Israeli forces have seized The Madleen, an unarmed aid yacht headed for Gaza, detaining all 12 people onboard — including Greta Thunberg, MEP Rima Hassan, and journalist Omar Faiad. We speak to Saul Takahashi, Professor of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Osaka Jogakuin University, about the legal and humanitarian implications of the seizure in international waters.

Other stories we covered:

• Govt's request for telco data raises privacy concerns: Though the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC) insists the data is not being used for tracking purposes, but this request has raised some concerns. We discuss the realities of the situation and whether there are any legal safeguards for the public with Malvinderjit Kaur Dhillon, a Senior Associate at LAW Partnership.

• World Oceans and Coral Triangle Day: With World Oceans Day on the 8th of June, and Coral Triangle Day on the 9th, we explore our relationship with the ocean and its sea life in Malaysia, as well as the adverse conditions it deals with such as pollution, bleaching, and overfishing. Julian Hyde, CEO of Reef Check Malaysia, shares insights on the biggest threats to our marine ecosystems and what we must urgently do to save them.

• Is Spotify killing musical creativity?: Spotify’s playlist-driven model rewards background-friendly music, pushing artists toward generic, algorithm-pleasing sounds over experimentation. Singer-songwriter and Sunway University lecturer Azmyl Yunor weighs in on what this means for music culture and creative expression.

• Fahmi Reza calls out government hypocrisy: The political satirist was stopped at KLIA 2 a few days ago with immigration officers telling him he did not have clearance to travel. While the situation has been resolved, Reza has pointed out how there has been no accountability and authorities often escape it when they make mistakes. We discuss.

Image Credit: Chris Kebbon via Greta Thunberg's Instagram

Produced by: Dashran Yohan, Sudais Ferhard, Juliet Jacobs, Alia Zefri, Sneha Harikannan

Presented by: Sharaad Kuttan, Dashran Yohan

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Categories:  technology,  managing,  environment,  Law/Activism,  corruption,  politics,  government,  international,  controversies,  music,  travel

Tags:  madleen,  gaza,  israel gaza conflict,  palestine,  israeli occupation,  Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC),  fahmi reza,  spotify,  world oceans day,  coral triangle day,  telcos,  customer data privacy,  data privacy,  malaysian communications and multimedia commission (mcmc),