’s most important shipping corridors, monetising it is neither simple nor appropriate.



Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa had briefly proposed tolling ships passing through the Strait of Malacca, after Iran’s Hormuz move, only to reject it as impractical moments later. — AFP pic



He stressed that any such move would immediately raise complex international legal and diplomatic issues involving neighbouring coastal states.

He later emphasised that Indonesia would not seek to exploit its position along the strait for revenue.

The Strait of Malacca, linking the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, is one of the busiest maritime passages in the world, carrying roughly a quarter of global trade.

The waterway is jointly managed by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore under long-standing principles of freedom of navigation under international law.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore recently reiterated that the three countries remain committed to keeping the straits open and safe through cooperation on navigation infrastructure and maritime safety.

Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has also stressed that transit passage through international waterways is a legal right, not a privilege or tollable service.

He said Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia share a strategic interest in keeping the straits open, adding that they would not support any attempt to impose charges or restrictions on navigation.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono separately said foreign naval movements in regional waters were routine and covered under international law, reaffirming Jakarta’s “free and active” foreign policy stance that avoids alignment in geopolitical rivalries.

Crude surges past US$100 as Hormuz standoff drags on

Crude surges past US$100 as Hormuz standoff drags on



The price of crude oil jumped 3.62 per cent to US$105.63 (RM417.88) early on April 23, 2026 on war fears as Iran keeps Strait of Hormuz shut. — Reuters pic

Thursday, 23 Apr 2026 9:18 AM MYT


TOKYO April 23 — Oil prices jumped 4 per cent Thursday after Iran vowed not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so long as a US naval blockade remained in place despite a ceasefire extension.

At around 0025 GMT, the benchmark US oil contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbed 4.06 per cent to US$96.73 (RM382.67) per barrel. International oil benchmark Brent North Sea crude rose 3.62 per cent to US$105.63 (RM417.88). Both eased back in the following minutes.

Oil prices have soared since Israel and the United States attacked Iran on February 28 and they have kept inching up on the uncertainty over whether war will resume.

As the clock ticked for a return to the war that has engulfed the region, US President Donald Trump had said Tuesday he would maintain the truce to allow more time for Pakistani-brokered peace talks.

Iran said it welcomed the efforts by Pakistan but made no other comment on Trump’s announcement. — AFP

Piece of walking excrement destroyed Statue of Jesus Christ

From the FB page of:

Norman Finkelstein  · 

Aboubakre Harakat · ·

This got taken down so I am reposting it here.

The vile, heretical and pedophilic army is still moving along and despoiling holy sites.

Somebody said: “ imagine the outrage if it was a Muslim person “ but no Muslim would ever destroy statues of the Christ.

It needs to be understood that these enemies hate Islam almost as much as they hate Christianity because they see Christians as polytheists. But of course the exemplary piece of walking excrement in this photo did not do it for that reason. He did it simply because they enjoy destroying things and committing atrocities

Why??

Because committing atrocities is how they worship their Gods Moloch and Baal