Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

Covering The Multicultural Asian American Community in Georgia

www.gasiantimes.com

July 15-31, 2015

25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia honorees

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July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

Publisher: Li Wong Account Manager: Adrian West Contributors: Andrian Putra, May Lee, Mark Ho Photographer: Ben Hioe

Tel: 678-971-9388 Advertising: gat@gasiantimes.com Editorial: info@gasiantimes.com URL: www.gasiantimes.com Mailing Address: P.O. Box 4502 Suwanee GA 30024 Copyright Georgia Asian Times 2004-2015

All Rights Reserved: including those to reproduce this printing or parts thereof in any form without permission in writing from Georgia Asian Times. Established in 2004, the Georgia Asian Times is published by Asiamax Inc. All facts, opinions, and statements appearing within this publication are those of writers and editors themseleves, and are in no way to be construed as statements, positions, endorsements by Georgia Asian Times or its officers.

Georgia Asian Times assumes no responsibility for damages from the use of information contained in this publication or the reply to any advertisement. The Publisher will not be liable for any error in advertising to greater extent than the cost of space occupied by the error and will only be made for a single publication date.

The Publisher reserves the right to reject any ad or articles submitted for publication that may not be in good taste for a free publication.

GAT Calendar of Events GAT welcome submission of announcement pertaining to community related events.

Please email event, date, venue, and time to gat@gasiantimes.com.

GAT does not guarantee insertion of event announcement and has the right to deny any posting.

GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia - Awards Banquet Date: Friday, July 17, 2015 Time: 6:30 pm Venue: Sonesta Gwinnett Place For more info: 678.971.9388

20th Annivesary Hong Kong Dragon Boat-Atlanta Date: Saturday, Sept 12, 2015 Time: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm Venue: Clarks Bridge Olympic Kayaking-Lake Lanier, Gainesville, Georgia For info: dragonboatatlanta.com

10th Annual Laotian American Society Gala Date: Saturday, July 18, 2015 Time: 6:00 pm Venue: Premier Event Halls, 3520 Breckinridge Blvd, Duluth For more info: www.lasga.org

Taste of Chamblee Date: Saturday, Sept 12, 2015 Time: 12 noon - 7 pm Venue: Downtown Chamblee For more info: Colin Poe, 678.910.8736

Asian Cultural Experience (ACE) Date: Saturday-Sunday, Aug 8-9, 2015 Time: 11:00 am - 8:00 pm Sat; 11:00 am-6:00 pm Sun Venue: Gwinnett Center For more info: www.asianculturalexperienceinga.com

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RICE Festival Organized by Asian American Resource Center Date: Saturday, Sept 26, 2015 Time: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm Venue: Gwinnett Place Mall For more info: 770—270-0663 2015 Atlanta Asian Film Festival Date: October9-24, 2015 For more info: www.atlaff.org

Congratulations to all 25 honorees of this year’s 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia Sept 17, 2015

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July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

METRO ASIAN NEWS

Explore Gwinnett announces 2015 Gwinnett Restaurant Week Participants

GAT 25 Influential Asian Americans honorees celebrated Duluth, July 18, 2015 — Georgia Asian Times celebrated the honorees of the 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia with an awards presentation and a dinner banquet at Sonesta Gwinnett Place.

25_1-2Over 200 guests including community leaders, government officials, business owners, and non profit leaders attended the event. Hon. Steven Tai, Director General of TECO Atlanta, Hon. Ray Donato, Honorable Consul General of the Philippines, Madam Sue Everhart, past Chair of Georgia Republican Party, and Mr. Gene Hanratty, Principal Consultant, Hong Kong Economic and Trade office, New York were also in attendance.

Mr. Douglas Hooker, Executive Director, Atlanta Regional Commission, delivered the keynote address at the evening ceremony.

Each of the honorees received a specially hand crafted crystal awards for their contributions. This year’s honorees were selected from over 180 online nominations at Georgia Asian Times website and a selection panel comprised of journalist, community leaders, and GAT editorial staff.

The online nomination for 2016 GAT 25 nominations is scheduled to be available online in early January 2016.

Images from GAT 25 Awards Banquet (2015): FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/ gp/gasiantimes/61m179 FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/media/set/?set

Duluth, July 10, 2015 – Explore Gwinnett is announces 2015 Gwinnett Restaurant Week participants. There are three new restaurants including Suwanee Park Tavern, Cotton & Corn and Breakers Korean BBQ. 2015 marks the 10th year anniversary and the promotion takes place Sunday, July 19-Thursday, July 23, 2015. The $21.21 prix fixe meal is three courses, with most restaurants offering a 20-35% savings.

