The Asian reporter., June 03, 2019, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
June 3, 2019
Coin toss settles rare Philippine election tie
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Philippine election officials settled a rare
tie in a mayoral race by tossing a coin. They proclaimed Sue Cudilla the new
mayor of the town of Araceli in western Palawan province after she won a
best-of-three coin flip by picking tails. Both Cudilla, a former mayor, and her
rival, incumbent Noel Beronio, received 3,495 votes in the election. They agreed
to the classic tie-breaker, which officials said is acceptable, although local rules
specify the drawing of lots. Elections commissioner Luie Tito Guia said a coin
toss was also used to settle another freak mayoral tie in 2016. “I’m praying very
hard that the will expressed by the people will always be accepted,” Guia said by
telephone. More than 43,500 candidates vied for about 18,000 congressional and
local posts, including 81 governors, 1,634 mayors, and more than 13,500 city and
town councillors in 81 provinces in the May 13 elections in the Philippines, one of
Asia’s most rambunctious democracies.
U.S. sanctions on Iran felt in Iraqi Shiite tourist shops
BAGHDAD (AP) — Shop owners in Baghdad’s Shiite holy neighborhood of
Kadhimiya are feeling the pain of U.S. sanctions on Iran. They have seen their
sales drop over the past year as Iranians lose their purchasing power since U.S.
President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement between
Iran and world powers. Iranians make up the bulk of millions of Shiites from
around the world who come to Iraq every year to visit its many Shiite shrines
and holy places, including the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in southern Iraq
and the central city of Samarra, home to the revered golden-domed al-Askari
shrine. They bring large amounts of money into the country, where tourism is
the second biggest source of income for state coffers after oil exports.
Amnesty Int’l charges Myanmar military with new abuses
BANGKOK (AP) — The human-rights group Amnesty International says
Myanmar’s military, accused of massive human-rights violations against the
Muslim Rohingya minority less than two years ago, is committing war crimes
and other atrocities as it engages in new military operations in the western state
of Rakhine. It says in a report that the army has killed and injured civilians in
indiscriminate attacks since January 2019 as it battles the Arakan Army, a
well-trained guerrilla force from the Buddhist ethnic group seeking autonomy
for Rakhine. It accuses the military of carrying out “extrajudicial executions,
arbitrary arrests, torture, and other ill-treatment, and enforced disap-
pearances.” Amnesty International says the Arakan rebels also have committed
abuses against civilians, including kidnappings, though on a lesser scale.
Pakistani police arrest Hindu vet on charges of blasphemy
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say they have arrested a
veterinarian from the country’s tiny minority Hindu community on charges of
desecrating Islam’s holy book in southern Sindh province. Local police chief
Zahid Leghari said Ramesh Kumar was arrested the day before on blasphemy
charges, after a cleric in the district of Mirpur Kash accused him of desecrating
pages of the Quran, the Muslim holy book. He says an angry mob damaged three
Hindu shops but the situation later calmed down. Police also registered a case
against those behind the rioting. Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, anyone
accused of insulting Islam can be sentenced to death. Domestic and
international human-rights groups say these laws are often misused to settle
personal scores and target minorities.
Trump meets families of Japanese abducted by N. Korea
TOKYO (AP) — Families of Japanese who were abducted by North Korea in
the 1970s and 1980s thanked President Donald Trump for his sympathy and for
meeting with them while visiting Japan. Trump, on a four-day state visit,
appeared to listen intently to the accounts of relatives of their ordeals. Shigeo
Iizuka, whose sister was abducted in the 1970s, asked Trump for his cooperation
with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to get North Korea to return the
victims. Sakie Yokota, whose daughter was abducted in 1977, said Trump gave
the families hope for a breakthrough. Many elderly relatives say they’re running
out of time to see their loved ones. Trump said he supports Abe’s intent to meet
with North Korea’s leader to resolve the issue.
ENABLING OPPORTUNITIES. Apa Sherpa feeds pigeons in Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, in this May
9, 2019 photo. Apa Sherpa has stood on top of the world more times than all but one other person. Now he wants to make
sure no one feels compelled to follow in his footsteps. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Famed Sherpa climber helps
Nepal kids reach greater heights
By Binaj Gurubacharya
The Associated Press
ATHMANDU, Nepal — Apa Sherpa
has stood on top of the world more
times than all but one other person.
Now he wants to make sure no one feels
compelled to follow in his footsteps.
As a boy growing up in Nepal, Sherpa
dreamed of becoming a doctor, but poverty and
lack of education steered him to a far more
dangerous path: Working as a guide on Mount
Everest, carrying climbing equipment and
helping foreign mountaineers scale the world’s
tallest peak.
Now retired in the U.S., Sherpa returns
every year to his roots in the foothills of the
Himalayas to provide financial assistance to
village schools and try to show children from
the Sherpa minority group that they have
options in life.
“Sherpas take big risks in the mountains to
earn a living for their families because they are
unable to take up any other jobs,” the
59-year-old said. “My main goal is to ensure
children in the future don’t have to take up
climbing like we did.”
