Belgium's Revenge and the Dance of Defeat

Speaking to reporters at the White House hours before the round-of-16 World Cup game between USA and Belgium, Donald Trump stated: "If they beat us, they can be really proud. The other way, if they beat us, we'll say – I'll say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020".

The context surrounding his unsavoury comments stems from an unprecedented political intervention in the tournament. US star striker Folarin Balogun was shown a straight red card during a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, triggering an automatic one-game ban. 

Trump admitted, to personally calling FIFA President Gianni Infantino to lobby for a review of the "horrible" red card suspension. FIFA subsequently suspended Balogun's ban, allowing him to play against Belgium. This decision sparked global outrage, with UEFA accusing FIFA of "crossing a red line". 

Trump brazenly defended his action by saying he wanted both teams to have their full-strength squads.

But, despite the American-born Nigerian being cleared to play and starting the match, USMNT were unceremoniously dumped out of the World Cup when the clinical Red Devils trounced the former 4-1 in the knockout clash on Monday. It was their heaviest defeat since 1990. 

After Belgium scored their fourth goal several of their players were pictured dancing in a style similar to the 'Trump dance' – where he rocks his hips and slowly pumps his arms – which gained notoriety during the 2024 US presidential campaign. 

The official Instagram account for the Belgium national team also appeared to taunt the debacle, posting a picture of striker Romelu Lukaku cupping his ear with the caption "overturn this"!

And their midfielder Nicolas Raskin even triumphantly said his side’s victory felt like a measure of justice after that disgraceful FIFA decision.

😁😁😁

US Security Chief Gloats Over Iran’s World Cup Exit

US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin (right), whose agency were responsible for enforcing controversial security measures targeting the Iranian football team at the World Cup, brazenly bragged that the job put him on cloud nine and that he was overjoyed Iran was eliminated. 

Iran exited the global football tournament, which the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, after three draws against New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt during the group stage. 

Iranian officials complained that, unlike other teams, Iranian players were not allowed to stay in the US and instead had to travel for training and games in Los Angeles and Seattle from Tijuana, Mexico. 

“I’m just glad they’re done, and they’re not coming back”, Mullin told an interagency meeting on Monday, as first reported by Sports Business Journal. 

He added that “there wasn’t a single team that we dealt with more than them”. 

“I was so happy when we were able to pull their visas and said they could leave US soil, and I might have sung a song or two, or maybe danced a happy dance”, the senior official crowed. 

Clearly, this is an American who is deplorable, detestable and despicable!

Iran Draws With Egypt @ World Cup

Yesterday's final Group G matches concluded with Iran drawing 1-1 against Egypt, and Belgium thumping New Zealand 5-1. These results left Team Melli in third place with 3 points, causing them to narrowly miss out on automatic knockout qualification. 

There are now two possible scenarios for Iran: either they go through to the next round with three points and three draws, or they leave the tournament unbeaten. 

According to ⁠Opta's supercomputer's calculations, Iran has a 92% chance of progressing. [Note: Under the expanded 48-team format, the 12 groups will narrow down to a Round of 32. This structure allows the top two teams from each group, along with the eight best third-place teams, to advance via a wildcard tiebreaker system]. 

As it currently stands, Iran sits in sixth place in the third-placed teams rankings.  

Concurrently, Scotland dropped to tenth place in the third-place rankings. Over the last 48 hours, their chances of reaching the World Cup knockouts for the first time plummeted from 42% to a microscopic 0.07%, making elimination practically certain.

The remaining matches in Groups J, K, and L will conclusively determine the tournament fates of both Iran and Scotland.  

We should know by Saturday (local time)/Sunday (Malaysian time).

The Most Oppressed Team at the World Cup

Head coach Amir Ghalenoei says Iran’s treatment by FIFA makes them “the most oppressed” team at the World Cup. Of course, we all know that this is primarily due to hostile US actions.

