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1 in 3 US nonprofits that serve communities lost government funding in early 2025
About one-third of U.S. nonprofit service providers experienced a disruption in their government funding in the first half of 2025.... Read more -
Hidden economy of ransom-based human trafficking in Libya affects hundreds of thousands of migrants
Since 2013, a hidden and lucrative economy of ransom-based human trafficking has emerged in Libya, run by traders who attempt to bring migrants and refugees to Europe via the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea. Based partly on interviews, Ph.D. researcher Morgane Wirtz reveals a system of imprisonment, (sexual) violence, and... Read more -
Survey: Californians don't know cannabis driving laws
A new study from University of California San Diego has found that while a third of Californians use cannabis regularly, there are significant gaps in knowledge around cannabis use and driving. The researchers found that even six years after the legalization of recreational cannabis use, adults in California demonstrate mixed... Read more -
EU ambiguity on Western Sahara frozen conflict is a 'glaring source' of vulnerability for Sahrawis, study shows
The European Union's legal ambiguity on the Western Sahara frozen conflict is an increasingly glaring source of vulnerability for Sahrawis, a new study shows.... Read more -
The politics of milk: How a simple drink got caught up in power, culture and identity
Milk is one of the most familiar things in the world—comforting, wholesome, ordinary. But beneath this common perception lies something far more complicated.... Read more -
Ideological polarization and spread of biased or fake news on Facebook are on the rise, according to study
A study led by Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) confirms the rise in ideological polarization and biased or false news posted on Facebook. This research analyzed over 6 million news-related URLs—from 1,231 different domains in the United States—shared on Facebook between 2017 and 2020.... Read more -
Global supply chains benefit most from who you know, says study
In a time of tariffs and political trade disputes, new UBC Okanagan research shows that it's not what you know but who you know—and how well you treat them.... Read more -
Agree to disagree: Why we fear conflict and what to do about it
In an era of heightened political polarization, merely longing for civility is no longer enough. Understanding just how to debate and respectfully disagree has become truly imperative, now more than ever and for a couple good reasons.... Read more -
Why are young people more likely to cast informal votes? It's not because they're immature
In Australia, where turning up to vote is mandatory, deliberately spoiling your ballot is one of the only legal ways to protest or opt out.... Read more -
Offline interactions predict voting patterns better than online networks, finds study
According to a new study, offline social networks, revealed by co-location data, predict U.S. voting patterns more accurately than online social connections or residential sorting. Michele Tizzoni and colleagues analyzed large-scale data on co-location patterns from Meta's Data for Good program, which collates anonymized data collected from people who enabled... Read more -
Gunboat diplomacy: How classic naval coercion has evolved into hybrid warfare on the water
Over the summer, the United States deployed warships to the Caribbean—ostensibly to menace drug traffickers but also as a none-too-subtle warning to Venezuela. Earlier in the year, a U.S. Navy destroyer bobbed along waters close to Iran for similar reasons. And in the Taiwan Straits and Pacific, China and the... Read more -
UK research warns of trust erosion in criminal justice system
The growing age imbalance in the duty solicitor scheme in England and Wales risks eroding trust in the criminal justice system, a new study warns. Most duty solicitors are aged 45 and over, putting at risk the ability of vulnerable suspects to access timely and effective legal representation at the... Read more -
How 'conflict-free' minerals are used in the waging of modern wars
Minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, tantalum, tin and tungsten, which are all abundant in central Africa, are essential to the comforts of everyday life. Our phones, laptops and electric vehicles would not function without them.... Read more -
Drought, sand storms and evacuations: How Iran's climate crisis gets ignored
Iran and Israel fought a 12-day war in June. Although a ceasefire was declared the same month, news coverage of Iran continues to focus on the conflict's aftermath and the Middle East's tense political situation.... Read more -
10 effective things citizens can do to make change in addition to attending a protest
What happens now?... Read more -
Street lighting and public safety: Researchers evaluate the effect of improved street lighting on crime rates
It's an almost universally accepted truth that walking in well-lit areas is safer. But Aaron Chalfin, associate professor of criminology in Penn's School of Arts & Sciences; John MacDonald, criminology professor and director of the Master of Science in Criminology, and Brian Wade, senior data scientist at Penn's Crime and... Read more -
