Reservation-only Beaches

Italy's most famous beaches are becoming reservation-only destinations, leaving travelers to debate whether a day at the beach should require weeks of planning. 

Already, several of the country's most popular beaches now require visitors to reserve entry before arriving, with QR codes, daily visitor caps and admission fees replacing the traditional first-come, first-served approach, according to Fodor's Travel Guide. 

The changes are noticeable, particularly on the island of Sardinia, where officials have introduced reservation systems to manage growing crowds and help protect some of Italy's most environmentally sensitive coastlines, Forbes reported. 

One of the best-known examples is La Pelosa Beach, where reservations are mandatory May 15 through October 15, the beach's official reservation website says. Access is limited to 1,500 visitors per day. 

Five hundred spots can be booked at any time during the season, while the remaining 1,000 are released two days before the selected visit date, according to the website. Visitors ages 12 and older must reserve online, pay a €3.50 (about $4) daily fee and present a QR code for entry between 08:00 AM and 06:00 PM. 

The reservation system has become so popular that advance booking availability is reportedly sold out through September 15. 

Another popular destination, Cala Goloritzé, also requires advance reservations from April through October. Access is limited to 250 visitors at a time, with reservations opening 72 hours before the selected visit date. Visitors pay a €7 (about $8) admission fee, while children under age 6 are admitted for free. 

The official reservation website recommends booking as soon as spots become available, noting that reservations often fill quickly. 

The restrictions come as tourism continues to grow across Italy. The country recorded a 4.2% increase in tourist arrivals and a 7.5% increase in overnight stays during the first quarter of 2026, according to data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). 

TBH, I don't get it – why would anyone want to go to the beach that is overly crowded?

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. 

Bombs, Missiles and Drones Cause Widespread Death and Destruction

Israel may have pulled the trigger first – but I blame US President Donald Trump! He, himself suggested on Tuesday that he may have “forced Israel’s hand” into a war with Iranian "lunatics" (The Times of Israel, March 03, 2026). 

It sure has been a very busy week so far for all parties involved. Yesterday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth touted as evidence of America's global reach in its war on Iran when he confirmed a US fast attack submarine had sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean – the Pentagon released footage of the strike. FYI, the IRIS Dena, had participated in a naval exercise in India just weeks ago. And according to Sri Lankan authorities, 32 sailors have been rescued, 61 are still missing and 87 bodies have so far been found. 

Iran's navy are already almost decimated, if you believe the Americans. Trump declared Monday that the US sank 10 Iranian battleships. But, on the same day, CENTCOM had stated that in two days, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman and now they have none left. 

Whether 10 or 11, that hadn't stopped Trump from gloating: “They’re at the bottom of the sea”. 

Oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has plunged by 90 percent since the outbreak of the Middle East war, energy market intelligence firm Kpler said on X. Iranian forces, meanwhile, claimed "complete control" of the strait, a vital route for world oil and gas supplies, after Trump said Tuesday the US Navy were ready to escort oil tankers through the channel. 

The British are joining in. Their F-35s shot down Iranian drones over Jordan, marking the first time that one of the Royal Air Force's stealth fighter jets had destroyed a target in combat, the UK defense ministry shouted out on Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said they dropped more than 4,000 bombs on Iranian targets in just four days and on Tuesday, even hit “Minzadehei”, a secret underground site on the outskirts of Tehran where Iran transferred much of its nuclear program after the 12-day war with Israel in June. 

The commander of CENTCOM – the forward headquarters of United States Central Command in Qatar – Admiral Brad Cooper claimed the US has struck more than 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions and severely degraded Iran's air defences.

It's not all one-sided though. Three US fighter jets were downed over Kuwait. The Americans explained on Monday that the F-15s were "mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences" and all six crew ejected safely. If you ask me, I don't believe this excuse of a "friendly fire incident".

A day earlier, Iran pounded a base housing US troops in Kuwait on Sunday, killing three service members. Since then, the death toll has risen to six, CENTCOM confirmed on Monday, an uptick that was forecasted by Trump and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine. 

Still, Iran maintained that more than 650 US military personnel were killed and wounded in the first two days of Operation True Promise 4, while its military say they fired over 700 drones and hundreds of ballistic missiles in 48 hours exceeding the total firepower of the June 2025 war. 

