Trolling has been around for almost as long as the internet itself; think of the early days of YouTube clickbait titles, edgy memes posted to Facebook, and nihilistic Twitter threads, all deliberately designed to provoke and enrage the masses. It’s an online terrain most people are familiar with, and yet the rise of TikTok has allowed a new form of trolling to thrive.
Rage baiting, or rage farming, has a new wave of content creators and social media influencers not only inciting rage online – but profiting off viewers’ anger too.
At its core, rage baiting is a manipulative tactic used by content creators to elicit outrage from their viewers. The idea is that if you’re angry, you’re more likely to comment, share, react, and ultimately increase the online engagement of that video, which helps content creators drive more traffic to their channels and earn more revenue.
TikToker Ryan Gawlik does things like intentionally calling espresso “expresso” and biting into a whole KitKat bar because he knows internet audiences find that behaviour upsetting.
TikTok / Ry Williams
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
You know that feeling when you read something online and it seems deliberately provocative, almost manufactured to create outrage? You may have just encountered “rage bait” – content deliberately designed to elicit anger in order to increase engagement.
Use of the term has increased threefold this year, suggesting people know “they are being drawn ever more quickly into polarising debates and arguments as a response to social media algorithms and the addictive nature of outrage content,” the UK-based dictionary said in a statement.
Our lexicon is increasingly shaped by new technologies.
Here is a small selection of favourites so far (we have brilliant books still to come in the second half of the year) that includes a new novel from Nobel winner Han Kang, two local memoirs, and the start of two new fiction series that I predict are going to take off.
Almost every major dictionary has named a word that relates to the internet as their 2025 word of the year, highlighting the technology’s grip on daily life and the language we use to describe it.
Sometimes, rage bait can be relatively harmless – a recipe that contains disgusting food combinations or someone annoying their pet, partner or sibling. But it has also entered political discourse, with outrage used to boost politicians’ profiles and provoke a chain of reaction and counter-reaction.
Collins Dictionary chose “vibe coding,” a form of software development that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to turn natural language into computer code, and the Cambridge Dictionary settled on “parasocial,” referencing the relationships people form online with someone they don’t know, as their words of the year.
And last year Oxford chose “brain rot,” which “captured the mental drain of endless scrolling,” Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, said in a statement.
Taken together, rage bait and brain rot “form a powerful cycle where outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted,” Grathwohl said.
“These words don’t just define trends; they reveal how digital platforms are reshaping are thinking and behaviour,” he added.
Oxford Dictionary let the public choose its word of the year from a shortlist that also included “aura farming” and “biohack,” posting parody videos on its Instagram to convey the spirit of each word.
Aura farming, “the cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona … by presenting oneself in a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness or mystique,” was portrayed as a cardigan-wearing, tote bag-carrying man, “always one matcha away from finishing (an) experimental screenplay.”
And biohack, “an attempt … to optimise one’s … health, longevity or wellbeing by altering one’s diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle, or by using other means such as drugs, supplements or technological devices,” was visualised as someone hooked up to a green IV drip and wearing an LED face mask, who had taken “27 phytonutrient-dense plants” by 6.34am.
Rage bait, meanwhile, slopped milk and sugar everywhere while he made a cup of tea, before picking his toenails and pouring the milk over himself.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
WHO guidelines said GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic or Wegovy could be used by adults as part of a comprehensive approach to obesity treatment.Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix via AFP
The World Health Organization has released its first guidelines on the Ozempic-type drugs, conditionally recommending their use for long-term treatment of obesity.
To tackle what it said was a serious health challenge, its guidelines said Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications such as Ozempic or Wegovy could be used by adults as part of a comprehensive approach. That included healthy diets, physical activity and support from health professionals.
Obesity was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024 and was major driver of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, it said.
“Our new guidance recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong care,” WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO also called for fair access to the drugs and said they should be made affordable for those who needed them.
Peter Shepherd, professor of molecular medicine and pathology at University of Auckland, said obesity affected between 20 percent and 30 percent of the New Zealand population and was major driver of health problems.
He told Morning Report the therapies weren’t without problems, but “nothing else has really worked”.
“Levels of obesity globally have continued to rise despite the best efforts of diet and exercise and behavioural programmes to do otherwise over the years.
“And now we for the first time are seeing a reduction in levels of obesity, in the US of all places, reductions in people eating at fast food, restaurants, etcetera. So these drugs really do work.”
University of Auckland profressor Peter Shepherd.Photo: University of Auckland
At a cost of $6000 a year in New Zealand, Shepherd said the drugs were out of reach for many people, but the price was likely to fall.
