Voice of Asia E-paper July 27, 2018

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Vol. 32 No. 29 • FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Published Weekly from Houston

24 Pages (2 sections)

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FRIDAY, July In Section 227, 2018 l HEALTHLINE Medicare Part D beneficiaries are charged a variety of out-of-pocket expenses

l LEISURE Etihad launches customer service line on WhatsApp

l

BUSINESS

CY Woods Students earn national recognition

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11th Annual Rath Yatra Pakistan incumbent party celebrated with gaiety in Houston rejects vote results showing

Khan set for victory Pakistan incumbent party rejects vote results showing Khan set for victory. Pakistanis voted on Wednesday after a campaign marred by political violence and allegations of military interference

by Sarah Titterton

I

SLAMABAD, Pakistan | AFP | 7/25/2018 - Pakistan's incumbent party rejected early election results Thursday that suggested former cricket hero Imran Khan was on his way to becoming Continued on page 9

Imran Khan is campaigning on populist promises to build a "New Pakistan"

Devotees partake in the Samuhika-Maha Aarti during the Rath Yatra celebrations at India House.

H

oustonians celebrated the annual Rath Yatra on July 14th, the very same day when it was also celebrated in Puri, India with pomp and gaiety. Rath Yatra is the celebration of devotion, universal brotherhood, cultural diversity and spiritual bonhomie and that is what was exhibited at India House on the sunny Texas summer day.

Orissa Culture Center (OCC) in collaboration with Shri Sitaram Foundation has been organizing Rath Yatra since 2008 and this is the 11th year running. This particular year

is special as the Rath Yatra was supported and promoted

by City of Houston and Houston Arts Alliance.

India House was decorated and decked up since the night before, with volunteers working in synergy up until the very day to have everything ready for Rath Yatra. Traditionally, the build-up for Rath Yatra starts on Akshaya Tritiya, in the last week of April, and that is exactly when the Houston Odia community led by OCC began the activities for Jagannatha Rath Yatra. Like the

previous years, Houston Rath Yatra was a day-long event beginning with traditional ‘pujaarchana’ which involved havan and puja dedicated to Shri Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Shri Jagannatha. The customary ‘Chhappan Bhoga’, which includes 56 Odia delicacies, was offered to the deities along with the prayers for individual and global peace. Concurrently in the morning, free community health and dental fair was offered as part of the day-long festivity.

Continued on page 4

China's Xi says

'No winner' in any trade war Report on page 9

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COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

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Is Vladimir Putin the winner of Trump-Putin Summit on his terms?

VOICE OF ASIA Publisher: Associate Publisher: Editor-in-Chief: Austin Correspondent: Marketing Director: Office Manager:

Koshy Thomas Sherly Philip Shobana Muratee Sherine Thomas Susan Pothanikat Priyan Mathew

Contributors: Legal: Sharlene Sharmila Richards Mala Sharma

VoiceofAsiaOnline.com Editor Online:

Shobana Muratee

All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the consent of the publisher.

Voice of Asia assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein. Published weekly by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713-7745143. Email for editorial submissions: voiceasia@aol. com; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: ads@voiceofasiagroup.com

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FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Dr. Chandra Mittal

by Chandra K. Mittal, Ph.D.

N

o matter how one slices the events of the past week, on July 16, 2018 Vladimir Putin – the all too powerful adversary of United States and President of the Russian Federation comes out as the winner of the Trump-Putin contest at the world stage. In his statements and demeanor, Putin looked confident, assertive and in control of the situation, whereas President Trump appeared vacillating, verbose, indecisive and subdued. He, in essence, abdicated his position of preeminence in favor of the authoritarian dictator causing alarm in the free world including the United States and the Western world.

To borrow from the speech of Franklin D. Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor attack, July 16th, 2018 could also go, “in infamy” in the modern American political history when in a joint news conference the US President refused to challenge and condemn the immoral deeds of Russian dictator that included annexation of Crimea, violations of human rights, poisoning of journalists, and his continuing interference in the American electoral process etc.

Reaction to Donald Trump’s caving in to the Russian leader at Helsinki has been almost universally condemned in Western democracies. In the US, members of both political parties, senior Government officials, members of intelligence and law enforcement communities have been critical of President’s stand in Helsinki. Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, ardent supporter of Donald Trump called Trump performance “the most serious mistake of his presidency”. Some former senior officials even called such actions and conduct of President Trump as “treasonous”. The negativity of President’s statements was so severe that immediately upon his return from Summit President Trump was compelled to walk-back or modify some of the statements he made at the press conference.

Donald Trump, left, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint summit. Photo credit: BBC In and of itself winning or losing may be a routine in the international interactions, it was astounding to watch the US President so deliberately and visibly elevate the status an adversary like Vladimir Putin on the world stage. Trump agreed with several of Putin’s assertions and proclamations which were totally contrary to the opinions and assessments of the US Government and its intelligence agencies which Trump himself presides over. Besides, two days before the Summit, Special Counsel Robert Mueller Trump had indicted twelve Russian military officials for their interference in the 2016 US elections.

But President ignored this and publicly condemned the investigation and undercut his own government. Hearing this from US President standing only five-feet away must have sounded like music to Putin’s ears, who himself is the principal suspect in the whole interference matter.

While the exact reasons behind President Trump to yield the world stage to the Russian leader are a matter of broad speculation, momentum for such scenario has been apparent some time from Donald Trump’s pro-Putin stand since before his election in 2017.

This has surprised and shock many Americans and citizens of the Western democracies who see Putin as the enemy of democracy and freedom.

Looking back at the immediate past, President Trump statements at last week’s

NATO Summit were unexpected and shocking. Since its inception in 1949, NATO alliance has a long history of cooperation with United States in economics, trade and military cooperation, including its war on terrorism.

Historically, the alliance was created for collective defense and freedom of member states against the adversarial Communist Soviet Union or its client states in the East European block. Sadly, President Trump ignored the history and decided to denigrate the some member states publicly. Such actions only provided comfort of Putin who already despises the alliance.

The broad fall out of TrumpPutin meeting at Helsinki is the diminution of Donald Trump as leader of free world.

This has led Vladimir Putin to gain legitimacy as reasonable and acceptable leader, which he has already began to exploit at home and abroad. No sooner than Putin returned to Moscow, Russian media began the propagandize Helsinki as a great success, and blame many in the American press and political leadership as the spoilers of future US-Russia relations. This is creating a division in the American public opinion about the Russian leader - a clear departure from past when Putin was not at all trusted.

The events of the past week put together have helped Putin build his world image, and have given him legitimacy and credibility which he had

lost in wake to Russian interference in 2017 US elections, Russian annexation of Crimea, or it’s downing of the Malaysian Airline plane.

These actions had isolated Putin and attracted economic sanctions from the United States and European Union hurting the Russian economy.

But now, with his abdication of leadership role in the free world and his inclination to forgo the past and cooperate with President Putin, Donald Trump has begun to infuse new life into Putin’s future political life. This assertion is also reinforced by Donald Trump’s recent invitation to President Putin to visit United States later this year to follow up on Helsinki and make good on discussions they had, thereby giving Putin another chance on success.

In the end, however, it is not about two individuals getting along but two nations, United States and Russia, be able to do so given their history, political philosophies, national interests, and visions. Donald Trump has many times espoused the dream of being friend and partner of Russia.

Future will decide if it is at all feasible, or it will only remain a distant pipe dream in the mind of Donald Trump.

Dr. Chandra Mittal is Professor at Houston Community College, and life-member of Indo-American Press Club.

He can be contact at drckmittal@yahoo.com

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Section 1

Community Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Indian American Cancer Network holds informative talk by experts on melanoma

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Tel: 713-774-5140

UTHealth’s Dr. Nitha Mathew Joseph presents a report on health issues experienced by Indians moving to the US United States from India, and the results are unsettling. Their already-high risk of diabetes and heart disease went even higher when they adopted the American lifestyle of a high-calorie diet and inadequate exercise.

The silver living is that their healthcare providers can now use this information to develop interventions.

Dr. Jagannadha Sastry introducing Speaker Dr. HusseinTawbi at the IACAN talk on melanoma.

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n Sunday, June 24th, the Indian American Cancer Network held an informative outreach event on melanoma at the Arya Samaj, Houston.

Drs. Kelly Nelson and Hussein Tawbi, Associate Professors of Dermatology and Melanoma Medical Oncology, respectively, at the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center, presented information on melanoma.

Dr. Nelson provided an overview of skin cancer, with detailed information on melanoma identification and prevention. Specific educational highlights of Dr. Nelson's lecture included review of acral melanoma (melanoma that occurs on the hands, feet, or nail units) that typically appears as a dark spot larger than a pencil eraser on the palms or soles, or a band of pigmentation extending the length of the nail itself. While some normal pigmentation of the nail plate may occur, typically several nails are involved. With melanoma, the band of pigmentation is darker than the other bands, may involve more than half of the nail plate, and may enlarge over time. Melanoma prevention focuses on protecting the skin from UV exposure, and being aware of one's skin.

Dr. Tawbi provided a review of the recent dramatic advances in treatments for patients with metastatic melanoma,

Dr. Kelly aNelson ddressing the audience. with in-depth discussions of immunotherapy (taking the breaks off the body's immune system to enhance recognition of melanoma tumors) and targeted therapeutics (exploiting specific genetic mistakes, or mutations, in the patient's melanoma, by using medications that target the specific mutation) which have revolutionized the care of patients over the past several years.

Drs. Tawbi and Nelson are both co-leaders with the MD Anderson Cancer Center's Melanoma Moonshot, which provides institutional support to build collaborative multidisciplinary research teams addressing complex challenges within a specific cancer type.

Dr. Nelson provides education

to dermatologists across the state of Texas to support recognition of melanoma at its earliest stages, and Dr. Tawbi's background in drug development supports the creation of new therapies for patients with metastatic melanoma, with specific emphasis on patients with melanoma that has spread to the brain.

Dr. Mathew Joseph’s study – “Mediating Role of Nitha Mathew Joseph, Ph.D, R.N. Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Acculturation and Lifestyle Behaviors on Cardiometabolic Risks among Asian nvited to address the American Diabetes As- Indians in the United States” sociation’s 78th Scien- – was presented to more than tific Sessions in Orlando,a 200 journalists from around the Florida in June, Nitha world on June 25.

Mathew Joseph, Ph.D., R.N., “Acculturation levels influan Indian-origin researcher ence lifestyle behaviors, and at Cizik School of Nursing in turn increase the risks for at the University of Texas developing diabetes and cardioHealth Science at Houston vascular disease in Asian Indi(UTHealth), has identified ans in the U.S., yet a gap exists a link between diabetes and in thoroughly understanding the adopted lifestyles of peo- the risk factors and the need for ple moving from India to the screenings and lifestyle modiUnited States. fications to effectively lower “Research studies showed those risks,” said Dr. Mathew that people coming from Joseph, assistant professor in India to the United States the Acute and Continuing Care are at high risk for diabe- Department at Cizik School of tes because of their genetic Nursing. “Designing culturally predisposition and insulin tailored dietary education and resistance,” said Dr. Mathew physical activity interventions for this high-risk ethnic group Joseph. may promote positive lifestyle Dr. Mathew Joseph and changes that have potential to her colleagues completed a reduce and/or prevent cardiostatistical analysis of 1,000metabolic risks among U.S. plus people in seven U.S. Asian Indians. cities who had moved to the

I

Asian Indians are the second-largest and fastestgrowing Asian American group in the U.S., and they are often prone to developing obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes due to acculturation – namely unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise.

Adopting American lifestyle behaviors can specifically affect glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and High-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol levels in this group, according to the study.

Researchers concluded that dietary and physical activity interventions that are culturally specific might help lower risks of developing diabetes and CVD in Asian Indian immigrants.

Researchers noted that additional research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which acculturation affects other cardiometabolic risk factors such smoking, alcohol, psychosocial factors and abdominal obesity.

“Plans for future research include enhancing data collection to include information about all the modifiable cardiometabolic risk factors,” said Dr. Mathew Joseph. “Ultimately, better understanding and prevention strategies will reduce the health and economic burden associated with these chronic conditions among Asian Indians living in the U.S.” The ADA’s Scientific Sessions is the world’s largest scientific meeting focused on diabetes research, prevention and care.

IACAN is planning conducting their Biennial Gala on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at Red Oak Ballroom. The key note address will be provided

by Dr. Patrick Hwu, Head of the Division of Cancer Medicine, who will also speak on immunotherapy. Tickets for the event can be purchase at www. iacannetwork.org<http://www. iacannetwork.org

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VOICE OF ASIA 4

11th Annual Rath Yatra celebrated with gaiety in Houston

Chariot being drawn by devotees during the Rath Yatra. Photos credit: D. P. Rath,

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Congratulations!

Kunjoonjamma and T.I. Rajan celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary

Mrs Kunjoonjamma and Mr. T.I. Rajan

Continued from page 1 Following the scrumptious afternoon ‘Maha Prasad’, there was a lull for an hour where the deities were rested and volunteers prepared for the big event. As the evening approached a host of cultural activities kicked off the second part of the day-long Rath Yatra. Celebrating the core message of Universalism, the evening culturals had a rich mix of dance forms like Mariachi Ore De (Houston Mariachi Band), Colombian Folkoric Dance (Colombian Folk Dance Troupe) along with the traditional Indian dance forms like Bharatnatyam and Odissi.

Bharatnatyam by Abhinaya School of Dance showcased ‘Amba Stuti’ whereas two forms of ‘Mangalacharan’ - Ganesha Bandana and Rama Bandana were rendered in Odissi by Odissi Academy of Houston and Kalangan School of Odissi. Even the contemporary Bollywood dance form made its presence felt with a devotional dance performance. The fabulous dance performances were topped off with Vedic sukta-ucharan done by

Friends and family joined Mr. T.I. Rajan and his wife Mrs. Saramma (aka Kunjunjamma) in celebratng their 50th Wedding Anniversary on July 18th, 2018 at the Immanuel Mar Thoma Church Houston, Texas where the couple are members.

Classical Odissi dance performers. priests from various Hindu temples of our vibrant Houston city.

By now India House was beaming with people from all walks of life, in

Devotees carry Shri Jagannatha or known fondly as ‘Kalia’ to the Chariot.

all shapes and sizes, beating the heat to drench themselves in high-octane spiritual experience, in anticipation of the chariot-pulling. The procession of deities or the pahandi started with the eldest in the family, Shri Balabhadra, which was followed by Devi Subhadra and finally Shri Jagannatha.

The pahandi of each deity was associated with high energy ecstatic dance and music, which reached its crescendo when Shri Jagannatha or known fondly as ‘Kalia’ made way to the Chariot. Before the Chariot could roll the ceremonial sweeping or the Chhera Pahanra, where traditionally the King of Odisha or the Gajapati sweeps the Chariots was

emulated by anointing a prominent member of the community. The Chariot powered by devotion made a big parikrama around the India House and made its way back to be greeted by representatives from various religious and spiritual organizations of Greater Houston area. As the sun was setting with the sanguine hue in the sky, the ‘Samuhika Maha Aarti’ was performed which was followed by personal darshan, thus bringing close to yet another eventful and fulfilling Rath Yatra.

The Houston Odia community led

by Orissa Culture Center (OCC) is blessed to be able to organize Houston Rath Yatra and is thankful of City of Houston for their generosity and co-operation without which event of

such scale would certainly be a herculean task. We sincerely thank all the spiritual organizations of Greater Houston for the moral support and participation in making Rath Yatra truly an international event. Finally we would like to thank India House for being an accommodative host and Mr. Darshan Thacker for managing the audio tech beautifully.

With the success and blessing of this year’s Rath Yatra we look forward to re-create the same synergy in 2019. Jai Jagannath!!

For more information and interesting facts please check us at http:// www.rathjatra.org/. We are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ HoustonChariotFestival

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Registration recommended at jkyog.org/events

VOICE OF ASIA 5

Fort Bend View

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Sugar Land, Katy, Stafford, Missouri City, Richmond, Rosenberg and Meadows Place Section 1

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Total Wine & More opens in Sugar Land

Sugar Land presents proposed FY2019 budget

S

UGAR LAND, TX – City Manager Allen Bogard and Director of Finance Jennifer Brown recently submitted a proposed $245 million budget for fiscal year 2019, which begins Oct. 1.

The proposed budget, which reflects cautious optimism about the momentum being gained in the ongoing regional economic recovery, includes $218 million for operations and $27 million for capital projects – with no new programs or positions.

The proposed budget is the result of months of preparation and financial policy discussions with the City Council and builds on resiliency initiatives started in the current year, such as: • a conservative approach to forecasting sales tax based on current year revenues; • implementing and maintaining belt-tightening cuts to recurring expenditures; and • ensuring that infrastructure rehabilitation is funded in the operating budget from more diverse and reliable revenue streams than previous funding from sales tax.

“Our proposed budget is very conservative and possibly the most resilient we’ve ever filed. It includes investments in public safety training initiatives, drainage and infrastructure improvements to ensure our city remains safer than ever before, and technology enhancements to make our accountability initiatives more transparent,” said Bogard. “I’m incredibly proud of the flexibility of our departments and the adjustments made to maintain our financial strength and continue providing the high quality services that are important to our residents – even during challenging swings in the economy.”

Sugar Land continues to further assert itself as a premier regional entertainment, cultural and tourist destination – and an economic powerhouse within the Houston region.

The city’s economic development efforts have benefitted residents through the growth in commercial property tax value – which makes up approximately 30% of the city’s tax base – and the generation of sales taxes, an important source of revenue to support city services. Commercial development is a major part of how the city is able to maintain the second lowest tax rate in Texas for cities with populations over 60,000. Additionally, a 2016 survey showed that commercial and nonresidents bring in nearly 75 percent of sales tax revenue, further reducing the tax burden on residents.

With that said, sales taxes associated with the oil industry can be extremely volatile. As a result, the city has focused on efforts to improve resiliency during economic downturns – such as initiatives to reduce dependence on sales taxes to fund operating expenditures and infrastructure rehabilitation. Funding for infrastructure – such as streets, sidewalks, parks and municipal facilities – is a critical part of the operating budget, as it ensures that the city’s assets are properly maintained.

Additions to the budget include increases to the base budget – such as increases in costs of contracted services – and a 3% performance-based merit pool consistent with the City Council-adopted Compensation Philosophy. A main component of the budget is compensation and benefits, with nearly half of the general fund comprised of public safety services.

Overall, approximately 75 percent of general fund expenditures are directly tied to employee compensation. The city does not give cost of living increases.

