Tag - human-rights

 
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July 02, 2026
 

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HUMAN RIGHTS

A mother and her daughter walk holding a heart balloon on Valentine's Day at the Lychakiv Military Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Feb. 14. The issue of Russia's deportation and forcible transfer of children is highly sensitive in Ukraine and remains central to negotiations for a potential peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2026
Russia committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in deporting Ukrainian children, U.N. says
The U.N.’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has so far confirmed 1,205 cases of Russia deporting or transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine.
Afghan women walk toward a safer place on Sept. 3 after their house was damaged following a deadly magnitude 6 earthquake in Kunar province, Afghanistan. Women in the country have to cover up when outside the home, with only their hands and eyes visible.
WORLD / Society
Mar 10, 2026
Rituals of resilience: How Afghan women stay sane in their ‘cage’
From singing to going up into the mountains to scream, five Afghan women talked about how they cope with their lives tightly controlled by Taliban government rules.
Iranian players pose prior to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Australia, on Sunday.
WORLD
Mar 10, 2026
Five Iranian women’s soccer players granted humanitarian visas in Australia
The remaining teammates are in a hotel on the Gold Coast, as Australia’s prime minister says help is available to the other players but it is up to them to accept it.
Iranian players salute during their national anthem at the AFC Women's Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and the Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Australia, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 9, 2026
Australia under pressure to protect Iran women’s soccer team
An Iranian state TV presenter called the players traitors after they remained silent during the national anthem before an opening loss to South Korea on March 2.
Hiroko Akizuki, a member of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, says the political sector is what obstructs gender equality in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 8, 2026
U.N. panel member implores Japan to address gender equality
Japan ranks 118th among the 148 economies included in the United Nations’ Global Gender Gap Index.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a round table on collegiate sports in the White House on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 7, 2026
Trump’s Iran war violates international law, experts say
The U.S. says it attacked Iran to curb “direct threats“, but experts say the dangers cited by Washington do not justify war under international law.
The Liberal Democratic Party holds a meeting to discuss the government's sixth basic plan for gender equality at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Japan considers legalizing use of original surnames on their own after marriage
The plan is expected to be approved by the Cabinet later this month.
Chow Hang-tung speaks to the media outside Tin Shui Wai Police Station in Hong Kong in March 2021 over activists then being held by the authorities. She now faces an incitement to subversion charge over her role in commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2026
Hong Kong’s democracy fight is also a battle for women’s freedom
Despite gendered repression, smear campaigns and imprisonment by Beijing authorities, women in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement continue to lead and resist.
Members of Iran's security forces stand guard on a street next to a billboard of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD
Mar 6, 2026
‘Enemy at home’: Iranian authorities tighten grip as war rages
Iranians have found themselves caught between the bombs and their government as authorities deploy heavy security.
Anthropic’s clash with the Pentagon is drawing fresh attention to the role of artificial intelligence in mass surveillance.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 6, 2026
Pentagon feud with Anthropic shines light on AI’s role in mass surveillance
The tactic can allow the government to collect valuable intelligence about foreign adversaries, terrorists and criminals, while critics say it can be abused.
Kao is facing increasing pressure from activist fund Oasis Management for an independent investigation into its supply-chain practices.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2026
Activist fund Oasis calls on Kao to hold shareholders’ meeting over supply-chain risks
The fund received numerous whistleblower allegations concerning Kao’s practices, including potential links to deforestation and human rights violations.
Though Okinawa accounts for only 0.6% of Japan’s total land, it hosts 70.3% of exclusive-use U.S. military bases.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Mar 2, 2026
Recentering Okinawa, one story at a time
Through conferences, films and publications, international scholars and journalists are building bridges with Okinawan communities and amplifying the voices of local residents.
A displaced woman looks on as people attend a community health session at a U.N. refugee camp in Bor, Jonglei State in South Sudan, earlier this month.
WORLD
Feb 27, 2026
Civilian death toll in Sudan war more than doubled in 2025, U.N. says
Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces that has killed tens of thousands and displaced 11 million people.
Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy supporter Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong in 2014. Lai won an appeal on Thursday over a 2022 fraud conviction, days after a court jailed him on separate national security charges.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2026
Hong Kong court overturns China critic Jimmy Lai’s fraud conviction in rare victory
Lai will still remain imprisoned for 20 years in a separate national security case.
Hirotsugu Sakahara (left), Hiromu Sakahara’s eldest son, shakes hands with Hideko Hakamata, an older sister of a former defendant who received a not-guilty verdict in a retrial, after they learned that Sakahara’s father case would be reopened, on Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 25, 2026
Top court grants retrial for deceased inmate over 1984 murder in Shiga
The decision makes it the first case in recent history in which a retrial was granted for a deceased inmate.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends a rally for his political party PDP-Laban's senatorial candidates ahead of the midterm elections in Manila on Feb. 13, 2025.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 25, 2026
Duterte drew up ‘death lists’ and boasted about murders: ICC prosecutor
Judges will weigh at this week’s “confirmation of charges” hearing whether to move ahead with a trial for the former Philippine president
Japan’s newly convened special session of the Diet is set to debate legislation criminalizing damage to the national flag, strongly backed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and the opposition party Sanseito.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2026
Parliamentary debate grows over move to criminalize flag desecration
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed a strong desire to enact a flag desecration ban, which is also supported by the opposition party Sanseito.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech at the opening of the 61st session of the U.N. Human Rights Council at the United Nations office in Geneva on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2026
U.N. chief decries global rise of ‘rule of force’
In his final in-person address to the U.N.’s top rights body, Antonio Guterres said the worst conflict-hit areas were not the only places where human rights were eroding.
Police stand guard outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts as twelve pro-democracy activists appeal their convictions and sentences in a landmark national security case, in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 23, 2026
Court upholds jailing of 12 activists in ‘Hong Kong 47’ subversion case
The appeal stems from a case where pro-democracy activists and ​politicians were arrested en masse in early 2021.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is seen on a screen in the courtroom during his first appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charge of crimes against humanity over his deadly crackdown on narcotics, in The Hague on March 14, 2025.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 23, 2026
War crimes court set to start hearing against Philippines ex-leader Duterte
The Duterte family still enjoys a loyal following in Southeast Asian nation of 113 million people, and his ICC case remains a polarizing issue at home.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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