By Sven Batke, Associate Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange - Reader in Plant Science, Edge Hill University
When most people picture British farming, they probably imagine fields of wheat, potatoes or vegetables stretching across the countryside. But some of the food on supermarket shelves is produced in environments that look very different.
A tomato might spend its entire life inside a glasshouse, growing more than 20 metres tall with water and nutrients delivered directly to its roots. A lettuce could be grown inside a building, stacked on shelves under LED lights without ever seeing natural sunlight.
These…
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By Christina Philippou, Associate Professor in Accounting and Sport Finance, University of Portsmouth
Football’s world governing body, Fifa, has come under fire for attempting to “sell the World Cup”. Its president, Gianni Infantino, had plans to sell a stake in future World Cup profits to investors, with substantial incentives offered to member associations if they backed the proposal.
Europe’s confederation, Uefa, made clear that “none of us are the owners of football”. At the same time, fan organisation Football Supporters Europe and players’ union FifPro Europe said the sport should remain in the hands of the public.
The game’s potential privatisation has shaken leadership…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Thurgood Marshall United States Federal Courthouse building in lower Manhattan, New York City. © 2026 Laura Prieto Uribe/Human Rights Watch Four human rights groups (the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute) filed a lawsuit in US federal court challenging the Trump administration’s sanctions against ICC prosecutors and judges, a UN human rights expert, and three Palestinian human rights groups.The sanctions regime, and the executive order on which it is based, undermines access…
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By Amnesty International
Reacting to reports of the deteriorating health of opposition leader Ali Karimli and media expert Alasgar Mammadli, both detained in Azerbaijan, and the threat of extradition from Ukraine to Azerbaijan of political activist Bahruz Hasanli, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “According to family members and lawyers, Ali Karimli and […] The post Azerbaijan: Health of imprisoned government critics at risk as another political activist faces extradition threat appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Amnesty International
Responding to the Lebanese parliament’s approval of a law that abolishes the death penalty for all crimes, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at, said: “Lebanon’s decision to abolish the death penalty marks a major milestone and a victory for human rights in the country. Justice must be […] The post Lebanon: Abolition of death penalty a landmark victory affirming justice must be rooted in human rights appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Rory Fitzgerald, Director, European Social Survey, City St George's, University of London
Across Europe, the political debate has rarely looked more polarised. Media narratives frequently describe societies as becoming sharply divided between younger progressive and older conservative generations.
A growing body of research also suggests that political attitudes are becoming more divided by gender, particularly among younger cohorts. Young women…
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By André Gagné, Full Professor, Department of Theological Studies, Concordia University
Jason Piché, PhD Student, Christian Zionism and Dispensationalism, Concordia University
The American war on Iran has quickly become one of the most unpopular wars in United States history. At the beginning of March 2026, when the war started, 46 per cent of Americans opposed the conflict, according to pollster Nate Silver’s aggregator of polling data. Now that number has risen to 57 per cent.
As a result, U.S. President Donald Trump is in urgent need of reliable support for the war effort.…
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By Muhammad Waqas Haider, PhD candidate in International Relations, Lancaster University
Commentators predictably reacted to the news of the signing of a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan on August 7 by reaching for the label “Islamic Nato”. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement stipulates that an armed attack on any one of them would be treated as an attack on all. Jerusalem went a step further, describing the alliance as an anti-Israel…
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By Lincoln Geraghty, Professor of Media Cultures, University of Portsmouth
When Pokémon Go celebrated its tenth anniversary in July 2026, much of the reaction from players around the world was less about the game’s future than its past.
Social media was flooded with screenshots from 2016, with memories of first “catches” and stories of crowded parks filled with players discovering an entirely new way to play Pokémon.
The game uses augmented reality technology so players can collect and interact with Pokémon (pocket monsters) on their mobile phones as they go about…
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By Gordon McKelvie, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Winchester
Governments have always had to strike a balance between actions that are unpopular but thought to be necessary, and laws and policies that win them support from the public. In the UK, the new prime minister Andy Burnham has set out to grab the news agenda with a string of genuinely popular announcements.
Back in the middle ages, unpopular governments did not need to worry about the ballot box – but they did often face…
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