content_text:
2020-02-08 00:20:44

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕台北市政府體育局臉書臉書官方帳號「台北運動吧」7日深夜11點58分，竟然公然在臉書連續貼出多則色情A片影片連結，還附帶有露骨圖片，立刻引發批踢踢實業坊（PTT）鄉民直呼「車速太快了」。

擁有藍色勾勾的臉書帳號「台北運動吧」，在「關於」頁面中註記為「台北市政府體育局官方粉絲團」，建立粉專主要目的是提供給粉絲體育資訊傳播、運動知識建立、體育賽事交流、運動故事分享、運動設施介紹、多元體育的推廣，卻反而連續提供多則色情A片影片連結，還附帶有性交等露骨圖片。

批踢踢鄉民知悉此事後，都感到相當不可思議，紛紛留言指出「運動吧，嘻嘻:）」、「代表小編是個健康的男子」、「已備份，不合口味，小編眼光差應該開除」、「北高愛情產業鏈」、「放到目前，有點久，小編的反應很慢吧」，但也有鄉民認為這可能是帳號遭盜用，或小編的某種抗議。

鄉民提醒，此舉已經觸犯刑法《公然猥褻罪》、《散布猥褻物品罪》，若有兒童及青少年收看到，恐怕另外會有《兒童及少年福利法》的問題。

references: 臉書 PTT

title: 超狂！台北市體育局臉書粉專 深夜連發裸露色情圖


content_text:
2020-02-08 00:02:22

〔記者鍾麗華／台北報導〕有關媒體報導，我方已將第二批返台包機優先名單交給對岸，陸委會晚間澄清，並非事實。

《蘋果日報》引述知情人士消息報導，「我方已將第二批返台包機優先名單交給對岸，只要對岸同意，包機隨時可以來台。」

陸委會表示，有媒體今（7）晚報導，「我方已將第二批返台包機優先名單交給對岸，此項報導與實際事實有所落差，特予澄清。

陸委會指出，有關我方認為應該優先接回的名單，海基會尚在彙整中，並非如媒體所言，已將名單交給對方。

陸委會表示，在防疫優先、人道優先的原則下，兩岸仍在溝通協調下一次的接返作業，如有具體結果，會適時對外說明，請媒體勿再錯誤引用相關訊息。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
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title: 武漢肺炎》第二批包機優先名單已交對岸？ 陸委會：並非事實


events: 武漢肺炎 冠狀病毒

people: 陳菊 蘇貞昌 陳建仁 蔡英文

title: 武漢肺炎》隨鄉親到靈鷲山 陳菊：祈願台灣平安

content_text:
2020-02-07 23:54:08

〔記者王榮祥／高雄報導〕總統府秘書長陳菊今隨同多位鄉親到靈鷲山祈福，祈求台灣人民平安，希望新型冠狀病毒疫情能夠控制、早日結束，同時也向全體辛苦的防疫人員致意。

陳菊指出，政府了解大家的憂慮，更清楚疫情威脅的嚴重性，所以從蔡英文總統、陳建仁副總統、蘇貞昌院長到第一線防疫人員，全體上下都戰戰兢兢，不斷隨著情勢擬定調整應變的措施，就是要保護大家的健康。她強調，台灣目前沒有社區群聚感染，請大家依照中央疫情流行指揮中心公布的注意事項，配合防疫工作，不要轉傳未經查證的訊息。

陳菊認為，防疫需要大家齊心攜手，台灣一起挺過無數次挑戰，「我們勇敢、堅韌，我們有信心克服這次的考驗，希望世界各國都一起共度難關」。她向辛苦的防疫人員致敬，並向神明祈願台灣平安。

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title: 武漢肺炎》國台辦：台灣民間截至6日 已捐中國5.17億元

countries: 台灣 中國 韓國 阿聯 哈薩克 阿爾及利亞 巴基斯坦 土耳其 匈牙利 泰國 伊朗 埃及 馬來西亞 白俄羅斯 日本 法國 德國 印尼 英國

content_text:
2020-02-08 00:34:53

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕中國武漢肺炎爆發至今，中國外交部稱收到各國捐贈的物資與善款，國台辦7日發布來自台灣的善款金額初估數字，台灣民眾、企業共計捐贈1.2億人民幣元，折合台幣約5.17億元。

中國外交部日前指出，截至2月5日中午為止，共收到來自韓國、日本、泰國、馬來西亞、印尼、哈薩克斯坦、巴基斯坦、德國、英國、法國、意大利、匈牙利、白俄羅斯、土耳其、伊朗、阿聯酋、阿爾及利亞、埃及、澳大利亞、新西蘭、特立尼達和多巴哥等21個國家的物資或款項。

中國國台辦7日指出，「廣大台胞台企連日來紛紛捐款捐物，積極支持祖國大陸抗擊疫情，充分體現了兩岸同胞血濃於水、守望相助的骨肉親情」，根據最新初步估計，截至2月6日止，台灣民眾、企業已捐助善款和物資折合人民幣約1.2億元。

國台辦提到，全中國的「同胞投資企業聯誼會」和台灣知名企業如潤泰、聯發科技、旺旺等公司，也分別捐贈資金和各類物資，位於湖北、北京、天津、廣東、江蘇、浙江、福建等多地的台資企業協會也紛紛奉獻愛心，向有關地方和部門捐贈物資、資金，支援「抗疫」工作。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
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content_text:
Did young people visiting family and friends during the Lunar New Year holiday also visit temples to worship?

Academic Chung Wen-jung (鍾文榮) says that traditional temple followers are generally older and as their age increases, the number of followers declines.

As a result, smaller temples have begun closing as they receive fewer donations.

The problem is not only a matter of the age of the followers. When the Dehe (德和宮) land god temple in Zhongcheng Park (忠誠公園) in Taipei’s Tianmu (天母) area was to be rebuilt in 1997, residents protested vehemently, and said the temple destroyed the view and was a source of environmental pollution.

Residents in the area’s Mingshan Borough (名山里) even organized the Zhongcheng Park Self-help Committee and collected hundreds of signatures from people who did not want the temple to return to the park.

In the end, the city government was left with no choice but to halt the move and find a new location.

The temple was originally in what is now a park, but the park was built later, around the temple. The crux of the problem was probably the temple’s exterior. Had the temple been designed more like the Nongchan Temple (農禪寺) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), residents would perhaps have been happier.

Nongchan Temple has a modern design and it includes the Water Moon Monastery (水月道場), a view that Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴法師) “saw” when meditating, saying it looked like “flowers suspended in mid-air and a moon in water.”

Architect Kris Yao (姚仁喜) designed the temple based on this vision and the final design is reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, only smaller and more romantic.

Because the temple faces a large lotus pond, it looks graceful day and night, overcast or sunny.

No incense is burned at Nongchan Temple, but surprisingly, even without it, the temple attracts many visitors. It has been included on a list of 10 temples merging Western and Eastern elements, making it a place where the young want to check in, and it has even been praised internationally for its beauty.

It is not only about big temples. In 2015, the Fude (福德祠) land god shrine association in Taichung’s Dahe Borough (大河里) invited architecture, urban planning, landscaping and interior design students from Taiwan and abroad to submit designs for the shrine.

Although the prize money only ranged from NT$20,000 to NT$60,000, they received 307 designs, a much stronger response than expected. The winner was a Japanese student.

The chosen design was strongly criticized by a certain legislator, who said it was a waste of public funds to select a Japanese-style shrine design for a traditional Chinese-style “national palace.”

However, all the funds were collected locally and that legislator had no idea what they were talking about. The statement caused a public backlash, as followers were not opposed to the design and were only concerned whether it would attract more young people to the temple.

The Dahe Borough Fude Shrine originally consisted of just three rocks piled on top of each other, and it was called “Three stones.” It did not resemble the temple there today, and it was only later that it was labelled “traditional Chinese culture” and was called a “national palace.”

It is said that elements of nature are most likely to attract people, and both the three rocks at the land god shrine and the lotus flowers at Nongchan Temple are aesthetic factors that bring nature and humanity together.

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title: Rethink next generation of temples


content_text:
Turkish organization thanks Taiwanese for quake donations

A FRIEND IN NEED:AKUT said over 60% of the 7,133 credit-card donors were Taiwanese, who wanted to thank the group for its help during the 921 quake
The AKUT Search and Rescue Association has thanked Taiwanese for their generous donations in the wake of a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Turkey on Jan. 24.

The earthquake, centered near the town of Sivrice in eastern Elazig Province, killed 41 people and injured more than 1,600.

After the earthquake, Taiwanese flooded AKUT with supportive messages and donations, the organization said.

“Of the 7,133 people who donated to the organization via credit card [after the earthquake], more than 60 percent were Taiwanese,” AKUT secretary-general Zeynep Aktosun said in a meeting on Monday.

In addition, one Taiwanese voluntarily translated the donation information into Chinese, which resulted in an “explosion” of donations, she said.

Many of the Taiwanese donors said that they wanted to show their gratitude for AKUT’s assistance in the aftermath of the 921 Earthquake, the organization said.

The 921 Earthquake, which claimed more than 2,400 lives and left tens of thousands of people injured when it struck central Taiwan in 1999, is considered one of the deadliest in the nation’s history.

The day after the 921 Earthquake, AKUT dispatched 17 rescue workers, who saved the life of a Taiwanese woman who had been trapped under the rubble of her collapsed apartment building.

