Society

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) strengthened controls in the timber sector to prevent sanctioned raw materials from entering the market from Russia and Belarus. Yet recent studies reveal that a significant amount of this timber still reaches the EU—often through intermediary countries.... Read more

In 2018, 25-year-old Canadian Alex Minassian carried out a deadly rampage that left 10 people dead and injured 16 others. Shortly before carrying out the attack, he posted a message on social media that drew widespread attention: "The Incel rebellion has begun."... Read more

Tuesday is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the beginning of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. It's a global call to action by the United Nations to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.... Read more

US legislation making strangulation a serious criminal offense has been linked to reduced intimate partner homicide rates, with 14% fewer women killed and 27% fewer male victims in the 18-49 age group.... Read more

A new study from the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and Public Agenda finds that Americans are deeply concerned about the state of U.S. democracy and that growing divisions within the Republican Party deepen partisan divides over how the Constitution should guide presidential authority and the balance of... Read more

When the center of protests against immigration enforcement switched recently to Charlotte, North Carolina, so did the frogs.... Read more

Climate activism takes many forms, but one of the most visible is so-called disruptive protests. These protests are characterized by interruptions to everyday life or specific cultural events. Examples of disruptive protests include blocking construction works, throwing paint at a painting or interrupting a sporting event. These types of actions... Read more

As the Trump administration carries out what many observers say are illegal military strikes against vessels in the Caribbean allegedly smuggling drugs, six Democratic members of Congress issued a video on Nov. 18, 2025, telling the military "You can refuse illegal orders" and "You must refuse illegal orders."... Read more

Islamophobia in Western Europe is driven far more by anti-immigrant nativism and authoritarian attitudes than by religious belief, new research from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) shows.... Read more

Politics can be a stressful discussion topic, but when the holiday season arrives, political chatter is difficult to avoid, especially in a world that feels polarized and divided. A Baylor College of Medicine psychiatrist explains how to discuss politics in a calm manner among family, friends and colleagues.... Read more

Political systems become polarized when internal unity within groups strengthens and the divide between them deepens. As polarization intensifies, societal tensions can grow, making it difficult to find compromises. The intensity of polarization has been measured in research, but until now its structural roots in social media have remained obscure.... Read more

WeChat is best known as China's all-purpose "super-app." It is used for everything from messaging and mobile payments to shopping and government services.... Read more

Personality and zip code can help explain differences in political ideology, according to a new study from Northwestern University, which is the first to show the relationship between a person's personality traits and political preference varies, depending on where one lives.... Read more

A study on the legal history of printing press regulation in early modern England yields insights relevant to contemporary debates on the regulation of emerging technologies like AI and virtual reality, a McGill researcher says.... Read more

When you share your favorite Spotify playlist with your friends, you aren't just sending musical vibes; you may be revealing something about your political attitudes.... Read more

While many global road maps exist, few include detailed surface information or keep pace with rapid infrastructure change. The new HeiGIT dataset closes this gap by combining 3–4 meter resolution PlanetScope imagery (2020–2024) with deep-learning models to analyze 9.2 million kilometers of major transport routes connecting cities and rural regions.... Read more

A pandemic, a war, an energy crisis, the climate catastrophe—for many people, present-day life feels like an endless stress test. What seemed certain yesterday has now become fragile—including jobs, plans for the future, and trust in politics and the media. In this uncertain atmosphere, people increasingly seek orientation and look... Read more

Words are powerful tools. Violent extremists know this well, often choosing their phrasing extremely carefully to build loyalty among their followers. When wielded just so, they can do enormous harm.... Read more

Few workers face more scrutiny than professional athletes. Every movement is measured, every outcome quantified, and every performance evaluated against objective standards. So when UC Berkeley Haas researcher Tim Sels wondered how America's deepening political polarization was affecting workers' performance, he turned to one of the most comprehensive data sets... Read more

Cities are often seen as hotspots of violence, with the assumption that larger cities are inherently more violent than smaller ones. This "universal law" of urban scaling has long shaped scientific thinking. But new research led by Complexity Science Hub (CSH) researcher Rafael Prieto-Curiel challenges this assumption. Published in Nature... Read more

Since President Donald Trump took office for the second time, many researchers across academic disciplines have had their funding cut because of their purported ideological bias. These funding cuts were further exacerbated by the extensive 2025 government shutdown.... Read more

Violations of national airspace by drones are on the rise in Europe. When European leaders discussed these events at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2025, they responded by announcing plans for a defensive "drone wall."... Read more

A study published in Strategic Management Journal sheds light on the subtle yet significant role that unelected officials play in helping corporations secure successful contract bids.... Read more

Forced displacement has surged in recent years, fueling a global crisis. Over the past decade, the number of displaced people worldwide has nearly doubled, according to the United Nations' refugee agency. In 2024 alone, one in 67 people fled their homes.... Read more

