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].

No More a Peacemaker

US President Donald Trump blamed the Nobel Peace Prize committee for turning him from a peacemaker to a warmonger in a letter to Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, that was confirmed on Monday. 😂😂😂

He reiterated he no longer feels obliged to think only of peace after he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

The authenticity of the message was confirmed by a source close to the matter to the AFP news agency and by Støre to the Norwegian newspaper VG. 

It remains unclear why Trump directed the message to the Norwegian government, as the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the independent Norwegian Nobel Committee, not by Oslo’s political leadership. 

In a written response, Støre underlined that point. “I have clearly explained, including to President Trump, what is well known: the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee”, he said. 

CNN reported yesterday that Støre asserted he received the said message in reply to a text he and Finnish President Alexander Stubb sent Trump, in which the Nordic leaders “conveyed our opposition to his announced tariff increases against Norway, Finland and select other countries”. [Refer my post "Greenland Prompts US Tariffs on European Allies" published on Monday].

The number of European troops being deployed in Greenland is still undetermined. Danish state-owned broadcaster TV2 have reported that 58 Danish troops landed in the Arctic territory, joining about 60 others (as opposed to 31 soldiers, as per my January 19 post) dispatched earlier to supposedly participate in ongoing multinational military exercises, dubbed Operation Arctic Endurance. 

On the US side, the Pentagon have issued “prepare-to-deploy” orders to roughly 1,500 active-duty soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division. Officially, the alert is tied to a potential domestic deployment to Minneapolis but it has immediately raised scrutiny. Reconstituted and reoriented in recent years, the division have been widely regarded as the Army’s premier Arctic and cold-weather formation, optimized for sub-zero operations and high-latitude logistics.

Methinks, Trump should just quickly give the order to seize Greenland! End of story!

Greenland Prompts US Tariffs on European Allies

The Greenland issue is not going away anytime soon! 

US President Donald Trump is seeking to force the hand of his European allies who opposed his plan to take over the self-governing territory when he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and UK will be subject to a 10% US tariff on "all or any goods" from February 01. 

Accusing these countries of playing "a very dangerous game", he said the tariffs would be raised to 25% on June 01 "until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland". 

Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and UK have even dispatched a tiny contingent of troops to Greenland in a symbolic show of force. It is strange that Denmark wasn't mentioned at all – but I would think they'll have troops there too.

I saw another report that says only 31 troops were deployed. Of this total, 15 were from France, 13 from Germany, 2 from Norway and one from UK. 😂😂😂

Denmark's Army chief Major-General Peter Boysen has come out to boldly assert that he's ready to defend Denmark! 😂😂😂

But Greenland and Denmark are two separate entities. Lest we forget, Denmark is an occupier, a colonizer.

And Boysen should know that at the Pituffik Space Base located on the north-west coast of Greenland – where the Americans already have a presence – the US has 150 troops stationed there!

Trump has previously said Washington would get the territory "the easy way" or "the hard way" – an apparent reference to buying the island or taking it by force. The US president insists “world peace is at stake” as China and Russia “want Greenland”. 

Only the US can “play this game”, he emphatically adds.

Baltic Nations Want EU Bailout

Baltic states are grappling with the economic fallout from EU sanctions on Russia, Politico reported on Thursday. 

This has seemingly compelled the European Commission to provide financial aid next year, citing officials familiar with the plan. 

Tourism and investment have slumped across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, while cross-border trade has “largely collapsed” due to the loss of long-standing commercial ties with Russia, the media outlet said. 

Anonymous EU officials told Politico the initiative is intended to boost the economies of the Baltic states and neighboring Finland, with Regional Commissioner Raffaele Fitto expected to lead the effort as the countries come up with an extensive list of demands. The aid plan will reportedly be discussed at an Eastern European leaders’ summit in Helsinki, Finland next month. 

Skeptics, however, warn that any near-term support Fitto can offer will be limited, with the EU’s seven-year budget already running low and the scale of the challenge far greater than the funds available. 

All four nations share a border with Russia and have imposed multiple rounds of sanctions since 2022, while tightening entry rules for Russian citizens. Cross-border trade has been effectively shut down as a result. Furthermore, the downturn has been aggravated by post-pandemic inflation, which has surged across the region. And so, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland have all taken a hit. 