“These drugs are coming off patent as many biosimilars in the pipeline in China already, for example. So in the next few years, we’re going to see these prices come down even more.”
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said people using the medicines should tell their health professional if they experienced new or worsening depression but stressed there was enough evidence to conclude the drugs caused those changes.
Shepherd said there was limited evidence of risk of suicidal thoughts among those taking the drugs.
There were gastric side effects and “more worryingly” people seemed to be losing not just fat but muscle mass.
“Particularly for older people, loss of muscle is not a good idea. So these probably will need to be supplanted by different types of weight loss drugs going forward that don’t have these side effects”.
The drugs were originally designed for type 2 diabetes treatment but became known as a weight loss solution.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Des bulles invisibles transportent le cancer d’un organe à l’autre. Comprendre ces messagères microscopiques pourrait changer la lutte contre les métastases.
Empêcher un cancer de se propager dans le corps : voilà le défi que s’est donné notre équipe au Département de génie électrique de l’École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS). En collaboration avec la professeure Julia Burnier et des spécialistes en biologie de l’Institut de recherche du Centre universitaire de santé McGill, nous cherchons à comprendre comment les cancers se transforment en métastases, c’est-à-dire comment ils envahissent d’autres organes.
Depuis environ huit ans, mon équipe se penche sur les nanoparticules lipidiques, qui font une taille d’à peine une centaine de nanomètres et qui sont donc invisibles à l’œil nu. Nous cherchons d’abord à comprendre le chemin de la métastase. Ensuite, nous trouvons des façons différentes d’injecter les médicaments dans le corps.
Les nanoparticules lipidiques, comme les liposomes, se distinguent des approches classiques : elles permettent de délivrer les médicaments directement dans les cellules tumorales, ce qui accroît leur efficacité et réduit la toxicité, comparé aux chimiothérapies conventionnelles. Des chercheurs ont démontré que les liposomes ciblent mieux les tumeurs et diminuent les effets secondaires, tandis que d’autres ont observé que ces nanomédicaments améliorent la pénétration et la spécificité du traitement, notamment face aux métastases. Ces résultats confirment que les nanomédicaments peuvent rendre les traitements du cancer plus ciblés, plus efficaces et mieux tolérés.
De minuscules particules responsables de la propagation
Chaque cellule de notre corps, saine ou cancéreuse, libère de minuscules particules appelées vésicules extracellulaires. Ces petites bulles, faites de lipides et de protéines, transportent aussi de l’information génétique. Lorsqu’une cellule cancéreuse libère dans le sang ses vésicules et que ces dernières sont transférées à une cellule saine, elle peut en modifier l’ADN et la transformer à son tour en cellule cancéreuse. C’est ainsi que le cancer se propage vers d’autres organes comme le foie : ce mécanisme est à la base des métastases.
Le problème, c’est qu’il est long et difficile d’extraire et d’étudier ces vésicules naturelles. Pour accélérer la recherche, mon équipe produit donc des copies artificielles appelées liposomes grâce à de petits dispositifs, des micromélangeurs. En mélangeant différentes solutions – des lipides, des protéines, de l’eau et de l’éthanol – notre équipe de recherche crée des particules ressemblant aux vésicules naturelles. Notre défi consiste à comprendre quels sont les lipides et les protéines qui sont contenus dans les vésicules extracellulaires pour produire des liposomes.
Ces liposomes sont ensuite injectés dans des cellules cancéreuses hépatiques pour voir comment elles réagissent. Plus les cellules retiennent ces particules, plus cela prouve que les copies imitent bien la réalité.
Dans une expérience type, les liposomes sont fabriqués avec des paramètres précis afin de reproduire la taille et la charge des vésicules extracellulaires. Ils sont également rendus visibles en les colorant avec un marqueur fluorescent. Ces liposomes sont ensuite incubés avec des cellules cancéreuses, cultivées dans notre laboratoire. Il est ainsi possible de filmer et de mesurer, en temps réel et sans perturber les cellules, comment et à quelle vitesse les liposomes sont absorbés et exprimés par les cellules cancéreuses. Nos résultats montrent que plus les liposomes ressemblent aux vésicules naturelles en taille et en charge, plus ils sont efficacement absorbés. Cela permet de voir comment leur composition chimique et physique influence leur absorption par les cellules et leur rôle possible dans le développement des tumeurs.
Observer le comportement des liposomes
Notre objectif est de pouvoir comprendre comment ces vésicules extracellulaires sont transportées vers les cellules du foie pour y créer des métastases. Notre principal défi est de faire en sorte que ces liposomes puissent imiter vraiment les vésicules extracellulaires.
