title: Ministry revokes FAT’s flight permit

content_text:
Ministry revokes FAT’s flight permit

LENDING A HAND:The Ministry of Labor plans to help the airline’s employees, who were not paid last month, to find new jobs and apply for unemployment benefits
The logo of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph.Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei Times
The government has decided to revoke Far Eastern Air Transport’s (FAT) civil aviation flight permit after it made a surprise announcement in December that it was canceling its flights.

The cancelation of the permit means that FAT would not be allowed to resume operations despite its petition to do so, leaving the carrier’s 900 employees without jobs.

In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it took into account all of the facts and laws related to the case when it approved a recommendation made by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in late December to revoke the permit.

FAT had petitioned to resume operations, saying the Dec. 12 announcement that it was canceling all of its flights — starting the following day — was because of a misunderstanding among management.

When the airline announced that it was suspending services, it cited years of losses and difficulties in raising funds, but a day later, it said it intended to restore services, as it expected to receive new funding.

However, the ministry, citing the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法), said that a carrier is only allowed to stop flights 60 days after securing permission to do so from aviation regulators, so it was undisputable that FAT had broken the law.

Beyond revoking FAT’s flight permit, the ministry also fined the carrier NT$3 million (US$99,174).

All of FAT’s air rights for domestic and international flights were revoked and would be reassigned to other carriers, the ministry said.

FAT had operated flights on 62 domestic and international routes to 47 cities in Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan.

While FAT repeatedly vowed to obtain new funds, the ministry said that the carrier failed to deliver on its promises.

FAT also failed to pay its employees’ December salaries on Jan. 6 as scheduled, the ministry said.

On Jan. 22, FAT was fined NT$1.5 million by labor authorities for failing to making outstanding salary payments to its employees.

The ministry said that it would release measures this month for FAT customers who need refunds.

As for FAT’s employees, Deputy Minister of Labor Lin Ming-yu (林明裕) said that the Ministry of Labor would assist them in finding new jobs through a job-matching service.

It would also help them apply for unemployment benefits and assign other financial resources to make outstanding salary payments, which are estimated to range from NT$200 million to NT$300 million.

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Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je talks to reporters prior to a meeting in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The central government should explain how surgical masks are allocated across the nation to prevent 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection, or there might be a political backlash if an outbreak occurs and people cannot purchase masks, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday.

As the Central Epidemic Command Center has centralized distribution of masks, local governments might “inflate” the numbers they need, so they can “grab” more masks, Ko said, adding that the central government should make public how supplies are to be allocated.

“There has not yet been an outbreak of 2019-nCoV in communities, but if there is an outbreak, panic buying of masks would become more serious,” Ko said.

A political backlash would ensue if the government is not open and transparent about the distribution process, he added.

Ko, a doctor, said he believed the coming week would be the most critical time for disease prevention, and that if an outbreak does not occur, then mask supply and demand would reach a balance.

Taiwan should implement more stringent preventive measures in the coming week, because there might be some infected people who have not yet shown symptoms given the virus’ 14-day incubation period, he said.

These measures could be loosened if no outbreak occurs in the coming week, he said.

Instead of adding production lines, Ko said that boosting production of existing lines to 24 hours a day might be a more practical solution to address a potential mask shortage.

In related news, police seized tens of thousands of masks in outbound postal packages, as the government continued its crackdown to secure supplies in Taiwan.

As of yesterday noon, a total of 87,180 masks have been found in overseas-bound parcels at Chunghwa Post’s mail processing center in Taipei, the Aviation Police Bureau said.

The government has imposed a ban until Feb. 23 on mask exports, including through the postal service, unless the exporter has received authorization from the Bureau of Foreign Trade, it said.

Additional reporting by CNA

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title: Ko urges clarity on allocation of masks across the nation


title: No community infection detected: epidemic center

content_text:
A sign at a Taipei store yesterday informs shoppers that face masks and alcohol disinfectants are sold out.Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that an outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has not been detected in local communities, so people should not panic and stockpile masks.

The center also detailed three conditions for wearing a mask and five tips for putting on a mask properly.

The center said it held a coordination meeting with local governments’ civil affairs and health departments on Friday to discuss the mobilization of resources for disease control and prevention.

The two indigenous cases of 2019-nCoV that have been confirmed in Taiwan were familial clusterings, and so far there is no evident risk of disease transmission in the community, the center quoted National Taiwan University Hospital’s Infectious Disease Division professor Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) and Pediatrics Department director Huang Li-min (黃立民) as saying at the meeting.

The two doctors recommended that people wear a mask if they are “visiting a hospital or clinic, have respiratory symptoms or have a chronic disease,” the center said.

People who are healthy do not have to wear a mask at all times, it said, adding that students do not have to wear masks in class.

The pair also provided tips on how to put on a mask properly, including first making sure that the mask is intact and not damaged, and then securing the elastic loops behind the ears, pinching the upper metal band around the bridge of the nose, and extending the mask to fully cover the mouth, nose and chin.

Users should make sure the mask forms a tight seal on their face, the center said, adding that a mask should only be used by one person and should be replaced every day.

The center on Friday also extended the criteria for mandatory reporting of severe pneumonia with novel pathogens from China.

The first set of criteria includes people who have a fever (38°C and above) or acute respiratory infections, and have visited China’s Hubei Province or had direct contact with someone who had returned from Hubei and have developed a fever or respiratory infection within 14 days before the onset of symptoms

The second set includes people who have pneumonia and have visited China within 14 days before the onset of symptoms.

In related news, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) told a press conference at 7:55pm yesterday that the center has designated China’s Guangdong Province as a secondary endemic area.

Starting today, people returning from Guangdong must be tested for 2019-nCoV upon arrival in Taiwan and put under home quarantine for 14 days, while all visitors from Guangdong will not be allowed to enter Taiwan, he said.

In addition, people who return to Taiwan through the ”small three links” are to be placed under home quarantine for 14 days, starting today, he added.

Hubei Province remains a primary endemic area and all people returning from the province must test negative for 2019-nCoV in two examinations at a medical facility before they are allowed to leave.

As of 4pm yesterday, a total of 964 cases of severe pneumonia with novel pathogens were reported: 10 tested positive for 2019-nCoV infection, 746 were ruled out, and the rest remained in quarantine for further testing, the center said.

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A countdown to Brexit illuminate the exterior of 10 Downing Street in London on Friday.Photo: AP
The UK yesterday began an uncertain future outside the EU after the country greeted the historic end to almost a half-century of EU membership with a mixture of joy and sadness.

There were celebrations and tears on Friday as the EU’s often-reluctant member became the first to leave an organization set up to forge unity among nations after the horrors of World War II.

Little had changed as of yesterday, as the UK is now in an 11-month transition period negotiated as part of the divorce.

Britons are able to work in the EU and trade freely — and vice versa — until Dec. 31, although the UK would no longer be represented in the bloc’s institutions.

Thousands of people waving Union Flags packed London’s Parliament Square and sang the national anthem to mark that reality as Brexit became law at 11pm, midnight in Brussels.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a private party in his Downing Street office with a clock projected on the walls outside counting down the minutes to departure.

In an address to the nation, he hailed a “new era of friendly cooperation” acknowledging that there could be “bumps in the road ahead,” but predicting the country could make it a “stunning success.”

“The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end, but a beginning,” he said.

At a “Big Brexit Bash” in the market town of Morley, northern England, Raymond Stott said he was “glad it’s all over” after years of political gridlock and acrimony.

“We will look after ourselves. We don’t need Europe,” the 66-year-old said.

However, Brexit has exposed deep divisions in British society and many fear the consequences of ending 47 years of ties with their nearest neighbors.

Some pro-Europeans, including many of the 3.6 million EU citizens who have made their lives in the UK, marked the occasion with candlelit gatherings.

Brexit has also provoked soul-searching in the EU about its future after losing a country of 66 million people with global diplomatic clout and the financial center of the City of London.

French President Emmanuel Macron described it as a “historic warning sign” that should force the EU and its remaining nations of more than 440 million people to stop and reflect.

The UK’s diplomatic mission in Brussels sent an employee out early yesterday to change the building’s nameplate to read “UK Mission to the European Union,” signaling its new non-member status.

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title: UK becomes first to leave EU as new process begins


title: Viral Outbreak: Chinese premier asks EU for swift medical supplies

content_text:
Concorde Hospital staff unload medical supplies from a helicopter in Wuhan, China, yesterday.Photo: EPA-EFE
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) has asked the EU to facilitate China’s urgent procurement of medical supplies from member countries, the Chinese government said yesterday, amid a coronavirus outbreak that has killed 259 people and infected nearly 12,000.

China is facing deepening isolation over the outbreak as the death toll soars, with the US and Australia leading a growing list of nations to impose extraordinary travel bans.

With the UK, Russia and Sweden among the countries confirming their first infections, the virus has now spread to more than two dozen nations, sending governments scurrying to limit their exposure.

Other governments need to prepare for “domestic outbreak control” if the disease spreads in their countries, WHO representative in Beijing Gauden Galea said.

The US toughened its stance on Friday by declaring a national emergency, temporarily barring entry to foreigners who had been in China within the past two weeks.

“Foreign nationals, other than immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the United States,” US Secretary of Health Alex Azar said.

Australia said it was barring entry to non-citizens arriving from China, while Australian citizens who had traveled there would be required to go into “self-isolation” for two weeks.

Vietnam yesterday suspended all flights from China and Hong Kong.

Similar expansive restrictions have been announced by countries including Italy, Singapore and Mongolia.

The US, Japan, the UK, Germany and other nations had already advised their citizens not to travel to China.

Beijing has said it can contain the virus and called Washington’s advice against travel to China “unkind.”

“Certainly it is not a gesture of goodwill,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said.

The US emergency declaration also requires Americans returning from the Chinese province of Hubei, where the outbreak started, to be placed in mandatory 14-day quarantine, and health screening for American citizens coming from other parts of China.

In a bid to stop the contagion, the Chinese government has extended the Lunar New Year holiday through this weekend and urged people to avoid public gatherings.

Many provinces and cities have called on companies to remain closed for another week after the holiday ends tomorrow.

The economic fallout continued yesterday as Apple Inc announced that its China stores would be closed until Sunday next week “out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts.”

With public anger mounting in China, Wuhan’s top official late on Friday said that authorities there had acted too slowly, expressing “remorse and self-reproach.”

“If strict control measures had been taken earlier, the result would have been better than now,” Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Wuhan Ma Guoqiang (馬國強) told state media.

Wuhan officials have been criticized online for withholding information about the outbreak until late December, despite knowing of it weeks earlier.

China finally lurched into action last week, effectively quarantining whole cities in Hubei and tens of millions of people.

However, the toll keeps mounting at an ever-increasing pace, with health authorities yesterday saying 46 more people had died in the preceding 24 hours, all but one in Hubei.

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Legislators pose for pictures on the legislative floor following the swearing in ceremony yesterday.Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

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Former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) was yesterday elected legislative speaker by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) caucus, while DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) was elected deputy speaker for a second term.

The legislative speaker election was held at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei after the new lawmakers were sworn in.

Yu, a first-time legislator, garnered 73 votes, while rival Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won 36 votes.

KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) — who was the party’s deputy legislative speaker candidate — Nonpartisan Solidarity Union (NSU) Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) and rookie DPP Legislator Lai Pin-yu (賴品妤) each earned one vote, while a spoiled vote was also cast.

After last month’s legislative elections, the DPP has 62 seats, the KMT has 38, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has five and the New Power Party (NPP) has three, while the NSU and Taiwan Statebuilding Party each have one.

Independent legislators Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) make up the remaining seats.

In the afternoon’s deputy legislative speaker election, Tsai secured 65 votes, beating out Yang, TPP Legislator Lai Hsiang-lin (賴香伶) and NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭), who won 36, five and three votes respectively, while KMT Legislator Sra Kacaw and Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞) each got one vote.

In Yu’s inauguration speech, he said he hoped Taiwan would become a “normalized” nation, in which the legislature would serve as the pinnacle of its political system, and aims to improve how it functions.

He said he would push to lower the age for people seeking legislative office to break barriers between generations and promote cooperation and prosperity between people of all ages.