Despite the economic pain, the Baltic states remain among the most hawkish EU members on Russia and even pressing for further military buildup. 

I don't see an end to this economic quagmire and it can only get worse. In fact, Europe is gearing up for war with Russia. And it will surely happen as soon as they can cajole courage to come out of hiding. 

Sivasangari Subramaniam is only one match away from retaining the HKFC Squash Open title. 

Yesterday, her semi-final match against France's Mélissa Alvès saw the former triumphant 3-0 over the latter. The world #7 made a confident start, always ahead on the scoreboard as she took a two game advantage (11-7, 11-5). Alvès went 4-0 up in the third but the Malaysian regained total control to close out the match in 26 minutes.

Sweden and Finland Get Ready for War

Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment to join the US-led military alliance NATO in the wake of Russia's Special Military Operation in Ukraine in 2022. 

Since the start of the conflict, Stockholm has repeatedly urged Swedes to prepare both mentally and logistically for the possibility of war, citing the serious security situation in its vicinity.

Sweden even announced that it will begin stockpiling food and agricultural supplies for the first time since the Cold War, citing what officials describe as a growing threat from Russia. 

Moscow has rejected these claims, insisting that it poses no danger to any NATO or EU countries. 

The Swedish Board of Agriculture stated on Tuesday that they will create emergency reserves of grain and other key supplies to ensure that citizens have access to sufficient food “in the event of a serious crisis and, in the extreme, war”. The government have allocated around $57 million in their 2026 budget to fund the program. 

The first storage facilities will be established in the north of the country due to its “strategic military importance” and low level of self-sufficiency in grain, according to Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin, who said “there is no time to lose”. The new stockpiles will be built up over the period of 2026-2028. The Board of Agriculture said the goal is to guarantee food supplies equivalent to 3,000 calories per person per day during a state of heightened alert. 

Lawmakers in neighboring Finland, meanwhile, have said they will conduct underground training exercises next month to practice working in wartime conditions, similarly citing a supposed threat from Russia. 

Finland calls on EU to be ready to ‘fight’ Russia. Moscow has repeatedly denounced what it calls anti-Russian hysteria and fearmongering pushed by Western European leaders, stressing that it has no reason or intention to take hostile actions against any EU or NATO countries. Russian officials have dismissed the claims as nonsense meant to justify inflated military budgets and the bloc’s ongoing militarization. 

Methinks, if Sweden and Finland expect war, it clearly suggests they want war. And so, Russia should just send troops into these two countries and make their wish come true! 😬😬😬

Now that China has tightened export controls on rare earth exports for military use, the US defence industry are gonna be affected, which means, it hinders the latter's ability to keep pace with Beijing's rapidly expanding defence production, which is reportedly scaling up 5 to 6 times faster than the US's own production.

So, pray tell me, how can the US prepare itself to get ready to go to war against China? Get real lah! 😅😅😅

The US is better off going after minnows like Canada or Greenland – after all, Trump desires these two territories! And Trump and the US will have a much, much better chance of success! 

With China, Washington will be biting off more than it can chew! 😂😂😂

Donald Trump's Ultimatum to Russia

US President Donald Trump on Monday issued an ultimatum to Russia, threatening economic punishment if peace isn’t reached in 50 days, as he approves the funneling of a “full complement” of weapons to Kiev. 

The plan is to have European nations purchase American weapons, then transfer them to Ukraine. Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO described the weapons agreement as a game-changer. He identified several nations – including Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway – as potential suppliers of the new equipment. 

In fact, Trump told NBC News on Thursday that he has already secured a deal through NATO to send new Patriot anti-missile missiles to Ukraine. 

This is just bullshit. A warmongering country that started this proxy war using Ukraine to fight Russia wants "peace" at its own terms! 😡😡😡

Of course, that's not all. Trump promised “tariffs at about 100%, you’d call them secondary tariffs. You know what that means”. He even gloated: “I use trade for a lot of things. But it’s great for settling wars”. 

