Taiwan culls 6,000 more geese to curb bird flu outbreak

(ATimes) TAIPEI: Taiwan on Tuesday slaughtered nearly 6,000 geese after 14 more farms were confirmed to have been infected in the latest outbreak of avian influenza that has led to the culling of more than 140,000 birds.
The confirmation brought to 21 the total number of farms infected by the outbreak since last week — all in the south — according to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.

The slaughter of the 5,830 geese at three farms in Chiayi county began late Monday night and was completed early Tuesday.

Further culls are expected as authorities adopt stringent measures to eliminate a new variant of the H5N2 and H5N8 strains, both discovered for the first time on the island.

“In order to swiftly wipe out the new disease, as long as the samples collected from any farm are confirmed as the H5 virus and the death rates there are high, all the poultry in the farm will be destroyed immediately,” agriculture minister Chen Bao-ji told reporters.

“I can say for sure that within the next month the number of infected farms will keep growing.”

More than 140,000 birds have been slaughtered since the first outbreak was confirmed at a chicken farm in Pingtung County, where 122,000 chickens were destroyed last week.

Taiwan has reported several outbreaks of H5N2 but has no recorded cases of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain, although authorities said pet birds smuggled from China tested positive for the strain in 2005 and 2012.

Source: AFP

Two-thirds of cancer cases due to bad luck: Study

GNN/Life & Style/ISLAMABAD: The majority of cancer cases can be explained by “bad luck” rather than the result of environmental factors and inherited genes, a U.S. study said.
The study, published in the journal Science, found that two-thirds of adult cancer incidence across tissues might be caused by random mutations that occur in dividing healthy stem cells, Xinhua reported.

The findings, based on a statistical model that quantified how much of three factors — bad luck, the environment and heredity — contribute to cancer development, might help researchers design more effective prevention strategies for different cancer types.

“Changing our lifestyle and habits will be a huge help in preventing certain cancers, but this may not be as effective for a variety of others,” said coauthor Cristian Tomasetti, assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. “We should focus more resources on finding ways to detect such cancers at early, curable stages.”

In the new study, researchers analyzed published data on stem cell divisions in 31 different human tissues and compared the data to the lifetime incidence of cancer in those tissues.

They determined the correlation between the total number of stem cell divisions and cancer risk to be 0.804.

“Our study shows, in general, that a change in the number of stem cell divisions in a tissue type is highly correlated with a change in the incidence of cancer in that same tissue,” said coauthor Bert Vogelstein, professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“We found that the types of cancer that had higher risk than predicted by the number of stem cell divisions were precisely the ones you’d expect, including lung cancer, which is linked to smoking; skin cancer, linked to sun exposure; and forms of cancers associated with hereditary syndromes,” said Vogelstein.

APP

Laundry soap pods dangerous for young kids: study

GNN - WASHINGTON- Laundry detergent pods could be dangerous for young children, researchers warned Monday, as reports grow of kids under six swallowing the capsules in the United States.

The detergent pods — on US shelves since 2010 — are just the right size for a single load of laundry, eliminating the need to measure out a liquid or powder.

More than 17,000 incidents from 2012 and 2013 were reported to US poison control centers of children under six being exposed to the detergent chemicals — equivalent to one child every hour — according to the new study.

“Laundry detergent pods are small, colorful, and may look like candy or juice to a young child,” said co-author Marcel Casavant, toxicology chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center.

“It can take just a few seconds for children to grab them, break them open, and swallow the toxic chemicals they contain, or get the chemicals in their eyes.”

In one case, the child died, while some 769 children were hospitalized, a rate of more than one a day.

Two-thirds of the cases were among toddlers — children just one or two years old.

Children who put the capsules in their mouths can quickly swallow a large quantity of concentrated chemicals, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital researchers warned.

Nearly half the children, 48 percent, vomited after ingesting the detergent, the study found.

Other effects included coughing or choking, eye pain, drowsiness and pinkeye.

Most of the detergent capsules are sold in clear, easy-to-open containers. One manufacturer last year switched to an opaque package with an additional latch and a warning label, but the study authors said this was not enough.

“It is not clear that any laundry detergent pods currently available are truly child resistant; a national safety standard is needed to make sure that all pod makers adopt safer packaging and labeling,” said senior author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

He urged households with young children to use traditional detergent.

