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].

Sinéad O'Connor Dismantles the Myth of the Irish "Famine"

The late Shuhada' Sadaqat, née Sinéad O'Connor (left), Irish singer-songwriter, record producer and activist did not shy away from speaking the truth, to the detriment of her career, but without regret. 

She called out the abuse in the Catholic church long before anyone was ready to hear about it. 

And in her song "Famine", she breaks down the myth of the Irish Potato Famine. In Irish, the famine is called an Gorta Mór, or the Great Hunger. As Sinéad explains: 

Okay, I want to talk about Ireland 
Specifically, I want to talk about the famine 
About the fact that there never really was one 

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. 

While there was a blight in the 1840s that decimated the potato crop, there was no famine. There was plenty of food in Ireland, just not for the Irish people. Absentee British landlords sold food for export and even controlled fishing from "their" streams. 

The highly nutritious potato was the only crop that could be grown on the small plots of land where the Irish, who were essentially sharecroppers, were allowed to grow their own food. 

British "relief" measures were led by Charles Trevelyan, who said that starvation was "a punishment from God for an idle, ungrateful, and rebellious country; an indolent and un-self-reliant people. The Irish are suffering from an affliction of God's providence". He took a laissez-faire approach and shut down programs that would have sent aid. He was later knighted for his efforts. 

The Great Hunger was the beginning of an exodus of the Irish people to the United States. The Irish population has never recovered. Today, there are eight times as many Irish-Americans as there are Irish in Ireland.

Guinness Meets the Sobriety Trend

There are few drinks with a bubbling subculture as strong as Guinness. 

The Irish stout has Instagram accounts dedicated to it. Debates rage over the exact way to get the perfect pour. There are lines of merchandise, fashion collaborations, and even now a Netflix series dedicated to the Guinness family. 

With many drinkers increasingly weighing up low or non-alcoholic options, one pub in Dublin, Ireland believes they can offer the best of both worlds. 

The Palmerstown House Pub, in Old Lucan Road in Dublin, is now serving the “60/40” – made up of 60% Guinness 0.0, and 40% Guinness 4.2%. 

Posting on Instagram, the official pub account said: “Try our new '60/40' in the Palmerstown House. All of the Guinness character, just a little lighter! Great for when you're in the mood for a pint but with a little less alcohol! Just ask for a '60/40'”. 

The post shows the “60/40” is still made using the traditional two-stage pour, with Guinness Zero poured first. Healthier than a regular pint, the 60/40 gets a pint down from 4.2% to around 1.7%, perfect for those conscious of their intake. 

This isn’t the first time someone has attempted to shake up the classic drink – for years, people have been drinking Black Velvet, a combination of Guinness and Champagne. Slightly less popular are the “half-and-half”, in which Guinness is poured on top of Harp lager, and even Guinness shandies – if the lemonade doesn’t mess with the famous Guinness head. 

The 60/40 is said to make more sense for the modern drinkers, with Guinness Zero matching the regular drink in both texture and taste. 

Some were outraged by the new product – one branding the 60/40 “a load of nonsense”, and another writing that it “should be illegal”. 

Many commenters were positive however, clearly looking forward to splitting the 60/40 G. 

One posted: “People crying about people wanting to drink a bit less alcohol or maybe have a couple and still be able to drive. Nobody is forcing it on you. Drink what you like, just relax and let others drink what they want too”. 

Another wrote: “Great to see you making it an actual thing”.

International Students Are Turning Away From The West

The US, UK, Australia and Canada, long considered the “Big Four” destinations for international students, are steadily losing their dominance as visa rules tighten and new education hubs rise across Asia and the Middle East. 

Recent data show dramatic declines in international enrollment in the traditional hubs: Canada has seen a 60% drop in incoming students this year, the steepest since the Covid pandemic, while the US and Australia's both fell by nearly 20%. Only the UK managed to hold relatively steady. 

