By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Relatives of people killed during a police raid on October 28, 2025 release balloons during a remembrance event in Complexo da Penha, a cluster of favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the one-year anniversary of the police operation. © 2026 João Paulo Casalino for Human Rights Watch It takes a long time to read more than a hundred names. I stood holding a white balloon alongside the victims’ relatives, some wearing T-shirts bearing photos of their loved ones. The list went on and on. As Tauã Brito said name after name, as if reading tombstones, the scale of the tragedy…
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By Johanna Lim, Research Associate, Strategic Technologies, University of Sydney
Olivia Shen, Director, Strategic Technologies, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney
This week’s mid-term elections in the United States saw huge swings to the Democrats, away from President Donald Trump’s Republican party.
One surprisingly important factor was a rising backlash to the ongoing boom in data centre development triggered by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years.
Americans across ten states overwhelmingly voted in favour of candidates campaigning for local restrictions on data centres.
According to exit polls, some…
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By James Dyke, Assistant Director of the Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter
Climate breakdown could undermine the social trust, political cooperation and financial resources needed to tackle it – new research shows how this might play out.
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By Jesse Whitehead, Senior Research Fellow, Te Ngira Institute for Population Research, University of Waikato
Polly Atatoa Carr, Associate Professor of Population Health, University of Waikato
A delve into the Rugby League World Cup’s demographic data reveals a story about family ties, migration and opportunity across the ocean.
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By Javed Ali, Associate Professor of Practice of Public Policy, University of Michigan
The Trump administration has sunk reputational and military costs into the Middle East conflict. But continuing risks alienating voters further.
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By Anastasia Powell, Professor of Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University
British comedian and actor Russell Brand has been found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, related to multiple victims, after a four-week trial in London.
He was acquitted on three other charges.
The offences for which Brand was convicted occurred nearly two decades ago.
Meanwhile, United Kingdom police are investigating further allegations of rape…
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By Christine Slaughter, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boston University
Progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race was one of the most-watched contests in the 2026 midterm elections.
As the results for this race came in, I had my eye on one demographic: Black voters. I am a political scientist who studies Black political behavior. My research has been published…
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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
With a day till the election, final polls show a left shift but the right still in front – with the Opportunity Party’s fate still a decisive factor.
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By Alyson Wright, Adjunct Fellow in Public Health, Menzies School of Health Research
Mark de Souza, PhD Candidate in Sustainable Healthcare, The University of Melbourne
Sharon Campbell, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Health Research, University of Tasmania
It’s the build-up in northern Australia – the time of year when heat and humidity get worse ahead of the wet season. Common phrases such as “going troppo” or “mango madness” give a sense of the effects. Tempers fray and tensions rise.
There’s now emerging evidence that humidity makes heat more dangerous. Humid…
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By Holly Kirk, Associate Professor and ARC Industry Fellow, Urban Ecology, Curtin University
Spring is the season of blooming flowers and buzzing bees.
It’s also the time of year when birds are breeding and raising fluffy little chicks. Between September and November these baby birds, also known as fledglings, learn to fly and eventually leave the nest.
You may well have encountered one of these bedraggled, slightly confused birds on a neighbourhood…
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