Could Viktor Orbán be back in 2030? Why Péter Magyar has a fight on his hands after landslide win
The mood was jubilant among liberals and pro-Europeans in Hungary and beyond on April 13 as Péter Magyar led the Tisza party to a landslide election victory. His win ended the 16-year administration of Viktor Orbán’s pro-Russian Fidesz party. Given the high turnout and margin of victory, giving Tisza a two-thirds constitutional majority in parliament, […]
US naval blockade of Strait of Hormuz: what it involves and the risks attached
The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz aims to cut off Iran’s oil exports and punish any ship that pays a toll for transiting the waterway. somkanae sawatdinak/Shutterstock A US-sanctioned tanker with links to China, the Rich Starry, has transited the Strait of Hormuz, despite the US blockade of the waterway. According to the […]
Would you save more lives or more years of life? A global study reveals how people really think
THICHA SATAPITANON/Shutterstock.com Imagine a stark choice. You can save one person who is likely to live another 30 years. Or you can save several people who may each live another ten years. Should we prioritise saving more lives – or more years of life? This kind of trade-off sits at the heart of how health […]
Will voters turn against Donald Trump in the US midterms? What we know so far
The US is bracing for another cycle of elections, with November’s midterms determining the scope of Donald Trump’s power in the final two years of his presidency. All seats in the House of Representatives will be contested, as will one-third of the Senate. Trump’s Republican party currently controls both branches of Congress. However, polls are […]
My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy – a boundary pushing work of which the modernist would be proud
My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein is Deborah Levy’s latest genre-defying novel. It is at once a compelling contemporary fiction and an extended meditation on the importance of Stein, who Levy describes as the godmother of modernism, a queer icon, a self-declared genius and a writer who has baffled readers and critics for a […]
Why anatomy’s naughtiest mnemonics work so well
alvarog1970/Shutterstock.com Some lovers try positions that they can’t handle – I’m referring to the bones of the wrist, of course. The phrase is a classic mnemonic used to remember the eight carpal (wrist) bones – scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate – whose initials form the memorable sentence. One of the most […]
Football is being spoiled by time-wasting – what can be done ahead of the World Cup?
Italian referee Marco Guida signals that he is taking account of time-wasting during a Serie A football match. Marco Iacobucci Epp/Shutterstock Football fans, broadcasters and even head coaches have been complaining this season about excessive time-wasting spoiling the flow of the men’s game. In the Premier League, the proportion of a match where the ball […]
Cairo’s City of the Dead is more than a cemetery – it’s a living neighbourhood at risk
On religious festival mornings, Egyptians gather among tombs in Cairo’s City of the Dead, a four-mile medieval necropolis at the foot of the Mokattam Hills. They’re upholding a longstanding tradition of remembrance and honouring their deceased loved ones. Though you might expect this ceremony to be marked with silence, the necropolis’s narrow alleys are filled […]
Scientists make Parkinson’s drug from plastic in world first
Photka/Shutterstock.com It’s easy to see discarded plastic as nothing more than waste. Much of it ends up in landfill, breaking down into microplastics that seep into water supplies and threaten the environment, and potentially human health. But what if the same plastic waste could instead be transformed into life-saving medicines? In a recent study published […]
More joy, less juggle? Why workplaces should get on board with the value of care
zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock The core premise of feminism is this: women can do anything. And yes, these days in developed economies, women without children earn about the same as men. The problem is not the opportunities available to them. It’s the opportunities that disappear as women become mothers. This disconnect between paid work and care work is […]