By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Syrian security forces take control of al-Hol camp in the desert region of al-Hasakah Province, Syria, on January 21, 2026, following the withdrawal of Kurdish forces the previous day. © 2026 Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via AP Photo (Beirut) – The wellbeing of about 8,500 people held in camps housing families of men suspected of Islamic State (ISIS) affiliation in northeast Syria remains uncertain, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 30, 2026, the Syrian government announced that the camps, called al-Hol and Roj, would be imminently closed. After control of…
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By Martin B. Richards, Research Professor in Archaeogenetics, Department of Physical and Life Sciences, University of Huddersfield
Maria Pala, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology, Department of Physical and Life Sciences, University of Huddersfield
When ancient DNA studies began to gain attention, little more than a decade ago, the view took hold among geneticists that everything we thought we knew about the peopling of Europe by modern humans was wrong. The story was simpler than anyone was expecting: Europe was settled in just three massive migrations from the east.
First came the hunter-gatherers, more than 40,000 years ago. Then, after 9,000 years ago, there was an expansion of farming people from Anatolia during the Neolithic age.
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By Kevin Olsen, UKSA Mars Science Fellow, Department of Physics, University of Oxford
A new study of carbon-based molecules in a Martian rock offers new hints about the possibility that the red planet once hosted life.
The researchers considered a range of possible processes that could have produced the molecules they found. They argue that high concentrations of large organic (carbon-based) compounds found in the rock cannot be fully explained by the non-biological processes they examined.
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By Felia Allum, Professor of Comparative Organised Crime and Corruption, University of Bath
France has reached what has been called a “turning point” in its relationship with drugs cartels after Medhi Kessaci the innocent 20-year-old brother of anti-drug activist Amine Kessaci was shot dead in Marseille last November.
The murder was taken as a warning to Amine, who had lost another brother five years earlier. Brahim had been found burnt in a car, a casualty of internal drug rivalries and business. Amine has since been very outspoken about the need to understand what is happening in Marseille and in France.
But he continues to risk his life by being outspoken.…
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By Chloe Casey, Lecturer in Nutrition and Behaviour, Bournemouth University
Our research found that teenagers who consumed high amounts of sugary drinks had 34% higher odds of being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
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By Edmund Kelly, PhD candidate, Department Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford
After a certain point, our trust is fairly stable, so there could be a link between our formative experiences and our feelings about politics.
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By Richard G. Cowden, Research Scientist, Harvard University
All five African countries surveyed – Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania – were ranked in the top six most forgiving nations.
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By Yaw Agyeman Boafo, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies,, University of Ghana
Ghana’s cities are expanding at a breathtaking pace. From Madina to Cape Coast, from Sekondi-Takoradi to Tamale, concrete infrastructure are rising, wetlands are shrinking, and open lands are disappearing. But something else is rising quietly alongside this growth. Heat. And not just ordinary heat – dangerous urban heat.
Urban heat refers to the rise in temperatures in built-up areas compared to surrounding rural environments, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. It is caused by dense construction…
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By Jacqui Glencross, Seabird ecologist, University of St Andrews
South Africa is home to 88% of the world’s colonies of African penguins (Spheniscus demersus). The species is classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This means there is a high risk the birds could go extinct in the wild following rapid population declines.
This species was once abundant along the coasts of South…
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By Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin, Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs, Boise State University
It’s difficult to measure what is lost when an opinion is never voiced and impossible to catalogue the arguments that never form because a speaker calculates the risk and decides silence is safer.
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