Voice of Asia E-paper July 6, 2018

INDEPENDENCE DAY

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VOICE OF ASIA The Largest Asian-American Newsweekly in Texas

Happy Fourth of July Serving Harris, Fort Bend and Surrounding Counties for 30 years Vol. 32 No. 26 • FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

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FRIDAY, July In Section 2 6, 2018 l HEALTHLINE Avoiding Medicare scams l BUSINESS WalMart pulls "Impeach Trump" shirts from online store l BOLLYWOOD Sanjay Dutt biopic set to portray the troubled star, warts and all

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Trump reverses IMAGH hosts 9th Annual Eid Milan Obama-era race guidelines for admissions

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ASHINGTON | AFP | 7/3/2018 - President Donald Trump's administration took steps Tuesday to rescind Obamaera guidelines that encouraged schools to take applicants' race and ethnicity into account to promote diversity.

The move indicates federal support for schools to adopt a race-blind admissions process and brings the highly contentious issue of affirmative action once again to the fore.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld -- though with an increasingly narrow view -- the practice of considering race as a factor in order to ensure minorities are integrated at elite US educational institutions.

But the policy shift enacted by the Trump administration and the retirement of key swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy at the end of this month -- with his replacement likely far more conservative -- spell trouble for affirmative action.

sary, outdated, inconsistent with existing law or otherwise improper."

They included information on federal protections based on national origin.

Most were from the Obama era.

"This move from Attorney General Sessions is a concrete signal that there is a war being waged on civil liberties from the highest levels of government," said Faiz Shakir, national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"This is another attack by Sessions and President Trump on people of color. Our chief law enforcement officer is dismantling structures that prevent racial discrimination in education, in housing and in ensuring fair treatment of juveniles in our criminal justice system."

"When issuing regulations, federal agencies must abide by constitutional principles and follow the rules set forth

by Congress and the president," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

IMAGH Board and EC Members at the Eid Milan event on Saturday, June 30, 2018. Photo credit: Quaid Tinwala, SMB Productions.

by Shobana Muratee

Deva Snana Puja at the Char Dham Temple

T

he Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston (IMAGH) hosted 9th Annual Eid Milan, a post Eid-ul-Fitr dinner event to share the joys of the major festival with the community. “It is a time to share in the festivities with family, friends and neighbors. It is like the Christmas or Diwali of the Muslims,” described Maqbool M Haq, Chairman, IMAGH as he welcomed over 400 guests to the Marriott Westchase on Saturday, June 30, 2018.

In previous administrations, however, agencies often tried to impose new rules on the American people without any public notice or comment period, simply by sending a letter or posting a guidance document on a website.

That's wrong, and it's not good government."

IMAGH President, Munir Ibrahim in his message stated, “This has been an incredible year for IMAGH and its members. We continue to share in the vision and mission of our motto ‘Fostering Amity across Cultures, Communities and Religions.” “Hurricane Harvey proved to us all that we may all come from very different backgrounds but that we will all come together to bring about the change we want to see. He recognized IMAGH Advisory Board, Executive Directors and volunteers.

The administration of president George W. Bush, a Republican, had similarly issued race-neutral admissions guidance.

Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, had issued two sets of admissions to colleges as well as elementary and secondary schools "on the voluntary use of race to achieve diversity," saying educational institutions had a "compelling interest" in doing so.

The guidance documents were among 24 the Justice Department rescinded, claiming they were "unneces-

An Award ceremony was highlight of the celebrations. This year, two major awards recipients were: DAYA, a local non-profit that serves survi-

READ REPORT ON PAGE 8

vors of domestic and sexual violence was honored with Col. Raj Bhalla Community Service Award and in the individual category, Farida Abjani, CEO and Co-Founder of Shinning Nightingale, Inc. a home health agency was honored with the Latafath Hussain Community Service Award.

CARE Houston Chapter bestowed IMAGH with the “2018 Stellar Award” for their outstanding service in supporting civic engagement and community service. CARE is an organization whose mission is to promote justice and enhance the understanding of Muslims and Islam and empower American Muslims bestowed SAYA an organization fostered by IMAGH helps support and empower the youth in many ways. The 2018 SAYA Scholarship Award recipients were: Masooma Batool who is currently studying at HCC for an Associate’s degree in culinary arts, Syed Nadeem, an international student from Banglore, India, who is almost done with an Associate of Science degree with a GPA of 4.0 and Syed Adullah Shahabuddin, a student at HCC currently completing his preContinued on Page 3

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OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

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By J.T. Young

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A

merican politics’ constancy is the two-party system, not the two parties. Failure to understand this, means being confounded by today’s seismic political shifts. Sometimes imperceptibly subtle, our parties are constantly shifting — not just occasionally dramatically — like the earth’s tectonic plates.

Two-party system — not the two parties — is America’s political constant

To understand the obvious, we must first see it. Federal elections are a series of individual winner-take-all elections taking place within districts or states. From the White House to the Senate to the House, all officeholders get there this way. Within this simple system, which Americans intuitively understand, are elements yielding outcomes they do not.

Because we know our system so well and have known it so long, we imagine no other possibilities. However, others — parliamentary, proportional representation, nationwide elections — also produce representatives, and significantly, very different dynamics.

Our individual election’s outcome produces just one winner. The political incentive is therefore to win at all costs because, regardless how close the loser comes, there is nothing to show for it. Moral victories receive no tangible trophy. o win, the successful candidate must assemble a coalition from available parts. Conversely, those outside winning coalitions are driven together into a single goal — they must get as close as possible to winning.

This dynamic — a scale balancing between win and losing — results in just two parties. It is the reason why third parties so rarely succeed, or survive long if they do. Their direct impact in a contest — what they achieve for themselves — is usually electorally meaningless. Instead, their impact is indirect: Taking votes from one side, they can tip the balance to the other — as notably

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

(Photo: Getty Images) happened in 2000: Ralph Nader took votes from Gore and gave Florida, and the election, to Bush.

Our winner-take-all system means positions that can, and do, exist separately in other electoral systems must find a home in one party or the other to have an electoral impact.

Even though potential third parties may aspire to achieve other results than winning elections, voters are unlikely to for very long. Just as in economics, an “invisible hand” drives all political positions to combine, whether they like it or not.

Hard as it may be to see occasionally, this dynamic can have a comparatively ameliorating effect. Neither parties nor positions can be absolute — despite critics’ incentive to define opponents as such. To be absorbed into one of the two parties, a position must be rendered into a more general form for broader appeal. And because they must continually absorb new positions in pursuit of a winning coalition, each party is continually changing.

Though we tend to see it most plainly in what we oppose, both parties’ change of

major positions are many.

Almost impossible to imagine now, Democrats used to be adherents of a strong military and ready in its use. Wilson took America into WWI; FDR, into WWII; Truman into Korea; and Kennedy and Johnson, into Vietnam. Such positions seem unthinkable for today’s Democratic Party.

Equally so, Republicans were unabashedly open to foreign imports, even when facing domestic job losses and foreign trade barriers. Now polls regularly show Republican voters more skeptical of such policies and even trade’s beneficial impact. Their last nominee won both nomination and presidency by tapping just such skepticism.

Like the earth’s tectonic plates, the two parties are continually moving in friction with one another, so constant, and usually so subtle, it goes unnoticed. Only over extended time, or when shifts reach a sudden critical point — like earthquakes — do Americans take notice. We then profess shock that the dramatic has occurred and wonder how it did. Yet, the dynamic of continual movement was there all along.

In George Washington’s famous Farewell Address, he tells the young nation: “Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manor against the baneful effects of the spirit of party…” These he says “serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party...This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.”

Washington knew well of what he warned. Even under his uniquely uniting persona, two parties were taking shape within his own administration: The Republican under Thomas Jefferson and the Federalist under John Adams. However, the creation of two parties was not a failure in his lieutenants, much less in Washington’s own abilities.

They were endemic to the electoral system that Washington and other drafters of the Constitution created. The two parties change — some disappearing entirely or, as has been the case for the last century and a half, simply retaining their names but altering their policies — but the two-party system endures. It is the dynamic — not a dynasty — that prevails in America.

J.T. Young served under President George W. Bush as the director of communications in the Office of Management and Budget and as deputy assistant secretary in legislative affairs for tax and budget at the Treasury Department. He served as a congressional staffer from 1987-2000.

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VOICE OF ASIA 3

Section 1

Community Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Tel: 713-774-5140

IMAGH hosts 9th Annual Eid Milan

IMAGH President, Munir Ibrahim delivering his message

Chief Guest Gary S. Branfman, MD delivering his talk at teh IMAGH Eid Milan event. Photo scredit: Quaid Tinwala, SMB Continued from Page 1 requisites for pre-pharmacy.

The scholarships were collaborated by HCC Aspire program. Event Co-Chair Dr. Yunus Langhaand IMAGH Joint Secretary Rahat Sultana Kalle presented the scholarships.

The celebration featured Chief Guest Gary S. Branfman, MD, a noted plastic surgeon and an active member and past president of Temple B’nai Israel in Victoria, Texas.

His presentation on a range of social and political issues plaguing the nations explained his in-depth knowledge and experience as a scholar and an activist. His speech on racism which he supported with power point presentation depicted atrocities, killings throughout American history. “You cannot kill racism with intolerance, we cannot kill racism with double standards, we cannot kill racism with more racism,” he said. “We must design and redesign the world with no room for racism.” Ed-

ucation is the only path to end racism he said quoting Condoleezza Rice as saying, “I would even say that my parents, and their friends in our community, thought of education as a kind of armor against racism.”

Farida Abjani receiving the Latafath Hussain Community Service Award.

Yasmin Vadva, Event Chair in her message said, “Each of us here worship differently at varied customs and cultures that we follow but the health and liberty depends of a country. Depends on the principals, standards and morals that are common to all religions.” The Muslim-American culture identity is a work in progress.

As industrious, freedom-loving Muslims, the Constitution of the United States allows us a dynamic interpretation of Islam,” she added.

Deputy Consul General Indian Surender Adhana in his Eid massage spoke about unity and brotherhood.

Abeezar Tyebji, Chairman, Board of Advisors observed that, “Indian Americans continuously outpace every other ethnic group socioeconomically per U.S. Census statistics.”

Tyebji gave some significant stats: Households headed by on Indian immigrants have a median income of $107,000, compared to $51,000 and $56,000 for overall immigrant and native-born households, respectively.

According to Pew Research, 72% of Indian Americans have a bachelor's degree or more. The research finds that 12% scientists and 38% doctors in the US are Indians, and in NASA, 36% of

scientists are Indian. If that's not proof enough of Indian scientific and corporate prowess, digest this: 34% employees at Microsoft, 28% at IBM, 17% at Intel and 13% at Xerox are Indians. “I find that more next-gens are entering public service and running for political office. And as importantly they are starting new businesses in every field,” he stated in his message.

Sheela Rao, President DAYA receiving Col. Raj Bhalla Community Service Award

Paru McGuire, President of Club 65, a sister organization IMAGH presented briefly the activities of the Club. The celebration of all major holidays such as Eid Milan, Valentine's Day, Mother's and Father's Day, Diwali, New Year's Eve, were all fun and invigorating for the seniors she said.

The highlight of the event was the entertainment segment featuring celebrity standup comedian Aman Ali, an awardwinning storyteller from New York City who delighted the audience with his personal stories growing up as Muslim in America. A narrative on `Indian Heritage’ was spectacular especially the costumes. Serene Kaggal sang the National Anthem and the program was emceed professionally by Shazia Khan RJ, Dabang Radio.

The food catered by Tempura Halal Indo-Pak Grill was fit for a festival. Dinner was served on time and the process went very smoothly without a hitch.

IMAGH, formed to foster harmony, strengthen relationships between religions and cultures, and enrich the community as a whole through various Outreach programs. It is a non-profit, non-political and non-religious organization.

IMAGH over a span of 9 years has made great strides under its stalwart founders, leaders like Latafath Hussain, Abeezar Tyebji, Maqbool Haq, and many others who continue to support as the organization expands to incorporate seniors and youth services. To be a volunteer or learn more about IMAGH visit www.imagh.org

Read in Section 2 of Voice of Asia

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VOICE OF ASIA 4

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

VOICE OF ASIA 5

Fort Bend View

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

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

Section 1

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

Non-Emergency City offices to Houston Methodist Sugar Land close for Independence Day; Hospital offers advanced treatment Regular trash pickup for for nonhealing wounds Municipal customers will occur

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ISSOURI CITY - All nonemergency City offices will be closed on Wednesday, July 4. This includes: l City Hall, 1522 Texas Pkwy. l Inspections & Permits, 1522 Texas Pkwy.

- Municipal Court, 3845 Cartwright Rd. l Recreation & Tennis Center, 2701 Cypress Point Dr. l Animal Services, 1923 Scanlin Rd. The Quail Valley Golf Course and the Bluebonnet Grille will operate on the regular schedule. To schedule your tee time, call 281.403.5910.

Residents who participate in the Municipal Solid Waste Program will receive regular pick-ups. To ensure service, citizens are encouraged to set garbage and recyclable materials out by 7 a.m. For assistance, residents may contact customer service at WCA Waste Corp. by calling 281.403.5800.

As individuals prepare to celebrate the 4th, City officials remind every-

one to take the following precautions to keep families, visitors, pets and neighborhoods safe: l Make sure your pet is registered with the City and the ID tags are upto-date and securely fastened to your pet’s collar. Consider microchipping your pets and add them to Nextdoor’s pet directory. l Try to attend the City’s Fourth of July celebration: http://bit. ly/2KEfy8F or another public fireworks display. Avoid private displays, as fireworks are illegal inside City limits per City ordinance. l Fire up the grill, but only outdoors and never on porches. Keep children and pets away from the grill and never leave it unattended. l While we know swimming may be in your Fourth of July plans, try not to swim alone and avoid using alcohol around water. Never leave children unattended near any body of water.

For more information about Missouri City, please watch the City website: www.missouricitytx.gov,

SLPD offers non-emergency crime-reporting tool UGAR LAND – The Sugar Land Police Department recently launched an online tool enabling citizens to report certain non-emergency crimes.

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Emergencies should be immediately reported to 9-1-1; however, crimes such as criminal mischief or property damage, fraudulent activities such as credit card abuse and thefts can be reported at www.sugarlandtx.gov/ReportCriminalActivity.

Once submitted online, the informa-

tion will be verified and a case number assigned.

“This method should not be used if anyone was injured as a result of the incident,” explained Capt. Michelle Allen, “or if an officer should be dispatched to the location of the crime.”

The online reporting tool is not intended to replace other methods of reporting crimes. Citizens may continue to call SLPD’s non-emergency phone number at (281) 275-2020 to have an officer respond.

UGAR LAND - (July 2, 2018) – For people living with diabetes, even the smallest scrape can lead to potentially dangerous circumstances. High blood sugar can damage nerves, which may cause numbness in the feet and legs, and lead to a narrowing and hardening of blood vessels, which can result in less oxygen being circulated throughout the body to aid in healing.

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If you have a wound that doesn’t heal properly, early treatment can help you get back on your feet. The Houston Methodist Wound Care Program at Sugar Land uses a multidisciplinary approach for treating wounds that won’t heal.

DIABETIC FOOT WOUNDS Timothy Oppermann, M.D., boardcertified general surgeon with Houston Methodist Surgical Associates at Sugar Land, encourages patients to take a proactive approach. “Diabetes accounts for about 60 percent of lower limb amputations not related to injury in adults, clearly illustrating the importance for diabetic patients to closely monitor their health and take quick action to provide the proper care to even the smallest wound, particularly in the feet,” Oppermann said.