A White House official clarified to CNN that when the president referred to “secondary tariffs”, he meant 100% tariffs on Russia and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy Russian oil. The US conducts very little trade with Russia, making the secondary sanctions the piece with potentially the most bite. 

“They’re secondary sanctions. It’s sanctions on countries that are buying the oil from Russia. So it’s really not about sanctioning Russia”, Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the White House. “It’s about tariffs on countries like India and China (and Brazil) that are buying their oil. It really is going to dramatically impact the Russian economy”.

On Sunday, Liverpool won their first pre-season friendly game by claiming a 3-1 victory over Preston North End. BTW, pre-match saw emotional tributes to Diogo Jota, including a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone and a minute’s silence in honour of the striker and his brother Andre Silva.

Tourism to the US is Tanking

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the United States stands to lose $12.5 billion due to declining tourism. 

Tourism is a big US export: Foreign visitors spent more than $180 billion here in 2024, more than all agricultural exports combined, said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the US Travel Association. 

However, international visits to the US fell 12% year-over-year in March, according to Oxford Economics.

And nationally, small and mid-sized business profits have already “deteriorated sharply” amid the travel slowdown, said Aaron Terrazas, an economist at Gusto, a payroll and benefits provider. 

The share of “tourism” companies that are profitable fell to 32% in April 2025, down from 41% and 43% in April 2024 and 2023, respectively, according to Gusto. The category includes tour operators, condo or time-share agencies and ticket or reservation agencies. 

The share of profitable “accommodation” businesses fell to 36%, down from 44% and 45%, Gusto found. The category includes small hotels and motels, guesthouses, cottages and cabins, and RV parks and campgrounds.  

Canadian travellers, traditionally the US’s most reliable market, dropped by more than 900,000 or 17% in March, as growing numbers of Canadians opt to boycott US holidays. Air and land arrivals from Canadians fell 14% and 32%, respectively, in March compared to the same time in 2024, according to Tourism Economics. Perhaps threatening to make Canada the 51st state wasn't the brilliant diplomatic strategy someone thought it was.

It’s not just Canada: Visits from Western Europe, Asia and South America – historically the US′ highest-value travel markets – are also down by double-digit percentages, according to the US Travel Association.  

Data suggests the weakness will persist through the summer. Air bookings for overseas summer travel to the US are pacing about 10% behind the same time last year, according to Tourism Economics, which is affiliated with Oxford Economics. (These were bookings made as of March).

The US, long marketed as the land of opportunity and adventure, is increasingly perceived as unwelcoming. Tighter border scrutiny, aggressive immigration enforcement, and a sharp shift in political tone have made travellers wary. 

Reports of tourists being detained, shackled and deported at US airports over minor alleged visa issues or misunderstandings have circulated widely. In some cases, visitors have had their phones and electronic devices searched without clear cause. For many travellers, that is a risk not worth taking. 

Governments have started to respond. Several countries, including New Zealand, Germany, France, Denmark and Finland, have updated their official travel advice for the US, urging citizens to exercise caution when visiting. The message filtering through international media is clear: the US is not as easy, safe or welcoming as it once seemed.

For sure, the tourism pullback appears to be “more a US issue right now” rather than a broad global weakness in travel, since other regions are seeing positive tourism growth, said Lorraine Sileo, senior analyst and founder of Phocuswright Research, a market research firm. 

Domestic tourism isn’t poised to pick up the slack – the market was slowing heading into 2025 and the “revenge travel” trend, which had propelled Americans to travel due to pent-up demand after Covid-19 lockdowns, has largely been played out, she said. 

“I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom for the US travel industry”, Sileo said. “But it’ll be a tough year”. 

Sivasangari Subramaniam came up short in her bid to reach the semi-finals of the World Championships on Thursday. The world No. 9 lost 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5 to American world No. 4 Olivia Weaver in 41 minutes. 

It was the 25-year-old Malaysian's sixth defeat in seven meetings with the 34-year-old Weaver. Many had tipped Sivasangari to overcome Weaver and become the first Malaysian to reach the semi-finals since Nicol David won the title in 2014 – but it was not to be.

I have this advice for Sivasangari: If you know yourself, you need not fear your competition.

Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan continued their sizzling run by dismantling China's Chen Qing Chen-Wang Ting Ge today to storm into the semi-finals of the Thailand Masters. 

The world No. 4 needed just 34 minutes to wrap up a commanding 21-14, 21-11 win, finally breaking their quarter-final jinx in Bangkok after two previous failed attempts.

The American Scramble For Eggs

The United States is scrambling, quite literally, for eggs.

Its officials are searching across oceans to find enough eggs to ease a shortage that’s sent prices soaring, driven by a bird flu outbreak that has decimated poultry farms and forcing grocery stores to limit customer purchases and restaurants to add surcharges. 

Egg prices have soared to record highs, driven by a bird flu outbreak that has decimated poultry farms. While Donald Trump had promised to cut egg prices on his first day back in office, the numbers tell a different story. 

In February, the first full month of his new term, egg prices spiked 59% year-over-year, according to Reuters. By early March, the average wholesale price per dozen had crossed $8 – an all-time high. Though prices have slightly dipped to around $6, they remain painfully high for consumers. 

The situation took a comedic turn online, with Reddit users ridiculing Trump and his administration. 

“Imagine insulting everyone, throwing tariffs, threats of invasion, and then expecting help on petty domestic issues”, one user quipped. 

Another joked, “I thought the US had wonderful eggs, from the best chickens?” 

“It’s a matter of national security. How dare Europe deny this request?" joked a user. 

Perhaps the most brutal take summed it up: “Trumpist diplomacy at play – begging for eggs, getting the ‘bird’”. 

Desperate to ease the shortage, US officials have reached out to European nations, including Finland and Denmark, for egg imports. 

Finland was quick to decline, citing a lack of trade agreements. 

“There have been no negotiations regarding market access with US authorities”, said Veera Lehtila, director of the Finnish Poultry Association. She explained that exporting eggs to the US would require extensive paperwork and research, making it an impractical solution. And even if Finland could export, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. 

“Millions of birds have had to be culled in the US because of bird flu. We have four million laying hens in total in Finland. The amount we could export would not solve their egg shortage”, Lehtila added.

And I don't believe Denmark would agree also because of the open US hostility towards the country over Greenland.

The two US astronauts who were left high and dry in the International Space Station, Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, have finally returned to Earth on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule yesterday. 

They had been stranded in space for 286 days!

Benjamin Netanyahu: Wanted for Genocide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

👆Israeli Prime Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

 

It's a well-established fact that the United States is targeting China because the former is incapable of competing against the latter. 

 

I reckon China controls at least 75% of global production for the critical inputs necessary for technologies, infrastructure, energy, and health care – and that makes the US very upset and unhappy.

 

In 2018-2019, then-President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods and his actions were broadly condemned by many at the time as poor economic policy. President Joe Biden has opted to keep all those tariffs in place and on May 14, piled on additional tariffs. The new tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports target key growth industries and national security sectors, including electric vehicles (EVs), lithium batteries, solar panels and semiconductor devices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What this means is that US trade policy is now fully established as a national security tool and not just an economic one. That makes anticipating potential tariff actions more difficult and increases the probability that additional tariffs will be put in place. 

 

These new measures reinforce the Biden economic policy of combining subsidies with protection, with associated unintended macro risks. Not that he cares, mind you!

 

Furthermore, the action highlights that the US green agenda and energy transition is secondary to protectionist politics.

 

And that's not all! You should know the US doesn't believe in half measures. 

 

It has been taking steps to get countries, e.g., Philippines, Japan and Australia, in China's neighborhood – and which also includes Taiwan – to prep up militarily and even provoke the country. 

 

Note: The US employed a similar strategy against Russia. Since February 2022, the US, UK and EU, along with countries including Australia, Canada and Japan, have imposed more than 16,500 sanctions on Russia. And NATO's expansion has gobbled up Finland and Sweden in 2023 and 2024 respectively. 

 

Given that the US has been unable to break up Russia or effect regime change – it is now trying very hard to weaken the country, both economically and militarily. 

 

Therefore, China, like Russia, must be on its guard. Always. 

 

Methinks, as a matter of course, this puts China (and Russia) on the defensive. It's time for China (and Russia) to stand up to the big bully! Enough is enough!

