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July 02, 2026
 

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HUMAN RIGHTS

Setagaya Mayor Nobuto Hosaka (right) speaks during a symposium on partnership systems held on Dec. 10 in Tokyo. Hosaka has described his ward's system as being "connected to human dignity."
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 18, 2026
A decade on, Japan steadily warms to same-sex partners
As lawsuits seeking the recognition of same-sex marriage proceed in courts nationwide, municipalities and others continue to explore how best to protect individual rights.
The media-savvy Rev. Jesse Jackson advocated ​for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalized communities dating back to the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1960s.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader and U.S. presidential hopeful, dies at 84
The media-savvy Jesse Jackson advocated ​for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalized communities dating back to the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Self-righteousness comes from judging the world by the perceived correctness of actions rather than by the quality of outcomes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2026
Why is everyone so self-righteous?
Self-righteousness comes from judging the world by the perceived correctness of actions rather than by the quality of outcomes.
The family of a detained migrant speaks to immigration officers in an attempt to gain information at the U.S. immigration court in Manhattan, New York, on Jan. 16.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2026
Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped.
Under Trump, the number of people in ICE detention reached about 68,000 this month, up about 75% from when Trump took office last year.
Pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, after his conviction on charges of of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces,” at the Apple Daily newsroom in Hong Kong on Aug. 12, 2020.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 12, 2026
Hong Kong journalists face ‘precarious’ future after Jimmy Lai jailed
Media bosses “increasingly see themselves as an extension of the government propaganda arm,” said Selina Cheng, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
Stonewall National Monument in New York on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2026
‘Outrage’ as LGBTQ pride flag removed from Stonewall monument
The removal of a rainbow flag from the U.S.’s most prominent gay monument after new rules issued by the Trump administration sparked an outcry and noisy protest on Tuesday.
Kwok Yin-sang, father of wanted U.S.-based activist Anna Kwok, arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts building in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 11, 2026
Hong Kong activist’s father convicted under national security law over insurance policy
The verdict has drawn international criticism for the targeting of relatives of pro-democracy campaigners.
A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, leaves the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building following sentencing in a national security collusion trial, in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
China to deepen Hong Kong security focus as Jimmy Lai case stirs outcry
Beijing’s State Council has outlined plans to strengthen security in the city, naming finance and shipping among areas of focus.
A billboard depicting the wreckage of American fighter jets is seen in Tehran on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
Iran steps up arrests while remaining positive on U.S. talks
Since the latest nuclear talks began, the United States has not given any sign that the crackdown on Tehran’s domestic critics is a major concern.
A woman from El-Fasher cries after learning about the killing of her son and brother, in a camp in Al-Dabbah, Sudan, on Nov. 3, 2025.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
U.N. decries ‘preventable human rights catastrophe’ in Sudan’s El-Fasher
The conflict has been ongoing since April 2023, killing tens of thousands of people, displacing millions more and triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong in 2020. A Hong Kong court sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison on Monday, following a yearslong, high-profile national security trial that rights groups and Western nations have condemned as a symbol of the city's shriveling press freedoms.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 9, 2026
Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai given 20 years’ prison after national security trial
The founder of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper was first arrested in August 2020 and was ​convicted last year.
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 72, at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong on June 16, 2020
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 9, 2026
After years of legal battles, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai faces sentencing
Lai’s plight has been criticized by global leaders spotlighting a yearslong crackdown following mass pro-democracy protests in ‍2019.
A person holds a sign calling for the protection, and not detention, of children as people gather during a demonstration and vigil outside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, on Jan. 28.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 8, 2026
Toddler returned to ICE custody was denied medication, lawsuit says
Detention center staff allegedly took away medication and nutritional drinks given to the 18-month-old girl after she was hospitalized with a life-threatening respiratory illness.
The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, on Jan. 28. The facility has become a harsh symbol of U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, with disease running rampant among the throng of people held there, including some families who entered the United States legally.
WORLD
Feb 8, 2026
Bugs in food and sickness haunt immigrants held in Texas
Historically, asylum-seekers have generally been allowed to live and work in the United States while their claims work their way through the court system.
Artist and free speech advocate Ai Weiwei in London on Jan. 29
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2026
Ai Weiwei on China, the West and shrinking space for dissent
Speaking ahead of the launch of his new book, the artist and dissident discussed visiting China after a decade and what he sees as the erosion of free speech in the West.
Carlos, a Mexican resident of Minneapolis, peeks through the blinds of his home as federal immigration raids continue in the city.
WORLD / Society
Feb 6, 2026
Deportation raids drive Minneapolis immigrant family into hiding
A Mexican family have locked themselves in at home, feeling trapped behind their own deadbolt.
The quality of democracy in the U.S. has declined significantly as a result of President Donald Trump's policies, Human Rights Watch warned Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2026
Trump has attacked pillars of democracy, Human Rights Watch says
The Republican president’s immigration crackdown, threats to voting rights and other policies were raised as examples.
A billboard threatening action against American warships is seen in Enghelab Square in Tehran on Jan. 27.
WORLD
Feb 4, 2026
‘Unprecedented mass killing’: NGOs battle to quantify Iran crackdown scale
Groups say their task has been complicated by the internet shutdown, manipulated content and threats against sources inside Iran.
Children ride sleds as they skate on the frozen Kunming Lake ice rink at Summer Palace in Beijing on Jan. 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 4, 2026
Chinese families ache for sons stolen in one-child era
When China had its one-child policy, the trafficking of young boys was fueled by parents seeking a son to carry on the family line, experts say.
Ueki Yuriko (left), director of the Vice and Public Morals Office at the National Police Agency, and Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot (right) during a meeting in Bangkok on Tuesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2026
Japanese and Thai police discuss cooperation against human trafficking
The meeting of senior law enforcement officials comes after a Thai girl was discovered to have been forced to provide sexual services at a massage parlor in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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