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July 12, 2026
 

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HUMAN RIGHTS

The mother of a deceased male inmate of a juvenile detention facility who filed a lawsuit over the medical treatment he had received while detained speaks during a news conference in Tokyo Thursday following a ruling ordering the state to pay damages.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 31, 2025
Tokyo court orders state to pay damages following inmate’s death
The dispute centered on whether a medical exam conducted in January 2020 at the juvenile detention branch had been appropriate given the man was later diagnosed with cancer.
People from the first group of white South Africans granted refugee status for being deemed victims of racial discrimination under U.S. President Trump's Refugee plan, listen to welcoming remarks at Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia, on May 12.
WORLD
Oct 31, 2025
Trump sets refugee ceiling at record-low 7,500 with focus on white South Africans
The president said in an annual refugee determination dated Sept. 30 that admissions would be focused largely on South Africans from the country’s white Afrikaner ethnic minority.
A sign hangs above desks used by the Burmese-language service in the offices of Radio Free Asia, following the termination of funding for the station, which broadcast in nine Asian languages, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the government-funded media outlet's parent and six other federal agencies, in Washington on March 15.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 30, 2025
Radio Free Asia suspends operations after Trump cuts and U.S. shutdown
Long a thorn in Beijing’s side, RFA’s closure comes just as the U.S. president meets his Chinese counterpart on an Asia trip seeking better relations.
Myanmar’s retired General Tin Aung San, left, a candidate for the army-backed ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, attends a campaign kick-off event in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 30, 2025
Myanmar arrests three artists for ‘disrupting election’
Rights monitors say the new speech laws oppress dissent ahead of the junta-organized election.
Participants march through Tokyo for the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in April last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Oct 29, 2025
Gender identity law reform stalls despite court rulings
Strong opposition from conservatives in parliament have dimmed prospects for reform.
A Georgian anti-government demonstrator protests outside parliament in central Tbilisi on Oct. 15.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2025
After a year of rallies and no revolution, Georgia’s protesters still defiant
Mass rallies have gripped Georgia since a disputed parliamentary election last October plunged Tbilisi into turmoil and prompted the EU to effectively freeze its accession bid.
Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks at the Human Rights Council at the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva on Sept. 8.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2025
China and Russia repeatedly tried to defund U.N. human rights work: report
The attempts, while unsuccessful, raise concern at a time when the world body is suffering from a financial crisis and as the U.S. steps back from multilateralism.
U.S. Marines come ashore from a landing craft utility during training exercises in Arroyo, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 16.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 21, 2025
In Trump’s drug war, U.S. officials avoid tackling legal status of prisoners
The U.S. government chose not to use the term “prisoners of war” to describe two survivors of an attack last week by the U.S. military.
The Tokyo District Court building. The court ordered the government to pay damages over verbal abuse by prison guards against an inmate at Nagoya Prison.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2025
Government ordered to pay damages for verbal abuse of inmate
The ruling came after the bereaved family of the inmate sued the government for some ¥40 million, accusing it of failing to offer proper medical treatment to him.
Young people from Okinawa in the Kansai region dance during the first Eisa festival in Osaka’s Taisho Ward in September 1975.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 20, 2025
Taking pride in its Okinawan roots, Osaka’s Eisa festival marks 50th year
The festival celebrating the traditional Okinawan summer dance was created for young workers to resist discrimination and reclaim pride in their roots.
The spread of discriminatory expressions through social media has emerged as a new concern.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2025
Japan to conduct survey on online hate speech
The Justice Ministry will analyze discriminatory expressions posted on X and other major social media platforms.
As governments race to deepen ties with Vietnam for strategic and economic gain, they must not ignore the country’s escalating human rights crackdown, which threatens both its people and the long-term sustainability of its growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2025
Vietnam’s rights suppression carries a heavy price
Some Vietnamese say, “The government allows freedom of speech — just no freedom after you speak.”
In the latest survey, many opponents of the dual surname system expressed concerns about parents and their children having different surnames, and about family breakdown.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025
Government flooded with public comments against dual surnames
In a survey, many opponents of the dual surname system expressed concerns about parents and their children having different surnames.
Protesters rally outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on the second anniversary of the Gaza war on Oct. 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2025
The U.S. is losing hearts and minds in Southeast Asia over Gaza
For the first time, more respondents among the 10 ASEAN nations said they would align with China (50.5%) over the U.S. (49.5%) if forced to choose.
Amina (L), a household helper, sits beside her mother as she speaks during an interview in Karachi on July 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 14, 2025
‘I know it’s immoral’: Child workers still common in Pakistan
One in four households in a country of 255 million people employs a child as a domestic worker, mostly girls aged 10 to 14.
Jin Mingri, the head pastor of the Zion Church in Beijing, has been detained by Chinese authorities on "suspicion of the illegal use of information networks."
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 14, 2025
China detains prominent underground pastor in crackdown
Jin Mingri, who founded the unregistered Zion Church, has been detained on “suspicion of the illegal use of information networks.”
Eduardo Santoyo stands by his family's tamales stand in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Saturday. Santoyo's mother, Maria, was tending their business on Friday morning when she was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 13, 2025
Snatched: How ICE raids are shattering Chicago’s immigrant world
Families are left to pick up the pieces as immigration agents swoop in without warning, often in broad daylight, snatch unsuspecting residents and drive off.
A teacher hands out a "defend your rights" flyer to a parent outside Nash Elementary School, amid U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's increased presence in the Chicago area on Sept. 4.
WORLD
Oct 11, 2025
Chicago ICE raids and national guard troops prompt new school leaflets: ‘Know your rights’
U.S. President Donald Trump’s deportation drive has induced fear in immigrant communities and protectiveness from educators.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi addresses the media at the White House on June 27 as President Trump listens following a Supreme Court ruling that limited federal judges' power to block presidential orders.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2025
Global lessons from a press in peril
A democracy cannot survive without a free press. There has never been a democracy without a media that is free and independent.
The government's revised action plan for preventing human rights violations linked to corporate activities is likely to focus on small companies as a "priority area."
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2025
Japan’s revised corporate action plan on human rights to prioritize small firms
The government aims to accelerate efforts across entire supply chains by encouraging small businesses, which have been slower to adopt human rights measures, to make improvements.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
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.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘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.

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