Media Coverage

Vietnam’s Communist Party leaders have issued a sweeping directive aimed at clamping down on civil society, including trade unions and labor activism, even as it pledges to uphold human rights at the United Nations, according to a rights watchdog. Among the many provisions of the order known as...

Pakistani journalist and video blogger Asad Ali Toor was arrested by federal authorities on February 26 on charges of orchestrating a malicious campaign against the state and its officials, with the “objective to coerce, intimidate, and incite violence” against them through his social media...

Anti-Muslim hate speech in India rose by 62 percent in the second half of 2023 compared to the first six months of the year, a Washington-based research group said on February 26, adding the Israel-Gaza war played a key role in the last three months. India Hate Lab documented 668 hate speech...

Thailand’s jailed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 74, who was jailed for eight years for abuse of power before a royal pardon reduced the term to one year, was granted release on parole, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters on February 20. Thaksin swept to power in 2001 on a...

A senior bureaucrat in Pakistan has said he helped rig Pakistan’s elections, a week after polls marred by allegations of manipulation returned no clear winner. On February 17, Liaqat Ali Chattha, commissioner of the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where the country’s powerful military has its...

A six-party alliance appears poised to form Pakistan’s next government, after nearly a week of political drama following a fractured mandate delivered by the country’s voters in the February 8 elections. Led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which won 75 seats, and Pakistan People’s Party, which...

India’s Supreme Court has scrapped a seven-year-old election funding system, called “electoral bonds,” that allows individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits. Coming nearly two months before the general election, February 15’s decision is being...

Thousands of protesters have blocked highways and started a daylong strike to demonstrate against the results of last week’s general election in Pakistan. The demonstrations on February 12 follow the announcement of the final results from the February 8 vote, with tensions high amid claims of vote...

Millions of Pakistanis voted on February 8 in an election marred by rigging allegations, with authorities suspending mobile phone services throughout the day and the country's most popular politician in jail. Pollsters predicted a low turnout from the country's 128 million eligible voters following...

A Thai court has handed suspended sentences to former prime ministerial hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat and seven other political figures for holding an unlawful rally in 2019. The case adds to the legal trouble facing the opposition Move Forward Party after the country’s constitutional court last week...