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POLITICS

Hau registers for KMT race

Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday registered for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair by-election, accompanied by former Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) and a group of KMT members. Hau pledged that if elected he would “selflessly seek out and cultivate the party’s future leaders.” He would “wholeheartedly focus on work that’s required of the party chairman and not view the post as a springboard to another political position,” he added. Hau, 64, a former KMT vice chairman, previously said that he would not run for president or any other position if he is elected KMT chair. The March 7 by-election is to fill the post left vacant by Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) resignation last month following the party’s defeats in the Jan. 11 elections.

DIPLOMACY

Lai meets Senator Rubio

Vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Monday met with US Senator Marco Rubio in Washington. Rubio reiterated his support for bilateral relations and discussed how to further strengthen ties between the two sides and the importance of Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, the senator’s Twitter account said. Lai’s visit to Washington is the first by a vice president-elect since the US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, although his office has said that the visit is in an individual capacity. Lai “does not have any particular official mission or role” on the trip and because the trip is being made in an individual capacity, most of his schedule would not be made public, said former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), who is accompanying Lai on the trip. She said the main purpose of the trip is to attend the National Prayer Breakfast. The annual breakfast is held on the first Thursday in February.

DIPLOMACY

Petition signed by 65,630

A petition in New Zealand urging the government to establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan had garnered 65,630 signatures as of Monday when the endorsement period ended. The petition, initiated by “Edd Forrest,” opened for signatures on Jan. 7. There is no minimum signature threshold at which a petition has to be addressed by the New Zealand House of Representatives, according to the petition guidelines. A petitioner can request that a representative present the petition to the House after the signature period is over, although the representative can refuse to do so.

CULTURE

French academics honored

Six French academics from the Institut de France were honored by the government on Monday for their contributions to promoting long-term cultural exchanges with Taiwan. The “Cultural Medal” was established this year by the Ministry of Culture. The medals were presented by Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) at the Taipei Representative Office in Paris to institute chancellor Xavier Darcos; perpetual secretary of the institute’s Academy of Moral and Political Sciences Jean-Robert Pitte; and academy members Marianne Bastid-Bruguiere, Pierre Delvolve, Daniel Andler and Pierre Charau. “Honoring the Institut de France with the first edition of the award has always been my greatest wish,” Cheng said, explaining why the ceremony was held in Paris. The recipients are also among the people who helped conceive the Taiwan-France Cultural Awards, which were established by the ministry’s predecessor, the Council for Cultural Affairs, and Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1996.

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people: 鄭麗君 蕭美琴 胡志強 賴清德 吳敦義 郝龍斌

title: Taiwan News Quick Take


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Housing transactions in the nation’s six special municipalities last month totaled 15,500 units, falling by double percentage points from one month earlier and the year-ago level, as prospective buyers stayed on the sidelines over the Lunar New Year holiday and demand might remain tepid amid a viral outbreak in China, analysts said.

The results represented a 31 percent plunge from December last year and a 22 percent retreat year-on-year, data from local governments showed.

The pace of monthly decline was relatively even nationwide, ranging from 24 percent in Taipei to 36 percent in Taichung, according to official figures.

Holiday disruptions accounted for the poor showing, Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) research manager Chen Ping-chen (陳炳辰) said, citing the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11 and the week-long Lunar New Year holiday late last month.

People have shown less interest in buying homes over holidays and this year would prove no exception, Chen said, adding that people also preferred to stay home as temperatures dropped.

Property transfers in Taipei fell to 1,915 units and stood at 3,952 units in New Taipei City.

They totaled 2,970 units in Taoyuan, 2,821 units in Taichung, 1,554 units in Tainan and 2,288 units in Kaohsiung.

The rapid spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus in China has fueled unease in Taiwan and around the world, which is unfavorable for the local property market in the short term, Chen said.

Taoyuan fared relatively resilient on an annual basis, with a mild 4 percent drop, compared with double-digit corrections in all other special municipalities.

Taoyuan has gained popularity for its relative affordability and for major public construction programs, including the Asian Silicon Valley project and the Aerotropolis, Chen said.

The city has become the favorite destination of Hong Kongers who have moved to Taiwan, due to its proximity to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, government data showed.

Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said the outbreak would weigh on the property market this month and the first quarter of this year.

The outbreak has dominated the media’s attention, dampening interest in other issues, Great Home head researcher Mandy Lang (郎美囡) said.

People might regain interest in the second quarter, when the weather turns warm and people become less susceptible to flu-like illnesses, Lang said.

Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) was more optimistic, saying that the holiday disruptions would not extend into this month, adding that this month’s data would lend support to its judgment.

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title: Housing transactions fall amid elections, holiday


title: Rising orders boost Nanya revenue

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Rising orders boost Nanya revenue

NO DISRUPTIONS:Nanya Technology said it has no production lines in China, so a viral outbreak there has had no effects on its product shipments and operations
Nanya Technology Corp personnel stand behind the reception desk at the company’s headquarters in New Taipei City’s Taishan District on July 3 last year.Photo: Hung You-fang, Taipei Times
DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said that revenue last month rose to the highest in three months on the back of rising chip prices and shipments.

A coronavirus outbreak in China would not disrupt its growth momentum this quarter, Nanya Technology said, adding that it intends to keep its business outlook unchanged for this quarter.

Revenue is expected to grow by a single-digit percentage point this quarter from last quarter, the chipmaker told investors last month.

For the remainder of this year, revenue would grow quarter by quarter as chip demand is expected to outpace supply, it said.

Consolidated revenue grew 3.92 percent to NT$4.5 billion (US$148.97 million) last month, compared with NT$4.33 billion in December last year.

Nanya Technology attributed the growth to a mid-single-digit percentage expansion in shipments on a monthly basis and a low-single-digit percentage hike in chip prices.

However, the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar versus the US dollar eroded some revenue growth last month, it said.

On an annual basis, revenue rose 5.68 percent last month from NT$4.26 billion, it added.

Nanya Technology does not expect the outbreak to affect its shipments and operations.

“The company has no production lines in China, thus there has been no impact on product delivery,” the company said in a statement yesterday.

The firm operates one 12-inch fab in New Taipei City’s Taishan District (泰山).

Information obtained by Nanya Technology also showed that its raw material suppliers, equipment suppliers and subcontractors would operate normally, the statement said.

To keep up with recovering demand, Nanya Technology did not halt production during the Lunar New Year holiday and said that there are no effects to its global sales.

“The company will continue to monitor the development of the coronavirus situation and will take appropriate measures to assure overall normal operations,” the statement said.

Nanya Technolgy said it has taken broad prevention measures and would comply with government regulations to fight the epidemic.

Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said that the outbreak and high share prices of semiconductor stocks are likely to dampen the bull market for semiconductor players in the short term, despite Nanya Technology and chip packager and tester Powertech Technology Inc (力成) giving better-than-expected outlooks for this quarter.

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New Kinpo Group (新金寶集團) yesterday said that its employees on parental leave would receive full pay, after the government extended the academic winter break until Feb. 25 amid concerns over a viral outbreak in China.

Employees asking for “disease prevention and childcare leave” would not see their work performance evaluation affected, the electronics conglomerate said in a statement.

A total of 2,500 Taiwan-based employees, including those employed through New Kinpo’s subsidiaries Cal-Comp Electronics and Communications Co Ltd (泰金寶) and Kinpo Electronics Inc (金寶), would also receive five surgical masks each as part of the group’s prevention efforts, it said.

The group has been stocking up on masks since December last year, after the first signs of the outbreak, New Kinpo chief executive officer Simon Shen (沈軾榮) said in the statement.

The group said its business operations in China have not been affected.

“More than 90 percent of Kinpo’s and Cal-Comp’s operations are in Southeast Asia, a region little affected by the coronavirus,” a company official surnamed Koo (顧) told the Taipei Times by telephone, citing Shen.

Kinpo, which focuses on the production of consumer PCs and computer peripherals, last month set up a plant to produce printers in Yueyang, China, more than 200km from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The company has prolonged the Lunar New Year holiday for its Chinese employees in compliance with local government regulations, the official said.

Kinpo is this year to increase production at its plants in Thailand and the Philippines by adding 120,000m2 and 150,000m2 respectively, it said.

The company aims to increase revenue by a double-digit percentage this year through its expansion efforts in Southeast Asia, Shen said at an investors’ conference in December.

Despite consecutive annual revenue declines over the past few months, Kinpo said revenue for last year rose 1.52 percent to NT$132.27 billion (US$4.4 billion).

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title: Kinpo to pay full wages to workers on parental leave


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Popular auspicious train tickets to go on sale again

ROMANTIC THEME:The tickets are to be dated Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, as a combination of the dates — 20201314 — is a word play on ‘love you forever’ in Mandarin
Two people yesterday promote a commemorative ticket set for the route between Tainan’s Yongkang and Baoan railway stations.Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Railways Administration
After six years, “Yong Bao An Kang” (永保安康), one of the most popular memorial train ticket sets among collectors, is to be issued again, this time with the theme of “Love Forever,” Yongkang Railway Station master Hsieh Po-wen (謝博文) said.