Yu said he would encourage his colleagues to work in tandem with government agencies to secure free-trade agreements and establish official ties with like-minded democracies, such as the US, Japan, EU, Australia and Canada, against the backdrop of a US-China trade dispute, which could tilt international relations in Taiwan’s favor.

Taiwan should use its soft power and critical strategic location in the Indo-Pacific region to capitalize on the opportunities that have presented themselves amid the trade dispute, he said.

This, coupled with a robust economy and a strong national defense system, would make Taiwan a small but powerful nation, he added.

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people: 游錫堃 高金素梅 趙正宇 賴香伶 林昶佐 王婉諭 蔡其昌 溫玉霞 賴士葆 楊瓊瓔

title: DPP’s Yu Shyi-kun elected legislative speaker


title: Badminton event canceled in China over outbreak fears

content_text:
The coronavirus epidemic continued to wreak havoc on the international sporting calendar on Saturday, when the Lingshui China Masters badminton tournament, part of the qualifying process for the Tokyo Olympics, was postponed.

Organizers made the decision to put off the event, which was scheduled from Feb. 25 to March 1 in Hainan, after a number of players withdrew.

“The Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Chinese Badminton Association (CBA) can confirm the decision to postpone the Lingshui China Masters 2020 ... in the wake of growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak in China and surrounding areas,” the BWF statement said.

“BWF and CBA have considered all necessary health, safety and logistical risks and both parties believe it is sensible to postpone the tournament at this time,” it said.

The tournament was likely to be moved to a new date in May, but ranking points earned at the rescheduled event would no longer count toward Olympic qualification, the federation said.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus, which was first identified in Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province, rose by 46 to 259 on Friday, the country’s health authority said yesterday.

The BWF said it hoped the flagship Badminton Asia Championships might still go ahead in Wuhan from April 21 to 26.

“It is ... too early at this time to make any final conclusions related to this event,” the statement said.

“The 2020 Badminton Asia Championships falls within the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualification window and is one of the last opportunities for athletes to qualify for the Olympics Games,” it said.

China on Thursday suspended all domestic soccer and postponed indefinitely the top-flight Chinese Super League season, which was to start on Feb. 22 to “carry out prevention and control of the pneumonia epidemic,” the Chinese Football Association said.

The World Indoor Championships, scheduled for Nanjing from March 13 to 15, were postponed for a year.

Additional reporting by AFP

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content_text:
Xavier Gonzalez, left, of the International Paralympic Committee and Toshiro Muto of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games talk after a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 19, 2018.Photo: AP
Wheelchair basketball was removed from the 2024 Paralympics program on Friday and could be cut from this year’s Tokyo Paralympics as well.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) are in a dispute about how players are graded and which ones should be eligible to compete.

The sport is open to a wide range of disabled athletes with rules requiring teams to include people with impairments of different severity.

The IPC wants to reassess some wheelchair basketball players hoping to compete at the Tokyo Paralympics and block any it considers ineligible.

The 2024 Paralympic Games are scheduled for Paris and the ruling could still be reversed.

“We appreciate that wheelchair basketball is one of the most popular sports at the Paralympic Games, but this does not mean that the IWBF is above the rules,” IPC president Andrew Parsons said in a statement. “Athlete classification is integral to all Paralympic sport and the failure of any sport to comply with the IPC Athlete Classification Code is of critical concern to us because it could threaten the integrity of competition.”

The IWBF said it wants to reach a deal with the IPC before Tokyo and played down the differences between the two organizations.

“It is important to stress the eligibility of our athletes is not in doubt, merely we use different languages in our classification,” said Regina Costa, who chairs the IWBF classification commission.

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title: Fate of wheelchair basketball at the Paralympics mulled


content_text:
By Liu Pei-fen and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The WHO on Wednesday posted a statement on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, debunking rumors that dogs and cats could contract or transmit the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

“No current evidence shows that domestic pets, such as dogs and cats, could catch the novel coronavirus,” the post said in Mandarin. “Washing hands with soap after contact with pets significantly reduces the risk of catching other bacteria commonly passed between pets and humans, such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella.”

The misconception stems from a comment by Chinese epidemiologist Li Lanjuan (李蘭娟), who said during an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) that “the novel coronavirus spreads among mammals, so household pets that have contact with Wuhan pneumonia patients should be placed under quarantine.”

The comments quickly spread online, with netizens in China raising concerns over reports of people abandoning pets and allegedly killing stray animals due to fear of infection, animal rights group Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network said on Thursday.

Some online commenters said Chinese media were promoting panic, as they reportedly exaggerated Li’s statement to mean that pets could spread the virus, when Li had said that pets that have had contact with people infected by 2019-nCoV should be quarantined.

Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine senior official Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said that coronaviruses are diverse, with varied sources of infection for different animal species, and no disclosed data so far have suggested that household pets could contract 2019-nCoV.

Worried pet owners could keep their animals away from crowded places and carefully spray them with disinfectant with 75 percent alcohol content to remove bacteria and germs after being outside, Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network said, citing a veterinarian’s suggestions.

However, owners should avoid the eyes, mouth, nose and any open wounds when applying a disinfectant, it added.

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title: Pets not spreading virus, WHO says


people: 蔡正元 蘇貞昌 邱毅 蔡英文

title: Outbreak reveals true loyalties of DPP critics

content_text:
Although the epidemic caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus could infect anyone regardless of their political affiliation.

Being either pro-unification or pro-independence does not make anyone immune to infection, yet listening to what people say it is still possible to see their preferred national identity all too clearly. In other words, different attitudes and remarks reveal different national identities.

Former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) once said: “I am no more a Chinese than [former US] president [John] Kennedy was an Irishman. Slowly the world will learn that the Lees, the Tohs, the Gohs, the Ongs, the Yongs and the Lims in Singapore, though they look like Chinese in appearance and speak Chinese, are different from the Chinese. They have Chinese blood, and they do not deny it. But most importantly, they think in terms of Singapore and Singapore’s interests, not of China and China’s interests.”

Similarly, people identifying with Taiwan will take a Taiwanese perspective and care for Taiwan’s interests. This is why President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration and the Cabinet, led by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), prioritized Taiwan by banning the export of masks for one month over fears that local supply would run low. Every national government prioritizes its own citizens, as is the natural way of things.

However, there is a group of people born and raised in Taiwan, but who do not think in terms of Taiwan’s benefits and interests, and so they attacked the government’s ban on mask exports.

To cite a few instances, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) blasted the government for “its malicious intention,” which he said “makes one’s hair stand on end”; media personality Joyce Huang (黃智賢) called Su “cold-blooded and merciless”; Taoist master Shih Hui-gu (釋慧固) from Kaohsiung’s Fo Guang Shan Monastery in a Facebook post said that the government’s action borders on “inhumanity”; China-based Taiwanese singer Huang An (黃安) used swear words to smear Su; and KMT Deputy Secretary-General Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said in a Facebook post that since the Tsai administration has imposed a ban on mask exports to China, “Beijing should do something to return the favor.”

These people say these things because they stand on the side of China and care for China’s interests. Because of that, they do not consider China “cold-blooded and merciless” or “inhumane” when it blocks Taiwan’s participation in the WHO. Seeing Taiwan as a part of China, these people find no reason for Taiwan to participate in the global organization.

If people criticized them for ignoring human lives and putting aside humanitarian medical care for political purposes, they would strike back by accusing these people of obstructing humanitarian aid by prioritizing politics — Taiwan’s sovereignty — over human lives.

The question is: Who exactly is disregarding humanitarian aid for political purposes? The reality is Taiwan is not a province administered by the People’s Republic of China. Seen in this light, it is the Chinese authorities who are attempting to change the so-called “status quo” by exploiting medical care and using it as leverage to achieve its political goals.

Oddly, a small group of people in Taiwan stand on China’s side and consider its interests. This would be abnormal in any normal country in the world.

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content_text:
Half of civilians fleeing latest Syrian offensive are children: advocacy group

A children’s advocacy group on Friday said that half of nearly 400,000 displaced people in the Syrian government’s two-month-long offensive on the country’s last rebel-held region are children, calling it a wave of displacement unlike anything seen before in the war in Syria.

The offensive by Syrian government forces, backed by ally Russia, has focused mainly on Idlib Province in the northwest, and also lately on neighboring Aleppo.

It is an attempt to seize control of a strategic highway that links the capital, Damascus, and the north.

The push has accelerated in the past two weeks and government forces on Wednesday seized control of the key town of Maaret al-Nouman, which sits along the highway.

The UN has estimated that 390,000 Syrians have been displaced over the past two months — 315,000 in December and 75,000 last month.

According to advocacy group Save the Children, half of those displaced are children, adding that at least 37,000 children were forced to flee this month.

During a one-week period in the middle of last month, 34 children and 13 women were killed, the UN said.

Trucks and other vehicles have crammed the roads as civilians — some of them already displaced by earlier fighting — packed up their meager belongings to leave towns and villages under attack.

Save the Children said its advocacy partners working in Idlib and Aleppo described kilometers of convoys and said “the sheer scale of displacement is unlike anything they have seen before.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces launched the offensive, despite a ceasefire deal struck between Russia and Turkey, which support opposite sides of the conflict.

Turkey, which backs the Syrian opposition, has said that Russia has not abided by previous agreements to end violence.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday warned that Ankara could use military force to bring stability to Idlib after the offensive sent tens of thousands of people fleeing toward the Turkish border.

“We will not stand by in Idlib or other parts of Syria,” Erdogan told a meeting of provincial ruling party leaders in Ankara. “We sincerely want stability for Syria and we won’t hesitate to do whatever it takes, including using military force.”

Turkey, which hosts 3.5 million Syrian refugees, has troops stationed at 12 observation posts in Idlib to monitor the earlier ceasefire.

Asked about Erdogan’s statement accusing Russia of failing to observe its obligations on Idlib, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin disagrees with that.

Peskov told reporters that Idlib has remained “the rallying point for a large number of terrorists who have waged offensives against the Syrian government forces and the Russian military base” on the coast of Syria.

“That causes our deep concern,” he added.

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title: Italy bans Taiwan flights

content_text:
By Lin Chia-nan and Chen Yu-fu / Staff reporters, with CNA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeking to clarify a decision by Italian authorities to ban flights from Taiwan, as a novel coronavirus outbreak first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan spreads around the world.

After Italy on Friday confirmed two 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) cases, it suspended all flights from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau until April 28.

The ban affects Taiwan-based carriers China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways.

CAL operates three flights per week between Taoyuan and Rome, while EVA was set to start direct flights to Milan on Feb. 18.

CAL said late last night that Italian aviation authorities had approved its request to send an airplane to Rome today to fly Taiwanese passengers back home the following day.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement on Friday that Italy has not restricted flights from other nations that have reported more infection cases than Taiwan; therefore, its ban on Taiwan cannot be said to be related to the rate of infection in Taiwan.

The Italian government made a wrong decision based on wrong identification, she said.

The ministry is seeking to clarify the situation with the Italian government through its overseas offices and like-minded countries, she said, urging Rome to rectify its decision soon.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) yesterday said that it is unfair that Taiwan has met the same treatment as China, even though Taiwan has better healthcare and disease prevention standards, as well as control over the virus’ spread compared with other countries.

In related news, the Hanoi government last night lifted a ban on flights between Vietnam and Taiwan, reversing a decision it made yesterday afternoon, when it revoked permits for flights from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Additional reporting by Reuters and Cheng Wei-chi

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title: Defending champs Crusaders start with win

content_text:
The Canterbury Crusaders launched their Super Rugby title defense with a 43-25 victory over the NSW Waratahs in an entertaining nine-try festival in Nelson, New Zealand, yesterday.

It was the pupil outsmarting the master as the Crusaders scored six tries to three to confirm their status as championship frontrunners again.

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, bidding to take his side to a fourth consecutive title, was mentored early in his coaching career by now Waratahs coach Rob Penney and obviously learned well as the defending champions raced to a 24-6 lead at halftime.

They received a jolt midway through the second half when 19-year-old Waratahs’ flyer Mark Nawaqanitawase scored twice in three minutes to narrow the gap to 24-18 before the Crusaders finished off with three further tries.

Crusaders captain Scott Barrett said that the game largely went according to plan.

“We wanted to start well, we wanted to set the pace in this competition and we showed plenty of attacking endeavor, but in the first game of the season there were plenty of errors,” he said.

