title: MSCI revises Taiwan weightings

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Global index provider MSCI Inc yesterday cut Taiwan’s weighting on two of its indices.

MSCI lowered Taiwan’s weighting in its Emerging Markets Index by 0.07 percentage points, from 11.73 percent to 11.66 percent, and the weighting in its All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index by 0.08 percentage points, from 13.76 percent to 13.68 percent, the firm’s Web site showed.

MSCI has lowered Taiwan’s weighting in the two indices for the past four quarters.

Foreign institutional players assign great importance to MSCI’s moves when drawing up investment strategies for emerging markets.

However, MSCI kept Taiwan’s weighting in the All-Country World Index unchanged at 1.42 percent.

The adjustments are to take effect after market closing on Feb. 28.

Stock analysts had expected Taiwan’s weightings to hold steady given the nation’s stable economy and the detente in the US-China trade dispute.

Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) said that about NT$8.6 billion (US$286.31 million) of foreign funds might exit the local market, in line with the MSCI revisions.

The estimated capital outflow, accounting for 0.05 percent of overall positions held by foreign players, should have a limited effect on local shares, Tsai said, adding that MSCI cut Taiwan’s weighting to accommodate increases in China’s A-shares.

Corporate earnings, economic fundamentals and international political situations have more bearing on the performance of Taiwanese equities, she said.

The TAIEX yesterday gained 0.15 percent to close at 11,791.78 on turnover of NT$139.526 billion.

Foreign investors yesterday increased positions in local shares by a net NT$1.96 billion, while mutual funds cut holdings by a net NT$403 million and proprietary traders trimmed a net NT$489 million, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index yesterday ended down 0.71 percent at 2,906.07, while Shenzhen’s SZSE Component Index finished 0.7 percent lower at 10,864.32.

MSCI did not add or remove shares this time, but adjusted the weightings of 13 local shares.

The weighting of Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank Ltd (上海商業儲蓄銀行) gained 0.01 percentage points to 0.81 percent, while LCD panel maker Innolux Corp (群創), an arm of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), lost 0.01 percentage points to 0.35 percent.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Ex-health heads push WHO petition

people: 張博雅 涂醒哲 習近平

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Five former health ministers from across party lines yesterday called on people to sign a petition pushing for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO amid global concern about a COVID-19 outbreak in China.

Taiwan attended the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO’s decisionmaking body, as an observer from 2009 to 2016, but has been denied entry since then due to pressure from Beijing.

Despite concern about the outbreak, Taiwan was denied entry at WHO emergency meetings for COVID-19, until Tuesday and Wednesday, when Taiwanese delegates were allowed to remotely join a research and development forum.

“Taiwan should be a member state at the WHO, or at least be a WHA observer,” Control Yuan President Chang Po-ya (張博雅) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that the target was 5 million signatures.

Membership in the WHO is a matter of public health and disease prevention, not politics, and it is humankind that suffers if prevention efforts for COVID-19 are not in place, said Chang, who was director of the department of health, the forerunner to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, from 1990 to 1997.

Former department of health directors Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) and Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良), and former minister of health and welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延), also endorsed the petition.

As a sovereign nation, Taiwan has a right to a presence at the WHO, and excluding Taiwan not only infringes on the health rights of Taiwanese, but also sacrifices other countries’ rights, as they would miss Taiwan’s contributions, Twu said.

Taiwan has great healthcare and disease prevention systems, and never conceals epidemic situations, Yaung said, adding that although Taiwan and China have close ethnic and cultural connections, their political systems are completely different.

“It is wrong that China has been using politics to interfere with [Taiwan’s] disease prevention efforts,” he said.

Yuang called on Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who he said is the “biggest Taiwanese independence activist,” to keep a clearer head, as his continuous marginalization of Taiwan and military intimidation would only lead more Taiwanese to lean toward independence.

“I give Taiwan 98 percent for its prevention efforts against the novel coronavirus,” Lin said, adding that unlike the 2003 SARS epidemic no deaths or community infections have occurred so far.

“These achievements rank among the best in the world,” Lin added.

Credit for successful disease prevention goes to the government’s strategies and utilization of technology after it set up an infectious disease prevention network after SARS, tightened disease prevention measures at hospitals, conducted annual on-site simulation drills and established virus labs, Lin said.

