By Karin Barber, Emeritus Professor of African Cultural Anthropology, University of Birmingham
English was imposed as Nigeria’s official language, but the British had no way of controlling what people did with it.
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By Nima Shokri, Executive Co-Director, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), United Nations University; Technical University of Hamburg
Oil slicks moving along Iran’s southern coast have reached the Hara mangrove forests of Qeshm Island. Iranian authorities say the extent of the contamination is still being assessed and the source of the oil pollution has not yet been established. But several oil spills have been detected in the region since the war between the US and Iran began.
The
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By Doug Specht, Reader in Cultural Geography and Communication, University of Westminster
A wildfire needs a name long before anyone knows what caused it. When the pines of the Gironde in southwestern France caught light in July, the fire was being reported within hours under the name of the ground it was burning. By the time it had taken 40,000 hectares, that name was fixed in every bulletin in Europe.
The investigation into how it started took longer, and the scientists working out why it ran so far took longer still, publishing into a news cycle that had already moved on.
Every…
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By Amy Brown, Professor of Child Public Health, Swansea University
Aimee Grant, Associate Professor in Public Health and Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, Swansea University
To afford milk parents described restricting their own food or heating, getting into debt and returning from maternity leave very early.
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By Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, UCL
This summer will be one of the coolest in your lifetime. With better planning for these now normal extreme summers, some heat-related deaths can be prevented.
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By Judah Adeniyi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Memorial University of Newfoundland
For older employees already experiencing burnout, poorly designed or poorly timed training can become an additional job demand rather than a solution.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Lawyer Vitaly Iskakov (left), attorney Gadzhi Aliyev (center) and Chairman of the Yabloko political party, Nikolai Rybakov, attend a hearing on a lawsuit filed by the Rodina (Motherland) party seeking to bar the Yabloko party from the State Duma election, at the Russian Supreme Court in Moscow, Russia, August 10, 2026. © 2026 Vladimir Astapkovich/Sputnik via AP Photo The Supreme Court of Russia canceled on August 10 the registration of a key opposition party, Yabloko (Apple), for the upcoming elections to the State Duma, Russia’s lower parliament chamber.Yabloko’s…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Participants hold signs during a gender-based violence protest at the forecourt of the botanical gardens in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, November 21, 2025. © 2025 Misper Apawu/AP Photo At South Africa’s National Women’s Day commemoration on August 9, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke, among other things, about the Taliban’s systematic oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan. Standing alongside him, Malala Yousafzai urged governments to recognize this system for what Afghan women have long called it: gender apartheid.“South Africans know what it means when the law…
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By Apurba Chatterjee, Visiting Research Fellow Department of History, University of Reading
In 1825, English artist George Chinnery left Calcutta for Macau, chased away by his disgruntled wife Marianne and his creditors. He’d been based in India for the past 23 years, having previously lived in Hyderabad and Dacca.
Besides running a debt of around 30,000 rupees (£232 today), Chinnery was, according…
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By Michele Acuto, Professor of Urban Resilience and Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Bristol
New PM Andy Burnham cut business rates for pubs and clubs, which was a good start. However, much needs to be done to help businesses operating at night.
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