Also, on Monday, Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery at Ras Tanura halted operations after a drone strike in the area. Iran accused Israel of carrying out the attack, describing it as a “false flag” operation.

And on the same day too, a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle struck a runway at a UK military base in Akrotiri, Cyprus. Consequently, Greece is sending two frigates and a pair of F-16 fighter jets to Aphrodite's Isle.

Amazon Web Services reported Monday that two data centers in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” and another facility in Bahrain was also damaged after a drone landed nearby. 

On Tuesday, two ballistic missiles were aimed at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base. Air defenses intercepted one, while the second struck the base southwest of Doha without causing casualties. Al Udeid is the backbone of US military airpower in the Middle East, housing the Combined Air Operations Center that direct American and coalition missions across the region. The strike marks a direct hit on one of Washington’s most critical strategic assets there. 

There's been so many claims made by all sides; it's been difficult to establish the veracity of every claim. What is certain is the trail of death and destruction left behind! 

And then there's this widely-circulated story which according to Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea, Trump through Italy had sought an immediate ceasefire upon seeing that the Iranian government did not collapse after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with senior figures in the country’s leadership – but Iran rejected it outright.

They should fear Khamenei as a martyr, more than Khamenei alive!

This ambitious American-Israeli project targeting Iran envisioned a massive bombing campaign to last only 4-5 days and expecting Iran to surrender thereafter. 

Today is Day 6! 

IRAN HAS NOT SURRENDERED! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

And on Tuesday, parents in Minab, Iran held a mass funeral for the 165 students – most of them girls aged between 7 and 12 – as well as staff killed in the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh all girls' school by the evil Israel-US axis. 

The IRNA news agency had cited a local prosecutor as saying that 96 people had been wounded in Saturday’s strike. 

Ali Farhadi, spokesperson for Iran’s Education Ministry, said Sunday that three attacks struck the school, which he said had 264 students. 

Some social media accounts linked to Israel claimed the site was “part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base”. However, an analysis by Al Jazeera’s digital investigations unit of satellite imagery compiled over more than a decade, as well as recent video clips, published news reports and statements from official Iranian sources, tells a very different story. 

The findings reveal that the school had been clearly separate from an adjacent military site for at least 10 years. The investigation also shows that the strike pattern raises fundamental questions about the accuracy of intelligence information on which the bombing was based.

The Minab massacre is a war crime.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said Wednesday Israel and US had killed 1,045 military personnel and civilians since the start of the war. Elsewhere, Al Jazeera reported at least 11 dead in Israel as well as six US soldiers and eight civilians killed in the Gulf states. And the death toll from Israeli military action in Lebanon has risen to 72, with 437 injured since this front of the war ignited on Monday.

There Will Be No NATO Without Donald Trump

Since the turn of the year, Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned NATO’s willingness to support the US. 

“I DOUBT NATO WOULD BE THERE FOR US IF WE REALLY NEEDED THEM”, he blasted on Truth Social on January 07. “We will always be there for NATO, even if they won’t be there for us”.

Then in a post on Truth Social on January 20, 2026 👇

👇In response, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni issued a severe diplomatic ultimatum and threatened to dismantle critical pillars of the United States' presence in Europe. 

Meloni’s proposal includes the potential closure of vital strategic hubs such as Aviano Air Base and NAS Sigonella, which would effectively cripple American military projection across the Mediterranean and North Africa. Alongside military shifts, her stance calls for a full alignment with European Union trade suspensions and a symbolic boycott of iconic American brands like McDonald's to reject US cultural soft power. 

This defiance from a traditionally conservative ally signals a unprecedented unification of European political factions against Washington’s current foreign policy, marking a potential collapse of long-standing transatlantic security and economic alliances.

😂😂😂 I doubt she will actually carry out her threat!

Malaysia's top squash player Sivasangari Subramaniam’s run at the Tournament of Champions came to an end in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. 

The world No. 6 fell to world No. 4 Olivia Weaver, who won 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 in 52 minutes. It was the American’s ninth win over Sivasangari in 10 meetings.

EU Won’t Succeed Where Hitler and Napoleon Failed

An Italian confirmation that the whole world outside of the West already knows!