Taiwan can contribute to global health by lending its experience to developing countries, Lin said.

The WHO on Tuesday officially named the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, COVID-19.

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An MC-130J taxis in an undated photograph.Photo: screen grab from the US Air Force Web site
The US military sent a P-3C anti-submarine bomber to patrol south of Taiwan yesterday, the second day in a row that the US Air Force has deployed aircraft near Taiwan after Chinese jets earlier this week flew missions that circled the nation.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) posted information on yesterday’s flight on Facebook.

“An American P-3C aircraft took off from US Kadena Air Force Base [in Okinawa, Japan] this morning. It headed to about 70 to 80 nautical miles [130km to 148km] south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and afterward returned to Kadena,” Wang wrote.

Wang is the convener of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee for this legislative session.

“The Ministry of National Defense fully monitored the aircraft’s passage and said it was a routine mission by the US Air Force,” Wang wrote.

He included a photograph of a P-3C flying over water with the post.

“We have seen a rare action by US military aircraft, with two B-52s and an MC-130J Commando II transport aircraft circling Taiwan the previous day, flying east of Taiwan and following the Taiwan Strait,” Wang wrote, adding: “This has led to a lot of public interest.”

US military newspaper Stars and Stripes quoted US Pacific Air Forces spokeswoman Victoria Hight as saying that “the [US] Air Force flew two B-52 bombers and an MC-130J Commando II tanker near the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday morning after Chinese naval and air forces flew over [sic] the island twice this week.”

Other news reports said that two B-52s had flown from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and conducted “synchronized training south of the Taiwan Strait with a US Air Force MC-130J” from Kadena.

Taiwanese F-16 jets scrambled to monitor the movement of the Chinese military planes, which briefly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, prompting verbal warnings.

“The US Air Force is responding to China’s military threats against Taiwan, since it is quite unusual for it to fly missions to Taiwan’s east and west at the same time,” defense expert Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said.

Additional reporting by Jason Pan

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title: US military flies bomber to south of Taiwan


title: Virus Outbreak: Manila to finalize decision on ban

content_text:
Philippine workers participate in a fun run in New Taipei City on June 10, 2018.Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it would continue communicating with Manila before the Philippines today finalizes a decision on whether to lift a travel ban that includes Taiwan, after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte refused to cancel the policy.

“My primary concern is the health and safety of our countrymen,” Philippine presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo quoted Duterte as saying.

However, GMA News and Public Affairs reported that Duterte is seeking more time before he makes a decision on whether to lift the ban.

Manila on Monday included Taiwan in the temporary travel ban — which initially only targeted visitors from China, Hong Kong and Macau when it was announced last week — wreaking havoc on airlines and travel agencies.

The ministry on Tuesday said that including Taiwan was a decision unilaterally made by the Philippine Department of Health, as the presidency and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs appeared ignorant of the decision in earlier communications.

Taiwan has seven to eight countermeasures ready if the ban is not lifted, a source familiar with the matter said in Taipei on Wednesday on condition of anonymity, adding that countermeasures are pertinent to bilateral exchanges in finance, agriculture, health and immigration.

Inconsistencies among different government agencies are not uncommon in Manila, the source added.

The Philippine government could finalize the decision today after a Cabinet meeting, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said when asked for comment on Duterte’s remarks.

After Manila makes a decision, Taiwan would consider the overall situation and decide on its response, she said.

Taiwan continues communicating with relevant agencies of the Philippine government and hopes that Manila will make the right decision, Ou said.

Separately, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office yesterday afternoon issued an advisory saying that it has started processing refunds of fees for unused visas issued from Nov. 10 last year to Monday.

In another advisory later in the day, the office said that “Filipino travelers stranded in Taiwan are not allowed to extend their 14-day visa-free stay in Taiwan. In this regard, they should be advised to get the earliest flight back to the Philippines.”

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people: 林佳龍 蔡英文

taiwan-subdivisions: 新市 新園

content_text:
First license plate issued for driverless vehicle trial

THE RIGHT TRACK:Autonomous vehicles are driving the development of smart transportation systems in the nation, aided by local governments, an official said
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung, center right, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, center left, and other officials, stand in front of an autonomous bus, holding placards with the logos of organizations sponsoring trials of driverless vehicles at a news conference in Taoyuan yesterday.Photo: Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Taipei Times
The government has issued the first vehicle license plate to be used in autonomous vehicle trials since it began to enforce the Act for Uncrewed Vehicle Technology Innovations and Experiments (無人載具科技創新實驗條例) in October last year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

Earlier this month, Kinwaytek Technology Co, a subsidiary of Chunghwa Telecom Co, received the nation’s first license plate for autonomous vehicle trials.