Sherpa tribespeople were mostly yak
herders and traders living deep within the
Himalayas until Nepal opened its borders to
foreigners in the 1950s. As adventurers began
arriving to conquer the country’s famous
peaks, the Sherpas with their mountain
experience found themselves in demand as
guides and porters.
To this day they are an indispensable part of
Nepal’s climbing industry, which brings in
$300 million to the country each year. But
advocates say Nepal’s estimated 350,000
Sherpa remain marginalized, with many
K
living in remote, impoverished villages
connected to the rest of the country only by
footpaths and small airstrips. Access to
schooling beyond the primary level is rare.
The Apa Sherpa Foundation, set up in 2012,
has been seeking to change that, paying
teacher salaries in several villages to ensure
schools remain open and providing hot
lunches, computers, books, pens, and warm
clothes to motivate children to attend classes.
“Most people in the area have now realized
the value of educating their children and they
do their best to send their children to school,”
Sherpa said. “But many schools face
difficulties, so we try and help them whatever
way possible.”
When Sherpa was growing up, the school in
his village, Thame, offered education only up
to the second grade. He continued his studies
in another village for two more years, walking
the mountain trails for six hours each day, but
had to drop out when his father died and he
had to take on the responsibility of feeding his
family.
By the age of 12 he was working on climbing
expeditions. At age 30, he summited Everest
for the first time. He repeated the feat almost
every year after, going on to become one of
Everest’s greatest guides and earning the
nickname “Super Sherpa.”
When he retired in 2011, he jointly held the
record for having climbed the 29,035-foot peak
21 times with fellow Sherpa Phurba Tashi.
Another Sherpa, Kami Rita, now holds the
record alone, having reached the summit 24
times, two of them this season.
“Everyone said 21 was a good number,”
Sherpa noted of the timing for his retirement,
which fulfilled a longstanding promise to his
Continued on page 15
PORTLAND’S
LEADER IN
NATURAL BURIAL &
AQUA CREMATION
Knife-wielding man attacks schoolgirls in Japan, kills two
KAWASAKI, Japan (AP) — A man carrying a knife in each hand and
screaming “I will kill you!” attacked a group of schoolgirls near a school bus
parked at a bus stop just outside Tokyo, killing two people and injuring at least
17 before killing himself, officials said. Most of the victims were students at a
Catholic elementary school who were lined up at the bus stop near Noborito
Park in the city of Kawasaki when the man began slashing them with knives.
Officials said police captured the attacker but he died at a hospital from a
self-inflicted cut to his neck. Witnesses described a hellish scene: children and
adults falling to the ground, some with their shirts soaked with blood, dozens of
children running and screaming for help, and school bags and books scattered on
the ground. Police identified the attacker as a 51-year-old resident of Kawasaki.
Although Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, it has had a series
of high-profile killings, including in 2016 when a former employee at a home for
the disabled allegedly killed 19 people and injured more than 20 others. Also in
2016, a man stabbed four people at a library in northeastern Japan, allegedly for
mishandling his questions; no one was killed. In 2008, seven people were killed
by a man who slammed a truck into a crowd of people in central Tokyo’s
Akihabara electronics district and then stabbed passersby.
Tu Phan
Branch Manager, NMLS #7916
Call about
refinances & purchases
Offering
FHA/VA/Conventional Mortgages
(503) 780-6872
<tu.phan@fairwaymc.com>
<www.LoansNow.com>
12817 S.E. 93rd Ave.
Clackamas, OR 97015
Copyright©2018 Fairway Independent Mortgage
Corporation. NMLS#2289. 4750 S. Biltmore Lane,
Madison, WI 53718, 1-877-699-0353. All rights
reserved. Fairway is not affiliated with any
government agencies. These materials are not
from HUD or FHA and were not approved by
HUD or a government agency. This is not an offer
to enter into an agreement. Not all customers will
qualify. Information, rates and programs are subject
to change without notice. All products are subject to
credit and property approval. Other restrictions
and limitations may apply. Equal Housing Lender.
Please call us for
a complimentary
pre-planning guide
River View Cemetery
(503) 246-4251
River View Cemetery
Funeral Home
(503) 246-6488 - 24 hours
8421 S.W. Macadam Avenue
Portland, OR 97219
www.riverviewcemetery.org
www.riverviewcemeteryfuneralhome.com
Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 5/31
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
Fijian Dollar · · · ·
Hong Kong Dollar ·
Indian Rupee · · · ·
Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
Laos New Kip · · ·
Malaysian Ringgit ·
Nepal Rupee · · · ·
Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
Philippine Peso· · ·
Russian Ruble · · ·
Saudi Riyal· · · · ·
Singapore Dollar · ·
South Korean Won ·
Sri Lankan Rupee ·
Taiwan Dollar · · ·
Thai Baht · · · · ·
Vietnam Dong · · ·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
83.93
4056.1
6.9027
2.1358
7.8387
69.626
14315
42021
108.65
8698.9
4.189
111.85
147.6
3.375
52.1
65.289
3.75
1.3752
1191.0
176.37
31.552
31.56
23322