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Editor's note
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In so many ways Oscars 2019 was diverse: Green Book won best picture, Spike Lee was honoured for best adapted screenplay for BlacKkKlansman, Olivia Colman won best actress for her portrayal of a
lesbian Queen Anne in The Favourite and Rami Malek best actor for his portrayal of gay pop icon Freddie Mercury in Bohemian
Rhapsody. But when it came to best director, once again women didn’t get a look in. Only five times in the Oscars’ 91 years has a woman been nominated and only once has a female director won the award. As Claire Jenkins writes, Hollywood has a poor record when it comes to recognising its talented female film-makers.
Hyenas never get the star billing in nature documentaries. Instead they usually play the role of the bad guy, scavenging in screeching packs, stealing food from a hungry lioness. But they deserve respect too, says Richard Yarnell. Hyenas are highly effective hunters in their own right – fast and strong, with a solid understanding of the value of teamwork and social bonding.
Childhood these days is seen by many parents to be fraught with danger, and ideas about good parenting often emphasise knowing where children are and keeping them safe. But Rob Creasy and Fiona Corby say a childhood characterised by supervision and surveillance along with a lack of any real challenges, is actually highly damaging to children – and could even be contributing to the rise in mental health problems.
Honda was last week the latest in a long line of big businesses to announce a factory closure in the UK. The town in question this time is Swindon but, as Patrick McGurk and Richard Meredith explain, Britain has been here before. Until regional authorities are given real teeth and truly represent the people, they argue, there is little to protect people from the job losses that come with these kinds of announcements.
Asylum seekers waiting for an answer from the British Home Office about their asylum claim are not allowed to work – unless they’ve been made to wait for more than a year. But this policy is forcing many into destitution. Two bills currently before parliament offer a chance to change that. Alex Powell explains why the current work ban is so damaging.
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Jonathan Este
Associate Editor, Arts + Culture Editor
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Top stories
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Claire Jenkins, University of Leicester
In 91 years, only five women have been nominated as best director and only one has won the award.
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Shutterstock
Richard Yarnell, Nottingham Trent University
Revealed: spotted hyaena are actually excellent hunters in their own right.
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shutterstock
Rob Creasy, York St John University; Fiona Corby, Teesside University
Children’s lives are being stifled. No longer are they able to spend time with friends unsupervised, explore their community or hang around in groups without being viewed with suspicion.
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Jobs on the line.
Barry Batchelor/PA Wire/PA Images
Patrick McGurk, Queen Mary University of London; Richard Meredith, University of Greenwich
Regional authorities require real teeth to protect their towns from big shocks like factory closures.
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Ready to get to work.
wavebreakmedia/ Shutterstock
Alex Powell, City, University of London
Two bills currently before the British parliament seek to reduce the 12 month ban on asylum seekers from working.
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Health + Medicine
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Dipesh Gopal, Queen Mary University of London
Whooping cough is making a comeback. Here's how to identify it, and why vaccination is a way to protect babies.
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Joanna Semlyen, University of East Anglia
First UK study to look at body weight and sexual orientation reveals health disparities in sexual minorities.
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Martin Llewellyn, University of Glasgow
New survey of insect-borne disease in Venezuela.
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Arts + Culture
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Jonathan Ervine, Bangor University
With a booming hip hop culture, Paris is the best place to introduce break dancing to the Olympic games.
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Hannah J Thompson, Royal Holloway
Audio description began as an accessibility aid but has developed into an art form.
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Environment + Energy
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Seth Blumsack, Pennsylvania State University
There are precedents regarding power generation and ethanol but no nation has ever achieved as comprehensive and dramatic this fast.
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Fernando Colchero, University of Southern Denmark; Dalia A. Conde, University of Southern Denmark
Mathematic models are becoming more sophisticated and now they could actually predict how likely a species is to die out.
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Business + Economy
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Loizos Heracleous, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
Flybmi's unravelling is the latest in a long line of airlines that have got stuck on the runway.
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Carmen Raluca Stoian, University of Kent
The economic impact of losing big business.
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Science + Technology
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Gareth Dorrian, Nottingham Trent University; Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University
The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted clouds and storms on the solar system's ice giants.
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Politics + Society
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Adriaan van Klinken, University of Leeds
Kenya's LGBTI community will have to wait a while longer for the High Court's ruling on whether it will decriminalise homosexual relationships.
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Featured events
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Event Space and Exhibition Space, Emily Wilding Davison Building, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom — Royal Holloway
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Boilerhouse Auditorium, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom — Royal Holloway
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East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom — Anglia Ruskin University
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East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom — Anglia Ruskin University
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