Lin and several other government officials were yesterday invited to visit the company’s testing ground for autonomous vehicles at Taoyuan’s Hutoushan Innovation Hub (虎頭山創新園區).

Autonomous vehicles are the driver in the nation’s development of smart transportation systems, Lin said in an interview on the sidelines of the event, adding that local governments have been eagerly facilitating driverless vehicle development.

Industry clusters for self-

driving vehicles are emerging and the nation is seeing the preliminary results of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “5 plus 2” innovative industries policy, Lin said.

The plan focuses on the development of the five “pillar industries” — Internet of Things (IoT) technology, green energy, smart machinery, and the defense and biomedical industries — as well as high-value agriculture and a circular economy.

In addition to the innovation hub in Taoyuan, the nation has trial grounds for autonomous vehicles in Danhai New Town (淡海新市鎮) and near Tainan’s high-speed rail station, Lin said, adding that the ministry’s job is to ensure that the new technology can be developed in an ideal environment.

The Hutoushan Innovation Hub, which has settings to simulate a railroad crossing, an intersection and a roundabout, has also become a testing venue for other technologies, such as obstacle-avoiding robots, the Taoyuan Department of Economic Development said.

Using remote control, researchers can have a robot imitate a human walking, the department said, adding that results from the experiments help to improve driverless vehicles’ ability to avoid obstacles.

The office spaces included in the hub’s Phase 1 development plan are occupied, it said.

Taiwan Business Bank, the Small and Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Fund of Taiwan, and the Taiwan Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation have a joint office inside the hub to help start-ups secure bank loans, it added.

The Taoyuan City Government is working with Chunghwa Telecom on the hub’s phase 2 development plan, which is to include testing grounds for 5G systems, the department said.

A 5G system could be used in the construction of a smart traffic light, which could transmit signals to autonomous vehicles, telling them that the traffic light is turning red so that they can gradually come to a stop, it said.

Communications technology has made development of other innovative applications possible, the department added.

“The hub can attract start-ups that want to test IoT services at a relatively lower cost, thanks to the hub’s 5G facilities and supercomputers,” it said.

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Virus Outbreak: Journal prints letter describing person-to-person infection

X-rays attached to a letter by a Taiwanese team on the treatment of COVID-19 published in the New England Journal of Medicine are pictured in an undated photograph.Screen grab from the New England Journal of Medicine’s Web site
A letter signed by five doctors at Changhua Christian Hospital describing a case of what is believed to be a local person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 was published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In a letter addressed to the editor, the doctors described the transmission of the virus from a woman who had lived in Wuhan, China, to her husband.

“On Jan. 25, 2020, a 52-year-old woman with a history of type 2 diabetes presented with fever to an emergency department in central Taiwan,” the letter said.

“She was admitted to the hospital because of suspicion of pneumonia associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection,” it said, referring to the official name of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The woman returned to Taiwan on Jan. 20, the letter said, adding that she had been living in Wuhan for about three months.

Another passenger on the same flight was identified as the first known imported case of COVID-19 in Taiwan, it said.

“Fever and myalgia developed in the woman on Jan. 25, a total of five days after she returned to Taiwan from Wuhan,” the letter said. “She reported that she did not have cough, dyspnea, chest pain, or diarrhea.”

The woman on Jan. 27 tested positive for the virus, becoming the fifth confirmed imported case of COVID-19, it said.

The letter described her condition and treatment, saying: “As of Feb. 11, she remained hospitalized, but her vital signs were stable and she was not receiving oxygen therapy.”

The patient’s husband, 50, who became the nation’s eighth case, developed symptoms on Jan. 25 — the same day as his wife, it said.

“This suggests transmission shortly after his wife returned to Taiwan,” the letter said.

The husband “works primarily at home” and “reported that he had not traveled to any region where SARS-CoV-2 transmission was known to be occurring,” it said.

