Marcos Rodrigues Mimbrero, Universidad de Zaragoza; AXA Research Fund and Jorge Félez Bernal, Université de Concepcion Fire-smart risk assessment is needed to tackle the scale of wildfire destruction, which is a growing reality across the globe. Hazardous fires are more intense and more frequent, fuelled both by climate change and by the no
Justin Visagie, University of the Witwatersrand and Ruth Castel-Branco, University of the Witwatersrand South Africa is in the midst of its most significant anti-immigrant mobilisation in years. The emergence of the March and March movement, calls for the mass deportation of undocumented migrants by 30 June 2026, growing anti-immigrant violence, and the repatriation
Ph. The city of Johannesburg’s power infrastructure and billing systems need urgent attention. pexels blaque x, CC BY Glen Robbins, University of the Witwatersrand Just over a third (38%) of the residents of South Africa’s commercial capital, Johannesburg, reported being satisfied with their electricity services in a survey conducted in 2023/2024. This was
Ph. Rescue workers carry a person on a stretcher in Caracas following an earthquake in Venezuela on June 24, 2026. Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images Dulce Suarez, Florida International University For a country already facing serious humanitarian needs, the two powerful earthquakes that shook Venezuela on June 24, 2026, have made life even
Ph. Israeli soldiers patrol near the border with Lebanon on June 9, 2026. Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images Amy McAuliffe, University of Notre Dame A lot hangs on whether the United States can compel Israel to cease operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. After all, an end to the Israeli military offensive was a
Along a small stream in Spain, groups of teenagers are at work. One hovers around a black tarpaulin covered in wet pieces of plastic. Another stands on a small bridge, fishing with a net. Others sort small pieces of plastic, cigarette butts and various other things they’ve recovered from the stream. What looks
Ph. The Dames Point Bridge spans a river in Jacksonville, Fla. Jonathan Zander/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Alex Krasnok, Florida International University Every bridge has parts that drivers never see: steel buried in concrete, welds tucked under girders, and soil packed around foundations below the waterline. A bridge can look fine from the road
Ph. Violet Gibson pictured after her arrest in 1926. wikimedia Giovanni Pietro Lombardo, Sapienza University of Rome and M. Andrea Pisauro, University of Plymouth Benito Mussolini stepped out onto the Piazza del Campidoglio at 10:58 in the morning of April 7, 1926. He had just delivered a speech prepared for him by his
Duncan Garrow, University of Reading The story of Stonehenge starts around 5,000 years ago. But its famous old stones, some of which were transported all the way from south-west Wales to Wiltshire, are just part of the story. Close to the beginning of its use, the site was a cemetery, with dozens of
Hybrid cars are a regular sight on European roads today. Sitting between internal combustion engines and fully electric vehicles, they run on fuel for some of the journey and electricity for the rest. That concept might be about to shake up the aviation industry. Aviation accounts for around 2.5% of global carbon emissions,