Who can carry a kirpan in the UK? Religion, law and the question of risk
Polonio Video/Shutterstock The murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton in December 2025 is a profound tragedy that has left a family grieving and deeply affected the wider community. Any discussion that follows must keep that loss clearly in view. Following Digwa’s conviction and sentencing, Nowak’s father said the family did not […]
British Landscapes: A Sense of Place shows how ideas of scenery have evolved across 300 years of art
The new exhibition of British landscapes at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester features 160 works by some 60 artists. These span from Thomas Gainsborough and the local Smith brothers in the 18th century to the inner-city wastelands of Prunella Clough in the 1990s. Yet, in an exhibition drawn entirely drawn from Pallant House’s own collections, […]
Europe is caught in a squeeze between the US and China
Europe sits uneasily at the centre of the growing rivalry between the US and China. hapelinium / Shutterstock The European Union (EU), along with the other major countries in Europe, should be a geopolitical force to be reckoned with. In 2024, the EU was the second-largest economy in the world after the US and before […]
We watched the first Enhanced Games live in Las Vegas – this is what we learned
The inaugural Enhanced Games took place to much fanfare in Las Vegas on May 24 2026. An event that has attracted much controversy, the games are designed to showcase the prowess of high-profile athletes who openly take legal performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to maximise their sporting potential. Masterminded by sports media and wellness company Enhanced […]
Police to review anti-racism guidance after Henry Nowak murder – why they’re right to do so
Police leaders have said they will review anti-racism guidance following the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak. Vickrum Digwa, his killer, was sentenced this week to life in prison. Nowak was stabbed five times and tried to escape his attacker by climbing over a fence. Body-worn camera footage shows him handcuffed by police at the scene, […]
Masters of the Universe tries to manage the absurd masculinity of He-Man – it should just accept masculinity is absurd
The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan once said that the most tragic thing about masculinity was that it had a symbol. He didn’t have He-Man in mind when he made this comment. He died in 1981, two years before the original cartoon’s debut. But he might as well have. (He was talking about the phallus, if […]
The graduate job market is grim right now – but the data says university is still worth it
fizkes/Shutterstock Spend ten minutes talking to a soon-to-be graduate about their job search and you might come away convinced that a university degree has become a confidence trick. The class of 2025 spent the better part of a year sending hundreds of applications for a handful of replies. The class of 2026 is now graduating […]
Iran war: ordinary Israelis and Lebanese remain trapped by the false promises of their leaders
When the United States and Israel began their conflict against Iran, the Islamic Republic retaliated – as it has done in the past – by launching missile strikes against Israel as well as US military basis in the region. In addition, Iran targeted military and civilian locations across several Arab Gulf states. Iran’s proxy in […]
Tonight the Music Seems So Loud: George Michael’s music, artistry and drama
Writing about the world’s biggest pop icons is often a double-edged sword. On the plus side, authors know the public is always hungry for more (just see the volume of unofficial Taylor Swift biographies released in recent years). But minus side, they need to find a new angle to avoid treading over old ground. In […]
Great apes: what we know about their cognition, cooperation and curiosity after two decades of research
A chimpanzee sits in the Pongoland enclosure at Leipzig Zoo, where a huge amount of research has been conducted since 2004. Marco Warm/Shutterstock Leipzig Zoo in central Germany is a world-leading centre of great ape research. Recent studies have seen chimpanzees there using touchscreen controls to navigate virtual forests and locate food rewards – applying […]