insert_link World Ukraine war: ten years after Putin annexed Crimea, Russia’s grip on the peninsula looks shaky By Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham It is ten years since Russia illegally annexed Crimea on March 18 2014. Subsequent efforts to firmly integrate the peninsula into the Russian Federation, however, have been far from the success story that the Kremlin often likes to portray. In fact, comparing the increasingly shaky grip that Moscow has on the peninsula today with the situation before the annexation would suggest […] todayMarch 18, 2024 5
insert_link Videos Six more years: Putin claims landslide election victory in Russia Vladimir Putin has won a fifth term as president in a landslide election victory that had an all but certain outcome. Russia's number one faced no credible opposition candidates, amid a ruthless crackdown on dissent and critical voices. Russian election officials said Putin - who will now serve another six-year term on top of his nearly quarter-century rule - won more than 87% of the vote. Putin claimed Russia's democratic […] todayMarch 18, 2024 22
insert_link World Russian elections: despite fixing the opposition, Vladimir Putin wants lots of people to vote for him By Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex Russians head to the polls this week in a presidential election that will almost certainly result in Vladimir Putin decisively winning yet another six-year term. When he does, it will make him the longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin. Advance polling indicates he will earn 75% of the vote and face little or no meaningful opposition. His three main opponents are each […] todayMarch 14, 2024 8
World The UN Security Council Is Struggling ‘Day by Day,’ Japan Says Secretary-General António Guterres, left, and Kazuyuki Yamazaki, permanent representative of Japan and president of the Security Council for March, before a recent meeting on Sudan and South Sudan. Only three months in the UN post, Yamakazi leads the Council on a range of crises this month, from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to conflicts in parts of Africa, as Japan also highlights its own two signature debates: building peace […] todayMarch 13, 2024 8
insert_link World Ukraine war: Russian soldiers’ wives are increasingly outspoken in their opposition By Jennifer Mathers, Aberystwyth University and Natasha Danilova, University of Aberdeen International Women’s Day is widely celebrated in Russia. But amid the bouquets of flowers and stilted speeches of congratulation made by Vladimir Putin, the state-controlled media will be doing its best to ignore one group of Russia’s women. These are the wives of some of its soldiers fighting in Ukraine, who have embarked on a series […] todayMarch 8, 2024 20
insert_link Science & Technology Russia says it may team with China to put first nuclear power plant on the moon Russia and China are considering a collaborative project to install the moon's first nuclear power plant by the mid-2030s. todayMarch 7, 2024 19
insert_link Videos Hackers expose how Russia skirts sanctions for its weapons Despite tight sanctions, Western parts are being used in Russia’s battlefield weapons. CBC’s Ben Makuch meets with Ukrainian hackers who reveal that one arms maker is after Canadian technology and how a complex web of intermediaries make it possible. todayMarch 7, 2024 3
insert_link Videos Ukraine’s accession could cost €136 billion to the EU budget, new report estimates This would represent 0.10% and 0.13% of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP). The projection uses the existing rules and design of the 2021-2027 budget to extract a projection of how much money the war-torn nation would be entitled to after obtaining the coveted membership. Ukraine was first declared a candidate in June 2022 and was given the go-ahead for accession negotiations in December 2023. The findings exclude the enormous […] todayMarch 7, 2024 3
insert_link World UN condemns death sentences in Ukraine The UN human rights office has expressed concern at the sentencing to death of a Moroccan man and two Britons by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine, saying such trials against prisoners of war amounted to a war crime. The UN says the three were part of Ukraine's armed forces, and therefore could not be described as mercenaries. The AFP news agency reports that Brahim Saadoun was a student […] todayMarch 5, 2024 11
Paying it forward: Kenyan coastal doctor Bashrahil Mohammed Mafudh has made it his life’s work to care for the most vulnerable in his community, at no cost.