Some people in Taiwan like to collect “good luck” train tickets, which bear auspicious-sounding combinations of station names, with tickets for the route between Tainan’s Yongkang (永康) and Baoan (保安) being one of the most well-known collectibles.

When read counterclockwise, the four Chinese characters printed on the tickets mean “peace and health forever.”

Each set contains two tickets for the route dated Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, as a combination of the dates — “20201314” — is a word play on “love you forever” (愛戀愛你一生一世) in Mandarin, Hsieh said.

Feb. 14 is also Valentine’s Day in the Western tradition, he said.

Designed as a greeting card, the commemorative set can be placed vertically for users to write messages and paste a picture to express their affection for loved ones, he added.

When the Taiwan Railways Administration introduced the Yong Bao An Kang memorial ticket set in 2010, it became a huge success, with 300,000 sets sold, Hsieh said, adding that a memorial set featuring the same route issued on Lunar Valentine’s Day in 2014 also won the hearts of railway fans.

Sales of the new memorial ticket set are to begin at Yongkang Railway Station at 8:30am on Saturday, Hsieh said.

There would only be 7,000 sets, priced NT$100 each, and only five can be sold per purchase, he said.

An exhibition at the station would display previous commemorative ticket sets and the history of the development of the nation’s railway system, he added.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Public split on rationing

content_text:
By Lee Hsin-fang, Hsiao Yu-hsin and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
A poster at a Taipei drugstore yesterday says that masks, alcohol and hand sanitizers are sold out.Photo: CNA

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Public opinion is divided over the government’s decision to impose a rationing system on the sale of masks amid the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

The government on Monday evening announced that starting tomorrow, Taiwanese residents must present their National Health Insurance (NHI) card to buy masks at more than 6,000 National Health Insurance Administration-contracted drugstores and pharmacies.

The policy would allow each person to buy two masks a week at NT$5 per mask.

Some opponents of the decision have said that two masks per week is insufficient, forcing people to reuse masks, while supporters have said the decision is sensible, given the current mask shortage.

Executive Yuan spokesperson Kolas Yotaka yesterday said that the new measure seeks to allow the public fair access to mask supplies while cracking down on hoarding.

The Executive Yuan expects mask production to pick up following the implementation of the new restriction, she said, adding that it has not ruled out relaxing the restriction once production increases.

The new restriction means that visiting foreigners cannot purchase masks, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said, adding that notices are to be posted at the airport to inform those arriving of the policy.

National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) said that foreign students or spouses who do not have an NHI card would be allowed to use their passport or Alien Resident Certificate as identification.

In related news, the crew and passengers of the cruise ship World Dream that arrived at noon yesterday at the Port of Kaohsiung were not allowed ashore, due to 2019 novel conronavirus concerns.

The cruise ship had alerted authorities an hour before it docked that three passengers who had previously disembarked in China had later been confirmed to have 2019-nCoV, the Maritime and Port Bureau said.

The ship, originally scheduled to depart at 9pm yesterday, sailed at 4pm and is expected to arrive in Hong Kong today.

Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi and Shen Pei-yao

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people:
Kolas Yotaka
陳時中


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Prosecutors charge man with killing girlfriend, twins

Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted a man on suspicion that he murdered his family, including his twin sons.

Investigators said that 29-year-old Chen Chia-hung (陳宏嘉) is the main suspect in the strangling death of his live-in girlfriend and the suffocation of their 11-month-old sons.

An autopsy and other evidence point to Chen quarreling with his 29-year-old girlfriend before he allegedly used his hands to strangle her for more than 10 minutes, resulting in her death on Nov. 3 last year, they said.

Investigators said that Chen admitted killing the babies, citing him as saying that because his girlfriend was dead, she would not be able to take care of them, and that he was unemployed and in debt, so he was unable to raise two children.

During questioning, Chen reportedly told investigators that the next morning he wrapped the twins in blankets and placed them in his washing machine for more than an hour, resulting in their suffocation.

In the indictment, prosecutor Chen Lung-hsiang (陳隆翔) quoted a poem from Lebanese-American writer Khalil Gibran’s best-selling book The Prophet: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you, but not from you, and though they are with you yet, they belong not to you. You may give them your love, but not your thoughts, because they have their own thoughts.”

Children are not the property of adults and parents have no right to take control or decide their children’s lives, and must not apply their own values to deprive children of their right to enjoy life, as they have their own thoughts and souls, Chen Lung-hsiang said.

Taichung prosecutors requested that the court impose the maximum punishment, citing Chen Chia-hung’s “cruel and vile” murder of his own children and their mother.

After the murders, he allegedly took his girlfriend’s money to go eat and drink with friends while evading the police, prosecutors said.

Separately yesterday, the High Court upheld a murder conviction against taxi driver Wang Chang-chi (王長吉) for stabbing to death his girlfriend, surnamed Cheng (程), and handed him a prison sentence of 22 years and six months.

The ruling can still be appealed.

In another case, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a man named Hsieh Ya-hsuan (謝亞軒) and handed him a 12-year prison sentence.

The court found Hsieh responsible for an accident on a major road in Taipei in October 2018, when he crashed his vehicle at high speed into shops, killing three people.

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The Freeway Bureau yesterday unveiled the measures that it would adopt to facilitate traffic during the 228 Memorial Day holiday, forecasting that the heaviest traffic would occur on the first day of the holiday.

The holiday this year is to be from Feb. 28 to March 1.

Traffic volume is expected to reach 11.4 million vehicle-kilometers on the first day of the long weekend, with heavy congestion forecast on southbound lanes of freeways, Traffic Management Division Director Chuo Ming-chun (卓明君) said.

The second-heaviest congestion is expected on northbound lanes of freeways on the final day of the holiday, with traffic volume projected to reach 11.2 million vehicle-kilometers, he said.

However, the traffic volume on that day might be even greater, as university students, whose winter break was extended due to a coronavirus outbreak, are scheduled to return to school on March 2, he added.

“Due to the outbreak, some people might give their children a ride back to campus if they attend universities in the south, which could increase the traffic volume,” Chuo said.

Measures aimed at facilitating holiday traffic include toll-free hours: from 12am to 5am on all three days.

A high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) policy would only be implemented on the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway (Freeway No. 5), the bureau said.

The HOV policy would be in effect from 7am to 12pm on Feb. 28 and Feb. 29 on southbound lanes between the Nangang, Shiding and Pinglin interchanges, it said.

On Feb. 29 and March 1, the HOV policy would be in effect from 2pm to 9pm on northbound traffic between the Suao, Luodong, Yilan and Toucheng interchanges, it added.

During the holiday, tolls would be NT$0.9 per kilometer for small vehicles, the bureau said, adding that while motorists enjoy a toll-free 20km on regular days, that scheme would be suspended for the holiday.

Motorists who drive on the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3) between the Hsinchu and Yenchao interchanges would receive a 20 percent discount on toll fees, it said.

Several feeder roads along the National Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) and Freeway No. 3 would be closed during the holiday to control traffic, it added.

In other developments, the bureau said that on Feb. 17 it would publish new policies governing the use of freeway shoulders during peak traffic hours.

Motorists should observe a 60kph speed limit when driving on shoulders, it said.

Currently, only drivers who plan to exit freeways are allowed to drive on the shoulders, the bureau said, adding that the new policy would open shoulders to all motorists as long as they are able to return to the main lanes at least 500m before an exit.

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title: Agency announces traffic controls for 228 Memorial Day


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Virus Outbreak: Experts call on Taipei to fund virus research group

The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 novel coronavirus is seen in an illustration released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday last week.Photo: Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM/CDC / Reuters
Medical experts in Taipei yesterday urged the government to fund an additional research group to develop a cure and vaccine for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), after National Taiwan University (NTU) managed to isolate the virus strain.

Nearly 20 academics from NTU, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Academia Sinica, the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) and the National Defense Medical Center, as well as some business representatives, yesterday gathered for a closed-door meeting to come up with advice for the government on how to further respond to the virus.

Instead of becoming trapped in discussions about masks and exclusion by the WHO, the government should this week establish a research group to develop a cure and vaccine, said Li Chia-wei (李家維), a professor at NTHU’s Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Li is also editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language version of the Scientific American magazine, which organized the post-meeting news conference.

NTU vice president Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), a key actor in combating SARS in 2003, said that the school has succeeded in isolating the virus strain and would continue expanding its research by working with the Centers for Disease Control.

Experts in the field are now working “like a plate of loose sand,” while a good leader and more funding are needed to consolidate research efforts and share accurate information to alleviate public concern, said Sophie Chang (張淑芬), chairwoman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) Education and Culture Foundation.

