Jailed activist Umar Khalid wins 2026 human rights award
By Freepress Kashmir - News Desk October 9, 2026 Credit: Freepress Kashmir New Delhi: Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar and student activist Umar Khalid has been named a recipient of the 2026 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, presented by Ireland-based human rights organisation Front Line Defenders in Dublin. Khalid could not attend the award ceremony as he had been in jail for more than six years in connection with the 2020 Delhi violence conspiracy ca
Freepress Kashmir
Oct 11
Nepal, Malaysia renew three-year deal on migrant worker rights
Pact targets forced labour, recruitment fees and rights violations as Malaysia reports 46 complaints involving Nepali workers. Author: Hom Karki The National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) and Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) have renewed a three-year agreement to investigate and monitor rights violations involving Nepali migrant workers and improve their access to justice. The memorandum of understanding, covering 2026–2028, was signed on Wednesday at SU
Hom Karki
Oct 10
FBI arrests California woman accused of spying on Taiwan leader's family for China
By Jamie Ding, Hui Zhong Wu, and Jamie Stengle October 5th, 2026 The FBI has arrested a California real estate agent at Los Angeles International Airport as she was leaving the country and accused her of spying on the Taiwan president’s family for China ABC News Live The FBI arrested a California real estate agent as she prepared to fly to China, accusing her of secretly working for Beijing to surveil the president of Taiwan's family in the U.S., federal officials said. The c
ABC News
Oct 10
Bhutan Should Release All Remaining Political Prisoners
Prime Minister Should Face Scrutiny at the UN This Week By: Elaine Pearson © 2024 Frank Franklin/AP Photo When Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay meets world leaders at the United Nations general assembly in New York this week, they should urge him to release the at least 28 political prisoners who are still held in dreadful conditions in his country’s jails. The small Himalayan kingdom projects itself to the world as the land that invented “gross national happiness,” bu
Human Rights Watch
Oct 8
Nepal former Chief Justice Rana arrested
A senior police source confirmed that officers arrested Rana at his Maharajgunj residence on Sunday, with further details yet to emerge. Author: Gaurav Pokharel Former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana has been arrested, the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office said on Sunday. Rana was arrested at his residence in Maharajgunj, a senior police source confirmed. Further details were not immediately available. Rana became chief justice on January 1, 2019. An impeachme
Gaurav Pokharel
Oct 4
Taiwan: judicial caning violates international law
By Amnesty International, August 27th, 2026 © Sawayasu Tsuji/Getty Images Ahead of the meeting of the Central Election Commission on 28 August regarding a proposed referendum on introducing judicial caning as a criminal punishment in Taiwan, Amnesty International Taiwan’s Director, E-Ling Chiu, said: “It is both disturbing and disgraceful that the Legislative Yuan has chosen to advance a referendum proposal on judicial caning that clearly breaches international human rights l
Authorities trampling on human rights in Protest Crackdown
By Amnesty International October 2, 2026 Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP via Getty Images Responding to the imposition of prohibitory orders, the detention of hundreds of protesters, and the suspension of internet and public transport services in Delhi and Mumbai amid peaceful protests demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Aakar Patel, Chair of Board, Amnesty International India, said: “The right to protest is not dependent on government approval. It
Indian mosque partially demolished for Hindu pilgrimage
By Durdana Bhat September 30, 2026 Fearing outright demolition, Muslims volunteer to take down parts of Shahi Mosque themselves as authorities widen road to prepare for a 2028 event. Police officers stand guard in front of Shahi Masjid in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India, September 28, 2026 [Reuters] Zeeshan Khan says he has not slept properly for three nights in a row. It began on Sunday when the 30-year-old joined hundreds of Muslims in central India’s Ujjain city for a night
Al Jazeera
Sep 29
Anti-South Asian hate speech on X surges by 240%
By Tamara Khandaker September 28, 2026 Researchers link the rise to immigration politics, economic anxiety and the growing visibility of South Asians in US. The monthly volume of hate towards South Asians in the US on the social media platform X rose 240 percent between January 2024 and June 2026, according to a new report [File: Jenny Kane/AP Photo] Hate speech against Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in the United States has risen sharply online, according to a report t
Al Jazeera
Sep 28
Taiwan rejects Chinese bar to independence
By: Taiwan News Sept 25th 2026 China says Xi called on the US to oppose Taiwan independence. Credit: X TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Comments by China’s foreign ministry after the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping calling on the US to oppose Taiwan independence showed Beijing was still misrepresenting the truth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. China’s statement after Thursday’s meeting also said Xi had asked Trump to “handle the Tai
eastsoutheastasia
Sep 27
Pakistan-administered Kashmir votes amid unrest
By Abid Hussain September 24, 2026 Lawmakers will choose a president despite seven vacant seats in districts at the centre of months of unrest. A woman from Pakistan-administered Kashmir living in Karachi casts her ballot during the second phase of the region's general elections in Karachi, Pakistan, August 2, 2026. Credit: Al Jazeera, Shahzaib Akber, & EPA Islamabad, Pakistan – Legislators in Pakistan-administered Kashmir are voting on Thursday to elect a president, filling
Al Jazeera
Sep 26
Pakistan-administered Kashmir Votes Amid Civil Unrest
By Abid Hussain August 10, 2026 Voting postponed in seven of 11 Poonch division constituencies as boycott calls and violence mar the region’s legislative elections. A man casts his ballot at a polling station during the second phase of elections for the regional Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on August 2, 2026. Credit: Amiruddin Mughal & EPA in Al Jazeera Islamabad, Pakistan – Voting is under way in the third and final phase of Pakistan-a
Al Jazeera
Aug 11
