Turin, Italy
Don’t kiss the cop: An Italian student is being investigated for sexual assault because she kissed the helmet of a police officer during a protest. Nina de Chiffre, 20, was demonstrating against a railway extension last month when she was photographed planting her lips on the clear plastic faceplate of a policeman’s riot gear helmet. The photo went viral on social media as a symbol of peaceful protest. Last week, the police union lodged a complaint with the prosecutor’s office charging sexual violence and insulting a public official. “If the policeman had kissed her,” said police union head Franco Maccari, “World War III would have broken out.”
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Kiev, Ukraine
Russia to the rescue: Defying a continued mass protest over its refusal to deepen relations with the European Union, the Ukrainian government this week accepted a lavish Russian bailout. “The crisis moment has passed,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said. “Now, nothing threatens the financial and economic stability of Ukraine.” The country’s embattled president, Viktor Yanukovych, abruptly pulled out of an EU political and trade agreement last month, partly because of pressure from Russia, Ukraine’s leading trade partner and energy supplier. The Russian deal, which includes cheap gas and could be worth more than $20 billion, salvages the teetering economy in the short term but leaves Ukraine dependent on Russia and with little incentive to make crucial economic reforms.
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