What's in the news?

[Zakharra]

 A US envoy was attacked in South Korea by a knife wielding  fanatic that wants the two Koreas to be united.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31743055   N. Korea, applauds the act. :|

[Lustful Bride]

Harrison Ford injured in a plane crash and has been rushed to the hospital.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/actor-harrison-ford-injured-in-small-plane-crash-near-los-angeles-report/ar-BBihypF?ocid=HPCDHP

[Sasquatch421]

I really find it interesting when people pay more attention to 1 movie actor in a plane crash beats out almost 43 children injured in a bus crash. Oh and there is one announced dead...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/national/washington-state-school-bus-crash-injures-at-least-43-children/ar-BBih9u0

[gaggedLouise]

Okay, technically it's "just" a long since abandoned city, but as a deliberate assault on the memory of mankind it's really disgusting: ISIL claims to be bulldozing the ruins of the ancient Assyrian capital of Nimrud (one of a couple of cities that served as capital during the course of the thousand-yar long history of ancient Assyria) and preparing to destroy the city gate of Nineveh nearby. Picture if anyone would flatten the ruins of Troy or parts of Pompeii and you'll get the idea.

There are dozens of other first-rank archaeological sites in the area either controlled by ISIL or risking to come under their hands (including Babylon), and many of these, like Nimrud, were still being excavated before the Iraq war and could yield more important finds. One such site is Dura-Europos, near the former Syrian/Iraqi border and deep in ISIL territory, a city where the oldest Christian church ever recovered was found in the 1930s, together with a Jewish synagogue nearby, both of them from around 230 AD and with unique paintings and art (the church paintings were long since moved to Damascus, not the safest place either...). This is just very sordid, and the attacks on such places are also a direct assault on Assyrians as a people.

[Kythia]

Here's one for you, Louise.  Denmark wants to rename part of south Sweden as "Greater Copenhagen"  Presumably because noone knows how to pronounce the third letter in Skåne. 

I choose to pronounce it sko-ne

[gaggedLouise]

Here's one for you, Louise.  Denmark wants to rename part of south Sweden as "Greater Copenhagen"  Presumably because noone knows how to pronounce the third letter in Skåne. 

I choose to pronounce it sko-ne

Yup. it's about getting a better brand name to pull in English-speaking people like the kinksters here on E!  ;) The bridge across the Öresund strait between Sweden and Denmark brings many people back and forth each day, so there's been a need for a cool name to tag the whole border region, of which Copenhagen is by far the biggest city. (Ö and Danish Ø are essentially the same letter, pronounced somewhere between the vowels of first and heard). But for some reason, us south-western Swedes are not keen on being seen as suburbians of Copenhagen...

[Beorning]

I can see it being a bit of a touchy issue...

Anyway, it's interesting news. I admit I didn't even know that there was a bridge between Denmark and Sweden...

In our local news, President Komorowski officially started his re-election campaign today. Finally - the other candidates were being busy with their campaigns for weeks now. Meanwhile, Komorowski seemed to be doing nothing to get himself re-elected, as if he was so awfully sure people would vote him anyway...

Also, the Enigmatic Candidate, Dr. Ogórek finally started talking to journalists. Not that she seems to have anything interesting to say...

BTW. The woman's constantly appearing in white clothes: white dresses, white coats etc. There's... something subtle super-villainous in that  ;D And those claims of her that she'll create a new Poland and so on...

[Kythia]

I can see it being a bit of a touchy issue...

Anyway, it's interesting news. I admit I didn't even know that there was a bridge between Denmark and Sweden...

If you like crime dramas there's an absolutely brilliant one about a murder on that bridge.

[Beorning]

I haven't heard of that one before! Thanks :)

[Zakharra]

I can see it being a bit of a touchy issue...

Anyway, it's interesting news. I admit I didn't even know that there was a bridge between Denmark and Sweden...

