Two men hold signs as they protest against the state's extended stay-at-home order to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as hundreds gather to demonstrate at the Capitol building in Olympia, Washington, U.S. on Sunday. The protesters believe their rights as free citizens are more important than the restrictions being imposed to counter the spread of the disease.
-reuters-
DIRIYAH, Saudi Arabia—Sliding behind the wheel of a sleek electric SUV, Reema Juffali is set to blaze a trail in male-dominated motor sports as the first Saudi woman to race in the kingdom.
Such adrenaline rushes were unimaginable for women in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom until June last year, when it overturned the world's only ban on female motorists as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's wide-ranging liberalization drive.
Juffali, a 27-year-old who made her motoring debut just months after the decades-old ban ended, will compete Friday and Saturday in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, an all-electric race in Diriyah, close to the capital Riyadh.
"The ban was lifted last year and I never expected to race professionally," said Juffali, sitting in her black-and-green Jaguar I-Pace, an electric sports utility vehicle.
"The fact that I am doing it... is amazing," Juffali, clad in a racing suit, told AFP in an interview close to the racing circuit in Diriyah.
Juffali, who hails from the western city of Jeddah and was educated in the United States, will participate as what organizers call a "VIP" guest driver, becoming the first Saudi woman to race on home soil.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's sports authority chief, has touted it as a "watershed" moment for the kingdom.
"Reema will have thousands cheering her on, as a professional racing driver," the prince told AFP.
Juffali, who made one of her first appearances in competitive racing at the F4 British Championship at Brands Hatch in April, has only about a year of professional racing experience under her belt.
But she has had a passion for fast cars since her teenage years and grew up watching Formula One.
She passed her driving test after she moved to the United States to study some years ago, and is now one of only a handful of Saudi woman to have obtained a "racing licence" in her home country, a mandatory requirement to race professionally.
Even outside the Kingdom, only a few Saudi women have raced professionally.
"For a lot of women who haven't had the opportunity to learn how to drive, to get behind the wheel is definitely something scary," explained Juffali.
"For a lot of women in Saudi it's something so far away."
Juffali said her dream is to one day race at Le Mans—a 24 hour competition in France that is one of the world's most prestigious and gruelling competitions.
In Riyadh she will be racing against the season's veterans but will not score any points.
THRILL OF SPEED
Prince Mohammed has sought to shake off his country's ultra-conservative image by allowing greater freedoms for women, including easing so-called "guardianship" rules that give men arbitrary authority over female relatives.
But alongside reforms he has also overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Around a dozen women activists who long campaigned for the right to drive are on trial after being arrested last year, sparking widespread condemnation.
Some allege they were tortured and sexually harassed by interrogators; Saudi authorities deny the allegations.
The driving reform has been transformative for many Saudi women, freeing them from dependence on private chauffeurs or male relatives.
Newly mobile Saudi women are now embracing what was previously deemed a male entitlement—fast cars.
Many are defying the perception that only dainty cars in bright colors are popular with women drivers.
Auto showrooms tapping women clients have rolled out a line-up of cherry red Mini Coopers, but sales professionals say many exhibit an appetite for muscle cars like the Chevrolet Camaro or the Mustang convertible.
Some women are taking up drifting—oversteering the car to slip and skid or even spin, and other high-speed daredevilry—which is illegal in public but tolerated in the controlled environment of some theme parks.
Clad in skinny jeans and Harley-Davidson T-shirts, some women are also training to ride motorbikes at a Riyadh driving school, a scene that is still a stunning anomaly in the conservative petro-state.
"Many (people) are surprised by all the changes happening in Saudi," said Juffali.
"Seeing me in a car, racing... For a lot of people it's a surprise, but I am happy to surprise people."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Three Philippine online lending firms are charged with data privacy violations after borrowers complained their lending apps sent text messages on their own and took control of their phone cameras. Warren de Guzman with the details. - The World Tonight, ANC, September 6, 2019
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NEW YORK - Ahead of Friday's release of her album "Lover" pop star Taylor Swift is floating plans to re-record her early albums to have the last word in a rights dispute over her music.
