"Spends Day Peacefully": Japan Zoo Says 'Punch The Monkey' Isn't Being Bullied

03/11/26 2:19 PM

A Japanese zoo caring for a baby monkey who has become an internet sensation was forced to issue a statement denying he was being bullied, following an outpouring of concern online.

'Clear signal of defiance' shows Trump attacks are backfiring: analyst

03/10/26 10:45 AM

The appointment of a new ayatollah shortly after the death of Ali Khamenei highlights a major shortcoming in Donald Trump's plot for Iranian regime change, an analyst wrote Tuesday.Despite the president's team carrying out a series of strikes against the Middle Eastern country earlier this month, the only changes made so far, according to CNN analyst Stephen Collinson, are beneficial to Iran. Trump may have succeeded in removing the country's former head, but his replacement, Collinson believes, is far worse for the US and the current administration. He wrote, "No one from the outside can know its true state after days of aerial pounding of government facilities and heavy loss of life."But so far, the operation has succeeded only in replacing an aged supreme leader — who was already close to his eternal rest and had no succession plan — with a younger version with the same last name."The choice of Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his martyred father as supreme leader was a signal of defiance from the theocracy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that rule Iran with an iron fist. It remains unclear how Khamenei will be able to consolidate power in such extreme circumstances."Trump has also failed to take into account the activity needed from the Iranian people to successfully topple and ultimately replace the regime, Collinson argued. "There’s no outward sign that the uprising of Iranians against their corrupt and repressive rulers that Trump sought to trigger is about to materialize," he wrote. "Perhaps US and Israeli attacks on Iranian economic and energy infrastructure could so weaken the regime’s foundation that a revolt could materialize in the months and years ahead, even if the clerics cling on for now."But this requires Iranian civilians taking to the streets against ruthless security forces pining for revenge following the US onslaught. "Only weeks ago, thousands were killed in a previous thwarted uprising. It seems just as likely that the unintended result of the war will be more repression rather than a flowering of freedom."Trump may also be forced to play his hand sooner than he had hoped. Collinson wrote, "Trump also faces pressing strategic dilemmas. Will he use force to try to open the Strait of Hormuz — the world’s vital oil conduit, which has been all but closed by Iran? "And would the survival of the regime lead to an almost permanent state of simmering warfare between the US and Israel and Iran that requires regular escalations to prevent the Islamic Republic rebuilding its threat?"

'Incorrect, Mr. Pete Hegseth': Steve Bannon lashes out at Trump's defense secretary

03/09/26 4:17 PM

MAGA influencer Steve Bannon lashed out at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he scoffed at a question from 60 Minutes about whether Iran was an imminent threat to the United States."I think much of that discussion is silly and academic," Hegseth told CBS reporter Major Garrett during the Sunday interview.The answer didn't sit well with Bannon on his Monday broadcast."There's just got to be a different messaging," he explained. "It's got to be different information... And let me be specific about that. And you know, I think the world of Pete Hegseth. Nobody fought for Pete Hegseth's confirmation more than this audience and this show.""That being said, the 60 Minutes interview last night, you just can't sit there and go shine us on about imminent threat," Bannon continued. "Oh yeah, it's not an immigrant threat. No, it doesn't work like that. The people in the messaging part, moreover, they've got to get serious about this."The MAGA host insisted that the American people would not accept "short-term pain for long-term gain.""But you're going to start losing people," he noted. "And last night on 60 Minutes, just to kind of shine on imminent threat, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Incorrect, sir. Incorrect, Mr. Pete Hegseth. It was imminent threat, and I'd like to know about that imminent threat.""Because I think you showed last night, there was not an imminent threat, and now we're in it. Now we're in it," Bannon added.