Cianan Sheekey

In Iran, we risk repeating the mistakes of Iraq 22 years later

It’s been 22 years since an Anglo-American force invaded Iraq under the pretence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Despite deeply antithetical public sentiment towards the conflict, a brutal war began. America and Britain rushed into a conflict for which the nation’s respective leaders, George W. Bush...
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Posted Jun. 28, 2025

Regional social mobility under threat as universities ignore local applicants for London admissions

A report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF), a cross-party think tank, has highlighted prominent geographical disparities within the university admissions process. A primary focus of the SMF report, entitled ‘Leave to Achieve’, is the deteriorating relationship between many universities and their local areas, with the report highlighting how these...
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Posted Jun. 27, 2025

Greater collaboration between universities needed to tackle financial woes, new report reveals

Universities UK (UUK) has published a new report insisting on a myriad of different cooperative measures, intended to aid the economic survival of Britain’s higher education institutions.  The publication, entitled ‘Towards a new era of collaboration’, provides several policy suggestions to address the academic sector’s dire financial situation.  Sir Nigel...
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Posted Jun. 18, 2025

Russian student numbers in UK plummet as hostility distances British universities from Moscow

The number of Russian admissions for study in the UK has hit a record low, with an increasingly hostile climate towards Russians and higher visa refusal rates contributing to this decline. According to newly released Home Office statistics, only 1,275 Russian applicants were granted study or study-related visas between March...
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Posted Jun. 17, 2025

Warwick e-voting software revolutionises voter safety

E-voting technology developed by the Universities of Warwick and Newcastle, designed to maximise vote security and ballot integrity, has been successfully deployed in a real-world election for the first time. While it has previously been used in several test runs, SEEV (Self-Enforcing E-Voting) was used in its first official capacity...
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Posted Jun. 7, 2025

Harvard international student ban temporarily blocked by judge as Trump launches attack on study visas

A US federal judge has temporarily blocked attempts by the Trump administration to ban Harvard University from enrolling international students, a move which comes amid the US government’s ongoing assault on foreign admissions.   The Trump administration and Harvard have been engaged in an ongoing row, which has seen the...
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Posted Jun. 6, 2025

How the internet killed debate – and how we can fix it

I am no technophobe. I recognise the potential the internet possesses as a contemporary colosseum, hosting gladiatorial battles of ideas, culminating in the ascension of the worthy and the death of the irrelevant. This potential is, however, lost. Tainted by constrictive algorithms, echo chambers, and a frightening quantity of cognitive...
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Posted May. 13, 2025