Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
August 6, 2018
Nintendo reports jump in earnings thanks to Switch
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Nintendo Co. says its quarterly profit
jumped 44 percent in the fiscal first quarter thanks to increased sales of
Nintendo Switch game titles. The Japanese maker of Super Mario and Pokémon
games said its net profit totalled 30.6 billion yen ($274.9 million) during the
April-June period, compared with 21.3 billion yen a year earlier. Quarterly sales
rose nine percent to 168.2 billion yen ($1.5 billion) over a year earlier while
operating profit surged 88 percent to 30.5 billion yen ($274 million). Kyoto-based
Nintendo credited new game titles for Nintendo Switch for the profit growth.
One of the new titles, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, has sold 1.4 million
units worldwide since May. The Switch is a hybrid game machine that works
both as a console and a tablet. Hardware sales of Nintendo Switch also trended
upward since the E3 video game expo was held in the U.S. and software sales are
in good shape with upcoming launches of key titles, the company said. Switch’s
popularity helped offset declines in hardware and software sales of Nintendo
3DS.
World’s oldest person, a Japanese woman, dies at 117
TOKYO (AP) — The world’s oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman,
has died. Chiyo Miyako died July 27, 2018. Her death was confirmed by
Kanagawa prefecture, her home state south of Tokyo. Miyako, born on May 2,
1901, became the world’s oldest person in April after Nabi Tajima from Kikai
island in southern Japan died at the age of 117. Miyako’s family called her “the
goddess” and remembered her as a chatty person who was patient and kind to
others, according to Guinness World Records, which had certified her title.
Miyako enjoyed calligraphy, which she had practiced until recently, and eating
sushi and eel, Guinness said. Guinness said the successor to her world record is
yet to be confirmed. The new oldest person in Japan is a 115-year-old woman,
Kane Tanaka of Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu, the Ministry of
Health, Labor, and Welfare said. The world’s oldest man, Masazo Nonaka on
Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, recently celebrated his 113rd
birthday.
Gunmen kill radio commentator in the Philippines
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Assailants shot a Filipino radio
commentator about a dozen times when he was going to work in a northeastern
province in a new fatal attack in a country with an alarming record of journalists
who are murdered. Police chief superintendent Arnel Escobal said 38-year-old
Joey Llana was maneuvering his van near his home in Daraga town in Albay
province on his way to his radio station when he was repeatedly shot and killed
at dawn. The attackers escaped. Escobal says an investigation is underway to
determine the motive of the killing. The International Federation of Journalists
condemned Llana’s death, which the National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines says is the 12th fatal media attack under President Rodrigo Duterte
if it turns out to be work related.
Hack of 1.5M patient records targeted Singapore PM Lee
SINGAPORE (AP) — Officials say a cyberattack on Singapore’s public-health
system breached records on 1.5 million people and targeted the prime minister,
a two-time cancer survivor. The communications and health ministries said in a
statement that the attackers repeatedly targeted Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong’s personal particulars and information on medicine dispensed to him.
Police investigations are ongoing. The attack on SingHealth data involved
people who visited outpatient clinics between May 2015 and July 4, 2018, when
the cyberattack occurred. Their data were copied, but officials say nothing was
altered. Some also had their records of dispensed medicines copied. Lee has been
treated for lymphoma and prostate cancer. He said on Facebook that if the
hackers were looking for a dark state secret or something to embarrass him,
“they would have been disappointed.”
