By Amnesty International
The appalling response by Georgian authorities to allegations that prohibited toxic chemicals were used against protestors to suppress peaceful demonstrations must be met with an international investigation and a complete embargo on all policing equipment, Amnesty International said today in a public statement. On 1 December 2025, the BBC documentary When Water Burns presented evidence suggesting that […] The post Georgia: Government’s alleged use of toxic chemicals against protestors calls for international investigation and complete embargo on all policing equipment appeared first on Amnesty…
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By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor, The Conversation
This newsletter was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, believes that Russia’s strategy is to outlast Ukraine and its allies in a war of attrition. Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity this week that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had made it clear that he is determined to achieve…
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By Elaine Jackson, PhD Candidate, University of Glasgow; University of the West of Scotland
Lee John Curley, Lecturer in Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University
Martin Lages, Associate professor, University of Glasgow
If a judge makes a decision on their own, only their own biases will influence the verdict. In a jury, consensus needs to be reached.
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By Sam Power, Lecturer in Politics, University of Bristol
When the latest figures on donations to political parties were released, it was revealed that businessman Christopher Harborne had donated £9 million to Reform. Harborne, who lives in Thailand, made his fortune on aviation and cryptocurrency. Reform leader Nigel Farage insists he wants nothing in return for the money and that the two speak once a month or every six weeks.
Harborne’s is the biggest one-off donation by a living individual in British history. But he’s far from alone in giving massive amounts to parties. Financier Stuart Wheeler gave £5…
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By Christopher Adam, Professor of Development Economics, University of Oxford
İrem Güçeri, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Oxford
Headlines about tax in the UK being at an all-time high abounded after the autumn budget. The current overall tax take, at 35% of GDP, is indeed a historic high for the country. And the measures announced in the budget will take it to 38% by the end of the parliament.
Yet, contrary to what some might have you believe, it is only high by British standards.
If the UK wants a decent welfare system in the coming years, it’s time to start doing things differently. But this can’t just mean…
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By Nicholas Dickinson, Lecturer in Politics, University of Exeter
Parties of the British left have been notorious for the arguments about what names mean. No wonder this new endeavour chose a name that effectively says nothing.
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By David Higgins, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
The decision undoes a highly effective 34-year prevention strategy that has nearly eliminated early childhood hepatitis B infections in the U.S.
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By Parth Shinde, Researcher, Birla Institute of Technology and Science
When your doctor thinks you might have an infection or an allergy, a simple blood test should give answers within hours. But for much of the world, that test can take days – or never happen at all. The problem is not usually the test itself, but an overlooked step between taking your blood and performing the diagnosis.
In most hospitals in high-income countries, separating plasma from blood is so routine that most people never think about it. A nurse takes your blood, sends it to the lab, and a machine called…
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By Sara Read, Lecturer in English, Loughborough University
When frost sparkles in the morning and our breath is visible as we venture outside, thoughts turn to winter warming treats like mulled wine – a drink full of ingredients that have become synonymous with Christmas.
Mulled wine is made by adding spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace and nutmeg to sweetened red wine, which is then warmed gently. Across Europe and Scandinavia, it can be purchased in many pubs, bars and festive markets – while supermarket shelves groan with bottles of readymade mulled…
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By Martin Fullekrug, Reader, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Bath
Blair McGinness, Postdoctoral research assistant, meteorology, University of Reading
Karen Aplin, Professor of Space Science and Technology
Sometimes you get a small electric shock from touching your car door handle on a dry summer’s day.
The source of these shocks is a spark discharge, occurring between your body and the body of the car. These sparks happen from accumulation of static electric charge – often arising from two different materials rubbing together. This process – named triboelectric charging – was discovered in ancient Greece, where it was observed that some materials are attracted by amber when rubbed.
Triboelectricity…
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