The EU’s 19 packages of sanctions on Russia have weakened the European economy, Matteo Salvini, Italian deputy prime minister and minister of transport and infrastructure said. 

"I would just like to note that almost four years of the conflict and 19 packages of sanctions, which were supposed to bring [Russia] to its knees, <...> brought European economies to their knees... ", he told Rete4. 

As I write this post, the EU are busy preparing their 20th package of sanctions against Russia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has clearly expressed her ambition to further raise the cost of Russia's war. 

EU’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas had earlier already reiterated the same: “Wars are lost by those who run out of money or soldiers first”, and adding that was why “we must continue to put pressure on Russia with sanctions”.  

But Russia is not to be messed with. 

As Salvini noted: "Neither Hitler nor Napoleon was able to bring Moscow to its knees, and I doubt that [top EU diplomat] Kaja Kallas, [French President Emmanuel] Macron, [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer, and [German Chancellor Friedrich] Merz will be able to do that". Von der Leyen should know that too.

In his view, Europe is NOT facing any threat from the east.

World No. 2 Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan put one foot into the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Finals after powering to their second straight win in Group A on Thursday.

The duo stamped their authority once again by brushing aside world No. 6 Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-13, 21-18 in 52 minutes. 

The victory has stretched Pearly-Thinaah's commanding head-to-head record against the Japanese pair to 8-2.

The Malaysians will take on another Japanese pair, Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in the final fixture today.

The West's Broken Democracy

Western democracy doesn't work in the eyes of its people, a new study revealed Saturday. 

A September survey of Western countries showed that satisfaction with the electoral model was below 50% in most of them. This contrasts with separate studies of Asian nations such as China and Singapore, where citizens are enthusiastic about their model of democracy, with 80 to 93% approval. 

Ipsos, a European survey firm, questioned 9,800 voters in the US, UK, Croatia, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. In all except Poland and Sweden, there were deep concerns about the western electoral model. 

Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, told Politico that “there is widespread concern about the way democracy is working, with people feeling unrepresented particularly by their national governments. In most countries, there is a desire for radical change”. 

Only a minority of respondents said they felt satisfied with how democracy was working in their country – 18% in Croatia, 19% in France, 20% in the US, 26% in the UK, 27% in Spain and 29% in Italy. Majorities in all countries except Sweden expected things to be worse in five years. 

A good case in point is the US itself, which has always prided itself a leading and influential democracy. Even so, Donald Trump in his first ten months has purged career civil servants viewed as disloyal, publicly urged his attorney general to prosecute political opponents, deployed troops to US cities, attacked judges who ruled against him, threatened universities because of the pro-Palestinian protests on campuses, and expanded his use of executive power through unilateral decrees and emergency authorities. 

In October, Trump’s justice department indicted Letitia James, the New York attorney general who successfully sued him for fraud, and separately charged the former FBI director James Comey, a longtime political adversary. He has also called for jailing the Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, and the Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, both Democrats who opposed his deployment of federal troops there.

The Bizarre British Brag of Brobdingnagian Proportions

In case you missed this bewildering boast 👇

I call it the bizarre British brag of Brobdingnagian proportions!!!!!!!

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 

Sivasangari Subramaniam advanced to the quarter-finals of the Egyptian Open after defeating England's Jasmine Hutton in Giza on Monday. 

The world No. 8 Malaysian beat the world No. 18 Englishwoman 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5 in 46 minutes in the third-round match.

Mountain Turnstiles to Charge Access to Instagram Hot Spots

There's this latest Italian social media trend, which lures hundreds of thousands of tourists to the mountain range in northern Italy, with many traipsing across private land to get that perfect shot. 

In response to the influx, frustrated local farmers have set up turnstiles, where tourists must pay 5 euros (nearly $6) to access several “Instagrammable” spots, including the Seceda and Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks) mountain ranges. 

Photos showing lines of up to 4,000 people a day, have been popping up on social media in recent weeks. But rather than deter people from coming, the images have acted as a magnet. 

The media’s been talking about the turnstiles, everyone’s been talking about it – and of course, people go where everyone else goes. They're sheep! 😂😂😂

Italian law mandates free access to natural parks, such as the Alps and Dolomites, but the landowners who set up the turnstiles say they have yet to receive any official pushback from authorities. 

