By Adriana Marin, Lecturer in International Relations, Coventry University
Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, Russia endured a period of violent criminal lawlessness known as the “wild 90s”. Organised crime spiked, with gangs taking control of banks, factories and other lucrative markets. Contract killings, shootings and car bombings became part of urban life.
There are now fears that the Ukraine…
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By Lars Arendt-Nielsen, Professor and Head of Pain Research, Aalborg University
Pain is one of the few things all of us experience, from stubbing a toe to waking up with an aching back; we can all relate to the feeling of being in pain.
Although pain is a universal experience, the way we understand it has changed dramatically over time.
Ancient societies might have blamed pain on demons entering the body through the nose or ears, but we now know pain to be more about…
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By Gang Pan, Professor of Environmental Sustainability, York St John University
Made internationally famous by their use to clean up the Lincoln Memorial pool in Washington, this tech is starting to be used globally.
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By Ben Anderson, Professor of Geography, Durham University
Keir Starmer resigned as Labour leader with opinion polls indicating he was the most unpopular prime minister in modern times. This is despite the fact he had secured the second-highest postwar parliamentary majority only two years earlier.
But over those two years, “Keir Starmer is a wanker” was chanted at anti-asylum protests, in football grounds, at festivals and during televised…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (back-center) and others watch, as Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter (front-left), counselor Dan Holler (front-center), and Lebanon's Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh (front-right), sign a trilateral framework agreement, in Washington, DC, June 26, 2026. © 2026 Kevin Wolf/AP Photo (Beirut) – The Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed in Washington on June 26, 2026, threatens to betray war crimes victims in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch and five human rights and press freedom organizations said today. Parts of the text…
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By Amnesty International
Responding to reports that more than 1,000 personnel from Sri Lanka’s military and police are to be deployed to Haiti as part of the international Gang Suppression Force (GSF), Renzo Pomi, Amnesty International’s Representative at the United Nations in New York, said: “There remain serious and unresolved allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children by Sri Lankan personnel during previous deployments in Haiti. Sri Lanka’s authorities, along with the GSF leadership, the states part of […] The post Sri Lanka: Answers needed about Haiti deployment amid ongoing impunity over child abuse…
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Victorian Liberal rebel Moira Deeming on Friday delayed a move to de-select her, with her court action leading to the Liberal Party agreeing to stay its hand until after further legal proceedings.
Meanwhile Pauline Hanson has ruled out any path to One Nation for the controversial upper house member.
The Victorian Liberal Party executive seemingly had its ducks in a row to revoke Deeming’s endorsement, at a meeting scheduled for Friday evening.
But the plan was derailed when Deeming launched proceedings in the Supreme Court against party president Brian Loughnane.…
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By Sam Edwards, Reader in Modern Political History, Loughborough University
The plans for the 250th anniversary of the American revolution, which kicks off in earnest on July 4, have drawn media scrutiny in the US. One issue has been the subject of recurrent discussion: the role of President Donald Trump.
Behind this scrutiny is the claim that Trump is co-opting the anniversary for his own agenda. His administration’s alleged sidelining of the non-partisan “America250” commission, which was established by Congress in 2016, in favour of his rival “Freedom 250” organisation has drawn…
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By Matthew Hinton, Senior Lecturer in Information Management, The Open University
Jacqueline Baxter, Professor in Public Policy and Management, The Open University
Up to 19 million people in the UK face digital poverty — and digital access is now a human right universities can’t afford to ignore.
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By Li Zhang, Associate Professor in Communications, School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds
Wifi on the go is often unreliable – on buses, trains and, increasingly, planes. Whether via cellular or satellite systems, connectivity at speed suffers from highly variable signal coverage and strength. This leads to delays, degraded data speeds and service interruptions.
To address these issues, the UK government has announced a major upgrade to wifi…
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