JAPAN: THE LATE GREAT ARTIST TAWARA YUSAKU
Thanks to the brilliant recent book “UNIVERSE IS FLUX,” by John Teramoto with Stephen Addiss and David Rosand, our art spotlight goes to the late Tawara Yusaku, whose Tawara’s artistic vision was highly influenced by Buddhist concepts of cosmology and space. See the stunning sample above. As the book’s authors…
Full Article JAPAN: THE LATE GREAT ARTIST TAWARA YUSAKU
FROM TOKYO: THE UNIVERSE IS FLUX
TOM PLATE WRITES — Thanks to the brilliant recent book “UNIVERSE IS FLUX,” by John Teramoto with Stephen Addiss and David Rosand, our art spotlight goes to the late Tawara Yusaku, whose Tawara’s artistic vision was highly influenced by Buddhist concepts of cosmology and space. As the book’s authors tell…
Full Article FROM TOKYO: THE UNIVERSE IS FLUXPAKISTAN: Keep Hackers At Bay But Data Displayed
JESSICA GADOMSKI WRITES – Coming elections have Pakistanis wired. With polls set for May 11, the Election Commission of Pakistan’s website has been under heavy scrutiny, by both voters looking for info, and hackers looking to make a point. And according to some accounts, the latter have succeeded in taking…
Full Article PAKISTAN: Keep Hackers At Bay But Data DisplayedNEW ZEALAND: All In For The Media
E.J. DE LARA WRITES – After more than two years of study, a New Zealand commission says a single body should handle Kiwi media complaints, whether they target broadcast, print or online entities. Under the recommendation, three current media bodies would be replaced by a single “News Media Standards Authority”…
Full Article NEW ZEALAND: All In For The MediaCHINA: Dollars Make China Holler
LANI LUO WRITES – With China’s booming economy and increasing standard of living, cell phone use has grown exponentially. Folks across the country are using stylish smart phones and all their fantastic features. One of which is the WeChat application offered by Tencent, a social media outfit that until now…
Full Article CHINA: Dollars Make China Holler
PHILIPPINES: Suddenly Things Are Looking Up — Almost
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – Despite solid macroeconomics, further economic development in the Philippines needs to be more inclusive in order to be sustained. The Philippines future is bright with its recent favorable position to sustain growth in an “exceptionally grim international landscape” and predicted Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate.…
Full Article PHILIPPINES: Suddenly Things Are Looking Up — AlmostTAIWAN: Focus on the Visuals
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Can a slick design help deliver news to readers? One news source is betting on it. Focus Taiwan, an English news service of Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA), launched a new layout Monday hoping to wow readers with stunning images rather than text alone. The front page…
Full Article TAIWAN: Focus on the VisualsMYANMAR: A Historical Milestone
ALEXANDRE GUIRAUD WRITES – After a half century of a media system controlled by an authoritarian government, Myanmar is finally seeing a shift toward its better angels. No longer will the media face such stringent censorship or fear government repercussions up to an including death. But as private daily newspapers…
Full Article MYANMAR: A Historical MilestoneMALAYSIA: Excuse Me, That’s Our Island!
MARLENA NIP WRITES – Filipinos are fed up with their Malaysian neighbors, and claim that a large portion of the country rightfully belongs to the Philippines. Sabah, the northernmost state of Malaysia, has historically been part of the Philippines. The waters first became murky between the two countries when Malaysia…
Full Article MALAYSIA: Excuse Me, That’s Our Island!BANGLADESH: Blasphemy No Longer Allowed
KIARA BRAMASCO WRITES – Rest easy, readers. The Bangladeshi government has been busy clearing the cyberworld of blasphemous content. The Daily Star reports a group of “Muslim Clerics” submitted a list of bloggers they believe are responsible for alleged insults to Islam made online. The list was handed to a…
Full Article BANGLADESH: Blasphemy No Longer AllowedJAPAN: Osaka Printing Company Raided by Labor Bureau
JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES – Seventeen cases of bile duct cancer later, Sanyo-CYP Co., an Osaka printing company, has finally come under the stern scrutiny of the city’s Labor Bureau. According to The Mainichi Daily, one of Japan’s prominent dailies, Sanyo-CYP’s headquarters and No. 2 factory were raided recently. The affected…
Full Article JAPAN: Osaka Printing Company Raided by Labor BureauLEBANON: Shaping the Future?
NICOLE SABA WRITES – With expressive voices and growing influence at home and abroad, participants in Lebanon’s online community are finally getting their due. The First Annual Social Media Awards, sponsored by RAGMAG Magazine and Online Collaborative, an NGO that began at the American University of Beirut, will conclude with…
Full Article LEBANON: Shaping the Future?CHINA: Baby Food Blues
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – It’s bad enough when regular food is messed with, but it’s even worse when the food is meant for babies. After a media report exposed safety problems, the Chinese subsidiary of Hero Group, a major Swiss baby formula producer, has been suspected of purposely mislabeling milk…
Full Article CHINA: Baby Food BluesPakistan: Everyone’s on the Same Page
LIZA HERNANDEZ WRITES – Mohammed Waseem Ahmed was recently ousted from the Karachi police force after a Supreme Court hearing concerning his alleged illicit activities as the man in charge of hundreds of illegal gambling dens in Karachi. Though Ahmed, according to government records, has flown the coop to Dubai,…
Full Article Pakistan: Everyone’s on the Same PageVIETNAM: American Reporting Trivial to Vietnamese Readers
YVONNE EPPS WRITES – The United States prides itself on being “number one” in most areas, but it seems that social culture is its main point of interest to outsiders nowadays. A quick search on the Vietnamese language version of ThanhNien News Network reveals that American social reporting seems to…
Full Article VIETNAM: American Reporting Trivial to Vietnamese ReadersSouth Korea: Making Nice Via More Trade
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES- South Korea, China, and Japan are making progress in efforts to create a free trade zone that would potentially tower over the combined European Union and North American economic hulk. Despite successfully setting aside their otherwise tension-ridden relations to start such discussions, any hope of advancement may…
Full Article South Korea: Making Nice Via More Trade