Additionally, services to areas annexed by the city in December 2017 are now fully incorporated into the city’s budget. Property owners in these areas now pay city property taxes to support city services, and the positive financial impact of the annexation has provided additional funding capacity for capital projects across the city.

The proposed Capital Improvement Program totals approximately $27 million for fiscal year 2019 and $155 million in total for the next five years, with most funding allocated for drainage, municipal and street projects. Key projects include: • a program that funds $43 million in drainage projects over the five year CIP – this level of funding exceeds the previous investment of $35 million in drainage projects over the last five years; • investment in Fire/EMS training and equipment innovations, includ-

Tel: 713-774-5140

ing a modular fire training facility, ladder truck and bunker gear replacement, and EMS training aids; • design of an Emergency Operations Center/Dispatch Center with construction anticipated in fiscal year 2020; • mobility improvements, such as over $4 million in street reconstruction and rehabilitation and $725,000 in traffic safety improvements in FY19, to help reduce the amount of time residents spend in their cars; and • major rehabilitation projects at various city facilities, including the replacement of roofs and other major projects that will extend the useful life of these important assets.

As part of the overall process, projects have been prioritized and synchronized with other projects to ensure they have the most meaningful impact and are completed as efficiently as possible.

The budget anticipates property taxes based on an effective tax rate plus 3 percent; however, the actual tax rate is dependent on the certified tax roll and effective tax rate calculations, anticipated in early August.

There are no changes in utility rates proposed for fiscal year 2019, and a contractual increase of 2.5 percent for residential solid waste will be implemented in January 2019.

“We know having the ability to support and invest in your family is incredibly important to you, which means the cornerstone of Sugar Land’s financial management is minimizing the property tax burden on residents,” said Brown. “This is why we have worked hard to lower our property tax rate over 18 cents since 1993 and why – over the last 15 years – the average tax bill has only increased by about 3% annually even as the average home value has increased by about 5% annually over the same time period.”

Budget workshops will begin on Tuesday, July 24 with a discussion on general capital projects. A series of Thursday morning workshops will then be held to discuss the remainder of the proposed budget. These workshops are open to the public. A public hearing will be held on August 21 for residents to provide feedback on the proposed budget, followed by public hearings in late August and early September on the proposed tax rate. For more information, please visit www.sugarlandtx.gov/Budget.

“Ensuring Sugar Land – one of the state’s largest cities – still feels like ‘home sweet home’ is a shared responsibility of the city and the more than 117,000 residents who live here,” said Bogard. “With that, the city’s annual proposed budget is first and foremost designed to fund the priorities of Sugar Land residents, and we welcome everyone to participate in the process. Feedback is very important to ensuring Sugar Land remains the premier city in the Houston region.”

Ribbon cutting was done by Sugar Land store manager Mark Shugerman with the Total Wine team.

by Susan Pothanikat

S

UGAR LAND, TX—On July 18th, 2018, Total Wine & More held their pre-grand opening party for their new Sugar Land location at 16762 Southwest Fwy. Total Wine & More is a family owned and operated national store chain, with 189 stores and growing, they are the country’s largest independent retailer of fine wine. The Sugar Land location is the 9th store in Houston.

We all know that everything is bigger in Texas, and Total Wine & More does not disappoint. A typical store carries more than 8,000 different wines from every wine-producing region in the world. Total Wine & More also carries more than 2,500 beers, from America’s most popular brands to hard-to-find microbrews and imports, and more than 3,000 different spirits in every style and price range. They are always updating their selection and get approached by new vendors daily. They boast of many local wines and craft beers that you won’t find elsewhere. If you can’t find it at Total Wine & More, you probably won’t find it at any other store.

Guests at the grand opening party were treated to an evening filled with wine tasting with delicious appetizers and desserts. A professional cheese carver welcomed guests to a live carving of cheese in the shape of a boot as well as in the shape of the state of Texas. A live band entertained the guests while they toured the store, learning about the various wines the store carries and the different counties they are from. This Total Wine & More location also has a cigar and accessories section which is

The new Sugar Land location at 16762 Southwest Fwy.

something other competitive retailers do not offer.

Not only does Total Wine & More offer free weekly wine tastings, but they also have special events, along with classes where you can enhance your beer, wine and spirit IQ. This also makes for a fun date night activity aside from bringing home a few new bottles to try.

Executives from the team, including Sugar Land store manager, Mark Shugerman, initiated the ribbon cutting, while guests all cheered and toasted with complimentary champagne. A live demonstration was given on how to properly open a bottle of champagne, which normally

requires six twists of the top chamber, followed by holding the cork and turning the bottom of the bottle until you hear the “pop”.

A percentage of the opening weekend sales will be donated to Fort Bend Cares for Kids, a local Fort Bend charity. Angel Tapia, Executive Director of Fort Bend Cares for Kids, presented a gift to the Total Wine & More team, thanking them for partnering with them during their grand opening. Even if you don’t drink alcohol, visiting this Total Wine & More location is an educational experience for the senses that you will surely enjoy. For more details, visit www.totalwine.com

Budget award recognizes fiscal strength, efforts to ensure strong economy

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UGAR LAND, TX - The Government Finance Officers Association awarded the city of Sugar Land with its 22nd consecutive Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Budget.

The award recognized strong financial leadership, transparency initiatives and continued financial resiliency - including fiscally conservative budgeting and proactive responses to economic conditions that ensures the continuation of quality city services while maintaining one of the state's lowest tax rates.

"Through a conservative, resilient financial approach, we continue to provide the important services and capital projects our residents have told us are important," said City Manager Allen Bogard. "We've continued to accomplish this while also promoting capital investment, creating new jobs, increasing tourism and providing unique destination activities that provide new revenue streams to help fund city services and keep our tax rate low."

The award represents a significant achievement by the city, representing Continued on Page 6

The city's budget and finance team were recently recognized by City Council.

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VOICE OF ASIA 6

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Applications available for former FBISD students who may be eligible for diploma under Senate Bill 463 Bill offers alternative path for diploma for students who entered 9th grade before the 201112 school year and completed all coursework but failed to pass state exit-level exams

F

ORT BEND ISD (July 23, 2018) – Former FBISD students who completed all graduationrequired coursework but failed to pass the state’s previously administered and required exitlevel exams may be eligible to receive a high school diploma under new rules established by the Texas Education Agency.

Senate Bill 463, adopted by the 84th Texas Legislature, provides an opportunity for students who have earned all the necessary high school credits to earn a high school diploma and graduate from high school through the use of an Individual Graduation Committee (IGC) utilizing state determined criteria.

Following rules established by the Texas Education

Agency in May, Fort Bend ISD established an application process for students who are eligible for consideration.

Once former students complete an application, Fort Bend ISD will establish an Individual Graduation Committee (IGC) to determine whether the student qualifies to graduate under all of the required components of the law. It is important for former students to understand that the opportunity provided through SB 463 is only valid through September 2019, so it is important for those who may be eligible to act promptly and contact the District for the application.

the 2011-12 school year,

To be eligible to graduate and receive a diploma via the IGC, a student must have:

Eligible individuals who were last enrolled at a Fort Bend ISD campus can access the FBISD Alternative

Entered the 9th grade before

Earned all required high school course credits, Attempted any required state assessment which the student has not passed at least three times; and Provide documentation that they have: Military experience, or Successfully completed college courses and received college credit, or Acquired a GED equivalency/ other assessment equivalency, or Possess industry certification.

Graduation Requirements Application, and learn more about the alternative assessments/performance standards and eligible industry certifications by visiting the Fort Bend ISD Assessment and Testing webpage (www. fortbendisd.com/Page/291).

Completed applications should be submitted directly to the Coordinator of State Assessments, located in the FBISD Administration Building at 16431 Lexington Blvd., Sugar Land, Texas 77479.

For questions about the application and IGC process, eligible individuals can also contact the Fort Bend ISD Department of Counseling and Postsecondary Readiness at 281-634-1004.

Swami Dayanand Education Foundation Swami Dayanand Education Foundation (SDEF) was established in 2015 with a mission to help poor students in India to get the best college education. The aim of the Scholarship program is to offer help to deserving students who have secured the admission based on merit at premier colleges in India. We want to recognize the importance of education and assures positive educational outcomes that are accessible to all regardless of economic circumstances.

The SDEF Scholarship program is designed to encourage excellence among the poor children who need help to complete their higher education. The Foundation provides scholarships up to Rs.100,000 per annum to students. We have provided over 380 scholarships ranging from Rs. 20,000 to Rs 100,000 in the last three years to Engineering & Medical Students. Thirty percent of total scholarships are reserved for women candidates. In its first year, the foundation provided 116 scholarships to students studying in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT) in India. In the following year, the foundation extended to Medical, Architecture, IT, pharmacy courses at premier Institutes in India. The selection of the students is based on their academic performance and financial background. SDEF uses an external company to verify the financial condition of each family by making a personal visit to their homes. The foundation gives preference to the students who passed out from Govt. Schools and are studying in Govt. Institutes. More Information is available at India Scholarships on our website.

We are registered Great Non-profits and GuideStar.

“I am getting constant help

Budget Award ...

Continued from Page 5 the commitment of the City Council and staff to meet the highest principles of governmental budgeting and transparency.

In order to receive the award, the city met nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentations designed to assess how well the city's budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide and a communication device.

Independent evaluators ensured Sugar Land's budget was "proficient" in all four categories and met or exceeded 14 mandatory criteria to receive the award.

The fiscal year 2018 budget and the fiscal year 2019 proposed budget and five-year Capital Improvement Program are online at www.sugarlandtx. gov/budget. With enhanced transparency in mind, all FY19 budget workshop presentations and videos will be available on the website after each meeting.

Educational materials about the coming fiscal year 2019 budget are also online.

"I am proud of all of our outstanding budget and finance staff who contributed to this accomplishment," said Bogard. "This award is yet another example that our sound financial management is meeting the needs of our citizens."

There are nearly 19,000 GFOA members across the United States and Canada, with more than 1,600 entities participating in the Budget Awards Program. The mission of GFOA is to advance excellence in state and local government services.

The association produces publications, training programs, services and products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government finance policy and management.

In addition, Director of Finance Jennifer Brown was recently notified that she has been selected to participate on a GFOA task force to update the code of ethics for members, as well as recommended to serve on the organization's nominating committee.

Amit Kumar and financial support from Swami Dayanand Education Foundation since two years. I am highly indebted to SDEF for the noble work they are doing. My family's financial conditions are not so promising to give all the required facilities to me and my sisters. In all this hardship, this scholarship is like a silver lining in dark clouds. Now, I don't need to give any private tuitions to small children in order to earn some money for my needs.

In fact, i can put that time for my co-curricular activities. I also want to return the love and support to the society which is provided by SDEF to me.”

Amit Kumar, NIT Jamshedpur The foundation has been doing excellent job in helping the students like me by providing scholarships which helps a lot in meeting the expenses during

Banna Venkatesh

the academic year. I received rs.25000 for the last academic year and rs.20000 before last

Read these stories on voiceofasiaonline.com

year. I am very thankful to the organization for supporting me and i wish the organization continues this in future also so that many merit students will be benefited.

Banna Venkatesh NIT-Tiruchirappalli

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VOICE OF ASIA 8

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Over 20 Indian-origin persons sentenced Dr. Mohan Kuruvilla elected President of Houston CPA Society in massive call center scam in US PTI|Jul 21 - Over 20 Indian-origin persons have been sentenced up to 20 years in prison in the US for their involvement in a multimillion-dollar India-based call center scam which defrauded thousands of US citizens of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The prison sentences for the 21 people convicted this week ranges from 4 to 20 years.

"The stiff sentences imposed represent the culmination of the first-ever large scale, multi-jurisdiction prosecution targeting the India call center scam industry," US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.

Several of the convicted will be deported to India after the completion of their sentence.

"This case represents one of the most significant victories to date in our continuing efforts to combat elder fraud and the victimisation of the most vulnerable members of the US public.

"The transnational criminal ring of

fraudsters and money launderers who conspired to bilk older Americans, legal immigrants and many others out of their life savings through their lies, threats and financial schemes must recognise that all resources at the Department's disposal will be deployed to shut down these telefraud schemes, put those responsible in jail, and bring a measure of justice to the victims," Sessions said.

According to US officials, the call center scam defrauded thousands of US residents of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Prosecutors said the Indian call centers used various telephone fraud schemes to defraud mainly vulnerable Americans, including the elderly and legal immigrants.

According to various admissions made in connection with the guilty pleas, between 2012 and 2016, the defendants and their conspirators perpetrated a complex fraud and money laundering scheme in which indi-

viduals from call centers located in Ahmedabad frequently impersonated officials from the Internal Revenue Service or US Citizenship and Immigration Services in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout America.

Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, call center operators targeted US victims who were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay the alleged money owed to the government.

Victims who agreed to pay the scammers were instructed how to make a payment, including by purchasing stored value cards or wiring money.

Once the payment was done, the call centers turned to a network of runners based in the US to liquidate and launder the extorted funds as quickly as possible by purchasing reloadable cards or retrieving wire transfers, the Justice Department said.

Raju Reddy named Vice Chair of the 2nd World Hindu Congress eas: education, economy, media, politics, greater visibility of Hindu Women and Youth and Hindu organizations.

Raju Reddy

by Manu Shah

S

ilicon Valley will make its presence felt at the 2nd World Hindu Congress (WHC) with 200 technocrats registering for the conference. One of their own, Angel Investor Raju Reddy is Vice Chair – an invitation he accepted because he’s come to believe that it takes “scale” to make an impact.

WHC is, after all, scale in its truest sense - a gigantic undertaking that will seek to impact Hindus around the globe. Over 2000 prominent Hindus and 250 thought leaders will gather in Chicago from 7th- 9th September, 2018 to spark dialogue and discussion on how Hindus can make a bigger societal impact globally.

Heads of States, media personalities, top tier corporate executives and national community leaders will share the dais to discuss how Hindus can make their presence felt in 7 key ar-

Hindus, reflects Raju, are viewed as great doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs, as positive role models but they need to become “change makers.”

This requires them to be organized.

The release of a Diwali stamp by the US Postal service, corrections about Hinduism in California textbooks, the election of the first Hindu Congressman Ro Khanna are visible examples of the benefits of organization and would have been impossible “if Hindus had not organized themselves.”

America, he continues, is our “Karmabhoomi” and as proud Hindus and Indo Americans, we need to do more philanthropy in our local communities, be more active in public policy and more visible as people making a positive difference. WHC, according to him, is a perfect opportunity to elevate this goal.

Raju is from Nizamabad, Telangana. His father, an active leader in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), enrolled him in the Sainik School in Korukonda. Studying in a school that trained people for the armed forces proved invaluable in teaching him discipline, integrity, team over self and loyalty – values that helped the entrepreneur in him. He is a BITS, Pilani and Virginia Tech graduate, worked at Intel for 10 years, then took his mentor Kanwal Rekhi’s advice and started Sierra Atlantic – an IT solutions com-

Dr. Kuruvilla is the first South Asian to lead this professional society

D

r. Mohan Kuruvilla, Director of Certificate Programs in Accounting, and Clinical Professor of Accounting at Bauer College, has been elected as the President of the Houston CPA Society for 2018-2019. The Houston CPA Society was founded in 1928 and serves Harris and 12 surrounding counties, providing continuing education, community service and networking opportunities to 8,000 members.

Dr. Kuruvilla, who has served on the Houston CPA Society Board of Directors for 6 years and the Texas CPA Society Board of Directors for 7 years, is the first President-Elect from the academic world during the 80-year history of the Houston CPA Society. He will bring fresh perspective on the future of the CPA

pany in 1993. It was a substantial company with 2500 people operating in 12 countries before it was bought

by Hitachi in 2010.

Raju discovered a second calling with his newfound time – mentoring and philanthropy. He brings 25 startups from India to Stanford each year and invites senior executives from Silicon Valley to meet with them under the StartupBridgeIndia initiative.

His second big initiative is Kakatiya Sandbox – a nonprofit that focusses on creating better economic opportunities and positive role models at the grass root levels in rural Telangana, his home state. RSS volunteers in the villages and small towns, he says, were “truly selfless, patriotic people” who helped him in this endeavor.

These initiatives require Raju to travel to India every two months but as he puts it, there’s no substitute for being there in person. He shares his optimism about India’s youth and its future and goes so far as to say that “India will produce global technology brands like Google or Facebook in the coming decade.”

He’s equally positive about the upcoming WHC conference and believes that every attendee will return infused with the confidence that they “can make a difference in their local communities.”

To learn about or participate in the 2018 World Hindu Congress, visit http://whc.2018worldhinducongress. org

H

OUSTON, July 21, 2018 - The Janasena Party (People’s Army) from Telugu States (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) of India, has been working for “Fight for the Rights of Every Common Person.” The Andhra Pradesh State bifurcation demands, Eradicating Corruption in Andhra Pradesh, Clean Governance, Primary Health and Higher Education to every citizen. The NRI Janasena is supporting seamlessly to fulfil the Telugu people basic rights and better future for younger generation.

Latha Ramchand

by Jessica Navarro HOUSTON June 22, 2018 - After nearly 30 years of service at the University of Houston, Latha Ramchand has announced her plans to step down as dean of the C. T. Bauer College of Business.

Effective August 9, Ramchand will leave her role at Bauer College to join the University of MissouriColumbia as the institution’s new provost. Thomas J. George, who has served as the college’s senior associate dean for faculty affairs, will serve as interim dean.

George is also C. T. Bauer Professor of Finance and the director of the AIM Center for Investment Management at Bauer College. As senior associate dean, his responsibilities

The program started by Diya Naidu

Janasena ground level strengthening, support of Janasena in 2019 Elections in Andhra Pradesh.

The Facebook live coverage by Vishnu Nagireddy is highlight of this event. Thousands of live viewers across globe viewed this live event, and appreciations comments in Facebook .

The entire Texas team appreciated “Home returning” NRI Durgarao Nippuleti garu (from Tadepalli Gudem), for his decision to move to India to support Janasena Strengthening ground level.

Participants of the parade. Bottom: Organizers and volunteers of “NRI Janasena” Potula (attired as Barata Mata ) singing “Vandamataram” song, along with many euthanasic and patriotic young children. Young Kids and Janasena performed cultural activities, patriotic

profession and in developing the pipeline for the future.