But the local tourism body have petitioned authorities to close the turnstiles, insisting the issue is being overblown. The Santa Cristina Tourist Board, which oversee part of the area where the turnstiles have popped up, say they have hired four park rangers to ensure that tourists stay on the trails, don’t cross the meadows and don’t fly drones.

Beyond the public nuisance of overcrowding, the residents have to contend with badly-behaved visitors. Across the country, new ordinances have been a hallmark of the 2025 summer. 

Wearing just a swimsuit or going bare-chested in some Italian towns will attract more than a few looks. Semi-nudity could also land you a 500-euro fine – in the name of decorum. The Tuscan island of Elba and the Ligurian city of Diano Marina have both introduced summer ordinances that prohibit shirtless and swimsuit-only strutting – for both men and women – anywhere but the beach. 

And if your attire is deemed vulgar or “indecent” in the eyes of any beholder, authorities can levy smaller fines starting at 25 euros. 

In Livorno, walking barefoot is prohibited. On Sardinian beaches, you’ll get in trouble for digging holes for umbrellas, smoking, or lying on the sand without a mat. At the ever popular La Pelosa beach area, only 1,500 bathers are allowed at a time to prohibit overcrowding. 

In San Felice Circeo, a party town south of Rome where having an aperitivo on the beach is a way of life, take-away alcohol is banned both in town and on the beach. Loud music can only be blared during certain hours across much of the country, and in the southern region of Puglia, boaters risk a fine if they play music within 500 meters of the coast.

The US is Now $37 Trillion in Debt

On June 26, 2025, I reported that the US gross national debt had surpassed $36 trillion. 

Today, I checked usdebtclock.org and it has now grown to beyond $37 trillion. Actually, $37,066,137,890,137 and counting. 

And if that is not already alarming, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" passed by the 119th United States Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 04, 2025, by most estimates, is expected to add $3.1 to $3.5 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. 

Various analyses of the bill’s provisions find it will benefit wealthy Americans far more than lower-income earners. In fact, after-tax-transfer income for the lowest-earning 20% of Americans drops by an estimated $245 next year, increasing to a loss of $1,385 annually by 2033, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM). Future generations are also “uniformly worse off”, according to PWBM. 

Sure, debt of $37 trillion is an unfathomable number. If you saved a million dollars every day, it would take you 100,000 years to save up that much. 

A common sense approach to look at debt is as a percentage of a country's income. The US economy produces income of around $25 trillion a year. 

While its debt to income level is much higher than many, it's not as high as Japan or Italy, and it is said to have the benefit of the world's most innovative and wealth creating economy behind it. 

Perhaps, it is noteworthy to mention that there's a book called "Death of the Dollar" by William F Rickenbacker in which he warns of the risks to the Dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. It was written in 1968. 

And Rickenbacker is no longer with us – the Dollar is!

Like it or not, the Dollar is expected to be around for a long time. Even with de-dollarization.

Plants Know How to Bribe Their Pollinators with Sugar

Plants aren't just sitting there looking pretty – they're eavesdropping on insects and strategically sweetening their nectar for the right visitors. 

New research by Francesca Barbero from the University of Turin reveals plants can distinguish between the buzzing of helpful pollinators and nectar-stealing "robbers", adjusting their sugar production accordingly. When they hear good pollinators approaching, they pump up the sweetness. When thieves come calling, they dial it back. 

"When we played the sounds of the best pollinator, the plant reacted by secreting a nectar with a high sugar concentration", Barbero explained to Bob McDonald on his Quirks and Quarks podcast for CBC, broadcasted on June 06, 2025. FYI, she had presented this work at a recent joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and 25th International Congress on Acoustics. 

"And the most amazing thing is that when we play back the sounds of a robber insect [that takes nectar but doesn't reciprocate by pollinating], the plant is sort of keeping their resources and producing the nectar with the lowest concentration of sugar". 

The response happens in just 10 minutes – lightning-fast in plant time. Barbero's team found that hearing pollinators actually triggers genes involved in sugar transport. 

