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Cultural misunderstandings, systemic barriers, restrictive policies, inconsistent and subjective views around standards and requirements have prevented families from minoritised ethnic backgrounds from successfully adopting. Such barriers have led to a reluctance to adopt and a lack of trust in the adoption system. In this article, the author argues that these barriers arise from cognitive bias which affects decision-making in adoption. The BRAC2eD model for de-biasing is introduced to support adoption assessments of individuals and families from minoritised ethnic groups. It recognises that the process of assessing prospective adopters is complex and offers strategies to de-bias. In this model, social workers are encouraged to acknowledge the existence of bias, engage in de-biasing nudges, internal conversations and reflexive processes that support challenging bias, utilise cognitive resources towards de-biasing, and change and determine proportionate decisions. The contention for appropriate language around Black, Asian, Mixed ethnic and Other minoritised groups is acknowledged. The author uses 'minoritised ethnic groups' as a preferred term based on her own identity, however she appreciates that those referred to may have their own preferred terms. With that in mind, social workers must understand cultural and sub-cultural differences and preferences without homogenising the people they work with.

In the first part of the article, the author analyses the last phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he terms "ex-communication". A characteristic of this phase is not only virus", but also the irrevocable transition to "living with the virus" but also the retroactive erasure of potentially valuable lessons from the pandemic for dealing with other crises. After outlining a new legal understanding of climate emergency in the second part of the text, the author concludes by focusing on the global warming debate in the 1970s. In doing so, he posits that we must search for the origin of all forms of "climate delay" (Lamb et al.) in the confluence of two contradictory tendencies during that period: the determination to stop global warming early and the techno-utopian desire to prevent the onset of an ice age by deliberately warming the atmosphere. The irony is that the caution offered as a way out of the contradiction not only failed to mitigate climate change but ultimately prevented the onset of an ice age for the foreseeable future. Such clear signals of the Anthropocene present us with a new choice, i.e. a choice between two versions of the self-evident, two versions of the impossible.

In the article, the author investigates the basics of countering the threats to the information and communication environment. Currently, the information and communication environment continues to form, which determines the presence of certain threats classified by the author into regulated through socio-cultural mechanisms (information inequality, cyber disorders) or legal mechanisms (the use of destructive information, information warfare, information crime, information terrorism). The development of legal means of countering these threats is becoming a necessary direction of the law-making activity of the Russian Federation today. It is shown that the legal regulation of relations on the Internet is carried out on the basis of the norms of the information legislation of Russia. Part of the legal relations is regulated by the norms of international law, which is related to the global nature of this computer network. The vital activity of a person, society, and the state is likely to be significantly more vulnerable. Today, it is necessary to develop legal means not to counteract, but to counter threats to the information and communication environment. Such legal means should be able to protect the interests of a person, society, and the state as effectively as possible.

The article analyzes a set of problems related to Sweden's planned accession to NATO. The author examines the impact on this process of various factors, both foreign and domestic, analyzes the processes of public opinion formation (pages dedicated to the annual representative security conference in January 2023 in Stockholm). Among them, Turkish-Swedish relations occupy a special place, since Turkey, as a NATO member, puts forward to Sweden a number of conditions dictated by the interests of the Turkish Republic itself and affecting Sweden's immigration policy. They concern both the fate of the Kurdish community in Sweden, and the willingness or unwillingness of the Swedish authorities to adjust their actions against Muslim communities in this northern country under pressure from Turkey (in this regard, the immediate and long-term consequences of such provocative acts as the public burning of the Koran in Stockholm are being considered). The article also shows how the topical problems of Sweden's foreign policy affect domestic political processes. The author comes to the conclusion that it is possible to analyze the problem of Sweden's accession to NATO only in the context of analyzing the processes in the entire system of modern international relations

The article addresses the reforms of border security, migration and asylum policies in times of recent crises in the European Union. The author turns to the analysis of the refugee crisis and closing borders during pandemic in the framework of the «failing forward» approach, which combines the ideas of both liberal intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism. Describing the process of reforming the Schengen Border Code and the Dublin Regulation, the article demonstrates how the Commission's ambitious initiatives to promote communitarian method of governance were reduced in the Council to a minimum common denominator. These decisions contributed to the temporary settlement of migration and border security problems, which were aggravated by crisis. They promoted the process of European integration to a certain extent, but did not guarantee from future events of force majeure. The cases of refugee crisis and pandemic allow to prove the author's argument that a new Schengen reform was required to legitimize restrictions of citizens' trips. Concentrating on the analysis of this new reform, the author comes to conclusion that the EU's choice of an intergovernmental way of Schengen governance does not ensure success in case of a new crisis. Thereby the logic of "failing forward" will be reproduced with a high probability.

