By Alice Hunt, Associate Professor in History, University of Southampton
The royal tour of the Caribbean is the king’s first visit to this region of the Commonwealth as monarch. It comes at a time of protests and growing demands for slavery reparations, as well as an apology for the royal family’s historic role in the trade.
The visits will include two republics which do not recognise him as monarch – Guyana and Barbados – and the constitutional monarchies of the Bahamas and Barbados (though all are independent nations).
Against this backdrop, historian Anthony Seldon…
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By Caray A Walker, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Anglia Ruskin University
Melody Clark, Individual Merit Promotion Scientist, British Antarctic Survey
When we think about Antarctica, many people imagine penguins, seals and whales. However, the majority of Antarctica’s scientific wonders cannot be seen without a microscope. These microbial communities form the foundation of Antarctic ecosystems yet remain largely invisible to most visitors.
Recent research published in PNAS showed that some microbes living in Antarctic soils appear to exist nowhere else on Earth. This challenges scientists’ long-held belief that microbes are easily…
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By Alex Chepstow-Lusty, Research Associate, Geography, University of Sussex
Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland has been a dumping ground for soil, fertiliser and wastewater for centuries.
It is the largest body of freshwater in the British Isles and was once surrounded by extensive Atlantic woodlands – woodlands that covered almost all of Ireland between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago.
In recent research I carried out with my co-author – the late Julie…
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By Dave Newell, Professor of Integrated Musculoskeletal Care and Head of the Centre of Pain and Active Inference Research, Health Sciences University
Michael Thacker, Professor of Pain and Rehabilitation, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Solomon Segal, Doctor of Medicine; Senior Lecturer of Anatomy, Health Sciences University
Pain feels immediate, but our brains draw on past experiences to interpret bodily signals. This may help explain why pain can persist after an injury heals.
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By Amnesty International
From 9 to 20 November, governments, scientists, activists, corporate lobbyists, diplomats, Indigenous Peoples and communities affected by climate change will gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31, the annual UN climate conference. COP31 comes after a year in which the climate crisis has become even harder to ignore. In September 2026, the United Nations acknowledged for […] The post COP31 explained: Why the Türkiye climate summit matters appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Amnesty International
By Nciko wa Nciko A year since Colonel Michael Randrianirina seized power in a military coup, Madagascar finds itself far from the refoundation that he promised. Instead, his first year in power has been marked by the military’s consolidation of power and the expansion of authoritarian practices. News outlets abound with commentaries assessing Randrianirina’s first […] The post A year after the military coup: authoritarian practices dash Gen Z aspirations for a new Madagascar appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
If the Reserve Bank raises rates again on Tuesday, Chalmers will face a barrage of questions about getting his fiscal policy in better shape.
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By Sabrina Fitzsimons, Co-Director of DCU CREATE (Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education), Lecturer in Education, Dublin City University
An event may be months away, yet psychologically it has already entered the room, casting a shadow on the present.
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By Giles Gasper, Professor in High Medieval History, Durham University
For whatever the land you possess, whether it be where sand
And gravel lie barren and dead, or where fruits grow heavy
In rich moist ground; whether high on a steep hillside,
Easy ground in the plain or rough among sloping valleys -
Whereever it is, your land cannot fail to produce
Its native plants…
These words come the Hortulus: The Little Garden written by Wahlafrid Strabo (c. 808-849), who was a Benedictine monk from the monastery of…
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By Rebecca Hutcheon, Research Fellow at the Faculty of Business and Creative Industries, University of South Wales
At a literary event at Burgh Island Hotel in south Devon recently, the novelist Catherine Newman remarked that whenever she looked down from the island’s steep cliffs while walking, she half-expected to discover a body.
It was an apt response to a place that helped inspire Agatha Christie’s crime novels, including Evil Under the Sun. In the novel, Christie makes the island’s isolation part of the mystery. When character Emily Brewster remarks, “This isn’t the sort of place you’d get a body”,…
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