Amazon’s Astro robot uses fear to get into your home
The cute bot companions couldn’t kick-start a domestic android revolution, maybe tapping into our security fears mightContinue Reading
2021-10-03
Government to confirm three elective hospital sites, hoping to restore Sláintecare confidence
The Government are to announce the sites of three elective hospitals as part of a number of high-profile announcements in the coming weeks aimed at bolstering support for the Sláintecare programme. The hospitals will be located in Dublin, Cork and Galway, fulfilling a key recommendation of the original Sláintecare report,Continue Reading
2021-10-02
Affordable housing is a myth that worsens the housing crisis – but there is a fix
In raising rents from social to affordable for council tenants, the cost burden for tackling the housing crisis effectively falls on those most in need Goldstamp | Shutterstock The UK’s housing crisis hardly requires an introduction. It affects people across the housing spectrum — from leaseholders stuck with flammable claddingContinue Reading
2021-10-02
Joe Biden’s pledge of support reassures Syria’s embattled Kurds
The hasty and badly organised US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August prompted fears among Washington’s other allies about the durability of US friendship. Kurdish troops in northeastern Syria, facing multi-pronged opposition from Islamic State fighters as well as the Assad regime and the prospect of Turkish incursion, have felt particularlyContinue Reading
2021-10-01
Sarah Everard: we still treat indecent exposure as merely a ‘nuisance’ offence
As a child, I was taught to laugh if I stumbled across a man who was indecently exposing himself. My experiences growing up reflect a wider societal view that indecent exposure is not a serious sexual offence. The older stereotype is of a comical “flasher” in a long overcoat lurkingContinue Reading
2021-10-01
Cookstoves feed the world. But they’re also a killer
Cookstoves and open fires are the main cooking and heating methods for three billion people globally. Each year, they cost millions of livesContinue Reading
2021-10-01
Germany election winners, losers, and how the Greens emerged as kingmakers – Podcast
After Germany’s recent election, coalition talks are now underway to determine the composition of the next government and who will succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we explore what the results tell us about German voters’ priorities – and we dig into theContinue Reading
2021-09-30
Rent increases may suggest ‘unacceptable level of non-compliance by landlords’
A 7 per cent increase nationally in rents for the second quarter of 2021 may “indicate an unacceptable level of non-compliance by landlords,” according to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). The latest RTB report, which covers April to June 2021, revealed a national increase of 7 per cent which isContinue Reading
2021-09-30
North Korea: the rise and rise of ‘first sister’ Kim Yo-jong
When the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, called for an end to the war on the Korea peninsula recently, the initial response was a rebuff from North Korea’s vice foreign minister. This has been the standard response from Pyongyang whenever the idea has been raised of turning the 1953 armisticeContinue Reading
2021-09-30
Keir Starmer’s first conference speech as Labour leader was a serious affair – here’s what you need to know
Keir Starmer’s first in-person conference speech as Labour leader covered a lot of ground, though there was no single piece of rhetoric to act as a governing idea. It wasn’t an Ed Miliband “one nation” moment. There was, though, a clear message: that Starmer represented a “serious” politics. He usedContinue Reading
2021-09-29