By Isabella Podwinski, Social Media Producer, The Conversation
Justin Bergman, International Affairs Editor, The Conversation
On The Conversation Weekly podcast, defence and security analyst Hugh White explains why the AUKUS project has been anything but smooth sailing.
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By Maria Elena Buslacchi, socio-anthropologue, chercheuse post-doc à L'Observatoire des publics et pratiques de la culture, MESOPOLHIS UMR 7064, Sciences Po / CNRS / Aix-Marseille Université, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU)
Research on how heading to a museum could be good for the brain and general wellbeing suggests that culture fixes are an important resource for public health and social cohesion.
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By Linda Osti, Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management, Bangor University
Supporters tend to call it a “visitor levy”. Detractors prefer to call it a “tourist tax”.
Whether you agree with it or not, an extra charge for overnight stays has become a common feature of modern travel. Recent visitors to New York, Prague, Milan and Edinburgh will have already paid it. And now mayors in England will have the chance to impose it.
Some think these fees will cause…
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By Ruth Ogden, Professor of the Psychology of Time, Liverpool John Moores University
Anna Powell, PhD Student, Liverpool John Moores University
Patricia Kingori, Professor of Global Health Ethics, University of Oxford
Imagine it’s the dead of night. Your phone pings with a text – it’s a government emergency alert: “Leave your home immediately! Only take with you enough supplies for the next three days.” What would you want in your go-bag?
Our new survey of UK adults (results not yet published) has found a surprising number of people prioritised sentimental belongings such as a childhood teddy bear.
In the face of climate change and growing geopolitical instability, governments have started to advise…
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By Matthew Watkins, Associate Professor in Sustainable Product Design Engineering, Loughborough University
With climate change leading to more extreme and prolonged heavy rainfall across the northern hemisphere, flooding is a risk, especially in autumn and winter.
While concerns typically consider travel disruption and damage to housing, the top cause of death during flooding occurs from driving through floodwater. In England alone, there have been with several high-profile deaths…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, top left, appears before the Kosovo Tribunal as he defends himself against charges including murder, torture and persecution allegedly committed during Kosovo’s war with Serbia, The Hague, April 3, 2023. © 2023 Koen van Weel/Pool via REUTERS (Berlin, September 17, 2026) – The convictions of Kosovo’s former President Hashim Thaçi and three senior former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders for war crimes on September 16, 2026, are an important step toward accountability for victims of the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict, Human…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image TOR BAND musicians, former political prisoners, embrace their loved ones after arriving in Vilnius on September 16, 2026. © 2026 Human Rights Watch This week 25 former political prisoners arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania having been released from detention in Belarus.Their release was negotiated by the United States special envoy to Belarus John Coale with president Aliaksander Lukashenka. In exchange, the US lifted sanctions on two Belarusian companies.Among those released are journalist Andrei Aleksandrau and activist Iryna Zlobina, who married while in detention;…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Downtown Astana, Kazakhstan, February 28, 2023. © 2023 Olivier Douliery/AP Photo Satirist and political commentator Azamat Omarov, who had been in pre-trial detention in Kazakhstan since mid-April on “inciting discord” charges, struck a plea bargain with the prosecution, under the terms of which he pled guilty, and on September 15, was released.While Omarov avoided what could have been a long and unjustified prison sentence, he did not walk out of the courtroom a free man.He will serve a suspended three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. He is also banned from engaging…
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By Lucius Caviola, Assistant Professor in the Social Science of AI, Institute for Technology and Humanity, University of Cambridge
The debate about AI consciousness is growing, in academic articles, newspaper opinion pieces, and even among AI bots themselves. I doubt this is a passing wave of interest.
As AI systems become…
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By Simon Mabon, Professor of International Relations, Lancaster University
Yemen’s Houthis have launched a major offensive in recent days. They’ve rapidly swept down the Red Sea coast, seizing strategically important positions and giving the Iran-backed rebel group the potential to control traffic through this vital waterway.
This could cut off Saudi Arabia’s ability to export oil – which was already seriously hampered by Iran’s attempts to control the Strait…
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