Warning signs of a chronic, nonhealing wound include: • Persistent pain in the area around the wound • Discoloration of the wound’s edges • Increased drainage from the wound site • Redness or swelling around or spreading away from the wound HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY The program’s doctors and nurses are certified in wound care medicine, and work with patients and their pri-

Hyperbaric oxygen chamber (Photo courtesy Houston Methodist SL Hospital) mary care physician to monitor, manage and treat wounds with the most advanced treatments available, including compression wraps, antimicrobial dressings, bioengineered skin substitutes and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

Michael Yaakovian, M.D., boardcertified general surgeon with Houston Methodist Surgical Associates at Sugar Land, treats patients with diabetic foot problems and other nonhealing wounds. “Hyperbaric therapy supplies oxygen under pressure that supersaturates the red blood cells and plasma with oxygen, so when blood is supplied to the area of the wound, these supercharged blood cells help repair the wound and kill the infection, leading to the generation of new blood vessels and tissue growth,” Yaakovian explained.

FIVE SELF-CARE TIPS For people with diabetes, managing wounds to prevent complications requires care and diligence. Take good care of your feet with the following tips.

1. Inspect and wash feet daily. With poor sensation, wounds could go unnoticed.

2. Keep wounds clean and dry to reduce risk of infection.

3. File your toe nails. Clipping may increase the risk for skin injury.

4. Wear proper-fitting shoes and socks at all times.

5. Control your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol to slow down the progression of diabetic complications.

SEE A WOUND SPECIALIST If a wound does not show signs of healing, it should be evaluated by a wound specialist. To schedule an appointment with Timothy Oppermann, M.D. or Michael Yaakovian, M.D., call 281.275.0860. Visit houstonmethodist.org/wound-sl to learn more about our services.

Visit our Facebook page at fb.com/ methodistsugarland for the latest news, events and information.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 6

IACAN hosts National Cancer Survivors Day

N

ational Cancer Survivors Day is commemorated annually on the first Sunday in June and this year, the Indian American Cancer Network (IACAN) celebrated cancer survivors on Saturday, June 3, 2018 with a painting party. The event was held at Painting with a Twist in Sugar Land. One of the main goals of IACAN is to improve the physical and emotional needs of cancer survivors and their caregivers.

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

IACCGH features Officer Salazar, US Customs and Border Protection

IACAN has sponsored several therapeutic activities such as yoga, gardening, painting, and music therapies, so the survivors and their caregivers can build support networks, improve quality of life, and optimize their health.

By conducting these therapeutic activities, IACAN aims to educate, entertain, ease the pain and exchange relevant information among survivors and caregivers. This “Buddy System” gives an emotional boost and a sense of wellbeing to the participants.

Painting with a Twist is a fun activity. Everything need-

Officer C. Salazar addressing IACCGH members. Photo credit - Bijay Dixit.

Participants during the painting session.

by Manu Shah

A

s part of its Outreach efforts, IndoAmerican Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) invited Officer C. Salazar from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to speak to its members about the benefits of joining the Global Entry Program.

Some of the participants had never painted before and some were familiar with the art of painting. ed for the painting is provided to each painter. Some of the participants had never painted before and some were familiar with the art of painting. A well trained coach guided each step of the painting process. The instructions were so thorough, the participants felt confident, proud and happy with the end product, a picture of the Impressionist Bridge.

It was evident that during the painting session the par-

ticipants were relieved of their worries and were totally immersed in the painting. They were able to share their expertise of painting, giving instructions to others and having a great time.

Laughter and joy filled the room. Of course participants shared their experiences of their cancer journey and there were a lot of exchange of ideas and sharing of relevant information as well. This ther-

apeutic activity was followed by a healthy lunch.

While Cancer Survivor Day is celebrated once a year but we should acknowledge and honor cancer survivors every day for their resilience.

It will be a great pleasure to serve more survivors and their care givers. If you feel IACAN can help you, please contact IACAN at 713-3703489 or visit www.iacannetwork.org.

The event was held on June 20th at Double Tree Hilton.

As a regular user of the program, Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia stated that “this is an effort by the Chamber to educate and empower the community on relevant matters” while President Swapan Dhairyawan encouraged frequent travelers to explore the program as it helps “skip the long queues at airports and head home as fast as possible.”

Global Entry, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program, allows expedited clearance for preapproved, low-risk travelers. On arrival in the US, program members proceed to Global Entry kiosks, scan their passport or U.S. permanent resident card, get a fingerprint verification and

complete a customs declaration after which they can proceed to baggage claim. Travelers are required to undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrollment. (https://www. cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/ how-apply) Officer Salazar clarified that the program is not just for US citizens and Permanent residents but has recently been opened for Indian citizens.

In July 2017, the U.S. formalized India's inclusion to the Global Entry program.

Indian travelers can apply for Global Entry through the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) website. Indian Ambassador to Washington Navtej Sarna was the first Indian national to be enrolled in the program.

Explaining the difference between TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, she stated that TSA PreCheck program allows approved passengers expedited screening on domestic flights. TSA PreCheck passengers are not required to remove their shoes, laptops, liquids, belts, and light jackets. A PreCheck is cheaper ($85 for five years), and Global Entry

is $100 for five years. However, that Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, and the extra $15 seems well worth it.

You can apply online for Global Entry and pay the $100 non-refundable application fee. Some premium credit card companies do offer rebates or even a refund on the application fee.

CBP Officers explained the Global Entry program to a large gathering of over 2200 attendees at the India Culture Center Republic Day celebrations on January 20th. The Chamber donated the booth to Customs and Border Protection and they will be setting up booth again on August 19th during the Independence Day celebrations.

IACCGH has arranged for US Customs and Border Protection representatives to speak during the IACCGH Business Hour on Open Forum Radio as well as a focus meeting of CBP Officers to discuss the program with the leadership of the Fort Bend, Asian, Korean, Taiwanese Columbian and the Netherlands American Chambers of Commerce.

Deva-Snana Purnima: Celebrating Shri Jagannatha’s Birthday

Deva Snana Purnima in Houston Texas.

eva Snana Purnima is celebrated on the full-moon day (Purnima) of the month of Jyestha month of the Indian calendar. Odias, the people from the eastern coastal state of Odisha in India, mark this day as the birthday of Shri Jagannatha and observe the day with pomp and gaiety. Snana Purnima, also known as Snana Jatra is one of the annual occasions when the deities, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Jagannatha leave their abode, the garba-griha or the sanctum sanctorum of the Shri Jagannatha Temple and come out for a ceremonial bath, snana means bath. The bathing and ablution are carried out with water from the well within

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the precincts of the Shri Mandira in Puri.

Snana Purnima showcases the coming together of spirituality and ritualistic details, where the Lord of the Universe, Jagannatha is depicted in a ‘humanized’ way, emphasizing a divinity that is easily approachable and relatable. But again the ablutions have a code of conduct as enshrined in “Niladri Mohadaya”, that are followed religiously, like exactly 108 pitchers of water are used for the ceremonial bathing.

The ceremonial bathing and Besha is performed at Snana Mandapa. This Mandapa is designed in such a way that even people outside the temple can enjoy the ceremony.

Deva Snana Purnima in Shri Mandira in Puri.

Snana Purnima at Snana Mandapa, Puri, Odisha Akshaya Tritya which was celebrated in the month of April, marked the beginning of the grand annual festival of Ratha Jatra, with the commencement of construction of the three majestic wooden Ratha – chariots. Snana Purnima is the final leg towards Ratha Jatra build-up.

As following the ablutions, the three beloved deities, are dressed up in Gajanana or Ganesha Besha and for the subsequent period of 15 days, known as the ‘Anasara’, the deities have a temporary disappearance from the public domain. In local folklore, it is said that the

deities are not keeping well.

During this phase of 15-days following Snana Purnima, the bathed wooden idols are repainted and redecorated.

At the end of this ‘Anasara’ period the deities emerge for public darshan just a day before the famous Ratha Jatra.

We in the Houston Odia community like our brethren world-wide have geared up the forth-coming RathaJatra. At the serene environs of Shri Jagannatha Mandira - Houston, 3101 Fuqua St., Houston,TX Snana Purnima was observed on June 24th 2018. The resident Odia community celebrated this pious day with prayer and offerings to Shri Jagannatha.

After the ceremonial bath, snana, the three deities were adorned with the traditional Gajanana Besha. This was followed by an Odia-style lunch-prasad.

Gajanana Besha on Snana Purnima at Shri Jagannatha Mandira, Houston, Texas The Houston Odia community led by Orissa Culture Center (OCC) in collaboration with Shri Sitaram Foundation will celebrate Houston’s eleventh Jagannatha Ratha-Jatra on 14th July, 2018 at the India House, 8888 West Bellfort Blvd., Houston, TX. This daylong event is supported by a generous grant from City

of Houston Art Alliance.

Emphasizing the philosophy of Univeralism, 2018 Jagannatha Ratha-Jatra in Houston will proudly host a rich mix of dance forms including Mariachi, Latin American Folk Dance and Indian Classical Dance. We cordially solicit the participation of people and communities from all cultures, beliefs and walks of life to join us in this spiritual and devotional congregation.

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

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 7

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Sri Guruvayurappan Temple’s Grand Fundraising Program; Sarga Sandhya

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erala Hindu Society of Houston was established nearly half a century ago to practice heritage and nourish the tradition in generations to come. With support of numerous devotees, the Balalaya (the abode of the child) prathishta of Lord Sri Guruvayurappan was performed in May 23, 2010. Later (in April 2015) the main temple inauguration ceremonies were held and temple was opened for the devotees across the globe. The entire spiritual and ritualistic observations is being done under the direction and guidance of temple chief priest, Thantri Brahmasri Divakaran Namboothiri, the former Melsanthi (chief priest) of Guruvayur temple, Kerala, India. The temple plays a major role in our community for promoting traditional arts and rituals which are unique compared to many other temples in USA.

A Popular actor Jagadish and legendary actress Sheela on the stage.

Members and fundraiser organisers of the Sri Guruvayurappan Temple.

An elegant dance performance prior to Skit and Music Programs.

Temple priest Sasidharan Nambuthiri offering prayer at the opening ceremony.

Events such as Siva Prathishta and Anniversary Festival was a remarkable in 2018 with special rituals, cultural programs, Melam, Thayambaka and kshetrakala presentations especially Kathakali, one of the finest art forms of the world.

The recent fundraising event of 2018, Sarga Sandhya, was presented by several prominent artists of Kerala. This cultural extravaganza, Sarga Sandhya has enjoyed by several hundreds and it was a grand success with tireless efforts of volunteers and program committee as well as the support of sponsors and devotees.

Legendary actress Sheela, Musicians, popular movie actors/artists (including National Award Winners) presented this program on June 23 at St:Joseph Hall, 303 Present St, Missouri City TX 77489). Sarga Sandhya event was a fund raiser for the temple to expand our facilities.). For more information please contact temple (713729-8994).

Sri Guruvayurappan Temple, 11620 Ormandy St, Houston TX 77035 www.guruvayurappanhouston.org

Mahatma Gandhi Library members give tour of MG District

JCHYK 2018 camp at Chinmaya Mission Houston invigorating and inspiring

by Satchitananda

O

ne of the greatest enduring legacies of Gurudev Pujya Swami Chinmayananda is to establish an amazing system to continuously infuse practical Vedic and Vedantic wisdom in the society.

Amongst the various activities of the Chinmaya Mission world over, perhaps the one that touches the youth the most is the Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHY) camps. Chinmaya Mission Houston (CMH) played host to a power packed, enlightening summer camp for five days from June 11th through 15th of June, which helped the youth (ages 14-17) to build their skills to introspect within. Acharya Vivekji transformed the minds of the participants with a themed message – The Efficient, the effective, the enlightened – an exploration of the Bhagavad Gita along with Br. Shweta Chaitanyaji, a living proof of CMH’s

A small group during the five day camp. (Photo by Jayakrishna Gundamaraju)

L-R: Col. RC Bhalla, Atul Kothari founder of Mahatma Gandhi Library, Dr. Luz Mary Rincon and Nisha Mirani. group of 20 educators, community leaders and others led

by Dr. Luz Mary Rincon visited Mahatma Gandhi District on June 21, 2018. . The group was interested in learning the process by which the area near Hillcroft and US 59 came to be known as Mahatma Gandhi District.

the process that enabled renaming of the district. The group was also interested to learn about the Indian Culture and why Indo-Americans are so successful.

ICC officials, namely Col RC Bhalla , Nisha Mirani and Swapan Dhairyawan, who organized the tour were there to inform the group about

The group met at Raja Sweets restaurant and then toured the Mahatma Gandhi District.

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Atul Kothari (second from the left in the picture) of Mahatma Gandhi Library initiated the meeting and was also present to greet them.

Mahatma Gandhi Library 2018 Walk For Peace Registration is now open!

F

ellow peace lovers, please come and vote for peace with your feet!

Mahatma Gandhi Library is organizing a 5K walk through beautiful Hermann Park. It will be meandering through beautiful Hermann Park starting and ending at The Miller Outdoor Theatre.

The walk will stop by the life size statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Hawkins sculpture in Hermann Park Conservancy. Come with your friends and family to spread the message of peace. Such actions will inspire our children and make a lasting impact on them. To register visit www.gandhilibrary.org

Camp participants. (Photo by Jayakrishna Gundamaraju) immense contributions.

Every participant felt Acharya Vivekji’s message was simple, easy to remember and practicable. Both the Acharyas kept the theme around Sthitha Pragña Lakshana. Ten values distilled as characteristics of a wise person from Bhagavad Gita were emphasized. They include – being content, balanced, independent, fearless, accepting all situations, disciplined, devoted, awareness, knowledge and humility. The camp engaged the body, mind and intellect through a myriad of activities. Though the camp was laced with numerous discourses about each value, it was the workshops, fun activities, assignments to learn about oneself through introspection which kept the excitement of the camp. Both the Acharyas, due to their Chinmaya Mission legacy, were able to reach deep into the psyche of the youth and transfer their wisdom in a fun way, as they related to the kids at every level.

The intense, yet fun camp, through powerful reiteration brought the kids to face their own mind and challenge themselves to ascend along the path of these ten values. Acharya Vivekji had a 24 hour challenge, Reflection Adventure Day (RAD) to transform the imparted wisdom as their new habits.

Shwetaji’s game centered approach to impart a value was a big hit among the participants. Introducing the young minds to Mouna and having them introspect and analyze their own mind was a wonderful experience the kids had. Though it appeared challenging to the novice, by the end of the camp, they were able to master it, to work as their strengths.

The kids recounted their gained knowledge with the quote, they learnt at the camp - “Nothing to gain, so nothing to lose; nothing to lose, so nothing to fear; nothing to fear, so everything is love”. Camps like these leave lifelong impressions of Vedanta

on the young minds and help one lead a life rooted in the ancient wisdom.

CMH is proudly dedicated to transplanting the young minds in the fertile soil of practical vedantic wisdom one at a time, constantly watered by the love and dedication of the Acharyas, under the constant radiance of the Sun of Gurudev’s vision to revive a dharmic society.

Tradition steeped in wisdom, diffused with fun is the norm at Chinmaya Mission Houston, located at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353, Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX-77498. For more information, visit www.chinmayahouston.org or call Jay Deshmukh 832 541 0059.

Photos and JCHYK Camp organized

by Jayakrishna Gundamaraju This article is sourced from JCHYK camp participant feedback of Aditi Ram, Aishwarya Kosgi, Aditi Kosigi, Mihir Gundamaraju, Ankitha Gantasala and Shivani Sinha.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 8

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Gunman threatens to shoot Deva Snana Puja at Char Dham Temple employee while walking out The Bathing Ceremony of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra was held on Wednesday, June 27th in The Woodlands of Home Depot Surveillance video posted at www.sugarlandtx.gov/robbery183504

Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra on the altar at the Char Dham Temple.

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s part of the 7th Annual “Greater Houston Rath Yatra” celebrations, “Deva Snana Puja”, bathing ceremony of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra was celebrated at the Char Dham Temple in the Woodlands on Wednesday, June 27th with much pomp and ceremony.

