By Chris Grover, Professor in Social Policy, Lancaster University
The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, recently announced that if in government, his party would abolish the two-child limit on benefits. This social security policy restricts the payment of means-tested benefits to the first two children of a family.
Farage explained the announcement as being pro-natalist – intended to encourage a higher birth rate – as well as being “pro-worker”. Farage said that the abolition…
(Full Story)
|
By Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City St George's, University of London
UK chancellor Rachel Reeves faces her biggest test with the government’s departmental spending plans for the three years from next April until the general election. With nearly £600 billion a year to spend, her decisions will impact on every aspect of public life and shape the political weather for years to come.
She believes the key to reviving Labour’s fortunes as its poll…
(Full Story)
|
By Sam Power, Lecturer in Politics, University of Bristol
Former chairman Zia Yusuf has rejoined Reform after quitting days previously. Yusuf had said he no longer wanted to work to get the party into government when new MP Sarah Pochin called for a ban on burqas in the UK. However, he seems to have had a change of heart and will return, ostensibly to lead the party’s “department of government efficiency”.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s bromance, however, is on much rockier ground. There’s no sign of the world’s richest man reconciling with the US president, his former…
(Full Story)
|
By Gilles Martin, Associate Professor of Neurobiology, UMass Chan Medical School
Current treatments for alcohol abuse are limited in their effectiveness and come with side effects. Precisely targeting the neurons involved in binge drinking could lead to better options.
(Full Story)
|
By Stefan Szymanski, Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan
The FIFA World Club Cup, which kicks off in the U.S. on June 14, 2025, may seem like a new competition.
Certainly, soccer’s governing body, FIFA, is promoting it as is it were, marketing the monthlong competition between 32 of the world’s biggest soccer teams as the “pinnacle of club football,” with up to US$125…
(Full Story)
|
By Stewart Edie, Research Geologist and Curator of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution
Not everything dies in a mass extinction. Sea life recovered in different and surprising ways after the asteroid strike 66 million years ago. Ancient fossils recorded it all.
(Full Story)
|
By Daniel Cohan, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
Some technologies could rapidly cut emissions, while others do little to fight climate change. The House bill favors the latter while nixing support for the former.
(Full Story)
|
By Jay L. Zagorsky, Associate Professor Questrom School of Business, Boston University
President Donald Trump’s promise to eliminate taxes on tips may sound like a windfall for service workers — but the fine print in Congress’ latest tax bill tells a more complex story.
Right now, Republican lawmakers are advancing the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — a sprawling, 1,100-page proposal that aims to change…
(Full Story)
|
By Christina Littlefield, Associate Professor of Communication and Religion, Pepperdine University
How has white Christian nationalism changed since the Gilded Age? A religion scholar compares the Social Gospel with the Christian right today.
(Full Story)
|
By Linggong Kong, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, Auburn University
On June 5, U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It marked the first direct conversation between the two leaders since Trump began his second term — and the first since tensions sharply escalated in 2025’s U.S.-China trade war.
After the call, Trump was quick to frame it as a success for his administration, posting on social media that it led to…
(Full Story)
|