Covering The Multicultural Asian American Community in Georgia
www.gasiantimes.com April 15-30, 2018
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
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International Day of Yoga Presented by Consulate General of India Date: Sunday, June 24, 2018 Time: 7:30 am-10:30am Venue: Heritage Sandy Springs Park, 6110 Blue Stone Road, Atlanta GA 30328 For more info: www.IDYAtlanta.org Kalayaan - Philippines Independence Day Date: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 Time: 6:30 pm Venue: Georgia Aquarium Admission: $50 before May 15; $60 after
Contact: Jennifer Rose and Rose Pak ATLANTA • 770.457.8118 iig-insurance.com
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
METRO ASIAN NEWS
Chinese manufacturer of thermoplastic elastomer invest $15 million facility in Social Circle Atlanta, April 20, 2018 – Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that Top Polymer Enterprise, a Chinese manufacturer of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), will create 70 jobs and invest $15 million in a facility in Social Circle. New jobs will include positions in manufacturing and production. “Georgia’s manufacturing sector continues to drive statewide investment by attracting industry leaders from around the world,” said Deal. “As the No. 1 state for business, Georgia has the highly skilled workforce, logistics infrastructure and low cost of doing business necessary to provide a strong foundation for Top Polymer’s continued growth. These resources will strengthen the company’s competitive edge in the global market as Top Polymer expands both in the U.S. and abroad. We look forward to this partnership with Top Polymer as the company invests in Social Circle and creates employment opportunities for our citizens.” The manufacturing plant in Walton County will be Top Polymer’s first facility in the U.S. The first phase of the facility will be approximately 60,000 square feet with three compounding lines. “This is an exceptional time for Top Polymer Enterprise and we are extremely excited to be part of the Social Circle community,” said Marcus Tsong, president of Top Polymer Holding Company. “We see our Social Circle facility as being the first key step to be-
coming an internationally recognized manufacturer and supplier of premier TPE system.” Top Polymer exports to more than 30 countries and regions. The company currently has two production bases in China, located in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province and Liyang City, Jiangsu Province. Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) Project Manager Nikki Yu represented the Global Commerce Division in partnership with GDEcD Director of China Initiatives Stella Xu, GDEcD Managing Director of Chinese Investment John Ling, Georgia Power, the Georgia Department of Labor and the Development Authority of Walton County. “Walton County and the City of Social Circle are excited to welcome Top Polymer to our community and we are looking forward to a strong partnership with them,” said Shane Short, executive director of the Development Authority of Walton County. “This partnership could not happen without the great support from the team at the Georgia Department of Economic Development.” “We are excited that Top Polymer chose Georgia for its first U.S. facility,” said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. “This announcement is a testament to our partnership approach to economic development, and I want to congratulate everyone involved.”
Peachtree Corners announced self driving shuttle testing program Peachtree Corners, April 25, 2018 -- The City of Peachtree Corners has officially launched an autonomous shuttle program along Technology Parkway. The shuttle will run on a 1.4 miles autonomous driving route. The city council voted and approved the plan on Tuesday evening. Mayor Mike Mason make the announcement along with representatives from Atkins consulting firm, Prototype Prime, and Partnership Gwinnett at a press conference at the City Hall. City officials treated the program as an economic development effort to attract businesses and companies involved with self-driving vehicle technology to the city. “What we want to do is to attract start ups and existing businesses to come to Prototype Prime and help them test their technology on our test bed. In return, we’re also trying to attract businesses here to be part of the community,” said Mayor Mason.
The test route would run between Peachtree Parkway and Spalding Drive near Norcross High School. The test route will be modified to accommodate both autonomous and traditional vehicles. Test shuttle will run on a bi-directional lane. The shuttle will take approximately six minutes to travel the entire distance of the test route, according to Brian Bolic, Vice President of Atkins. “We have already started conversations with several leading technology companies conducting research in autonomous vehicles technology to be involved with the project,” said Sanjay Parikh, Executive Director of Prototype Prime, a technology startup incubator located in Peachtree
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
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NATION
Pompeo becomes U.S. secretary of state as North Korea, Middle East issues Washington DC, April 26, 2018 - The U.S. Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state on Thursday, and the former CIA director set off immediately on a trip to meet key allies in Europe and the Middle East. Pompeo, a former Army officer who was a Republican congressman, is regarded as a Trump loyalist with hawkish world views. Pompeo is already deeply involved in diplomacy. Trump sent him to North Korea three weeks ago to meet with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, ahead of a summit with the U.S. president to address Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Moments after Pompeo was sworn in, the State Department said he would visit Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel during the weekend after attending a NATO meeting on Friday in Brussels. Pompeo picked those three Middle East stops “because of all that is going on,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. Iran is likely to be on the agenda on the Middle East leg of his trip. Trump will decide by May 12 whether to restore U.S. economic sanctions on Tehran, which would be a severe blow to the 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six major powers.
Pompeo is to meet with Saudi King Salman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an Jordanian King Abdullah, Nauert said.
State was slashed and many positions left unfilled under his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, a former oil executive who was Trump’s first secretary of state.
Senators in the Republican-controlled chamber voted 57-42 in favor of Pompeo, who had faced resistance from Democrats worried about his reputation for hawkishness and past harsh statements about homosexuality and Islam.
Trump, who abruptly fired Tillerson last month, welcomed Pompeo’s confirmation, saying in a statement, “Having a patriot of Mike’s immense talent, energy, and intellect leading the Department of State will be an incredible asset for our country at this critical time in history.”
