[Place of publication not identified] : Asian Age, 1997.

During Wednesday's "Pac-12 Perspective" podcast, Natalie Chou shared why she is using her platform to speak out against racism she sees in her community related to the novel coronavirus.

Pac-12 Networks' Mike Yam has a conversation with UCLA's Natalie Chou during Wednesday's "Pac-12 Perspective" podcast. Chou reflects on her role models, passion for basketball and how her mom has made a big impact on her hoops career.

Watch the debut of "Our Stories - Natalie Chou" on Sunday, May 10 at 12:30 p.m. PT/ 1:30 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Network.

FAO and its partners have launched an initiative aimed at cutting food waste across the Asia-Pacific region. Save Food Asia-Pacific Campaign targets losses both straight after harvest and between the market and people’s plates. FAO estimates that reducing global food waste by just one quarter would be sufficient to feed the 870 million people suffering from chronic hunger in the world. [...]

The mission for an end to hunger in the world’s most populous region has received a boost, with member countries responding positively to a call by FAO for a “massive effort” to end hunger in Asia and the Pacific. 1. Asia-Pacific is home to nearly two-thirds of the world’s chronically hungry people. |True|     Asia-Pacific, with over 4.2 billion people, is home [...]

The 72-year-old animal was the third oldest in the North American population

Visions 2020: Nydia Han and 6abc celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - 6abc  WPVI-TV

Hate crimes against Vancouver's Asian communities have increased since the early days of the outbreak and the #Elimin8hate campaign is an effort to combat that and comfort victims.

Javier left Mexico eight months ago to be a missionary in South Asia. Here he shares why he thought it would be an easier job.

CNA Staff, May 4, 2020 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has ordered 15 psychiatric hospitals in Belgium which belong to the Brothers of Charity to cease identifying as Catholic institutions after they allowed the euthanization of patients in 2017.

The hospitals are managed by a civil non-profit corporation with the same name as the Brothers of Charity religious congregation which owns them.

The CDF decision was communicated in a letter dated March 30, stating that "with deep sadness" the "psychiatric hospitals managed by the Provincialate of the Brothers of Charity association in Belgium will no longer be able to consider themselves Catholic institutions."

In a statement responding to the CDF's decision, the superior general of the Brothers of Charity, Br. René Stockman, said that "with a heavy heart" the religious congregation "must let go of its psychiatric centers in Belgium."

Br. Stockman pointed out that it is "painful" that the psychiatric centers of the Brothers of Charity in Belgium have lost their Catholic status, considering also that the brothers "were among the pioneers in the field of mental health care in Belgium."

At the same time, Stockman said he recognizes that "the congregation [the Brothers of Charity] has no choice but to remain faithful to the charism of charity, which cannot be reconciled with the practice of euthanasia on psychiatric patients."

The decision by the Vatican's doctrinal office ends three years of disputes between the Brothers of Charity and the corporation which manages their hospitals in Belgium.

In 2017, the board decided to allow euthanasia to be carried out in its hospitals in Belgium, where the euthanasia law is among the most broad.

At the time of the decision, the board of the corporation was composed of 15 members, with only three of them religious brothers of the congregation. 

Two of the three religious brothers among the board members, Luc Lemmens, 61, and Veron Raes, 57, supported the euthanasia decision. Their terms on the board ended at the end of September 2018 and were not renewed.

The religious congregation, especially Stockman, protested the decision, reiterating the Brothers of Charity's rejection of euthanasia in their hospitals.

The brothers appealed to the Vatican, which asked the psychiatric hospitals to change their protocol allowing euthanasia as “a medical act” under certain conditions.

The hospital management responded with a long statement in September 2017, in which it contested a lack of dialogue and maintained the hospital was "perfectly consistent" with Christian doctrine.

The CDF's direction that the hospitals must no longer identify as Catholic was communicated in a letter signed by CDF prefect Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer and secretary Archbishop Giacomo Morandi.

The letter retraced the developments of the story, recalling that the document allowing euthanasia in the brothers' hospitals "refers neither to God, nor to Holy Scripture, nor to the Christian vision of Man."

According to the letter, the CDF had spoken with the Brothers of Charity and had also informed Pope Francis of the gravity of the situation.

Other audiences had also taken place beginning June 2017, including with the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Secretariat of State, the representatives of the Brothers of Charity and the managing corporation, as well as representatives of the Belgian bishops' conference.

