Ukraine’s morale remains high, despite months of bombardment and drone strikes.
National identity: despite Moscow’s best efforts, Ukrainians are increasingly looking to the west for their future.
Oleksii Chumachenko/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire)
The Qatar World Cup has attracted criticism of the country’s human rights. With Australia set to host the women’s world cup next year, there’s some work we need to do in this area, too.
Getting in the Christmas spirit?
EPA-EFE/Sputnik/Kremlin pool
The US had long warned European nations about an over-reliance on Russian gas.
Nuanced relationship: Kazakhstan president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, November 2022.
EPA-EFE/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin pool/Sputnik
Some of the key articles from our coverage of the war in Ukraine over the past week.
Cargo ships anchored in the Marmara Sea await to cross the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey. The country is checking all ships’ protection and indemnity insurance coverage before letting them enter its waters, a blow to Russia amid smart new western sanctions.
(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Just like how tax evasion brought down Al Capone, denying Russian ships protection and indemnity insurance could deliver a crushing economic blow to Vladimir Putin.
Who is the ‘big brother’ now?
EPA-EFE/Sergei Bobylev/Sputnik/Kremlin pool
When it comes to prisoner swaps it matters if an individual is guilty of committing the crime or whether there has been a miscarriage of justice. And this is where the Griner case gets tricky.
These new sanctions target individuals and entities rather than whole countries, in the hope of punishing the true perpetrators and avoiding the incidental suffering of innocent people.
Powerful politicians in the US once called for the dissolution of the CIA. How relevant is it today?
Anelo via Shutterstock
Ukraine appears to be mounting an operation to retake the tiny headland.
In charge: his war may be increasingly unpopular, but Vladimir Putin still enjoys complete power in Russia.
EPA-EFE/Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin pool
Ultimately, Putin’s bequest to his people is grimness, not greatness. The next generation of Russians will be untrusted and unwanted in many of the world’s most prosperous and welcoming nations.