S Sivasangari Wins London Classic 2024

S Sivasangari made history at the London Classic yesterday. 

 

Nobody could have guessed that Sivasangari would beat a trio of world-class players to claim the crown, but she defied the odds, culminating in an 11-9, 5-11, 13-11, 12-14, 11-8 victory over world No. 2 Hania El Hammamy of Egypt in a final that lasted 81 minutes. 

 

It was the Malaysian's second win over Hania in six meetings, and the title might see her break into the world's top 10 for the first time in her career. En route to the final, Sivasangari defeated world No. 1 Nour El Sherbini of Egypt in the quarter-finals on Saturday and world No. 4 Nele Gilis of Belgium in the semi-finals on Sunday. 

 

Congratulations, Sivasangari! She is Malaysia's new squash darling! 

 

More good news for UNRWA as the European Commission, Australia, Finland and Japan have also lifted funding pauses in recent weeks.

 

Of course, it should come as no surprise that the US has officially barred UNRWA funding through March 2025 after President Joe Biden signed a government funding bill into law last month.

83 of the World’s 100 Worst Polluted Cities are in India

All but one of the 100 cities with the world’s worst air pollution last year were in Asia, according to the 2023 IQAir World Air Quality Report, with the climate crisis playing a pivotal role in bad air quality that is risking the health of billions of people worldwide. 

 

The vast majority of these cities – eighty-three – were in India and all exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by more than 10 times, according to the report by IQAir, which tracks air quality worldwide. The study looked specifically at fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is the tiniest pollutant but also the most dangerous. 

 

Only 9% of more than 7,800 cities analyzed globally recorded air quality that met WHO’s standard, which says average annual levels of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter. 

 

“We see that in every part of our lives that air pollution has an impact”, said IQAir Global CEO Frank Hammes. “And it typically, in some of the most polluted countries, is likely shaving off anywhere between three to six years of people’s lives. And then before that will lead to many years of suffering that are entirely preventable if there’s better air quality”. 

 

When inhaled, PM2.5 travels deep into lung tissue where it can enter the bloodstream. It comes from sources like the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires, and has been linked to asthma, heart and lung disease, cancer, and other respiratory illnesses, as well as cognitive impairment in children. 

 

Begusarai, a city of half a million people in northern India’s Bihar state, was the world’s most polluted city last year with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 118.9 – 23 times the WHO guidelines. It was followed in the IQAir rankings by the Indian cities of Guwahati, Assam; Delhi; and Mullanpur, Punjab. Across India, 1.3 billion people, or 96% of the population, live with air quality seven times higher than WHO guidelines, according to the report. 

 

Central and South Asia were the worst performing regions globally, home to all four of the most polluted countries last year: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Tajikistan. South Asia is of particular concern, with 29 of the 30 most polluted cities in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. The report ranked the major population centers of Lahore in 5th, New Delhi in 6th and Dhaka in 24th place. 

 

IQAir found that 92.5% of the 7,812 locations in 134 countries, regions, and territories where they analyzed average air quality last year exceeded WHO’s PM2.5 guidelines. 

 

Only 10 countries and territories had “healthy” air quality: Finland, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and French Polynesia.

Western Countries Stop Funding UNRWA

In another act of hostility to Palestine, multiple Western countries have suspended funding for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) as of Saturday, according to Reuters, after Israel alleged that 12 of the agency's staff are linked to Palestinian "militants" and had participated in the October 07 Hamas attack on the country. 

 

[Note: Israel has not furnished any evidence to back up its claim against UNRWA].

 

These countries are USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, and Australia. UNRWA commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini (left) condemned these governments, warning such actions threatened the agency’s humanitarian work in the region. 

 

“Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us”, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 

 

The funding shutoff is expected to affect hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed aid to the agency, which provides shelter and food for displaced Palestinians – a category that currently encompasses over 85% of residents of the Gaza Strip. 

 

FYI, Israel has long accused the UN and their member organizations of sympathizing with Hamas. In October, the Jewish state even demanded the resignation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (right), accusing him of “justifying terrorism”!

