In a contribution to the opinion page at the International Herald Tribune, Jeremy Breningstall, an English teacher in China, writes about the depth and breadth of the pirated movies available to see. From the piece “Movies for the masses”: Contrast that with what you can find within a 10-minute walk of my house, which is in an [...]

In North Korea, information and news are considered contraband products and must be obtained in the black market. As radios are manufactured to only receive the official station, CNN reports on a defector in South Korea who is attempting to combat the propaganda of Kim Jong-Il. From CNN: It broadcasts only three hours a day. Its [...]

Voice of America News reports on the smuggling situation in the Sahara Desert, as smugglers transport goods ranging from counterfeit cigarettes to cocaine. From VOA News: The Sahara desert has long been an attractive tax-free zone for entrepreneurs. But getting products through the mostly inhospitable and hostile terrain is hard. There are no auto repair stores for [...]

Up to ten countries are currently conducting investigations into banks in Liechtenstein to determine whether their citizens are evading taxes. From the IHT: Following the lead of Germany and Britain, at least eight other countries, including the United States, said Tuesday that they were investigating whether some of their citizens were using banks in Liechtenstein to evade [...]

An article in the Los Angeles Times reports on the fall of the US Dollar and how black market currency traders in China are now hesitant to accept dollars. Nobody here wants the lowly American dollar anymore. Not businessmen, not bankers, not even the “yellow bulls” like this man, who has been a black-market trader for [...]

From The Age: CHILD pornography seizures by customs are at a record high, with a four-fold surge in the trafficking of sexually explicit images of young children in the past year. The illegal importation of scenes of bestiality and hard-core sexual violence towards women has also risen significantly, Australian Customs has revealed.

Meet Jesus Malverde, Patron Saint to Drug Dealers and Human Smugglers. From the IHT: Jesús Malverde has been revered for almost a century in northwestern Mexico. According to folklore, he was a Mexican Robin Hood who took from the rich and gave to the poor until he was killed by the police in 1909.Now, immigrants have brought [...]

Reuters reports on the popularity of the new Rambo film in the streets of Burma. Police in Myanmar have given DVD hawkers strict orders not to stock the new Rambo movie, which features the Vietnam War veteran taking on the former Burma’s ruling military junta, a Yangon resident told Reuters on Friday.Despite the prohibition, pirated copies [...]

The Associated Press reports on traveling escorts, or “Circuit Girls,” who are heading to Arizona this week to find customers in town for the Super Bowl. Circuit girls are part of a clandestine sex trade that depends on their ability to blend with the wealthy. Unlike local street hookers, they’ll navigate the high-dollar crowd with ease, [...]

In its campaign against pornographic websites, authorities in China have shut down 44,000 websites and arrested 868 people. From Reuters: Chinese authorities shut down 44,000 domestic Web sites and home pages and arrested 868 people while investigating 524 criminal cases during the campaign. The campaign will continue until September, after the close of the Beijing Olympics. The article mentions [...]