Six Democrats and one independent who normally votes with Democrats backed Pompeo. No Republican voted no. Pompeo will be forced to quickly address a wide array of other international challenges, including long conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Chinese expansionism in Asia and Russian assertiveness. Washington is working with European allies such as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the possibility of toughening the nuclear agreement with Iran. CIA RECORD Pompeo’s supporters said he did well during 15 months leading the CIA, and said the country badly needed a leader at the State Department. Staffing at
Pompeo, who became one of Trump’s closest advisers while at the CIA, faced stiff opposition from Democrats, who worried he might be too closely aligned with the president. While in Congress, Pompeo opposed the Iran nuclear accord. He once suggested the answer to Tehran’s nuclear program - which Iran has always said was for peaceful means only - was 2,000 bombing sorties. Senator Ben Cardin, a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that attitude, and Pompeo’s backing for Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement if it cannot be changed, were among reasons he opposed him. “That’s not diplomacy, and that’s certainly not working with our European allies,” Cardin said.
Pompeo said during his confirmation hearing he was open to fixing, rather than blowing apart, the pact, which the West believes is essential to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. Trump picked the CIA’s deputy director, Gina Haspel, to replace Pompeo as head of the spy agency. If confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first woman to hold the post. Pompeo had avoided being the first nominee for secretary of state ever rejected by the Foreign Relations Committee only when Republican Senator Rand Paul, who had vowed to oppose him, shifted position minutes before the panel voted on Monday. None of the 10 Democrats on the 21-member committee supported him. The vote for Pompeo was almost the same as for Tillerson, who was approved by 56-43, then an unusually close margin for a cabinet position. Reuters
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
BUSINESS
Ad sales surge at Google parent Alphabet, but so do costs San Francisco, Apr 24, 2018 -Strong growth in ad sales on Google search and YouTube were not enough to offset a surge in costs at parent Alphabet Inc that shrank the first-quarter operating margin, leaving shares flat after hours on Monday. Alphabet got a boost from how it values investments in Uber Technologies Inc and other startups. That accounting change and a one-time benefit cut its effective tax rate nearly in half. Investors are uncertain about future profit at Alphabet as the company navigates the move to a phone-based computing world and invests in small, fast-growing initiatives from self-driving cars to selling hardware and cloud computing services. The quarterly results did not clarify the outlook. Alphabet’s operating margin of 22 percent, down from 27 percent a year ago, missed expectations because of the growth in expenses. Alphabet is investing to keep pace with Amazon.com Inc and having to share more of its revenue with phone and browser makers, said James Cordwell, analyst at Atlantic Equities. “The jump in profits is purely due to one-time items,” he said.
Longer-term capital expenditures nearly tripled to US$7.3 billion in the first quarter from US$2.5 billion a year ago.
show a relevant ad.”
Still, worldwide sales increased to US$31.1 billion, above the average analysts’ estimate of US$30.3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Alphabet’s quarterly profit of US$9.4 billion, or US$13.33 per share, exceeded estimates of US$6.56 billion, or US$9.28 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Those ad sales showed investors that there were no immediate signs that rising global privacy concerns had affected profits, even as concerns over Facebook Inc’s use of privacy cast some suspicion on Google. Officials across the world seek to force changes in Google’s business practices, such as giving customers more control over their data. “The strong economy has companies spending more on advertising,” said analyst Ivan Feinseth from Tigress Financial Partners. “Google continues to dominate both mobile and desktop search” and there will be “very little effect” from Facebook privacy data fallout, he said. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told analysts Monday that, “It’s important to understand that most of our ad business is search, where we rely on very limited information, essentially what is in the keywords to
Startup investments boost profits
About US$2.4 billion in earnings were attributable to a new accounting method for unrealized gains in Alphabet’s investments in startups such as Uber and Airbnb Inc. Alphabet now records estimates of the current value of its startup investments rather than waiting to report income once it has opportunity to sell those shares. That change and a one-time benefit drove the effective tax rate in the quarter to 11 percent from 20 percent a year earlier. Excluding the investment-related gains and other items, adjusted earnings were US$9.93 per share. Google had several one-time costs including acquiring 2,000 employees in Taiwan for US$1.1 billion from HTC Corp and moving up when it awards equity to employees. Continuing cost increases came from
acquiring streaming rights for YouTube’s new TV service and marketing new products. Google executives say the spending to install powerful computers and internet cables is necessary to keep up with demand for YouTube, its Google Assistant virtual helper service and data analytics tools within its Google Cloud services. Revenue from Google’s non-advertising units was US$4.4 billion in the first quarter. Alphabet is paring back on “other bets,” a set of ancillary projects in areas such as medical technology and drones. Operating loss from “other bets” fell to US$571 million, from US$703 million a year ago. Investors are counting on one other bet, the Waymo self-driving vehicles effort, to generate noteworthy revenue this year as it begins offering ride-hailing services. Google revealed smart thermostat maker Nest generated about US$726 million in revenue in 2017, above some analysts’ estimates. Financial results for Nest had not been released since its acquisition in 2014.
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
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BUSINESS
US to drop curbs on drone tech to boost arms sales Washington DC, April 20, 2018 -- The United States dropped some restrictions Thursday on sales of its advanced drones in order to reinforce the armies of its allies and compete with China on the world arms market. President Donald Trump’s White House announced an update to its policy on arms transfers to promote US exports and jobs, and specifically to loosen the rules on selling unmanned warplanes. Trump’s chief trade advisor, Peter Navarro, said the move was designed to reverse former president Barack Obama’s “myopic” decision to limit even US allies’ access to drone technology.