[Note that Iran blamed FIFA rather than pointing fingers directly at the US because, under FIFA’s tournament regulations, the governing body – not the host nation – are solely responsible for venue operations, scheduling, flag rules, and enforcing team logistics].

There had been severe logistical, travel, and administrative hurdles put in place by co-host the United States. Among them:

Visa Denials: Fifteen members of Iran’s coaching, support staff, and football federation executives were denied visas to enter the US, where all of Iran’s group stage games are taking place. That number was later reduced to eleven after some visas were approved.

Forced Base Relocation: Due to supposedly security precautions and visa complications, the team was forced to abandon their planned training base in Tucson, Arizona and relocate to Tijuana, Mexico.

Exhausting Travel Restrictions: Ahead of their opening match against New Zealand in Los Angeles, California, the Iranians were denied permission to stay overnight. Instead, they were forced to commute back and forth from their base in Tijuana, severely disrupting recovery and training schedules.

Revoked Ticket Allocations: The Iranian Football Federation reported that their designated 8% quota of tickets for group-stage matches against Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand was withdrawn, leaving them unable to provide tickets to their fans through official channels. One can surmise that Iran residents who are subject to a travel ban by the US government since last year, are, therefore, unlikely to get entry visas for the World Cup, as well as their inability to make payments while financial sanctions are in force.  

WHO'S REALLY RUNNING THE WORLD CUP?!?! 😡😡😡

FYI, the 2026 tournament marks the seventh time the Iranian national team have competed on football's biggest stage. 

And Iran opened their campaign on June 16 with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand. And yesterday, they drew 0-0 against Belgium. 

Iran will finish out group play against Egypt on June 26.

I'm betting Iran will qualify for the Round of 32 knockout stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

World Cup Set for New Era as Giants Miss Out

The remaining places for this year's FIFA World Cup were finalised on Tuesday, capping a qualifying campaign that spanned nearly three years and setting the stage for the tournament's first 48-team edition. 

The competition will be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19. 

The expanded format has opened the door to new contenders while leaving several established powers and high-profile players on the outside looking in. 

Italy will miss a third straight World Cup after losing its playoff final to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties. It has been a rapid fall for the Azzurri, which won its fourth World Cup title in 2006 and won the 2020 European Championship. 

Elsewhere, Nigeria's absence stands out in Africa, with the Super Eagles unable to navigate a competitive qualifying campaign despite a squad drawn from top European leagues. 

Chile, twice Copa America champions in the past 11 years, also missed out as the core of its golden generation fades. 

Poland is another notable omission, having lost its playoff final against Sweden, while Costa Rica, quarterfinalists in 2014, also missed out for the first time since 2010 after a poor CONCACAF zone qualifying campaign. 

Even with 16 additional teams in this year's tournament, the list is a reminder that qualification still leaves little margin for error. 

Besides the above, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has sought to allay doubts about Iran's participation in the tournament, insisting the team would play all of its group matches in the US as scheduled. 

There has been ongoing uncertainty over Iran's involvement because of the conflict in West Asia, with Tehran raising concerns over player safety and banning national and club teams from traveling to countries it considers hostile. 

The Iranian football federation said earlier this month they were negotiating with FIFA to relocate the country's World Cup matches from the US to Mexico.

Iran is due to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on June 15 and 21 respectively, before meeting Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

In squash, Sivasangari Subramaniam (right) was handed an extended break at the El Gouna International Open after advancing to the quarter-finals via a walkover following the withdrawal of opponent Mariam Metwally of Egypt. 

The Malaysian was set to take on the world No. 33 yesterday but the home player pulled out after her father passed away. 

Sivasangari had booked her place in the second round with a hard-fought win over world No. 16 Nada Abbas in Giza, Egypt on Saturday. 

The 27-year-old Kedahan won 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 in 47 minutes. It was Sivasangari's fourth triumph against the Egyptian in five meetings. 

