By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Osvalinda Marcelino Alves Pereira. © Edelstam Foundation This Earth Day is an opportunity to celebrate the work of the courageous people who put themselves at risk fighting for a world in which people and the planet can thrive. I personally would like to honor Osvalinda Marcelino Alves Pereira. Sadly, she passed away from a long-standing illness just over a week ago. I first met her in 2018: She was a small-scale farmer from Trairão, a village in the state of Pará, in the heart of Brazil’s Amazon. When I met Osvalinda, she lived on a settlement set up by Brazil’s federal…
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By Balkan Diskurs
Combining the specific counter-alto singing with accordion enables two musical ladies to give new life to cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from XIX century lyrical poetry to Sephardic Jewish folk songs.
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By Filip Noubel
To understand what motivates fewTaiwanese to speak for Palestine, Global Voices spoke to Aurora Chang, a Taiwanese human rights activist involved in the coordinating of solidarity movements with Palestine.
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By Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton
Dozens of people in Argentina are critically ill with ‘atypical’ pneumonia. But this is unlikely to be another pandemic looming.
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By Tom Rippeth, Professor of Physical Oceanography, Bangor University
Ben Lincoln, Research Fellow in Applied Observational Oceanography, Bangor University
Without sufficient oxygen to respire properly, fish experience the same problems as high-altitude mountaineers. Even relatively small oxygen deficits mean they become sluggish, their reproduction is affected and their growth is stunted.
That’s one reason an oxygen deficit deep in the oceans is a problem – and climate change is making it worse.
But we have recently published research in Nature Communications which shows how storms interact with the tide in summer to play an important role in churning up the oceans and “mixing…
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By Lawrence McKay, Research Fellow in Politics, University of Southampton
Davide Vampa, Senior Lecturer in Territorial Politics, The University of Edinburgh
Farmers in Wales have been taking to the streets in a series of protests against the sustainable farming scheme (SFS), which the Welsh government is proposing as a post-Brexit replacement to the EU’s common agricultural policy.
They’ve blocked motorways with convoys of tractors and held large rallies in the capital, Cardiff, leaving behind thousands of empty wellington…
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By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex
Georgia’s ruling party attempted to pass a controversial bill on “foreign agents” in March 2023. The law would have required civil society groups and the media to register as being “under foreign influence” if they receive funding from abroad. This type of funding is a lifeline for most non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on human rights as they often receive scant domestic support.
Being designated a foreign entity or under foreign influence could have serious implications. NGOs that receive foreign funding can incur massive fines, face constant surveillance and be required to disclose…
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By Sören Henrich, Lecturer in Forensic Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is crossing a new frontier, as the game may soon be used as a form of psychological therapy. Over the last five years, I have researched possibilities for the game’s clinical implementation, as well as potential hurdles.
The therapeutic interest in the game only arose in the last five years, when D&D experienced a renaissance. Once a niche nerdy interest, it now has flourished into a multi-million dollar business, including a new movie…
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By Conor O'Kane, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Bournemouth University
Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom is the latest book from the English economic and political journalist – and rising progressive star – Grace Blakeley. The 30-year-old describes her book as a critique of modern capitalism from a Marxist perspective, which isn’t a phrase that major writers on the left tend to attach to themselves these days.
This hasn’t stopped her making the Sunday Times bestseller list, which reflects both the fact that this is…
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By Floyd W. Shockley, Entomologist and Collections Manager, Smithsonian Institution
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.
Why don’t female crickets chirp? – Avery, age 8, Los Angeles
Insects communicate in lots of different ways, for many reasons. Some, such as butterflies and beetles, use color,…
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