Kartik Raj

A black kitten with outrageously large pointy ears.

The ears.

La venta ilegal de citas en el SEPE se cronifica: “Pueden llegar a cobrarte 99 euros, es un abuso” El Ministerio de Trabajo ha puesto una denuncia ante la jefatura de la Policía Nacional en Catalunya para intentar atajar esta práctica, que se remonta hasta 2020 y que afecta a varias ciudades españo...

La venta ilegal de citas en el SEPE se cronifica: “Pueden llegar a cobrarte 99 euros, es un abuso” www.eldiario.es/economia/ven... Con @sandraviba.bsky.social

The kitten was being nursed by its mother. The mother and kitten were cared for by the people at the roadside cafe where I saw them, they were part of the establishment. I took a photo, had a cuddle, and left. There was no “rescuing” needed; both kitten and mother would have been distressed by that.

Just met this little fella at my 5am coffee stop. 😻😽🫶🏾

This is an incredible piece written by @hrw.org colleague Kseniya Kvitka www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

I remember him from my youth too. A man that would have been perfectly suited to the early 20-20 era but arrived about 25-30 years too early.

YouTube video by The Record Library Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70 ‎"Expensive Shit" Full Album

I hope they play this track from Fela when the time comes.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=gKZ1...

Great to see as @ifanuk.bsky.social's 'Worrying About Money?' resource project (www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/cash-first-leaflets) referenced as a good practice example in terms of helping people to navigate their way towards #cashfirst or income-focused local advice services and support...

„Grausamer als Hartz IV“: Dieser Verein spricht über Klage gegen Bürgergeld-Reform Der Verein „Sanktionsfrei“ unterstützt Bürgergeld-Empfänger mit Geld und Vermittlung von Anwälten. Gründerin Helena Steinhaus merkt jetzt schon, wie Empfänger an der geplanten Bürgergeld-Reform verzwe...

Die Regierung weiß, dass ihre Pläne verfassungswidrig sind. Sie weiß aber auch, dass das Bundesverfassungsgericht wenn dann Jahre brauchen wird, um das zu prüfen. Bei Hartz IV hat das 17 Jahre gedauert. Dabei übertrumpft diese Reform Hartz IV in seiner Grausamkeit.
www.focus.de/finanzen/gru...

There’s also the Frank Sinatra version

🔲 do

🔲 be

🔲 do

🔲 be

🔲 do

Can’t wait until someone asks about the European Social Charter (1961) and the Revised European Social Charter (1996) are, and how those relate.

I’ll grab the popcorn🍿

Three important secondment vacancies @coe.int on social rights — all with imminent application deadlines.

talents.coe.int/en_GB/career...

🚨The Russian government has banned us as an “undesirable” foreign organization. Our work hasn’t changed. But what’s changed is Russia’s full-throttled embrace of dictatorial policies, its staggering rise in repression & the scope of the war crimes its forces are committing in Ukraine.
bit.ly/48mvicJ

Russia: Government Designates Human Rights Watch “Undesirable” (Berlin, November 28, 2025) — Russia’s designation of Human Rights Watch as an “undesirable” foreign organization, made public by the Justice Ministry on November 28, is yet another mark of the Kremli...

Russia’s banning of @hrw.org as an “undesirable” foreign organization, made public today, is yet another mark of the Kremlin’s repression. It only redoubles our determination to document the Russian authorities’ human rights violations and war crimes
www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Gyula Balog, Hungarian activist being interviewed by Human Rights Watch in his Budapest home. November 2025. (C) Human Rights Watch.

5/5 Rest in power, Gyula!

And I hope that you get to see that settlement on Amsterdam Island (marked on that map pinned up above your desk) from wherever you are now.

4/n Gyula's bigheartedness was evident. His buddy Attila, a colleague from a Hungarian magazine that is a self-advocacy project for people experiencing homelessness, was crashing on his Gyula's sofa after recovering from a recent health scare, and in need of company. I got to interview Attila too!

3/n Gyula told me he had been sober for 31 years, and had spent 24 years "in the welcoming arms of the homeless shelters of Hungary". Yes, he really spoke ilike this.

