 Young Russian men convicted of murdering 19 people in a string of hate attacks enter a glass cage to hear their sentences in Moscow City Court on Monday, Dec. 15. Some of the defendants wear masks to cover their faces from the media. Photo by Sergey Ponomarev and provided by The Associated Press. |
By Paul Sonne
The Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) — Seven young men who murdered 19 people in a series of hate crimes were sentenced to prison Monday, Dec. 15, amid a surge in racist assaults, xenophobia, and neo-Nazism in Russia.
Fears of an explosion in violent racism were further heightened earlier this month with the gruesome beheading of a Tajik migrant worker near Moscow. Read the full story
Mark Munoz. Photo provided by Sherdog.
By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asian Weekly
Chill.
That’s how Mark Munoz describes himself outside of the cage in a recent telephone interview with Northwest Asian Weekly. Munoz, a family man with a wife and four children, lives in a quiet Southern California suburb.
Inside the mixed martial arts cage, he is known as the “Filipino Wrecking Machine.” Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a violent contact sport that combines boxing, wrestling, and multiple martial arts disciplines, and is fought inside a caged ring.
Munoz, 30, is undefeated at 5-0. In Munoz’s last fight on Dec. 3, 2008, he beat his opponent by technical knock out in just over two minutes. This victory impressed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) so much that Munoz was notified that he will be fighting in the UFC which is considered to be the major leagues of the MMA. The UFC told him to be ready to fight on one of its fight cards in March, April, or May 2009. Read the full story
Sanlu Group Co. is a state-owned dairy company in China that was at the center of the milk controversy earlier this year. Families are suing the company for a total of14 million yuan ($2 million USD). However, the government says they are still investigating and rejected the suit. Photo provided by Falun Dairy.
By Gillian Wong
The Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — Some Chinese dairy companies will likely have to pay for a compensation plan being prepared by the government for families of hundreds of thousands of children sickened by tainted milk powder, the Health Ministry said Dec. 10.
The ministry said that six babies likely died and 294,000 infants suffered urinary problems from drinking milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.
“I think that the likelihood is high that the compensation will come from the companies, because the government is now paying for the screening of the children and other related treatments,” ministry spokesman Mao Qun’an told The Associated Press after a news conference. Read the full story
The Sarkisian family introduces themselves to Seattle at a press conference held Dec. 8 in the Don James Center at Husky Stadium. Steve Sarkisian (left) stands with wife, Stephanie, and his daughters Ashley, 5, and Taylor (newborn). Son Brady is 3. (Photo provided by Richard Kilwien.)
Steve Sarkisian is the new head coach of the Washington Huskies. He will be succeeding Tyrone Willingham, whose 4-year tenure concluded with a winless season, the first time in the team’s 119-year history at the institution. Sarkisian’s experience as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach is hoped to boost the team’s offense and improve their star quarterback, Jake Locker. One of Sarkisian’s main objectives is to improve recruiting right away, a crucial step in bringing the Huskies back to its glory days.
Sarkisian was born March 8, 1974. He attended West High School in Torrance, Calif. He began his playing career in 1992 at the University of Southern California (USC) as a member of the baseball team.
He later transferred to El Camino College, a two-year community college in Torrance, where he played his first two seasons of college football. As a freshman in 1993, he earned All-Mission Conference honors. In his sophomore season, he was named JC All-American. Read the full story
Images by Stacy Nguyen
By Stacy Nguyen
Northwest Asian Weekly
My mom banned turkey from our Christmas table this year. The reason why is because she doesn’t want to buy a vat of peanut oil or set up our industrial propane-fueled five-gallon deep fryer or risk third degree burns and disfiguration.
I know — so lazy.
Around this time of year, many of us go through these trials and tribulations just to make a genetic dud of a bird taste just “all right.” Why?
Well, there’s something to be said about tradition. We repeat these rituals because it stirs happy memories in us. Asian Americans are in a unique position because many of us didn’t learn about Santa Claus or pumpkin pie from our parents. This education came from TV and school. Read the full story
