162-year-old Guinness

Bottles of Guinness dating back to 1864 have been found on a shipwreck about 5km off the coast of Dover – and now the explorers want to “rebrew” the stout. 

Up to 20 bottles of stout were discovered by a team of divers exploring the wreckage of the Mindora sailing barque last summer, but only recently have they acquired a survey report linking the cargo to a recorded ship of that time. 

Since making the discovery, Stefan Panis, an expedition diver who made the discovery, and Paweł Truszynski, a technical diver and historical researcher, have begun what they call “Project Jurassic Beer”. 

Truszynski said they have enlisted the help of Kevin Verstrepen, professor of microbiology and genetics at Leuven University in Brussels, in an attempt to rebrew the Guinness to mimic exactly how it would have tasted in 1864. 

Verstrepen said it is not likely they can retrieve living yeast cells from the bottles – though they will try. In that case, he will take a “modern sibling” of the original yeast, once the DNA is analysed, to get as close as possible. 

Truszynski said if they succeed in their quest to “rebrew” the old Guinness, “we will unlock a form of liquid time travel”. 

The group also contacted the Guinness Archive team at St James’s Gate in Dublin, Ireland to cross-reference their findings, he said. 

A spokesperson for Diageo Ireland said the Guinness Archive team “have been in communication with the divers to gather more information and evaluate the find”. 

“Discoveries like this provide a fascinating window into our past and help build a deeper understanding of our heritage”.  

The bottles were discovered resting in the ship’s cargo under temperatures of 4 degrees, constant high pressure and absolute darkness – perfect conditions for preservation. 

The Mindora, which collided with another vessel off the coast of Dover on November 27, 1864, had set sail from London to Vancouver, Canada a week earlier. Lloyd’s Register Foundation, which oversee the Lloyd’s Register of Ships from 1764 to 1999, could not officially confirm the site, as the divers did not make the discovery in conjunction with the foundation. 

However, digitised links to the survey report for a ship called “Mindoro”, likely to be the Mindora, were sent by the foundation to the divers upon request. The report was written up on September 3rd, 1864, with the surveyor having first visited the ship on November 17, 1863. 

Zach Schieferstein, archivist with Lloyd’s Register Foundation, said discrepancies in the records of ship names were not uncommon in the 19th century. 

As per The Irish Times report published August 05, 2026.

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!

Sky-high FIFA World Cup Tickets Prices

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off June 11 as the global spectacle takes place across North America. 

This edition will be the biggest in the tournament’s history, featuring 48 teams spread across 12 groups playing 104 matches over 39 days, all vying the for the coveted trophy. 

Eleven cities in the US, three in Mexico and two in Canada will play host but what sticks out like a sore thumb are the ticket prices. For sure, it will cost an arm and a leg for fans who want to experience it in person. 

And I'm pinpointing the United States. Ticket and hospitality prices in the country are significantly higher than in Mexico and Canada, with US-based matches setting records for the most expensive in tournament history. 

USA opening match tickets start around $560 to over $2,700, while Mexican openers range from $370 to $1,825, and Canadian openers are priced between $355 and $1,745. 

In fact, US President Donald Trump took a shot at the sky-high World Cup ticket prices, saying he would not pay $1,000 to watch the United States ⁠play its opening match against Paraguay on ⁠June 12 in Los Angeles, California.

On Tuesday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended World Cup ticket prices, arguing they reflect immense market demand in the US and maintaining that current costs align with premium US entertainment rates. 

On Thursday, FIFA on their sales site offer Front Category 1 seats for $32,970 for the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 

If you don't know, prices for the best available tickets have TRIPLED!!! They previously had an already high price of $10,990 for the said seats. [FYI, the most expensive ticket for the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar was about $1,600].

And some final tickets are now listed for resale at almost $2.3 million each! 

Infantino responding to the astronomical price, says, "If someone wants to buy a ticket for $2m, I'll personally bring him a hotdog and a Coke to make sure he has a good experience!" 

World Cup die-hards had better start saving! 😅

OpenAI’s Sam Altman Apologises Over Failure to Report Mass Shooter

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has apologised over his company’s failure to warn authorities about the concerning online activities of a teen who went on to commit one of Canada’s worst mass shootings. 

Eighteen-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar (left) went on a shooting spree in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10, killing eight people. The victims included Rootselaar’s mother and half-brother, and 5 students at the remote community’s secondary school. 

