By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Oil well at Perenco’s concession in Democratic Republic of Congo. © 2026 Human Rights Watch Pollution linked to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s only oil producer poses serious health risks to communities near its operations. Perenco, the oil company, has engaged in gas flaring and waste burning that have contributed to poor air quality and not prevented oil spills from wells and pipelines from leaking into the soil and riverbeds, contributing to health risks for nearby residents.The authorities should acknowledge the threat to people’s health in oil concession…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Can Thi Theu in the dock during her appeal at the Hanoi People's Court, Vietnam, on November 30, 2016. © 2016 Vietnam News Agency/AFP via Getty Images Can Thi Theu, 64, is serving an eight-year prison sentence at Prison No. 5 in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province because she joined protests against land confiscation and environmental degradation in 2016 and publicly supported other human rights activists and political prisoners languishing behind bars. During a recent visit, Can Thi Theu’s family learned that she had been suffering from acute abdominal pain and fever…
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By Global Voices Announcements
Through August, our newsroom and contributor community will collaborate with different Indigenous activists, civil society groups, and collectives to tell stories about their challenges and strategies for asserting and preserving their rights.
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By Vibhu Arya, PhD Researcher in Payments, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
Wen Helena Li, Senior Lecturer, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
Half of small business loans in Australia involve putting the family home on the line. But in the US, UK and Germany, governments do more to help.
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By Saffron Howden, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
Janet Fulton, Research Fellow, News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra
Sora Park, Professor of Communication, News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra
Consider these scenarios.
An influential political commentator posts a reel on social media, cherry-picking facts to manipulate a situation for political gain. His post gets no likes, no shares, and no angry emojis from users.
A scammy online ad using a celebrity’s image pops up on people’s social media feeds. Nobody clicks on it.
A wellness influencer shares disproven health advice and is entirely ignored. And a deepfake artificial intelligence (AI) video is downgraded by the algorithm because nobody believes it.
Instead, people are fact-checking…
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By Nik Taylor, Professor in Sociology, University of Canterbury
Zoei Sutton, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Flinders University
Changing NZ’s Crimes Act to cover family pets caught in violent situations is a good start. But better resourcing and training will be needed to make it work.
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By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
If this poll’s results were reflected at an election, Labor would lose its majority, with One Nation and the Coalition combined leading Labor in seats by 73–68.
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By Joel Barnes, Honorary Research Fellow, History, The University of Queensland
Richard Meagher was a talented orator and a savvy political operator. Yet he was dogged by suspicions about his moral character.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image The shuttered former office compound of Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in Muttur, Sri Lanka, October 22, 2015. © 2015 James Ross/Human Rights Watch I was in Sri Lanka on August 4, 2006, when 17 humanitarian aid workers were brutally murdered in the embattled town of Muttur, near the coastal city of Trincomalee. I’ve written about the incident ever since, but 20 years later, I still cannot report that those responsible have been held to account.During the height of the fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of…
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By Mark Warburton, Honorary Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne
By 2027, just under one third of Australian university students will be paying more than A$18,000 for a single year of full-time study.
This makes a standard three-year arts degree at this rate more than $54,000, compared with a nursing degree, which will be less than $15,000.
The discrepancy is a result of the Morrison government’s Job-ready Graduates scheme. This was…
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