He was confirmed to have the disease on Jan. 28, the letter said, adding that the husband was also hospitalized as of Wednesday, but that his vital signs were stable.

“Local transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred in this couple in Taiwan. So far, no secondary case from this couple has been identified,” the letter said.

Changhua County Public Health Bureau Director Yeh Yen-po (葉彥伯) praised the correspondence, saying that its publication proved the standard of Taiwan’s prevention and treatment efforts.

The publication of the report “really helps the international community to better understand the transmission and pathogenesis,” Alex Ma (馬徹), director of the Chemical Biology Division at Academia Sinica’s Genomics Research Center, wrote in an e-mail replying to questions by the Taipei Times.

“Bravo to the Taiwanese team,” Ma added.

Additional reporting by Sherry Hsiao

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With the aim of going carbon neutral by 2025, Copenhagen faces a challenge as it prepares to host UEFA Euro 2020 matches — with the accompanying excesses — while minimizing the climate impact.

This year’s tournament is to be spread over 12 European cities ranging from London to Rome and Baku, meaning that fans will crisscross the continent and descend on different cities.

Those supporters would of course need housing, transport and food, all of which will contribute to their carbon footprint.

“It’s always a paradox when you invite people to come to your city... Of course it has an impact on carbon emissions and the environment,” Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen said. “We are focusing on how we can host a huge event with a lower carbon footprint.”

The Danish capital, which was designated the European Green Capital in 2014, is trying to do everything it can to make Euro 2020 as green as possible.

Recycled cups are to be used, organic food is to be served, waste management is to be used and the use of single-use plastics is to be limited.

With the addition of UEFA’s promise to plant 50,000 trees in each of the 12 host countries to offset emissions, Copenhagen claims that it would be able to limit the environmental effects of the four matches that it is to host.

However, Jens Peter Mortensen of the Danish Society for Nature Conservation thinks that more can be done, and efforts could especially be made when it comes to the restaurant business.

“They should definitely do better to prevent the spreading of all single-use plastic,” Mortensen said.

In Copenhagen, there is no need to build anything to host athletes and fans, as the city has the appropriate infrastructure — a 38,000-capacity stadium and a brand new metro.

“It’s not fair to say that the Euro games would have a new impact as there would have been events in the stadium anyway,” Mortensen said.

The absence of any new construction helps reduce the carbon footprint of the event, but neither the city nor the federation know what the final impact is to be.

The footprint in Copenhagen will depend on “many things that will not be clear until the tournament is over — the number of tourists, fans, officials and so on visiting due to the tournament,” Danish Football Union spokeswoman Mia Kjaergaard said.

Maria Figueroa, a professor at the Copenhagen Business School and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, thinks that the Euros can be “an opportunity” to showcase new initiatives.

“I think Copenhagen can show a new path, new ways to host events and at the same time be responsible,” she said.

For Figueroa, this could include raising awareness among visitors to the city.

“As part of an event you need to eat, to be housed, to use transportation. In each one of these areas, there will be opportunities to demonstrate how sustainability can be part of daily life,” Figueroa said.

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title: Copenhagen bids to stay green while hosting Euro 2020


content_text:
China auto sales sink to new lows as virus spreads

PRODUCTION DIALED BACK:Analysts said automakers could reduce production in China by 15 percent this quarter, while a parts shortage might hurt its neighbors
China-made Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles sit on a lot at the Tesla Inc Gigafactory in Shanghai on Dec. 2 last year.Photo: Reuters
Auto sales in China plunged to fresh lows last month as COVID-19 kept buyers away from showrooms, intensifying the gloom hanging over the industry.

Sales to dealerships fell 20 percent to 1.61 million vehicles last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday. That is the biggest monthly drop since January 2012.

The outbreak is exacerbating manufacturer and dealership woes in the world’s biggest market, which is also being hit by a slowing economy and trade tensions.

Electric vehicles led the decline, with last month’s new-energy vehicle sales falling 54 percent. Electric vehicles and traditional premium models would suffer the most from the outbreak, because sales of those vehicles are concentrated in the biggest cities, which happen to be the ones most affected by the epidemic, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co analyst Robin Zhu (朱鑌) said.

Electric-vehicle sales have already been plunging for months in China, the world’s biggest market for the vehicles, after the government scaled back purchase subsidies in July last year.