A video-grap image of the thief walking out the door. (Courtesy Sugar Land Police Department)

S

UGAR LAND – Sugar Land police are looking for a gunman who took a cart-load of merchandise from Home Depot on June 25.

Police were called at 11:47 a.m. after employees said a man exited the gardening area of the store with power tools.

He pointed a handgun at a cashier and told her to remain quiet before leaving in a black Dodge Durango that was circling the parking lot.

The suspect was white, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed approximately 140 pounds.

He was wearing a long-sleeve blue t-shirt and light-colored jean shorts.

Police believe the same man committed a similar crime at another Home Depot in Houston four hours earlier.

Detectives obtained surveillance video from the robbery in Sugar Land that shows the gunman exiting the Dodge Durango, walking through the store and pointing a handgun at an employee while casually

Richmond man charged with putting rattlesnake in neighbor's RV

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ICHMOND - Felton Sauter, 39, got into an argument with his neighbor last month. Then, police allege, he decided he’d get the last word in the dispute with a silent killer.

Court filings in Caldwell County allege he placed a rattlesnake in the neighbor’s RV following a “verbal argument.” The filing, obtained by KVUE, notes that “deputies observed that the snake’s rattles had been removed.”

The station reported Sauter bit the rattle off with his teeth.

Sauter has since been charged with two misdemeanors, including deadly conduct, in the case.

The charges state the neighbor, identified by KVUE as Keith Monroe, saw Saunter exiting and fleeing the RV. The suspicious Monroe then discovered the de-rattled snake in his home and killed it. -RNN

GET NOTICED! To receive or advertise on our weekly newsletter Call 713-774-5140

leaving the store.

Anyone with information should call the Sugar Land Police Department at (281) 275-2540 or Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers at (281) 342TIPS (8477).

Deva Snana is the first occasion in the year when the deities are brought out from the sanctum sanctorum at Puri and taken in a procession to Snana Mandap (bathing altar), where they are ceremonially bathed with 108 pitchers of water from a well inside the Jagannath Temple. After the bathing rituals, the deities are decorated in Gaja Vesha or elephant headgear. In keeping with this tradition, the deities,

were bathed with 108 pitchers of water in a ceremony led by the head priest of Char Dham temple, Sri Srikiran Narayam.

Devotees present in the temple participated in the bathing ceremony by pouring water on their beloved God. After the bathing ceremony, the deities were dressed in Gaja Vesha. All the while, soulful bhajans were being performed

by Char Dham devotees. This was followed by Maha Arati and Prasadam. After the ceremony, the deities were placed in Anabasara, where the devotees can’t see them until Rath Yatra, which will be celebrated on July 14th at the Char Dham Temple from 5pm to 10pm. This event is being organized jointly by Char Dham Hindu Temple, SKAI Foundation, and ISKCON

Deva Snana puja in the temple room of the Char Dham Temple.

Houston and is being supported by various other organizations.

The organizers are anticipating a big crowd packing the temple premises and surrounding streets to see and seek blessings from Lord Jagannath, Lord of the Universe. Festivities will

include procession of 3 chariots in Jagannath Puri style, Cultural entertainment, Indian bazaar, Food booths and Maha Arati. Admission is completely free. For more information, visit http://chardhamhindutemple. org or call 832-299-5172.

ASIA/SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 9

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Ex-Malaysian PM Najib to be charged after dramatic fall from power

by M. Jegathesan

tion of hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB that was allegedly funnelled to him.

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UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia | AFP | Tuesday 7/3/2018 - Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is set to be charged Wednesday after he was arrested in an anticorruption investigation, as his spectacular fall from grace sees him become the country's first ex-leader to be taken to court.

Najib, 64, was detained Tuesday as the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad intensified a probe on corruption during his rule, including the alleged siphoning off of billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB. The arrest is the latest in a series of stunning moves by investigators that suggest the legal noose is tightening around Najib, his family and many of his close political and business allies.

Malaysia's state news agency Bernama said the former premier is expected to face more than 10 counts of committing criminal breach of trust linked

The newly appointed attorney general Tommy Thomas will lead the prosecution team, Bernama said.

Lawyers familiar with corruption cases told AFP they expect the charges to be read to Najib and a plea would be taken. His lawyers are expected to apply for bail.

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is set to be charged Wednesday after he was arrested by anti-corruption investigators (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana) to SRC International Sdn Bhd, an energy company that was originally a subsidiary of 1MDB, which Najib founded.

"Najib is the first (former) prime minister ever to be charged in court in the history of Malaysia," said Tian Chua, vice president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, a key political party in the current ruling

coalition.

"It signals a new era where no one in public office will be immune from punitive action if they abuse power," he added.

According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, $10.6 million originating from SRC was transferred to Najib's personal bank accounts, a frac-

Japanese tennis stars feeling remote after World Cup heartbreak apan's Taro Daniel fears the wrath of his compatriots after missing the national side's dramatic exit from the football World Cup because he couldn't find the right channel on his hotel TV.

J

"I couldn't find the channel on my room TV, so I was just watching some movies. Probably Japanese people would kill me if I say that! Disappointing, I guess.

"If I would have found it on TV I would have watched it.

But, I mean, not super concentrated, either, because I was by myself."

Daniel said the Japanese players try to stick together at Wimbledon, with parties and games on the agenda.

"We always have this... party the Saturday before the tournament starts, and we have dinner all together and play games, card games and whatever. It's always fun," he said.

Tokyo's iconic Shibuya pedestrian scramble, normally the site of post-game revelry, was markedly more subdued as fans staggered out of sports bars into the harsh early day-

A press statement issued by Najib's camp late Tuesday said the impending charges and other investigations "are politically motivated and the result of political vengeance" under Mahathir.

It vowed that Najib "will contest these charges and clear his name in court".

Najib and his allies are accused of plundering billions of dollars from the 1MDB to buy everything from US real estate to artworks.

Shortly after his downfall, a treasure trove of valuables was seized in raids on properties linked to Najib and his family -- including cash, jewellery and luxury handbags -- worth up to $273 million.

Najib and the fund deny any wrongdoing.

Daniel wanted to watch Monday's roller-coaster match when Japan blew a 2-0 lead against Belgium in the round of 16 in Russia, losing 3-2 with Nacer Chadli scoring a heartbreaking winner in the fourth minute of injury time.

"I'm not a huge football fan but I was following the score," he told AFP.

Allegations of massive corruption were a major factor behind the shock election loss in May of Najib's long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance headed by his former mentor Mahathir, who turns 93 next week.

He and his luxury-loving wife Rosmah Mansor were questioned by investigators, as were his stepson Riza Aziz, whose firm produced the hit 2013 movie "The Wolf of Wall Street", and his former deputy Zahid Hamidi.

by Robin Millard

However, Daniel missed the thriller as finding the right channel on the remote control proved elusive.

A.Q. Khan: Nuclear hero to Pakistan, villain to West

Since the election loss Najib has been banned from leaving the country and has found himself at the centre of a widening graft probe.

Japan's Taro Daniel hits a return (AFP Photo/Glyn Kirk) light after the game wrapped up at about 5 am local time, devastated by the manner of defeat but content at the team's performance.

"Just a little bit more ... it was a harsh result," said Kenta Saito, 61, a former school football coach and a qualified referee.

- Nishikori through opener The Japanese tennis contingent tried to salvage some national sporting pride at Wimbledon on Tuesday after the football heartbreak.

Kei Nishikori led the way, beating his good friend Christian Harrison in four sets to kick off his campaign at the All England Club.

However, Daniel lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to Italian 19th seed Fabio Fognini.

And in the women's draw, Kurumi Nara lost 6-2, 6-4 to world number one Simona Halep on Centre Court.

Nishikori, the 24th seed, beat US qualifier and world number 198 Harrison 6-2, 4-6, 7-6

(7/3), 6-2. The pair are mates from their time training together in Florida.

Belgian player David Goffin had room to gloat over the football result during a brief encounter with Nishikori.

"Just saw Kei this morning before his match. I just saw him two seconds. I think he was disappointed about the match," he said, with a grin.

Nishikori, who reached the US Open final in 2014, is hoping to get past the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time in 10 attempts.

He admits he has found it tough to shine on grass in the past, with injuries often hampering his bid to replicate his impressive hard-court play.

Najib spent the night at the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and will be whisked to court on Wednesday morning, officials said.

"Now the case is entering the judicial process and the law (will) have to take its course," Oh Ei Sun, from Malaysian think-tank the Pacific Research Center, told AFP.

him a dejected figure.

"I was pretty sad because this is my favourite court and it was not a good result. It's not great, for sure," Sugita told AFP. "I lost big momentum because I had a set point for the second set and I lost easy. I lost confidence and then the momentum. I'm sad."

"Points finish much faster than the other courts and surfaces. Everybody has to play a little more aggressive," the Japanese number one said.

"If you give them one chance, the game will change soon. So far I don't have a good result yet, but I like to play."

He faces unpredictable Australian Bernard Tomic in the second round on Thursday.

- Crestfallen Sugita Meanwhile Yuichi Sugita was left bemoaning the same luck as the Japanese football team.

Sugita, the world number 69, was beaten 2-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2, 6-2 by US qualifier Bradley Klahn, ranked 168, leaving

Khan was accused of illegally proliferating nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. (AFP Photo)

I

SLAMABAD, Pakistan | AFP | Friday 6/29/2018 Pakistani atomic scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan is hailed as a national hero for transforming his country into the world's first Islamic nuclear power but regarded by the West as a dangerous renegade responsible for smuggling technology to rogue states.

He was charged with stealing it from The Netherlands while working for Anglo-Dutch-German nuclear engineering consortium Urenco, and bringing it back to Pakistan in 1976.

Revered as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, Khan was lauded for bringing the nation up to par with arch-rival India in the atomic field and making its defences "impregnable".

By 1978, his team had enriched uranium and by 1984 they were ready to detonate a nuclear device, Khan later said in a newspaper interview.

But he found himself in the crosshairs of controversy when he was accused of illegally proliferating nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Khan was placed under effective house arrest in the capital Islamabad in 2004 after he admitted running a proliferation network to the three countries.

In 2006, during his house arrest, Khan suffered from prostate cancer, but recovered after surgery.

A court ended his house arrest in February 2009, but Khan has to inform authorities of his movements in advance, even within Islamabad, with security accompanying him on his every step.

Born in Bhopal, India on April 1, 1936, Khan was just a young boy when his family migrated to Pakistan during the bloody 1947 partition of the sub-continent at the end of British colonial rule.

He did a science degree at Karachi University in 1960, then went on to study metallurgical engineering in Berlin before completing advanced studies in the Netherlands and Belgium.

The 81-year-old's crucial contribution to Pakistan's nuclear programme was the procurement of a blueprint for uranium centrifuges, which transform uranium into weapons-grade fuel for nuclear fissile material.

On his return to Pakistan, then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto put Khan in charge of the government's nascent uranium enrichment project.

The 1998 nuclear test saw Pakistan slapped with international sanctions and sent its economy into freefall.

Khan's aura began to dim in March 2001 when then president Pervez Musharraf, reportedly under US pressure, removed him from the chairmanship of Kahuta Research Laboratories and made him a special adviser.

But Pakistan's nuclear establishment never expected to see its most revered hero subjected to questioning.

The move came after Islamabad received a letter from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN watchdog, containing allegations that Pakistani scientists were the source of sold-off nuclear knowledge.

Khan said in a speech to the Pakistan Institute of National Affairs in 1990 that he had shopped around on world markets while developing Pakistan's nuclear programme.

"It was not possible for us to make each and every piece of equipment within the country," he said.Benazir Bhutto.

In 2011, during the state visit of President Asif Zardari, Pakistan sought civil nuclear power cooperation with Japan, similarly to a previous deal between Japan and India. According to the Jang News group, the Japanese government refused the deal with Pakistan.

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US/WORLD

VOICE OF ASIA 10

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

FBI foils US Independence Day Trump-AMLO: clash of popuattack by Al Qaeda sympathizer lists, or chance for a fresh start?

by Paul Handley

said.

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The posts called for Muslims to train in hand-to-hand combat and in the use of arms and explosives, Anthony said.

ASHINGTON | AFP | Monday 7/2/2018 - The FBI announced Monday the arrest of a professed supporter of AlQaeda who was planning to target members of the US military and their families with a bomb attack on a July 4 parade in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts, who also used the name Abdur Raheem Rafeeq, told an undercover agent that he wanted to load up a vehicle with explosives and blow it up during the US national day celebrations on Wednesday.

"His desire: to kill military personnel and their families," said FBI special agent Steve Anthony.

FBI and Justice Department officials said Pitts, a US native with "an extensive criminal history" was arrested Sunday after discussing how to carry out the attack with the undercover agent.

They had been watching him for months after he made statements in support of Al-Qaeda and expressed "violent intentions" against groups including the US armed forces, Anthony

"His Facebook posts, quite frankly, were disturbing," he said.

Pitts was charged with attempting to provide support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which can bring up to 20 years in prison.

It was the fourth arrest in the United States this year of someone accused of plotting for or in support of a jihadist group, according to Seamus Hughes of the George Washington University Program on Extremism, which tracks such cases.

Last December a Bangladeshi immigrant who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS) was arrested after he set off a pipe bomb in New York, mainly injuring himself.

On October 31, an immigrant from Uzbekistan also expressing support for IS, plowed a truck through a crowd on a busy pedestrian and cyclist path, killing eight.

- Criminal history The FBI said Pitts was focused on the possible locations

of an attack and that it was not clear whether he had the ability himself to carry it out, including whether he could acquire or build bombs.

Officials also said it was uncertain if Pitts had a network inside or outside the United States.

But he spoke of bomb-laden, remote-controlled cars piloted into the crowd at the annual parade, as well as a possible "large scale" attack on the prominent Roman Catholic St. John's Cathedral in the city.

Pitts carried a concealed weapon and had a criminal history that included felonious assault, aggravated robbery and domestic violence, according to the FBI. In several meetings with FBI agents since last year, he expressed a desire to arrange attacks in Cleveland, and also in Philadelphia where he used to live. In recent weeks he undertook surveillance of possible attack sites in Cleveland.

In a meeting with the undercover agent Sunday morning, Anthony said, "Pitts again, on his own, expressed his allegiance to Al-Qaeda, his desire to participate in a terror attack on July 4."

Nobel can- Thai soccer boys need cels peace prize con- hope, exercise to survive cave ordeal cert for lack of funds

by Mariette le Roux and Hugues Honore

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SLO, Norway | AFP - The traditional concert after the annual awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 in Oslo will not be staged this year due to financial difficulties, the organisers said Tuesday.

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ARIS, France | AFP | Tuesday 7/3/2018 Weakened by nine days without food, 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a Thai cave are fighting threats to their health ranging from muscle degeneration and malnutrition to

mineworkers trapped by floods or fire.

On Monday, rescue divers finally reached the cave holding the players, aged 11-16, and their coach -- all 13 hungry and bedraggled but amazingly alive.

After initial euphoria, however, the children and their guardian learnt they will have to stay

The show has attracted more than 100 leading acts ranging from Whitney Houston to Lady Gaga since it was launched at Oslo's Spektrum arena in 1994.

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ASHINGTON | AFP | Tuesday 7/3/2018 - Like Donald Trump before him, Mexico's new leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador swept to victory with a promise to shake up corrupt elites and put his country's interests first.

So are the neighbors headed for a clash of the populists, or a new start in relations?

The politician known as "AMLO" won more than 53 percent of the votes in Sunday's poll, a major upset to the establishment that raises a question mark over Mexico's relations with its powerful northern neighbor, its main trading partner.

Despite Trump's hard line on migrants, his threats to build a wall on the border and shake up trade, and in spite of AMLO promising to "put Trump in his place," both leaders appeared determined to get off to a good start in a phone conversation held immediately after the Mexican's landslide.

"Having the two leaders get together may produce some surprising results," Bolton said.

"The decision emerges from a wish to re-think the concert format and content but also reflects the challenging financial situation of the concert in recent years," it added.