Asked how the WHO’s exclusion of Taiwan would affect research, NHRI president Liang Kung-yee (梁賡義) said that information about the virus is available through many channels and that determination is the key for making a breakthrough.

As different institutions might have their own positions, the government should appoint an academic leader to coordinate research projects, he added.

More than 30 complete 2019-nCoV genome sequences are available on the Internet, allowing for different experiments, said Alex Ma (馬徹), a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Genomics Research Center.

Ma is part of former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey’s (翁啟惠) team, which has been studying influenza.

Safety is the major concern for researchers when cultivating 2019-nCoV to make a vaccine, Ma said, adding that it could take years to develop a vaccine.

The genetic sequence of 2019-nCoV is more than 70 percent similar to that of the SARS virus, but what the virus host is and how the human-to-human transmission works are not yet clear, Wong said in a written statement.

While the fatality rate is lower than that of SARS, its transmission is faster and it is likely to become an epidemic like influenza, he said.

As the virus strain has been isolated, further research could include developing antibodies from the blood samples of patients, or new cures using old drugs, he said.

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US Senator Bernie Sanders, center, speaks to supporters, alongside his son David Driscoll, left, during a caucus event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday.Photo: EPA-EFE
Iowa’s vote launching this year’s US presidential contest on Monday degenerated into a fiasco marred by major delays, with US Senator Bernie Sanders claiming a slim lead among the Democratic hopefuls based on partial unofficial results.

Figures released by Sanders’ campaign, five hours after the caucuses opened across the state of Iowa, showed former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg in second, a strong showing for a candidate who was a national unknown just one year ago.

“Iowa, you have shocked the nation,” the 38-year-old gay military reservist told cheering supporters in what sounded very much like a victory speech. “Because tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality.”

With chaos on the ground as Democratic Party officials reportedly told campaigns not to expect results before sometime yesterday, Sanders, running as a democratic socialist, took to the microphones to proclaim he had “a good feeling we’re going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa.”

“Tonight in this enormously consequential 2020 election, the first state in the country has voted, and today marks the beginning of the end for [US President] Donald Trump,” the 78-year-old said.

Iowa is a closely watched test in the months-long process to determine who is to face the Republican president in the November presidential election.

Sanders later took the bold step of releasing internal, unpublished results from nearly 40 percent of the precincts, which showed him with 28.62 percent of the state delegate equivalent, the all-important figure used to determine who wins the Iowa caucuses.

Buttigieg earned 25.71 percent, followed by progressive US Senator Elizabeth Warren with 18.42 percent, the data indicated.

Former US vice president Joe Biden, the national frontrunner, was in fourth with 15.08 percent, a disappointing showing for the candidate who has consistently claimed that he is the person best positioned to defeat Trump.

The Warren campaign pushed back at Sanders’ move, with her chief strategist, Joe Rospars, tweeting: “Any campaign saying they won or putting out incomplete numbers is contributing to the chaos and misinformation.”

However, as the waiting dragged on with zero results reported, other candidates made claims to have beaten expectations.

“I’m feeling good,” Biden said before Sanders released the internals. “So it’s on to New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, well beyond. We’re in this for the long haul.”

New Hampshire votes second, on Tuesday next week, and tradition dictates that the top performers in Iowa board jets and race to “The Granite State” to capitalize on the momentum.

The Iowa embarrassment is particularly bad timing, as US officials are under pressure to demonstrate the integrity of the voting system following 2016, when Russia stood accused of interfering in the presidential election in an effort to help Trump defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Iowa Democratic Party communications director Mandy McClure said in a statement read on US networks that further checks were ordered after “inconsistencies” were found in the reporting of three sets of results.

“This is simply a reporting issue,” she said, denying that there was “a hack or an intrusion.”

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title: Sanders claims lead as Iowa vote turns into a fiasco


title: Virus Outbreak: KMT urges new law and fund for prevention

content_text:
By Lin Liang-sheng and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen, left, and colleagues hold a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday about the government’s mask policy.Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday urged the government to draft a special law on disease prevention and set up a NT$50 billion (US$1.66 billion) fund dedicated to disease prevention efforts.

The measures would support the government’s decision to use a registration system for the public to purchase masks during the coronavirus outbreak, the caucus said.

The new system, set to begin tomorrow, requires residents of Taiwan to present their National Health Insurance (NHI) cards when buying masks at more than 6,000 contracted pharmacies nationwide.

While the KMT agrees the latest measure could prevent hoarding, a special fund would help diminish public losses due to class suspensions and parental leave, KMT caucus convener Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said.

The government should also consider how it can supply masks to those who really need them, such as commuters taking public transportation, he said.

Officials have given different answers on whether people should wear masks, KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) said, urging the government to provide a unified response to calm public fears.

KMT Legislator Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) questioned the decision to mobilize the military to boost mask production and called for a probe into potential ulterior motives to benefit manufacturers.

Important military command centers, such as the Hengshan Command Center, are all confined spaces and the government must provide contingency plans in case the president and others need to enter such areas, he added.

The KMT caucus on Monday called on China to support Taiwan’s participation in the WHO and the World Health Assembly.

Asked to comment on the statement, Wu — a retired army major general who has been criticized for his actions during a 2016 visit to China — said that his stance is the same as the KMT caucus, which is that he “strongly demands that the Mainland let Taiwan join the WHO.”

Disease prevention should not be politicized and Taiwan should be allowed to join the WHO and help global efforts to prevent the 2019 novel coronavirus from becoming a pandemic, he said.

In other news, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said that he would propose an amendment to the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法) that would impose heavier fines for breaching quarantine rules.

The act states that people can only be fined after a disease has entered the human-to-human infection stage, Lin said.

His proposal would seek to provide legal grounds for the government to fine any person who refuses to be quarantined after diagnosis, he said.

DPP Legislator Lin Yi-chin (林宜瑾) agreed, saying that penalties should be increased.

Additional reporting by Peng Wan-hsien

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people: 林宜瑾 林俊憲 吳斯懷 林為洲 陳玉珍


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Hikers stranded in NZ’s South Island after deluge wipes out roads, bridges

About 100 hikers were being rescued by helicopter after becoming stranded overnight on popular bush tracks in New Zealand’s South Island after a month’s rainfall in a single day washed out roads and bridges, causing flooding and landslides.

Eight helicopters and waiting buses ferried the hikers stuck in shelters in Fiordland — and about 70 drivers trapped on a road — to safety in the town of Te Anau. Two of the hikers were injured when the hut they were sheltering in was hit by a landslide.

Officials yesterday began checking among those rescued to confirm that everyone on the trails had been accounted for.

HUNDREDS TRAPPED

Nearly 400 others — including 195 tourists — were trapped in the nearby township of Milford Sound and would have to wait until at least today to be rescued after flooding cut off the highway in and out of the town.

The weather chaos in the picturesque Fiordland area of Southland — at the bottom of the South Island — hit during the peak summer tourist season and generated a state of emergency for the region.

“We’ve got quite widespread flooding across the whole region,” Emergency Management Southland group controller Angus McKay said. “It’s exceptional even for a very wet place.”

Fiordland is deluged by about 10m of rain each year — and 1.1m had fallen in the previous three days alone.

The tourists stuck in Milford Sound were safest there, because so many highways were closed, McKay said.

“There’s plenty of accommodation, plenty of food,” he said. “Until we can get them out safely, there’s no rush with that.”

The road that runs through the township — State Highway 94 — is to be closed at least until the weekend and potentially into next week, NZ Transport Agency said in a statement.

Those who had been rescued by helicopter included travelers stuck on a closed road and 31 people who had been spending the night in a New Zealand Department of Conservation hut for hikers when it was hit by a landslide early yesterday.

“It’s a bit of a shock, but everyone seems to have done the right thing,” McKay said.

BAD FOR BUSINESS

The weather woes came two months after tourists were trapped in Franz Josef, an alpine town further up the South Island, when floods washed out roads.

At the time, local business owners complained that infrastructure serving the town, part of a popular tourist region, had not been sufficiently maintained.

Tourism operators would struggle with the latest events, the University of Otago Centre for Sustainability’s Caroline Orchiston said.

“The fact this event is taking place alongside the coronavirus outbreak is especially challenging, given many tourism operators are already experiencing cancelations and business disruption,” she said.

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title: PSG coach Tuchel plays down spat with Mbappe

content_text:
Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, right, talks with head coach Thomas Tuchel during their Ligue 1 match against Montpellier Herault at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Saturday.Photo: AP
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach Thomas Tuchel on Monday attempted to play down a touchline spat with Kylian Mbappe that overshadowed the French champions’ big weekend win over Montpellier Herault.

“There is nothing personal between him and me. These things happen,” said Tuchel after Mbappe reacted angrily to being substituted midway through the second half of PSG’s 5-0 victory at the Parc des Princes in Paris, with Mauro Icardi taking his place.

“It was between a player who does not want to come off, and a coach who had his reasons for doing something and who wanted to give a game to players who deserved it,” Tuchel added.