Participating Restaurants: • 1910 Public House, Lilburn (American) • Adam’s Restaurant, Buford (Steak/ Seafood) • Breakers Korean BBQ, Duluth (Korean) NEW! • Carrabba’s, Duluth (Italian) • Cotton & Corn, Duluth (American) NEW! • The Crossing, Norcross (Steak) • Graft Restaurant, Grayson (American) • Hi Life Restaurant, Norcross (American) • Kurt’s Bistro, uluth (European/Steak) • Luciano’s, Duluth (Italian) • Suwanee Park Tavern, Suwanee (American) NEW! • Marlow’s Tavern, Buford (American) • Marlow’s Tavern, Duluth (American) • The Melting Pot, Duluth ( Fondue) • Park Café, Duluth (Bistro) • Three Blind Mice, Lilburn (American) • Sugo Kitchen, Johns Creek (Greek/ Italian) Diners can visit GwinnettRestaurantWeek.com to view all participating restaurant’s menus. Reservations should be made by contacting the restaurants directly.

“We are so excited that Gwinnett’s restaurant scene is evolving and diversifying each year,” said Lisa Anders, executive director, Explore Gwinnett.

“Gwinnett Restaurant Week is designed to showcase restaurants menus and gain new customers. The Korean dining scene in Duluth is exploding, so we are delighted that Breakers Korean BBQ is participating this year.”

Anders is excited for this year’s mixture of restaurants and hopes to find all of the participating restaurants busy the week of Gwinnett Restaurant Week and after, stating “There are a lot of good choices to choose from, these restaurants have worked very hard to incorporate favorites into the menu.”

Most participating restaurants require reservations for Restaurant Week, and Anders suggests making them early to confirm space. “A number of our restaurants sell out each year, so the earlier the better for making reservations.”

Again this year, diners will have the opportunity to get small prizes during Gwinnett Restaurant Week by checking in via Yelp! Gwinnett’s Restaurant Week’s official check-in sponsor.

Get more details and sign up for our e-newsletter at www.GwinnettRestaurantWeek.com.

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

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©2009. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved.

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BUSINESS ASIA

July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

Air Asia says restarting Japan flights early next year Obama says Ex-Im Bank lapse hurts small businesses Washington DC, July 22, 2015 — President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged lawmakers to renew the charter for the US Export-Import Bank before leaving for an August break, saying small and large businesses alike have been hurt by the lapse in new loan guarantees and trade insurance.

If Congress fails to reauthorize of the Ex-Im Bank, the United States would be the only advanced country to leave companies without export finance assistance, Obama said.

The Democratic president met at the White House with the owners of a quiche maker, an organic coffee roaster, a music-stand manufacturer and other small companies whose travails he said deserve urgent attention.

The 81-year-old Ex-Im Bank saw its charter lapse after conservatives in Congress cast it as a promoter of “crony capitalism” for multinationals such as Boeing Co and General Electric Co. At the meeting, Air Tractor said it could drop a quarter of its 265 jobs making crop dusters in the three-stoplight West Texas town of Olney.

“We’re a small business in a small town,” David Ickert, Air Tractor’s vice president of finance, told reporters.

“We don’t really understand why we’re in this position.”

“The bank is not a welfare entity. We all pay large amounts of money to use the bank. Glad to do it,” Ickert said.

“I know it’s not as interesting as some of the other issues, and Donald Trump, and all that stuff,” said Obama, referring to Trump’s bid to be the Republican candidate for president.

A renewal of the bank’s charter could hitch a ride this month on an unrelated transportation funding bill, but not if Republican opponents like Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio can stop it.

“But I’ll tell you what: this is actually something that matters to people on the ground,” he said.

“We need to get through the next five legislative days and not have Ex-Im attached to anything,” Jordan said.

Tokyo, July 22, 2015 — AirAsia said Wednesday that it will start domestic and international flights from Japan early next year, after a high-profile exit from the market following the collapse of its joint venture with All Nippon Airways (ANA).

The Malaysia-based company said it has applied to Japan’s transport ministry to operate commercial flights, becoming the latest budget carrier aiming to crack a market long-controlled

by ANA and rival Japan Airlines.

The airport is located near Nagoya, a major city southwest of Tokyo.

AirAsia entered the Japanese market in 2012 in a tie-up with ANA but the project ended in an acrimonious dispute over business practices in 2013. ANA subsequently inherited the business and rebranded it Vanilla Air. AirAsia last year announced its was planning a new alliance with several Japanese firms including online retailer Rakuten.

“AirAsia Japan will launch both Japan domestic and international routes from its base in Chubu Centrair Airport starting Spring 2016,” said AirAsia Japan’s chief executive Yoshinori Odagiri.

Major differences between the House and Senate versions of the highway bill could delay an Ex-Im revival. The bank’s next chance would be a major government funding measure needed

by Sept. 30, the start of the new fiscal year and the date Ex-Im’s operating budget runs out.

Republican Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri, a state with a

large Boeing presence and 91 Boeing suppliers, said she hopes the charter will be revived when lawmakers return in the fall.