Cost Estimated for West to Keep Ukraine in the Fight

Ukraine requires close to $400 billion in Western financial support over the next four years to sustain its war effort against Russia, with most of the burden expected to fall on European NATO nations, The Economist reported on Thursday. 

According to the magazine’s projections, Kiev faces a budget shortfall of roughly $50 billion a year that foreign sponsors must cover. With the current US administration reluctant to approve further large-scale assistance, the European Union and United Kingdom would need to contribute an estimated $328 billion and $61 billion respectively. 

The newspaper in a magazine format warned that if funding is not secured, Ukraine will be “destroyed” and NATO’s cohesion could “break”. Moscow has maintained its objective remains a neutral and demilitarized Ukraine and describes the conflict as a NATO-driven proxy war stemming from the bloc’s eastward expansion. 

To meet Kiev’s massive financial needs, The Economist argued that Western nations have no alternative but to proceed with the controversial “reparation loan” plan, which would use immobilized Russian sovereign assets as collateral. 

Belgium – home to the Euroclear clearinghouse that holds the majority of the frozen Russian funds – has opposed the idea, warning that it amounts to “sort-of-confiscation” and exposes it to immense legal and financial risks it wants nations to share. Moscow condemns the ploy as outright theft and promised retaliation. 

The plan “will happen, Belgian resistance or not, because it is the only game in town to fund Ukraine in the coming year or two”, The Economist reported. It added Brussels will subsequently need to overcome internal opposition from dissenting member states such as Hungary to finance Kiev directly from the EU budget.

Yesterday, Celtic beat Rangers 3-1 in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals. 

Johnny Kenny opened the scoring when he rose at the near post to bullet in a corner from Arne Engels in the 25th minute. But that lead was cancelled out when the Gers levelled from the penalty spot in the 81st minute. 

And then, Callum McGregor and Callum Osmand stepped up to score in extra-time to get Celtic over the line. 

The Celtic skipper cracked in that big second goal on 93 minutes, followed by the Welsh striker who converted Kieran Tierney's cross on 109 minutes. 

All of a sudden, Celtic seem to have options in the central striking role, with Johnny Kenny now netting three goals in two matches and a nineteen-year-old seizing on his chance under Martin O'Neill. 

Celtic will play St Mirren in the final on December 14. They'll surely be looking for a 23rd success in this tournament.

BYD's Fleet of Car Carriers

China's BYD completed their massive fleet of eight vessels and reached an annual transport capacity of over 1 million cars. The final car carrier to join the fleet, BYD Jinan, went into operation last week, the company announced on WeChat. 

The Shenzhen-based automaker completed the fleet in under two years. The first vessel, BYD Explorer No. 1, was delivered in January 2024. 

All the car carriers are RoRo ships, meaning they are designed to carry wheeled cargo – the vehicles roll on/roll off themselves without the need for containers. BYD ships have a capacity of 7,200 or 9,000 cars based on the type of vessel. 

Aside from the newly launched Jinan, all seven ships are already supplying the world with BYD products. BYD Hefei is currently unloading cars in Europe before returning to China. BYD Xi’an is expected to arrive in Barcelona, Spain later this week. BYD Shenzhen and Changsha are also on their way from China to Europe.

But BYD are not exporting just China-made cars. BYD Zhengzhou, with a capacity of 7,000 vehicles, brought BYD right-hand drive cars from Thailand to the UK this week and is now en route to unload in Belgium, according to MarineTraffic data. This is the first time BYD have exported cars from their Thailand plant. 

Thailand, unlike China, is not subject to EU countervailing tariffs imposed on Chinese EV makers after the EC concluded its anti-subsidy investigation last October. BYD are subject to an additional 17% tariff on top of the existing 10% tariff.