After Saturday’s match, Tuchel said that the reaction of Mbappe “doesn’t look good” and pointed out that: “This is football, not tennis, and you have to respect everyone.”

The 21-year-old World Cup winner, who had scored his 14th league goal of the season in the victory, exchanged words with Tuchel as he came off, and then stormed to his seat on the bench, throwing away a training top in disgust.

Tuchel said he discussed the matter again at training on Sunday, with the player and with Leonardo, the club’s sporting director.

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taiwan-subdivisions: 烏來 林口

people: 蔡英文 陳時中

content_text:
Virus Outbreak: First airplane brings 247 home from Wuhan; one more virus case confirmed

Ambulances depart from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after midnight yesterday as 247 Taiwanese return from Wuhan, China, in the first evacuation of Taiwanese from the city.Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The first chartered airplane evacuating 247 Taiwanese from Wuhan, China, returned to Taiwan at about 11:50pm on Monday, with three people quarantined in a hospital after their arrival, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.

Five people were taken to a hospital: one with a fever, two who had mild respiratory symptoms and a child with stomach pain who was accompanied by his mother, Chen said.

The three with symptoms were hospitalized in negative-pressure isolation wards for further examination, while the child was later released from hospital and taken with his mother to a quarantine location for evacuees.

Later last night, Chen said one of the three tested positive for the virus, raising the total number of cases confirmed in Taiwan to 11.

Earlier, he said that 69 evacuees were taken to a quarantine station in central Taiwan, 29 were taken to a location in New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) and 145 to Linkou District (林口).

“All virus-screening procedures were conducted with the highest standards at the airport on Monday night,” he said, adding that other people at the airport were not exposed to the airplane and the passengers.

The procedures were completed at about 3am yesterday, Chen said, adding that he traveled to the quarantine station in central Taiwan to be there for the evacuees’ arrival at about 5am.

Resettlement and disinfection were finished at about 6:20am, he added.

All three quarantine stations have security and healthcare teams to take care of the evacuees, overseeing their living arrangements and health status, over the next 14 days, Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said.

The evacuees are housed in separate rooms, except for a one-year-old staying with a parent, that are on the second floor or above to reduce exposure to the outside environment, he said, adding that they would be taking their meals in their rooms.

During the Lunar New Year holiday, the Mainland Affairs Council asked Beijing to allow Taiwan to evacuate Taiwanese in Wuhan, Department of Legal Affairs head Tsai Ji-ru (蔡志儒) said.

After negotiations, Monday’s humanitarian operation proved successful, but further negotiations would be needed to confirm whether another evacuation is possible, Tsai said.

“There were many innocent and cute children among the evacuees, so I felt a little emotional when thinking about how anxious they might have felt while they were stranded in Wuhan,” Chen said. “We felt like we accomplished something significant.”

Most of the evacuees were cooperative and kept calm during the process, Chen said, thanking all the people who helped make the evacuation possible.

People should not be too concerned about the quarantine stations or the risk of exposure to evacuees, as they are all a proper distance from each other, he added.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday posted on Facebook that the government recognizes China for its efforts in getting Taiwanese back to Taiwan.

The government is grateful to all the departments and personnel on both sides of the Taiwan Strait who helped accomplish the evacuation, Tsai said.

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content_text:
The Singapore Airshow, Asia’s biggest aerospace gathering, is to go ahead as planned next week, despite a viral outbreak in China prompting some firms to pull out, but a key meeting of aviation officials has been canceled, organizers said yesterday.

The trade portion of the airshow, held every two years, is set to begin on Tuesday next week under the shadow of the outbreak that has prompted measures by several nations, including Singapore, to contain the spread of infections.

The city-state banned entry to all Chinese visitors and foreigners with a recent history of travel to China, which had raised concerns over the staging of the event.

The move came as the death toll in China from the flu-like virus rose to at least 425, with two other fatalities reported in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The WHO last week declared the virus, which has spread to almost two dozen countries, a global emergency.

“In view of the evolving 2019 novel coronavirus situation, the organizer will introduce enhanced precautionary measures to safeguard the well-being and safety of all attendees,” Experia Events Pte Ltd said in a statement.

Additional temperature screenings are to be conducted at the show’s access points.

However, Experia said an aviation leadership summit scheduled on the eve of the event would be canceled as this would allow aviation executives to work out responses to the virus outbreak.

Aviation data firm OAG said there would be more than 25,000 fewer flights operated to, from and within China this week compared with two weeks ago, with 30 airlines halting services.

Citing industry sources, Reuters reported earlier that the summit, which was to involve 300 aviation executives, comprising government officials, civil aviation authorities and airline executives, had been canceled.

International Air Transport Association director-general Alexandre de Juniac would no longer travel to Singapore, said a spokesman representing the airline body.

Ten companies from China, including Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (中國商用飛機), which is developing the C919 narrowbody jet, and another six exhibitors from four other countries, would not attend the airshow, Experia said.

Business jet manufacturers Bombardier Inc, Textron Inc and General Dynamics Corp’s Gulfstream division are among those that have pulled out.

However, Boeing Co, Airbus SE and Lockheed Martin Corp, among the biggest exhibitors, yesterday said that they still plan to attend the show.

The lower attendance at the airshow, which is used as a barometer of the industry’s health, is a poor omen for a sector grappling with a sharp fall in travel demand due to the virus.

At the last show in 2018, there were 54,000 trade attendees from 147 countries and 1,062 participating companies, some of whom ended up signing deals covering commercial aviation, defense, maintenance and repair operations and business jets.

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title: Singapore Airshow to go ahead as planned next week


title: Pavelski helps Stars chase Lundqvist, beat Rangers

content_text:
New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist fails to stop a shot by the Dallas Stars’ Joe Pavelski in their NHL game in New York on Monday.Photo: AP
Joe Pavelski on Monday scored power-play goals 16 seconds apart, while Stephen Johns and Blake Comeau helped chase Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist to help the Dallas Stars beat New York 5-3.

Johns and Comeau scored 4 minutes, 4 seconds apart in the second period, while Corey Perry also scored for Dallas, who improved to 30-18-4 with their second straight win.

Stars goalie Anton Khudobin stopped 33 of 36 shots.

Pavel Buchnevich and Brett Howden scored first period power-play goals for the Rangers, as Brendan Lemieux added another on a man-advantage in the third period.

New York had won two straight coming out of the All-Star break and a bye week, as the front office weigh their options ahead of the Feb. 24 trade deadline.

“Every game is going to be key for us,” Brady Skjei said. “We have a lot of big games ahead.”

Johns played his fourth game since missing all of last season and the first 47 games of this one with post-traumatic headaches.

Johns slammed a heavy slap shot 7:52 into the second period to break a 2-2 tie and give Dallas their second advantage of the game.

Comeau followed with a snap shot from the left side at 11:56 to extend the lead to 4-2.

“I was open. I was calling for it,” said Johns, whose parents were at the game. “It makes it pretty special.”

Lundqvist was pulled after two periods, having stopped 11 of 15 shots.

Buchnevich put New York up 1-0 with his power-play goal 2:29 into the game.

Pavelski put Dallas ahead with two quick goals. He deflected John Klingberg’s shot past Lundqvist at 8:08 for his first power-play goal, then connected again seconds later after Rangers coach David Quinn unsuccessfully challenged whether a shot from Tyler Seguin was out of play and was hit with a two-minute delay of game penalty.

Howden tied it with 4:19 left in the first period.

The goal was initially waved off after Bowden touched the puck with his hand, but a review showed that he had used his stick and the call was overturned.

Alexandar Georgiev relieved Lundqvist and stopped five of six shots.

“We stopped playing for a bit and they took advantage,” Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said.

Also on Monday, it was:

‧ Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 3

‧ Stars 5, Rangers 3

‧ Flyers 3, Red Wings 0

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content_text:
Kevin Love on Monday scored a season-high 33 points in possibly his final home game with the Cavaliers, but Marcus Morris Sr led the New York Knicks to a 139-134 overtime victory.

Morris’ basket from the left wing gave New York a 135-134 lead with a minute to play. He added another jumper and two free throws on his way to 26 points.

The Cavaliers lost for the 11th time in 12 games. They have dropped 11 straight games at home.

Love, the subject of trade rumors ahead of Thursday’s deadline, was 12 of 20 from the field. He also grabbed 13 rebounds.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Love said. “We’ll let the chips fall. I’ve been saying that, but I expect to probably finish the season out here and continue to play extremely hard.”

Love hit a jumper to put the Cavaliers ahead 134-133 with 1 minute, 19 seconds left.

Morris missed the morning shoot-around because of an illness. He was 8 of 15 from the field and made all eight of his free throws.

“I’ve still got a little stomach virus there, but I’m good,” Morris said.

New York’s Elfrid Payton, returning from a one-game suspension, had 17 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds for his first triple-double of the season.