In our local news, President Komorowski officially started his re-election campaign today. Finally - the other candidates were being busy with their campaigns for weeks now. Meanwhile, Komorowski seemed to be doing nothing to get himself re-elected, as if he was so awfully sure people would vote him anyway...

Also, the Enigmatic Candidate, Dr. Ogórek finally started talking to journalists. Not that she seems to have anything interesting to say...

BTW. The woman's constantly appearing in white clothes: white dresses, white coats etc. There's... something subtle super-villainous in that  ;D And those claims of her that she'll create a new Poland and so on...

If she is seen anywhere with a long haired Persian cat, be worried. Be very worried. That's James Bond villain material there. I am sure that a white Persian was the main unspoken villain in several of the older James Bond films.

[Hemingway]

Yup. it's about getting a better brand name to pull in English-speaking people like the kinksters here on E!  ;) The bridge across the Öresund strait between Sweden and Denmark brings many people back and forth each day, so there's been a need for a cool name to tag the whole border region, of which Copenhagen is by far the biggest city. (Ö and Danish Ø are essentially the same letter, pronounced somewhere between the vowels of first and heard). But for some reason, us south-western Swedes are not keen on being seen as suburbians of Copenhagen...

Surely you mean Øresund. ;D

It's interesting, though. I live in the area, and I hadn't heard about it before reading it in this thread. Having looked it up, it apparently comes from the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen ( Copenhagen has a frickin' Lord Mayor! ). It does seem weird - I've never heard of a metropolitan area extending across national borders before. That said, it would make sense in a certain way. Considering the border is practically nonexistent - I know several people who study in Copenhagen but live in Sweden - there's not much sense in drawing some arbitrary line at the national border, if it can help the region as a whole.

That said, it's also very easy to see why the Swedish side would be opposed.

[Oniya]

Surely you mean Øresund. ;D

It's interesting, though. I live in the area, and I hadn't heard about it before reading it in this thread. Having looked it up, it apparently comes from the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen ( Copenhagen has a frickin' Lord Mayor! ). It does seem weird - I've never heard of a metropolitan area extending across national borders before. That said, it would make sense in a certain way. Considering the border is practically nonexistent - I know several people who study in Copenhagen but live in Sweden - there's not much sense in drawing some arbitrary line at the national border, if it can help the region as a whole.

That said, it's also very easy to see why the Swedish side would be opposed.

You could make the case that the city of Niagara Falls straddles the US/Canadian border, although you do have to pass through customs when driving across the Niagara River.

[Kythia]

Nicosia as well, though the situation's different there.

[Oniya]

Yeah, that looks sort of like a 'Berlin' situation there, where the country borders got rearranged after the city borders were in place.

[consortium11]

There's quite a few cities that have ended up split between two countries/states, to give a few examples:

Akçakale/Tell Abyad and Kobanî/Mürşitpına are both split between Turkey and Syria

Baarle is split between the Netherlands and Belgium

Bad Muskau/Łęknica is split between Germany and Poland

Hili is split between India and Bangladesh.

One can look to the Inter-Entity Boundary Line to see 48 municipalities that were split.

[gaggedLouise]

Absolutely, I've visited Berlin myself a few times, but what's particular about Copenhagen and a couple of Swedish cities on the eastern side of the strait (not just Malmö, where the bridge ends)  is that they form a kind of metro area that began from several different cities and grew across the border. It's a bit like if the states of New York and New Jersey had been separated by a national border, not a US state border.

Then again there are very few joint boards or publid offices in place to serve the region that have been set up together by the two regions of either side, very little of that kind of "cross-border management". Most of the communications, roads and rail and so on are handled by a company on one side for the whole area, or through deals between the two participating counties - very few actual transnational offices, shared bureaucracy or the like.

[Beorning]

There's quite a few cities that have ended up split between two countries/states, to give a few examples:

Bad Muskau/Łęknica is split between Germany and Poland

Oh, I didn't know about this one. The other town that got split between Poland and Germany is Goerlitz / Zgorzelec.