Before Covid-19, students from major markets like China and India overwhelmingly chose one of these four countries. But that picture has changed. 

According to a joint report by Studyportals and the British Council analyzing 51 million prospective students, demand for study abroad in Japan and China has surged, while Malaysia and India also show strong growth. 

"The global market for academic talent is as dynamic and complex as it has ever been", said Edwin van Rest, CEO and co-founder of Studyportals, as cited in the report. "International students have proven to be of broad and unique contribution to their host countries, and some upcoming destinations are effectively making use of the current market situation to advance talent attraction". 

In the same report, Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA-Association of International Educators, added, "Amid sweeping political shifts in the US, this survey offers a powerful snapshot... The message is unmistakable: international students are paying attention and increasingly turning away from the traditional ‘Big Four’ destinations in search of stability, opportunity, and affordability. It is really about the ‘Big Ten’ now". 

Experts say Asia and the Middle East–North Africa are not only keeping more of their local students, but also attracting learners from abroad, a sign of a broader realignment in global higher education. 

Tightened visa and immigration rules have accelerated that shift. Australia and Canada have capped foreign-student numbers, the UK now bans most master’s students from bringing dependents, and the US has added stricter visa checks, including social media reviews. 

Rising tuition and living costs in the West have only pushed more students toward culturally familiar and affordable options closer to home. 

Among the fastest-rising markets is Hong Kong, where up to half of non-local students can receive government subsidies. Investment in higher education has also boosted universities there in global rankings. Other ascendant destinations include Ireland, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, the UAE and Vietnam.

Top seeds Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan cruised into the quarter-finals of the Kumamoto Masters after dispatching South Korea's world No. 20 Jeong Na Eun-Lee Yeon Woo 21-14, 21-9 today. 

The world No. 2 were dominant throughout the 31-minute encounter, extending their flawless head-to-head record against the Koreans to 4-0 this season.

Donald Trump Wants EU to Punish China and India

Tried as he may, Donald Trump couldn't fulfill his pledge to end the war in Ukraine on "day one" of becoming US president. 

(But then, he was just being disingenuous and always hyperbolic; he was never genuinely serious about wanting peace).

Now, he has called on the European Union to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% to force Russian president Vladimir Putin to cease and desist in Ukraine. 

(Another BS! Why won't the US cease and desist supplying weapons to Ukraine? That'll end the war soon enough!)

Trump made the demand during a meeting between US and EU officials on Tuesday discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia, a source familiar with the discussions has told the BBC. 

However, as per my understanding, the EU treat tariffs in a different way to sanctions and only impose them after an investigation typically lasting months to establish a legally sound justification. 

The bloc have so far only imposed tariffs in the context of the Ukraine war on Russian and Belarusian fertilisers and farm products. The justification for the measures was to prevent creating a dependency that could be exploited and to avoid harm to EU fertiliser producers. 

"So far, there is no discussion on possible tariffs neither on India...nor with China", one EU diplomat said. 

It has been said such tariffs are risky and could be too broad; it is easier to sanction specific entities and open the door to delist them if they end their business with Russia.  

I guess Trump should know better. He may love tariffs but the Europeans are only enamoured with sanctions! 🤣🤣🤣

Chinese-made aircraft are set to spread their wings further in Southeast Asia after Air Cambodia announced an order for ten C909 passenger jets, with an option to purchase ten more from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) on Tuesday. 

And Capital A, the investment holding company of AirAsia, on Wednesday, claimed to be in active discussions to buy the C919.

In fact, in July, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke disclosed that AirAsia and the soon-to-launch Air Borneo had both expressed interest in the Chinese jet, aligning with Kuala Lumpur’s ambition to diversify fleet sourcing and strengthen strategic links with Beijing. 

Even Irish low-cost giant Ryanair are flirting with the idea of adding the Chinese narrowbody twinjet to their fleet, which is currently dominated by aircraft from the Boeing 737 Next Generation (737NG) and 737 MAX families. 