Cleveland led 118-108 with five minutes to play in regulation, but New York rallied behind Morris, who scored 10 points in the quarter to push the Knicks ahead.

“We took it kind of bitter,” Morris said of the deficit. “I told the guys: ‘Step up right now — the game is not over.’ I got into positions, they got the ball where I needed it and I just made it happen.”

Julius Randle’s layup gave New York a 127-124 lead before Collin Sexton’s three-pointer tied the game with 13 seconds left.

Morris missed a jumper from the left corner — it rimmed out at the buzzer — but the Knicks got the rebound and called timeout.

Sexton had 29 points for Cleveland, going 11 of 22 from the field.

The Cavaliers (13-38) are tied with Atlanta for the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland center Tristan Thompson — also the subject of trade rumors — worked out on the court before the game, but it was announced 45 minutes prior to tip-off that he would be out due to a sore right quad.

Coach John Beilein said Thompson got treatment after the shoot-around, but the leg was still bothering him before the game.

Also on Monday, it was:

‧ Heat 137, 76ers 106

‧ Clippers 108, Spurs 105

‧ Kings 113, Timberwolves 109

‧ Mavericks 112, Pacers 103

‧ Magic 112, Hornets 100

‧ Warriors 125, Wizards 117

‧ Celtics 123, Hawks 115

‧ Grizzlies 96, Pistons 82

‧ Nets 119, Suns 97

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title: Morris leads Knicks past Cavaliers 139-134 in OT


title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
A: Speaking of hair, the other day I was offered a free hair health check at a department store.

B: That sounds like hard selling. Did you end up buying a load of hair care products?

A: No way. I was given a shampoo tester and then made a quick exit.

B: That’s great. Hmm, maybe I should go, too.

A: 說到頭髮，我前幾天在百貨公司被人攔下來做免費髮質檢測。

B: 聽起來像是強迫推銷，你最後是不是買了一堆頭髮保養品？

A: 沒有哦！我最後得到一包洗髮精試用包，然後全身而退！

B : 好棒哦，那我也很想去

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: Curing the virus blues

content_text:
Curing the virus blues

Online games rake in millions of views and downloads as people stuck in self-quarantine at home seek entertainment
By Yingzhi Yang, Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh / Reuters, BEIJING/SHANGHAI
Young Chinese boys wearing protective masks play games last month at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok, Thailand.Photo: EPA-EFE
Online games and short video apps have been among the few beneficiaries of China’s virus outbreak, raking in millions of views and downloads as people stuck in self-quarantine at home seek entertainment and ways to beguile their time.

The shift has even drawn companies more used to doing business in showrooms, such as carmakers Tesla and Mercedes-Benz, to promote products heavily online during the week.

Chinese travel and gather with family and friends during the traditional Lunar New Year holiday, but many postponed or cancelled their plans over concerns sparked in mid-January about the spread of a new virus that has killed 420.

“I only use my mobile phone for three hours a day at work, but at least eight hours every day during the Spring Festival, because it’s so boring,” Lu Zhang, a junior high school teacher in eastern Shandong province, said of the enforced holiday.

Investors have seized on the trend, with shares of Chinese game publishers, such as Tencent, rising 2 percent in Hong Kong on Tuesday, outstripping a rise of 1 percent in the benchmark , while in New York, NetEase rose nearly 3 percent.

US-listed shares in Chinese video platform Bilibili rose almost 7 percent, while shares of search engine Baidu and e-commerce giant Alibaba also rose.

Five mobile game developers, including Ourpalm, surged by the maximum allowed 10 percent on Tuesday.

Weekly downloads jumped 77 percent on ByteDance’s Xigua video app from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26, after it announced plans to stream the premiere of a movie, Lost in Russia for free, data from performance tracker App Annie showed.

“My screen time yesterday exceeded 10 hours,” one Shanghai resident, identified only as Wang, said in a social media post, adding, “What do you all suggest I do other than look at my cellphone?”

Also popular are health and fitness apps, such as Keep, which livestreams fitness classes. Its revenue surged 15 percent for the week, while healthcare app Pingan Good Doctor saw downloads jump 1,186 percent.

“We believe that China internet and logistics companies are somewhat sheltered,” from the impact of the virus outbreak, analysts from Bernstein Research wrote in a Monday note, amid a growing trend for all products and services to move online.

Tencent’s blockbuster mobile game, Honour of Kings made up to 2 billion yuan (US$286 million) on the Jan. 24 eve of the holiday, estimated Pei Pei, an analyst with Sinolink Securities Co, exceeding all the Chinese mobile games on Apple’s app store during the entire week-long break in 2018.

Tencent declined to comment.

Strategy simulation app Plague Inc, which jumped to the top of the charts in Apple’s app store, retained its popularity.

The game, which allows users to create and evolve a pathogen to destroy the world, generated 78,000 downloads last month, up from 16,000 in December, according to Sensor Tower.

“Many students play games during the Spring Festival,” said the junior high teacher, Lu, adding that she spent more than five hours each day playing poker, among other games. “Sometimes they invite me to join when they see me online.”

US electric vehicle maker Tesla, which started delivery in December of cars built at its US$2-billion Shanghai plant, stepped up daily livestreamed sales events on video app Douyin to highlight features of its vehicles.


content_text:
Kenya school stampede kills 14

‘DEVASTATED’:One of the children’s mothers said that the children, who were mostly 10 to 12 years old, were running because some teachers were beating them
Parents and teachers gather near the scene of a stampede at Kakamega Primary School in Kakamega, Kenya, on Monday.Photo: Reuters
Fourteen children died and dozens of others were injured in a stampede as they left their primary school in Kenya on Monday, local police said, with investigators still trying to ascertain the cause of the tragedy.

The police have launched an inquiry into what caused the crowd of students to panic, leading to the crush at about 5pm at the school in the western town of Kakamega.

In the aftermath of the stampede, the police cordoned off the school and took statements from the teaching staff.

Images broadcast by local media showed parents gathered in front of the emergency ward of a hospital in the town, waiting for news of their children.

“We lost 14 of them,” Kenyan Cabinet Secretary of Education George Magoha told Citizen TV. “One life [lost] is a life too many.”

One of the children’s mothers blamed the teachers.

“Those who survived said they were running because there were teachers who were beating them, and that is why they were escaping and fell on each other,” the mother said in an interview with local media.

She said the children were mostly in grade five, and were aged 10 to 12.

Corporal punishment is banned in Kenya.

Kakamega Primary School did not immediately comment on the incident.

“We are devastated by the tragedy that has hit Kakamega Primary School this evening,” Kenyan Vice President William Ruto said on Twitter. “Our prayers, love and thoughts to the families and relatives of the victims of the misfortune.”

The Red Cross said on Twitter that it was setting up psychological support services, as well as a “tracing desk” to help relatives locate potentially affected students.

It said that 39 students had been admitted to a local hospital.

“As kids were going home from school there was a stampede as they were going down the stairs,” said Peter Abwao, a spokesman for Kenya Red Cross. “It’s a three-story building, it’s a classroom block.”

St John’s Ambulance meanwhile tweeted that more than 50 had been injured, including two who were in an intensive care unit.

About 37 had been treated and discharged from hospital, it said.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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title: Kenya school stampede kills 14


content_text:
There is much at stake for women’s rights advocates this year

From Republicans’ effort to get the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a woman’s right to an abortion, Poland’s increased restrictions on access to emergency contraception, to Brazil’s clampdown on sexual health education, this is a difficult time for women, but if the global feminist movement has proved anything over the years, it is that it can overcome powerful resistance to defend the rights of marginalized groups.

This year, it will do so again.

The challenge is formidable. An inevitable corollary of the authoritarianism, ethno-nationalism and xenophobia embraced by political leaders in many nations — in particular Brazil, Hungary, India, Turkey and the US — is the perpetuation of regressive gender norms.

“Strongman” leaders such as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi say that women are born to be wives and mothers; immigrants, and racial, religious and ethnic minorities are dangerous and inferior; and LGBTQI+ persons deserve ostracism, detention or even death.

These leaders have emboldened people who share their views to engage in discrimination and violent attacks against racial or other minorities, migrants, women and other marginalized groups.

Through measures like restrictions on abortion and contraception, and the removal of protections for LGBTQI+ people, these leaders have sought to control people’s bodies, sexuality and reproduction, and punish those who defy their outdated beliefs.

For example, immediately upon entering the White House, US President Donald Trump reinstated the “global gag rule,” which, by barring US aid to any international organization that provides, refers or advocates for abortion care, is deadly for women.

Yet, as president of the International Women’s Health Coalition and a longtime women’s rights advocate, I have seen firsthand what the feminist movement can do.

Consider Argentine feminists’ fight against highly restrictive abortion laws.

Twenty years ago, at the UN, Argentine diplomats refused even to acknowledge sexual health or reproductive rights, but in 2005, Argentine feminists launched the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, beginning a grueling uphill battle against powerful adversaries.

