Tag - rights-​

 
 

RIGHTS ​

Displaced Palestinians wait to receive United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) aid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 9, 2024
UNRWA report says Israel coerced some agency employees to falsely admit Hamas links
The assertions are contained in a report by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency dated February 2024.
A march calling for gender equality in London in 2019. Women are still paid less than men for the same work, but real equality means more than just eliminating wage disparities.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2024
A zero gender pay gap is the goal. But what happens next?
Eliminating the gender pay gap is vital, but it isn't the be-all and end-all. So much more needs to be done to achieve true equality at work and beyond.
Research from the International Monetary Fund suggests that gains from fully closing the gender gap in labor markets could increase gross domestic product in developing economies by 23% on average.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2024
The economic power of gender equality
There is ample empirical research demonstrating that gender equality delivers better results for people, for the planet and for profits.
Plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit over Japan's separate surname rule head into the Tokyo District Court on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 8, 2024
Group files lawsuit over Japan law that mandates couples share a surname
Similar lawsuits have been filed before, but public opinion appears to be shifting in favor of allowing couples to have separate surnames.
The Hong Kong flag and surveillance cameras outside the Central Government Offices in Hong Kong
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 8, 2024
Hong Kong government issues draft of new national security law
It includes sentences of up to life imprisonment for treason, 20 years for espionage and 10 years for state secrets offenses.
An event for female coders in New York in 2013. Women’s full participation is key to ensure technologies like AI help bridge the gender gap.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2024
Now is our chance to govern AI for women’s empowerment
The pace of AI development may seem relentless, but there's still time to create safeguards to ensure that innovation doesn't perpetuate gender inequality.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that he recognized China's advances in development and in alleviating poverty, but urged that such policies be accompanied by reforms "to align relevant laws and policies with international human rights standards."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2024
U.N. says China violating 'fundamental rights' in Xinjiang, Tibet
The U.N. human rights chief also asked Beijing to release rights defenders arrested under the "vague" offense of "picking quarrels and making trouble."
U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended pre-trial detention, at the Moscow City Court in Moscow on Feb. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 1, 2024
'How much time he's lost': Jailed U.S. reporter's family waits for his return
The parents of Evan Gershkovich are counting on a promise from U.S. President Joe Biden to bring their son home.
Vietnam's National Assembly (Parliament) building in Hanoi.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 1, 2024
Report says Vietnam to crackdown on workers' rights and foreign aid
The 88 Project couldn't confirm the document's authenticity but acknowledged its partial coverage in state media.
Maurice Shelton (left) and his lawyer Motoki Taniguchi spoke about alleged racial bias on behalf of the police at a recent press conference.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Feb 29, 2024
Making Japanese history by being Black history
Three individuals have stepped up to try and make a difference in the country we live in. They should be applauded.
The flags of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) behind security cameras in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee formally proposed the new security legislation on Jan. 30, with a one-month consultation period, to pass the city's own security law, including stepped-up efforts to ward against foreign interference.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 29, 2024
U.K. and U.S. blast Hong Kong's proposed new security law
Pro-democracy protests in 2019 prompted Beijing to impose harsher with sentences ranging up to life in prison.
The new national security law will target crimes including treason, theft of state secrets, espionage, sabotage, sedition and "external interference" including from foreign governments. The Hong Kong legislature, which is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers, is expected to approve it.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 28, 2024
Hong Kong moves toward enacting tougher security law amid concerns about freedoms
Lawyers and activists say the law criminalizes basic human rights such as freedom of expression, but Hong Kong authorities say the new law is necessary.
Protesters hold a Palestinian flag as they gather outside the International Court of Justice as judges rule on emergency measures against Israel following accusations by South Africa that the Israeli military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide, in The Hague on Jan 24.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2024
U.N. court to weigh consequences of Israel occupation
Nations including the United States, Russia and China will address judges in a weeklong session at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024
Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties
Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
People lay flowers and candles at a memorial in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin on Sunday, following the death of the Kremlin's most prominent critic Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2024
Russian courts hand jail terms to dozens of Navalny mourners
Anti-Kremlin demonstrations or public shows of opposition to the regime are effectively illegal in Russia.
Diagnosed at a young age with a rare variant of glycogen storage disease type IV, Mark Bookman went on to distinguish himself in academia in both the United States and Japan.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Feb 19, 2024
New film honors life and legacy of disability pioneer Mark Bookman
Free screenings of THE new documentary on Japan-based disability rights advocate Mark Bookman will be held around Tokyo on Feb. 24, 25 and 27.
A Palestinian woman stands at al-Najar Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024
Fears grow for crucial Gaza hospital after Israeli raid
Several patients had died there from a lack of oxygen at one of Gaza's main hospitals after Israeli troops raided the facility.
Members of the LGBTQ community and supporters celebrate in front of the Greek parliament, after a vote in favor of a bill that approved allowing same-sex civil marriages, in Athens on Thursday.
WORLD / Society
Feb 16, 2024
Greece among first Orthodox Christian countries to legalize same sex marriage
While the ruling party abstained or voted against the bill, it gained support from the opposition in a rare show of cross-party unity despite tense debate.
Paian Siahaan, the 77-year-old father of Ucok Munandar Siahaan who went missing during the May 1998 riots, at his house in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 16, 2024
Indonesia's next president haunts father of missing activist
"We feel afraid, but I'm fighting for my son."
Smoke billows over Khan Younis in the distance as seen from Rafah following Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024
Israel vows to press ahead with 'powerful' Rafah operation
Despite growing pressure to hold back, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists Hamas' battalions must be eliminated in the overcrowded city.

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Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces