By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Thai officials outside the immigration detention center at the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok, February 27, 2025. © 2025 Narong Sangnak/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Last February, Thai authorities in Bangkok loaded 40 Uyghur men into blacked-out trucks and forcibly returned them to China. Their fates remain unknown.The men had spent over a decade in Thai immigration detention after having fled repression in Xinjiang in northwest China. Because the men faced grave risks of torture and other abuses in China, Thailand’s deportation—under pressure from Beijing—violated…
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By Rosheeka Parahoo, PhD, Musicology, Western University
The Juno awards remind us that cultural institutions have the power to reinforce national pride, and also invite critical reflection, dissent and re-imagination.
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By Ian Lee, Professor, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
Equating controversial or legally contested executive actions with the collapse of 250 years of constitutional democracy risks conflating the overreach of a singular president.
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By Laura Revell, Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Canterbury
Michele Bannister, Associate Professor in Planetary Astronomy, University of Canterbury
Samantha Lawler, Associate Professor, Astronomy, University of Regina
Planned ‘megaconstellations’ of satellites could cause unforeseen harm to the ozone layer and climate systems. Global regulation is needed before it’s too late.
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By Anais Möller, Senior Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Science, Computing and Emerging Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology
The Rubin Observatory in Chile has the largest camera ever built – and is set to find objects never before seen by human eyes.
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By Lorinda Cramer, Lecturer, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, Deakin University
The “frugal chic” aesthetic is having its moment, however contradictory the concept may seem. “Frugal” suggests a focus on thriftiness, while “chic” oozes a sense of classic luxury.
Coined by former model and content creator Mia McGrath before trending on TikTok, this is one of the latest attempts to change how we think about clothes and disrupt our voracious appetite for fashion.
McGrath encourages Gen…
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By Sam Power, Lecturer in Politics, University of Bristol
Peter Mandelson was released on bail this week after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Coming just days after the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the images of the former US ambassador being led away by police will likely stick with viewers for some time.
The political ramifications of Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US continue to reflect badly on Keir Starmer’s political judgment. While this is a story that will likely run and run, it is worth taking stock of how we got here.
December 19 2024: Mandelson appointed US ambassador…
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By Rachel Delman, Heritage Partnerships Coordinator, University of Oxford
Expecting: Birth, Belief and Protection at London’s Wellcome Collection is a small but quietly powerful exhibition. Spanning five centuries, it explores how the experience of bringing life into the world has been shaped as much by hope and uncertainty as by medicine. Medieval objects sit alongside contemporary artworks, revealing how ideas about reproduction – and the need to safeguard it – have evolved over time.
On entering the exhibition, visitors are immersed in the world of the late medieval birthing…
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By Aleix Nadal, Analyst, Defence, Security and Justice team, RAND Europe
Officials recently sounded the alarm over Russia intercepting communications from European satellites. But this isn’t a new problem.
Ever since the initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, two Russian satellites have been secretly stalking European spacecraft. They have been manoeuvring close enough to raise concerns about…
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By Olena Borodyna, Senior Geopolitical Risks Advisor, ODI Global
Russia’s war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year and, despite the growing impatience of Donald Trump, a breakthrough in peace talks looks a long way off. Yet even when the fighting does end, it will not represent a conclusion. Rather, it will mark the start of a considerable new challenge: reconstruction.
The crucial questions are not only how much reconstruction will cost, but also how it can be financed and whether Ukraine will have the skilled workforce needed to carry it out. Millions of Ukrainian citizens…
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