Nous obtenons actuellement un taux d’efficacité de 50 % pour l’encapsulation des protéines. Nous visons à le faire grimper à 90 %. Nous espérons ainsi expliquer la façon dont sont formées les métastases afin de les bloquer. Une fois la technique peaufinée, notre équipe mènera des tests sur les rats.
À long terme, ces travaux pourraient changer la donne pour de nombreux patients, en empêchant la formation de métastases et en augmentant leurs chances de survie. Notre but : comprendre et bloquer la formation des métastases.
Vers de nouveaux traitements
Notre équipe ne cherche pas seulement à comprendre le processus, mais aussi à développer de nouvelles armes contre le cancer. L’idée est d’utiliser ces liposomes comme de minuscules navettes capables de transporter des médicaments directement vers les cellules cancéreuses. Les diamètres des liposomes diffèrent en fonction de l’organe cancéreux à traiter. Par conséquent, il est très important de bien caractériser et comprendre les propriétés de ces liposomes.
Par exemple, des chercheurs testent actuellement l’encapsulation de curcuma, une molécule étudiée pour ses propriétés anticancéreuses. Notre équipe fait de même pour observer comment les cellules cancéreuses réagissent à ces liposomes. Le curcuma, et plus précisément la curcumine qu’il contient, aide à combattre le cancer en ralentissant la croissance des cellules tumorales et en favorisant leur destruction par le corps. Plusieurs études confirment ses effets anti-inflammatoires et antioxydants, ce qui peut renforcer l’action des traitements contre le cancer. Grâce à l’encapsulation dans des liposomes, nous améliorons la capacité du curcuma à atteindre et cibler les cellules malades.
Outre cette molécule, d’autres molécules comme le paclitaxel sont déjà utilisées dans des traitements anticancéreux sous forme liposomale. Le paclitaxel encapsulé améliore notamment la délivrance du médicament et sa tolérance.
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Il existe aussi des stratégies innovantes utilisant des liposomes pour transporter de petits morceaux d’ADN ou des anticorps qui vont agir comme des messagers, aidant le corps à mieux détecter et combattre les cellules malades. Ces approches sont validées par plusieurs études scientifiques et sont déjà utilisées dans certains traitements du cancer, avec de nouveaux progrès chaque année pour améliorer leur efficacité et leur sécurité.
En reproduisant les vésicules naturelles du corps émanant des cellules cancéreuses par des liposomes, notre équipe espère percer le secret de la propagation du cancer et déterminer les approches efficaces pour la bloquer. Nos recherches ouvrent la voie à des traitements plus ciblés, capables d’empêcher la formation des métastases et d’améliorer les chances de survie des patients.
Ski season is here, but while the eastern half of the U.S. digs out from winter storms, the western U.S. snow season has been off to a very slow start.
The snowpack was far below normal across most of the West on Dec. 1, 2025. Denver didn’t see its first measurable snowfall until Nov. 29 – more than a month past normal, and its latest first-snow date on record.
But a late start to snow season isn’t necessarily reason to worry about the season ahead.
Adrienne Marshall, a hydrologist in Colorado who studies how snowfall is changing in the West, explains what forecasters are watching and how rising temperatures are affecting the future of the West’s beloved snow.
The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s seasonal outlook for January through March 2026 largely follows a typical La Niña pattern, with warmer and drier conditions to the south, and wetter and cooler conditions to the north. NOAA
What are snow forecasters paying attention to right now?
It’s still early in the snow season, so there’s a lot of uncertainty in the forecasts. A late first snow doesn’t necessarily mean a low-snow year.
But there are some patterns that we know influence snowfall that forecasters are watching.
For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting La Niña conditions for this winter, possibly switching to neutral midway through. La Niña involves cooler-than-usual sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator west of South America. Cooler ocean temperatures in that region can influence weather patterns across the U.S., but so can several other factors.
La Niña – and its opposite, El Niño – don’t tell us what will happen for certain. Instead, they load the dice toward wetter or drier conditions, depending on where you are. La Niñas are generally associated with cooler, wetter conditions in the Pacific Northwest and a little bit warmer, drier conditions in the U.S. Southwest, but not always.
When we look at the consequences for snow, La Niña does tend to mean more snow in the Pacific Northwest and less in the Southwest, but, again, there’s a lot of variability.
Scientists often gauge snow conditions by snow-water equivalent, a measure of the amount of water stored in a snowpack. Most of the Western U.S. was far below normal on Nov. 30, 2025. Parts of the Southwest were above normal, but this early in the season, normal is very low to begin with in many of those areas. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Snow conditions also depend heavily on individual storms, and those are more random than the seasonal pattern indicated by La Niña.