Twenty years later, Taiwanese still remember the work of the organization, AKUT president Recep Salci said.

“Our friendship with Taiwan stretches back to 1999, when there was a disaster in Taiwan,” Salci said in the meeting. “We went to help and became friends. This earthquake [in Turkey] has showed us that they have not forgotten us and are willing to help us. We want to thank all Taiwanese people.”

The organization also expressed thanks to Taiwan in two social media posts on Monday and Thursday last week.

“Thank you, our friends from afar,” the Thursday post says in Chinese and Turkish, next to an image of the Republic of China and Turkish flags side by side.

The Monday post expresses thanks to Taiwanese, the Turkish government, local businesses and individuals who had supported AKUT’s rescue efforts.

When one Turkish commenter asked why Taiwan had been singled out, the organization cited the large number of donations and supportive messages received from Taiwanese.

“The donations are important, of course, but the messages are our greatest motivation,” Aktosun said. “Our volunteers have been moved to tears by them.”

Since the earthquake, AKUT has received donations totaling more than 1 million Turkish Lira (US$166,976), she said.

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content_text:
US warns Venezuela if Guaido harmed

RETALIATION?Caracas rearrested six men with dual nationality after Juan Guaido, whom the US recognizes as Venezuela’s interim president, met Donald Trump
Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido, left, and US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi approach to deliver remarks to members of the media during their meeting in the US Capitol in Washington on Thursday.Photo: EPA-EFE
The US on Thursday warned Venezuela’s rulers of consequences if opposition leader Juan Guaido is not allowed to return safely from a visit to Washington, where he enjoyed pledges of robust support.

In one sign that some saw as retaliation, authorities in Caracas threw into jail six oil executives with joint US and Venezuelan nationality, two months after allowing them to shift to house arrest.

Elliott Abrams, the US envoy leading the drive to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, said that the US was “prepared” with unspecified actions if Guaido, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, faces trouble.

“We hope that the regime makes the calculation, particularly after this trip, that the support for Guaido is strong and that the counterreaction to any move against him would make it a mistake for the regime,” Abrams told reporters.

“We’re very concerned about it and we hope that he will return safely,” he said.

Guaido, who is considered interim president by the US and most other Western and Latin American nations, vowed to keep up his campaign.

“We are going to mobilize in the coming days in Venezuela,” Guaido told reporters after meeting with Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro.

“Yes, there are risks,” he added.

Guaido last week met Venezuelans in Miami and then appeared as a surprise guest on Tuesday at US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address before Congress.

He later met with Trump at the White House, which accorded him the same treatment it would any head of state.

Maduro’s government harshly criticized Trump and Guaido, but in the past it has allowed the opposition leader to move freely, despite his efforts to topple the regime. Guaido enjoyed applause from across the political spectrum at the State of the Union address, despite a highly polarizing speech by Trump, and met on Thursday with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Maduro presides over a crumbling economy, with millions having fled as they seek basic necessities, and his last election was widely criticized as fraudulent. However, a year-long US campaign to oust Maduro, including through sanctions to stop Venezuela’s key export of oil, have failed to dislodge him.

Guaido’s street protests have fizzled in size and Maduro still enjoys support from Russia, China and Cuba.

Abrams hinted that the US would soon take action against Russia, amid reports Washington could target state oil giant Rosneft over its increasingly close relationship with Venezuela.

“Russia may soon find out that their continued support of Maduro will no longer be cost-free,” Abrams said.

“You will see steps unfold in the coming weeks that demonstrate the seriousness of our intentions in Venezuela,” he said.

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, currently on a tour of South America, said the US “is threatening to use all the options on the table and often resorts to provocations.”

Hours after Guaido met Trump, Venezuelan authorities arrested six men with dual nationality who had been executives at Citgo, the US subsidiary of state-run Venezuelan oil firm PDVSA.

The executives — who two months earlier had been allowed to return to their homes — were taken to the detention center of Venezuela’s intelligence services, their families said.

“They were rearrested, it seems, to have them respond to new accusations,” said Gonzalo Himiob, director of Foro Penal, a Venezuelan non-governmental organization that defends the rights of prisoners.

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title: US warns Venezuela if Guaido harmed


content_text:
The threat from the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak on Thursday closed in on the global auto industry, as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV warned that a European plant could shut down within two to four weeks if Chinese parts suppliers cannot get back to work.

The next several weeks will be critical for automakers. Parts made in China are used in millions of vehicles assembled elsewhere, and China’s Hubei Province, epicenter of the outbreak, is a major hub for vehicle parts production and shipments.

Industry experts have said that auto suppliers had built up a cushion of parts in inventory and in-transit ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, but those would start to run out if Chinese parts factories cannot get back to work next week, or if flights to and from China remain limited.

Chinese auto parts and assembly plants have extended previously planned New Year’s shutdowns through Monday next week, but some have pushed the shutdowns out further.

“Almost everybody has some product where they are in trouble,” said Dan Hearsch, a managing director for the auto and industrial practice of consulting firm AlixPartners.

Fiat Chrysler could be forced to suspend production at a European assembly plant if parts do not begin to arrive within two to four weeks, chief executive officer Mike Manley said on Thursday, without identifying the plant or vehicles at risk.

South Korea’s Hyundai said that shortages of parts from China would force it to suspend production at its South Korean plants.

Other global automakers have not disclosed details about potential disruptions outside China, but have said that they are monitoring the risks.

Toyota operating officer Masayoshi Shirayanagi said that the automaker is “looking very closely at inventories of components” outside China.

GM has teams working around the clock to head off trouble, the automaker’s chief financial officer said.

Automakers are more likely than in the past to have backup sources of critical parts, AlixPartners consultant Hearsch said.

They and their major suppliers took steps after the deadly 2011 tsunami that crippled key auto parts makers in Japan to reduce the risk that a catastrophe at a single factory could shut down assembly lines, Hearsch added.

Flexible manufacturing equipment can also be reprogrammed or relocated to produce parts. When a fire at a Michigan supplier plant threatened production of Ford Motor Co’s high-profit pickup trucks, Ford moved rapidly to relocate production tools to a plant in Ontario.

Still, not all the production from China’s Hubei Province can be easily replaced or moved.

Hubei is one of 11 Chinese provinces that are responsible for more than two-thirds of vehicle production in China, IHS Markit said in a study last week.

If plants remain idle into next month, the production losses within China would become significant, amounting to more than 1.7 million vehicles of lost production during the first quarter, IHS projected.

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title: Global automaker supplies threatened by coronavirus


content_text:
Middle East’s US$2 trillion wealth could be squandered by 2034, IMF report says

The Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf face a budget reckoning and risk squandering their US$2 trillion in financial wealth within 15 years as oil demand nears peak levels, the IMF said in a report on Thursday.

Global oil demand might start falling sooner than expected, putting a strain on the finances of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which accounts for one-fifth of the world’s crude production, the IMF said.

Without decisive economic reforms, the richest Middle Eastern states could exhaust their net financial wealth by 2034 as the region becomes a net debtor, the fund projected. Within another decade, their total non-oil wealth would also be exhausted, the IMF said in the report prepared by a team of its Middle East and Central Asia specialists, as well as its research department.

“Countries in the region need to think long-term and strategically, because the oil market is changing structurally both from the demand and the supply side,” IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department director Jihad Azour said in an interview, adding that economic reforms underway in some countries need to accelerate.

Development plans need to shift spending and job creation from governments to the private businesses, and develop more non-oil sources of income more quickly, he said.

GCC countries would have to be more aggressive in their pursuit of an economic transformation to preserve their current wealth.

“If we stop here, it’s not enough,” Azour said.

Global oil companies and producing states have come to recognize that alternative energy sources, alongside greater efficiency, are already eroding demand.

While Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are developing new industries in preparation for a post-oil era, they are not moving quickly enough to avoid running out of cash, the IMF said.

Gulf oil producers sharply increased budget spending from 2007 to 2014, when prices for crude oil plunged.

Despite patchy reforms, they have not fully offset the drop in oil revenue with spending cuts, leading to deficits that have eroded wealth, the report said.

Regional governments would likely need to cut spending further, save more and introduce broad-based taxation to make ends meet, the IMF said.

A further decline in oil prices this year, in the face of geopolitical tensions and threats the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak poses to growth, is making the task even harder.

Should global demand trend downward before plans take root, the countries would need to cope with their longer-term economic problems sooner, the IMF said.

“The world’s demand for oil is expected to grow more slowly and eventually begin to decline in the next two decades,” it said.

Global oil demand is likely to peak by 2041 at about 115 million barrels a day and gradually decline from there, it added.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co, citing forecasts from consultant IHS Markit Ltd, said in its initial public offering prospectus last year that demand could peak by 2035.

Improved energy efficiency or the imposition of a carbon tax by governments worldwide could bring peak demand forward to as soon as 2030, the IMF said.

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title: Brexit ends Scotsman’s mayoralty in Germany

content_text:
Former Brunsmark mayor Iain Macnab poses with a sign he had on his house’s fence in the German village on Tuesday.Photo: AFP
The tiny village of Brunsmark, an hour outside Hamburg in the lush north German countryside, might seem an unlikely spot to suffer a sudden Brexit shock, but Britain’s departure from the EU means that Iain Macnab, a Scotsman comfortably settled in the area for decades, must give up the mayor’s seat he has held for 12 years.

“I don’t have a vote in Germany anymore, and if you have no vote ... you cannot be mayor,” he told reporters in his office squeezed under the rafters.

His political participation dropped from “100 to zero at midnight” on Friday last week, Britain’s final day of EU membership, the 70-year-old said.

What is more, Macnab has lived outside the UK for more than 15 years — the cutoff point for voting from abroad in elections to the London parliament.

“It’s struck me as very strange to suddenly know you have no vote anymore... You’re completely impotent as far as democracy is concerned,” he said.

Married to a German woman, with whom he has two children, Macnab has lived in Brunsmark — which has a population of just 150 — for 28 years.

Originally from Achiltibuie in Scotland’s far northwest, he did not rush — as many other Britons in Germany did — to secure citizenship following the 2016 referendum vote to quit the EU.

“I have considered it a couple of times,” he said, but never acted on the idea.

Macnab is no fan of Brexit, saying that “the EU definitely has its negative points ... but if you are in it, you can change it.”

He said that his job as mayor has been “to mediate between reality and stupid laws” — including those issuing from the “huge bureaucracy” in Brussels.

The day before Brexit, Macnab sealed the end of his term in the voluntary post, handing over to his deputy with little ceremony at a meeting of the village council.

“You went to the door and thought, God, after 12 years, this is the last committee meeting. That was the time I really felt something, it’s a bit sad,” he said.

On the day itself, Macnab spent the evening rehearsing with his rock group, the Lucky Devils, before sharing a few glasses of whiskey with his bandmates.

As he sniffs the bottle to savor the aroma, the low level visible in the bottle of 2008 Glenfarclas — commemorating the year Macnab was first elected — hints at a somewhat drawn-out evening.

Looking ahead, Macnab fears that Britain could break apart in the future, even feeling the first stirrings of Scottish nationalism in his own chest.

“I’m tending to look more and more at Scottish nationalism. I think I would have never done before,” he said.

A present from his constituents just before he stepped down, the Scottish flag now waves in the wind outside Macnab’s house.

“The antics of — I would call it — the elite in Britain” have fueled support for Scotland to go it alone, he said, pointing also to the possibility that Northern Ireland could similarly break away.

Recent polls suggest that support for independence among Scots is as high as 52 percent, its highest level since 2016, when most north of the border voted to remain in the EU.

For his part, Macnab will retain from his time as mayor the positive “feeling that you are able to do something,” even if “you’ll never get any thanks.”

A poster pinned to his door with a familiar British motto sums up the Scotsman’s attitude to his altered circumstances: “Keep calm and carry on.”

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content_text:
AU grapples with failure to ‘silence guns’

BLUNT ASSESSMENT:The head of the African Union’s human rights body said that the security situation on the continent made ‘a mockery of the theme of the year’
Seven years ago, amid extravagant celebrations marking the African Union’s (AU) 50th anniversary, the continent’s heads of state said that they would “end all wars in Africa by 2020.”

However, as leaders travel to Addis Ababa this weekend for the latest summit of the 55-member bloc — organized under the theme “Silencing the Guns” — there is little question they are doomed to fall well short of their goal.

Some success has been achieved in Central African Republic and Sudan, but long-running conflicts in places like Libya and South Sudan have been joined by new crises from the fringe of the Sahara to Mozambique.

In remarks on Thursday to AU foreign ministers, AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat painted a bleak picture of the continent’s security situation, citing threats stretching from the Sahel to Somalia.

The “missed deadline” to silence the guns “reveals the complexity of the security situation in Africa,” Mahamat said.

In an op-ed this week in South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper, Solomon Dersso, head of the AU’s human rights body, was blunter, saying the current level of insecurity “seems to make a mockery of the theme of the year.”

Two days of talks are to begin tomorrow.

As they grapple with their failure to foster peace, African leaders have struggled to convince world bodies such as the UN to take them seriously — for example as they seek a more prominent role in Libya.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is to take over from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi as AU chair on Monday, appears well aware of these challenges.

In a speech to South Africa-based diplomats last week, Ramaphosa warned that conflict “continues to hamper” development.

South Africa’s goals of advancing economic integration and curbing violence against women “must be underpinned by the promotion of a peaceful and secure Africa,” he said.

Diplomats say that Ramaphosa would do best to tackle the economic and political root causes of violence.

“Silencing the guns of course is the mother of all themes,” Egyptian Ambassador to the AU Osama Abdelkhalek told reporters. “If you want to address it, you’re speaking about the grass-roots socioeconomic challenges, about political challenges, in addition to security challenges.”

Ramaphosa has said Libya — mired in chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that killed former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi — will be a key focus during his time in the chair.

Ahead of a peace conference in Berlin last month, a spokeswoman for Faki said that the AU “has consistently been ignored” in Libya-related peace processes, led primarily by the UN.

However, the AU’s attempts to assert itself have also been undermined by internal divisions.

These date back to 2011, when African members of the UN Security Council endorsed military intervention, even as the AU’s Peace and Security Council opposed it.

A Nigerien source said that the AU remains divided on Libya, claiming that Egypt, for example, does not want the AU to get involved.

Abdelkhalek disputed this, saying that Egypt above all wanted “a Libyan-led political process,” but stressing that “the international community must fulfill its mandate.”

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title: MediaTek quarterly net profit soars 56%

content_text:
MediaTek quarterly net profit soars 56%

‘MANAGEABLE’:The mobile phone chip designer forecast a 7 percent to 15 percent sequential decline in sales this quarter to between NT$55 billion and NT$60.2 billion
Handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday reported that fourth-quarter net profit increased 56.6 percent annually to NT$6.38 billion (US$211.78 million), driving net profit for the whole of last year up 11.7 percent to NT$23.2 billion.

As a result, earnings per share reached NT$14.69 for last year, a 1.43 percent year-on-year increase.

“Last year was a solid year for MediaTek, with financial results much improved... We have strengthened our position in the global market,” MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told an investors’ conference yesterday, citing that the company’s gross margin rose to 41.9 percent and its operating profit margin to 9.2 percent.

The company aims to keep its first-quarter gross margin between 40.5 percent and 43.5 percent, but revenue is expected to fall due to the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak.

MediaTek forecast a 7 to 15 percent sequential decline in sales this quarter to between NT$55 billion and NT$60.2 billion.

“Despite the coronavirus crisis, the effect on an annual basis should be manageable,” Tsai said, explaining that although the company ships to clients in China, those clients are selling their handsets on the global market.

“We are currently witnessing strong demand for our 4G chips,” he said, adding that overall shipments this year would increase on an annual basis.

The launch of MediaTek’s second 5G system-on-chip (SoC), dubbed the Dimensity 800, is on schedule for the end of next quarter, after the company started shipping its flagship Dimensity 1000.

“We have been communicating with our business partners over the past two weeks... Our people have been working together closely to ensure that there will be no delay in product launches,” Tsai said, adding that a third-generation chip would be ready in the second half of the year.

The upcoming chips are part of an effort to target mid-range handsets, as well as those at the top, he added.

Predicting overall shipments of 170 million to 200 million 5G smartphones worldwide this year, Tsai said that he aims to capture about 40 percent of the total market share based on the life cycle of a 5G smartphone.

While the average price of 5G chips is much higher than that of 4G chips, the demand for 4G chips remains strong, MediaTek chief financial officer David Ku (顧大為) said.

“We have achieved a greater market share for 4G chips, with improved profitability,” Ku said, adding that 4G chips would increase revenue this year for MediaTek’s mobile computing segment, which contributes about 40 percent of the handset chip designer’s overall revenue.

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Hon Hai, Chinese firms refit to manufacture masks

PITCHING IN:Hon Hai said that it has begun trial production of surgical masks at its Longhua Park plant in Shenzhen and expects to produce 2 million masks daily
A number of Chinese manufacturers including a subsidiary of Apple Inc partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) have refitted production lines to make masks and medical clothing, as the 2019 novel coronavirus spreads across China.

The move highlights how private companies are pitching in to alleviate a nationwide shortage of medical gear amid the health crisis, at times expanding beyond their core lines of business.

Hon Hai, known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said in a social media post on Thursday that it has begun trial production of surgical masks at its Longhua Park plant in Shenzhen, China, and expects to produce 2 million masks daily by the end of the month.

The firm said that the masks would initially be produced for internal use by its hundreds of thousands of employees, the majority of whom work in factories in China.

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co Ltd (上海通用五菱), an automaking venture of General Motors Co and two Chinese partners, also announced on Thursday via social media that it would set up 14 production lines, with the goal of making 1.7 million masks daily.

Hongdou Group Co Ltd (紅豆集團), a clothing manufacturer founded in the 1950s, on Tuesday wrote on social media that it had refitted a factory to make disposable medical suits.

The company said that it intends to produce about 60,000 protective suits a month and would send them to the government for allocation and distribution.

Hongdou employs 30,000 people, its Web site said.

Apparel peers Zhejiang Giuseppe Garment Co Ltd (浙江喬治白服飾) and Jihua Group Corp Ltd (際華集團) have launched similar initiatives, state media outlets reported this week.

Factories inside and outside of China have worked around the clock to keep up with demand since the outbreak of the virus at the end of last year in Wuhan, China. Pharmacies in commercial districts have posted signs telling customers that masks are not in stock.

One Czech mask manufacturer last last month said that orders increased 57,000 percent within four days.

To cope with the shortage, localities in China have set up rationing systems.

