Archive for November 2025

In an interoffice memo from 2022, Ahmed Yamani, president of the Riyadh-based institution, referred to “the rule of the requirement of citing 3-4 relevant publications in each paper” whose aim was “increasing the exposure of PSU research work and increasing the total number of PSU citations.”…. The memo, titled “Follow-up on publication fees and incentives 2023,” added, “If no PSU publication is related to the paper to be submitted, the PSU authors do not need to cite the PSU papers.” It continued, “We urge faculty members to cooperate in raising PSU citations and impact.” Above: Prince Sultan University

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is eyeing a crash course on social work for reporters covering the agency through the newly-renovated DSWD Academy located in Taguig City…. The Academy will serve as the main venue for the training to reinforce the media’s reportorial skills and deliver accurate news to Filipinos on the DSWD and all its programs and services, as well as its attached and supervised agencies.

Beyond Blue, the Australian organisation devoted to addressing depression and other problems of ‘mental health’, has been around for 25 years now, and holds a commanding place in conversations around these topics. In an era when the general conception of life’s subjective and existential troubles has come to be framed almost exclusively as that of ‘mental health’, Beyond Blue is now an almost ubiquitous presence in Australian life—not least because it has positioned itself as one of the ‘go to’ organisations for those wanting to deal with mental health issues outside of a traditional clinical framework.

Statistics Canada, in its 2019 General Social Survey, found that of the 1.35 million surveyed, more than 80,000 had experienced stalking in the previous twelve months. The number is likely an undercount.

It is, ironically, Fuentes who may lose from this situation. His appeal rested on offering something his competitors would not. But if mainstream Republican figures like Tucker Carlson now provide similar racial provocations without the overt white nationalist baggage, what distinguishes Fuentes from the rest of the pack?…. The Right’s supposed working-class economics amounts to conspiracy-driven populism, since it has no intention of dealing with the actual sources of inequality.

Although Mamdani hasn’t said much on the campaign trail about foster care, in the last two years he co-sponsored critical pieces of legislation that aim to scale back the number of families that come into contact with Child Protective Services — populations that are disproportionately Black and low-income. Among his legislative efforts are three bills that would: curb anonymous reporting to the child protection hotline; provide Miranda-style warnings to parents under investigation; and ban nonconsensual drug-testing of pregnant and birthing moms. Only the anonymous reporting bill passed the Legislature this session, and it hasn’t been signed into law yet.

The so-called less lethal weapons are designed to break up mobs engaged in dangerous behavior or deter would-be assailants who pose a threat. They aren’t intended to kill. But research has shown the weapons can cause devastating injuries or death. Federal guidelines generally prohibit agents from targeting the head, neck, throat or spine when firing projectiles like rubber bullets or pepper balls. Above: Federal agents target protesters with “less lethal” weapons at an ICE building in Oregon in October.

The call for tougher rules on social media comes as several EU countries prepare more restrictions on social media for kids, following concerns about the effects on mental health and development of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and others.