My Covid post earlier today didn’t mention the United States – but maybe, I should. Surely, I can’t ignore the No. 1 Covid country which has amassed 85.7 million cases and one million deaths todate.
According to Worldometer, the US reported 6,865 cases yesterday!
Just in case, you may think the US has beaten Covid, I read a news piece this morning that says otherwise.
Indeed, Covid cases are on the rise and even those rising figures are severely undercounted, according to some experts who estimate that, because of home testing, case rates are actually 14.5x what's being reported!
Yet, as so many people have moved on as if Covid has disappeared, it's hard sometimes not to feel gaslit if you're still concerned about Covid and still wanting to not catch it. Sure, death rates are down, but some experts estimate that 1 in 5 people who catch Covid will go on to develop long Covid.
There is clearly reason to still care.
If you are someone still concerned with Covid, and you feel you're out on a limb, check out the Twitter post that exploded over the weekend – almost 30,000 people have liked the post and thousands have responded saying that they are, in fact, still masking. You're definitely not alone!
To give the US number some context, here are the Top 12 countries with the highest number of daily infections, according to Worldometer – as at yesterday, May 30:
At the end of the day, all these are just numbers, nothing more! Besides, we're already comfortably living with Covid!
Beijing and Shanghai, China's two megacities, are gradually walking out of the shadow of Omicron outbreaks – a testimony to the success of the country’s dynamic zero-Covid strategy and which is claimed to yield minimum costs to the economy and people's lives.
Epidemiologists summarized that fast testing, strict and timely measures are key to Beijing's 37-day battle against the latest Covid flares-up, as the Chinese capital city drew lessons from Shanghai's tough anti-Covid battle that has lasted for two months.
With the full opening-up of the country's top two cities, it is believed that the overall impact of the latest Covid flares-up would not exceed 0.5 percentage points in terms of annual growth rate. And with rapid resumption of business and manufacturing, it is envisaged that the annual economic growth rate could still achieve 5 percent in 2022.
And in case you’re interested to know, yesterday, according to Worldometer, mainland China reported 34 cases – compare its Covid situation with Malaysia which reported 1,325 cases.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spelt out, in no uncertain terms, the US approach to China.
“Even as President Putin’s war continues, we will remain focussed on the most serious long-term challenge to the international order that is posed by the People’s Republic of China”, he had said on Thursday.
As he boldly put it, “China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do it”.
The vending machine culture in Japan is very well-known.
Especially, “gashapon” (ガシャポン), also called gachapon (ガチャポン), a variety of vending machine that dispense toys in capsules that originated in the 1960s and became popular in Japan and elsewhere. Gachapon capsule toys are really sought-after and you can find them virtually everywhere, giving out all kinds of collectibles, from small action figures and dolls to souvenirs.
One particular such machine went viral on social media for dispensing something very unusual – ID photos of total strangers for 300 yen ($2.30).
The machine which has attracted a surprisingly enthusiastic response from people who are willing to pay for the images, is the brainchild of a Tokyo entrepreneur by the name of Terai Hiroki, who explained that he came up with the idea after reckoning that, in a time when everyone is wearing face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic, they would have a genuine desire to “see people’s faces fully”. He thought it would be really nice to look at a random face.
Installed in March 2022, the gachapon machine became so popular that people started coming to Kagurazaka, a neighborhood close to Shinjuku, Tokyo from as far as Osaka just to get one of the 10 possible ID photos. Some even made it their mission to complete their collection. And it has since dispensed more than 1,000 pictures.
As bizarre as this may seem, it’s not even the weirdest thing you can buy from a Japanese vending machine! Balls of lettuce, eggs, live rhinoceros beetles, flying fish soup, canned bread, canned T-shirts, bug snacks, and dog wigs are just some of the many items you can get from these miraculous machines of convenience:
A UK university had been denounced for rejecting a student on the discriminatory basis they are Russian.
Thirty-three-year-old Elena Ledneva (right) had hoped to start a one-year Masters course in luxury hospitality management. She applied last month, after going on an open day and meeting course tutors but an email from the University of West London’s International Team on Tuesday, indicated that her application to study at the institution would not be taken further because she is Russian.
UWL suggested this was not a one-off decision but a university-wide “policy”, introduced since the launching of Russia’s “invasion”. Their email, seen by Express.co.uk, read: “We are writing to inform you that as per University policy in response to the recent events and situation in Ukraine, we will not be in the position to process your application further. We are very sorry about these very unfortunate circumstances”.
The university with campuses in Ealing and Brentford in Greater London, as well as in Reading, Berkshire described the policy as “unfortunate”, but the university’s own admissions policy suggests it was more significant than this.
Among their “general principles” is that “the University will admit candidates who have the potential to succeed on their chosen course regardless of background”.
They have since backtracked, insisting the rejection was sent "in error" but others claim the change was only made after "pressure" was applied.
Toby Young of Free Speech Union, a UK-based organization which advocates freedom of speech highlighted that treating one applicant less favourably than another because of their nationality would amount to “direct discrimination” and “a straightforward breach of the Equality Act 2010”.
He told Express.co.uk that had the application not been pursued on this basis, Ledneva would have had an “open and shut case” in court.
Georgios Giannakopoulos, a lecturer at the City University of London and a friend of Ledneva drew attention to the matter by posting a screenshot of the email on Twitter and captioned: “Since when do UK universities issue blanket rejections to Russian candidates because of their nationality? This is a dangerous precedent!”
He told Express.co.uk: “I have been hearing stories anecdotally of Russian students having a hard time in London because they are falling victim of this popular hysteria without being the perpetrators of [the war]”.
Giannakopoulos pointed to stories he had heard of people just speaking Russian receiving “abuse in the street”, but noted he now understands this to be the “tip of the iceberg”, given the involvement of institutions in anti-Russian discrimination.
The Asians are getting a respite because now, the Russians are being targeted.
[Note: Asian racism (and racism, in general) has always been in British society for generations. But since the Covid-19 pandemic, hate crimes against those of East Asian and Southeast Asian ethnicity have surged. In fact, an EVR study on “Hate Crime Data” shared exclusively with ITV News revealed on October 07, 2021 that “hate crime attacks against east and south east Asians in UK (rose) by 50% in two years”].
Liverpool fell to a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final yesterday.
The Reds were utterly dominant in the first-half, enjoying much of the ball and creating chance after chance. Only relatively few really troubled the Los Blancos keeper though – and even then, failed to convert their chances.
But in the second-half, the Reds appeared to drop off from their high-tempo approach. Then, a dreadful defensive lapse from Trent Alexander-Arnold saw the other side open the scoring for the La Liga side on the hour mark.
Real Madrid held on to lift the Champions League for a record 14th time, as Liverpool were unable to break through the Spanish side's resolute defence.
This is the second Champions League final Liverpool have lost to Real Madrid, also losing out to the Spanish giants in 2018.
The Champions League might have eased the agony of just missing out on the Premier League to Manchester City by one point, only for Liverpool to find themselves on the wrong end of a goalkeeping masterclass from Thibaut Courtois (right).
In fact, the Reds had 24 shots on the Madrid goal in total, but failed to see any hit the back of the net.
Let's face it, if you are in four competitions and only finish with two – and not the Premier League or Champions League – you will be disappointed! It is more heartbreaking when we didn’t win for the smallest possible margin – one point, 1-0.
On Thursday, the ABBA quartet made their first public appearance in 14 years as they attended the premiere of their Abba Voyage show in London, UK.
Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson reunited for the opening night of the concert, which features digital versions of the band.
The concert has been in the works since 2016 and features ground-breaking new technology that recreates the sight of ABBA in their 1970s prime, playing their hit tunes.
To create the spectacle, Björn, Agnetha, Frida and Benny performed in motion capture suits for five weeks, with 160 cameras scanning their body movements and facial expressions – and they became reference points to create avatars of the band in their heyday.
If you must know, one thousand visual effects artists created the show and it took one billion computing hours to animate the avatars.
