From now until the 31st of January 2023, premium hotel brand voco hotels, launches new Very Important Peddler (VIP) service, rewarding guests according to the miles they clock up across cities in the UK, reinforcing the brand’s sustainability ethos “step by step.” Continue reading
The Resident Voice Index™ (RVI), a project that gathers the views of social housing residents from across the UK, released its latest report, Cost of Living: Crunch Time, which indicated most respondents are experiencing a lower quality of life. Based on a survey of 5,700 respondents, the report reveals that almost three-quarters (73%) said they would not be able to cope with an unexpected expense, such as a higher-than-expected household bill. Continue reading
| The Met has overhauled its ‘Gangs Violence Matrix’ database following a legal challenge by human rights organisation, Liberty. The tool is used by the police force to identify and monitor people suspected of being involved in gang-related crime. Continue reading |
Melvin M. Vopson, University of Portsmouth
Physicists have long struggled to explain why the universe started out with conditions suitable for life to evolve. Why do the physical laws and constants take the very specific values that allow stars, planets and ultimately life to develop? The expansive force of the universe, dark energy, for example, is much weaker than theory suggests it should be – allowing matter to clump together rather than being ripped apart.
Sophie King-Hill, University of Birmingham
The 2022 men’s World Cup host nation Qatar is known for its human rights abuses relating to women, migrant workers and those from the LGBTQ+ community. Same sex relationships in Qatar are illegal and punishable by up to seven years in prison. As Qatar is hosting one of the most popular global sporting events, these human rights abuses are now under scrutiny on the world stage.
International pop sensation and critically-acclaimed songwriter Kim Petras has signed with ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Her recent collaboration “Unholy,” with Sam Smith was nominated on Tuesday for a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The song rocketed to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Global 200 charts, #1 worldwide on Spotify and Apple Music, #1 on the UK Official Singles Chart and has racked up more than 300 million global streams. Her latest release “If Jesus Was a Rockstar,” is available now. Continue reading
Bodyswaps has today announced an exciting partnership with Meta Immersive Learning to empower 100 higher and further education institutions with access to virtual reality hardware and software across the UK, North America, France and Belgium. Continue reading
New research from Gallagher, a global leader in insurance brokerage, risk management, and consulting services, reveals that “appealing to a diverse workforce with different preferences” is the top challenge U.K. organisations are facing. “Increasing cost of benefits within tight budgets” ranks second, followed by “communication” in third place. The top three benefits challenges identified have remained the same the last three years – although this year, first and second have swapped places – putting “appealing to a diverse workforce” on top. Continue reading
By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist
| Facial recognition technology made headlines again last month as researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK said that the UK police’s use of the technology was unethical and potentially unlawful. The report from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy urged police to stop using live facial recognition (LFR) in public spaces and said trials by the Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police failed to meet the “minimum legal and ethical standards.” Continue reading |
Melanie Channon, University of Bath and Jasmine Fledderjohann, Lancaster University
The world’s population is expected to hit 8 billion people on November 15, according to the UN. Already this has prompted worry about whether there will be enough food, water and energy to support our growing population. While human activity is undoubtedly driving the climate crisis, population growth is a red herring.