The news reignites Swift's battle with industry mogul Scooter Braun -- who recently purchased Big Machine Label Group through his company Ithaca Holdings in a reported $300 million deal -- thereby obtaining majority ownership of Swift's master recordings.
The owner of coveted masters -- one-of-a-kind source material used to create vinyls, CDs and digital copies -- is able to dictate how songs are re-produced and sold.
When news of the deal broke in June Swift, 29, said it "stripped me of my life's work."
Now the chart-topper says she's going to regain control: asked about the possibility of recording her first six multi-platinum albums in an interview with CBS to air Sunday morning, Swift said the option was likely.
Asked "might you do that?," she replied, "Oh, yeah," in a teaser of the interview.
"That's a plan?" the interview follows up, to which Swift says, "Yeah, absolutely."
The dramatic move could be complicated by time restrictions in her early contracts -- she first signed with Big Machine Label Group in 2005, when she was still a teenager -- but not impossible.
Swift is credited as a lead writer for essentially all of her back catalog, meaning she could record covers of sorts without needing access to the masters.
Her previous contracts aren't public, but typical time restrictions prevent artists from putting out re-recorded work for three to five years from its initial release. Swift's eponymous debut came out in 2006, while her last album with the Nashville-based label dropped in 2017.
Last year, the superstar signed a new deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group.
Swift's astronomic wealth and deep network in the music industry would also help, as she would need support from her past collaborators on songs to make them competitive with her original versions.
Earlier this summer, singer Kelly Clarkson urged Swift to re-record songs whose masters she doesn't own, tweeting that she should "put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions."
"I'd buy all of the new versions just to prove a point," Clarkson said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WARSAW - Poland's October general election is shaping up to be dominated neither by the economy nor politics as the devout Catholic country goes to war over LGBT rights, denounced by the governing conservatives and an archbishop as a "threat" to their way of life.
Homosexuality became the hottest electoral issue after PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski condemned gay rights as a "threat" in April and put the issue high on his party's campaign agenda.
The leftist opposition has seized recent sparring over LGBT as an opportunity to slam the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party for its close alliance with the influential Catholic Church.
"For the PiS, it's political fuel. It allows the party to reaffirm its political identity, its attachment to traditional values in the face of the wave of Westernization," political analyst Stanislaw Mocek told AFP.
"But the other side has also found a political weapon there, in the form of defending minority rights."
Poland remains staunchly Catholic and conservatives are increasingly campaigning against LGBT, or gender "ideology" which they believe threatens traditional family values.
In May, a woman put up posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo, prompting police to detain her for "desecration".
Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski tweeted: "All that nonsense about freedom and 'tolerance' doesn't give ANYONE the right to insult the faithful's beliefs."
In July, a court ordered news magazine Gazeta Polska to halt the distribution of anti-gay stickers reading "This is an LGBT-free zone".
The caption picked up on a trend at local government level where PiS allies have declared themselves "free of LGBT ideology".
Also last month, weekend violence marred the first gay pride parade in the eastern Polish city of Bialystok where football hooligans, some with far-right sympathies, attacked marchers and police.
The incident sparked a series of protests with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemning the violence but failing to speak out against the anti-LGBT campaign.
'Rainbow plague'
This month, Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski added fuel to the fire when he used a sermon to warn against the LGBT movement.
"The red plague no longer runs on our land," the clergyman said, referring to communism.
"But a new plague has emerged, neo-Marxist, that wants to seize our souls, hearts and spirits. A plague that is not red but rainbow."
The uproar was immediate: Poles took to the streets in Warsaw and the southern city of Krakow, brandishing rainbow flags and shouting "Shame!" and "Resign!".
YouTube initially blocked a recording of the sermon, then reinstated it.
A member of the Dominican religious order, Pawel Guzynski, urged Poles to write letters calling for the archbishop's resignation.