SOURCE: AFP, AIP

Related articles

• Laundry pods pose serious poisoning risk to young children, study finds (foxnews.com)
• Parents warned over laundry capsule poisoning risks (telegraph.co.uk)

Psychiatric society to observe World Mental Health Day

#GNN #PESHAWAR: #World Mental #Health Day 2014 is being observed here on Thursday with the theme of “Living with Schizophrenia” a major mental illness, which affects the thinking, feelings and behavioral faculties of the individuals suffering this illness.

This was stated by Professor Dr Sayed Mohammad Sultan, head Department of Psychiatry, Khyber Medical College (KMC) and Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) Peshawar. He is also the president of Pakistan Psychiatric Society and SAARC Psychiatric Federation. He was flanked by Dr Bashir Ahmad, Psychiatrist, KTH, Peshawar.

Professor Dr Sayed Mohammad Sultan said that if the illness left untreated or even if treatment is delayed, schizophrenia can result in a major mental, social and occupational handicap, resulting in a tremendous amount of burden on the family and on the society.

The people with mental illness and their families are victims of domestic violence, abuse, discrimination and stigmatization. It is for this reason that World Health Organization (WHO) has dedicated this day to Schizophrenia to create robust awareness about the illness.

The senior psychiatrist said that in the country there is alarming increase in the incidence of mental illness due to a persistent wave of violence, political turmoil and frequent changes in the social fabric and family disintegration. As a result of this a range of psychiatric disorders have been reported such as depression, substance and alcohol misuse, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

WHO recently reported that one in four people meet criteria for psychiatric problem at some point in their lives.

He said that epidemiological studies carried out in Pakistan have shown that 34% of the general population suffers from anxiety and depression, in addition to 1% population suffering from schizophrenia.

The prevalence of severe mental retardation in children between 3 years and 9 years of age has been estimated at 0.5%.

Due to lack of facilities, shortage of mental health professionals and lack of awareness, majority do not receive treatment for mental illness.

He said that Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends that there should be one psychiatrist for a population of 10,000. In Pakistan there about 400 psychiatrists and 3000 beds in state-run hospital.

As part of public awareness initiative, the Department of Psychiatry, KTH in collaboration with print and electronic media to increase awareness about psychiatric illness and encourage community participation in care of mentally ill people.

For bringing improvement in psychiatric services, Pakistan Psychiatric Society recommended the provision of psychiatric services not only at district and tehsil level but to incorporate psychiatric services in the primary health care as well.

The society has also demanded the implementation of Mental Health Act in its true spirit to facilitate and help psychiatric patients, establishment of sub-specialties of child psychiatry, old age psychiatry
and forensic psychiatry.

The society also called for the introducing of evaluation system of behavioural sciences and clinical psychiatry in all medical and dental colleges of the province.

Source: GNN, APP, AIP

Schools re-open after Eid holidays with thin attendance

#GNN #KARACHI: #Schools across the city were re-opened Thursday after five day Eid holidays with many of the students not turning up as they perhaps had preferred to be back to their classes from early next week.

Heads of may educational institutions said this was expected as many of the students had left for their home towns to celebrate the festival while there was also many who or their parents thought it better to wait for a few more days.

“There is a rampant impression among many of the parents that academic activities, after any interval, would resume to its optimum from Monday, the first day of the next week, only,” said Mrs. Mukhtar Khan, headmistress of a local government school.

The school head said that parents are repeatedly reminded that classes would duly begin from the first working day as announced by the government yet this really dose not matter to them.

In reply to a question, she said teachers be they from government schools or from private institutions necessarily resume their duties more out of fear for deductions of their salary and also want to avoid any negative remark in their annual conduct reports.

Interestingly, some of the private schools have found out a way to end the practice, said Mussarat Jahan Arshad, head of a chain of a reputable schools.

“As usual this time also we had our Eid Milan Party which most of the kids do not want to miss and compel their parents to ensure their presence in the activity,” she said.

It was thus of no surprise to see many of the children attired in their eid dress, carrying one or the other of their favorite dishes going towards their schools with all excitement written large on their faces.

Source: APP, AIP

AIOU to receive its admissions’ form till October 15 with late fee

#GNN #ISLAMABAD: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) will receive the admissions’ form of its Matric to Ph.D level programs with late fee charges for the Semester Autumn, till October 15.