We met in his flat, which he found through a charity that identifies affordable, safe housing for people experiencing homelessness.

2/n Gyula had an incredible life, from selling the first Commodore 64 computers in Hungary, to working on a research project on Amsterdam Island (in the southern Indian Ocean) in his "retirement". Does someone so active actually ever retire?

He took pleasure in showing me his map of the island.

Gyula Balog, Hungarian housing rights activist being interviewed by a Human Rights Watch researcher, November 2025 (C) HRW

1/n

I was deeply saddened to hear that Gyula Balog passed away earlier this week. I met and interviewed him only a couple of weeks ago, for an ongoing research project, in his home.

Gyula described himself as "an alcoholic, a homeless person, an activist, an actor, and an expert by experience."

Statement on the lifting of the two-child limit | Just Fair Just Fair welcomes the UK Government’s decision to lift the two-child limit. This long-overdue step could make a real difference in tackling child poverty and restoring fairness to the social security...

🧒🧒 Just Fair welcomes the end of the cruel two-child limit - a crucial step toward fairness we have long called for.

No child’s rights to food, housing or a decent life should ever be capped by policy. Now the UK must protect these rights in law.

justfair.org.uk/statement-on...

HRW quote card that says, “The UK government’s decision to end the cruel "two-child limit” social security policy is welcome and long-overdue. It forced growing numbers of children and families into poverty and undermined their rights.” Kartik Raj, Europe Senior Researcher

Good riddance to rubbish policy.

The end to the UK's "two child limit" social security policy has been announced, and it will soon be gone.

We @hrw.org welcome the news, as one of many, many, many voices calling for an end to this arbitrary, cruel social security policy.

There is more that could be said, for instance about the decision to wait until April to formally end it, or to have to have taken so long to get here, but ... it's worth saying it is good news that a terrible policy that increased child poverty by the day will soon be gone.

The UK government’s decision in today's Budget to end the cruel "two-child limit” social security policy is welcome and long-overdue. It forced growing numbers of children and families into poverty and undermined their rights.

Paraguay 🇵🇾 ha prohibido la palabra “género” en los libros escolares, borrando términos como “igualdad de género” y “perspectiva de género”. Esto socava el derecho de los jóvenes a una educación que les ayude a entender la discriminación y la desigualdad. www.abc.com.py/nacionales/2...

Paraguay 🇵🇾 has banned the word “gender” in educational materials. This doesn’t just limit language. It blocks understanding of human rights, diversity, and real equality among girls, boys, and adolescents. www.theparaguaypost.com/p/paraguay-s...

2/2 And to join in the Home Secretary's first person credibility olympics, as an immigrant to the UK (like her parents) and someone who has (like her) been called a 'f**king P**i' (and worse) and told to 'go home', I find the "moral mission" she has drawn from those experiences altogether appalling.

Shabana Mahmood is an avatar of open Britain – that’s what makes her fable about immigration so seductive | Nesrine Malik ‘She is the daughter of immigrants,’ supporters of her cruel asylum policies say. ‘How can she be wrong?’ Let me put them straight, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

1/2 absolute 🔥 from @nesrinemalik.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"Sold as an origin story from within an immigrant and racialised experience, the purpose is to imbue her politics with sacred authenticity [...] It is clever and effective. It is cynical and disgraceful."

A frank assessment of where the UK is, with a concerted effort to also identify glimmers of hope.

I’ve always found Enver’s reflections to be very thoughtful and containing something in them that allows those listening to find their energy and motivation again amidst what otherwise feels grim.

Human Rights Watch is honored to announce Philippe Bolopion as its new Executive Director. Philippe is a 13-year HRW veteran and former journalist who has advocated on atrocities globally.

We are proud to have his expertise guiding us as HRW rises to meet the challenges ahead.

‘Demand is up, donations are down’: how food banks are helping families in Kent Since the pandemic, the charities have been forced to use cash gifts and grant money to cover their bills

‘Demand is up, donations are down’: how food banks are helping families in Kent