Despite improvements in economic and social empowerment, women in many countries still have little control over their own fertility and reproductive health. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores a program reducing barriers to family planning by providing financial and peer support to women in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populated state.

Farmers’ protests that swept across Europe in 2024 were driven by a wide range of concerns that differ markedly between countries, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Göttingen. Based on survey responses from more than 2,200 farmers in Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the study finds that farmers’ motivations go far beyond commonly cited issues such as environmental regulations. Instead, complaints range from bureaucracy and low incomes to political dissatisfaction and uncertainty about the future of farming. The findings also suggest that policy responses at national and EU level only partly reflect farmers’ actual priorities. The results were published in the journal Food Policy.