Ukraine 67 and World Society

Thursday 1st June 2023

Ukraine ... and World Society 2023

Contents

1 Positive value 14

A sense of kindness and justice

Growing up happy in China

2 World society

United Nations

News links from around the world

JPR Book Notes

3 The war in Ukraine

Sixty-six weeks in, Thursday 1st June 2023

The military situation

News items

Some of the items appearing below are from The Times … or, in the case of Sunday, from The Observer. “29, 1” indicates 29th May, 2023, page 1. Although not named, the work of the journalists is appreciated – indeed it is what I depend on. I buy the paper version but sometimes cite the online version (The Observer has open access but The Times does not.)

1 Positive value

The web page is:

Positive Value

A sense of kindness and justice

I finished the murder mystery last night and read the Acknowledgements:

“Thank you to my Mum … I hope that … there is a sense of kindness and justice running through [the book] and that comes from you. It comes as well … from your parents, my grandparents …”

Richard Osman. The Thursday Murder Club. Viking: 2020.

Growing up happy in China

Growing up happy: Longitudinal relations between children’s happiness and their social and academic functioning . in China

Yanwen Yu, Xinyin Chen, Dan Li, Jungsheng Liu & Fan Yang (China)

Happiness is valued as one of the most important goals in raising children, but what factors make children happy? Inspired by philosophical conceptions of ‘eudaimonia’ in life, we investigated how children’s social and academic functioning, including prosocial behaviors, peer preference, and academic achievement, may be related to happiness, over and above desire satisfaction. Participants included 2,144 children (initial ages of 9 and 10 years) in China. Two waves of longitudinal data were collected from multiple sources including self-reports, peer evaluations, and school records. Cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that prosocial behaviors, peer preference, and academic achievement predicted children’s self-reported happiness over a year, controlling for desire satisfaction. Bidirectional relations were found between peer-assessed happiness and prosocial behaviors, peer preference, and academic achievement. The results suggest that children’s happiness is linked to their social and academic functioning from middle childhood, contributing to a better understanding of the nature and development of happiness.

2 World society

United Nations

UN News: https://news.un.org/en/

  International Day of UN Peacekeepers

  https://www.un.org/en/observances/peacekeepers-day/messages?_gl=1*16uv2b8*_ga*MTIyMDYwMjE3Ni4xNjY0NTU2NTU1*_ga_TK9BQL5X7Z*MTY4NTUxNDI1MC4yNC4wLjE2ODU1MTQyNTAuMC4wLjA.

UN Security Council: https://press.un.org/en/content/security-council

  IAEA, Zaporizhzhia: https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15300.doc.htm

UN General Assembly:

  https://press.un.org/en/content/general-assembly/meetings-coverage

  2022 Annual Report: https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15295.doc.htm

  1946-2021: https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/sc_annual_reports

News links from around the world

China: https://www.globaltimes.cn/

  Space station: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202305/1291602.shtml

  Taiwan: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202305/1291649.shtml

  Other items: modernisation; Musk; Serbia; Africa; US trade war; environment

USA: https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Russia: https://tass.com/

UK: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

France: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/; https://www.lemonde.fr/ (in French)

India: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Japan: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

Nigeria: https://guardian.ng/

Brazil: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/; https://www.folha.uol.com.br/ (in Portuguese)

...

JPR Book Notes

https://www.prio.org/journals/jpr/booknotes

Mueller, John (2021) The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency.

https://www.prio.org/journals/jpr/booknotes/3187

3 The war in Ukraine

The military situation

Sixty-six weeks in, Thursday 1st June 2023

Russia, Tass … government:

https://tass.com/

https://tass.com/politics/1626133 :

“US’ denial of support for Ukraine’s attacks in Russia ‘not worth a penny’ — ambassador”

http://government.ru/en/news/

http://government.ru/en/news/48600/ :

“Strategic session on integrating the new regions” [in Ukraine]

Ukraine, Kyiv Post … Kyiv Independent … president:

https://www.kyivpost.com/

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/17726 :

“… 90% of missiles failed …”

https://kyivindependent.com/ :

https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-us-provides-more-air-defense-following-upsurge-in-russian-attacks/ ;

https://kyivindependent.com/judicial-reform-has-mixed-results-as-good-candidates-are-vetoed-without-clear-reasons/

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/all

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/svit-znaye-yaku-fundamentalnu-rol-nash-morskij-zernovij-eksp-83289 :

“The world is aware of a fundamental role of our maritime grain exports for food security - address by the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy”

BBC: War in Ukraine:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60525350.

The mothers going to get their children back from Russia

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65641304

ISW: Interactive Time Lapse Map of Russia’s War on Ukraine

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/733fe90805894bfc8562d90b106aa895

https://www.understandingwar.org/ :

May 31, 2023. The Russian military command has likely ordered Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov’s forces to begin offensive operations in Ukraine following the withdrawal of Wagner Group forces from Bakhmut. Kadyrov claimed on May 31 that Chechen forces received a new order and assumed responsibility over the Donetsk Oblast frontline. Kadyrov claimed that Chechen units need to start “active combat activities” and “liberate a series of settlements.” Kadyrov added that Chechen “Akhmat” Special Forces (Spetsnaz) and the “Sever-Akhmat” Special Purpose Regiment transferred to the Marinka direction southwest of Donetsk City. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) also claimed that assault detachments of the 5th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 1st Army Corps and Akhmat Spetsnaz conducted offensive operations in the Marinka direction. Kadyrov noted that the Russian military command ordered Russian, Rosgvardia (Russian National Guard), and Chechen Akhmat forces to begin offensive actions along the frontline in Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts as well. Kadyrov claimed that these units have already begun tactical preparations for these offensive actions and claimed that “Akhmat” units’ offensive operations began before Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive. ISW has observed no indications of Chechen offensive operations in Zaporizhia or Kherson as of this writing.

Johnson’s Russia List:

https://russialist.org/ ;

https://russialist.org/the-kremlin-finally-puts-together-an-ideology/ ;

Russia Matters:

https://www.russiamatters.org/ ;

https://www.losalamoshistory.org/store/p265/Doomed_to_Cooperate.html

RUSI

https://rusi.org/ ;

https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/turning-page-saudi-arabias-new-diplomatic-approach

THE END