[Deamonbane]

A lot of these cities are older than the countries, and certainly older than the borders...

[Beorning]

True... still, nowadays such places can be a touchy issues. To use a Polish example, Zgorzelec was just a district of Goerlitz before WW2. Now, these are two separate towns. They cooperate closely these days and, after Poland's access to the EU, there's no noticeable border between them (aside from the river). But, if somebody got the idea of rebranding the whole areajust as "Greater Goerlitz", sparks would definitely fly, as it would be seen as Germany trying to reclaim its pre-WW2 land.

I can see why people in Sweden are a bit incensed about Denmark getting the idea of taking a bit of Sweden's land and rebranding it as part of Denmark. Especially as, if I understand correctly, the area was a subject of wars in the past.

In Polish news: Dr Ogórek has finally agree to take part in an interview! It'll be out tomorrow...

Also, the second line of Warsaw underground opened today. Finally! It was supposed to be opened in December...

[Kythia]

Juncker is calling for an EU combined army.  Which is precisely the sort of thing Juncker would say.  I don't see the need, has NATO disbanded and noone told me?

[TheGlyphstone]

NATO failed to turn Russia into a wasteland of overlapping glow-in-the-dark craters when they messed with Ukraine, so I guess Juncker(?) thinks NATO isn't doing its job properly?

[Dice]

What the EU needs is some stability and not a combined arms force.

In the news locally, 2 aussies are on death row in Indonesia and its starting to look like this is going to become a major diplomatic issue. I mean the moronic Indonesian's decided they needed an APC, standing army and two fighter jets to move these two men that in ten years had never tried to escape from one location to another. Idiots. I am not going to say that they do not have a right to act as a sovereign nation and do what their laws prescribe, but you do not need the military to move two men that have been nothing but respectful to the whole process and have given zero resistance the whole time.

Oh and if it is a show of force to us in Australia, we give you 500 mill a year to train parts of that force, pull your heads out of your asses or we will pull the funding. Because while you have the right to do what your courts decided was best, making a death spectacle out of it is disrespectful. Oh and having high placed officials taking selfies with the condemned and then leaking the photo's aint very respectful either.

[Lustful Bride]

What the EU needs is some stability and not a combined arms force.

In the news locally, 2 aussies are on death row in Indonesia and its starting to look like this is going to become a major diplomatic issue. I mean the moronic Indonesian's decided they needed an APC, standing army and two fighter jets to move these two men that in ten years had never tried to escape from one location to another. Idiots. I am not going to say that they do not have a right to act as a sovereign nation and do what their laws prescribe, but you do not need the military to move two men that have been nothing but respectful to the whole process and have given zero resistance the whole time.

Oh and if it is a show of force to us in Australia, we give you 500 mill a year to train parts of that force, pull your heads out of your asses or we will pull the funding. Because while you have the right to do what your courts decided was best, making a death spectacle out of it is disrespectful. Oh and having high placed officials taking selfies with the condemned and then leaking the photo's aint very respectful either.

Pull some funding I say, remind em that their horse isn't so high.

[Dashenka]

I am not going to say that they do not have a right to act as a sovereign nation and do what their laws prescribe

Yes Australia is in the news more and more, doing exactly that. Indonesia, Russia... Both sovereign nations and both suffering the Australian mockery for doing things differently. I love Australia and the people in it I just think the prime minister has lost it a little bit.

[gaggedLouise]

NATO failed to turn Russia into a wasteland of overlapping glow-in-the-dark craters when they messed with Ukraine, so I guess Juncker(?) thinks NATO isn't doing its job properly?

"If they move...I'm gonna turn Russia into a parking lot"?  ???

I'd agree extremely few people (ordinary taxpayers or even high-level business people) in Europe wish for a joint Euro army and navy.