The world at a glance . . . Europe

Reykjavik, Iceland

Lesbian prime minister: Johanna Sigurdardottir has become the world’s first openly gay prime minister. The Social Democrat, who is Iceland’s longest-serving member of Parliament, staged an unlikely political comeback. In the mid-1990s, when she lost a bid to head the party, she thrust her fist into the air and said, “My time will come!”—a phrase that quickly became a popular Icelandic expression. Sigurdardottir was appointed this week as interim prime minister after the government collapsed in acrimony over the nation’s financial crisis. She will serve until May elections. “I don’t think her sexual orientation matters,” said Social Democratic leader Skuli Helgeson. “Our voters are pretty liberal; they don’t care about any of that.”

London

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Buried under snow: Much of England was paralyzed this week by the heaviest snowfall in decades. More than a foot of snow forced the closure of thousands of schools, and all of London’s bus service was canceled for the first time. With public transportation halted, highways into the city became clogged, and many commuters abandoned their cars to join impromptu snowball fights. Millions of people simply stayed home from work. London Mayor Boris Johnson said that while the snow holiday was fun, he hoped it would be brief. “My message to the heavens is, you know, ‘You’ve put on a fantastic display of snow power, but that is probably quite enough,’” he said.