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Will booking an Airbnb help Ukraine? Why people make counterproductive decisions about charity
As the war in Ukraine continues, many people are wondering what they can do to make a difference. Some are booking accommodation in Ukraine on Airbnb as a means to transfer money and goodwill. Others are donating household goods to refugee camps. Some are even volunteering to fight. Each ofContinue Reading
Ukraine’s opiate users: Russian invasion has severely disrupted access to drug-treatment services
About 317,000 Ukrainians inject drugs like heroin regularly. As of January, 14,868 of them were receiving substitute opiates such as methadone and buprenorphine. Ukraine has been funding these treatment services since 2017. In that year, it also rapidly expanded its services for people in need of sterile syringes, condoms andContinue Reading
Pi day: a brief history of our fascination with this magical number, from pies to ‘piems’
Oksana Mizina/Shutterstock Imagine a cup of tea. Wrap a piece of string around the circumference of the cup, and measure the length of the string. Then, lay your spoon on top of the cup, making sure it lies across the centre of the cup, and measure the length from sideContinue Reading
Community praised by local councillors after traffic safety work start
Efford and Lipson’s three Labour Councillors have campaigned alongside the local community to persuade the City Council to restart work on traffic calming measures on Old Laira Road. Work on the scheme to install a 20mph speed camera – the city’s first enforceable 20mph limit – and a new pedestrianContinue Reading
Antisemitism: how the internet has revived old anti-Jewish tropes
Antisemitism in the UK appears to be at a modern record high. The Community Security Trust (CST) is an organisation dedicated to protecting Jewish communities. According to the most recent data it has collected, there were 2,255 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2021. This is the highest number everContinue Reading
Chelsea WILL be able to finish season after Government ease terms of ‘licence’
THE Government has eased the terms of Chelsea’s “licence” to do business – allowing the club to finish the season. Club bosses had grown increasingly concerned about their limited reserves evaporating after owner Roman Abramovich was placed on the UK sanctions list on Thursday. 2 Chelsea were plunged into chaosContinue Reading
Molnupiravir: why are there potential safety issues around this COVID antiviral?
StanislavSukhin/Shutterstock If you’re worried about COVID, there’s a simple way to boost protection: get vaccinated. But this doesn’t work for everyone. People with weak immune systems – perhaps because of age or a medical condition – don’t respond well to vaccines. For them, COVID still poses a significant risk. ButContinue Reading
Volodymyr Zelensky: how acting prepared the Ukrainian president for the role of his life
Photographer RM/Shutterstock It is now well known that the Ukrainian president is a former comic, but this is a misleading representation of his past career. Vlodymyr Zelensky is a seasoned performer with a string of professional roles, including the voice of Paddington Bear (the Ukrainian language version), Love in theContinue Reading
Ukraine is well ahead in the global battle for hearts and minds – but Russia knew this would happen
Warfare has always involved an element of propaganda. Indeed, without mass communications that attempt justify violent actions there arguably can be no war. Soldiers need a cause to fight for. Publics need a cause to back. World leaders and influential global figures need to become advocates for one side orContinue Reading
Dogs of Europe review: An urgent response from Belarus Free Theatre
Review at a glance T his drifty, nightmarish vision of a future Russian superstate from Belarus Free Theatre has become more timely than the company could ever have feared. Adapted from a 900-page dystopian fantasy by Alhierd Bacharevic, it was first staged in Minsk in 2019, since when the bookContinue Reading