“KPOP” is now a musical on Broadway, and it opened for previews yesterday in New York City. The show features a medley of talented K-pop and Broadway stars, including Luna, Kevin Woo, Min, and BoHyung. The story centers K-pop artists’ ambition, talent, and sacrifices in an industry notorious for grueling practices, perfectionism, and scrutinous beauty standards. The lead, Luna, hopes to encourage curiosity and bring a fun show to the audience, while breaking negative perceptions. For these stars, bringing Korean culture to Broadway is an honor. Composers Helen Park and Max Vernon produced the music and lyrics, which are both in English and Korean. What makes you excited about seeing a KPOP musical?
On average, 16 people die from snakebites every day in Bangladesh. Deep Ecology is a 24/7 on-standby, volunteer group that rescues these snakes. Not only is their rescue work saving lives (both humans and snakes) but they're also breaking the misconceptions causing snake extinction. Snake-related awareness and snake rescue ideas are not well known yet. Before Syeda Annanya Faria, there were no women involved in this rescue work. While Syeda grew up with a fear of snakes like many of us, today she isn’t afraid . In fact, when she first held one, she understood how fragile and harmless of a creature it is–especially when handled properly. Rescuers like Syeda explain that this work is about animal and human survival. There is nothing more rewarding to them than hearing that their work is the reason someone survived.
A mass shooter in Thailand killed 36 people, including 24 children, in a daycare last week. Panya Khamrap attacked the staff and children during nap time before killing himself. Only one child, a three year old girl, survived. Panya was an ex-police sergeant who was fired earlier this year for drug possession. Authorities initially blamed his drug use, but his autopsy revealed no trace of drugs in his system. His colleagues and neighbors share that he showed troubling signs, like locking his girlfriend and son in his house, and praising another 2020 mass shooting in Thailand by a soldier who took 29 lives. Victims were cremated at Rat Samakee Temple in Northern Thailand on Tuesday, where hundreds gathered to mourn.
When the Asian Financial Crisis hit in 1997, the IMF intervened. Today, 25 years later, the same is set to happen, as Sri Lanka plunges into an economic catastrophe, with Pakistan not far behind. This time, Asians are skeptical. Why? The IMF lends short term loans: loans with many strings attached. During the Asian Financial Crisis, they lent $110 billion dollars in packages to Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea to support them. The strings included higher taxes, interest rates, and budget cuts that caused massive unemployment, causing the Asian economies to spiral into chaos. The IMF focuses on privatization and competitive, capitalist policies that have devastating impacts on the Global South. And they refuse to look at real people and their suffering. What is the point of institutions when they only really serve the 1% who continue to get richer?
Dogs have been part of Bali’s native community for thousands of years. Today, there are over half a million strays who attack--and spread disease. Yayasan Seva Bhuana is an organization sterilizing dogs. They want to promote healthy animals, neighborhoods, and people in Bali. In the past eight years, the organization has sterilized an estimated 23,000 dogs and cats and offers free sterilization events for villages who don’t have pet clinics. Sterilization has health benefits, like increasing an animal’s life span, reducing risks of cancer, and more. The cost of medicine is $3000 each month for all the animals, but for Yayasun Seva Bhuana, it’s worth it. They believe healthy dogs will help Bali.
One of China’s biggest #MeToo cases just settled in Minnesota, and both parties’ lawyers say the “misunderstanding” has consumed substantial public attention. In 2018, Chinese tech billionaire Liu Qiangdong was accused of rape by then 21-year-old student, Liu Jingyao. Known as China’s Jeff Bezos and founder of JD.com, Liu Qiangdong attended a global business program where Liu Jingyao was volunteering. Liu Jingyao alleged that after a group dinner with executives, she was followed to her apartment and raped by Liu Qiangdong. She has faced endless online shaming and blaming for her allegations, which the founder denied. On Saturday, just two days before trial was set to begin, they settled because the incident “has brought profound suffering” to them and their families.