Sunday 28th January 2024
Alternative facts in Ukraine, money matters in the Middle East, and turning right in Germany
10 UKRAINE / Soft touch
Despite Moscow’s general modus operandi generally falling into the “cynical brute strength” category, there’s one – far more successful – area in which a softly-softly approach is winning the war. In the 18% of Ukraine it currently occupies, 90% of the 3mn remaining residents now have Russian passports, and schools have switched to a Russian curriculum. The day begins with the invaders’ national anthem, while history textbooks portray a dystopian fantasyland of neo-Nazis running Kiev [sic]. Locals are forced into treading a fine, stressful line between showing allegiance to their new rulers and remembering the reality of the past, should things at some point return to normal. But as US funding for the war gets held up by opposing sides in Congress, the old Ukraine is looking further away than ever.
09 GAZA & ISRAEL / Split decision ↔️
As if things couldn’t get worse, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) was accused of harbouring 12 of the terrorists responsible for the 7 October attacks on Israel – causing Western nations to stop the cashflow right when Gaza needs it most. “Suspension of funds threatens humanitarian work in the region, especially in Gaza,” UNRWA boss Philippe Lazzarini said, asking for an immediate reversal of the policy. But, according to Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz, the organisation “perpetuates the refugee issue, obstructs peace, and serves as a civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza”. UN top dog Antonio Guterres said there’d be an “urgent and comprehensive independent review” following the allegations – but will it come fast enough?
08 GERMANY / Extreme measures 😬
Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against growing support for right-wing extremists, after an investigative news site revealed a meeting they held on mass deportation in a country hotel near Potsdam last November. “The vocabulary is no different, the place is no different – the only difference is that we have been there before,” the Hertie School’s Professor Andrea Römmele said. Now legal scholars are debating whether Alternative für Deutschland, the main outfit behind the ill-conceived idea, could be banned – or whether that would be self-defeating. So far, 700,000 people have signed a petition supporting a ban, and 250,000 have taken to the streets in protest.
07 UK / Trust issues 🌳
Yogurt-friendly opposition leader Skyr Starmer made a bold move for middle Britain, rebuking the Tory gov for attacking the UK’s institutions and saying they’d become “tangled up in culture wars of their own making”. The BBC came under scrutiny (again) this week, after culture sec Lucy Frazer accused it of bias over Gaza; the RNLI had it in the neck for rescuing migrants on small boats. But wherever voters stand on those issues, Skyr’s betting they’ve taken the anti-woke crusade a step too far with an attack on the sacrosanct: the National Trust and its five million members.
06 SWEDEN / Mind map 🧠
Researchers found a new formula for detecting Alzheimer’s – up to 15 years before the onset of the disease. Doing away with pricey brain scans and painful lumbar punctures, they reckon that measuring the level of p-tau217 protein in the blood could get the same results more quickly and with a lot less effort. And now that drugs that can significantly slow the symptoms are on the horizon, if they’re started early enough, being able to diagnose so far in advance could be truly groundbreaking.
05 NATO #1 / Cold roar
Not the latest Land Rover but the latest NATO drills, Steadfast Defender went into operation with a less than subtle show of muscle. The alliance is deploying 90,000 personnel, 50 ships, various combat vehicles and tonnes of tanks to deter Vlad the Bad from making any more bad decisions during those lonely nights playing one-man games of Risk. They’re the organisation’s biggest military exercises since 1988.
04 NATO #2 / Roar power 🪖
Speaking of which, Turkey just voted for Sweden’s accession to the alliance – easing the Ankara/Washington stalemate, further isolating Moscow, and piling the pressure on Budapest (the only NATO member still to agree to it). “I also count on Hungary to complete its national ratification as soon as possible,” sec gen Jens Stoltenberg said.
03 NIGERIA / Rubbish ban 🗑️
Attempting to combat the dumping of waste, Lagos banned single-use plastics and Styrofoam. “Our state cannot be held hostage to the economic interests of a few wealthy businessowners,” environment commissioner Tokunbo Wahab said.
02 BAHRAIN / Reverse order 🎖️
Dodgy wiring caused the Royal Navy’s HMS Chiddingford to go backwards instead of forwards, causing it to collide with HMS Bangor and rip a hole in its hull.
01 PAPUA NEW GUINEA / Kind words 📣
Tok Pisin, an English creole, was rated the world’s loveliest language. Chechen came last.
Make-it-into-a-tea-towel of the week: mental pillness 💊
How relabelling “stress” as “depression” is leading to increased pill-popping in the UK, according to The Economist:
Number of the week: word merch 🖋️
£14.4mn
UK poetry sales last year – a record, mostly down to the craze for “instapoetry”.
Quote of note: who said…? 🎤
“Extinction is a very real possibility for our party.”
(a) MP Simon Clarke on the Tories under Rishi Sunak.
(b) Legendary hellraiser Lemmy on Motörhead’s final tour.
Find the answer here.
Stat of the week: Seoul train 🚇
193.4%
What capacity the South Korean capital’s commuter trains ran at last year.
Animé of the week: drawing on experience ✏️
Travel inside the mind of animation director Jack Zhang: