Indigenous Taiwanese, seeking rights to ancestral lands, set up camp in Taipei city park
Taipei's Peace Memorial Park is an oasis of calm in the bustling city, home to morning walkers and lunchtime strollers — along with a camp of indigenous protesters demanding justice. For several months, the small group has lived in tents in a corner of the park, with a makeshift kitchen and ...
An artist has emerged from three days entombed in a steel box under a busy Australian road in a performance ...
Former New Zealand sex worker given award in U.K. queen's birthday honors list
Catherine Healy, a former New Zealand sex worker-turned-women's rights activist who successfully campaigned to decriminalize prostitution in the country, was ...
A whale has died in southern Thailand after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags, officials said, ending an attempted rescue that failed to nurse the mammal back to health. The animal died just ahead of World Environment Day on Tuesday. Thailand is one of the world's ...
A third of girls in South Asia miss school during periods: report
More than a third of girls in South Asia miss school during their periods, a report said Tuesday, with a lack of toilets and cultural taboos about menstruation among the factors impeding their education. The study by WaterAid and UNICEF also found many girls across ...
Indonesian parents wait for justice two decades after Suharto's fall
Almost every week Asih Widodo attends a vigil outside Indonesia's presidential palace, seeking justice for his son who died in an orgy of violence after the fall of dictator Suharto. Monday marks the 20th anniversary of the former general's 1998 resignation at the height of ...
'This is taking an awfully long time!' says scientist before assisted suicide
A 104-year-old Australian scientist killed himself in Switzerland on Thursday by lethal injection in an assisted suicide he hoped would trigger more lenient euthanasia laws in his home country. British-born David Goodall, who was not terminally ill, personally triggered a lethal dose of a barbiturate ...
Rohingya refugees plead for UNSC help but China and Russia expected to veto tough action
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh made emotional pleas to the U.N. Security Council on Sunday for help to return safely to their homes in neighboring Myanmar and for justice over the reason they fled — accusations of killings, rapes and arson. During a visit to an ...
'Men only' job ads highlight ongoing discrimination in China, rights group says
A human rights group says gender discrimination is widespread in the Chinese work force, with many hiring advertisements openly calling only for male applicants and using the attractiveness of female co-workers as a draw. Human Rights Watch released the report Monday after looking at more ...
Online backlash against Sina Weibo a rare win for China's LGBT community
China's gay community scored a victory after a massively popular social media platform reversed a ban on "homosexual" content, but challenges remain in a country where LGBT culture remains taboo in the entertainment industry. Gay-themed films struggle to make it into movie theaters, same-sex relationships ...
Australia aims to be global leader, with strong anti-slavery law expected in 2018
Australia aims to be a global leader in the fight against modern slavery with a new law that builds upon Britain's landmark legislation and demands stronger action from the government and businesses, its foreign minister and lawmakers said on Tuesday. The country is expected to ...
Conditions worsening for 700,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar ahead of monsoon rains
Conditions in crowded camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh have deteriorated for nearly 700,000 Rohingya as aid workers race to strengthen shelters ahead of monsoon season, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. Steve McAndrew, head of its emergency operations in ...
Following outcry, China's Sina Weibo reverses course on gay content clean-up
China's Sina Weibo on Monday reversed a decision to remove gay content after outcry among gay Chinese who say the company had smeared homosexuality by lumping it with pornography as it tried to meet government censorship directives. China's Twitter-equivalent Weibo said Friday it would remove ...
In rapidly aging South Korea, elderly find escape from anxiety in visits to discos
A discotheque hidden among the back alleys of eastern Seoul is packed with hundreds of gray-haired couples on a Monday afternoon, dancing to local hits from the 1960s in a basketball court-size hall. Kim Sa-gyu, 85, calls it his "playground." "What else would I do all ...
'I am gay' protests as China bans 'homosexual' content on Weibo
China's Sina Weibo said it would remove "homosexual" content from the popular microblogging platform, prompting a storm of online protests Saturday under the hashtag "I am gay." Weibo said in a statement Friday it had begun a "clean-up campaign" to remove "illegal" content, including "manga ...
