By Grace Carroll, Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast
Dogs are sociable, enthusiastic and widely used to comfort people in settings like hospitals, schools and care homes. But an increasingly popular alternative is emerging: therapy cats.
The term is often used loosely in the media and inconsistently within the scientific community. But in its strictest sense, animal-assisted therapy is a structured activity delivered by health professionals…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Several of the people tried and convicted in the “Conspiracy Case” on April 19, 2025, in Tunis, Tunisia. Top row (L-R): Noureddine Bhiri, Khayam Turki, Abdelhamid Jelassi, Ghazi Chaouachi, and Lazhar Akremi. Bottom row (L-R): Ridha Belhaj, Issam Chebbi, Chaima Issa, Jaouhar Ben Mbarek and Said Ferjani. © Private (Beirut) – A Tunisian court on April 19, 2025, sentenced 37 defendants to between 4 and 66 years in prison in the politically motivated “Conspiracy Case,” Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunis Court of First Instance issued the sentences…
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By Shiva S. Mohan, Research Fellow, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration & Integration program, Toronto Metropolitan University
Migrant workers have long been recognized as essential to Canada’s economy. But that recognition rarely translates into meaningful inclusion. As Canada embarks on new immigration reforms, persistent inequalities continue to define who truly belongs, and who remains excluded.
In March, the federal government announced a new national pathway to permanent residence for up to 6,000 out-of-status construction workers.…
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By Trevor Swerdfager, Practitioner-In-Residence, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, University of Waterloo
Derek Armitage, Professor, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo
Canada’s biodiversity is in decline. Globally, climate change, urbanization, overexploitation of resources and habitat loss are combining to drive biodiversity loss across all ecosystems.
The recent biodiversity assessment of the Americas, from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, documents these trends. Domestically, the 2024…
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
The third election debate saw again no real knock-out blows but as we draw closer to the election Dutton seems to be running out of time to land a serious blow.
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By Joshua Black, Visitor, School of History, Australian National University
Andrea Carson, 2024 Oxford University visiting research fellow RIJS; Professor of Political Communication., La Trobe University
Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer in Politics, School of Social Sciences, Monash University
In the third of a planned four leaders’ debates, the leaders played to their strengths, and took some shots at their opponent.
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Defence will again be in the spotlight with the Coalition promising with an increase of defence spending of 3% by the end of the decade.
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By Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, Faculty of Academic Affairs & Research, Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Center
Jesper Bjarnesen, Senior researcher, The Nordic Africa Institute
The Economic Community of West African states (Ecowas) is set to mark 50 years in May 2025. It was established in 1975 by 16 member states. Though seven of the founding leaders had ascended to power through coups d’état, the initial focus was economic growth and regional trade and cooperation.
Within three years, however, its mandates were expanded to encompass political, security and other objectives. These additions were necessary as the west African post-independence governments…
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By Vladimir Litvak, Professor of Translational Neurophysiology, UCL
Deep brain stimulation has been around for a few decades, but the technology has recently advanced in leaps and bounds.
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By Rebecca Hutcheon, Research Fellow at the Faculty of Business and Creative Industries, University of South Wales
In a year filled with centenaries of famous novels, including Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Franz Kafka’s The Trial, another novel also quietly turns 100. William…
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