 

Yesterday, Liverpool reached the FA Cup fifth round with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Norwich City.

 

The Reds opened the scoring through Curtis Jones in the 16th minute before the Canaries drew level six minutes later. Darwin Nunez restored Liverpool's lead when he caught Conor Bradley's pass and drilled a low effort into the bottom left corner in the twenty-eighth minute.

 

And it was 3-1 in the fifty-third minute when Diogo Jota latched on to a wayward header from a Canaries defender before thumping a low shot into the net. Ten minutes afterwards, second-half substitute Virgil van Dijk, left completely unmarked from a Dominik Szoboszlai corner, headed home Liverpool's fourth before a sixty-ninth minute Norwich strike gave their fans something to cheer about. 

 

The Reds restored their three-goal lead through Ryan Gravenberch in the fifth minute of added time when he converted Bradley’s cross. 

 

Liverpool now face a home fifth-round tie with Southampton or Watford, who will replay their round-four match after drawing 1-1 on Sunday.

 

 

 

The 3 Unhappiest Countries in the EU

Bulgaria is the unhappiest country in the EU, according to statistics published by the bloc’s official agency, Eurostat. With an overall life satisfaction score of 5.6 out of 10, it was the only one of the 27 member nations polled where residents, on average, rated themselves as dissatisfied rather than satisfied. 

 

Germany is the second-most miserable on the continent, with a rating of 6.5 – a sharp drop from its score last year of 7.1. While the survey did not ask respondents to give specific reasons for their self-evaluation, multiple polls conducted this month showed widespread dissatisfaction with the German government, which are facing a financial crisis and a crisis of confidence, problems many believe are entirely of the government’s own making.

 

Greece rounded out the top three unhappiest nations, with an average life satisfaction rating of 6.7. 

 

And the happiest country on the continent is Austria, where residents rated their happiness at 7.9. Finland, Poland, and Romania are tied for second happiest with scores of 7.7. 

 

The ratings appeared to support the cliche that money cannot buy happiness, as neither of second-place scorers Romania or Poland enjoyed a high average per capita income in 2022, and Romanians even made less on average than their much more miserable neighbors in Bulgaria. 

 

While five out of the ten top finishers in the 2023 World Happiness Report, published in March, were EU member countries, only Finland, which came in at number one, was among the high scorers on both lists. 

 

Denmark, the second-happiest nation in the world in that report, was also the only European country that managed to decrease its consumption of antidepressants(!) in the last decade. It ranked seventh on life satisfaction in Eurostat’s report.

 

My two cents:

 

 

TikTok Get Blamed for Guzzling Energy in Norway

TikTok are being blamed for being an energy-guzzler! 

 

At Raufoss (about 120 kilometers north of Oslo in Norway), a weapons firm co-owned by the Norwegian government and a Finnish state-controlled defence company, said they can’t meet the surging demand for artillery shells because a TikTok data center there is using up the electricity! 

 

Elvia, the local energy company, confirmed that the electricity network has no spare capacity after promising it to the data center as they allocate it on a first come, first served basis. 

 

Experts say fights over which companies and which type of industry get priority access to electricity grids are likely to increase across Europe. Data centres have flourished in the Nordic countries because of once-plentiful and cheap electricity, as well as a colder climate that keeps cooling costs down. 

 

“We are concerned because we see our future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos", Morten Brandtzæg, the CEO of Nammo AS, said in an interview with the Financial Times. (I guess he doesn't like cats!)

 

Brandtzæg said that the demand for artillery rounds was 15 times higher than normal – a trend driven by the war in Ukraine, which has featured heavy artillery use. Ukraine, for instance, would like to increase its daily usage of rounds from 6,000 to 65,000, he explained. 

 

It isn’t known if Nammo shells are being used in Ukraine – their customer base, as described in a 2021 annual report, is overwhelmingly EU and NATO states, which have been making huge donations to Ukraine since Russia launched its Special Military Operation. 

 

TikTok and other tech giants have faced criticism for their energy use. Back in July, a report from the FT found that the electricity usage of large companies – including Microsoft, Oracle, LG, Huawei, Amazon, and Dell – was making it harder to build more homes in London, UK. Due to the electricity grid running out of capacity, the report stated that the capital could face a ban on new housing projects until 2035. 