Other faithful took to the airwaves of the conservative Catholic station Radio Maryja to call for letters to be sent to the Vatican defending Jedraszewski.
Another episode in the LGBT battle looks set to take place at Saturday's gay pride parade in the central city of Plock, with members of the far-right planning to protest.
Around 50 residents sent the mayor a letter asking him to withdraw his patronage of the event.
'Ideological campaign'
Conservative Catholics believe Poland is the target of an "ideological campaign" by LGBT circles, backed and financed by international organizations such as the ILGA-Europe rights groups' network.
The argument was notably made by Marcin Przeciszewski, the head of Poland's KAI Catholic information agency.
In support, he cited the anti-discrimination "LGBT+ declaration" adopted by Warsaw city hall in February, as well as the conclusions of a congress that united dozens of activist groups in the Polish capital in March.
Przeciszewski added that legislation has been drafted in favor of civil unions and gay marriage, though such texts have no chance of a green light from the current PiS-controlled parliament.
For Mocek, the debate touches on the nature of democracy.
"According to a traditional definition of democracy, the majority governs and must protect the rights of the minority," he said.
"But for the PiS, since the majority governs, it has the right to impose its will, and that's something that could lead to an attack on minority values."
Campaigning on a platform of generous social spending, PiS appears on track to win a second consecutive term in the election, according to recent opinion polls.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia will allow women to obtain passports and travel abroad without approval from a male "guardian", the government said Thursday, ending a longstanding restriction that drew heavy international criticism.
"A passport will be granted to any Saudi national who submits an application," said a government ruling published in the official gazette Umm Al Qura.
The regulation will be applicable to women over the age of 21, the pro-government Okaz newspaper and other local media reported, citing senior authorities.
Women in the kingdom have long required permission from their male "guardians" -- husband, father and other male relatives –- to marry, renew their passports or exit the country.
Women's rights activists have campaigned for decades against the guardianship system, which renders women as legal minors for their entire lives.
The decision comes amid a wide-ranging liberalization drive spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- the kingdom's de facto ruler -- that is aimed at transforming the conservative petro-state, long criticized for its treatment of women.
His reforms include the much-celebrated decision overturning the world's only ban on female motorists in June last year, allowing women to attend soccer games alongside men and take on jobs that once fell outside the narrow confines of traditional gender roles.
But while transforming the lives of many women, critics said the reforms will be cosmetic for many others until the kingdom abolishes the "guardianship" system that gives men arbitrary authority over their female relatives.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK, United States - The head of the New York police department on Thursday apologized for a crackdown on the city's LGBTQ community during the notorious Stonewall riots, ahead of the 50th anniversary of the clashes that gave rise to the Gay Pride movement.
"I do know what happened should not have happened," said police chief James O'Neil. "The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong, plain and simple. The actions were discriminatory and oppressive and for that I apologize."
The June 1969 riots, sparked by constant police raids on the Stonewall Tavern, a well-known gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, proved to be a turning point in the LGBTQ community's struggle for civil rights and gave rise to the Gay Pride movement.
The police chief made the comments to long applause during a briefing on safety measures for the city's Pride Month, the annual celebration for the city's diverse LGBTQ community.
A number of people have called in recent days for the police department to apologize for its actions, including the speaker of the city council, Corey Johnson, who is himself homosexual, and the organizers of Gay Pride.
On June 28, 1969, members of the gay community protested against the latest in a seemingly endless series of police raids on the Stonewall Tavern on New York's Christopher Street, triggering a week of demonstrations and clashes that led to numerous arrests and property damage.
New York is staging a series of events and rallies to mark the anniversary this month, culminating on June 30 with WorldPride, billed as the largest gathering of the LGBTQ community in the world.
More than 3 million people are expected to attend those events in New York, New York police said.
Last month, mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city would erect a statue to 2 transgender women who participated in the protests and who fought for LGBTQ rights. The mayor said it would be the first such statue in the world.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BEIJING -- When Chinese legislators recommended the abolition of "education" detention centers where prostitutes and clients can be held without charge for 2 years, activists hoped the facilities' days were numbered.
