By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Federal agents detain a woman exiting an immigration court hearing in New York City, on August 1, 2025. © 2025 Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images (Washington, DC) – The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics undercutting protection for undocumented crime survivors weakens law enforcement’s ability to investigate and prosecute crimes, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 50-page report, “‘We Need U’: How the U Visa Builds Trust, Counters Fear, and Promotes Community Safety,” finds that the administration’s deportation policies…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image European Union flags wave in the wind as pedestrians walk by EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. © 2023 AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File Nongovernmental groups have sounded the alarm as the European Parliament’s new “Scrutiny Working Group” on funding for nongovernmental groups held its first meeting on November 26. The inquiry is painted as an effort to boost transparency of the use of EU grants by civil society. But its superfluous mandate, narrow focus on nonprofit organizations, and biased composition make it look like a political…
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By Tony Butler, Professor and Program Head, Justice Health Research Program, UNSW Sydney
Emaediong I. Akpanekpo, PhD Candidate, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney
Lee Knight, Academic Program Director for the Mental Health Practice Program, UNSW Sydney
Peter William Schofield, Conjoint Professor School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle
Rhys Mantell, PhD Candidate, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney
In April 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared domestic and family violence a “national crisis” calling for proactive responses that “focus on the perpetrators and focus on prevention”.
The issue hasn’t really improved since then.
But a world-first trial from the University of New South Wales and University of Newcastle, which tested whether medicine can reduce violence and…
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
An independent inquiry has strongly condemned the politicisation of appointments to government boards despite the government rejecting much of the plan.
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By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation
Naomi Joseph, Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation
Jane Austen’s Paper Trail is a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since the author’s birth.…
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By Adrienne Marshall, Assistant Professor of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Ski season is here, but while the eastern half of the U.S. digs out from wintery storms, the western U.S. snow season has been off to a very slow start.
The snowpack was far below normal across most of the West on Dec. 1, 2025. Denver didn’t see its first measurable snowfall until Nov. 29 – more than a month past normal, and one of its latest…
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By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
Australia’s regulator has issued warnings about the risk of suicidal thoughts and lower effectiveness of contraceptives in those taking Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Y Quynh Bdăp. © Private (Bangkok) – Thai authorities forcibly returned to Vietnam the prominent Montagnard human rights activist Y Quynh Bdap, putting him at risk of torture and other serious abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Thai authorities extradited Bdap, 33, on November 28, 2025, two days after Thailand’s Court of Appeal upheld a criminal court’s 2024 ruling that he could be sent back to Vietnam. Thai immigration police initially arrested Bdap on immigration charges in Bangkok in 2024, after Vietnamese authorities requested his extradition. Bdap had…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Flowers offered for the victims near the site of the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court, a residential complex in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong, December 1, 2025. ©2025 AP Photo/Chan Long Hei (Bangkok) – The Hong Kong government should ensure a transparent investigation and accountability for wrongful acts linked to the residential fire that killed at least 151 people and injured 79, Human Rights Watch said today.On November 26, 2025, a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a housing complex under maintenance. The government’s preliminary investigations found…
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By Courtney Addison, Senior Lecturer, School of Science in Society, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Adding feral cats to the Predator Free 2050 hit-list may be justified – but it also forces us to confront uncomfortable questions about animal welfare.
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