China to set up Hainan free trade zone by 2020, port by 2025 Shanghai, April 15, 2018 -- China aims to establish a free trade zone in Hainan by 2020 and will encourage multinationals to set up their international and regional headquarters in the province, state news agency Xinhua reported citing a government document. The guidance was jointly issued by the ruling Communist Party and State Council, Xinhua said. It comes after President Xi Jinping announced on Friday that the country would grant foreign firms greater economic freedom in the southernmost province. Known for its sandy beaches and resort-lined coast, Hainan is the headquarters of China’s aviation-to-financial services conglomerate HNA. This week, the province hosted the Boao Forum – Asia’s equivalent of Davos.
The document said that the government would set up an investment fund to support the building of a free trade port in Hainan by 2025, with the aim that the system will become “mature” by 2035. It will also phase out sales of traditional oil-fuelled vehicles for greater environmental conservation in Hainan, and encourage foreign firms to participate in the building of the free trade port.
Allowing US arms firms to directly market drones instead of forcing foreign customers to apply to the government would, he said, allow them to compete against sales of Chinese “knock-offs.” “The administration’s UAS export policy will level the playing field by enabling US firms to increase their direct sales to authorized allies and partners,” he said, referring to “Unmanned Aerial Systems”. Navarro said US weapons and aerospace exports are worth a trillion dollars a year, support 2.5 million well-paid jobs and form a key plank of Trump’s ambition to wipe out America’s trade deficit. But he said the market for drones alone could grow to $50 billion in a decade and that officials are “seeing Chinese replicas of American UAS technology deployed on the runways in the Middle East.” As an example, he cited China’s Wing Loong 2 medium-altitude, long-endurance drone.
This reconnaissance and missile platform was on display to potential clients at the 2017 Paris Air Show but is, he said, “a clear knock-off” of US firm General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper. “The fact is our allies and partners want to buy American,” Navarro said, noting that Trump was putting his “America First” slogan at the heart of arms sales policy. Drone assassins “Partners who procure American weaponry are more capable of fighting alongside us, and are also more capable of protecting themselves with fewer American boots on the ground.” The United States pioneered the use of unmanned aircraft, some of them flown by pilots half-a-world away through satellite links to a ground station, for spotting missions and missile strikes. They have been deployed both by the US military in support of overt deployments in the so-called war on terror and by the CIA for covert targeted strikes to kill suspected militants. Critics of their deployment say that, because they can be used without putting American pilots in harm’s way, they encourage commanders and presidents to resort more easily to lethal force. Despite the accuracy of missiles guided by drone-mounted lasers, many hundreds and perhaps thousands of civilians have been killed in US strikes in South Asia, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. But US officials defend the technology, arguing that its proper use allows commanders to study targets more carefully and to carry out precision raids, minimizing the threat to allies and civilians.
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
ART
Fashion documentaries go behind the seams on McQueen, Guo New York, April 27, 2018 -- Late British designer Alexander McQueen liked to tell his story through his audacious fashions, so getting those who knew him to speak about his personal life proved a challenge for the makers of documentary “McQueen.” The film, which got its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this week, tells McQueen’s story through testimonials from his closest friends and family as well as personal archives going back to his early days and clips from his fashion shows. “We had to prove to people we had the right intention,” said Ian Bonhôte, who co-directed the film with Peter Ettedgui.
“It was a lot of hoops to go through to convince people. But, you know, suddenly you just opened one door and then one door to lead to another one,” he said. McQueen, who made waves with his world-famous collections, committed suicide in 2010 at the age of 40 at what many considered the height of his career. “He often said, ‘If you want to know me, look at my work; my shows are autobiographical. They’re about what I feel about the world and how I experience the world.’ So it made a great deal of sense to try and tell the story of his life through his work,” said Ettedgui.
Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei, by contrast, was a relatively obscure figure for 30 years until she made headlines worldwide for designing a stunning hand-made yellow gown with a fivemetre-long train worn by Rihanna to the 2015 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute gala. “Even though she comes from the most populated country in the world, she has obviously lived in this relative isolation,” said Pietra Brettkelly, director of documentary “Yellow is Forbidden,” also showing at Tribeca. The title derives from Guo being told as a child that the color yellow was reserved for China’s emperor and could not be worn by commoners.
“She decided to take that moment, that Rihanna moment, and really use it in an international release of her and her brand and her work,” Brettkelly said. A third fashion film making its debut at Tribeca was “The Gospel According to André,” about the life and career of Vogue magazine’s former editor-at-large André Leon Tally.
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
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LIFESTYLE
well-paying jobs that they failed to find in rural areas or urban centres like the capital Manila. The closure will impact the livelihood of 17,000 hotel, restaurant and other tourism workers, plus about 11,000 construction workers. Magbanua says he used to earn 1,000 pesos (US$19) daily before the shutdown, more than double the local minimum wage.
Philippine ‘castle boys’ in shifting sands of Boracay closure Boracay, April 26 — Jessler Magbanua has been sculpting elaborate sand castles for tourist tips on the Philippine resort island of Boracay for years, but now that it is shut for clean-up he will have to switch to mixing cement. The six-month closure of Boracay to holidaymakers starting today is forcing thousands of workers employed by the bustling tourist trade to adapt in order to survive.  Magbanua, a so-called “castle boy”, said he would look for construction work in the absence of the lucrative business of creating sand art for photo snapping holidaymakers. “I will just be doing (manual) labour. I will mix cement,” Magbanua, 17, said on how he’ll adapt.