 

An earlier report from 2019 by EirGrid, Ireland's electrical grid operator, found similar conclusions for Ireland, which is a popular base for global companies' European data centers. It found that data centers can often require the "same amount of energy as a large town", and could account for "29% of electricity demand in Ireland by 2028".

British Store Cupboard Classics

If you’re in the UK right now, check out the Ice Cream Project at The Village in London by Anya Hindmarch – it’s a celebration of cult food brands transformed into ice-creams and sorbets. 

Hand-made in small batches in Devon and available in 500ml tubs (£10) and by the scoop (£3.50), the flavors are inspired by some of the most well-known UK food brands. 

Try a scoop of Heinz Beanz, a rich, sweet flavored ice cream brimming with protein or delve into a tub of Heinz Mayonnaise Original, a surprising rich and creamy ice cream with the zestiness of lemon and tang of vinegar. Or Kikkoman Soy Sauce, a piquant toasted sesame ice cream laced with umami-rich naturally brewed soy sauce. Or Heinz Tomato Ketchup, a delicious combination of sweet, salty and tangy flavors. Or Kellogg’s Coco Pops, a delightful milky chocolate ice cream interspersed with the crunch of chocolate-flavored toasted rice. Or Polo, a refreshing mint sorbet laced with tiny pieces of smashed Polo.

“Making ‘everyday things in an extraordinary way’ has always been a passion of mine and is the reason why I love to play with iconic brands”, said Hindmarch: 

“The Ice Cream Project sets out to challenge perceptions, working with the most sophisticated ingredients and recipes in an artful way”. 

Store employee Hannah Wearne describes the Project, which runs until August 28, as offering a new twist on "British store cupboard classics". And it's proving a hit. 

"We sold out of six weeks' worth of ice cream in four days, so we've been really, really popular... We've got our own regulars which is really lovely", she said. 

You can purchase these frozen desserts at The Village on Pont Street in London as well as other Anya Hindmarch gifts and accessories. 

An update: Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has tested negative for drugs, the government announced. Marin agreed to take the test on Friday – at her own expense – to allay concerns about her wild partying. 

[For background info, please read my post “Finland's Sanna Marin Fights For Her Right To Party” published Sunday]. 

And on Twitter and TikTok, women in Finland and even Denmark are posting dance videos in support of Marin, tagging their post with #SolidaritywithSanna.

Finland's PM Fights For Her Right To Party

Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin is making headlines after videos of her partying with Finnish celebrities and public figures were leaked on social media on Wednesday. 

In the first video, the 36-year-old leader can be seen drinking with a group of friends, dancing and singing to songs by Finnish rapper Petri Nygård and pop singer Antti Tuisku. 

And someone within the first video is heard shouting “flour gang”, with “flour” a nickname for cocaine in Finland. 

In the second video, the mother-of-one was dancing intimately with singer Olavi Uusivirta – although she insisted 'nothing inappropriate' happened between them. 

Marin on Thursday had acknowledged partying "in a boisterous way" after the release of private videos, but said she was angry that the footage – which has drawn criticism from political opponents – was leaked to the media. 

She clarified that the videos were private and were filmed in a private residence a few weeks ago, reported Finland's news broadcaster Yle. She said that she was aware she was being filmed, but thought that the videos would remain private. 

Speaking about consuming alcohol and drugs, she said, "Personally, I did not take drugs, nor did I consume anything other than alcohol. I danced, sang, and partied – perfectly legal things. And I've never been in a situation where I've seen or known of others [using drugs]". 

Marin has now submitted to a drug test, with the results expected in the coming days. 

In December last year, the Prime Minister went out at a club in Helsinki, leaving her official work phone at home. As a result, she was not informed of her exposure to Covid and continued to enjoy the evening.

"She has previously been criticized for attending too many music festivals & spending too much on partying instead of ruling. The critics say it’s not fitting for a PM", Visegrád 24 reported. 

Some social media users thought Marin's actions were cool, while many others thought they were unfit for a Prime Minister. 

It is clear Marin loves partying! I really don't know what’s the fuss about!