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More media outlets appear to be reporting entertainment news more than hard news. You go to your nearest Rite-Aid and find racks of tabloid magazines, usually reporting on the same thing in their cover stories.

I remember 1999 as a grand year for pop culture. Pop music was bombarded with boy bands, singing Lolitas and Latino heartthrobs. George Lucas was ready to unleash the first chapter of that dismal "Star Wars" prequel trilogy. Stanley Kubrick gave us his final film, "Eyes Wide Shut," after he passed away that year.

Pop culture has become one big guilty pleasure -- a gluttonous, confectionary hodgepodge that you know is bad for you but you just can't keep away.

The success of these and other Japanese works in Korea is raising concerns that Japanese pop culture could once again dominate Korea.

Experts say the Korean entertainment industry's dependence on Japanese pop culture will increase because the Japanese novel and manga markets are popular around the world. According to the Korean Publishing Research Institute, as of 2006 the size of the Korean novel market was no more than W203 billion, while that of Japanese market stood at W724.3 billion. The gap for the manga markets was even greater, with the Japanese market (W4 trillion) some 40 times bigger than the Korean market (W124.2 billion).

Bae Won-keun, a researcher at the KPRI, says it is a shame that Korean entertainment companies scramble to snap up Japanese stories for quick returns rather than working to strengthen their creative power. "The entertainment industry should make more effort to cultivate young writers with fresh ideas," he adds.

The screening of the documentary The 10 Conditions of Love, about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, has been the cause of controversy ever since the Chinese Government demanded that the film be withdrawn.

MIFF refused to withdraw The 10 Conditions of Love. In response, films from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were pulled from the festival, and the MIFF website was hacked.

including a short from leading director Jia Zhangke and a film produced by Wong Kar-wai’s Jet Tone company.

It would have been easy for us to err on the side of caution, but we felt it wouldn’t be fair to the filmmakers to rescind our offer

Japan has the sixth-largest population in the world; the music industry generates billions and billions of dollars worldwide every year.

Japanese popular music is all commercialism and void of any artistic merit

The late 90's also saw some more western-style artists, such as Dragon Ash and Utada Hikaru explode onto the scene.

If you have had any exposure to adolescent or teenage girls over the past decade, then you are all too familiar with the phenomenon known as Hello Kitty, the mouthless cartoon cat that decorates the paraphernalia (usually done in garish pink) that has made Tokyo-based parent Sanrio Co. Ltd. an 83-billion-yen-a-year company (about $795 million).

Why would Japanese cartoon characters appeal to American youth? Why stuff that is, to put it mildly and to use an American expression, cheesy?

What allows some products or concepts to travel around the world, while others can't get out of the house?

QQ is China’s largest instant messenger service; in 2008 it owned 86% of the market, with MSN owning 5%, and a bunch of others owning less. QQ dominates the market – but the money made seems not to be from its instant messenger; rather its leveraging and channeling that huge audience through a gauntlet of micro-payments.

How is this achieved? It’s very smart – QQ doesn’t aim for the brain, it aims for the heart using QQshow – which is very similar to Yahoo Avatars, but with a  “billion’s of RMB from China youth market” twist.

QQ is head and shoulder’s above its competition, of this there is no doubt. Why? QQ is more than an instant messenger service, it’s a portal to a vast array of entertainment services in China; ie: while MSN, skype, etc, focus solely on instant messages, QQ IM is just the first step in a long sale.

Authorities in Venezuela say they will punish TV stations if they continue to broadcast episodes of cult US animation Family Guy.

the show should be banned because it promotes the use of marijuana

messages that go against the whole education of boys, girls and adolescents

A TRIP to India next week to promote Melbourne as a safe city has turned into a monumental challenge for John Brumby after another racist attack that has attracted fresh headlines and anti-Australian fury across India.

Two Indian men and another two of Indian origin say they were racially taunted and told to ''go back to your country'' before being kicked and punched by attackers who were part of a large birthday celebration at Legends Entertainment Centre. The Indian Government increased pressure on Australia last night over the ''recurring attacks'' on its citizens. It called on authorities to ''take all necessary steps towards the safety and security of Indians''. Indian consular officials in Melbourne were also ordered to investigate.

One of the victims, Sukhdip Singh, 26, had been in Australia just one month. A relative said he had suffered head and facial injuries and wanted to return to India immediately. His uncle, Mukhtiar Singh, 45, also a victim, said Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard's recent assurance to India's Foreign Minister that Australia was safe for Indian students rang hollow. ''I used to say the same thing … now I would say Melbourne is worse than a Third-World country, violence-wise,'' Mr Singh told The Age. Recalling Saturday's incident, he said his nephew was taunted with verbal abuse and racial slurs in the bar before they were later set upon in the car park by about 20 people. ''I have lived here for 22 years,'' Mr Singh said. ''I've got my own business here, my own house, my kids have grown up here. Why should I go back? We all come from somewhere.''