“There are 79 countries that have that advantage and we cannot disarm unilaterally,” Wagner said in an interview. - Reuters

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

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BUSINESS ASIA

Greece seals new bailout deal to avoid euro exit Brussels, July 13, 2015 — Greece reached a desperately-needed bailout deal with the eurozone today after marathon overnight talks, in a historic agreement to prevent the country crashing out of the European single currency.

Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to tough reforms after 17 hours of grueling negotiations in return for a three-year bailout worth up to €86 billion, Greece’s third rescue program in five years.

Heineken opens $60 million brewery in Myanmar The Hague, July 13, 2015 — Dutch beer giant Heineken announced Monday it has opened a multi-million-dollar brewery in Myanmar, seeking to cash in on one of Asia’s high-growth markets.

“Heineken has opened a 60 million dollar (53 million euro) brewery in Myanmar, which has a total capacity of 330,000 hectolitres per year and which will directly employ more than 200 local people,” it said in a statement issued from Amsterdam.

“The new brewery’s opening further expands Heineken’s exposure to high growth markets,” it added.

Myanmar is emerging from decades of isolation as a former junta-run nation, and has one of the largest populations in southeast Asia with more than 53 million people.

Heineken, quoting Asian Development Bank figures, said the country is now undergoing rapid urbanization and a brisk expansion of its middle class consumer base.

Myanmar clocked up GDP growth of 7.7 percent for the 2014 year ending March this year, and was targeting further increase of 8.3 percent in the coming fiscal year, Heineken said.

“These strong economics and demographics helped drive $8.01 billion in foreign direct investment in 2015,” it added.

The new brewery is located at Hmawbi township outside the capital Yangon and will brew Heineken beer for the market’s premium segment as well as a new local brand called Regal Seven, a lager beer developed specially for the Myanmar market.

Valued at around 35 billion euros, Heineken is Europe’s largest and the world’s third-largest brewer after SABMiller and global number one InBev. Heineken produces and sells more than 200 brands of beer and cider, and employs nearly 70,000 people around the world.

“EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement,” EU President Donald Tusk said. “All ready to go for ESM (eurozone bailout fund the European Stability Mechanism) program for Greece with serious reforms and financial support.”

The new rescue for Athens is the country’s third since 2010 and came after a bitter six-month struggle following Tsipras’s election in January that put Greece’s membership of the eurozone in the balance.

Greek banks have been closed for nearly two weeks and there were fears they were about to run dry due to a lack of extra funding by the European Central Bank, meaning Athens would have had to print its own currency and effectively leave the single currency.

Asian markets rose on news of the debt deal, after a torrid few weeks while traders waited for an accord.

‘Long, difficult road’ The austerity-pushing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’s most powerful leader, said the situation for Athens however remained daunting, with success not guaranteed.

“The road will be long, and judging by the negotiations tonight, difficult,” Merkel told reporters.

Europe’s first step will be to push the deal through several national parliaments, many in countries that are loath to afford Greece more help.

Athens will now have to rush through new tough reform laws by Wednesday, according to the document agreed on

by Tsipras and his eurozone counterparts.

Greece has to introduce harsh conditions on labour reform and pensions, VAT and taxes, and measures on privatization, it added.

Under the agreement it will also park assets for privatization worth up to €50 billion in a special fund. The money in that fund will then be used to recapitalize Greece’s cash-starved banks.

“Grexit has gone,” said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, ruling out the threat of Greece leaving the single currency, which could potentially destablize not only the euro but the world economy.

Greece applied last week for a third program after its previous bailout expired on June 30, leaving it without international financial assistance for the first time in years.

Tsipras insisted the deal was good for Greece despite the fact that the harsh terms were near identical to those rejected by Greeks in a referendum just one week ago.

Athens had infuriated its creditors — the European Commission, ECB and IMF — with its actions, including the surprise referendum on terms offered by the three institutions.

“We fought a righteous battle to the end,” a smiling Tsipras said as he left the talks, adding that despite the deal’s harshness the “great majority of Greek people will support this effort.”

The Greek parliament approved new reform plans drawn up by the government in the early hours of Saturday, despite them being similar to those rejected by Greeks in the plebiscite.

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July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

BUSINESS

Amazon surges on cloud computing & spending control Dollar in demand, gold dives to five-year low Sydney, July 20, 2015 — The US dollar held broad gains in Asia on Monday as investors looked ahead to higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve, while gold slumped to five-year lows as a lack of global inflation left little to hedge against.

The precious metal XAU= ran into a wave of selling in Asia that drove it down 3.9 percent to $1,089.80 an ounce, having already suffered its worst weekly performance since March last week.

Activity was light elsewhere with Japan on holiday and a dearth of major data in the diary, leading to a cautious start for stocks.

Australia’s main index .AXJO was a fraction softer, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was all but flat.

There was better news from China where home prices rose for a second month in a row in June, suggesting government efforts to boost the struggling property sector have started to gain traction.

