By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Food delivery workers are lining up to collect orders in Shanghai, China, January 14, 2024. © 2024 Costfoto/NurPhoto via AP Photo China has pledged to strengthen protections for gig workers, and on June 12 the country voted for a landmark International Labour Organization (ILO) convention on “Decent Work in the Platform Economy.” These commitments could matter: an estimated 320 million people in China now rely on flexible, tasked-based gig work for employment, according to a new report by a Chinese government-affiliated think tank.But promises on paper will mean…
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By John Driscoll, Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia
Edward Gregr, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia
From sea lettuce adorning tidal pools and bull kelp left in windrows at the high tide line to towering underwater forests of giant kelp providing refuge and food for countless species, British Columbia’s seaweeds are both ubiquitously prominent along shorelines as well as hidden from sight in the deep.
With iconic species like salmon, whales and bears dominating popular attention and imagination, B.C.’s seaweeds are often easy to overlook. Now, however, the province’s suitability for growing seaweed is attracting attention at a time when seaweed…
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By Thomas A. DuBois, Professor of Scandinavian Studies, Folklore, and Religious Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Whether cities or villages, many communities across Europe spend the day and night of June 24 celebrating Midsummer. Congregating around bonfires, or sometimes maypoles, sporting handwoven wreaths of wildflowers or oak leaves, they’ll sing, jump, dance, eat, drink, catch up and celebrate the arrival of the longest day of the year. As a scholar of folklore, I have been to Midsummer celebrations in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania, and I am endlessly in awe of people’s fervent commitment to the holiday…
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By Simon Blanchette, Lecturer, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University
Canada is now investing billions to strengthen domestic AI capacity. But sovereignty is not simply about where the servers sit.
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By Nicola Henry, Professor of Global & Language Studies, RMIT University
Alana Ray, Lawyer and PhD Candidate, RMIT University
Gemma Stevens, Research Assistant, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
Sextortion is a form of online blackmail where a perpetrator coerces or tricks a victim into sending intimate images. New research shows it’s on the rise.
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By Sarah Hellewell, Senior Research Fellow, The Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, and Research Fellow, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University
You walk into the kitchen and forget why you’re there. You put the milk in the pantry and the keys in the fridge. You lose your train of thought halfway through a sentence.
If you’ve recently had a baby, you might blame all this on “baby brain” – that foggy, forgetful feeling so many new mothers describe.
But is “baby brain” real? Does the brain really change during pregnancy? And if so, how’s all this related to how new mothers think?
Yes, pregnancy can reshape the brain
Pregnancy…
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By Wen Helena Li, Senior Lecturer, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
Vikas Kumar, Professor of International Business, University of Sydney
The effects won’t be immediately visible. But many of these jobs are entry points for young graduates and early-career professionals: our future business leaders.
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By Aaron Teo, Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Southern Queensland
Alexandra Lee, Research fellow in Sociology, Deakin University
Drawn from the words white and Asian, many use the term to celebrate shared experiences. But the label raises questions about valuing proximity to whiteness.
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By Dmitri Kalashnikov, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, University of California, Merced
Cong Yin, Postdoctoral Researcher in Climate and Hydrology, University of California, Merced
Madhulika Gurazada, Ph.D. Student in Management of Complex Systems, University of California, Merced
Mukesh Kumar, Postdoctoral Researcher in Wildfires and Complex Systems, University of California, Merced
Heat waves do more than dry out vegetation that can easily burn. They also play a role in lightning strikes, particularly dry lightning.
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By Amnesty International
Ahead of an upcoming hearing on 19 June during which the Tunis appeals court will re-examine the conviction of Saadia Mosbah, a prominent Tunisian Black human rights defender, and five of her colleagues from the anti-racist organization Mnemty, based on unfounded financial criminal charges stemming from their human rights work, Amnesty International’s North Africa researcher Safia Rayan said: “The initial verdict issued on 19 March against Saadia Mosbah and other Mnemty staff and collaborators, among them four who now risk imminent arrest, is shocking and profoundly unjust. It is another appalling…
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