In Shanghai, people wanting to obtain masks must provide a neighborhood committee with their ID and phone number, after which they are contacted when they can retrieve a set of masks.

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content_text:
Exports last month fell 7.6% due to holiday, virus

DISRUPTED OPERATIONS:Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai said exports might regain growth from this month in the absence of major downside risks
Exports last month fell 7.6 percent to US$25.07 billion, slipping back into contraction territory as the Lunar New Year holiday and the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak have disrupted operations and limited order visibility, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

Although the results arrested two consecutive months of expansion, the ministry said that it remains optimistic, as the outbreak would weigh on, but not stifle a recovery in the technology product cycle.

“Fewer working days weighed on exports, but they might regain growth momentum from this month” in the absence of major downside risks, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing in Taipei.

The outbreak has prompted China to lock down more than 30 cities in an effort to contain its spread, leading to halted operations at companies in the electronics supply chain.

“No one can accurately predict the effect of the outbreak as most Chinese companies do not return from the holiday until early next week or later, and the number of confirmed cases continues to rise,” Tsai said.

Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), the nation’s biggest industrial conglomerate, on Thursday said that its first-quarter revenue would be less than last quarter, while iPhone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Wednesday said that next month’s sales would be less than this month’s.

China accounts for 40 percent of Taiwanese exports, despite local companies’ efforts to reroute trade and realign supply chains to avoid US tariffs on Chinese goods, Tsai said, adding that firms selling electronics parts have greater exposure to the crisis than other sectors.

Without the virus disruption, exports this month would have staged a 20 percent rebound, given last year’s low comparison base, Tsai said, adding that last month’s outbound shipments would have expanded 2.6 percent without the holiday disruption.

All product categories experienced the impact of a seasonal slowdown, except for electronic components, which grew 2.9 percent on improving demand after the US and China signed a “phase one” trade deal, giving clients the confidence to add inventory, the ministry said.

In particular, semiconductor exports increased 6.7 percent, benefiting from 5G deployment and a demand for new smartphones and high-performance chips, the ministry said.

Shipments bound for all destinations declined, except for a 1 percent gain in shipments to the US, it added.

Imports fared worse, with a 17.7 percent decline to US$21.61 billion, leaving Taiwan with a trade surplus of US$3.46 billion, almost triple the amount from a year earlier, it said.

However, imports of capital equipment edged up 2.7 percent as local semiconductor firms vigorously bought new machinery to upgrade technology and expand capacity, the ministry said.

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content_text:
Chinese-American pastor Bob Fu is pictured during an interview in Washington on Thursday.Photo: CNA
Vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德) was invited to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington because of his advocacy for freedom of religion and human rights, prominent Chinese-American pastor Bob Fu (傅希秋) said on Thursday.

Since Lai stepped down as premier in January last year, he has been deeply involved in the promotion of human rights, Fu said.

In particular, Lai’s efforts to champion religious freedom and support the victims of China’s religious persecution, including Tibetans, have been heartwarming, said Fu, a former victim of such persecution.

It was mainly for those reasons that he invited Lai to attend the annual prayer breakfast in a private capacity, said Fu, who founded the non-governmental China Aid Association, which provides legal aid to Christians in China.

Fu said that his invitation to Lai was not met with any opposition in the US, either from the White House or the US Department of State, despite Lai being elected vice president after the invitation was issued.

At the prayer breakfast on Thursday, Lai was seated at the same table as US Senator Lindsey Graham and next to the table where US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was sitting at the front of the Washington Hilton’s international ballroom.

US President Donald Trump and US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the gathering of religious and political leaders from around the world.

A member of Lai’s delegation said that Lai was at the event in a private capacity, as he has not yet taken office.

Lai is to be sworn in as vice president in May.

Former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) denied reports that Lai held discussions with US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien during a visit to the US National Security Council on Wednesday.

The National Prayer Breakfast, a bipartisan event founded in 1953, aims to “unite individuals of different nationalities, religions and political perspectives through the power of prayer,” the formal invitation says.

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people: 蕭美琴 賴清德

title: Political Developments: Lai invited to US for rights advocacy: pastor


content_text:
A good Samaritan used the power of social media to track down the owner of a stolen pink purse, returning the purse — and some photos he took of New Orleans on the camera that was tucked inside — to the surprised tourist.

Saarah Yob of Florida was already having a horrible day when her purse was stolen on a trip to New Orleans to celebrate the College Football National Championship to be played there, the Times-Picayune / New Orleans Advocate reported.

On the early morning trip to New Orleans, Yob, 23, got in a car wreck and had to rent a car. Later that day, after hanging out with friends in the French Quarter, she discovered someone had stolen her purse from the rental car. They did not get her wallet or cellphone since she had carried those with her.

However, the Michael Kors purse adorned with a purple feather charm, her GoPro camera, some money and a necklace were gone.

Later that day, James Elmes, 21, was leaving the French Quarter and spied the now-abandoned purse sitting on the curb with the camera still inside. With no identification inside the purse to help him track down the owner, he turned to the camera.

He posted a photo Yob had taken of her and some friends on a beach onto Twitter on the remote chance someone would see the photo and put him in touch with the owner of the purse.

“I found a stolen purse in the French Quarter, New Orleans. Wallet was missing, so I have no identification. This girl has traveled all over the world ... with a GoPro I found. Looking for her to return her lost memories. Help me find her,” he tweeted. Speaking to the newspaper, Elmes said: “I thought maybe, just maybe, it goes viral, and I find her.”

Within 16 hours and 800 retweets later, he found Yob and was able to return the purse.

“A week ago my purse was stolen in New Orleans,” Yob tweeted. “Today an extremely kind soul helped me get it back. Thank you so so so much.”

And as if that was not enough, Elmes also realized as he was scrolling through her camera that she had not been able to take any photos of New Orleans before her purse and camera were stolen.

So Elmes, who is a produce deliveryman, took some photos of the sites along his delivery route, such as Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter, before returning the items to Yob.

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title: Man uses Twitter to find owner of stolen pink purse


content_text:
San Francisco to open tent ‘sobering’ center for methamphetamine users

Sleeping people, discarded clothes and used needles are pictured on a street in the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco on July 25 last year.Photo: AP
A center for people experiencing methamphetamine-induced psychosis is to open in San Francisco to help them get sober in a safe place, the latest effort to address the city’s rising drug overdoses and rampant street drug use.

The center, believed to be the first in the US specifically for people who are high on methamphetamine, is to open in late spring on a city-owned parking lot in the Tenderloin neighborhood, where streets are littered with syringes and addicts congregate, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the 24-hour center would get high people off the streets, and connect them with addiction treatment and other services. Each tent will have 15 beds.

“The reality is that drug use and overdoses are on the rise, and doing nothing is not an option,” Breed said in a statement. “The public drug use we see every day hurts those who are suffering from addiction as well as the surrounding communities.”

The spike in methamphetamine addiction in the city has been a main driver for crowding of the psychiatric emergency room at San Francisco General Hospital, overwhelming medical staff and sometimes resulting in patients being released back to the streets before they are deemed ready.

From 2017 to 2018, 47 percent of all visits to the psychiatric emergency room were related to methamphetamine use. Officials hope the center will relieve some of that pressure.

People with methamphetamine-induced psychosis often have paranoia, hallucinations and behave aggressively. The center, aimed at helping people come down from drug highs, is to be staffed by nurses and counselors who will give addicts advice about longer-term help, such as treatment beds, shelter beds, and how they should take care of themselves mentally and physically.

HealthRight 360, one of the largest San Francisco drug treatment providers, will run it.

A driver with a van will be posted outside the center to pick up people showing signs of methamphetamine-induced psychosis.

Officials said the center might eventually accept patients from hospital emergency rooms, but would begin by accepting people only from the streets.

San Francisco is also among several cities in the country considering opening supervised injection sites to address drug addiction.

Advocates say injection sites have been successful in Canada, Europe and elsewhere, and that when combined with on-site recovery resources, they can help prevent overdoses and help users.

However, injection sites are illegal under US federal law.

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content_text:
Temperatures of minus 4 degrees Celsius turn Taipingshan’s Cueifong Lake white

太平山零下四度 翠峰湖染白美不勝收

A scene of the area around Cueifong Lake, blanketed in frost.
翠峰湖化身銀白世界。Photo courtesy of the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area
照片：太平山森林遊樂區提供

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Taiwan has been hit with a cold spell of late, and early on Feb. 1 temperatures in the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area of Yilan County fell to minus 4 degrees Celsius. As there wasn’t sufficient water vapor in the atmosphere it didn’t actually snow, but the low temperatures caused a frost to form, and the recreation area turned into a world of white. In the environs of Cueifong Lake, in particular, the grassland and forested areas were blanketed in a thin layer of frost, with workers in the recreation area waking to a surprising scene that looked for all the world like they were in a northern European country.

(Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)

近期寒流來襲，宜蘭縣太平山森林遊樂區二月一日清晨最低溫零下四度，但因水氣不足沒有下雪；不過，低溫引發結霜現象，園區還是變成銀白世界，尤其翠峰湖域四周草地與林木，都結上雪白薄霜，讓園區工作人員驚嘆宛如置身北歐國家。

（自由時報）

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taiwan-subdivisions: 太平 宜蘭縣


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: New government awareness campaign says masks are not needed on bus, MRT

By Lee Hsin-fang and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, staff writer and CNA
A sales clerk holds up a sign in a drugstore in Taichung announcing the time the store is to begin selling masks today.Photo: Su Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
A government disease prevention and awareness TV spot yesterday stated that wearing masks on a bus or MRT metropolitan rail system was unnecessary for healthy people.