In 2018, hundreds of thousands of activists took to the streets across the nation wearing green handkerchiefs (now a global symbol of the fight for abortion rights) to demand that the Argentine Senate pass a bill legalizing abortion.

They lost, but only narrowly — an outcome that would have seemed impossible just a couple of decades earlier — but they kept fighting.

Last month, the nation inaugurated Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who has vowed to legalize abortion.

Achieving social change to protect marginalized groups is never an easy process. There are no quick victories over weak opposition, but as feminists have proved time and again, with sustained commitment, changes that once seemed impossible can later seem inevitable.

In the past year alone, there have been numerous examples of such changes. The Mexican state of Oaxaca and the Australian state of New South Wales decriminalized abortion, as did Northern Ireland, while others liberalized their laws, expanding the circumstances in which women can access safe, legal abortion services.

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content_text:
Twitter on Monday said that it had discovered attempts by possible state actors to access the telephone numbers associated with user accounts, after a security researcher unearthed a flaw in the company’s “contacts upload” feature.

In a statement published on its privacy blog, Twitter said it had identified a “high volume of requests” to use the feature coming from IP addresses in Iran, Israel and Malaysia.

It said that “some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors.”

A company spokeswoman declined to say how many user phone numbers had been exposed, saying Twitter was unable to identify all of the accounts that may have been impacted.

She said Twitter suspected a possible connection to state-backed actors because the attackers in Iran appeared to have had unrestricted access to Twitter, even though the network is banned there.

Tech publication TechCrunch reported on Dec. 24 last year that a security researcher, Ibrahim Balic, had managed to match 17 million phone numbers to specific Twitter user accounts by exploiting a flaw in the contacts feature of its Android app.

TechCrunch said it was able to identify a senior Israeli politician by matching a phone number through the tool.

The feature, which allows people with a user’s phone number to find and connect with that user on Twitter, is off by default for users in the EU, where stringent privacy rules are in place.

It is switched on by default for all other users globally, the spokeswoman said.

Twitter said in its statement that it has changed the feature so it no longer reveals specific account names in response to requests.

It has also suspended any accounts believed to have been abusing the tool.

However, the company is not sending individual notifications to users whose phone numbers were accessed in the data leak.

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title: Efforts to find phone ties by state-backed actors: Twitter


title: Iraq protesters divided over cleric’s backing of PM

content_text:
Anti-government protesters walk over a defaced poster of Iraqi Prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, on Monday.Photo: AP
Protest camps across Iraq on Monday began fracturing over whether to support Iraqi Prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi or continue opposing the government, marking a pivotal point for the four-month-old movement.

One demonstrator was killed in southern Iraq, medics and security sources said, after men in blue caps, the signature headgear of followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, attacked an anti-regime rally.

Iraq’s capital and mainly Shiite south have been rocked by months of protests demanding an overhaul of the government, but Allawi’s appointment on Saturday last week has so far failed to quell the rallies.

Most young protesters have rejected Allawi, who was twice Iraqi minister of communications, as too close to the ruling elite and a product of consensus among much-reviled parties.

Al-Sadr, who has backed the rallies and demanded reform, has welcomed Allawi’s appointment, but also urged his followers to stay in the streets.

That has sparked confusion and created a rift in protest squares across Iraq between organized Sadrists and angry, leaderless youth.

Late on Sunday, demonstrators opposed to Allawi’s nomination began clustering their tents closer together in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, away from those occupied by Sadrists.

“They’re split into two parts now, and there are plenty of people on both sides. I’m worried about a clash,” one long-time protester in Tahrir said.

At the weekend, dozens of Sadrists stormed a key building in Tahrir that was occupied for months by protesters, driving out activists.

Al-Sadr, a 45-year-old figure with a cult-like following across Baghdad, endorsed the protests when they broke out in October last year, but has repeatedly rethought his support.

On Sunday, he condemned student sit-ins and road closures, the two tactics most used by protesters, and tweeted that “the ‘blue caps must coordinate with security forces and education directorates” to reopen schools and streets.

The next morning, Sadrists deployed at schools and public offices in the southern city of Hilla to ensure they would fully reopen after intermittent closures due to the rallies, reporters said.

Yet they clashed with protesters who insisted on keeping the provincial government’s headquarters there shut as a sign of resistance to Allawi, a correspondent said.

One man at the sit-in was stabbed in the neck and died of his wounds in hospital, while three others were hurt after being hit with batons, medical and security sources told reporters.

In Nasiriyah, a southern city where government offices have been shut for months by the rallies, prominent protester Alaa Rikaby said that it was a “critical time” for the movement.

Rikaby said that Allawi was “not the people’s choice,” and appeared to try to steal al-Sadr’s thunder.

“Let’s take the initiative to open schools and public offices starting tomorrow, so as not to lose this opportunity to anyone else,” Rikaby said in a video posted to Twitter.

In Kut, anti-regime protesters began donning red caps to distinguish themselves from the Sadrists. Further south in Basra, university students relocated their tents to move away from al-Sadr supporters, correspondents there said.

“If Sadrists come to the protest square, don’t come into contact with them, don’t make problems,” one organizer there called out over a loudspeaker.

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content_text:
Then-Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi delivers a speech after he was sworn in for his final five-year term in Nairobi on Jan. 5, 1998.Photo: AFP
Former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, who ruled the country with an iron fist from 1978 to 2002, has died aged 95, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced yesterday.

Moi’s 24-year rule saw his country become a one-party state where critical voices were crushed, corruption became endemic and tribal divisions were stoked and turned bloody.

“It is with profound sadness that I announce the death of a great man of an African state,” Kenyatta said in a statement.

He ordered a period of national mourning until a state funeral is held, on a date not yet announced.

The former president died “in the early morning of Feb. 4 at Nairobi hospital in the presence of his family,” Kenyatta said.

Moi fought off rivals in a bitter contest to take the top job in 1978, succeeding Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, when he died.

Kenyan National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said on Twitter that Moi was an “astute politician,” who “employed pragmatic nationalism to keep the country together for the 24 years that he led our nation.”

“He will be remembered for his great efforts towards consolidating peace and tranquility within the Horn of Africa and largely the East African Region, at a very difficult time for the region and the African continent,” Muturi added.

One of the defining scandals of Moi’s presidency was the loss of US$1 billion from the central bank through false gold and diamond exports.

A report by Britain-based risk consultant group Kroll in 2007 claimed Moi’s family and clique laundered money on a global scale, buying properties and companies in London, New York and South Africa and even a 10,000 hectare ranch in Australia.

Inflation and employment levels are high in Kenya, and high levels of corruption have caused the economy to stagnate.

Those targeted by his regime included human rights and environmental activists, including the writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the future Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai.

However, Moi was praised for keeping Kenya a relative haven of peace during a chaotic period in east Africa which saw the genocide in Rwanda and civil wars in Burundi and Somalia.

His later return — under significant pressure — to multiparty elections in 1992, and peaceful handover of power to opposition leader Mwai Kibaki in 2002 also won him some praise.

In the past few years observers have criticized the “rehabilitation” of Moi as the elderly former president often received visits from Kenyatta, his opposition rival Raila Odinga and any politician seeking his blessing ahead of elections.

Kenyatta revived “Moi Day” in honor of the former president in 2017, after it was scrapped in 2010.

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title: Former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi dead at 95


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Virus threatens North Korea’s lifelines

ESCALATION?Pyongyang could try to offset its economic vulnerability by making provocative moves, such as resuming long-range missile launches, an expert said
State Commission of Quality Management staff wearing protective gear prepare to check the health of travelers arriving from abroad at the Pyongyang Airport on Saturday.Photo: AP
North Korea’s already tenuous economic lifelines to the outside world are now nearly severed as it seals its borders with China and Russia to prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Already one of the most closed-off nations in the world, North Korea has stopped flights and train services with its neighbors, established weeks-long mandatory quarantines for foreigners, suspended international tourism and imposed a near-complete lockdown on cross-border travel.

The shutdowns could hurt North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s efforts to make good on his promise to jump-start the economy. Those efforts have been undermined by a lack of progress in denuclearization talks with the US, which has led the way in imposing international sanctions on Pyongyang.

“They’re keeping the cargo out and they’re keeping the Chinese out; nobody can go in or out,” a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation at the China-North Korea border said.

Kang Mi-jin, a North Korean defector in Seoul who reports for the Daily NK Web site, confirmed that the border appears to have been almost entirely shut down since at least Thursday last week.

“The [North Korean] Ministry of People’s Armed Forces ordered all guard posts to bar smuggling as well,” she said. “People, freight, nothing can come in or go out.”

Pyongyang has reportedly asked Beijing not to repatriate North Korean defectors detained in China, said a South Korean pastor who works with refugees.

North Koreans who work in restaurants and elsewhere in China, contravening UN sanctions, are in “virtual captivity” in their homes under instructions from the authorities in Pyongyang, the border source said.