 “There is no other work to be had here. I will just go into construction.” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Boracay closed for clean-up after calling it a “cesspool”, saying local business owners were dumping sewage into the island’s once pristine waters. Boracay has been a top Philippine destination, morphing from a backpacker paradise in the 1980s to an increasingly developed beach resort, fuelled by a quadrupling of visitors in just a decade. The island saw some two million visitors last year, pumping roughly US$1 billion in revenue into the Philippine economy. The boom also made Boracay a magnet for Filipinos seeking
“I really want to have lots of tourists on Boracay,” he said near one of his creations that spells out the island’s name. Braiding policeman’s hair? Many workers were prepared to join the tourist exodus, as they headed home to other parts of the country. Life on the island comes at a high cost as prices are inflated for the tourist market. Faustino Cruz said he would return to becoming a coconut farmer in his province southeast of Manila after working his way up as a resort chef. “It’s backbreaking work on the farm and the income is only every three months. It’s half what I make here but we just have to bear it because I have young children to support,” said Faustino. Like Cruz, hotel masseuse Dory Gaitano told her family sacrifices must be made. She asked her eldest child, a
university student, to stop going to school in the meantime. “My kids were frowning. They were against it. I said what can I do, Boracay is closed?” Duterte earlier said he would release two billion pesos to help the workers, but many said they have not seen a penny yet. The impact is hardest on informal workers like Iflin Bayato, who braids tourists’ hair for a living. “Who will I cater to? The police have short hair!” she said. In some cases entire businesses were moving. Milky Maming yesterday moved his 160-strong staff to a branch in central Cebu island as he would have no more customers for his water sports business. “Businesses like ours are fleeing everywhere. Some are in Cebu or Bohol. We are looking for tourists so we can help our staff,” said Maming, referring to other tourist islands. Magbanua, the sandcastle maker, said he would stay on the island along with his buddies who would also do construction work. “All of us have the same plan. Maybe we can just build the sandcastles on the road,” he said with a laugh.
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
LIFE Time now the enemy in battle to find missing GIs in jungles of Vietnam Hanoi, April 28 — When Tycoria Johnson told her family she was going to Vietnam to help recover the remains of an American killed there during the war, her mother was proud — but anxious. Seventeen years earlier, Johnson’s father died in a helicopter crash on a similar mission to find some of the 1,600 US servicemen and women killed in the Vietnam War whose bodies have still not been located. “The last time (my mother) had a family member here, he didn’t come back, so she was kind of nervous,” said 26-year-old Johnson, a radio frequency transmission systems technician stationed in Japan with the US Air Force. In an unlikely twist of fate, Johnson was assigned to help recover the remains of a Marine pilot whose plane crashed during a night mission in central Quang Ngai province in 1966. She spent weeks scouring the forest for bone shards or tooth fragments, learning a few words of Vietnamese, the same work her father, US Army Sergeant First Class Tommy Murphy, did before he died in 2001. He was among seven Americans and nine Vietnamese killed when their helicopter slammed into the side of a mountain in bad weather. Johnson said her trip was a chance for closure. “I feel like he didn’t complete it, so I wanted to do that for him, to say that he finished the mission,” said Johnson, sitting near a framed photo of her father working on a dig site in Vietnam. Johnson was on the mission with the US agency in charge of recovering American remains around the world,
the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). It has been working in Vietnam for more than 30 years, before the former war foes established diplomatic ties in 1995. The agency was born out of a war-era effort by the wives of American POWs in Vietnam who demanded US leaders do more to get their imprisoned husbands home, many of whom were held in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison in the capital of the Communist North. Now it focuses on returning bodies and has repatriated more than 1,000 American remains from the Vietnam War since 1973, including fallen soldiers found in neighbouring Laos, Cambodia and China, according to DPAA figures. Of the more than 1,600 still unaccounted for, about 1,200 are in Vietnam. That includes the pilot whose remains Johnson was looking for, though her team never found him. Instead she capped her mission at a stoic repatriation ceremony in Danang for three other soldiers whose remains found in Vietnam were placed in a box wrapped with an American flag to be shipped to the US state of Delaware for DNA testing. Race against time DPAA works around the world to recover US war missing. Those unaccounted for include 72,000 from World War II and 7,700 from the Korean War. A further 126 are listed as unaccounted for from the Cold War — many of them aircrew who went missing during reconnaissance flights over or near former Soviet bloc countries.
Its reach is broad: the agency has brought home remains from Papua New Guinea to China, Pearl Harbour and the former Soviet Union, and has even identified remains of soldiers handed over by North Korea decades ago.
“We need support from the international community, including the American side,” Le Thanh Tung, director of the Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons, which works with DPAA to help recover American remains.
All the sites share a similar challenge, and Vietnam is no exception.
“Cooperating with the US to search for American MIA remains in Vietnam is a way to mobilise US support to find Vietnamese martyrs,” he told AFP.
“Time is our biggest enemy,” DPAA director Kelly McKeague told AFP in Hanoi. “Because witnesses are ageing and dying it’s important for us to accelerate the pace and scope.” Many bodies are in remote jungle terrain or on land that is due to be paved over for shopping malls or apartment complexes in the fast-developing country. Plus, the acidic soil that eats away at bone erodes evidence for search teams to recover. McKeague said it’s impossible to estimate how long it will take to bring back the remaining soldiers from the region, with only the “hard cases” remaining. Hundreds more are deemed non-recoverable. The number of unaccounted-for Americans pales compared to the estimated 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers still not found, as official efforts to recover them has dragged amid funding shortfalls and limited DNA testing.