The Executive Yuan invited disease prevention experts and physicians to produce short videos that began airing on TV channels earlier this week to help prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCov).

The latest video features physician Chen Mu-jung (陳木榮) explaining that no community infection of 2019-nCoV has been identified in Taiwan, and people in good health do not need to wear a mask when riding public transportation.

“Masks should be saved for those truly in need, such as medical staff and sick patients,” Chen said in the video.

However, a government official yesterday added that people should wear masks when taking a flight.

Meanwhile, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said that more than 1 million disposable surgical masks were sold on Thursday, when a new rationing system was rolled out as part of the government’s efforts to ensure a consistent supply.

Under the new system, launched at 9am on Thursday, Taiwanese and foreign nationals are permitted to buy two masks per week at NT$5 each at drugstores and pharmacies on alternating days, based on the last digit of their national identification card, Alien Resident Certificate or entry permit.

NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) said the first day went relatively smoothly, except for a few technical glitches with the computerized system, which were quickly resolved.

Each NHIA-contracted drugstore is allotted 200 adult masks and 50 children’s masks per day, the agency said.

People whose identification numbers end in an odd digit may purchase masks on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while those with even numbers can buy masks on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, it said.

Chiayi Mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) called on the central government to allow people with special medical conditions to buy more than two disposable masks per week.

The government said that it would review the policy on a weekly basis and make any necessary adjustments.

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Memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電) yesterday posted a loss of NT$147 million (US$4.88 million) for last quarter due to lower prices, dragging net profit for the whole of last year down to NT$1.47 billion.

This translated into earnings per share of NT$0.32 last year, down from NT$1.87 in 2018.

The decline was mainly due to an overall drop in average sales prices, Winbond chief financial officer Jessica Huang (黃求己) told an investors’ conference.

The firm also had to bear the costs associated with producing 25-nanometer chips, she said.

Winbond’s revenue last year reached NT$48.77 billion, slipping 4.73 percent on an annual basis, while its gross margin declined by 10 percentage points to 27 percent.

“One of three essential factors for making a profit — strong technology, good timing and stable partnerships — went wrong for us last year,” said Winbond president Chan Tung-yi (詹東益), who is also the company’s newly elected vice CEO.

Chan said he remains optimistic that the company would recover its losses this year.

While the company has in the past mainly focused on DRAM production, sales of its NOR and NAND flash memory chips have increased, making up 55 percent of its fourth-quarter revenue.

“We are seeing signs of recovery on the code storage flash market,” Chan said, adding that sales of single-level cell NAND should gain a greater market share for the firm.

The company has budgeted NT$14.3 billion in capital expenditures to increase production at its Taichung fab by installing smart manufacturing technology.

“We have already increased monthly production from 52,000 wafers to 54,000 wafers,” Chan said, adding that half of that is DRAM production and half flash memory.

Despite economic uncertainty due to the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, Chan said he is confident that the memory market would stabilize in the first half of this year.

The launch of 5G is picking up pace, driving applications in Internet protocol cameras, smart speakers and artificial intelligence, he said.

Chan said his outlook is equally optimistic about flash memory products, as demand is increasing from emerging technologies such as true wireless stereos and narrow-band Internet of Things applications, as well as the next generation of Wi-Fi technology.

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title: Winbond Electronics hit by NT$147m quarterly loss


title: Virus Outbreak: Australia joins calls for Taiwan in WHO

references: Facebook Twitter

content_text:
The WHO logo is pictured with its Chinese and French-language titles on a building in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday.Photo: Reuters
The Australian Office Taipei yesterday joined other nations calling for Taiwan’s practical participation in the WHO, after representatives of the US, EU and Japan, as well as Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, spoke up for the nation at WHO executive board meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, this week.

“As the [2019] novel coronavirus [2019-nCoV] continues to underscore so starkly, diseases do not respect borders. In this interconnected and fast-moving world, it is clearly in all our interests that the WHO does not exclude populations or potential partners,” the office wrote on Facebook yesterday.

“Inclusivity has never been more important as we work together to manage this immediate global health emergency and, longer-term, to realize the world’s health-related sustainable development goals,” it wrote.

The Canadian Trade Office in Taipei on Facebook shared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s support late last month for Taiwan’s role as a WHO observer.

The posts came after US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Andrew Bremberg on Thursday urged the WHO to “engage directly with Taiwan public health authorities,” which prompted Chinese delegate Qi Daihai (齊大海) to reiterate Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, calling on attendees to stop “hyping up” the “so-called Taiwan issue.”

Since the daily meetings began on Monday, the delegates of eight of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — Eswatini, Paraguay, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, and St Kitts and Nevis — have advocated Taiwan’s inclusion at the WHO to close global disease prevention loopholes.

They have been joined by delegates from the US, Japan, Germany (representing the EU), the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Belgium, which is very stimulating, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

The number and strength of foreign delegates speaking up for Taiwan has grown significantly, showing that the nation’s bid to join the WHO has secured general support from the global community, the ministry said.

Most of the foreign delegates voiced their support for Taiwan during discussions about public health emergencies, demonstrating the global community’s concern about the rapid spread of 2019-nCoV in China, and distrust over claims that Beijing and the WHO have fully cooperated with Taiwan on information about the outbreak, it said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Thursday on Twitter called on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to reconsider his statement praising China’s disease-prevention efforts, after Wu’s previous post highlighting the WHO’s misreporting of Taiwan’s confirmed cases and its reference to the nation using incorrect titles in its situation reports.

“One week ago, @DrTedros, you said: ‘China is setting a new standard for outbreak response.’ ‘China deserves our gratitude & respect.’ ‘I will praise China again & again.’ Are you going to stand by your statements or retract them? Hello?” Wu wrote.

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content_text:
The Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic, left, blocks a layup by the New York Knicks’ Elfrid Payton in the second half of their NBA game in New York on Thursday.Photo: AP
Julius Randle scored 22 points and Taj Gibson had 19 as the New York Knicks beat the Orlando Magic 105-103 on Thursday for their third straight victory.

Despite trading leading scorer Marcus Morris to the Clippers earlier in the day, the Knicks rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter to match their longest winning streak of the season.

Elfrid Payton had 15 points and nine assists for the Knicks, who got rookie R.J. Barrett back after he missed nine games with a sprained right ankle. He finished with 12 points.

Nikola Vucevic had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Magic, who lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Orlando coach Steve Clifford was trying desperately to get a timeout on their final possession, but nobody on the court saw him and the Magic could not get a shot off. Clifford screamed at the officials after the game and had to be held back by Orlando assistant coaches.

The Knicks scored 30 points in the first quarter and had a 13-point lead in the second, but the Magic surged ahead by outscoring them 36-22 in the third.

Orlando went ahead by 10 in the fourth quarter, but Wayne Ellington hit consecutive three-pointers and added another later in the period.

Payton’s trey tied it before a jumper by Randle and Gibson’s dunk gave New York a 100-96 edge with 3 minutes, 49 seconds to play.

In other results, it was:

‧ Bucks 112, 76ers 101

‧ Pelicans 125, Bulls 119

‧ Trail Blazers 125, Spurs 117

‧ Rockets 121, Lakers 111

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title: Knicks edge Magic 105-103 for third consecutive victory


content_text:
Athletic Bilbao’s Dani Garcia, center, and Ander Capa, right, tackle Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in their Copa del Rey quarter-final in Bilbao, Spain, on Thursday.Photo: AP
Barcelona and Real Madrid on Thursday both crashed out of the Copa del Rey as Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad pulled off a shock Basque double to reach the semi-finals.

Barca were beaten 1-0 by Bilbao at San Mames, where Inaki Williams headed in a dramatic 93rd-minute winner, after Real Sociedad had seen off Madrid 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Two sensational upsets added another layer of excitement to a competition that has been full of surprises this season, with Bilbao and Real Sociedad joining Granada and second-tier CD Mirandes in an unfamiliar lineup for the draw today.

“There have been some surprise results,” Williams said. “Sometimes you just have to have faith and heart.”

For Barca, defeat was particularly painful, coming at the end of a turbulent week that saw Lionel Messi engage in a public spat with Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal and Ousmane Dembele ruled out, probably for the rest of the season, with another hamstring tear.

To make matters worse, Gerard Pique hobbled off with his own injury problem in the second half against Bilbao and looks doubtful to face Real Betis Balompie in La Liga on Sunday.

Messi’s riposte that “everyone should take responsibility for their own decisions” after Abidal suggested that Ernesto Valverde was dismissed last month because of the players means that Barcelona are in political turmoil off the pitch.

The fear is that Messi could even leave in the summer by activating a clause in his contract that allows him to walk away from the club for free.

Defeat in the Copa del Rey, a distant third in Barca’s list of priorities this season, would not dictate Messi’s thinking, but another setback certainly adds to the sense of a club in a state of crisis.

Quique Setien has lost two of his opening six games in charge, with a UEFA Champions League tie against SSC Napoli looming. The fallout from another failure in Europe would prove longer-lasting.

“We deserved to go through,” Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said. “But the ambition and attitude I saw on the field encourages me for the league and the Champions League. Success can come.”

