Entertainment 📺

Speaking of celebrations, Marvel is releasing new covers highlighting Asian superheroes like Shang Chi, Ms. Marvel and more for AAPI Heritage Month this May.

The artists for this specific cover collection are Dike Ruan and Neeraj Menon, who are showcasing six superheroes this season, including Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, Sunfire, Wong, Wave, and Mondo. 
 

Sales of these covers will run throughout the month of May.
 

Race in America 🌎

On Sunday, a Punjabi, Sikh man was attacked in Queens, NY.

At 70 years old, Nirmal Singh was left with severe bruising and a broken nose. Singh was attacked while on his morning walk at around 7 a.m. 

The attack is being investigated as a biased crime, with the support of community activists who are convinced that Singh was targeted because of his turban. 

 

A group of former Japanese Nisei USC students who were forced out of school and into internment camps during WW2 received honorary diplomas. 
 

At the Asian Pacific Alumni Association gala, USC President Carol L. Folt “conferred honorary degrees upon 33 former USC students” of that generation. Due to the war, students had to leave and were rounded up in internment camps; however, after the war, USC blocked student access to transcripts, forcing many to restart their college careers at different universities.


 

In Other Asian News 🗞

On Friday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued a state of emergency and a nationwide curfew until Monday. Opposition leaders denounced the curfew, moving to declare that it was time for the government to resign. 
 

Protests continue in Sri Lanka with military confrontations.


Tensions are on the rise between North and South Korea following missile tests.

Pyongyang condemned the South Korean Defense Minister’s remarks on their ability to target North Korea and fired back with its own promise of force.

North Korea warned that it would also target Seoul and other South Korean targets if the nation decides to take “dangerous military action” that would warrant a preemptive strike.


 

What else is on our minds? 🧠

Pakistan Court tensions?
Pakistan’s top court has adjourned without a decision on whether Prime Minister Imran Khan’s blocking attempts to remove him from office were legal.
 

Indonesia weather shamans?
The pawang hujan, or rain shamans, are tasked with moving the weather from one place to another so that the rain does not interfere with significant events. Recently, at the MotoGP, a race that Indonesia hasn’t seen since 1997, went viral after a shaman ritual took place on the circuit to ward off the thunderstorm.