However, BYD don’t rely only on their Chinese plants for overseas sales. On July 01, BYD began production at their Brazilian plant, with the first Seagull hatchback rolling off the line. The automaker also built their first European car plant in Hungary; however, the Szeged facility is not yet operational, as the company have delayed mass production until 2026. BYD are also building an EV plant in Pakistan, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2026. In Uzbekistan, production already started in June 2024. 

All those plants are knock-down kits (KD), meaning the car is brought in as parts from China and assembled locally. BYD claim they want to achieve a high level of localisation.

BYD reportedly face declining sales in their domestic market, and only their overseas sales prevent a sharper fall. 

In August, the overseas sales grew 157% to 80,813 vehicles YoY, while China sales fell 22% to 284,005 cars for the BYD brand.

BYD plan to achieve 20% of their sales in 2025 from overseas markets, targeting the sale of 1 million vehicles outside China. In 2025 so far, January-September, BYD sold 697,072 vehicles outside their home country.

If you're interested to know:

European City Asks Tourists to Stop Stealing Cobblestones

When tourists say they wish they could take a piece of their favorite place home with them, sometimes they mean it a bit too literally. 

Belgium’s picturesque city of Bruges has issued a request that tourists stop stealing cobblestones from its UNESCO-recognized medieval streets. 

Local politician Franky Demon says an estimated 50 to 70 cobblestones disappear per month – even more during peak season – and it costs 200 euros (about $225) per square meter to replace them and fix the damage. 

“While some may see this as harmless or quirky, the consequences are serious”, Demon told CNN. “The removal of cobblestones poses a clear safety risk to both residents and visitors. Missing or loosened stones create tripping hazards, and city workers must frequently be dispatched to carry out repairs”. 

Demon said that one “perpetrator” apparently even took the time to replace a missing stone with a planted flower. “A whimsical gesture, but one that underscores a lack of respect for our shared heritage”, he said. 

“We simply ask for respect. Walking through Bruges means stepping through centuries of history,” said Demon. “These cobblestones are not just pieces of stone – they are part of our city’s soul. We urge visitors to enjoy Bruges, but to leave its beauty intact for others”. 

Like Italy's Venice, Spain's Barcelona and other historic European cities, Bruges has been struggling to cope with overtourism. In 2019, the city voted to reduce the number of cruise ships that would be allowed to dock in the nearby port of Zeebrugge and ended tourism promotion campaigns in nearby destinations like France's Paris to discourage day-trippers. 

Visitors to Bruges who want a memento of their vacation – maybe consider a box of Belgian chocolates instead? Famous Belgian chocolate brands include Callebaut, Côte d'Or, Galler, Godiva, Guylian and Leonidas. 

Asian champion Sivasangari Subramaniam, who received a first-round bye, subdued India's world No. 57 Anahat Singh 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 in a 45-minute battle yesterday. 

She is through to the third round of the British Open Squash and will now face Japan's world No. 7 Satomi Watanabe today for a place in the quarter-finals.

Belgians Advised Against Eating Christmas Trees

Belgium's food safety agency, on January 07 issued a warning to residents to not turn their Christmas trees into food in response to the environmentally-minded city of Ghent posting tips for recycling the conifers into dinner table items.

 

"In Scandinavia, they have been doing it for a long time: picking the needles from the branches, briefly immersing them in boiling water, pouring them through a sieve and drying them on a clean cloth", Ghent's website reads. "Once the needles are dry, you can make delicious spruce needle butter with them for bread or toast". 

 

Ghent had cited what they said were ancient Scandinavian customs of using dried needles to flavor butter.

 

The FASFC responded by warning residents that Christmas trees "are not meant to end up in the food chain". It was explained that trees grown for Christmas decorations are most often treated with pesticides and other potentially dangerous chemicals. 

 

"What's more, there is no easy way for consumers to tell if Christmas trees have been treated with flame retardant – and not knowing that could have serious, even fatal consequences", FASFC said in a statement provided to Euronews. "There is no way to ensure that eating Christmas trees is safe – either for people or animals". 