They will have to wait longer.
The rubber-stamp National People's Congress (NPC) passed only one new law when it ended its annual session on Friday -- and it had to do with opening up foreign investment.
Under the nearly 3-decade-old system, police have unilateral power to detain sex workers and their clients for up to 2 years in "shelter and education" centers.
Critics say the centers have little to do with education.
"There may be resistance inside the regime against abolition, perhaps by the police, as this would take away some of its arbitrary detention powers," said Wang Yaqiu, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.
In 2013, testimonies of ex-detainees collected by Asia Catalyst -- an organisation that defends the health of marginalized groups in the region -- revealed the harsh living conditions in the centers.
These included ill-treatment, forced labor, and the obligation to pay for subsistence and forced medical examinations at prohibitive prices.
"All this is a matter of money, the talk of rehabilitation or ideological education is hollow, it is just a way of extorting money on behalf of the state and the police", one of the women told the group.
Shen Chunyao, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee's legislative affairs commission, said in December that "the time has come to begin the work of abolition".
"In recent years, the use of the detention and education system has gradually decreased, the number of people in the centers has clearly diminished and they have been banned in some places," he added.
'VERY DANGEROUS'
Discussion over the future of the centers came after China's top legislative committee abolished its system of "re-education through labor camps", known as "laojiao", in 2013.
Shutting the labor camps -- introduced more than half a century ago as a speedy way to handle petty offenders -- closed the curtain on a dark aspect of the country's modern history long criticized by human rights groups and which Chinese officials admitted was no longer viable.
But authorities retained the right to detain sex workers and their clients, and in 2014 police announced that popular actor Huang Haibo would be held for 6 months for having solicited a prostitute.
That prompted a rare instance of dissent from state media, which questioned the system.
Getting rid of the detention centers would be "a very positive step for the rule of law in China", said Shen Tingting, director of advocacy and policy at Asia Catalyst.
Although illegal, prostitution remains widespread in China, with an estimated several million sex workers.
Many living in Beijing were driven out with migrant workers as part of a demolition campaign in the city's slums in 2017.
"Today they are in the suburbs, isolated, with no place to work. They go online and go to the customer's house, it's very dangerous," Shen said.
She said the existing legal arsenal is already "sufficient" -- prostitutes and their clients can be fined up to 5,000 yuan ($745) and face up to 15 days of administrative detention.
But Shen is unconvinced that attitudes towards sex workers would change, even if the forced re-education of prostitutes eventually disappears.
"The repression will continue," she said, "and one wonders what new system (could) replace the old one."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia on Saturday defended a mobile app that allows men in the kingdom to track female relatives after rights groups and a US lawmaker criticized tech giants for offering it.
The Absher app provides services for "all members of the society... including women, the elderly, and people with special needs", the interior ministry said.
The free app is available on Android and Apple smartphones and allows users to renew passports, visas and eases a variety of other electronic services.
But critics have said the app enables abuse against women and girls by allowing men to track their movements.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told US National Public Radio earlier this week he had not heard of the app, but would "take a look at it".
US Senator Ron Wyden has called on both Apple and Google to remove the app, arguing on Twitter that it promotes "abusive practices against women".
Under Saudi law, women must have consent from a husband or immediate male relative to renew passports or leave the country.
The ministry criticized what it called a "systematic campaign aimed at questioning the purpose of the services".
It rejected what it described as "attempts to politicize" the tool.
This comes as Saudi Arabia faces intense scrutiny over the shocking murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, which has renewed criticism of the kingdom's rights record.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has garnered international attention with his rapid rise to power and promise of social and economic reforms.
But the kingdom has detained a number of human rights and women campaigners, some of them accused of undermining national security, with scant public information about their whereabouts or the legal status of their cases.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
TOKYO - Chizuka Oe and Yoko Ogawa have been together for 25 years, but when they submitted their marriage registration at a Tokyo town hall, they knew it would be rejected.
