Pakistan sentences man to death for killing TikTok star Sana Yousaf The verdict against Umar Hayat who killed a teenage influencer in her home ‘is for the entire society’, her father says.

'We eat not just for pleasure but for spiritual practice' The Ven. Hyebeom of Suwolam in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, was named a Grade 1 expert of Korean temple food by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism this year, one of only 12 Grade 1 experts in Korea. www.koreaherald.com/article/1074...

Tibetan Buddhist nuns are getting advanced degrees − and the Dalai Lama played a major role in that shift Thanks to a greater emphasis on women’s education in recent years, Tibetan Buddhist nuns are increasingly becoming teachers and abbesses.

Hailing from the rain-soaked hills of Meghalaya in India's northeast, Reble raps in English as well as Khasi & Jaintia - indigenous languages spoken by tribal communities in the region - and writes about distance, reinvention and survival with an emotional restraint that feels unusually deliberate.

‘I refuse to be a second-class citizen in my own land’: Taiwanese International Booker winner Yáng Shuāng-zǐ The author of historical novel Taiwan Travelogue, and its translator Lin King, discuss the threat from Beijing, LGBTQ+ rights and the island’s culinary delicacies

Buddhist monk arrested over alleged rape of teen in Sri Lanka The Venerable Pallegama Hemarathana Thero holds one of the most revered positions in the Buddhist world - the chief prelate or custodian of eight sacred sites in Sri Lanka.

Japan Just Took a Major Step Toward Nonbinary Legal Recognition The Osaka High Court ruled that the country’s strictly binary family registration system violates the constitution.

On Douyin, Uyghur women have been posting short videos expressing grief, exhaustion, and longing for husbands who have been absent for years. They do not mention concentration camps, prison, detention centers, forced labor camps or incarceration, but everyone watching already understands.

Gray divorces among couples married for more than 30 years outnumbered divorces among couples married for less than five years in 2025 for the first time since South Korea began compiling related data in 1990, government data showed. www.koreaherald.com/article/1073...

Nepal creates history: Balendra Shah govt sets up Gender and Sexual Minorities ministry In a landmark step for LGBTIQ+ rights, Nepal has formed a federal ministry that for the first time explicitly recognises gender and sexual minorities in its name and mandate.

Did TikTok just divide and conquer feminism? TikTok’s promotion of commodified femininity erodes feminism’s potential for social justice, finds a study exploring young women’s process of identity-formation online.

This year women swept South Korea's most prestigious literary prize. Book talks, and reading and writing rooms called guelbang, have sprung up, offering time and space for women to gather and - crucially, they emphasise - grow as a community.

Women were never meant to give birth on their back It's usually more dangerous for women to give birth lying down, so why do they? It's all because of a Frenchman who decided it was more convenient – for men.

A Malaysian man who was sentenced to 14 years in jail for an assault case that left his then wife in a coma also faces charges for allegedly beating another wife until she miscarried. www.nst.com.my/news/nation/...

Japan surname rule spurs matchmaking events for same-name couples The initiative is designed not as a solution, but as a way to draw attention to the inconvenience faced by those who must change their name after marriage.

‘Female Knights’: China mums reshape food delivery services by juggling freedom and family Band of sisters who started out as strangers find empowerment on the road; share delivery orders if business is slow

Those absurd AI cartoons aren’t harmless fun – they’re spreading misogyny Beneath the bizarreness of cheating foxes, gold-digging cats and coy papayas, what looks like harmless entertainment, or AI slop, is shaping how women and girls are seen.

Why South Korean mothers face 300-km journeys just to give birth Shortages in obstetricians and neonatal intensive care beds in South Korea leave mothers with high-risk pregnancies searching for hospitals.

15% of Hospitals in Japan Report Sexual Abuse Many workers who committed abuse belonged to psychosomatic and psychiatry departments or internal medicine departments. About half of the incidents occurred during one-on-one interactions between patients and staff.

Malala's brother Khushal on fleeing the Taliban and facing the manosphere Khushal Yousafzai, 25, has been opening up about the lingering trauma of that incident, his mental health struggles and being drawn to the manosphere.

Myanmar military regime widens sanitary towel ban, claiming rebels use them for first aid Activists say clamp down on period products to target insurgents is gender-based violence and violates rights.

8 in 10 working mothers with preschoolers in South Korea face ‘time poverty’: report Time poverty is defined as a condition in which individuals are unable to obtain sufficient time for sleep or leisure after fulfilling essential responsibilities, including paid employment.

It's now illegal in Vietnam to force women to stay at home Under rules taking effect on Friday, Vietnam will impose a 10 million dong ($380) penalty for those trying to stop women from working. asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ge...

A Japanese prosecutor who accused her former boss of sexual assault resigned on April 30, saying the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office ignored her pleas for an investigation into its workplace culture and failed to protect her from harassment.

