science wire

Women have been left defenceless and at the mercy of militia groups in the aftermath of the Iraq war in 2003 according to research from the University of Birmingham.

The University rugby team is set to play one of its toughest-ever fixtures - away against the Brazilian national side.

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas voters believe the most pressing issues facing the country are economic, while the most important problems facing Texas are border security and immigration, according to a University of Texas at Austin/ Texas Tribune poll released this week.

An Oxford University study says if current trends continue, women will probably have to wait until 2050 before men are doing an equal share of the household chores and childcare. According to the paper published in the latest issue of the journal Sociology , 'substantial and persistent obstacles' remain.

PA 158/11 Society as a whole, as well as institutions and communities within it, need to become more aware of the existence of lesbians and gay men, and more committed to making sure their lives and experiences are visible - without fear of rejection and exclusion.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Want to convince someone to do something? A new University of Michigan study has some intriguing insights drawn from how we speak.

PA146/11 Researchers are to study the social and economic benefits of getting away from it all in a knowledge transfer partnership with a national charity that offers holidays and short breaks to disadvantaged families.

PA143/11 A new British film tells the story of a Nottingham graduate and his wife who have worked for almost 25 years to uncover one of the most significant social scandals in recent history.

BY CYNTHIA HAVEN Stanford's Martin Luther King scholar Clay Carson took his play, Passages of Martin Luther King, to the Palestinian National Theatre in East Jerusalem and West Bank communities in March and early April.

PA 130/11 "One of the most challenging and in-depth studies of the BNP" Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party, the Rt Hon Baroness Warsi David Cameron was right to highlight public anxiety about immigration, says a leading expert on the far right, but insists it's not all about jobs and houses.

Who: Spanish Investigating Judge Baltasar Garzón What: Lecture on "Verdad, Justicia, y Reparación" (Truth, Justice, and Reparation).

The Australia Dictionary of Biography has rightly been described as a national treasure.

University of Manchester researchers aiming to understand the experience of living with cancer will be among those speaking at a major meeting in Manchester this week.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The first national study of the prevalence of multiple partner fertility shows that 28 percent of all U.S. women with two or more children have children by more than one man.

Researchers suggest unexpected disappointment may underlie loss of control and violent behavior March 24, 2011 By Robert Wicks Calls to the police reporting men's assaults on their wives or intimate partners rose 10 percent in areas where the local National Football League team lost a game they were favored to win, according to an analysis of 900 regular-season NFL games reports researchers in a paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics .

A major research partnership which aims to deepen understanding of some of the most serious problems affecting modern Germany, by viewing them through the lens of the latest historical research, is being launched.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Americans who are more conscientious have higher lifetime earnings and save more for retirement, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Retirement Research Center. Individuals who are at the 85th percentile of conscientiousness earn about $1,500 more per year than the average American, which amounts to about $96,000 more in lifetime earnings and $158,000 more in lifetime savings.

Written by Jeanette Takamura , dean of Columbia's School of Social Work , who was in Tokyo to attend a conference when the March 11 earthquake and tsunami struck northern Japan.

PA 81/11 A major international conference at The University of Nottingham will hear calls for better strategies to fight child abuse and immunity for existing child protection systems against public sector cuts.

Professor Louise Howard, Head of Section of Women's Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King's, has spoken at the launch of a report on domestic violence and mental health by the Sout

Unauthorised immigrants are the most direct enactors of global citizenship according to a new book by a human rights expert at the University of Birmingham.

PA 68/11 Sexuality and religion are generally considered uncomfortable bedfellows. Now, for the first time, a team of researchers from Nottingham have carried out a detailed study around these issues and how they affect and influence the lives of British 18 to 25 year olds.

PA 67/11 Chinese people think much more favourably about the European Union than the United States or Japan, according to a scientific survey of 3,000 urban residents across six cities in China.

A national 12 year study has provided a picture of racism, ethnic relations and cultural diversity in Australia.

University Park, Pa. Often portrayed as pawns of male-dominated terrorist organizations, female terrorists are actually motivated by more complicated and diverse reasons, according to a Penn State researcher.

PA 55/11 What is life really like for the UK's army of unpaid adult carers and what would be the best way of supporting them? Experts at The University of Nottingham have devised a simple to use manual to provide health and social care practitioners with the answers.

Media Note: Interviews with Angela Huebner and other panel participants can be arranged prior to event.

Press release issued 10 February 2011 The widespread availability of ultrasound scans in India is giving rise to abortions of female foetuses on an unprecedented scale, according to new research by Professor Sonia Bhalotra from the University's Centre for Market and Public Organisation. Her study of 'sex-selective' abortion in India reveals that nearly half a million girls are aborted each year, which is more than the number of girls born annually in Britain.

Funding arrangements do not 'satisfactorily guarantee' the Supreme Court's institutional independence, said Lord Phillips (President of the Court) in his lecture at UCL last night, launching the Constitution Unit's project on the politics of judicial independence.

Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago will be the home of the Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention, one of four recently named National Academic Centers of Excellence funded by a $1.3 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As a fierce advocate for social justice, Rosa Parks labored on behalf of black women raped by white men long before she stood up to white supremacy by defiantly sitting down on a segregated bus 60 years ago.

University Park, Pa. The health and well-being of military children, youth and families will be enhanced by three contracts from the military totaling $2.2 million awarded to Penn State researchers.

PA 26/11 How can we explain the different ways women react to having breast cancer and what effect does it really have on their lives?