title: Ruling that Myanmar act to prevent genocide hailed

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Rohingya Muslim Yasmin Ullah, left, and Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK president Tun Khin, right, react outside the International Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday after the court ordered Myanmar to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide against the Rohingya.Photo: AP
The UN’s top court on Thursday ordered Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people, a ruling met by members of the Muslim minority with gratitude and relief, but also some skepticism that the country’s rulers would fully comply.

The ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, came despite appeals last month by Burmese State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi for the judges to drop the case amid her denials of genocide by the armed forces that once held the former pro-democracy champion under house arrest for 15 years.

Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, president of the court, said in his order that the Rohingya in Myanmar “remain extremely vulnerable.”

In a unanimous decision, the 17-judge panel added that its order for so-called provisional measures intended to protect the Rohingya is binding “and creates international legal obligations” on Myanmar.

While the court has no ability to enforce the orders, one international law expert said the ruling would strengthen other nations pressing for change in Myanmar.

“Thus far, it’s been states trying to put pressure on Myanmar or using their good offices or ... diplomatic pressure,” said Priya Pillai, head of the Asia Justice Coalition Secretariat. “Now, essentially for any state, there is legal leverage.”

The orders specifically refer to Rohingya still in Myanmar and thus did not look likely to have an immediate impact on more than 700,000 of them who have fled to Bangladesh in recent years to escape the brutal crackdown.

Even so, Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya activist who lives in Vancouver and was in court for the decision, called it a historic ruling.

“Today, having the judges unanimously agree to the protection of Rohingya means so much to us because we’re now allowed to exist and it’s legally binding,” she told reporters on the steps of the court.

Asked if she believes Myanmar would comply, she replied: “I don’t think so.”

The court also ordered Myanmar to “take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related” to allegations of genocidal acts.

The judges ordered Myanmar to report to them in four months on what measures it has taken to comply with the order and then to report every six months as the case moves slowly through the world court.

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DNA testing and other technological advances have helped the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in solving cold cases, including a 17-year-old armed robbery case.

Forensic examinations and DNA testing led to the resolution of 2,565 cases across the nation last year, bureau section head Yao Ching-yue (姚景岳) told a briefing on Wednesday.

Nine were cold cases, which had for years remained unresolved, or without confirmed identification of the perpetrators, and required more evidence from other sources or new witness testimony, Yao said.

“The key to solving these cold cases and bringing the suspects to justice was the establishment of a DNA database in 2012,” Yao added.

DNA databases and profiling have been in use in other countries, so forensic experts can conduct DNA tests and match them with evidence gathered at crime scenes, he said, adding that they were pivotal in the bureau solving so many crimes within a short period and for police to arrest suspects.

The work involved taking biological samples to extract DNA and adding them to the database, which has helped to convict offenders on charges ranging from robbery to illegal drugs, assault resulting in injury or death, and other violent crimes, as well as criminals with a record of recidivism, said Huang Nu-en (黃女恩), chief of the Forensic Biology Division, who is also in charge of the bureau’s Forensic Examination Center.

Huang cited the resolution of an armed robbery case in Taichung in 2002.

Police had initially arrested the wrong man, and it had remained a cold case until last year, when DNA evidence from a man surnamed Lee (李) with repeat drug convictions was forwarded to the bureau, Huang said.

“It was done by taking a saliva sample from Lee. We then ran the DNA result through the database for cold cases, and found that it matched DNA from the Taichung armed robbery in 2002,” she said.

It was a big boost for the bureau, Yao said, adding that it also solved four other armed robbery cases, two 13-year-old cases, one from 11 years ago and one from two decades ago.

DNA testing had also solved three major sexual assault cases, with two from 10 years ago, and one from 16 years ago, Yao said.

Huang said that when her staff receives biological samples relating to a crime, they extract DNA, which requires sequencing and analysis, then enter it into the database, and run it through the computer for matches with DNA on file and evidence gathered from criminal cases.

“Usually it takes one day of work to check for a match on the DNA database, while our staff takes about one month to complete one whole batch of DNA extraction and input to the database,” she said.

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title: DNA database helps solve cold cases: CIB


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Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor, center, departs the federal court in Boston on Thursday after he was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for orchestrating a bribery and kickback scheme prosecutors said helped fuel the US’ opioid crisis.Photo: AP
John Kapoor, the founder of US drug maker Insys Therapeutics Inc, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison on Thursday for helping fuel the US’ deadly opioid crisis.

The 76-year-old became the first owner of a pharmaceutical company to go to prison over the crisis that has killed tens of thousands of Americans.

Kapoor was convicted in May of an elaborate scheme that saw Insys pay doctors money to prescribe the company’s addictive painkiller Subsys to patients who did not need it.

He was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, along with four other former executives of the Arizona-based firm, following a 10-week trial in Boston.

In 2017, US President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency.

Almost 400,000 people have died from overdoses involving prescription or illicit opioids over the past two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 48,000 people died in 2017 alone from opiate overdose.

To increase sales of their fentanyl spray Subsys, a painkiller 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, Insys executives set up a system of large-scale bribes.

Between 2012 and 2015, they paid health professionals to prescribe large quantities of the highly addictive drug, which was approved to alleviate severe pain in terminal cancer patients.

Doctors were encouraged to recommend the spray to patients who did not need it and also in excessive doses. Officially, the bribes were paid as fees to doctors speaking at seminars for health professionals to praise the benefits of the drug.

The company’s aggressive marketing tactics reportedly also included sales representatives making a rap video to promote the drug.

In some years, Insys paid more than US$10 million in bribes in this way. The heads of the firm also set up a scheme to mislead health insurance companies to reimburse patients for the costs of the drug.

According to Insys’ annual report, Subsys sales reached US$329.5 million in 2015. The group went public in 2013. Kapoor resigned from the board in October 2017, a few days after his indictment.

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title: US pharma boss jailed for helping fuel opioid crisis


title: EU leaders ink Brexit withdrawal

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EU leaders ink Brexit withdrawal

FINAL COUNTDOWN:The European Parliament is set to vote on ratifying the deal on Wednesday, before the UK leaves the bloc at the stroke of midnight on Friday
A somber European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel yesterday formally signed the withdrawal agreement as Brussels prepares for the UK’s exit from the EU in seven days’ time.

In photographs issued of the signing ceremony in the EU’s Europa building yesterday morning, European Chief Negotiator for the UK Exiting the EU Michel Barnier can be seen standing behind the two presidents.

Michel, who will now chair meetings of 27 rather than 28 heads of state and government at the regular summits in the Belgian capital, issued a short statement.

“Things will inevitably change, but our friendship will remain. We start a new chapter as partners and allies,” he said.

Von der Leyen tweeted: “Charles Michel and I have just signed the agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, opening the way for its ratification by the European parliament.”

No reporters or photographers were allowed to witness the low-key ceremony, despite news agencies offering to organise a pool.

The signed copy of the agreement was sent in a diplomatic bag to Downing Street for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s signature.

Number 10 said that Johnson would sign it later in the day, then return it to Brussels, where the EU is to make a copy for each party.

The withdrawal agreement on Thursday received royal assent from Queen Elizabeth II.

The document, which runs to nearly 600 pages, contains among other issues agreements on citizens’ rights, the UK’s ￡33 billion (US$43.2 billion) worth of financial obligations to the bloc and the Northern Ireland protocol, establishing the arrangements for maintaining an open border on the island of Ireland.

The European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee on Thursday backed the agreement by 23 votes in favor to three against, setting up the final act on Wednesday next week when a plenary session of the parliament stages its final vote to ratify the deal.

The following day diplomats from the EU member states are to approve the deal in writing.

Under the agreement, the UK is to leave the EU at midnight central European time on Friday next week.

The UK will remain in the EU’s single market and customs union, but none of the decisionmaking bodies, until the end of this year.

Johnson has said he will not take the option available to him in the withdrawal agreement of extending this transition period.

He has said the 11-month period available without further extension is “ample” time to reach agreement on a comprehensive deal.

Most experts regard the idea that London and Brussels could agree on a comprehensive free trade agreement in that time as ambitious, but officials have expressed cautious optimism that some kind of agreement can be reached.

Formal trade talks are not expected to begin until the end of next month or even March.

The EU’s negotiating position, known as a mandate, is due to be adopted on Feb. 25 by EU ministers attending a general affairs council, and formal negotiations will then begin on the future relationship.

A political declaration on the outlines of the future relationship, which has already been given the political seal of approval in London and the EU capitals, is to set the parameters of the talks to come as the two sides seek to replace the terms of the UK’s 45 years of membership with new arrangements.

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taiwan-subdivisions: 蘆洲 瑞芳

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Two visitors touch a 220.30kg gold brick on display at the New Taipei City’s Gold Museum in Ruifang District on July, 9, 2016.Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
A New Taipei City man on Thursday won NT$2 million (US$66,653) in a scratch-card lottery after touching a gold brick on display at the city’s Gold Museum earlier in the day, the seller of the winning ticket said.

The man, who appeared to be in his 50s, has frequently bought tickets at the Yawu lottery store in Ruifang District (瑞芳) and bought several on Thursday after visiting the museum, one of the store clerks said.

The man appeared stunned when the last of his cards showed that he had won NT$2 million, and he asked the clerk to double-check the ticket for him, the clerk said.

“I touched the huge gold brick at the Gold Museum, and after being blessed, I had a hunch that I would win a prize if I bought a lottery ticket,” the clerk quoted the man as saying.

The 220.30kg brick is one of the big attractions at the museum, which focuses on Taiwan’s gold-mining history.

