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Editor's note
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As a perennial choice for a fish and chip dinner, cod stocks have been in almost continual decline since the 1960s. So it was to great fanfare when in 2017 North Sea stocks were certified sustainable. But just two years later, the Marine Stewardship Council was forced to withdraw its coveted certification, which left many wondering what could have gone so badly wrong for Britain’s favourite fish in such a short space of time. Could the
scientists have got it wrong? Perhaps cod stocks hadn’t recovered at all.
Robin Cook, who was involved in evaluating North Sea cod for the MSC certification and again in its suspension, believes the health of the cod stocks was overstated by weak scientific evidence. New detailed data published by the body that provides official scientific advice to governments show that there were much fewer fish than previously thought – and a higher rate of cod being fished.
While policy changes have brought some moments of recovery, they can’t sustain large-scale fishing long term. And without a strict regime of catch limitation and precautionary management, a sustainable cod fishery in the North Sea will remain wishful thinking.
The former French president, Jacques Chirac, has died at the age of 86 – a political bulldozer to some, a man with a wanting legacy to others. And as the global economy slows, the Bank of England has
a nail-biting decision to make on interest rates in the face of a no-deal Brexit.
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Jack Marley
Commissioning Editor
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Top stories
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Ingrid Maasik/Shutterstock
Robin Cook, University of Strathclyde
A combination of flawed science and over-optimism meant experts misinterpreted the data that helped calculate estimates of cod stocks back in 2017.
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Jacques Chirac (here in 2005) was a defining figure in French politics after May 1968.
World Economic Forum/Flickr
Pierre Bréchon, Sciences Po Grenoble
A look back at the distinguished career of the former president, an ardent defender of France's place in the world.
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Monetary trouble ahead.
Shutterstock
Huw Macartney, University of Birmingham
Neither an interest rate cut nor an interest rate rise are out of the question if there's a hard Brexit.
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Health + Medicine
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Eldre Beukes, Anglia Ruskin University
Many things can cause tinnitus – which makes coming up with a cure difficult.
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Amedeo D'Angiulli, Carleton University
Investigation of the brains of children and young adults who died suddenly in Mexico City revealed amyloid plaques similar to those found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.
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Alison Astles, University of Huddersfield
Clinical trials are used to establish that medicines work. But these don't take into account the genetic differences between us that can mean very different outcomes for different patients.
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Business + Economy
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Jacqueline Hicks, University of Nottingham
Can developing countries get rich from data?
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Mili Shrivastava, Bournemouth University
Research on women entrepreneurs in India reveals they are contesting social, cultural and family pressures to challenge the status quo in society.
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Politics + Society
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Laurent Binet, Cardiff University
The most popular president of the Fifth Republic actually achieved alarmingly little during his tenure.
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Liora Lazarus, University of Oxford
Sadly, politicians have been trying to turn the public against judges for a very long time.
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Environment + Energy
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Zita Sebesvari, United Nations University
If nothing is done now, seas could rise a metre by 2100, and four metres by 2300.
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Richard Hodgkins, Loughborough University
Rising sea levels, unstable weather, and a much smaller carbon budget.
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Science + Technology
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Andrew Norton, The Open University
The discovery of a huge planet orbiting a small star challenges our understanding of planet formation.
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Adriano Reis e Lameira, University of St Andrews
You wouldn't think a kazoo could tell you much about the origins of language. But you'd be wrong.
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Education
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Bridget Byrne, University of Manchester
Over the past few decades secondary schools have become larger and fewer in number. For parents, this had made choices at once more limited, but also more complicated.
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Arts + Culture
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Maria Flood, Keele University
The second feature from the creator of Brass Eye and Four Lions is a savage spoof on the FBI's counter-terrorism strategy.
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Featured events
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Lancaster House Hotel, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 4GJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Lancaster University
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Council House, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of East Anglia
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Dragon Hall, 115 - 123 King Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 1QE, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of East Anglia
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East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University
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