The Dagbladet newspaper reported that Norway's supermarket giant Rema 1000 has pulled its sponsorship leaving the organisers unable to make up for the lost amount.

by Alina Dieste

Trump's National Security Advisor, the hawkish John Bolton, said the US president will "look forward" to what he predicted would be a productive meeting with AMLO.

"There will be no Nobel Peace Prize concert" in 2018, said a statement from the Nobel Institute, Warner Bros Norway and the Gyro Event company.

Live television audiences for the concert, which has been paid for solely by private patrons, have fallen away in the age of smartphones and the organisers said they would consider new platforms.

Lopez Obrador won more than 53 percent of the votes in Sunday's poll, a major upset to the establishment that raises a question mark over Mexico's relations with its powerful northern neighbor, its main trading partner (AFP Photo/Pedro Pardo)

happy family member shows the latest picture of the missing boys taken by rescue divers inside Tham Luang cave. (Photo: AFP) possible infection, experts said Tuesday.

longer while rescuers consider various options.

But the group's survival may ultimately hinge on mental rather than physical toughness -- not losing hope while rescuers figure out how to free them from the dark, wet cavern, a process that could take weeks or even months.

The safest is to wait for the floodwaters trapping the group to subside.

"The mental side of this has to be one of the top considerations," said Andrew Watson, an experienced rescuer of

Another is to teach the kids to undertake the perilous dive themselves -- it took trained rescue divers six hours to navigate the treacherous, muddy waterway into the cave.

"The uncertainty of when and how they might be rescued will be beginning to set in,"

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Beyond the optimistic rhetoric, analysts suggest there are number of potential points of conflict ahead, even if AMLO moderates his approach upon taking office.

- More Lula than Chavez -

won the presidency on his third attempt with a promise of "radical change," but his administration is expected to dial things down now he is finally in power.

"AMLO will govern more like fellow leftist Lula da Silva in Brazil than (the late Hugo) Chavez in Venezuela," said analyst Mark Rosenberg of the GeoQuant consultants.

Jason Marczak, Latin America director at the Atlantic Council, was more emphatic: "AMLO is not Chavez."

"Will AMLO seek to implement social reforms in a pragmatic way like Lula did?" he asked.

"Yes, in that respect I think he will follow that path. AMLO, like Lula, is also seen by his followers like a savior with superhuman status.

"But the economic context in which AMLO arrives to power is very different from the one Lula inherited."

Lopez Obrador won largely because Mexicans are fed up with corruption, impunity and violence, and not because of the US leader's angry outbursts at everything south of the Rio Grande, added Marczak.

"Washington can and should seize upon this moment to recalibrate relations with Mexico, to not just maintain, but deepen the cooperation that benefits both our countries."

- Kindred spirit? Despite sharp differences in their backgrounds, the Mexican leftist has much in common with the showy 72-year old New York real estate magnate.

AMLO, the 64-year-old former mayor of Mexico City,

"Both men are nationalists

Neil Greenberg, an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder at King's College London said.

"When the divers got through, the kids, the thought process (would have been): 'They get in, why can't I get out?'" added Watson, commercial director at the Mines Rescue Service UK.

communicating the circumstances to the children... You have to tell them just exactly what the circumstances are because... they need to understand that this is a difficult process that will require patience.

Possibly a lot of patience."

"It depends now how they're

Physically, the priority is

- Space, sanitation -

who see themselves as redeemers who have to take on a 'corrupt' and inefficient establishment and have an agenda of putting their country first," said Juan Carlos Hidalgo of the Cato Institute, who argued Trump could see AMLO as a "kindred spirit."

But, he warned, it could also go the other way. "They are populists, and populists need enemies to survive politically," he said, and AMLO could find that external enemy in Trump.

Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue center, argued the most sensitive and volatile issues are likely to be NAFTA, security cooperation and immigration.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994 and regulating commerce between the United States, Canada and Mexico, has been a particular target for Trump's ire since he launched his campaign in 2015.

Trump ordered fresh negotiations to open last August to re-examine the complex trade deal, but Rosenberg said that protectionist urges on both sides will be complicate efforts to renew the pact.

Hidalgo said it was "likely that AMLO's campaign promises to seek self-sufficiency in food production will be the biggest stumbling block in the renegotiation."

"We can predict AMLO bringing the same brash approach to trade talks as his American counterpart," said Marczak. "As a result, trade talks are expected to become more difficult as the NAFTA partners seek to find a new compromise."

to nourish and rehydrate the group and rebuild lost strength.

For Mike Tipton of the University of Portsmouth the fact that the footballers endured in the cave for nine days implied that three key ingredients for survival were in place: oxygen, a tolerable temperature, drinkable water.

VOICE OF ASIA 11

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Walmart takes heat as it removes ‘Impeach’ Trump shirts

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Section 2 Tel: 713-774-5140

Facebook responding to US regulators in data breach probe

by John Biers EW YORK | AFP | 7/3/2018 - Walmart on Tuesday removed shirts and other gear from its online marketplace bearing the phrase “Impeach 45” after supporters of US President Donald Trump lambasted the retail giant on social media.

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Walmart nixed the items after images of jerseys and baby gear with the anti-Trump slogan went viral on social media.

At midday, the phrase #BoycottWalmart was trending on Twitter.

“These items were sold by third party sellers on our open marketplace, and were not offered directly by Walmart,” a company spokesman said.

“We’re removing these types of items pending review of our marketplace policies.”

The controversy highlights a challenge of doing business in a country increasingly polarized by politics, where supporters and critics of Trump have become more vocal in pressuring companies with boycott threats when they appear to be taking sides.

Other brands that have aroused howls on social media include athletic clothing and equipment brand Under Armour after its chief executive praised Trump, and sporting goods chain Dick’s Sporting Goods that restricted some gun sales.

Some commentators on Twitter criticized Walmart for removing the anti-Trump items while continuing to offer a wide variety of “Make America Great Again” gear from Trump’s campaign.

Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting firm GlobalData Retail said Walmart’s decision to remove the antiTrump merchandise made sense given the company’s profile. Most e-commerce consumers do not make a distinction between items sold directly and those offered by third-party vendors.

“A lot of the stores are in locations that are probably fairly Republican,” Saunders said.

“They do need to take action because it could alienate a large portion of their customer

Walmart was selling “Impeach Trump” merchandise. (Photo: Walmart.com) base.”

And he said the idea of impeaching the 45th US president went a step further than the MAGA gear, which expressed support for Trump and could be offset by equivalent products on behalf of Democrats.

Walmart in 2017 also removed shirts with the phrase “Rope. Tree. Journalist.” implying reporters should be lynched, saying the items came from a third-party vendor and violated company policy. And the store in 2015 announced it would no longer sell items promoting the Confederate Flag.

- Different customers than Amazon -

But the retail power’s response to the latest controversy highlights a difference in approach with rival online giant Amazon.

Amazon currently offers dozens of products with “Impeach 45,” or similar phrases, such a “86 45” or “Resist 45.” Amazon’s site also offers a wide assortment of “Make America Great Again” and other proTrump gear.

Saunders said the difference in approach underscored the gap between shoppers of the two companies, with Amazon consumers tilted somewhat more heavily towards cities and other progressive areas.

Trump has not shied away from entering the fray, chastising US companies via tweet from transgressions ranging from investing overseas, to moving production to foreign sites, to laying off workers.

However, the Walmartowned website Jet.com still sells a variety of items under the more lighthearted “Impeach the Peach” logo that features a likeness of the US president on travel kits, guitar picks and other items.

But so far Walmart has avoided any presidential ire and Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said the situation was resolved.

Saunders said the clientele at Jet.com is probably closer in spirit to Amazon than Walmart.

“No need to boycott. @ Walmart has assured me that the merchandise will be down as soon as possible,” Parscale said on Twitter. “It was not deliberate. Thank you @Walmart for doing the right thing!”

“Walmart and Jet are very separate brands,” he said.

“With Jet.com there’s far less risk because the client base tends to be younger, more urban, probably less concerned about this sort of thing than the typical Walmart customer.”

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is seen at the VivaTech (Viva Technology) trade fair in Paris on May 24 (AFP Photo/Gerard Julien)

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AN FRANCISCO | AFP - Facebook acknowledged Tuesday it was facing multiple inquiries from US and British regulators about the major Cambridge Analytica user data scandal.

The leading social network offered no details but its admission confirmed reports of a widening investigation into the misuse of private data by Facebook and its partners.

“We are cooperating with officials in the US, UK and beyond,” a Facebook spokesman said in response to an AFP query.

“We’ve provided public testimony, answered questions, and pledged to continue our assistance as their work continues.”

The Washington Post report-

ed that the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission and FBI as well as the Justice Department are looking into the massive breach of users’ personal data and how the company handled it.

Facebook shares closed the shortened Nasdaq trading day down 2.35 percent to $192.73, heading into an Independence Day holiday with investors mulling what effect the investigations may have on the California-based internet giant.

Facebook has admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by British consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which worked for US President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the Eu-

ropean Parliament in May and said the social media giant is taking steps to prevent such a breach from happening again.

Zuckerberg said at a hearing in Brussels that it became clear in the last two years that Facebook executives didn’t do enough to prevent the platform “from being used for harm.”

Zuckerberg was grilled about the breach in US Congress in April.

It remains unclear what if any penalties Facebook may face from the latest requests but the tech giant is legally bound to comply with a 2011 consent decree with the FTC on protecting private user data.

Any SEC inquiry could look at whether Facebook adequately disclosed key information to investors.

US car sales mostly up in 1H as larger vehicles reign EW YORK | AFP | Tuesday 7/3/2018 - Leading automakers reported mostly higher US sales for the first half of 2018 on Tuesday, bolstered by a strengthening economy and robust demand for larger vehicles despite higher gasoline prices.

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General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota all reported higher sales for the year through the end of June, while Ford reported a modest decline even as it described overall market conditions as robust.

Some analysts have been cautious on the outlook for US auto sales given rising interest rates and trade tariff announcements, which could also hike costs of vehicles.

But automakers said US market conditions remained healthy amid solid employment trends and a lift from US tax cuts.

“Customers are buying with confidence because the economy is strong and they expect it to remain strong,” said Kurt McNeil, General Motors US vice president of sales of operations.

GM, the biggest US automaker, reported a 4.2 percent increase in first-half sales to 1.5 million, with sales rising 4.6 percent in the second quarter to 758,376. GM cited doubledigit increases in deliveries of pickup trucks and large SUVs in the second quarter.

“Tax reform raised take-home pay, consumer confidence is high and household balance sheets are healthy,” said GM chief economist Elaine Buckberg said.

Ford Focus compact cars for sale at a Chicago dealership in June.

Automakers said US market conditions remained healthy in the first half of the year.

Ford executives said the effects of US trade tensions were too uncertain to predict at this point but they backed the upbeat assessment of US market conditions.

- More, bigger autos June sales were “really solid,” Mark LaNeve, vice president for US marketing sales and service, said on a conference call with analysts and reporters.

Ford’s sales declined 1.8 percent for the first half of 2018 to 1.3 million but rose 1.2 percent in June to 230,635.

LaNeve said demand for pickup trucks and other large vehicles was “amazing,” with no sign that customers were avoiding the vehicles despite higher gasoline prices. US gasoline prices are currently about 28 percent higher than they were a year ago.

“If anything, we’re seeing

an acceleration of the trend (to larger vehicles) even with slightly higher gas prices,” LaNeve said.

“When the (price increase) is gradual, it doesn’t trigger a shift,” he said. “It’s when people are afraid they can’t get gas, you see a change.”

Ford’s sedan sales fell 12.6 percent in the first half of 2018, while truck sales rose 4.2 percent in the same period. SUV sales slipped 0.7 percent.

LaNeve said consumers were also showing surprisingly strong appetite for more gadgets and other “up-level” features, boosting vehicle prices.

At FCA, sales in the first half of the year rose five percent to 1.1 million. They were bolstered by the Jeep and Ram Truck brands.

Toyota reported a three percent increase in auto sales for the first half of the year to 1.2 million.

More Business News at www. voiceofasiaonline.com

VOICE OF ASIA 12

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

BOLLYWOOD - HOLLYWOOD Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Akash Ambani Shloka Mehta pre engagement: Bollywood celebs including Priyanka Chopra, Nick Jonas attend party

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ollywood actress Priyanka Chopra with American singer-songwriter Nick Jonas during the engagement ceremony of business magnate Mukesh Ambani’s son Akash Ambani with Shloka Mehta, in Mumbai, on June 28, 2018. (Photo credit: Prashant Jadhav, TOI)

This year’s breakout hit “A Quiet Place” unleashed carnivorous aliens, while in “I am Legend,” “The Andromeda Strain,” “12 Monkeys” and the “Planet of the Apes” movies, the bad guy was a virus. (© Paramount)

Biopic spotlights troubled life of Post-apocalypse Bollywood’s ‘Deadly Dutt’ now: the end of the world at the movies From the Bible to Nostradamus, the Mayan calendar and the Millennium Bug, fatalists, fantasists and the fervently religious have long been fascinated by the end of the world.

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ovie directors love nothing more than feeding our deepest fears concerning overpopulation, pestilence and nuclear armageddon -- and the cinema-going public laps it up.

Sanjay Dutt shot to fame in the mid1980s in a string of action movies in which he performed his own stunts, earning him the nickname “Deadly Dutt”

by Udita Jhunjhunwala

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UMBAI, India | AFP - A Indian biopic out this week charts the troubled life of Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, including his battles with drug addiction and jail time for keeping illegal weapons.

The Hindi-language actor, nicknamed “Deadly Dutt”, served over four years in prison for possessing guns supplied by gangsters behind a series of bombings in Mumbai in 1993, India’s deadliest to date.

“Sanju”, which hits screens on Friday, covers the period from just before Dutt’s Bollywood debut with “Rocky” -- nothing to do with the 1976 Sylvester Stallone classic of the same name -- in 1981 to his release from jail in 2016.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor will play troubled Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt in the upcoming biopic ‘Sanju’. (AFP Photo) he did it,” Hirani told AFP, insisting that the film is not a hagiographical account of the 58-year-old’s life.

“The story is told as seen from our point of view. Let people decide who he was,” he added.

Dutt shot to fame in the mid-1980s in a string of action movies in which he performed his own stunts, earning him the nickname “Deadly Dutt”.

But the star was also struggling with substance abuse, including heroin and cocaine, that is said to have been sparked by the pain of losing his mother, Indian screen icon Nargis Dutt, to cancer.

Dutt took some time out before returning with a string of hits in the late 80s, including “Jeete Hain Shaan Se” and “Kanoon Apna Apna”.

His success at the box office continued into the early 1990s with “Saajan” and “Khal Nayak”.

- Bombay bomb blasts -

Director Rajkumar Hirani and cowriter Abhijat Joshi interviewed Dutt, played by Ranbir Kapoor, extensively to try to understand the motivation behind some of his actions.

But his life took a dramatic turn when he was arrested following the orchestrated bombings in Mumbai, then called Bombay, in March 1993 that killed 257 people.

“I was interested in exploring why

Dutt was eventually convicted in

2006 of holding guns supplied by mafia bosses who carried out the blasts.

The attacks were believed to have been staged by Muslim underworld figures in retaliation for religious riots in which mainly Muslims died, following the razing of an ancient mosque in north India.

Dutt insisted the two guns were only meant to protect his family in the tense atmosphere in Mumbai following the mosque’s destruction.

He was originally given a six-year term and spent 18 months in prison before being released on bail in 2007, pending an appeal.

In March 2013, the Supreme Court upheld his conviction but cut his prison term to five years, sending Dutt back to jail to serve the remaining three-and-a half years of his sentence.

Dutt was freed eight months early in February 2016. His last film appearance came in action thriller “Bhoomi”, which released in September 2017.

Hirani said he and Joshi had pieced together Dutt’s life by cross-checking what he had told them with police reports, lawyers’ accounts and testimony from friends and family.