In the absence of a coordinated national effort to find the bodies of Vietnamese fighters, some families turn to psychics to lead them to suspected death sites, or dig so-called empty graves so they have a place to worship the dead. Johnson knows well the importance of having remains returned. Since her own father was repatriated and buried in Virginia, her family visits his grave a few times a year to lay flowers and give him updates on their lives. Sitting in the DPAA office in Hanoi, next to a war-era Budweiser beer can, aftershave bottle and machine guns unearthed from past digs, Johnson described the feeling of helping American families whose relatives have been missing for decades. “To know that we can help others feel complete, that’s what makes this an amazing mission for me.”
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
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FASHION
Louis Vuitton set to launch men’s fragrance series Paris, April 26, 2018 — Louis Vuitton is expanding its fragrance line with a new series of scents for men launching next month.
“Sur La Route” and “Au Hasard.” The oud, which can allegedly be worn alone or layered with other scents, has been christened “Ombre Nomade.”
The luxury fashion and beauty house is introducing five men’s fragrances and an oud perfume to its portfolio, WWD reports. The move follows the house’s re-emergence into the perfume industry in 2016 with seven women’s fragrances inspired by the allure of travel; prior to that, the brand had not released any new perfumes since the 1920s.
“As we did for the feminine range, we wanted to offer something different,” Cavallier-Belletrud told WWD.
Created by the brand’s in-house master perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, the new masculine fragrance collection spans a variety of different scents, with names including “L’Immensité,” “Orage,” “Nouveau Monde,”
The new scents will launch in a selection of the brand’s global stores on May 31, while “Ombre Nomade” will launch in the Middle East and at Harrods in London on May 4, before being rolled out to additional stores in August.
Bulgari to open new hotel in Tokyo
Tokyo, April 26 , 2018— After Paris, Shanghai and Moscow, Italian luxury goods brand Bulgari has announced plans to expand its burgeoning hotel empire to Tokyo. Set to open in 2022, the Tokyo outpost will occupy the last seven floors — from the 39th to 45th floors — of a mixed-use development skyscraper near Imperial Palace, the Nihombashi and Ginza shopping centres, and Marunouchi financial districts. The hotel will feature 98 rooms including luxury suites designed in the brand’s signature Italian style, along with two fine dining Italian restaurants, an outdoor terrace and a 1,500-square-meter spa that will include an indoor, 25-meter pool.
In Asia, Bulgari already operates hotels in Beijing and Bali, and has plans to open another in Shanghai later this year. More outposts are also planned for Moscow and Paris. The Tokyo location will bring to nine the number of Bulgari-branded hotels.
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April 15-30, 2018, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
ENTERTAINMENT
Mamma Mia! ABBA make new music after 35 years STOCKHOLM, April 27 — Sweden’s legendary disco group ABBA announced on Friday that they have reunited to record two new songs, 35 years after their last single. “We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did,” the group said in a statement after repeated comments that they would never reunite. They said they had recorded two new songs, one titled “I Still Have Faith In You”, and another unnamed track. The quartet split up in 1982 after dominating the disco scene for more than a decade with hits like “Waterloo”, “Dancing Queen”, “Mamma Mia” and “Super Trouper”. “It was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!” members Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson added. The group, who sold more than 400
million albums, have not sung together on stage since 1986. ‘Come of age’ But now, computerised avatars are to perform “I Still Have Faith In You” in a TV special produced by NBC and the BBC to be broadcast in December, the group said. “We have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good.” They said the “exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence”. Bjorn, 73, was married to Agnetha, 68, and Benny, 71, was married to Anni-Frid, 72. The group dominated the 1970s disco scene with their glitzy costumes, kitsch dance routines and catchy melodies. They first found global fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with “Waterloo”.
While they have appeared in public together on rare occasions, they have never reunited to perform as a group, and have vowed that won’t ever happen. “There is simply no motivation to regroup. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were,” Ulvaeus said in a 2008 interview. Contacted, he was not immediately available for comment on the latest announcement. ‘The same wonderful chemistry’ The group’s manager Gorel Hanser told TT news agency that hearing them record the two new songs was “just like in the ABBA days”. “It was the same wonderful chemistry. It was as if time had stood still,” Hanser said. “Everyone got into their role and sang, and sang and sang,” she said adding the band was not planning to tour together in real life.
Their popularity has continued to grow over the years, with the 1999 hit musical “Mamma Mia” and the 2008 film of the same name starring Meryl Streep bringing their music to a whole new generation of fans. And ABBA’s music featured prominently in two cult Australian films, “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” and “Muriel’s Wedding”, both released in 1994. In 2013, the world’s first museum dedicated to ABBA is set opened in Stockholm, offering visitors a chance to get up close and personal with the 1970s foursome with a little help from modern technology.