Meanwhile, a kindergarten teacher, who identified herself only as “Baomei” (寶妹), said she won the second prize in the special Lunar New Year scratch lottery — a Mercedes-Benz sedan and NT$2 million in cash.

She bought tickets on Monday at a lottery store in New Taipei City’s Lujhou District (蘆洲) after she received her year-end bonus.

Baomei said she would donate part of her cash winnings to orphanages and save the rest to pay for her two children’s education.

She would take her family on a trip to southern Taiwan in her new Mercedes-Benz, she said.

Baomei was the second winner of the second-biggest prize in the special Lunar New Year lottery, and there are five more similar prizes yet to be claimed, Taiwan Lottery Co (台灣彩券) said.

Three of the scratch cards have the top prize of NT$20 million, only one of which has been won so far, it said.

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title: Man credits touching of gold brick for lottery win


content_text:
More central banks look to issue own digital currencies

LIBRA EFFECT:The Bank for International Settlements found about 20 percent of 66 central banks surveyed were likely to issue a digital currency within the next six years
A rising number of central banks are likely to issue their own digital currencies in the next few years, research by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) showed on Thursday, as interest in the technology heats up.

About 20 percent of 66 central banks surveyed by the BIS said they were likely to issue a digital currency within the next six years, up from around 10 percent a year earlier. One in 10 said they were likely to do so within the next three years.

In all, 80 percent of central banks said they were looking at the technology, up from seven in 10 surveyed last year.

As Facebook Inc’s efforts to launch its Libra cryptocurrency pour fuel onto debates over who will control money in the future, major countries have stepped up the pace at which they are looking at central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

CBDCs are traditional money, but in digital form, issued and governed by a country’s central bank. By contrast, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are produced by solving complex maths puzzles, and governed by disparate online communities instead of a centralized body.

Five central banks, including those in Japan, Britain and the eurozone, said on Tuesday they were joining forces to look at the case for issuing CBDCs. The challenge posed by Libra was likely to have catalyzed the move, a former Bank of Japan executive said.

Before Facebook unveiled Libra in June, central banks had been sanguine about cryptocurrencies, mostly because of their relatively small markets and limited usage by the public.

However, the prospect of Facebook’s almost 2.5 billion users using Libra, due for launch this year, has stoked worries about the impact of a widely used and privately run cryptocurrency on nation states’ control over monetary policy.

Still, the BIS found that only around 10 percent — all from emerging market economies — have developed pilot projects or started looking at operational or legal questions surrounding CBDCs, suggesting that the technology remains some way off implementation.

“There is no evidence of a widespread or general move to expand this research into experimentation and pilot arrangements,” it said.

Of the central banks surveyed by the BIS, around a third were from advanced economies and the remainder from emerging markets.

Those from emerging economies tend to have a stronger motivation to issue CBDCs that can act as a substitute for or complement to bank notes, the BIS said, partly because of concerns over the efficiency and safety of payments using traditional cash.

The Hong Kong and Thai central banks said on Wednesday they had moved closer to using CBDCs to make cross-border payments more efficient.

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FEATURE: Daily weighing, exercise to avoid holiday weight

TIPS AND TRICKS:A US study showed that weighing oneself daily can help prevent weight gain, while a doctor advised caution before enhancing workouts
Checking one’s weight daily and exercising more are two good ways to control or lose weight after the holidays, experts said, while cautioning people to avoid overexercising.

A telephone survey conducted by the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) in 2016 showed that 39 percent of respondents gained an average of 1.7kg after indulging during the Lunar New Year holiday.

While “eating less and exercising more” and “changing to a healthier lifestyle” are tried and tested formulas for controlling body weight, there is a study-proven “trick” to help prevent holiday weight gain, HPA Health Education and Tobacco Control Division head Lo Su-ying (羅素英) said.

“Weighing oneself daily could prevent a person from gaining weight during the holiday,” she said.

A US study published last year showed that most people gained between 0.4kg and 1.5kg during the holiday season — from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day — and holiday weight was the major contributor to annual excess weight gain, Lo said.

Participants who were asked to weigh themselves daily maintained their weight after the holiday season, while some who were overweight even lost weight, but most of those who did not weigh themselves gained weight, Lo said.

The study suggests that increasing individual awareness of body weight could be an effective way to prevent holiday weight gain, encouraging people to watch their food intake more carefully or exercise a little more, she said.

The HPA recommends adults exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, or take at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity per week.

The 30-minute workouts can be broken down into smaller segments throughout the day, with each session lasting at least 10 minutes, it said.

People doing vigorous-intensity activity for more than 10 minutes usually would not be able to chat with others without pausing for breath, while those doing moderate-intensity activity would be able to talk, but not sing, it said.

Low-intensity activity should not count in the 150 minutes per week exercise, it said.

Taipei Municipal Hospital Heping Branch Division of Disaster Medicine director Kuo Chung-tai (郭鐘太) said that while most people know exercise is good for their health, some do not know how to evaluate their physical condition being doing workouts and might try to challenge or go over their limit.

“If you start experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness or heat exhaustion while working out, then it is a sign you should stop,” he said.

“People should consider their physical condition and environment when doing exercises,” Kuo said.

Older people should be more cautious and say “no” if they feel ill or unprepared before a workout, such as if they feel exhausted, have a cold or when there is a drastic change in the weather, he said.

Aerobics and strength training are good for improving physical fitness, but people should be aware of their limits, as some injuries can cause irreversible damage, he said.

“Cardiovascular events are the most critical situations to deal with in the emergency room, as the heart can change drastically in just a few minutes, which might result in sudden death,” Kuo said, adding that the first 10 minutes are crucial in saving a life if the person’s heart suddenly stops beating.

People ought to be aware of their safety limits when exercising to prevent getting injured when pushing for maximum results, he said.

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title: Doctor warns of excessive phone use during holiday

content_text:
A man reads Lunar New Year greetings on his cellphone yesterday in Taipei.Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
People should watch out for the adverse effects of excessive mobile phone use during the Lunar New Year holiday, especially with the trend of using messaging apps to send congratulatory remarks, which has made many highly susceptible to eye problems, an ophthalmologist said.

Dubbed “Lunar New Year mobile phone syndrome,” the condition commonly occurs during or after the holiday because of people staring at their screen for hours, China Medical University Hsinchu Hospital ophthalmologist Chen Ying-shan (陳瑩山) said.

Excessive use of technological devices can lead to dry eyes, as well as put a strain on the ciliary muscles, which help the eyes automatically adjust to short and long-range vision,Chen said.

If a person spends extended periods looking at objects nearby, such as a computer or a phone, then their ciliary muscles would constantly be in a state of contraction, leading to muscle fatigue and loss of elasticity, the main causes of vision loss, he said.

Chen cited as an example the case of a 46-year-old woman, who complained of worsening eye problems, such as dry eyes and impaired vision after the holiday, especially when she tried to look at things right after using her phone.

The woman added that she also experienced double vision at times.

The patient, who works as a public relations manager, said she had sent more than 2,000 New Year’s wishes on communication apps such as Line, WeChat and Facebook before watching videos on her phone until 4am the next day, Chen said, adding that she replied to another 1,000 messages the next morning.

During a clinical consultation, the woman, who had nearsightedness at 6 diopters, was found to have irritated eyes, conjunctivitis and inflammation of the cornea, but a further inspection found that her myopia had decreased to 4 diopters, Chen said.

This is a case of pseudomyopia, meaning the extended periods of eye use during the holiday caused a refractive error that damaged the patient’s vision, Chen said.

People should eat more green and yellow vegetables during the holiday, and take a 10-minute break after every 30 minutes of phone use, with the total amount of time not exceeding one hour to protect their eyes, he said.

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title: ECB holds rates, launches policy review

content_text:
The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to launch a top-to-bottom review of how it steers the economy in the 19 countries that use the euro currency. The review, the first since the global financial crisis, could include tweaking the bank’s goal for inflation and finding ways to help fight climate change.

The bank’s 25-member governing council on Thursday gave the green light for the proposal from new ECB President Christine Lagarde, which follows a similar review under way at the US Federal Reserve.

One main focus will be the ECB’s inflation target of close to but below 2 percent annually. Under Lagarde’s predecessor, Mario Draghi, the ECB struggled to reach the target despite massive stimulus measures — it lowered interest benchmarks below zero and pumped 2.6 trillion euros (US$2.9 trillion) into the financial system through bond purchases.

VICIOUS CIRCLE

A moderate level of inflation is considered to offer a margin of safety against deflation, a vicious circle of falling prices, investment and slow growth. Some inflation also helps indebted countries in the eurozone improve their price competitiveness compared with near trade partners. The central bank’s current goal could be replaced by a range or a different formulation.

Economists say that several situations are behind the trend: Aging populations and slower population growth hold back the economy, while globalization and online shopping have forced companies to keep prices low, limiting inflation. And worldwide demand for safe investments, particularly government bonds, have held down interest rates.

CREDIBLE TARGETS

Both the Fed and ECB appear to be focusing on how they might change their inflation targets to make them more credible. The Fed seeks inflation of 2 percent. If businesses and households become more confident that central banks can hit their targets, they will change their behavior in ways that will help. For example, if workers expect prices to rise 2 percent, they will demand raises at that level or higher, which in turn can force businesses to increase prices to offset the cost. That then pushes inflation closer to 2 percent.

Another topic of the ECB’s review will be whether the bank can adjust its policies to help the fight against climate change. One way central banks could influence climate policy would be to make bonds funding environmentally friendly projects such as wind farms part of its bond-buying stimulus program.

Lagarde said it was “difficult to disagree” that climate change could threaten financial stability but did not go into detail about how or even whether the ECB could act on environmental matters.

