How padel disrupted the genteel world of lawn tennis
Damiano Buffo/Shutterstock Padel has captured the British sporting imagination. Combining aspects of tennis and squash, and played across a net but within a walled court, padel was invented in Mexico in 1969. In the intervening half century, it cultivated a significant following in Latin America and Spain. Padel is the second most popular participation sport […]
King Charles reveals his personal tax bill – here’s what it does and doesn’t tell us about royal finances
Buckingham Palace has disclosed that the king has paid tax of £11.7 million in 2023-24 and £12.9 million in 2024-25. The bulk of this tax liability arises from his income from the Duchy of Lancaster, which for 2023-24 was £27.5 million. This makes him one of the top 100 taxpayers in the country. Kensington Palace […]
Andy Burnham wants to turbocharge devolution. He’ll have to convince the Treasury
Andy Burnham has built his reputation on championing regional devolution – as Greater Manchester’s mayor he was celebrated as the “king of the north”. If, as now seems likely, he becomes prime minister next month, a “devolution blitz” is expected to follow. But it will only succeed if Burnham can bring the Treasury with him. […]
As the temperature rises, so do the risks for people living with interstitial lung disease
voronaman/Shutterstock For most people, a hot summer’s day is uncomfortable. For someone with scarred lungs, it can become a medical risk. People living with interstitial lung disease (ILD) are especially vulnerable during extreme heat. As climate change drives more frequent and intense heatwaves, people with ILD will need better protection from hot weather and related […]
Uzbekistan’s World Cup appearance is a moment of pride and shows off central Asia’s peaceful development
The expanded men’s World Cup in 2026 has given fans the chance to cheer on the exploits of first-time qualifiers, some of which many people might previously have struggled to locate on the map. Standout moments have already included Curaçao’s goal-keeping heroics in earning a draw against Ecuador and Cabo Verde’s upset by pegging back […]
A goat’s tooth may have solved a 100-year debate about ancient Greek farming
The agricultural economy was the backbone of wealth in ancient Greece. Food brought people together, whether in smaller groups at a wine-drinking symposium, or the entire community in a sacrificial feast of epic proportions. In The Odyssey, the ancient Greek epic poem, Odysseus’s son joins one of these early feasts – a community barbecue of […]
Venezuela earthquakes add tragic new layer to the country’s humanitarian crisis
Venezuela has a well-documented vulnerability to earthquakes. The country sits on the boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, resulting in routine tremors and causing historical earthquake disasters. But the experience of a “doublet”, a pair of 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes 40 seconds apart, on June 24 was a rare misfortune. From an […]
Robin Hood was often far more violent than modern legend – but he wasn’t the most extreme medieval outlaw
Two deaths related to Robin Hood have put the fictional medieval outlaw in the news recently. The release of The Death of Robin Hood featuring Hugh Jackman as the titular hero has coincided with the sad news of the death of the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, the tree that legend has it was one […]
Autistic people aren’t afraid of genetic research – they are afraid of what scientists might do with it
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com When my colleagues and I asked autistic people and parents of autistic children in Sweden how they feel about genetic research in autism, one response stood out: “I hope genetic research finds new ways to help us, not erase us.” It captures a tension that has shaped debates about autism genetic research for years. […]
Investigative interviews are key to solving crimes – should AI be helping police with their inquiries?
Dabarti CGI/Shutterstock Investigative interviewing – the process of obtaining accurate and complete accounts from victims, witnesses and suspects – is the lifeblood of the criminal justice system. When a crime occurs, someone usually knows something. But the way a police interview is conducted doesn’t simply determine whether information is obtained. It shapes the reliability and […]