For a rotated Madrid side, who sit top of La Liga, the loss against Real Sociedad was perhaps less damaging, even if they conceded as many goals in 69 minutes as they had in their previous 11 matches put together.

Martin Odegaard, on loan at Real Sociedad, but allowed to face his parent club, found the opener before Alexander Isak hit two to give the visitors a remarkable 3-0 lead.

Marcelo and Rodrygo both scored late in the second half, and while Mikel Merino added a fourth for the visitors, a Nacho Fernandez header set up a wild final three minutes, in which Andoni Gorosabel was also sent off.

Ten-man Real Sociedad held on for a superb win to progress to the last four while Madrid’s run without success in Spain’s domestic cup extends to six years.

“It hurts, we have to be honest, nobody likes a defeat,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said.

One consolation might have been the display of the 21-year-old Odegaard, who is beginning to live up to the hype after signing for Madrid at age 15.

On loan at Real Sociedad, the plan was for Odegaard to stay one more year at Anoeta, but this glittering display, that earned him a standing ovation from the home fans when he went off, might well persuade Madrid to recall him early.

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title: Basque double dumps Barca, Real from Copa


content_text:
Trump unleashes fury as he celebrates his acquittal

NAME-CALLING:Portraying himself as the victim, the US president called the impeachment proceedings a ‘disgrace’ and his opponents ‘scum’ and ‘sleaze bags’
US President Donald Trump on Thursday took a victory lap, railing against those who tried to remove him from office and pointing ahead to his re-election campaign.

Triumphantly waving newspaper front pages that declared him “ACQUITTED,” Trump denounced the impeachment proceedings as a “disgrace” and portrayed himself as a victim of political foes he labeled “scum,” “sleaze bags” and “crooked” people.

“It was evil, it was corrupt, it was dirty cops,” Trump said in a packed White House East Room, where he was surrounded by several hundred supporters. “This should never ever happen to another president, ever.”

“We went through hell, unfairly,” he said. “Did nothing wrong.”

His comments were a clear sign that, post-impeachment, Trump is emboldened like never before as he barrels ahead in his re-election fight with a united Republican Party behind him.

The only contrition Trump offered was to his own family, apologizing “for having them go through a phony, rotten deal.”

Trump ticked off names of the “vicious and mean” people he felt had wronged him: US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and former FBI director James Comey.

He reveled in the verdict handed down on Wednesday by the Republican-controlled Senate, saluting one-by-one the “warrior” Republican lawmakers who had backed him both in the Capitol and on television.

“Now we have that gorgeous word. I never thought it would sound so good,” Trump said. “It’s called ‘total acquittal.’”

Earlier on Thursday, Trump shattered the usual veneer of bipartisanship at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington by unleashing his fury against those who tried to impeach him, with Pelosi sitting on stage.

“As everybody knows, my family, our great country and your president have been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people,” Trump said at the annual event.

His remarks were especially jarring coming after a series of Scripture-quoting speeches, including a keynote address by Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor and president of a conservative think tank, who had bemoaned a “crisis of contempt and polarization” in the nation and urged those gathered to “love your enemies.”

“I don’t know if I agree with you,” Trump said as he took the microphone, and then he proceeded to demonstrate it.

“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong,” he said in an apparent reference to US Senator Mitt Romney, a longtime Trump critic who cited his faith in becoming the only Republican to vote for Trump’s removal.

“Nor do I like people who say ‘I pray for you’ when you know that is not so,”’ he said, in a reference to Pelosi, who has offered that message for the president when the two leaders have sparred publicly.

Pelosi, who shook her head at various points during Trump’s remarks, later told reporters they were “so completely inappropriate, especially at a prayer breakfast.”

She took particular issue with his swipe at Romney’s faith and said that, yes, she does pray for the president.

Trump later said he “meant every word.”

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content_text:
The ASEAN Basketball League has postponed its upcoming games in Taiwan due to the government’s ban on the entry of certain travelers as part of its prevention efforts against the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Six games that were scheduled for Taiwan this month and early next month have been postponed to indefinite dates, the league said on its Web site.

The two Taiwanese teams in the league that were slated to play home games over the next month are the Formosa Dreamers and Taipei Fubon Braves, who are based in Changhua City and Taipei respectively.

According to the league schedule, the Formosa Dreamers were scheduled to play back-to-back games against the Hong Kong Eastern tomorrow and on Sunday, as well as the Macau Wolf Warriors on Feb. 22 and 23 at the Changhua County Stadium.

The Taipei Fubon Braves were scheduled to face off against the Macau Wolf Warriors on Feb. 29 and March 1 at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.

In addition to the six games in Taiwan, another nine have been postponed by the league, which cited travel restrictions enforced by certain countries due to the epidemic in China and its spread to other nations.

Taiwan is among the nations that have implemented such restrictions, as it has imposed a ban on all Chinese nationals and tightened its entry requirements for residents of Hong Kong and Macau, as well as foreign nationals who have visited any of those areas in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Taiwan.

The travel restrictions pose a problem for the league, which allows each team to employ three world imports that are usually the star players in the league.

“The league is evaluating the situation on a day-to-day basis, as it values the utmost safety of its teams, players, personnel and most especially its fans,” the league said.

A revised schedule would be released once the disease situation has improved and the travel restrictions are lifted, the league added.

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title: ASEAN Basketball League postpones six Taiwan games


title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
B : I stopped by the department store after lunch to do the hair health test you told me about.

A : Oh? How did it go?

B : Actually, I wasn’t entirely honest with them. They asked if I dye my hair and I said no, but the machine found me out.

A : I reckon there was probably still some detectable smell from the hair dye.

B : 我剛剛吃完午餐就順便到百貨公司，試試你跟我說的那個髮質檢測。

A : 喔？結果如何？

B : 其實我沒說實話，他們問我有沒有染髮，我說沒有，但機器竟然測出來了。

A : 我看你是到現在染髮劑的味道都還沒有散掉吧。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: Rains raise hopes of end to fire crisis

content_text:
Rains raise hopes of end to fire crisis

AUSTRALIAN GLEE:New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons expressed his joy at listening to rain and driving with windshield wipers on
Farmers and neighbors James Purshouse, left, and Jock Tudgey splash water on one another after rain fell on Tudgey’s property in the Liverpool Plains region of New South Wales, Australia, yesterday.Photo: Reuters
Heavy rain yesterday was raising hopes for an end to Australia’s unprecedented bushfire crisis, as downpours doused blazes that have burned out of control for months.

The devastating fires, fueled by prolonged drought and record-high temperatures, have raged since September last year, burning more than 10 million hectares and killing 33 people.

An estimated 1 billion animals have perished in the fires that have destroyed more than 2,500 homes.

The rains in New South Wales, which began earlier in the week in some areas and are forecast to extend into next week, are expected to drench a number of the remaining fires and help contain others.

“It’s breaking the back of this bushfire season, there’s no doubt about it,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

By yesterday afternoon there were no bushfires burning in New South Wales at the most dangerous emergency or “watch-and-act” levels — a situation virtually unseen in almost six months.

Beleaguered volunteer firefighters who have fought the blazes day in, day out declared themselves “over the moon” at the rain.

Even Fitzsimmons — who became the public face of the crisis through stoic daily TV briefings and consoling children, who, like him, lost their firefighting fathers in bushfires — expressed his joy at listening to the rain fall overnight and driving with windshield wipers on.

“Obviously, we don’t want to see lots of widespread damage and destruction from flooding, but it is certainly a welcome change to the relentless campaign of hot, dry weather,” Fitzsimmons told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

As the bushfire crisis abates, authorities are now bracing for possible flooding.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued a string of flood warnings and said some parts of New South Wales would see their highest rainfall in four years.

Bushfires are an annual problem during the summer, but the flared earlier than usual after months of drought and high temperatures linked to climate change.

“Even if we get a return to hot, dry weather, which has the potential as we go through the balance of February and into March, of course, we’re certainly not going to have the underlying conditions of such profound moisture deficit and drought” of past months, Fitzsimmons said.

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content_text:
Italy’s Uffizi Gallery hails ruling in US against ticket touts

Italy’s Uffizi Gallery on Thursday hailed a US court victory that bars “bloodsucking” ticket touts using the Italian museum’s name in Web site domains.

The Arizona Federal Court ruling bars third parties using several addresses, including Uffizi.com and Uffizi.net, the museum said, hailing the “historic” ruling.

Visitors to historic museums and sites around the world are frequently confronted with a plethora of Web sites masquerading as official sites when seeking to buy tickets online.

“These Web sites have been exploited to date for the sale of tickets to the museum at grossly inflated prices through improper use of the name Uffizi in a deliberate attempt to trick visitors,” the gallery said in a statement. “This was no mere small-time legal tussle: huge sums of money are involved in the phenomenon of online ticket touting, and it is money stolen from the community as a whole that ends up lining the pockets of the Web’s artful dodgers.”

The legal battle was with BoxNic Anstalt, a company that had registered numerous domains containing the word Uffizi in Arizona, said the museum, one of the most visited in the world.

The court has now declared the “museum’s superior right” over that company to use the Uffizi name, brand and logo.

BoxNic had argued that the term “uffizi” was simply an old-fashioned spelling of the Italian word “uffici” or “offices.”

The court “has obliged the company to transfer the registration of the domains it had misappropriated to the Uffizi within 15 days,” the gallery said. “We have delivered a devastating blow to the Web’s bloodsuckers, who have been exploiting our heritage illegally and in bad faith for years like parasites, depriving the community of resources,” gallery director Eike Schmidt said.

