NEWSWORTHY
U.S. craze for DNA 'heritage' tests may bolster racism, critics warn
Millions of Americans are using DNA test kits sold online to research their ancestry, either out of simple curiosity or to find answers about their identity. But some academics warn the craze could reinforce racial stereotypes and divisions. For around $100 and a few drops of ...
Progressives say Seoul caved in and denied asylum to hundreds of Yemeni refugees
South Korean progressives accused the government of caving in to xenophobic sentiment by rejecting a plea for refugee status by hundreds of asylum-seekers from war-ravaged Yemen whose arrival on a resort island earlier this year triggered outrage. Justice Party spokesman Choi Se-ok said South Korea ...
China rolls out PR push on Xinjiang internment camps, calls them vocational training centers
China issued Tuesday an ardent defense of its alleged mass internment of minorities in far west Xinjiang region amid a global outcry, with a regional official insisting that authorities are preventing terrorism through "vocational education" centers. Beijing has sought to counter criticism with a series ...
China creates retroactive legal basis for Xinjiang's Muslim internment camps
China's far-northwestern region of Xinjiang has revised legislation to provide a legal basis for internment camps where up to 1 million Muslims are being held amid mounting international criticism. New clauses adopted by the regional government officially permit the use of "education and training centers" ...
Gaijin Day: How an event in Hamamatsu about unity proved to be divisive
Referring to Nikkei Brazilians and Peruvians as "gaijin" was at the very least inaccurate and, at most, deeply offensive.
Views from Hamamatsu: How do you feel about Gaijin Day and the G-word?
Residents of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, the city that hosted Gaijin Day on Sept. 1, were asked what they thought of the name of the event.
Chicago police officer convicted of murder in slaying of Laquan McDonald in 2014
A white Chicago officer was convicted of second-degree murder Friday in the 2014 shooting of a black teenager that was captured on a shocking dashcam video that showed him crumpling to the ground in a hail of 16 bullets as he walked away from ...
Amid the excitement of Naomi Osaka winning at the U.S. Open, some in Japan are wondering whether she will continue to compete for their country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
U.N. to collect evidence of possible genocide by Myanmar against Rohingya
The U.N. Human Rights Council agreed Thursday to set up a team to collect evidence of alleged crimes by Myanmar against its Rohingya minority that one day could be used to prosecute suspected perpetrators. Bangladeshi President Sheikh Hasina accused Myanmar of failing to honor a ...
Canada legislators, in symbolic move, vote to strip Myanmar's Suu Kyi of citizenship
Canadian legislators, in a symbolic move, on Thursday voted unanimously to strip Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, of her honorary citizenship in response to crimes committed against the Rohingya minority. The move by the House of Commons lower chamber has no immediate effect ...
Views From Tokyo: What is it that makes someone — like Naomi Osaka — Japanese or not?
In the wake of Naomi Osaka's historic triumph in the U.S. Open, The Japan Times asked people what they think makes a person Japanese. Is it parentage, language, culture or a combination of factors? Hiroyuki Fujisawa, 71 Restaurateur (Japanese) The way that Japanese think, to be Japanese, ...
China must come clean about the fate of an estimated 1 million minority Muslims swept up in a "massive crackdown" in its far western region of Xinjiang, Amnesty International said Monday. Beijing has tightened restrictions on Muslim minorities to combat what it calls Islamic extremism ...