Most notably, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary said in March that "if it was cheap enough, 10 or 20% cheaper than an Airbus aircraft, then we’d order it".

Irish Wolfhounds Join Writer's Protest on Meta AI

Irish wolfhounds have joined a protest by writers, who are protesting about what they describe as "any piracy" of their works being used by Meta's AI model.

The protest in Dublin, Ireland was led by the Irish Writers Union (IWU). The union, which are coordinating a campaign with Irish publishers, screenwriters, and poets, are demanding that Meta "comply with Irish and EU copyright laws in the training of their AI model". 

Members say the protest follows "the revelations arising from a court case in the US filed December 22, 2023, that Meta used millions of copyright-protected works in order to train their AI model, Llama 3". 

Audrey Magee (right), an award-winning author whose publications include "The Colony" (2022) and "The Undertaking" (2014) told BBC News NI she was shocked when she discovered that her works had been used for AI training. The author complained she's concerned that her works have been accessed and "used in a way you have no control over". 

She also said the presence of Irish wolfhounds at the protest on Thursday was a powerful and symbolic gesture because of their ancient links to Irish literature, poetry, mythology, and bards. 

Other members of the Irish Writers Union who claim their works have been harvested for AI training purposes include Ruth O'Leary, author of "The Weekend Break" (2024) and Sam Blake, author of "The Weekend Break" (2025). 

IWU's chairperson, Conor McAnally said: "It is difficult enough to make a living as a writer without billionaires deciding it's too inconvenient to pay for our work. The Irish Writers Union will robustly defend our members, and their right to fair compensation for any use of their work. We call on the Irish Government to support those writers whose work has been pirated and hold Meta to account". 

A petition, with 1,500 signatures, has been presented to the Irish Department for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation. 

In a statement, Minister Niamh Smyth TD, said: "Given the rapid advancement of AI technologies, EU and Irish policies and legislation are adapting to address emerging challenges". 

The IWU are encouraging their members to make a formal, legal complaint to Meta demanding the immediate cessation of any use of their copyrighted material in the company's AI training processes until appropriate permissions are obtained. 

Members also want Meta to negotiate "fair and reasonable licensing terms" if they want to use their work, as well as the offer of compensation for any past unauthorised use of their work in AI model training programs. 

An investigation by The Atlantic magazine revealed Meta may have accessed millions of pirated books and research papers through LibGen – Library Genesis – to train their generative AI (Gen-AI) system, Llama. 

A spokesperson for Meta maintained: "We respect third-party intellectual property rights and believe our use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law".

Ne Zha 2 Travels The World

China's animated juggernaut "Ne Zha 2" travels all over the world! More than 40 countries and maybe even more!

Cambodia:

Canada:

Germany:

Indonesia:

Malaysia:

Netherlands:

Thailand:

UK & Ireland: 

The Guinness Challenge

Bars across UK, even Irish ones, are reporting limited supplies of the black stuff since Guinness owner Diageo announced earlier this month that they were experiencing “exceptional consumer demand”.

 

The Times even reported that the shortage of the staple in pubs for centuries was encouraging “panic buying” – worsening supplies. 

 

TBH, this situation shouldn't have come as a surprise. At Diageo’s results in January, a rare bright spot amid sluggish sales of their core spirits brands was last year's surge in the popularity of Guinness, the dark, creamy liquid, traditionally seen as the drink of choice for rugby fans and middle-aged men with beards, which became the UK’s favorite beer.

 

According to Financial Times on July 06, 2024, Guinness sales in Europe rose 24 percent, driven largely by drinkers in the UK and Ireland, while sales of non-alcoholic Guinness 0.0 more than doubled.  

 

Chief executive Debra Crew credited social media “Guinnfluencers” – including Kim Kardashian (right), who posted a photo of herself with the famed Irish stout on Instagram – as key to the brand’s success, declaring consumption was up 24 percent among women, with growth driven largely by consumers aged 25-45 in the UK and Ireland. 