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title: France to spell out nuclear plan

content_text:
France to spell out nuclear plan

DETERRENCE:A researcher said that ‘the balance is shifting, including in countries such as Germany’ on the role of nuclear weapons in Europe’s strategic ambitions
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks on the sidelines of a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday.Photo: AFP
France, the EU’s sole nuclear power since Britain’s exit from the bloc, was to unveil how it intends to use its atomic arsenal as a deterrent.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to military officers graduating in Paris yesterday, was expected to recommit to upgrading France’s capacity, at a time when NATO allies, who would ordinarily look to the US in a nuclear standoff, worry about Washington’s retreat from the multilateral stage.

On Monday, Macron said that his speech would address the interests of other European countries.

“I will focus on the doctrine [of French deterrence], but also on the procedures and modalities that I wish to propose on this topic to our partners in the coming months,” he said on a visit to Warsaw.

Deterrence theory postulates that countries with nuclear weapons are less likely to attack each other for fear of mutual destruction, meaning the arms serve as guarantors of peace.

France considers nuclear deterrence a keystone of its defense strategy and the ultimate guarantee of its most vital interests.

Macron has already agreed to a costly modernization of France’s atomic arsenal, saying in January 2018 that “deterrence is part of our history, part of our defense strategy, and will remain so.”

An act of parliament provides for about 37 billion euros (US$41 billion) to be spent on the maintenance and modernization of the French nuclear arsenal from 2019 to 2025 — about 12.5 percent of the total defense budget for those seven years.

Macron’s address comes after Russia and the US last year withdrew from the Soviet-era Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty.

Macron in December last year said that the treaty’s end meant that “France, Germany, and other European countries are now threatened by new Russian missiles.”

Washington has also since threatened not to renew the New START treaty with Russia, the last key nuclear deal between the former Cold War foes.

The treaty, which expires this month, obliged both sides to halve their number of strategic nuclear missile launchers and establish a new verification regime.

Corentin Brustlein, research director at the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations, said that Europe has always been a strong focus of France’s nuclear vision.

There had been several French attempts at dialogue with European partners on the topic “that have never succeeded,” Brustlein said.

However, “the balance is shifting, including in countries such as Germany” where public opinion is deeply anti-nuclear and the subject remains largely taboo, but “where we see emerging positions on the level of European strategic ambition that must grow,” he said.

On Monday, a senior member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union pleaded for the EU to create its own nuclear deterrence capability.

Germany should “consider cooperation with France regarding nuclear weapons” and “should be prepared to participate in the nuclear deterrent force with its own capabilities and means,” Johann Wadephul said in an interview with the Tagesspiegel daily.

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content_text:
Hong Kong’s striking health workers pose new threat to Beijing

Thousands of Hong Kong medical workers earlier this week went on strike to demand that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) immediately close the territory’s border with China to prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Yet the strike also revealed a longer term threat to her administration, as well as to her bosses in Beijing: It showed the growing strength of pro-democracy unions formed by protesters who want to curb China’s influence on the territory.

The strategy aims to allow pro-democracy groups to quickly organize mass actions and, ultimately, transform a political system designed to favor Beijing loyalists.

“Government opponents are going through strenuous efforts to form new trade unions, hoping this could increase their chances of winning more seats in the legislative council,” said Lau Siu-kai (劉兆佳), the former head of a Hong Kong government think tank and an emeritus professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong. “These efforts will go hand-in-hand with the protests, bolstering the political movement in Hong Kong to seek more detachment from mainland China.”

The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, which was formed in December last year, said that it has already attracted more than 18,000 members — nearly a quarter of the employees at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, the territory’s second-biggest employer.

The group said about half of them planned to strike this week to demand stronger government measures to stop the coronavirus outbreak.

The union is among dozens that were formed by participants in protests that have rocked the territory since June last year.

In the second half of last year, the Hong Kong Labour Department received 135 applications to start new trade unions, spanning industries from finance to education and bartenders. That compares with only 10 during same period the previous year.

The rise of pro-democracy unions threatens the monopoly of pro-government unions that have an outsized influence on labor policy, and in elections for the legislative council and chief executive.

They could also potentially add to disruptions to the economy, which has slid into recession as protesters shut down transport networks, vandalized China-linked businesses and deterred tourists from visiting.

“Hong Kong traditionally has not been a unionized place — if the unions were to get individuals together for collective demands it could hamstring some businesses,” said Benjamin Quinlan, chief executive officer and managing partner of Quinlan & Associates, a strategy consultancy based in Hong Kong.

Hospitality, food and beverage, and medical businesses could be the first to suffer the impact, Quinlan said.

Hong Kong’s labor rules are a big attraction for foreign companies: The World Economic Forum’s competitiveness rankings last year ranked the territory as the No. 1 location for hiring and firing practices among 141 economies. Yet in the category of “workers rights,” it came in at No. 114 on the list.

This week’s strike among medical workers, which was opposed by the government and drew criticism in some newspapers, is testing the ability of protesters to turn their street numbers into organized collective action.

“People are genuinely worried and even more reluctant to go outside now that they know there’s a risk of medical workers being on strike,” Quinlan said.

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content_text:
Lanky paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi yesterday took four wickets to help Pakistan dismiss Bangladesh for a paltry 233 on the opening day of the first Test in Rawalpindi.

Shaheen recorded figures of 4-53 in 21.5 overs and was ably assisted by fellow pacer Mohammad Abbas (2-19) and spinner Haris Sohail (2-11) to justify Pakistan’s decision to send Bangladesh in to bat on a greenish-yellow Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium pitch.

Pakistan were to bat for five overs, but bad light forced umpires to call it a day.

Bangladesh could have been bowled out inside of 200 had it not been for a defiant display of batting by Mohammad Mithun, who top-scored with 63, including seven fours and a six in his 193-minute stand.

Bangladesh were reeling against pace at 161-6 when Mithun added an invaluable 53-run stand for the seventh wicket with Taijul Islam, who made a resolute 24.

It was Sohail who had Islam caught by Yasir Shah before Pakistan wiped off the tail with the second new ball as 16-year-old Naseem Shah ended Mithun’s resistance, getting him caught behind.

Just before tea, Sohail broke a defiant 54-run stand for the sixth wicket between Liton Das (33) and Mithun as the two led Bangladesh’s fightback after the total dominance of Pakistan bowlers in the first session.

Sohail had dropped Mithun off a luckless Yasir at wide second slip when the batsman was on 22, but compensated for the lapse with two wickets.

Yasir failed to get a wicket in 22 overs, conceding 83 runs.

Earlier, an extended two-and-a-half-hour first session due to Friday prayers truly belonged to Pakistan, as they kept Bangladesh down to 95-3 by lunch.

Shaheen, 19, removed debutant Saif Hassan (nought) off the third ball of the match and then had skipper Mominul Haque (30) to get vital breakthroughs for Pakistan.

Abbas trapped opener Tamim Iqbal with the 10th ball of the match for 3 to leave Bangladesh tottering at 3-2.

Iqbal, who on Sunday last week smashed Bangladesh’s highest first-class score with 334 not out in a domestic match, tried to play across, but missed the ball.

Umpire Nigel Llong of England had rejected the appeal, but Pakistan wisely had it reviewed and the replay showed the ball hitting the stumps.

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title: Shaheen takes four as Pakistan bowl Bangladesh for 233


content_text:
Ultrasound used to treat Parkinson’s

PRECISION MEDICINE:Researchers used microbubbles, which break apart when hit by ultrasonic waves, to introduce genetically modified prestin to treat the disease
National Tsing Hua University Institute of Molecular Medicine associate professor Lin Yu-chun, left, and Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences director Yeh Chih-kuang are pictured in an undated photograph.Photo courtesy of National Tsing Hua University via CNA
A team of National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) researchers yesterday said that they have used ultrasonic waves to treat Parkinson’s disease in mice, turning ultrasound — mainly used for medical scanning — into a treatment tool.

NTHU Institute of Molecular Medicine associate professor Lin Yu-chun (林玉俊) said that he has been looking for a safe and noninvasive way to control cell activity.

As optical waves cannot penetrate more than 2mm of human tissue and magnetic waves cannot be used for precision targeting, Lin said that he turned to ultrasonic waves, but had to first solve the problem of making human cells responsive to soundwaves.

While prestin — a protein critical to sensitive hearing — is found in all mammals, it is insensitive to ultrasound in humans and mice, so Lin began studying the proteins of dolphins, whales and bats, which are known for their acoustic sensitivity, he said.

Humans and some other animals cannot hear sounds with frequencies higher than 20 kilohertz (kHz), he added.

After identifying the specific amino acid compositions related to sound perception in dolphins, whales and bats, Lin said that he reformed the prestin in lab mice through genetic editing and implanted the reformed protein into their cells, increasing their sensitivity to ultrasound by more than 10 times.

Yeh Chih-kuang (葉秩光), distinguished professor and director of the university’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, designed special microbubbles — lipid droplets filled with inert gas — to envelop the reformed prestin and carry it into the blood of mice, Lin said.

The microbubbles break apart when hit by ultrasonic waves, allowing the reformed prestin to reach target cells directly, which is another form of precision medicine, he said.

The technique has proved effective in treating mice with Parkinson’s disease, with their mobility greatly improving after treatment, as shown in a video released by the team.

