The Renaming of Nations

Throughout history, the global map has been constantly redrawn, not just by shifting borders, but by nations choosing to redefine their own identities on the world stage.

In 2002, East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century and adopted the Portuguese name of Timor-Leste. 

Following this trend of official updates, Cape Verde changed its UN-recognized English name to Cabo Verde in 2013. 

The Kingdom of Swaziland rebranded as Eswatini in 2018. 

A year later, the Republic of Macedonia officially became North Macedonia. 

And more recently, Turkey registered its name change to Türkiye with the United Nations in 2022. 

Finally, on June 26, 2026, the Pacific island nation of Nauru reclaimed its traditional indigenous identity by officially becoming the Republic of Naoero. 

Malaysian women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan are just one match away from winning their second World Tour title of the year after storming into the Taipei Open final on Saturday. 

The world No. 5 took 35 minutes to sweep aside American world No. 27 Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai 21-15, 21-17 in the last four.

Nauru Abandons Taiwan (Again)

Nauru, a tiny Micronesian island with a population of about 10,800 and just one of twelve countries that kept diplomatic ties with Taiwan has decided to restore diplomatic relations with China.

 

This is a second time because in 2002, Nauru abandoned Taiwan in favor of China – only to resume relations with the former three years later. 

 

There was to be no roar from Harimau Malaya.

 

If Malaysia harbors any football illusion that they are back to Asian standards, this was brutally shattered by Jordan on Monday. Kim Pan Gon's team suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss in their Asian Cup Group E opener in Qatar. 

 

The one-sided game against Jordan – deemed the least strongest of Malaysia's three Group E opponents – underlined the huge gulf in standards between Malaysia and the Middle East teams. 

 

Though the Asian Cup will only end on February 10, the Malaysian team can start preparing to pack up and leave for home after their last group match, against South Korea on January 25.

UNGA "Yes" to Immediate Humanitarian Ceasefire in Gaza

Israel won't budge, nor will it cease and desist! The US will supply weapons and more weapons. And the callous carnage in Gaza continues!

 

In spite of the UN General Assembly having overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution on Tuesday demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. 

 

153 member states voted in favor, 10 against and there were 23 abstentions. 

 

The ten countries not in favor of a ceasefire are Austria, Paraguay, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea and of course, Israel and the United States.

 

The UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Ukraine were among the 23 countries to abstain.

 

This was a second attempt by the UN General Assembly which on October 27 had called for "a humanitarian truce" in a resolution adopted with 121 "yes" votes, 14 against and 44 abstentions.

 

According to Gaza's health ministry, since the Israeli offensive began, more than 18,400 people have been killed and more than 50,000 people have been injured. No mention of the estimated numbers who are buried in the rubble though.

UNGA Vote For Palestine

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. 

 

The 193-member body passed the resolution, drafted by a group of 22 Arab countries, by a margin of 120 to 14, with 45 countries abstaining. 

 

Obviously, the United States and Israel voted no as well as twelve other countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga.

 

Speaking before the vote, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that voting against the resolution “means approving this senseless war, this senseless killing”. Israel denounced the vote as “infamy”. Needless to say, the US is firmly in cahoots with the Israelis and so, they too oppose peace.

 

Russian soft drinks brand Dobry overtook Coca-Cola in sales on the domestic market in January-August 2023, news website RBK reported on Thursday, citing a study by NielsenIQ. 

 

The Dobry Cola brand is produced at factories that belonged to Coca-Cola HBC Russia, the bottler of the original drink. 

 

According to the report, Dobry came in second in the ranking of the 50 most popular FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) brands. Based on the results of the first eight months, the brand’s share in total sales on the FMCG market is 1.2%, the study showed. 

 

The original Coca-Cola did not even make it into the top 50 brands in Russia, despite finding its way into the sanctioned country through parallel imports.