Alyona Fedulova, a third-year Collingwood student reading French and Arabic, was visiting her native Ukraine to sort out a work visa, receive a booster shot and visit her grandparents, whom she hadn’t seen for over a year.

She arrived in Kyiv on 23rd February, and described how hours later, “I could see the smoke and the scattering of orange from the window” of her apartment in Obolon: “it was very, very close to us”. The war had begun.

“It was very scary. The scariest part was hearing civilia

For the first time since 2019, students are able to enjoy an Easter term without Covid-19 restrictions, and that means one thing – summer balls are back. Colleges and societies alike are going all out to entice students to part with their cash in exchange for a night (or more) of fancy meals and entertainment. Except 2022 is being marred by a cost-of-living crisis that most students have never faced before, so the rising prices of balls are under close scrutiny.

One swoop of Durfess explains the general mood – for many, balls are simply too expensive. College balls in particular have been attacked over their prices, most of which are set at around £70 or more per ticket. Josephine Butler College has received a disproportionate number of comments about the price of its summer ball (£75 for JCR members), which is perhaps understandable given its reputation of being the college for “working-class” students. However, I feel that all colleges must be held accountable for their extortionate ball prices given the current economic climate.

Much has been said about the current cost-of-living crisis in the UK, which is predicted to cause the greatest fall in living standards for decades. But 5,500 miles away on the island nation of Sri Lanka, a cost-of-living crisis has already struck hard.

Some 22 million inhabitants are currently facing the worst economic crisis in the country’s 74-year history. The consequences are dire—headline inflation has skyrocketed to 29.8%, meaning ordinary families are unable to afford basic goods. A chr

I never know what I’m going to be doing from one day to the next. I do sometimes have things planned ahead, but with regard to broadcasting, that’s always very ad-hoc. The phone will go and it will be the BBC or Times radio or Sky News, or one of the broadcasters, asking if I’ll come on TV or on radio and talk about [a] topic, and that can be really unpredictable.

This week, I’ve done radio segments at half five in the morning; I’ve done television at 10 at night; I’ve been to Edinburgh to do N

At around noon on Thursday, the House of Commons was doing what it does best. The benches were packed, the exchanges were combative. The place was full of the sound and fury of adversarial politics. On all sides, MPs were engaged, not least because what was being discussed was so crucial to the lives of the millions of families they represent.

The new prime minister, Liz Truss, was just two days into the job. But that counted for nothing. The Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, conscious that few policy st

As head of comment for The Press and Journal in Scotland, Alex Watson manages the paper’s entire output of opinion pieces, including a large team of columnists and guest writers. Outside of work, she also produces a podcast about the legendary documentary presenter, Louis Theroux. It’s a lot.

The Press and Journal, owned by DC Thomson, is technically a regional paper, but it covers a giant patch. Looking after the north of Scotland, it stretches all the way from Aberdeen to the Highland islands

For Matthew, the Queen’s death is double edged: “There’s cause for celebration in the sense that it might kickstart the end of the monarchy – but it’s frustrating because I daren’t say that to anyone but my wife!”

He admits crafting several Facebook posts arguing that the death of Queen Elizabeth II ought to preempt the UK’s transition to a republic but has shied away from pressing send. “A lot of people seem very emotional at the moment and I don’t want to be the target of a massive pile-on by

In any crisis, messaging matters. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, ordinary citizens have navigated a plethora of public health messages, as authorities encourage people to alter their behaviours to contain the spread of disease. At times, this messaging can feel overwhelming and confusing, with governments and health bodies themselves having to make tough decisions on the tone through which these messages should be delivered to us.

Recent research led by Durham University suggests that there

Farmer Ali Baksh stands on an embankment and points across the flooded landscape of Sindh province towards the spot where his fields used to be. He is sheltering in a makeshift camp accessible only by boat with more than 2,000 others forced to flee their homes when the floods hit.

“There was no rain a few months back and there was a severe shortage of water for crops. We prayed for rain. But when it rained, we became homeless and our crops were destroyed. We have nothing left … just oceans on r

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is transforming. The once traditional, conservative, Arab nation welcomed a new leader in 2017, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, sometimes known as MBS. Under his tenure, MBS revealed an ambitious new strategy for the country’s future embodied under the name ‘Vision 2030’. This radical policy has three main objectives—grow an “ambitious nation”, produce a “thriving economy”, and stimulate a “vibrant society”. In practice, this means diversifying the nation’s economy away

In 2020, Apple announced during the launch of the iPhone 12 that it would no longer provide a power adapter within the packaging of its new smartphones. The company argued that removing both the power adapters and wired earphones from its packaging would significantly reduce the size of its iPhone boxes, which according to them would mean “70% more devices can fit on a shipping pallet”, and “reduce yearly carbon emissions by 2 million metric tons”.

This is not the first time Apple have set a tr

Durham’s Students’ Union has released the manifestos of prospective candidates hoping to win a sabbatical role within the SU for the next academic year. This year’s elections will see a competitive Presidential battle with five candidates fighting for that role, but will also see three sabbatical positions go uncontested, with Re-Open Nominations (RON) the only dissenting option.

This year’s voting commenced on 23rd February and will continue until midday on 2nd March, when the results will be