The candidates around the country could submit their admission forms with late fee charges till October 15 at all the countrywide branches of Bank Al-Falah, Habib Bank Ltd, First Women Bank and Allied Bank and at the nominated branches of National Bank of Pakistan and Muslim Commercial Bank.

The late fee charges are Rs 100 for matriculation, Rs 200 for PTC, intermediate and graduation, and Rs 500 for bachelor of education and master’s programmes, a news release issued here Thursday said.

AIOU has already been approved special fee concession for those candidates who residing in flood-affected areas and for the IDPs, in this connection, all Regional Directors have been advised to propagate the fee concession decision in all the affected areas.

The University has already been set-up points for sale of admission forms at its main campus in Islamabad and at its 44-Regional Campuses and 122-Coordinating Offices across the country to facilitate the students at their door-steps.

Ph.D, MS/M.Phil, M.Sc (Statistics), COL (MBA/MPA) and LLM/MS Shari’ah have been offered on merit basis. All those interested for admissions in these programs should send their admission form directly to their concerned departments without admission fee according to the procedures laid down in the prospectus.

There will be no requirement of NTS-GAT (General/Subject) for admission in Ph.D and MS/M.Phil programs, however entry test will be conducted by the concerned department.

Continuing admission forms have already been dispatched to all the continuing students, however, if somehow any of student has not received the said admission form, he/she can download the same from the AIOU website www.aiou.edu.pk and deposit in any designated bank branch with late fee charges till October 15.

Further detail about admissions for the Semester Autumn, 2014 can be obtained from Information Management Unit, Admission Department at Ph. No.051-9057151, information about Teacher Training Programmes on 051-9057426, Secondary Programmes on 051-9057431, Higher Secondary on 051-9057432, Bachelor Programmes on 051-9057435 while for further information of the Postgraduate Programmes on 051-9057422.

Source: GNN, APP, AIP, GA

Airbnb Lifestyle: The Rise Of The Hipster Nomad

Editor’s note: Prerna Gupta is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, currently working on a stealth project; she is also a nomad.

For the past year, I’ve lived exclusively in temporary housing I’ve found on sites like Airbnb.

I didn’t set out with this goal in mind, but it just sort of happened. And now that it’s happened, I’m starting to wonder whether I really want to go back to a pre-Airbnb life.

It all started about a year ago, when my husband and I got struck by a serious bout of travel lust and decided to step out of the Silicon Valley rat race for a while to wander the globe and explore what it was like to live in different parts of the world.

Over the past year, we have lived, for weeks or months at a time, in Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, India, and Crete. And all of this living has occurred in temp housing we found via the sharing economy.

The only possessions we’ve had with us during this time have fit in a suitcase and a couple of carry-on bags. Everything else – housing, furniture, cars, pots and pans – has been rented as and when it was needed.

Before we left for our vagabond adventure, my husband and I packed all of what we considered to be possessions we couldn’t live without into an embarrassingly large storage unit, which has cost us $160 per month. Possessions like a salvaged-wood dining table, an L-shaped sectional, fancy speakers and a projector screen, a hefty mattress, and a wide assortment of God only knows what else.

But we’ve found that we haven’t missed a single one of those possessions since we left. We simply haven’t needed them.

As our year of travels draws to an end, and I think about settling back down again, I can’t help but wonder – why settle down at all? Why not just continue living in temp rentals from Airbnb, and get up and go again when we want?

Trending Toward The Airbnb Lifestyle
If I could “borrow” most of my material possessions, leaving myself free to wander at will, I would do it in a heartbeat.

And I think this sharing-economy-driven nomadic lifestyle has a decent chance of becoming the dominant mode for younger generations.

Here are some trends that I believe will make the Airbnb lifestyle more common in Gen Y:

1. Ownership is a pain. I honestly can’t imagine ever wanting to own a house. Because I can’t stand the thought of having to deal with all the crap that comes with owning such a large and expensive thing. Renting is so much more convenient, and the fact is, I’m willing to pay for that convenience.

2. FOMO. Likewise, everyone knows Gen Y is allergic to commitment. I find the idea of committing to a specific place to live for years at a time depressing.

3. Freelancers are kings. Freelancing is becoming a way of life, too. I’ve been hearing from a lot of highly talented engineers, designers and product managers recently who are going freelance by choice. Work is becoming much more fluid, and workers have increasing control over when and where they work. This makes them less tied down.

