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Russia’s recognition of two breakaway pro-Russian regions within eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, has significantly raised the stakes and added dangerous momentum to the crisis. Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognise the two republics as independent and send in troops as “peacekeepers” will force the west to recalibrate its response. Putin had previously called for the implementation of a 2015 deal to reintegrate the two republics into Ukraine, preferring to focus his main complaint on Nato’s expansion to the east.
All that has changed: Putin says the deal no longer exists, the west has responded by applying its long-threatened sanctions, and the world now must consider the Russian president’s new rhetoric about the restoration of a Russian “empire”. There is still a chance that diplomacy can ease these tensions, but this crisis just became significantly more dangerous.
We also consider why the pursuit of happiness is not all it’s cracked up to be and why certain words tend to rub us up the wrong way.
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Jonathan Este
Associate Editor, International Affairs Editor
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‘My fellow Russians’: Vladimir Putin makes his case to the Russian people.
EPA-EFE/Sergei Ilnitsky
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham; Tatyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy
Putin’s latest speech revealed that the dispute with Ukraine is just part of his challenge to the current international order.
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Rafael Ben-Ari / Alamy Stock Photo
Christian van Nieuwerburgh, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences; Jolanta Burke, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
People are obsessed with finding happiness. But what if
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funbutterfly/Shutterstock
Morten H. Christiansen, Cornell University; Nick Chater, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
Is there a connection between sound and meaning?
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Politics + Society
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David Hastings Dunn, University of Birmingham
In a rapidly-changing situation, a face-to-face meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin is still on the table.
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Tom Simcock, Edge Hill University
The new minimum standards for housing are not guaranteed to improve things if not accompanied by broader reforms.
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Health
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Ruth Fairchild, Cardiff Metropolitan University; Shirley Hinde, Cardiff Metropolitan University
Eating more plant-based foods is great for your health, for farm animals and the environment.
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Duane Mellor, Aston University
Potato milk may not be the most nutritious plant-based alternative – but it still has some benefits.
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Environment
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Martin Mayer, Aarhus University; Hanna Pettersson, University of Leeds; Kent Olsen, Natural History Museum Aarhus; Peter Sunde, Aarhus University
Wolves killing livestock are seizing an opportunity for a meal in a landscape with little natural prey.
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Matthew Harris, Keele University
Soot from research bases and sightseeing cruises is melting millions of tonnes of Antarctic snow every summer
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Science + Technology
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Vanessa Bohns, Cornell University
Despite the belief that people are deeply skeptical of strangers, study after study shows that humans are primed to trust one another.
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Marco Todesco, University of British Columbia
Sunflowers have hidden patterns of ultraviolet colours — visible to pollinators, these colours are due to the presence of pigments that also help plants retain moisture.
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Business + Economy
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Daniele Bianchi, Queen Mary University of London
The current move is probably what markets have been expecting for several months. Here’s what it will take for a panic to set in.
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Featured events
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— The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Manchester, M139PL, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Manchester
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— Manchester Central Library, Manchester, Manchester, M2 5PD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Manchester
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— Online, Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Southampton
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— Faculty of Business and Law, De Montfort University, Hugh Aston, The Gateway, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 9BH, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — De Montfort University
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