By Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Politics; Director, Lau China Institute, King's College London
Zhang Youxia, a top military general and vice-chairman of the body in overall command of China’s military forces, was removed from office on January 23. His departure means all but one of the seven members of the central military commission (CMC), which is chaired by Chinese president Xi Jinping, have lost their positions in the last three years.
Xi has an established record of purging senior officials. Back at the dawn of his tenure as head of the Chinese Communist party in the early 2010s, there were a series…
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By Angus Nurse, Professor of Law and Environmental Justice, Anglia Ruskin University
Our perception of animal welfare as a nation of animal lovers is out of step with policy and law that still allows differential animal treatment.
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By Kay Ritchie, Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology, University of Lincoln
Katie Gray, Associate Professor, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading
The UK government’s proposed reforms to policing in England and Wales signal an increase in the use of facial recognition technology. The number of live facial recognition vans is set to rise from ten to 50, making them available to every police force in both countries.
The plan pledges £26 million for a national facial recognition system, and £11.6 million on live facial recognition technology.…
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By Robert Dover, Professor of Intelligence and National Security & Dean of Faculty, University of Hull
A diplomatic row is brewing over US plans to involve agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its security arrangements for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
The city’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, described ICE as “a militia that kills,” adding that: “They’re not welcome in Milan.” While this specific deployment has created a strong political debate in Italy, it can be seen as an element in a wider recalibration of European security.
This is due to…
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By Karina Pavlisa, Lecturer in International Business Management, University of Bristol
It’s often said that millions of people in the UK don’t save enough – with one in ten adults saving no money at all. That figure from a 2025 report from the Financial Conduct Authority regulator came with a warning that it’s leaving people walking a financial tightrope.
The UK household saving ratio (the proportion of income available but not spent) stood…
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By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation
I don’t think my new year’s resolution – to take a lunch break every day – would much impress the cast of Industry. In the BBC show’s fourth series, the idea that work might pause politely at midday feels almost quaint, like a relic of a slower moral universe.
As our reviewer Peter Watt, who researches the philosophy of work culture, explains, when Industry first aired in 2020 it seemed ostensibly to be a drama about a recent cohort of ambitious young graduates entering the cut-throat world of investment banking. But as the opening season unfolded and its central characters were established,…
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By Helen Margetts, Professor of Society and the Internet, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, University of Oxford
Cosmina Liana Dorobantu, Professor in Practice, London School of Economics and Political Science
When Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web, he articulated his dream for the internet to unlock creativity and collaboration on a global scale. But he also wondered “whether it will be a technical dream or a legal nightmare”. History has answered that question with a troubling “both”.
…
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By Hollie Booth, Senior Research Fellow, Conservation Science, University of Oxford; Bangor University
More than one-third of sharks and rays are now threatened with extinction, making them among the most imperilled vertebrates on Earth. Why? Overfishing, both as targeted catches for their valuable fins, meat, gills and liver oil, and as bycatch in nets and lines set for other fish.
In late 2025, governments took sweeping action for sharks and rays. At a global conference on wildlife trade in Uzbekistan more than 70 shark and ray species received new…
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By Aldo Zammit Borda, Reader, City St George's, University of London
A new typology helps explain why perpetrators target reproduction and why international law has been so slow to hold them accountable.
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By Louise Thompson, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester
Matt Goodwin has been announced as Reform’s candidate in a byelection for what should have been a safe Labour seat in Manchester.
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