ABSURDUS apoPLEXUS

Far-right party leader Marine Le Pen paid a surprise visit to Cairo, Egypt, to meet with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand Imam of al-Azhar, a leading theological centre & moderate voice of Sunni Islam, in an effort to dispel accusations of racism & islamophobia and cast a more moderate light on herself and her party.

Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan is getting some 50 stallions for the rumored horse farm to be built on the grounds of his lavish presidential palace. In a speech at a new hippotherapy center, he stressed the special place horses have in Turkish culture and the importance to have a cavalry regiment for the welcoming ceremonies when foreign leaders visit his place. “If you can greet your guests with a costumed horse parade what’s the point of being the President for pete’s sake!”

Dear students, parents, teachers and principals, We are pleased to forcefully invite you to a rally by your very own president Tayyip Erdoğan. You will spend a wonderful afternoon amongst fervent Erdoğan supporters, listening to awe-inspiring words by your country’s caretaker while you nod in obligatory agreement. Cheering is highly recommended, clapping is required (and will be scored). Your compulsory attendance will be highly appreciated (and monitored). You are kindly req

You may have heard of the plight of those Bangladeshi & Rohingya immigrants stranded at sea in the Bay of Bengal, fleeing from extreme poverty and persecution, Well, according to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, they are “fortune seekers” and “mentally sick” and should be punished for tarnishing the image of their country and putting their lives in danger. “These people give all this money traffickers to go abroad and suffer when they can do it for free in one of t

North Korea leader, Kim Jong-un, is amongst other things a prolific facilities’ inspector. You may recall last week's visit to a terrapin farm where he was sorely dissapponted with its poor state, so much so he lost his appetite. Well this week, fortunately for the people working there, his visit to a salmon farm was quite satisfactory. In fact Kim said his "shoulders naturally shook with joy".

Turkish president and self-anointed overlord of the muslim world, Tayyip Erdogan’s pronouncements about the West are usually quite critical. He has accused western powers of amongst other things islamophobia, hypocrisy and neo-colonialism. So it might seem strange for him to be making laudatory remarks for the West as he has recently been doing, hailing their presidential systems of goverment (even the British monarchy) as examplary, and extolling Italy’s new voting system me

Turkish president and self-anointed leader of the muslim world, Tayyip Erdogan, has been financing new mosques like crazy all over the globe, from the Balkans to the Americas. This building frenzy is rooted both in his grand scheme of leading the international muslim community, which also entails neutralizing similar attempts by cash-rich Saudi Arabia, and his plans for an Ottoman empire revival. In attendance at the latest opening in Sarajevo, Bosnia (pictured here with Bosn

North Korean dear leader, Kim Jong-un, has been visiting production facilities all over the country to inspect firsthand the glorious state of North Korean industry while coming up with some flattering photo-ops. Although most of the time his visits are crowned with immaculateness as another facility is hailed for its excellent contribution to the people, sometimes things don’t turn out that well. On some rare occasions Kim gets all worked up and lashed out, usually on days w

Things aren’t going that well for Syrian president Assad as the rebel factions, battling his regime and his allies, have gained considerable ground lately. Not that he would ever admit that of course. Don’t forget we are talking about a leader that staged a presidential election in the midst of a civil war which needless to say won by a landslide. Faced with the of his opponents, with a dwindling army and reduced resources at his disposal, Assad has been allegedly using drast

Gifts exchanged between diplomats provide a great opportunity to subtly convey sentiments that would be too forward or blatant for diplomatic-speak. Take for example Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's present to his American counterpart John Kerry on Tuesday in Sochi, two baskets, one of potatoes and one of tomatoes, which perfectly encapsulates the stand-off between the two countries. Namely, that it's not a matter of "You say potato, I say potato", but rather "You say