Ramchand Steps Down, George Named Interim Dean

NRI Janasena parade in Houston in support of Janasena Party in South India

In the support of Janasena Party, “NRI Janasena” organized “Texas Janasena Family Picnic” in Houston with over 250 members, along with Parade like Pavan Kalyan’s Vizag RK Beach Parade. Seshadri Manchem, Venkat Seelam, Gopal Gudapati, Sasi Lingineni and Rajesh Yallabandi from Houston Texas lead this NRI Janasena event.

Dr. Mohan Kuruvilla,

songs and Janasena songs in this program. Siri Nallamothu and Diya Naidu Potula patriotic and Pawan Kalyan songs were highlight in the event.

Guest all over Texas attended this event, Vishnu Nagireddy, Santosh Dachepalli, Ranga Rachapudi ( along with Family ) and Ranga Reddy Korpol from San Antonio TX, Venkat Malisetty and Varun Etakula and Pravallika Vinnakota from Dallas TX. The guests and attendees are discussed many things on Current Andhra Pradesh government failures, Special Status to AP, Janasena importance in current Andhra Pradesh politics, NRIs role in

Thomas J. George included overseeing faculty recruitment, retention, promotion and tenure processes for the college. George has also worked closely on annual budget planning for the college as well as developing new curriculum and initiatives. His research focus is on market microstructure, asset pricing and behavioral finance.

UH Provost Paula Short announced today that she will be conducting a nationwide search for the next Bauer College dean and will soon appoint a search committee to begin the process of recruiting her successor.

Ramchand joined what was then known as the UH College of Business Administration in 1993 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2000.

In 2006, she was appointed associate dean for Graduate & Professional Programs, then served as associate dean for finance and administration in 2008.

She was promoted to the rank of professor in 2009, continuing to serve as associate dean. In 2011, after Dean Arthur Warga stepped down, Ramchand was appointed dean.

Under Ramchand’s leadership, the college focused on initiatives to support student service and faculty research, launching the Bauer in D.C. Fellowship Program, the Working Families Agenda and several degree and certificate programs. The college also developed new initiatives to connect to the community, including startup accelerator RED Labs and the SURE Program.

Event.

Janasena teamed “acrylic hand painting” by Veera Mahila “Pavani Mekala” was highlight in the event.

More than dozed paints were sold to Janasena followers. The entire amount collected has been donated to Janasena Party behalf of “Texas Janasena”.

The event team thanked the sponsors “Visitors-Guru insurance” Raghu Sunki Reddy, “Ace Pain Management” Surya Raguthu, “Biryani-Pot Restaurant” Sridhar Reddy Kanchanaguntla, “New York Life Insurance” Siddeswar Gubba for their support to this event.

The cultural & sports winners and participants were presented “Janasena party symbol” sports trophies

by Guests and elders attended to the

The Janasena event is closed by Young children singing “Jana Gana Mana” with youngster Krithik Nalamothu guitar background score.

SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 9

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

No Pakistani women vote in village where wives had vowed to defy husbands

Deadly caste violence hits Indian state Indian members of the Maratha community in the state of Maharashtra shout slogans during a protest in Mumbai.

M

UMBAI, India | AFP | 7/25/2018 - Violent clashes between police and an Indian community demanding quotas for government jobs erupted in the western state of Maharashtra for a third day on Wednesday.

Police fired tear gas and baton charged thousands of protesters from the Maratha community, who had attacked buses and blocked train lines and roads.

Protests broke out across the state on Monday, when a Maratha community activist jumped to his death from a bridge.

Another activist killed himself with poison on Wednesday, while a police officer died in clashes Tuesday.

More than 30,000 police were deployed across the state for the day's protests, which started in the city of Thane and have spread to nearby Mumbai and other areas.

Protesters attacked buses, set cars and trucks alight and threw stones at trains, police said.

Two major highways out of Mumbai, India's financial capital, were also blocked for several hours.

Police used tear gas and staged baton charges in several places to clear the roads of demonstrators, before Maratha leaders called off protests due to escalating tensions.

The community, which make up about 30 percent of Maharashtra's population of 110 million, has for years been pressing for more reserved jobs in the government and education.

A rally by hundreds of thousands paralysed Mumbai last year.

State chief minister Devendra

Fadnavis called in a statement for talks with the Marathas on their jobs claims.

One bid to reserve more jobs for the Marathas was cancelled by an Indian court in 2014.

Maharashtra is an important agricultural state but in recent years poor rains have led to crop failures. Many Marathas were among more than 2,500 farmers who committed suicide in the state in 2017, according to official figures.

Jobs campaigns by groups

Pakistan election...

Continued from front page the country's next prime minister, alleging "blatant" rigging.

Shahbaz Sharif, the leader of the Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), dismissed results from Wednesday's nationwide poll as counting was still underway.

"Today what they have done has pushed Pakistan back 30 years... We reject this result," Sharif, the brother of Pakistan's jailed ex-leader Nawaz Sharif, told a press conference in Lahore.

Shortly before he spoke state television said that just one fifth of the votes had been counted so far.

The election has been marred by widespread allegations of pre-poll meddling by the powerful military in favour of Khan, which saw the process dubbed Pakistan's "dirtiest election".

As election workers sorted through massive piles of paper ballots, other parties including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also alleged the count was being manipulated.

like the Marathas in Maharashtra and Patidars in Gujarat state have claimed many lives in recent years.

On Wednesday a court in Gujarat sentenced a firebrand Patidar leader, Hardik Patel, to two years in prison for rioting and arson during 2015 jobs protests that left 10 dead.

"If it is a sin to fight for social justice and rights, then I am a sinner," tweeted a defiant Hardik Patel after he was granted bail.

"My candidates complaining polling agents have been thrown out of polling stations across the country," tweeted PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, adding: "Inexcusable & outrageous".

In a WhatsApp message, the PML-N also claimed that security forces had taken over polling stations.

The Election Commission's secretary Babar Yaqoob earlier flatly denied allegations of vote count manipulation.

With the count still a long way to go, PTI supporters were already celebrating in cities across the country, including Lahore, Islamabad, Multan and Rawalpindi, with fireworks, dancing and reports of celebratory gunshots.

"Imran is honest. He is a cool leader," first-time voter Ammar Haider, 20, told AFP at a street celebration in Islamabad.

The rigging allegations came after a suicide bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, killed at least 31 people and cast a shadow over voting day. to build a "New Pakistan" and vowed to eradicate corruption, clean up the environment and construct an "Islamic welfare" state.

Some 3,200 women were listed on the electoral register in Mohri Pur -- but not one voted, according to election officials and an AFP journalist at the village's sole polling station

by Shazia Bhatti

M

OHRI PUR, Pakistan | AFP | 7/25/2018 - Pakistani women who had pledged to defy men in their village by voting for the first time ultimately did not exercise their democratic right in Wednesday's election, citing intimidation by their husbands.

Male elders banned females from voting in Mohri Pur, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) from the central Pakistan city of Multan, around 1947 and the women have obeyed ever since.

This year many had vowed to cast a ballot following changes to Pakistan's election laws and amid shifting attitudes towards women in parts of the deeply patriarchal South Asian country.

Some 3,200 women were listed on the electoral register in Mohri Pur -- but not one voted, according to election officials and an AFP journalist at the village's sole polling station.

"We have threats from our husbands that they will divorce us if we cast our vote," 25-yearold Tanya Bibi told AFP as she walked past the polling station, without going in.

Around 8,000 men were registered to vote in the village. Large queues of them -each clutching identity cards -- formed at the polling station, located in a school.

"We are here to cast our bal-

lots, but our women didn't cast their votes because it is our old tradition which we have been preserving," Muhammad Shamsher told AFP. Even Qasir Abbas, a lawyer who campaigned for the woemen's vote, said in the end he did not bring his wife to the polling station, explaining: "I was afraid ... the villagers might boycott my family."

after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared that at least 10 percent of voters in each constituency must be women, otherwise its results will be voided.

Nearly 20 million new voters were registered in the rapidly growing country of some 207 million people, including 9.13 million women, the commission said.

Bismillah Iram, from a local NGO, said announcements were made from the village mosque warning that women should not come to the polling station.

It was not immediately clear how many had voted once polls closed, but queues of women voters could be seen in major cities such as Lahore and Karachi.

Elders in Mohri Pur, which is located in Punjab province, banned women from voting decades ago, claiming that visiting a public polling booth would "dishonour" them.

Not so in Mohri Pur, where "not a single female voted," said Asia Bibi, an assistant presiding officer, adding that she was "surprised and upset".

So-called "honour" describes a patriarchal code across South Asia that often seeks to justify the murder and oppression of women who defy conservative traditions by acts such as choosing their own husband, or working outside the home.

Women in Mohri Pur told AFP recently that they had tried to vote in previous elections but had been prevented.

In 2015, one woman, Fouzia Talib, became the only one in the village to vote in local elections. She was ostracised.

- 'Elated' Hopes were raised this time

Women reported better experiences in conservative rural areas elsewhere, however, notably in parts of Lower Dir, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where they were allowed to vote for the first time.

Bakht Sania Bibi, a 46-yearold mother-of-three from Samarbagh town, said village elders had previously stopped women from voting. Announcements used to be made through mosques' loudspeakers saying women would not be allowed to vote.

"I have voted today and feel elated to get my basic right," she told AFP.

ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 10

N. Korea still making nuclear material: Pompeo

W

ASHINGTON | AFP | 7/25/2018 North Korea is still making nuclear material, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers Wednesday, six weeks after President Donald Trump said the nuclear threat from Pyongyang was over.

"Yes, they continue to produce fissile material," Pompeo told senators during a closely watched appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, where the US said Kim had agreed to totally get rid of his nuclear weapons.

After the historic summit, Trump tweeted that "there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea," but in recent days he has faced criticism about the lack of clear progress towards denuclearization.

Pompeo insisted that "progress is happening" and that Trump is "upbeat about the prospects of North Korean denuclearization."

The top US diplomat said Trump "would agree that the primary systems that have threatened America continue to exist."

"I think what his comment was that the tension had been greatly reduced," Pompeo said.

Still, he warned, Washington will not let nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang continue indefinitely.

"We are engaged in patient diplomacy, but we will not let this drag out to no end," Pompeo said.

Pompeo said he had emphasized this position during "productive" discussions he'd had with Kim Yong Chol, Kim's powerful right-hand man.

"Progress is happening. We

need Chairman Kim Jong Un to follow through on his commitments made in Singapore."

In a sign of potential progress, new satellite imagery shows that Kim has started dismantling a facility seen as a testing ground for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Pompeo added that "every single nation" must maintain enforcement of US sanctions against North Korea.

China and Russia have argued that North Korea should be rewarded with the prospect of eased sanctions for opening up dialogue with the United States and halting missile tests.

When asked if North Korea is still advancing its nuclear program, Pompeo demurred.

"May I answer that question in a different setting?" he said, referring to a closed-door meeting with senators where classified information can be discussed.

Ford slashes profit forecast on weakness in Europe, Asia

N

EW YORK | AFP | 7/25/2018 - Ford reported a sharp drop in second-quarter earnings Wednesday and cut its full-year profit forecast, citing weakness in Europe and Asia Pacific.

The company also signaled it expects large additional costs associated with a reorganization, a move that will likely deepen questions about the automaker's strategy.

Net income sank 47.9 percent to $1.1 billion.

Revenues fell 2.3 percent to $38.9 billion.

Ford said its performance remained strong in North America amid brisk sales for its best-

selling F-Series pickup trucks.

But the second quarter was "particularly challenging" for Ford in Asia Pacific, the company said in its news release.

It trimmed its full-year profit forecast to $1.30 to $1.50 per adjusted share, down from the prior range of $1.45 to $1.70 per share.

Ford, which has been criticized by Wall Street for strategic drift, said it is taking "urgent action" to address underperformance in China.

These measures will include "aggressive fitness actions, localizing more product in China, as well as recruiting more local talent to key management positions," Ford said.

Japan executes sarin attack cult members

In April, Ford surprised many analysts by announcing massive cost-cutting targets and plans to phase out many sedans in North America amid surging demand for sport-utility vehicles and other trucks.

On Wednesday Ford said a revamping of the company's operations could result in one-time charges of $11 billion over the next three to five years.

The company also said it was postponing a September investor meeting that had been intended to update the market on its plans.

Shares tumbled 4.7 percent in after-hours trading to $10.02.

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

China's Xi says 'no winner' in any trade war

by BĂŠatrice Debut / Michelle Gumede OHANNESBURG, South Africa | AFP | 7/25/2018 - China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said that there would be "no winner" in any global trade war, in a direct warning to US President Donald Trump who has threatened to slap levies on all Chinese imports.

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"A trade war should be rejected because there will be no winner," Xi said at the opening of a BRICS summit of emerging economies in Johannesburg.

"Unilateralism and protectionism are mounting, dealing a severe blow to multilateralism and the multilateral trading regime," he said, without mentioning the United States by name.

"We are facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation, between opening up and closed-door policy and between mutual benefit and a beggar-thy-neighbour approach.

"The international community has again reached a new crossroads."

Leaders of the BRICS emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are holding an annual three-day summit, with attention focused on the threat of a US-led global trade war.

At the same time, European Commission president JeanClaude Juncker is meeting with US president Donald Trump on Wednesday at the White House to try and de-escalate the looming trade war.

Xi held talks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the eve of the gathering (AFP Photo/Themba Hadebe) lars, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico.

"It is difficult to deny that the global market sentiment continues to be manipulated in large extents by the trade war uncertainties, which many think represent the largest risk to the world economy since the global financial crisis," Global Head of Currency Strategy and Market Research at FXTM Jameel Ahmad told AFP. "The concern that South Africa has with the protectionist policies by President Trump at this stage, is that it is playing havoc with the local market."

Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of Chinese imports, complaining that China's trade surplus with the US is due to unfair currency manipulation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Michel Temer are attending the summit, along with several African leaders invited as guests.

Trump has already slapped levies on goods from China worth tens of billions of dol-

"We are concerned by the rise in unilateral measures that are

Singapore gay activist barred from giving TEDx talk

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- New BRICS unity? The BRICS group, comprising more than 40 percent of the global population, represents some of the biggest emerging economies, but it has struggled to find a unified voice.

Analysts say US trade policy could give the group renewed purpose.

Sreeram Chaulia, of the Jindal School of International Affairs outside Delhi, told AFP that BRICS leaders "concur that the US has unleashed punitive trade wars that are hurting all the BRICS members".

"They have a collective interest in promoting intra-BRICS trade. The urgency this time is greater," he said.

Xi arrived in South Africa after visiting Senegal and Rwanda as part of a whistlestop tour to cement relations with African allies.

Signalling diplomatic rivalry over influence in Africa, India's Modi visited Rwanda and Uganda on his own five-day tour of the continent including the BRICS summit.

The meeting opened on Wednesday with a business forum, before the heads of state hold talks on Thursday.

Seven members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult which carried out a deadly chemical attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995 have been executed, including cult leader Shoko Asahara.

OKYO, Japan | AFP | Thursday 7/25/2018 Several members of a cult that carried out a deadly 1995 sarin attack on Tokyo's subway were executed on Thursday, Japanese media said, weeks after the group's leader was hanged.

incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules, and we are worried about the impact of these measures," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the summit's opening session.

African leaders attending a "BRICS outreach" programme on Friday include Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Joao Lourenco of Angola, Macky Sall of Senegal and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.

spite international criticism.

The Aum's 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway during rush hour killed 13 people and injured thousands more.

"South Africa, and Africa more broadly, can benefit from increasing exports to fast growing countries like India and China," Kenneth Creamer, an economist at Johannesburg's Wits University, told AFP.

It plunged the massive capital into chaos, and prompted a

"BRICS has the strategic potential to re-shape world trade."

While support for gay rights has been growing in Singapore, sex between men remains technically illegal under a law dating back to British colonial rule INGAPORE, Singapore | AFP | 7/25/2018 - A Singapore gay activist said Wednesday she was barred from giving a TEDx talk at a prestigious school, sparking fresh criticism of conservative attitudes towards homosexuality in the city-state.

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Shoko Asahara headed the Aum Shinrikyo cult.

Public broadcaster NHK said at least two members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult had been executed on Thursday, while other media did not specify a number.

crackdown on the cult's headquarters in the foothills of Mount Fuji, where authorities discovered a plant capable of producing enough sarin to kill millions.

There was no immediate official confirmation.

Aum members have been convicted of an additional sarin attack in the town of Matsumoto the year before the Tokyo attack, as well as the murder of an anti-cult lawyer and his family.

Thursday's executions come after authorities hanged "guru" Shoko Asahara and six of his one-time followers earlier this month, after years on death row.

Those executions left six remaining Aum members on death row.

Japan is one of the few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high de-

Despite the crackdown on the Aum, it was never formally banned.

It officially disowned Asahara in 2000 and renamed itself Aleph, but experts say the former guru retained a strong influence before his execution.

Rachel Yeo, the research and advocacy director of the Inter-University LGBT Network, told AFP she had been invited to speak at the TEDx event organised by St Joseph's Institution last week.

TEDx events are independently organised under licence from TED Talks, which showcases lectures by influential figures from around the world that are widely streamed online.

TED speakers have included former US president Bill Clinton and late British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

But a day before the event at the independent Catholic school, the 23-year-old student said she was contacted by organisers informing her she could no longer partici-

pate due to education ministry regulations. The ministry has denied it had any involvement in the decision.

While Singapore is vibrant and ultra-modern in many ways, critics say that attitudes towards homosexuality remain conservative.

"This incident reminds us that there remains much work to be done to foster a truly inclusive society for all Singaporeans, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity," said a statement from the Inter-University LGBT Network.

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also attend a summit as the current chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and will meet Putin on the summit's sidelines.

about (the school's) deliberations on the... programme and selection of speakers".

Support for gay rights has been growing in Singapore, although activists say challenges remain. Sex between men remains technically illegal under a law dating back to British colonial rule, although the statute is not actively en-

forced.

Foreigners have been banned from participating in the city-state's annual Pink Dot gay rights rally. The 10th edition of the event attracted huge crowds at the weekend.

The organisation brings together groups representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

The school said in a statement that speakers had been selected by students and the teacher in charge did not check before the list was finalised. Yeo was dropped after reviewing the relevance of speakers to the event, it said.

The education ministry said in a statement that it was "neither involved in nor informed

Avin Tan (right talking to an interviewer) called the attention of Singaporean media when he came out publicly as a person living with HIV. He works with Action for Aids, a Singaporean organization that runs education programs and reaches out to persons with HIV. (-Youtube screen grab)

FOOD & BEVERAGE

VOICE OF ASIA 11

Popularity of gin expected to continue into 2021: report

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urope is leading the global thirst for gin, according to a new industry report.

