By Jonathan Paul, Associate Professor in Earth Science, Royal Holloway, University of London
Greenland, the largest island on Earth, possesses some of the richest stores of natural resources anywhere in the world.
These include critical raw materials – resources such as lithium and rare earth elements (REEs) that are essential for green technologies, but whose production and sustainability are highly sensitive – plus other valuable minerals and metals, and a huge volume of hydrocarbons including oil and gas.
Three of Greenland’s REE-bearing deposits, deep under the ice, may…
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By Lee Cronin, Regius Chair of Chemistry, University of Glasgow
Chemistry deals with that most fundamental subject: matter. New drugs, materials and batteries all depend on our ability to make new molecules. But discovery of new substances is slow, expensive and fragile. Each molecule is treated as a bespoke craft project. If a synthesis works in one lab, it often fails in another.
The problem is that any single molecule could have an almost infinite number of routes to creation. These routes are published as static text, stripped of the context, timing and error correction that made them work in the first place. So while chemistry…
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By Roberta Garrett, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Cultural Studies, University of East London
For films and books about Shakespeare’s life, there is little source material to draw on beyond the few known facts of the great writer’s parentage, hometown, marriage, children, property and death. Shakespeare biopics therefore require considerable speculation and invention on the part of writers and directors.
Director Chloe Zhao’s earthy and sensuous film Hamnet is based on the book by Maggie O’ Farrell, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It not only foregrounds Shakespeare’s…
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By Giles Gasper, Professor in High Medieval History, Durham University
The best location for a monastery was one that was close to water and wood. Many monastic chroniclers mention this.
Orderic Vitalis, born in England near Shrewsbury in 1075 and sent to the Norman monastery of St Évroult at the age of five, was explicit about this twin need. Water for washing, sanitation, drinking, for making ink, for making lime mortar, and wood for building, and perhaps for keeping warm.
The Benedictine version of monastic life was the most popular across the
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By Alper Kara, Head of Department of Economics, Finance & Accounting, Brunel University of London
For many UK households, 2025 marked the beginning of the end of the mortgage rate shocks of the previous year. And while that did not mean a return to cheap borrowing, the easing of interest rates was clearly visible over the course of the year.
The Bank of England’s base rate, a key determinant of mortgage pricing, fell from 4.75% in January 2025 to 3.75% in December.
And mortgage rates followed suit. For a typical first-time buyer (a two-year fixed deal with a 10% deposit) rates fell…
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By Omid Memarian
“Porcelain lives in our collective memory — we grow up with it in our homes and daily rituals — so it already carries meaning before I touch it.”
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By Amnesty International
As voters prepare to go to the polls in Benin, candidates running in the country’s legislative and municipal elections on 11 January 2026, and presidential election on 12 April 2026, must commit to prioritizing human rights, Amnesty International and 13 civil society organizations said. The organizations have published a manifesto setting out key human rights […] The post Benin: Election candidates must commit to protecting human rights amid shrinking civic space appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Francesco Grillo, Academic Fellow, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University
A world without a world order is a much greater problem for Europe than for any other economy of the world.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Rohingya walk through rice fields after fleeing across the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh near Teknaf, September 1, 2017. © 2017 AP Photo/Bernat Armangue (The Hague) – International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings in the Myanmar genocide case highlight the need for justice for the ethnic Rohingya, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Global Justice Center, Human Rights Watch, Refugee Women for Peace and Justice, and Women’s Peace Network said today. Hearings on the merits of the case begin on January 12, 2026.In August 2017, Myanmar security forces began…
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By Digital Storytelling Team, The Conversation
Victoria is bracing for potentially catastrophic bushfire conditions on Friday, with temperatures expected to top 40°C for the third day in a row in parts of the state and winds up to 100 kilometres per hour.
The conditions will be the worst the state has seen since the Black Summer bushifres of 2019–20. The Country Fire Authority’s Jason Heffernan called…
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