Kiev, Ukraine
President Viktor Yushchenko abolished Ukraine’s traffic police this week, saying the force was so corrupt it had to be scrapped entirely. Rather than writing tickets for speeding, police routinely demand that drivers pay “fines” in cash, directly to the officers. “You have discredited this service,” Yushchenko declared. “That is why I have decided there will be no traffic patrol in Ukraine as of today.” The directive puts some 23,000 people out of work. Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko said he would immediately begin building a new traffic force; in the meantime, regular police officers will also be responsible for enforcing traffic laws.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Citizenship: Trump order blocked againFeature After the Supreme Court restricted nationwide injunctions, a federal judge turned to a class action suit to block Trump's order to end birthright citizenship
-
Loyalty tests: The purge at the FBIFeature Kash Patel is conducting polygraph tests on FBI agents to weed out anyone speaking badly about him
-
The all-seeing tech giantFeature Palantir's data-mining tools are used by spies and the military. Are they now being turned on Americans?