The article considers preferential economic regimes operating in the territory of the countries of the European Union and the UK. The research identifies the features of the spatial socio-economic development of European countries. The study reveals that the preferential regimes are not only the concept of proper legal regulation. We developed an integrated approach to the analysis of preferential regimes as an interconnected and meaningful unity of norms and rules for the purposeful development of economic activity associated with the historical path of the country's development. The paper demonstrates the influence of preferential regimes on the development of individual sectors of the economy. Based on the study of the European countries' experience, the author concludes that the effectiveness of preferential economic regimes is evaluated very critically, and public authorities often implement formal and incomplete evaluation procedures. The results can be used for attracting new participants to special zones, improving the criteria for selecting territories, residents, and practices for the formation of management bodies for special territories for the development of national regulation. The author believes that certain elements in the experience of foreign European countries may be of significant interest for Russia.

In the third millennium, family policies have become the most dynamic part of welfare state policies in developed countries and the forerunners of welfare state development in developing countries. They remain, however, an important dimension of social policy diversification, among both developed and developing countries. Degree and patterns of overall welfare state development, labour market conditions, demographic characteristics, family and gender cultures, political legacies and political cultures – all these factors contribute to shaping which and how family issues are framed as policy-relevant issues. The author addresses some of the research challenges that lie ahead in family policy research, namely: (1) the conceptual and methodological challenges deriving from the enlargement of research, both national and comparative, across an increasingly diversified spectrum of countries; (2) the dual challenge of the diversification of family forms and of international mobility; (3) the interaction between the labour market and family policies and their impact on social class differences; (4) the differential impact of social policies across the social spectrum and diversified family forms; and (5) the multilevel making and governance of family policies and the impact on intra-country differences. According to the author, these challenges are also the consequence of the intersectional character of family policies.

This study investigates media coverage of Afghan refugees by English-language media in Pakistan and explores how coverage is shaped by a shift in the political stance of the Pakistani state and establishment towards Afghanistan. The author examines how Afghan refugees, their forced repatriation from Pakistan, and the subsequent conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan were framed in both long-form and short-form media coverage over three years. Using Galtung's Peace and War Journalism Model to inform the Critical Discourse Analysis, this study finds that conflict-escalatory frames dominated media coverage, and media stance changed over time to reflect state policy on the forced repatriation of over three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Findings reveal that the coverage in all four publications was highly politicized and inflammatory, the voice of Afghan refugees was significantly missing from coverage, while the Pakistani government and military elite were predominantly used as news sources. Based on the findings, the author argues that pressures from the Pakistani state and military establishment are key reasons why media coverage of Afghan refugees frequently contained negative frames of terrorism and ethnonationalism. Sporadic employment of limited peace-oriented framing was, however, observed in some of the coverage.

In medieval iconography, one of the main properties of evil is its multiplicity and changeability. As we know from the works on medieval demonology published by Alexander Makhov, such fluidity of forms was often equated with disorder and contrasted with an orderly hierarchy of the sacred. The author demonstrates that this applied not only to demons, but also to figures of non-Christians, primarily Jews and Romans in scenes of the Passion of Christ. The author of the present article takes the case of the Fitzwarin Psalter, one of the most extraordinary manuscripts illuminated in England in the 14th century. He shows that the variations of forms and colors in the figures of demonized enemies of Christ were sometimes organized in the rhythmic sequences which gave disorder a partial ordering. However, even in images of saints, in which symmetry and hierarchy dominated for a long time, variations were constantly introduced. They complicated (made more "live") the static composition and led the viewer's gaze. These observations suggest that many of the transformations of markers of otherness that researchers have long noted should be seen not only as visual figures of evil, but also as particular instances of the desire for varietas characteristic of medieval aesthetics in general

"Lex TVN" is not a legal term, but a popular one referring to an amendment in 2021 of the Article of the Polish Broadcasting Act, providing for conditions of granting a broadcasting licence to a foreign owner. This, amendment conditioned the granting of the said licence to entities "whose registered office or address of residence is located in the Member State of the European Economic Area". The Polish TV company TVN did not meet this condition, being owned by the American Discovery Holding Company (now Warner Bros. Discovery). This amendment was put through the Sejm and the Senate, and then, in December 2021, was vetoed by the President. The author presents the turbulent fate of the unsuccessful modification, evoking violent political emotions, as reflected in the Polish digital media. He emphasises the rationale of the governing party and the opposition, expressed in the statements of politicians, and in articles and comments of journalists. In the conclusion, the author characterises the polarisation of political attitudes of Poles as the audience of channels promoting the position of the government (Polish Television TVP) or the opinions of the opposition (TVN). He also discusses the problem of the politicisation of law, and the pressure effected on the national law by interests of global corporations.

