By Kale Sniderman, Honorary Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
Chris Mays, Lecturer in Palaeontology, University College Cork; Natural History Museum Vienna
Greg Jordan, Associate Professor, University of Tasmania
Plants are crucial for life on land. The energy they capture from the Sun underpins the existence of almost all land-based animals, fungi and bacteria.
In particular, flowering plants – the most productive and diverse group of land plants – dominate most ecosystems on Earth. There are at least 350,000 species, and they’re vital for capturing carbon dioxide from the air.
Over millions of years, flowering plants have evolved complex relationships with…
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By Emily Hay, Research Assistant in Scottish Literature, University of Glasgow
Craig Lamont, Senior Lecturer in Scottish Studies, University of Glasgow
In July 2025 a literary scandal erupted when The Observer journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou claimed that Raynor Winn, author of the award-winning memoir The Salt Path, had omitted significant facts and invented key parts of her story. This much-loved account of Winn’s transformative and healing coastal walk with her terminally ill husband after they lost their home, had recently been made into a film.
In her article Hadjimatheou maintained that the details of how Winn and her husband lost their home and…
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By Joseph Downing, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Politics, Aston University
Across France, school students have taken to the streets to protest about teacher shortages, dilapidated school buildings and long school days.
While the tradition of student protest has long roots in France, the country’s current fiscal crisis combined with entrenched structural problems with teacher recruitment,…
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By Simon Clarke, Associate Professor in Cellular Microbiology, University of Reading
September flu activity was higher than in the past four winters, and the main H1N1 strain has drifted from the one in this year’s vaccine.
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By Kate Whitman, Research Fellow, University of Portsmouth
Alan Leonard, Principal Lecturer in Economics, University of Portsmouth
Helen Thompson-Whiteside, Associate Professor of Marketing and Society, University of Portsmouth
Some councils are restricting advertising for carbon-intensive forms of consumption in publicly controlled spaces to avoid undermining health or environmental goals.
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By Chris Tuck, Reader in Strategic Studies, King's College London
Russia’s drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s population and infrastructure continue to dominate coverage of the conflict. But on the ground, Ukraine has been making significant, if still limited, gains.
In mid-September, Ukraine formally announced the existence of Operation Vivaldi, which has retaken territory near Lyman and disrupted a Russian advance toward the fortified…
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By Ross Anderson, Associate Professor of Natural History, University of Oxford
Orin Lole Durbin, PhD Student, Geosciences, Virginia Tech
The question of when animals first evolved is one that has confounded scientists since the time of Charles Darwin. Studying rocks in north Wales in the mid-18th century, Darwin found the sudden first appearance of animal shells and skeletons in layers dating back over 500 million years perplexing. He had predicted a long history of evolution, with animals slowly gaining complexity through time, rather than this apparent instantaneous appearance of complex animals.
The sudden appearance of complex animals has led scientists to argue that animals must have a “hidden history”, a period…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Participants at the international Women's Day rally in Almaty, Kazakhstan, March 8, 2022. © 2022 Stanislav Beketov During its October 6 review by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Kazakhstan pledged new legislation to make domestic violence a standalone crime – a timely commitment. Now the government should turn words into action.On September 23, Zhazira Adauova, a mother of two, died after her ex-husband stabbed her 16 times in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital. Zhazira’s family told the media she had repeatedly…
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By Amnesty International
BERLIN, 13 October 2026 – This year’s Human Rights Award of Amnesty International Germany goes to the Palestinian lawyer Khaled Quzmar, in recognition of his longstanding commitment to defending the rights of children in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory. The award carries a prize of €20,000. An internationally recognised expert on children’s rights, Khaled Quzmar has played a […] The post Palestinian children’s rights lawyer Khaled Quzmar receives Amnesty Human Rights Award 2026 appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Amnesty International
When Africa Corps officially began operations in Mali in June 2025, few people held out hope that it would help alleviate the suffering of civilians in Mali, caused on the one hand by armed groups in Azawad and members from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), but also by the army […] The post In Mali, from the Wagner Group to Africa Corps: Will Impunity Continue? appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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