China stocks seem to have pulled out of their recent nosedive amid a barrage of measures from regulators and buying by brokerages and mutual funds.

The CSI300 index .CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC eased 0.2 percent.

Greek banks are set to reopen on Monday after a three-week shutdown,

while German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for swift aid talks so Athens could also lift withdrawal limits.

With Greece fading from the limelight, markets focused on the relative outperformance of the US economy and nudged the euro near to its lowest in seven weeks at $1.0826 EUR. A break of the May trough around $1.0818/19 would likely embolden bears to head for the April lows at $1.0521.

“For now, with an agreement on the cards and Greece currently adhering to creditors’ demands, it appears markets can move on and focus on other things,” say analysts at ANZ. “Solid US data and further easing of global market stresses has driven expectations that the Fed could start to normalize rates this year.”

That helped the dollar up to 124.13 yen JPY=, near its highest in around three weeks, while the dollar index of 97.991 .DXY is on ground last visited in April.

In commodity markets, oil was burdened by the prospect of increased exports from Iran now a deal has been struck to ease sanctions on the country.

Brent crude LCOc1 was off 15 cents on Monday at $56.95 a barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 fell 9 cents to $50.80.

San Francisco, July 21, 2015 — Amazon.com Inc’s shares reached another record, three days before the company’s earnings report, as investors expected upbeat results from the fast-growing cloud-computing business, a boost in sales from last week’s Prime Day promotion and signs that the company is controlling spending.

Amazon rose 1.1 per cent to close at US$488.10 in New York yesterday. The stock set records three days last week and is up 12 per cent this month, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Retailing Index has gained 5.5 per cent.

The Seattle-based online retailer reports earnings Thursday. Analysts on average project earnings of US$364 million on sales of US$22.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The shares’ advance shows renewed faith that Amazon can boost profit margins despite Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos’s history of sacrificing shortterm earnings to invest in growth. A year ago, the company’s shares tumbled almost 10 percent the day after reporting a US$126 million quarterly loss, hurt by a surge in spending on such items as its new Fire smartphone.

This year, the company has invested in online entertainment and same-day delivery in big cities, increasing the allure of a US$99 annual membership in Amazon Prime. Investors see such investments — rather than on hardware — as a sign of greater discipline.

Amazon this year also began reporting results for its Amazon Web Services cloud-computing division, revealing a fast-growing and profitable enterprise to complement the core retailing business.

Expanding margins “The shares are benefiting from enthusiasm around Amazon Web Services and its ability to continue to grow and expand margins,” said Victor Anthony, an analyst at Axiom Capital Management.

Google Inc and Netflix Inc, rivals in streaming media, both rallied last week following upbeat earnings.

Amazon got a boost yesterday after Cowen & Co published a note that said the Web giant would supplant department-store chain Macy’s Inc as the No 1 apparel retailer in the US, gaining market share from Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp.

The inaugural Prime Day promotion helped boost memberships, which will increase revenue through the year, said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Amazon Prime members spend significantly more than non-subscribers. He estimated that Prime Day added about $500 million in new third-quarter sales.

Pachter issued a report on Sunday encouraging investors to buy Amazon shares in advance of earnings, in part citing the company’s cloud-computing operation.

“Amazon Web Services has a much higher profit than anyone thought, and we know it’s growing at a ridiculously fast rate,” he wrote. — Reuters

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

EVENTS

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GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia - Awards Banquet , July 17, 2015

2015 honoress of the GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia.

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EVENTS

July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia - Awards Banquet , July 17, 2015

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

EVENTS

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GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia - Awards Banquet , July 17, 2015

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EVENTS

July 15-31, 2015

Georgia Asian Times

GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia - Awards Banquet , July 17, 2015

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

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SPORTS

FIFA presidential election to be held in February Zurich, July 20 — World soccer’s troubled governing body FIFA will vote for a new president, to replace Sepp Blatter, at a special congress to be held on February 26 in Zurich, the organisation said today.

An “extraordinary elective congress” with all 209 member associations invited will decide on the successor to Blatter, who has been at the helm of FIFA since 1998.

The timing of the congress is later than many expected, with Europe’s governing body UEFA widely reported to have pushed for a December vote.

FIFA statutes stipulate candidates need to have the written support of five member associations to stand and must announce their intention to run four months ahead of a vote, meaning the deadline for nominations is October 26.

Blatter announced on June 2 that he was standing down, just four days after winning a fifth term with an election victory at a congress overshadowed by the arrest of seven soccer officials.

The 79-year-old had been re-elected after his only rival, Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, withdrew after gaining 73 votes to Blatter’s 133 in the first round of voting.

UEFA president Michel Platini has emerged as the early frontrunner, with a source close to European football’s governing body saying the Frenchman enjoys support from four of the six regional confederations that make up FIFA. Platini, a former France international who played for Italian club Juventus, has yet to state whether he intends to run, with the source saying he would decide within the next 10 days or so.

