By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari (right) and Hadi Ali Chattha, during a court hearing in Islamabad, Pakistan, December 5, 2025. © 2025 Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images (New York) – An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan imposed 10-year prison sentences on two human rights lawyers on October 29, 2026, in an escalation of the government’s crackdown on civil society, Human Rights Watch said today. Pakistani authorities should immediately quash the convictions, release Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha, and cease criminal proceedings aimed at punishing…
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By Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City St George's, University of London
John Healey’s steady-as-she-goes budget was a picture of a government doing its best to offer “what help we can afford”, while weathering the economic storms. But despite its 98 policy measures, decisions on some of the biggest issues appear to have been kicked down the road.
In the meantime, it seems that the real incomes of UK households could fall by 1% next year. This forecast, from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), offered a grim picture. It also predicted UK economic growth of
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By Dipa Kamdar, Associate Professor in Pharmacy Practice, Kingston University
Some allergy tablets make you sleepy and slow your reactions, others barely affect you. Here’s why – and what to check before you buy.
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By Christina Wilkins, Lecturer in Film and Creative Writing, University of Birmingham
The forensic psychiatrist with a hankering for human flesh makes his stage debut in a production that stays faithful to the original, albeit with a few updates.
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By Jan Pospisil, Researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs
South Sudan is scheduled to hold general elections on 22 December 2026 – its first since independence. President Salva Kiir and his inner circle have repeatedly insisted that the elections will take place on that date.
The elections are meant to bring South Sudan’s post-conflict transition to an end. Since 2018, a power-sharing government led by the South…
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By Drew Kurlowski, Associate Professor of Political Science, Coastal Carolina University
The spoiler candidate is one of the oldest tricks in the American campaign toolbox, and the law has rarely touched it.
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By Global Voices Brazil
After ending the first round 2.2 million votes behind his opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula won the election with a difference of 4 million votes, and will serve a fourth term as president
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By Nima Shokri, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), United Nations University; Technical University of Hamburg
As Turkey prepares to host Cop31, the massive global conference on environmental issues, it is also being confronted with a dangerous sinkhole problem.
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By Miriam O'Duill, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Nottingham
How handy would it be if you could make your tattoos invisible for a job interview in the morning, and reveal them again for a party in the evening? This sounds like science fiction, but it may soon be reality.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed invisible tattoo ink than can be revealed with a UV torch and stays visible until switched off with white light. They have published their research in the journal Matter & Light.
They created different motifs…
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By Eva Dieteren, PhD researcher in Gender and Popular Music, Kingston University
For years Raye struggled to be allowed to do her music her way. Then she decided to do it independently and the rest is musical history.
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