MIA MARTIN WRITES – A Japanese artist has pleaded not guilty to obscenity charges for allegedly selling 3D images of her vagina. Megumi Igarashi, 43, doesn’t deny she distributed the material, but in the trial that got underway this week insisted it’s not obscene. Instead, Igarashi, aka Rokudenashiko (“good for…
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES — Remember the scenario of a notorious masked bandit snatching an old lady’s purse, only to get caught/intercepted by police or a helpful stranger? While occurrences like this still exist in today’s world, crime has evolved with the times and has entered the digital age. The recent…
KELCEY LORENZO WRITES – In late March, CL, leader of K-Pop girl group 2NE1, was nominated for TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2015. CL, whose birth name is Lee Chaerin, was the only Korean out of the 158 figures nominated for the list. Other individuals that were nominated for…
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES- Only in North Korea would a national leader claim to have climbed the highest mountain in the country, take a picture (in which he looks neither tired nor properly equipped to accomplish such a task), and then describe such an accomplishment as if he just had a…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES— Vietnam has come a long way since the start of the year. We’ve seen major progress with the acceptance of social media and dips with press freedom, but the road is still jagged and, if they don’t watch their step, they might end up hurt. The Economist reported…
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES – Qatar’s proposal to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup was overly ambitious from the outset. They needed massive funds to build new cities just to house new stadiums. In the beginning, Qatar appeared to have money to burn due to a lucrative oil market. Nevertheless, the country…
HAIG TER-GHEVONDIAN WRITES – Since the controversial imam Abdul Aziz’s refusal to openly denounce the murder of 134 children in the Peshawar Army School in Pakistan by the Taliban, the Pakistani Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has begun cracking down on terrorist propaganda on social media. A new cyber-crime bill introduced to…
NICK ARMER WRITES – Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post correspondent, was charged with serious crimes by Iranian authorities on April 20 after being detained and held by the government for over nine months. The White House and the Washington Post have denounced the charges against Rezaian, who is an American…
ALESSANDRA DALY JOHNSON WRITES- The seventh installment of the Fast and Furious franchise was released in the United Arab Emirates on April 2. Since its release, Furious 7 has reportedly grossed $9.5 million (Dh 34,836,000), which makes it the highest-grossing film in the UAE. The prequel, Fast & Furious 6…
VERONICA BANEZ WRITES – Is piracy becoming too big of a problem? Some may argue that pirating movies off the Internet is simply nothing more than a form of free entertainment. After all, why pay so much money to watch a movie when one can simply get it online for…
MIRANDA PAK WRITES — The bad news just keeps flowing for Hong Kong’s media. Recently, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government (LOCPG) has taken control of Sino United Publishing Limited. This publishing company owns Joint Publishing HK, Chung Hwa Book Co., and the Commercial Press, which are the three…
MARY GRACE COSTA WRITES – Melinda “Mei” Magsino-Lubis, 40, a former correspondent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, was shot and killed in broad daylight in front of her home in Batangas Monday, April 13. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines reports that the murderer shot Magsino-Lubis in…
ALEX PARK WRITES – Google plays such an important part in today’s global society and it is our most used search engine. Countless numbers of people have Google accounts, which they use for things like email, social media and other websites and programs. It is terrifying to think that someone…
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES– If China, South Korea, and Japan were humans instead of countries, you might say their relationship status would be “It’s Complicated.” The three are geographical neighbors, and treat each other as such – they are cordial when they need to be, but behind closed doors are not…
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES- This year, two pan-Arab television channels were launched with the aspirations of providing an independent media platform. Al-Arab launched in Bahrain on February 1. Its owner, Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, promised that he could run the channel without any political interference and set up the…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES—Part of the reason why gender inequality is still a problem is due to our refusal to talk about it. In Vietnam, the discussion portal is open and someone is finally taking the podium. Thanh Nien News is on a roll with addressing gender inequality in the media.…
