By Andrew Hamlin
Northwest Asian Weekly

For all their fascinating culture and history, Hmong rarely get depicted on film. Read the full story

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

By Russ Bynum
The Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP) — A Ford dealer, angered over the proposed bailout of U.S. automakers, blames the nation’s sour economy on Congress and criticized buyers of Japanese cars, calling the vehicles “rice ready … not road ready” in a radio ad. Read the full story

By Ryan Pangilinan
Northwest Asian Weekly

On Wednesday, Dec. 10, members of several International District businesses met with a handful of officers from the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to discuss the recent rash of robberies in the neighborhood as well as how to bridge the communication gap between merchants and law enforcement. 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

Both newspapers thought it would be fun to participate in a holiday decorating contest to make the newsroom feel more like home. The staff split into four teams and were given a blank 6 by 10 foot wall or a 3 by 14 foot set of windows to carry out their ideas. Each team was lucky enough to have its own graphic designer. Judges from the community picked the best decoration, though results will not be announced until Dec. 19. 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

By Staff
Northwest Asian Weekly

On the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and representatives from the U.S. Department of State, the Port of Seattle, SSA Marine, the City of Tacoma, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced on Dec. 15 an innovative partnership to develop energy efficient and environmentally sustainable ports. Read the full story

Helping Link is a nonprofit organization governed by a group of talented and giving volunteers. Read the full story

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Recent U.S. Census numbers show Nashville’s suburbs have become dramatically more diverse over the last seven years. Read the full story

By Hawkins Teague
The Associated Press

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) — When the financial crisis hit the United States in September, it caused many Americans to panic. What most didn’t realize — but what is all too clear for Murray State University’s international students — is that the crisis actually caused the U.S. dollar to increase in value relative to some nations’ currencies. 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

This vessel will be able to freely cross between China and Taiwan, something the governments of both countries hope will boost their economies. Photos provided by Xinhua News Agency.

By Debby Wu
The Associated Press

KEELUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese jetliners and cargo ships left Monday, Dec. 15 for China to open a new era of direct air and shipping services with the mainland, formally ending a nearly six-decade ban on regular links between the rivals.

The passenger flights and sailings reflected perhaps the most dramatic improvement in relations between the two sides since they split amid civil war in 1949. Read the full story

By Ambika Ahuja
The Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thailand’s new prime minister faces the difficult task of unifying a country torn apart by months of violent anti-government protests — demonstrations that battered the key tourism industry just as the global economy was slipping into its worst crisis in decades. Read the full story

By Aijaz Hussain
The Associated Press

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Voters cast their ballots in the fifth phase of state elections in Indian Kashmir on Saturday, Aug. 13, as scattered clashes between protesters and government forces left one person dead. Read the full story