Local governments are on the front line of delivering social welfare services and development programmes. However low bureaucratic capacity or funding can undermine their responsiveness to public needs, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Effective political leadership is essential to drive positive change.

The American republic teeters on the edge of authoritarianism. One party (and there are only two) embraces nativism, flirts with white supremacy, blinks away mass killings, won’t accept the results of the last election, and is frenetically changing the election rules to ensure it does not lose again. But here’s the unexpected twist: almost none of this is new. Coups, racial violence nativist lynching changing the rules, stealing elections and dragging God into politics are all longstanding themes in US politics.

We examined who feels economically insecure in Britain – and why – to directly explore the relationship between economic insecurity, security and vote choice. This is useful because using income or social class to analyse people’s economic circumstances misses a picture of economic insecurity and security over the age distribution.

In this event, Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper traces how the rarefied and privileged atmosphere of Britain’s oldest university - and the friendships and worldviews it created – has shaped the nation and helped make Brexit.

St Anne's College, the University of Oxford and GiveOut are delighted to announce that the second Michael Dillon LGBT+ Lecture will be given by Lord Browne of Madingley, the most senior British businessperson to have come out as LGBT+.

The lecture will take place on Friday 17 June in the Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre in St Anne's College, University of Oxford, from 17:00 and will be followed by a drinks reception.

The Colorado River and the Nile River are both undergoing dramatic transformations. Throughout the last century and continuing today, major infrastructure developments have played a pivotal role in shaping the regional economies, livelihoods and environmental conditions of these two critical transboundary river systems. Our growing dependencies on these finite renewable resources are driven by population growth and economic expansion, but are being increasingly challenged by water scarcity that is partly driven by climate change.