4. The royal we. Families are getting smaller. Many of us may never have kids or get married at all. As family sizes shrink, there’s less incentive to settle down.

5. Democratization of style. There is a convergence happening in aesthetic style. We all basically like the same things, at approximately the same time. But, what we like changes relatively quickly, according to the latest hipster fashions. Ergo, borrowing is better for us than owning.

Outgrowing The Sharing Economy
Odds are that I won’t become a permanent nomad just yet, though, because it’s still tough for me to find things that sufficiently match my tastes on existing “sharing economy” sites.

This is because the sharing economy has mostly been thought of, up to this point, as a peer-to-peer rental economy, focused on allowing individual owners to monetize excess capacity on things they own.

As the Airbnb lifestyle becomes pervasive, however, the sharing economy will start to outgrow itself. Renting will start replacing buying across the board, which means there will no longer be enough owners to support peer-to-peer lending, and, in many cases, businesses will step in to pick up the slack.

We can see the very beginnings of this today, with startups like Le Tote and Rent the Runway, where you can borrow clothes, and Lumoid, where you can borrow high-end electronics.

It’s still early, though, and it seems likely that I’ll end up owning more than I’d like for a few more years to come.

But for me, at least, living an Airbnb lifestyle for the past year has led to a palpable change in my relationship with stuff. I am slowly beginning to think about material goods not in terms of possession, but in terms of my time.

7 Best Natural Sweeteners

#GNN - 7 Best Natural Sweeteners: Artificial sweeteners may not have any calories, but that's about all they have going for them.

Many have a hollow, saccharine taste, and they play havoc with your weight, appetite, and general wellbeing, making them just as bad as the sugar you're trying to replace.
So now's the time to ditch them completely, and turn to nature instead, with these seven amazingly tasty and surprisingly healthy natural sweeteners.You don't have to rely on artificial sweeteners in your coffee to give up sugar (REX)

Stevia

The latest sugar-free saviour, this 100 per cent natural, zero calorie sweetener made from a South American plant seems to have it all. Far from being just another healthy alternative to sugar, it can lead to reduced blood pressure, improved heart health, and a generally improved quality of life, according to a Chinese study published in Clinical Therapeutics.

In its powdered form stevia is extremely sweet so you need far smaller quantities than sugar. If you find the taste to be over the top look for the extract in its milder liquid offering.Stevia plants are being cultivated for its use to replace sugar

Yacon syrup

South Americans have been using the Yacon plant for its medicinal purposes for centuries, and now scientists have discovered that the plant’s syrup is one of the healthiest natural sweeteners out there.
In a study published in Clinical Nutrition, Yacon syrup was shown to accelerate weight loss, reduce constipation, and lower cholesterol. The health secret behind Yacon syrup is its high level of fructooligosaccharides, which boost the development of good bacteria in your intestine.

Rapadura sugar

When you hear that it’s the pure juice extracted from sugarcane, you could be forgiven for thinking that Rapadura sugar would be bad for you. Thankfully for the sweet-tooths amongst you, the opposite is true.
A single serving of Rapadura on your cereal in the morning will provide up to 1,000mg of potassium and 110mg of calcium, which both improve bone health and cardiovascular functionality.
Rapadura also retains a healthy balance of fructose, sucrose and glucose, which means it’s much easier for the body to digest it and use it as energy compared to regular sugar.

Date sugar

Most healthy sweeteners out there claim to have antioxidant qualities, but a 2009 study at the Biochemistry Department of Virginia Tech found that wasn’t quite the case, with only two of twelve observed sweeteners displaying antioxidant levels higher than regular sugar.

Date sugar, a powder made from dehydrated dates, ranked highest, with 600 times the antioxidant level of sugar. Date sugar is also packed with essential minerals including iron and calcium, and because it’s so sweet you can get away with using around half the amount when compared to sugar.

Blackstrap molassesBlackstrap molasses can offer an alternative to sugar (REX)

While date sugar came out on top as the undisputed antioxidant king in the Virginia Tech study, blackstrap molasses came in at a close second, providing nearly 30 per cent of your daily recommended amount of antioxidants in one tablespoon.

As a by-product of the sugarcane refinement process, blackstrap molasses retains the majority of the nutritional content removed by refinement, including high levels of iron, calcium, selenium and vitamin B6.