Blatter’s election at the congress in May was overshadowed by the raids on a five-star hotel in Zurich which saw seven FIFA officials, including vice president Jeffrey Webb, arrested.

Webb faces US charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty at a US court on Saturday and was released on bail.

The US Department of Justice has indicted 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives on various charges.

Blatter has repeatedly said that he will not stand again and while he has reneged on that promise before, saying his election in 2011 was his last before changing his mind, it would be a major surprise if he made another U-turn. — Reuters

Liverpool agree £32.5m deal for Villa’s Benteke London, July 20, 2015 -- Liverpool have agreed to sign striker Christian Benteke from Premier League rivals Aston Villa for £32.5 million, the BBC and other British media organisations reported Sunday.

The 24-year-old Belgium international is now due to have a medical, with Liverpool’s club doctor set to return home from the team’s pre-season tour of Australia to conduct proceedings.

It is not expected, however, that Benteke himself will join the tour.

The forward arrived at Villa from Genk in a £7 million move in 2012 and has since scored 49 goals in 101 appearances for the Birmingham club.

His 12 goals in as many games last season played a key role in helping Vil-

la avoid relegation from the lucrative top flight of English football.

Liverpool went to sign Benteke, who still has two years left on his Villa contract, after off-loading forward Raheem Sterling to Manchester City for a record fee between English Premier League clubs that could rise to as much as £49 million.

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July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

SPORTS

Beckham group makes deal to build near MLB park Miami, July 18, 2015 — English football icon David Beckham and his investment group have reached a deal to build a new 25,000-seat football stadium next to the Miami Marlins baseball park, Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said Friday.

Gold Cup: Mexico coach slams team’s poor travel conditions in U.S. Mexico City, July 21, 2015 — Coach Miguel Herrera claims Mexico are the biggest draw at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States but have not been given the treatment he feels they deserve at the tournament.

Herrera criticized the conditions under which his team were forced to travel from New York to Atlanta for tomorrow’s semi-final against Panama at the Georgia Dome.

“Mexico is the team that fills the stadiums and we are not being treated well... We should be getting more consideration,” Herrera told reporters.

“During the flight, the players were squeezed in and that can’t be. We played extra time and the players shouldn’t have to wait so long (at the airport) and travel in those conditions.”

Mexico beat Costa Rica 1-0 after extra time at the MetLife in New Jersey on Sunday to reach the last four.

Hosts and title holders the United States face Jamaica in the other semi-final, also in Atlanta tomorrow.

— Reuters

The Beckham United group and city officials had struggled for years to agree upon a site for the stadium, but the land agreement sets up a possible 2018 debut of Beckham’s Major League Soccer expansion club.

“This is a milestone,” Regalado said.

Final plans must yet be made for the venue, which will be privately financed

by Beckham’s group. But agreeing upon the former Orange Bowl stadium site — after other Beckham choices had been rejected by city leaders to push this plan — was a major step, according to a statement from the Beckham group.

“We had to wait three hours, then they packed two teams (into the plane) and CONCACAF people, I don’t know why. We were all squashed,” he added of yesterday’s arduous trip.

“Today’s meeting with Mayor Regalado was another positive step toward bringing a world-class soccer club to Miami,” Beckham’s group said in a statement on the MLS website. “We’re still in the early planning stages and several viable options still exist, but our preferred stadium location is the former Orange Bowl site.”

“Our luggage had to go by land because of too much weight on the plane... They say we’re carrying too much but we’re the ones who put most fans in the stadiums.

A video conference Friday featured Beckham, key Beckham United financier and Sprint chief executive Marcelo Claure, English entertainment producer Simon Fuller and Regalado.

“Great meeting with Tomas Regalado,” Claure posted on Twitter. “We have presented him out intentions to bring Futbol and a New soccer stadium in the former Organge Bowl.”

Claure said his architects have studied the area and decided there is no need to alter roadways near the planned stadium area, which eventually could include an entertainment district with shops, restaurants and hotels.

“The time is now,” Claure said. “This is the moment of truth.”

Beckham’s stay in MLS with the Los Angeles Galaxy brought him an option to purchase an MLS expansion team at a reduced price and he selected Miami as his market, only to find trouble over a stadium site. Beckham’s team was conditionally accepted into MLS but needed to finalize a stadium deal to make the team a reality.

Claure also said the University of Miami, a potential stadium partner as a home for its American football team, is not involved in the deal but Beckham’s group would be open to their involvement in the project later.

Regalado said he will seek approval from city commissioners to begin talks but since the civic leaders were the ones pushing the location to the Beckham team, approval is seen as only a formality.

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

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HEALTH Hunt for HIV cure bolstered by new research A cure for HIV remains elusive, but scientists say the hunt is more hopeful than ever, based on the prospects of new research described at the International AIDS Society conference this week.

