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July 10, 2026
 

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HUMAN RIGHTS

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.
Setagaya Mayor Nobuto Hosaka (right) speaks during a symposium on partnership systems held on Dec. 10 in Tokyo. Hosaka has described his ward's system as being "connected to human dignity."
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 18, 2026
A decade on, Japan steadily warms to same-sex partners
As lawsuits seeking the recognition of same-sex marriage proceed in courts nationwide, municipalities and others continue to explore how best to protect individual rights.
The media-savvy Rev. Jesse Jackson advocated ​for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalized communities dating back to the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1960s.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader and U.S. presidential hopeful, dies at 84
The media-savvy Jesse Jackson advocated ​for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalized communities dating back to the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Self-righteousness comes from judging the world by the perceived correctness of actions rather than by the quality of outcomes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2026
Why is everyone so self-righteous?
Self-righteousness comes from judging the world by the perceived correctness of actions rather than by the quality of outcomes.
The family of a detained migrant speaks to immigration officers in an attempt to gain information at the U.S. immigration court in Manhattan, New York, on Jan. 16.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2026
Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped.
Under Trump, the number of people in ICE detention reached about 68,000 this month, up about 75% from when Trump took office last year.
Pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, after his conviction on charges of of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces,” at the Apple Daily newsroom in Hong Kong on Aug. 12, 2020.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 12, 2026
Hong Kong journalists face ‘precarious’ future after Jimmy Lai jailed
Media bosses “increasingly see themselves as an extension of the government propaganda arm,” said Selina Cheng, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
Stonewall National Monument in New York on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2026
‘Outrage’ as LGBTQ pride flag removed from Stonewall monument
The removal of a rainbow flag from the U.S.’s most prominent gay monument after new rules issued by the Trump administration sparked an outcry and noisy protest on Tuesday.
Kwok Yin-sang, father of wanted U.S.-based activist Anna Kwok, arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts building in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 11, 2026
Hong Kong activist’s father convicted under national security law over insurance policy
The verdict has drawn international criticism for the targeting of relatives of pro-democracy campaigners.
A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, leaves the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building following sentencing in a national security collusion trial, in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
China to deepen Hong Kong security focus as Jimmy Lai case stirs outcry
Beijing’s State Council has outlined plans to strengthen security in the city, naming finance and shipping among areas of focus.
A billboard depicting the wreckage of American fighter jets is seen in Tehran on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
Iran steps up arrests while remaining positive on U.S. talks
Since the latest nuclear talks began, the United States has not given any sign that the crackdown on Tehran’s domestic critics is a major concern.
A woman from El-Fasher cries after learning about the killing of her son and brother, in a camp in Al-Dabbah, Sudan, on Nov. 3, 2025.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
U.N. decries ‘preventable human rights catastrophe’ in Sudan’s El-Fasher
The conflict has been ongoing since April 2023, killing tens of thousands of people, displacing millions more and triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong in 2020. A Hong Kong court sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison on Monday, following a yearslong, high-profile national security trial that rights groups and Western nations have condemned as a symbol of the city's shriveling press freedoms.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 9, 2026
Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai given 20 years’ prison after national security trial
The founder of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper was first arrested in August 2020 and was ​convicted last year.
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Trump says ‘Japan’ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
Wakatakakage injury casts pall over July meet, but potential new stars loom
Nicholas Tarasenko trains at Minato stable in August 2024.
Osaka trumps Tokyo as both ranked among world’s top 10 most livable cities
Osaka’s infrastructure earned higher marks than Tokyo’s in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Global Liveability Index.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.

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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