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Human rights

Human rights
Latest news, features and analysis on human rights, with a focus on civil liberties in Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia.
Illustration: Brian Wang
US-China relations

How Chinese drink chains are testing the limits of soft power

New tea and coffee brands from China are winning customers across America, but their broader influence remains unclear.

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Myanmar

Deformed fish in river, pollution from rare earth mines in Myanmar fuel fears

US-China trade war

‘Utterly absurd’: China and EU push back on US forced labour tariff claims

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Nordic nations

Sweden prepares prisons for 13-year-old gang killers

Gangs use social media to recruit teenagers, and in some cases children as young as 11, to commit murders and bombings across the Nordics.

Gabriel Wessman, director of Sweden’s Rosersberg Prison, stands in a cell being rebuilt to house teenage offenders. Photo: Reuters
United States

Court blocks US military removing transgender troops for now

Appeals court shields current service members from discharge while leaving wider enlisting restrictions in place.

The Philippines

Philippine lawmaker charged with corruption to surrender

Senator Jinggoy Estrada has strongly denied allegations that he received more than 570 million pesos (US$9.3 million) in kickbacks.

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Indonesia

Video | Why is this Indonesian documentary causing controversy?

The documentary ‘Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time’ has sparked controversy across the country since it began screening in April 2026.

The documentary ‘Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time’ has sparked controversy across the country since it began screening
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The Philippines

Philippine lawmaker surrenders, posts bail after court orders his arrest

This will allow Senator Jinggoy Estrada to remain free while the corruption case against him proceeds.

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War and conflict

Israel, Russia hit back after being added to UN blacklist for sexual violence in conflicts

UN documentation of alleged abuses sparks furious denials from both nations.

Israel-Gaza war

Netanyahu orders Israeli military to seize 70% of Gaza, expanding control

Israel effectively controls an estimated 64 per cent of the tiny coastal strip, bombarded to ruins by war.

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A yellow block demarcates the 'Yellow Line', which has separated the Gaza Strip’s Israeli-held and Palestinian zones since the October ceasefire. Photo: AP
Middle East

Israel launches deadly strike near Beirut as it widens offensive in Lebanon

Escalating hostilities in Lebanon strain a fragile ceasefire ahead of crucial negotiations in Washington.

The aftermath of an Israeli strike in Tyre, southern Lebanon. Photo: AFP
Donald Trump

‘Gestapo tactics’: Springsteen hits out at Trump, announces protest festival

Rock icon launches ‘Power to the People’ line-up as artists back out of Trump’s US 250th anniversary events.

United States

US judge allows Trump to implement mail-in voting executive order

The decision comes as Trump’s Republicans battle to keep control ‌of both houses of the US Congress in the November midterm elections.

The Philippines

Philippine ex-president Duterte’s ICC trial to start on November 30

He faces three counts of crimes against humanity, and will be the first Asian former head of state to face trial at the ICC.

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A protester holds an image of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte with a message reading, “Hold Duterte Accountable!”, during a rally in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines in March. Photo: EPA
Cambodia

Video | Cambodia’s Hun Sen pardons detained opposition leader

Many political opponents were convicted during Hun Sen’s time in power while Sam Rainsy, the co-founder of Sokha’s party, CNRP, remains in self-exile in France.

Cambodia National Rescue Party Kem Sokha
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US, Israel war on Iran

Iran signals moves to reconnect to global internet after wartime blackout

Presidential decree aims to restore connectivity to its pre-war state after almost 90 days of digital isolation.

India

India orders new deportation centres days after BJP election victory

The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has ordered detention centres for undocumented migrants in West Bengal state, sparking fear of arbitrary expulsions.

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Pakistan

UAE deports Pakistani Shiites: jobs lost and savings frozen amid Iran war

Over one hundred deported Pakistanis said they were unable to retrieve their luggage or savings before being placed ‌on deportation flights.

A Pakistani Shi’ite Muslim man, who was working as a building security officer in the UAE, speaks with reporters in his village after being deported along with many others following the US-Israeli war against Iran, in Chakwal, Pakistan on May 5. Photo: Reuters
Israel-Gaza war

Israeli strike kills parents and infant son in Gaza refugee camp

The attack on Nuseirat sends the enclave’s death toll past 880 since the brokered October truce.

Middle East

Yemen family eats boiled tree leaves as aid dies out

‘We have no sugar, no flour, nothing.’ The nation, ravaged by civil war for over a decade, is seeing less and less humanitarian funding.

Japan

Japanese female prison’s rehabilitation goal faces health, language barriers

A human rights group says Japan’s penal system still fails to treat prison inmates ‘like human beings’.

Inmates in Tochigi Prison’s factory in Japan sew flags and banners. Photo: Julian Ryall
United States

US judge tosses case against wrongly deported Salvadorean man Abrego Garcia

The indictment was ‘an abuse of prosecuting power’ against a man at the centre of a row over Trump’s migrant crackdown, the judge ruled.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia attends a rally in his honour at the ICE field office in Baltimore in August 2025. Photo: AP
Bangladesh

Bangladesh protestors clash with police over alleged child rape

Protesters tried to seize a man accused of raping a four-year-old girl who is now undergoing treatment in hospital.

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Indonesia

‘So rough’: father of Indonesian on Gaza flotilla claims Israeli mistreatment

Nine Indonesians were among those detained when Israeli forces intercepted the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla on Monday.

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Israel

Video | Asian nations condemn Israel over flotilla detentions

South Korea accused Israel of ‘going too far’ in detaining two of its nationals who were part of an aid flotilla headed to Gaza.

Israel deports hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists amid international outcry
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Americas and the Caribbean

At least 19 killed in Honduras palm plantation massacre

The mass shooting came as the military prepares a sweeping domestic crackdown on drug cartels and gangs.

Honduran soldiers near the plantation following the killings. Photo: AFP
Israel-Gaza war

Israel deports hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists as arrivals recount abuse

Detainees land in Turkey as their treatment in Israeli custody draws an international outcry.

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Afghanistan

New Taliban law in Afghanistan implies that child marriage is permitted, UN says

UN says the new family code tacitly permits union with minors, despite Kabul claiming forced weddings are banned.

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