The Holy See also sent Bishop Jan Hendriks, auxiliary of Amsterdam, as an apostolic visitor, but he did not register any steps forward nor a desire to find "a viable solution that avoids any form of responsibility of the institution for euthanasia."

The request of the CDF to the Brothers of Charity and to the managing corporation was clear: “affirm in writing and in an unequivocal way their adherence to the principles of the sacredness of human life and the unacceptability of euthanasia, and, as a consequence, the absolute refusal to carry it out in the institutions they depend on."

The corporation "did not give assurance on these points."

The CDF therefore reiterated that "euthanasia remains an inadmissible act, even in extreme cases," and strengthened the statement by citing St. John Paul II's 1995 encyclical Evangelium vitae, and a Jan. 30 speech by Pope Francis to the CDF.

The CDF stressed that "Catholic teaching affirms the sacred value of human life," the "importance of caring for and accompanying the sick and disabled," as well as "the Christian value of suffering, the moral unacceptability of euthanasia" and "the impossibility of introducing this practice in Catholic hospitals, not even in extreme cases, as well as of collaborating in this regard with civil institutions."

The Brothers of Charity is a religious congregation of lay brothers founded in 1807 in Belgium, whose specialization is care for the sick and those with psychiatric diseases.

At the congregation's July 2018 general chapter the group stressed that the Brothers of Charity "believes in sacredness and absolute respect for every human life, from conception to natural death. The general chapter requires that each brother, associate member and others associated with the mission of the congregation adhere to the doctrine of the Catholic Church on ethical issues."

Asian Americans have a reduced risk of cerebral palsy (CP) compared with whites. Whether this is true for all Asian ethnic subgroups is unknown. Differences in sociodemographic factors may explain disparities in CP prevalence between Asians and whites.

East Asian, Filipino, Indian, Pacific Islander, and Southeast Asian children were 13% to 38% less likely to have CP than white children. Differences in maternal age and education, gender, and birth weight did not explain these differences in CP rates. (Read the full article)

The false-positive rate of newborn screening for classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) remains high and has not been significantly improved by adjusting 17α-hydroxyprogesterone cutoff values for birth weight and/or gestational age. In response, 4 states have initiated second-tier steroid profile screening.

Under second-tier screening, the false-positive rate remains high, and classic CAH cases missed by screening (false-negatives) occur more frequently than reported. Physicians are cautioned that a negative screen does not necessarily rule out CAH. (Read the full article)

Diuretics are used in preterm infants to treat the symptoms of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), although there is little evidence of their effectiveness in improving long-term outcomes. Prescribing patterns and frequency of diuretic use in patients with BPD are unknown.

The use of diuretics in infants with BPD, including the specific medications used and length of treatment, varies widely by institution. Long-term diuretic administration to patients with BPD is commonly practiced despite minimal evidence regarding effectiveness and safety. (Read the full article)

Twin studies suggest that bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is heritable; however, only a small number of genetic loci have been associated with BPD and these explain only a limited amount of this heritability.

A genome-wide association study of singleton infants (899 BPD cases and 827 controls) of 25 to 30 weeks’ gestational age did not identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with BPD at the genome-wide significance level but did identify polymorphisms warranting further study. (Read the full article)

Respiratory outcomes of patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) range from no oxygen requirement to chronic respiratory failure. Outcomes of least severe types of BPD are well described. Limited data exist on outcomes of patients with BPD-related chronic ventilator dependency.

Along with a first estimation of the incidence of patients with severe BPD-related chronic respiratory failure who were dependent on positive pressure ventilation via tracheostomy at home, we describe their survival rate, liberation from positive pressure ventilation, and decannulation. (Read the full article)

Only 2 randomized controlled trials have addressed effects of ultrasound screening for developmental hip dysplasia. Both concluded that adding universal or selective ultrasound to routine clinical examination gave a nonsignificant reduction in rates of late presenting cases, but higher treatment rates.

This maturity review assesses long-term outcome of one of these trials. Rates of radiographic findings indicating acetabular dysplasia and degenerative change were similar across the 3 screening groups in young adulthood. Increased treatment rates were not associated with avascular necrosis. (Read the full article)

Little is known about the impact of tobacco smoke exposure on preterm children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. It is essential to understand how environmental exposures, such as tobacco smoke, influence respiratory morbidities in this vulnerable population.

