A giant screen fell onto a dancer at a live performance for HK Boyband Mirror last Thursday, paralyzing him from the neck down. Another dancer was also injured. This comes only two days after 13,000 fans signed a petition urging organizers for the band to prioritize safety due to a previous incident, during which MIRROR’s member Frankie Chan Ruihui fell off the elevated platform. Authorities reported initial findings on Friday saying a metal suspension cord had snapped. The design and construction team responsible for the stage at Red Pavilion is facing blame for neglecting safety inspections. MIRROR has now canceled the rest of their tour.

In Asia, KFC rules supreme over McDonald’s, holding double the market share of their biggest competitor. But there’s a reason why. KFC is an OG in the Asian market, opening up its first store in the Philippines in 1966. Since then, it’s spread to the rest of the continent. But the reason KFC is so successful is not just how long it’s been around: KFC caters to local flavors, bringing to life cultural favorites and then combining them with their addictive staples. You can get a KFC chicken biryani in Sri Lanka, a shrimp donut in Thailand, and Christmas isn’t complete in Japan without a bucket of KFC chicken. But it’s not always beef between KFC and McDonald’s. In fact, they often influence each other’s growth. Over the years, McDonalds has come up with its own menu of Asia-specific items. And while KFC is declining in its home country, the United States, it’s crushing the international market. Its success in Asia comes down to one main thing: being good at listening.

Satica Nhem is a singer/songwriter hailing from Long Beach, California. Growing up watching MTV, she didn’t see Asian-American artists that looked like her. Now she expresses herself through music while navigating and embracing her identity as a Cambodian-American. Satica was born to refugee parents who survived the Khmer Rouge and made a home in the US. She developed a love of music early in life, learning the guitar and writing poetry as an emotional outlet as a teen. She composed her first song at the age of 13. Her music reflects her life: her roots in the LBC and Cambodia, the strength and resiliency of her family, and overcoming traditional standards of beauty to embrace her own beauty.

Myanmar’s military junta announced on Monday that it has executed 4 prisoners for conspiracy to commit acts of terror. They are the first executions carried out by the regime since 1998. The 4 men executed at the Insein prison were: Kyaw Min Yu, or Ko Jimmy, a prominent pro-democracy leader, Phyo Zeya Thaw, a rapper and former lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, and Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw who were convicted of allegedly killing a military informant. The regime did not disclose exactly when the executions took place, and refused to return their bodies to their families. The military government seized power in a coup in February 2021. Since then, a massive pro-democracy movement has gained momentum, as well as a fierce crackdown. According to the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) Burma, which monitors arrests and killings, the junta has killed more than 2,100 people and detained over 11,800 since the coup. The executions have sparked pro-democracy protests in Yangon, as well as outside Myanmar’s embassies in Bangkok and Tokyo.

“I wish they would portray me more as an artist,” says Nadi, a female tattooist and owner of Moon Blue Ink in Korea. Despite the negative stereotypes shown in Western media, Nadi is one of many young Koreans who have fully embraced tattoos, and is making them her own. From the first time she saw a tattoo by chance on the street, and saw how the drawing on the person’s body moved as they moved, she knew tattooing was her calling. But when she started, there were no apprenticeships or classes to take. She had to find tattoo artists and ask them to teach her. Her shop has now been open for 7 years, every day she explores her style while providing for her family. Now, she and her husband hope to expand Moon Blue to a location abroad. She hopes that it will help her son expand his horizons too.

Droupadi Murmu took office as India’s first president from a tribal community – which makes up about 8% of India’s 1.4 billion people. Born in the Santhal tribe, Murmu was the first woman in her village to go to college. She was a teacher before getting involved in politics, and as governor of her home state of Odisha, she has been vocal about issues among marginalized tribes. The Adivasi, or indigenous people in India have long been at the bottom of the country’s socioeconomic ladder, facing physical, sexual and economic exploitation. Murmu follows outgoing president Ram Nath Kovind, who was the 2nd ever president from the Dalit caste - the lowest caste often referred to as untouchables. She is the 2nd woman ever to be president in India, and both the youngest and first president born after India’s independence. Murmu is by the BJP – the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She claims she won the election by almost double the number of votes against the opposition candidate, Yashwant Sinha, an outspoken critic of the Prime Minister. Meanwhile,others say she only won by a small margin, andis being used by the BJP tosecure the indigenous vote in 2024. Indian Presidents do not have the executive powers of the Prime Minister, but are expected to play a key role in political crises, such as when a general election is inconclusive.