Sideswipe: December 2: Small town bakery adds birthday laughs

Cake fail.

Sanna & Jacinda’s Prime Ministerial Reunion

The Finnish PM Sanna Marin is visiting New Zealand, and it has been suggested that the hook-up with Jacinda Ardern was arranged because they’re girls and into the same stuff. Here’s how it went down: They talked about intermittent fasting, how pervasive linen and ruching are this summer and shared contouring hacks. They couldn’t agree on GHDs or Cloud 9s, and after a low-carb lunch they chatted about boys discussing which other PMs they think are hot – Trudeau, of course. They then spent time discussing how to juggle being a mum and being a PM in this modern age and talked about their periods. Or maybe because they are leaders of similar sized-countries, they looked at why Finland has half our poverty rate and greenhouse gas emissions, spends 50 per cent more on social services, has a third fewer road accidents, collects 30 per cent more tax and has much more affordable housing. After a few wines, they exchanged thoughts about the media and called Elon Musk a prime dickhead.

I came, I saw, I conqureed

Tattoo fail.

Mixed messages

Germany has followed up on its criticism of Qatar’s human rights record by signing a 15-year contract to buy Qatari natural gas. Yes, you read that right. German firms have signed a deal to buy two million tons of liquid gas from Qatar. Germany has been one of the countries most critical at the World Cup of Qatar’s treatment of LGBTQ people, as well as the labour conditions of workers building the football stadiums. But economic minister Robert Habeck, a Green party member, has also said that, faced with a need to wean itself off Russian gas supplies, Germany has to take its energy from a variety of sources.

Nicknames

Sue writes: “While at a work conference we were on a boat. One of my colleagues, named Bill, vomited over the side. I named him Chukka and it sort of stuck.”