"We were told that they cannot accept our registration because we are both women," said Ogawa, standing in the winter sun outside the building in Nakano in western Tokyo.
"There were several heterosexual couples next to us who submitted marriage registrations without any problem," she added.
The couple is now planning to take action: Along with 12 other same-sex couples, they will file lawsuits on Valentine's Day seeking to force the government to recognize gay marriage.
"Why don't we even have the simple choice of whether or not to get married?" asked Ogawa, who said she and Oe were forced to wait a long time before ultimately being turned down.
The 5 lesbian and 8 gay couples involved will file lawsuits across the country seeking damages of one million yen ($9000) a person for being denied the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.
Japan's constitution stipulates that "marriage shall be only with the mutual consent of both sexes" and the government says this means same-sex marriage is "not foreseen" in the constitution or civil law.
But lawyers for the plaintiffs and other legal experts counter that there is nothing in the constitution that would prohibit same-sex marriage.
They argue the language of the 1947 post-war constitution is only meant to ensure equality between prospective spouses and prevent forced marriages.
The government's failure to enact a law allowing same-sex marriage violates the constitutional principle that "all people are equal under the law," said Akiyoshi Miwa, who is representing some of the plaintiffs.
'AGONIZING' SITUATIONS
A survey in January found nearly 80 percent of Japanese aged 20 to 59 support legalizing gay marriage.
Japan is the only nation from the Group of Seven countries that does not recognize same-sex unions.
Historically, Japan was broadly tolerant of homosexuality, with documented cases of samurai warriors during feudal times having male lovers.
Same-sex relationships were even depicted in traditional art, such as ukiyoe, or wood block prints.
But as Japan industrialized and modernized from the late 19th century, Western prejudices against homosexuality were increasingly adopted.
Last year, the ruling party came under fire after one of its lawmakers claimed the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was "unproductive" because they "cannot have children."
And Oe and Ogawa say they have struggled with confusion and prejudice stemming in part from Japan's lack of marriage equality.
When the couple attended the funeral for Ogawa's mother, relatives treated Oe with suspicion, particularly when she handled condolence money.
Ogawa said many relatives quizzed her on who Oe was.
She explained: "I was tired, sad, and in such an extreme situation it was agonising to explain that we are a lesbian couple, that we are the same as a regular heterosexual couple."
"If there was a legal system of same-sex marriage, it would have been easier," she added.
'A KEY GOAL'
In a landmark advance in 2015, Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district started issuing symbolic "partnership" certificates to same-sex couples.
Some other local governments -- including in the area where Oe and Ogawa live -- have followed suit, and corporate Japan is also showing signs of moving toward recognizing same-sex couples.
The certificate confers some rights: when Oe was hospitalized last year and needed a family member's signature, Ogawa was able to sign.
But not all gay couples in Japan live in areas with such certificates, meaning they can be prevented from visiting loved ones in hospitals or refused tenancy because their relationship is not legally recognized.
And the certificates "fail to give various legal rights and benefits that a marriage gives, such as inheritance and joint custody," said Takako Uesugi, another lawyer for the plaintiffs.
Only one partner in a same-sex couple is considered the legal parent of any children they share because gay marriages are not recognized so joint custody is considered impossible.
And a foreigner in a same-sex relationship with a Japanese partner cannot apply for spousal visas like their counterparts in heterosexual marriages.
The Valentine's Day lawsuits will seek damages, but the couples and their lawyers say they are ultimately hoping to force a change in the law.
"What we really want is a court ruling that says the failure to recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional," said Miwa.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - Millions of Americans will be barred from casting ballots in Tuesday's crucial midterm elections due to electoral rules at the state level, which effectively exclude many minority voters to the detriment of Democrats.
Here's a look at states where these restrictions could impact the poll's outcome.
1.5 MILLION FLORIDIANS DISENFRANCHISED
Nearly six million Americans are excluded from voting because they are imprisoned, on parole or awaiting sentencing.
African Americans, who are overrepresented in the US penal system, are four times more likely to be unable to vote than the rest of the population, according to The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization.
