Ukraine: Things Have Changed

From peaceful protesting...



...to rioting in the streets...



...to people being shot by snipers...



...today the update since the last time that we communicated, is the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, has vanished!



The Ukraine parliament voted to oust him as President, and the interior ministry issued a warrant accusing him of mass murder, and the killings of anti-government protesters last week. He was last seen in the Eastern part of the country, on Saturday, where he said that he was still the legitimate President, and would not flee the country.



Also, for now, Lawmaker Oleksandr Turchinov was named the caretaker of the new government until new elections in May.



Turchinov was appointed by Yanukovych's own ruling party.

Thousands of Ukrainians have gone to, and taken over the Presidential compound; which is just an interesting mishmash of vintage cars...



...a freaking pirate boat...



...and animals.



And, in response to everything that has changed, Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, questioned the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian authorities and said that Russia feels events are "a threat for our interests".



While the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, condemned what he said are Western attempts to influence the outcome of the turmoil in Ukraine.



Which resulted in the US National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, warning that it'd be a grave mistake if Russia intervened militarily.



Lol, as long as there are big, conflicting world powers, it can always get worse. And it'd be very interesting to see what happens from here; and as it happens, I will keep you up to date.

Conclusively, that's where I think I actually want to end this article. And, I'd love to know your thoughts on this, in the comments down below. Also, please, click the share button – if you're so inclined.

Updates on Venezuela and Ukraine

The main thing I want to blog about today is HUGE international news. The first bit is about the protests still happening in Venezuela.



Last we talked, of course, Venezuelans were protesting president Nicolas Maduro's government for over a week – seemingly over the problems of shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities.





Allegedly, Maduro's government has now blocked social media.





International news outlets have been attacked, and as of typing this, at least 5 people have been killed; one of the most recent was opposition supporter (and beauty queen), Genesis Carmona, who was shot by people riding by on motorcycles.



Thousands of Venezuelans are still in the streets protesting.



The footage and pictures coming from this, are very very intense.



And it's going to be interesting to see what does happen; and as things keep developing I will, of course, keep you up to date.

The other international news I want to blog about – I've been blogging about it all week – is Ukraine. The situation continues to get worse and worse, and worse (especially if you've been keeping up with the news, or the live stream link that I've been including). There are many more deaths. As of typing this, 70 people have been killed. That number coming from medic with the opposition; and the AP notes it has not been verified right now.



Protesters have been capturing policemen.



There is now video footage of what looks to be policemen sniping at protesters.



And this is followed by footage of the actual protesters being hit, so you know that it's live ammo and not something else.

The protesters were fighting back with bricks, Molotov cocktails.



There have been reports of small arm fire.



A lot of what I know is happening on the ground, are coming from the people actually there, and non-American sites.



Lol, I typed that because when you go to many American sites, this is what you see:



This is literally CNN.com right now; 'cause who in mainstream media cares about people being murdered in the streets? Those people aren't Americans, you know who's an American? The $19 billion app.



And, on FOXNEWS.com, you don't really care about that, Obama didn't cause that, we're worried about the "government in the newsroom"!



On MSNDC.com, we care what Chris Christie is going to say.



Venezuela and Ukraine aren't even in the top ten things!





I thought for a second maybe HLN was covering it. I was like, "Oh, they're going to sensationalize it!", but then I remembered they're the missing-white-girl/trying-to-use-YouTubers-to-have-some-sort-of-relevance-in-this-day-of-age channel.



And then, ABC, lol, actually ABC News was reporting on it – it was their number one story.



And this is just me venting on it. Genuinely, I hate blogging about stuff like this, because there's no twist to it, or silver lining, or happy thing. But the fact that the other guys with actual journalism degrees don't, or they at least wait until they know that they can make it sexy in some way, that's the reason why I do, that's the reason I will continue. Why? Because I think that it's more important that more people know about this than Facebook acquiring WhatsApp.

I think that's where I want to actually end this article. All that typed, I'd love to know your thoughts too.

Ukraine Under Pain of Destruction

Very recently, there were protests in Ukraine that turned into violent protests/riots.





This had calmed down for a little bit because opposition leaders told people not to cause chaos in the streets so that they could have a negotiation. And the government was negotiating with them until day before yesterday. Seemingly, the talk hit some standstill, fell through, and the protesters got back up, surrounded parliament while it was in session; which resulted in police showing up, and then they started shooting rubber bullets, using stun grenades on the people. The people then threw stones, anything they could grab.









As of typing this, hundreds are expected to be injured; nine have been confirmed killed (among those are two police officers).





Also, reportedly, protesters set fire to the headquarters of the ruling political party.



The subways have been shut down in hopes to quell violence but it did not work.



The really interesting thing – the pictures are scary enough – but what's so interesting, and terrifying, about Ukraine right now, is the revolution (if we call it) that is being live streamed. As of reporting this, right now, you can see the live stream which is just chaos! I'm looking at Kiev and there are thousands of protesters in the streets, flags waving, and OMG, everything looks like it's on fire!





Authorities have tried and failed to regain control. Really, I have no idea what's going to happen next. All hell has broken loose, and who really knows?



With that typed, as the situation continues, I will keep you updated. And I think that's actually where I want to end this article.

I'd love to know your thoughts on this: what do you think would have to happen in Nigeria, for anything like this to ever happen here? Do you think there's that one or that small batch of things that would just be that tipping point? I'd love to know what you think, and why, in the comments down below. And maybe, while you're at it, hit the share button.

The Top Ten Most and Least Corrupt Countries in the World

Transparency International is the neighborhood watchdog of government. This governmentally unaffiliated organization takes it upon itself to analyze the corruption levels of all the nations, governments, and corporations. Even crunched those dirty numbers and slimy facts, to produce a list of the worst kind of corrupted governments (downright nasty), and the squeakiest of clean countries in the world.

This year's list is lovingly called the Corruption Perceptions Index, and the 177 participants were graded on a curve.

So, let's kick it all off with the ten most corrupt countries:



#10. Syria.



#09. Turkmenistan.



#08. Uzbekistan.



#07. Iraq.



#06. Libya.



#05. South Sudan.

#04. Sudan.

#03. Afghanistan.



#02. North Korea.



#01. Somalia.



And now, to the top ten least corrupt countries:



#10. Canada.



#09. Australia.



#08. Netherlands.



#07. Switzerland.



#06. Singapore.

#05. Norway.



#04. Sweden.



#03. Finland.



#02. New Zealand.

#01. Denmark.



So, if you're planning on making a move, shoot for the Scandinavian countries, or one of the nice British commonwealths. And, incase you're wondering (because I know you are), the U.S. is #19. My darling country Nigeria is #144, and quite frankly, I'm nowhere near surprised.