Our world

Despite the distressing stories coming out of Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar and elsewhere, University of Queensland academics and students continue to promote peace and conflict resolution in our world.

An international study of 55 countries has shown a marked increase in the number of overweight women globally, with wealthy, educated and urban women heavier than their counterparts.

The image of the lifeless body of three-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi washed ashore on a beach in Turkey in 2015, caused worldwide outrage and changed humanitarian policy across Europe.

Professor Roland Bleiker from UQ’s School of Political Science and International Studies will lead eight scholars from three universities and four industry partners examining how compelling images can transform the delivery of international aid.

A report from the US task force dedicated to investigating UFOs — or, in the official jargon, UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) — has neither confirmed nor rejected the idea such sightings could indicate alien visits to Earth.

Stay-at-home restrictions implemented around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been associated with an average 37 per cent reduction in crime across the globe, an international study has found.

University of Queensland researchers analysed daily cases of crime in 27 cities in 23 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In the framework of the UN Charter, the General Assembly has the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights.

Where human rights violations are so widespread and systematic that they threaten international peace and security, responsibility falls to the Security Council.

Africa is often referred to as the cradle of humankind – the birthplace of our species, Homo sapiens. There is evidence of the development of early symbolic behaviours such as pigment use and perforated shell ornaments in Africa, but so far most of what we know about the development of complex social behaviours such as burial and mourning has come from Eurasia.

How and when people first settled Sahul – or the Pleistocene supercontinent of Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania that formed during times of low sea level – is a topic of major debate in the fields of archaeology and human evolution.

The revival of interest in Anzac since the 1980s has depended in part on the repositioning of soldiers as victims. We rarely celebrate their martial virtues, and instead note their resilience, fortitude and suffering.

The discovery of unexpected artefacts in Africa’s Kalahari Basin has challenged conventional knowledge about the beginnings of human culture and innovation.