If you look at NOAA’s seasonal outlook maps, most of Colorado and Utah are in the gap between the cooler and wetter pattern to the north and the warmer and drier pattern to the south expected during winter 2026. So, the outlook suggests roughly equal chances of more or less snow than normal and warmer or cooler weather across many major ski areas.
How is climate change affecting snowfall in the West?
In the West, snow measurements date back a century, so we can see some trends.
How much snow falls is driven by both temperature and precipitation, and temperature is warming
In the past few years, research has been able to directly attribute observed changes in the spring snowpack to human-caused climate change. Rising temperatures have led to decreases in snow, particularly in the Southwest. The effects of warming temperatures on overall precipitation are less clear, but the net effect in the western U.S. is a decrease in the spring snowpack.
This winter’s forecast isn’t extreme at this point, so the impact on the year’s water supplies is a pretty big question mark.
Snowpack – how much snow is on the ground in March or April – sums up the snowfall, minus the melt, for the year. The snowpack also affects water supplies for the rest of the year.
The West’s water infrastructure system was built assuming there would be a natural reservoir of snow in the mountains. California relies on the snowpack for about a third of its annual water supply.
However, rising temperatures are leading to earlier snowmelt in some areas. Evidence suggests that climate change is also expected to cause more rain-on-snow events at high elevations, which can cause very rapid snowmelt.
When snow melts quickly, it can cause flooding. That happened in 2023 in California, when fast melting from a heavy snow season flooded wide areas of farmland and almond orchards covering what was once Tulare Lake. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Both create challenges for water managers, who want to store as much snowmelt runoff as possible in reservoirs so it’s available through the summer, when states need it most for agriculture and for generating hydropower to meet high electricity demand. If the snow melts early, water resource managers face some tough decisions, because they also need to leave room in their reservoirs to manage flooding. Earlier snowmelt sometimes means they have to release stored water.
When we look at reservoir levels in the Colorado River basin, particularly the big reservoirs – Lake Powell and Lake Mead – we see a pattern of decline over time. They have had some very good snow and water years, and also particularly challenging ones, including a long-running drought. The long-term trends suggest an imbalance between supply and growing demand.
What else does snowfall affect, such as fire risk?
During low-snow years, the snowpack disappears sooner, and the soils dry out earlier in the year. That essentially leaves a longer summer dry period and more stress on trees.
There is evidence that we tend to have bigger fire seasons after low-snow winters. That can be because the forests are left with drier fuels, which sets the ecosystem up to burn. That’s obviously a major concern in the West.
Snow is also important to a lot of wildlife species that are adapted to it. One example is the wolverine, an endangered species that requires deep snow for denning over the winter.
What snow lessons should people take away from climate projections?
Understanding how choices can change climate projections can be empowering. Projections are saying: Here’s what we expect to happen if the world emits a lot of greenhouse gases, and here’s what we expect to happen if we emit fewer greenhouse gases based on recent trends.
The choices we make will affect our future snow seasons and the wider climate.
Adrienne Marshall receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Geological Survey, the Colorado Department of Transportation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and has received previous funding from the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Benjamin Selwyn, Professor of International Relations and International Development, Department of International Relations, University of Sussex
In this vein, the World Bank funds projects that facilitate trade in food and trade of agricultural inputs such as agro-chemicals, both within and between countries and regions.
But my research shows how wealth and poverty are two sides of the same coin. Wealth and poverty can both result from the growth of convoluted and globalised food supply chains. While such supply chains can reward large-scale exporters of relatively high value products, they can undermine local food systems.
As export volumes increase, the expansion of food sectors into global supply chains actually reduces food security in significant ways. Conversely, establishing the right to food domestically represents a viable way to combat food insecurity.
Brazil highlights how both issues play out. Despite being a major world food producer, food insecurity, and often hunger, in Brazil have been long-standing problems.
Following the election of the Workers’ Party in 2002, a decade of pro-poor policy – including the flagship fome zero (no hunger initiative), bolsa família (the family allowance grant) and rising minimum wages – reduced hunger and food insecurity. The country was removed from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s world hunger map in 2014.
However, Brazil was returned to the map in 2022 following COVID pandemic price spikes and the Bolsonaro government’s abandonment of much of the previous pro-poor policy agenda. Then, following the victory of the Workers’ Party in 2022, the reinstatement of pro-poor policies and consequent falls in levels of hunger, it was taken off the map again in 2025.
While social policy influences rates of food insecurity, so too do agricultural systems. This is where the differences between integration into high value global supply chains and attempts to formulate alternative food networks becomes apparent.
Brazil used to have a relatively diversified national economy. Since the 1990s, under governments of different political stripes, its integration into global supply chains has occurred through exporting a few primary products.
