europe

But the vote instead revealed deep unhappiness within Merz’s coalition. The two parties hold 328 seats, which suggests that 18 lawmakers defected from the camp. Merz had hoped to inject some calm into the country with trips to Paris and Warsaw in the coming days; now, he will be forced to whip support for a fresh parliamentary vote, expected later this week.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/06/europe/merz-chancellor-german-parliament-intl

https://archive.ph/sdf4p

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/26/support-for-ukraine-russia-war-yougov-poll-survey

So bad is the situation that local lawmakers declared a “major incident” this month in the city, where some residents say their quality of life is worse than in developing countries and hold it up as an example of “Broken Britain” — which is how some describe the perceived widespread social decay of the U.K. and the breakdown of public services in the country.

“You’re not getting little rats anymore,” Charlie Wilson, 31, said as she sat on her front porch. “They’re getting cat-size.” She added that the smell — which has only gotten worse as spring temperatures have risen — was making her sick.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/7517920

https://archive.ph/0AxFY