Could the Middle East conflict open the door to price controls? Here’s how it works in Greece
The Athenian/Shutterstock The US-Israel war with Iran has sent shockwaves through the global economy and predictions of COVID‑era inflation are becoming hard to ignore. In many countries, these pressures are already being felt, as households struggle to afford essentials. During and after the height of the pandemic, governments across the political spectrum experimented with price […]
Nato has survived some serious rifts but the Iran war shows how the US has soured on the transatlantic alliance
The US president took the opportunity of a prime-time speech to the US public on April 1 to repeat his by now-familiar criticism of America’s Nato allies for not joining the war in Iran. He told them to “build up some delayed courage. Should have done it before. Should have done it with us as […]
Our modern vision evolved from an ancient one-eyed worm creature
LuckyStep/Shutterstock It’s easy to take our eyes for granted. But our recent research shows they took an incredible evolutionary journey to reach their current familiar form. It has long been known that our (vertebrate) eyes differ fundamentally from the ones of our distant relatives (invertebrates), because of their cell composition and how they develop before […]
There may not be a Christian revival, but Britain’s traditional churches aren’t doomed
Flystock/Shutterstock In the same week that a new archbishop of Canterbury was installed, YouGov admitted that a poll suggesting there was a “quiet revival” of Christianity was a dud. It had been inflated by fraudulent results and should be ignored. To those of us who study the bigger picture of religion in Britain, this comes […]
Why Benjamin Netanyahu needs the Iran conflict to continue
Before Donald Trump delivered his prime-time address to the American people on April 1, many commentators predicted he would claim victory and signal that the US air campaign against Iran would be wound down – even without a deal with Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz. As it turned out, Trump said he would […]
The Untold Stories of Women Football Fans: celebrating memories, calling out prejudice
It’s one of the clearest things about me. I’m black and white … I think I cried for a month when we lost the FA Cup Final in 1974. I was only ten and it was near my birthday as well. I was absolutely gutted. [Jo, Newcastle fan since the 1970s] Sexism in football, according […]
How ‘eco-dystopian’ novels from Asia and Africa are pushing boundaries
Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock Speculative and futuristic visions of environmental calamity are being imagined globally through environmental fiction. Eco-dystopian novels can help people process their fears or mourn the loss of a more stable climate. My forthcoming book, Nature’s Return, shows that while anti-environmentalism is gaining traction in the west, the diversity and urgency of environmental visions […]
Humans’ closest invertebrate ancestors date back much further than thought – how we discovered the fossils that show this
Artist’s impression of Earth’s earliest complex animals during the late Ediacaran period – before the ‘Cambrian explosion’. Xiaodong Wang, CC BY-SA Animal life is extraordinarily diverse and complex, having colonised almost all environments on Earth – from hostile hydrothermal vents in the deep sea to the skies across our continents. But the planet was not […]
Will row over Iran conflict spell the end of Nato?
This is the text from The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email. Sign up here to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox. Anybody who tuned in to Donald Trump’s prime-time speech to the American people last night hoping to hear that he plans an end to the […]
Voters in Wales face Senedd election amid confusion over who holds power over what
yusuf aktas/Shutterstock Ahead of May’s Senedd (Welsh parliament) election, many people in Wales remain unclear about who is responsible for important political decisions. Our new report suggests confusion is widespread. Our analysis included a survey of people in Wales and found that 69% did not know that policing is controlled by the UK government. At […]