ARIS, France | AFP | When Cedric Grolet takes out his pastry knife, millions of mouths water.

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The young Frenchman, named the top patissier on the planet last month by "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" list, is an Instagram superstar.

In 2017, global sales of gin rose by seven percent compared to the previous year, up to nearly 35 million nine-liter cases.

Videos of him slicing through the exquisite fake fruit he creates to reveal their tastebud-teasing interiors get millions of views on social media.

Of the top 50 markets, 39 posted gains, 19 of these in the double digits.

At the center of the boom is Europe, with sales in Spain cruising past the five million nine-liter case point, driven by interest in flavored gins, says the report.

Sales also rose in the UK, Germany, Italy and France.

- Relaxnews

At the center of the boom is Europe, with sales in Spain cruising past the five million nine-liter case point, driven by interest in flavored gins, says the report. © pjohnson1/istock.com

Starbucks Korea has launched avocado drink for summer Photos of avocado dessert drinks from Starbucks have been making the rounds on Instagram lately, after launching in stores across South Korea last week.

EOUL, South Korea Called Avocado Blended, the green drink is a revamped recipe from a similar product which was launched three years ago by Starbucks Korea and features an Instagram-friendly avocado pit -- an edible chocolate topper.

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But the irony was lost on some baristas and consumers, some of whom recreated the drink in earnest.

Meanwhile, the avocado's popularity now also comes

Pastry creations by Le Meurice's pastry chef Cedric Grolet are pure "food porn", Vogue declared, with only a select few getting the chance to consummate their desire every day at the top Paris hotel where he works.

"His fans cry, fall into his arms and demand autographs" and selfies, said the usually sober French daily Le Monde.

"A farmer gave me a basket of strawberries for helping him pick his crop and I made a strawberry tart with them for my grandfather," who ran a small hotel nearby, he told AFP.

His work is pure "food porn", it declared, with only a select few getting the chance to consummate their desire every day at the top Paris hotel where he works.

incidents, in which patients slice open their hand while trying to de-pit the avocado halves.

- Relaxnews

by Alexia Fernandez EW YORK, July 23, 2018 - Goldfish Cracker lovers might have to take a break from the snack due to fears that an ingredient could potentially be contaminated with Salmonella.

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The maker of the small, gold crackers, Pepperidge Farm, announced on Monday that they were recalling four different flavors of their product.

In a statement released by the company on their website, the company explained that one of its ingredient supplies alerted them the whey powder in a seasoning used in four flavors was the subject of a recall.

The four products include Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar, Flavor Blasted Sour Cream & Onion, Goldfish Baked with Whole Grain Xtra Cheddar, and Goldfish Mix Xtra Cheddar + Pretzel.

“Pepperidge Farm initiated an investigation and, out of an abundance of caution, is voluntarily recalling four varieties of Goldfish crackers,” the statement said. “The products were distributed throughout the United States. No illnesses have been reported. No other Pepperidge Farm products in the U.S. are subject to this recall.”

Pepperidge Farm urges customers to avoid eating the snacks if they’ve bought them.

The company recommends throwing out the snacks that have been recalled or returning.

They offer a reimbursement on their website.

This is not the first product that contained whey powder to have been recalled recently. A number of Ritz Crackers products were voluntarily recalled after an ingredient used was possibly contaminated with Salmonella.

Mondel?z Global LLC, the company that produces the snacks, announced on Saturday that 16 products—including Ritz Cheese Cracker Sandwiches and Ritz Bitz Cheese — are being pulled from store shelves in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands because the whey powder used to make them has a “potential presence” of the infection.

Though no illnesses have been reported in connection with the products, the company is issuing the recall as a precaution, they said in a statement.

“Consumers who have these products should not eat them, and should discard any products they may have.”

He later studied fine patisserie and began winning prizes before leaving to make his name in Paris aged 20. There he worked for the French gourmet food and delicatessen chain Fauchon, which eventually sent him to Beijing to help train its staff there.

It was also at Fauchon that he worked alongside Christophe

His Rubik's cube cake -which pivots just like the real thing -- has become a cult on the fashionable Parisian dinner circuit, although at 170 euros ($200) for a cake for six, only those with the deep pockets can afford it.

The son of a hairdresser and truck driver from a small town near Saint-Etienne in central

with a health warning. Last year, the British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons voiced their concern about the increasing number of "avocado hand"

It went down so well that Grolet left school early to apprentice himself to the village

be able to slice the apples and cover the tarts in strawberries."

Its shelves empty within hours every day.

- Eating with our eyes -

Starbucks Korea's Avocado Blended. (Image © Instagram/Starbucks Korea)

France, his moment of revelation came when he was only 13.

With high tea at Le Meurice featuring his cakes sometimes booked weeks in advance, Grolet opened a tiny boutique there in March.

Like the members of the French football team, he is something of a working-class hero.

Pepperidge Farm recalls 4 different kinds of Goldfish crackers due to salmonella risk

A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Millions more drool over images of his glossy hyper-realistic pears, apricots, lemons, peaches and even tomatoes, with Vogue -- a magazine not known for its championing of high-calorie desserts -- saying they "leave you wanting to lick the screen".

Grolet has even made a blue, white and red version to celebrate France's World Cup win earlier this month.

The appetite for avocadoeverything shows no sign of slowing among Instagram-happy millennials.

Last year, the internet began seeing "avolattes" in which hipster baristas were pouring lattes in emptied avocado shells. The concept had begun as a joke, when a Melbourne barista in Australia created the avocado/ latte mashup in response to comments made about excessive Millennial spending habits on $4 specialty coffees and $19 avocado toasts.

Superstar pastry chef's 'food porn' has Instagram drooling

by Anne-Laure Mondesert

New research from industry publication just-drinks and market research group IWSR predicts that the rate of global growth for gin sales is expected to expand into 2021.

The one major Western market to buck the trend is the US, where sales declined by 10 million cases.

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Cedric Grolet was named the world's best pastry chef on "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" list. baker.

"I would make bread all night so that I would be allowed to make the desserts at 11 in the morning. My reward was to

Adam in its research laboratory, developing new recipes.

"It was every patissier's dream," he said, "trying new things every day."

Eating 5.5 portions of fruit and veg a day may lower a woman's risk of breast cancer

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ew US research h a s found that women who eat at least five and a half portions of fruit and vegetables every day may have a lower risk of breast cancer, especially aggressive tumours, than those who have a lower daily intake.

Led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the large-scale study looked at A high daily intake of fruit and vegetables may lower a woman's risk of breast 182,145 women cancer, according to new research. © Dean Mitchell/Istock.com aged 27 to 59 years taking part in the long-term cancer prevention."

Nurses' Health Study and etables were found to have a Nurses' Health Study II, two of particularly significant assoPrevious work by the same the largest investigations look- ciation with lower breast canresearchers found that a higher ing into women's risk factors cer risk. intake of fiber is linked with a for major chronic diseases.

The team also studied reduced risk of breast cancer.

The researchers analyzed diet questionnaires submitted by the women every four years, as well as data provided on other potential breast cancer risk factors such as age, weight, smoking status, and family cancer history.

The results showed that women who ate more than 5.5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day had an 11 percent lower risk of breast cancer than those who ate 2.5 or fewer servings. A serving was defined as one cup of raw leafy vegetables, half a cup of raw or cooked vegetables, or half a cup of chopped or cooked fruits.

In particular cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and yellow and orange veg-

whether fruit and vegetable consumption affected various types of breast cancers differently, finding that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables appeared to be particularly beneficial for lowering the risk of more aggressive tumors including ER-negative, HER2-enriched, and basallike tumors.

"Although prior studies have suggested an association, they have been limited in power, particularly for specific fruits and vegetables and aggressive subtypes of breast cancer," commented first author Maryam Farvid. "This research provides the most complete picture of the importance of consuming high amounts of fruit and vegetables for breast

But the benefits of fruits and vegetables found in this study appeared to be independent of their fiber content, suggesting that other components, such as antioxidants and other micronutrients, may also be important in reducing breast cancer risk.

"While a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables is associated with many other health benefits, our results may provide further impetus for women to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables," said senior author Heather Eliassen.

The results were published online in the International Journal of Cancer.

- Relaxnews

US/WORLD

VOICE OF ASIA 12

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Trump, Juncker announce ‘deal’ to defuse US-EU trade row

2,700 scientists warn US-Mexico wall endangers wildlife

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ASHINGTON,| AFP | Wednesday 7/25/2018 US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday announced a series of joint steps to defuse an escalating row between the two trading blocs.

“We made a deal today,” Juncker told reporters following talks with Trump at the White House. “We have identified a number of areas on which to work together.”

Declaring a “new phase” in relations Trump said the US and EU agreed to “work together toward zero tariffs” on nonauto industrial goods, while the EU would import more American natural gas and soybeans.

Jaguars, ocelots, mountain lions, and more are all harmed by the border wall. (Reuters/Jose Luis)

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AMPA | AFP - More than 1,000 species of animals would face serious threats to their survival if US President Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico is built, scientists warned on Tuesday.

Iconic creatures such as the Peninsular Bighorn sheep, Mexican gray wolf and the Sonoran pronghorn antelope -- all of which are already endangered -- would see their populations dangerously fragmented by a wall, said the letter published in the journal BioScience.

Jaguars (panthera onca) and ocelots (leopardus pardalis) would be among the species that would have "residual US populations" covering 7,800 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) or less, raising their risk of dying off completely in the United States.

More than 2,700 global scientists signed on to the letter by lead author Robert Peters of Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group.

diverse regions," said the letter.

"Already-built sections of the wall are reducing the area, quality, and connectivity of plant and animal habitats and are compromising more than a century of binational investment in conservation," it added, lamenting that "political and media attention... often understate or misrepresent the harm done to biodiversity."

When populations of animals are fragmented, they have a harder time finding mates, food, water and safe habitat, and face higher risks of extinction.

"Cut off like this, the bighorn and other animals and plants will become zombie species -- populations that are demographically and genetically doomed," said co-author and Stanford University biologist Rodolfo Dirzo.

The border region includes more than 1,000 animals and over 400 plants.

A total of 62 of these species are "already listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or

Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature," said the letter.

Co-author and Stanford University professor of biology Paul Ehrlich said in a statement that the wall, and "the accompanying construction and maintenance infrastructure would be a crime against biodiversity."

The letter urged US officials to identify species at risk from the wall construction, design barriers that allow wildlife to pass through as much as possible, and purchase or restore replacement habitat when environmental harm is inevitable.

As it stands, a US law passed in 2005 gives the Department of Homeland Security authority to waive protections such as the Endangered Species Act if they are deemed to be factors in slowing the wall's construction.

Trump's wall has still not secured major financing. A bill that would have included $25 billion to fund it failed last month in the House of Representatives.

He also said they would “resolve the steel and aluminum tariffs,” while Juncker said the sides would hold off on any new tariffs while talks proceed.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Trump meet Wednesday, with the European official aiming to head off additional trade barriers, particularly on autos (Photo: Reuters/ Yves Hermann)

Greece in mourning as horrifying wildfires kill 74

by Hélène Colliopoulou

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THENS, Greece | AFP | Tuesday 7/24/2018 Greece was in mourning Tuesday following some of the worst wildfires this century, with fears the toll -- at least 74 dead and 187 injured so far -could rise, as rescuers search for people trapped in their homes or burned-out cars.

The fires, which broke out on Monday afternoon, devoured homes and forests, forcing terrified residents to flea into the sea for safety, while pine forests were reduced to ash and charred cars lined the smoke-filled

streets of seaside towns near Athens.

"Today, Greece is in mourning," said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who cut short a visit to Bosnia and announced three days of national mourning.

Greek media described the disaster as a "national tragedy".

The government has not yet said how many people were regarded as missing.

But the death toll could surpass that from the blazes which hit Greece's southern island of Evia in 2007 in which 77 people perished.

Out of a total 187 people hospitalised, 82 including almost a dozen children were still being treated on Tuesday evening, 10 of whom were in "serious condition", the fire services said.

One Belgian was among the victims, said Belgium's foreign minister Didier Reynders, while in Warsaw Poland's government said a Polish woman and her son also died.

Dozens of people were overtaken by the flames in their homes, on foot or in their cars.

AFP photographers saw the burnt bodies of humans and dogs.

The letter details threats to biodiversity along the 2,000mile (3,200-kilometer) USMexico border, which Trump wants to wall off in an effort to stop the flow of illegal migrants.

"Fence and wall construction over the past decade and efforts by the Trump administration to complete a continuous border 'wall' threaten some of the continent's most biologically

Trump postpones Putin visit

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ASHINGTON | AFP | 7/25/2018 President Donald Trump on Wednesday delayed a second summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin, while his top diplomat insisted there was no let up against Moscow following the two leaders' controversial meeting in Helsinki.

Facing mounting calls to release the details of Trump's closed-door talks with Putin, the US administration stepped up its damage control operation, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo going before Congress to defend his boss.

The US leader himself, under fire over plans to invite Putin to the White House in the fall, opted to delay until 2019 -- pushing the talks back until Robert Mueller has completed his probe into Moscow's election interference, according to National Security Advisor John Bolton.

And Pompeo went on the offensive to stress steps Trump has taken to show resolve against the Kremlin, stepping into a white-hot spotlight during a grilling by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The top diplomat said he would back bipartisan efforts in Congress to slap new sanctions on Russia in response to their meddling in the 2016 US election, and as a deterrent against meddling this year or in 2020.

Be proud of your Profession, the Service to the family, community and the country. Be a part of it.

Join the Celebration.

Celebrating and honoring the services of the First generation Indian immigrant nurses who came to the United States of America till 1975.

Indian American Nurses Nightingale Award Join the celebration by participating in the

commemorative publication

With One full page of Life Experience in the United States

Free event, First time in the USA, to be held in October 2019

Please forward this form to All your friends, whether in service, retired, living or deceased, to register.

Do not miss this great opportunity to get Recognized We request every Nurse who came till the end of 1975 to register.

Please complete the form and forward to: nursesawards@gmail.com For more information, please call: 713-774-5140. Submit form by November 1, 2018.

Name:____________________________________________________________________________________

"I personally made clear to the Russians that there will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes," he said in his opening statement.

Email:_____________________________________________________Phone_No:________________________

Pompeo reaffirmed as official policy that the United States "rejects Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea" -- an issue on which the US leader had appeared to waver.

Voice of Asia address: 8303 Southwest Freeway, Suite 325, Houston, TX 77074

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VOICE OF ASIA 13

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Business Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Walmart, Microsoft team up to take on Amazon

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ASHINGTON | AFP Walmart said Tuesday it was entering into a strategic partnership with Microsoft on “digital transformation” for the onetime retail industry leader.

The move is aimed at helping Walmart compete better against Amazon, which is taking a growing share of retail sales in the United States and globally.

The two firms said the partnership was focused on using artificial intelligence and other technology tools to help manage costs, expand operations and innovate faster.

“Walmart’s commitment to technology is centered around creating incredibly convenient ways for customers to shop and empowering associates to do their best work,” said Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO. Microsoft’s business cloud computing platform known as Azure will help Walmart manage operations ranging

from refrigeration and air conditioning to improving its supply chain and transportation.

“The world’s leading companies run on our cloud, and I’m thrilled to partner with Walmart to accelerate their digital transformation with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.

Walmart is already using Microsoft services for some applications and will expand that to tap into Microsoft’s machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data platform, according to the statement.

Earlier this month, the research firm eMarketer said Amazon’s surging growth would enable it to capture 49.1 percent of US online retail sales this year, up from 43.5 percent.

Amazon is far ahead of online rivals like eBay, with 6.6 percent of ecommerce, and Apple, at 3.9 percent, according to eMarketer, which estimated Walmart’s share at 3.7 percent.

NY Daily News slashes half its newsroom staff

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Section 2 Tel: 713-774-5140

CY Woods Students earn national recognition Winners take first place at the Texas State Leadership Conference

C

ypress Woods sophomores Govind Chada and Aayush Gupta were among the more than 9600 of America’s best and brightest students who traveled to Maryland to FBLA National Leadership Conference held June 28-July 1st. Govind and Aayush earned their berth at the national competition after winning first place at the Texas State Leadership Conference.

Govind and Aayush designed and developed a mobile application from the ground up to manage and distribute books in a library using technologies such as iOS, Google Firebase and Agile development methodologies. The competition judged the application quality using criteria such as ease of use, social media integration, graphics and robustness. The students were also judged on their ability to deliver a business presentation highlighting the value and impact of their solution. Competing with 70+ top teams in the nation, they made it to the final round after going through the elimination round. After an outstanding performance in the finals, Govind and Aayush were recognized with a 10th place award at the Awards of Excellence Program during the closing ceremony.

“Govind and Aayush have shown great passion and initiative throughout the year to develop a mobile application that solves a real business problem,” said Lori Andrade, Cypress Woods FBLA club adviser.

“The project required hundreds of hours of effort and was many months in the making and it is rewarding to see them succeed at the highest levels.”

The award was part of a comprehensive national competitive events program sponsored by FBLA-Phi

Cypress Woods High School students Govind Chada (R) and Aayush Gupta (L) earned national recognition with a Top-10 finish at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National Leadership Conference in Baltimore, Md., on July 1.

Beta Lambda that recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas.

For many students, the events are the capstone activity of their academic careers.

In addition to competitions, students immersed themselves in interactive workshops, visited an information-packed exhibit hall, and heard from motivational speakers on a broad range of business topics.

Global stocks mixed amid trade war fears The New York Daily News, known for its bold front pages, is slashing half its editorial staff as it seeks to adapt to the financial troubles of the sector

by Thomas URBAIN

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ew York | AFP - The New York Daily News, the century-old tabloid known for its provocative headlines, made its own news Monday by slashing half its editorial staff, in the latest retrenchment in the newspaper sector.

The daily owned by the media conglomerate Tronc said in an email to employees that the move sought to address the newspaper’s “significant financial challenges.”

A source familiar with the matter told AFP the cuts represent “nearly 50 percent” of newsroom staff.

Tronc declined to comment on the cutbacks or confirm precisely how many staff were affected, but the rival New York Post said the Daily News had some 85 editorial staff before the layoffs.

The editorial staff will slashed be as the newspaper looks at a fundamental restructuring to focus on breaking news, mainly in areas of “crime, civil justice and public responsibility,” according to the note to staff, which was widely circulated on Twitter.

“The decisions being announced today reflect the realities of our business and the need to adapt to an ever-changing media environment,” the memo said.