North Korea is typically adept at implementing public health interventions, and acted “swiftly and decisively” to try to stop the coronavirus from entering the nation, but sanctions restrictions could make it difficult to get medical supplies, said Harvard Medical School’s Park Kee, who has worked on healthcare projects in the nation.

“Their actions, very costly in terms of revenue from tourists and trade, as well as administratively for quarantining people, reflect their concerns regarding their health system’s capacity to handle an outbreak,” Park said.

The efforts — which appear to have been successful in preventing any cases in North Korea so far — mean Pyongyang has severed or drastically restricted the economic ties it relies on.

“There could be a huge impact, not just on the North’s market economy, but also on the entire economy of the country,” Kang said. “North Korea promotes localization, but even for products — candies, crackers or clothing — manufactured in the country, the raw materials come from China.”

Upcoming North Korean political holidays, which usually include gifts of sweets and crackers for children, could be less festive than usual if the nation’s supplies of sugar, flour and other ingredients are scarce, she said.

There are already signs that prevention measures could lead to the cancelation of military parades and other mass celebrations at least until the end of this month, which include a commemoration of the army and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s birthday.

The extent of the economic risk to North Korea largely depends on the duration of the lockdown and how sweeping the restrictions are, said Artyom Lukin, deputy director for research at Far Eastern Federal University’s School of Regional and International Studies in Vladivostok, Russia.

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title: High Court cancels result of Malawi presidential vote

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The Malawian High Court on Monday ordered a new presidential poll after annulling the results of a vote in May last year that re-elected Malawian President Peter Mutharika, citing widespread irregularities, including the use of correction fluid on ballot papers.

Mutharika, who is to remain president until the fresh polls, has the right to appeal the verdict, which is expected to stoke turmoil in the normally peaceful southern African country.

“We hold that the first respondent [Mutharika] was not duly elected as president of Malawi on May 21, 2019,” lead judge Healey Potani said.

“We hereby nullify the results of the presidential elections and we order for a fresh election” within 150 days, he added, sparking jubilation in the court.

The verdict was greeted with festive cheer in the city of Blantyre, where residents in impoverished townships set off fireworks.

“I’m delighted. I am short of words, really, but this is a bright new day for Malawi,” 22-year-old university student Laura Banda said. “I hope this is a turning point for the country.”

The main opposition Malawi Congress Party, which led the court challenge, hailed the ruling as “a very fair judgement” that had “set a precedent” for future elections.

The five judges said that “the irregularities and anomalies have been so widespread, systematic and grave ... that the integrity of the results has been seriously compromised.”

They added that the results announced by the Malawi Electoral Commission “cannot be trusted as a true reflection of the will of the voters.”

Neither the ruling party nor the government responded to requests for comment.

“I am still consulting and will only be able to talk to you once I have talked to my superiors,” government spokesman Mark Botomani told reporters.

Sporadic protests have broken out across the country since Mutharika was declared the winner by a narrow margin, with 38.5 percent of the vote.

Runner-up Lazarus Chakwera, who lost by just 159,000 votes, said that he was robbed of victory and took the matter to court.

The case gripped the nation, keeping Malawians glued to their radios for hours on end as witnesses presented evidence of alleged vote-rigging during six months of hearings.

Security was tight for Monday’s ruling, with a heavy military presence around the court. Several businesses and schools had closed for the week, fearing violence.

The judges were driven to court in a military armored vehicle.

An army helicopter occasionally hovered above the courthouse and the central business district.

“It is clear that the use of Tipp-Ex [correction fluid] was employed by [commission] officers to hide votes,” judge Ivy Kamanga said, taking a turn reading an abridged version of the 500-page judgement — which nevertheless took more than nine hours to deliver.

“Use of Tipp-Ex was unjustifiable and an irregularity,” she said, adding that the way in which the commission “dealt with the alterations was not in line with the law, hence it was irregular.”

The court also said that only one-fourth of the results sheets were verified, calling this “a serious malpractice that undermined the elections.”

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content_text:
Weinstein witness grilled on contacts with producer after her alleged rape

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer on Monday hammered away at the credibility of Jessica Mann, whom Weinstein is charged with raping, asking why she continued seeing him even after the alleged assault.

Mann, 34, broke down in sobs on the witness stand after defense attorney Donna Rotunno asked her to read out loud for the jury a letter she wrote to a boyfriend in May 2014 about her relationship with Weinstein, which referred to having been sexually abused when she was younger.

“I remember the day I realized that I was controlling my world because I was sexually assaulted,” Mann read to the panel of seven men and five women.

Of Weinstein, she had written to her boyfriend: “I tried to make him into my pseudo-father.”

“This sexual assault was from when you were younger?” Rotunno asked her.

Mann twice dissolved in tears after Rotunno asked her about the earlier abuse.

New York State Supreme Court Justice James Burke initially had Mann escorted out so she could compose herself, but on her return, with the jury out of the room, she continued to weep and gasped for breath.

Burke suspended the trial early for the day and ordered prosecutors to have another witness ready to take the stand yesterday in case Mann is not ready.

On Friday, Mann testified that she was raised evangelical on a farm in Washington state.

She acknowledged agreeing to an “extremely degrading” sexual relationship with Weinstein after he befriended her and then performed a sex act on her at a Los Angeles hotel shortly before the alleged rape, which prosecutors say took place in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013.

Rotunno on Monday grilled Mann on her relationship with Weinstein, which continued for years after the alleged rape, and about financial help he gave her and affectionate e-mails she sent him.

Asked why she agreed to go up to his hotel room on the day of the assault, Mann said she was trying to placate him.

Rotunno showed Mann e-mails she sent Weinstein from early 2013 to right after the alleged attack and then through at least 2016.

“As ‘manipulated’ as you claim you felt, isn’t it true that you manipulated Mr Weinstein because you continued to see him after every single sexual encounter?” Rotunno asked.

“How I handled it to survive and process it, yeah, I guess you could say it was manipulation,” Mann said after a long pause.

Weinstein has been charged with rape and predatory sexual assault for attacks on Mann and Miriam Haley, a former production assistant on his Project Runway television show.

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content_text:
AirAsia CEO Fernandes steps aside amid probes

QUID PRO QUO:Airbus allegedly paid US$50 million as sponsorship for a sports team owned by two unnamed AirAsia executives in exchange for a 180-airplane order
AirAsia’s colorful CEO Tony Fernandes has stepped aside from the company while authorities probe unusual payments at the Malaysian carrier, as the fallout from a US$4 billion bribery fine at Airbus reverberates across the industry.

The shock decision came after the British Serious Fraud Office released details of a probe that found individuals associated with the planemaker had paid to secure deals with AirAsia and its long-haul unit, AirAsia X.

“We are relinquishing our executive roles with immediate effect for a period of two months, or such other period that the companies may deem fit,” Fernandes and executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun on Monday said in a statement.

They said that they “categorically deny any and all allegations of wrongdoing or misconduct on our part as directors of AirAsia. We would not harm the very companies that we spent our entire lives building up to their present global status.”

They are to remain with the airline as advisers, they added.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on Saturday said that it was empowered to investigate any act of corruption committed by citizens or permanent residents anywhere outside the country.

Two other agencies in Malaysia, including the Malaysian Civil Aviation Authority and the Malaysian Securities Commission, reportedly have started their own probes.

Fernandes has been one of Airbus’ most loyal customers and his Malaysia-based budget airline, which he in 2001 bought for 1 ringgit (US$0.24 at the current exchange rate), is the European manufacturer’s largest customer for single-aisle jets.

The news sent yesterday shares in AirAsia plunging more than 8 percent, having already plummeted more than 10 percent the previous day following the release of the office’s investigation.

Tan Kam Meng, analyst with local brokerage TA Securities, warned of further losses if Fernandes and Kamarudin are charged.

“If the probe is unfavorable against them or they are charged in court, the impact will be a disaster to shareholders,” Tan told reporters. “I am shocked by the news of the bribery.”

The losses have been compounded by a deadly virus outbreak that has seen several airlines cancel flights to China, which is one of AirAsia’s most profitable routes.

“It is a double whammy for AirAsia,” Tan said.

A French court last week said that Airbus had agreed to pay 3.6 billion euros (US$4 billion) in fines to Britain, France and the US to settle corruption inquiries sparked by suspicious equipment sales.

A court document on the office’s Web site says that EADS France — which was later renamed as Airbus Group — paid US$50 million as sponsorship for a sports team owned by two unnamed AirAsia executives.

“Key decisionmakers” in AirAsia and AirAsia X allegedly rewarded the firm with an order of 180 aircraft.

Fernandes and Kamarudin have not been shy in flaunting their wealth and both once owned the now-defunct Caterham Formula One racing team, while they are also majority owners of London soccer club Queens Park Rangers.