Rules vary widely state by state, with some like Maine and New Hampshire allowing inmates to vote.
But in places such as Kentucky, Iowa, Virginia and Florida, any conviction -- even for a minor offense like possession of marijuana -- results in lifelong disenfranchisement.
In Florida, where the Republican Donald Trump was just 112,000 votes ahead of his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, nearly 1.5 million people are deprived of voting because of a criminal record.
In addition to choosing their governor and members of Congress, Florida residents will vote on whether to restore voting rights to people with prior felony convictions once they have finished their sentences, besides those convicted of the most serious crimes.
PROOF OF STREET ADDRESS
There is no national identity card in the United States. Instead, each state defines what documents can be used as identification at the polling station.
And according to the American Civil Liberties Union, an influential civil rights organization, several states have imposed restrictive rules since 2010.
North Dakota has since 2016 required its residents to present a document with proof of a street address.
But the state is home to thousands of Native Americans who live on reservations in rural areas with but a single post office box.
They might be turned away at the ballot box, where Heidi Heitkamp -- a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 2012 by just 3,000 votes -- is campaigning to keep her seat.
Backers of the rule hold it prevents fraud, as North Dakota does not require voters to pre-register.
'EXACT MATCH' RULES
In Georgia, the data voters provide when registering at the polls have since 2017 been compared to those given when applying for a driver's license or social security number.
If there are discrepancies, authorities might refuse the registration.
Some 53,000 applications are currently pending, 70 percent of which belong to African Americans, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Democrat Stacey Abrams -- who hopes to become the first black woman elected governor in the US -- has accused her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, of using his position heading the office that oversees elections to influence the vote.
Kemp in turn says voters can cast ballots if they clarify their situations, and accuses Abrams of wanting to let undocumented immigrants vote.
Even if applications in limbo are ultimately approved, Abrams fears the challenge to register might cause these voters to stay home.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BANGKOK - Allegedly aimed at busting visa abusers and illegal migrants, a Thai police operation called "X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner" has raised questions about racial profiling and fears for asylum-seekers caught in its web.
Tens of millions of tourists come to Thailand each year for the cheap living and postcard-perfect beaches, with some seeking out the seedier thrills of a bustling sex industry.
But as weak law enforcement, porous borders and corruption help make the country a hub for transnational crime, Thai authorities are intensifying Operation X-Ray -- a program that started about a year ago -- with more than 1,000 people arrested in recent weeks, most for overstaying their visa.
Although the vast majority caught in the dragnet are migrants from nearby countries, the racial overtones of the campaign have sparked concerns about profiling based on skin color.
"Our job is to classify who are the good dark-skinned people and who are the ones likely to commit crimes," said immigration bureau chief Surachate Hakparn.
He told AFP that the operation was aimed at weeding out visa overstayers and nabbing criminals -- especially "romance scammers" who lure lonely locals online to defraud them of cash.
He insisted that the romance scammers are often Nigerian or Ugandan.
'SUSPICIOUS TARGETS'
At the start of one night time operation witnessed by AFP in Bangkok's rowdy Nana district earlier this month, about 75 Thai police officers stood in rows at a briefing.
"The suspicious targets are the dark-skinned people," shouted an officer. "First, we search their bodies, then we search their passports."
Soon they began stopping suspects, including three people from Mali who were tested for drugs on the spot.
By 11:55 pm, almost 30 individuals -- about half of whom were black -- had been rounded up.
Only one was Caucasian, a Frenchman caught smoking marijuana.
Surachate's staff said details on the breakdown of nationalities was "confidential".
But in the first two weeks of October, police arrested a Korean citizen wanted by Interpol for sexual assault, and busted a team of four Nigerians and 16 Thais allegedly involved in romance scams, according to authorities.
They also found a Laos national who had overstayed his visa by more than 11 years.
ESCAPING PERSECUTION
Thailand's reputation as a place to disappear and reinvent yourself combined with lax visa rules can be a headache for law enforcement.
