Sweden Spends $120M to Bring Back Textbooks

In Swedish classrooms in the late 2000s, the school day began to look different. Textbooks that had long sat on desks and classroom shelves started to disappear. In their place came laptops and tablets, used for reading assignments, written exercises and lesson materials. 

What had once been a book-centered routine began shifting toward digital learning. Teachers adjusted as the devices spread through schools. Students signed into platforms at the start of class, moved between digital documents and submitted work through software instead of on paper. In many schools, printed books became less visible year by year. 

The change happened gradually, then started to feel normal across the Swedish education system. The shift was tied to a broader push to modernize education. Schools were expected to prepare students for a technology-driven world by integrating devices into daily instruction. Digital tools were presented as a way to make learning more flexible, accessible and aligned with modern life. Over time, that approach became deeply embedded across much of the school system. 

By the time digital learning was firmly established, screens were handling much of the school day. They were used for reading, writing, assignments and access to teaching materials across subjects. The promise was not only convenience, but a more interactive and adaptable form of education. 

For years, that vision helped define Sweden’s image as an early adopter of classroom technology. That ambition gave the transition a larger purpose. The move away from printed textbooks was not treated as a minor classroom update, but as part of a wider educational mission. Schools were expected to equip students with digital habits as well as academic knowledge. In that model, computers and tablets were not supplements to learning, but central tools in how learning happened. 

As the digital approach expanded, classroom habits changed with it. Reading longer passages, completing exercises and accessing course materials increasingly happened through devices rather than printed pages. Traditional books lost their central place in many lessons. A school day once organized around books came to depend on screens for routine tasks.

The case for digitization rested on a clear set of expectations. Digital devices were supposed to make lessons easier to update, broaden access to materials and let students work in more flexible ways. They also fit a larger idea that schools should reflect the technology-rich world students were growing up in. The classroom, in effect, was being redesigned around computers in schools. 

For a time, that direction seemed settled. Printed materials no longer held the same central role they once had, and screen-based instruction became common in everyday school life. Students grew used to navigating lessons through devices rather than physical pages. Teachers, meanwhile, reshaped their methods around a system built on software and connectivity. 

The idea behind the shift was not simply to reduce paper use or add new tools. It was to make digital learning the standard framework for how students engaged with lessons. In that sense, the reform was both practical and symbolic. It suggested that educational progress and technological adoption were moving in the same direction. 

Fifteen years after Sweden began replacing many printed textbooks with computers, that direction is being reconsidered. The UNN Report published January 12, 2025 says the country has allocated €104 million between 2022 and 2025 to bring printed books back into schools. The aim was to ensure students once again have paper textbooks for core subjects. 

The reported reason for that shift centers on concerns about student learning. Teachers, parents and education officials have raised worries about reading comprehension, reduced attention span and weaker writing habits in heavily screen-based classrooms. Instead of simply improving learning, the devices appeared to be changing it in ways that prompted a broader reassessment. That change in tone is what gives the reversal its significance.

The focus has shifted from what technology could offer in theory to how students were performing in practice. A model once presented as modern and forward-looking is now being judged more directly on classroom results. The reassessment reflects a growing concern with foundational skills rather than novelty alone. That is where the return to print begins to make sense. 

Distraction is one of the most consistent concerns in the reporting. The same devices used for schoolwork also gave students access to games, social media and general internet browsing during class. That made it harder for some students to stay with reading tasks or follow lessons for extended periods. Teachers were not only teaching the material, but also managing screen distraction inside the classroom. 

Parents and educators described a learning environment where attention had become more fragmented. A device could deliver an assignment and a distraction through the same interface, often within seconds. The issue was not that digital tools had no value. It was that their constant presence changed how students engaged with reading and writing tasks. 

Those concerns connect directly to the return of printed books. Paper textbooks are being reconsidered not as a nostalgic preference, but as a way to reduce competition for students’ attention. Print is being framed as better suited to sustained reading and steadier classroom focus. That shift reflects a more practical view of what different tools are actually good at.

It's a reminder that the foundations of learning are human, tactile and deeply relational.  

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.

Butts for Nuts

It’s no mystery that garbage is one of the most pervasive issues of our time. From oceanic microtrash to seeping landfills, people are trying to work out how to address the world’s garbage crisis with increasingly grand ideas. 

Corvids have long been associated with garbage, sometimes acting as agents of litter themselves – but one such idea asks if they might offer a solution.

And one Swedish start-up company, Corvid Cleaning have been successfully implementing their new project since 2022 to train crows and other corvids to collect discarded cigarette butts and clean urban streets. 

