By Daniel Alge, Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Criminal Justice, Brunel University of London
Justice secretary David Lammy has announced one of the most significant changes to criminal justice in England and Wales in decades, by scrapping the use of jury trials for most offences that carry a likely jail sentence of less than three years.
Under the proposals, only the most serious offences such as murder, robbery and rape would continue to be tried by a jury. Most other cases would be heard by a judge alone. The reforms will also include creating new “swift courts”…
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By Alexandra Palombi, Professor in Occupational Therapy, Department of Health Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London
When actor Christina Applegate recently told her followers on Instagram that her legs were “busted” because stress makes her multiple sclerosis (MS) worse, many people with the condition immediately recognised the feeling.
Her comment summed up something researchers have been studying for decades and people with MS have been describing for even longer: stress, even from everyday situations, can trigger symptoms or make existing ones flare.
An…
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By Johnny Parr, Senior Lecturer, Sport and Exercise Science with expertise in psychophysiology and motor control, Manchester Metropolitan University
Most (72%) people with dyspraxia report high anxiety about falling – yet they’re not even mentioned in fall prevention guidelines.
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By Naomi Lott, Lecturer in Law, University of Reading
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ recent budget included an investment of £18 million to be spent, over two years, on up to 200 playgrounds across England.
This new investment is the first significant policy step towards supporting children’s play since 2008, when the then Labour government introduced the first national play strategy. That strategy was scrapped just two…
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By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham
Argyro Kartsonaki, Senior Researcher, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg
Thirty years ago, on December 14 1995, the presidents of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia signed the Dayton agreement. The treaty ended three years of bloodshed in what was, at the time, the largest war in Europe since 1945.
This distinction is now held by the Russian war against Ukraine. The conflict which began in February 2022 has already lasted longer than the one in Bosnia-Herzegovina and has reportedly led to the death and displacement…
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By Katarina Båth, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature, Lund University
Ellen Howley, Assistant Professor in the School of English, DCU, Dublin City University
Emily Hauser, Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Exeter
Jenni Ramone, Associate Professor of Postcolonial and Global Literatures, Nottingham Trent University
Lewis Mondal, Lecturer in African American Literatures, Royal Holloway, University of London
Martha McGill, Research Associate, University of Cambridge; University of Warwick
Nada Saadaoui, PhD Candidate in English Literature, University of Cumbria
Olumayokun Ogunde, PhD Candidate in English, City St George's, University of London
Scarlett Baron, Associate Professor in Department of English, UCL
Tom Emanuel, PhD Candidate, English Literature, University of Glasgow
Your 20s can be an intense decade. In the words of Taylor Swift, those years are “happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time”. Many of us turn to literature to guide us through the highs and the lows of this formative time. We asked 20 of our academic experts to recommend the book that steered them through those ten years. This is the second half of that list, so make sure you’ve read our first…
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By Cormac Cleary, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for Climate and Society, Dublin City University
Wolves are returning across Europe – but not to the UK and Ireland, where public support is lukewarm at best. Ecologists point out their benefits, while farmers worry about their livestock. But another influence on public opinion is rarely discussed: Hollywood’s obsession with the wolf as a monster.
This is a particular issue in places where wolves are native yet have been extinct for centuries. Though wolves once roamed across Britain and Ireland, for most people there today they exist only in stories or…
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By Dalia Alazzeh, Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, University of the West of Scotland
Shahzad Uddin, Director, Centre for Accountability and Global Development, University of Essex
Gaza is going through one of the most severe economic collapses the world has seen in modern times. According to a UN report published in late November, the average income per person there is now just US$161 (£122) a year. Before 2007, when Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza after Hamas won elections and took control of the enclave, it was close to US$2,000.
This income drop has happened slowly over many years. But since the war between Israel and Hamas…
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By Martin B. Richards, Research Professor in Archaeogenetics, Department of Physical and Life Sciences, University of Huddersfield
The question of when people first arrived in the land mass that now comprises much of Australasia has long been a source of scientific debate.
Many Aboriginal people believe they have lived on the land since time immemorial. But until the advent of radiocarbon dating techniques, many western scholars thought they had arrived not long before European contact 250 years ago.
Now a
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By Zoe Staines, Senior Lecturer in Law and Social Policy, The University of Queensland
Francis Markham, ARC DECRA Fellow, Australian National University
Hannah McGlade, Associate Professor in Law, Curtin University
Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney
The government’s laws cancelling social security payments for some accused of crimes turn a safety net into a weapon for punishing people.
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