Rootselaar, who was born male but identified as female, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

OpenAI said after the attacks that Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account had been flagged internally the previous June for misuse “in furtherance of violent activities”, resulting in its suspension. 

The San Francisco-based AI company said at the time that it had not informed authorities, as Rootselaar’s usage of the chatbot had not met the threshold of posing a credible or imminent threat of harm to others. 

In a letter shared on Friday by the Tumbler RidgeLines news site and British Columbia Premier David Eby, Altman acknowledged that OpenAI should have alerted law enforcement to Rootselaar’s suspension. 

“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June. While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered”, Altman wrote. 

“I reaffirm the commitment I made to the Mayor and the Premier to find ways to prevent tragedies like this in the future”, Altman added. 

“Going forward, our focus will continue to be on working with all levels of government to help ensure something like this never happens again”. 

Altman’s statement of regret came after Eby said last month that the tech CEO had agreed to apologise to the Tumbler Ridge community over OpenAI’s failure to flag Rootselaar as a threat. In his letter, Altman said Eby and Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka had conveyed “the anger, sadness, and concern” being felt in the community in their discussions. 

“We agreed a public apology was necessary, but that time was also needed to respect the community as you grieved. I share this letter with the understanding that everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time”, Altman wrote. 

“I want to express my deepest condolences to the entire community. No one should ever have to endure a tragedy like this. I cannot imagine anything worse in this world than losing a child”.

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. 

Encyclopedia Britannica Sue OpenAI Over AI Training

Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster have filed legal action against OpenAI, alleging in their complaint that the AI titan have gravely committed “massive copyright infringement”.

Britannica, which own Merriam-Webster, retain the copyright to nearly 100,000 online articles, which have been scraped and used to train OpenAI’s LLMs without permission, the publishing company allege in the lawsuit. 

Britannica also accuse OpenAI of violating copyright laws when they generate outputs that contain “full or partial verbatim reproductions” of their content and when the AI lab uses their articles in ChatGPT’s RAG (retrieval augmented generation) workflow. 

OpenAI’s RAG tool is how the LLM scans the web or other databases for newly updated information when responding to a query. 

Britannica also allege that OpenAI violates the Lanham Act, a trademark statute, when they generate made-up hallucinations and attribute them falsely to the publisher – and which jeopardize “the public’s continued access to high-quality and trustworthy online information”.

“ChatGPT starves web publishers like [Britannica] of revenue by generating responses to users’ queries that substitute, and directly compete with, the content from publishers like [Britannica]”, the lawsuit reads. 

Britannica join a number of other publishers and writers in pursuing legal proceedings against OpenAI over copyright issues. The New York Times, Ziff Davis (owner of Mashable, CNET, IGN, PC Mag, and others), and more than a dozen newspapers across the US and Canada, including the Chicago Tribune, the Denver Post, the Sun Sentinel, the Toronto Star, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, have sued OpenAI. 

There is not a strong legal precedent that establishes whether using copyrighted content to train an LLM is copyright infringement. 

But in one particular instance, in June 2025, Anthropic successfully convinced federal judge William Alsup that this use case – using the content as training data – is transformative enough to be legal. However, Alsup argued that Anthropic violated the law by illegally downloading millions of books, rather than paying for them, which warranted a $1.5 billion class action settlement for impacted writers. 

But many writers were unable to benefit due to specific eligibility requirements and procedural limitations set by the court and the settlement agreement (e.g., lack of US copyright registration, specific registration timelines, requirement of ISBN or ASIN, legal ownership and splits). 

In any case, this marks the first time that the courts have given credence to AI companies’ claim that fair use doctrine can absolve AI companies from fault when they use copyrighted materials to train LLMs. 

As dozens more cases over the relationship between AI and copyrighted works go to court, judges now have Bartz v. Anthropic to reference as a precedent. But given the ramifications of these decisions, maybe another judge will arrive at a different conclusion.

American Bald Eagle Mauls Canadian Goose

Relations between Washington and Ottawa have deteriorated amid a trade war and Donald Trump’s repeated references to Canada as “the 51st state”. 

Things worsened further in January, when the Financial Times reported that Trump officials had on several occasions met with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a separatist group seeking to split the oil-rich western province from Canada. 

In response, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expected Washington to “respect Canadian sovereignty”. 

The White House later sought to downplay the meetings, saying that “no support or commitments were conveyed”. 