Waratahs leader Rob Simmons was disappointed that his side could not capitalize on opportunities they created.

“They showed us that if you give them a sniff they’re going to come and keep coming,” he said.

The Crusaders showed their wide-ranging counterattacking repertoire, mixing wide passes with close-range off-loads and deft kicks in behind the defense had the visitors scrambling.

Kurtley Beale was a constant threat for the Waratahs, but his chances were few and the one time he did cross the line the try was scrubbed out because of a forward pass.

David Havili, handed the kicking duties for the Crusaders ahead of Richie Mo’unga, traded early penalties with Waratahs flyhalf Will Harrison, but once the early testing exchanges were over, the Crusaders switched to try-scoring mode.

Outside backs Will Jordan, Braydon Ennor and Leicester Faingaanuku scored in the first half, with Faingaanuku running 60m after claiming a precision cross-kick from Mo’unga.

Nawaqanitawase’s second try for the Waratahs after the break was also a 60m effort from an intercept as the Sydneysiders closed within six points with just over 20 minutes remaining.

However, the Crusaders stepped up another gear with Ennor and Jordan scoring their second tries, both finishing long-range attacks while Luke Romano crashed over from close to the line.

Alex Newsome scored the Waratahs third try just before fulltime.

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content_text:
Wall Street on Friday fell sharply as fears spread through the markets that a virus outbreak emanating from China will dent global growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded more than 600 points and the S&P 500 erased its gains for last month.

Technology companies, which do a lot of business with China, led the losses. Airlines fell after Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Inc suspended flights to and from China.

Just two weeks ago, the S&P 500 had closed at an all-time high, having climbed about 13 percent since early October last year.

A preliminary trade deal signed by the US and China early last month eased a big source of uncertainty in the markets. Volatility was running at 12-month lows and even a dustup between the US and Iran did not rock markets.

Then came the virus outbreak in China. The US stock market, which had been calmly setting record after record, suffered its worst January since 2016 and its first monthly loss since August last year.

China’s stock markets reopen tomorrow after being closed since Jan. 23 for the Lunar New Year holiday. A significant amount of pent-up selling has likely built up in the meantime.

Some funds that try to mimic the movements of Chinese indices are still trading in the US and elsewhere. These exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are moving on investors’ expectations for where Chinese stocks would be if markets in China were still open.

For example, the Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF tracks an index of large stocks that trade in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China. It was down roughly 9 percent since Jan. 23.

The WHO has declared the outbreak a global emergency, a designation that signals that the virus is now a significant risk to other countries and requires a global response.

“It seems like the equity market is now coming around to the realization that maybe this is something that may linger for some time,” Wells Fargo Investment Institute senior global market strategist Sameer Samana said.

American Airlines fell 3.2 percent and Delta slipped 2.4 percent.

Apple Inc, which relies on Chinese consumers for sales and factories for supplies, fell 3.9 percent, while Nvidia Corp slid 3.8 percent and other chipmakers slipped.

Amazon.com Inc was a rare bright spot in the market on Friday. The online retailer surged 7.4 percent after blowing past Wall Street’s fourth-quarter profit forecasts.

The company said that Amazon Prime membership exploded 50 percent since it last disclosed that figure in 2018.

The S&P 500 on Friday sank 58.14 points, or 1.8 percent, to 3,225.52, a fall of 2.1 percent from 3,295.47 on Jan. 24.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday fell 603.41 points, or 2.1 percent, to 28,256.03, plunging 2.5 percent from a close of 28,989.73 a week earlier.

The NASDAQ Composite on Friday dropped 148 points, or 1.6 percent, to 9,150.94, a decrease of 1.8 percent from 9,314.91 on Jan. 24.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks on Friday dropped 34.16 points, or 2.1 percent, to 1,614.06, plummeting 2.9 percent from a close of 1,662.23 a week earlier.

Economists have been scrambling to calculate the virus’ effects on China’s economy, which is far bigger and more closely integrated with the rest of the world than it was during the SARS outbreak 17 years ago. China now accounts for 16 percent of global economic output, up from 4 percent in 2003.

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title: Wall Street sinks on virus outbreak fears


people: 柯文哲 蔡英文 林昶佐 馬英九 陳水扁 韓國瑜 宋楚瑜

title: KMT faults once again in spotlight

content_text:
As someone who has lived in Taiwan and closely followed and written about its democracy for the past three decades, I must admit that, overall, I was pleased with the Jan. 11 election results.

It may be biased to say, but the people have spoken and democracy triumphed.

The incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), won another four-year term.

Meanwhile, the DPP, which maintained its majority in the Legislative Yuan, received a mild warning as it lost some legislative seats. Tellingly, in the separate party vote, the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) received an equal amount of legislative seats.

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT populist candidate, was sent packing back to Kaohsiung to see if he has any ability to be a real mayor, let alone a president.

In the arena of third parties, which should be considered necessary in a democracy, there were some surprises.

First, the voters sounded the death knell of People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and the PFP. Soong received a disappointing 4.2 percent of the vote for president. Since he will be 81 by the next presidential election in 2024, the chances of him trying to run a campaign again are minimal.

Further, despite its early confidence that it could win 10 legislative seats, the PFP did not pass the 5 percent threshold in the party vote. It therefore will have no representation in the upcoming legislature. Since the PFP shepherd has been slain, the flock will no doubt scatter.

The New Power Party (NPP) continued to maintain some influence by again obtaining three legislator-at-large seats in the party vote. One of its former members, Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), held on to his seat, but this time as an independent.

However, the big surprise was that of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), which won five legislator-at-large seats through the party vote.

Founded by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the TPP replaced the NPP as the third-largest party in the nation. With its showing, and that Ko would finish his second term as mayor of Taipei in 2022, it seems likely that Ko would consider running for president in 2024.

Taiwan has clearly progressed in its democracy, and yet for any close observer, there remains a strong sense of deja vu. It brings to mind the French saying: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Why? What has created this haunting sense of deja vu, which, like the pungent aroma of stale and dated perfume, continues to hang over both Taiwan and that nation on the other side of the Taiwan Strait?

Begin with the People’s Republic of China (PRC):

In 2013, I wrote an opinion piece about how, despite the KMT victory in 2012 and the despair in some DPP circles, to a close observer, the DPP was already back in the game even with the 2008 scandals of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) (“China will have to deal with DPP,” April 24, 2013, page 8).

True, the KMT had won again in 2012, but its victories were a clear and distant second to those of 2008. Then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was already losing his sheen and he had now received the title of “bumbler.” Further, the KMT had no strong candidate to replace him in 2016. It did not find one and lost.

That op-ed claimed that China would definitely have to face the inevitable future reality of dealing with the DPP. How true. Few believed it then, but that reality has prevailed. The DPP and Taiwan’s democracy are clearly not going away.

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content_text:
US Senate rejects witnesses in Trump impeachment

‘TRAGEDY’:Democrats in the US Senate had badly wanted to hear new testimony, especially from John Bolton, but Republican senators said they had heard enough
The US Senate late on Friday narrowly rejected Democratic demands to summon witnesses for US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, all but ensuring his acquittal in the third trial to threaten a US president’s removal in US history.

However, US senators moved to push off final voting on his fate to Wednesday.

The delay in timing showed the weight of a historic vote bearing down on US senators, despite prodding by the president eager to have acquittal behind him in an election year and ahead of his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

Under an agreement to be voted on Friday night, the trial would resume tomorrow for final arguments, with time tomorrow and Tuesday for senators to speak.

Friday’s effort to allow new witnesses was defeated 51-49 on a near party-line vote. Republican US senators Susan Collins and Mitt Romney voted with the Democrats, but that was not enough.

Despite the Democrats’ singular focus on hearing new testimony, the Republican majority brushed past those demands to make this the first impeachment trial without witnesses.

Even new revelations on Friday from former US national security adviser John Bolton did not sway Republican senators, who said they had heard enough.

That means the eventual outcome for Trump would be an acquittal “in name only,” said US Representative Val Demings, a US House of Representatives prosecutor, during final debate.

Some called it a cover-up.

US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Friday night’s results “a tragedy on a very large scale.”

Protesters’ chants reverberated against the walls of the Capitol.

However, Republicans said Trump’s acquittal is justified and inevitable.

“The sooner the better for the country,” said US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant. “Let’s turn the page.”

The next steps are to come in the heart of presidential campaign season before a divided nation. Democratic caucus voting begins tomorrow in Iowa and four Democratic candidates have been chafing in the Senate chamber rather than campaigning.

Trump was last month impeached by the House on charges that he abused power and obstructed US Congress like no other US president has done as he tried to pressure Ukraine to investigate former US vice president Joe Biden and then blocked the congressional probe of his actions.

The Democrats had badly wanted testimony from Bolton, whose forthcoming book links Trump directly to the charges.

However, Bolton would not be summoned and none of this appeared to affect the trial’s outcome.

In an unpublished manuscript, Bolton wrote that Trump asked him during an Oval Office meeting in early May last year to bolster his effort to get Ukraine to investigate Democrats, according to a person who read the passage and told The Associated Press.

The person, who was not authorized to disclose contents of the book, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Separately on Friday, the Trump administration announced that it was restricting immigrants from six additional countries that US officials said failed to meet minimum security standards.

Immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania are to face new restrictions in obtaining certain visas to travel to the US, the officials said.

However, it is not a total travel ban, unlike Trump’s earlier effort that generated outrage around the world for targeting Muslims.

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references: Facebook Twitter

title: World News Quick Take

content_text:
POLAND

Arms deal signed with US

The government on Friday signed a US$4.6 billion deal with the US for the purchase of 32 of advanced F-35 jets to enhance air defense on NATO’s eastern flank at a time of increased Russian military activity. President Andrzej Duda said it was an “exceptionally important day for Poland’s air force, and for the security of Poland and of our part of Europe.” Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak signed the deal and handed the document to US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher during a ceremony at an air force academy in the central town of Deblin. Duda said it was among the biggest deals in the history of the country’s armed forces and a sign of the strength of relations with the US.

UNITED STATES

Billionaire dead at 100

Anne Cox Chambers, a newspaper heiress, diplomat and philanthropist who was one of the country’s richest women, died on Friday at the age of 100. Chambers’ nephew James Cox Kennedy announced her death to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, her company’s flagship newspaper. “Aunt Anne was a wonderful, kind and elegant lady who cared deeply about her family, her company and her country,” Kennedy said. Chambers, a director of Cox Enterprises, promoted former US president Jimmy Carter’s political career and served as ambassador to Belgium during his presidency. Forbes several years ago estimated her net worth at nearly US$17 billion.

ITALY

Advocates slam policy

Human rights advocates and aid groups on Friday slammed the government for deciding to extend a deal that facilitates the return of Europe-bound migrants to detention centers in Libya, where they are at risk of getting raped and tortured. Amnesty International said the government’s plan to renew the deal for another three years today makes it “complicit in this abuse.” A 2017 accord between Italy and Libya included equipment and training for the Libyan coast guard to intercept migrants who set off in smugglers’ boats from the shores of the North African country.

UNITED STATES

‘Queen of Suspense’ dies

Best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark, known to her fans as the “Queen of Suspense,” has died aged 92, her publisher said on Friday. Clark was still producing a book a year at the age of 90, with her page-turners earning her a legion of fans across the world and even making her one of the top-selling fiction authors in France. “She passed away peacefully this evening at the age of 92 surrounded by family and friends,” publisher Simon & Schuster said on Twitter. With sales of more than 100 million thrillers in the US alone, she achieved success in her 40s after a series of personal tragedies.

UNITED STATES

SUV drives into Mar-a-Lago

Law enforcement agents on Friday opened fire on a sports utility vehicle (SUV) driver who smashed through two security checkpoints at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in what authorities described as the actions of “an obviously impaired” driver and not an intentional attack on the resort. The driver, Hannah Roemhild, 30, of Connecticut, who identifies herself on her Facebook page as an opera singer, was later arrested at a nearby motel. No one was injured, authorities said, and Trump was not at the club at the time, although he was scheduled to arrive there later in the day.

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content_text:
A: I was woken up by firecrackers last night just as I was going to sleep. Haven’t the new year festivities already finished?