The director added that the movie will also touch on the thrice-married star’s numerous girlfriends and his difficult relationship with his father, Indian acting legend Sunil Dutt.

“The film is about relationships,” he concluded.

The glut of dystopian fiction coming to theaters and video-on-demand over the coming months includes Peter Jackson’s “Mortal Engines,” Kim Jee-woon’s “Inrang” and Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi’s “Luxembourg.”

Shawn Robbins, the chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, sees the genre as the “definition of escapism,” an art form that assuages the primal desire to get back to basics.

“These types of films are often viewed as pessimistic glimpses into the future, which is certainly one valid interpretation, but they can also be self-reflective in a positive way,” he told AFP. “It’s easy to see post-apocalyptic and dystopian film settings as part of our inevitable doom, but we can also take them as lessons and parables because, at the heart of any good story, the human condition is explored and challenged.”

- ‘Rat race’ Zombies, big rocks from outer space and our own weapons of mass destruction are often the cause of the fictional apocalypse, but not always.

This year’s breakout hit “A Quiet Place” unleashed carnivorous aliens, while in “I am Legend,” “The Andromeda Strain,” “12 Monkeys” and the “Planet of the Apes” movies, the bad guy was a virus.

Geophysical disasters do for the human race in “Soylent Green,” “Waterworld,” and “Wall-E,” while technology is the enemy in “Logan’s Run” and the various “Terminator” and “Matrix” movies.

George Miller’s 1979-2015 “Mad Max” films have inspired an army of so-called “cosplayers” who meet up at festivals to live out their fantasies as road warriors seeing in the collapse of civilization.

Every summer, more than 2,000 desk jockeys leave their day jobs across America to decamp to the Wasteland

Weekend festival in the heat of the southern Californian desert.

“It’s a chance to get away from the regular rat race life and have fun,” 52-year-old Joseph Hileman, a security supervisor from Concord, near San Francisco, told AFP on his seventh visit in 2016.

Filmmaker Mike P. Nelson’s own pulpy take on the apocalypse, a slick but bloody 95-minute shocker called “The Domestics,” came out in select US theaters and on video-on-demand over the weekend.

- ‘Macabre fascination’ “There’s a slight bit of macabre fascination with the idea that we could all be done for at any time, whether people want to admit it or not,” he said in an interview.

“There’s a strange almost-fantasy in most people’s minds that this is something that could happen. And I think some of these movies give us that glimpse and allow us to be fearful for a moment but safe.”

Starring Kate Bosworth (“Blue Crush”), and Tyler Hoechlin (“Fifty Shades Freed”), “The Domestics” is set in America’s Midwest, transformed into a lawless wasteland after a governmentinduced chemical atrocity.

Bosworth and Tyler -- an estranged couple who were preparing for their divorce before the world went dark -- must learn to survive in a harrowing, gang-ravaged landscape.

Nelson said he was going for the near-future, down-to-earth look of the original “Mad Max” rather than the more stylized landscapes of recent dystopian sci-fi.

“It created this world that wasn’t too far gone and people still drove on the right side of the road, ate at restaurants.

There was still kind of a police force,” he said.

“But it was the people that had turned bad. That was what fascinated me, and I was like, ‘I want to do something that’s similar to that.’ I wanted to tell a story about how the people of this world go sour after something terrible happens.”

LEGAL

VOICE OF ASIA 13

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Family Law and Personal Injury

YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYER

Modification of Divorce Decrees

Mala Sharma

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ither party in a divorce decree may seek to change child support or custody in a prior decree. The requirement to modify a decree is to show a material, substantial, and continuing change of circumstances. The burden to prove this test is upon the person who desires to change the decree. Circumstances that would necessitate a modification include moving to another state, significant changes in income, and problems relating to the care of the children.

Modifications of final decrees of divorce are not simple and may become very difficult challenges to accomplish. It is best to have child support and custody confirmed in the final decree from the beginning.

However, although more difficult to change after, it is a challenge to pursue. It is highly recommended to hire a qualified attorney to handle the modification of the decree.

Custody terms are binding, yes, but it is still possible to petition for a change of the final decree of divorce. In many states and in Texas, this is considered a “modification” of the final decree of divorce.

The determining factor that must be proven by the challenging party or the “movant” is a ‘material and substantial change’ in circumstances since the date of the prior order.

Even if there is a change in income or other circumstance which is grounds for modifying a petition, a Court will not order the change unless there is a showing of a substantial or significant change in cir-

cumstances. Usually, this is to not allow a repetition of the first trial or to subject all parties to the Court system once again. States generally require six months after the decree is signed by the judge before a party may petition for a modification of the decree. Even more so, some Courts make the burden of proof on the movant much higher if the petition is filed within only one year of the prior decree.

Once the petition is filed, the movant’s behavior as a parent is extremely crucial to winning this fight and is under scrutiny.

The movant must strive to be the best parent which includes: taking much interest and being active in the child(ren’s) school activities, school projects, after-school activities, sports, family and friend activities, supportive and thoughtful of college goals and other future goals, being on time with any child support payments, not missing any designated custody and visitation periods, getting the child(ren) to school and other activities on time, etc. All such efforts should be heavily documented through pictures, written records, and witnesses. This model behavior is critical in order to increase the possibility of achieving the modification. A Court will use this behavior to make a determination of the modification. Additionally, if the movant does not use this model behavior as solid proof for the Court, the other parent will use any other behavior to prove their argument against you. Thus, if the movant does not strive to carry this model behavior, it will damage the efforts. It is critical to continue to have model behavior and document every step. It is best to seek a qualified attorney to handle modifications of divorce decrees.

About the Author: Mala Sharma has been practicing family law and personal injury with her family at the Law Offices of Sharma & Associates, founded in 1997 with over 42 years of combined experience. Mala is a Board of Advocates for the Houston Trial Lawyers Association, Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association GP Solo YLD, member of the Houston Bar Association, President Emeritus of the Houston Northwest Bar Association, and prior board member of the South Asian Bar Association.

This material is available for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. If you require advice on any particular legal question, you may contact Sharma & Associates at 281-893-8644 or by email at mala@sharmalaws.net to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.

About Mala Sharma Mala Sharma has been practicing family law and personal injury with her family at the Law Offices of Sharma & Associates, founded in 1997. Mala is President Emeritus of the Houston Northwest Bar Association, Board member of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association and South Asian Bar Association. She is also a member of the Houston Bar Association.

Disclaimer: This material is available for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.

You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.

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Tel: 713-774-5140

by Sharlene Sharmila Richards, Immigration Lawyer Email at srichardslaw@aol.com

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT CITIZENSHIP & NATURALIZATION Sharlene Sharmila Richards

Q: My son just turned 18 years of age.

He has been a permanent resident for the last 6 years. What is the age requirement to file for citizenship himself?

A: Generally, the applicant must be at least 18 years of age to file for citizenship himself.

Q: How do children become US citizens?

A: A child can became a US Citizen in several ways: First, children born in the US are US Citizens unless they are the sons and daughters of foreign diplomats. Second, children born outside the US where one or both parents are US Citizens may acquire US Citizenship at birth provided that the US Citizen parent(s) has satisfied the requirements relating to residence and or physical presence in the US for certain time periods prior to the birth of the child.

These requirements are established by law in effect at the time of the child’s birth. Third, the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 provides that children under the age of 18 who were born outside the US may acquire citizenship automatically by derivation if they reside in the US as lawful permanent residents in the legal custody of a parent who is a citizen by birth or the parent became a US Citizen through naturalization. As such, upon the naturalization of a parent, these children including adopted children acquire their citizenship without needing a separate application and may apply directly for a US Passport. They may also choose to have proof of their citizenship status by filing Form N-600 for a Certificate of Citizenship. Fourth, those children of US Citizens who did not acquire their citizenship at birth abroad or derive it through the naturalization of their parents may obtain a certificate of citizenship upon application of the US Citizen parent if one parent is a US Citizen, the child is temporarily physically present in the US and was lawfully admitted in any status and

is in status, under the age of 18 and has resided in the physical and legal custody of the US Citizen parent who has himself lived in the US for at least 5 years, two of which were after his or her 14th birthday.

Q: I have been working abroad for most of the past 5 years since I became a permanent resident. I had re-entry permit so I did not have to worry about losing my permanent residence. My employer now wishes for me to be based in Houston. Am I eligible to file for Naturalization?

A: In order to file for Naturalization, you must demonstrate that in the past 5 years, you have not disrupted your continuous residence in the United States. Any absence between 6 months and one year raises a rebuttable presumption that continuous residence has been interrupted. You may rebut this presumption using evidence such as not terminating your US employment, filed your Federal taxes for that year you were absent, retained your home in the US and that your family ties were here in the US etc. However, if there is an absence of one year or more, it shall disrupt your continuous residence for naturalization purposes even though you had a re-entry permit. There are statutory exemptions from disqualification for a one year continuous residence: an employee who has worked abroad for the US Government or for a US firm engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce or for a public international entity for which the US is a member and who has obtained approval to preserve their residency by filing Form N-470 and has one year of physical presence in the US as a permanent resident is exempt from the one year or more absence disqualification. In addition to the requirement for continuous residence, an applicant for Naturalization must meet the physical presence requirement: he or she must be physically present in the US for at least one half of the 5 years or one half of the three years if the applicant is the spouse of a US Citizen. Lastly, the applicant must have resided for at least three months in the state where the application is filed. In your case, if you have not been physically present in the US for at least

half of the 5 years, your application will be denied as you are not eligible to file. In addition to that, if any of your trips abroad have exceeded one year, then you have broken your continuous residence unless you are exempt from the rule and have filed your N-470 to preserve your residency.

Q: I failed my US History and civic portion of the citizenship test but passed the English portion of the test. Do I have to refile for Naturalization again?

A: No, you do not. If an applicant fails any portion of the Naturalization test, USCIS will provide the applicant a second opportunity to pass that portion of the test within 60 to 90 days after the initial examination unless the applicant is statutorily ineligible for naturalization based on other grounds.

Q: What do I need to do if I am unable to attend my oath ceremony?

A: If you are unable to attend the oath ceremony, you should send the Notice of Naturalization for Oath Ceremony back to your local USCIS office with a letter detailing why you are unable to attend. Your local office will then provide you with a new notice about your rescheduled Oath Ceremony.

Disclaimer: Any advice provided in this article is general in nature and not intended to constitute legal advice for any specific case. Please consult with an immigration lawyer about the specific circumstances of your case.

My Bio Sharlene Sharmila Richards is a licensed Immigration lawyer practicing in Houston, Texas. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2000 and is a member of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and a member of the US Supreme Court.

You may contact her at telephone number 713623-8088 or by email at srichardslaw@aol.com to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.

Read previous articles on LEGAL issues by our columnist Visit us online : www. voiceofasiaonline.com To contribute articles, email voiceasia@aol.com

VOICE OF ASIA 14

Young Life

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

‘Stranger Things’ comics will explore Hawkins and its inhabitants

Drake smashes streaming record with new album

Netflix and Dark Horse have announced they’re collaborating on a series of comic books offering a deeper look into the world of “Stranger Things.”

rake has smashed streaming records with his new album “Scorpion,” with Apple Music and Spotify both reporting unprecedented listenership in its first day.

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n a multi-year deal, Dark Horse will publish a line of comics and youngadult graphic novels that promise to delve further into the mysterious world of Hawkins, Indiana and those who live there.

Apple Music said on Instagram that the Canadian hip-hop superstar’s fifth studio album was streamed 170 million times in the 24 hours since its release Friday.

The first title, “Stranger Things #1,” will follow Will Byers as he enters “a dimension of decay and destruction where he must use his wits and resolve to dodge the pursuit of the Demogorgon and escape the Upside Down.”

The worldwide figure is the highest ever reported by any streaming service for an album over one day and comes even though Apple Music significantly trails industry leader Spotify in total users.

Drake has a lengthy relationship with Apple, which heavily promoted “Scorpion.” The hotly anticipated album inexplicably appeared two hours late on Spotify.

For the first installment, writer Jody Houser (“Faith,” “Orphan Black”), penciller Stefano Martino (“Legs Weaver,” “Nathan Never”), inker Keith Champagne (“JSA,” “Superboy”), colorist Lauren Affe (“Rebels,” “Five Ghosts”) and letterer Nate Piekos (“Briggs Land,” “Green Arrow”) are all on board.

But “Scorpion” also set a record on Spotify, which heavily featured the album after it went alive.

The site Spotifycharts, which tracks listening data, said that Spotify users streamed the album’s 25 songs more than 132 million times over the first day.

The issue features a cover by artist Aleksi Briclot (“New Avengers,” “Maskemane”) plus three variant covers from Rafael Albuquerque (“American Vampire,” “Blue Beetle”), visual artist Kyle Lambert, and Patrick Satterfield with Netflix.

“Stranger Things #1” will be out on September 26 and is available for pre-order in local comic book shops. Release dates for the next titles to be revealed by Dark Horse “in the coming months.” -Relaxnews

The figures smash the previous record for one-day streaming -- rapper Post Malone’s album “Beerbongs and Bentleys,” which was streamed just under 79 million times on Spotify on the first day of its release in April.

“Stranger Things no. 1” (© Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics)

Summer Games Done Quick sets new record with $2.1m run

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Pictured: artwork for 2018 video game “Celeste,” known for its challenging nature and allegorical exploration of mental health issues (© Matt Makes Games Inc.) Awesome Games Done Quick, held in January, and where AGDQ has taken to supporting the Prevent Cancer Foundation since its second iteration in 2011, SGDQ has been sending proceeds towards Doctors Without Borders since 2013.

The next Games Done Quick event takes place October 26-28 2018 as the Games Done Quick Express, its date and location coinciding with livestreaming convention TwitchCon, with its beneficiary yet to be announced. -Relaxnews

From bars to temples, Japan fans flock for World Cup win Shinji Kagawa and Yuya Osako.

hen Japan’s Blue Samurai take on Belgium Monday for a spot in the World Cup quarter finals, fans nationwide will pack spots from bars to temples to cheer them on.

around has delighted fans at home, with people determined to stay up and cheer despite a time difference that means Monday’s game starts at 3:00am Tuesday morning local time.

They are the undisputed underdogs against star-studded Belgium, but Japan weren’t even expected to qualify from their group after a chaotic and disappointing run up to the tournament.

At a sports gear shop in Tokyo, several fans were out stocking up on kit before the game.

“Since Belgium have a lot of famous players, I want (Japan) to concentrate on defence and look for a window of opportunity,” said Makino, a 19-yearold university student, at an outlet of Soccer Shop KAMO in Tokyo’s entertainment district of Shinjuku.

“I think there is a chance to win,” said Yuta Makino, predicting Japan would sneak by Belgium 2-1 with goals by

Hikaru Sasayama, also a university student, was planning to watch at a public viewing at a movie theatre, dressed from

The team’s surprise turn-

Drake has found massive success releasing sprawling albums and mixtapes of danceable tracks online without con-

sideration to physical formats.

“Scorpion” features a posthumous duet with Michael Jackson, a collaboration with rap great Jay-Z and an admission that Drake secretly had a son with Sophie Brussaux, a French actress in pornographic films. -Relaxnews

jump off, either to avoid an accident, or to simply pop them into a backpack before hitting the beach.

Segway describe the black and white ride-ons as bringing “coolness” as well as comfort,

its philosophy is “safety first” and that the e-Skates have obtained “a number of international certifications, such as UL and CE.” So far, not much has been revealed regarding other specifi-

Segway has just introduced its Drift W1 eSkates, a modern take on the hobby, putting what seems like mini hoverboards under each foot using self-balancing technology.