Scientists reported on progress on gene therapy and using antibodies to neutralize HIV, research into why some HIV-infected people are able to stay in remission off drugs after treatment, and a hypothesis that vaccines, yet to be invented, could be used to “shock and kill” the virus in HIV-infected people.

“Insights into the virus, its progression and the body’s response to HIV are helping to narrow and concentrate the focus of the HIV cure research agenda,” said Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of France’s Pasteur Institute, a Nobel Laureate and former IAS president.

Christopher Peterson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, released findings from a study on modified stem cells in monkeys.

The researchers successfully “edit-

ed” cells to block HIV from entering immune system cells through pathways known as “Trojan horse” receptors, said the study.

“With enough protected cells the virus shouldn’t be able to spread and we’d be looking at functional cure,” Peterson told reporters at AIDS 2015 in this Western Canadian city, attended by some 6,000 scientists and other HIV experts.

Peterson was awarded the HIV Cure prize at a “CURE” symposium held in advance of the AIDS 2015 conference, noted Barre-Sinoussi.

Another study, led by John Mascola of the US National Institutes of Health, administered HIV-1 monoclonal antibodies to eight HIV-infected people.

Within three months of a receiving one antibody infusion, the plasma viral load in six of the people “decreased by approximately 10 to 50 fold,” said Mascola’s report.

It said the two people unaffected by the infusion carried an HIV strain resistant to the antibody used.

Antibodies may have several uses in treating HIV, Mascola told a press conference, including the possibility of helping to “kill the viral reservoir” hiding in the cells of infected people.

More questions None of the new findings have yet led to practical treatments, and all “raise more questions than answer questions,” noted Steven Deeks of the University of California, San Francisco.

But Deeks said they will lead to “bigger studies, which will often fail, but lead to more studies. That is how science plays out.”

Asier Saez-Cirion of the Institut Pasteur in Paris led research on a French girl infected with HIV at birth, whose family stopped her treatment after several years, and who then was able to remain healthy for 12 years.

But just how she has been able to stay in remissions for so long remains poorly understood.

The scientists called for continued funding for cure research, most of it basic research that may not show immediate results.

“Less than one per cent of total (global) AIDS funding is for cure” research, noted Australian scientist Sharon Lewin.

Lewin earlier said that success in treating infected people could lead to officials and the public thinking “AIDS and HIV are not a big deal, that we’ve solved it, when the reality is there are still two million new infections and 1.5 million deaths a year from HIV, and 35 million people living with HIV.” Lewin told reporters the next steps in “cure” research include clinical trials on helping infected people stay in remission after stopping treatment with antiretroviral medications, treatments to “shock and cure” the virus and bolstering the immune systems of patients.

“We need a lot of basic research,” said Saez-Cirion.

Study links breast cancer and hormone pro-enkephaulin levels Stockholm, June 16, 2015 — A study from Lund University in Sweden has demonstrated that women with low levels of the painkilling hormone pro-enkephalin have a much higher risk of contracting breast cancer. The discovery should allow doctors to put into place a new breast cancer detection test for earlier diagnosis.

Directed by Professor Olle Melander, the study aims to establish the link between enkephalin, a hormone that also possesses anxiolytic properties, and breast cancer risk.

Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology the results show that women who have lower levels of the hormone

are three times more likely to develop breast cancer than women with a significantly higher level of the hormone.

studies have confirmed these results.

Researchers based the study on blood samples from 1,929 women in the city of Malmo. They were treated for breast cancer for an average of 15 years. The results were adjusted to take into account age, menopause, hormonal treatments, tobacco and other factors that could have influenced the contraction of the disease.

In order to verify the findings, scientists have compared the results with those of an older study comprised of 1,569 women of a median age of 70 also from Malmo. In this particular group, the link between low levels of the hormone and breast cancer risk was even more evident. Other studies, including those conducted on animals, have showed similar results.

The researchers assert that “the findings show evidence of a statistical correlation between small concentrations of enkephalin in the blood cells and a higher breast cancer risk,” and other

A direct effect on tumor cells

The study has also been able to demonstrate that enkephalin can strengthen the immune system’s response to cancer cells and have an

inhibitive effect on tumor cells.

These conclusions hold enormous promise for researchers as they hope to rapidly put into place a new system using enkephalin that allows for an earlier detection of breast cancer and breast cancer risk.

The release comes shortly after publication of several studies in the American JAMA review of Internal Medicine and the British Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine that raise questions about mammography screening and over-diagnosis.

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July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

Misc Asia

Japan’s Mitsubishi apologizes to U.S. prisoners of war

Asia’s shifting social landscape the focus of Asian Art Biennial Taichung, July 20, 2015 — The fifth Asian Art Biennial, opening in Taiwan on September 19, is to focus on Asia’s changing socio-political contexts via its 2015 theme, “Artist Making Movement.”