B: Today’s the ninth day of the Lunar New Year: the Jade Emperor’s birthday.

A: Are there any other special customs?

B: Most temples put out fruit, vegetables and fresh flowers to celebrate the Jade Emperor’s birthday, and they also make longan tea.

A: 昨天晚上我正要睡著時被鞭炮聲嚇醒，過年不是結束了嗎？

B: 今天是初九，天公生日啊。

A: 慶祝天公生日，有什麼特別的習俗嗎？

B: 大部分廟宇都是以素菜跟鮮花水果為天公祝壽，他們還會煮桂圓茶哦。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH


title: Las Vegas preparing celebration of ‘Miracle on Ice’

content_text:
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb, left, and goaltender Malcolm Subban, right, defend as Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas looks to score during their NHL game in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday. The Golden Knights won 4-3.Photo: AP
Russell Valvo remembers vividly where he was when the US Olympic ice hockey team beat the then-Soviet Union in 1980, and two days later beat Finland for the gold medal.

Just 12 years old, watching with his parents, he had never tried skating before the 1980 Olympics, but the day after the US players stood on the podium in Lake Placid, New York, he insisted that his mother take him to buy his first pair of ice skates.

“I used to play street hockey when I was a kid in New York, but when I watched the Olympics and they beat the Russians,” Valvo said. “I was here in Vegas, I learned how to skate in Vegas, I learned how to play in Vegas.”

So it was no surprise to see Valvo at the Golden Knights’ practice facility, where Bill Baker and Dave Christian were on hand on Friday to meet with media and fans while promoting the upcoming celebration in Las Vegas of the 40th anniversary of the team’s “Miracle on Ice.”

“That gives you chills, having that kind of an impact,” Christian said. “It’s stories like that and being able to meet somebody that can relate and tell you that story, that’s just such a fantastic feeling.”

Eighteen of the 20 players from the Miracle on Ice roster — including captain Mike Eruzione and goaltender Jim Craig — are to share their memories with hockey fans when they gather for the anniversary celebration on Feb. 21 and 22.

The only missing players will be defenseman Bob Suter, who died in 2014, and forward Mark Pavelich, who was jailed last year on assault charges and ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial. Also missing will be coach Herb Brooks, who was killed in a car accident in 2003.

The Golden Knights on Feb. 21 are to host an event for the former players and season ticket holders at the Brooklyn Bowl, an event center that features 32 bowling lanes and a gigantic music venue.

The blockbuster event on Feb. 22 at the Thomas & Mack Center is to include video of never-before-seen moments from the team’s improbable run. A celebrity emcee is to moderate conversations between the players, celebrities and NHL stars as the team takes spectators through the 13-day tournament with behind-the-scenes information and stories.

Later that day at the T-Mobile Arena, the team is to be honored during the Golden Knights’ game against the Florida Panthers.

“Our team is no stranger to the unexpected magic that occurs when a group of misfits and underdogs come together at the right time,” Golden Knights president Kerry Bubolz said. “We’re honored to host a group of individuals who experienced that same magic on the ice in 1980.”

Christian agreed that there is something appropriate about the 40th anniversary being celebrated in a town that was helped in its healing after the largest mass shooting in US history by the Golden Knights’ implausible run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2017.

“It was such a tragedy, the shooting here, it just seems so hard to even fathom,” said Baker, who scored the game-tying goal against Sweden in the opening game of the 1980 Olympics. “If hockey could do anything to ease the pain of those people, everybody would be so proud of that. I just thought [at the time], if there’s anything that could give a lift to that area at that point, I was really excited for the city of Vegas.”

The US team’s 4-3 medal-round victory over the Soviet Union in the semi-finals was named by Sports Illustrated in 1999 as the top sports moment of the 20th century.

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content_text:
People pay their respects at a Staples Center memorial to NBA legend Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles on Friday.Photo: AFP

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Red roses adorned the courtside seats where Kobe and Gianna Bryant sat at the final Los Angeles Lakers game they attended. On the overhead video board, photographs of Bryant in action for the Lakers alternated with those of the other seven people who were killed alongside him and his 13-year-old daughter in a helicopter crash.

Friday night at the Staples Center was unlike any other.

Later on, there would be a basketball game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Lakers, their first since Bryant’s death on Sunday last week.

However, in the couple hours leading up to the game there was mostly silence. The electric atmosphere that surges through the arena before NBA games was nowhere to be felt. Media talked quietly among themselves without the usual music playing. Somber ushers took up their positions with black ribbons attached to their purple work shirts. Grief counseling was offered to arena staff and one female usher pulled tissues out of her pocket.

Inside the Lakers locker room, Bryant’s No. 24 gold jersey hung on a wooden hanger from a fire alarm next to LeBron James’ locker. It was Bryant’s locker when he helped the team win five NBA championships during his 20 years in Los Angeles.

“He’s been really a tower of strength for all of us,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of James. “We’re following his lead.”

Dwight Howard sat at his locker with earbuds in. None of the players spoke before the game, which the Trail Blazers won 127-119.

In New York, Kyrie Irving channeled his inner “Mamba mentality” by torching Chicago for 54 points on Friday as the Brooklyn Nets crushed the Chicago Bulls 133-118 at the Barclays Center.

Irving’s electrifying performance saw him shoot 19 of 23 from the field as he made his first 10 shots of the game before finishing it off with a dominating stretch in the fourth.

“I hit a few shots in first half, so I just kept it going,” Irving said. “The Kobe mentality and Mamba mentality kept me going. It felt good.”

Irving also tied a season-high by making seven three-pointers on nine attempts for the Nets, who beat Chicago for the ninth time in their past 11 meetings.

Elsewhere, Pascal Siakam had 30 points, as the visiting Toronto Raptors stretched their winning streak to 10 games by cruising past the struggling Detroit Pistons 105-92.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 127-115, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 111-107, the New Orleans Pelicans downed the Memphis Grizzlies 139-111, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Detroit Pistons 105-92 and the Houston Rockets downed the Dallas Mavericks 128-121.

Meanwhile, players are to wear special uniforms and patches during the All-Star weekend on Feb. 15 and 16 to pay tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant and the others killed in the helicopter crash, the National Basketball Association said.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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title: Somber return for Lakers after deaths


title: Sunwolves punish Rebels to begin final term in style

content_text:
Anaru Rangi, right, of the Melbourne Rebels carries the ball against the Sunwolves in Fukuoka, Japan, yesterday.Photo: EPA-EFE

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Japan’s Sunwolves began their farewell season in Super Rugby in blistering fashion yesterday, with flyhalf Garth April orchestrating a 36-27 upset over the visiting Melbourne Rebels.

Keisuke Moriya, Jaba Bregvadze, Tautalatasi Tasi, James Dargaville and April scored tries in the Fukuoka sunshine, the mercurial April pacing the Tokyo-based outfit with 16 points, including five-from-six with the boot.

“We only assembled four weeks ago,” said Jake Schatz, captain of a new-look Sunwolves side, who have been hastily cobbled together. “To put that effort in together today, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. Everyone dug in and showed heart. It was incredible.”

The Sunwolves, looking to go out with a bang in their fifth and final year in Super Rugby, came out firing, Moriya darting over after 10 minutes before a driving maul allowed hooker Bregvadze to crash over and leave the Rebels stunned.

Hooker Anaru Rangu bulldozed through in the 25th minute to bring the visitors back into the game, only for the Sunwolves to hit back through Tasi, who collected a superb floated pass from Moriya to score in the corner.

Dane Haylett-Petty burst through to reduce the deficit to six points, but April slotted a penalty to send the Sunwolves into the break leading 22-13.

Dargaville sprinted 50m to score the home side’s fourth try at the start of the second half, before April ghosted through on the hour mark and then converted to give the home side a 23-point cushion.

The Sunwolves finished 2-14 last year and had won just eight of 61 matches since joining the competition in 2016, many of those ending in some terrible hidings.

They had also lost all five previous meetings with the Rebels, but although Andrew Kellaway and Andrew Deegan pulled tries back for the Melbourne side in a late flourish, the Sunwolves stood firm to secure a deserved win.

“We’re definitely disappointed with that,” Rebels skipper Haylett-Petty said. “We leaked too many points. The Sunwolves played with speed and we weren’t able to get set — there’s plenty for us to work on for the rest of the season.”

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title: How Chiefs, 49ers compare in Super Bowl

content_text:
A man cleans the glass case around the Vince Lombardi Trophy at a National Football League fan zone in Miami on Friday.Photo: EPA-EFE

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It has been a while since a Super Bowl has appeared to be such a toss-up. This one between the National Football Conference champions the San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions the Kansas City Chiefs is a difficult game to judge.

The 49ers (15-3) have gone from the No. 2 pick in the draft in April last year to the verge of another championship. The Chiefs (14-4) were in the AFC title contest last year and fell in overtime.

Both teams were dynamic and won a bunch of big games in the regular season, now they meet in the biggest game.

CHIEFS WITH BALL

It is not difficult to figure out how the Chiefs will approach any game. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes (in jersey No. 15) will test defenses with his arm and skill for reading schemes. He has game-breakers in wide receivers Tyreek Hill (10) and Sammy Watkins (14), which means single coverage on either is a gamble. Tight end Travis Kelce (87) is a first-down machine and a clutch performer.

Damien Williams (26) keys the backfield and comes off two exceptional post-season showings, even though Mahomes has often been the leading rusher by creating the way he did in the AFC championship game with a brilliant tap dance down the sideline for a go-ahead score.

That puts a huge onus on the Niners to get an effective pass rush, something they have done virtually every week. They will harass Mahomes with a front seven led by rookie Nick Bosa (97), a force on the outside. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (99) has had a strong impact, and linebackers Fred Warner (54) and Kwon Alexander (56), who is finally healthy, are formidable. Having edge rusher Dee Ford (55), who was a Chief last season, bolsters the unit.

They will challenge a good Kansas City offensive line anchored by right tackle Mitchell Schwartz (71) and left tackle Eric Fisher (72), but if the offensive line holds true, San Francisco could struggle in coverage against the speedy Chiefs wideouts. Cornerback Richard Sherman (25) remains outstanding, even if the rest of the secondary is not at his level.

NINERS WITH BALL

After seeing the star turn by running back Raheem Mostert (31) against Green Bay, the Chiefs must be wary of what usually is a three-pronged rushing attack. Tevin Coleman (26), if healthy, and Matt Breida (22) give quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo options in the backfield, although Mostert is certain to be the main man. They operate behind a veteran line led by left tackle Joe Staley (74) and second-year right tackle Mike McGlinchey, while Kyle Juszczyk (44) is the NFL’s top fullback — as a blocker and receiver.

If the Niners run the ball effectively, it could open some wide spaces for All-Pro tight end George Kittle (85), the most dynamic offensive player they have. Kittle is a difference-maker who will force the Chiefs to use double coverage at times. Safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) will see a lot of Kittle, and safety Daniel Sorensen (49), who has had a monstrous playoffs, will be in the mix.

Covering wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders (17), Kendrick Bourne (84) and emerging rookie Deebo Samuel (19), who is fearless going over the middle, is another chore the Chiefs must handle well. That will require big-time contributions up front from Chris Jones (92) and Frank Clark (55) and line backers Anthony Hitchens (53) and Damien Wilson (54).

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content_text:
Can heading a soccer ball lead to dementia? The evidence is growing

「頭槌」可能造成失智症？證據逐漸明朗

In a photograph taken on Oct. 18, 1969, Chelsea’s Eddie McCreadie, second right, kicks the ball clear from a scrimmage in front of West Bromwich’s Jeff Astle, left, during an English League Division One soccer match at Stamford Bridge Stadium in London.
在這張一九六九年十月十八日的資料照中，切爾西的艾迪‧麥克雷迪(右二)在爭球混戰中把球從西布朗維奇的傑夫‧阿斯特爾(左)面前踢出去，攝於倫敦史丹佛橋球場的一場英格蘭足球甲組聯賽。Photo: AP
照片：美聯社
The death in 2002 of the former England and West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle from degenerative brain disease placed the spotlight firmly on the possibility of a link between heading soccers and the risk of dementia. The coroner at the inquest ruled that Astle, 59, died from an “industrial disease” brought on by the repeated trauma of headers, and a later examination of Astle’s brain appeared to bear out this conclusion.