“Perfect for the young gen- More news about the Segway Drift W1 e-Skates is coming next month. (Photo: eration who Segway) dare to stand out and create new trends,” touts Segway’s an- designed with “high-quality cations, price or availability of materials” and tires proficient the Segway Drift W1 for varinouncement. in stability, steering capabili- ous markets, although more Lightweight, small and easy ties. Furthermore, each skate will be revealed at a press conto carry, the e-Skates have comes with slip-resistant foot ference in Los Angeles on July the potential to be practical mats.

24. Additionally, the e-Skates as well as fun. Unlike clasBased on over 800 patents, will be on show at IFA 2018, sic roller skates, the Drift W1 Segway claims its technology which takes place from August aren’t attached to the feet, 31 to 5 September, in Berlin, making it easier for riders to offers stability. The brand’s Germany. -Relaxnews announcement also notes that

head to toe in Japan’s strip.

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passed Drake as the artist with the most regular monthly listeners on Spotify -- but Drake quickly retook the crown with “Scorpion.”

For anyone feeling nostalgic, wanting to pop on disco pants and a pair of roller skates, this could be your year.

Some 150 games were on the slate over the week of June 24 to July 1, 2018, from classics like “Super Mario Bros.,” “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” and some of the first “Pokémon” games through to more recent releases like “Undertale,” “Hob,” “A Story About my Uncle” and “Celeste.”

The mid-year video games marathon is a counterpart to

Just days ago, the Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin sur-

aker of personal transportation Segway, probably most famous for its two-wheelers with self-balancing capabilities, has set its sights on bringing back roller skates but with a high-tech twist.

Speedrunning, the art and craft of completing video games at blistering velocity, continues to break records not only in terms of time but also charity donation.

Livestreamed over the internet with commentary, audience interaction, special challenges and community events to keep spirits high, the 2018 edition Summer Games Done Quick was the first such event to pass $2 million USD raised.

Streaming records are being frequently broken as growing numbers of listeners embrace Spotify, Apple Music and competitors such as Deezer and Tidal, which allow unlimited on-demand music.

Drake has broken streaming records with his latest album “Scorpion.” ( AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand)

Segway launches e-Skates, hoverboard meets roller skates?

nnual video game completion race Summer Games Done Quick raised $2.1 million USD for charity through audience donation as expert players demonstrated their uncommon skill with games like “Wacky Races,” “Castlevania,” “Super Mario Bros.,” and more.

Some participants committed to completing a game without cheating, some by exploiting glitches to open up unintended shortcuts, while others agreed to specific restrictions to make their runs a little more difficult and impressive.

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“I’m afraid Belgium are stronger as they are faster and taller than Japan, but I want to cheer them on loudly from the theatre,” Sasayama said.

Shin Abe, 20, said he expected the whole region would be cheering for Japan, the only Asian team to make it to the last 16.

“I hope Japan will set Asia alight by winning as Asian teams have been defeated every time,” said Abe, who was planning to go a sports bar to watch

the game.

- Zen approach Japan entered the competition with low expectations, after a series of disappointing pre-tournament fixtures and the chaotic dismissal of their former coach.

The Japan Football Association unceremoniously canned Vahid Halilhodzic just months before the tournament began, citing communication problems with the team.

He denies there were any problems, and is suing the as-

sociation over his firing.

The upheaval doesn’t appear to have perturbed the team, though new coach Akira Nishino has faced criticism for ordering players to run down the clock in their final game at the group stage, knowing that a 1-0 loss to Poland would be enough to get the Blue Samurai through to the final 16.

While many Japanese will be eager to cheer as loudly and raucously as possible, one viewing venue will be encouraging a more contemplative watching experience. -AFP

VOICE OF VOICE OF ASIA ASIA15 15

FRIDAY, FRIDAY,July July6,6,2018 2018

How Medicare enrollee can avoid Medicare Scams

June is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

Section 2

Tel: 713-774-5140

How Medicare enrollee can avoid Medicare Scams

High times as US seniors join cannabis craze

by Jocelyne Zablit

L

OS ANGELES | AFP | 6/29/2018 - Kyle Johnson, who is 68, swears by cannabis for treating back pain and insomnia.

Martha Macbeth, 63, uses it to soothe her sciatica and get a good night’s sleep.

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tion

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began mailing out new Medicare cards in April 2018. The new Medicare cards contain a unique Medicare number instead of Social Security numbers, a change that is intended to prevent identity theft. However, scammers are launching fraud schemes to take advantage of the Medicare card replacement program. Here are some of the new Medicare scams to watch out for:

Both Californians are part of a surging new wave of senior Americans turning to cannabis to ease aches and pains as the craze for the drug spreads across the country and more states legalize it.

“They are coming in droves with curiosity and interest, looking for relief from pain and sleep problems,” said Macbeth, a consultant at Octavia Wellness, a San Francisco startup that caters to senior communities across the state, which has legalized recreational marijuana and is the country’s biggest market for legal cannabis.

Interest is such, she says, that Tupperware-like presentations to showcase cannabis products at retirement homes are overflowing with silver-haired potential customers.

The products include tinctures, sprays, edibles and topicals such as lotions and oils that provide relief for a wide range of ailments without getting users high.

“We had one presentation in San Jose (northern California) recently and there were 400 people wanting to go in,” Macbeth said. “We were overwhelmed.”

Several studies indicate that seniors are the fastest growing population in America to adopt cannabis and if the trend continues they could overtake the younger generation in terms of weed consumption.

- From arthritis to insomnia Marijuana use among Americans aged 65 and over increased by 250 percent between 2006 and 2013, according to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health.

Another study found a 71-percent increase in marijuana use among adults aged 50 and older between 2006 and 2016.

In California, one of 29 US states to have legalized marijuana for medical use, the industry is projected to raise $6.5 billion in sales statewide by 2020.

Experts say the older crowd is turning to the drug to treat a host of ailments -- from arthritis to neuropathy, insomnia and chronic pain -- and to avoid the side-effects associated with prescription drugs, including opioids.

“Some seniors are taking over 20 different prescription drugs a day ... and all too often these drugs have an impact at the beginning and then wear off,” said Beverly Potter, the author of “Cannabis for Seniors,” a book that helps older people navigate the new market.

Potter said she has been swamped with requests for advice at speaking events and cautions her audience against believing marijuana is the goto drug for all ailments, especially in light of little medical research on the effects of the drug which remains illegal at the federal level.

on’t fall for these schemes designed to steal your personal or credit card informa-

Kyle Johnson, who uses cannabis to treat back pain and insomnia, shows off a medicinal marijuana product Still, she firmly believes that cannabis in many cases is a better alternative than traditional painkillers or sleep medication that can leave patients with bleeding ulcers or addicted.

- ‘Start low, go slow’ “My advice to people who want to try it is the same slogan you are hearing everywhere: start low and go slow,” Potter told AFP. “This is not about getting high. It’s about learning how to study your body.”

She said the effects of medical marijuana vary depending on whether the drug is taken as an edible -- cookies or gummies -- or in the form of tinctures or rubs.

Barbara Blaser, a registered nurse for 50 years and now the head of clinical services at Magnolia Wellness, a marijuana dispensary in Northern California, said the customers she encounters are not looking for the buzz of their youth but rather a new lease on life.

“Some people tell me ‘I just want to be able to work in the garden but my knees hurt’,” said Blaser, 72, who began using marijuana following a serious illness and ended up becoming an advocate.

“If properly used, cannabis can change your life and give it back to

you,” she added.

And as social perceptions of the drug change and the stigma associated with it evaporates, Blaser predicts its use as an alternative medicine will become more mainstream.

Take Kyle Johnson, who recently founded a cannabis club with neighbor Mary Lou Molinaro at their gated retirement community in Brentwood, north of San Francisco.

“We started the club in March and at the first meeting we had, 160 people showed up and they were worried about letting anyone else know they were using medical cannabis or that they were interested,” said Johnson, who uses cannabis for back pain and insomnia.

“Now, people stop either of us on a regular basis and say ‘Oh, can I ask you this question, I can’t sleep, I have arthritis pain’ or whatever and we help them as best we can,” she added.

Molinaro, 67, said she points to herself when questioned by someone who equates cannabis with getting stoned.

“I say ‘look at me, do I look like I’m walking around high?” she exclaimed.

“In most cases, if you use the right product and see what works best for you, you will find relief and not look like a stonehead.”

Air pollution plays significant role in diabetes: study

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ARIS, France | AFP | Saturday 6/29/2018 - Air pollution caused one in seven new cases of diabetes in 2016, according to a US study, which found even low levels raised the chances of developing the chronic disease.

Diabetes has primarily been associated with lifestyle factors like diet and a sedentary lifestyle, but research by the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis said pollution also plays a major role.

The study estimated that pollution contributed to 3.2 million new diabetes cases globally in 2016 -- or around

14 percent of all new diabetes cases globally that year.

“Our research shows a significant link between air pollution and diabetes globally,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, the study’s senior author.

Pollution is thought to reduce the body’s insulin production, “preventing the body from converting blood glucose into energy that the body needs to maintain health,” according to the research.

Al-Aly said the research, published in the Lancet Planetary Health, found Continued on page 16

- A processing fee: One scheme involves callers who pretend to be Medicare representatives and ask for a processing fee or other immediate credit card payment before a new Medicare card will be sent. The culprits pose as Medicare representatives in hopes of gaining access to Social Security numbers, bank account information and other personal data. Some also may seek payment for the consumer’s newly issued Medicare card. However, there is no charge for the new Medicare cards, and they will be automatically mailed to all existing Medicare beneficiaries between April 2018 and April 2019.

These cards are free of charge.

There will be no personal calls from Medicare about the card.

- A temporary card. Callers claiming to be from Medicare are asking older people to purchase a temporary card for between $5 and $50, Morales says. However, you don’t need a temporary card. You can continue to use your existing Medicare card until December 31, 2019. Your medical benefits are the same, regardless of which card you use. You can view which states are currently receiving new cards at medicare.gov/newcard and sign up to receive an alert when cards will be mailed to your state. Scammers often react to what is in the news, so they are likely mentioning the new Medicare cards as a way of hooking their potential victims.

- Verifying personal information.

You might receive calls asking you to verify your Social Security number, address or other personal information before a new Medicare card will be sent. This is a ploy to convince you to disclose personal information.

Medicare will not be calling individual beneficiaries to check personal data.

People should beware of anyone who contacts them about their new Medicare card because Medicare will never ask you to give personal or private information to get your new Medicare card. The new Medicare cards will be mailed to you automatically, and there won’t be any changes to your benefits.

If you want to double-check that

Sudhir Mathuria HEALTHLIFE 360 713-771-2900 Medicare has your current address, you can do so by contacting the Social Security Administration at socialsecurity.gov/myaccount, 1-800-772-1213 or by calling your local Social Security office.

- The new card was lost. Another version of the scam involves a caller saying that there is a problem with your new Medicare card, such as

the card being lost or someone else tried to use it. Supposedly to resolve the situation, you could be asked for personal information or payment.

However, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that it will take a year to mail out new cards to all beneficiaries and doesn’t expect to complete the process until April 2019.

Those who reside in Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Tennessee and the Virgin Islands will be among the last to receive the new cards.

- A request to mail in your old card.

Some scammers are asking retirees to mail in their old Medicare card. However, you should not give your old card to anyone else, because it contains your Social Security number. Instead, once you receive your new Medicare card, the old card should be destroyed in such a way that your Social Security number is no longer visible. “You should shred your old Medicare card because it has your Social Security number out there. You don’t want your old card floating around with your Social Security number on it.

To enroll in a suitable Medicare Plan or plan for Long Term Care contact Sudhir Mathuria at 713-771-2900.

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HEALTH

VOICE OF ASIA 16

Revenge of a forgotten medical ‘genius’

by Philippe Schwab

V

IENNA, Austria | AFP | Saturday 6/30/2018 It’s not an uncommon fate for a pioneering scientist: languishing unrecognised in his time before dying in obscurity.

But as his 200th birthday approaches, the life-saving work of a Hungarian obstetrician is finally getting its due.

And Semmelweis’s fiery disposition and lack of tact didn’t help -- he did not shrink from calling colleagues “killers”.

launched together with 19,000 hospitals worldwide in order to raise awareness of the importance of hand sterilisation, is starting to pay off.

Following the lead of a programme piloted by Pittet in Swiss hospitals in the 1990s, rates of hand disinfection in Australia and certain Asian healthcare facilities are at al-

By contrast, in the neighbouring wing where midwives trained, the rate stayed under the contemporary average of three percent.

A German postage stampe in honor of pioneering scientist Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis.

Towards the end of his life his mental health deteriorated and he died in an asylum in 1865, at the age of 47.

- 100 deaths a day in the EU At the end of the 19th Century Semmelweis’s reputation began to be rehabilitated after the discoveries of Pasteur, Robert Koch and Alexandre Yersin bore out his theories.

In 1847, the penny dropped when a colleague died of septicaemia after carrying out an autopsy: Semmelweis surmised that dead bodies must hold invisible but potentially deadly “particles”.

In 1924 the French writer Louis-Ferdinand Celine dedicated a medical thesis to him and hailed him as a “genius”.

“At the time, medical students went directly from an autopsy to assist with a labour without disinfecting their hands,” Kuenburg told AFP.

But even though disinfecting hands is accepted as common sense for medical personnel, the practice still isn’t as systematic as it should be, according to Professor Didier Pittet, infection control expert at the World Health Organization (WHO).

With this “very simple method” Semmelweis slashed the mortality rate “to almost zero,” Kuenburg says.

- Fiery disposition But instead of plaudits, Semmelweis suffered the wrath of the grandees of Vienna’s medical fraternity and in 1849 his contract was not renewed.

“The self-estimation of the doctors was very high back at this time. Of course they were offended because they didn’t like the idea that they were guilty of causing this terrible mortality rate,” Kuenburg says.

Moreover, it would still be a quarter of a century before Pasteur was finally able to prove the existence of “microbes”.

Other doctors demanded evidence, according to Kuenburg.

“They said: ‘No, Mr Semmelweis cannot be right. He cannot show us the pathogens so something is fishy with this theory.’”

Air pollution...

Continued from page 15 an increased risk even with levels of air pollution currently considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“This is important because many industry lobbying groups argue that current levels are too stringent and should be relaxed.

Evidence shows that current levels are still not sufficiently

by Kerry SHERIDAN

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AMPA, Florida | AFP | Thursday 6/28/2018 - Has the maximum lifespan for a human already been reached? Maybe not, said a study of Italian centenarians published Thursday that found that human longevity is slowly increasing.

But the new findings in journal Science point to possibility for extended man longevity, and that species’ lifespans may crease over time.

“This disparity troubled Semmelweis enormously and he started a thorough epidemiological study,” says Bernhard Kuenburg, president of Vienna’s Semmelweis Foundation.

With soap not being enough to fix the problem, Semmelweis imposed a more rigorous regime of hand-washing for five minutes with a harsh chlorinated lime solution.

Human lifespan may not have peaked after all: study

Scientists have long debated whether or not the ultimate lifespan in people has been attained. A 2016 study in the journal Nature argued that it has, in 1997, when Frenchwoman Jeanne Calmant died at the record-breaking age of 122.

Decades before Louis Pasteur won widespread acceptance for the germ theory of disease, Ignac Semmelweis was battling his peers to accept what is today medical orthodoxy -- doctors should thoroughly disinfect their hands before treating patients.

Born on July 1 1818, Semmelweis joined the obstetrics department of Vienna’s general hospital in 1846 and was immediately struck by the extremely high maternal mortality rate in the wing where student doctors trained: it stood at more than 10 percent, at times going up to almost 40 percent.

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Today he is considered the father of modern theories of hospital hygiene and sterilisation.

Worldwide, the practice is only adhered to “in 50 percent of cases on average, even though it can prevent 50 to 70 percent of hospital infections,” he told AFP. Some 3.2 million people are affected annually by hospitalacquired infections within the EU, resulting in 100 deaths every day.

Pittet estimates the global figure for such deaths to be between five and eight million year Hungary.

“Disinfecting the hands with an alcohol solution is cheap and simple and has an immediate impact on infection rates,” including for multi-resistant organisms, Pittet says.

