By Vladimir Bortun, Lecturer in Politics, University of Oxford
Reform UK is expected to expand its foothold in local government in England this week. More than 5,000 seats across 136 councils are being contested, making this one of the largest electoral tests in recent years. It builds on Reform’s breakthrough in 2025, when the party took control of ten local authorities – its first real experience of power.
For scholars of populism, this moment could be revealing. Years of research have focused heavily on the rhetoric of populism, its voter base, and the interaction…
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By Shay M. Freger, PhD Candidate and Clinical Researcher, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University
Mathew Leonardi, Associate Professor, Gynaecological Surgeon and Sonologist, McMaster University; Adelaide University
Canada must decide what kind of country it wants to be: One that generates new scientific knowledge, or one that waits for other nations’ discoveries.
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By Beatriz Carpallo Porcar, Fisioterapeuta. Personal docente e investigador en el grado de Fisioterapia en la Universidad San Jorge. Miembro del grupo de investigación iPhysio., Universidad San Jorge
Andrés Ráfales Perucha, Fisioterapeuta y Personal Docente e Investigador de la Universidad San Jorge. Miembro del grupo de investigación UNLOC., Universidad San Jorge
Daniel Sanjuán Sánchez, Fisioterapeuta y personal docente investigador en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud en Universidad San Jorge, profesor asociado en la Facultad de Enfermería y Fisioterapia en la Universitat de Lleida. Miembro del grupo de investigación iPhysio, Universidad San Jorge
José Lesmes Poveda López, Profesor de Fisioterapia, Universidad San Jorge
Paula Cordova Alegre, Personal docente - investigador en los grados de fisioterapia y enfermería de la Universidad San Jorge, Universidad San Jorge
It is tempting to understand muscle’s role in the body as a simple mechanical motor. But the truth is much more complex: our muscles function as an endocrine organ that can influence virtually every system in our bodies.
When a muscle contracts, hundreds of molecules known as myokines – substances essential for the body to function properly – are released. Their discovery transformed modern physiology, giving rise to the idea that “exercise…
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By Amir Bahman Radnejad, Chair and Associate Professor of Innovation and Marketing, Mount Royal University
Brenda Nguyen, Associate Professor, University of Lethbridge
Rostam does not sleep through the night anymore. At 2 a.m., when his phone buzzes, he’s awake before the sound finishes. It might be his parents calling from Tehran, on a connection that is unreliable, sporadic and sometimes cut off mid-sentence. He has learned not to miss those calls, because the next one may not come for days.
Rostam is a pseudonym for a participant in our ongoing research study on diaspora workers, but his experience is one that many workers across Canada will recognize.
Rostam checks the news constantly, piecing together what is happening. Since
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By Pier Luigi Parcu, Professor of Communications, Media and Economics at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute
The EU’s Media Pluralism Monitor research project assesses the health of national media ecosystems but what about the bigger picture beyond compliance and the risks to Europe’s information space as a whole?
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By Whitney Isenhower, Journalism Fellow, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
The Earth has already experienced three mass coral bleaching events over the last few decades, with a fourth happening now. Researchers are trying to find ways to make corals more adaptable to heat.
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By Ahmed Hamza, Associate Teaching Professor of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder
Once powerful AI models are released, it’s nearly impossible to keep them from being misused. Minimizing the risk means making safety the top priority in developing the systems.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image A child from Guatemala holds his stuffed monkey as he waits inside Miami International Airport to leave the United States and reunite with his recently deported parents in Guatemala, in Miami, Florida, December 4, 2025. © 2025 Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images Wilfredo, un niño venezolano de 10 años, compareció solo ante un tribunal de inmigración hace dos semanas, obligado a defenderse frente a su posible deportación a Ecuador mientras su madre permanecía detenida en un centro de ICE. Como miles de niños y niñas en procedimientos de deportación, Wilfredo no…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image The Parliament plenary session in Tbilisi, Georgia, December 17, 2025. © 2025 Parliament of Georgia Georgia’s new centralized health database law took effect on May 1, creating serious risks of privacy violations and discrimination, and potentially deterring people from seeking health care and mental health services.Parliament adopted the legislative package on December 9, 2025, mandating the establishment of a unified database covering people with mental health conditions and those diagnosed with alcohol or drug dependence.Framed as a tool to streamline licensing…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov in the defendants' cage on the last day of his trial on charges related to the July 2022 protests in Nukus, the main city in Karakalpakstan, at a court in Bukhara, Uzbekistan on January 31, 2023. © 2023 Eurasianet When an Uzbekistan court on May 1 found the Karakalpak lawyer and blogger Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov guilty of committing “actions disrupting the work of a penal institution,” sentencing him to five years in prison, he reportedly had a wry grin on his face. However unjust, Tazhimuratov surely expected such an outcome. Tazhimuratov…
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