At that time there was sparse scientific data on the issue, but since then the balance of evidence has steadily tipped further in favor of a link. It has been shown that even single episodes of concussion can have lifelong consequences.

A 2016 study based on the health records of more than 100,000 people in Sweden found that after a single diagnosed concussion people were more likely to have mental health problems and less likely to graduate from high school and college. Other research has shown that people in prison or homeless are more likely to have had a past experience of concussion.

In 2017, researchers from University College London examined postmortem the brains of six former soccer players who had developed dementia. They found signs of brain injury called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in four cases.

Last year a study by a team at Glasgow University found that former professional soccer players were three and a half times more likely to die from dementia and other serious neurological diseases. The study was the largest ever, based on the health records of 7,676 ex-players and 23,000 members of the public, and was possibly the trigger for the Scottish FA’s plan to follow US soccer in banning heading the ball for young players.

There is an open question about which element of soccer is responsible for the link. Clashes of heads leading to concussion or other factors cannot be ruled out. But according to Prof Michael Grey, who is leading a project on soccer and dementia at the University of East Anglia, heading the ball is the most obvious culprit. “The bigger issue really probably is these subconcussive injuries,” he said. “Repetitively heading the ball day after day, week after week, that’s what leads to the damage we see in ex-professionals.”

Grey said that since children have relatively larger heads and weaker necks, they are particularly at risk. “Just based on the pure mechanics, they’re going to have more damage,” he said.

Assuming that heading the ball is the culprit, another question is how exactly these repeated impacts make the brain more vulnerable. “There are lots of plausible explanations,” said Craig Ritchie, a professor of the psychiatry of aging at the University of Edinburgh. “Is it a buildup of proteins like tau in the brain, or amyloid? It could be inflammation, it could be blood flow, it could be a whole host of different things.”

Ritchie is collaborating with the Glasgow study team on a project aimed at gathering data to fill in this gap. They are hoping to track 100 ex-professional soccer players and 100 ex-rugby players, as well as hundreds of members of the public, over the coming decades. Participants will be given detailed brain scans, submit samples of cerebral spinal fluid and take part in cognitive tests.

Ritchie welcomed the Scottish FA’s move to ban under-12s heading the ball in training, saying that as well as being grounded in new scientific evidence, it may reflect a society that cares more about brain health than was the case 20 years ago. “It’s higher in people’s minds that there is this risk,” he said.

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title: Taiwan in Time: Warrior in a wheelchair

content_text:
Liu Hsia, seated, was selected as one of the nation’s 10 Outstanding Young Women in 1980.Photo courtesy of National Central Library

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Feb. 3 to Feb. 9

Liu Hsia (劉俠) clearly remembered the day her left arm began to ache. At first, her family thought it was sore from carrying her newborn sister around. But when her left foot started hurting and swelled up, it was evident that something was seriously wrong.

After two misdiagnoses, Liu was close to death. By the time she got to a proper hospital, the doctor screamed at her father for letting her illness drag on for so long. They proclaimed that it was rheumatoid arthritis, a degenerative autoimmune disorder that results in painful, swollen and stiff joints. The condition left her wheelchair bound for most of her life.

That day was July 7, 1954.

“That day was the beginning of my endless war with my illness,” Liu, better known by her pen name Xing Lin Tzu (杏林子), writes in her best-known book, Xing Lin Xiao Ji (杏林小記). She was just 12 years old.

Liu went on to be a prolific and popular writer, an activist for the disabled, which led to her being listed among the nation’s 10 Outstanding Young Women (十大傑出女青年) in 1980. She later founded the influential non-profit Eden Social Welfare Foundation (伊甸社會福利基金會). Having only completed elementary school, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Providence University (靜宜大學) and appointed a national policy advisor in 2001.

“I don’t know how many times I thought of ending my life,” she writes. “But in the back of my mind, I always refused to resign to my fate. I’ve already suffered so much. If I give up now, wouldn’t I have suffered for nothing?”

HOSPITAL BLUES

Liu’s pen name was drawn from her hometown of Xinglin (杏林) in China, a honorific in Chinese that refers to accomplished physicians. Xing Lin Xiao Ji is a light-hearted and contemplative collection of essays about her illness and her observations from the hospital, which was her second home.

“The hospital is a microcosm of society,” she writes in the introduction. “Life and death happen at the same time, laughter and tears coexist. You can feel the fragility and helplessness of life, but also the resolve and perseverance of life. Oftentimes, you can see the cruelest and most heartless side of humanity, but also the most heartwarming and touching side … The hospital is a place that always makes people think deeply, get inspired and renew their strength.”

Liu was playful about her illness. In one passage, she writes: “In most cases, the same joints on both sides of the body flare up simultaneously. Mine was different; sometimes it would be my left shoulder, right elbow and left hand … I liked to say that my symptoms were ‘fancy.’ From a young age I was very individualistic. Even my illness was special!”

But she also detailed her suffering. “In the past 20 years, I haven’t had one good night of sleep, and I have been constantly in pain. I’ve sorted my pain into five levels: small pain, medium pain, big pain, immense pain and insane pain. My family often jokingly asked me, ‘What level is it today?’”

Liu believes that the culprit for her illness was the immense pressure to enter a good junior high school. Back then, compulsory education was only six years, and sixth graders had to take an exam to further their studies. Liu endured 13-hour days and barely had the energy or time to eat properly, and her body, which was already frail to begin with, broke down.


title: Clashing views on masks fuel coronavirus confusion

content_text:
Tourists wearing masks stand outside the Coliseum in Rome on Friday.Photo: AFP
“Do not wear a mask if you are well” read a warning plastered across the front of Singapore’s main newspaper on Friday, as authorities around the world sought to calm panic buying of masks seen as a guard against a fast-spreading coronavirus.

In neighboring Malaysia, the government urged people to always have masks and hand sanitizers ready, similar to advice by authorities in Thailand and Vietnam.

Conflicting messages have sowed confusion over how to protect against an epidemic that has claimed more than 200 lives in China and spread to more than 20 countries, with some experts saying that wrong handling of masks could even increase infection risk.

“Wearing a mask only when u feel unwell? Then why do u need soldiers when there isn’t war? It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Facebook user Kenny Chan Wai Kong posted in Singapore, where authorities have announced plans to give four masks to every household as retailers’ stocks run dry across the city-state.

In parts of Asia, wearing masks is common when people are sick or to counter urban pollution.

Official guidance from the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes no mention of wearing a mask as a preventative measure against the virus, but their Web sites do not specifically advise against them.

Australia and Taiwan have said healthy people do not need masks, but Australia has released 1 million masks from the national medical stockpile, and masks are widely worn in Taipei, where the government has imposed purchase limits and an export ban on masks.

The Taiwan Railways Administration on Friday said that if the virus continues to spread it would refuse to carry passengers not wearing masks.

The coronavirus can be transmitted from person to person, although it is not clear how easily. Most cases have been in people who have been in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the center of the outbreak, family members of those infected, or medical workers.

Transmission is likely through contact with an infected person via particles in the air from coughing or sneezing, or by someone touching an infected person or object with the virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

“Situations that require a mask are when you are in a crowd ... or if you are caring for a sick person. If it makes you feel better, wear a surgical mask,” Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Center for Infection & Immunity at Columbia University, said on the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

Other experts have said disposable surgical masks might not fit the face tightly enough to prevent infection, while some have said that wrong handling of masks, such as touching the front, could increase the likelihood of infection spread.

In Hong Kong, a lawmaker who chairs the government’s health services panel was slammed over a short video she posted showing people how to steam and reuse disposable masks.

More unusual advice has seen the Indian government suggest a traditional concoction that includes ginger and holy basil as virus protection, while a Burmese minister was rebuked for sharing a Facebook post that advised people to eat more onions.

Some overseas Chinese have been buying masks to send to friends and relatives in China, where some stocks have been running out.

Chinese living in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia sent 150,000 masks back to their home province of Gansu on Thursday, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

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title: Japan sending warship to Middle East

content_text:
Japan sending warship to Middle East

OPERATING ALONE:Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to have balanced the US’ call for more involvement in the Middle East with voters’ concerns over pacifism
The centerpiece of Japan’s response to US calls for a Middle East security coalition — a single warship — is to set sail on a mission that highlights just how few US allies have signed up.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Takanami and two patrol airplanes are taking part in what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has said would be a year-long intelligence-gathering deployment to protect vital oil shipments from the region.

However, Japan has made sure that those assets would be operating independently from the US and staying away from potential flashpoints in the Persian Gulf.

US allies, such as Japan, are walking a fine line to show support for President Donald Trump, while minimizing the risk of getting drawn into a larger conflict with Iran.

Many disagreed with Trump’s decision to withdraw from a 2018 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to curb Tehran’s nuclear program and were alarmed over a flurry of violence last month that included the US’ targeted killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

While Australia and the UK have each committed ships and are part of the US-led International Maritime Security Construct, others, such as Japan, India and South Korea, have sent vessels to the region with orders to act independently.

France said it would deploy its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Middle East from last month to April to support European countries.

“The international response has varied from lukewarm to hostile,” said Ashley Townshend, director of foreign policy and defense at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre.

“Most US allies and partners have sensibly sought to stay out of the Persian Gulf deployment, which is — or at least could have been — an entirely avoidable mission, had Trump not withdrawn from the JCPOA and eschewed a cool-headed path of diplomacy,” he said.

The US began recruiting backers for the security coalition last summer after a series of attacks on tankers near the gulf.

Trump singled out Japan, which receives almost 90 percent of its oil from the Middle East, among the countries that were providing “zero compensation” for US protection.

Abe has to balance Trump’s demands with the concerns of voters who believe overseas deployments violate the country’s commitment to pacifism enshrined in its post-World War II constitution.

With today’s mission, Abe appears to have done just enough to avoid upsetting any parties.

Similarly, South Korea has announced that it would temporarily expand anti-piracy patrols by its Cheonghae naval unit to include the Strait of Hormuz and transfer troops already nearby in the region to the gulf.

“By operating outside the US coalition, Japan and South Korea hope to minimize their military exposure, while also preserving diplomatic ties and economic relations with Iran — something Prime Minister Abe has so far dexterously achieved,” Townshend said.

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title: Fukushima water release to sea is best option: panel

content_text:
A union official sorts fish for radiation testing in Iwaki, Japan, on Jan. 22.Photo: EPA-EFE
A Japanese government panel on Friday roughly accepted a draft proposal for releasing into the sea massive amounts of radioactive water being stored at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s draft proposal said that releasing the water gradually into the sea was the safer, more feasible method, although evaporation was also a proven method used after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the US.

The proposal would be submitted to the government in the coming weeks for further discussion to decide when and how the water should be released.

Nearly nine years after the 2011 meltdowns of three reactor cores at the nuclear power plant, it was a small step toward deciding what to do with the water and follows expert recommendations.

It is meant to solve a growing problem for the plant’s operator stuck between limited storage space for the water, and an imminent backlash from the public and possibly neighboring countries.

Fishers and residents fear possible health effects from releasing the radioactive water as well as harm to the region’s image, and fishing and farming industry.

The water has been treated, and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power, has said that all 62 radioactive elements it contains can be removed to levels not harmful to humans, except for tritium.

The ministry said the controlled release to the sea is superior than other methods, because its traveling route is predictable and easier to sample and monitor.

However, the method could affect Fukushima’s still struggling fishing industry.

Some said a release of the water should not be rushed or it would compromise Fukushima’s reconstruction.

“We should put Fukushima’s recovery before anything else,” said Takami Morita at the National Research Institute of Fisheries Science. “Local fishermen and residents cannot accept a release of the water unless Fukushima’s recovery makes more progress.”

Morita said demand for Fukushima fish has only recovered to less than one-fifth of levels before the accident, even though almost all fish from the area meet safety standards.

The report acknowledged that the water release would harm industries that still face reluctant consumers, despite diligent safety checks.

It promised to reinforce monitoring of tritium levels and food safety checks to address consumer concerns.

