Guardians' Steven Kwan takes MLB by storm

Sports

Guardians' Steven Kwan takes MLB by storm

Steven Kwan has emerged as a breakout star for the Cleveland Guardians in 2024, leading the majors in batting average (.367) and earning his first All-Star selection as a starter on Wednesday. The 26-year-old outfielder's performance has helped transform the Guardians' offense, which now ranks among the top 10 in OPS and runs scored.

Breakout season: Kwan's impressive slash line of .390/.448/.575 includes a career-high seven home runs. Kwan, who made his MLB debut in 2022, now boasts a 1.023 OPS, ranking behind only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.

Representing his heritage: Kwan, who is of Chinese and Japanese descent, started playing baseball in Little League at age 10 with full support from his parents. The Bay Area native faced racism throughout his life, from childhood taunts to bigoted comments from opposing fans in his professional career. Despite being ineligible to play for Team Japan or Team China in the World Baseball Classic due to MLB rules, Kwan remains proud of his heritage and hopes to inspire other Asian American athletes.

Sports

Miki Sudo sets new record, defends title at 2024 Nathan’s hot dog eating contest

Miki Sudo of Florida defended her title and won her 10th Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in the women’s division in New York City on Thursday, finishing the event by eating 51 hot dogs, 12 more than her score in 2023.

The contest: Sudo beat 13 other competitors at the contest, including second-placer Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, who ate 37 hot dogs and was also the runner-up at last year’s competition. Placing third in the competition was Arizona’s Michelle Lesco with 23.5 hot dogs. “I’m just happy to call this mine for another year,” Sudo said.

Newest record: Besides defending her title, Sudo, a 38-year-old Japanese American dental hygiene student, set a new world record for women on Thursday. She became the first woman to break the 50-hot dog threshold, smashing her previous best of 48 in the process. Interestingly, Sudo also surpassed her partner, former Florida bodybuilder Nicholas Wehry, who finished with 46 hot dogs in the men’s competition.

News

South Korea’s first robot “suicide”

Nearly a year into its operations, the first civil servant robot of Gumi City, South Korea, was discovered unresponsive after falling down a staircase in the city council building. The incident, which occurred at around 4 p.m. on June 20, has been dubbed the country’s first robot “suicide.”

What happened: Witnesses reported seeing the machine, known as “Robot Administrator,” first spinning in place “as if something was there.” It then moved toward the stairs that connected the first and second floors and fell approximately two meters, resulting in significant damage. The city council collected its parts for analysis to determine the exact cause of the fall.

About the robot: The robot, a product of Silicon Valley-based Bear Robotics, had been functioning efficiently prior to the incident, working from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Designed to call elevators and move between floors on its own, it delivered mail and administrative documents between the first and fourth floors of the building and ran promotional activities. Theories posted on social media about the incident range from mechanical failure to overwork.

News

Hanoi university loosens height requirements for students amid outrage

The Hanoi School of Business and Management (HSB), part of the Vietnam National University in Hanoi, removed its height requirement for students on June 6 amid public outrage. The requirement previously applied to all four of its undergraduate programs, but now HSB only considers the height criterion for its Management and Security course.

The requirement: Under the previous rule, female student applicants had to be at least 5-foot-1 tall and male student applicants had to be at least 5-foot-4 tall to be considered. HSB justified the requirement by stating that, in addition to academics, physical appearance, including height, is an important factor in nurturing students to become self-confident future leaders.

Education Ministry’s response: The Education Ministry’s directive to the Vietnam National University in Hanoi stated that HSB must ensure that “no candidate loses the opportunity to apply due to regulations unrelated to qualifications and abilities, except for those specified by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense.”

News

Saudi Arabia set to open “Dragon Ball” theme park

The world’s first and only "Dragon Ball" theme park is coming to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Qiddiya Investment Company, the firm behind the project, announced its plan for the park in March.

What to expect: Encompassing a 500,000-square-meter area, the “Dragon Ball” theme park will feature seven different themed areas that fans will surely recognize, such as the Kame House and Capsule Corporation. The park will also include over 30 attractions for guests, including state-of-the-art rides and a planned 229-foot-high installation of the magical, wish-granting dragon Shenron. In March, Qiddiya released a short trailer for the park.

About the project: The “Dragon Ball” theme park will be among the major attractions planned for the giga-project Qiddiya City, which also includes sports arenas, concert and entertainment venues and the Six Flags Qiddiya theme park. The latter will feature Falcon’s Flight, dubbed the world’s longest, tallest and fastest coaster. In May, the firm reportedly sought construction companies to build its offices for Delta B, which is purportedly part of its planned Anime World.

Study

Grateful attitude linked to longer life in new research

A new study by Harvard University suggests that feeling thankful for the positive experiences in life may be associated with living a longer life. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday, examined nearly 50,000 older female nurses and found that older women who expressed more gratitude were 9% less likely to die from any cause compared to those with lower gratitude levels. 

How gratitude might influence longevity: The researchers posit that gratitude may encourage positive thoughts and actions, leading to healthier behaviors and better overall well-being. It may also help individuals cope with challenges and find meaning in life, especially as they age. The study’s authors noted that since the research involved only female nurses, results may not apply to the general population.

Healthy aging: “Prior research indicates that there are ways of intentionally fostering gratitude, such as writing down or discussing what you are grateful for a few times a week,” said lead author Ying Chen. “Promoting healthy aging is a public health priority, and we hope further studies will improve our understanding of gratitude as psychological resource for enhancing longevity.”

More Asian News

99-year-old Chinese American WWII vet honored in parade: Ken Mar, a veteran of World War II, was honored for his service and contributions at the 30th annual Fourth of July Parade in Sacramento’s Pocket area. He joined the event with members of the Gung Ho American Legion, which represents Asian American veterans. Drafted in 1943, Mar reflected on his wartime experiences, including the Battle of the Bulge and his capture by the Germans. He was previously recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal and Bronze Star, as well as the Legion of Honor in France.

Mindy Kaling celebrates Fourth of July with baby daughter: Mindy Kaling took her family, including her 5-month-old daughter Anne, to the beach to celebrate the Fourth of July. Kaling shared her family’s trip on Instagram on Thursday, showing her two other children, Katherine Swati, 6, and son Spencer Avu, 3, enjoying the sun and the sand. “A sandy/salty skin/no makeup/freezing cold perfect waves/lots of sunscreen/frosting/outside for hours kind of Independence Day,” Kaling wrote.

BTS’ Jimin, Jungkook to star in Disney travel series: BTS members Jimin and Jungkook will star in Disney Plus’ “Are You Sure?!,” premiering Aug. 8. Filmed before their military service, the eight-part travel reality show follows them across New York, Jeju Island (South Korea) and Sapporo (Japan), showcasing their adventures from ocean getaways to snowy ski resorts. This marks their first travel series together, expanding Disney Plus' BTS content alongside “BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star” and “BTS: Permission to Dance On Stage – LA.”

Hmong immigrant in Montana celebrates 100th birthday: Xong Xiong celebrated becoming a centenarian this week with family and several friends from the Missoula affordable housing complex community in Montana, including Mayor Andrea Davis. Having survived and escaped the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War, Xiong arrived in the U.S. as a Hmong refugee in 1978. She recalled to the Missoulian how she was “very poor” when she moved into the housing complex, classified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as serving either “very low” or “extremely low” income residents, around four decades ago, but managed to get by after finding jobs as a dishwasher and in food service for many years.