The ECB does not currently buy bonds on environmental criteria but has in fact bought bonds that finance environmentally friendly projects as part of its broader stimulus effort to raise inflation. The bank’s primary mandate is price stability under the EU treaty; only after that can it pursue other goals of EU economic policy such as jobs, growth and the environment.

The central bank on Thursday left unchanged its key interest rates and stimulus programs. Lagarde said in her news conference that risks to the economy “have become less pronounced as some of the uncertainties around international trade have receded.”

Lagarde took over from Draghi on Nov. 1 at the head of the top monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency. She inherited a stimulus package enacted at Draghi’s next-to-last meeting in September, when the bank cut the deposit rate on money left overnight by commercial banks to minus 0.5 percent from minus 0.4 percent and started 20 billion euros in monthly bond purchases.

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A guard at the entrance to the Taipei City Hospital wears a mask yesterday as Taiwan steps up its efforts to prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus from China.Photo: CNA
Tour groups, but not individual travelers, are banned from visiting China as of today, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday as the government stepped up its efforts to prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The announcement came as the Central Epidemic Command Center confirmed two more cases of 2019-nCoV, bringing the nation’s total to three.

The center said free antiviral drugs would be available to anyone clinically confirmed to have flu-like symptoms, regardless of nationality, and.

The bureau’s ban follows China banning Chinese tour groups from leaving the nation, Tourism Bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said.

The decision was made after Ministry of Transportation and Communications officials met with Travel Agents Association representatives.

The bureau backed regulating tour groups headed for China, as Chinese travel agencies might not be able to receive them, and it would be dangerous for them to visit China, Chou said.

The bureau respects people’s freedom to visit China as individual, but it is urging people not to go unless absolutely necessary, in which case they should pay special attention to their health, he said.

Taiwanese returning from China are to be monitored for two weeks to make sure that they have not been infected with the virus, which could strain resources, he added.

The Central Epidemic Command Center said free antiviral drugs would be available through the end of next month.

If the antiviral drugs prove effective, it would rule out 2019-nCoV, because there is no treatment for that virus at present.

This approach would help differentiate between the new virus and influenza, as Taiwan is now in its peak flu season, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.

The command center has also widened its requirements for reporting suspected cases of 2019-nCoV.

Under the latest government directive, doctors are required to report to the CDC if a patient has h a fever or acute respiratory infection and has been to Wuhan, China, at least 14 days prior to falling ill, Chuang told a news conference in Taipei.

Previously, suspected cases were identified as having both a fever and acute respiratory infection, and having been in Wuhan at least 14 days before the symptoms appeared.

As of 4pm yesterday, 168 cases of people displaying pneumonia-like symptoms had been reported, including 35 reported yesterday and 70 on Thursday, the command center said.

Of the 168 cases, 2019-nCoV has been ruled out in 42, preliminary tests were negative in 23 more and 103 people remain under quarantine, it added.

In the two new confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV, one patient is a Chinese tourist from Wuhan and the other is a Taiwanese man who had been to Wuhan, it said.

The nation’s first case was confirmed on Tuesday.

The Coast Guard Administration yesterday announced it would increase inspections of people and crew of civilian ships that have recently visited Chinese cities hit by the new virus and would pay close attention to anyone trying to enter the nation illegally.

It would work closely with the CDC and the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, and focus its inspections on the “small three links” ports in Kinmen, Lienchiang and Penghu counties, it said.

The National Palace Museum yesterday began taking the temperature of Chinese visitors, while employees at the museum — as well as staff at the Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, the Taipei Arena and Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) — began wearing masks at work.

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title: Tourism Bureau bars group tours to China


content_text:
Lunar New Year is the most important festival in the Chinese calendar, but instead of traditional reunion dinners, some families have another ritual: luxury apartment shopping in Singapore.

With the political unrest in Hong Kong showing no signs of stopping, Chinese buyers are zeroing in on Asia’s other major financial center, doubling sales of units at the top end of the market. Rich foreigners are largely undeterred by the higher taxes that are now levied on them.

Inquiries in the lead up to Lunar New Year typically jump at least 15 percent, three property agents canvassed by Bloomberg said. Demand has intensified over the past two years with most people wanting to buy units as an investment rather than a principal place to live.

“Wealthy mainland Chinese are seeking a way to safely diversify and guard a portion of their wealth in offshore assets,” said Georg Chmiel, executive chairman of China-based property portal Juwai.com (居外網).

Chinese nationals are set to top Singapore’s list of foreign buyers in seven out of the past 10 years, according to List Sotheby’s International Realty analysis of government data. In the early years of the last decade, they bought homes to resettle in the city-state, but since 2017, an increasing number are purchasing apartments solely to park their wealth and are not keen on renting them out either, agents say.

Earlier this month, Clarence Foo (符策銘), a Singapore-based realtor at APAC Realty Ltd unit ERA, sold one property to such a buyer. The Chinese couple in their 50s run their own financial business and were in town for three days to apartment hunt.

After viewing four units in the central business district, they settled on a S$3 million (US$2.2 million) three bedder at the upscale Marina One Residences, a 10-minute walk from the iconic Marina Bay Sands casino, hotel and entertainment complex.

“They just wanted a place close to the hotel because they believe property prices will appreciate quickly since it’s near a landmark location and that area is slated for further redevelopment,” Foo said.

Hong Kong used to be a favored destination due to its proximity to mainland China and fewer market restrictions, but the protests have prompted many to turn to Singapore as an alternative investment haven, drawn by its economic and political stability.

“Whereas a year ago they were enthusiastic, mainland buyers today are cautious or downright skeptical,” Chmiel said. “Either they’re postponing their purchase in Hong Kong or deciding against it altogether.”

The Chinese couple, who own four other properties in China and Canada, sold their Hong Kong apartment when violence escalated, Foo said. The pair declined to be interviewed, while Foo declined to reveal their personal details.

Cooling measures levied by Singapore’s government in July 2018 made it more expensive for foreigners to buy property in the city-state. But the curbs have impacted cheaper units the most: Sales to Chinese buyers of apartments S$5 million or more doubled in the third quarter of last year from the same period of 2018.

“It shows that high-net-worth individuals are less affected by the cooling measures than those seeking to buy lower and mid-tier apartments,” said Christine Li (李敏雯), head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Cushman & Wakefield PLC.

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title: Rich Chinese snap up Singapore luxury homes


title: Virus lockdown casts cloud over industrial hub

content_text:
Workers produce masks at a factory in Handan in China’s northern Hebei Province on Wednesday.Photo: AFP
Wuhan’s status as a transport and manufacturing hub has fueled its economic rise and drawn comparisons with Chicago’s role as a pivotal city in the center of a giant economy.

Now, the fallout from its lockdown to contain the spread of a new SARS-like virus is set to be amplified if logistics networks and the auto industry are interrupted across the city of about 11 million people.

“Complicated supply chains and just-in-time production could mean that production outages in Wuhan factories have broader spillover effects,” S&P Global Ratings Asia-Pacific chief economist Shaun Roache said.

Wuhan had been making progress in its push to shift into higher-technology industries: In a report last year, the Milken Institute ranked it China’s ninth-best-performing city, up seven places from its previous annual report. The city was moving into areas from chip-making to biomedicine and had attracted investments from 230 Fortune Global 500 firms, according to the report.

The central and local government have invested heavily in Wuhan’s high-tech industries, especially optoelectronics and semiconductors, says Barry Naughton, a professor at the University of California at San Diego who specializes in the Chinese economy.

“For these reasons, it’s a pretty big deal,” he says. “Its economy is somewhat artificial in the sense of being propped up by government investment, but it has got a substantial high-tech sector and a substantial heavy industrial sector.”

Now the city is being closed off, as China races to halt a new virus that has killed 26 and infected hundreds. The coronavirus, which first appeared last month in one of Wuhan’s so-called wet markets, has spread from the mainland to Hong Kong, Japan, the US and other places.

The city’s economy grew 7.8 percent last year and 8 percent in 2018, according to the city government, with output of 1.48 trillion yuan (US$213 billion), making it bigger than New Zealand. S&P estimates it makes up about 1.6 percent of national GDP.

“If the lockdown continues after the Lunar New Year, it will affect industrial production, one of the key growth drivers” for China, according to a note from Raymond Yeung (楊宇霆), chief China economist at chief Greater China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd in Hong Kong.

The capital of Hubei Province, Wuhan is the biggest water, land and air transportation hub in inland China, according to the Ministry of Commerce. It is also a major rail hub with multiple lines linking it to major cities, and a renowned education center. The city has 89 universities and 1.2 million university students, Mayor Zhou Xianwang (周先旺) said in an interview on Tuesday with state television.

Wuhan is also home to one of the country’s most advanced chip fabrication plants, a complex owned by semiconductor giant Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd (清華紫光) that makes so-called 3D NAND flash memory employed in smartphones and computers.

While it is not a place that is often prioritized on the itineraries of foreign visitors, it is a key stop on Yangtze river cruises. Restaurants are already taking a hit as fearful locals avoid gatherings. China-wide, if spending on things including discretionary transport and entertainment dropped by 10 percent, overall GDP growth would fall by about 1.2 percentage points, according to “back of the envelope” estimates from Roache at S&P.

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content_text:
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said the “one country, two systems” principle that governs Hong Kong might not last unless the government makes progress on protester concerns over the lack of affordable housing in the territory.

In an interview with Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief John Micklethwait on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Lee said he sympathizes with Hong Kong protesters, but does not see how their methods — which have included violent rallies, petrol bombs and vandalism — will resolve their problems.

Hong Kong youth are frustrated by the world’s most expensive housing market and the fact that Hong Kong has dwindled in importance to China as mainland cities have become richer, he said.