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content_text:
Global economy feeling the strain of China’s coronavirus outbreak

The US-China trade dispute made last year a lot for anyone to handle, and the thought
of contending with a coronavirus this year is giving even the most hardened executives pause
An interconnected global economy is feeling the strain of China’s 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak — and the potential US$160 billion hit in lost growth that could be on the way.

In New Zealand, a bath furnishings seller told a customer that the German-designed shower head he ordered is unavailable — because the factory in Shanghai is closed.

In California, executives of REC Group organized a supply-chain war room to plan around an anticipated trucking shortage and port logjam in China.

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is rallying support for an emergency OPEC meeting on concern demand for oil would falter.

Since China’s last global health crisis, the SARS outbreak of 2002 and 2003, its share of global economic output has quadrupled to about 17 percent.

It is now the biggest market for new vehicles and semiconductors, the largest spender on international tourism, the leading exporter of clothing and textiles, and the nation where many PCs and virtually all iPhones are made.

The global hit from this new outbreak could be three to four times larger than the US$40 billion blow from SARS, Australian National University professor of economics Warwick McKibbin says.

China so far has absorbed most of the economic shock from the coronavirus outbreak. Wuhan, the city with 11 million residents where the virus came to light, remains closed off from the world.

Under a government-mandated extension of the Lunar New Year holiday, provinces generating at least two-thirds of economic output are to be shuttered through next week, including Shanghai and key eastern manufacturing hubs.

All the while, the virus’ toll continues to rise — and with it the worry. China’s essential role in the global supply chain means business owners and executives around the world are being forced to contemplate what would happen in a prolonged crisis.

“Everyone is waiting to see how this evolves,” Kraft Heinz Co chief executive officer Miguel Patricio said.

The food giant has a couple of thousand employees in China, including a small sales team in Wuhan.

“The danger, of course, is that if this continues and people have to stay home, you start having problems in terms of distribution, production,” Patricio said.

Four months ago, Levi Strauss & Co opened the doors on a new flagship store in Wuhan, a booming manufacturing powerhouse that alternately gets called the Chicago or Detroit of China.

It features three levels of premium collections and a massive tailor shop. At a little more than 697m2, it is twice as big as any other Levi franchise in China. The store was heralded by top executives as a symbol of a new era of growth for the brand in the nation.

Today, like almost everything else in town, the store is shut. A major component of Levi’s growth strategy in the region is temporarily stalled, joining thousands of international corporations, Chinese conglomerates and small businesses in the first wave of economic impact from the coronavirus.

“Our priority is employees, and if the situation doesn’t correct itself quickly, we will probably remain closed for a while,” Levi chief financial officer Harmit Singh said in a telephone interview.

International firms have poured into China, opening up Estee Lauder counters, Canada Goose stores and Rolls-Royce showrooms in Beijing and Shanghai.

More recently, they moved into second and third-tier cities whose populations have ballooned during the nation’s mass urbanization.

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title: Mahomes ready for long NFL career with Kansas City

content_text:
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, center left, passes against the San Francisco 49ers in NFL Super Bowl LIV at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Sunday.Photo: James Lang-USA TODAY
Basking in the glow of an NFL Super Bowl title, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes said that he wants the opportunity to win many more championships while wearing a Chiefs uniform.

Eligible for a contract extension after playing three seasons, Mahomes, who earned the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) honor, sounded ready to commit on Monday morning.

“I want to be in Kansas City for a long time,” Mahomes said. “I understand that and also I want to win a lot of football games here.”

There is no immediacy to getting a deal done. Mahomes’ contract runs through next season, with a team option for another season beyond that.

The 24-year old completed 26 of 42 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns in Super Bowl LIV, while rallying the Chiefs to a 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers with 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Mahomes had 4,031 passing yards this season, with 26 touchdowns.

Although a statistical drop from 2018, when he threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, he had just five interceptions in this year’s regular season and has a trophy for his post-season work.

“For me, it’s kind of letting that stuff handle itself,” Mahomes said about a contract extension. “I’m in a great organization. I have a great team ... working for me. For me, it’s about trusting those people and finding the best way to do it in order to have the best team around me.”

Andy Reid, after his first Super Bowl title in 21 seasons as a head coach, said that working with Mahomes has been enjoyable.

“I’ve got this young quarterback over here that makes life easy,” Reid said. “Every day it’s a pleasure to come to work and know that I have an opportunity to coach him and his teammates.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last month that Mahomes could sign the league’s first US$200 million contract.

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A handout photograph released by the Israeli Government Press Office shows, from left, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Janet Museveni, Sara Netanyahyu and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in front of the presidential residence in Entebbe on Monday.Photo: EPA-EFE
The leaders of Israel and Sudan met on Monday and agreed to cooperate toward a goal of normalizing ties between the two countries, according to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The surprise two-hour meeting between Netanyahu and Lieutenant General Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s sovereign council, came at the end of a visit by the Israeli leader to Entebbe, Uganda, to meet with that nation’s leaders.

It could further Sudan’s efforts to get the US to take it off its list of state sponsors of terrorism as the country edges toward democracy after its longtime leader was ousted from power last year.

It could also help Netanyahu’s reelection bid, giving him a diplomatic victory ahead of a national ballot on March 2.

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo welcomed the meeting and “thanked General al-Burhan for his leadership in normalizing ties with Israel,” the US Department of State said in a statement.

The government of Sudan was not notified or consulted on the meeting between the two, the state-run Sudan News Agency reported, citing Sudanese Minister of Information and Broadcasting Faisal Saleh.

Officials would wait for “clarifications” on al-Burhan’s return, Salih said in a later statement.

The two nations are moving to boost relations more than four decades after Netanyahu’s brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed in an operation that rescued Israeli hostages, whose plane was forced to Entebbe International Airport by Palestinian hijackers.

Israel and Uganda discussed opening of embassies in their countries, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Twitter without revealing if his government would open its Israeli embassy in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

The two countries are already cooperating in sectors including agriculture, security, health, and communication information and technology, Museveni said.

Netanyahu proposed commencement of flights between Tel Aviv and Entebbe, he said.

No government of the Muslim-majority Sudan since its independence in 1956 has recognized Israel, while Israeli officials had previously identified Sudan as a conduit for Iranian weapons bound for Israel’s enemies.

Netanyahu is playing up his diplomatic prowess ahead of next month’s vote, with visits last week with US President Donald Trump for the unveiling of his Mideast peace plan — and to see Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he brought home an Israeli woman who had been imprisoned in Russia.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat called al-Burhan’s meeting with Netanyahu “a stab in the back of the Palestinian people and a flagrant walkout on the Arab peace initiative,” according to a statement published by the official PalestineNews Agency.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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title: Israel, Sudan to work for relations


title: Google Q4 profit up, but Wall Street unimpressed

content_text:
Google’s revenue has grown, but Wall Street wants more.

Shares of Google parent company Alphabet Inc fell more than 4 percent after it released financial results on Monday, even as profit rose 19 percent and it beat expectations for the final three months of last year.

Helped by lower taxes, Alphabet on Monday said that it earned US$10.7 billion, or earnings per share of US$15.35, more than the US$12.49 a share analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.

Net revenue, after subtracting advertising costs, was US$37.6 billion, up 18 percent year-on-year.

Analysts were looking for US$38.4 billion.

It was the second rocky quarter in a row for the online search leader.

Its third quarter brought higher-than-expected revenue, but a profit shortfall due to higher spending on new hires, data centers and other expenses.

Wall Street is worried that Google’s weaker-than-expected ad revenue results could indicate a broader slowdown in online advertising spending, Synovus Trust Co portfolio manager Dan Morgan said.

While Google is still the clear leader in the digital advertising market, it is seeing growing competition from the likes of Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

Google — and with it, Alphabet — makes the majority of its money from selling targeted advertising across the Web, apps and Google products, including its search engine and video streaming site YouTube.

Investors are also closely watching the growth of Google’s cloud business and its aspirations in the healthcare industry. Google agreed to buy the fitness tracker company Fitbit Inc in November last year.

Alphabet disclosed revenue for YouTube and its cloud business for the first time, something analysts have been seeking for years.

“The information should also give advertisers valuable information about the importance of YouTube as a digital ad vehicle,” eMarketer analyst Nicole Perrin said.

Alphabet said that YouTube’s advertising revenue grew 31 percent to US$4.72 billion, while Google Cloud revenue grew 53 percent to US$2.61 billion.

Though it is still No. 3 in the cloud sector, Google is gaining some market share from the likes of Amazon and Microsoft Corp, Morgan said.

Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat said that the quarter’s profit benefited from lower taxes due to several years of audits.

Alphabet set aside US$33 million for income taxes in the quarter, compared with US$1.12 billion a year earlier.

There has been no impact on Alphabet from a coronavirus outbreak in China, she said, adding that the company is helping with relief efforts.

The outbreak could eventually hurt Google’s sales of hardware, such as Chromebooks and Pixel phones, if it continues to spread and becomes a long-term problem, she added.

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