While plants don't have ears, they do possess specialized mechanoreceptors that detect air vibrations. Each insect species produces a unique acoustic signature that plants have evolved to recognize. Meaning, they're savvier than we thought.

China is unquestionably the driving force that holds BRICS together. Without China, they wouldn’t have come into existence. 

Why China invests so much on its Belt and Road initiative:

As of recent data, approximately 146 to 150 countries are estimated to be involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This includes countries that have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China. 

[Note: Two countries have exited the BRI, Italy in December 2023 and Panama in February 2025]. 

The BRI was launched by China in 2013 as a global infrastructure development strategy.

European City Asks Tourists to Stop Stealing Cobblestones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Donald Trump's Tariff Gambit Pains Global Economy

Speaking Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press", US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent disclosed that more than 50 countries wanted negotiations with the White House in a scramble to ease punishing tariffs on exports to the country, as trade partners braced for fallout. 

Donald Trump has remained defiant since unleashing the blitzkrieg of levies on stunned countries around the world Wednesday, maintaining that his policies “will never change” even as markets went into a tailspin. Already, he declares that the US "has gotten a lot stronger"!

But his staggered deadlines have left space for some countries to negotiate, even as he insisted he would stand firm and his administration warned against any retaliation. 

Trump has long asserted that countries around the world that sell their goods to the United States are in fact ripping Americans off, and he sees tariffs as a means to right that wrong.

Major stock indexes were mixed on Monday in turbulent trading dominated by concerns over his global trade war. Stock markets in the US initially plummeted in the morning, with the S&P 500 index on the precipice of a bear market, down more than 20 percent from its all-time highs. But the US markets swung rapidly during the day between losses and gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eventually closed down 0.91 percent, the S&P 500 was down 0.23 percent, and the tech-focused Nasdaq was down 0.1 percent. 

Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, closed at the highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic as investors fretted over the market’s next move. The VIX surpassed an intraday level of 50 points midday Monday, a rare level associated with extreme volatility. 

European stock markets too, fell on Monday morning. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index, which tracks the leading companies in the region, dropped more than 6% shortly after opening, hitting its lowest level since December 2023. Germany’s DAX tumbled nearly 10%, France’s CAC 40 slid 6.6%, Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 5.7% and London's FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks sank 6%. 

Asian markets were similarly rattled and stocks from Shanghai to Tokyo and Sydney to Hong Kong plunged by levels not seen in decades. The Shanghai Composite was down more than 8% at one point, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped more than 13% and Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down by 7.8% − moves that one analyst described to the BBC as a "bloodbath".

Trump is adamant he will not back down unless other countries balance their trade with the US. But for China, he threatens to add new 50% tariffs on the country if Beijing doesn’t remove its retaliatory duties by today. [Read my post "The Chinese Fightback" published April 05]. 

If he does impose that, US companies would then pay a total rate of 104% on Chinese imports − as it comes on top of 20% tariffs already put in place in March and the 34% announced Wednesday. Trump said China had introduced its countermeasure "despite my warning that any country that retaliates against the US by issuing additional tariffs... will be immediately met with new and substantially higher tariffs".

Chinese Chipmakers and Cloud Providers Embrace DeepSeek

Chinese companies, from chipmakers to cloud service providers, are rushing to support DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence (AI) models, spurring analysts to even hail it a “watershed moment” for the industry. 

Chinese AI chipmakers – including Moore Threads, Tencent-backed Enflame, Baidu’s Kunlunxin and Hygon Information Technology, have declared that their computing clusters and accelerators would be able to support DeepSeek’s R1 and V3 models. 

“We pay tribute to DeepSeek”, Moore Threads headlined their post on WeChat, adding that progress by the firm’s models using domestically made graphic processing units could “set on fire” China’s AI industry. 

On February 01, Huawei Technologies, which also have their own line of AI chips, said they were working with AI infrastructure start-up SiliconFlow to make DeepSeek’s models available to customers on their Ascend cloud service. Their performance was comparable to models run on global, high-end chips, they added. 

“DeepSeek demonstrates that competitive large language models can be deployed on China’s ‘good-enough’ chips, easing reliance on cutting-edge US hardware”, Bernstein analysts said in a note on February 02, citing Ascend and planned chips from Cambricon and Hygon. 