 

Ghent edited the post on their website after the warning, changing a heading from "eat your Christmas tree" to "Scandinavians eat their Christmas trees" and included a warning: "not all Christmas trees are edible". 

 

A day after Belgium warned against eating Christmas trees, Swedish officials said that the needles can be safely used to make butter and other products – as long as the trees are young and wild. 

 

Anneli Widenfalk, toxicologist at the Swedish agency, told AFP in an email that the Swedish custom of collecting and using needles from young saplings is safe – if in limited quantities. 

 

"This is usually done in May to June, when they are small and tender, and the tree has probably not been treated with chemicals", she said. 

 

They can be used to make butter herbal infusions, syrups, or to flavor alcohol such as schnapps. There are even spruce beers, brewed by the Vikings one thousand years ago, according to Smalandsgran, a family business specializing in the sale of Christmas trees. 

 

"The soldiers at the time of Charles XII knew that these shoots – rich in vitamin C and minerals – had a preventive effect on health", the company says on their website, referring to the Swedish king of the early 1700s.

 

Note: The types of edible conifers/Christmas trees that will make the best Christmas tree butter are: spruces (Picea spp.), firs (Abies spp.), Douglass-fir, which is not a true fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and hemlocks (Tsuga spp.). 

 

Some species of pines (Pinus spp.) would also work in a pinch, but the trees listed above will work better. Keep in mind that each genus/species of edible conifer tree listed above has different, unique flavor characteristics.

 

Liverpool dropped points for the second successive Premier League match as they drew 1-1 with high-flying Nottingham Forest yesterday.

 

The latter, chasing a seventh successive league win for the first time since 1922, took the lead after only eight minutes. And they were still leading until Reds head coach Arne Slot's double substitution made an instant impact after 66 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diogo Jota had only been on the pitch 22 seconds when he headed in a corner from another substitute, Kostas Tsimikas, the pair having just come on for Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate.

 

Liverpool could actually have won this game as they dominated the second half, only denied by a succession of saves from the Forest keeper in a final flurry after Jota's equaliser. 

 

In reality, however, Liverpool were again short of their best, especially in the first half when they were labored and sloppy after they went behind, allowing their opposition to drop into that deep defensive block that is so hard to pierce. 

 

Liverpool, after a spell when they looked unstoppable, have had a dip in the past fortnight, drawing with Manchester United at Anfield and here at Forest, as well as losing to Tottenham in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg.

Ford to Axe 14% of Workforce in Europe

US car manufacturer Ford have said they plan to lay off 4,000 of their workforce in Europe, becoming the latest automaker to try to slash costs. 

 

The job cuts represent about 14% of Ford’s 28,000 workforce in Europe and around 2.3% of their total workforce of 174,000, and will be completed by the end of 2027, the company said on Wednesday. The bulk of the layoffs will take place in Germany, where 2,900 positions are under threat, and in UK, with an expected 800 jobs to be deleted. 

 

The US carmaker will be the latest after Nissan, Stellantis, and GM to resort to the drastic cost-cutting step as the automotive sector faces challenges, including weak EV sales.

 

For sure, the measure will exact a heavy blow to the EU’s top economy, Germany, where the bloc’s biggest carmaker – Volkswagen – earlier announced that they would consider plant closures or layoffs for the first time in their 87-year history.

 

In September, thousands of demonstrators stormed Brussels to protest Volkswagen’s plans to shut down the Audi facility in the Belgian capital. 

 

The development comes as EU automakers are facing their worst months since the Covid-19 pandemic. Car sales within the bloc have fallen by 200,000 vehicles in the first eight months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

 

Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam was stopped in the semi-finals of the Singapore Squash Open today when she lost to world No. 10 Amina Orfi 3-1: 5-11, 6-11, 12-10, 8-11 in 64 minutes. 

 

It was the Egyptian's third win over Sivasangari in four encounters.

