Our daily expedition around the world

🇷🇺 Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his commitment to the Ukraine war in an annual televised event. During a four-hour press conference, which marked the first time Putin has fielded questions from journalists or the public since invading Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian president took a hardline stance calling for the “denazification” of Ukraine and the country’s unconditional surrender. The address came days after Putin announced plans to run for a fifth term in office when Russia holds elections next March. Separately, the EU agreed yesterday to officially open membership talks with Ukraine after bypassing objections from Hungary.

🌎🦟 Dengue fever cases in the Western Hemisphere reached their highest level in recorded history. Over 4 million cases of dengue, which causes a severe flu-like illness that can be fatal if left untreated, have been reported throughout the Americas and Caribbean this year, surpassing the previous record of 3.2 million cases in 2019. Rising temperatures are extending the habitat of mosquitoes farther north and south in addition to increasing the speed the virus develops inside the mosquito, leading to higher viral loads, a higher probability of transmission, and longer seasons.

🇪🇺 An EU-funded project launched an encyclopedia of historical European smells. Odeuropa is a research project created in 2020 that uses AI to identify smell-related aspects of historical texts and images from 16th- to early 20th-century Europe. Its Encyclopedia of Smell History and Heritage contains 120 scents across a wide range of categories, including car interiors, the plague, love, and tea.