Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
July 4, 2016
City in Japan offering public funds to freeze women’s eggs
URAYASU, Japan (AP) — A Tokyo suburb will help women cover the cost of
freezing their eggs in a pilot program aimed at tackling the nation’s declining
birth rate. The Japanese city of Urayasu is allocating 90 million yen ($850,000)
over three years to fund the research project conducted by Juntendo University
Urayasu Hospital. The hospital hopes that preserving the eggs will encourage
women to give birth when they are ready instead of giving up having children.
Dr. Iwaho Kikuchi of the hospital said that using public funds to support this
kind of study may be a first in the world.
Chinese supercomputer tops list of fastest computers again
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese supercomputer has topped a list of the world’s
fastest computers again this year, and for the first time the winning system uses
Chinese-designed processors instead of U.S. technology. Researchers in the
United States and Germany who maintain the TOP500 ranking said the latest
unit to top the speed list is the Sunway TaihuLight developed by China’s
National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology. It
displaced Tianhe-2, another Chinese computer that held the top ranking for the
past six years. Supercomputers, long a field dominated by the United States,
are used for weather forecasting, designing nuclear weapons, and other
specialized purposes. The Sunway TaihuLight was built entirely with proc-
essors designed and produced in China. The Tianhe-2 uses chips manufactured
by Intel Corp.
Diners at Michelin-starred Japan eatery get food poisoning
TOKYO (AP) — A Michelin-starred restaurant in Japan closed temporarily
after 14 people got food poisoning from a fancy Japanese-style meal. The
Kanagawa prefectural government said six men and eight women complained of
diarrhea and stomach pains after eating at Kita Kamakura Saryo Gentoan on
June 11. The restaurant’s menu offerings included squid, jelly with sea urchin,
pumpkin cooked with fish, eel, and sweets, according to the prefecture. A
picturesque restaurant among the trees of Kamakura, a coastal town south of
Tokyo, it is known for serving meals in quiet Japanese-style rooms. It serves
kaiseki, or small, multiple-course dishes, and has one star in the latest Michelin
guide. The restaurant closed on its own June 14. The prefecture’s closure order
was lifted, although the cause of the food poisoning remained under
investigation, prefecture official Takeshi Ishihara said.
Cambodia to expel Taiwanese scam suspects to China
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia plans to deport 21 Taiwanese
arrested for suspected fraud to China instead of the self-ruled island. Gen. Ouk
Haiseila, chief of the Interior Ministry’s Immigration Investigation Bureau,
said the Taiwanese citizens, along with 14 Chinese also arrested this month,
were sent to China because Cambodia regards Taiwan as part of China. Those
arrested allegedly defrauded victims in China using phone calls made over the
internet, making them harder to trace. China claims jurisdiction in such cases
because it says the victims are residents of mainland China. Kenya and
Malaysia have also deported Taiwanese internet scam suspects to China despite
protests by Taiwanese officials.
Dozens of Nepal docs arrested for alleged false papers
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — In a nationwide crackdown on medical
charlatans, Nepalese police have arrested 53 people for allegedly working as
doctors with fake credentials or false education certificates and said more
suspects would be arrested. Weekend raids at reputed hospitals, health clinics,
and medical schools across the Himalayan nation ended with police handcuffing
36 white-coated men and women and taking them away while patients and
medical staff looked on. Another 17 were arrested in February when authorities
began the investigation, called “Operation Quack.” The suspects — believed to
have presented phony practicing licenses or fake medical degrees when applying
for work — are being charged with forgery and face up to five years in prison if
convicted, according to Central Investigation Bureau official Dibesh Lohani.
While a group representing Nepalese doctors protested the indignity of the
raids, patients said they were appalled and angry about the scandal — even
afraid to seek treatment after learning that some doctors had been entrusted to
practice medicine despite not meeting the training requirements. Another
patient at Bir, visibly shaken by the scandal, also said the bogus doctors should
be prosecuted. Nepal has long had a deficit of doctors, with just 17,000 trained
and qualified for the whole country, or just one doctor for every 1,700 people. As a
result, many who live in remote areas or who cannot afford access to medical
care still rely on traditional healers or village quacks.
Three men detained in latest Chinese air rage incidents
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese police have detained a man over an attack on an
airline check-in clerk that left her lying in a pool of blood and arrested two others
who charged the cockpit as their flight was taxiing for takeoff. The incidents are
the latest in a series of dangerous acts involving Chinese airline travellers who
have developed a reputation for occasionally being difficult and sometimes
violent. A statement from the Civil Aviation Administration of China said two
men aboard a Hainan Airlines flight demanded to be upgraded to business class
as their flight was taxiing, fought with a member of the cabin crew and a
passenger, and pounded on the cockpit door. Another passenger was ordered
detained for 10 days after attacking the clerk with a brass plaque.
INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY. Indian youth perform yoga at an event to celebrate International Yoga Day near
Victoria Memorial, the iconic heritage landmark in Kolkata, India, on June 21, 2016. Millions of yoga enthusiasts bent their
bodies in complex postures across India while taking part in a mass yoga program to mark the second International Yoga
Day. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Twist and Om: Millions exercise
together for global Yoga Day
By Saurabh Das
The Associated Press
C
HANDIGARH, India — Millions of
people twisted their bodies in complex
positions in celebration of Interna-
tional Yoga Day.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi
joined a crowd of 30,000 schoolchildren and
other residents of the northern city of
Chandigarh for a mass yoga session.
Before starting, Modi urged people to make
yoga a part of their lives, saying the practice —
which began in ancient India — doesn’t
differentiate between the rich and poor, and is
accessible to all.
“With zero budget, yoga provides health
assurance and it does not discriminate
between rich and poor,” Modi told participants
at the event.
Similar yoga events were held in villages,
towns, and cities all over India. Last year, the
United Nations proclaimed June 21 as Inter-
national Day of Yoga.
At the United Nations in New York, various
yoga poses were projected on a side wall of the
U.N. headquarters building to highlight the
role yoga can play in helping the U.N. achieve
its sustainable development goals.
The day was celebrated outside the U.N.
building with a demonstration by Jaggi
Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, and a
musical incantation.
Thousands of people gathered in New York’s
Times Square to celebrate the summer solstice
by doing downward dogs.
Yoga classes were held all day amid the
chaos of Midtown.
Many believe that practicing yoga is the best
way to calm the mind and the best form of
exercise for the body.
In New Delhi, hundreds of thousands
gathered at several venues where mass yoga
exercises were organized by the government in
parks and in a central plaza.
N. Korea warns freed U.S. missionary to stop criticizing it
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea
says it won’t negotiate to release arrested
American citizens if a former detainee doesn’t
stop using what it called slanderous language
about the North.
American missionary Kenneth Bae, who
was freed by North Korea in 2014 along with
another imprisoned American, has written a
book about his detention and given media
interviews in which he described the
treatment he received. Bae had been serving a
15-year sentence with hard labor for alleged
anti-state activities.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA) described Bae as a “filthy
object” and a “Judas” who betrayed the North’s
humanitarian gesture. It also accused the U.S.
government of supporting critics of North
Korea like Bae to arouse hostility toward the
North.
North Korea is extremely sensitive about
any criticism of its leadership and political
system. It is known to hold two other Ameri-
cans for alleged espionage, subversion, and
other activities.
KCNA said North Korea will not hold
negotiations for the release of other American
Continued on page 5
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78.325
4084.0
6.6597
2.0777
7.7581
67.32
13115
30589
102.6
8096.5
3.9983
107.75
104.72
3.1646
46.947
64.025
3.7512
1.3431
1145.1
146.0
32.213
35.06
22300