Chronic tobacco smoke exposure is common in children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In children who required home respiratory support, hair nicotine levels were a better predictor of hospitalization and activity limitation than caregiver self-report. (Read the full article)

Clinical trials of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine show it to be highly efficacious in preventing vaccine-type–specific cervical dysplasia and anogenital warts, but few studies have assessed its effects in the real world and none have done so at the program/population level.

This study provides strong evidence of the early benefits of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccination on reductions in cervical dysplasia and possible reductions in anogenital warts among girls aged 14 to 17 years, offering additional justification for not delaying vaccination until girls are older. (Read the full article)

On the currency market, the rand traded softer against the greenback as it slipped to a session low of R18.77/$.

Richard A. Ehrenkranz
Dec 1, 2005; 116:1353-1360
ARTICLES

The world is abandoning cash in favor of cashless payment systems, but Asia (not North America) is where the trend is growing the most.

"Going into overseas ministry made me face reality", says 28-year old Vanilda Vaz from Brazil. She has been travelling through Latin America to tell as many people as possible about her work in South Asia.

An app of praise and worship songs is allowing Central Asian believers to share and access music in their heart languages.

Central Asians experienced God’s transformation in their own lives. Now they mobilise others to the least reached in their region.

Books played an important role in Aslan's salvation. Now he provides literature to other Central Asians.

A small team share stories and spread hope among least-reached Muslims in Central Asia.

  September 3, 2019 Delaware is a finalist for non-Asian domicile of the year.  Captive Review magazine released the shortlists for the 2019 Asia Captive Awards for both captive insurance domiciles in Asia and non-Asian domiciles having a significant presence on the continent. “The Delaware Insurance Department has one of the highest international profiles of […]

Javier Sotomayor talks to Sonam Saini about entering the hinterlands, rising ticket prices, and the threat from OTT players.

With the merger we had set out to create a new agency breed — a creative, data and technology agency that can offer genuine end-to-end solutions to our clients.

Realising that sourcing within India helps cut costs, Uniqlo established an office in Bengaluru in 2016 to identify and work with partner factories in India. The company currently procures cotton fibre from India, as a result.

I am very organised; my entire day is well planned. After a quick short walk in the morning, I reach office by 8.30 am. I like to review what I wish to accomplish at the beginning of my day and schedule all the meetings beforehand.

"I find my job very exciting; every day is new, as we are creating a brand in the Indian market which is a challenge in itself," says Rahul Vira, CEO, Skechers, South Asia.

Coronavirus Update: Worried about refund from ticket cancellation? Here is a solution for your problem. Airlines like AirAsia, Indigo, and GoAir are offering credit shells, IE reported. The report said that whenever such mass cancellations take place, it becomes a huge problem for airlines to refund every passenger. In the wake of unprecedented cancellations on […]

Amidst planes remaining grounded and gloom in the aviation sector due to the coronavirus pandemic, airlines, led by IndiGo, on Friday took to the microblogging site with humorous exchanges.

After not being able to fly during the nationwide lockdown, Airline companies entertain Twitteratis with an interesting word play on Twitter.

Fifa adding more World Cup berths could mean better representation for Asia and Africa

The board of directors of AirAsia Group (AAGB) on Tuesday rebutted all allegations levelled against the airline’s top brass including group CEO Tony Fernandes, deputy group CEO Bo Lingam and also AAGB and AirAsia India.

Asian nations gave up hopes of completing a 16-nation trade bloc this year, with Chinese and Australian officials now looking to finalise the deal in 2019.

The chipmaking sector saw another bout of selling in Asia, wiping at least $11.2 billion in market value, as weak forecasts from Nvidia and Applied Materials added to the latest signals that demand for servers, personal computers and mobile is falling.

Indian luxury train, the Indian Maharaja, has bagged the award for the Best Asian Luxury Train for the third year in a row. The train was felicitated at World Travel Awards 2012, quoted by Wall Street Journal as “the travel industry’s equivalent to the Oscars”. The awards are...

Asia's factory activity was ravaged in April, business surveys showed Monday, and the outlook dimmed further as government restrictions on movement to contain the coronavirus outbreak froze global production and slashed demand.

Singapore has retained its place at the top of fDi's Asia-Pacific Cities of the Future ranking, with Shanghai and Tokyo completing the top three list. 

What if the coronavirus lasts until the end of the year? Lawrence Yeo has a bleak forecast.

Asia outstrips the world for tourist arrivals and is still experiencing growth. Constant maintenance and upgrade are essential to maintain this lead.