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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Danish report on Thursday said adoptions of children from South Korea to Denmark in the 1970s and 1980s was "characterized by systematic illegal behavior" in the Asian country. These violations, the report said, made it "possible to change information about a child's background and adopt a child without the knowledge of the biological parents." The report was the latest in a dark chapter of international adoptions. In 2013, the government in Seoul started requiring foreign adoptions to go through family courts. The move ended the decadeslong policy of allowing private agencies to dictate child relinquishments, transfer of custodies and emigration. The Danish Appeals Board, which supervises international adoptions, said there was "an unfortunate incentive structure where large sums of money were transferred between the Danish and South Korean organizations" over the adoptions. The 129-page report, published by an agency under Denmark's ministry of social affairs, focused on the period from January 1, 1970, to December 31, 1989. A total of 7,220 adoptions were carried out from South Korea to Denmark during the two decades. The report based its findings on 60 cases from the three privately run agencies in Denmark — DanAdopt, AC Boernehjaelp and Terres des Hommes — that handled adoptions from South Korea. The first two merged to become Danish International Adoption while the third agency closed its adoptions in 1999. The agency wrote that two of the agencies — DanAdopt and AC Boernehjaelp — "were aware of this practice" of changing information about the child's background. The report was made after a number of issues raised by the organization Danish Korean Rights Group. In 2022, Peter Møller, the head of the rights group, also submitted documents at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Seoul. "Danish organizations continuously expressed a desire to maintain a high number of adoptions of children with a specific age and health profile from South Korea," the report said. The South Korean agencies that sent kids to Denmark were Holt Children's Services and the Korea Social Service. The two South Korean agencies and that country's Ministry of Health and Welfare, the main government agency that handles adoption, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Boonyoung Han of the Danish activist group, told The Associated Press that an independent investigation was still needed because with such a probe "we expect that those responsible will finally be held accountable for their actions." In the late 1970s and mid-1980s, South Korean agencies aggressively solicited newborns or young children from hospitals and orphanages, often in exchange for payments, and operated maternity homes where single mothers were pressured to give away their babies. Adoption workers toured factory areas and low-income neighborhoods in search of struggling families who could be persuaded to give away their children. On January 16, Denmark's only overseas adoption agency DIA said that it was "winding down" its facilitation of international adoptions after a government agency raised concerns over fabricated documents and procedures that obscured children's biological origins abroad. In recent years, DIA had mediated adoptions in the Philippines, India, South Africa, Thailand, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. For years, adoptees in Europe, the United States and Australia have raised alarms about fraud, including babies who were falsely registered as abandoned orphans when they had living relatives in their native countries.

albany, new york — A performer who appeared naked in a show by world-renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic at New York City's Museum of Modern Art is suing the museum, saying it failed to take action after he was sexually assaulted multiple times by attendees during the performances nearly 14 years ago.  The suit was filed in Manhattan on Monday under the New York Adult Survivors Act, a special state law that created a yearslong suspension of the usual time limit for accusers to sue. Although the law expired last year, the suit says the parties agreed to extend the window closing.  John Bonafede alleges in the suit he was sexually assaulted by five public onlookers who attended a show he was hired by the museum to perform in as part of Abramovic's retrospective "The Artist Is Present."  Email messages sent to the museum this week were not returned. Abramovic is not named as a defendant and did not immediately return a request for comment.  The work, titled "Imponderabilia," saw Bonafede and another performer standing face-to-face with each other in a doorway about 18 inches (45.7 centimeters) apart, fully nude, silent, and still. The exhibition, which ran from March 14, 2010, through May 31, 2010, was curated by the museum in a way that encouraged visitors to pass in between the performers as they went from one gallery to the next, the suit alleges.  Mostly older men involved, says suit The people who assaulted Bonafede were mostly older men, the suit says. One of the perpetrators was a corporate member of the museum, who was ultimately kicked out and revoked of his membership, according to the suit.  During the final weeks of the exhibition, another attendee non-consensually groped Bonafede's private areas three times before they were finally stopped by security, the suit said.  Bonafede reported four of the individuals to the museum staff and security immediately, according to the suit, while the fifth was witnessed personally by the museum security staff.  Female performer also assaulted, suit says At one point, Bonafede also witnessed a public attendee sexually assault his female co-performer by kissing her on the mouth without her consent, the suit said.  Prior to the exhibition, the performers had voiced their concerns about nude performers being subject to harassment in a letter to the museum during contract negotiations, the suit said.  Once it began, several news outlets including The New York Times reported on the inappropriate behavior by visitors, and the sexual assaults on "Imponderabilia" were discussed within New York City's art and performance communities, the suit says.  Despite the museum having knowledge of the issue, it failed to take action to protect the performers and prevent further sexual assaults, such as telling visitors ahead of time that touching was not allowed, the lawsuit said.  About a month into the exhibition, the museum created a handbook outlining protocols for the performers to alert museum staff if they felt unsafe or were inappropriately touched.  Bonafede agreed to continue the performance after he was assaulted because of the "tough it out" culture of the exhibition, the suit says, but suffered for years from emotional distress, and his mental health, body image and career were damaged as a result.  The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly. Bonafede gave consent through his lawyer, Jordan Fletcher.  Fletcher declined to comment further on the suit, but said they will be seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages. 

Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesia's election lineup next month will be dominated by men, but a number of women are trying to break into a political scene long overshadowed by patriarchal elites. More than 200 million people are eligible to vote in the February 14 election, with slightly more than half of them women, according to the country's election commission, yet only a handful of women represent them in parliament. "We have a lot of dedicated and capable female politicians, but there are still many who consider women weak and lacking leadership qualities," legislative candidate Lingga Permesti told AFP from the town of Klaten, where she is running for a seat. "That is the reality, especially in (rural) regions," the 37-year-old said. Indonesia, long known for its political nepotism, has had one woman president -- Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding father and first president Sukarno. But she was not directly elected, rising to the highest office from the vice presidency after the removal of Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001. While her party retained high levels of popularity tied to her father's legacy, she lost two subsequent presidential races. In next month's vote, all 18 political parties contesting 580 lawmaker seats have collectively met a mandated nationwide quota of 30% women contenders, according to the election commission's final list. Women have held ministerial portfolios, the current house speaker is a woman and the proportion of women lawmakers rose to one in five in 2019, from less than one in 10 in 1999. That compares to a worldwide average of just over one in four, according to data from UN Women. Despite the recent strides, women's representation is still not being taken seriously in Indonesia, according to experts. Some women candidates say they are being treated like they are extraneous. "During one of my campaigns, a male district head told the people there that I was just a supplementary candidate. That I was in the contest just to help my party to meet the representation quota," Permesti told AFP. 'Patriarchal society' In the country's first two presidential debates, the three men battling for top office -- Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and former provincial governors Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan -- did not once mention reproductive healthcare or equal opportunities. Only one party has met the quota for women candidates for the nationwide legislative elections in each of the country's 84 electoral districts, according to Koalisi Masyarakat Peduli Keterwakilan Perempuan, a civil society group focusing on women's representation. The election commission has also in some instances allowed fewer women candidates than required, reinforcing a reluctance to bring more women into politics, said election expert Titi Anggraini from the University of Indonesia. "2024 marks a decline in the affirmation of women's representation, indicating the country's regression in fulfilling political rights," she said. Indonesia's "patriarchal society" has stemmed from entrenched attitudes introduced during the decades-long Dutch colonial era and then reinforced during Suharto's autocratic rule, said Irwan Martua Hidayana, an anthropologist at the University of Indonesia. "If we take a look at the history, some studies showed that Indonesia had egalitarian relations between men and women before colonialism changed it," Hidayana said. 'More accommodating' Some women speak of positive experiences in politics but say they were not reflected across the political spectrum. Permesti said she was afforded a wide range of opportunities to polish her skills in her Prosperous Justice Party, an Islamic party, but not all were "ready to give women such spaces." Anindya Shabrina, a 28-year-old legislative candidate for the Labour Party, said she once declined to join another major party because of condescending attitudes from male politicians. "I hope all parties will be more accommodating towards women in politics," she said, calling for political education for women so their careers can begin at the grassroots level. While millions of women will head to the polls across the archipelago next month, some say their status in Indonesian politics still leaves a lot to be desired. "We have had a female president, lawmakers, but it needs to be improved," said Permesti. "I hope that in 2029, we'll have a female presidential or vice presidential candidate."