Japan OKs first anti-smoking law
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has approved its first national legislation banning
smoking inside of public facilities, but the watered-down measure excludes
many restaurants and bars and is seen as toothless. The legislation aims to
lower secondhand smoking risks ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics amid
international calls for a smoke-free games. But ruling party lawmakers with
strong ties to the tobacco and restaurant industries opted for a weakened
version. The upper house approved and enacted the bill into law after it was
approved by the lower house. In June, Tokyo separately enacted a stricter
ordinance banning smoking at all eateries that have employees, to protect them
from secondhand smoke. The ordinance covers about 84 percent of Tokyo
restaurants and bars. But the law still allows many exceptions and the Tokyo
Games may not be fully smoke free. Japan often has been called a smokers’
paradise. Until now it has had no binding law controlling secondhand smoke and
ranked among the least protected countries by the World Health Organization
(WHO). That brought pressure from international Olympic officials. The new
national law bans indoor smoking at schools, hospitals, and government
offices. Smoking will be allowed at existing small eateries, including those with
less than 1,076 square feet of customer space, which includes more than half of
Japanese establishments. Larger and new eateries must limit smoking to
designated rooms. In Japan, about 15,000 people, mainly women and children,
die annually due to secondhand smoke, according to government and WHO
estimates.
GIVING THANKS. Soccer coach Ekkapol Chanthawong, front, and members of the soccer team who were rescued
from a flooded cave attend a Buddhist ceremony while preparing to be ordained as Buddhist monks and novices at a
merit-making activity to show thanks for their rescue, in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. (AP
Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Boys rescued from Thai cave
ordained at Buddhist temple
By Tassanee Vejpongsaa
The Associated Press
M
AE SAI, Thailand — The young soc-
cer teammates and their coach who
were rescued after being trapped in
a cave in northern Thailand were ordained at a
Buddhist temple, a merit-making activity to
show thanks for their rescue.
The 11 boys, between ages 11 and 16,
became Buddhist novices in a religious
ceremony, while their 25-year-old coach was
ordained as a monk. One boy did not
participate because he isn’t Buddhist.
The group prepared for the ordinations with
ceremonies that included shaving their heads.
The white clothes they donned then were
exchanged for traditional orange robes. They
prayed with guests and local officials
attending the ceremony.
The ordainment ceremony took place at a
mountaintop temple in Chiang Rai province.
The group spent a bit more than a week there.
Buddhist males in Thailand are tradi-
tionally expected to enter the monkhood, often
as novices, at some point in their lives to show
gratitude, often toward their parents for
raising them. It is believed that once a person
is ordained they gain merit that is also
extended to their parents.
In this case, said Praphun Khomjoi, chief of
the regional branch of the National Office of
Buddhism, the boys were dedicating the act of
entering the monkhood to a volunteer diver
and former Thai navy SEAL, Saman Gunan,
who died while diving during a mission to
supply the cave with oxygen tanks essential to
helping the rescue of the boys.
“The teachings we would like the boys to
learn is the awareness of themselves and the
importance of their lives,” Praphun said. “It is
extraordinary to be born as humans. And as we
are given this opportunity, we should use
Buddhist principles or principles of any
religions as guidance for living. That’s the
lesson that we want them to learn.”
Guests included Saman’s family and a
doctor who accompanied the team inside the
cave for nine days while waiting for the divers
to bring them out.
The 12 boys and their coach were released
from a hospital last month. They became
trapped on June 23 and were finally found by
two British divers on July 2. They were
brought out of the cave in a daring rescue
mission that ended July 10. Doctors say their
basic health is good.
Malaysia’s civil aviation chief quits over Flight 370 lapses
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) —
Malaysia’s civil aviation chief says he resigned
to take responsibility after an independent
investigative report highlighted shortcomings
in the air traffic control center during
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370’s disappearance
four years ago.
The report raised the possibility that the jet
may have been hijacked even though there
was no conclusive evidence of why it went off
course and flew for more than seven hours
after severing communications.
Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the report
didn’t blame the civil aviation department for
the plane’s loss, but found that the Kuala
Lumpur air traffic control center failed to
comply with operating procedures.
Continued on page 15
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 8/03
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Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
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83.836
4061.0
6.8323
2.1822
7.8491
68.543
14454
44134
111.13
8467.8
4.0714
110.22
121.85
3.296
53.09
63.301
3.75
1.3659
1124.1
159.8
30.584
33.247
23184