The junta that seized power in 2014 justified its power grab by promising stability amid street protests and political upheaval.
But rights groups warn that refugees and asylum seekers who transit through Bangkok en route to a third country for resettlement are also being ensnared in the latest police operation as they lack legal protections.
According to rough estimates from the non-profit Fortify Rights, there are about 100 adults and 30 children who fit this description, mainly from Pakistan but also from Syria and Somalia.
"Thailand's immigration crackdown has swept up refugees and asylum seekers, sent young children into horrid, prison-like conditions, and appears to have clear aspects of racial profiling against South Asians and Africans," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Thailand is not a party to the UN convention recognizing refugees and made headlines in 2015 for deporting more than 100 Uighurs back to China.
More than 70 Pakistani Christians were rounded up and detained this month by police under charges of illegal entry and overstay even though they were assumed to be in transit and escaping religious persecution in their Muslim-majority homeland.
But the authorities remain unapologetic.
According to immigration chief Surachate's count, Thailand is home to more than 6,000 people who ought to have left the country already.
"In order to clean house, we need to bring in the good people and deport the bad people so that the country will have sustained stability," he said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - US newspapers big and small hit back Thursday at President Donald Trump's relentless attacks on the news media, launching a coordinated campaign of editorials stressing the importance of a free press.
Leading the charge was The Boston Globe, which had issued an appeal for this drive -- accompanied by the hashtag #EnemyofNone -- that has been joined by more than 200 newspapers around the country.
"Today in the United States we have a president who has created a mantra that members of the media who do not blatantly support the policies of the current US administration are the 'enemy of the people,'" the Globe editorial said.
"This is one of the many lies that have been thrown out by this president, much like an old-time charlatan threw out 'magic' dust or water on a hopeful crowd," it added in a piece entitled "Journalists are not the Enemy."
Trump's treatment of the press is also encouraging strongmen such as Vladimir Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey to treat journalists like enemies, the Globe argued.
The coordinated effort comes amid Trump's persistent claims that mainstream media outlets that publish articles critical of him are churning out "fake news."
Free press advocates argue that Trump's efforts threaten the role of the news media as a check against abuse of power in government and imperil the constitutional First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press.
The New York Times, one of the most frequent targets of Trump's criticism, ran a short, 7-paragraph editorial under a giant headline with all capital letters that read "A FREE PRESS NEEDS YOU" and with the statement that it is only right for people to criticize the press, say, for getting something wrong.
"But insisting that truths you don’t like are 'fake news' is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the 'enemy of the people' is dangerous, period," the Times wrote.
Across the country, other papers joined in, defending their place in society -- from upholding the truth to simply saving people time.
"At a practical level, we journalists sit through boring government meetings and learn about public school financing formulas, so you don't have to," said The Arizona Daily Star. "It's not as lofty a statement as the First Amendment, but it serves."
CANNOT SIT BACK
Free press advocates say Trump is a real threat to the role of the press.
"I don't think the press can just sit back and take it, they need to make their case when the most powerful man in the world tries to undercut the First Amendment," said Ken Paulson, a former editor-in-chief of USA Today who heads the Newseum's First Amendment Center and is dean of communications at Middle Tennessee State University.
But Paulson questioned whether editorials would be effective.
"The people who read editorials don’t need to be convinced," he said. "They are not the ones trying to shout you down at presidential rallies."
In the face of a White House onslaught, Paulson said the media needs a broader marketing campaign to highlight the importance of a free press as a core value.
The campaign also faces the potential for galvanizing supporters of the president around the notion that the media is out to get him.
"The media are organizing an ever more deliberate and public attack on @realDonaldTrump and on the 'deplorable' half of the country who support him. And the media wonders why we think they are 'fake news?'" tweeted Mike Huckabee, a former Republican governor who is a Fox News commentator.
But media rights advocates say the stakes are too high to allow the president's claims to go unchecked.
Some say Trump's comments have incited threats against journalists covering his events, and may have created a climate of hostility that opened the door to violent attacks like a deadly one in June against the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