Monk fruit extract

As the name suggests, monk fruit was originally cultivated by holy men in China and Thailand around 800 years ago, who used it for its healing powers. Monk fruit is unique in that its sweetness is not actually caused by sugars, but instead by a rare type of antioxidant compound called mogroside that gives a sweet taste and the added bonus of strengthening the immune system.

The extract form of monk fruit has only recently been popularised, so make sure you opt for the 100 per cent natural version, as there are some brand name versions that combine the extract with artificial sweeteners.

Tagatose

Found in milk and some cheeses, tagatose is a natural sweetener with half the calories of sugar, and practically the same levels of sweetness. One of the newer sweeteners on the scene, tagatose has become increasingly popular in health food circles because it doesn’t leave an unpleasant aftertaste like many natural sweeteners do.

That’s not to say it’s just a good choice because of its taste though. Research published in the Journal of Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism found that tagatose helps to balance blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, and increase weight loss and levels of high-density lipoprotein (‘good cholesterol’) amongst obese people.

Florida may soon overtake New York as third most-populous state

Florida is less than 100,000 newcomers away from surpassing New York as the third most populous state in the nation, a milestone demographers say could be reached as early as 2014, according to newly released data.

The U.S. Census bureau on Monday released its state-by-state population estimates for 2013 as of July 1. The population of New York - 19,651,127 - exceeded Florida's 19,552,860 total residents by only 98,267, according to the data.

"The actual ranking is of little consequence. What's more important are the underlying trends, namely that Florida has been growing substantially faster than New York for many decades," said Stanley Smith, program director for the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.

The total U.S. population as of 2013 was estimated at 316,128,839, an increase of more than 7 million people since the 2010 census.

The 2013 population of California, the nation's largest state, was estimated at 38,332,521. Texas, the No. 2 state by population, was at 26,448,193.

Florida has New York to thank in part for its growth, as New Yorkers account for the state's single largest group of new residents from within the United States, Smith said.

And despite conventional wisdom, Smith said adults in the prime of their careers, not retirees, are driving most of Florida's population growth. Many of the new residents come for jobs, and not only those in the state's low-skilled, low-paying tourism and service sectors.

"Medical services, biotechnology, financial services, these are higher paying jobs and those have also been growing in Florida," Smith said.

In terms of percentage growth, Florida has ranked as one of the fastest growing states in the nation for more than 100 years, Smith said. In raw numbers, Florida achieved its current No. 4 ranking in the 1980s when Smith said it leaped from 7th place over several Midwestern states, he said.

The percentage of retirement-aged residents has remained stable in Florida for the past two decades at about 17 percent of the population, but Smith projects that cohort will grow to more than 21 percent by 2020 as more baby boomers move south.

Foreign immigrants, particularly Hispanics who now account for about 22 percent of Florida's population, are becoming an increasingly important factor in state's growth, he said.

Once in the state's borders, Smith said the largest number of newcomers head for the most populous counties, such as Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough and Orange counties. But smaller rural counties are experiencing the highest growth rates.

Sumter County, one hour west of Orlando and home to the sprawling retirement community called The Villages, has been Florida's fastest growing county since 2000, Smith said.(GNN)(Reuters)(GNN INT)

(Reporting by Barbara Liston. Editing by Jane Sutton and Andre Grenon)

Texas jailhouse cobbler's short walk on freedom road

Inmate Arnold Darby speaks during an interview in a holding area at the Goree Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas December 5, 2013.

GNN: Lawmen would come from across Texas just to walk a few miles in the boots made by inmate Arnold Darby.

Darby, 64, soft-spoken, bespectacled and tattooed, was once one of the most prodigious bootmakers in the Texas prison system, turning out more than a thousand pairs of custom-made footwear for police, FBI agents and the governor's office, prison officials said.

But freedom put an end to that.

After 37 years behind bars, serving time for robbery and murder, Darby was released on parole in 2011.

The highly skilled bootmaker was looking to open his own shop in a state that loves its boots. But lacking start-up cash, he settled for making boxes at a food-processing plant.

After only a year on the outside, Darby violated parole by driving while intoxicated and was sent back to prison.

This time, however, he has not been in the new unit long enough to earn what is considered a privileged position in a workshop, and the once-vaunted jailhouse cobbler is not sure if he will ever make boots again.