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content_text:
人類飲酒歷史已超過一萬年了，喝酒在聚會、交際應酬時無可避免，酒量好的人在這些場合自然居優勢。雖然適量飲酒對身體有好處，例如減少心血管疾病發生與死亡率等，但飲酒過量對健康的傷害非常巨大。

口腔會吸收酒精
人類喝酒後，酒精大部分是由小腸吸收，但由於酒精分子既有「水溶性」又具「脂溶性」的雙重性質，能輕易通過細胞膜，因此當酒喝進嘴裡，就已有少部分酒精通過口腔細胞進入體內。因此從喝第一口酒開始幾分鐘內，酒精就進入血液循環，遍及身體各器官組織並造成影響。

喝酒後身體為何會發熱
酒精會使身體表層血管擴張，使內部溫熱的血液引導至手腳四肢，因此人們會誤以為身體發熱。相反地，這個現象會加速身體「散熱」，導致心臟、大腦等器官溫度下降，可能有失溫危險。在美國就曾有人酒後意識不清時，脫去上衣並在雪地行走，最後因失溫喪失性命。

肝臟是代謝酒精的主要器官
肝臟是人體代謝養分及解毒的重要器官，酒精代謝也是由肝臟承擔。腸道吸收的酒精經由血液循環抵達肝臟後，肝臟細胞酵素會先將酒精氧化成乙醛，乙醛再氧化成醋酸，之後再分解為二氧化碳和水排出體外。

酒精為何傷肝
酒精代謝過程產生的「乙醛」是化學反應性很強的分子，它會不受控制地在細胞內與各種生物分子發生反應，破壞這些分子的結構及功能，這對人體造成極大的傷害，世界衛生組織（WHO）因此認定乙醛是致癌物質。乙醛會直接攻擊細胞的各種酵素及結構蛋白質，影響細胞的新陳代謝及結構完整性；當乙醛與 DNA 發生反應後，一方面可能會影響正常基因表現調節，另一方面會發生基因突變製造出異常蛋白質。無論哪種傷害都會影響肝臟細胞的功能，嚴重時甚至會造成肝臟細胞死亡，形成慢性「酒精性肝炎」。

肝臟代謝酒精時會產生很多能量，這些能量能供應肝細胞合成脂肪酸所需。脂肪酸和甘油結合後就會形成「三酸甘油酯」，當肝細胞堆積過多三酸甘油酯，就會演變為「脂肪肝」。酒精性肝炎及脂肪肝長期交互作用下，會進一步惡化為肝硬化甚至肝癌。

喝酒不但傷肝也「傷心」
飲酒太快太猛時，再強的肝也來不及將過多酒精代謝乾淨，此時殘餘的乙醛會在人體內流竄傷害其他器官。當乙醛攻擊心臟時會使心肌細胞病變，嚴重時病人會發生心臟衰竭有呼吸困難及下肢水腫等症狀；當乙醛隨著血液進入大腦，則會破壞神經元細胞膜，並會與許多神經元受體結合，削弱大腦的功能增加失智症風險。

茶不能解酒，B 群則有幫助
不喝或少喝酒自然不會遭受酒精危害，但有些時候因工作等不得已情況，導致酒喝多了，又該如何補救呢？有些人以為喝茶能解酒，因為喝酒後喝茶後確實會舒服一點，其實喝茶不但無法解酒，反而加重心臟和腎臟的負擔。比較好的做法是補充 B 群，由於維他命 B 群在肝臟代謝酒精時消耗量較大，飲酒後 B 群含量會明顯減少，因此補充 B 群對肝臟代謝酒精有一些幫助，並能避免或減緩宿醉的嚴重程度。

結語
如果一定要喝酒，記得不要空腹喝，先吃些東西減緩酒精吸收的速度。喝的時候盡量放慢，盡可能避免一口氣喝太多酒，如此肝臟才有足夠的時間將乙醛清除完全。最後呼籲，酒後絕對不開車！酒駕肇事的傷害不只有個人財務及健康，更可能導致兩個以上家庭破碎！

Can You Prevent a Hangover With Vitamin B Complex?
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（首圖來源：pixabay）

延伸閱讀：

俄國人都愛喝酒？WHO 調查：現在沒有了
研究：青春期及成年早期重度飲酒，會影響大腦生長速度

title: 飲酒過量，當心脂肪肝、肝癌、失智上身


content_text:
不是所有實驗物理學家都在地球做實驗，有時候得把場景換到太空，尤其極端狀態下才能發現的未知機制。美國奧本大學 Ahmad Nemer 與合作者利用太空星雲發現一種新的「復合」（Recombination）過程──Rydberg Enhanced Recombination，或稱 RER，只有在溫度及密度極低的環境下才能顯現效應。

宇宙充滿了游離電子及原子，特別是星雲，瀰漫在太空中，密度比地球能製造的真空都要低，附近天體的高能輻射吹拂並激發它們使電子游離形成電漿，但電子很快又會與離子「復合」落回穩定的能階，放出微弱的螢光。一直以來，光電離及復合過程研究幫助我們了解宇宙的元素豐度，建立恆星演化、星系組成及宇宙學的模型。

2010 年，Robicheaux 團隊預測一個新的復合過程，儘管未曾發現，但可能在能量極低的電漿占有一席之地，就「Rydberg Enhanced Recombination」，鑑於 RER 需在極為嚴苛的狀態下才會發生，科學家完全無法在地球驗證正確性。於是 Ahmad Nemer 將目標放在太空，觀察 8 個行星狀星雲和一個密接雙星（symbiotic binaries），在星雲光譜發現符合 RER 預期的特徵。RER 過程對星雲的元素豐度計算會產生顯著變化，未來對星雲的觀測分析，RER 或是不可忽略的過程。

▲ 光譜強度，橫軸為波長，縱軸為輻射通量。A 為行星狀星雲，B 為密接雙星。C II 及 C III 為 RER 過程產生。

Confirming New Physics in Space

（本文由 台北天文館 授權轉載；首圖來源：NASA / ESA）

title: 只能在宇宙實驗室做到的物理新發現


content_text:
很多新科技都會在教育界率先引進，原因之一是年輕學生接受能力較高，也較易掌握新科技；不過近期有反對以生物認證方式進行監控的組織在美國學界發起運動，希望能夠向高等教育機構施壓，停止在大學校園繼續使用，或嘗試引進臉部辨識技術。

美國其中一個最大的數位權益保障機構 Fight for the Future，日前聯同非營利壓力團體 Students for Sensible Drug Policy 公布了全美接近 100 間大學校園，有關使用臉部辨識技術的資料，當中史丹佛大學和南加州大學都榜上有名，他們都是一間加州臉部辨識技術公司的客戶。

Fight for Future 表示，有 45 間大學回應不會使用，或未有打算引進臉部辨識技術，包括波士頓大學、麻省理工學院、密西根州立大學等；不過也有 30 間大學拒絕回應。兩個發起這次運動的組織認為臉部辨識技術不可靠、具偏見，而且威脅學生的基本權益和安全。他們撰寫的公開信中提到，人們憂慮政府機關會利用技術去控制少數族裔，同時限制異見人士，促請總統川普和國土安全局叫停所有臉部辨識技術。

Campaign to Ban Face Recognition at U.S. Colleges Gathers Steam

（本文由 Unwire HK 授權轉載；首圖來源：shutterstock）

延伸閱讀：

30 億張圖庫，一張照片就能查個資！臉部辨識再爆隱私爭議
美國政府研究確認臉部辨識技術有偏見

title: 美國關注組織發起運動，阻止大學校園引進臉部辨識技術


content_text:
2020-02-01 23:38:49

〔記者洪定宏／高雄報導〕越捷航空表定今（1）日晚間7點，從高雄飛往河內的班機，因禁令延誤；禁令解除後，民航局特許越捷航空在高雄機場宵禁後降落，但必須在明（2）日凌晨2點前離境。

越捷航空人員表示，編號VJ946班機於今晚約9點半，從河內起飛，預計明天凌晨約0點25分抵達高雄機場，再以編號VJ947起飛，返回河內。

原本高雄機場在深夜11點宵禁，但因為獲得民航局特許，越捷班機得以降落，但必須在明天凌晨2點前離境。

高雄航空站表示，依據春節延後宵禁時段，越捷947班機預計明（2）日凌晨1點前會離場。

越捷航空明日航班預計正常運作，越南航空營運情形待確認。

title: 獨家》民航局特准越捷航空 宵禁後在高雄機場起降


title: 上電視說明改判色法官遭警告 陳志祥質疑得罪當權者

content_text:
2020-02-01 23:56:11

〔記者吳政峰／台北報導〕基隆地院法官陳志祥2018年兼任職務法庭法官，把台北高等行政法院前法官陳鴻斌騷擾女助理再審案，從免職改判為罰薪1年，引發波瀾，他為此上電視說明改判理由，被司法院人事審議委員會認定發言不當，1月31日予以書面警告。據悉，陳志祥懷疑是3年前得罪當權者，才會遭入「現代文字獄」。

遭到警告後，陳志祥不願回應，只強調「歷史自有公斷」，並不排除向職務法庭尋求救濟。據悉，他在答辯狀上表示，3年多前，他聯合基隆法院22名法官，齊聲反對許宗力再任大法官兼任司法院長，得罪屬於改革派的副院長蔡烱燉和當時的秘書長呂太郎（現為大法官），而今遭移送人審會，疑為公報私仇、現代文字獄。

陳志祥認為，當時合議庭評議的結果判定陳鴻斌並非性騷擾，做出再審改判，外界一開始只是疑惑，並無怒火，直到同一合議庭法官謝靜慧（現為少年及家事廳長）辭職批評同庭4位男法官「官官相護」，輿論才譁然，為了釐清真相，他連續3天被動接受媒體採訪，澄清改判內容。

陳志祥指出，沒想到時任秘書長的呂太郎忘了自己是司法行政，沒有力挺法官闡釋「看過卷宗和證物的法官，判決是最精準的，我們應該相信司法」，反而批評合議庭的再審判決，進而移花接木稱怒火是陳志祥引發，把他移送評鑑。

他在答辯狀說重話，強調「點火者高升廳長，陷害忠良者升任大法官，幫助犯依然擔任司法院長，而捍衛司法威信的人，要遭受懲戒」，還引用許宗力最近因為陳師孟事件而勉勵法官要有勇氣抗拒海妖的話，感慨的說「真正有勇氣抗拒海妖者，卻深陷懲戒程序中，真是諷刺，令人感慨！」

陳志祥1月31日赴人審會陳述意見，在場人士指出，他除了要求許宗力、蔡烱燉、謝靜慧、副秘書長葉麗霞、司法行政廳長許紋華等五名人審委員迴避，還在會場上說，「如果刑事合議庭四個法官對殺人案被告，決議不判死刑，女法官一人就應該服從合議庭決議，她可以出來向媒體說謊而攻擊四位男法官嗎？如果可以，是不是就用媒體來審判就好了？」

被點名的許、蔡、呂透過司法院秘書長林輝煌表示「不予回應」，謝靜慧也說此時不宜發表任何意見。


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2020-02-01 23:45:10

〔記者黃良傑／高雄報導〕高市警局薛姓警官去年10月被控肇逃，薛男喊冤強調自己被撞，見對方無恙才離開現場，事後獲不起訴還清白，但薛懷疑對方動機不單純，不滿含冤調職處分，陳情市警局追查發現疑有案外案，撞警的陳姓騎士疑受詹姓通緝犯教唆尾隨，詹男落網說出薛行蹤得自2線3星警官，詹叫小弟跟蹤若發現薛酒駕，便舉報並向媒體爆料。

薛姓警官於去年10月1日晚間，陪主管參加志工幹部聚餐，餐敍後騎車返家途中，在前金區被陳姓騎士擦撞，薛自認沒酒駕而是對方撞他，見對方口氣不佳，不想生事便離去，不料，竟反被告肇事逃逸，薛酒測值0，大聲喊冤，仍依肇逃罪嫌函送法辦，檢方認為薛被撞並無過失或故意，最後不起訴處分，但仍遭暫時調離現職。

薛姓警官感覺有異，友人也提醒他，是不是在餐廳時就被跟蹤？懷疑對方誣陷，加上陳姓騎士事後還找民代，頗有針對性，督察室接獲陳情也覺應調查、釐清，果然查出詹男涉嫌敎唆，但為何知道薛參加志工幹部聚餐，進而尾隨控薛肇逃，最後竟查出消息來源，疑由2線3星警官所洩。