“I can understand the issues which lead people in Hong Kong to feel anxiety and frustration and disappointment at what the future holds for them,” Lee said, noting the median price of a dwelling in Hong Kong now costs 21 times the annual salary. “But I can’t see how this path is going to lead to improvements in all of these difficult problems.”

Lee, who last year criticized Hong Kong’s protesters at a conference for making unrealistic demands and trying to “humiliate and bring down the government,” said Hong Kong authorities nevertheless need to act on economic grievances that underpin the protests.

Although many demonstrators say they are fighting for greater democracy rather than for cheaper housing, some — including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) — have pointed to a lack of affordable housing and inequality as key factors in the unrest.

Lee said the lack of a house or even a space to call one’s own was a “basic hygiene issue, it’s not a higher-order one.”

China’s 50-year promise to guarantee Hong Kong separate freedoms under the “one country, two systems” principle after its return to Chinese rule in 1997 was at risk if the local government did not act, he said.

“Ideally, at some point, as the temperature comes down and people cool down, it is possible for the Hong Kong government to make progress on some of the basic issues” that bug the protesters, he said.

“It’s very hard — I mean they’ve tried to, but they haven’t succeeded,” Lee added. “But if they don’t make some progress, it’s hard to see how ‘one country, two systems’ can work for another” 27 years.

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title: HK’s leaders must act on grievances: Singaporean PM


title: Taipei office releases list of legitimate pet hotels

content_text:
By Yang Hsin-hui, Liu Pei-fen and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
An image advising pet owners on how to find legitimate pet hotels in Taipei is pictured on the Taipei City Animal Protection Office’s Web site.Photo: Screen grab from the Web site of the Taipei City Animal Protection Office
The Taipei City Animal Protection Office has released a list of legitimate pet hotels in Taipei for people looking for a place to leave their pets during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The holiday started on Thursday, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve, and runs until Wednesday next week.

Prices at pet hotels are similar to regular hotels, with charges depending on the type of services needed and rates going up during holidays, a pet hotel named HAPet Co said.

Another pet hotel named D&Y Luxury Pet Salon and Hotel said that it charges its clients based on the type of room requested, as well as the weight of the pet.

For a regular room for a pet weighing less than 5kg, the rate is NT$700 per day, while pets weighing between 5kg and 10kg would be charged NT$800 a night, the hotel said, adding that all fees are doubled during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The office said that its list has been reviewed by a panel composed of animal protection groups, experts, store representatives and office personnel.

The pet hotels were graded based on how pets were treated, the facilities and store policy regarding consumer rights, the office said.

The panel had selected a total of 83 stores offering pet hotel services in the municipality, the office said.

Meanwhile, the Taichung City Animal Protection Office urged owners to attach leashes to dog collars or keep their pets in roller cages to prevent them from running off or getting lost in case they are scared by firecrackers.

Owners should also keep an eye out for their pets when venturing into crowded areas, the office said.

They should be cautious about sharing their food with their pets or overfeeding them, as these have typically been the causes of pets developing gastroenteritis, it said.

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content_text:
Coco Gauff of the US celebrates defeating Japan’s Naomi Osaka in their Australian Open women’s singles match in Melbourne yesterday.Photo: AFP
The Chan sisters yesterday cruised into the third round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the second rounds of the women’s and mixed doubles at the first Grand Slam of the year.

Seventh seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan took just 62 minutes to see off the challenge of Kaitlyn Christian of the US and Alexa Guarachi of Chile 6-4, 6-2 on Court 15 at Melbourne Park.

The Chan sisters won 79 percent of points on their second serve, converted five of seven break points and hit 13 winners.

Top seeds Hsieh and Barbora Strycova had a tougher time against first-round opponents Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia on Court 13, before running out 6-3, 7-5 winners in 1 hour, 35 minutes.

The reigning Wimbledon champions mixed 25 winners with eight unforced errors, converting six of 13 break points.

The Taiwanese and Czech are due to face Lauren Davis of the US and Viktorija Golkubic of Switzerland in the second round today.

Hsieh also later advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles when the Taiwanese and Neal Skupski of Britain battled to a 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 10-5 victory over Desirae Krawczyk of the US and Joe Salisbury of Britain in 1 hour, 43 minutes on Court 8.

The eighth seeds hit 25 winners and converted the only break point they created to win the tight first-round encounter.

In the women’s singles, Coco Gauff continued her dream run when the 15-year-old knocked out defending champion Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-4 in a stunning upset to reach the fourth round.

Osaka was the third former women’s champion to bow out at Melbourne Park after her immediate predecessors, Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams, lost their respective matches earlier in the day.

“Honestly, what is my life like? Two years ago, I lost in the first round of juniors and now I’m here, this is crazy,” Gauff told the crowd on Rod Laver Arena.

Gauff had lost to Osaka 6-3, 6-0 at the US Open last year, but easily avoided a repeat as a string of backhand errors off the Japanese third seed’s racket gave the teenager the break midway through the opening set.

The pattern repeated itself in the second set, as a lackluster Osaka continued to misfire and Gauff served out the victory after just 67 minutes.

She let out a huge roar in the direction of the players’ box, before heading to the net to receive the congratulations of the vanquished champion, who not so long ago was hailed as the future of women’s tennis.

That title might soon sit on Gauff’s shoulders, but tennis is not the only thing on the teenager’s mind with her remote schooling continuing throughout her travels.

“My teachers are giving me some time, given the circumstances,” she said. “I’m allowed to put in some assignments late, which is nice.”

Earlier, Wozniacki and Williams were both left in tears after the Dane’s glittering career ended in a third-round defeat.

The former world No.1, who last month announced that the Australian Open would be her final tournament, lost 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 to Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.

The unseeded 29-year-old brought the curtain down on a career that saw her win 30 WTA Tour titles, with her sole Grand Slam triumph coming in 2018 at Melbourne Park.

She was in tears when the end came at the hands of world No. 78th Jabeur and just under two hours later, her eyes were still red and puffy as she arrived at her post-match news conference.

title: Chan sisters coast, Hsieh doubles up


title: Leonesa strike in extra-time to dump out Atleti

content_text:
Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa players, right, celebrate after winning their Copa del Rey match against Atletico Madrid in Leon, Spain, on Thursday.Photo: AFP
Atletico Madrid’s disappointing season on Thursday hit a new low with a 2-1 loss to third-tier Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa in the Copa del Rey.

Atletico relinquished a late lead and then conceded early in extra-time to be eliminated in the round-of-32.

Atletico had not been eliminated from the Copa as early since losing to Albacete Balompie at the same stage in 2011-2012, just before they hired coach Diego Simeone. That was the last time Atletico fell to a third-tier club in the competition.

Leonesa’s French goalkeeper Lucas Giffard made a series of outstanding saves throughout the match, before Sergio Bonito scored an 108th-minute winner to put the small club from the northwestern city of Leon into the round-of-16 for the first time since 1959-1960.

Leonesa were eliminated by Barcelona in last year’s round-of-32.

“We had our chances, but their goalkeeper had a fantastic night. They played with ambition,” Simeone said. “This competition doesn’t allow for any mistakes.”

The crowd of nearly 13,000 at the Estadio Reino de Leon erupted after Benito scored with a shot from inside the penalty area after the Atletico defense was caught out of position following a fast counterattack.

Angel Correa had given Atletico the lead with a left-footed shot from near the penalty spot after a nice one-touch pass by Joao Felix in the 62nd minute.

The hosts equalized with an 83rd-minute volley by Julen Castaneda after Atletico goalkeeper Antonio Adan could not fully clear a cross into the penalty area.

Atletico, who were coming off a 2-0 loss at Sociedad Deportiva Eibar in La Liga, failed to advance despite playing with many of their regular starters.

“We have no other option other than to keep working,” Simeone said. “I have a great squad and the results will come soon.”

Elsewhere, RC Celta de Vigo were upset 2-1 by CD Mirandes after extra-time, while Eibar lost 3-1 to CD Badajoz. CD Leganes advanced with a 1-0 win over third-tier CD Ebro, while Real Betis Balompie lost to Rayo Vallecano de Madrid 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Betis equalized late in regulation and Vallecano forced the shoot-out late in extra-time.

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title: Ministry censured over assistance for  mentally ill people

content_text:
The Control Yuan is pictured in Taipei on Jan. 17 last year.Photo: Taipei Times
The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Ministry of Health and Welfare over five cases of death or bodily harm involving caregivers and families with mentally ill members since April 7, 2018.

The cases involved a caregiver who committed suicide out of apparent stress from caring for mentally ill people or involved caregivers and their charges hurting each other, said Control Yuan members Teresa Yin (尹祚芊) and Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲), who initiated the corrective measure.

Such tragedies have revealed loopholes in the government’s “social security net,” as some mentally ill people or their families have not received timely assistance, leaving them desperate, Yin and Wang said.

Even though the ministry has established an early warning mechanism, under which nurses or social workers visit families with mentally ill people and report their situations to local health departments, the home visitors have been overwhelmed by the number of families they have to see, and the assistance offered has been limited to treatment, and has lost sight of patients’ day-to-day struggles, they said.

Many nursing homes admit patients based on physical, not mental, conditions, which has resulted in people with mental illnesses or disorders being rejected, they said.

The system is unfriendly toward people with mental illnesses and should be improved, they said.

Treatment for mental illness is instantly accessible if requested and covered by the National Health Insurance system, but some people do not realize that they have such disorders or think they do not need treatment, which could stem from a lack of understanding of mental illness, they said.

Neither the ministry nor local health departments have been able to effectively identify people with mental illnesses, a situation that must be remedied, they said.

