By Alex Dittrich, Senior Lecturer in Zoology, Nottingham Trent University
Kat Hamill, Senior Lecturer in Zoology, Nottingham Trent University
Around this time of year, elaborate decorations featuring ghosts, vampires, zombies, witches and werewolves adorn front doors, gardens and shop windows across the country.
But you may be surprised to hear that in the animal world, there are many real-life creatures with similar tendencies to these fictional characters of our Halloween nightmares.
The southern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus) howls at the moon to defend its territory and attract mates, a little like werewolves…
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By Colin Nolden, Senior Research Fellow, Energy Institute, University of Sheffield
The UK government has announced that standing charges will be removed from gas bills and that it intends to also remove them from electricity bills. Standing charges are a fixed fee paid by every household, regardless of how much they use. Under the proposed change, the costs they cover would instead be covered through unit rates, thereby ensuring that the costs are spread more fairly among those using more or less gas.
The budget also extends a temporary suspension of VAT on electricity and introduces a one-off payment of £100 to households in council tax bands A-D. Together, these…
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By Gemma Ware, Head of Audio, The Conversation UK, The Conversation
Extreme pornography has become readily available on mainstream porn sites. Listen to expert Clare McGlynn on The Conversation Weekly on what this is doing to the sex lives of young people.
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By Andrew Ibi, Programme Leader BA Fashion: Design & Communication, School of Art and Creative Industries, Liverpool John Moores University
British fashion has always been shaped by creative exchange: forged inside melting pots, authored by radical style communities – and often fuelled by class and migration.
Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed the distinct emergence of a new genre centred on the Black British experience. It has seen its designers drawing on their unique histories, the most prominent of which are Martine Rose, Priya…
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By Adrian Schoone, Associate Professor, School of Education, Auckland University of Technology
Sweeping changes to the curriculum, NCEA and school governance have divided the education sector, all while major challenges remain overlooked.
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By Amnesty International
Responding to the conviction and ten-year imprisonment of Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha today by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad, Yasmine Ahmed, Senior Director for Regional Human Rights Impact at Amnesty International, said: “These convictions are an indictment of Pakistan’s justice system. This was not just Imaan and Hadi on trial, it was a […] The post Pakistan: Terrorism conviction of human rights lawyers an indictment of justice system appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Human Rights Watch
More than three months have passed since plainclothes security officers arrested pro-democracy activist Clovis Kakule Mutsuva on July 18 in North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Mutsuva, 32, is awaiting trial before a military court on several charges. Click to expand Image Clovis Kakule Mutsuva. © Private The Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan-origin armed group active in eastern Congo, has been carrying out deadly attacks in the North Kivu city of Beni, near the Ugandan border. Mutsuva and other activists used videos and public speeches to…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Children on their way to school in the West Bank, September 16, 2026. © 2026 John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded on October 14 that Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of persecution against Palestinian children. Their findings recognize an important dimension that has not been given enough attention: children in the West Bank have been deliberately targeted—not just because of their nationality, race or ethnicity but also due to their age—in attacks causing serious bodily and mental harm. After making…
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By Roi Zur, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex
Eitan Tzelgov, Associate Professor, University of East Anglia
The Israeli political system presently revolves around three blocs jockeying for position after the election failed to provide a decisive outcome.
Based on the latest figures – which are likely to change as absentee ballots and army votes are counted – the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, currently leads a coalition based around his own party, Likud, which will have 26 seats in the new parliament, or Knesset.
Read more: Israel…
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By Andrew Payne, Senior Lecturer in Foreign Policy and Security, City St George's, University of London
When voters enter polling booths across the United States next week to cast their ballots in the midterm elections, very few will be thinking explicitly about foreign policy.
In a recent survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, many people across the political spectrum named inflation and the cost of living as the issue which would affect the way they planned to vote…
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