這名警官否認敎唆，也不知詹姓友人遭通緝，坦言當時沒想太多，曾把薛聚餐的地點傳給詹，不清楚薛會不會到，也不知後來發生什麼狀況，他相當自責，蒙受不白冤的薛警官，感謝還他清白並表示追究到底，2線3星警官被控洩密罪嫌函送偵辦。

title: 高雄薛警官被跟蹤 查出同僚2線3星警官洩露行蹤

taiwan-subdivisions: 高雄 前金區


title: 上次替大哥扛槍擊案 這次小弟喬賭落網

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2020-02-02 00:22:16

〔記者王捷／台南報導〕李姓男子3年前替大哥頂替槍殺案被識破，今年在大哥將入監之際，開設賭場被警方攻堅逮捕，帶回31人與4萬多元賭資，問到喬賭場的目的，李男則說，只是為了能在過年前小賭。

3年前，台南一間酒店疑似有圍事糾紛，衍生槍擊案，角頭朝天花板開槍警告，沒想到跳彈打死一名少爺，當時店家的監視器畫面全部消失，2個小時過後，李男帶槍投案，但當時警方從李男的環境與背景分析，認為他沒有理由開槍，最後在電梯監視器及錄音發現證據，策動角頭出面投案。

3年來，警方觀察，角頭低調度日，雖然年前與他人有衝突，但都未擴大糾紛，也培養3名小弟維護事業，保持經濟來源，槍擊案官司落幕，年後不久將入監服刑，但警方這時又發現李男有行動，在臉書上號召各方人馬，到角頭的地盤賭博。

警方擔心，號召各方人馬是否有其他問題，但過年期間連夜埋伏蒐證時發現，連日晚間10點過後，角頭的據點漸漸有人潮聚集，門口常有數人泡茶飲酒，疑似把風，綜合研判應該是職業賭場，申請到搜索票後，警方在初四迎財神當天凌晨攻堅，起出天九牌與賭資4萬多元。

警方將李男與另一名男子以賭博罪偵辦，帶回29名賭客，現場扣得天九牌1副、賭資約4萬多元，但賭場內並沒有角頭的身影，警方發現李男身分後，好奇他是不是為了讓角頭服刑時好關，才喬賭場集資，不過李男僅說只是單純過年才小賭。

☆飲酒過量 有害健康 禁止酒駕☆


title: 僑委會春訪團納卯演出 菲國觀眾大呼好精彩

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2020-02-02 00:13:02

〔中央社〕僑委會109年春節文化訪問團今晚抵達納卯市演出，結合大旗、武術、大環、立方體、扯鈴等傳統技藝和當代馬戲的表演引來觀眾掌聲喝采不斷，觀眾在演出後受訪時還大呼好精彩。

今天晚會主辦單位納卯菲華文化協會常務委員王宏道表示，今晚約有4000名民眾觀賞演出，現場幾乎爆滿，觀眾反應非常熱烈，演出非常成功。

菲國民眾加巴東（Elena Gabaton）跟4名友人一起觀賞今晚的演出。她們告訴中央社記者：「這場演出真了不起（amazing），好盛大，好精彩（wonderful），太棒了！」

加巴東說，她喜歡表演者轉動大立方體和椅子的馬戲演出，但實際上整場演出都很棒，非常有娛樂性。

觀眾巴席亞納（Sheila Basiana）表示，她和丈夫及5歲的女兒第一次觀賞這樣的表演，全家都很開心，度過一個愉快又難忘的夜晚。

另一名觀眾畢亞福爾特（Dorothy Villafuerte）則對演出中呈現台灣發展的歷程很感興趣。

畢亞福爾特說，今晚的節目表現出台灣如何進步、如何真正地蓬勃發展，對她來說，這是整場演出最有趣的部分。（編輯：張佑之）


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黃岡市長邱麗新1日晚間表示，大約有6、70萬人在武漢封城前返回黃岡市，這兩天確診病例還會有大幅度提升。（美聯社）

2020-02-02 00:10:08

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕武漢肺炎疫情持續延燒，中國湖北省黃岡市是疫情嚴重程度僅次於武漢的區域，黃岡市長邱麗新1日晚間表示，大約有6、70萬人在武漢封城前返回黃岡市，這兩天確診病例還會有大幅度提升。

綜合中媒報導，湖北省人民政府1日晚間召開新聞發布會，通報武漢肺炎疫情防控工作。黃岡市長邱麗新表示，黃岡是僅次於武漢的第二大人口大城市，根據黃岡的數據顯示，武漢在封城前大約有60至70萬人返回黃岡，而這巨大的人員流動確實給現在的防疫帶來非常大的壓力。

邱麗新說，最近肺炎病例數迅速提升，各方面加大了對黃岡檢測力量的下沉，「今明兩天我們現存的1000多例疑似病例很快就會檢測完畢，在這1000多例中可能有很大比例是確診病例，所以可能今明兩天黃岡的確診病例還會有大幅度的提升」。

黃岡市截至1日下午4時已有726起武漢肺炎確診病例，並有192人死亡，是全中國除武漢市外疫情最嚴重的區域。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。

title: 武漢肺炎》封城前70萬人跑回黃岡  市長：確診病例會暴增


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2020-02-02 00:06:26

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕中國目前正因武漢肺炎疫情所苦，全國已逾1萬起確診案例，其中有超過250人死亡。沒想到在此時，湖南省卻爆發H5N1亞型高致病性禽流感疫情，共撲殺了1萬7828隻家禽。

綜合中媒報導，湖北省目前飽受武漢疫情之苦，截至1日晚上11時30分中國官方資料，1萬1899個確診案例中，有7153例就是發生在湖北。沒想到就在1日晚間11時許，與湖北相鄰的湖南省又爆發H5N1禽流感疫情。

農業農村部表示，接到中國動物疫病預防控制中心報告，國家禽流感參考實驗室證實，湖南邵陽市雙清區某養殖戶飼養的肉雞，檢驗出H5N1亞型高致病性禽流感疫情。據報導，該養殖戶存欄肉雞7850隻，發病死亡4500隻。爆發疫情後，當地按照防治法做好疫情處置工作，已撲殺家禽17828隻，全部病死和撲殺家禽均已無害化處理。

根據我國衛生福利部疾病管制署資料，人、豬、鳥都是該流感病毒之寄主。H5N1禽流感病毒過往只會影響禽鳥，對雞隻具有高致病力，常造成大量雞隻死亡，但因病毒會不定時基因突變，衍生新品種，導致原來僅感染禽類的流感病毒，變得可以影響人類，由於這些突變的流感病毒對人類是全新的病毒，大多數人對這種病毒沒有抗體，因此容易導致嚴重病症。

title: 武漢肺炎還沒完 中國湖南再爆H5N1高致病性禽流感


countries: 中國 丹麥 英國 荷蘭 墨西哥 德國 比利時

title: 武漢肺炎》遭中國網軍出征 丹麥大報再刊「生物危害旗」！

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《日德蘭郵報》無懼中國大使抗議以及網軍洗板，日前再刊登第二幅諷刺漫畫，將五顆黃星改成國際通用的「生物性危害」符號。（圖擷取自Jyllands-Posten網站）

2020-02-02 00:19:12

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕武漢肺炎蔓延全球，英國《經濟學人》雜誌最新期在昨（1）日公布，封面以「五星旗口罩」諷刺中國政府隱瞞疫情；然而，丹麥《日德蘭郵報》先前刊載「五星病毒旗」漫畫，遭到大批中國網軍出征，紛紛以衛生棉與納粹卐字記號條羞辱丹麥國旗，但《日德蘭郵報》沒有就此屈服，日前再刊出「生物危害五星旗」加以反擊。

綜合媒體報導，早在英國《經濟學人》昨日刊登「五星旗口罩之前，丹麥《日德蘭郵報》就先以「五星病毒旗」諷刺中國政府隱瞞疫情，遭到中國大使強烈抗議；然而，丹麥首相與媒體拒絕道歉，引發中國網軍舉辦「羞辱丹麥國旗大賽」，在微博上「魔改」丹麥國旗，以染紅的衛生棉取代白色十字架，還用「納粹卐字旗」、「白旗」與「四個小時」等圖樣，羞辱丹麥在二戰遭德國侵略的慘痛歷史。

根據外電報導，微博上的報復貼文引起英國媒體關注，《日德蘭郵報》無懼中國大使譴責以及網軍洗板，日前再刊登第二幅諷刺漫畫，將五顆黃星改成國際通用的「生物性危害」符號。《日德蘭郵報》表示，比利時、荷蘭與墨西哥等國都有出版過類似的漫畫，但沒有受到中國網軍的攻擊。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。


countries: 中國 香港 美國

title: 武漢肺炎》美教師為愛留守武漢 爆民眾得病寧自救也不就醫

content_text:
2020-02-02 00:07:41

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕中國武漢爆發的新型冠狀病毒（2019-nCoV，俗稱武漢肺炎）疫情肆虐全球，目前全球已達10萬例的確診病例。而一名居住在武漢的美國籍老師，卻放棄登上美國安排接載當地僑民的包機，選擇留在武漢陪伴女友和他們飼養的寵物，並對外分享封城後武漢的真實樣貌，其真摯的情感引發網友熱議。

根據《香港01》報導，來自美國洛杉磯的28歲男子佩雷斯（Doug Perez）從大學畢業後便到武漢擔任英文老師，並和中國籍女友一起養了一隻拉布拉多Chubby。從去年12月開始武漢肺炎疫情一發不可收拾，因此美國在1月29日派出專機到武漢接載當地的美國人，但佩雷斯則表示「很多外國人被困在這裹，但我不能離開我所愛的人」。

佩雷斯透露，在武漢封城疫情非常嚴重的這段期間，除了帶Chubby外出散步，採買日常生活用品以外，幾乎都待在家，並表示只要外出也會幫Chubby也戴上口罩，以降低被感染的機率。佩雷斯也表示他們在進賣場前都會被測量體溫，街道也變得非常冷清，他和女友每日都花數小時於社交網站留意最新消息。

而最讓佩雷斯擔心的是，由於當地的醫院超收病人，硬軟體設施都嚴重缺乏，醫護人員沒辦法正常排班輪休，還需承受極大的生理和心理雙重壓力。因此許多病患沒辦法得到妥善治療，並透露部份醫院告知症狀較輕的病人於家中隔離，很多人因擔心在醫院會交叉感染，寧願自救也不願到醫院，他形容這根本是一場災難。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。


title: 獨家》民航局特准越捷航空 宵禁後在高雄機場起降


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2020-02-02 00:04:01

〔記者吳政峰／台北報導〕沒有常識很危險！詹姓屁孩2017年間跟謝姓友人嬉鬧，謝男見他手上拿著裝滿汽油的量杯，慫恿「敢就把火點下去」，沒想到詹男竟然真的拿出打火機點燃汽油，頓時火勢爆發，他嚇到丟掉量杯，裡面的汽油被甩到一旁的曾姓友人背上，曾男當場被燒成火球，全身30%灼傷，排汗功能喪失。高等法院認為詹男觸犯過失傷害罪，判刑5月，得易科罰金15萬元。

2017年7月間，詹男拿著裝滿1公升汽油的量杯，準備幫自己的機車加油，謝男見狀跟他嬉鬧、鬥嘴，揶揄「沒錢加油，乾脆把摩托車燒掉就好」，並慫恿「敢就把火點下去」，沒想到詹男毫無常識，竟然真的掏出打火機點燃汽油，火勢瞬間爆發。

溫度極高，詹男嚇壞了，趕緊扔掉手中的量杯，未料，帶著火的汽油噴濺到坐在旁邊的曾男身上，曾男全身著火，痛得在地上打滾，等到火勢完全撲滅，他皮膚已經有三成遭到火焰紋身，部分永久緊縮，喪失排汗功能。

謝男痛斥詹男玩火玩到曾男著火，「吃這麼大了，不知道汽油不能點火嗎？」，詹男知道鑄下大錯，前往曾男家致歉，跟曾父說「阿叔，不好意思，是我點火燒到你兒子的」，並簽下賠償書，豈料，案件到了法院，詹男突然大翻供，辯稱「我沒有點火，不知道為何曾男會受傷」。