Does individual climate action distract from the big picture? New research has answers
New research suggests that trying to change people's climate habits won't hurt support for big picture solutions.... Read more -
Study reveals corporate directors on charity boards drive pro-corporate lobbying
A study in Management Science finds that public charities with corporate directors on their boards are significantly more likely to lobby on behalf of the connected firms' political interests. More to the point, the research found that nonprofit governance structures can quietly serve as extensions of corporate influence into the... Read more -
Anger, not fear, drives shifts in political attitudes after threats, study finds
Political attitudes and opinions can and do shift, sometimes drastically. Recent psychological research from Washington University in St. Louis offers insight into how emotional responses to threats contribute to shifts in political attitudes.... Read more -
How anti-vaccine sentiment helped raise funds and saved the lives of some ostriches
More than 300 ostriches have been threatened with destruction in eastern British Columbia after avian flu was detected in the flock. The birds' owners have argued this is a case of "unjust governmental overreach."... Read more -
Banning abortion is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes
Pregnant women crossing borders to get an abortion. People who miscarry facing jail time or dying from infection. Doctors who won't perform lifesaving procedures on a pregnant patient for fear of prosecution.... Read more -
Reduction in costs of fentanyl production found to have long-term implications for illegal opioid supply industry
The spread of illegally manufactured fentanyl has driven overdose deaths to unprecedented levels in the United States and Canada. It has also changed the production function for drug traffickers, most notably by radically reducing the costs of raw materials for those producing illegal opioids.... Read more -
European voters say no to tariffs
There is no popular support for imposing trade tariffs in Europe—not even in response to Trump's trade policies. This is according to a new study based on responses from 5,500 people in Germany and the UK.... Read more -
Concerns about AI-written police reports spur states to regulate the emerging practice
Police are getting a boost from artificial intelligence, with algorithms now able to draft police reports in minutes. The technology promises to make police reports more accurate and comprehensive, as well as save officers time.... Read more
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Opinion: Climate change divides the innovators from the defenders of the status quo
"The European Green Deal is something we owe to our children because we do not own this planet." These words date back to a few days before Christmas 2019. They defined Ursula Von Der Leyen's first presidency of the European Commission but belong to what now seems like a different... Read more -
Study finds emotional tweets by politicians don't always win followers and can backfire with diverse audiences
When a politician uses emotionality on social media to engage with his or her constituents, two things happen. One is that the politician sees an increase in engagement with individual constituents and then at scale. The second outcome is that the politician may actually expand his or her following.... Read more -
Detroit parents face fines if their children break curfew. Research shows the policy could do more harm than good
Detroit is seeing decline in violent crime, but 33% more young people were victims of gun violence in the city so far in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to local police.... Read more -
Polls and trolls: Is violent online abuse turning women off local politics?
In her final speech as Wellington mayor, Tory Whanau spoke candidly about the relentless online abuse she faced during her term, much of it racist and sexist. None of it would have been reassuring for hopeful candidates waiting for the weekend's results.... Read more -
Ending universal free school meals linked to rising student meal debt and stigma
A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior has found that discontinuing universal free school meal (UFSM) policies significantly increases school meal debt, student stigma, and declines in participation. The research, based on a survey of nearly 1,000 school food authorities (SFAs) across eight states, also... Read more -
Poorer health linked to more votes for Reform UK, 2024 voting patterns suggest
Poorer health is linked to a higher proportion of votes for the populist right wing political party, Reform UK, indicates an analysis of the 2024 general election voting patterns in England, published online in the open access journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research.... Read more -
Young people around the world are leading protests against their governments
The spate of public demonstrations against unemployment, corruption and low quality of life around the world is striking because of who is leading them. Young people have used social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to spread information and arrange their demonstrations.... Read more -
Is the end looming for Canada's border pre-clearance program with the United States?