Such exports have enriched Brazilian agribusiness, but they have undermined domestic food production. This is negatively affecting the food security of poorer communities. Between 2010 and 2022, soybean production increased by over 100% while rice production fell by 30%. The production of other basic food crops also fell.
But there are alternatives to this model. In 1993, the newly elected Workers’ Party mayoralty of Belo Horizonte declared the right to food for its 2.5 million population, and the city government’s duty to guarantee it. Its success influenced the formation of the national fome zero programme in the early 2000s.
Since then, with some variations depending on the party in power, the city mayoralty has dedicated 1-2% of its annual budget – less than US$10 million (£7.7 million) per year – to the scheme.
The system encompasses production, distribution, and consumption. The local government’s Secretariat of Food Policy overseas and is responsible for implementing the right to food across the city. It facilitates local participation by small farmers and businesses, workers and consumers.
Objectives included using the city government’s purchasing power to stimulate local, agroecological food production, linked to consumers in ways that reduce prices while maintaining small farmer’s incomes.
Public restaurants, open to all, provide 20,000 healthy meals a day – organised by local chefs and nutritionists – for less than US$1 dollar per meal. Lunch (Brazilian’s main meal of the day) typically consists of rice, beans, meat, salads, fruit and juice.
Under the scheme meals from public restaurants are sold at cost price – the cost of food production, distribution and maintaining restaurants. Registered homeless people eat for free, and beneficiaries of the bolsa familia scheme get a 50% discount. Another 40 million meals are served to over 150,000 students a year under the scheme’s school meals programme. The city government partners with selected groceries to sell a range of products, often sourced locally, at 25% below market prices.
Under the scheme’s “straight from the field” programme, the city purchases food directly from producers for its public restaurants. The city provides inputs to low-income farmers and empowers them with secure land tenure. Local and regional family farms are encouraged to produce basic and other food crops for sale in the city through farmers and traditional markets.
Global supply chains are designed and operate as systems of production and trade that reward profitable exports, rather than combatting food insecurity. They often direct resources away from where they are needed to where they are profitable.
When right-to-food systems are established to tackle food insecurity, as in Belo Horizonte, they must cater to their local context. Policies such as subsidised food consumption and production, plus coordinated distribution are all ingredients required for tackling food insecurity.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Benjamin Selwyn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Justin Robinson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nuffield Politics Research Centre, University of Oxford
The autumn 2025 budget came at a crucial time for the Labour government. With their popularity at record lows, how Labour continues to manage the economy is key for its prospects at the next election.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, framed the budget around cutting the cost of living – with good reason. New research from my colleagues and I at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Politics Research Centre (in collaboration with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation) reveals the prevalence of cost of living concerns among British voters.
Using a nationally representative survey of British adults in April 2025, our analysis shows that just over one-third of the population feel worried about their personal or household finances. This is an experience we call economic insecurity.
Economic insecurity refers to a person’s anxiety about the ability to cope with the financial pressures faced by them and their household. It reflects the balance of a person’s income and savings against the various demands on their finances, including housing costs, childcare costs and debts.
Our research argues that feelings of economic security are a key driver of Labour’s unprecedented decline in support since the last general election. Data from May 2025 reveals that only 49% of those voters who supported Labour in 2024 continued to support them. The largest proportions switched to “undecided”, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Reform UK.
Nuffield Politics Research Centre/Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Economic insecurity is key to explaining these losses. Our analysis tracks individuals over time, allowing us to understand whether they change their voting preferences if and when they become economically insecure.
We found that among 2024 Labour voters, moving from a state of economic security to insecurity increases the probability of switching to Reform (by 5.45 percentage points), to the Lib Dems (by 3.42 percentage points) and to “undecided” (by 4.15 percentage points). Such changes in economic insecurity – which occur among around 12.5% of Labour voters in our data – have damaging consequences for Labour.
Feelings of economic insecurity, we argue, serve as a signal of poor government performance. They are an indicator that the government has not delivered on its duties, which leads voters to abandon the party.
Furthermore, economic insecurity also makes people rate Labour’s handling of the economy more negatively. In other words, people translate their experiences of economic insecurity into wider judgements about Labour’s overall economic performance.
Our analysis of data from April 2025 shows that among the economically insecure, 44.2% evaluated Labour’s performance on the economy as “very bad”. Among the economically secure, it was only 26.5%. This matters because ratings of Labour’s economic management also influence how people vote. Improving economic security would help Labour’s reputation for managing the economy and boost its electoral prospects.
Does the budget help?
With that in mind, how far does the new budget go to address these concerns for voters?
