Do you really know?

What are the Minsk Agreements?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

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What is temporary protection? Mar 29, 2022

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What is temporary protection?

According to United Nations estimates from just over a week ago, more than 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. 3.4 million of them have left Ukraine, with 90% being women and children given that all men under 60 are required to stay and defend their country. It’s been described as the “fastest growing refugee crisis since the Second World War”, by the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees.

What rights and provisions does it grant? Is this a new EU policy then? What about refugees from elsewhere? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are the Minsk Agreements? Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

What are the Minsk Agreements?

The main aim of the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Agreements was to prevent war in Europe, but they were repeatedly breached over the years, and eventually became obsolete when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Fighting broke out in Ukraine’s Donbas region in early 2014, opposing pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army.

How did the Agreements come to be signed? What was actually in the agreements? Are we saying the Agreements no longer stand then? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[RERUN] Who is Alexei Navalny? Mar 27, 2022

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Who is Alexei Navalny?

Alexei Navalny was sentenced on Tuesday 22 March 2022 to an additional nine years in prison after being found guilty of fraud and contempt of court. In late March 2021, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny began a hunger strike in his prison cell. A few weeks later he was transferred to a prison hospital, with his allies declaring he was “close to dying”. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow, St Petersburg and over 40 other cities. Police arrested over 1700 people. At the same time, UN human rights experts called for Navalny to be evacuated from the country. They said his life was in “serious danger” due to harsh prison conditions and inadequate medical care.

What can you tell me about Navalny’s background? What’s happened to Navalny since the Novichok poisoning? Will international pressure have any impact? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is the Azov Battalion?

What is Crimea?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is an oil shock? Mar 26, 2022

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What is an oil shock?

The day Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the price of crude oil surged over the $100 a barrel mark for the first time since 2014. Soon, economic sanctions would be announced against Russia, with buyers shunning exports from the world’s third largest oil producing country. For over a century, oil has been both a fuel and a barometer for the world economy. But it can also be a double-edged sword as Western countries found out in the 1970s. At the start of the 1970s, the post-war boom was coming to an end. From 1971 onwards, things started going downhill, and oil ended up being at the heart of an unprecedented economic and geopolitical crisis.

How did the 1973 crisis come around? How did the oil-dependent Western countries react? What is the current situation, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome? Mar 25, 2022

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What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome?

According to the World Health Organisation, harmful use of alcohol accounts for 3 million deaths each year. Indeed, it’s the third leading cause of preventable death, and causes a large burden for societies across the world.

Of course regular alcohol consumption doesn’t always kill, but it can lead to other health problems, including neurological disorders. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome is one such example. It’s the combination of Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff Syndrome. Both are linked to vitamin B1 deficiency.

What are the symptoms of this syndrome? How does it develop? Are there any forms of treatment? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is myopia? Mar 24, 2022

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What is myopia?

According to a 2019 study from the Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science journal, almost 60% of all humans will have some form of myopia by 2050. That means as many as 5 billion people will be short-sighted, unable to clearly see objects more than 5 yards away. And that’s not at all; already one in three people suffer from myopia, a figure which rises to nearly 50% in some parts of east Asia! Some observers have labelled myopia an epidemic and researchers believe the increase is largely linked to lifestyle factors. We’re spending less time outdoors and more time on intense close up viewing activities.

I thought myopia was a hereditary condition What does daylight have to do with it? Is myopia a serious condition? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is the Azov Battalion?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is nuclear deterrence? Mar 23, 2022

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What is nuclear deterrence?

Three days after his army invaded Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced he was raising his country’s military nuclear deterrence threat level. He justified the move by citing the economic sanctions placed on Russia by the West, as well as what he called “aggressive statements” from NATO.

Isn’t the idea of deterrence forces a contradiction? Which countries actually have nuclear weapons? Which countries actually have nuclear weapons?In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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