Affectionately known as "ABBA-tars", the characters are not 3D holograms – as everyone involved in the production is at pains to point out.
"I don't think any hologram shows have been successful", producer Baillie Walsh told Dazed magazine last year. "After five minutes, I don't think they're that interesting".
Instead, the characters appear on a massive, 65-million-pixel screen, with lights and other effects blurring the boundaries between the digital elements and the "real world" in the arena.
"We want to pull on the emotions", producer Svana Gisla told the BBC.
"So, if you come out of here and feel like you've seen a visual spectacle, we will have failed. If you come out of here and you've laughed and you've cried and you can't wait to go back, that's what we want".
Amazingly, they've pulled it off. The images might be 2D, but impressive lighting effects – 500 lights in the purpose-built arena – and back projections provide a crucial depth of field – creating the illusion that the band are really in the room with you.
Although the band members were in their 70s when the motion capture footage was filmed, the Royal Ballet's resident choreographer Wayne McGregor helped them recreate the movement of their younger selves.
Agnetha and Frida's home-spun dance routines, which could charitably be described as "extravagant walking", are both instantly recognizable and achingly nostalgic.
The music is enhanced by a precision-drilled, 10-piece live band, who race through an eclectic set of ABBA songs that mixes classics like “Mamma Mia” and “Thank You For The Music” with unexpected deep cuts such as “Eagle” and the tender “When All Is Said And Done”.
The two new songs they released last year, “Don't Shut Me Down” and “I Still Have Faith In You”, slot into the setlist seamlessly; while the footage of the band winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 elicits an audible "aaaahh" from the audience during “Waterloo”.
And of course, the absolute highlight was that the foursome came on stage at the end. The quartet didn't speak during their brief appearance on stage – but, by then, the concert had said everything they needed to say.
The show takes place in the 3,000-seater Olympic Park at Pudding Mill Lane, London E15 2PJ and is currently due to run until December 2022. Then, in true Swedish style, the venue can be collapsed into a flat-pack and taken on the road.
It's the perfect solution for a band who swore never to tour again after they dissolved in 1982 – even turning down a $1 billion offer to play 100 shows at the turn of the Millennium.
But the new technology, pioneered by Star Wars VFX company Industrial Light & Magic, tempted them back into the live arena.
The Ukrainian soldiers of the Azov Battalion were called one by one. A nod from their Russian captors, who asked the surrendered to lift their shirt is enough.
The Russians were searching for tattoos that promote Nazism or show support for Nazism. And they found plentiful.
After all, Russian president Vladimir Putin – when announcing the start of the “special military operation” in Ukraine promised he would "denazify" the country.
And these images, released by the Ministry of Defense proved it.
Russia has even released shocking video footage of the last Ukrainian holdouts' Nazi tattoos after they surrendered from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
The astonishing footage shows captured fighters displaying swastikas, Third Reich eagles, SS death heads and even one giant inking of Adolf Hitler.
Others appear to have Satanic symbols on their bodies like horned goats and the number 333, a reference to a text revered by devil-worshipping neo-Nazis who want to evolve into vampire warriors.
Now, you can understand why Russia wants to de-Nazify Ukraine. It’s a war against Nazism and sadly, the West choose to be blind to it all.
I was right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday – and except for the masks people continue to wear, you would think that life is back to normal.
You wouldn’t know that Covid is still lurking in our midst. On that day, the number of Covid cases stood at 2,430 and yesterday, it was 1,845 cases. But no worries, Malaysians don't intend to lose sleep over it!
I was in the city because I was involved in Ahmad Fakhri’s “Communicate with Power” training for Azmi & Associates’ staffers at their premise in Menara Keck Seng in Jalan Bukit Bintang. Directly opposite Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.
A one-day public speaking workshop is always challenging – but fortunately, it was manageable because I only had two participants to coach. Originally, I had four on my list but only 3 turned up and four hours afterward, another participant dropped out. Oh well…
This training represents the first time we are basing it strictly on our book “The Diamond in Your Speech”, where we incorporate the Diamond formula, a proven design and delivery system for Public Speaking.