Top editors Jim Rich and Kristen Lee are departing as part of the reorganization, with the new editor-in-chief Robert York coming from the Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Rich said in a tweet on the latest cuts: “If you hate democracy and think local governments should operate unchecked and in the dark, then today is a good day for you.”

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ew York, | AFP | Global stocks finished mixed Monday ahead of a heavy week of corporate earnings amid lingering tensions over trade wars.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker heads to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Donald Trump and try to avert an escalation of tit-for-tat trade tariffs.

Trump already is embroiled in a messy trade spat with China and Europe, while negotiations with Canada and Mexico to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement have stalled.

“It is hard to imagine a more difficult trading environment due to worsening trade-war rhetoric, a sharp devaluation of the Chinese currency, an unsynchronized global recovery, and the President commenting on Fed policy,” said Canaccord Genuity strategist Tony Dwyer.

The week’s calendar includes a heavy schedule of earnings reports from companies ranging from British pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline to German automaker Daimler to US aerospace titan Boeing.

Tech companies are also in focus, with Amazon and Facebook reporting later in the week. Google-parent Alphabet rocketed higher in afterhours trading Monday after reporting better-than-expected results.

Equity markets in Paris, London and Frankfurt all ended somewhat lower, while major US indices were mixed.

Tokyo’s stock market meanwhile dropped 1.3 percent -- falling for a third straight trading day -- as a stronger yen hurt exporters, making their products less competitive abroad.

Oil prices pushed higher early in the day after Trump warned Iran

would “suffer consequences” in response to bellicose commentary from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who cautioned Trump not to “play with the lion’s tail,” saying that conflict with Iran would trigger the “mother of all wars.”

But oil prices later pulled back, ending slightly lower on concerns about additional oil supply from Saudi Arabia.

Among individual names, Italian automaker Fiat Chrysler skidded 1.7 percent lower in Milan after its chief of 14 years Sergio Marchionne suffered life-changing health problems, forcing the company to name a new management team.

Shares in budget airline Ryanair fell in London trade as it reported its profit had been squeezed by higher fuel costs and salaries for pilots.

With limited visibility on Brexit and a strike set for this week, the company’s share price tumbled 6.4 percent.

Celebrate Your Beautiful Moments of Life ...... l l l

Achievements in Business and Profession l Birth Announcements Religious Sacraments l Achievements in School l Graduation Wedding l Birthdays l Anniversary

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VOICE OF ASIA 14

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BOLLYWOOD - HOLLYWOOD Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Alia Bhatt admits that nepotism exists in Bollywood

T

he debate on nepotism is not dying down anytime soon in Bollywood and the latest to chip in is Alia Bhatt.

by Frankie Taggart

S

AN DIEGO, California | AFP - Warner Bros. closed the final full day of the Comic-Con International fanfest on Saturday as the belle of the ball, bringing its roster of superheroes to take a bow in San Diego.

The studio took over the 6,500-seat main arena at the world’s largest celebration of fan culture for two starstudded hours, serving up tantalizing teasers for its DC Extended Universe series of comic-book movies.

“Yes, it does exist everywhere, but this is the only business where there’s no fixed funda. You need to be at the right place at the right time. For instance, if you want to be a doctor, you study, give your examination and get a job. In film business, you can do whatever you want, but there has to be that X factor that people talk about.”

With Disney-owned Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm both bowing out this year, it was Warner’s chance to shine and the studio obliged with a lineup of the world’s biggest stars, including Johnny Depp, Chris Pratt, Jude Law, Elizabeth Banks and Eddie Redmayne.

She continues, “There are so many people who come from nowhere and make it big purely on the basis of their presence and what they bring to the screen. An XYZ person can be very good looking and some other can be marginally good looking, but the latter can be a bigger star or loved more because of their talent. There are no hard and fast rules as such, so I totally get the emotional upheaval.”

Warner Bros. superheroes swoop into Comic-Con

One of the most eagerly-awaited presentations of the week, it was a chance for WB to show it is back on track after poor reviews for its DC Extended Universe movies “Batman vs.

Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad” and “Justice League.”

About her own launch in Bollywood, Alia prefers to dub her privilege “luck”.

Alia Bhatt (File photo)

A”s far as I am concerned, I won’t even say that I was more prepared because I was so and so’s daughter. I just got very lucky with my first try (‘Stu-

dent Of The Year’), but you can only get lucky with that first chance. After that only bhagwaan bachaye.” - Deccan Chronicle

Netflix is turning Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’ into a series

The studio set out its stall with extensive looks at James Wan’s upcoming “Aquaman” and “Wonder Woman: 1984,” a follow-up to 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” the DCEU’s only unqualified success.

“The way we look at this is not a sequel, it’s a new chapter, it’s a new story,” said Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who was shown as Wonder Woman saving a young girl from gunmen in rough early footage.

Director Patty Jenkins described the era of the sequel -- out in November next year -- as “mankind at its best and worst.”

“We’re aware of things now that we weren’t in the 1980s,” she told the crowd. “There were some incredible and beautiful things in the 80s but at the same time... it’s us at our most extreme.”

The presentation also unveiled the first trailer for “Shazam!” -- an altogether more light-hearted entry in the DC universe starring Zachary Levi that is due out in April next year.

But the undoubted star of the show was “Aquaman,” which raised the roof as a shirtless Jason Momoa appeared onscreen in a new trailer as half-human, half-Atlantean hero Arthur Curry.

“You’re in armor or you’re half-naked in tattoos and it was a bad choice looking back to wear denim,” Momoa recalled of the production, which required him to be wet most days.

“They look like leather pants, but they’re not.”

Salman Rushdie’s 1981 novel, “Midnight’s Children,” will be adapted into a Netflix TV series. © AFP PHOTO/LLUIS GENE etflix is set to adapt the acclaimed author’s awardwinning novel, “Midnight’s Children,” into a new TV series.

N

Netflix is continuing in its mission to create new original series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming site’s latest project is a TV adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s book “Midnight’s Children.” No director or actors are onboard yet, but the author will reportedly work with Netflix to develop the project.

The book tells the story of Saleem Sinai, born on the day that India gained independence from British rule. The boy’s magical destiny leads to a life intrinsically linked with his homeland’s national affairs. Born with telepathic powers, Saleem Sinai soon discovers that all children born in India during its initial hour of independence -- between midnight and 1am -- are gifted with special powers. “’Midnight’s Children’ is one of the great novels of the world, and its themes are still relevant to the India of today,” said Erik Barmack, vice-

Actress Gal Gadot participates in the Warner Bros. Theatrical Panel for “Wonder Woman: 1984” during Comic Con in San Diego, July 21, 2018.© CHRIS DELMAS / AFP.

There was a second preview for the Christmas release that unveiled Aqua-

president of international originals at Netflix. “The narrative continues to fascinate audiences decades after it was first published. We are incredibly excited to translate this pioneering work of fiction that parallels the birth of modern India, for a global audience.

The rich experience and talent of Indian creators combined with the global reach of Netflix have the potential for millions more people around the world to rediscover this story.”

The film will be released in North American theaters in January

The British Indian author, who received death threats -- including a fatwa ordering his execution -- after the publication of his fourth novel, “The Satanic Verses,” said: I am absolutely delighted that ‘Midnight’s Children’ will have a new life on Netflix and greatly look forward to working with them to help create it.”

The filmmaker said Friday at the annual comic book convention that he felt strongly that the Hall H audience should be the first to see it.

After winning the 1981 Booker Prize, the novel went on to be crowned as the best novel of all Booker winners on two occasions, in 1993 and 2008, celebrating the prize’s 25th and 40th anniversaries.

- Relaxnews

Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance onstage for the Warner Bros. Theatrical Panel for “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (AFP Photo/CHRIS DELMAS). man’s nemesis, Black Manta, as well as more underwater action, a rooftop chase and a final view of the Momoa in his superhero threads.

Warner’s first exclusive of the session gave Harry Potter fans a look at the legendary battle between Professor Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” which hits theaters on November 16.

Troubled star Johnny Depp was a surprise appearance onstage, missing “Aquaman” actress Amber Heard, his wife before last year’s acrimonious divorce, by less than an hour.

Depp plays Gellert Grindelwald, a casting that irked many since the actor has been dogged by controversy in his private life, including allegations of domestic abuse.

The mustachioed, platinum-haired A-lister didn’t take questions but came onstage in costume after the Q&A to rapturous applause, alongside Redmayne and newcomer Jude Law, mak-

ing his Harry Potter debut as a young Albus Dumbledore.

Up next was “Lego Movie 2” with sit-com support actor turned indemand megastar Chris Pratt, who plays Star-Lord in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies.

The actor laughed that he first accepted the role of Lego construction worker and planet-saver Emmet Brickowski in the 2014 original when he was still Andy on comedy series “Parks & Recreation.”

By the time he’d finished recording his voice part he was a Hollywood star and a Marvel superhero.

“It was one of those moments when I thought, ‘Oh, I’m living in a computer simulation -- this is the Matrix,” he joked.

If it’s not superheroes and wizards, it’s skyscraper-sized lizards, and a trailer from “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” drew loud gasps from the Comic-Conners.

M. Night Shyamalan Debuts ‘Glass’ Trailer at Comic-Con

By Lindsey Bahr

D

irector M. Night Shyamalan says he could have launched the trailer for “Glass” in front of the summer’s biggest movies, but that he wanted to hold it for Comic-Con.

“It was always meant for you guys,” he said.

The kind of people who turn out for Comic-Con and wait in the massive and sometimes overnight line to get into Hall H are the same kind who once helped turn “Unbreakable” into an enduring film even after it got lukewarm reviews from critics.

“I’ve been dreaming about being in this hall forever,” Shyamalan said. “This is the mecca right here.” “ G l a s s ” melds the worlds of “Unbreakable” and “Split,” two very different films about three very dif-

M. Night Shyamalan speaks onstage at Universal Pictures’ “Glass” and “Halloween” panels during Comic-Con International 2018 at San Diego Convention Center on July 20, 2018, in San Diego, California. ferent superhumans, Samuel L. Jackson’s fragile but brilliant Mr. Glass, Bruce Willis’ strong and “unbreakable” David Dunn and James McAvoy’s Kevin Wendell Crumb, who has 24 personalities. The three actors reprise their roles in “Glass.”

The trailer showed the three in an asylum being interviewed by a psychiatrist played by Sarah Paulson who believes that their powers are merely delusions of grandeur.

All but McAvoy, who was sick, turned up in San Diego to promote the film in the convention’s largest venue, the 6,500-seat Hall H.

Shyamalan marveled at how different things are for comic book films now versus when he was preparing to promote “Unbreakable” in 2000. He recalled the studio’s marketing team explaining then that they were going to avoid using the term “comic book” because it was a fringe genre.

“It’s fascinating given what’s happened since then,” he said.

While little was revealed about what will occur in the film, Shyamalan did tease that his film will likely be on the edge of a PG-13 and R-rating. It will be released in North American theaters in January. - AP

LEGAL

VOICE OF ASIA 15

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

The legal engine driving more than 800 lawsuits against opioid makers

T

he place might sound familiar, even if you’ve never been there: the Appalachian foothills, down by the Ohio River, where the sirens scream addiction and death.

Twenty-six overdoses in one afternoon. The highest death rate in the state. One in 10 babies born dependent. Huntington, West Virginia, is the capital of America’s opioid epidemic.

Paul Farrell knows all about it. He grew up here, went off to college, and returned home. He watched the calamity unfold.

First it was prescription pills like OxyContin. Then it was heroin, $20 a hit.

Now, Farrell is looking to set things right. He’s the engine behind one of the most daunting legal endeavors in modern U.S. history: more than 800 lawsuits brought by cities and counties against central figures in the opioid tragedy—the makers of prescription painkillers and the companies that distribute them.

For now, he’s working out of a carpeted, windowless office barely big enough for his desk, some chairs and a pair of folding tables in an old bank building downtown. The lock on the building’s shared bathroom doesn’t work.

But if Farrell succeeds in making the industry pay for the epidemic’s toll, he stands to become wildly rich: By one estimate, the recovery in the opioid cases—which could be years away—could exceed $50 billion. Twenty-five percent of his clients’ portion would go directly to his firm and the firms he is working alongside.

With so much money at stake, it might be easy to view Farrell as one of the greatest ambulance-chasers of all time. He makes no apologies.

“We eat what we kill,” Farrell, 46, says. “Sometimes it’s a feast. Sometimes it’s a famine.”

On the opioid cases, he says: “I’m stalking. I’m stalking the herd.”

More famous lawyers are hunting, too—Mike Moore, for one. As the attorney general of Mississippi, Moore helped negotiate the largest corporate legal settlement in U.S. history: a $246 billion deal with the tobacco industry in 1998. Lately, Moore has been going after the drug industry over opioids, crisscrossing the U.S. to recruit people to his cause. Hundreds of cases have been consolidated before a federal judge in Ohio for what’s called multidistrict litigation.

But Farrell is spearheading the legal fight for many communities, notably in the Ohio River Valley, where tired coal and steel towns have come to symbolize the crisis. His fivelawyer firm and legal consortium represents more than half of the suing communities.

His legal theory begins with West Virginia Code Section 7-1-3KK. The public nuisance law was written to address relatively workaday issues such as landfills and environmental waste. Farrell is basically arguing that drug makers and wholesalers created an epic public nuisance that is costing governments many millions to clean up.

Suits have been filed against Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson, Endo International Plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and drug distributors. The companies recognize there’s an opioid crisis but say they’re not responsible, adding that litigation is the wrong way to address the issue. After all, they didn’t write the prescriptions, and they say they complied with all federal regulations.

On this brisk spring morning in April, Farrell leafs through half a dozen maps in his office.

The images trace the legal con-

tours of his stake in a geography of despair: hundreds of hard-hit communities, places like Logan County, West Virginia, and its 6.9 percent unemployment rate.

Each 8-by-11-inch map is colorcoded—red, green, blue, yellow—to show which local law firm Farrell is working with in that particular area.

“If you drop a nuclear bomb right there—boom!—this is the fallout,” Farrell says, jabbing his finger at the Ohio River Valley, the 203,000-square-mile stretch where states battle the nation’s highest overdose rates.

In 2015, 22,000 Americans died from prescription-painkiller overdoses.

Opioids swallowed Huntington for years before Farrell waded in. He sued the distributors on behalf of several counties in January 2017 after West Virginia’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, reached settlements totaling $36 million with Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. The settlements came too quickly and were too small, Farrell says.

“It pissed me off that we got handled like that,” he says.

Morrisey, a former lawyer and lobbyist for the pharmaceuticals industry, is now running for U.S. Senate as a Republican; his wife, Denise, lobbied for Cardinal for 17 years and represents drug companies.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Anthony Martin says Morrissey’s private sector work didn’t include opioid matters and asserts that the office is aggressive in holding the industry accountable.

“Monday morning quarterbacks don’t usually understand the matters they criticize,” he says. The settlement received wide support, and “its success spurred the filing of approximately 1,000 other lawsuits.”

-Bloomberg

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Tel: 713-774-5140

The battle over Trump’s D.C. hotel could be entering uncharted territory President Donald Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C., has sparked a running legal debate about conflicts of interest, pitting government lawyers against critics concerned with possible ethics abuses who claim the president’s stake in the property violates a constitutional clause against corruption.

The luxury hotel — which opened in 2016, weeks before the presidential election, at a prime location a few blocks from the White House — has led to three lawsuits over the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits U.S. officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments.

Until now all three cases have been stalled in the courts, leaving open the question of whether the constitutional provision — which had never been tested before Trump took office — applies to a sitting president.

That could change later this month, when a federal judge is expected to decide whether one of the lawsuits can move forward.

The case was filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia on behalf of local businesses and hotels. They alleged the president’s financial stake in the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., hurts competition in the area, because political leaders and government officials, both foreign and domestic, seek to book rooms at the hotel over comparable other hotels nearby, hoping to obtain access to the president.

In March, Judge Peter Messitte of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that the attorneys general had shown enough evidence of unfair competition for the case to proceed. Now, Messitte will rule on whether it can move to a discovery phase.

The Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., has sparked a legal debate, and several lawsuits, over the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. File photo by REUTERS/Carlos Barria The attorneys general for Maryland and Washington, D.C., have said that if the case moves forward, they would seek a broad discovery that would include internal revenue documents from the Trump Organization, emails and depositions from Trump executives.

They could also seek the president’s tax returns, though most legal scholars say it is unlikely that the judge would find the returns relevant enough to the case to allow that to happen.

The lawsuit was filed against Trump both as an individual and as president of the United States. Trump’s defense is being handled by lawyers for the Department of Justice.

In January of 2017, shortly before taking office, Trump announced that he would maintain ownership of the Trump Organization while president but hand the management of the company over to his two adult sons. Trump also said at the time he would place his assets in a blind trust to eliminate potential conflicts of interest.

Critics have argued the arrangement hasn’t gone far enough to stop Trump from profiting from

his business empire while in the White House.

President Donald Trump wThe administration could win this next round in the lawsuit if the judge blocks the case from advancing to the discovery phase. But if the case moves forward it would shift the legal debate into uncharted territory, both for Trump and for states pursuing an unprecedented legal challenge to a sitting president, said Andy Grewal, a law professor at the University of Iowa.

“President Trump’s own norms-breaking seems to have inspired norms-breaking by the states,” he said. “If this lawsuit proceeds, it could fundamentally change how alleged presidential misconduct is being addressed.”

The upcoming decision by Messitte could provide the clearest answer yet about whether an emolument under the Constitution can be defined broadly as any payment from a foreign government or state, or if an emolument only applies to situations in which a specific service is exchanged.

-PBS News

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VOICE OF ASIA 16

Young Life

Teens glued to phones risk ‘modest’ rise in ADHD symptoms: study

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AMPA, Florida | AFP - A new study out Tuesday says digital overload could be linked to a “modest” but significant rise in new ADHD behaviors, offering a warning to parents about the potential dangers of too much screen time.

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

IOC ‘sends a signal’ by nominating young Afghan woman

The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association were based on nearly 2,600 Los Angeles teens who answered survey questions over a two-year period -- making it one of the largest and longest studies on the topic to date.

The more social media, streaming video, text messaging, music downloads or online chats they engaged with, the more likely they were to report symptoms like difficulty organizing and completing tasks, or trouble remaining still.

About 10 percent of youths who said they commonly used digital media platforms frequently showed new ADHD symptoms over the study period, said the report.