The interface and query system used in the ministry’s reporting procedures are not in sync with those used by local governments to identify mentally ill people, making it difficult to access complete files on such patients, the Control Yuan members said.

There is a lack of coordination between local health personnel and social workers, which makes it difficult for them to fully understand the needs of families with mentally ill members, they added.

Big data should be included in the query systems for more precise cross analysis of files stored in different databases and early evaluation of the needs of people who have just received documentation proving that they are suffering from a major illness, they said.

Families with mentally ill members are more susceptible to suicide, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault or drug addictions, which would make their cases more complicated, Yin and Wang said.

To help reduce risks, the ministry should provide local governments with assistance in identifying such complex cases and determining what resources are available in their communities, they said.

The ministry should remind local health authorities that families with mentally ill members should be visited regularly to help learn about their needs and evaluate any potential risks, which would help reduce the burden on caregivers, they said.

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content_text:
New US limits on Huawei suppliers imminent: Ross

WORKAROUND:The US government is scrutinizing export control mechanisms after seeing how Huawei was able to keep buying component from US firms
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said new rules are coming soon that will put more limits on US companies supplying China’s telecommunications leader Huawei Technologies Co (華為).

Huawei was blacklisted last year as a security threat by the administration of US President Donald Trump. That prevented many US companies from selling to the Chinese company. However, some US suppliers worked around the rules to continue sending some crucial electronic components to Huawei.

“They are works in progress that will come out near-term,” Ross said of the new restrictions, during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A Commerce Department spokesman said the department will make an announcement when it is ready.

Ross said the ultimate US objective is not to cut Huawei off from all US supplies, but instead to protect national security. He added that restrictions on Huawei were not negotiated during phase one of the trade agreement with China. The next step in that broader process is not currently active, he said.

“As we stand right here, there’s no particular intent to negotiate it in phase two,” Ross said.

Huawei declined to comment.

A further clampdown may jeopardize Huawei’s ability to continue making some of its biggest products. Chinese officials have threatened retaliation against businesses that stop supporting the country’s largest technology company. Huawei has denied it helps the Chinese government gain illicit access to information and has said its equipment is secure.

Ross earlier said on Bloomberg TV that Huawei has been encouraging US companies to flout the rules which is a “very dangerous practice and in the longer term is not going to be good for them.” The US government is taking a close look at export control mechanisms after seeing how Huawei was able to continue to buy from US companies.

Some US companies have kept selling to Huawei by citing rules that limit the US government’s ability to restrict exports. De minimis provisions exempt certain products if companies can prove the majority of work done to create the items happens outside the US.

The current threshold effectively kicks in when 75 percent of the work occurs overseas. The administration is debating raising this to 90 percent. The rule change is currently with the Office of Management and Budget and could be approved shortly, according to people familiar with the process.

A separate new regulation that governs the direct supply of products is under consideration by the US Commerce Department and could make its way through the process in a matter of weeks, according to the people. That rule would apply to products that are designed in the US but manufactured entirely overseas, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

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title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
A: Here’s your red envelope. Happy New Year!

B: Wow. I’ve got one too, thank you so much. Happy New Year! May you have an auspicious Year of the Rat!

A: Eh, you’re wearing new clothes, right? You’re a sea of red.

B: Yep. I thought I’d really get into the occasion.

A: 這是你的紅包，新年快樂！

B: 哇，我也有啊，真謝謝你。也祝你新年快樂，鼠年行大運哦！

A: 欸，你身上的衣服是新買的吧？也太紅了。

B: 是啊，我想說過年要穿新衣，應景一下。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: World News Quick Take

content_text:
PHILIPPINES

War games pact threatened

President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to end a pact key to annual war games with US troops if Washington does not restore the travel visa of the former national police chief who initially oversaw his drug war. Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said the US had canceled his visa, but did not tell him why. Duterte went on the attack in a speech late on Thursday, saying: “If you do not make a correction there, one, I will terminate the — Visiting Forces Agreement. I’m giving ... the American government one month from now.”

NORTH KOREA

Foreign minister confirmed

The government has named as its new foreign minster a former senior army officer with little experience in dealings with the US. Ri Son-gwon’s new post was announced yesterday in a Korean Central News Agency dispatch that said he attended a reception for foreign diplomats in Pyongyang on Thursday. Ri, a retired army colonel who recently headed a government body responsible for relations with South Korea, has taken part in numerous inter-Korean talks over the past 15 years. He replaced Ri Yong-ho, a career diplomat who had taken part in nuclear negotiations with the US since early 2018.

SRI LANKA

Missing to be investigated

Death certificates for thousands of people missing and presumed dead from the nation’s civil war will only be given out after proper investigations, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said yesterday. The statement followed his comment that those missing were “actually dead,” upsetting relatives that the government would close the issue without addressing what happened to their loved ones. “After the necessary investigations, steps would be taken to issue a death certificate and the necessary support for the families to rebuild their lives,” the office said. Official figures show that more than 23,500 complaints about missing people have been registered.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Last detainees freed

Eighteen men who were held in isolation and poor conditions in Bomana immigration detention center have been released. They were part of a group of 52 arrested in August last year after previously being detained on Manus Island for seeking asylum in Australia.The 18 men were released last night and moved to three boutique hotels in Port Moresby. Shaminda Kanapathi, a refugee in Port Moresby, tweeted that the men had lost a lot of weight during their detention, and their physical and mental health had deteriorated. Refugee advocate Anne Moon said she had spoken to some of the men since their release, and that some had lost as much as 15kg in detention.

JAPAN

Charges possible over mail

A former postal carrier could face charges after police discovered he stockpiled a mountain of mail at his home, reportedly telling police that “it was too much bother to deliver them.” The man was “referred to prosecutors for allegedly violating postal law,” a Kanagawa prefectural police spokesman said yesterday. The 61-year-old had about 24,000 undelivered items dating from 2003 to last year at his home in Kanagawa. “I didn’t want my colleagues to think I was less capable than younger people,” he told police. If convicted, he faces prison time of less than three years or fines of about US$4,500. Japan Post fired the man late last year.

UNITED STATES

‘Text suicide’ woman freed

Michelle Carter, the woman convicted of manslaughter for urging her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in text messages that included: “Just do it, babe,” was released from jail on Thursday after more than three months was shaved from her sentence for good behavior. Carter, 23, walked out of the Bristol County jail in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, wearing the same white blazer, dark slacks and a dark turtleneck she wore in February, when a judge ordered her to begin serving a 15-month sentence. The Plainville native did not speak as two jail staffers escorted her to an SUV, where her lawyer and parents were waiting for her. State officials said Carter’s probation ends on Aug. 1, 2022.

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title: Al-Sadr backers flood Baghdad for rally

content_text:
Al-Sadr backers flood Baghdad for rally

MILLION-STRONG?The cleric called the rally to protest the killing of Qassem Soleimani. Anti-government activists fear that their months-long protests could be sidelined
Supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protest against the US presence in Iraq during demonstration in Baghdad yesterday.Photo: Reuters
Thousands of Iraqis yesterday rallied at two central Baghdad intersections after a prominent cleric called for a “million strong” protest against the US military presence, following the US killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi militia chief.

The march called by Moqtada al-Sadr aims to pressure Washington to pull out its troops, but many anti-government protesters fear it could overshadow their separate, months-long demonstrations that have challenged Iran-backed Shiite groups’ grip on power.

Al-Sadr opposes all foreign interference in Iraq, but has recently aligned himself more closely with Iran, whose allies have dominated state institutions since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Throngs of marchers started gathering early yesterday at al-Hurriya Square in central Baghdad and near around the city’s main university, witnesses said.

Marchers avoided Tahrir Square, symbol of mass protests against Iraq’ ruling elites.

“We want them all out — America, Israel, and the corrupt politicians in government,” said Raed Abu Zahra, a health ministry worker from southern city of Samawa, who arrived by bus at night and stayed in Sadr City, a sprawling district of Baghdad controlled by the cleric’s followers.

“We support the protests in Tahrir as well, but understand why Sadr held this protest here so it doesn’t take attention from theirs,” he added.

Men and women marched waving the red, white and black national colors, and chanted slogans against the US, which leads a military coalition against the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

Some were wearing symbolic white robes indicating they are willing to die for their country, while others sat looking out over the square from half-finished buildings, holding signs reading “No, no, America, no, no, Israel, no, no, colonialists.”

Marchers were protected by al-Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam brigades and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella grouping of Iran-backed Shiite militias, witnesses said.

Main roads in Baghdad were barricaded by security forces and the city’s Green Zone, which houses foreign missions, was blocked off with concrete barriers.

Outside the US embassy, a sign reads “Warning. Do not cross this barrier, we will use pre-emptive measures against any attempt to cross.”

The US killing of Iranian military mastermind General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad this month has raised the specter of more civil strife in a country torn by years of sectarian conflict.

Long opposed to the US troop presence, al-Sadr seized on the public anger over the drone strike to call “a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations.”

The cleric controls parliament’s largest bloc and his followers hold top ministerial positions. The 46-year-old is a notoriously fickle politician, known for switching alliances quickly.

Harith Hasan of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut said al-Sadr was trying to sustain his “multiple identities” by backing various protests.

“On the one hand, [he seeks to] position himself as the leader of a reform movement, as a populist, as anti-establishment,” Hasan told Agence France-Presse. “On the other hand, he also wants to sustain his image as the leader of the resistance to the ‘American occupation,’” partly to win favor with Iran.”

“This protest will show [al-]Sadr is still the one able to mobilize large groups of people in the streets — but it’s also possible he wants other groups to respond by giving him more space to choose the prime minister,” Hasan said.