And then, on Sunday, when the United States triumphed 2-1 over Canada, in overtime of the men's ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Americans decided to rub it in! They shared an image of a bald eagle mauling a goose, the birds symbolizing the two nations! 

And to make matters wild, Trump released an AI-generated video depicting him punching a Canadian ice hockey player after Team USA clinched the famous victory. 

The minute-long video posted on his Truth Social account in the early hours of Monday morning showed the president skating in a suit and tie, pushing over Canadian players before ripping off his gloves and repeatedly punching one of them in the face. Later in the same video, Trump scored and was embraced by his players. 

He also shared a post from Kari Lake, an anchor, a staunch ally of his who made two unsuccessful bids for governor and the senate. 

"Trump, The ENFORCER!", Lake had written on X, reposting the ice hockey video.

If that is not bizarre enough, here's another one. Earlier this month, Trump posted another AI-generated video, which depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys!

The video was later removed from his Truth Social account after much criticism, despite earlier attempts from Karoline Leavitt, his press secretary, to defend it and denounce the “fake outrage”. 

After the post was deleted, a White House official claimed the video had been “erroneously posted by a member of staff”. 😂😂😂

Robin Hood Gang Give Away Stolen Food

Thieves dressed as Robin Hood raided a food store in Montreal, Canada on the night of February 03 and gave away the stolen goods in a protest against rising food prices. 

An activist organization calling themselves the “Robins des Ruelles” (Robins of the Alleys) said roughly 60 people, some dressed in Robin Hood-style feathered caps, had entered a Rachelle Béry health food store, taken food without paying and redistributed it to “many community fridges in the city” in what it claimed was a “political act” against food inflation.

The theft follows a similar incident in December, when members of the same group flooded into a Montreal grocery store dressed as Santa Clause and his elves, stealing food and leaving some of it gift-wrapped under a nearby Christmas tree. 

The cost of living is a major topic in Canada, where inflation grew 4.7% between November 2024 and 2025 – more than double the rate of overall inflation, according to CNN’s Canadian broadcast partner CBC. 

“Everyday, we are working relentlessly, only to be able to buy food in those profit-driven supermarkets”, the statement from the Robins des Ruelles quotes one group member, Francis, as saying. “When having two jobs is not enough to eat, have a roof over your head and take care of your family, every means become legitimate”. 

An edited video published by activist organization Les Soulèvements du Fleuve on Instagram shows the raid on the Rachelle Béry store, interspersed with the title credits for the 1938 film “The Adventures of Robin Hood”. 

In the video, people wearing masks amble through the aisles, grabbing food, medicine, soap and other items. Others use spray paint to block security cameras within the store and outside. At the end of the video, one person sprays “F**k Les Profits” on a brick wall. 

It’s Scottish Cup business for Celtic when they welcomed Dundee to Parkhead yesterday. The pulsating fifth round tie saw the former leaving it to the last possible moment to keep their hopes alive before going on to beat the latter 2-1. 

The Dee had unleashed an unstoppable left foot shot into the top far corner in the 49th minute to stun Celtic and were seconds away from recording their first win in the East End of Glasgow in 25 years. 

But on-loan Freiburg forward Junior Adamu, who had come off the bench, back heeled a Sebastian Tounekti pass into the visitors’ net in the 96th minute to force extra-time and Tounekti then netted what ultimately proved to be the winner with his low finish after a one-two with sub Luke McCowan.

What. A. Relief. 

For Martin O'Neill, a three-pronged focus remains with defending champions Celtic chasing leaders Hearts in pursuit of the Scottish Premiership title and a Europa League tie with Stuttgart on the horizon as well as continued involvement in the Scottish Cup, a trophy the veteran boss won three times between 2001 and 2005.

Adding 3 New Territories to the United States

Donald Trump on Saturday, blithely boasted about his plans to expand the United States by adding Canada, Denmark colony Greenland, and Venezuela as new states, RT News reported, citing the Washington Post. 

He audaciously asserted that Canada will be the 51st state, Greenland the 52nd and Venezuela the 53rd! 

Later, he retreated and claimed he was only joking. 😅😅😅

I cannot imagine that the Canadians, Greenlanders and Venezuelans are laughing! 

😡😡😡

The above aside, methinks, Trump forgot to add Panama as the 54th state! And I would even include the Philippines as the 55th!

Five World Leaders Went to China in Just One Month

In just one month, five world leaders flocked to China! 

