Incredible Bansky in Ukraine

 

See the other graffiti he's made in different Ukrainian cities:

Bansky-Ukraine

”Save Gas for a Safe Winter” Plan

 Here you have a really interesting article with questions and answers on a topic we are all interested in.

Save gas for a safe winter to read it.

Speaking in tongues: the many benefits of bilingualism

 We live in a world of great linguistic diversity. More than half of the world’s population grows up with more than one language. There are, on the other hand, language communities that are monolingual, typically some parts of the English-speaking world.

In this case, bilingualism or multilingualism can be seen as an extraordinary situation – a source of admiration and worry at the same time. But there are communities where bilingualism or multilingualism are the norm – for example in regions of Africa. A Cameroonian, for example, could speak Limbum and Sari, both indigenous languages, plus Ewondo, a lingua franca, plus English or French, the official languages, plus Camfranglais, a further lingua franca used between anglophone and francophone Cameroonians.

On a smaller scale, we all know families where bilingualism or multilingualism are the norm, because the parents speak different languages or because the family uses a language different from that of the community around them.

How difficult is it for a child to grow up in such an environment? And what are bilingual children capable of? Well, they are capable of quite a lot, even at a very young age. They can understand and produce expressions in more than one language, they know who to address in which language, they are able to switch very fast from one language to the other.

Read the complete article in 'The Conversation':

Benefits of bilingualism

The people who keep the refugee trains running out of Ukraine

  Read this impressive article in The Guardian about how people are taken by train to less dangerous places in Ukraine. 

Click here: The people who keep the refugee trains running out of Ukraine

Ukraine war: Putin has redrawn the world - but not the way he wanted

Vladimir's Putin's invasion of Ukraine has changed the world. We are living in new and more dangerous times - the post-Cold War era that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall is over.

Quentin Sommerville, one of the BBC's most experienced war reporters walked through the wreckage in Kharkiv recently and said of the Russian bombardment: "If these tactics are unfamiliar to you, then you haven't been paying attention."

If you want to have a very good overview of the history of the last few decades, read this very interesting article by Allan Little published in BBC news. It'll help you undertstand what has led us to this conflict.

Ukraine war: history overview_BBC news

Sting: "Stop the war!"

 All of us love our children. Stop the war.

Sting_Russians

Colouring book salutes Nigeria's inspiring women

A Nigerian woman and her daughter have published a colouring book featuring prominent Nigerian women.

Notable and Notorious Nigerian Women is the brainchild of Nkei Oruche, a multi-disciplinary creative and head of the Afro Urban Society based in San Francisco, her nine-year-old daughter Ziora, and a Nigeria-based illustrator Amina Gimba.

The book profiles a series of women from various walks of life, including the first Nigerian woman to fly an airplane and the female doctor who treated the first Ebola patient.

"A colouring book was a way to make it more accessible to so many different people," Ms Oruche told the BBC's Focus on Africa.

Listen to the full interview from BBC Focus on Africa. When you get to the webpage, click in this section to hear the interview:

Airbnb is Setting Up 100,000 Refugees From Ukraine With Free Housing

 Some good things are taking place in the middle of this terrible drama and people all over the world are trying to help in any way to the Ukranians who have lost everything, including their country.

This is just one example of this solidarity: Airbnb_Ukranian refugees

War in Ukraine: Live-streaming music from a Kharkiv basement

Life continuous even if it has to be in a bunker.

Watch this BBC video in which a musician explains what they are doing in the recently attacked city of Kharkiv to stay alive. There's music, there's hope.

BBC_news_Ukraine 

Moscow police detain children for laying flowers at Ukrainian embassy

 Freedom, oh freedom ...

Five children aged seven to 11 with peace signs held for hours while two women face trial on unspecified charges

Police in Moscow detained two women and five children who wanted to lay flowers at the Ukrainian embassy.

Photographs of their detention showed the children holding a poster saying “No to War.”

Read the whole article here: Children arrested_The Guardian

Have we really learnt anything after the wars that devastated Europe last century?

 Although many refused to believe that this could become true, it has just happened. The war against European freedom, democracy and our welfare society has broken out. 

Or maybe there is still hope and Russian people don't want a new Tsar. Read this interesting article:

‘We don’t want this’: Russians react to the Ukraine invasion

People on the streets of Moscow express anger and a sense of hopelessness after Putin’s move

(...)

Yet, sensing that a genuine large-scale pushback against war might be Ukraine’s best bet, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, on Thursday morning urged Russians to speak up.

“If the Russian authorities don’t want to sit down with us to discuss peace, maybe they will sit down with you.”

 This field near Hayle in west Cornwall has already been harvested, but not all the produce met supermarket standards and so some was left unpicked. This is where Duncan and her team of volunteers come in, working down the rows, peeling back the leaves of plants that have been left behind, hoping to find small but perfectly formed cauliflowers still tucked deep inside.

They are resurrecting the ancient practice of gleaning – harvesting surplus crops to redistribute to those in need. It was common from biblical times up until the 18th century, when landowners began closing off land and restricting access to fields.

...

Read this interesting article published in The Guardian about this old/new way to help the needed. Would you do it?

Ghost village emerges in Spain as drought empties reservoir

 We are maybe happy with the nice weather we have in Spain, but drought is becoming a real problem.

A ghost village that has emerged as drought has nearly emptied a dam on the Spanish-Portuguese border is drawing crowds of tourists with its eerie, grey ruins.

With the reservoir at 15% of its capacity, details of a life frozen in 1992, when the Aceredo village in Spain’s north-western Galicia region was flooded to create the Alto Lindoso reservoir, are being revealed once more.

“It’s as if I’m watching a movie. I have a feeling of sadness,” said 65-year-old pensioner Maximino Pérez Romero, from A Coruña. “My feeling is that this is what will happen over the years due to drought and all that, with climate change.”

Read the whole article in The Guardian clicking here: Drought in Spain

An interview with Sidney Poitier

 This is a Fresh Air weekend podcast with an interview done to Sidney Poitier some years ago. 

Very interesting indeed!

His part takes the first 25 minutes.

Pompeii - Life and Death in a Roman Town, by Mary Beard

 I recommend that you watch this lively BBC documentary about Pompeii by Professor Mary Beard. Even if you aren't specially keen on history or archeology, you'll find it really interesting and catchy!

Pompeii

Sidney Poitier: The actor who broke down Hollywood's racial barriers

 Read this interesting article about the first black actor to be awarded the Best Actor Oscar. He also became a symbol against racism.

Sidney Poitier

"If I'm remembered for having done a few good things," he once said, "and if my presence here has sparked some good energies, that's plenty."