 

Guinness's UK marketing director Anna MacDonald admitted Diageo had done nothing specifically to target women. Instead she credited a simple shift in how the team targeted their media spend to appeal to all consumers, not just the older male that was once their core. 

 

It has been widely claimed that pubs in London’s Soho now teem with cool young drinkers of the stout, in an echo of the US hipster appropriation of blue-collar beers such as Pabst Blue Ribbon and Michelob. In June, designer JW Anderson even showed a collection of Guinness branded jumpers on the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week. 

 

And a viral craze online called “Split the G” has also apparently helped push sales.

 

Note: Pub goers can't agree on the right way to do the Guinness Challenge where you drink your pint, you reckon the line between the Guinness word and the head has gone down to the right spot. 

 

People can agree you're supposed to pick up your pint of Guinness and keep drinking in one go until you think you've reached the right spot with no pauses or tilts to check your progress.

 

But pub goers can't seem to agree where the right spot is. 

 

When it comes to this crucial debate, most people are split into two camps over the right way to do the Guinness Challenge. Some people are "split the G" die hards, meaning they reckon a successful Guinness Challenge is one where you get the line between stout and head in the middle of the 'G' in Guinness. If you're going that way then you have to be extra precise, getting your pint down to the halfway point in the 'G' so it artistically bisects the letters on the side of your pint glass.

 

And the "split the G" crowd faces stiff competition from the people who reckon the right way to pull off the Guinness Challenge is to drink until your line is between the top of the G and the bottom of the harp. 

 

It's another fine line to tread but they think it's the right way to do the challenge, and given the lack of room to manoeuvre, it's not much easier than perfectly splitting the G. 

 

I guess until this issue is settled one way or another, the pubs will continue to be filled with friendly arguments. Anyway, Guinness won't be unhappy as long as pub goers keep on drinking Guinness. For all they care, these Guinness drinkers can argue until the cows come home.

Worst Cities For Rush Hour Traffic Worldwide

Traffic congestion costs drivers hours of lost time and economic productivity. Right away, I can visualise jam-packed roads in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. And not to mention, the same with Bangkok in Thailand, Jakarta in Indonesia and Manila in Philippines.

 

Traffic can serve as an economic indicator, as the flow of people, goods, and services drives the demand for road travel, reflecting underlying economic activity. But when this demand surpasses the available road capacity, it leads to congestion, time lost in traffic, and often rising frustration.

 

The chart below shows the 15 worst cities around the world for traffic congestion in 2023, ranked by the average number of hours lost to traffic congestion per driver when driving during peak commute hours compared to driving during off-peak hours in 2023. Data comes from the INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard 2023.

 

And I am pleasantly surprised that the above-mentioned Southeast Asian cities are not even listed! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to INRIX, drivers in New York had it the worst. On average, drivers in The Big Apple lost 101 hours to traffic jams in 2023, costing more than $1,700 in lost time and productivity.

 

In the U.S., traffic delays cost the typical driver more than $733 in lost time, or $70 billion nationwide in 2023.

Meta Fined for Lax Password Safety

Big tech company Meta have been ordered to pay a €91 million fine by the Irish data protection authority entrusted to police European Union data privacy for failing to protect users' passwords, it was announced yesterday.

 

The investigation was launched in April 2019, after Meta notified the Irish authority that they had inadvertently stored certain passwords of social media users in "plaintext" – meaning without encryption – on their internal systems. 

 

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), requires companies to implement appropriate security measures when processing personal data.

 

“It is widely accepted that user passwords should not be stored in plaintext, considering the risks of abuse that arise from persons accessing such data. It must be borne in mind that the passwords the subject of consideration in this case, are particularly sensitive, as they would enable access to users’ social media accounts”, Graham Doyle, Deputy Commissioner at the Data Protection Commission, the Irish supervisory authority for the GDPR, said in a statement.