The cloud arms of China’s biggest internet companies – Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent – also said they have made DeepSeek’s models accessible via their services. 

China has welcomed DeepSeek’s success, turning the start-up based in the eastern city of Hangzhou and the firm’s founder Liang Wenfeng (right) into pop culture celebrities. 

In fact, Microsoft and Amazon’s cloud services have also started offering DeepSeek’s models – but already, there are countries such Australia, Italy and the Netherlands which have blocked, or are investigating, DeepSeek’s AI app on concerns of privacy.

No, You Can't Fall Sick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A small Italian village has banned its residents from becoming seriously ill. People living in Belcastro "are... ordered to avoid contracting any illness that may require emergency medical assistance", a decree from local Mayor Antonio Torchia states. 

 

Belcastro sits in the southern region of Calabria – the tip of the 'boot' and one of Italy's poorest. Torchia said the move was "obviously a humorous provocation", but that it was having more of an effect than the urgent notices he had sent to regional authorities to highlight the shortcomings of the local healthcare system. 

 

About half of Belcastro's 1,200 residents are over the age of 65 and the nearest Accident & Emergency (A&E) department is over 45km (28 miles) away, the mayor said. 

 

He added that the A&E was only reachable by a road with a 30kmh (18mph) speed limit. The village's on-call doctor surgery is also only open sporadically and offers no cover during weekends, holidays or after hours. 

 

Torchia told Italian TV that it was hard to "feel safe when you know that if you need assistance, your only hope is to make it to [A&E] on time" – and that the roads were almost "more of a risk than any illness". 

 

As part of the decree, residents have also been ordered "not to engage in behaviors that may be harmful and to avoid domestic accidents", and "not to leave the house too often, travel or practise sports, and to [instead] rest for the majority of the time". It is unclear how these new rules will be enforced, if at all. 

 

Political mismanagement and mafia interference have decimated its healthcare system, which was put under special administration from the central government almost 15 years ago. Rome-appointed commissioners have had difficulties tackling the vast levels of debt faced by hospitals, meaning Calabrians remain crippled by a serious lack of medical personnel and beds, as well as interminable waiting lists.

 

Already, eighteen of the region's hospitals have closed since 2009. As a result, almost half of Calabria's near two million residents seek medical assistance outside the region.  

 

Belcastro residents told local media that Mayor Torchia had "done the right thing in shining a light on the issue", and that the decision would "shake consciences". 

 

Hopefully.

 

Celtic extended their Scottish Premiership lead to 16 points when they beat Dundee United 2-0 yesterday.

 

Luke McCowan managed to curl a left-foot shot goalwards, which was pushed away by Tangerines' keeper – but the ball fell into the path of Daizen Maeda who fired home in the 23rd minute. And then Reo Hatate swept the ball into the top corner in the eighty-third minute after fellow sub Paulo Bernardo had dummied Maeda’s lay-off. 

 

Overall, a satisfying evening for Celtic as they successfully ticked off another win in pursuit of another title. They remain very much on course.

Milan Cracks Down on Outdoor Smoking

Smoking in outdoors and public areas in Italy’s Milan is now banned. 

 

It’s the toughest extension of a series of bans starting in 2021, aimed at "improving the quality of the city’s air". Smoking has now been banned in outdoors and public areas in the polluted northern Italian city. The citywide ban goes into effect starting Wednesday in the strictest ban to date on smoking in the Italian financial and fashion capital. 

 

Those who break the new laws could be subjected to fines ranging from €40 to €240 ($41-$249). Local officials say the measure applies to “all public spaces, including streets”, but does however provide an exception for isolated places. Those smoking in isolated spaces may smoke outside, but must maintain a distance of at least 10 metres from other people.

 

The ban is the latest in an initiative launched back in 2021 aimed at improving the city’s air quality. Officials say the motive behind it is to also protect the health of citizens from the harmful effects of passive smoke inhaled by non-smokers in public spaces, especially those frequented by children.

 

The ban however does not apply to electronic cigarettes, more commonly known as vapes or e-cigarettes.

 

Chinese-made action RPG Black Myth: Wukong did well at the 2024 Steam Awards.

 

Every year, Valve holds The Steam Game Awards, a community-driven initiative to recognize the best games that were launched in that year. 