That was in January. They were South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. These high-level visits came as countries navigate tense US relations. 

It appears the US is not too happy about it. And their response? 👇

The US reaction on Monday was callow, childish, fatuous, immature, inane, infantile, jejune, juvenile, petty, puerile, trite. 🤮🤮🤮

Lest they forget, God created the world, but nearly everything else is made in China! 💪💪💪

And btw, that includes MAGA hats! 😂😂😂 

Celtic beat Falkirk 2-0 yesterday. Martin O'Neill has gone above and beyond, consistently exceeding expectations. He has racked up eight wins and a draw in nine Scottish Premiership games across his two rescue stints in charge. 

Tomas Cvancara took his goal superbly, glancing in a header from a Kieran Tierney cross in the 39th minute. And Benjamin Nygren combined with Callum McGregor to then sweep a shot towards the far corner in the 62nd minute. 

The Bairns contributed to an entertaining game, registering 14 shots at goal, but Celtic were more clinical.

The positive outcome promotes the green-and-white shirts into second place in the league, based on goals scored. 

[Celtic had gone into the match nine points behind leaders Hearts after the Jambos triumphed 3-0 at Dundee United on Saturday. And Rangers drew 0-0 against Hibernian the following day. Both the Old Firm sides are now six points behind the Tynecastle outfit after 24 games].

Canadian Army Prep for a Potential US Invasion

Canadian media outlet The Globe & Mail uncovered that the Canadian military has been modeling what an American invasion might look like. 

Of course, modeling isn't the same as having a battle plan – nonetheless, it points out that Canada cannot stop a southern invasion. In fact, within hours, American military superiority would crush any resistance.

However, occupying Canada becomes the real problem. Canada is massive. No nation has the numbers to dominate and hold it sustainably. Even if the government surrendered, military and civilian resistance could disappear into the wilderness or rural areas where hunting them down would prove difficult. 

The CAF model suggests Canadian forces could continue fighting using 'unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military or armed civilians would resort to ambushes, sabotage, drone warfare or hit-and-run tactics'. 

Sound familiar? Think Taliban in Afghanistan or Vietcong in the 1960s and 1970s. Hit-and-run attacks, IEDs, blending into the civilian population – tactics that proved nightmarish to counter. You can't measure success or predict where the next ambush comes from. 

With NATO countries sending troops to Denmark's colony, that is Greenland, to counter Donald Trump's annexation threats, other formerly friendly nations are reconsidering what to do if America comes knocking.

Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam kept the country's hopes alive at the Tournament of Champions 2026 after producing a gritty comeback to reach the quarter-finals in New York. 

The fifth seed overturned a two-game deficit to shut the door for homester Amanda Sobhy, winning 6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 in a thrilling 55-minute second-round clash on Sunday.

The Kedah-born player will next take on fourth seed Olivia Weaver,

Donald Trump is Emboldened

After the criminal acts against Venezuela – refer my blog post "US Kidnaps Venezuelan President And Wife" yesterday – US President Donald Trump is emboldened and he is now warning other countries. 

He threatens Colombia and its president, Gustavo Petro, describes Cuba as “ready to fall”, warns Mexico “to get their act together”, and reasserts his desire to acquire Denmark's self-governing territory of Greenland.

And don't forget that Iran, Canada, Panama and Nigeria are in his sights too.

I'm sure Russia and China are on his list – but I reckon he will deal with them last. After he's finished the job with the other countries. It should be easy-peasy. After all, who dares to challenge America's military might?

To Trump, might is right!

On Saturday, I was at a Toastmasters meeting in Kajang, where I was the Toastmaster of the Day. Photos of the said meeting:

FIFA Peace Prize Made Specially for Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has become the first ever recipient of FIFA's new peace prize at the gaudy and gauche 2026 World Cup draw – a compensatory gift for an ego-bloated leader whose dream of winning the Nobel remains unfulfilled. 

Gianni Infantino, the head of world football's governing body and a close ally of Trump, presented the 79-year-old with the award during the ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Friday. 

The narration to sing praises for Trump ran through the dodgy list of eight conflicts that Trump claims to have settled during his 10 months in office. It did not mention his extrajudicial killing of dozens of unnamed, untried people on small boats in the Caribbean, nor his loud threats to attack Venezuela. Any chance of VAR on this decision?

