By Ruth Patrick, Professor in Social Policy, University of Glasgow
UK chancellor Rachel Reeves has taken decisive action in getting rid of the two-child limit – a policy that has held a totemic place in the UK for more than a decade. Since 2017, this policy has limited the means-tested support that families can receive from the state to the first two children in a household, with some specific exceptions.
But now, the two-child limit is to be scrapped from April 2026. My…
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By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor, The Conversation
History tells us that any deal that doesn’t come with cast-iron security guarantees for Ukraine is not worth the paper it is written on.
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By Amnesty International
I’ve been aware of the effects of climate change since I was young. My parents used to find little notes I’d written such as “be careful with water” or “watch your waste”. It was a gradual journey, where I started taking small actions at home such as making posters for my parents, before trying to […] The post Libre: “I’ve been held in custody and prosecuted for blocking traffic” appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Stephen Khan, Editor-in-Chief, The Conversation
In the late 19th century, Stuttgart was booming. The southern German city was famously the cradle of an emerging automobile sector and had already established itself as an industrial powerhouse and centre for toolmaking, mechanical engineering and textiles. Rail connections in the Baden-Württemberg region accelerated development, transported workers and spread wealth.
One might think, then, that an obvious place for the nascent railways to reached out to would have been the historic university town of Tübingen, about 20 miles from Stuttgart. No so, Tilman Wörtz of the university’s communications…
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By Barry Langford, Professor of Film Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London
What does the familiar film tagline “based on a true story” really mean? Leaving aside questions of historical fidelity versus poetic license, what does an audience get from the assurance that a given story “truly happened”?
At best, these claims remind us that – however fantastic or horrific – these events were once realities for other people very much like ourselves. At worst, they exercise a kind of moral blackmail: guilt tripping the audience into thinking that criticising the film’s storytelling somehow disrespects the real people who endured those traumatic events.
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By Orcun Can, Lecturer in Digital Economy, King's College London
Stranger Things proves that even in an era filled with sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots, it’s still possible for a new story to launch a major franchise.
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By Dominic Broomfield-McHugh, Professor of Musicology, University of Sheffield
Does the truth matter in a film about historical events? This question sits at the heart of any biographical drama, shaping how we judge the balance between storytelling and accuracy.
Early in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, I thought of Amadeus. That 1984 film isn’t about Mozart – it’s about jealousy. Similarly, Blue Moon isn’t a documentary about Broadway composer Richard Rogers (Andrew Scott) and lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke). It’s a moving drama…
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By Farhang Morady, Reader in International Development, University of Westminster
A wedding video which has gone viral in Iran has highlighted the country’s inequality and exposed hypocrisy at the core of the ruling regime.
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By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University
For anyone facing cancer, the treatment options can feel brutally familiar: surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of them all. But a new approach is beginning to offer something very different. By using nothing more than precisely controlled sound waves, histotripsy can destroy tumours without cutting the skin or burning healthy tissue.
Histotripsy uses technology similar to medical ultrasound scans but delivers far more powerful and focused energy. Instead of creating an image, it produces…
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By Sabah Suhail, Research Fellow, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen's University Belfast
Salil S. Kanhere, Professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering, UNSW Sydney
Earlier this year, a cyberattack on British retailer Marks & Spencer caused widespread disruption across its operations. Stock shortages, delayed deliveries, and logistical chaos rippled through the retailer’s network.
In 2025 alone, several other UK food businesses, including Harrods and Co-op, have been targeted by cyber-attacks.
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