Iris Shu-Ping Huang of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts is curating the biennial’s 2015 edition, having done the same in 2013 and 2011. Over nearly three months, the event sets out to present contemporary art in all its forms, including painting, installation, video, performance art and architecture.

The fifth edition sets out to reflect on the restlessness and the emergence of what organizers call “social energy” in Asia in recent years, which they say has increased cultural awareness and seen the emergence of new art communities.

Asia’s multilateral relations, they say, have resulted in social and cultural shifts, promoting a more open sharing of resources but also more complex

power plays. In engaging in social relations, then, artists function as mediators or even transformers in this process, says the biennial team.

More than 30 artists will contribute artwork for the event, where symposiums will also invite scholars to weigh in on the subject of Asia’a cultural diversity.

Los Angeles, July 20, 2015 — Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials made a landmark apology Sunday to US prisoners of war forced to work in its mines during World War II, seven decades after the conflict.

and families of other former POWs “to express our most remorseful apology for their being subjected to hard labor during World War II, when they worked in mines operated by Mitsubishi,” he said.

The Japanese government only officially apologized to former American POWs five years ago, and Mitsubishi’s initiative appeared to be the first of its kind by a Japanese corporation.

Speaking through a translator, Kimura noted that close to 900 POWs were assigned to hard labor at four mines in Japan.

Senior Mitsubishi executive Hikaru Kimura presented a “most remorseful apology” to 94-year-old James Murphy of California, one of just a few surviving US prisoners forced to work in Japan.

The Asian Art Biennial was founded in 2007 by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, intended to explore how, as Asian countries’ economic performance has attracted global attention, new perspectives have changed contemporary reality and enriched culture on the continent.

Murphy accepted the “sincere, humble” apology.

The fifth edition runs from September 19 to December 6 at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung City.

“We hope to extend Mitsubishi’s gracious coming forward at this time to all the other mines and factories who employed American POWs against their will.”

“For 70 years since the war ended, the prisoners of war who worked for these Japanese companies have asked for something very simple, they asked for an apology,” he said.

Kimura and other company representatives met earlier with Murphy

Thousands of other US prisoners were pushed into slave labor at Japanese firms during the war.

“Working conditions were extremely harsh and the POWs were subjected to severe hardship,” he recognized, vowing to never let such a thing to happen again.

“As the company that succeeded Mitsubishi Mining, we cannot help feeling a deep sense of ethical responsibility for this past tragedy.”

The apology was made during a ceremony at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The center is dedicated to the rights of Holocaust survivors.

Georgia Asian Times July 15-31, 2015

Page 17

Misc Asia

Dalai Lama says China ‘pretending’ to know about reincarnation July 19, 2015 - Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has ridiculed China’s Communist Party for wanting to control his reincarnation, saying the government is “pretending” to know more about the system than he does, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

Tibetans fear that the Chinese government will use the issue of the Dalai Lama’s succession to split Tibetan Buddhism, with one new Dalai Lama named by exiles and one by the government after his death.

The Dalai Lama’s comments are likely to draw an angry response from China.

“The Chinese Communist Party is pretending that they know more about the reincarnation system than the Dalai Lama,” the Dalai Lama, who recently turned 80, told the New York Times in an interview.

Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. China says the tradition must continue and it must approve the next Dalai Lama.

However, the Dalai Lama has said he thinks the title could end when he dies.

Chinese officials, however, have stressed that the government must approve the next Dalai Lama and the current Dalai Lama has no right to abandon reincarnation.

China, which regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist, has ruled Tibet with an iron fist since Communist

troops took over the region in 1950.

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

The Nobel Peace laureate said his biggest concern was that China would name the next Dalai Lama, saying “the precedent has been set”, the New York Times said.

In 1995, after the Dalai Lama named a boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama, the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, China put the boy under house arrest and installed another in his place.

Many Tibetans spurn the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama as a fake.

The Dalai Lama “hinted that he would hold some kind of referendum among Tibetan exiles, and consultations among Tibetans within China” about his succession, saying the issue would be formally resolved around his 90th birthday, the newspaper said.

The Dalai Lama praised Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, the newspaper said. He also said Xi’s mother was “very religious, a very devout Buddhist,” and noted Xi himself had spoken positively of Buddhism.

US seeks to seize assets of woman in Philippines scam Washington, DC, July 15, 2015 - The US Justice Department moved Tuesday to seize $12.5 million in assets of Janet Napoles, a businesswoman at the center of a broad Philippines corruption scandal dubbed the “pork barrel scam”.

The department filed a civil forfeiture complaint to gain control of assets including a swank Los Angeles condominium, a motel near Disneyland, and a Porsche Boxster that Napoles bought for a daughter allegedly with money intended for development and disaster relief.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell in a statement.