高院合議庭調閱證人筆錄及卷宗，認定詹男確實玩火害到曾男，過失傷害罪成立，不過，合議庭認為一審新竹地院判刑6月太重，考量他情節並非卑劣，亦有和解意願，評議後改判刑5月，全案確定。

title: 屁孩慫恿「敢就把火點下去」 友人瞬間燒成火球


events: 武漢肺炎 豬瘟

countries: 台灣 澳洲 日本 新加坡 越南 中國 義大利 加拿大 泰國

people: 陳時中 習近平 蘇貞昌

title: 武漢肺炎》4件事看政府表現 謝金河大讚：台灣真不容易！

content_text:
2020-02-02 00:12:47

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕中國武漢肺炎病情蔓延全球，各國政府嚴陣以待，盡力防堵疫情擴張。財信傳媒董事長謝金河表示，1日舉出這次防疫戰役中，政府有4點表現，讓他覺得「台灣的表現真的不容易！」

謝金河1日在臉書PO文說，武漢疫情持續升溫，中國死亡人數已破250人，全球確診病例也破萬人。然而這當中，日本、南韓、新加坡、泰國、澳洲的確診人數都超過台灣。他說，不久之前，WHO還表示，台灣與泰國是除了中國外2個最危險的國家，但是台灣由衞生署長陳時中領導的抗疫作戰團隊表現可圈可點，令人敬佩。今天抗疫團隊又帶來好消息，確診病例有一人即將康復，其他9例也在改善中。

第二點，而這次被藝人罵「狗官」的行政院長蘇貞昌，從防杜非洲豬瘟，到這次領導抗疫情，他的執行力更加令人刮目相看，儘管口罩引發搶購風潮，但蘇院長明快的決策，得到國人更高的評價。

第三點，義大利、越南突然宣布對台灣斷航，這當中，行政團隊只花了幾個小時，立即令越南當局改變原來的政策，台越航線迅速恢復正常，這個行動力值得肯定。謝金河表示，目前外交部仍在與義大利當局溝通，內情與WHO提供不正確訊息有關。這個事件也提醒大家，在一中架構下，台灣面臨的困難，未來如何讓民主的台灣在全世界被看得到，大家還要再努力。

第四點，謝金河批評，這次WHO在全球上演一齣荒誕戲碼，在全球疫情蔓延中，WHO形同中國扈（附）隨組織，WHO的秘書長衣索匹亞籍的譚德塞到北京晉見習近平總書記有如中國下屬官員。不過，謝金河表示，那些人一面倒排除台灣，卻反而引來日本安倍首相及加拿大杜魯道總理的聲援。

謝金河最後表示，進不了WHO沒關係，但台灣要讓全世界了解，「我們有全球最好的健保制度及公衞環境，及高端醫療人才，台灣有足夠的實力恊助WHO抗疫」。疫情仍在蔓延中，危機還沒有渡過，「但我對這次抗疫的所有參與者，內心非常尊敬」！

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。


references: 網友 Twitter

countries: 越南 中國 法國 香港

title: 武漢肺炎》疫情引爆種族歧視 旅法華人：我不是病毒

content_text:
全球各地開始出現將「華人」和「病毒」畫上等號的情況，開始出現排斥華人甚至反華的情緒，讓眾多旅居異國的華人深感無奈，甚至當地的媒體也表現出相同情緒。（圖片擷取自Twitter@ChengwangL）

2020-02-01 23:48:53

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕中國武漢爆發的新型冠狀病毒（2019-nCoV，俗稱武漢肺炎）疫情肆虐全球，目前全球確診武漢肺炎的病例已超過上萬例，人人自危，聞病色變。由於疫情從亞洲展開，因此全世界各地開始出現排華情緒，近日一名居住在法國的亞洲人於Twitter發起「我不是病毒」的標籤，引發歐美社會熱議。

根據香港01報導，自2019年12月至今，全球武漢肺炎確診病例已超過上萬例，患者從武漢開始遍布亞洲各地，而歐美地區也陸續開始出現確診個案。由於疫情源自亞洲，全球各地開始出現將「華人」和「病毒」畫上等號的情況，出現排斥華人甚至反華的情緒，讓眾多旅居異國的華人深感無奈，甚至當地的媒體也表達出相同情緒。

據報導，法國《皮卡爾信使報》（Le Courrier picard）報導疫情時，用「黃禍」和「黃色警報」為標題來形容疫情的嚴重性，甚至搭配一張中國女子戴口罩的照片，引發爭議，雖然報社立即道歉滅火，但刻板印象已深植人心，讓許多當地民眾質疑這種操作種族主義是否合理？

不只中國人感到遭受歧視，現居巴黎的越南17歲女子莎娜（Shana Cheng）向BBC透露，她曾在搭乘巴士時受到當地人異樣眼光和言語的汙辱，彷彿她就是武漢肺炎的病毒，還聽到其他乘客說：「坐在那的女人會感染我們，她不應該出門」，甚至用嫌棄惡毒的目光看著她。

因此，居住在法國的亞洲人在Twitter上發起了「我不是病毒」的標籤，引起廣大回響，也有中國網友透過Twitter發文說，自己是中國人，但並不是病毒，他可以理解所有人都對病毒感到恐懼，不過希望他們不要帶有歧視的眼光。國際反對種族主義主席尼韋（Stéphane Nivet）則表示譴責部份報社媒體的這種行為。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。


content_text:
2020-02-01 23:56:47

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕中國武漢肺炎疫情升溫，湖北省紅十字會近日因物資分配不公問題引發爭議，官媒《央視》今（1日）有一記者探訪該會下轄武漢紅十字會倉庫直播，卻遭保安驅離，讓網友直呼：「這後台是有多硬」、「居然還有我習大大治不了的人，說好的獨裁呢？」

綜合中媒報導，央視一記者今天下午，實地走訪武漢紅十字會的倉庫，欲了解物資分發安排，卻遭到保安驅趕，聲稱只能在倉庫外拍攝，保安更稱「我有我的職責」、「別為難我」，記者嘗試繼續交涉仍未果，說要去另一側取回設備也被阻攔，期間直播被迫切斷。據悉，當時直播有約1300萬人在觀看。

事發後，中國網友反應熱烈，紛紛表示：「央視不讓拍，你武漢紅會厲害」、「一千多萬人看著紅十字會把央視記者趕出去」、「紅會本應是一公益民間組織，現在牛比到淩駕於黨的喉舌媒體之上」、「紅會背後的那位領導，那是（習）父親都要忌憚三分的大惡人」。

此前，由於疫情擴大，不少單位捐款或物資給湖北省紅十字會提供援助，但卻陸續傳出分配爭議，包括沒有在這次肺炎徵用名單的「莆田系」（指中國一個民營醫藥體系）醫院，收到了鉅額款項和物資，然而在名單內、不在莆田系的武漢協和醫院，只收到極少量物資，在民間爆發爭議。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。

相關影片︰

title: 武漢肺炎》央視吃鱉！探訪武漢紅十字遭驅離 網驚：後台多硬？


content_text:
「麗晶卡拉OK的最後一夜」以首部台語音樂舞台劇進軍日本，反串媽媽桑的澎恰恰和導演曾慧誠特別提前到東京踩點並舉辦宣傳記者會。（記者林翠儀攝）

2020-02-01 23:59:00

〔駐日特派員林翠儀／東京1日報導〕由澎恰恰反串卡拉OK媽媽桑的音樂劇「麗晶卡拉OK的最後一夜」，將於3月底在東京文青聖地下北澤的本多劇場公演。全劇以台語發音的「麗晶」，是本多劇場從1982年成立以來，首次接受外國劇團演出的首部音樂劇，澎恰恰和導演曾慧誠昨晚在誠品生活日本橋舉辦宣傳記者會，澎恰恰表示，這是他演藝生涯36年來很重要的紀錄和最大的挑戰，他會盡全力詮釋劇中的女性角色。

「麗晶卡拉OK的最後一夜」結合導演曾慧誠、「花甲男孩轉大人」編劇詹傑及傳藝金曲最佳作曲人李哲藝等台灣6、7年級生創作，由台灣綜藝大哥大澎恰恰和音樂劇團「躍演劇團」共演。

主要是描寫基隆港邊的卡拉OK店，從80年代的繁華盛世，到現代的沒落，澎恰恰扮演的媽媽桑「陳麗卿」，在麗晶卡拉ok熄燈的最後一夜，以一首首台語老歌回憶過往的歲月，本劇去年1月在華山文創園區烏梅劇院連演了12場，每場均請來知名的藝人擔任關門客，包括曾以「鐵獅玉玲瓏」和澎恰恰共創收視高點的諧星許效舜，以及平常螢幕角色均很強烈的林美秀、黃子佼和苗可麗等人。

澎恰恰受訪時說，可能是他搞笑的形象太強烈，一開始觀眾都誤以為這是一部喜劇，但最後大家卻哭著回去，導演曾慧誠也說，由於演出的來賓也只拿到自己部分的台詞，黃子佼演出後大呼意外，沒想到大家是玩真的，澎恰恰回憶說和黃子佼對戲的那場令他印象最深刻，一堆人哭成一團。澎恰恰很巧妙地利用了「珠寶」與「陳麗卿」的反差，讓觀眾又笑又哭，也以流利的台語和演技增加了這部音樂劇的層次與深度。

對於日本場的「關門客」，曾慧誠表示，已敲定由成為台灣媳婦的日本籍女星大久保麻梨子擔任。曾慧誠很希望藉由大久保的演出表現出台日文化的交點，大久保將用一首歌跟大家分享她在台灣的故事，目前結局還沒開始撰寫，因此曾慧誠也很期待，很想知道大久保會選什麼歌。

華山文創烏梅劇院和下北澤本多劇場在2018年締結為姊妹劇場，每年各派劇團互訪演出，「麗晶」一劇成為兩劇場結盟後首部在本多劇場演出的台灣劇碼，日本的「52！PRO」劇團也預定於2月底到烏梅劇院演出「夾縫轍痕」，全團由40多歲男性組成的「52！PRO」，曾在2018年及2019年到烏梅劇院公演，也是牽起台日兩劇場合作契機的劇團。

駐日台灣文化中心主任王淑芳表示，本多劇場可說是日本小劇場的聖地，創立38年來不曾開放外國團隊申請演出，在台灣文化中心強力「促銷」下，本多劇場終於為台灣劇團首次開啟大門，「麗晶」一劇做為第1部在本多登場的外國音樂劇具有重大的領航意義。

本多劇場的負責人本多慎一郎昨晚也帶領「52！PRO」劇團成員出席誠品生活館的宣傳記者會，他表示從今年開始，烏梅劇院派了一名人員到本多劇場實習，他亦期許透過這次演出，為台日小劇場開拓更多海外巡演與跨域交流的可能性。

countries: 日本 台灣

taiwan-subdivisions: 基隆 員林

title: 台日小劇場交流！澎恰恰反串媽媽桑 3月東京公演


title: 上次替大哥扛槍擊案 這次小弟喬賭落網


title: 高雄薛警官被跟蹤 查出同僚2線3星警官洩露行蹤


content_text:
中國武漢肺炎疫情持續延燒，北韓領導人金正恩（左）已致函中國國家主席習近平（右），對疫情表達慰問，也決定金援中國協助疫情防治。（美聯社）

2020-02-01 23:40:16

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕中國武漢肺炎疫情持續延燒，日前關閉邊界禁止外國人入境的北韓領導人金正恩已致函中國國家主席習近平，除了對武漢肺炎疫情表達慰問，也決定金援中國協助疫情防治。

《路透》 引述北韓官媒中央通信社（KCNA）報導，金正恩在致函習近平的信中表示，在習近平指導下，「確信中共、中國政府和中國人民在抗病作戰中，必將贏得勝利」。

《韓聯社》 引述中央通信社（KCNA）報導稱，根據北韓勞動黨中央委員會政治局於1月31日做出的決定，勞動黨中央委員會將向中共中央委員會提供資金援助，作為防疫的資金。

報導提到，勞動黨和北韓人民將這次在中國出現的傳染病疫情視為己事，當作一家人、親骨肉遇到的事情，強調北韓願意與中國人有難同當之情。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。

title: 武漢肺炎》金正恩出手了！ 致函習近平慰問還要「金援」

people: 習近平 金正恩

countries: 中國 北韓