By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Mustapha Djemali. © Private (Beirut) – Five employees of the Tunisian Council for Refugees will go on trial on November 24, 2025, amid a broader crackdown on civil society groups in Tunisia, Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunisian authorities should drop the unfounded charges, release two detained employees, and stop criminalizing the legitimate work of independent groups.Tunisian authorities shut down the council, froze its bank accounts, and are prosecuting six of its employees for their work assisting asylum seekers and refugees as a partner of the United Nations…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image A fan pays homage to the 10 athletes who died in the February 8, 2019 fire at the Flamengo Training Center. Photo taken on February 14, 2019 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. © 2019 Buda Mendes/Getty Images (Rio de Janeiro) – Reports that alleged systemic failures at Brazil’s top football club led to the deaths of 10 child athletes in a fire in 2019 raise critical questions about safeguarding and accountability in Brazilian sport, the Sport & Rights Alliance said today.The acquittal of senior Flamengo club officials on October 21, 2025, was devastating and contradicts…
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By Pennie Lindeque, Professor of Marine Ecology, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Emily Stevenson, Affiliate, Microbiology, University of Exeter
Small plastic pellets, used in wastewater treatment facilities since the 1990s, are more than just plastic pollution – they carriy potentially dangerous bacteria.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, September 23, 2025. © 2025 Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via AP Photo In February 2026, it will be 80 years since the United Nations selected its first secretary-general, a man. Since then, eight other people have had that job, all men. Surely, it’s long past time a woman held the post. António Guterres, the current secretary-general, completes his term in December 2026. Maneuvering over his successor is well underway. Also underway is a campaign,…
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By Forus
From Kathmandu to Antananarivo, from Jakarta to Lima, a digital native generation is shaking the foundations of power and teaching the world that democracy’s revival may come not from institutions, but from those who’ve lost faith in them.
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Those around Sussan Ley seem confident her fragile leadership would survive into next year. But some in the party look to Andrew Hastie as the parties future.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Philippe Bolopion, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch. © 2025 Human Rights Watch (New York) – Philippe Bolopion, a 13-year veteran of Human Rights Watch and a former journalist who has extensively advocated on atrocities in conflict zones, has been named the executive director of Human Rights Watch, the organization announced today. Bolopion rose up through the ranks for more than a decade at Human Rights Watch to hold several senior leadership roles.“Philippe is a superb choice. He has the strategic vision, the strength of leadership, the ability to represent…
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By Amnesty International
Philippines police unlawfully targeted protesters with unnecessary and excessive force during anti-corruption marches in September, according to harrowing new testimony gathered by Amnesty International ahead of fresh protests planned across the country this weekend. Ten people interviewed by Amnesty International detailed physical abuse – including violations that may amount to torture and other ill-treatment – […] The post Philippines: Testimony points to torture and other abuses by police as new protests loom appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Bruce Wolpe, Non-resident Senior Fellow, United States Study Centre, University of Sydney
Everyone knew that once Congress passed legislation requiring the Justice Department to release all the Jeffrey Epstein files, US President Donald Trump would go on a tear to “flood the zone” with other distractions so he could command the agenda.
And that’s exactly what he did. Over the next four days, Trump met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office to announce expedited visas for fans at next year’s World Cup (though, pointedly,
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By Karen A Stockin, Professor of Marine Ecology, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Emma Betty, Research Officer in Cetacean Ecology, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Frédérik Saltré, Senior lecturer in Ecology and Biogeography, University of Technology Sydney; Australian Museum
Katharina J. Peters, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong
The sex and age of an animal turn out to be stronger predictors than habitat for higher PFAS levels, suggesting they accumulate over a lifetime.
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