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
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SPORTS
Zidane says pursuit of history galvanises Real Madrid Madrid, April 30, 2018 — The possibility of reaching a third straight Champions League final is “galvanising” Real Madrid for their semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, Zinedine Zidane told a press conference today. “It’s an extra motivation,” the Real Madrid coach said. “What drives this club is to try to do the maximum, all of us, to regret nothing,” he said. Real is at home on Tuesday and leads 2-1 after the away leg.
group format. “What motivates us, is to keep breaking records and winning titles. “One of the strengths of Real is that opponents are not all the same and we study them carefully to learn how to hurt them,” Ramos explained. “At 1-1 in the first leg, Bayern had to chase a victory and we knew we could do damage on the conter-attack. We would have liked to score more, but the result was good. The scenario tomorrow is very similar, the other team must overcome a bad result and we will try to exploit that. I hope we stay committed in defence.”
While Real are still chasing the Champions League, their chief Spanish rival, Barcelona, completed the Spanish domestic double yesterday, clinching the league title to go with their cup victory. Sergio Ramos and Zidane were asked which achievement was greater. “Barcelona deserved to be a champion, we have to congratulate them, nothing more,” said Zidane. “We have not won anything yet, they have won two trophies and have had a great season. We do not minimise what they have done, but what interests us is what we’re going to do.”
“If we execute well with desire and motivation we have a great chance of reaching our objective.”
While Ramos, the defender, emphasised defence, his boss talked of attack.
Sergio Ramos, the Real captain, added that the chance to play in a third final was “reward for all our work, our perseverance”.
“The key is to try to win the match,” Zidane said. “Not to retreat and not to do anything stupid. We must try to score quickly.
“Barca have done the double and that’s a good year for them,” he said. “But winning the Champions League, that’s worth two titles, maybe more.”
“We are making seem easy what is practically impossible. No one has won two in a row,” he said, which hasn’t happened since 1990, before the competition was enlarged switched a to a
“Bayern will not be worried,” he said. “They will come to play without inhibitions. We must be ready.
Against Leganes on Saturday, Zidane coached his 200th match (57 with Real’s reserves and 143 in charge of the club).
‘We have not won anything yet’
Ramos could not resist a dig.
He was asked how has he improved. “Of course I have a little more experience, but experience of big moments, because I experienced them last year,” he said. “There are tons of coaches more competent than I am. But I have experience of being there and of the changing room.” Ramos said he had no choice but to sound as if he was giving in to flattery. “The results speak for themselves,” he said. “He is a great coach, we are proud that he is captaining this ship.”
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
SPORTS
Heynckes says Bayern played best match for years Madrid, May 2, 2018 — Coach Jupp Heynckes said Bayern Munich played their best match for years but were undone by a mistake from goalkeeper Sven Ulreich to allow Real Madrid to reach the Champions League final. “We are very disappointed,” Heynckes said. “My team played an outstanding game. I haven’t seen Bayern play as well as that for years. “At this high level you can’t make the sort of mistakes we made after halftime.” The unfortunate Ulreich gifted Karim Benzema his second goal of the match one minute after the break at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, completely misjudging a back-pass from Corentin Tolisso to allow the French striker to slot the ball into an empty net.
James Rodriguez equalised for Bayern in the 63rd minute, setting up a desperate last half-hour in which the Germans pinned Real back but despite a handful of chances failed to score the goal that would have given them an away-goals victory on aggregate. Real won 4-3 over the two legs and will play either Roma or Liverpool in the final in Kiev on May 26.
Salah wins writers’ footballer of the year award London, April 30, 2018 — Mohamed Salah was today named as the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year for 2017/18 after scoring 43 goals so far in an incredible debut season for Liverpool. The Egypt international narrowly topped the poll of the 400-strong FWA membership ahead of Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, the margin understood to be less than 20 votes. Tottenham striker Harry Kane was third. Between them, Salah, signed by the Reds from Roma last summer, and De Bruyne, who helped City claim the Premier League title with five games remaining, collected more than 90 per cent of the journalists’ votes.
Salah has scored 43 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions this season and spearheaded Liverpool’s push towards a potential place in the Champions League final — the Reds lead Roma 5-2 ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final second leg in Italy. The 25-year-old, who was last month crowned the Premier League’s Players’ Player of the Year, becomes the first African winner of the FWA accolade, which has been awarded since 1948.
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
Page 15
HEALTH
No smoking, Mediterranean diet and exercise to live long and healthy, says study UPSSALA, April 30, 2018 — An ongoing Swedish study has revealed some of the key steps that we can all take to age healthier and stay independent for longer, even after the age of 90. Researchers at Uppsala University have shared some of the findings from their ongoing Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (Ulsam), a study that began in 1970 and looks at 2,322 men who were born in the early 1920s. The latest follow-up found that 276 of the 369 men originally taking part were still living alone and leading an independent life, even though the average age of the participants is now 87. The researchers say the study reveals important factors for staying healthy as we age, with quitting smoking being one of the most significant. Participants who have never smoked have double the chance of remaining independent later in life than smokers, the team said, and it is never too late to quit to improve health. However, they also found that despite the health benefits, many participants are reluctant to give up the habit. “Even at the age of 70, many make the mistake of believing that a changed lifestyle is no longer important,” said Kristin Franzon, specialist doctor and Ph D student at the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences. “Several cling to smoking as ‘the only fun left’ in their lives. But on this issue our study is only one of many that clearly show how vital it is to give up smoking, and above all that it’s never too late to drop the habit.”
