By Stephen Roll, Assistant Professor of Social Policy, Washington University in St. Louis
Jenn Finders, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University
Leah Hamilton, Professor of Social Work, Appalachian State University
A combination of Colorado state tax credits for low-income families is predicted to lift more than 50,000 children out of poverty.
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By Brian Y. An, Co-Director of Center for Urban Research, Director of Master of Science in Public Policy Program, & Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology
The high cost of renting and buying homes in U.S. cities is no secret. But this affordability problem isn’t limited to urban regions – it affects rural areas as well.
Rural areas, home to about 25% of Americans, benefit from federally supported rental housing…
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By Jeanette Tran, Associate Professor of English, Drake University
The Oscar-nominated film about Shakespeare’s son explores how men and women mourn differently – and how ‘Hamlet’ may have transformed a father’s private sorrow into enduring art.
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By Marius Kwint, Reader in Visual Culture, University of Portsmouth
Alice Sanger, Honorary Associate and Associate Lecturer, The Open University
Jen Harvie, Professor of Contemporary Theatre and Performance, Queen Mary University of London
Pragya Agarwal, Visiting Professor of Social Inequities and Injustice, Loughborough University
Samuel Shaw, Lecturer in History of Art, The Open University
The complex relationship between mother and child is no easy thing to capture on canvas. For Mother’s Day, we asked five experts to share their favourite painting of a mother or maternal figure.
1. Hunting for Lice by Gerard ter Borch (1652)
This small painting, displayed in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, is of a scene that might be familiar to any carer for nursery- or school-aged children today. Gerard ter Borch captures the look of concentrated maternal resolve and patient resignation…
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By Malcolm Cook, Associate Professor in Film Studies, University of Southampton
French animation has a rich history. But it has yet to achieve the same widespread recognition as American, British or Japanese animation. Arco could change that. The film’s accessible Studio Ghibli-esque story, unique visual imagination and surreal tone marks it out from run of the mill family fare.
Arco is a 2D hand-drawn time travel fantasy film set in 2075 and 2932. The eponymous hero is ten-year-old boy who steals a cape and gemstone that enable him to travel back in time. Arriving in 2075, Arco meets…
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By Alejandra Perotti, Associate Professor in Invertebrate Biology, University of Reading
Almost everyone carries microscopic mites on their skin. They live inside pores and hair follicles, feeding on skin oils and dead cells.
When people first hear this, the reaction is often disgust or alarm. It is easy to imagine infestation, poor hygiene or something going wrong.
In reality, these tiny organisms are a normal, lifelong part of being human and part of the natural balance of the skin.
Nearly all mammals host follicular…
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By Luca Trenta, Associate Professor in International Relations, Swansea University
Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi, Associate Professor of Instruction, University of South Florida
The US and Israel assassinated Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a joint operation in late February. In a post on social media, Donald Trump boasted that Khamenei was “unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems”. Trump added that “there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do”.
The US helped plan the operation, provided key intelligence to identify Khamenei’s location and destroyed…
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By Amnesty International
Israeli air strikes on locations linked to al-Qard al-Hassan, a non-profit financial institution associated with Hezbollah, must be investigated as war crimes as they do not constitute legitimate military targets under international humanitarian law, Amnesty International said today. Since 2 March, the Israeli military has announced that it would target all branches of al-Qard al-Hassan […] The post Lebanon: Israeli air strikes on al-Qard al-Hassan financial institution must be investigated as war crimes appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Can Thi Theu (left) and Le Huu Minh Tuan. © Private (Tokyo) – The Vietnamese authorities should give priority to releasing political prisoners with urgent health problems, Human Rights Watch said today.Le Huu Minh Tuan, Can Thi Theu, and other unjustly imprisoned political activists should be urgently freed to obtain appropriate medical care in Vietnam or abroad. Le Huu Minh Tuan, a 37-year-old journalist who has been in prison since 2020, suffers from internal bleeding and other health issues, and has repeatedly been denied medical care. Can…
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By Lauren Johnston, Associate Professor, China Studies Centre, University of Sydney
China’s President Xi Jinping announced in February 2026 that from 1 May China would be granting zero-tariff treatment to 53 African countries. (That is all of them bar Eswatini, which supports Taiwan.)
China-Africa trade reached US$348 billion in 2025, up 17.7% from 2024. Chinese exports to Africa dominate trade flows, and amounted to US$225 billion, an increase of 25.8%. This…
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