When these stubs are deposited in specially designed machines, small amounts of food – peanuts, according to one report – are given to these feathered cleaners. 

The Swedish city of Södertälje spends 20 million Swedish kroner annually on street cleaning, with cigarette butts accounting 62 percent of total trash. Company founder Christian Gunter-Hansen says the corvids learn the job in just a few hours and the behavior is more likely to affect other ravens quickly. 

Urban waste specialist Thomas Turnstrom noted that the project will not only save 70-75% of urban cleaning costs but also provide “live training” to improve environmental awareness among citizens.

Martin O'Neill (left) delivered Celtic a parting gift as he led them to a huge 3-1 Europa League win against Feyenoord yesterday. With the 73-year-old set to step aside for Wilfried Nancy to take permanent charge, his aim was to bow out on a high in Rotterdam and which he delivered. 

It didn't start well though as the Dutch side fired in the opener on eleven minutes. But the Scottish champions hit back with two goals before the break. Luke McCowan's lofted pass found Reo Hatate, who hooked the ball to the far post where Hyun Jun Yang netted from close range in the 31st minute. And they took the lead when the home goalkeeper gifted them a second 12 minutes later. Under pressure from Daizen Maeda, his attempted clearance went straight to Reo Hatate, who rolled home into an empty net. 

Celtic rode their luck in the second half, but stood firm with Benjamin Nygren coming off the bench to fire a left-footed shot in a third off the underside of the bar in the 82nd minute for their first victory in the Netherlands since 2001, a game O'Neill was also in charge of. In fact, it was a welcome return to winning ways on the continent for the Scottish side, who were comprehensively outplayed by FC Midtjylland in their previous Europa League outing on November 07. 

Celtic climb into a play-off position after their second win. They play Roma and Utrecht at home, either side of a trip to Bologna, in their three remaining league-stage fixtures.

Before that, Celtic make a trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday and then they play Dundee on December 03. 

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.

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! 😂😂😂

Sweden to Raise Military Recall Age to 70

Sweden plans to sharply raise the maximum conscription age for former military officers as part of a broad effort to expand its armed forces, state broadcaster SVT reported on Sunday. 

The proposal comes as the country commits billions of dollars to its military build-up. Last month, NATO leaders agreed to raise the target for defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, with 3.5% allocated directly to the military and the remainder directed toward broader security initiatives. Brussels previously unveiled the €800 billion ($940 billion) ReArm Europe program.

According to the report, Stockholm will raise the age limit for recalling former officers to military service from 47 to 70. 

The move comes from a government-appointed commission tasked with addressing long-term military recruitment. The group have suggested abolishing the current rule that removes former personnel from the military register after ten years without training – allowing officers with at least one year of active or reserve duty to remain eligible for call-up until age 70. 

The proposed change would reportedly reinstate thousands of names that were removed from the register under the current limits, which have until now capped eligibility for conscription at 47. 

This proposal is part of a broader plan to boost the Swedish military. The country which joined NATO in March 2024, pledged to nearly double its military personnel to 115,000 by 2030, from 60,000 in 2023. 

Is this Sweden heeding NATO's call to get ready for war? 😬😬😬

China's high-speed rail is full speed ahead! FYI, in the past 5 years, the country built over 10,000 km of high-speed rail – now home to the world’s longest network!

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.

Belgians Advised Against Eating Christmas Trees

Belgium's food safety agency, on January 07 issued a warning to residents to not turn their Christmas trees into food in response to the environmentally-minded city of Ghent posting tips for recycling the conifers into dinner table items.

 

"In Scandinavia, they have been doing it for a long time: picking the needles from the branches, briefly immersing them in boiling water, pouring them through a sieve and drying them on a clean cloth", Ghent's website reads. "Once the needles are dry, you can make delicious spruce needle butter with them for bread or toast". 

 

Ghent had cited what they said were ancient Scandinavian customs of using dried needles to flavor butter.

 

The FASFC responded by warning residents that Christmas trees "are not meant to end up in the food chain". It was explained that trees grown for Christmas decorations are most often treated with pesticides and other potentially dangerous chemicals. 

 

"What's more, there is no easy way for consumers to tell if Christmas trees have been treated with flame retardant – and not knowing that could have serious, even fatal consequences", FASFC said in a statement provided to Euronews. "There is no way to ensure that eating Christmas trees is safe – either for people or animals". 

 

Ghent edited the post on their website after the warning, changing a heading from "eat your Christmas tree" to "Scandinavians eat their Christmas trees" and included a warning: "not all Christmas trees are edible". 

 

A day after Belgium warned against eating Christmas trees, Swedish officials said that the needles can be safely used to make butter and other products – as long as the trees are young and wild. 