While ultrasonic waves are mainly used for medical examinations, the team has turned them into a treatment tool, Lin said, expressing the hope that the technique could be used to treat diabetes or cancers by activating pertinent cells.

The findings of the team, composed of members of several university departments, as well as Academia Sinica, were published last month in the journal Nano Letters.

Medical ultrasound frequencies are usually higher than 100kHz, but the team has only experimented with ultrasonic waves of up to 500kHz, Lin said.

The team will continue experimenting with different ultrasonic frequencies, improve the auditory sensitivity of cells and apply the technique to more diseases, he added.

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title: Ultrasound used to treat Parkinson’s


content_text:
An Uber Eats food courier rides an electric bike in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday.Photo: Reuters
Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday said that it would deliver a first-ever quarterly profit by the end of the year, signaling that cost-cutting measures are exceeding even the company’s own expectations.

The company would become profitable, on an adjusted basis, by the fourth quarter of this year, chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi said on a conference call to discuss financial results.

A previous plan set this goal for next year. The company’s stock was up about 5 percent in extended trading.

The drive toward profitability is likely to take a toll on growth.

Gross bookings would decline slightly in this quarter from the fourth quarter of last year, chief financial officer Nelson Chai said.

For the fourth quarter, Uber edged out Wall Street’s expectations, with bookings up 28 percent and a loss that was narrower than analysts’ estimates.

Gross bookings for the fourth quarter were US$18.1 billion, showing that demand for transportation and food delivery orders remains strong. The measure, which represents the total value of rides, food orders and other businesses, is closely watched by investors.

Efforts to rein in spending are proving to be especially effective. The San Francisco-based company reported an adjusted loss of US$615 million, compared with a US$713 million average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The loss, which excludes interest, taxes and other expenses, was US$817 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Uber is trying to more closely connect its various services and increase usage among the more than 100 million customers who open the app each month. The company is investing in electric bicycle and scooter rentals, and experimenting with helicopter rides and temporary staffing.

However, the new businesses are pricey and investors have punished the company for burning cash to fuel growth. The stock, which went public in May last year, trades below its initial public offering (IPO) price.

Uber on Thursday said that its loss for the year using generally accepted accounting principles was US$8.51 billion.

The startling figure was driven primarily by stock compensation and one-time costs associated with the IPO.

In the past year, Uber has taken steps to check its spending habit. It reduced marketing expenses, cut more than 1,000 employees and abandoned some unprofitable food delivery units. It ended delivery in South Korea and last month sold the delivery operation in India.

The company would consider abandoning delivery in other countries or acquiring businesses with the goal of only competing in markets where Uber Eats would be the biggest or second-biggest option, Khosrowshahi said.

Eventually, Uber Eats expects to reduce discounts for customers, which would drive a decline in spending by next quarter. The strategy is similar to what the company did in ride-hailing.

“The Eats team is running the same exact play,” Khosrowshahi said. “It’s just running a year behind.”

The ride-hailing business was profitable on a standalone basis in the fourth quarter, Uber said.

The company lost US$130 million on its “other technology programs,” including the autonomous driving division, which is funded by Uber, SoftBank Group Corp, Toyota Motor Corp and others.

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title: Uber forecasts first-ever quarterly profit by Q4


title: Sharks, Brumbies extend dominance

content_text:
Sharks, Brumbies extend dominance

NO CHANCE:Despite attempting late fightbacks, the Highlanders and Rebels were undone by sloppy first halves that left them with insurmountable deficits
The Highlanders’ Marino Mikaele Tu’u, right, tackles the Sharks’ Sikhumbuzo Notshe in their Super Rugby match in Dunedin, New Zealand, yesterday.Photo: AFP
South Africa’s Rugby World Cup hero Makazole Mapimpi yesterday bagged a double as the Sharks outclassed the Highlanders, while the Brumbies won their second of the season in a convincing victory over the Rebels.

The Sharks posted five tries to three, with winger Mapimpi — who became the first Springbok to score a try in a World Cup final during last year’s triumph in Japan — crossing twice in the 42-20 victory at Dunedin.

In Canberra, the Brumbies made it 10 wins on the trot at home by beating the Rebels 39-26, compounding the Melbourne team’s miserable start to the season after last weekend’s shock 36-27 defeat by the Sunwolves in Fukuoka, Japan.

Like the Brumbies, who made the semi-finals last year, the Sharks have won two from two after a 23-15 victory over the Bulls last week.

“The boys played for each other. The work rate and the defense were great,” Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am said after fullback Aphelele Fassi also scored a brace to snuff out a Highlanders’ fightback.

“The Highlanders managed to put us under pressure, but we bounced back,” he added.

Highlanders skipper Rob Thompson said that the hosts, featuring six debutants, made too many errors at crucial moments.

“Unfortunately, we let them off too much,” Thompson said. “But we’re a young team and we have a few boys debuting. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done for them, but we’ll be better for it.”

The Highlanders had a bye last week and looked rusty in their first outing of the season, gifting the Sharks early attacking opportunities with knock-ons and poor line-outs.

The match appeared to be settling into a tightly contested arm wrestle before the Sharks sparked to life, snatching three converted tries in seven minutes to take a 27-3 lead at the break.

The first came when flanker James Venter outpaced the Highlanders’ defense in a race for the line, before Mapimpi twice found himself on the end of passing moves that left the Highlanders’ tacklers flailing.

The Highlanders were much improved after the break and scored three tries, but Fassi’s late double ended any prospect of a comeback.

Rebels coach Dave Wessels reshaped his forwards pack after crashing to the Sunwolves, but it was no match for the Brumbies, who came out firing.

“I’m proud of the effort, especially how we started in the first half,” Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa said. “They’re a quality side and we knew they would fight back.”

The Brumbies had a try after just four minutes, with inside center Irae Simone throwing a dummy to power over.

They kept pressing as the Rebels’ defense struggled, with Tom Banks also touching down after a beautiful offload from youngster Noah Lolesio, who converted both tries.

Tom Cusack got their third try and Solomone Kata grabbed his first in Super Rugby minutes later after a grubber-kick bounced favorably.

The Rebels, who had won their previous four matches against the Brumbies, lifted in the final five minutes of the first half, which saw Angus Cottrell dot down and Matt Toomua convert to give them some hope going into the break 24-7 behind.

They returned invigorated, with a maul pushing Cottrell over for another try a minute after the restart before Folau Fainga’a barged over to restore the Brumbies’ advantage.

Wallabies fullback Dane Haylett-Petty weaved past three defenders to put more points on the board for the Rebels and Frank Lomani also crossed, but it was not enough to make up the deficit.

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title: SK mass wedding defies virus fears

content_text:
SK mass wedding defies virus fears

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH:The Unification Church has hosted mass weddings since the 1960s, drawing tens of thousands of couples, many matched by the church
Couples wearing masks for protection from the new coronavirus yesterday attend a mass wedding ceremony of the Unification Church at Cheongshim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, South Korea.Photo: Reuters
Thousands of couples — some in masks — yesterday tied the knot in a mass Unification Church wedding, despite concerns in South Korea over the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

The church founded by Sun Myung Moon — revered as a messiah by his followers — distributed face coverings to the 30,000 crowd, but only some donned them.

“I am overwhelmed that I am getting married today,” said Choi Ji-young, who met her husband — matched by the church — only two months ago.

“It would be a lie if I said I was not concerned at all about the infection,” the 21-year-old university student said. “But I feel like I will be protected from the virus today.”

South Korea has recorded 24 cases of the novel coronavirus outbreak that emerged in neighboring China, where more than 30,000 cases have been confirmed, and Seoul has barred entry to foreigners who have recently been in Wuhan, the epidemic’s center.

Festivals, graduation ceremonies and K-pop concerts have been canceled over fears large events could facilitate virus transmission, and authorities have asked religious groups to cooperate in preventing it spreading.

The church went ahead with the event because it had been “four years in the making” as part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Moon’s birth, official Jang Young-chul said.

However, followers from China were asked not to come, he added.

Nearly 6,000 identically dressed couples from 64 countries — many of whom met for the first time in recent weeks — married in Gapyeong, a festive mood filling the venue as newlyweds took group photos and were congratulated by friends and relatives.

Mass weddings, often held in giant sports stadiums with tens of thousands of couples, have long been a signature feature of the church, whose followers have been dubbed “Moonies” after its founder, who died in 2012.

They began in the early 1960s, involving just a few dozen couples at first, but with numbers mushrooming over the years. In 1997, 30,000 couples took part in a joint wedding in Washington, and two years later around 21,000 filled the Olympic Stadium in Seoul.

Those who choose to be matched by the church must confirm under oath that they are virgins, and after their wedding the couple must refrain from sexual relations for a minimum of 40 days.

Kim Chang-seong, 27, who was marrying a woman whom he met 20 days ago, said he was not concerned about infection because the mass wedding had “special meaning” for him.

“By marrying a fellow church believer, I am taking a path paved by our church leaders,” he said.

The teachings of the Unification Church are based on the Bible but with new interpretations, and Moon saw his role as completing the unfulfilled mission of Jesus to restore humanity to a state of “sinless” purity.

While it claims a worldwide following of 3 million, experts suggest the core membership is far smaller.

Evelyne Chimfwembe, who flew in from Botswana to attend the ceremony with her husband of 28 years, said she was not worried about the virus, as she believed the event would be “under God’s control.”

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