MARISA TORRE WRITES – Despite the flurry of major retailers halting business in Russia, the major Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, with its 49 stores in Russia, has no plans to follow the trend. Tadashi Yanai, the CEO of Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing, maintains an anti-war stance but described clothing…
CRISTINA PEDLER WRITES — Malala Yousafzai, human rights activist and champion of women’s education, announced her marriage to the world via social media on November 9, 2021. The happy couple tied the knot during a Nikah ceremony – a legal agreement between bride and groom in her home of Birmingham,…
ALYSSA MONTALVO WRITES — It’s scarcely big news that the political culture of Thailand is heavily influenced by the monarchy. And because of this – and the alliance between the extensive Thai military and Crown, one of the world’s longest running monarchies – issues of basic human rights and equity…
NELLY CARRILLO WRITES — Earlier this year, the Borgen Project, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating poverty and hunger, published an article on the harmful effects of fast fashion. What is fast fashion and why is it a harmful way of thinking about garment manufacturing? Fast Fashion is defined as “an…
LAMA ALTAHER WRITES – On April 19, 2021, the brutal murder of Farah Hamza Akbar offered a watershed moment to grapple with the country’s discriminatory laws against women. A Kuwaiti woman was killed by a man against whom she had previously filed two cases for harassment which followed her family’s…
AUDIE LAYARDA WRITES — In December 2020, word of forced labor, among other atrocities, in Xinjiang, China, surfaced. While forced labor in China isn’t new, the fact that the Xinjiang region supplies 20% of the world’s cotton pressured powerful figures to make statements. Amid allegations of torture and rape, the…
MANAGING EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH — First it was Hong Kong and Taiwan. Then it was Thailand. And now Myanmar. What’s going on in Asia? Perhaps the Milk Tea Alliance can help you understand the situation in the region. The Milk Tea Alliance began with a tweet by Thai…
KATIE SHIEH WRITES — Millions of Indian farmers are taking to the streets, having organized one of the largest protests in modern history. Activists are fighting to overturn new legislation regarding the agricultural sector that would make it more market-based instead of state-controlled. The market-based approach means that farmers’ crops…
MARY SANDRINE BERNOS WRITES — The Thailand protests are caused by three things: resignation of the prime minister, rewriting of the military-drafter constitution, and reform of the monarchy’s absolute power. Citizens of Thailand are angered at the fact that their current prime minister was still appointed despite causing a military…
LULU ALKHALIDI WRITES – In polls conducted by Pulse Asian between September 14 and September 20, the rating for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s performance was 91%. The poll was of course conducted during the coronavirus pandemic, with 5% of the population giving a negative response while 4% were undecided. In…
MATEO VALLES QUINTANA WRITES — No one can question her athletic achievements, but her actions off the court have brought her even more media attention. Naomi Osaka, the 22-year-old Black and Japanese athlete who quickly became one of the top tennis players in the world, has a remarkable WTA player…
LIAM ROGERS WRITES — On December 15, 1997, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced their ASEAN VISION 2020, which outlined different goals for the countries of ASEAN (Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, Kingdom of Cambodia, Republic of Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Republic of the…
AASHNA MALPANI WRITES– Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, victims of Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing, are packed into refugee camps just 20 miles from the city of Cox’s Bazar, in Bangladesh. Their everyday life is riddled with little access to education and restricted cellular reception. And they are social pariahs. “The average…
To our readers: In much of the world’s media, especially in the western media, Liu Xiaobo is consistently described as a tragic figure and heroic human-rights crusader. So there is no need to reprint those widespread accounts here. Less known in the West is the perspective of the Beijing establishment,…
MARY GRACE COSTA WRITES – Strong-armed President Rodrigo Duterte might be fresh from victory after the Philippine Senate voted to demote a vocal critic, but on her way out the door Sen. Leila De Lima warned Duterte to not rest on his laurels. On September 19, the Philippine Senate voted…
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES- Qatar has been fairly confident about keeping the 2022 World Cup. The country has passed some labor reforms and FIFA still backs them, but the country’s officials might have to be more cautious. Harvard professor John Ruggie wrote a FIFA-commissioned report on the organization’s human rights responsibilities…
