Happy first day of December and first day of Advent everybody!

It doesn’t really feel very Christmassy or even pre-Christmassy for me yet, as it is a bright sunshiny day in Hungary. Some snow would help me get in the mood. A white, snowy Advent and Christmas would surely be nice, but right after the holidays, can it be hot summer again, please?

Besides all the other excitements that December holds, I am starting at a new job tomorrow that I am really looking forward to. I wish every one of my readers such an eventful and joyous December that I am pretty convinced mine is going to be.

Now, here’s a taste of the very few world news stories from the past week:

On world affairs:

Fear and Loathing in the Kingdom

Very good analysis of the Iran nuclear deal’s impact in the Middle-East. Israel and Saudi Arabia are the main opposition of the deal, and we have heard plenty of Israel’s reasons, but what about the Saudis? 

Germany’s coalition: A European GroKo?

Germany’s grand coalition (Große Koalition=GroKo) is now seems to be final. This is a great piece on what it might mean for the future of Germany’s European and global foreign policy.

Conference of the week:

World Forum for Democracy 2013

The Council of Europe’s World Forum for Democracy went down this week in Strasbourg. Here’s a subjective but interesting account on the event. For facts and information, click the title.

Entertainment bit of the week:

At first I did not get this story at all. I mean why on earth would an Australian musician impersonate Kim Jong Un? I suspect his musical talents are not as remarkable as his incidental resemblance to the North Korean leader. And he seems to be making much more of a fortune out of the latter. If you are not familiar with his story, click to read about the ad linked above.