Tesla Inc, which started deliveries a few weeks ago from its new Shanghai factory, its first outside the US, has been bucking the trend with increasing registrations.

Companies from market leader Volkswagen AG to Tesla and Toyota Motor Corp have warned of disruptions in their operations. Automakers probably would dial back production by 15 percent in China this quarter after extending holiday shutdowns because of the virus, supplier Aptiv PLC estimated.

Although factories and dealers are gradually starting to resume operations after two weeks’ suspension, massive challenges remain. A majority of dealerships remained closed this week for failing to meet the government’s criteria to resume business, and inventories are soaring.

The outbreak has also endangered component supply. Parts manufacturers across China have suspended production through last week and in the case of Wuhan and Hubei Province, factories are still largely closed.

That leaves plants at risk both in China and beyond: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co are among automakers that have halted some production in their home countries because of component shortages caused by the virus.

Separately, Tesla is seeking government approval to produce a Model 3 that is about 130kg heavier than the basic versions it produces now in China, a filing with the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

Reuters reported that the vehicle would be a longer-range version. The document does not spell out the driving range, but its weight is similar to that of the long-range, rear-wheel-drive Model 3 that Tesla imports from the US.

A company representative declined to comment.

Tesla’s Shanghai plant resumed production on Monday after the COVID-19 outbreak idled the plant.

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Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, yesterday surged to nearly 60,000 after the Chinese National Health Commission revised its diagnostic methods to test for the virus.

With an unknown number of undiagnosed people quarantined in their homes and millions of migrant workers in the process of returning to cities following the end of the extended Lunar New Year holiday, reports earlier this week of a decline in the number of new cases in China might prove to be a false dawn.

Many experts are warning it could be months before the outbreak is brought under control.

This makes it all the more vital that the public in Taiwan is kept well informed, and that information on preventive measures is accurate and fact-based.

There has already been panic buying of masks, despite medical advice that maintaining good hygiene, especially hand washing, as well as regular exercise, are more effective ways to prevent infection.

Several recent events have given additional cause for concern that the message is not getting through:

A multiplex in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) on Monday evening announced on Facebook that as of Tuesday it would implement a “seat separation rule” in all of its theaters, meaning that all reservations would be separated by an aisle or an empty seat on either side.

The multiplex proudly posted a graphic of an indicative seating plan with “Xs” marking empty seats, similar to an airplane seating reservation map.

While some netizens questioned whether this would have any benefit, others praised the new seating arrangements.

“That’s so considerate,” one said, while another said: “Good. Now I don’t need to worry whether I’ll get infected by the person next to me.”

This is problematic on many levels. The government has repeatedly urged the public to avoid crowded, enclosed spaces until the outbreak is no longer a threat. Movie theaters fall into this category.

Furthermore, if you were unlucky enough to be sitting next to an infected person, there is no evidence to suggest that maintaining a distance of the width of the average movie theater seat would prevent you from catching the virus.

It appears to be a clever, but cynical marketing ploy by the multiplex’s management to fill theaters at a time when many people are eschewing trips to the movies.

The government has generally been doing a good job in keeping the public abreast of the latest developments, with the Central Epidemic Command Center holding daily news conferences, while prosecutors have been trying to clamp down on disinformation and fake news on the Internet.

In spite of this, the public continues to worry, lining up outside drugstores for hours to get hold of their weekly ration of two masks.

Stoking anxieties, nuclear power advocate Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) on Tuesday claimed on Facebook that 1 million masks are disappearing daily down a “black hole.”

Perhaps the government could take a leaf out of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s book, who in a nine-minute address to the nation on Sunday said: “Fear can do more harm than the virus itself.”

Lee advocated exercise and good hygiene, and promised to keep the public informed “every step of the way.”

Bloomberg reported the speech appeared to have an immediate impact, with long lines at supermarkets in the city-state returning to normal.

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title: EDITORIAL: Nothing to fear but fear itself


content_text:
People who won a lottery to buy masks line up outside a pharmacy in Guangzhou, China, yesterday.Photo: EPA-EFE
China’s official death toll from an outbreak of COVID-19 yesterday spiked dramatically after authorities changed their counting methods, fueling concern that the epidemic is far worse than being reported.

Under criticism at home over the handling of the crisis, the Chinese Communist Party dismissed two top-ranking officials in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The developments came hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) claimed “positive results” from efforts to contain an epidemic that has now officially killed 1,367 people and infected nearly 60,000.