"I was working six or seven days a week, and I started drinking a little bit. That is what brought me back," said Darby in an interview from the Goree Unit prison in Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston.

The Texas parole board said in an emailed statement: "Mr. Darby was revoked on August 29, 2012, after he waived his hearing for DWI, failure to stop and render information and violation of the GPS monitor."

His next parole review is in March 2015, and Darby does not expect to be at a bootmaking bench until then.

"He was once a model prisoner and he made boots for everybody" said Larry Fitzgerald, a longtime spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who has since retired.

"You have to be, to work in the craft shop - because you are surrounded by weapons of all kinds," he said.

Fitzgerald himself owns three pairs of Darby's boots.

Darby went to prison in 1974 for aggravated robbery. He later received life sentences for killing two fellow inmates in gang violence. There was also an attempt to escape along the way, where he was shot in the head.

"My biggest regret of all was getting in the game," Darby said.

A CELL NEAR THE DEATH CHAMBER

About 14 years into his jail term, Darby met a bootmaker who taught him the trade. He started out small but soon discovered he was cut out to be a cobbler.

The work mellowed Darby and he turned out a lot of boots.

Customers made boot sizing appointments at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, the prison where Texas implements the death penalty. They met Darby in a cell set aside for visits that was also near the death chamber.

Buyers had to sign a contract with the state for the use of prison labor, for which Texas received a cut and Darby a smaller cut. The money was paid into a fund because Darby was not allowed to receive cash directly or profiteer.

Yet Darby was spending about $2,000 a year from the fund to buy goods at the commissary, burning through money almost as fast as it came in.

Financial planning was not a priority for Darby, who was serving life terms and had already been turned down for parole 22 times.

The 23rd time was the charm and Darby was paroled - with the fund was mostly depleted, he said.

If Darby gets out again, he plans to settle down with his former wife and enjoy life in a tiny Texas town, and perhaps to make the pair of tall red boots with butterfly inlays that she has always wanted.

After decades of estrangement, Darby's former wife saw a story about him in True West magazine and got in touch with the man she had last seen in the 1970s.

They rekindled their romance during parole and pledged to stay together when he gets out again.

Given his age and record Darby isn't sure if he can ever get the funds to open a shop. But he already has the sign - in cut glass - made by one of his prison buddies at a workshop.

"Making boots has made me happy," Darby said. "It was something I could see and I could take pride in."(GNN)(Reuters)(GNN INT)

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Gunna Dickson)

Melco bets on Japanese culture as casino debate heats up

The new Melco Crown Entertainment gaming resort City of Dreams and the first Hard Rock Hotel in Macau are illuminated during its opening ceremony June 1, 2009 file photo.

Japan/Tokyo/Hong Kong: Casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd on Wednesday said it had pledged $10 million for cultural projects in Japan, a signal of its commitment to the country as lawmakers take steps to legalize casino gambling.

Melco is one of several global casino operators including Las Vegas Sands lobbying for a position in the Japanese market, seen as the next big Asian gaming opportunity after the spectacular rise of Macau.

The Hong Kong-listed, Macau-based casino operator made no mention of its commercial interest in Japan when it announced its commitment to Tokyo's University of the Arts, although its desire to participate in any liberalization of the Japanese industry is well known.

"Melco really wants to do something to help contribute to cultural development in Japan. There is no defined set period for the commitment," company spokeswoman Maggie Ma said.

Japan is widely considered one of Asia's largest untapped markets after Macau, the world's biggest gambling hub. Industry analysts predict Japan could rake in $15 billion in annual gaming revenues, making it the second-biggest market globally.

Melco, controlled by Ho and Australian billionaire James Packer, said in a press release that it would contribute 1 billion yen, or roughly $10 million, on projects in coordination with the university.

The projects include research on urban development and a "Kimono Culture" event early next year.

In a written response to questions from Reuters, the university said the donation was unrelated to the ongoing debate about legalizing casino gaming.

Melco Crown is the fourth biggest casino operator by market capitalization in Macau, which overtook Las Vegas as the global gaming capital in 2006. The southern Chinese territory is on course to generate over $43 billion in gaming revenue this year.

A group of lawmakers earlier this month submitted a bill towards legalizing casino gambling in Japan. They hope to pass the bill in the first half of next year, and enact concrete regulations by 2015.