The study also highlighted the importance of a healthy diet, with the team finding a link between enjoying an independent life for longer and following a Mediterranean diet. Many study participants reported following a diet rich in fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts and cereals, and low in meat and dairy products. “True, our interpretation of the term ‘Mediterranean diet,’ including items like potatoes, was relatively generous. So our Nordic diet is probably a perfectly good alternative. Yet our study shows that prospects of an independent old age are almost three times better for men with healthy eating habits,” commented Franzon. Staying physically active also plays a role in helping us live longer. The researchers added that rather than intense exercise, which they say could actually have a negative effect, maintaining a normal waist size and taking brisk walks as we age are key for retaining bodily functions and a higher quality of life. “We also see that mild obesity after 70 is in fact healthy, as long as it doesn’t consist simply of abdominal fat — an observation that tends to please many men in upper middle age,” added Franzon. “Overall, our findings may not be revolutionary, but they are important pieces of the jigsaw puzzle for active ageing, which should be of interest to individuals, politicians and health professionals alike.”
Five healthy lifestyle habits could add 10 or more years to life, new study New York, Apr 30, 2018 — New US research has found that sticking to five healthy habits throughout adulthood, including eating a healthy diet, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, no smoking, and not too much alcohol, could together add more than ten years to life expectancy. Led by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, the study is the first comprehensive analysis to look at the effect of adopting low-risk lifestyle factors on life expectancy in the US, a country which has a shorter average life expectancy (79.3 years) than almost all other high-income nations. The researchers analysed 34 years of data from 78,865 women and 27 years of data from 44,354 men and defined the five low-risk lifestyle factors as not smoking, a low body mass index (18.524.9 kg/m2), at least 30 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity, moderate alcohol intake (up to about one 5-ounce glass of wine per day for women, or up to two glasses for men), and a healthy diet. For the participants who didn’t adopt any of these low-risk lifestyle factors, the researchers estimated that life expectancy at age 50 was 29 years for women and 25.5 years for men. 
However, for those who adopted all five of the low-risk lifestyle factors, the researchers estimated that life expectancy at age 50 was 43.1 years for women and 37.6 years for men. For women this meant on average an extra 14 years of life, and for men an extra 12 years, with the combination of all five healthy behaviours linked with the most additional years of life gained. The researchers also found that both women and men who maintained the healthiest lifestyles were 82 per cent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 65 per cent less likely to die from cancer, when compared with those with had the least healthy lifestyles. “This study underscores the importance of following healthy lifestyle habits for improving longevity in the US population,” commented senior author Frank Hu. “However, adherence to healthy lifestyle habits is very low. Therefore, public policies should put more emphasis on creating healthy food, built, and social environments to support and promote healthy diet and lifestyles.” The results can be found published online in the journal Circulation.
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
Misc Asia
Fido funeral: In Japan, a send-off for robot dogs
Tokyo, April 27 — The robot dogs lined up in their dozens yesterday in Japan were no tech fair display. They were the dearly departed being honoured with their own traditional “funeral”. In some respects, it was a funeral like any other in Japan, with incense smoke wafting as a priest chanted a sutra, praying for the peaceful transition of the souls of the departed. But the departed were 114 of Sony’s old generations of AIBO robot dogs, each wearing a tag to show where they came from and to which family they belonged. Electronics repair company A FUN, which specialises in fixing vintage products, has sent off some 800 AIBOs this way in recent years at a centuries-old Buddhist temple. With the AIBO no longer in production, owners of old or “dead” robodogs often send them to the company, the only way it can obtain genuine parts to use in repairs. The defunct dogs serve as the
equivalent of organ donors for defective robots, but before they are put to use, the company honours them with a traditional send-off. The dogs often arrive with letters that give their names, how they spent their lives, and other details. “I feel relieved to know there will be a prayer for my AIBO,” one owner said in a letter. Another owner wrote: “Please help other AIBOs. Tears rose in my eyes when I decided to say goodbye.” Bungen Oi, the priest at the 450-year-old Kofukuji temple in Isumi, east of Tokyo, dismisses the idea that holding memorials for machines is absurd.
to the owners and make the robot a machine to utilise their parts,” he said. “We don’t take parts before we hold a funeral for them,” he says. Combined hearts The AIBO was the world’s first home-use entertainment robot capable of developing its own “personality”. Sony rolled out the first-generation AIBO in June 1999, with the initial batch of 3,000 selling out in just 20 minutes, despite the hefty ¥250,000 (more than RM7,839) price tag.
“All things have a bit of soul,” he said after the service.
Over the following years, more than 150,000 units were sold, in numerous iterations, ranging from gleaming metallic-silver versions to round-faced cub-like models.
Nobuyuki Norimatsu, who heads A FUN, also says he feels the robodogs have souls, even if they are destined to be “donors”.
By 2006, however, Sony’s business was in trouble and the AIBO, an expensive and somewhat frivolous luxury, had to go.
“We’d like to return the souls
The company kept its “AIBO
Clinic” open until March 2014, but then told dedicated and loving owners that they were on their own. Desperate owners have turned to A FUN, which draws on the knowledge of former Sony engineers, to get repairs. In January, Sony unveiled a new version of its robot dog, the “aibo”, packed with artificial intelligence and internet connectivity, but it has not resumed repairs of old models. The media fanfare did however prompt many owners of older models to look for ways to repair their faithful friends, or to donate those behind salvage. A repaired AIBO is the product of generous owners, whose own dogs have become lifesaving donors, Narimatsu said. “I feel it moves on the combined hearts of owners,” he said.
