A new documentary about Kenya's tea plantations has brought attention to the history behind a drink enjoyed around the world. The film focuses on the Kikuyu people, whose farming traditions go back centuries. During British colonial rule, many Kikuyu people were forced off their ancestral land while their labour helped make plantations profitable. The documentary follows workers, activists and families who are still seeking justice and the return of land. It also explores how some of the inequalities created during colonial rule have continued under modern companies and governments. One of the film-makers discovers that her own grandfather was involved in colonial abuse, making the story personal as well as political. Kenya became independent in 1963, but independence did not automatically solve every problem created by colonialism. The film asks viewers to think about how products bought in other countries can be connected to histories of land seizure, forced labour and resistance.

Taiwan has challenged the way China is presenting the history of World War Two after Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump praised the wartime alliance between China and the United States. Beijing presents Chinese Communist forces as the main force resisting Japan, while Taiwan argues that the Republic of China government was the recognised Allied government in China and carried much of the fighting. The dispute is connected to the Chinese Civil War, which ended in 1949 when Mao Zedong’s Communists took control of mainland China and the Republic of China government moved to Taiwan. Taiwan fears that a version of wartime history led by Beijing could influence American policy towards the island. The argument shows how governments use memories of the past to support present-day political claims.

The Smithsonian’s outgoing secretary, Lonnie Bunch, has defended the institution after criticism from President Donald Trump and his administration. Speaking at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Bunch rejected claims that the Smithsonian is unpatriotic because its museums discuss slavery, racism and other difficult parts of American history. He argued that the United States cannot be properly understood without examining both achievements and injustice. The dispute comes as the White House reviews Smithsonian museums before the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026. Trump has called for more emphasis on national heroes and has criticised what he describes as negative interpretations of the country’s past. The argument raises a central historical question: should museums mainly celebrate a nation, or should they present its successes and its wrongdoing together?

A Protestant Orange Order parade has taken place along Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Northern Ireland, after almost 30 years of restrictions. The road runs through a mainly Catholic area, and many residents opposed the march because similar processions became flashpoints during the Troubles. Courts allowed a smaller parade to go ahead, but hundreds of protesters gathered, linking arms to block the route. The dispute is connected to the long conflict between unionists, who generally support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom, and nationalists, who generally favour a united Ireland. The original Drumcree dispute helped create serious disorder before the route was banned in 1998, the same year as the Good Friday Agreement. The new parade has not led to a return to the violence of the past, but it shows how historical arguments about identity, religion and territory can remain powerful decades after a peace agreement.

The British government has put payments to Mauritius on hold while it reviews a deal over the Chagos Islands. The proposed agreement would transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, while allowing Britain and the United States to continue using the military base on Diego Garcia for 99 years. The deal has been delayed because US President Donald Trump does not support it in its present form. The argument has deep historical roots. In the 1960s, Britain separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius shortly before Mauritius became independent. Chagossians were then removed from their homes to make way for the Diego Garcia base, and many have never been able to return. Britain now faces pressure over colonialism, the rights of displaced people and the strategic importance of the base. The latest disagreement shows how decisions made during decolonisation still affect international politics and real families today.

Researchers studying Bianfu Cave in southwestern China have identified three Denisovan bones, four teeth and more than 1,300 stone tools. The finds include the first known Denisovan forearm bone and connect these ancient humans directly with tools and animal remains. The bones are between about 167,000 and 134,000 years old. The discovery suggests Denisovans lived much farther south than first thought and helps scientists understand how they hunted and used technology.

Archaeologists working at Chan Chan in Peru have uncovered a largely untouched Chimú funerary platform containing 38 skeletons, weapons, ceramics, jewellery and objects made from shells and metal. The Chimú Empire ruled much of Peru’s northern coast before being conquered by the Inca in the fifteenth century. Because earlier tombs were heavily looted, this discovery gives researchers unusually detailed evidence about elite life, religion, warfare and social organisation.