But despite this, “it’s an act which isn’t taken seriously enough, notably by doctors themselves” Pittet says, adding that some seem to think worrying about sterilising their hands is somehow beneath them.

However, the WHO’s “Clean Care is Safer Care” campaign,

safe and need to be tightened,” he added.

- ‘A strong link’ Researchers working with scientists at the Veterans Affairs’ Clinical Epidemiology Center, examined data from 1.7 million US veterans who did not have histories of diabetes and were followed for a median of 8.5 years.

Patient information from the veterans was compared to air quality information to examine the relationship between pollution and diabetes risk.

most 85 percent.

“Twenty years ago the rate of hand disinfection was only around 20 percent. Now it’s becoming one of the sexiest topics in medical literature,” says Pittet.

“In a way, it’s Semmelweis’s revenge.”

the the huour in-

Based on data from more than 3,800 centenarians in Italy, researchers found the risk of death slows, and even plateaus, above age 105.

“As we age, our health and risks of death get worse faster and faster. But at extreme ages, they stop getting worse,” said co-author Kenneth Wachter, a professor of statistics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Coffee is good for you, more science shows

by Maggie Fox

P

eople who drank coffee, no matter how much or what kind they drank, were less likely to die over a 10-year period than noncoffee drinkers, according to a new report.

Even the heaviest coffee drinkers are less likely to die early than people who don’t drink coffee, new research finds.

It’s another piece of good news for coffee lovers, and it gets even better. It doesn’t matter what kind of coffee people drink — that includes decaf and instant coffee. And it also doesn’t matter what version of the “coffee gene” people have.

Coffee-drinkers fared better than people who did not drink coffee.

The team at the National Cancer Institute used data from people taking part in a large genetic study in Britain called the U.K. Biobank. More than half a million people volunteered to give blood and answer detailed health and lifestyle questions for ongoing research into genes and health.

matter how much or what kind they drank, were less likely to die over that 10-year period than non-coffee drinkers, they reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Internal Medicine.

Coffee is the No. 1 source in the American diet of antioxidants. It might reduce inflammation in the body also (-NBC)

Based on data from more than 3,800 centenarians in Italy, researchers found the risk of death slows, and even plateaus, above age 105 (Photo: AFP/File) “They don’t get better, but they stop getting worse. They level out -- it’s called a plateau,” he told AFP. Researchers studied data on all inhabitants of Italy aged 105 and older between 2009 and 2015 -- those born between 1896 and 1910, for a total of 3,836 documented cases, said the study.

Focusing on mortality among people born in the same years, over time they found slight declines in mortality rate.

This suggests as time went on, people were living a bit longer than those born in prior years.

“The slow but distinct improvements over time that we see in the level of the plateau beyond age 105 give hope that a fixed limit to lifespan is not currently in view,” explained Wachter.

- Better health, survival Socioeconomic factors and improved medical care could be factors in the lengthening human lifespan.

But “similar mortality plateau patterns in extreme age are observed in other species, hinting at common structural and evolutionary explana-

tions,” said the report.

If the research is confirmed by other studies, that could mean the limit of the human lifespan has yet to be reached.

Life expectancy globally has risen almost continuously since the 19th century, but has leveled off in recent decades.

Babies born in the United States today, for example, can expect to live to nearly 79 compared to 47 for Americans born in 1900.

But people who live to extreme old age are rare.

Since Calmant’s death, the general trend for the oldest person in the world has been to reach about 115 years old.

Wachter said the findings do not point to a new potential lifespan limit.

“Our findings do not say anything about ages beyond about 113,” he told AFP. “But they do provide some hope that increased understanding of interactions between genetic variants and medical and behavioral factors may contribute to better health and survival for people in their 80s and 90s, 10 or 15 years from now.”

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

The team looked to see who drank coffee, how much and what kind of coffee, and looked for differences in several genes involved in metabolizing caffeine.

People who drank coffee, no

The scientists found the risk of developing diabetes “exhibited a strong link to air pollution”.

They then devised a model to gauge diabetes risks over different pollution levels and used data from the annual worldwide Global Burden of Disease study, to estimate the prevalence of diabetes caused by bad air.

Diabetes affects more than 420 million people globally and is one of the world’s fastest growing diseases.

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

BEAUTY & STYLE

VOICE OF ASIA 17

Does the beauty industry need to become more transparent with consumers?

Lush launches debut foundation range that promises to help save the planet as well as your skin

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Tod’s teams up with blogger ‘Mr. Bags’ and WeChat on new accessory launch Fashion brand Tod’s is launching its latest bag through WeChat.

More than 40% of beauty consumers feel that they do not get enough information from brands about ingredient safety, a new report has found.

Lush introduce Slap Sticks solid foundations. © Courtesy of LUSH

Natural beauty brand Lush Cosmetics has established itself as a go-to for fizzy bath bombs and plant-based shower gels -- but now the label is branching out into foundation.

Consumers want more information on the ingredients in their beauty products. © Davizro/Itsock.com he results come from the 2018 FIT Transparency Perception Assessment Survey, a global study carried out by students on the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Master of Professional Studies program in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management (CFMM) program as part of their Capstone Research Presentation. According to the survey, empowered consumers are increasingly demanding more transparency from the beauty industry.

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The survey, which involved 1,800 respondents, found that 42% of shoppers do not feel companies inform them enough regarding the safety of ingredients, while 72% would like brands to explain what the ingredients in their products actually do. And more than 60% want brands to identify sources for ingredients.

The students also put the rise in the “clean beauty” trend partially down to this craving for transparency, stat-

ing: “The lack of clear information is impeding the path to purchase. Consumers are turning to naturals because they think green is clean.” In response to the findings, the students proposed that companies use the clearBEAUTY app, which will “allow consumers to translate ingredient lists and to comparison shop in real time.”

Transparency is a big buzzword in the beauty industry at the moment, and some brands have made moves to engage more directly with consumers on the issue. Last September, cosmetics giant Procter & Gamble, which owns Olay, Aussie, Herbal Essences and SK-II, promised to bring “all fragrance ingredients down to 0.01 percent” across its product portfolio in the US and Canada by the end of 2019.

For more information on the Capstone Research Presentation, see http://www.fitnyc.edu/cfmm/capstones/index.php - Relaxnews

How to live to a beautiful 100

by Edwina Ings-Chambers ill you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m... 104? If Lennon and McCartney were penning lyrics nowadays, they’d have to add at least four decades to their question.

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We are already living longer. That much we know. According to 2014 projections by Mintel and the Office for National Statistics, our life expectancies keep on growing. In 1981 a 65-yearold woman could expect to reach 81.9 years, by 2017 that figure became 86.5, and by 2061 it is predicted to grow to 91.6 years (for men, it’s 78 years, 84.3 and 89.7 respectively).

Longevity has become the new wellness watchword - there are the supplements, the exercises (for both mind and body), even a dedicated Longevity Thalassa and Medical Spa in Portugal.

And we’re not talking a mere eighties goal here; now the focus is on getting the extra innings to take us closer to 100, sound of mind, happy in body and free from disease.

Dr Valter Longo PhD, the aptly named biochemist and director of California’s Longevity Institute, has created this centre of excellence where the aim is to help everyone live longer, ideally to 110, healthfully. Nutrition, unsurprisingly, is key, and Longo recently published The Longevity Diet, in which he advocates a mainly pescatarian intake (which for him also means ideally no eggs or cow’s milk between childhood and the age of 65). He’s also pro intermittent fasting (much like longestablished spas such as Viva Mayr and the Buchinger Wilhemi clinic) but is anti fad fasts and anything hardcore that’s outside the controlled environment of a clinic, saying, “You can get benefits [at home] but usually you also get problems.” So he has created his own fast-mimicking diet and foodstuffs (all profits go back into the institute, before you get cynical), which keep calories low but still allow you to eat. In randomised trials this still got the same results as fasting in the fight against cholesterol, triglycerides, high blood pressure, and other markers for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. How and when we eat also matters. “Eating within 12 hours a day is important, and if you’re overweight, eating two meals a day plus a snack rather than the five meals (three meals and two snacks) we often hear about, is also important.”

David Spencer-Percival also took the nutrition route by creating No.1 Rosemary Water. It is what it sounds like: drinking water infused with rosemary herb extract. He was inspired by a news report about the Italian village of Acciaroli on the coast south of Naples.

There, a remarkable number of locals are living to 100 - and beyond - with good heart health and little dementia or other degenerative diseases, a result put down to the fact that they chew on rosemary much like others would gum.

Spencer-Percival wanted some of that but not for himself. “I actually did it for my wife; she’s 20 years older than me,” says 47-year old David. “My grandma has Alzheimer’s, and I didn’t want my wife to get it.” That’s real romance for

he company’s “Lush Labs” division is launching a 40-shade strong “Slap Stick” foundation range Friday, it has announced.

The Slap Sticks, which will come with three different undertone hues, offer medium buildable coverage and contain 45% Indonesian coconut oil to hydrate and soften the skin with every application.

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The foundation’s vegan formula also includes Peruvian jojoba oil, which ensures that the color pigment blends smoothly, argan oil for an extra dose of moisture, and a combination of candelilla, sunflower and Turkish rose waxes. Ten percent of the profits from the purchase of the coconut oil will be donated to a non-profit organization funding literacy classes and a dentist on the Indonesian island of Nias.

Slap Sticks also have the advantage of not relying on excessive packaging; a peelable wax skin means the foundation can be applied directly to the skin, or by using a brush or fingers.

“Making foundation, a staple in many people’s daily routine, solid, is a major leap forward to reducing plastic packaging without compromising on quality or effect,” says Rowena Bird, Lush Co-founder and Product Inventor.

For now, the limited-edition Slap Sticks will be available to purchase online from Lush Labs for one month only, and will be available in 18 countries not including the US. - Relaxnews

you. “The trick is to get it into your diet early - it’s preventative, not a cure,” he points out. Tests on his super-charged water at Northumbria University found it oxygenated the blood to the brain and turbo-charged its ability to concentrate.

-VogueUK

Vegan footwear: the brands to watch Fashion houses have been rushing to drop fur and mohair from their collections lately, as sustainability and animal welfare become increasingly important issues for consumers. So will leather be next?

Screenshot of the “Baoshop” page featuring Tod’s X Mr. Bags collaboration. © Courtesy of WeChat / PRNewsfoto. Screenshot of the “Baoshop” page featuring Tod’s X Mr. Bags collaboration

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he luxury label has teamed up with fashion blogger and influencer Tao Liang, known as “Mr. Bags,” to launch a collaboratively designed handbag on a mini program created for the popular Chinese social media platform. Dubbed “Baoshop,” the program was created

by Liang, and acts as a temporary online pop-up store offering users the chance to learn about and purchase the new bag.

The limited-edition accessory, a black puppy-inspired micro bag featuring pink and cream detailing, goes on sale June 26. The move marks the first time a luxury brand has launched a global premiere via a WeChat mini program created by a fashion blogger.

Chinese star Liang, who counts over four million followers on his social media channels, integrated WeChat Pay and his official accounts to create the mini program.

Tod’s is the latest of several highend fashion brands to adopt a tech-forward retail strategy to better connect with its customers. US designer Tommy Hilfiger has championed the use of social media platforms, chatbots and shoppable livestream channels in encouraging fashion fans to purchase pieces from his “see now buy now” catwalk collections, while Alexander Wang’s collaboration launches with Adidas Originals have included allowing shoppers to order the clothes via text. - Relaxnews

Missoni launches the pool float of summer 2018 Step aside, giant unicorns and jumbo flamingoes: there’s a new Instagrammable pool float in town, courtesy of Missoni.

Innovative Shoes Made of Pineapple Leaves for BOSS Menswear. © Hugo Boss / PRNewsfoto. Innovative Shoes Made of Pineapple Leaves for BOSS Menswear

M

ore and more shoppers are eschewing leather footwear for vegan alternatives, sending leather prices tumbling in the US, Bloomberg reported this week. And while animal rights ethics undoubtedly play a role in the trend, there is no denying that vegan shoe options are more sophisticated and on-point than ever before. Here are three brands to keep on your leather-free radar this year.

Hugo Boss Fashion heavyweight Hugo Boss doubled down on its sustainable fashion initiative this month with the launch of a new Boss Menswear shoe fabricated using Piñatex, a natural-based material made from pineapple leaf fibers. The shoe, which is 100% vegan, is colored with natural plant-based dyes. https://www.hugoboss.com Birkenstock Peta2, the youth organization of animal rights association PETA USA,

voted niche footwear brand Birkenstock the “Most Vegan-Friendly Shoe Company 2017” back in April, and it is easy to see why. The German company, known for its cork sandals, has an extensive dedicated “vegan collection” featuring sandals made using synthetic and natural products for men and women. https://www.birkenstock.com

Missoni X Funboy Butterfly Wings © Courtesy of Funboy

Kat Von D Celebrity tattoo artist and beauty mogul Kat Von D is preparing to take on the footwear industry this year, with her new vegan shoe line. Dubbed “Von D Shoes,” the line is set to launch at some point in 2018, offering fashion fans 28 different styles spanning furry moon boots to towering platforms. The line will be completely vegan and cruelty-free, with pieces handmade in Italy in sizes 5 through 12. http://www.vondshoes.com/ - Relaxnews

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he Italian fashion house has teamed up with luxury inflatables brand Funboy on “The Butterfly Float,” a vivid, winged creation that is sure to up the poolside glamour factor this season. The float, which retails for $148, is reversible, featuring Missoni artwork on both sides in two different blue and orangethemed colorways, playing into the house’s signature colorful aesthetic.

[We have] always been transfixed by Missoni’s use of color and geometric shapes and we knew it would translate into an incredible three-dimensional

pool float,” Funboy cofounder Blake Barrett told WWD. “We reached out over DM to Angela [Missoni] hoping she would share our vision.”

Missoni is not the only big fashion name putting its own stylish spin on summer accessories. Luxury shoe brand Charlotte Olympia has teamed up with flip-flop label Havaianas on a limited-edition series of feline-themed poolside footwear, while pop culture icon Hello Kitty recently joined forces with surf and lifestyle brand O’Neill on a summer swimwear and apparel range for girls. -Relaxnews

SMALL BUSINESSES

VOICE OF ASIA 18

B

D

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

ACCOUNTANTS BOOK-KEEPING

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

INCOME TAX

Personal and Business Tax Returns, Payroll Sales Tax, Income Tax Audits and Representations.

S. Ram and Associates

Tel: 832-877-9625 Free Consultation asu2020.com

M.D. Associates LLP A full service CPA firm

3 Locations to serve you Houston 713-774-6533 Spring 281-251-2205 Dallas 214-722-7545

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Accurate Book-Keeping Svcs Inc

Payroll processing & Payroll tax payments l Filing 940, 941, 1099, TWC reports l Filing of Sales Tax & Franchise Tax Return Manish Gaglani Ph: 346-317-7409.

Email: accuratebookkeeping2018@gmail.com 7011 Harwin Dr Suite 230 Houston, TX 77036 l

REAL ESTATE BUY - SELL - INVEST

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Ron Aga 832 - 423 - 6973 Champions Real Estate Group

• 6117 Richmond Ave, Ste #120 Houston, TX 77057

AUTO CARE & SALES B&J Auto Care & Sales

Auto repair (Collision repair (all insurance), Mechanical (Brakes, Oil change, Engine and Transmission). l Used Car Sales lUsed & New Tires lGreat Service Blessy 281-323-9315 3242 5th St., Stafford, TX 77477

COMPUTER SERVICES Networking and Computer Repair

Home & Business, on site, Microsoft MCSE & A+ certified, low flat rates, free estimates, pickup & delivery, www.PCNetworkGuru.com Call Amit at 832-971-6807

Book this space TODAY For a quick reference to your service and product listing.