 

Anneli Widenfalk, toxicologist at the Swedish agency, told AFP in an email that the Swedish custom of collecting and using needles from young saplings is safe – if in limited quantities. 

 

"This is usually done in May to June, when they are small and tender, and the tree has probably not been treated with chemicals", she said. 

 

They can be used to make butter herbal infusions, syrups, or to flavor alcohol such as schnapps. There are even spruce beers, brewed by the Vikings one thousand years ago, according to Smalandsgran, a family business specializing in the sale of Christmas trees. 

 

"The soldiers at the time of Charles XII knew that these shoots – rich in vitamin C and minerals – had a preventive effect on health", the company says on their website, referring to the Swedish king of the early 1700s.

 

Note: The types of edible conifers/Christmas trees that will make the best Christmas tree butter are: spruces (Picea spp.), firs (Abies spp.), Douglass-fir, which is not a true fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and hemlocks (Tsuga spp.). 

 

Some species of pines (Pinus spp.) would also work in a pinch, but the trees listed above will work better. Keep in mind that each genus/species of edible conifer tree listed above has different, unique flavor characteristics.

 

Liverpool dropped points for the second successive Premier League match as they drew 1-1 with high-flying Nottingham Forest yesterday.

 

The latter, chasing a seventh successive league win for the first time since 1922, took the lead after only eight minutes. And they were still leading until Reds head coach Arne Slot's double substitution made an instant impact after 66 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diogo Jota had only been on the pitch 22 seconds when he headed in a corner from another substitute, Kostas Tsimikas, the pair having just come on for Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate.

 

Liverpool could actually have won this game as they dominated the second half, only denied by a succession of saves from the Forest keeper in a final flurry after Jota's equaliser. 

 

In reality, however, Liverpool were again short of their best, especially in the first half when they were labored and sloppy after they went behind, allowing their opposition to drop into that deep defensive block that is so hard to pierce. 

 

Liverpool, after a spell when they looked unstoppable, have had a dip in the past fortnight, drawing with Manchester United at Anfield and here at Forest, as well as losing to Tottenham in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg.

Swedish Minister A Banana-phobe

Swedish Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg has such an acute phobia of bananas (Family: Musaceae, Order: Zingiberales, Genus: Musa, Kingdom: Plantae) that her staff must work around the clock to ensure that she never has to lay eyes on the fruit, Swedish newspaper Expressen has reported. 

 

In a social media post in 2020, Brandberg (left) admitted that she has “the world’s weirdest phobia of bananas”. Her admission was dismissed as an exaggeration until Wednesday, when Expressen published leaked government emails revealing the true extent of her fear. 

 

Before Brandberg attended a lunch at the Norwegian Judicial Agency in February, her cabinet secretary emailed the agency: “Paulina Brandberg has a strong allergy to bananas, so it would be appreciated that there are no bananas in the spaces where she will be staying”. 

 

Ahead of a meeting with a local authority later that month, Brandberg’s secretary was more blunt, telling municipal staff: “no bananas are allowed on the premises either”.

 

When the speaker of Sweden’s parliament, Andreas Norlen, invited Brandberg for coffee in September, he too received an email informing him of the minister’s banana “allergy”. 

 

“Thank you, there will probably be a cake with the coffee and we’ll make sure it doesn’t contain banana”, Norlen’s office replied. “However, we have fruit baskets with bananas in adjacent spaces and passage rooms. Is it enough if we put these away in the morning of the same day?” 

 

“It will be brilliant if you can put them away in the morning of the same day”, Brandberg’s secretary responded. 

 

While her secretary describes the phobia as an allergy, Brandberg told Expressen that “it is something that I get professional help with”. 

 

“It’s like a kind of allergy, you could say”, she told the newspaper.

 

Bananaphobia is not recognized by most medical scientists as a legitimate condition, and is lumped in with the generic phobia of “certain foods” in the International Classification of Diseases. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that it is a real, if rare, phenomenon. On the website of Mind, a British mental health charity, one bananaphobia sufferer described how “seeing a banana in real life makes me extremely anxious, I hyperventilate and feel petrified”.

 

“I know bananas can’t hurt me but for some reason I am full of fear whenever I see or smell them”, she wrote.

 

Following the publication of Expressen’s article, Brandberg’s fellow MP Teresa Carvalho (right) also came out as a bananaphobe. “I suffer from the same ailment”, the Social Democrat wrote on X. “We may have had many tough debates about conditions in working life, but on this issue we stand united against a common enemy”.