The article is about an issue of researching the autofiction genre as a phenomenon of modern literature. The interdisciplinary nature of the described phenomenon is substantiated, arguments are given in favor of the close relationship between literary theory, philosophy, history, psychology, sociology, narratology, ethnography, psychoanalysis in the works of the autofiction genre. Autofiction is presented as an experimental platform for obtaining new scientific knowledge in the field of various sciences. Author considers popular rules for creating works in the autofiction genre, such as demolition of the genre construction, "author's surrogate", "self-insertion", therapeutic effect, discussion of non-standard issues. Exceptions to the rules are given on the examples of the works by A. Sekisov "The God of Anxiety" and G.V. Vrublevskaya "Half of a suitcase, or Writers are not born writers": the lack of professional literary education of the author, the mixing of the autofiction genre with classical prose, etc., which do not affect the popularity of the authors and their literary works. The conclusion is made about the premature decision about the positive prospects for the development of the genre and the need to use interdisciplinary approaches in the study of autofiction as a phenomenon of modern literature.

Right-wing political parties have been significant actors in the political process in many European countries for the last two decades now. Their influence on the party-political landscape of Europe, including the electoral one, is explained by the fact that in the face of the challenges of globalization, many of these parties were able to qualitatively transform their discourse, involving the actualities of our time, adapting them to their own ideological platform. However, there are several facts that distinguish the British case of right-wing radicalism from the continental European one. The author studies the features of the discourse of the right-wing radicals of the Britain using the example of one of the officially registered right-wing parties – «For Britain» - and identifies the main elements of the discourse of this party in the context of globalization, immigration flows, the application of ideas of political correctness to practice. Despite the party leadership's decision in the summer of 2022 to terminate its existence, its ideas do not cease to influence large number of Britons. Finally, the author identifies, the main categories of nationalist discourse, and analyzes how they are instrumentally used by the "For Britain" party in constructing its ideology.

In her novel, Madeline Miller proposes reconstructing Circe's legends from classical sources by offering a feminine, even feminist, perspective on events. In the protagonist's account, the witch's history appears as a delineation from the despotic deities and a way of coming closer to the mortals which ultimately ammounts to abandoning her own condition. The central part of the novel starts from the story of Odissey and continues with events narrated in Telegony, poem which was dedicated to the son of Odysseus and Circe who unwillingly became the killer of his father. Although she follows the Homeric narrative in detail, the author sometimes relates critically to the literary model. The events told by Odysseus and Circe in a heroic or debunking form reveal their polivalence. In the extension of the Homeric narrative, the last part of the novel encompasses the events that occurred after the return to Itaca of Odysseus, unable to find fulfillment on his native lands because of his thirst for the unknown and adventures. The hero's image gradually darkens, the author accentuating his violence or his generalized suspicion. Reconstructing the events from Circe's perspective allows Madeline Miller to delineate from the Odyssey which she has followed scrupulously up to a certain point.

The author focuses on the visualization of the apocryphal legend of Abel's funeral. The legend is based on a mythological motif about a bird that taught people to bury the dead in the ground. It is known in Jewish and Muslim literature in different versions and is widespread in the Near East, Asia, the Caucasus; its variations were also recorded in the Arctic. The story of a bird who buried another bird and taught Adam and Eve what to do with the dead, passed into Christian literature from the Jewish sources and appeared in various texts. It was included in the popular in Russia "Tolkovaya Paleya", which said that the body of Abel remained incorruptible for 30 years, until two turtledoves sent by God flew to Adam and Eve – one died, and the second dug a hole and buried her. The whole story – the murder of Abel, the two birds and the funeral – was sometimes depicted in the iconography of the 17th century, also on the deacon doors of Russian iconostases. The author consideres the doors to the altar of the second half of the 17th century from the collection of the Pereslavl-Zalessky museum, where birds are not depicted, but the story is represented by three separate scenes.

While formally founded on a variety of values and rules, the enlargement of
the European Union (EU) has also been consistently influenced by
geopolitical considerations, including within the Western Balkans (WB). The
author particularly focuses on the Macedonian case in this regard, observing
it in the context of the enlargement policy?s diminished credibility, the
lack of progress towards fulfilling membership criteria, and more recently,
the complications caused by Russia?s invasion of Ukraine. Apart from the
veto imposed by Greece due to the naming dispute (which began in 2005),
Skopje?s progress towards EU accession was further hindered by additional
challenges related to democratic regression, state capture, and corruption.
However, even the change of government and the subsequent conclusion of the
Prespa Agreement with Athens in 2018 failed to result in the initiation of
EU accession negotiations, which were initially blocked by France and later
by Bulgaria. Meanwhile, concerns regarding the high degree of corruption
persisted, while Bulgarian bilateral demands became integrated into the
broader EU expectations from Skopje. The author concludes that the
Macedonian case is characterized by a significant degree of bilateral and
geopolitical considerations, further undermining the legitimacy and
objectives of the enlargement policy.