Is there any question that should be taboo and not explored by scientists? A programme on Channel 4 this evening at 9 pm looked at what is described as science's last taboo: race and intelligence . The film hears from scientists on...

Guatemala: Riding with the Devil in the series Unreported World was shown on Channel 4 on Friday 23 October 2009. It showed that bus drivers in Guatemala City are being murdered at the rate of one every other day as part of an...

Regular readers of my blog (well there may be some) will know that I am keen on music. I was shocked though to read on the Guardian's science blog about the military use of music . Some of the soldiers interviewed for a study said that...

Looking at the website of the Nobel prize committee I found an interview about why Barack Obama was awarded this year's Peace prize. Like many others I was surprised that Obama was awarded the prize so early and I would like to wait...

Tonight's Unreported World on Channel 4 showed many girls in Liberia who had suffered terrible ordeals of rape. Visiting Monrovia's central prison the programme could only find one man who had been convicted of rape with an under-age...

See this petition from Avaaz against the crackdown in Guinea. The petition is to leaders of the African and European Unions. Avaaz is pressing for travel sanctions against the ruling elite of the west African country of Guinea; they...

I noticed a debate on the BBC World Service website about Untouchables and the caste system in India. Is this system an abuse of human rights and should the international community press India for reforms? I have also been reading in...

Philippines: Holy Warriors is about a conflict over land between Christians and Muslims on the island of Mindanao. Already the fighting has claimed 100 000 lives and driven 600 000 people from their homes. It will be shown on Channel 4...

Four refugees who have fled from danger tell their stories through the objects that they most treasure. This is in Memento, a programme on BBC World Service that will be broadcast several times on Friday 2 October 2009. The BBC gives...

Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia in west Africa, is on trial in the Hague accused of war crimes. How was he overthrown? It was largely thanks to the women of Liberia, as shown in True Stories: Pray the Devil Back to Hell...

Environment reporters face danger writes Roy Greenslade on his blog on the Guardian website, pointing us to a report from Reporters Without Borders .

This evening's Channel 4 news had a report on 250 child deaths in Peru because of severe winter weather in the Andes. Experts are blaming climate change as an important factor. Many thousands of miles from Peru the weather in Mongolia...

I have been reading the latest issue of Amnesty magazine. I was pleased to see an interview with Noam Chomsky, a provocative thinker. This could be a useful introduction to his ideas if you have not met them before. His books tend to...

There is a new campaign against the traficking of children . The three-year campaign involves ECPAT UK and the Body Shop. A survey has shown that many people in the UK are not aware of the scale of child traficking.

I have read on the internet about a film, The Singing Revolution . The documentary, by James and Maureen Tusty, shows how the power of song helped to free the people of Estonia from oppression. I would certainly like to see the film...

In May 2009 a group of legal academics in Beijing published a report on the government's handling of the unrest in Tibet in the spring of 2008. What was the Chinese government's response? Did they take the report seriously and look...

The Independent reports today that a Saudi princess has been given asylum in the UK because she would be in danger of being stoned if she returned to Saudi Arabia. She won her claim to political asylum, telling a judge that in Saudi...

Admiral Michael Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has warned that the US should limit civilian casualties to avoid alienating the people of Afghanistan. I admit to being a bit slow noticing the article, dated 19 May 2009 from...

In the north-west region of Xinjiang the Uighur people are angry that the Chinese authorities did not act to protect migrant Uighur workers in the south-east of China. That seems to have been the spark that ignited the recent protests...

I have written before about the School of the Americas , where military and police from Latin America attend courses. Many of them have gone on to commit serious abuses of human rights including killings. SOA Watch have now achieved...