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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.
Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi talks to officials from the home affairs ministry as she receives two books and a sealed letter sent by Britain’s King Charles, in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Monday. Photo: Myanmar President Spokesperson Office via AP
Myanmar

Detained Suu Kyi receives package from UK’s King Charles: Myanmar government

The former Myanmar leader has not been allowed to meet any foreign leader or envoy since her detention in February 2021.

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United States

Palestinian activist takes deportation fight to US Supreme Court

Africa

Kenyan cult leader convicted of murder over starvation of nearly 200 children

Britain

Opinion | Palestine Action, Sally Rooney’s books and the absurd fallout of a UK ban

Books withdrawn. Elderly supporters arrested. The issue concerns the extent laws purporting to protect national security curb free expression.

Protesters holding signs lie on the ground during a rally challenging the British government’s proscription of Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws, in London, August 9, 2025. Photo: Reuters
Albania

Albanian PM rejects resignation calls as violent protests enter sixth day

More than 270 injured in Tirana clashes as demonstrators attack police stations and ministries over tuition fees, living costs and corruption.

Protests around the world

Albanian police fire rubber bullets as student protesters rage

The protests have been fuelled by ‌anger over perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards.

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Nobel Prize

Opinion | Nobel Peace Prize: the message behind Navi Pillay’s win

With global institutions under attack and Trump’s power politics on the rise, the award is a firm rejection of the ‘might is right’ doctrine.

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Former UN high commissioner for human rights Navanethem Pillay at at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasil on November 12, 2009. Photo: Reuters
United States

Trump scraps plan to live-stream Fort Hood shooter’s execution by firing squad

US president says former US Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution will proceed, with victims’ immediate families allowed to attend.

Americas and the Caribbean

Concrete, steel and razor wire: inside Latin America’s newest mega-prison

President vows Costa Rica will become a ‘global benchmark’ for prison security as 5,100-inmate facility opens to confront cartels.

Israel-Gaza war

Sally Rooney books can’t be sold in UK amid Palestine Action ban: publisher

The Irish writer is a supporter of the activists, who have been put on the same ‘terrorist’ blacklist as militants like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Irish author Sally Rooney says she can no longer receive royalties from British sales and that she has cancelled a UK trip due to fear of arrest. Photo: Kalpesh Lathigra/Wylie Agency via PA/dpa
United States

Catholic US soldiers should not join firing squad, archbishop says

Armed forces ⁠archbishop objects to planned live-stream of Fort Hood shooter’s execution, slams ‘barbarically killing’ adversaries.

Nidal Hasan, 56, was sentenced to be executed by firing squad on December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he shot and killed 13 people in 2009. Photo: Bell County Sheriff’s Department via AP
Africa

At least 139 migrants dead, dozens missing after boat capsizes off Djibouti

UN agency says vessel carrying 305 mostly Ethiopian passengers sank on a dangerous Red Sea route to Yemen.

United States

My Take | The US and Israel have gone full rogue

As Israel denounces Nobel Peace laureate Navi Pillay, the US sanctions the entire International Criminal Court.

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United States

Christa Pike out of hospital after surviving US execution attempt

The Death Penalty Information Centre says she is the first person to live after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.

Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the failed execution of Christa Pike in Nashville in September. Photo: AP
Israel-Gaza war

Palestinian leader Abbas postpones elections to September 2027

Palestinians have not held legislative or presidential elections since 2005-2006, after which Hamas seized control of Gaza.

Displaced Palestinians wait to receive food at a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. Photo: AFP
United States

US sanctions ICC, hours after ex-judge wins Nobel

The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court, and the move puts the US on a diplomatic collision course with European allies.

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The Philippines

Can the Philippines lead Southeast Asia’s fight against child labour?

As Manila puts together a new road map to end child labour by 2028, analysts warn policies alone cannot overcome poverty.

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US-China relations

Hong Kong rejects US downgrade to lowest tier in human trafficking report

US cites declining prosecutions and failure to identify victims exploited in Hong Kong; city rejects downgrade as ‘entirely unfounded’.

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The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report has downgraded Hong Kong to the lowest ranking in its annual human trafficking study. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Crime

Christa Pike walks and eats after surviving failed Tennessee execution

The death row inmate survived an attempted execution by lethal injection on September 30.

United States

Christa Pike conscious and speaking after botched execution in US

Tennessee death-row inmate who survived two doses of lethal drugs is being treated at a hospital while shackled to her bed, lawyers say.

Myanmar

China tried 3 times to talk crime families out of scam business in Myanmar: CCTV

Series outlines how joint operations brought down major border compounds amid warning criminal syndicates are relocating near Thailand.

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A series produced by China’s Ministry of Public Security and state broadcaster CCTV details China’s efforts to bring down scam empires in Myanmar. Photo: CCTV
Afghanistan

ICC unseals arrest warrants for Taliban ministers

Court in The Hague accuses Afghan leaders of crimes against humanity stemming from curbs on women.

Afghan burqa-clad women queue to receive free meals during Ramadan on the outskirts of Kabul in 2025. Photo: AFP
United States

No trial, no ties: Laotian man freed after 14 months in eSwatini prison

Around 500 have been deported to African countries that are not their home nations since the third-country programme began last year.

France

Hundreds of schools close as France braces for more protests

After a weekend lull, high schoolers are expected back at the barricades for a fresh wave of demonstrations.

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India

India election chief faces calls to resign from protesters, opposition

The protesters say a nationwide voter-roll revision exercise launched last year has disenfranchised millions ⁠of eligible voters.

Protesters carry India’s national flag during a demonstration calling for the resignation the country’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the revision of Sunday. Photo: AFP
Myanmar

Malaysia repatriates 1,500 Myanmar nationals despite UN risk warnings

The returnees have been convicted of staying illegally and other immigration violations in Malaysia.

Malaysian Immigration officers stand guard during the repatriation of Myanmar nationals at Lumut, Malaysia, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
Crime

Tennessee prisons chief resigning after botched execution of Christa Pike

Pike, one of the youngest US women ever sent to death row, is unconscious and on a ventilator after surviving two doses of a lethal drug.

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United States

Christa Pike in ‘life-saving care’ after failed execution in US

Lawyers for death-row inmate demand clemency after two doses of lethal drug fail to kill her.

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