 

Another easy win for Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam in the semi-final of the $64,000 ACE Malaysia Squash Cup when she triumphed 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 over Georgia Adderley today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Asian champion will face either world No. 10 Amina Orfi of Egypt or world No. 19 our very own Rachel Arnold in the final tomorrow.

Swedish for Speed

Today I learned a second Swedish word.

 

[My first Swedish word was "slut" which means "end" – kindly refer to my blog post "Slut Explained" published October 05, 2022].

 

A sign in Sweden that was posted on X on October 29, 2024, has gone viral, gaining at least 6.3 million views and more than a thousand comments.

 

The sign simply reads "fart kontrol", which might sound humorous in English, but in Swedish, "fart" means speed. This linguistic twist has caught the attention of many, sparking jokes and curiosity about Swedish vocabulary. 

 

The amusing image was shared by a user on X. The sign was intended to remind drivers to stick to the speed limit but has instead triggered a wave of lighthearted comments online.

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!

Flight AS1437 Arrives with Boeing 737's Cargo Door Ajar

Here we go again!

 

Embattled Alaska Airlines are at the center of a second aviation drama after a plane arrived at an airport gate in Portland, Oregon in the US on Friday with its cargo door ajar. The cargo hold was stowing pets, according to local TV station KOIN, although none of the animals were reported missing nor were they injured. 

 

AS Flight 1437 had flown in from Los Cabos, Mexico. It's unclear how long the Boeing 737's door was open for, but the flight did not require an emergency landing. 

 

Alaska Airlines told KOIN in a statement that “there was no indication to the crew that the door was unsealed during [last Friday’s] flight and all indications point to the door partially opening after landing”. 

 

Their statement concluded: “Our maintenance teams inspected the aircraft, replaced a spring in the door, tested the door and reentered it into service”. 

 

Alaska Airlines hit headlines in January after a door plug blew off mid-air during a flight from Portland to Ontario, California. [Read my post "Alaska Airlines Ground All Boeing 737 Max 9 Planes" published January 07, 2024].

 

While the company appeared to downplay any issues, aviation expert Joe Schwieterman told KOIN that a cargo door opening up on its own as “a pretty major defect”.

 

“It affects a lot of the electrical equipment in that cargo hold. So, it is troublesome that you may have a plane where some things like this went undetected”, he explained. 

 

Both Boeing and Alaska Airlines are already amid a $1 billion lawsuit over plane safety. The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board has warned that the January incident could be repeated. 

 

On March 01, the European Commission announced they will proceed to paying €50 million to UNRWA and increase emergency support to Palestinians by €68 million in 2024. 

 

And on Friday, Canada, one of sixteen countries to halt funding, announced they will resume funding to the cash-strapped UN agency for Palestinians. Yesterday, Sweden followed suit with an initial disbursement of $20 million. 

 

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, said he was “cautiously optimistic” that more donors will return.

Javelin Sent to Ukraine Turns Up in Mexico

A US-made anti-tank missile launcher identified as a Javelin, thousands of which were sent to Ukraine by the Pentagon has found its way to Mexico. 

 

Footage filmed in Matamoros, a city in the north-eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, on Monday and aired the next day by Milenio TV, a Mexican television cable news channel showed a gang member wearing the insignia of Mexico’s notorious Gulf Cartel (Cartel Del Golfo, CDG) armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and a Raytheon-made FGM-148. 

 

Over 10,000 Javelins from Pentagon stockpiles have been sent to Ukraine since last February, to the point where the US military has begun to run out of them itself. 

 

Milenio presenter Azucena Uresti noted on Twitter that the estimated value of a Javelin launcher on the black market was anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000, while the average cost of a missile was about $30,000. 

 

Keen-eyed military experts, however, believe the weapon in the Milenio footage may actually be the AT-4, a Swedish-made disposable anti-tank launcher, which is also in use by the US military and likewise supplied to Ukraine by the thousands. 

 

A RT investigation in July 2022 found Western-supplied weapons, including anti-tank rockets, for sale on the “dark web”. And Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova even warned that $1 billion a month worth of Western weapons was ending up in the hands of “terrorists, extremists and criminal groups in the Middle East, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia”. 

 

Kiev, of course, denounced this as “propaganda” and insisted all were accounted for. 

 

FYI, the Gulf Cartel is based in Tamaulipas, specifically in the border city of Matamoros, just across the Rio Grande from Brownsville in Texas, USA. They are primarily known as a drug smuggling cartel, but the CDG have also been accused of racketeering, abductions, money laundering, and trafficking of people, sex slaves and weapons. 

 

In March, the cartel apologized for one of their factions kidnapping four Americans and killing two of them, in what they said was a case of mistaken identity. Five members were handed over to the Mexican police.