The lifting of the two-child benefit cap will help ease economic pressure due to rising childcare costs, as well as lift an estimated 450,000 children out of poverty. Reducing the cost of energy bills will provide a boost to families, particularly those on low incomes. Increasing the minimum wage should have similar positive consequences.
However, feelings of insecurity are not limited to low-income households. Our previous research reveals that around one in four middle-income earners feel economically insecure.
Aspects of the budget do little to help this group. The freeze on tax thresholds will bring around 1 million more people into the higher tax rate. The freeze on student loan repayment thresholds will add to the economic difficulties faced by graduates.
Underlining these issues, the OBR estimates that real household disposable income will grow by only 0.25% per year from 2026 to 2030 – much lower than its average growth in the 2010s. With this slowdown, the economic insecurity felt by many voters may persist until the next election.
Economy v immigration
Once budget headlines have faded, Labour will once again face questions over whether it should prioritise the economy or immigration – the two key issues for the British electorate. Our research provides a possible answer.
We find that economic insecurity is a broader explanation for Labour’s vote losses than concerns about immigration. Becoming economically insecure leads voters to abandon Labour for Reform and the Lib Dems, as well as pushing voters to “undecided”. In contrast, becoming more opposed to immigration only leads Labour voters to Reform.
Addressing the issue of economic insecurity could stem the tide of Labour defections across the political spectrum. A hardline approach to immigration is likely to only appease the smaller group who are going to Reform (around 10% of 2024 Labour voters). It could also alienate former Labour voters who oppose this approach, potentially worsening Labour’s popularity overall.
Prioritising economic insecurity appears the most sensible political strategy for Labour, potentially leading to vote gains across the political spectrum. It would, of course, also arguably bring benefits to the population at large. The budget has taken steps to meet this goal, but may not go far enough to restore the economic positivity that Labour needs.
Justin Robinson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Lilian Barraclough, PhD Student, Social Practice and Transformational Change, University of Guelph
Youth engagement is critical in the fight for a just and sustainable future. And creating opportunities for young people is a vital part of a just transition away from fossil fuels.
The Canadian government’s 2025 federal budget has emphasized creating new opportunities for young people by establishing a Youth Climate Corps, providing employment placements in renewable energy, protecting biodiversity and retrofitting buildings. The government promised to invest $40 million over two years starting in 2026-27.
However, while the creation of the Youth Climate Corps is an encouraging step toward a more sustainable, equitable and resilient country, the 2025 budget simultaneously caters to the oil and gas industry, reducing requirements for urgent emissions reduction and increasing subsidies supporting oil and gas production.
One of the leading causes of climate grief and anxiety among young people is government inaction, in Canada and elsewhere, that has led to feelings of betrayal, anger and despair about climate change.
In our research, colleagues and I have found that young Canadians are experiencing intense emotions related to the climate crisis, and they often have little to no hope for the future, envisioning apocalyptic conditions for themselves and their children.
Eco-anxiety
Although I am now a researcher, I have been involved in environmental and climate action since I was a child. I have witnessed the never-ending cycle of false commitments and lack of follow-through on the climate crisis.
Climate grief refers to grief in response to the losses caused by climate change — of trees, animals, place, homes as well as more intangible elements of culture and connection. Climate or eco-anxiety is defined by the American Psychological Association as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.”
Young Canadians describe their grief in visceral, embodied ways, emphasizing how their concerns about climate change invade their daily lives, relationships and life choices.
In our research, politically active youth expressed anger, frustration and hopelessness at the state of inaction on the climate crisis.
As one participant told us:
“There are times youth lose hope, when you try to push for something and then you have government push back and they just don’t get it when it makes so much sense to you that our climate is changing and we need to do something about it. Why would you not listen? Why aren’t you doing this?”
Youth need genuine engagement
It’s critical to involve more young people in the sectors addressing climate change and create better employment opportunities while building capacity to respond to increasing pressures from the realities of the climate crisis. The Youth Climate Corps is an important step in that direction.
The challenge, however, is that when youth are left out of the decisions that truly influence Canada’s ability to reduce emissions, address biodiversity loss and adapt to the changes we face, it reinforces feelings of betrayal and grief.
Models of youth-adult partnership on climate action show that the most important outcomes come from positive, meaningful youth engagement. These models, when paired with the real-world experience of youth activists, make it clear that both youth and their adult counterparts — in this case government decision-makers — have a responsibility to ensure that climate action is implemented in an intentional, thorough and meaningful way.
When youth are engaged in climate decision-making but the impact on overall action to address the crisis is negligible, it can reinforce and exacerbate climate grief and anxiety.
I see many of my peers facing an impossible job market, forced to take under-paying jobs that don’t align with their values and desires for change. The Youth Climate Corps undoubtedly represents progress, but the recent federal budget investment is limited. It will create few jobs and likely won’t meet the demands of young Canadians.