At a testy meeting in Banff recently, the American ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, mused about the future of pre-clearance in Canada. Cross-border travel numbers are down, he complained, which makes the cost of the program less appealing to Americans.... Read more -
'Doughnut Economics' shows how global growth is out of balance—and how we can fix it
A new update to an influential economic theory called "Doughnut Economics" shows a global economy on a collision course with nature.... Read more -
China and the US are in a race for critical minerals. African countries need to make the rules
Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, rare earth elements, and platinum group metals are essential for modern technologies. They are key to industries ranging from electronics and telecommunications to renewable energy, defense, and aerospace systems.... Read more -
Pro-Palestinian posts on TikTok continue to vastly outnumber pro-Israel posts, research shows
As the Israel-Hamas war erupted in late 2023, a Northeastern University researcher found pro-Palestinian posts on TikTok vastly outnumbered pro-Israeli posts.... Read more -
States could be held accountable for private security actions
Governments which employ private military companies, such as Wagner and Africa Corps, can be held liable for any human rights violations committed by these firms, research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has highlighted.... Read more -
Access to official information and trust in government boost expatriate voting among undocumented immigrants
The global increase in migration—with approximately 3.6% of the global population living as expatriates—has resulted in many countries extending external voting rights to their overseas citizens. This has prompted scholarly interest in understanding the electoral participation of immigrants in their countries of origin.... Read more -
Do British people want to leave the ECHR? What a decade of polls reveals
Withdrawing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), once a fringe idea, has become a defining issue for political parties. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who previously opposed leaving, has now said the Conservatives will take the UK out of the convention if they win an election.... Read more -
Hate acts increased in California in 2024, new data show
In 2024, approximately 3.1 million Californians 12 and older directly experienced a hate act in the previous year, according to the newest California Health Interview Survey data, which was a half million more than the 2.6 million people in 2023 who said they experienced a hate act in the previous... Read more -
'Polite racism' is the subtle form of racial exclusion. Here's how to move beyond it
In Canadian society, the narrative of multiculturalism can lean toward a "color-blind" ideology—a comforting idea that race doesn't matter and everyone is treated the same—even though such narratives mask persistent inequalities. They may also undermine efforts to address structural racism.... Read more -
More people believe in conspiracy theories than you might think
Put on your tinfoil hats: New research finds that belief in conspiracy theories might be more common in the U.S. than you might think.... Read more -
Broken news: Expert says supply chain thinking could help restore trust in media
Is the news media broken? According to a survey released last October by Gallup, Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media—with less than one-third expressing trust in the media to report the news "fully, accurately and fairly."... Read more -
What you study in school can shape your politics, study finds
New research led by The University of Manchester has uncovered a significant and lasting link between the subjects young people study in secondary school and their political preferences.... Read more -
Australia–Papua New Guinea defense treaty: What we can learn from history to make this new alliance work
After a slight delay, Australia and Papua New Guinea formally signed a defense treaty this week committing the two nations to come to each other's aid if one is faced with an attack.... Read more -
Opinion: Why US military action against Latin America's cartels won't win the war on drugs
At the start of September 2025, US president Donald Trump sent a naval task force into the Caribbean to tackle drug trafficking in the region. The initiative has led to strikes on four alleged drug boats off the Venezuelan coast so far, killing at least 21 people.... Read more -
It shouldn't take undercover journalists to expose policing's sexist and racist culture
As a researcher of police occupational culture, I was horrified, but not at all surprised by the recent Panorama program in which an undercover reporter exposed sexism, racism and general thuggishness among some Metropolitan Police officers.... Read more -
Research sheds light on Britain's forgotten role in the French Resistance
New research by Dr. Laure Humbert from The University of Manchester and Dr. Raphaële Balu from Sorbonne University has revealed how Britain's vital contribution to the French Resistance during the Second World War was largely forgotten in France—and why this silence lasted for decades.... Read more -
Study examines ties between criminal charges and mental health among incarcerated youth
New research from the University of Kansas asks if mental health issues like depression and anxiety are associated with specific charges faced by juveniles incarcerated in the United States.... Read more -
Assessing overconfidence among national security officials
National security officials are "overwhelmingly overconfident," which hinders their ability to accurately assess uncertainty, according to new research by a Dartmouth government professor. When they thought statements had a 90% chance of being true, the statements were only true about 60% of the time, according to the study.... Read more -
Europe isn't prepared for the unmanned aircraft threat. Will its 'drone wall' be enough?
As Moscow's military offensive grinds on at Europe's eastern edge, tensions are skyrocketing on the continent due to repeated, brazen violations of European airspace deliberately orchestrated by Russia. Europe has announced counter-measures, in the form of a "drone wall" to combat this new threat.... Read more