The UK is alarmingly unprepared for the threats it faces – security expert explains why
Martin Hibberd/Shutterstock Lord Robertson, former UK defence secretary and Nato chief, has said that the UK’s national security is “in peril”. He is right. There is no secret about what the threats are. In addition to the woeful news from the Middle East and Ukraine every day, stories of sabotage, hacking, Russian reconnaissance of undersea […]
Archaeologists have discovered 12,000-year-old dice – here’s what they reveal about the history of play
Humans have always been playful. But for much of our history, play has left little trace. Unlike tools or bones, games rarely preserve and the fleeting pleasures they produce are even harder to recover. The recent discovery of 12,000-year-old dice, published in American Antiquity, however, sheds new light on the playfulness of human societies in […]
Orbán’s downfall is a positive for EU-Hungary relations – but the reset will not be smooth
Hungary’s Tisza party won parliamentary elections on April 12, bringing an end to the 16-year tenure of Viktor Orbán as prime minister. The result is a seismic one for Hungarian domestic politics. But it is also a major development in the trajectory of Hungary’s relations with the EU. Throughout Orbán’s term, but particularly since the […]
Who is Hungary’s Péter Magyar and how he overturned Viktor Orbán’s illiberal democracy
The day after Péter Magyar ousted Victor Orbán as prime minister of Hungary, he gave a combative press conference. He spoke in Hungarian, but was talking to the world – and particularly to Europe. “We will do everything to restore the rule of law, plural democracy, and the system of checks and balances,” Magyar said, […]
Taskmaster returns: five lessons in creativity from TV’s most absurd challenges
The Bafta-winning comedy game show, Taskmaster, has returned to Channel 4 for its 21st series. Part of the show’s long-running appeal is its lighthearted exhibition of human creativity. Recently, I was part of the Warwick Business School Lead out Loud podcast with Alex Horne, the show’s creative mastermind and star, to talk about Taskmaster’s lessons […]
Why the US and Israel’s alliance endures – even when it strains
Israel and the US have maintained a close alliance for decades. Their recent joint air campaign in Iran has once again underscored the depth of this partnership. Yet while the strength of their relationship is widely acknowledged, the reasons behind it remain contested. At the centre of this debate lies the question of whether US […]
National Car Parks is in administration – some big companies are so dependent on debt that they can’t adjust to change
chrisdorney/Shutterstock When the UK’s biggest private car park company went into administration last month, some motorists might have been surprised. How could National Car Parks (NCP), a company that charged so much for parking, at so many prime sites across the country, run out of road? Maybe it was down to a drop in commuters […]
How commercial sand dredging is reshaping the largest lake in the UK – new study
Algal blooms on Lough Neagh have harmful effects on wildlife and water quality. Studio 70SN/Shutterstock At Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, sand has been dredged commercially for decades. Large vessels remove sand from the lakebed and transport it to the shore. Because this happens underwater, the scale of the activity is largely invisible. Regulation has […]
US blockade of Strait of Hormuz ratchets up tensions with China ahead of Trump visit to Beijing
The Trump administration’s decision to carry out a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has raised tensions in the Persian Gulf to new and more perilous levels. The move was announced by the US president, Donald Trump, after negotiations over a ceasefire with Iran broke down on April 11, partly due to Iran wanting […]
Waking at 3am every night? Here’s what may be going on
tigercat_lpg/Shutterstock It’s 3am. The room is dark, the house is silent, but your brain is suddenly wide awake. Many people find themselves waking at roughly the same time each night and start to wonder whether something is wrong with their sleep. Waking during the night is actually a normal part of sleep. Most people wake […]