TOKYO — The women work hard, sleeping only a few hours a night, as they juggle the demands of caring for their children and doing housework — all while suffering from poverty. The award-winning independent documentary film The Ones Left Behind, released last year, tells the story of such single mothers in Japan, weaving together interviews with the women and experts, and showing the other side of a culture whose ideal is for women to get married and become stay-at-home housewives and mothers. "This is a topic that no one wants to really touch. In Japan, it's very taboo," Australian filmmaker Rionne McAvoy said this week. "I think it's a very apt title because I feel that single mothers and their children have really been left behind in society." One woman in the film says she works from 8:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., while earning less than 200,000 yen ($1,350) a month. Tomiko Nakayama, another woman in the film, says: "I have to do everything on my own." Despite being one of the world's richest nations, Japan has one of the highest rates of child poverty among OECD countries, with one in every seven children living in poverty. About half of single-parent households live below the poverty line. Japanese society also tends to favor full-time male workers, and women often receive lower wages and fewer benefits, even when they are working full-time and overtime. Another woman in the film is near tears as she describes how her child stopped asking her about take-your-parent-to-school days. She knew her mom was too busy and couldn't attend. McAvoy's wife, Ayuri, who produced the film, was formerly a single mother. But both deny that's why Rionne McAvoy made the film. Initially, she wasn't interested in getting involved in his filmmaking. What makes the story so "Japanese," according to Rionne McAvoy, is how the country's conformist culture makes many women accept their hardships, too ashamed to ask for help, "keeping their public face and private face separate," he told The Associated Press. The Ones Left Behind was the Best Documentary Winner at the Miyakojima Charity International Film Festival last year and an official selection at the Yokohama International Film Festival. Despite repeated promises by the Japanese government to provide monetary assistance to people with children, action has been slow, said Akihiko Kato, a professor at Meiji University who appears in the film. That's partly why the birth rate is crashing in Japan from 1.2 million births in the year 2000 to below 700,000 today. Japan also lacks a system that can force fathers to pay child support, according to Kato. In the past, grandparents, neighbors and other members of the extended family helped look after children. In the modern age of the nuclear family, the single-parent household is often on its own. What this means for the children is sobering, said Yanfei Zhou, a social science professor at Japan Women's University who appears in the film. The gap between the haves and have-nots is growing, and the children are destined to inherit the cycle of poverty, she said. The story of the underclass, including those who are forgotten and don't have a voice, has long fascinated McAvoy. His next film will be about young people driven to suicide in Japan. He said that being an outsider allows him to tell stories with a fresh perspective and without bias. "It's one thing we can do more of in society: to try recognize people's cries for help," McAvoy said.

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JERUSALEM — Iran said Sunday it successfully launched three satellites into space, the latest for a program that the West says improves Tehran's ballistic missiles. The state-run IRNA news agency said the launch also saw the successful use of Iran's Simorgh rocket, which has had multiple failures in the past. The launch comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While Iran has not intervened militarily in the conflict, it has faced increased pressure within its theocracy for action after a deadly Islamic State suicide bombing earlier this month and as proxy groups like Yemen's Houthi rebels conduct attacks linked to the war. Footage released by Iranian state television showed a nighttime launch for the Simorgh rocket. An Associated Press analysis of the footage's details showed that it took place at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province. State TV named the launched satellites Mahda, Kayhan-2 and Hatef-1. It described the Mahda as a research satellite, while the Kayhan and the Hatef were nanosatellites focused on global positioning and communication respectively. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, another satellite-carrying rocket. The Simorgh, or "Phoenix," rocket failures have been part of a series of setbacks in recent years for Iran's civilian space program, including fatal fires and a launchpad rocket explosion that drew the attention of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The United States has previously said Iran's satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. U.N. sanctions related to Iran's ballistic missile program expired last October. The U.S. intelligence community's 2023 worldwide threat assessment said the development of satellite launch vehicles "shortens the timeline" for Iran to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile because it uses similar technology. The U.S. military and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, the U.S. military has quietly acknowledged a successful Iranian satellite launch from January 20 conducted by the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.