This space is usually reserved for light-hearted reports, often uplifting or tongue-in-cheek articles about plastics in the world. Considering the violence and death only a 20-hour drive east from our editorial offices, such a story doesn’t seem fitting today. There is a war on.

This is not the end of smiles and laughter, just a respite, one we hope is as brief as possible. Even those facing the Russian war machine – the everyday people now fighting for their country and their lives – are bound to occasionally chuckle: gallows humour is still humour.

Suffice it to say that right now, we don’t feel like joking around. There are better ways to help. Here’s how we, and you, can. For those who read German, our parent company, the KI Group, has started a donation drive here. Or you can give to the charity of your choice to support the people in Ukraine.