Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
May 2, 2022
Female ref officiates first Asian Champions League match
PATHUM THANI, Thailand (AP) — The first female referee to officiate an
Asian Champions League game saw Melbourne City defeat Jeonnam Dragons of
South Korea 2-1. Yoshimi Yamashita and assistant referees Makoto Bozono and
Naomi Teshirogi — all of Japan — comprised the first all-female trio to officiate
an Asian Champions League match, having been appointed by the Asian
Football Confederation (AFC). “Their selection reinforces the AFC’s
commitment to strengthen and develop the women’s game at all levels as well as
in ensuring the AFC’s women match officials continue to receive the highest
standards of quality education and expert guidance to scale the biggest stages in
world football,” the confederation said in a statement. Lee Kyu-hyuk scored for
Jeonnam after 16 minutes to cancel out Carl Jenkinson’s early opener at
Pathum Thani Stadium just north of Bangkok. Andrew Nabbout scored what
turned out to be the winning goal for the Australian team just six minutes later.
MOBILE THEATER. Musicians perform for the Awahan travelling theater at Xetali village, east of Gauhati, India, on
April 6, 2022. Travelling theater groups in India’s northeastern state of Assam are reviving the local art and culture scene
after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause in their performances for a year and a half. The mobile theaters are among
the most popular forms of local entertainment. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Pandemic-hit theater
back in India’s northeast
China promotes coal in setback for efforts to cut emissions
BEIJING (AP) — China is promoting coal-fired power as the ruling
Communist Party tries to revive a sluggish economy, prompting warnings
Beijing is setting back efforts to cut climate-changing carbon emissions from the
biggest global source. Official plans call for boosting coal production capacity by
300 million tons this year, according to news reports. That is equal to 7% of last
year’s output of 4.1 billion tons, which was an increase of 5.7% over 2020. China
is one of the biggest investors in wind and solar, but jittery leaders called for
more coal-fired power after economic growth plunged last year and shortages
caused blackouts and factory shutdowns.
3 critically endangered Sumatran tigers lost to animal traps
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Three critically endangered Sumatran
tigers were found dead after being caught in traps on Indonesia’s Sumatra
island in the latest setback for a species whose numbers are estimated to have
dwindled to about 400, according to authorities. A female and a male tiger were
found dead with leg injuries caused by a snare trap near a palm oil plantation in
the East Aceh district of Aceh province, local police chief Hendra Sukmana said.
The body of another female tiger was found hours later about 550 yards away
with a snare still embedded in her almost-severed neck and legs, he said.
China sending up next space station crew in June
BEIJING (AP) — China will launch three more astronauts to its newest space
station in June after the latest crew returned following a six-month stay in orbit,
according to an official. The crew of Shenzhou 14 will spend six months on the
Tiangong to add two modules to the station, Hao Chun, director of the China
Manned Space Engineering Office, told a news conference. China’s ambitious
space program launched its first astronaut into orbit in 2003, landed robot
rovers on the moon in 2013, and on Mars last year. Officials have discussed a
possible crewed mission to the moon. The core module of the Tiangong, or
Heavenly Palace, was launched in April 2021. Plans call for completing
construction this year. The Wentian module will be launched in July and the
Mengtian module in October, Hao said. The crew of Shenzhou 13 landed in the
Gobi desert in the northern region of Inner Mongolia in April. During the
mission, astronaut Wang Yaping carried out the first spacewalk by a Chinese
woman. Wang, commander Zhai Zhigang, and crewmate Ye Guangfu also
beamed back physics lessons for high school students. China was the third
nation to launch an astronaut into space on its own after the former Soviet
Union and the United States. Tiangong is China’s third space station following
predecessors launched in 2011 and 2016. The government announced in 2020
that China’s first reusable spacecraft had landed following a test flight but no
photos or details have been released. China is excluded from the International
Space Station due to U.S. unease that its space program is run by the ruling
Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army.