 

It’s not the first GDPR fine for Meta. In 2023, the company were hit with a record €1.2 billion fine by the Irish regulator for "continuing to transfer personal data" of users from the European Economic Area to the US after the EU’s highest court invalidated an EU-to-US data transfer agreement due to surveillance concerns. And in 2022, Meta were fined €265 million after data of more than 533 million users was found dumped online.

 

It has to be pointed out that for a company that make tens of billions a year in profits, it's just another cost of doing business.

McDonald's Lose Big Mac Trademark

If the Golden Arches look bowed in Europe today, there's a good reason. 

 

McDonald's lost a European Union trademark dispute over the Big Mac name after a top European Union court sided Wednesday with Irish fast-food rival Supermac's in a long-running legal battle. The Big Mac, first introduced in 1968, has been a cornerstone of McDonald's menu. 

 

This is what McDonald's get for being a big bully. In 2017, Galway-based Supermac's filed to register their name in the EU. When McDonald's learned about it, they dispatched their army of lawyers to flood the court with objections, claiming customers wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Big Mac hamburger and a restaurant called Supermac's. 

 

McDonald's efforts backfired spectacularly. Not only did they fail to force Supermac's to change their name, they lost their exclusive right to "Big Mac". 

 

Supermac's portrayed the decision as a David and Goliath-style victory. Managing Director Pat McDonagh accused McDonald's of "trademark bullying to stifle competition". 

 

In any case, McDonald's remain unfazed by the ruling, which can be appealed to the European Court of Justice, the bloc's highest court, but only on points of law.

 

"The decision by the EU General Court does not affect our right to use the 'BIG MAC' trademark", pouted McDonald's in a statement. "Our iconic Big Mac is loved by customers all across Europe, and we're excited to continue to proudly serve local communities, as we have done for decades".  😁😁

 

Still, it's noteworthy to mention that Supermac's sell a burger called Mighty Mac: "A succulent double burger complete with two 100% Irish beef patties, melted cheese, crispy lettuce, diced onion with ketchup and burger sauce served in a toasted sesame seed bun". 

 

McDonald's Big Mac, on the other hand, "starts with two 100% pure all beef patties and Big Mac sauce sandwiched between a sesame seed bun. It's topped off with pickles, crisp shredded lettuce, finely chopped onion, and a slice of American cheese". 

 

No confusion there! 😂😂

 

Tongue-in-cheek Beer Names

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A beer named after Osama Bin Laden has sold out after going viral on social media. 

 

Staff at Mitchell Brewing Co had to unplug phones and close their website temporarily because of demand for Osama Bin Lager. FYI, the company, of Billinghay, Lincolnshire, also brews Winston Churchpale, Kim Jong Ale and Putin Porter. 

 

 

"They're all tongue-in-cheek names – a nicer outlook on some horrible dictators", co-owner Luke Mitchell said. Millions of people have seen a picture of the beer – named after the former al-Qaeda leader who died in 2011 – posted on social media. 

 

A husband and wife team run the brewery and a pub. 

 

"We've woken up the last couple of mornings with thousands and thousands and thousands of notifications", Luke Mitchell said. 

 

"It's been crazy", Catherine Mitchell added. "The phone just hasn't stopped for the last 48 hours".

 

"Everyone laughs when they see the names on the bar. As far as I'm aware, no one's been offended, but I'm sure there is someone out there", Luke added. 

 

"I think there's always a risk of somebody being offended", Catherine piped up. 

 

Predictably, opinions are divided, but the brewery donates £10 from each barrel of Osama Bin Lager to a charity that supports victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

 

The establishment of a Palestinian state is “the only route to peace” in the Middle East, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday as his country announced formal recognition, alongside Norway and Ireland.

 

I guess better late than never. Palestine has already been recognized by 144 other countries.

Emergency Landings

It's alarming to know that Boeing planes are constantly in the news. Here's another five situations, all involving the world's largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes:

 

A United Airlines flight bound for San Francisco, USA was forced to return to its place of origin Tuesday due to engine troubles. 