However, the WHO warned that it was too soon to declare victory.

“I think it’s way too early to try to predict the beginning, the middle or the end of this epidemic right now,” WHO Health Emergencies Program executive director Michael Ryan said.

In Hubei and its capital, Wuhan, where tens of millions of people have been trapped as part of an unprecedented quarantine effort, 242 new deaths were reported yesterday.

Another 14,840 people were confirmed to be infected in Hubei alone, with the new cases and deaths by far the biggest one-day increases since the crisis began.

Outside of Hubei, there were 12 more deaths, but the number of new cases fell for a ninth day in a row, with 312 extra patients.

Hubei authorities said that the increases were because they had broadened their definition for infection to include people “clinically diagnosed” via lung imaging.

Up until now, they had been documenting cases using a more sophisticated laboratory test.

Health officials said that they looked into past suspected cases and revised their diagnoses, suggesting that older cases were also included in yesterday’s numbers.

China had been praised by the WHO for its transparent handling of the outbreak, in contrast to the way it concealed the extent of the deadly SARS epidemic in 2002 and 2003.

However, Beijing has been facing skepticism among the global public, with many fearing that there might be similarities to the way it dealt with SARS.

Authorities in Hubei have been accused of concealing the gravity of the outbreak.

Criticism intensified after the death of a doctor who had in December last year tried to raise the alarm about the outbreak, but was silenced by authorities.

Hubei’s new counting methodology might be a legitimate attempt to be more transparent, analysts said, but the immediate effects were to sow more distrust.

“Oddly, this now is a moment of greater transparency,” Williams College political science professor Sam Crane said in Massachusetts.

“It is not clear if the problem up to now, on this issue, was lack of transparency or simply bad medical practice,” Crane said.

Australian National University China researcher Jiang Yun (姜雲) said that the new methodology might be a “practical measure,” because Hubei has a shortage of laboratory testing kits.

“I don’t think the numbers are necessarily manipulated for political purposes, but the numbers themselves may not be so trustworthy,” Yun told reporters.

The leaders of Hubei and Wuhan were fired yesterday, the highest-profile political casualties of the crisis. Hubei’s two top health officials were fired earlier this week.

Shanghai mayor Ying Yong (應勇) took over the top provincial post, while an official from eastern Shandong Province was appointed in Wuhan.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Death toll soars as China changes counting methods


content_text:
Innolux posts NT$6.86bn loss, eyeing Tokyo Games

END OF AN ERA:The company reported a total loss of NT$17.4 billion for last year, ending seven straight years of profitability, and it is to cut capital spending to cope
Flat-panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday reported that its quarterly losses ballooned to NT$6.86 billion (US$228.38 million) last quarter, as new capacity from China and the effects of a US-China trade dispute took a toll on market demand and TV panel prices.

Losses last year totaled NT$17.4 billion, ending seven consecutive profitable years for the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) unit, it said.

The company now pins its hope on the Tokyo Olympic Games stimulating demand and easing oversupply later this year, it said.

The panel supply is to decrease after South Korean manufacturers shut down some factories, it added.

To cope with the financial hardship, Innolux plans to slash capital spending by about 20 percent to NT$23 billion this year, from NT$28.8 billion last year.

The company said last quarter’s losses had widened from a NT$3.9 billion in the previous quarter. The company registered a loss of NT$697 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Panel prices slumped 5.82 percent year-on-year and 4.18 percent quarter-on-quarter to US$275 per unit last quarter, the company said.

Gross margin dipped to minus-2.1 percent last quarter, from 6.2 percent in the same period last year and 1.9 percent a quarter earlier.

Revenue tumbled 9.22 percent annually to NT$65.58 billion last quarter, with the TV panel contribution falling from 43 percent to 35 percent of total revenue.

The Miaoli-based company expects rough days ahead as an outbreak of COVID-19 in China reduced the number of working days for its factories, which it said would cut into the company’s panel shipments this quarter.

Innolux expects shipments of TV and PC panels to dip by a low-double-digit percentage this quarter from last quarter’s shipments, a more drastic contraction than a 5 percent sequential decline forecast by local rival AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達).

The company said that average selling prices of its products would rise by a low-single-digit percentage quarter-on-quarter, matching AUO’s forecast.