Archaeologists excavating a 3,000-year-old fortress in Egypt’s Nile Delta have found the complete skeleton of a young horse, buried with parts of a chariot harness. The site also contains houses, roads, grain stores, pottery ovens, jewellery and inscriptions linked to Ramesses II and his son Merneptah. The fortress protected Egypt’s western frontier from attacks and was also home to soldiers and other residents. The discoveries give a clearer picture of both military life and everyday life during Egypt’s New Kingdom.

Divers exploring the seabed near Cromer in Norfolk have mapped 25 man-made features linked to Shipden, a medieval coastal town swallowed by the sea. Historical records show that Shipden had residents, farmland, pigs, a harbour, manor houses and two churches. Storms, flooding and coastal erosion gradually destroyed the settlement, while a later explosion in 1888 may have damaged or scattered its remains. The search continues for proof of the town’s lost church.

Archaeologists have found a 20-metre stretch of ancient wall beneath the Île de la Cité in central Paris. The wall may have formed part of Lutetia, the settlement connected with the Gallic Parisii tribe and later the Roman city. Charred material dates the site to between 200 BC and 10 BC, a period that includes the Roman attack on Lutetia described by Julius Caesar. The discovery may help settle a long-running argument about where ancient Paris was located.

An amateur archaeologist using a metal detector found several Roman silver coins in a field near Wesseling, Germany. When the detector kept signalling, experts excavated the area and uncovered 934 coins weighing more than three kilograms. The hoard was probably buried during the second century AD, when the region was controlled by Rome. Experts estimate that collecting this much money could have taken an ordinary Roman legionary about six years of saving.

The Azcatitlan Codex, a richly illustrated manuscript about the Aztec world and the Spanish conquest, has returned to Mexico for the first time since 1840. It is being displayed at Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology on loan from France. Created in the late 1500s or early 1600s, the codex shows migration, rulers, warfare, conquest and religious change. Its return has also reopened questions about who should own important historical objects.

Jewish heirs have filed two lawsuits in California seeking the return of artworks connected to Nazi persecution during the Second World War. One case concerns Lucas Cranach’s paintings Adam and Eve, while the other involves watercolours made by Holocaust survivor Dinah Gottliebova Babbitt while she was imprisoned at Auschwitz. The museums argue that they legally hold the works or that they are important evidence of Nazi crimes.

A new study of 26 ancient plague genomes from 11 European archaeological sites shows that plague repeatedly returned after the Black Death of 1347 to 1353. Researchers linked genetic evidence to outbreaks between 1349 and 1710, including epidemics connected with the Thirty Years’ War and the Great Northern War. The study suggests that armies, refugees and traders helped spread the disease, while improved dating methods have made it easier to connect remains with specific historical outbreaks.

Researchers at University College Dublin have identified substantial remains of the medieval Roebuck Castle inside a building that appeared to be entirely Victorian. The castle was probably built in the early 13th century, soon after the Norman invasion of Ireland, but was long thought to have been demolished. Later builders seem to have constructed around the medieval walls instead. An 18th-century watercolour by Gabriel Beranger helped researchers recognise the surviving features.

Researchers have identified six pages in a Brighton archive as part of a fifteenth-century Catholic manuscript now held at Yale. The book appears to have belonged to Sir John Gage, an important official who helped Henry VIII dissolve the monasteries. The discovery suggests that Gage may have secretly protected a Catholic text from the destruction he was helping to organise. The pages had been separated from the manuscript for almost a century before researchers matched their handwriting and content. (cam.ac.uk)

Scientists have tested a new way to read the carbonised scrolls buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. They created and burned modern papyrus scrolls, then used X-rays and computer algorithms to detect lead in the ink and virtually unroll the pages. The method may help researchers read more of the roughly 1,800 scrolls from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum without physically opening them and destroying them. (news.berkeley.edu)

Scientists have burned modern papyrus scrolls to recreate the damage suffered by books buried in Herculaneum when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. By adding tiny amounts of lead to the ink, they made the writing stand out in X-ray scans. The method could help researchers identify ancient scrolls that can be digitally unrolled and read without physically destroying them. The experiment even used passages written by high-school students, including lines from Star Wars and the Bible.