South Korea’s top court overturns convictions of gay soldiers
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Supreme Court has thrown out a
military court ruling that convicted two gay soldiers for having sex outside their
military facilities, saying it stretched the reading of the country’s widely criti-
cized military sodomy law. The court’s decision to send the case back to the High
Court for Armed Forces was welcomed by human rights advocates, who have long
protested the country’s 1962 Military Criminal Act’s Article 92-6, which prohibits
same-sex conduct among soldiers in the country’s predominantly male military.
The article prescribes a maximum prison term of two years for “anal intercourse”
and “any other indecent acts” between military personnel. Following the
Supreme Court’s full panel deliberation of its 13 justices, chief justice Kim
Myeong-su said they concluded the provisions should not be applied to
consensual sex between male service members that takes place outside military
facilities during off-duty hours. “The specific ideas of what constitutes as inde-
cency has changed accordingly with the changes in time and society,” Kim said in
a decision that was broadcast online. “The view that sexual activity between
people of the same sex is a source of sexual humiliation and disgust for objective
regular people and goes against decent moral sense can hardly be accepted as a
universal and proper moral standard for our times.” The court later said in a
press release that the decision was meaningful as a “declaration that consensual
same-sex sexual activity (among military service members) could no longer be
considered as punishable in itself.” The two defendants — an army lieutenant and
sergeant from different units — were charged by military prosecutors in 2017 for
having sex during off-duty hours at a residence outside their bases in 2016.
By Anupam Nath
The Associated Press
G
AUHATI, India — Travelling theater
groups in India’s northeastern state
of Assam are reviving the local art and
culture scene after the COVID-19 pandemic
forced a pause in their performances for a year
and a half.
Seven roving theater companies are back on
stage playing before crowds in villages, towns,
and cities across the state. The mobile theaters
are among the most popular forms of local
entertainment.
“The public response has been very good.
They love live performances. We have no
competition from television and the digital
boom,” said Prastuti Parashar, a top Assamese
actress who owns the Awahan Theater group.
Before the coronavirus hit the region, about
50 theater groups, each involving 120 to 150
people, performed throughout the state. They
would start in September, coinciding with
major Hindu festivals like Durga Puja and
Diwali, and continue until April.
The Awahan Theater is among the groups
that resumed performances and ended its
season last month with the advent of the
traditional new year.
Drama is an integral part of Indian culture
and the mobile theater groups don’t restrict
themselves to mythological and social themes.
They have in the past covered classic Greek
tragedies, Shakespearean tales, and historical
subjects like the sinking of the Titanic, Lady
Diana, and Osama bin Laden’s attack on the
World Trade Center in 2001.
The groups travel with directors, actors,
dancers, singers, technicians, drivers, and
cooks, in addition to all the stage
infrastructure to perform three shows in one
place before moving on to the next makeshift
venue — like a circus show. The performances
feature many of the state’s top actors,
including Bhabesh Baruah, Tapan Das,
Mridul Bhuyan, and Pranjana Dutta.
During the pandemic-related pause in live
theater, some artists and musicians tried their
luck in television or digital content, two
industries that have depressed the market for
movies in Assam.
q
U.S. drone company Zipline starts
delivering medicine in Japan
By Yuri Kageyama
AP Business Writer
T
OKYO — Zipline, an American
company that specializes in using
autonomously flying drones to deliver
medical supplies, has taken off in Japan.
They started flying last month across the
tiny Goto Islands off the western coast of
Kyushu in southwestern Japan delivering to
pharmacies and hospitals.
Other parts of Japan may follow, including
urban areas, although the biggest needs tend
to be in isolated rural areas.
Zipline, founded six years ago, already is in
service in the U.S., where it has partnered with
Walmart Inc. to deliver other products at the
retail chain as well as drugs. It is also
delivering medical goods in Ghana and
Rwanda.
Its takeoff in Japan is in partnership with
Toyota Tsusho, a group company of Japan’s top
automaker Toyota Motor Corp.
Continued on page 3
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86.36
4047.7
6.6075
2.1358
7.8468
76.498
14511
42298
129.78
12015
4.352
122.5
185.32
3.51
52.359
68.002
3.7507
1.3817
1260.5
349.57
29.419
34.26
22917