 

I'm disappointed but it is what it is.

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".

Americans Put On Trial Over Failed DRC Coup Attempt

My "Chang'e-6 to Collect the First Lunar Far Side Samples" post published June 03 where I had highlighted US attempts to effect regime change in Georgia refers. 

 

That was, by no means, an isolated case.

 

Three Americans and three other citizens of Western countries are among the more than 50 suspects who have gone on trial for their alleged roles in a failed effort to overthrow the government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

 

The defendants in the case – including US, UK, Canadian, and Belgian citizens – appeared at a military court hearing on Friday in Kinshasha, the DRC capital. They face counts of criminal conspiracy, murder, terrorism, and other charges for their alleged roles in last month’s failed coup bid.

A band of gunmen in military uniforms briefly occupied an office of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi (left) on May 19 in Kinshasha after storming the home of Vital Kamerhe, the outgoing economy minister and a candidate for speaker of the National Assembly. Six people were reportedly killed during the raids, including two police officers who were assigned to protect Kamerhe. 

 

The alleged coup leader was Christian Malanga, a former DRC politician who obtained US citizenship while living in exile. He was killed by security forces during the attempted government overthrow, according to a DRC military spokesperson. His 21-year-old son, Marcel Malanga, is one of the US citizens charged with taking part in the plot.

 

No mention was made if the US government or their apparatuses were involved – but knowing the US penchant for regime change, I shouldn't be surprised.

 

Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan fell to China’s world No 1 Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan 22-20, 21-18 at the BWF World Tour Indonesia Open Doubles Women yesterday. Still, the Malaysian pair tried.

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!

Man Acquitted of Drink-driving After Proving His Body Creates Its Own Alcohol

Picture this: you have been charged with drink driving but the charges are dismissed on the basis that you suffer from an abnormal condition in which your body produces alcohol. Sounds bizarre, but it is not. 

 

On April 22, a 40-year-old man in Belgium’s Bruges was acquitted on charges of drink-driving after his lawyers proved that he suffers from auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), which causes carbohydrates in his stomach to be fermented, increasing ethanol levels in his blood and resulting in signs of intoxication.

 

Belgian media said in the verdict the judge emphasized that the defendant, who was not named in line with local judicial custom, did not experience symptoms of intoxication.

 

The man, who coincidentally works at a brewery, ended up in court after police in April 2022 pulled his vehicle over and registered him giving a breathalyser reading of 0.91 milligrammes of alcohol per litre, and again a month later when his breath contained 0.71 milligrammes.

 

Importantly, the legal limit in Belgium is 0.22 milligrammes per litre of air exhaled, which corresponds to a blood alcohol level of 0.5 grammes per litre. 

 

In 2019 too, he had received a fine and a driving licence suspension despite protesting that he had not drunk any alcohol. The court recognised that factors unforeseen by law applied to the man’s case and acquitted him of the charge.

 

Auto-brewery syndrome, also known as gut fermentation, is a mysterious condition that raises the levels of alcohol in the blood and produces the symptoms of alcohol intoxication in patients, even when they have had minimal or no alcohol intake.

 

People are not born with ABS but can develop it when they already have another intestine-related condition. Patients can present with symptoms consistent with alcohol intoxication such as slurred speech, stumbling, loss of motor functions, dizziness and belching.

 

ABS is a rare condition with medical experts stating only 20 people have been diagnosed with it officially. Authors of a 2019 case report in BMJ Open Gastroenterology also noted ABS was an underdiagnosed medical condition.

 

China's first homemade large passenger aircraft C919 has landed another big order from Air China. 

 

China's national carrier on Friday announced the purchase of 100 C919 jets from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) in a deal worth $10.8 billion, with the aircraft to be delivered in batches from 2024 to 2031. 

 

Notably, this deal marks the second relatively large-scale order for the C919 following the previous order of 100 aircraft made by China Eastern Airlines in September 2023.

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.