In contrast, 4.6 percent of students who were not frequent users of any digital activity showed ADHD symptoms.

Researchers cautioned that the rise in ADHD symptoms was “modest” and at least some of the effect might be explained by confounding factors.

Also, since the study was observational in nature and was based on survey responses by the teens themselves, researchers said they could not prove that smartphone use actually caused ADHD symptoms.

Still, the findings offer a solid basis for more research because “this was a statistically significant association,” said Adam Leventhal, a professor of preventive medicine and psychology at the University of Southern California.

“We can say with confidence that

Could teenagers suffer symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder after engaging in excessive smartphone use? teens who were exposed to higher levels of digital media were significantly more likely to develop ADHD symptoms in the future.”

clear whether relatively small changes in ADHD symptom frequency over these two years are disruptive or impairing in everyday life,” she said.

Previous studies have shown that ADHD, a psychiatric condition involving persistent difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, affects about seven percent of youths in the United States and may be on the rise in some populations.

“It is worth noting that over 80 percent of students reported high frequency use of digital media, and the vast majority of these students do not have elevated ADHD symptoms.”

Earlier studies examining the effect of television watching and playing video games found modest increases in ADHD among children.

According to Jessica Agnew-Blais, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, the authors were “rightfully cautious not to over-interpret” their findings.

“The authors only assess ADHD symptom frequency, so it remains un-

Another expert who was not involved in the study, Andy Przybylski, an associate professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, described the research as “interesting” but “tentative.”

“The study is a proof of concept that tells us we need very large samples when we design future studies because the possible effects are extremely small,” he said.

The next studies on the topic should move away from self-reported survey answers and include clinical diagnoses and external measurements of device use, experts suggested.

From high school drop-out to Korean gaming superstar

IAAF President Sebastian Coe and FIFA president Gianni Infantino took part in an IOC summit on doping but neither has been nominated to join the governing body of Olympic Sport.

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AUSANNE, Switzerland | AFP | The International Olympic Committee on Friday named a young Afghan woman, Samira Asghari, among nine candidates for membership of the body in a move to boost women’s rights.

Thomas Bach, the IOC president, said the nomination of the 24-year-old Asghari, who played basketball for her country and has taken on a series of administrative roles, sent a message.

“She’s a young woman of Afghanistan who is very active in promoting the right to play sport for women in Afghanistan, you all know it’s not an easy task,” Bach told a press conference.

“With this nomination we wanted to send a signal not only to men and women in Afghanistan but also in all these countries where women are facing serious obstacles to do sport”.

Five of the nine candidates due to be voted in in October are “Individual Members” proposed by a special committee, three of those are women.

The other four represent either National Olympic Committees (NOCs) or international sports federations (IFs) which are entitled to representation. All four are men.

The other two individual nominees are Giovanni Malago, president of the Italian Olympic Committee and Camilo Perez Lopez Moreira, head of the Paraguayan NOC. The two NOC nominees are William Frederick Blick, from Uganda, and Prince Jygyel Ugyen Wangchuck of Bhutan.

The IF candidates are Morinari Watanabe, Japanese president of the International Gymnastics Federation, and Brazilian Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee.

Football and athletics federations are two of the biggest Olympic sports and Sepp Blatter, of FIFA, and Lamine Diack, of the IAAF, were both longtime IOC members.

Since both were unseated following embarrassing scandals, their successors have not been nominated to take their IOC places.

Bach said it was not the right moment to nominate either Coe, who ran London’s Olympics in 2012, or Infantino.

Missing, for a second year, are FIFA president Gianni Infantino and IAAF head Sebastian Coe.

“We are now in a situation for both of them where we are quickly approaching their reelection. The IOC did not want to give the impression that we would like to interfere in this campaign for the election next year.

The timing now would be to close.”

The two other women are Daina Gudzineviciute, president of the Lithuanian Olympic Committee, and Felicite Rwemarika, vice president of the Rwanda’s Olympic committee.

“Seb and I agreed that we could respect that he, for the time being, wants to set other priorities, one of the key is implementing the reforms he has initiated in IAAF”.

Money advice for college grads

I

f you want to follow your dreams, however noble they may be, you’re going to need to have a good, smart relationship with money. So here’s some advice you may not get elsewhere.

1. Make small money mistakes, not big ones The most important piece of advice you’ll get at this time: Make small money mistakes, not big ones. You’ll stumble, you’ll overpay for a hotel room, you’ll forget to a pay a credit card bill. That’s life.

2. Get a job, now. The good times might be ending It’s a good time to be a college graduate. Unemployment is at historic lows, companies are hiring for entry level positions, and … it’s summer!

Members of professional eSports team ‘Griffin’ prepare to compete in a ‘League of Legends’ competition in Seoul, South Korea. © Ed JONES / AFP

A

high school drop-out dubbed the “Michael Jordan of eSports” has helped make South Korea a major power in video-gaming -- and is now leading its push to be recognised by the mainstream.

The bespectacled, floppy-fringed ‘Faker’, real name Lee Sang-hyeok, is the world’s top League of Legends gamer and in hyper-wired Korea, he enjoys similar fame and fortune to top basketball or baseball players.

Faker, 22, will be one of the biggest stars at next month’s regional Olympics, the quadrennial Asian Games in Indonesia, where eSports will be held as a demonstration event for the first time.

It marks a step forward in gaming’s efforts to be considered a genuine sport, possibly even gaining a slot at the Olympics in the future -- good news for global eSports powerhouses like South Korea.

The South enjoys ultra-fast broadband and a vibrant Internet culture, and internet cafes armed with powerful high-end computers catering to school-age gamers can be found on many street corners. “eSports player” consistently ranks among children’s most popular future

jobs, coming eighth in an education ministry survey of elementary school pupils last year -- higher than “scientist”.

Telecom, the South’s top wireless operator.

Faker started playing video games in elementary school, and excelled at League of Legends -- an online battle game introduced by Riot Games in 2009.

“This is a country where eSports has been fully embraced as a type of sport among youth, and even college sports championships have eSport events,” said Kim Cheol-Hag, secretary general of the Korea eSports Association.

As he climbed the online LoL rankings speculation mounted about his identity, and he formed a team with friends to compete at amateur tournaments.

Last year, eSports was ranked the third most popular sport among South Koreans aged 15-29 after soccer and baseball, according to a survey by Nielsen Korea.

He dropped out of high school after being offered a job as a professional, making his debut in 2013 and thrashing top players one after another as he made his way to stardom.

- eSports ‘fully embraced’ Korea’s eSports scene is reminiscent of Germany’s soccer culture, with grassroot talents nurtured from a young age, some of them making their way to amateur leagues and, after years of competition and effort, professional teams.

Many leading firms have their own eSports teams, with Faker believed to be paid at least 3 billion won ($2.6 million) a year by his sponsor SK

Multiple TV channels are dedicated to broadcasting eSports competitions, held at large football stadiums to roars from tens of thousands of fans, or sleek special arenas designed to showcase the games.

“Playing games became a full-time career in the South in the mid-2000s when many pro eSports teams were established, ahead of other countries,” Kim said.

With 25 million players -- half the population -- the South is the world’s sixth-biggest video game market.

But many South Korean players and coaches have been hired to work for top teams around the world, in-

3. Make a student loan repayment plan now It is tempting to put those student loan payment details in a drawer and not worry about them until November. That’s a mistake. Make a plan now.

4. Save for a rainy day right now It is possible, and smart, to pay down debt and save money at the same time.

You should do that. Your first goal should be to accrue a rainy-day fund equal to at the very least three months living expenses. Take all those family checks for graduation and put them aside for this fund.

6. Credit cards aren’t evil. Just dangerous That rainy day fund will help you avoid getting into credit card trouble. Credit cards are just fine, and often serve as a perfectly helpful 30-day cash flow loan with added benefits (like points) along the way. The worst thing ever is making a habit out of that. -Marketwatch.com

cluding China and the US -- eSports’ two biggest markets.

“Now the US and China have the same systems and have caught up with us,” Kim told AFP, “but we have know-how and culture that has been accumulated for decades helping us stay at the top of the game”.

- ‘Improve your social standing’ South Korea’s obsession with video games dates back to the 1990s when Starcraft -- a US science fiction strategy game -- enjoyed huge popularity, so much so that the South accounted for more than half its worldwide sales.

Nowadays teenagers hoping to become professional players -- or popular among their game-crazed peers -flock to a growing number of private, after-hours schools coaching them

how to play video games better.

A typical “game academy” features a rows of teenagers or men in their 20s playing Overwatch or League of Legends, with a coach -- usually a former pro -- watching their performances and suggesting better moves.

“If you become a good gamer, it can improve your social standing and help you make more friends,” game academy student Kim Han-eol told Seoul’s YTN news channel.

Six other players will accompany Faker to Indonesia next month to compete.

“The Asian Games is not an event only watched by gamers but something watched by the whole nation,” Faker told reporters. “I will win the game no matter what.”

VOICE OF VOICE OF ASIA ASIA17 17

FRIDAY, FRIDAY,July July27, 272018 2018

July is Hunger Prevention Month

Medicare Part D beneficiaries are charged a variety of out-of-pocket expenses

Section 2

Tel: 713-774-5140

Importance of Diet in Coronary Heart Disease: Medicare Part D beneficiaries are charged a variety of outRisks and Solutions - Part I of-pocket expenses is directly involved in many of the risk factors for coronary heart disease.

Paying attention to what you eat is one of the most important preventative measures you can take.

Risk factors for heart disease A number of factors are associated with the build-up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries, including cigarette smoking, lack of physical activity and a family history of the disease.

Other risk factors include:

Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, PhD. Rice University, Houston Texas

by Dr. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee Characteristics of heart disease Cardiovascular disease is known as the silent killer—especially for women. It takes the lives of roughly one million Americans every single year, which equals approximately 1 in 4 deaths (more than half are female).

Heart disease is considered dangerous because it often doesn’t display telltale symptoms like cancer or lung disease. And many individuals who

• Type of fat eaten – saturated and trans fats increase blood cholesterol and heart attack rates.

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats lower the risk of heart attacks.

• Obesity – many overweight and obese people have diets high in fat, particularly saturated fat. A person who carries the bulk of their body fat around their stomach (an ‘apple’ shaped body) is at greater risk of heart disease than someone whose body fat tends to settle around their bottom, hips and thighs (a ‘pear’ shaped body).

• High blood pressure (hypertension) – blood pressure is the amount of pressure within the arteries (blood vessels that carry blood around the body). High blood pressure, or hypertension, means that the pressure in the arteries is higher than normal. This

don’t have their cholesterol and blood pressure checked regularly succumb to heart attack without ever realizing they ever had a health issue.

may be because the arteries are less elastic, there is more blood volume, or more blood is being pumped out of the heart.

Coronary heart disease is characterized by a narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Fatty deposits, or plaques, cling to the artery walls and can clog the arteries, making it more likely that a blood clot will form. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot blocks one of the arteries of the heart.

This prevents the flow of blood, cuts off the oxygen supply to the heart and damages or kills the heart cells. Food

Uncontrolled diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance In healthy people, insulin keeps the blood sugar level relatively constant.

However, for those vulnerable to type 2 diabetes, the body gradually loses its sensitivity to insulin. This leads to chronically elevated blood sugar levels, also known as impaired glucose tolerance. Uncontrolled diabetes can damage the artery walls and contribute

to coronary heart disease. People who are obese are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people of normal weight.

Cholesterol levels and dietary fats

Cholesterol is a fat that is crucial to many metabolic functions and is an essential part of all the body’s cell membranes. Cholesterol is produced in the body from the food we eat and is produced in the liver. Blood lipids (fats) that contain cholesterol include low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL cholesterol can lead to plaque forming on arteries. HDL cholesterol helps the body to remove cholesterol from the body and makes it harder for plaque to form in the arteries.

Saturated and trans fats in the diet tend to increase LDL cholesterol in the blood. Common sources of saturated fats include animal products (butter, meat fat, beef, lamb, chicken skin and full cream dairy foods), and processed foods like pastries and biscuits.

Trans fatty acids and saturated fats, such as elaidic acid, are formed when monounsaturated or polyunsaturated vegetable oils are hydrogenated and hardened to form margarines. This applies particularly to the harder vegetable fat and shortening used by the food

industry in products such as cakes and biscuits.

Most monounsaturated and polyunsaturated table margarines have very low levels of trans fatty acids.

The small amounts present in table margarines are not significant and do not negate the benefits of substituting these margarines for saturated fats like butter. Trans fatty acids also occur naturally in some meats, butter and dairy products. These trans fats tend to increase the LDL cholesterol.

Foods that help prevent heart disease - Next Week.

Free bus rides driving safer births for Nepali women

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AMECHHAP, Nepal | AFP | As a teenager Meera Nepali was terrified as she went into labour with her first child at home in a remote village, miles from a hospital with nobody but her mother-in-law to help.

“We found that one of the main reasons rural women did not go to a hospital during childbirth was because they did not have hard cash to pay for transportation,” said Suresh Tiwari, one of the original architects of the scheme.

The programme was started in

Copays. Medicare Part D plans have a formulary, or list of covered medications. These medications are typically grouped into tiers that have different costs for plan participants.

Medications in the preferred generics tier frequently have low copays of a median of $1, and sometimes drugs on this tier have no copay. Drugs on the non-preferred generic tier generally have slightly higher copays, and medications on the preferred brand name tier have much higher copays of a median of $37. Most enrollees pay about $45 for preferred brand drugs.

Non-preferred brand drugs are likely to be much more expensive.

2005 with British aid money, but has since been taken over by the Nepal government.

Today, it covers not just transport but medical costs for mothers and babies and includes a cash bonus for attending antenatal check-ups.

2017 marked a milestone for the programme: more Nepali women opted for hospital births over home deliveries for the first time on record, official figures show.

“The free service and transport incentive have been very effective in bringing women to health centres and hospitals where they can be saved in the case of complications,” said Tara Nath Pokharel, head of the government’s Family Health Division, which now runs the programme.

- ‘Die at home’ Nepali, one of the beneficiaries, paid nothing for her three-day stay at a clinic in Ramechhap district, east of Kathmandu, in January.

She was discharged with 1,000 rupees ($9) for transport plus a 400 rupee bonus for attending four antenatal appointments.

“I

returned

non-preferred brand name drugs typically need to pay between 35 and 50 percent of the cost of the medication.

Retirees who require expensive specialty drugs are often required to come up with 25 or 33 percent of the cost themselves. Coinsurance can be very high for specialty drugs, leading to retiree costs in the hundreds of dollars per month. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services defines specialty drugs as those that cost at least $670.

Uncovered medications. Prescription drug plans often don’t cover medications that can be purchased without a prescription that some seniors depend on. Things not included are vitamins and most over-the-counter medications. Research finds these types of medications may be burdensome to someone with Medicare Part D coverage.

Medicare Part D plans are allowed to change their lists of covered medications each year. A drug that was covered in the past may not be covered at all in the future or could be shifted to a tier with higher costs. Part D plans have different formularies, so the most important thing retirees should do is check to ensure that their drugs are covered by the plan.

Medicare beneficiaries can use the Medicare Plan Finder tool to find out which plans in their area cover their medications and how much they are likely to pay out-of-pocket under each option.

home in an ambulance. We hardly had to spend anything. I am really grateful for this facility,” Nepali said, cradling her young son in her arms.

Eventually Khatri’s husband relented, and she was treated for free at a nearby clinic. The couple were also given 1,000 rupees to pay for transport.

But the 27-year-old suffered a retained placenta, a painful and potential fatal complication of childbirth, and had to plead with her husband to take her to hospital.

Meera Nepali is one of more than two million women given access to medical services in Nepal under the Aama Surakshya, or ‘protection for mothers’ programme

Sudhir Mathuria HEALTHLIFE 360 713-771-2900

Coinsurance. Retirees who need to take medications classified as non-preferred brand name drugs or specialty drugs often need to pay coinsurance, or a percentage of the price of the medicine. An issue with coinsurance is that people’s actual out-of-pocket costs will depend on the underlying list price of the drug. They might not know how much they will be paying out-of-pocket until they actually go to fill their prescription. Those taking

Sita Khatri went into labour weeks before her due date and, unable to walk the three hours to the nearest health centre, gave birth to a healthy boy at home.

This year however, she delivered her second child in a rural health centre thanks to a small cash incentive that is getting pregnant women to hospital by paying their bus fares.

A huge obstacle to safe deliveries is the Himalayan nation’s tough terrain, which often makes getting to a health facility a long and expensive journey, as well as the paucity of clinics in many parts of the country.

Deductibles. The majority of Medicare Part D plans (55 percent) have a deductible before medications will be covered. Most plans with deductibles charge the maximum possible deductible of $405 in 2018, but some plans (9 percent) charge a smaller deductible. About 45 percent of Part D plans don’t have a deductible. Plans can change a deductible, which is the amount that people have to pay outof-pocket before the plan coverage begins, Some plans don’t have a deductible, and some plans charge less than that standard $405 amount.

Deeply patriarchal attitudes and traditional preferences for home births also see hospital visits dismissed as an unnecessary expense for poor families.

“I was a scared, but that was the norm. We didn’t have doctors close by,” Nepali told AFP of her threeday labour in Khadadevi village in Nepal’s hilly Ramechhap district.

The UN Population Fund says giving birth remains a leading killer of women of reproductive age in Nepal, where the risk of dying in childbirth is higher than anywhere else in South Asia except Afghanistan.

Premiums. The average Medicare Part D premium was $41 per month in 2018, up 11 percent since 2015, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data. However, premiums vary significantly based on the plan you select. Among widely available Part D plans, premiums ranged from $20 to $84 per month.

Some Part D plans increased their premiums by more than $10 per month in 2018, and a few plans had slight decreases in premiums.

The scheme is also saving lives outside the maternity wards, in part by tackling cultural obstacles.

by Paavan Mathema

The Aama Surakshya, or “protection for mothers”, programme has helped more than two million Nepali women access medical services in the impoverished country where dying in childbirth remains a very real risk.

M

edicare Part D helps retirees pay for their prescription drugs. But these prescription drug plans have a variety of out-of-pocket costs that vary based on the policy you select. Here are some of the medication costs you can expect in retirement.

“He said we don’t have money. I insisted, saying there are government facilities, we won’t have to spend too much,” Khatri said.

“It is better to go the hospital than to die at home.”

To select suitable Medicare Advantage Plan with Prescription Drug, Medicare Supplement Plan or stand alone Medicare Part D contact Sudhir Mathuria at 713-771-2900.

