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» Burmese Americans Try to Help, but Have Few Options
» U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono Endorses Obama
» Some Legitimate Taxpayers’ Rebates Cut Off by Immigrant Provision
» Disputes Flare Up Among N.D. International Students
» WA Teen Gets Life for Killing Cabbie
» Religious Statue Stolen From Filipino Center in NYC
» Philippine TV Stars No-shows at $100-a-head Hawai‘i Event
» Recovering Yao Says China’s Goal is to Reach Quarterfinals in Olympics
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NATION:
Burmese Americans Try to Help, But Have Few Options
NEW YORK — Thousands of Burmese immigrants around the United States are desperately scrambling to organize relief to their ravaged homeland. In the process, they are hearing about a bleak situation: no electricity, dirty water, rampant diarrhea and malaria.
The challenge of providing relief has been magnified by the sheer desperation of the situation in Myanmar and a ruling military regime that is hostile to U.S. citizens and supplies. The United Nations and other agencies have said they are trying to persuade the government to issue more visas to speed the aid to sites where it is most needed.
“It’s difficult, because even if we collect things, how are we going to send them?” asked Moe Chan, a Burmese New Yorker.
He is one of more than 10,000 Burmese residents of New York City. Thousands more live in nearby New Jersey and Connecticut, forming the second largest U.S. Burmese community. California has as many as 100,000 residents of Burmese descent.
— Associated Press
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U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono Endorses Obama
HONOLULU — U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono is endorsing Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination over Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Hirono, one of Hawai‘i’s nine superdelegates, said although she respects Clinton, Hawai‘i-born Obama can unite the party and the nation.
In a statement released on May 9, the Hawai‘i congresswoman said it is time to get behind Obama and focus on beating presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.
“Barack Obama can … bring about the positive changes Americans want,” she said.
She noted that Hawai‘i residents overwhelmingly supported Obama in the February caucus and are proud of his deep roots in the state.
Hirono said Hawai‘i’s ethnic mix of people has helped Obama understand the nation’s diversity.
The islands’ other Democratic congressman, Rep. Neil Abercrombie, was an early Obama supporter as a superdelegate, and has called on the state’s undecided superdelegates to endorse a candidate as soon as possible so the party can focus on the general election.
— Associated Press
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Some Legitimate Taxpayers’ Rebates Cut Off by Immigrant Provision
An estimated hundreds of thousands of taxpayers — from legal immigrants to soldiers based abroad — won’t be getting a share of the Bush administration’s stimulus package because of a provision aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from getting rebates.
The Bush administration has planned to pump up the U.S. economy by sending out stimulus checks. But when lawmakers decided to send out the checks, ranging from $300 to $600 per adult taxpayer, they formulated it so only taxpayers who have Social Security numbers would qualify.
The rule unintentionally caught many taxpayers who would have qualified for the bonus, except they filed jointly with a spouse whose immigration status doesn’t allow them to have a Social Security number.
An estimated 1 million legal residents — immigrants with green cards — are waiting for their spouses’ paperwork to be processed, according to Paul Donnelly of Reform the Rebate, a group trying to push Congress to change the rule.
— Associated Press
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Disputes Flare Up Among N.D. International Students
DICKINSON, N.D. — Administrators at Dickinson State University have been working to ease disputes involving groups of international students.
The most recent incident involved a “Free Tibet” bumper sticker. A group of Chinese students felt the sticker was disrespectful and approached the driver of the car, asking for an explanation.
Students on both sides of the issue gathered around the car, said Corey Michalos, a resident director at DSU.
“A large number of Chinese students started showing up, and it became this large group of people all kind of addressing this one female,” Michalos said.
University staff and campus security responded to defuse the situation.
Chinese students met the day after the incident and decided to make T-shirts to express their stance on Tibet, an ethnically distinct region in southwest China. More than 20 students have made shirts opposing Tibet supporters, and the shirts have created a stir on campus.
— Associated Press
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WA Teen Gets Life for Killing Cabbie
SEATTLE — A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison without the chance of release for killing a cabbie last year, shooting the driver twice in the head and setting him on fire.
Earnest Collins Jr. had said he was not the cigarette-smoking gunman who killed Jagjit Singh early July 10 from the back of Singh’s taxi.
But the slaying was caught on a surveillance camera mounted in the car, and jurors convicted Collins of first-degree aggravated murder in April, believing he killed the 43-year-old immigrant from India to cover up a robbery. Collins also was convicted of first-degree arson.
Firefighters called to douse the blaze engulfing Singh’s Farwest taxicab found his body inside.
King County Superior Court Judge Chris Washington sentenced Collins on May 9.
Singh was working the night shift in the Seattle area to support his wife and 11-year-old daughter in India.
— Associated Press
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Religious Statue Stolen From Filipino Center in NYC
NEW YORK — The NYPD is investigating the theft of a religious statue in Queens.
Councilman James Gennaro says the statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, a Filipino Catholic martyr and saint, was found stolen on May 6. He says someone chopped off the statue at the ankles and stole it from the San Lorenzo Ruiz Spiritual Center in Jamaica Hill, Queens.
He says the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is investigating the incident.
The councilman and religious and community leaders held a news conference about the incident on May 8.
ARTS:
Philippine TV Stars No-shows at $100-a-head Hawai‘i Event
HONOLULU — More than 200 fans waited for hours and paid $100 to attend a private party that was supposed to include the cast of the Philippine television game show Wowowee, but the stars never showed up, they said.
The show’s spokesman, Dave Tiu, said most of the cast members did attend the May 8 event, including some of the stars. But fans and the nightclub doorman said only three of the shows dancers turned up and none of the stars.
Wowowee, the No. 1 game show in the Philippines, is touring the United States. Thousands of fans were expected to turn out at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu on May 10 night to watch a performance of the show, which will be broadcast on The Filipino Channel and ABS-CBN as an international two-hour special.
One fan said none of the people who had been selling tickets stayed behind to explain what had happened.
— Associated Press
GLOBAL:
Recovering Yao Says China’s Goal is to Reach Quarterfinals in Olympics
NEW YORK — The Olympics are still three months away, and already Yao Ming is trying to work the officials.
Recalling that he fouled out against the United States in his Olympic debut eight years ago, the Houston Rockets All-Star hopes the referees are easier on him when China faces the Americans in its opener in Beijing.
“Hopefully they treat the hosts better,” Yao joked on May 8.
But Yao is serious when he talks about his team’s chances. He wants the Chinese to advance out of pool play into the quarterfinals, even though they were drawn into a difficult group and their top two players are recovering from injuries.
“We have a very clear goal, which is that we have to at least get into the top eight,” Yao said.
Yao had surgery in March to repair a stress fracture in his left foot and said his rehab is on schedule.
— Associated Press
Compiled by Lisa Wong Macabasco