Society & Politics

Among his other ongoing projects, US President Donald Trump has spent much of his second term on a renovation. The Oval Office has been converted into a miniature palace festooned with gold bling, the rose garden has been paved over, a triumphal arch is planned and the new ballroom will... Read more

When, on 10 February 2025, United States President Donald Trump signed the executive order suspending the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), companies previously involved in overseas corruption cases collectively gained around USD 39 billion. On average, on that day, each individual company that had been subject to... Read more

A study conducted during the 2024 French elections finds that information about immigrants' efforts to overcome poverty and learn French reduces negative beliefs about immigration and modestly decreases opposition to immigration among voters. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.... Read more

A study from a team of researchers that includes faculty from the University of California San Diego and Princeton University shows how a mix of subsidies for clean energy and taxes on pollution can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.... Read more

The gap between rich and poor has reached historic highs. According to the World Inequality Report 2026, released in recent weeks, the richest 10% of the global population now receive 53% of all income and own a staggering 75% of all wealth.... Read more

New research from the University of St Andrews has found that increases in women's parliamentary representation within a country are related to enhanced public trust in the national parliament.... Read more

A group of college students braved the frigid New England weather on Dec. 13, 2025, to attend a late afternoon review session at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Eleven of those students were struck by gunfire when a shooter entered the lecture hall. Two didn't survive.... Read more

Americans living in political "swing states" have a significantly louder voice in national trade policy—effectively making their votes worth more than others—according to a new study published in the Journal of International Economics.... Read more

The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, has been widely framed as a "climate conflict" and a mass migration and uprising triggered by a severe drought. This very well-known and media-popular narrative is now debunked in a new report by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and... Read more

When federal science agencies became the focus of sweeping budget cuts earlier this year, the national debate quickly took on a familiar shape: Conservatives approved of the budget cuts while liberals opposed them.... Read more

Researchers Rachel Ruttan and Katherine DeCelles of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management are anything but neutral on neutrality. The next time you're tempted to play it safe on a hot-button topic, their evidence-based advice is to consider saying what you really think.... Read more

Two years after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, families of the victims filed suit against Binance, a major cryptocurrency platform that has been plagued by scandals.... Read more

Germany has unveiled plans to introduce voluntary military service. From January 2026, all 18-year-old men will be required to complete a questionnaire asking if they are interested and willing to join the armed forces. Women will not be required to fill out this form.... Read more

The year 2025 has not been a great one for U.S.-Chinese relations. Tit-for-tat tariffs and the scramble over rare earth elements has dampened economic relations between the world's two leading economies. Meanwhile, territorial disputes between China and American allies in the Indo-Pacific region have further deepened the intensifying military rivalry.... Read more

Across the EU, immigration is one of the most divisive topics in politics today. Germany, a country once known for its "Willkommenskultur" (welcome culture), is a case in point.... Read more