Limited progress in green jobs for young people doesn’t make up for Canada’s failure to reduce emissions and hold the fossil fuel industry accountable, making young Canadians question whether the federal budget is really one of “generational investment.”
Without inclusive decision-making and concrete action, young people will continue to feel grief and anxiety over the climate crisis and its impact on their health, well-being, jobs and future prospects.
Lilian Barraclough receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Youth Climate Lab and a regional representative for Ontario on the Young Greens Council of Canada and Youth Representative on the Green Party of Canada’s federal council.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adrian R Bell, Chair in the History of Finance and Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research, Prosperity and Resilience, Henley Business School, University of Reading
The Battle of Sluys during the 100 year war, as depicted by Jean Froissart in the 15th century.National Library of France
When you picture medieval warfare, you might think of epic battles and famous monarchs. But what about the everyday soldiers who actually filled the ranks? Until recently, their stories were scattered across handwritten manuscripts in Latin or French and difficult to decipher. Now, our online database makes it possible for anyone to discover who they were and how they lived, fought and travelled.
To shed light on the foundations of our armed services – one of England’s oldest professions – we launched the Medieval Soldier Database in 2009. Today, it’s the largest searchable online database of medieval nominal data in the world. It contains military service records giving names of soldiers paid by the English Crown. It covers the period from 1369 to 1453 and many different war zones.
We created the database to challenge assumptions about the lack of professionalism of soldiers during the hundred years war and to show what their careers were really like.
In response to the high interest from historians and the public (the database has 75,000 visitors per month), the resource has recently been updated. It is now sustainably hosted by GeoData, a University of Southampton research institute. We have recently added new records, taking the dataset back to the late 1350s, meaning it now contains almost 290,000 entries.
This data is mainly drawn from muster rolls (lists of names of soldiers comprising the military force) of men-at-arms (soldiers with full armour and a range of weapons) and archers. We can even see the little dots used by officials taking the muster to confirm the soldiers had turned up and had the right equipment. All these soldiers were paid and the Exchequer wanted to be assured it was receiving value for money.
We have also included protections and appointments of attorneys and legal mechanisms to protect local interests while serving overseas. Together, these records provide rich accounts of military activities, allowing for significant conclusions to be drawn. Careers of 20 years and more are revealed. We also see men moving upwards socially because of their good service. For many soldiers, especially archers, this information may be the only record we have of their existence.
The expanded data enables us to explore the garrison of Calais from 1357 to 1459. We can see the high manpower commitment needed to maintain this key English base in northern France. Calais was the gateway through which many great expeditions passed, including that of 1359 when Edward III set out to besiege Reims to be crowned King of France.
The database also allows comparisons with other emerging projects. For instance, we can establish the military experience of rebels in the peasants’ revolt of 1381, a widespread English uprising driven by economic hardship, high taxes and social tensions, ultimately suppressed violently by King Richard II and his government. The data allows many deep dives into the past. It allows historians to demonstrate that, unlike today where the armed forces specialise, the medieval soldier would have served repeatedly across different theatres of war.
We can see expeditionary armies sent to invade France as well as naval campaigns in the English Channel. We also find soldiers in garrisons in Scotland, Ireland and France. Our data has allowed family historians to push their genealogies back further than has been previously possible.
Standout stories
The resource is home to many insightful records of key events and figures. One well known person is Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, which were written between 1387 and 1400. The database holds a number of service records for him. He was a man-at-arms in the garrison of Calais in 1387.
The writer Geoffrey Chaucer is included in the database. Wiki Commons
This was probably Chaucer’s last foray into military service, but he had considerable experience as a soldier and as a diplomat. He had been in France in 1372, 1377 and 1378. He testified to the Court of Chivalry – a court which settled disputes over coats of arms – in 1386. He told the court that he was then aged “40 and upwards” and “had been armed 27 years”. He gave more details about his service on the Reims campaign of 1359 where he was captured by the French and ransomed.
Records for a man named Thomas Crowe of Snodland in Kent shed some light on his rebellious past. During the peasants’ revolt of 1381, he was accused of “taking up position and throwing great stones” to demolish someone’s house. The database suggests he may have served in France in 1369. He was certainly in the garrison of Calais in 1385 and on a naval campaign in 1387. His military knowledge about trebuchets – a powerful type of counterbalanced medieval siege engine – or giant catapults may explain how he was able to wreak so much destruction in the revolt.
