August 7, 2021

St Vincent leader attacked by anti-vaccine protester - video

Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, has been taken to hospital after a protester threw a rock at his head during a demonstration led by nurses and other workers in the eastern Caribbean island.

The protest was organised by unions representing nurses, police and other workers who claimed that the government planned to mandate vaccines for certain employees. Gonsalves clarified that he would not make vaccines mandatory

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2021/aug/06/st-vincent-leader-attacked-by-anti-vaccine-protester-video

August 7, 2021

Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

1. Ad Appearance Is No 'Recipe For Happiness' For Russian LGBT Family

When Moscow-based psychologist and LGBT activist Yuma Yuma first saw her family in a grocery-chain advertisement spotlighting real-life customers, it was a point of gay pride.

"Perhaps the most important thing for our family is care and acceptance," Yuma wrote on Instagram in late June after the Russian health-food franchise VkusVill posted its ad featuring Yuma, her adult daughters Mila and Alina, and Alina's girlfriend and fiancée, Ksyusha.

Yuma expressed amazement at the amount of support her queer family had received and thanked VkusVill for its willingness to combat intolerance. But such good feelings would be short-lived.

Just days after VkusVill released the ad as part of its "Recipe For Happiness" marketing drive, the chain was in damage-control mode amid an outpouring of criticism, leading it to call the ad "a mistake" and apologize for "hurting the feelings of a large number of our customers and employees."

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-lgbt-family-flees/31395659.html

2. Snickers Spain pulls advert after accusations of homophobia

Snickers in Spain has pulled a controversial advertisement and apologised for any “misunderstanding that may have been caused” after the 20-second film was widely condemned for being homophobic.

The advert shows the Spanish influencer Aless Gibaja ordering a “sexy orange juice” while a friend trades puzzled looks with the waiter. The waiter responds by handing Gibaja a Snickers ice-cream bar, and after a bite, Gibaja appears to transform into a bearded man with a deep voice.

“Better?” the friend asks. “Better,” replies the man as the tagline reads: “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry.”

(video at link: video is embarrassing: for snickers and the actors)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/06/snickers-spain-pulls-advert-after-accusations-of-homophobia


3. Controversy as Ukraine mulls giving hero status to alleged war criminals

A controversial topic has landed in front of politicians in the Ukrainian parliament and is getting international attention. Seventy-eight Ukrainian lawmakers from all sides of the parliament have proposed to give the title ‘Hero of Ukraine’ to controversial figures such as Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych.

Some Ukrainians see them as war heroes who fought for Ukrainian independence back in the 1930s and 1940s.

For others, they are antisemitic war criminals who took part in the mass killings of up to 100,000 Jews and Poles during WW2 in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.

The proposal also asks the Ukrainian Parliament and the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to commemorate the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, UPA, operating from the 1940s and into the 1950s, on their 80th anniversary in October next year.

It also includes the suggestion of constructing memorials and the issuing of coins and stamps, “dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, as well as to Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, and other UPA commanders.”

https://www.euronews.com/2021/08/04/controversy-as-ukraine-mulls-giving-hero-status-to-alleged-war-criminals

4. Moldovan Parliament Backs New 'Integrity Government'

CHISINAU -- Lawmakers in Moldova have confirmed the new government of Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita after her Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won snap elections earlier this month.

The Harvard-educated Gavrilita's PAS holds 63 of the 101 seats in parliament in Moldova for what she described as an "integrity government."

snip

The PAS had campaigned on a platform of carrying out reforms and tackling corruption, and advocates closer ties with the European Union and the United States.

Gavrilita, a former finance minister, was designated as prime minister by President Maia Sandu.

https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-gavrilita-confirmed-prime-minster/31397103.html

5. Russian Convicted Over Killing Of Chechen Asylum Seeker In Austria

A court in Austria has sentenced a Russian man to life in prison after he was convicted of murdering a 43-year-old Chechen in a Vienna suburb last year in a case that drew international attention amid claims the killing had been politically motivated.

A spokesman for the regional court in Korneuburg said on August 6 that jurors reached a unanimous verdict in the case during the one-day trial.

The defendant was a 48-year-old ethnic Chechen who wasn't named for privacy reasons, court spokesman Wolfgang Schuster-Kramer said.

snip

Austrian police have not named the victim, but sources in the Chechen diaspora have told RFE/RL that the victim was Mamikhan Umarov, a Chechen separatist who ran a video blog critical of Kadyrov and worked with Austrian intelligence. He had received asylum in Austria.

https://www.rferl.org/a/chechnya-austria-murder-kadyrov/31397514.html

August 5, 2021

They really need to go f themselves

Regardless of where you stand on what is going on in New York, I think this is something we can agree on

Per the Wash Post:
Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative gay rights group and a critic of the Human Rights Campaign, called on David to resign Wednesday for his role in Cuomo’s defense.

The Log Cabin Republicans? The organization that endorsed Donald Trump for re-election? That group is criticizing Alphonso David for having a role in Cuomo's defense (which by the way isn't much of a role)
Yes, ladies and gents, the Sheep that voted Coyotes is outraged and insists on something (actually many things) be done because it is so wrong what Mr David did -- so wrong they likely made no effort to look into the whole story of Mr David.
Yes, the group the endorsed Dotard Jung-un Trump, really needs to go f themselves

Oh... and while they're at it... take Elise Stefaniak (or however you spell her name) with you.