Tag - rights

 
 

RIGHTS

Outlawing the second-most popular party in Germany would be democratically questionable and could have negative consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024
Should Germany’s AfD party be banned?
Germany's democratic values should be upheld by engaging with disgruntled voters in the voting booth, rather than seeking a legal ban.
Ethnic Uyghurs protest against China in Istanbul on July 5.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 23, 2024
China to face rare scrutiny on rights record in U.N. review
The Universal Periodic Review is an examination all 193 U.N. member states must undergo every four to five years to assess their human rights record.
The Supreme Court is considering reviewing a high court judgment that the same-sex partner of a murder victim is ineligible for survivor benefits.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 18, 2024
Supreme Court may review judgement against benefits for same-sex partner
The review would mark the first time the Supreme Court makes a decision regarding the issue of public benefits for a same-sex partner.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take part in the March on Washington for Gaza rally in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 14, 2024
U.N. says Gaza war 'staining humanity' on eve of 100th day
In Israel, concern grew for hostages held in Gaza as they approach their 100th day in captivity.
Demonstrators march as they protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in London on Dec. 9. Huge demonstrations against the Israeli military’s attacks on Gaza have been taking place in the U.K. and elsewhere.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 9, 2024
Europe rattled by Israel-Hamas war
Attempts to establish a peaceful international order after two world wars have been greatly shaken by recent conflicts.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing on espionage charges in Moscow on Oct. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2024
Remember the world’s political prisoners. One could be you.
Hostage diplomacy and arbitrary arrests by autocratic governments are a growing threat.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears for his court hearing in Moscow on Jan. 28, 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2023
Russia moves opposition leader Alexei Navalny to Arctic prison
Temperatures at the 'Polar Wolf' colony, one of the toughest prisons in Russia, are set to drop to around minus 28 degrees Celsius over the next week.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks after a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 23, 2023
A world leader on Ukraine, the U.S. is now isolated over Gaza
With the year drawing to a close, the United States finds itself diplomatically isolated and in a defensive crouch over the Israel-Hamas war.
LGBTQ activists take part in a protest in Moscow.
WORLD / Society
Dec 21, 2023
LGBTQ+ Russians ask: Should I stay or should I go?
Rights activists fear the ruling could open the door to arrests and prosecutions.
Ukrainian refugees who were flown to Japan by the Foreign Ministry arrive at Haneda Airport in Tokyo in April 2022. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2023
Moving beyond ‘checkbook diplomacy’: Japan’s changing refugee policy
Japan's stance on admitting refugees appears to be changing amid greater global engagement by Tokyo.
Children dressed as Chinese Red Army soldiers in front of a statue of Mao Zedong at the Revolution Museum in Jinggangshan, China, in 2021
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023
The CCP equates its ideology with patriotism
A new law on patriotic education will take effect in China in 2024, forcing a narrow, jingoistic interpretation of nationalism.
The day after the Fukuoka District Court dismissed her lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of Japan's dual nationality law, Yuri Kondo, 76, was in high spirits as she drove to see family and friends.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 8, 2023
Japan-born U.S. national Yuri Kondo continues dual citizenship fight
The dismissal of her lawsuit over the dual nationality ban has implications for tens of thousands of people, and Kondo says she'll keep fighting for them.
North Korea has tightened its borders further over the past few years.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 8, 2023
Up to 600 North Korean defectors deported by China 'vanish,' report says
The defectors may face imprisonment, torture, sexual violence and execution in the isolated state, the report warned.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greets Rwandan President Paul Kagame at Downing Street in London on May 4.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 7, 2023
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill seeks to waive some human rights law
Deportation plan to deter asylum-seekers from France is one of his key pledges to U.K. voters ahead of polls that he must call in 14 months.
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori attends a trial as a witness at the navy base in Callao, Peru, on March 15, 2018. Picture taken through a window.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2023
Peru’s top court orders Fujimori released from prison
Fujimori’s lawyer told reporters that the former president would most likely be released from prison Wednesday.
Activists protest against fossil fuels on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2023
UAE 'repressive environment' complicates COP28 activism: Amnesty
The group's secretary-general said restrictions on speech are complicating approval of an event demanding the release of Emirati political prisoners.
A Palestinian resident inspects the destruction caused by air strikes on their home in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2023
Israel’s war aims move south with Hamas leadership in crosshairs
Israel is bearing down on the city of Khan Younis where it says the Hamas leadership is entrenched deep inside tunnels.
LGBTQ activists gather outside Russia's Supreme Court building in Moscow on Thursday. The Supreme Court's banning of the "international LGBTQ+ social movement" resulted from a request from the justice ministry.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 1, 2023
Russia's Supreme Court bans LGBTQ movement and labels it as 'extremist'
The move forms part of a pattern of increasing restrictions in the country on expressions of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Gen Nakatani, then-special adviser to the prime minister for international human rights, speaks at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2022
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 1, 2023
Kishida’s puzzling decision to ax his human rights adviser
Why did the prime minister eliminate the post of special adviser on human rights from the Cabinet and what does this mean for Tokyo's foreign policy?
People walk past the booth of fashion retailer Shein during the first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023
Shein’s IPO plan to fuel scrutiny over cotton and China roots
In addition to fighting skeptics, Shein is also locked in a battle with rival Temu

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?