The complaint filed in the Los Angeles Federal District Court said Napoles paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to Philippine politicians and officials from 2004-2012 to get $200 million in funds which were supposed to help poor Filipinos.

Last year she gave prosecutors a list of name implicating more than 100 people in the scandal, which resulted in the arrest of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the Philippines’s most powerful politicians; Senator Jose Estrada, son of a former president; and Senator Ramon Revilla, an action film star, among others.

The organizations Napoles ran did not deliver the services, and she took the money for her own personal use, the department said.

“The Justice Department will not allow the United States to become a playground for the corrupt or a place to hide and invest stolen riches,” said

The Department said Napoles moved $12 million to US accounts in the names of, or controlled by, her family, and used it to buy a condominium in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, the motel, and other properties.

Napoles, already in jail in the Philippines for kidnapping her cousin in 2014, has been charged along with family members in the corruption case.

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July 15-31, 2015 Georgia Asian Times

TRAVEL

Turkmenistan’s Silk Road heritage: A hidden gem kept under wraps

KONYE-URGENCH (Turkmenistan), July 17 — The towering minaret and mausoleums of Konye-Urgench in isolated Turkmenistan cut striking forms against the desert sky, yet few foreign visitors make it to a site once at the centre of the Islamic world.

Like the fabled Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara in neighbouring Uzbekistan, Konye-Urgench’s rich historical legacy is sheltered behind the borders of a secretive former communist Central Asian state that creates significant obstacles to tourism.

“People come here from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Chile,” said Aman Amanov, a state guide at the dusty Unesco world heritage site.

But, he said, only 3,000 of the 200,000 annual visitors to the site that claimed Unesco status in 2005 are international tourists—between a quarter and a fifth of the volume state officials say Turkmenistan welcomes in a year.

“The Turkmen visa was the most elusive of them all,” said Charlie Grosso, a photographer and travel writer, who visited the country in 2012.

She travelled to the isolated state as part of the Mongol Rally, a 10,000mile journey for charity during which motorists travel from Western Europe to Mongolia, traditionally in small, inexpensive vehicles.

Presence of the state

Welcoming foreigners

Grosso said she spent nearly half a day dealing with port officials after crossing the Caspian Sea from Azerbai.

In a guide available in English, Russian and Turkmen provided to visitors of Konye-Urgench, a message from Berdymukhamedov reads:

“The people are lovely — we were given multiple melons during our trip,” she said. “But you are basically faced with this unyielding bureaucracy at every turn.”

“Our duty in front of our forefathers is not only to preserve these riches, but to make them accessible to the whole world.”

“You really feel the presence of the state.”

One of the five Central Asian republics to gain independence from Moscow in 1991, the country of five million people is famous for its eccentric leaders, vast gas reserves and secrecy.

But Turkmenistan has had to grapple with a drop in global hydrocarbon prices and is looking for other sources of revenue, like tourism.

In April, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said the government needs to diversify the economy and curb spending.

In a recent shakeup, he dismissed several senior officials overseeing the economy after the fall in prices in gas and oil—which make up more than 90 per cent of its exports. The country also steeply devalued its currency, the manat.

Located 480 kilometres north of the white marble-clad capital, Ashgabat, Konye-Urgench was a seat of power for the medieval Khorezm kingdom, whose Muslim rulers controlled much of Central Asia in the 12th century after emerging from the shadow of the mighty Seljuk empire.

Even after Ghengis Khan’s armies razed the city in 1221, Konye-Urgench became one of the most important economic hubs along the Silk Road trade routes carrying riches from China and India to markets in Europe.

Unesco credits the government of Turkmenistan with generally good conservation practises, and calls Merv, another listed settlement in the country, “the oldest and most completely preserved of the oasis cities along the Silk Roads in Central Asia.”

Little is done, however, to ease access to the historic sites for foreign visitors.

Intractable visa regime

The most commonly-issued visa for visitors to the country is a five-day transit visa, with longer stays generally requiring a state-endorsed tour and guides such as Amanov, who stick to the script and steer clear of politics.

“Ultimately, only a more open Turkmenistan might aspire to be a tourist destination,” said Luca Anceschi, a Central Asia expert at the University of Glasgow, who called Turkmenistan’s visa regime “one of the most intractable on earth.”

But Anceschi said Turkmenistan is unlikely to follow the lead of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, two other Central Asian states that recently introduced visa-free regimes for citizens of developed countries.

“Breaking the isolation will certainly be equated by regime veterans as a source of instability,” he said.

Aside from the country’s Silk Road heritage, tourism officials in Turkmenistan are also hoping to pique international interest in Avaza, a multi-billion dollar resort on the Caspian Sea, as well as a crater of burning gas located in the middle of the Karakum desert that local residents nicknamed “the door to hell.”

The crater, which resulted from a Soviet-era drilling rig collapse in 1971, is attracting a growing trickle of curious sightseers, a tourism official said on condition of anonymity.