By Calum Smith, Research Fellow in Population Health, University of Oxford
Carolin Kilian, Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark
The new Premier League season is now well underway and for many football fans, that means crowded pubs, beers with friends and betting on favourite teams. These rituals can often feel like a natural part of the game.
But football’s close association with alcohol and gambling did not emerge by accident. Over decades, sponsorship deals, advertising campaigns…
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By Ronan Lordan, Postdoctoral Researcher in Circadian Biology, FutureNeuro Research Ireland Center & School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
On Earth, most of us rarely have to think about the signals that keep our internal clocks aligned. The Sun rises, daylight changes, darkness arrives and morning comes again.
Our bodies have evolved alongside this roughly 24-hour cycle. Light is one of the strongest signals our bodies use to synchronise the circadian clock. But what happens when the Sun no longer provides a reliable schedule?
A spacecraft orbits Earth roughly every 90 minutes, so astronauts experience about
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By James Weinberg, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, University of Sheffield
Ashley Weinberg, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
When political leaders disclose mental health challenges, the public debate usually focuses on their personal experiences, resilience and even electoral prospects.
Meanwhile, a growing body of academic research has identified a range of stressors that impact politicians’ mental health. These include the organisational culture of parliaments, online harassment and abuse, job insecurity, inflated public expectations and a lack of control over policy outcomes.
Yet behind individual…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image A group of detained fishermen are transported on a National Police bus to the Community Surveillance Unit (UVC) from the port of Manta, Ecuador, on September 4, 2026. © 2026 ARIEL OCHOA / AFP via Getty Images (Washington, DC) – United States forces intercepted and destroyed eight Ecuadorian fishing vessels between August 28 and September 16, 2026, detaining over 140 of 160 crew members and abusing some, Human Rights Watch said today. The US and Ecuadorian governments should disclose the legal basis for these operations and promptly investigate the abuses.US…
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By Jon Whittle, Professorial Fellow (Artificial Intelligence), Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne
Donald Trump’s White House Accord on Super Intelligence looks set to join a long line of ineffectual calls for self-regulation from the tech industry.
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By Julian Koplin, Lecturer in Bioethics, Monash University; The University of Melbourne
A US woman sentenced to death is now receiving life-saving medical treatment, after surviving a botched execution in Nashville that involved two doses of the drug pentobarbital.
Christa Pike, now 50, was convicted for the 1995 murder of a classmate, committed alongside her boyfriend when she was aged 18. She was set to become the first woman…
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By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor, The Conversation
Overnight on Wednesday, which marked 1,680 days since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia unleashed a heavy barrage of strikes against energy infrastructure in Kyiv and other major cities. As weather forecasters predict freezing overnight temperatures in coming days, many suspect this is the beginning of a campaign to knock out Ukraine’s grid and leave people in the cold and darkness as winter approaches.
The Ukrainian people have been living in a state of full-scale war for more that four and a half years now, and the news that the Russian president,…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Activists hold signs with the names of some of the 222 former prisoners released and expelled by the Nicaraguan government, as they await their arrival at Dulles International Airport, Virginia, United States, February 9, 2023. © 2023 Kevin Lamarque/Reuters (Washington, DC) – US immigration authorities have detained at least eight Nicaraguan exiles whom the Ortega-Murillo government has stripped of their nationality, including some with pending asylum claims, Human Rights Watch said today. Seven of the people detained were among 222 political prisoners whom the…
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By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast
Juan Zahir Naranjo Cáceres, Sessional Academic in International Relations, Political Science and Legal Studies, University of the Sunshine Coast
With the two presidential candidates running neck-and-neck, this election has stakes beyond Brazil. The growing power of US big tech is also in the spotlight.
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By Alexandra Sims, Professor in Commericial Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Dulani Jayasuriya, Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The Manage My Health hacking breach exposed weaknesses in New Zealand’s digital defences. But the rise of autonomous AI agents poses a very different threat.
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