Earlier today, Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita announced that her government was resigning, after a turbulent 18 months in power marked by economic turmoil and the aftershocks of Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine. Moldova, which borders Ukraine, has been on the cusp of unwillingly getting drawn into the action as Russian attacks edge closer to Moldovan territory.
The small nation has experienced a long string of problems since before the Russian hostilities began. These include an ongoing energy crisis after Moscow dramatically cut supplies to Moldova as well as skyrocketing inflation. The power cuts come as a result of Russian air attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and Moldova as a whole continues to struggle with breaking its dependence on Russian gas.
Meanwhile, there have been several troublesome incidents recently where missiles from the war in nearby Ukraine traversed Moldovan skies. Ukrainian officials including President Zelenskyy have claimed that this aggression signifies an act of war, trying desperately to enlist the neighboring nation into the fight against bid bad Russia.
Side Items
Panopticontent: Great little read on our societal tendency to shoot first, ask questions last when it comes to recording ourselves and any strangers we cross paths with. We’re nearing a point where people consider everything to be content for the creating, and everyone else is an NPC (nonplayer character) in the world we direct. NPC is a growing internet term referring to people who aren’t seen as fully realized individuals and are simply part of the backdrop
Atlanta Police Contradict Themselves: First they claimed there was no bodycam footage, then the bodycam footage was released. Footage from the police raid on Atlanta’s “Cop City” forest site confirms that the killing of a forest defender was carried out by a Georgia State Patrol SWAT team member — officers that still aren’t required to wear body cameras. The initial claim was that the climate activist opened fire on police, injuring an officer, but the bodycam footage disproves that and shows officers standing in one another’s crossfire. In fact, the officer wearing the body camera can be heard saying, “Man, you fucked your own officer up.” Moral of this story: Don’t trust police ever
Striking Grad Students Get Abandoned: Temple University is cutting off healthcare and tuition remission to some graduate workers in retaliation for their participation in a strike over issues of pay and benefits. Currently, these grad students who work as teaching assistants, research assistants, and graduate assistants receive less than $20,000 per year in compensation, while graduate workers want the university to pay a base rate of $32,500