The muster roll for the garrison of Calais in 1357 shows not only the names of men-at-arms and archers but also the support roles needed: mason, locksmith, fletcher (a maker of arrows), bowyer (a maker of bows), plumber, blacksmith, wheelwright, cooper (maker of barrels), ditch digger, boatman, carter and carter’s boy. One record belongs to a tiler – Walter Tyler. Was this the future rebel leader of 1381, Wat Tyler?
We hope the database will continue to grow and go on providing answers to questions about our shared military heritage. We are sure that it will unlock many previously untold stories of soldier ancestors.
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Adrian R Bell receives funding from UKRI via AHRC.
Anne Curry receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust, and in the past received funding from UKRI via the AHRC .
Source: The Conversation – UK – By William Yat Wai Lo, Associate Professor in Intercultural and International Education, Durham University
From climate marches to Gaza encampments, students across the globe are demanding political change. Their activism is often praised as a sign of youth empowerment and civic engagement.
But there is another side to this story. Activism can also exclude, silence, and polarise. It can amplify the voices of some, while pushing others to the margins.
My recently published study with colleague Euan Auld explored these dynamics in the context of Hong Kong’s 2019 student protests. This was a mass movement initially sparked by opposition to a proposed extradition bill, which quickly expanded into broader calls for democracy.
We interviewed 26 student leaders from 11 universities, capturing a complex picture of student politics under pressure. What we found challenges simple narratives of activism as purely empowering. Student-led organisations became not just platforms for mobilisation, but also sites of internal tension and exclusion.
This paradox – the power to empower, and the power to disempower – is a contradiction at the heart of student politics. And while Hong Kong may be a unique setting, the lessons carry broader relevance as campus protests rise around the world.
In the lead-up to and during Hong Kong’s 2019 protests, student organisations played a prominent role in the broader movement for political change. Student organisations helped shape protest strategies, coordinated campus actions, and became powerful symbols of resistance.
Our interviewees described feeling seen, heard, and united for a cause larger than themselves, with their student union involvement providing visibility. “No one would respond to my email if I was an ordinary student,” one student explained. “Being a student union executive gives me a position to make change.”
But that visibility came at a cost. As the political climate intensified, political alignment with localist viewpoints – often associated with a strong Hong Kong identity and, in some cases, pro-independence stances – became a prerequisite for leadership. In our interviews, student leaders explained that although student unions were expected to represent a wide range of student interests, from campus welfare to academic policy, their increasing focus on political advocacy meant that only candidates with strong ideological positions could credibly run for office.
“A political stance is essential to running an election for a cabinet of the student union,” said one student.
Some also described feeling significant pressure to conform to dominant narratives, often tied to a rising sense of local identity or support for more radical actions. One student reflected that “when the society stresses ‘Yung Mo’ [a confrontational stance] or the society no longer stays at this kind of ‘Wo Lei Fei’ viewpoint [a peaceful, non-violent approach], the students’ mentality changes too and they want to escalate their actions.”
This creates a difficult environment for those who don’t fully agree. Moderate voices, or students unsure of how far they wanted to go, were sometimes silenced or sidelined. “We would avoid showing our political stance publicly,” a student said, pointing to the discomfort students felt in expressing dissenting views.
Some interviewees said they chose to withdraw from student organisations altogether, fearing peer pressure, disciplinary consequences from universities, or even legal risks. The paradox is clear: the very organisations that enabled student voice also narrowed whose voices were heard.
Universities today
Hong Kong may have been a specific and high-stakes political setting, but the underlying tensions it revealed are not unique. As student protests resurface globally, university campuses have once again become contested spaces. Demands for institutional action collide with calls for neutrality and restraint.
In such polarised environments, activism can sometimes become a gatekeeping force. The louder it gets, the harder it may be for students to disagree. When political alignment becomes the price of participation, student activism risks losing what makes it meaningful: its openness to diverse perspectives.
This presents a real challenge for universities. How can they encourage political engagement without being seen to endorse one stance over another? How can they protect space for students to express themselves without letting any group dominate the conversation?
Hong Kong’s experience is a cautionary tale of how student politics can turn inward, excluding the very voices it aims to empower. But it’s also a moment to reflect. Universities have an opportunity – and a responsibility – to help keep student engagement open, inclusive, and pluralistic.
Student activism plays a vital role in challenging injustice and pushing for social change. At its best, it fosters leadership, political awareness, and a sense of collective purpose. “The campus is the epitome of society,” one student said. “If [civic engagement and study] are cut apart, then going to university becomes completely meaningless… Participating in civil society during one’s studies is very important.”
But if it only empowers those who speak the loudest or hold the most popular views, then something important is lost. The lesson from Hong Kong is not to silence activism, but to ensure that it doesn’t silence others.
William Yat Wai Lo receives funding from Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
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