 

The awards are determined by community vote – as opposed to events like The Game Awards, which feature a jury selection – and split into individual categories. 

 

And so, for 2024, the overall winner for Game of the Year was Black Myth Wukong, which beat out other finalists: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Balatro, and Helldivers 2 for top spot. 

 

Game of the Year wasn't Wukong's only victory, either, with the game also taking home the "Outstanding Story-Rich Game Award", which seems logical given its overall victory, and the cleverly named "Best Game You Suck At Award", which is meant to highlight the best difficult game of the year. 

 

In this category, Black Myth Wukong was up against Dragon Ball Z Sparkling Zero, The Finals, Ghost of Tsushima, and Tekken 8, which is again a very diverse mix of games and genres, so it's somewhat interesting to see a narrative-driven game like Wukong come out ahead here.

 

BMW's successes put it in a category all its own for most-winning in one year at the Steam Awards: Games like Cuphead, Baldur's Gate 3, and Red Dead Redemption 2 have only won two categories in one year in the past. 

 

It's a pretty remarkable result of fan outpouring of love to round up that many people in what amounts to a popularity contest – the Steam Awards are decided by fan votes – though perhaps not a surprising one given that Black Myth: Wukong set the record for second-most people playing one Steam game at once and helped contribute to the most people online at once on Steam.

Ukraine Launches Long-range Missiles Into Russia Proper

On Monday, The New York Times reported that the administration of US President Joe Biden had granted Ukraine permission to fire American-made long-range rockets at targets in Russia. 

 

“Missiles will speak for themselves”, Ukrainian President [V]olodymyr [Z]elensky had stated after the news broke. 

 

Ukraine didn't waste any time and on early Tuesday morning, ATACMS missiles were fired into western Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, sixty miles from the border with Ukraine.

 

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said of the six projectiles, air defence systems had intercepted five and damaged one. Reuters, however, claimed the Russians shot down just two of the missiles.

 

“This is, of course, a signal that they want to escalate”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at a Group of 20 news conference in Brazil, said of the attack.

 

“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia. And we will react accordingly”, he added, accusing Washington of helping Kiev operate the missiles. [Note: Russia has long asserted that the ATACMS is programmed by United States specialists and requires guidance from US satellites].

 

A day later, a second strike. It was lapdog UK's turn to give its consent. And the Ukrainian regime launched Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time, according to a Russian military blog and Reuters. 

 

A Russian military blogger on Wednesday posted photos on Telegram of a Storm Shadow missile fragment, claiming that up to 12 of the UK-supplied missiles were fired on Russia’s Kursk region. The fragment was photographed in the Russian village of Marino, which is about 35 miles from the Ukrainian border. The fragment has engravings that say “Storm Shadow”. 

 

The fragments in the photo were confirmed to be from a Storm Shadow missile by weapons expert Trevor Ball, a former senior explosive ordnance technician for the US Army, according to CNN today. 

 

And I would not be surprised if Germany decides to arm Ukraine with Taurus missiles. I betcha German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is tempted.

 

FYI, the Taurus KEPD-350 is a German-Swedish air-launched cruise missile that can travel at speeds of up to 1,170 kilometers per hour (727 miles per hour) – that's almost the speed of sound – to find a target that can be as far as 500 kilometers (310 miles) away. The long-range missile flies at an altitude of only 35 meters, which makes it almost impossible for radar systems to detect.

 

In any case, it would seem that Ukraine is asking to be annihilated. And I have no doubt Russia will retaliate. It's payback time.

 

And if you ask me, Russia should nuke Kiev. It will serve as a timely warning to US, UK and other belligerents.

 

The Americans must have known they've overstepped their boundaries because they quickly shuttered their embassy there. Greece, Italy and Spain embassies followed suit.

In a clash of Malaysians, world No. 9 Sivasangari Subramaniam cruised into the $120,000 Singapore Squash Open quarter-finals with a comfortable win over compatriot Aifa Azman today. 

 

The Asian champion, who received a first-round bye, won the second round match 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 in 26 minutes. 

 

The fourth seeded Sivasangari will face world No. 13 Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt for a place in the semi-finals. 

 

There's no two ways about it – she must win!