 

Flight UA28, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, climbed to an altitude of approximately 31,000 feet before the 9-year-old aircraft circled back to land at Singapore Changi Airport to address the problem.

 

A Malaga-bound Ryanair flight from Glasgow, UK declared a midair emergency on Monday.

 

The Boeing 737-800 departed from Prestwick airport and was scheduled to land in the Spanish city on the same day. 

 

But flight FR655 issued a "squawk transponder code 7700" and diverted to Dublin, Ireland. The nature of the emergency is not yet known, at least from the news reports I came across.

 

[Note: A plane squawking 7700 indicates a general emergency. 7700 is a squawk code that is reserved for emergency situations and immediately alerts Air Traffic Control and other units that the aircraft squawking 7700 is in distress. It may be assigned by ATC or the pilots may decide to enter it into their transponder themselves].

 

On Friday, a United Airlines 737-800 series passenger jet had to also make an emergency landing about 40 minutes after takeoff. Flight UA166 from Fukuoka, Japan to Guam had reported a “problem with flaps”.

 

A day earlier, an Air France Boeing 777 departing from Los Angeles, USA on a 10-hour flight to Paris, France diverted to Montreal, Canada. 

 

The aircraft was met by fire trucks because there was reportedly smoke in the cabin. According to a passenger who contacted AIRLIVE, the crew ordered passengers to evacuate the plane which caused panic and injuries to multiple passengers.

 

Still another emergency landing. Another Boeing 777 – this time belonging to American Airlines – that was scheduled to land at Tampa International Airport in Florida, USA on May 08 went through the same awkward predicament, possibly due to a mechanical issue. 

 

In a report from AviationSource News, flight AA2321 returned to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, USA, minutes after departing. The aircraft landed without incident and taxied to the gate under its own power. 

 

The flight re-departed for Tampa in the early afternoon on the same day.

Portal Connects New York and Dublin via Live Stream

An art installation in New York, USA and Dublin, Ireland takes the form of a "portal" that allows viewers to visually connect across 3,000 miles. 

The Portal, an installation designed by artist Benediktas Gylys, live streams silent video between New York's Flatiron South Public Plaza and North Earl Street in Dublin. It is sponsored by the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, the New York City Department of Transportation's Art Program and the Simons Foundation, and it allows people in the two cities to look at each other in real-time across the 3,000-mile distance. 

"We provide an unfiltered meeting above all borders, all labels, and that would invite us humans to reconnect", Gylys told WABC-TV. 

Interactions witnessed through the Portal since it went live on Wednesday include the expected exchanges of rude gestures as well as at least one caught-on-camera attempt to flirtatiously exchange contact information. 

Another exchange in a photo shared by the University College Dublin featured a native New Yorker, Dakota Taylor who attends the school using the Portal to connect with her mother back home. 😮😮 [Whatsa matter? The phone isn't good enough?!]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"We think just simple communication, whether it's a wave, a hi, a sign, a dance, that's what people are about", said James Mettham of the Flatiron NoMad Partnership. The Portal will continue to connect the two cities 24 hours a day for the next six months.

Malaysia's Election Commission have confirmed victory for Pakatan Harapan’s candidate, Pang Sock Tao of DAP, in the by-election for the Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat in Selangor. 

The victory comes in the coalition’s first major electoral test since the six state elections last August, and against a backdrop of a lacklustre turnout of 61.5% yesterday.

Official results showed Pang (left) won the seat with a 3,869-vote majority over her closest rival, Perikatan Nasional’s Khairul Azhari Saut of Bersatu. The others, an independent, Nyau Ke Xin, and Hafizah Zainuddin of Parti Rakyat Malaysia, lost their deposits. 

The Kuala Kubu Baru seat fell vacant following the death of its three-term assemblyperson, Lee Kee Hiong, on March 21 from cancer.

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!