The audience who were present was treated to slow-motion video of Trump at the Gaza peace summit – which, in case you didn't know, the killings continue unabated, Trump meeting the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, Trump signing the Abraham accords, Trump with the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda – and of Infantino giving him a thumbs-up like a proud football dad. 

"Thank you very much. This is truly one of the great honours of my life", Trump said with a self-satisfied smug. 

Infantino said Trump won the award for "exceptional and extraordinary" actions to promote peace and unity around the world. 😂😂😂

Once the convoluted draw had concluded, the event ended like a Trump rally with the Village People belting out "YMCA". The president happily got his prize and Infantino got his man.

FIFA announced the annual prize in November, saying they would recognise people who bring "hope for future generations". Of course, their inaugural recipient was hardly a surprise. 

This event has been described as a bizarre mishmash of light entertainment and international affairs, with a little football sprinkled in. In fact, The Athletic called the whole affair "FIFA's carnival of cringe"!

By now, the bewildered world knows Infantino has a tight relationship with Trump.  After all, football's head honcho has visited the White House more than any world leader since Trump's return to office in January. FIFA even opened a new office in Trump Tower in New York. 

The most logistically complex World Cup in history will be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19, with 16 more teams added to the global showpiece, up from the 32 nations involved in Qatar in 2022.

Kimchi: No Longer Solely Korea’s

Kimchi (김치) is a traditional Korean dish made from fermented cabbage, radish, or cucumber. It is often categorized by the main vegetable ingredient used to make it. 

Kimchi is a staple food in Korean cuisine. It's an accompaniment to almost every meal in Korea, usually as a side-dish (banchan). It is said to be consumed daily by 95 percent of Koreans – 2 million tons annually.  

The most popular kimchi includes baechu kimchi (made with napa cabbage, 배추김치), kkakdugi (made with radish, 깍두기), and oi kimchi (made with cucumber, 오이김치). 

The "Korean Wave" (Hallyu, 한류) has made Korean cultural exports popular all over the world. Everything from K-pop to K-dramas and more. Including Korean food that has become familiar to us such as bibimbap, bulgogi, jjigae, tteokbokki, kan poong gi, and yes, kimchi.

As the home of kimchi, South Korea dominates global exports. In fact, global demand for Korean kimchi continues to grow, with exports on track to hit an all-time high in 2025. 

According to trade data released on November 24 by the Korea Customs Service, South Korea’s cumulative kimchi exports in 2025 reached $137.4 million as at October, up 2 percent from a year earlier.

And yet, kimchi’s place as a uniquely Korean dish is being threatened by China’s exploding exports of the spicy dish. Especially, to South Korea itself. 

The fact is, more South Koreans are consuming Chinese-made kimchi, making it very likely that South Korea will post a kimchi trade deficit. Persistent inflation and the 2024 surge in domestic cabbage prices, caused by extreme weather, have continued to push demand for cheaper Chinese-made kimchi. 

Imports of Chinese kimchi hit a record $189.86 million in 2024, up 16.1 percent from 2023. During the same 10-month period, imports amounted to $159.46 million, rising 3.1 percent and outpacing the 2 percent growth in exports. 

As a result, the kimchi trade balance so far in 2025 remains in the red, with the deficit widening 10.3 percent from a year ago to $22.07 million. 

In the meantime, shipments of Korean-made kimchi are expected to hit another record in 2025, surpassing 2024’s all-time high. Exports totalled $163.57 million in 2024, double the figure from 2017, and have steadily grown on the back of rising global interest in K-food and heightened health awareness during the Covid pandemic. They reached $148.12 million in 2022, $155.6 million in 2023, and then set a new record in 2024. 

Japan remains the largest market for Korean kimchi, importing $47.55 million worth as at October, a 4.4 percent increase from a year earlier. The United States brought in $36.01 million, a 5.8 percent decrease, which marks a notable shift for a market that had seen rapid growth since 2019. In Europe, the Netherlands imported $7.97 million, a 3.3 percent decline. Canada imported $7.63 million, up 17.6 percent, while Australia saw a slight increase to $6.68 million. 

Indeed, the world may be eating more Korean kimchi but South Korea is importing more of it from China!

World No. 7 Sivasangari Subramaniam saw her hopes of retaining the HKFC Squash Open title dashed yesterday after falling to world No. 11 Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt in the final. 

The top seed was beaten 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4 in just 36 minutes – her second defeat to Fayrouz in four meetings. 

Sivasangari will now aim to bounce back at next week's Hong Kong Open.