April was a busy month for anti-groping awareness campaigns across Japan. One con cafe worker in Akihabara's gone viral because she recently had to use an anti-groping strategy her mother taught her: a safety pin.

UN warns women in public life face increasingly sophisticated online violence UN Women report says AI, anonymity and lack of effective laws are increasing the risks of engaging in digital spaces.

Myanmar: Ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest Aung San Suu Kyi's son said the transfer did not mean freedom and called for the military junta to provide "proof of life." The former leader has not been seen in public since 2021.

Over the course of a year, the project SafeWords, Safer Worlds collected testimonies, tracked abusive language online, and tried to map out how misogyny works in Pakistan’s digital spaces. images.dawn.com/news/1195165...

Domestic workers legally recognised in Indonesia after '22-year struggle' Indonesia is home to some 4.2 million domestic workers - of which almost 90% are women. They were previously not legally classified as workers.

Israeli soldiers using sexual assault to force Palestinians out of West Bank, report says Experts say attacks, also carried out by settlers, are leading girls to quit school and enter early marriages

For foreign spouses, Taiwan's domestic violence safety net offers hope, obstacles Taiwan’s protections often fall short for foreign spouses due to legal issues, language barriers, and social isolation.

S Korean advocates file constitutional complaint over acquittal on lack of resistance in sexual assault case 6 civic groups condemned a high court ruling, which found the defendant not guilty because he "did not make any threats or commit assault to a degree that makes resistance impossible."

Another top Indonesian university suspends 16 students over alleged online sexual harassment The case at IPB University in Bogor purportedly occurred in 2024 but came to the fore following a separate high-profile incident involving students from the law faculty at the University of Indonesia.

The yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan As loneliness deepens in one of the world's fastest-ageing nations, a network of women delivering probiotic milk drinks has become a vital source of routine, connection and care.

Pushed Out as Demand Falls, China’s Obstetricians Start Over A decade of declining births is shrinking maternity wards, reshaping hospitals, and forcing obstetricians to adapt, retrain, or leave the profession altogether.

Taipei promotes gender equality in funeral ceremonies Kuo Hsien-hung, head of the Taipei Funeral Service Industry Association, described the publication of new guidelines as a step toward a more gender-equal funeral culture in Taiwan.

Iraqi women mourn Sajida Obaid, a singer who gave them a taste of freedom In Iraq, a woman moving through public life carries weight with her; eyes watching what she wears, how she moves, whether she is stepping too far outside the lines. Obaid decided to hold parties only for women.

What a new Gallup poll shows about young men’s religious revival Several decades ago, young women were much more attached to religion than young men, but that’s shifted over the years. The gender gap reversal is only happening among adults under 30, according to Gallup’s data.

American livestreamer Johnny Somali, who caused outrage in South Korea by kissing a statue representing World War Two sex slaves, has been sentenced to 6 months in jail.

India fails to pass parliament expansion bill linked to quotas for women Indian opposition groups said while they were in favour of quotas for women legislators, the linking of the plan to a mass redrawing ​of constituency boundaries was a government bid to manipulate the system and ​get more votes.

Philippines: From food trips to creating a skateboarding community for women An all-women skate group strengthens confidence and community among females of all ages in Metro Manila.

How Gender Stereotypes Got Written Into Evolution A flawed fruit fly experiment helped harden Victorian stereotypes about sex into scientific “principles.” Feminist biologists have been challenging those assumptions and the theory built on them for decades. atmos.earth/science-and-...

While many adopters seek puppies and kittens, these 4 Singaporean women chose the opposite – giving homes to blind, ageing and toothless dogs and cats with cancer and dementia, and loving them through their final months or years.

Chinese feminist media blooms amid censorship While the #MeToo wave in China "fizzled out" around late 2018, there was no turning back from the societal shifts and conversations it unleashed.

Japan eyes boosting female enlistment to 13% by 2036 Japan wants to significantly boost the number of women in the military by the mid-2030s, the Japanese Ministry of Defense has said, as it struggles to convince young people to enlist. www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/a...

As generative AI usage rises in India, image, video, and audio morphing are becoming easily accessible. Without sufficient guardrails and laws in place, this accessibility poses a grave threat to the digital safety of women and other gender minorities.

Why MAGA men actually loathe tradwives A new study shows that young men who favor the trad lifestyle don’t honor and cherish tradwives — they hold them in contempt.

Escaping poverty at home, Nepali women fall into the Gulf trap Thousands of women outside Nepal government’s records are confined by restrictive Kafala rules.

China probes ‘malicious’ cyberbullying of teen diving champion Three-time Olympic gold medallist Quan Hongchuan has faced toxic online abuse and considered quitting over comments on her appearance.

Japan on April 10 marked 80 years since women first gained the right to vote in the country. Public awareness of women's participation in politics has grown, but the rise in the number of female Diet members remains sluggish.