Jennifer Mathers, Aberystwyth University and Anna Kvit, UCL
Thousands of women have voluntarily joined Ukraine’s armed forces since 2014, when Russia’s occupation of Crimea and territories in eastern Ukraine began. Over the past nine years, the number of women serving in the Ukrainian military has more than doubled, with another wave of women joining after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham, U.K., have designed a novel adaptation for existing iron and steel furnaces that could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the steelmaking industry by nearly 90%.
This radical reduction is achieved through a ‘closed loop’ carbon recycling system, which could replace 90% of the coke typically used in current blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace systems and produces oxygen as a biproduct. Continue reading
Felia Allum, University of Bath
Matteo Messina Denaro, one of the leaders of the Sicilian mafia, the Cosa Nostra, has finally been detained after 30 years on the run. His arrest came as around 100 police officers surrounded the private Maddalena clinic in Palermo where they had discovered he was receiving treatment.
Rafael R. Ioris, University of Denver
Thousands of far-right supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on Jan. 8, 2023.
A new survey of 6,000 homeowners and renters from across the globe has revealed that nearly 9 in 10 (89%) respondents globally ignore what’s best when it comes to energy efficiency in the home, despite 80% of those surveyed knowing how to use their household appliances in an energy efficient way. Continue reading
Claire Burchett, King’s College London
Police have arrested 25 people accused of planning to overthrow the German government in a series of raids across the country.
Clare Torrible, University of Bristol
The inquest into the death of Chris Kaba opened on October 4 2022. Kaba, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed in Streatham Hill, south London on September 5 2022 by a Metropolitan police officer.
Matthew Sussex, Australian National University
Among the many questions asked about Russia’s disastrous war against Ukraine, one of them is posed only very rarely: can Russia survive what seems increasingly likely to be a humiliating defeat at the hands of its smaller neighbour?
Zohar Hadromi Allouche, Trinity College Dublin and S. Jonathon O’Donnell, Queen’s University Belfast
In western culture today, demons exist as something of a paradox. Religious belief in them is often presented as marginal. Many mainstream Christian denominations are silent or give them little prominence.
Paul Whiteley, University of Essex
With the UK’s new prime minister in office, it looks like the political turmoil of the last few months is likely to ease, at least for the time being. Rishi Sunak and his fellow MPs must put their political differences aside to focus on stabilising the economy and calming financial markets. But Sunak will of course have one eye on the next election, which he must call before January 2025.