South Africa’s unsafe water supplies: licensing service providers won’t solve the issue

| Insights & Views

In many cities and towns across South Africa, water shortages and supply disruptions have become more frequent. Most recent figures show that 33% of all urban water users and 65% of rural users face regular water cut-offs....

Cameroon’s Baka people say they are part of the forest: that’s why they look after it

| Insights & Views

The Congo Basins hunter-gatherer people have the secret to living well with the forest. While doing fieldwork in 2020, I remember walking with Indigenous elders Ferdinand Mbita and Félix Mangombe up the small,...

Fossil face discovery highlights challenges faced by Europe’s earliest settlers

| Insights & Views

Piecing together the story of Europes earliest settlers is a challenge, largely because relevant human fossils are scarce. On March 12, researchers announced the discovery of a new fossil from the excavation site of Sime...

Labour says benefit reforms are a ‘moral mission’ – it looks more like moral panic

| Insights & Views

After weeks of speculation, Liz Kendall, work and pensions secretary, has unveiled her plans to reform welfare and cut the countrys ballooning benefits bill. The proposals include: stricter eligibility requirements for...

Why a journalist could obtain a minister’s ChatGPT prompts – and what it means for transparency

| Insights & Views

When the New Scientist revealed that it had obtained a UK government ministers ChatGPT prompts through a freedom of information (FOI) request, many in journalism and politics did a double take. Science and technology...

How a lack of period product regulation harms our health and the planet

| Insights & Views

Did you know that in the UK period products are regulated under the same consumer legislation as candles? For 15 million people who menstruate each month, these items are used internally or next to one of the most...

Only 15 countries have met the latest Paris agreement deadline. Is any nation serious about tackling climate change?

| Insights & Views

The latest deadline for countries to submit plans for slashing the greenhouse gas emissions fuelling climate change has passed. Only 15 countries met it less than 8% of the 194 parties currently signed up to the Paris...