Bruce Drake

The U.S. drone campaign against suspected terrorists is drawing new attention on Capitol Hill with the nomination of White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to be Director of Central Intelligence. But outside of the United States, opinion on the use of drones for targeted killings is already clear: there is considerable opposition to the drone campaign in a majority of nations surveyed.

In December 2011, the Pew Research Center examined the roles and attitudes of female military veterans and found that, while many combat roles were withheld from female veterans, women in the military did report experiencing combat and had many of the same issues as men during their transition back into civilian life.

President Obama on Monday laid out his second term priorities, naming a range of issues: the social safety net, entitlement programs, income inequality, climate change, gay rights and immigration reform. Here is what our surveys have found about public opinion on these topics.

In mid-2010, religious attire and other symbols were regulated in 57 countries, up from 21 countries in mid-2007.

The European Court of Human Rights today announced decisions on several high profile religious freedom cases involving the wearing of religious symbols. A recent study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life found that regulation of religious attire has increased around the world.

Just over six-in-ten people in France believe it is sometimes necessary to use military force to maintain order in the world.

Half of the parents of online teens say they have used parental controls to block, filter or monitor teens’ online activities.

Among tablet users, men are 11 percentage points more likely to say they get news on the devices than women.

The number of Americans sympathizing with Israel is five times greater than those siding with the Palestinians.

A quarter of respondents in our 2010 religious knowledge survey incorrectly identified Jerusalem or Nazareth, instead of Bethlehem, as the birthplace of Jesus.