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content_text:
Trump should be removed: trial

STALEMATE:House impeachment managers used videos, documents and witness testimonies to lay out their case. None of the Republicans appear to be budging
From left, US House of Representatives impeachment managers Adam Schiff, Jason Crow and Jerry Nadler arrive for the impeachment trial against US President Donald Trump on Thursday at the Capitol in Washington.Photo: AFP
Lead US House of Representatives impeachment manager Adam Schiff on Thursday called dramatically for the Senate to remove US President Donald Trump from office, saying the US leader cannot be trusted to put the nation’s interests ahead of his own.

“The American people deserve a president they can count on, to put their interest first,” Schiff said.

His impassioned words capped a long day in which Democrats detailed Trump’s illicit scheme to pressure Ukraine to help his re-election campaign.

“You know, you can’t trust this president to do what is right for this country. You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump,” Schiff added.

“He’ll do it now. He’s done it before. He’ll do it for the next several months. He’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to. This is why, if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed,” he said.

As the 100 senators sat as jurors and millions of Americans watched on television, House impeachment managers mustered scores of videos, internal documents and extensive witness testimony to lay out a strong case that the US leader abused his powers.

Schiff’s prosecution team detailed how Trump flagrantly undertook last year to force Kiev to help him tarnish his possible re-election rival, former US vice president Joe Biden.

“President Trump used the powers of his office to solicit a foreign nation to interfere in our elections for his own personal benefit,” House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler told the chamber.

“Since president George Washington took office in 1789, no president has abused his power in this way,” Nadler said.

“The president has repeatedly, flagrantly, violated his oath... The president’s conduct is wrong. It is illegal. And it is dangerous,” he said.

Over nine hours the Democrats methodically dismantled Republican claims that Trump did nothing wrong.

They left few doubts that Trump’s sole motivation in secretly freezing aid to Ukraine in July last year was to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce one investigation into Biden and a second into an unsupported story that Kiev helped Democrats in the 2016 election.

To puncture a key White House argument that the US constitution requires a specific crime to remove a president, they played old videos in which two of Trump’s closest defenders — US Senator Lindsey Graham and criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz — said that abuse of power itself is a clear impeachable offense.

They also detailed the extensive role of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in the scheme to pressure Zelensky, even while US intelligence and diplomatic chiefs disagreed with it.

“Donald Trump chose Rudy Giuliani over his own intelligence agencies. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own national security advisers... That makes him dangerous to our country,” said Schiff, who leads the House Intelligence Committee.

Yet, three days into arguments into the trial, there were few signs that any of the Republican majority that Trump commands in the Senate would buy into the evidence and turn against him.

“What we heard from the managers yesterday, the day before, it is the same thing, day after day after day,” Republican Senator John Barrasso said.

“We’re hearing the same things over and over,” Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said. “We will be putting on vigorous defense of both facts and rebutting what they’ve said.”

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title: Trump should be removed: trial


title: Leaders offer competing views of Holocaust

content_text:
A girl holds a torch to light a memorial torch during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem on Thursday.Photo: Reuters
Speaker by speaker, world leaders on Thursday denounced the rising threat of anti-Semitism and vowed never to forget the lessons of the Holocaust, at a solemn ceremony in Jerusalem marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

However, the high-powered dignitaries also tinged their speeches with competing interpretations of World War II and its relevance today, giving a politically charged feeling to the gathering.

The World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem, the largest-ever summit of its kind, drew more than 45 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Prince Charles, US Vice President Mike Pence and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The three-hour event at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial sought to project a united front in commemorating the destruction of European Jewry amid a global spike in anti-Jewish violence.

However, from the start, it was clouded by rival national narratives of World War II’s major players.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has been criticized for his own wartime revisionism, boycotted the gathering even before it began since he was not invited to speak.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, whose country is seeking to diminish its own culpability while making heroes out of anti-Soviet nationalists involved in the mass killing of Jews, abruptly canceled his participation days before the event.

And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mysteriously backed out while in Israel shortly before the ceremony began.

Putin was granted a central role even as he leads a campaign to play down the Soviet Union’s prewar pact with the Nazis and shift responsibility for the war’s outbreak on Poland, which was invaded in 1939.

In his address, Putin highlighted the role of the Red Army in liberating Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945, while singling out the collaboration by regional foes Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia.

He called them “bandits” who “often surpassed their masters in cruelty.”

In a nod toward Poland and others, he said the Holocaust would only serve as a warning to future generations if told in full, “without exemptions and omissions.”

On the eve of the gathering, host Israeli President Reuven Rivlin implored visiting dignitaries to “leave history for the historians,” saying it was the role of political leaders to “shape the future.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seeks Putin’s support in holding off Iranian forces in Syria and in securing the release of a young Israeli woman imprisoned on drug charges in Russia, gave the Russian leader a warm welcome.

He hosted Putin for the dedication of an imposing monument honoring the nearly 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad. The city, now known as St Petersburg, is Putin’s hometown.

“We mustn’t for even one second blur the sacrifice and the contribution of the former Soviet Union,” Netanyahu said.

Addressing the forum, Netanyahu reiterated his long-held conviction that the primary lesson of the Holocaust is that Jews had to defend themselves in the face of annihilation, pointing toward his standoff with Iran as an example.

“I am concerned that we have yet to see a unified and resolute stance against the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet, a regime that openly seeks to develop nuclear weapons, and annihilate the one and only Jewish state,” he said.

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content_text:
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her Vancouver home to go to her extradition hearing at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Thursday.Photo: AFP
A Canadian judge on Thursday said she would announce her decision at a later date after ending the first phase of an extradition hearing that is to decide whether the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei is sent to the US.

This week’s hearings dealt with the question of whether the US charges against Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟), the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei (任正非), are crimes in Canada as well.

Her lawyers argued the case is really about US sanctions against Iran, not a fraud case.

They maintain since Canada does not have similar sanctions against Tehran, no fraud occurred.

Canada arrested Meng in December 2018 at Vancouver’s airport at the request of the US, as she was changing flights.

The US Department of Justice accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions.

It says Meng, 47, committed fraud by misleading HSBC about the company’s business dealings in Iran.

On Wednesday, Canadian Department of Justice lawyer Robert Frater told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes that fraud is at the heart of the case and by lying to the bank, Meng put the bank at risk.

Frater said sanctions were the reason for the meeting with the bank, but it is the alleged misrepresentation that matters to the US

However, defense lawyer Scott Fenton said when the federal government asked a judge to issue an arrest warrant for Meng in 2018, the documents focused on the US sanctions driving the risk to HSBC.

He said the federal government is now telling a different story.

“The court is being embarrassed,” Fenton said.

“There can be no fraud here, because all risk to HSBC is based on underlining US sanctions risk which cannot exist in Canada.,” he said.

Homes said she would reserve her decision.

If the judge rules that what Meng is charged with is not a crime in Canada, Meng would be free to leave Canada.

Meng, who is free on bail and living in one of the two Vancouver mansions she owns, waved to the public on the way in the courtroom.

The second phase of her extradition hearing, scheduled for June, would consider defense allegations that Canada Border Services, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI breached Meng’s rights while collecting evidence before she was actually arrested.

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title: First stage of Huawei CFO’s extradition hearing ends


content_text:
Doomsday clock moves closest to catastrophe yet

‘DEATH SENTENCE’:The symbolic clock lurched to 100 seconds to midnight, as nuclear threats and climate inaction create
an unstable environment
The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday.Photo: AFP
The risk of civil collapse from nuclear weapons and the climate crisis is at a record high, US scientists and former officials said, calling the current environment “profoundly unstable.”

They said the rise of “cyber-enabled disinformation campaigns” compounds both threats by keeping the public from insisting on progress.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced its symbolic “doomsday clock” has moved forward to 100 seconds to midnight, the closest to catastrophe that the scientists have judged the world to be at any point since its creation in 1947, at the outset of the Cold War.

“The world needs to wake up. Our planet faces two simultaneous existential threats,” said Mary Robinson, chair of an independent group of global leaders called The Elders, and the former president of Ireland and former UN high commissioner of human rights.

Robinson said that countries that do not aim to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet and instead exploit fossil fuels are issuing “a death sentence for humanity.”

She said while public pressure presents a “sliver of hope” for the climate, there is no such pressure on leaders to avert nuclear threats.

As long as nuclear weapons are available, it is inevitable they will one day be used, “by accident, miscalculation or design,” she said.

Robert Rosner, chair of the Bulletin’s science and security board, said society has normalized a very dangerous world, and that “information warfare” is undermining “the public’s ability to sort out what’s true and what’s patently false.”

Sharon Squassoni, a board member and research professor at George Washington University, noted the US’ withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement, which has resulted in Tehran reducing compliance.

Although some thought US President Donald Trump’s unique approach might bring North Korea to the negotiating table, no real progress has ensued, she said.

The warning comes as nuclear arms control is in danger of dying out altogether. The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty lapsed in August after the US accused Russia of cheating and Trump said he would leave the 1987 treaty altogether.

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title: Scientists recreate sound of mummified Egyptian

content_text:
Researchers say they have mimicked the voice of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy by recreating much of its vocal tract using medical scanners, 3D printing and an electronic larynx.

In a paper published on Thursday by the journal Scientific Reports, the authors say the technique allowed them to produce a single sound — somewhere between the vowels in “bed” and “bad.”

The eerie tone is unlikely to be a precise reflection of the speech of Egyptian priest Nesyamun, whose mummified body the researchers worked with, because the tongue has lost much of its bulk over three millennia.