Russia Accuses UK Of Nord Stream Sabotage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, Russia has accused the United Kingdom of carrying out attacks on the Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines linking Russia with Germany. 

 

“Our intelligence services have data indicating that British military specialists were directing and coordinating the attack”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday. 

 

“Such actions cannot be put aside. Of course, we will think about further steps. It definitely cannot be left like this”, he added. 

 

Peskov’s remarks came after Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that British navy personnel had blown up sections of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in September, when a series of ruptures caused major leaks, sending gas spewing out off the coast of Denmark and Sweden.

 

Time for Russia to punish the UK!

 

Liverpool ended Napoli's flawless Champions League record with a 2-0 victory at Anfield yesterday – but still had to settle for second place in Group A. 

 

It was a game of few chances that looked to be heading for a draw – but the Reds snatched the win when Mohamed Salah forced home a close-range finish with five minutes to go, and then, Darwin Nunez sealed the deal in added time. 

 

The result means nothing because Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli (commonly referred to as Napoli) have already qualified. Anyway, the real test of Liverpool's credentials will come on Sunday when they face Tottenham for a Premier League tie.

Nobel's Lost Lustre

The beginning of October means Nobel Prize season. Over the course of six days, names of the winners of six prizes will be announced from around the globe, leading to some new faces being added to the world’s most elite roster of scientists, writers, economists and human rights leaders. 

This year’s Nobel season kicked off on Monday with the award in pysiology/medicine, followed by daily announcements: physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize was announced on Friday and the economics award is tomorrow. 

The monumental task of determining the final winners for these Prizes – winners get cash prize, diploma, and gold medal – are left to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for physics, chemistry, and economics; the Karolinska Institute for physiology or medicine; the Swedish Academy for literature; and the Norwegian Nobel Committee for peace. 

But these Prizes have lost their lustre for some time now – instead, they are mostly known for their fantastic omissions and dubious awards. 

For a start, historically, these awards favored Western nations:

Besides this, they have more than their fair share of controversy. 

In 2016, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Many criticized the fact that a musician was receiving a prize for literature whilst supporters believed the decision was based on the innovation of Dylan’s writing style. 

Whether you agree or not, the fact is, he wrote more than 500 songs! Rolling Stone magazine named him the greatest songwriter of all time. 

Things became even more complicated when the singer-songwriter himself refused to acknowledge the honor. His silence led one member of the Nobel Academy to call him rude. 

Yet strangely, the likes of authentically great writers, e.g. Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, James Joyce, Jorge Luis Borges, Joseph Conrad, Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust, Mark Twain, Philip Roth, RK Narayan, Vladimir Nabokov and WH Auden, never did manage to win the Literature Prize. Many have claimed this is because of political and/or other extra-literary reasons. 

The decision to award the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine to Robert Edwards for developing the technique of in vitro fertilisation was bitterly denounced by the Catholic Church, which object to all artificial methods of human conception and fertilization as well as to contraception. One Vatican official called the award "out of order", and the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations issued a statement saying that the use of human embryos, created and discarded “as experimental animals destined for destruction, has led to a culture where they are regarded as commodities rather than the precious individuals which they are”. 

The 2008 prize was awarded in part to Harald zur Hausen "for his discovery of human papilloma viruses (HPV) causing cervical cancer". The Swedish police anticorruption unit investigated charges of improper influence by AstraZeneca, which had a stake in two lucrative HPV vaccines. The company had agreed to sponsor Nobel Media and Nobel Web and had strong links with two senior figures in the process that chose zur Hausen.

And then, the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, which was given to Peter Higgs and François Englert for the theoretical prediction of what was later called the Higgs boson, was flawed. It was awarded to only two scientists (even though the Committee allow three winners), when there were six other physicists, working in several teams, who independently introduced the idea and could rightfully claim joint custody of the Higgs mechanism. Higgs himself calls it "the ABE​G​H​H​​K’tH​ mechanism", standing for Philip Anderson, Robert Brout, Englert, Gerald Guralnik, Carl Richard Hagen, Higgs, Tom Kibble and Gerard ’t Hooft. All except Brout were still living in 2013. 

In the case of the Peace Prize, it is more often than not, heavy-handed politics invested with Western biasness that govern the final pick. It includes this year’s winners. 

Other problematic winners include: 2019 – Abiy Ahmed; 2012 – The European Union; 2009 – Barack Obama; 1994 – Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres; 1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev; and 1973 – Henry Kissinger. 

Just based on the above, we can already establish that the Nobel Prize has lost its relevance and prestige a long time ago!