Belgian authorities struggle to rein in spate of drug-related shootings in Brussels

We start with a spate of gang warfare shootings in the Belgian capital Brussels. The situation has become so dire that Politico even compares them to an episode of the TV series “The Wire”. The violent shootings have been triggered by drug turf wars – massive amounts of cocaine and other illicit drugs have been flooding the port of Antwerp and it’s believed the violence is part of efforts to win back certain territories. Three shootings in the space of 24 hours have rocked Brussels this week. As Belgian daily Le Soir reports on its front page, it adds to an interminable series of shootings in 2024 – 89 such shootings took place, with nine people killed and dozens injured. The situation is completely unprecedented. Authorities are holding emergency meetings to try to figure out how to stop the violence – but for the moment, there is no simple solution. In its editorial, Le Soir says that authorities must remain united in the face of an enemy that we cannot control right now. 

Over in Greece, a state of emergency has been declared as the island of Santorini is rocked by earthquakes. As the Greek newspaper Kathimerini report, since January 26, more than 7,700 earthquakes have been recorded in the Santorini Amorgos region and most of them had a magnitude of over 1. Experts fear that Santorini, with its steep slopes, could be vulnerable to landslides. A state of emergency is in place until March. 

Turning to rugby news, France plays an all-important game in the Six Nations on Saturday against England at Twickenham. France has a not-so-secret weapon in captain Antoine Dupont, the best player in the world and the accolades are numerous in the British press. The Guardian calls him rugby’s Messi and puts him in an elite sporting list alongside American football star Patrick Mahomes, gymnast Simone Biles, Formula One driver Max Verstappen and tennis star Novak Djokovic. The Independent likens Dupont to the French alien with mystifying qualities that make him the best in the world. The sports pages of French paper Le Figaro, meanwhile, are focusing on the financial woes of English rugby. England remains the only Northern Hemisphere team to have won a World Cup. Yet the team has suffered several defeats over the past years. The pandemic put a financial and structural dent into English rugby union. Adding insult to injury, the historical Twickenham stadium was renamed Allianz Stadium after they signed a deal with the German insurance giant. Moreover, three top rugby clubs have been forced to shut down. The paper explains that rugby in England is also suffering from an ideological crisis: signups at clubs are in freefall in a country where football reigns. There also concerns around traumatic brain injuries due to the violent nature of the sport and rugby has had trouble shaking off its image as a sport for “posh white boys”.

Finally, we bring you a study reported by Science News that has determined the cooking conditions that make for a perfect boiled egg! It’s a challenge as old as time – trying to boil an egg without overcooking the yolk or undercooking the white part. It’s no easy feat: yolk proteins cook at 65 °C and the white parts at 85 °C. The idea for testing this came after an Italian scientist found out that a chef is charging €80 for the perfect boiled egg, which involves cooking the white and yolk separately and then putting them together. So a group of Italian scientists set out on their own research to find a more cost-effective way. They’ve concluded that periodic cooking is the way to go. The perfect boiled egg involves two pans and takes 32 minutes. You start with the egg in boiling water and move it to a pan with warm water every 2 minutes. This allows you to have the right consistency of both yolk and white. As proof of the success of this technique, some of them have now adopted the method in their day-to-day lives!

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