“We have made a faithful sound for his tract in its current position, but we would not expect an exact speech match given his tongue state,” said co-author David Howard of Royal Holloway college at the University of London.

The model alone also is not enough to synthesize whole words or sentences, the authors said, noting that this would require the ability to calculate the audio output from the vocal tract as its shape is being changed.

“But this is something that is being worked on, so it will be possible one day,” Howard said.

Rudolf Hagen, an ear, nose and throat expert at the University Hospital in Wuerzburg, Germany, who specializes in thorax reconstruction and was not involved in the study, expressed skepticism.

Even cutting-edge medicine struggles to give living people without a thorax a “normal” voice, he said.

“There is nothing more personal than someone’s voice, so we think that hearing a voice from so long ago will be an unforgettable experience, making heritage places like Karnak, Nesyamun’s temple, come alive,” said John Schofield, an archeologist at the University of York and coauthor of the study.

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content_text:
Billionaire George Soros arrives to speak at an event on day three of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.Photo: Bloomberg
The philanthropist and former financier George Soros has announced that he is to donate US$1 billion to fund a new global network of universities designed to promote liberal values and his vision of an open society.

In what he hailed as the “most important and enduring project of my life,” Soros said it was important to fund institutions that would help resist the drift toward growing authoritarianism in the US, Russia and China.

He also launched a fresh attack on US President Donald Trump, calling him a “con man and the ultimate narcissist who wants the world to revolve around him.”

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Soros said his new Open Society University Network (OSUN) would build on his Central European University (CEU), set up after the collapse of communism 30 years ago.

The CEU has been forced to move from Hungary to Vienna, Austria, after rightwing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stripped it of the ability to issue US degrees.

Soros said the CEU had not been strong enough by itself to become the educational institution the world requires.

“That requires a new kind of global educational network,” he said.

The time had come for his Open Society Foundation — the vehicle for his philanthropy — to embark on an ambitious project that would build on the CEU and develop “a new and innovative educational network that the world really needs,” he said.

“OSUN will be unique. It will offer an international platform for teaching and research. In the first phase it will connect closer together an existing network,” he said.

“In the second phase, we shall open up this network to other institutions who want to join and are eager and qualified to do so,” he said.

“To demonstrate our commitment to OSUN, we are contributing 1 billion dollars to it. But we can’t build a global network on our own; we will need partner institutions and supporters from all around the world to join us in this enterprise,” he added.

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title: Soros to donate US$1bn to promote liberal values


title: ‘Sopranos’ star Annabella Sciorra says Weinstein raped her in the mid-1990s

content_text:
Actress Annabella Sciorra arrives in the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on Thursday.Photo: AFP
Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra on Thursday confronted Harvey Weinstein from the witness stand, testifying that the former Hollywood studio boss overpowered and raped her, and made other crude overtures that included sending her X-rated chocolates and showing up uninvited in his underwear with a bottle of baby oil in one hand and a video in the other.

In a quivering voice, Sciorra told the jury that the burly Weinstein barged into her apartment in the mid-1990s, threw her on a bed and forced himself on her as she tried to fight him off by kicking and punching him.

She said that about a month later, she ran into him and confronted him about what happened, and he replied: “That’s what all the nice Catholic girls say.”

Then, Weinstein leaned toward her and added menacingly: “This remains between you and I,” she told the jury.

“I thought he was going to hit me right there,” Sciorra testified.

The 59-year-old actress became the first of Weinstein’s accusers to testify at his trial, where the movie mogul is charged with forcibly performing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in his New York apartment in 2006, and raping an aspiring actress in a hotel room in 2013.

Weinstein’s lawyers sought to sow doubts about Sciorra’s story, raising questions about her actions after the alleged rape, and asking whether she had once described the encounter as “awkward sex,” which she denied.

Weinstein is not charged with attacking Sciorra, whose accusations date too far back to be prosecuted. Instead, she testified as one of four additional accusers prosecutors intend to put on the stand to show that the Hollywood producer had a habit of preying on women.

Generally, prosecutors cannot bring up alleged crimes beyond the charges at a trial, but such evidence can be allowed if it shows a certain pattern of behavior.

Weinstein, 67, could get life in prison if convicted.

He has insisted that any sexual encounters were consensual.

During cross-examination, Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno noted that Sciorra never went to police or a doctor about the alleged rape.

“At the time, I didn’t understand that that was rape,” Sciorra said.

She testified earlier that she once thought rape was a crime of strangers.

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content_text:
Malaysia follows China’s cheap 5G airwaves plan

NO AUCTIONS HELD:The policy would free up funds for companies to invest in 5G infrastructure that could cost billions of ringgit, Malaysia’s communications chief said
Malaysia is offering airwaves for 5G networks at little cost to carriers to reduce the investment needed for the speedier wireless service, a model followed by China in its rollout of the technology last year.

The government will forgo revenue from spectrum auctions and instead will allocate airwaves to a consortium of carriers via a tender starting after April, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman Al-Ishsal Ishak said in an interview. Commercial 5G services may be available in the country by the third quarter this year, according to a presentation by the commission this month.

The cheap airwaves policy frees up funds for companies including Maxis Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd to invest in 5G infrastructure that could cost at least 7 billion ringgit (US$1.7 billion) over the next five years, Al-Ishsal said. The policy also sets up competition among carriers including Maxis, Axiata, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Digi.com Bhd to form groups that will vie for the license to operate the country’s first 5G network.

Countries around the world are pushing for upgrades to the higher-capacity wireless technology, which also has less lag or latency, because it is crucial for implementing industrial applications from self-driving trucks to remote surgery and robotics.

Axiata unit Celcom Axiata Bhd has said it expects 5G to be a catalyst for consolidation in the industry to help spread the cost of building the networks and to increase the likelihood of winning a bid for the solo consortium license to serve the country of about 32 million people.

Malaysia’s approach will avoid duplicating infrastructure, allowing consumers to benefit from lower cost, Al-Ishsal said in the northern city of Langkawi.

“Because we’re not charging unnecessary cost, there will be no need for the industry to charge a premium,” he said.

China’s carriers are also benefiting from very cheap 5G airwaves as the government pushed for early implementation of the networks in a bid for tech supremacy, including at Huawei Technologies Co (華為), the world’s largest supplier of 5G wireless equipment.

The Malaysian and Chinese approach contrasts with most of the rest of the world, where governments from Germany to Italy, Taiwan, India and the US have pushed to raise billions of dollars in auctions of spectrum.

In Malaysia, carriers will only need to pay “a few thousand ringgit” per tower, Al-Ishsal said.

Malaysian carriers may also hold costs down by using 5G equipment from China-based suppliers including Huawei, which has been subject to a US boycott and pressure campaign asserting the company’s gear poses a risk to national security.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir has pushed back, saying in May last year that the country will use Huawei gear “as much as possible,” and that it offers a “tremendous advance over American technology.”

Al-Ishsal said the US didn’t pressure Malaysia to avoid using Huawei’s technology when he met Ajit Pai, head of the US Federal Communications Commission, in December.

“We spoke of cybersecurity, and of course he offered his view about the US position, and of course we listened,” he said. “We offered our views as well, so there was no pressure, or no imposing of values.”

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content_text:
Wizards overcome OT loss, early arrival to down Cavs

Troy Brown Jr of the Washington Wizards, right, drives against Collin Sexton of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their NBA game in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday.Photo: AP
Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks wanted his players to embrace the adversity they faced going into their game on Thursday. They certainly listened.

Bradley Beal scored 36 points and the weary Wizards, overcoming an overtime loss and early morning arrival in town, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-112.

The Wizards started slowly following a long flight after their defeat in Miami on Wednesday, but took over late in the first quarter and pulled away.

“My analytics guy tells me we’re 1-0 when we get in after 4[am],” Brooks said. “We played about as hard as you can play last night and we did it again tonight. It wasn’t easy. I’m tired and I was just coaching.”

Beal was 15 of 22 from the field and had eight assists in 29 minutes.

The Wizards guard scored 38 points against Miami and is 31 of 46 from the field in the past two games.

“That’s one thing coach Brooks and I say a lot, your stats are going to level out at the end of the year,” Beal said. “Shots will fall, shots won’t fall, but everything will level out in the end. I know I’m a good shooter.”

The Cavaliers have lost six straight and 11 of 13.

Cleveland were coming off a 20-point home loss to New York on Monday and struggled against the Wizards, who are also at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Kevin Love, who scored 21 points, believes the Cavaliers should be better as a group. Cleveland have not won since a surprising victory in Denver, Colorado, on Jan. 11.

“Games like tonight and the last game against the Knicks, we feel like those are teams we should have a very good chance to compete with and win,” Love said. “Obviously, there are teams like Denver that we can beat on any given night, but we feel like we when we put it together we should be able to win games like tonight.”

Washington shot 55 percent and hit 16 of 36 three-pointers. Davis Bertans and Ish Smith each scored 17 points, while Isaiah Thomas had 13 for the Wizards.

Collin Sexton scored 29 points for Cleveland, while Larry Nance Jr had 22.

The Cavaliers led 18-6 before the Wizards took control, thanks to Beal and Bertans, and built a 40-26 lead.

The offense did not slow down after halftime. Beal had 11 points in the third quarter and the Wizards opened a 98-78 cushion.

In Portland, Oregon, Luka Doncic was named as an All-Star starter for the first time, and the 20-year-old celebrated by posting 27 points and nine assists to lead Dallas past Portland 133-125.

