As per media reports, both South Korean restaurants and consumers have rapidly developed a strong aversion to Tsingtao beer. This change in sentiment is linked to a viral video that has surfaced, suggesting that an employee at one of the company’s facilities in China was shown urinating into a tank.

The video, which has accumulated millions of views on social media since it was first posted last Thursday, depicts an individual in a helmet and blue uniform climbing over the side of a high-walled container and appearing to urinate into its contents.

Tsingtao, the second-largest brewery in China and a significant exporter, has responded by alerting the authorities upon discovering the video. In a statement, the brewery emphasized, “Our company attaches high importance to the relevant video that emerged from Tsingtao Brewery No. 3 on 19 October.”

It added, “At present, the batch of malt in question has been completely sealed. The company continues to strengthen its management procedures and ensure product quality.”

Authorities in Pingdu, situated in Shandong province where the factory is situated, have initiated an inquiry into the incident. According to Chinese media, a source from Tsingtao revealed that neither the worker involved nor the person who recorded the video were employed directly by the brewery, The Guardian reported.

However, the business repercussions seem to be escalating.

The South Korean newspaper, JoongAng Daily, has disclosed that several restaurants, primarily those serving Chinese cuisine, have sought refunds for their Tsingtao shipments. Nevertheless, the South Korean importer of the beer reportedly denied these requests, The Guardian reported. 

“I asked if we could get a refund for the Tsingtao beer we already bought, but [the importer’s representative] said that’s not possible,” the newspaper quoted an employee at a Chinese restaurant in Seoul as saying.

According to the newspaper, the employee said diners requested beers other than Tsingtao. 

After the video went viral on social media, several users reacted with anger and voiced support for the Chinese beer maker. A user wrote, “A piss that will ruin a lot of money, this worker has done some real damage here.”

“Good thing I don’t drink beer – but it’s unimaginable if this brand is finished because of this,” said another. “Is this the first time though?” 

The BBC reported that the incident also led to Tsingtao’s share price fall on Monday. The company’s shares fell sharply when the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened on Monday morning but were trading broadly flat by the afternoon, the outlet reported. 

In a bizarre pharmacy heist, an armed robber demanded Viagra and other prescription drugs from pharmacy employees at a store, leaving them baffled with a peculiar handwritten note. The robber in question has been identified as a 23-year-old Florida resident named Thomas Mues, who provided detailed instructions to the pharmacists through the note.

According to Fox News, the Orlando Police Department said Thomas Mues handed a handwritten note to pharmacists at a CVS store around 6 pm indicating he had a gun and would shoot them if he was not provided the pills listed on the note.

The note, reportedly written on a crumpled piece of paper, read: “”THIS IS A ARMED Robbery, Please cooperate; I don’t want to hurt you. You are not to alarm anybody, or I will shoot the closest person to me! Please follow these directions, or I will shoot the closest person to me.”

As per the social media post of the Orlando Police, officers arrived on the scene as the suspect, Thomas Mues, was walking out of the store. After a short foot pursuit, Mues was apprehended and was still holding the stolen narcotics and his written note. He admitted to travelling to Orlando from Jacksonville to carry out the plan and also confessed to another similar robbery in Central Florida.

Pharmacy employees say the suspect handed them a note indicating he had a gun & would shoot them if he was not provided the pills listed. OPD TAC officers arrived on the scene as the suspect, Thomas Mues (DOB 2/22/00), was walking out of the store. pic.twitter.com/lh7e1TyJt1

— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) October 23, 2023

Mues is currently facing a series of charges, including robbery, trafficking, and possession.

With so many bodies, Palestinians in Gaza are burying the unidentified dead in mass graves, with a number instead of a name, residents say. Now some families are using bracelets in the hope of finding their loved ones should they be killed.

The El-Daba family has tried to reduce the risk of being struck down during the heaviest-ever Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Israel launched the air strikes after Hamas militants attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 in a rampage that killed 1,400 people and hostages were taken.

Ali El-Daba, 40, said he had seen bodies ripped apart by the bombing and were unrecognisable.

He said he decided to divide his family to prevent them from all dying in a single strike. He said his wife Lina, 42, kept two of their sons and two daughters in Gaza City in the north and he moved to Khan Younis in the south with three other children.

El-Daba said he was preparing for the worst. He bought blue string bracelets for his family members and tied them around both wrists. “If something happens,” he said, “this way I will recognise them.”

Other Palestinian families were also buying or making bracelets for their children or writing their names on their arms.

Mass Burials

Mass burials have been authorized by local Muslim clerics. Before burial, medics keep pictures and blood samples of the dead and give them numbers.

The Israeli military has told people to leave the north of the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely-populated places in the world, and head south because it is safer. But air strikes have hit across the Hamas-ruled enclave.

An Israeli military spokesperson said: “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has been encouraging residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move southward and not to stay in the vicinity of Hamas terror targets within Gaza City.”

“But, ultimately, Hamas has entrenched itself among the civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip. So wherever a Hamas target arises, the IDF will strike at it in order to thwart the terrorist capabilities of the group, while taking feasible precautions to mitigate the harm to uninvolved civilians.”

Israel’s military intensified its bombing of southern Gaza overnight after one of the deadliest days for Palestinians since Oct. 7. World leaders have called for a halt to fighting to allow aid into the besieged enclave, which is running out of water, food, fuel and medicines.

A total of 756 Palestinians, including 344 children, were killed in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said on Wednesday. It said at least 6,546 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli bombardment since Oct. 7, including 2,704 children.