Citizens! What a week! There are a lot of (rather grim) news items, so let’s hear them.
Two hours after 90% of the public voted for independence, the People’s Republic of Donetsk asked to join Russia. No, that doesn’t sound odd at all. Meanwhile, more and more people are dying.
And what could possibly go wrong? Vladimir Putin has finally made it to Crimea, his latest bit of land, but not everything went according to plan. Again, people are dying.
In Turkey, a mine blast has killed more than 200 people and leaves many more trapped underground.
Another migrant boat has sunk, leaving at least 17 people dead.
A Spanish politician has been shot dead on her way to work.
Ah, look! Here are the Swiss, suddenly not so much in love with referendums anymore: After they kicked out all the foreigners (well, kind of), rich businesspeople might soon have to pay their workers the highest minimum wage in the world, and they’re not liking it.
And look again! Silvio Berlusconi is starting his community service. I’m loving this so much.
And, guess what, the number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in the UK has actually fallen, rather than exploded into the millions. Some people claimed that to get votes. Can you guess who? The same people will now no doubt claim that those new figures merely mean that the millions of Romanians and Bulgarians are claiming our benefits rather than work.
The UN has appointed their first female commander of a peacekeeping force. Norwegian Kristin Lund will oversee peacekeepers in Cyprus.
Two news items that caught my attention: East Berlin is attracting a high number of Christian converts from Iran, and West Germany is more socially cohesive than East Germany. All I can add is the thought that in a place struggling with mass unemployment and an aging population, acceptance of foreigners is not usually very high on the list of priorities. It’s a goddamn shame.
And because there was a lot of bad news, I’ve got two weird and wonderful things for you:
It seems to be unofficial milkmaid week. Here’s Belarus’s best woman for the job.
Until next week!
2 replies on “News in Europe: Milkmaids Everywhere”
Karo, did you get a UKIP flyer? I did. I LOLd. Going to have so much fun next week marching into my local polling station to give them the middle finger.
Weeeeh…
Although I guess.. some people say knowing is always better than being ignorant.