But some women cannot be reached by road and must be carried, while others encounter poorly equipped facilities once they arrive, said Niliza Shakya, a doctor at a health centre in Ramechhap.

“Some women still don’t have the decision-making power to say they want to go to a hospital, and health posts like ours are not equipped enough,” said Shakya.

Nepal managed to reduce maternal mortality by 71 percent between 1990 and 2015 -- just missing out on an ambitious Millennium Development Goal to reduce the rate by three-quarters.

But it has a long way to go in improving the overall quality of its healthcare, said Binjwala Shrestha, a charity worker from the Safe Motherhood Network Federation of Nepal.

“Reaching the hospital alone is not enough,” she said.

HEALTH

VOICE OF ASIA 18

Australia scientists develop ‘world first’ melanoma blood test

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

‘Dangerous complacency’ looms over world AIDS meeting

by Mariëtte Le Roux

at the expense of preventing HIV infection -- the only real way to stop the epidemic.

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ARIS, France | AFP -Thousands of experts and activists descend on Amsterdam Monday to bolster the battle against AIDS amid warnings that “dangerous complacency” may cause a resurgence of the epidemic that has already killed 35 million people.

“There is no epidemic that we have treated our way out of,” she said, citing Ebola and tuberculosis.

“Clearly, a vaccine is the holy grail, but we are not there yet.”

In the meantime, the world needs a renewed focus on prevention, said Bekker -- stressing condom use, expanding the use of virussuppressing ART as an infection shield, and providing safe, infection-free needles to drug users.

Rather than closing in on the goal of “ending” AIDS, new HIV infections have surged in parts of the world as global attention has dwindled and funding levelled off, say leaders of the anti-AIDS movement.

Australia has among the highest incidences of melanoma in the world

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YDNEY, Australia | AFP Australian researchers said Wednesday they have developed a blood test for melanoma in its early stages, calling it a “world first” breakthrough that could save many lives.

The scientists, from Edith Cowan University, said the new test could help doctors detect the skin cancer before it spreads through a person’s body.

“Patients who have their melanoma detected in its early stage have a fiveyear survival rate between 90 and 99 percent,” lead researcher Pauline Zaenker said in a statement.

She added that survival rates fell to less than 50 percent if the cancer spread in the body.

“This is what makes this blood test so exciting as a potential screening tool because it can pick up melanoma in its very early stages when it is still treatable,” Zaenker said.

The research, published in the journal Oncotarget on Wednesday, included a trial involving 105 patients with melanoma and 104 healthy people.

The procedure detected early stage melanoma in 79 percent of cases, the scientists said.

Melanoma is currently detected using a visual scan by a doctor, with areas of concern cut out surgically and biopsied.

Zaenker said the new process involved identifying autoantibodies a person’s body produces in response to the cancer.

“We examined a total of 1627 different types of antibodies to identify a combination of 10 antibodies that best indicated the presence of melanoma in confirmed patients relative to healthy volunteers,” she added.

Cancer Council Australia chief executive Sanchia Aranda said the test would be important for high-risk groups, who have to undergo regular inspections of their spots and moles that can be difficult and time-consuming.

She cautioned that the test did not pick up other types of less deadly, but more common, skin cancers such as squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma.

“People need to be very aware of whether they’ve got sun damage or UV damage on their skin, and be alert to changes in any spots or moles,” she told AFP. The scientists will conduct another clinical trial lasting three years to validate the findings, and hope to have a test that clinics can use after that.

One in every three cancers diagnosed is a skin cancer, according to the World Health Organization, with Australia having among the highest incidences of melanoma in the world.

Gene-editing damages DNA more than previously thought: study

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ARIS, France | AFP | Monday 7/16/2018 - A revolutionary gene editing technique hailed as the future of disease eradication and mooted for a Nobel prize may be less precise and cause more cell damage than previously thought, researchers said Monday.

Lab experiments using mouse and human cells revealed that the CRISPR-Cas9 technique “frequently” caused “extensive” gene mutations, a study team reported.

“This is the first systematic assessment of unexpected events resulting from CRISPR-Cas9 editing,” said Allan Bradley of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in England, where the team conducts research.

The research showed that “changes

in the DNA have been seriously underestimated before now,” said Bradley, who co-authored a study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The mutations have not been shown to be harmful, nor benign.

“It is important that anyone thinking of using this technology for gene therapy proceeds with caution and looks very carefully to check for harmful effects,” Bradley said in a statement issued by the institute.

First unveiled about six years ago, CRISPR-Cas9 allows scientists to insert, remove and correct a faulty sequence on a strand of DNA in a cell with pinpoint precision.

It has raised hopes that one day disease-causing genes could be removed or altered before a baby is even born.

But to do this while also getting treatment to the 15.2 million infected people who do not yet have access, the world needs cash.

And they lament that too fine a focus on virus-suppressing treatment has overshadowed basic prevention with the result that HIV is still spreading with ease among the most vulnerable people.

And this at a time that the US administration under Donald Trump has vowed to cut AIDS spending.

“The encouraging reductions in new HIV infections that occurred UNAIDS founder Peter Piot warned against A report this week by UNAIDS for about a decade has emboldened growing complacency that an end to AIDS was and the Kaiser Family Foundation, some to declare that we are within within reach a health policy NGO, found that reach of ending AIDS,” said Peter after two years of declining global Piot, a veteran virus researcher and seek to revive the flagging fight, the founder of the UNAIDS agency. five-day event will also present an funding, donor payments to low- and middle-income countries rose 16 However, “there is absolutely no opportunity for scientists to mull percent to $8.1 billion (seven billion over recent advances and setbacks in evidence to support this conclusion,” euros) last year. he insisted, and warned: “the language the quest for simpler, better anti-HIV drugs.

- Don’t walk away on ending AIDS has bred a dangerous complacency.”

More than three decades of research But it cautioned this was no cause This was evident from declining have yet to yield a cure or vaccine for for celebration, as the trend was “not global and domestic funding for HIV the AIDS-causing virus that has in- expected to last”. eradication and treatment programmes, fected nearly 80 million people since The extra money came mainly Piot said at the launch this week of the epidemic burst onto the world from a rollover to 2017 of funds the a report by the International AIDS scene in the early 1980s.

US government -- by far the largest Society (IAS) and The Lancet medical A UNAIDS report Wednesday said funder of AIDS programmes -- had journal. about 36.9 million people last year appropriated but not spent in previous The authors of that report, he said, were living with the virus which, years. “are extremely concerned that there is thanks to antiretroviral therapy (ART), Funding from donor governments a real risk that the world will declare is no longer a death sentence. “is likely to fall again”, said the report. victory long before our fight against It reported the lowest annual death According to UNAIDS, the global AIDS is over.” toll in two decades, and a record num- effort is short about $7 billion per year Rubbing shoulders with celebrity ber of people on life-saving treatment. to achieve the goal of ending AIDS activists such as actress Charlize But the report also alerted that new as a public health threat by 2030, by Theron, Britain’s Prince Harry, and HIV infections are rising in about 50 reducing new infections and deaths by singers Elton John and Conchita, more countries, and have more than doubled 90 percent from 2010. than 15,000 delegates are expected in in eastern Europe and central Asia.

“The job is not done,” stressed the Dutch capital for the conference, IAS president Linda-Gail Bekker Robert Matiru, director of operations opening Monday. told AFP that there may have been at Unitaid, a non-profit body that - Charlize and Conchita “a strategic mistake on the part of the channels financing for HIV research While high-profile speeches will AIDS gurus” to prioritise treatment and development.

Chinese firm recalls heart drug as US, EU raise concerns

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HANGHAI, China | AFP The Chinese manufacturer of a widely used blood pressure medication said it had launched a global recall after US and European regulators warned of contamination by a cancer-causing impurity.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) first issued an alert on July 5 over supplies of the active ingredient valsartan produced by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Company, based in eastern China and listed on Shanghai’s stock exchange.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a similar notice about a week later.

Both have warned of the presence of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which is believed to potentially cause cancer through long-term use.

In a series of pronouncements over the past week, Huahai said last Friday that it had moved to suspend supply

and had begun a recall.

the FDA statement.

Valsartan is a generic drug mainly used for treatment of high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.

The FDA said not all products containing valsartan were being recalled in the United States.

The EMA has said there is “no immediate risk and patients taking valsartan are advised not to stop their treatments” unless advised by doctors.

“The presence of NDMA was unexpected and is thought to be related to changes in the way the active substance was manufactured,” it said.

Several US companies had already begun voluntarily recalling products containing Huahai’s valsartan after

Both the FDA and EMA are further investigating.

The company did not answer AFP calls seeking comment.

Read up on what’s changing in the world of health

Voice of Asia brings you the latest in medicine, medical technology, nutrition, pharmacy, and other health related articles. Also visit www.healthlinemag.com

STYLE & BEAUTY

VOICE OF ASIA 19

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Procter & Gamble adds First Aid Beauty to portfolio Cult skincare brand First Aid Beauty has been snapped up by Procter & Gamble.

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elfies are an inescapable part of modern life, but could they also be responsible for driving up cosmetic surgery procedures?

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via its aesthetic health portal, the Consumer Guide to Plastic Surgery, also found that over two thirds of respondents (67%) modify their pho-

Are your selfies making you consider plastic surgery?

Are your selfies making you consider plastic surgery?

A

ccording to a new survey, almost 73% of people feel “selfie-conscious” when looking at their own social media photos, with approximately 60% claiming they would be more likely to consider cosmetic surgery based on the results of their selfies (despite 86% never having undergone any previous such procedures).

The report, carried out by digital marketing and reputation management agency Ceatus Media Group

tos with filters, with 55% concerned with the issues of skin texture, skin tone, wrinkles or weight.

“These first-of-their-kind findings are really eye opening,” said Ceatus CEO Dr. David Evans in a statement. “Our results suggest that these photo-editing tools may serve as a bridge between selfies and plastic surgery.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the majority of participants in the survey were aged 41 or older, and preferred using

Facebook and Instagram over other social media platforms. However, a recent survey by the US-based cosmetic surgery information platform Zalea also found that almost 40% of millennials have either undergone a cosmetic procedure or are considering one for the next 12 months, suggesting that going under the knife is something a range of generations are open to.

Fore more information, see www. ceatus.com.. - Relaxnews

6 Skin experts on how to treat acne scars

by Lisa Niven ackling acne and finding a treatment that works for you can be a rewarding experience, but often the scars left behind can be just as much a knock to the sufferer’s confidence as the spots themselves. From boxcar scars to rolling scars, toothpick scars to keloids, the marks left by acne need careful treatment if you’re looking to reduce their appearance over time. Here, seven skin experts share their advice on treating acne scars.

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Debbie Thomas - Facialist

and skincare expert

“The type of scarring present will affect the treatment choice and the possible results. Acne scars can be very superficial (flat) and be red or brown marks which are quite easy to improve. Deeper, rolling scars which leave shallow dips in the skin 2 to 5 millimetres wide can normally be improved 30 to 70 per cent. Ice pick scars, which are much deeper but only 1 to 2 millimetres wide, are the most difficult to improve. Most scarring treatments will leave the skin looking red, bumpy or scaly for two to five days after the treatment, so the treatment does need to be planned. I always recommend the application of Oxygenetix Foundation which can be used straight after all skin treatments, not just to cover the redness but also to help the skin heal quicker. The most common treatments for scaring are lasers, microneedling and peels. We also offer the Enerjet treatment which shoots a high pressure blob of liquid in to the scar to break it up more effectively. All of the treatments will need to be repeated several times for up to a year, in order to see results, as they all work by re-injuring the scar tissue forcing it to repair again. Every person responds very differently to treatments depending on their own healing and repair process. I always get the best results by combining several types of treatment - for example a medium peel, with microneedling and mesotherapy will give a much better result

According to First Aid Beauty’s founder and CEO Lilli Gordon, the move will allow the brand to focus on increasing its global presence and explore product development options.

Meanwhile, Markus Strobel, president of P&G’s global skin and personal care, told First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Acne Clearing WWD: “We’re looking in our Pads with White Clay. © Courtesy of First Aid skin-care portfolio for brands Beauty. that complement our portfolio in benefit spaces where we’re currently not present, or in segments of the market where we’re not present, and First Aid and makeup that spans everything Beauty fits the bill pretty well.” from moisturizers and serums to acne Since being founded in 2009, clearing pads and sunscreen. The First Aid Beauty has developed a collection is sold online, as well as at reputation for science-based skincare Sephora and Ulta Beauty. - Relaxnews

Peach & Lily launches new skincare line K-beauty heavyweight Peach & Lily is an expert at curating cosmetics, but now the brand has unveiled a whole new skincare line of its own.

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he company, a goto retail site for US-based fans of Korean beauty products, has finally launched a full, own-brand line, following months of teasing. The five-piece collection comprises a ‘Glass Skin Refining Serum,’ a ‘Pure Beam Luxe Oil,’ a ‘Matcha Pudding Antioxidant Cream,’ a ‘Super Reboot Resurfacing Mask’ and an ‘Original Glow Sheet Mask,’ available on peachandlily.com.

Peach & Lily first dropped the news of its new project back in May, with founder Alicia Yoon revealing in a Glass Skin Refining Serum by Peach and Lily © blog post that the project Courtesy of Peach & Lily had been two years in the making. She cited the difficulties her sister had enfunctioning as a portal for cult Asian countered when pregnant, in finding beauty trends and cosmetics. The clinical strength skincare with clean, brand made its first foray into beauty safe ingredients. “I decided to create products in 2016, when it launched a this line for my sister and for all of trio of sheet masks; a K-beauty staple. you who are quite simply looking for Last year saw the company ramp up results without tradeoffs,” Yoon wrote. its visibility in the US with a dedicated Since its launch in 2012, Peach & retail pop-up space at Bergdorf GoodLily has grown to become a major man’s New York flagship store in OcK-beauty retail platform in the US, tober. - Relaxnews

Linda Blahr - National head of training and science at Skinceuticals “The skin’s texture becomes rough, and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) can linger long after blemishes subside. The Skinceuticals Blemish + Age line-up is an anti-ageing, anti-blemish powerhouse. This potent, oil-free treatment is designed to diminish imperfections while correcting signs of ageing and scarring.

The combination of dioic acid, capryloyl salicylic acid, and salicylic acid controls sebum production, reduces post-blemish hyperpigmentation, and provides targeted, lipid-soluble exfoliation. Glycolic acid and citric acid minimise fine lines and wrinkles, smooth rough texture, and improve irregularities. I would also suggest a Dermapen or Dermaroller treatment (every two to three months) to treat deeper acne scars properly. This is what we call ‘integrated skincare’.”

he corporation, which counts Olay, Aussie, Herbal Essences and SK-II as part of its portfolio, stumped up an estimated $250 million to secure its new acquisition, WWD reports.

Primark and UNICEF team up in the name of education than just microneedling.”

Teresa Tarmey - Facialist and

skincare expert

“Having suffered with acne myself, I can vouch for my comments. The best treatment for acne scarring is any form of resurfacing. The one I used and continue to use in treatments is Fractional Radio Frequency by Venus Viva. I then get my clients to use my at-home microneedling kit for added results and maintenance. It’s such an amazing result. Fractional every four to six weeks and my kit once per week in between sessions.”

Lou Riby - Managing director at Elemental Herbology

“The three main steps we would recommend when treating acne scars and blemishes are as follows. First, use natural AHAs, which are a great way to gently exfoliate and reduce red marks. Elemental Herbology Facial Glow Radiance Peel uses natural AHAs from papaya, apple and orange as well as jojoba beads for smooth and soft skin. The second step is to reduce pigmentation and help repair the skin.

Retinoids (pure vitamin A) are a fantastic way to address pigmentation and skin damage. We use Granactive Retinoid in our Vital Glow Overnight Resurfacing Cream to dramatically stimulate cell turnover, reduce blemishes, pigmentation and skin imperfections and to deliver a healthy and radiant glow. Finally, niacinamide is extremely effective in soothing and strengthening the skin while improving the skin’s barrier function. This

restoring ingredient helps to visibly improve the appearance of enlarged pores, uneven skin tone and dullness.”

Nausheen Qureshi founder of Elequra

“If you have a darker skin type, your acne scarring will take longer to treat because of melanogenesis and how pigmentation occurs in the skin. It is also harder to treat in the summer. I recommend using a vitamin C serum once a day and exfoliating once a week with a gentle lactic acid-based peel like Elequra Intense Restore Mask.

Gentle peels formulated in this way help to increase cell turnover safely and effectively. I’d ensure to always use an all-round sunscreen and keep reapplying and to avoid direct sunlight on the areas of scarring.”

Dr Stefanie Williams -

Cosmetic dermatologist and founder of Eudelo clinic “Some people develop raised, overgrowing scars (hypertrophic scars or keloids) after surgery, trauma or even minor inflammations arising from folliculitis or acne. The earlier overgrowing scars are treated the better the chances of a good therapeutic outcome. As with any scar, they won’t disappear completely, but we can flatten them significantly and improve their appearance with treatment. Common treatments for both hypertrophic and keloid scars are injections with potent steroid solutions, plus topical at-home treatment. This is performed at the Eudelo clinic by one of our dermatologists.” -Vogue UK

Primark has announced a new partnership with UNICEF. © AFP PHOTO / BORIS HORVAT

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rimark is shining the spotlight on children’s education, via a new partnership with UNICEF. The fast fashion giant has announced a three-year collaboration with the non profit organization, and has committed to donate US$4.5 million to a program designed to support the education of vulnerable children in Cambodia.

The retailer has also donated US$ 1.5 million towards UNICEF’s worldwide emergency response operations.

“As an international brand we are excited to be collaborating with a global organization which shares our commitment to making a difference in communities that most need support,” said Primark’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Marchant in a statement. “We recognize the importance of education in enabling every child to fulfil their potential, and we are pleased to be

able to support UNICEF as they work to break down some of the barriers to education for children in Cambodia.”

The Cambodian program will feature targeted support for girls and other children with disabilities or from minority language groups and will also cover investment in school sanitation facilities and teacher training.

The move aligns with a wider current trend among major fashion brands for supporting social causes. This year has seen denim label 7 For All Mankind combating bullying and loneliness via a new capsule collection with nonprofit organization The Jed Foun dation, while Lacoste has teamed up with the Save Our Species conservation group on a limited-edition project, and catwalk heavyweight Gucci donated $500,000 to the March For Our Lives gun control rally that took place back in the spring. - Relaxnews

LEISURE / TRAVEL

VOICE OF ASIA 20

World’s most expensive hotel suite costs $80,000 a night The windows are bullet-proof for a security-minded stay

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O

Frequent flyers of the United Arab Emirates’ flagship airline will now be able to send the airline questions about their flights directly using the popular mobile messaging app while they’re at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

In Elite Traveler’s list of Top 100 Suites 2018, Hotel President Wilson in Geneva takes the title of world’s most exorbitantly expensive suite for its Royal Penthouse Suite, a 12-bedroom apartment that takes up the entirety of the hotel’s eighth floor.