The bill is backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and is thought to have a decent chance of passing. Lawmakers hope the first casino resort could open in time for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Other global operators eyeing the Japanese market include MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Casino operators often make donations to universities and community projects to build goodwill for an industry that can be politically controversial.

A $135 million donation by Wynn to a foundation affiliated with a university in Macau drew scrutiny from U.S. authorities, although the company was cleared of any wrongdoing.(S-W)(Reuters)(GNN)

(Additional reporting by Emi Emoto in Tokyo; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Jon Stewart's humor a hit with millions of envious Chinese

SHANGHAI: Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders. A recent segment on North Korea scored over 4 million views on microblogger Sina Weibo, and even stodgy state broadcaster CCTV has used Stewart's "The Daily Show" in a report, though they wouldn't let a Chinese version of him near their cameras.

Recent popular sequences have included one in which Stewart lampooned the Chinese hackers who hacked into the New York Times computer system earlier this year, wondering if that was the best they could do.

But far from squelching Stewart, CCTV even used one of his sequences on Guantanamo Bay to criticize Obama in a regular broadcast a move widely derided by netizens.

In China, however, such criticism tends not to be welcomed by the government. Dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who regularly criticizes the government for what he sees as its flouting of the rule of law and human rights, was detained for 81 days in 2011, sparking an international outcry.

"There's nothing like political satire here," said David Moses, who studies and writes about Chinese humor.

Though the exact timing of Stewart's entrance to China is unclear, many have been watching him for four or five years, mainly through the Internet and Weibo.

"Being a journalist, you have to find out the truth," said Mao Moyu, a Shanghai journalism student who got hooked on Stewart four years ago.

"If there's ... something that hurts the public interest you have to stand out, no matter how sharp the thing is. You have to stand out and say that's not right."

Part of Stewart's popularity is that he seems cool to young people in love with all things foreign, but a thirst for satire that is not afraid to show its face contributes too, Moses said.

The closest thing that exists in China is coded references and puns that tweak official pronouncements or sound like obscenities.

"That's just shooting a finger at the government. But this is full-fledged jokes and routines about North Korea or about China and trade.It's just what they wish they could do here," Moses said.

Free translations into Chinese by Stewart's fans have boosted his popularity. In fact, one - known as Gu Da Bai Hua now even has his own fan base.

China's thirst for foreign satire is so great that Stewart is not the only popular U.S. comic. Some Chinese say they prefer rival television satirist Stephen Colbert - although humor may not be the only issue at stake.

"I think I like Stephen Colbert's pronunciation more because it's much clearer for me," said Shanghai student Peng Cheng. (Reuters) (GNN)

China probes reports of film director Zhang Yimou's seven children

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have begun investigating reports that Zhang Yimou, one of China's best-known movie directors, has seven children in violation of strict family planning rules, which could result in a fine of 160 million yuan ($26.05 million), state media said on Thursday.

Online reports have surfaced that Zhang, who dazzled the world in 2008 with his Beijing Olympic ceremonies, "has at least seven children and will face a 160 million yuan fine," said the website of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece.

An unnamed official at the Wuxi Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission said "based on the current policies and regulations, an investigation is currently being carried out", according to the report.

It is unclear where Zhang's children were born, the report said, citing a worker at the Jiangsu Province Population and Family Planning Commission.

Both the Wuxi and Jiangsu Population and Family Planning Commission could not be reached for comment.

Zhang, 61, once the bad-boy of Chinese cinema whose movies were sometimes banned at home while popular overseas, has since become a darling of the Communist Party, despite long being a subject of tabloid gossip for alleged trysts with his actresses.

Zhang's newest project, a film to depict wartime Nanjing under Japanese occupation starred Hollywood actor Christian Bale in a leading role.

There are signs that China may loosen the one child policy, introduced in the late 1970s to prevent population growth spiraling out of control.

The policy has long been opposed by human rights and religious groups but is also now regarded by many experts as outdated and harmful to the economy.

Last December, authorities in southern Guangdong said they were investigating a family for having given birth to octuplets through in vitro fertilization, a case that sparked intense public debate about China's one child policy and how wealthy families were able to circumvent the rules.

The one child policy was meant to last only 30 years and there are now numerous exceptions to it. But it still applies to about 63 percent of the population. ($1 = 6.1410 Chinese yuan) (Reuters) (GNN Int)