Call 713-774-5140

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: LIFE UNDERGROUND

RESTAURANTS India’s Restaurant & Catering

For special parties and corporate events. Preferred Wine list, authentic vegetarian & nonvegetarian dishes, finest Indian cuisine with chef’s special dishes Ph: 713-266-0131/0805

We cater from 10 people to 800 people for all occasions. We deliver to your venue.

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281.955.9878 216.338.3940 (cell) FLIP - BUY - SELL- INVEST OR RENT

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By Owner 1-1 $38k or $850 monthly 2-1 $46k or $950 monthly VVS@aol.com 2-2 $51k or $995 monthly 832-200-0542

Shiva Indian Restaurant & Catering Specializing in North Indian Cuisine, office & Corporate catering 2514 Times Blvd, Rice Village Ph: 713-523-4753 Visit us online: www.shivarestaurant.com

Week of JULY 6, 2018 21 March to 20 April Sunday brings a more relaxed vibe into the mix, and you might enjoy an inspiring movie or book this.

Open your home and your heart for the new moon and solar eclipse of the twelfth.

21 April to 20 May Has it been a while since you’ve been in a relationship - or even had your eye on someone? It’s okay to walk through life alone, but if you’d rather have someone by your side, it’s time to act.

Don’t spend more than you can afford.

21 May to 20 June This is a powerful time to release the past and start fresh. Finish outstanding assignments and take responsibility for your life. Avoid placing blame or judging others.

21 June to 22 July Get ready to put a long-held plan into motion. Your dreams have a very good chance of coming true as long as you take action on anything that presents itself. Astral activity in your house of debt cautions against adding to that number.

23 July to 22 August As you take charge of your health, you may feel at times that there is a bit too much to keep track of! Diet, routine, exercise, illness, sleep - and everything else that is involved with this thing called “self-love.” This is why you have friends.

23 August to 22 Sept The weekend could bring romantic possibilities to the fore. You might enjoy going on a first date or relish spending time with your partner.

Don’t ignore an intuitive nudge, however, because it could net you a golden opportunity.

Astrology.com

23 September to 22 Oct Other people could be especially irritating or unreliable now. You or your boss may be a control freak.

This could be stressful for everyone.

Being flexible and allowing everyone to have their say will bring the best results.

23 October to 21 Nov You have some challenges coming your way this week. Relationships are likely to suffer from a separation due to work or personal reasons. The good news is that you’re both very busy. This situation requires more diplomacy and patience.

22 November to 21 Dec You and your partner are going to enjoy working out together. If you just started dating, it will be even more fun. Romance will add a glow, making you even more attractive. Too much socializing may make you tired. Get enough sleep.

22 December to 20 Jan Someone may have a secret to share this weekend, which could take one relationship into a more intimate place. Go easy, though, because things may not be quite as they seem. Someone’s suggestion cmay lead to you becoming friends.

21 January to 19 Feb Is it too late to make up with an ex or at least say you’re sorry for a mistake you made? The past has a way of catching up to you, and you might have trouble moving forward until you make amends.

20 February to 20 Mar A work slowdown or layoff might be in the works. Don’t be surprised if you’re passed over for a promotion or raise that you deserve. Is your current job or career where you want to spend your working life?

ACROSS

DOWN

1. Baseball player’s sole feature 6. Bug repellant

1. PC “brain” 2. Like a maxi skirt 3. Poetic name of Ireland

9. Surfer’s stop 13. Wraparound house feature 14. “Back To The Future” actress

4. Cast member 5. Topic of discussion, pl.

6. One of auto pioneers 7. U.S. central bank

15. Hello in 50th state

8. ____, Stinky and Stretch

16. Join forces

9. Like Food movement

17. Banned insecticide

10. Home of the Hawkeyes

18. Reduce

11. People in general

19. *Mythological ground humanoids

under-

12. It’s got an outer, middle and inner

21. *Rapid transit

15. Even though

23. King’s title, abbr.

20. Not odds

24. Top of the Capitol

22. One behind the plate

25. 1960s altered state inducer 28. Bone-dry 30. Lumberjack’s tool 35. At the apex 37. Accepted behavior 39. Samurai dagger 40. Of low density 41. Relish tastebuds’ sensation 43. Embarkation location 44. Laundry room appliance

24. Ascetic Muslim monk 25. Hog fat, pl.

26. Rubberneck 27. Not Ionic or Corinthian 29. Lion’s warning 31. “Lights out” signal 32. Kind of wading bird 33. It included Mr. T 34. *Beneficial garden invertebrates 36. Jury colleague

46. Make someone angry

38. *Contrary to popular belief, it’s not blind

47. Unsubscriber’s focus

42. “Superman” Christopher

48. *Underground, adj.

45. Copies, for short

50. Tarot card reader, e.g.

49. Likewise

52. First responders’ acronym 53. Victoria Beckham, formerly

51. Put down again, past tense 54. Same as swaps

55. Chill, with “out”

56. Clearing in the woods

57. *Animal house

57. Cowboy’s necktie

60. *Cold storage

58. Russia’s ____ Mountains

63. Body trunk

59. Please get back to me

64. ____-Wan Kenobi 66. Packers QB 68. Russians, e.g.

69. Benatar or Boone, e.g.

70. *”The ____,” by “Notes from the Underground” author 71. Explore by touch

60. *Where you’ll find 21 Across 61. Operatic solo 62. *Plant organ 63. Cough syrup amt.

65. *Cave flyer 67. Utmost degree

72. Infection of the eye 73. *Six feet under preceder?

SOLUTION on LIFE UNDERGROUND on PAGE 19

CLASSIFIEDS

VOICE OF ASIA 19

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Hiring - Marketing/Web Master/Graphic Designer

Houston Community College Invitation for Bid (IFB)

Voice of Asia is looking for a Marketing / Web Master / Graphic Designer person who can do it all to be part of the team leading the charge to take our digital efforts to the next level.

Interested applicants can email their resume to ads@voiceofasiagroup.com

(LoanStar II PROGRAM) Project No. IFB 18-30: HVAC Chiller, Boiler Systems & Associated Equipment Replacements, for HCC’s Spring Branch Campus A Pre-Bid Conference (Non-Mandatory) for IFB 18-30 will be held at HCCS Spring Brach Campus, 1010 West Sam Houston PKWY, Houston, TX 77043, on Monday, July 2, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. (local time).

Project No. IFB 18-38: LED Lighting Retrofit – Multiple Facilities A Pre-Bid Conference (Non-Mandatory) for IFB 18-38 will be held at HCC’s Central Campus, San Jacinto Building, Room No. 112, Houston, Texas 77004, on Monday, July 2, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. (local time). Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on Thursday, July 12, 2018.

Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs.edu/procurement.

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD SOLUTION

Houston Community College Request for Proposals – Commodity (RFP-C) NEO’s Market & Bakery and Culinary Arts Program Food Suppliers Project No. 18-21

Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on Monday, July 23, 2017.

Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs. edu/procurement.

GET NOTICED! To receive or advertise on our weekly newsletter Call 713-774-5140 or email request to: voiceasia@ aol.com

June 26, 2018 Houston Community College Request for Proposals (RFP)

Project No. RFP 18-24 PreEmployment Testing Services Proposal Submittal Due Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2018 Project No. RFP 18-37 Salary Benchmark Tool Services Proposal Submittal Due Date: Monday, July 30, 2018 Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time).

Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs.edu/procurement.

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Theme: LIFE UNDERGROUND from PAGE 18

VOICE OF ASIA 20

FRIDAY, July 6, 2018

Home&Real Estate Pace of US home construcTransform your home into an entertaining haven this summer tion hits 11-year high

W

ASHINGTON - A surge of construction in the Midwestern United States last month brought American homebuilding to its fastest pace since before the financial crisis, according to government data released Tuesday.

The May bump was driven almost entirely by faster construction of apartments and single-family homes in the Midwest region -- which enjoyed warmer-than-usual weather after a snowy April and saw its biggest gains in more than four years.

Elsewhere construction stagnated or fell, according to the Commerce Department. Industry analysts say rising materials costs and scarce labor have weighed on homebuilding, driving up prices amid strong demand.

Total housings starts rose five percent to an annual rate of 1.35 million, the fastest rate since July of 2007, overshooting economists’ forecast of 1.32 million, the figures showed.

The result put construction 20.3 percent above the pace recorded in May of last year.

With the exception of the Midwest, An outdoor retreat with comfortable lounge chairs. (Photo source: StatePoint)

I

n warm weather, everything is better done outdoors -- from eating meals to entertaining guests.

In fact, 88 percent of homeowners taking on landscaping projects upgrade outdoor living elements, such as furniture and heating features, to make spending time outside more comfortable, according to the Houzz 2018 Landscaping Survey.

To embrace the trend, consider the following.

destination.

means more time spent outside.

Include a Beverage Station

To bring the elements of summer into your home, include accents like colorful throw rugs, fresh flowers and greenery.

Have refreshments nearby with fun serving ware and a bar cart stocked with cocktail fixings -- ice, lemons, olives, water and soda -- along with fruit juices and colorful sugar to rim glasses so even the kids can get in on the merriment. Add pretty patterned glassware, umbrella stir sticks and a cocktail shaker to get the party started.

the results were well within broad margins of error, making them subject to heavy revisions, and Commerce Department officials caution that trends may take as much as six months to appear in the data.

Meanwhile, permits for new construction, a sign of supply in the pipeline, fell 4.3 percent for the month to a rate of 1.3 million, undershooting expectations in the second straight monthly decline, possibly reacting to falling home sales.

Construction in the closely watched single-family segment rose 3.9 percent despite declining in the West and South and rising only moderately in the Northeast.

In the Midwest, however, overall housing construction soared 62.2 percent to reach an annual rate of 266,000 units, the fastest pace since September of 2006 and the biggest monthly jump since February of 2014.

Single-family housing in the Midwest grew by a slower but still very strong 44.4 percent to a 156,000-unit annual rate, also the largest increase since 2014. -Relaxnews

Top tips and decluttering insights for your next move

Go Green Create a peaceful sanctuary outdoors with fresh flowers and greenery. If you don’t have a green thumb, display lowmaintenance verbena, lavender and decorative grasses in attractive pots.

Refresh Common Areas Add ‘Living Room’ Touches Create a flawless outdoor retreat with comfortable lounge chairs and all-weather sectionals that look like they belong inside. Go all out with color and bold furnishings -- shades of magenta and teal go perfectly with nature’s green elements. However, if you prefer neutrals, up the design factor with bright planters and accent pieces, or hang vibrant tiled artwork that can withstand the elements.

If you have an indoor patio or pergola, hanging decorative curtains provides style, shade and privacy. Finalize the space with cushioned floor seats and activities, like board games and books, for the ultimate entertaining

Guests will access your home’s entryway and powder room. Spruce up these spaces with a fresh coat of paint or by simply repainting the trim a crisp white. This can completely transform your home, making it look brighter and feel larger. With the right tools, you can pull off this impactful project with ease.

One of the most important tools you’ll need is a premium painter’s tape, like FrogTape brand painter’s tape, to protect walls and floors. Treated with PaintBlock Technology, FrogTape can be used on a variety of surfaces to deliver the sharpest paint lines for professional-looking results, allowing you to get the job done faster and eliminating the need for touchups -- which

If you have minimal space, opt for a wall-mounted garden to add life and texture without creating a footprint.

One easy way to do this is to repurpose an old wooden ladder and secure it to a wall. Succulents and herbs are easy to tend to and kids will love having a summer project to upkeep. Plus, nothing will impress guests more than clipping fresh herbs during your next cookout.

For more painting projects and décor tips, visit FrogTape.com.

To make your home the ultimate summer hangout, consider these simple projects to transform outdoor spaces.

- StatePoint.

May US home sales driven higher by soaring US south

W

ASHINGTON - Sales of new US homes in the southern United States drove US home sales to a sevenmonth high in May, government data showed Monday.

But sales fell or stagnated in the rest of the country for the second month in a row, while prices and inventories also cooled, according to the Commerce Department.

The figures suggested that -- the blip in the south notwithstanding -- demand could be moderating as mortgage rates rise and prices remain elevated, a trend that could weigh on GDP growth in All of the growth was in the south, which jumped a stunning 17.9 percent to an annual rate the second quarter. of 409,000 units. ( AFP Photo) Total sales of newly constructed single-family houses rose 6.7 percent to an annual rate of 689,000 All the results were well within rising costs and tight labor markets, units, seasonally adjusted, which was amid strong demand have driven up the highest level since November and broad margins of error and are subprices beyond overshot economists’ expectations for ject to significant revisions. what is affordable a result of 666,000.

The inventory of new homes for for many wouldThis was 14.1 percent higher than sale rose one percent to 299,000. This be homeowners. represented a supply of 5.2 months at the level recorded in May of last year. the current sales pace, a 5.5 percent Meanwhile cerAll of the growth was in the south, decline from April’s level, the bigtain changes to which jumped a stunning 17.9 percent gest monthly dip in supply in five real estate deducto an annual rate of 409,000 units, the months. tions in Decemhighest level since July of 2007, beber’s sweeping tax The median sales price fell 1.7 perfore the global financial crisis, and the cuts, as well as riscent to $313,000 and average prices largest one-month increase in three ing interest rates, fell an even faster 6.6 percent to and a half years. are also making $368,500, suggesting lower sales achome ownership Elsewhere, for the second month in tivity at the luxury end of the market. less attractive for a row, sales fell in the west and northAnalysts say short supplies, due to some. east and held steady in the Midwest.

Consider letting professionals pack breakable items. (Photo: SolisImages/stock.

Adobe.com)

M

oving can be emotional and the ways you manage it – including the downsizing of your possessions – may be influenced by your age, suggests a new study.

“From heirlooms to kitchen gadgets, moving is one of the few times in life when you’re forced to consider all your possessions and decide what goes and what stays,” says Pat Baehler, senior vice president, Mayflower Moving.

“It can be a journey of ups and downs, from feeling brief guilt over purging gifts or older furniture, to pure joy in remembering the story behind a family heirloom and thinking of the memories you’ll soon make in your new home.”

Baby boomers (64 percent) and Generation Xers (60 percent) are more likely than millennials (53 percent) to put an heirloom in a safe place to pass along, according to the 2018 Mayflower Mover Insights Study, which explored different generations’ relationships with their belongings.

However, millennials (17 percent) are more likely than Generation Xers (12 percent) and baby boomers (10 percent) to refurbish or repurpose an heirloom into something new.

The survey, conducted by Mayflower, which moves approximately 50,000 families annually, also explored how Americans feel about decluttering and purging unused items: 80 percent of survey respondents agree that clutter stresses them out, and half declutter their living space to feel more relaxed.

While such emotional stressors are often unavoidable during a move, the following tips from the experts at Mayflower can help you ease the logistical and financial burdens.

• Most people want to move on a Thursday or Friday, so if you can move earlier in the week there will likely be more availability. Likewise, it’s best to move in the early or middle part of the month, as well as to avoid summer -- the busiest time for most moving companies.

• Prevent mishaps. Consider letting professionals pack breakable items.

• Help offset relocation costs by looking into programs such as CityPointe, provided by Mayflower, offering cash back on the sale and purchase price of your home.

• Of the millions of Americans that move annually, fraud occurs in as many as 3,000 cases. Don’t get scammed.

Ask for a moving quote from three companies and don’t be hooked by the lowest price. If one estimate is much lower than the others, it could be a redflag that the company isn’t legitimate.

Generally, reputable moving companies will not require a deposit, so don’t pay up-front.

• Reduce energy spent packing and unpacking. While 57 percent of survey respondents say they’ll purge everything they don’t need before moving, only 44 percent have actually done this in the past. Luckily, there are both new and lucrative channels for doing so: 47 percent of Americans say they use some kind of online service, social site or app to help them declutter, 26 percent are considering selling unused items through a resale or consignment shop and 35 percent are considering selling unused items online, according to the Mayflower survey.

For additional moving tips and tools, visit Mayflower.com. -Relaxnews