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“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with”, Donald Trump complained of Keir Starmer this week when the prime minister refused to allow the US to use British bases as it pleases in the escalating conflict with Iran. An irritated Trump appeared to be implying that the UK’s most storied leader would have given its most important ally whatever it wanted. But is that true?
Historian Richard Toye shows that the US president hasn’t understood Churchill’s approach to war or peace if he thinks he would have done things any differently to Starmer.
The special relationship is clearly under strain again, but Starmer has been remarkably consistent in his approach to dealing with Trump’s inconsistency. The goal, according to Jason Ralph, is always “progressive realism” and that remains true even in the face of personal attacks.
To mark World Book Day today, we asked experts to recommend a novel that changed their perspective on the world. The final list of ten includes classics, unexpected modern additions and, really, something for everyone.
And, as more and more satellites launch into space, the chemistry of our own atmosphere is being changed by rocket soot. It’s a problem we need to address asap.
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Donald Trump has said Keir Starmer is no Winston Churchill.
Alamy/piemags/archive/military
Richard Toye, University of Exeter
Donald Trump has said Keir Starmer is ‘no Churchill’, but his dismissal is based on a simplified version of history.
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NASA JSC
Ian Williams, University of Southampton
The wave of space launches is releasing chemicals that could have profound effects.
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Alphavector/Shutterstock
Anneliese Hodge, Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Athol Williams, University of Oxford; Cecilia Benaglia, University of Limerick; Edward Ademolu, King's College London; Lillian Hingley, University of Oxford; Miranda Jane Mourby, University of Sheffield; Paul Giladi, SOAS, University of London; Richard Sulley, University of Sheffield; Sarah Moth-Lund Christensen, University of Sheffield; Sarah Olive, Aston University
For World Book Day, we asked ten academic experts to share a work of fiction that has challenged their assumptions and changed their thinking in a lasting way.
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World
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Arun Dawson, King's College London
Struck by the success of large-scale, low-cost drone attacks, the US made covert efforts to capture Iranian Shahed-136s for technical analysis.
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Andrew Gawthorpe, Leiden University
Iranian attacks are degrading the interceptor stocks of the US and its allies.
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Matt Barr, Nottingham Trent University
The US president has turned on Keir Starmer over the conflict in Iran.
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Politics + Society
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Matthew Barnfield, Queen Mary University of London
It’s not the byelection win that matters but the scale of the swing to Zack Polanski’s party.
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Jason Ralph, University of Leeds
So long as the UK remains committed to progressive realism, the Trumpian realist pursuit of regime change will put even more pressure on the special relationship.
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Arts + Culture
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Tom Benn, University of East Anglia
AI will continue to affect writers existentially and economically – but does the human touch still matter to us more?
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Business + Economy
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Gokcay Balci, University of Leeds; Ebru Surucu-Balci, University of Bradford
Gulf states depend on food imported via the strait – and shipping surcharges could raise the cost of consumer goods around the world.
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Education
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Tony D Sampson, University of Essex
Social media platforms are marketing machines designed to extract value from experience itself.
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Environment
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Katie Marie Manning, King's College London; Clement Sefa-Nyarko, King's College London; Frans Berkhout, King's College London
This conflict exposes the fragility of the global fossil fuel economy and how renewables create resilience.
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Mark Ireland, Newcastle University
Geologically, North Field–South Pars is a single structure. Politically, it is divided by a maritime boundary
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Conor Boland, Dublin City University
Contamination tolerance shapes the economics of recycling.
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Health
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Athalie Redwood-Brown, Nottingham Trent University; Jen Wilson, Nottingham Trent University
Hyrox is one of the fastest-growing fitness trends out there.
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Christopher Hurst, Newcastle University
Muscle loss increases fall risk and frailty with age. The good news? Just one weekly strength session can help maintain independence.
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Karin Rosenkilde Laursen, Aarhus University
What you don’t see when you burn a candle.
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