Doncic was one of seven Mavericks to score in double digits, with Kristaps Porzingis contributing 20 points, while Jalen Brunson and Seth Curry added 17 points apiece as Dallas won for the fifth time in the past six games.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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title: 河北啟動一級響應

content_text: 1月24日，記者從河北省政府了解到，根據《河北省突發公共衛生事件應急預案》，結合當前疫情防控形勢，河北省政府決定，自24日起，啟動河北省重大突發公共衛生事件一級響應。（央視新聞）...


title: 美國參議員Markey：特斯拉應該重新命名其自動駕駛功能，因為這是「一個本...

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content_text: 尼泊爾衛生與人口部發佈新聞公告，宣布確診尼泊爾出現首例新型冠狀病毒病例。公告稱這是一名近期由武漢返回的尼泊爾留學生，回到尼泊爾之後出現感冒發熱癥狀，隨即到醫院就診。尼泊爾相關機構將該留學生的血液樣本送往香港進行檢測，於23日晚間收到報告，確診該留學生感染了新型冠狀病毒。尼泊爾衛生與人口部在公告中表示將密切關注該病例及其接觸人群，衛生與人口部網站首頁也發佈了預防措施及健康指導。（央視新聞）...

countries: 尼泊爾 香港

title: 尼泊爾確認首例新型冠狀病毒病例


content_text:
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title: 八國聯軍這貴妃統領後宮 聯軍統帥更對她「猶致敬禮」


content_text:
一名在北部地區許多幼兒園、國中小學都有兼任武術指導的男子，竟然以女生身份上網，認識一名「女女戀」同志，藉機將少女約到飯店強行玷辱，還脅迫被害人發出淫聲穢語增加刺激，被害人告訴父母，報警揪出這名狼師。

警方調查，這名色狼是在網路IG認識被害人，得知少女只對女孩子可以接受，於是就化名女生名字，另開帳號與少女交往。

兩人很快就在網路上聊得相當投機，成為好朋友，在被告化身女孩子讓對方失去戒心後，甜言蜜語下，約了被害少女到飯店約會，但是少女依約前去時，發現竟是一名男生時，被告佯稱是化名女生的哥哥，說他妹妹等一下就來，任涉世未深少女信以為真。

就當少女進房後，被告突然趴上前去抱住少女，強行扒光對方衣褲性侵得逞，過程為了增加刺激感，還要少女學A片發出淫蕩聲音，更要喊「我喜歡被上」等污穢語言

。

法官審訊後，依強制性交等罪判狼師10年徒刑，恐嚇罪部分則判5月徒刑；被告不服判決上訴，被高等法院予駁回。

★ 尊重身體自主權！請撥打113、110

★不正常的男女關係是家庭的殺手。關心您

title: 狼師扮女同志上網 性侵少女逼喊我淫蕩


title: 神預言！武漢肺炎爆發 他5年前就知道


content_text:
大陸女星佟麗婭曾獲得「新疆小姐」大賽亞軍，出道後活躍於戲劇界，演出過多部熱門作品《北京愛情故事》、《宮》、《琅琊榜之風起長林》等，外型亮麗的她，和迪麗熱巴、古力娜扎、熱依扎並列「新疆四美」，今年她確定成為央視春晚主持人，卻被外界唱衰主持功力，不過她一出場氣場強大，讓網友驚艷不已，而她也因此登上微博熱搜。

央視一年一度的除夕節目《春晚》今（24日）晚登場，往年大家熟悉的知名主持人董卿、康輝、朱迅等，今年並未主持，反而是由佟麗婭、任魯豫、尼格買提·熱合曼、尹頌、張舒越接棒，這是佟麗婭首次擔任春晚主持，加上演員身分，主持功力備受質疑，連名主持人倪萍的助理陳倩，都轉發公布佟麗婭在主持人名單內的貼文，寫下「鬧著玩兒呢？」也被解讀是不相信她的主持功力。

佟麗婭美貌讓網友超驚艷。（圖／翻攝自微博）

不過今晚佟麗婭以一襲紅色古典長禮服現身時，氣場碾壓全場，妝容精緻，笑容甜美的她，展現典雅端莊氣質，之後她又換上紫色薄紗禮服，大氣又優雅，讓本來不確定佟麗婭能否hold住春晚的網友，看了她的「盛世美顏」後，立刻改口接受她是主持人的事實，「表現超乎預期」、「出乎意料穩，聲音好聽、咬字清晰」「被驚艷到啊，整場看她就夠了」，而「佟麗婭好美」也瞬間登上微博熱搜。

title: 首接央視春晚主持棒被看衰 新疆女神佟麗婭一登場酸民閉嘴了


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記者陳致平／綜合報導

2020年是庚子年，依照五行來說庚屬金、子屬水，所以2020年又稱為金鼠年，最適合招財。鼠為十二生肖之首，鼠年守得住，可以旺運十二年，知名命理老師湯鎮瑋在節目上分享新春開運六大招財術，為新的一年除穢氣、開好運。

首先，要將家裡「由內到外」打掃乾淨，除了打掃乾淨之外，更不要放過家裡的小角落，讓家中換然一新，更新家中的磁場。第二步驟，在家門口張貼春聯，替家裡增添喜氣、帶來新氣象。貼春聯代表新的一年已經到來，要在心中照著春聯上的吉祥話念過一次，把吉祥的好運氣帶進家裡，也能夠護宅做結界。

▲鼠年財運守得住，可以旺運十二年。（圖／Youtube／命運好好玩）

第三步驟，要準備一個發財包，上面要寫著「出門見財」幾個字樣，可以掛在大門的門把上，象徵著每每出門轉動門把就「有財、有貴人」來相助。

接續是第四步驟，要在大門佈局，大門是引財氣的地方，在家中準備地毯，象徵著「讓財神爺走紅毯」，不要忘了增添年節大紅大金的元素，代表著每次出門都可以「錢進家門」。

▲2020年金鼠年最適合招財。（圖／記者周宸亘攝）

「家中的廚房都是財庫」，第五步驟要在廚房佈局，守財的格局就在廚房，也可以在廚房擺放一張紅地毯，上面寫著福字，代表著「福祿壽喜財」，同時也代表著女方的運氣。正如俗語常言道「妻才子祿」，老婆就代表財星，如果要賺錢的話，也別忘了好好疼老婆。

最後一個步驟，過年一定要「包紅包」，包給長輩的紅包比包給晚輩還重要，務必要記得包給長輩的紅包要有恭敬、孝順的心，在來年的時候，長輩的福德會回到身上，此外一定要用新鈔，象徵著新的一年得到新的財源。

title: 金鼠年招財6大神招　命理專家曝：做對了，強運12年！


title: 國開行向武漢市發放20億元應急貸款，用於支持疫情防控

content_text: 原標題：國開行向武漢市發放20億元應急貸款，用於支持疫情防控1月24日，國家開發銀行（簡稱「國開行」）向武漢市發放應急貸款20億元，用於支持武漢市做好新型冠狀病毒感染的肺炎的防控工作。國開行湖北分行在24日除夕一天內完成了授信審批、資金髮放支付全流程工作，並於當天全部到位。貸款將專項用於醫療救助、應急設備採購、工作經費等與疾病治療及與疫情防控相關的各項用途。(本文來自澎湃新聞，更多原創資訊請下載「澎湃新聞」APP)...


title: 武漢全市緊急徵集6000台計程車，為居民出行提供免費服務

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原標題：武漢全市緊急徵集6000台計程車，為居民出行提供免費服務

武漢市新型肺炎防控指揮部於1月24日晚間發佈8號通告。

為解決市民居家出行不便等問題，武漢市全市緊急徵集6000台計程車，分配給中心城區。每個社區3-5台，由社區居委會統一調度使用，自2020年1月25日中午始，為轄區居民出行提供免費服務。社區居委會為生活不便居民上門免費提供送餐、送菜、送葯等居家服務。

（原標題為《武漢全市緊急徵集6000台計程車 為居民出行提供免費服務》）


things: 春聯 經濟

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原標題：6億人參與支付寶集五福 福文化走向全球

DoNews2月24日消息（記者 翟繼茹）24日晚，2020年支付寶集五福數據顯示，在集五福的五年時間里，共計有6億人參與集福，全民掃福超過400億人次。最終的「集福」結果是今年共有超過3億人集齊了五福，318182658人瓜分5億現金。

支付寶方面介紹，全球有30多萬個全球商戶主動張貼福字，號召大家一起集福。據集五福的「福滿全球」頁面數據顯示，累計傳福多達50億人次，依次點亮了全球九大地標。這也意味著「集五福」已經已經走向全球。此外，掃福集福也催熱了傳統文化和傳統福字產業。淘寶數據顯示，去過1年，春聯、「福「字銷售量分別上漲180%、105%。山東省高密市夏庄鎮東李村靠賣福字年產值過億，高峰時期，村裡2個小時可以生產三萬個福字。

值得一提的是，今年「集五福」還特別推出了「幫全家還花唄」大獎，支付寶集五福產品負責人冠華表示，新增這一福卡的原因是希望回歸「有家就有福」的初心。而這背後也意味著，支付寶正在從連接5億人到連接5億家庭。

事實上，「集五福」已經成為在數字經濟時代阿里經濟體賦能商家品牌數字化能力的「新窗口」。今年，「集五福」流量也正在從C端向B端傾斜，在合作夥伴方面，今年歐萊雅、星巴克、六福珠寶、浦發銀行、可口可樂等加入到支付寶「集五福」活動中，通過「集五福」來接觸更多消費者。支付寶此次將推出「智能接福」，通過對人群識別和喜好分析可以讓品牌更好與用戶溝通。此外，支付寶「集五福」中的福利還將與天貓輕店、小程序，實現多渠道兌獎和「福氣」資產沉澱。（完）

title: 6億人參與支付寶集五福 福文化走向全球