Fun fact: Guests who shell out $80,000 per night are handing out more money than the median US household income earned in one year, which in 2016 was about $59,000, according to the US Census Bureau.

The suite has hosted everyone from Michael Jackson, Richard Branson, Rihanna, Bill Gates, Matt Damon and Michael Douglas.

So what do you get for $80,000?

It’s in the details.

For the VIP guests, including heads of state, the suite has been designed to provide maximum security with bulletproof windows, a panic button, private elevator and reinforced safe.

For musical guests, it comes with a Steinway grand piano, and for bookworms, a collection of antique books.

All 12 bedrooms are also accompanied by their own marble bathrooms, which are kitted out with Hermès amenities.

In future, the feature will be expanded to send guests information like flight reminders, flight status and other messages via WhatsApp. Royal Penthouse Suite at Hotel President Wilson (Photo: © Marriott International)

The suite itself also offers sweeping, panoramic views of its waterfront location, along with Mont-Blanc in the distance.

It goes without saying that at $80,000, the suite also comes with a personal chef, butler and security team.

Meanwhile, the list of the world’s most expensive hotel suites is mostly represented by properties in the US and Europe.

Rounding out the podium is the five-bedroom Terrace Suite in New York’s The Mark hotel at $75,000, and the Penthouse Suite at the Grand Hyatt in Cannes, France, which costs $53,200.

Here are the cities and countries that host some of the most extravagantly priced hotel suites in the world: 1. Hotel President Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland Royal Penthouse Suite, $80,000

2. The Mark, New York, USA Terrace Suite, $75,000 3. Hotel Martinez by Hyatt, Cannes, France Penthouse Suite, $53,200 4. Faena Hotel, Miami, USA Penthouse, $50,000 5. Laucala Island, Fiji Hilltop villa, $45,000

7. Hotel Cala Di Volpe, Sardinia, Italy Penthouse suite, $41,177 8. The Plaza, New York, USA Royal Suite, $40,000 9. Hotel de Paris, Monaco Princess Grace Suite, $37,000 10. Mandarin Oriental New York, New York Suite 5000, $36,000 (-Relaxnews)

T

Japan is often viewed as the Holy Grail of gaming in Asia due to its wealthy population and an appetite for other forms of gaming, including pachinko

It argues the casinos will bring in tourist and business spending, like other regional gambling destinations in Singapore and Macau, and provide a shot in the arm for a stagnant economy.

But legislation has been controversial, including among activists concerned about Japan’s already well-documented problem with gambling addiction.

The law enacted Friday allows the construction of three

AFP Photo IR facilities, and comes after the more powerful lower house approved the same bill in June.

“Japanese IRs are not only about casinos,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters Friday, ahead of the vote.

“It is an integrated resort facility that will help increase tourism across Japan,” Suga said, adding that the law would help Japan “become a major tourism nation,” and boost the economy as a whole.

- ‘Holy Grail’ of gaming Japan was long the only developed nation banning casinos but passed legislation in 2016 paving the way to legalise the industry.

Public opinion is heavily against the legislation, with 62 percent of voters saying in a survey earlier this month that they opposed it. Just 22 percent were in favour, with 16 percent unsure.

tions, and receive check-in notifications, boarding passes and flight status updates using the verified WhatsApp Business app.

Though the service is reserved for its premium guests, Etihad also has real-time channels for its other guests on Twitter @EtihadHelp and on Facebook. (-Relaxnews)

from 1978 to 2014.

It’s tempting to blame the decline on the proliferation of computers, cellphones, video games and the like. But a longterm study of reading trends in

T

he share of Americans who read for pleasure on a given day has fallen by more than 30 percent since 2004, according to the latest American Time Use Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2004, roughly 28 percent of Americans age 15 and older read for pleasure on a given day. Last year, the figure was about 19 percent. That steep drop means that aggregate reading time among Americans has fallen, from an average of 23 minutes per person per day in 2004 to 17 minutes in 2017.

The American Time Use Survey is based on a nationally representative sample of about 26,000 individuals. Respondents answer questions and fill out detailed time diaries about how they spent the previous day. The large sample size means the survey’s time-use

Japan on Friday enacted a controversial law to allow casinos that the government says will boost tourism and growth but was bitterly opposed by the opposition.

Etihad Airways (© AFP Photo/Ho/Etihad)

Leisure reading in the U.S. is at an all-time low

The survey data shows declines in leisure reading across all age levels. Percentagewise, the likelihood of reading declined the most among Americans ages 35 to 44, with smaller declines for both younger and older age groups.

he Japanese government says the casinos will bring in tourist and business spending, like other regional gambling destinations in Singapore and Macau

Japan’s government has long touted the drive for mega “integrated resorts” (IRs) that will include casinos, entertainment venues, restaurants, hotel and conference halls, on the Las Vegas model.

Etihad joins KLM in developing a channel on WhatsApp. The Dutch airline became the first to launch a WhatsApp business account last year, which allows customers to confirm bookings, ask ques-

by Christopher Ingraham 6. Hotel Mansour, Marrakech Grand Riad, $43,480

Japan passes controversial law to allow casinos

In a last-ditch attempt to delay the vote on the bill in the upper house, opposition lawmakers called a confidence vote on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet, despite the premier being guaranteed an easy win by his large parliamentary majority.

Etihad launches customer service line on WhatsApp

tihad Airways has launched a new service that will allow its premium flyers to contact the airline via WhatsApp.

ne night in the world’s most expensive hotel suite will set you back an eye-popping, outrageous, some might say outlandish $80,000 a night.

At 1,680 square meters (18,083 square feet), it’s also the largest hotel suite in Europe.

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Bolstered by public opinion on the issue, the opposition fought hard with administrative measures to delay a vote on the legislation.

They also criticised the government for prioritising the bill over measures to address a massive floods and landslides that hit western Japan earlier this month killing more than 200 people.

“There are countless reasons that the Abe administration deserves a no-confidence (resolution),” said Yukio Edano, leader of the main opposition.

The casino bill is “not something that we have to make a hasty decision on” as Japan still faces disaster relief measures in western Japan, Edano said in the lower house after submitting the no-confidence resolution.

The legislation kicks off a process that will see local regions bid for casinos. (-AFP)

Roughly 19 percent of Americans age 15 and older read for pleasure on a given day. (-shutterstock) estimates are extremely precise relative to traditional phone surveys, which may involve only 1,000 people or fewer.

The findings on reading comport with some other recent data on American reading trends. Survey data from the Pew Research Center and Gallup have shown that the share of adults not reading any book in a given year nearly tripled

the Netherlands points to a different culprit: television. From 1955 to 1995, TV time exploded while weekly reading time declined.

In 2017, the average American spent more than 2 hours 45 minutes per day watching TV, every day of the year, or nearly 10 times the amount of time they devoted to reading for pleasure.(-Washington Post)

VOICE OF ASIA 21

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

Home&Real Estate CENTERED LIVING

How Many Americans are Finding Affordable Housing

W

i t h the cost of housing continuing to rise faster than wages, it’s no wonder that many Americans nationwide are struggling to make ends meet.

Luckily, solutions already exist to address the affordable housing shortage, say experts.

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For example, more than 22 million people in the U.S. now live in manufac- Almost 93,000 new manufactured homes were built in the U.S. in 2017. Statepoint tured housing -- photo. homes built to a federal standard in factories and placed on a homeowner’s land cording to experts. Advocates factured housing includes feaor on rented lots in manufac- say that zoning restrictions tures that today’s homebuyers tured home communities, ac- and other rules and regulations want, such as luxury bathcording to the Manufactured in many areas are preventing rooms, vaulted ceilings and Housing Institute (MHI). In manufactured housing from state-of-the-art kitchens with appliances. many parts of the country, closing the gap -- as certain energy-efficient homes like these are the least jurisdictions only allow manu- Often situated in communities expensive kind of housing factured housing in locations with swimming pools, playavailable without a govern- far from town centers and oth- grounds and clubhouses, they ment subsidy. The cost to buy er jurisdictions have consid- can be a very attractive option for families and retirees a manufactured home averages ered banning them altogether. seeking affordability. To learn about $70,600, compared with “Part of this bias may be more visit, manufacturedhous$286,000 for a single-family site-built home, not including based on the negative stereo- ing.org. type of earlier generations of land costs.

“At a time when there is a manufactured housing, howIn response to growing mar- ever, today, our homes are great need for high-quality, ket demand, almost 93,000 built with quality construc- affordable housing, today’s new manufactured homes tion materials to meet rigorous manufactured homes are an were built in the U.S. in 2017, federal standards for safety, effective solution for many an approximate 15 percent in- installation and construction,” American families and comcrease over 2016, according to says Richard Jennison, presi- munities,” says Jennison.

MHI, but this is still not nearly dent and CEO of MHI. - StatePoint enough to meet the nation’s What’s more, today’s manuaffordable housing needs, ac-

Estate Sale

US home sales see 3rd straight decline amid record prices

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ASHINGTON | AFP | 7/23/2018 - The tight US housing market pushed sales of existing homes down for the third month in row in June while prices hit a record high, according to industry data released Monday.

The rising prices and falling sales came despite a slight uptick in supply, suggesting would-be buyers were being priced out of the market.

areas is going under contract very fast and in many cases,

has multiple offers,” he said in a statement.

Furniture, glassware, collectibles, vintage, dolls, pictures, linens, Japanese artifacts, Japanese kimonos, Japanese pottery, china, figurines and lots of unique treasures!

With a downward revision to May, the June figures suggested the housing sector could contribute only modestly to GDP growth in the second quarter, which is expected to be robust.

Sales of single-family houses, townhouses, condos and co-ops fell 0.6 percent compared to May, to an annual rate 5.38 million units, the lowest level since January, the National Association of Realtors said in its monthly report.

This left sales 2.2 percent below their level of a year ago, and was significantly below economists’ expectations.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the national market was in the grip of a “severe” housing shortage.

“What is for sale in most

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VOICE OF ASIA 22

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ACCOUNTANTS BOOK-KEEPING

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

INCOME TAX

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RESTAURANTS India’s Restaurant & Catering For special parties and corporate events. Preferred Wine list, authentic vegetarian & nonvegetarian dishes, finest Indian cuisine with chef’s special dishes Ph: 713-266-0131/0805

l High Quality l Huge Sale l Free Quote Installation of Carpet (Commercial & Residential) Hard wood, Laminate and Vinyl. Call/Text Dian Robinson: 832-623-8028 Email: canaancarpets@gmail.com

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: AT THE SUPERMARKET

We cater from 10 people to 800 people for all occasions. We deliver to your venue.

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Book this space TODAY Call 713-774-5140

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Shiva Indian Restaurant & Catering Specializing in North Indian Cuisine, office & Corporate catering 2514 Times Blvd, Rice Village Ph: 713-523-4753 Visit us online: www.shivarestaurant.com

Week of JULY 27, 2018 21 March to 20 April Your leisure and social axis is very much in focus this week. A lunar eclipse on Friday brings the potential for changes to your social scene. Feelings may be running high.

21 April to 20 May You may be looking for closure if things didn’t end well the first time around, but will exposing old wounds really get you anywhere? It’s one thing to rehash old memories, but it’s another entirely to want to recreate them.

21 May to 20 June Expect a slower pace and some delays at work. This can be an upsetting time if you expect everyone to follow the usual procedures. Customers and people under your supervision can be especially irritating.

21 June to 22 July You may worry that you aren’t further ahead with your money or higher up the corporate ladder. But your professional relationships in your career sector are poised to make a very big transformation for the better.

23 July to 22 August Aspects may encourage you to look at your health and evaluate how you’re doing. This period may also coincide with a pulled muscle or stiffness that keeps you from being as agile as you’d like.

23 August to 22 Sept What do you have to offer a potential partner? You aren’t always good at bragging about yourself, but there’s nothing wrong with outlining your assets. Better yet, show potential dates your skills and talents.

Astrology.com

23 September to 22 Oct Make lists in order to stay organized.

Things settle down and you should have a good time with co-workers.

Week’s end can see you watching dramatic events from the sidelines. Hard work and possibly overtime will help you stay ambitious .

23 October to 21 Nov What you put into your work and money is what you get out, says the Universe. If you’ve been lax about planning for retirement or saving in general, this is the week to listen to your intuition and get cracking.

22 November to 21 Dec It’s time for a reality check. Compare your current health to the goals you set for yourself. You have the opportunity to align your body with your ideal image of health. As well as working out, it’s also time to work on the inside.

22 December to 20 Jan There is a lunar eclipse in your personal money zone on Friday that could encourage you to consider your personal security. And you could be very motivated to make use of technology when handling your financial affairs.

21 January to 19 Feb If an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend or crush reappears over the weekend, consider the timing. There are very few coincidences in life, so if they’re coming back into your life now, there might be a very good reason.

20 February to 20 Mar Your natural ability to work with groups should be strong now. It will be easy to advocate for any plan or cause. Do your research on any legal or written work that must be submitted soon. The simpler and more direct you can be the better.

ACROSS 1. Sans-____, font option

DOWN

6. Fly hangout?

1. Depletes

9. Toothy tool

2. Colossal

13. Lickety-split

3. “Pro” follower

14. Lennon’s wife

4. Desktop pictures

15. Jolly one

5. Tiny fox with large ears

16. Climber’s spike

6. Wild swine

17. FEMA provisions, e.g.

7. American cuckoo

18. Early anesthetic

8. Barrel racing meet

19. *Laser or LED at the supermarket register

9. Campus military org.

21. *Advantageous grocery display

11. What hoarders do

23. Male or female 24. Show off 25. Blue 28. *Type of a grocerant 30. Same as torsi 35. Kind of sandwich 37. Transversus abdominis location 39. “The Voice” concern 40. Sunrise in Spain 41. Civil wrongs 43. ____ d’Ivoire 44. Tarzan’s swing 46. Fork prong 47. Shaped like Humpty Dumpty 48. Brain teaser 50. Viper’s tooth 52. Santa’s helper 53. Miniature whirlpool 55. Miner’s bounty 57. *Salad bar ____ guard 60. *Perimeter aisle at the market

10. Turkish honorific 12. Make a mistake 15. Cow’s favorite grass?

20. Dead-on 22. Peanut isn’t this 24. Scare stiff 25. *Weights and Measures inspector’s concern 26. Make or break bet 27. Persian Gulf port 29. *Sales per square ____ 31. Puerto ____ 32. Range in the kitchen 33. Based on number 8 34. *____ life 36. *”More ____ for your buck!”

38. Tallest volcano in Europe 42. Mister in Madrid 45. Arabian chieftains 49. Wood-shaping tool 51. Show submission 54. Tooth trouble 56. Organ swelling 57. Undesirable location

64. Make dim

58. Infamous Roman

65. Make a pigeon sound

59. Garner wages

67. Corruptible

60. Well-mannered Emily

68. Rotary files

61. *U in SKU

69. *Supermarket circulars

62. *Grocery carrier

70. Same as #45 Down

63. Additional

71. Ke$ha’s 2012 hit 72. Thus far 73. #28 Across purchase

64. British public service broadcaster 66. Keats’ poem

SOLUTION on AT THE SUPERMARKET on PAGE 23

CLASSIFIEDS

VOICE OF ASIA 23

Houston Community College

Mail Box & Shipping Business for Quick Sale

Request for Proposals-Commodity

VERY GOOD LOCATION- PRIME BUSINESS AREA.

(RFP-C) Acreage Tractor Mowing

Serious Inquiry only. { Owner wants to Retire}

Services Project No. 18-20 AND

E-mail : mailboxnshipping3@gmail.com

Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

Call : 281-496-6400

Professional Civil Engineering Services Project No. 18-33

Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11A06, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on Wednesday, August 22, 2018. Sealed qualifications will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on Thursday, August 23, 2018. Documents can be obtained at, www. hccs.edu/procurement

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Hiring - Marketing/Web Master/Graphic Designer

Voice of Asia is looking for a Marketing / Web Master / Graphic Designer person who can do it all to be part of the team leading the charge to take our digital efforts to the next level.

Interested applicants can email their resume to ads@voiceofasiagroup.com

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD SOLUTION

BUSINESS FOR IMMEDIATE SALE Running Montessori School in NW Houston with Four Star Rating. Owner retiring. l Located close to major freeways and the Energy Corridor l Operating at the same location for the past 19 years l Fully equipped class rooms l Spacious & Safe Playground l Owner / Director available for M ​ entorship Advisory & Training​ Lease assumption can be considered ​For details, Contact​281 855 6068​

Theme: AT THE SUPERMARKET from PAGE 22

GET NOTICED! To receive or advertise on our weekly newsletter Call 713-774-5140 or email request to: voiceasia@ aol.com

Sad Demise

Mathew P. Cheriyan Mathew P. Cheriyan (age 6 8 ) , s o n o f L a t e P. M .

Cherian and Mariamma Cherian (Poothampurathu, Mallappally) passed away in Houston, Texas on July 20, 2018.

He is survived by his mother; wife Elizabeth Mathew (Sally) Arrackalullirical, Nilambur; children Smitha Jacob & Anitha Varghese; sons in law Jason Jacob & Nishant Varghese; and grandchildren Kaitlyn and Amelia Jacob.

Public viewing will be held on Thursday, July 26, 2018 at Trinity Mar Thoma Church, Houston,Texas.

Funeral/Burial service will be held on Friday, July 27, 2018 at South Park Cemetery. The family can be contacted by phone 1-281530-0182.

Obituary

Mrs. Sabra Khatoon Mrs. Sabra Khatoon mother of Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, President Houston Karachi Sister City Asso-

ciation, passed away on Monday July 16,2018 after long sickness with Cancer in Houston.

Namaz e Jinaza was held at Masjid Hamza and led

by Hafiz Ghulam Hussain Shah and Imam Tauqeer Shah. A large number of community members from all over Texas were present to pay condolence to Saeed Sheikh and his brother from London Mohammad Shafiq and their families.

Mrs.Sabra Khatoon was laid in peace at the Forest Lawn Commentary.

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018

VOICE OF ASIA 24

FRIDAY, July 27, 2018