Georgia Asian Times April 15-30, 2018
Page 17
Misc Asia Study of Marco Polo’s will sheds new light on famed traveler
Inter-Korean summit chairs to feature disputed islands Panmujom, April 25, 2018 — South Korea has custom made furniture for Friday’s summit between President Moon Jae-in and the North’s leader Kim Jong-un — with chairs featuring disputed islands controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo.One thing the rival Koreas share is a resentment of Japan, which imposed brutal colonial rule on the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, and the gesture is likely to irritate Tokyo. Japan and the South are both US allies but their relationship is strained by historical and territorial issues, including Dokdo, islands controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo, which calls them Takeshima. The new walnut chairs to be used by the two leaders’ seven-strong delegations at Friday’s summit at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) each feature a map of the peninsula. The tiny disputed islands are clearly marked, pictures released by the Blue House showed Wednesday. Photographs of the dishes planned for the summit dinner show a mango mousse destined for dessert that also displays a stylized map of the peninsula with the islands prominently marked. Symbolism abounds in other aspects of the layout, with the delegations
meeting in the Peace House around an oval table 2,018 millimeters wide to mark the year. “The oval table reflects wish to see the North and the South to sit down together and hold frank talks without any feeling of distance despite 65 years of division,” the presidential Blue House said. Traditional white porcelain vases will decorate corners of the room, filled with flowers including peonies to symbolize greetings, daisies for peace, and wild blooms from the DMZ. The two previous inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007 both took place in Pyongyang. It is not the first time Seoul has made a point of including the islands in diplomatic processes. When US President Donald Trump visited Seoul last year, his meal included a prawn fished from the waters around Dokdo, sparking protests from Tokyo. And at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in February, the two Koreas marched together behind a unification flag that including Dokdo, prompting a Japanese denunciation with cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga called the flag “unacceptable”.
Rome, April 17, 2018 - On January 9, 1324, the Venetian traveler, merchant and writer Marco Polo was preparing for his final journey - to the afterlife that he as a God-fearing Christian was certain existed. Aged 70, Polo summoned a priest-notary to his home in Venice to record his words in Latin on a sheepskin measuring about 67 x 27 cm (26 x 10 inches). Now, a three-year study of the will by scholars and historians offers a fresh glimpse into Polo as well as more support for the commonly-held view that he visited China, which some historians had questioned. Venice’s National Marciana Library, custodian of the will, has co-published a large-format book, which contains a parchment reproduction of the nearly 700-year-old will, including marks left when the sheep was sheared and ink stains on the writing side. The work, called “Ego Marcus Paulo Volo et Ordino” (“I, Marco Polo, Desire and Order”), is intended mostly for collectors, history buffs and libraries. It was produced with Scrinium, a Venetian publishing house. “The last ‘diplomatic transcription’ of the will is 150 years old,” said Stefano Della Zana, Scrinium’s cultural director, referring to the term used by experts who study ancient letters and handwriting to produce modern interpretations. “This was done with the latest scientific techniques and scholarly standards of philology, so previous errors have been corrected,” he said.
In one case, a scribbled Latin word that had previously been believed to refer to fabric was corrected to mean a residence. One of the causes of the misunderstanding, according to Professor Attilio Bartoli Langeli, was because the notary’s handwriting was “decidedly bad cursive script, awkward and careless”. Polo left money to Church institutions in Venice, forgave outstanding debts, and freed his indentured servant, a Tatar he had named Peter, “so that God may absolve my soul from all guilt and sin”. In the late 20th century a few historians argued that Polo never made it to China but picked up stories of the Mongol Empire from Persian merchants he met on the Black Sea. Most historians have rejected this view and Della Zana said the fact that Polo’s servant was a Tatar, who were a Mongol people, supports evidence that he did get to China. Further evidence lies in an inventory of Polo’s possessions that surfaced after his death and listed items from the far east, such as expensive musk. Apart from the money bequeathed to the Church, Polo left nearly everything else to his wife and three daughters. Della Zana said this was uncommon because it was then customary for men without sons to leave their assets to male members of the extended family. “In that sense, he was well ahead of his times,” Della Zana said. - Reuters
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April 15-30, 2018 Georgia Asian Times
TECHNOLOGY
In race for 5G, China leads South Korea, US, study shows San Francisco, April 17 ― China is slightly ahead of South Korea and the United States in the race to develop fifth generation wireless networks, or 5G, a US study showed yesterday. The study released by the CTIA, a US-based industry association of wireless carriers, suggested that the United States is lagging in the effort to deploy the superfast wireless systems that will be needed for self-driving cars, telemedicine and other technologies. The report prepared by the research firm Analysys Mason found that all major Chinese providers have committed to specific launch dates and the
government has committed to allocate spectrum for the carriers. The 10-nation study said the US is in the “first tier” of countries in preparing deployment of 5G, along with China, South Korea and Japan. In the second tier are key European markets including France, Germany and Britain, with Singapore, Russia and Canada in the third tier. Industry officials say 5G deployment will reap important economic benefits for the leaders, and that lagging could have negative effects. “The United States will not
get a second chance to win the global 5G race,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, CTIA president and chief executive. “I’m confident that America can win and reap the significant economic benefits of 5G wireless due to our world-leading commercial investments.” Baker said the US still needs to enact measures to reform local zoning rules and unlock access to spectrum as part of a broader plan for 5G. “I’m optimistic we will leapfrog China because key leaders in the administration, on Capitol Hill, and at the FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
are focused on the reforms needed to win the race.” According to the study, Europe led that way in 2G, the second generation, while Japan was ahead in 3G and the United States in 4G. The first commercial 5G rollouts begin this year and next in the United States, Korea and Japan, and the wireless industry is counting on the new technology to trigger a wave of growth in equipment sales and mobile services.