A research team led by Associate Professor Tomoko Matsumoto from the Institute of Arts and Sciences at Tokyo University of Science, Japan, along with Associate Professor Daiki Kishishita and Associate Professor Atsushi Yamagishi, both from Hitotsubashi University, Japan, has demonstrated that providing people with information about the universal benefits of... Read more

At first glance, helping those on the other side of a conflict seems like an act of compassion and progress. Yet new research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that even seemingly well-intentioned initiatives can produce the opposite result.... Read more

When police raided a newspaper in the small town of Marion in 2023, they made international headlines as computers and phones were seized in an apparent attack on press freedom. New research from the University of Kansas has found the incident sparked "shared press distress" among fellow journalists, who feared... Read more

Small changes in turnout could substantially alter election results in the future because the U.K. now has a multiparty system with majoritarian voting rules, warns a new study published in Parliamentary Affairs.... Read more

Public opinion polls and other surveys rely on data to understand human behavior. New research from Dartmouth reveals that artificial intelligence can now corrupt public opinion surveys at scale—passing every quality check, mimicking real humans, and manipulating results without leaving a trace.... Read more

The resignation of the BBC's director general and CEO of news is only the latest symptom of a deeper malaise in the media, a crisis of trust that runs through broadcasters and newspapers alike.... Read more

Criminal suspects may feel unable to leave an interrogation room after only three minutes of questioning, according to new Virginia Commonwealth University research.... Read more

Everyone has looked up at the clouds and seen faces, animals, objects. Human brains are hardwired for this kind of whimsy. But some people—perhaps a surprising number—look to the sky and see government plots and wicked deeds written there. Conspiracy theorists say that contrails—long streaks of condensation left by aircraft—are... Read more

University of Otago, Wellington—Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke researchers believe the government is breaching the rights of imprisoned and recently-released Māori.... Read more

The military continues to play a vital role in powering San Diego's economy, supporting nearly 357,000 local jobs and contributing $61.3 billion to the region's total economic output, according to the 2025 Military Economic Impact Report (MEIR). The report is released annually by the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC)... Read more

Food brings people together. It serves as a tool to communicate political stances, to cultivate cross-cultural comprehension or, if necessary, create tensions. Menus can reflect these intentions by using food to create specific psychological effects and convey symbolic messages. But how exactly is it done?... Read more

A University of Massachusetts Amherst study has found that gerrymandering in North Carolina resulted in reduced access to health care services. As states across the country grapple with politically charged redistricting efforts, the finding could ultimately offer a new strategy to fight gerrymandering in the courts, the researchers say.... Read more

When large corporations help Ukraine maintain its digital sovereignty, it is not just a matter of technical assistance. They are political actors who are reshaping the relationship between states and private companies, new research shows.... Read more

Medical parole, or compassionate release, is a mechanism for people with advanced illness in prison to be released because they are no longer considered public safety threats.... Read more

When political parties consider potential Indigenous candidates, they often worry about voter backlash.... Read more

Ethnic profiling remains a sensitive and complex issue within police work. In his Ph.D. research at the University of Twente, Bas Böing examined how police officers can be more effectively engaged in addressing this problem. His research shows that sustainable change is possible when officers are given space to learn,... Read more

In recent months, Russia has frequently flown drones into NATO territory, where NATO countries typically try to shoot them down. By contrast, when three Russian fighter jets made an incursion into Estonian airspace in September, they were intercepted and no attempt was made to shoot them down—although the incident did... Read more

Mass shootings can spur higher voter turnout in nearby communities, but the effect is highly localized and doesn't appear to change how people vote for president, according to new findings from researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.... Read more

A systematic review of academic research in the International Journal of Web Based Communities has looked at the relationship between the leading online video content sites and its recommendation system and how this might affect the circulation of polarized or misleading content. The review analyzed 56 studies investigating how the... Read more

China's new Fujian aircraft carrier, unveiled recently by President Xi Jinping with great fanfare, has been hailed by Chinese state media as a major milestone in the country's naval modernization program and a key development in the country's aspirations to become a maritime power.... Read more

New research reveals that people find AI-delivered political arguments convincing. This could help bridge political divides—or fuel polarization.... Read more

In the last decade, armed drones have become one of the most visible symbols of modern warfare. Once the preserve of advanced militaries, armed drones are now widely available on the global arms market. Countries such as Turkey, China and Iran are producing lower-cost models and exporting them. In Sudan's... Read more

Most Canadians have access to workplaces that are safe, promote health and autonomy and, most importantly, are protected by the law. But for people in criminalized professions, including sex work, it's a different story.... Read more

As the first American pope, Leo XIV has largely avoided speaking out about domestic politics in the United States.... Read more

In China's social media universe, celebrities are often assumed to set the tone for millions of adoring followers. But a new study led by the University of Michigan shows the dynamic works the other way around: When it comes to online nationalism, fans are the ones leading—and stars are following.... Read more

Between January and mid-October 2025, calls to local 211 helplines from people seeking food pantries in their community held steady at nearly 1,000 calls per day.... Read more