By Alan Shipman, Senior Lecturer in Economics, The Open University
US economic growth is picking up again after a slowdown towards the end of 2025. According to price data released on May 28, US GDP grew by 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. This is despite energy prices rising and consumer confidence falling since the US president, Donald Trump, went to war with Iran in February.
Confronted by higher prices for gasoline and a range of other everyday products, US households are spending more in total, rather than cutting…
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By Clare Willsdon, Professor of the History of Western Art, University of Glasgow
Social change made leisure gardens accessible to all – not just kings and aristocrats – at the same time as ‘the great horticultural movement’.
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By Jeran Cloete, PhD Candidate in Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University
Dian Spear, Senior research scientist, Stellenbosch University
Jessica da Silva, Principal Scientist
Lavhelesani Dembe Simba, Lecturer (Entomology), University of Fort Hare
Peter J Carrick, Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town; and Founder and Director of Nurture Restore Innovate (NRI), University of Cape Town
Conservationists analyse overwhelming volumes of ecological data in their work. For example, they might need to process decades of weather data or the movements of millions of insects. Up until now, these scientists and decision makers have had to manually find and sort information, then use statistical tools which often oversimplify the source information.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools now promise to help with all that. But can they deliver on the promise?
They are far…
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By Alan Hirsch, Senior Research Fellow New South Institute, Emeritus Professor at The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town
Several key actions that could help are not yet on the table, including mobilising other political parties as well as civic society to fight anti-foreigner hysteria.
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By Leah Monsees, Project Researcher, Department of Sport Sciences, Malmö University
Technology increasingly promises to make talent identification more efficient and more objective. But can talent can be reduced to numbers and can AI be bias-free?
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By Amnesty International
Responding to the Hong Kong government gazetting legislation that makes clear the city’s Chief Executive can designate certain criminal cases as national security cases, Joey Siu, the spokesperson of Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas, said: “It is deeply alarming that the Hong Kong authorities continue to reinforce the powers of the city’s national security laws, […] The post Hong Kong: New powers for Chief Executive in ‘national security’ cases undermine fair trial rights appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Security members stand guard outside the State Security Court in Amman, Jordan, July 12, 2021. © 2021 Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua via Getty Images (Beirut) – Jordanian authorities should not contest the most recent application to review and annul the abusive conviction of Ayman Sandouka, the former head of a now-dissolved political party, and pave the way for his release, Human Rights Watch said today.Jordan’s State Security Court (SSC), a military institution that includes both military and civilian judges, sentenced Sandouka to five years in prison in early 2025 for…
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Tony Abbott, the Liberals’ new activist federal president, is preparing to convene meetings around the country in an effort to drum up membership and support for the struggling party. After the Newspoll…
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By Neil Mabbott, Personal Chair of Immunopathology, University of Edinburgh
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed what they describe as a fundamentally new type of vaccine using artificial intelligence (AI). The vaccine’s key component was designed entirely by AI and has now been tested in people for the first time.
The goal is ambitious: a single vaccine that works not just against all known human coronavirus variants, but against related bat viruses that could jump from animals to humans and cause…
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By Andrea Ficchì, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Hydrologist and Data Scientist, Polytechnic University of Milan
Emiliano Longo, PhD, Polytechnic University of Milan
Extreme storm surges can be predicted much faster with high accuracy thanks to a new AI model that helps researchers and practitioners improve coastal flood risk assessment and adaptation planning.
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