The company’s shipments of smaller panels used in mobile phones and laptops would also fall by a low-double-digit percentage from last quarter, but product prices are expected to rise by a mid-single-digit percentage sequentially, it said.

Innolux had a weak start to the first quarter by reporting a 25 percent decline in revenue for last month to NT$16.58 billion, compared with NT$22.07 billion in December last year.

On an annual basis, revenue dropped 21.8 percent from NT$21.21 billion.

Shipments of TV and PC panels plunged by 21.3 percent last month from a month earlier, the company said in a separate statement.

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Schools suspended for longer in HK to counter coronavirus

Scrambling to contain the spread of a coronavirus, Hong Kong yesterday extended the suspension of schools until at least March 16 and told overseas students studying in the territory that there was no rush to return.

The government also said civil servants would be allowed to work from home until Feb. 23 to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

Hong Kong Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung (楊潤雄) said secondary and primary schools would not return from an already prolonged break until at least the middle of next month, extending an earlier suspension that was due to see students return to lessons on March 2.

“Social distancing and avoiding mass movement of people are the strategies for preventing and controlling the epidemic,” Yeung said at a news conference. “There is no urgency for students now staying in the mainland and other countries to return to Hong Kong.”

The territory has confirmed 50 cases of COVID-19 and one death.

Many schools in Hong Kong have already switched to online learning and lessons by conference call.

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The US on Wednesday granted Iraq a 45-day sanctions waiver enabling the country to continue importing vital Iranian gas and electricity supplies.

The US Department of State said in a statement that the waiver “ensures that Iraq is able to meet its short-term energy needs while it takes steps to reduce its dependence on Iranian energy imports.”

The US has applied stringent sanctions on Iran that punish any country trading with it.

The issuance of the waiver came amid fraught US-Iraq ties following a US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, near Baghdad International Airport on Jan. 3.

Washington had expressed willingness to extend the sanctions waiver, which was due to expire this week, Iraqi officials told reporters, on the condition that Iraq provide a timeline detailing a plan to wean itself off of Iranian gas dependence.

The two officials said that the US issued the waiver anyway and offered the possibility of a longer time period if Iraq produces the requested timeline.

They spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not allowed to speak publicly about the matter.

“Iran has proven itself as a highly unreliable source of energy for Iraq. Reducing Iranian energy imports is therefore paramount for Iraq to achieve energy security,” the statement said.

The new waiver gives Iraq just 45 days to show the US that it is making good on conditions to boost domestic gas supply or find alternative sources for power, and lessen its reliance on Iran. The previous waiver, issued in October last year, had given Iraq 120 days.

A senior Iraqi official with knowledge of sanctions negotiations with the US said that the period could be extended again once Iraq submits a technical timetable detailing how it plans to meet gas independence.

“It happened that the United States of America gave us a period of 45 days, and it could be extended in the event of us submitting a timetable regarding Iraqi gas investment,” the official said. “Until now, we have not sent them a timetable.”

Iraq remains highly dependent on Iranian natural gas to meet electricity demands, especially during the scorching summer months when imports account for one-third of consumption.

Late payments by Baghdad for Iranian power and gas have resulted in interruptions in the past few years. In the summer of 2018, that was one factor that lead to destabilizing protests in southern oil-rich Basra Governorate.

The US waiver enables Iraq to avoid penalties while paying Iran billions of US dollars for energy imports. It has been granted successively since November 2018, when the administration of US President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran.

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title: US gives sanctions waiver to Iraq for Iranian gas imports


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Virus Outbreak: Respite offered elderly as ship cases rise

ONSHORE QUARANTINE:Passengers aged 80 or older who have tested negative for the virus will be able to disembark today to wait out the isolation period
A combination picture shows a passenger on a cabin balcony of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, left, waving a jacket toward a woman on land as they communicate via cellphones at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, Japan, yesterday.Photo: Reuters
Japan yesterday said it would allow some elderly passengers off a quarantined cruise ship and into government-designated lodging, as the number of COVID-19 cases on the vessel jumped by 44 to 218.

Thousands of passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess face several days more of quarantine, with many taking to social media to voice their concerns.

Those working on the ship have been reluctant to speak to reporters for fear of losing their jobs, but two crew members broke their silence in a video broadcast by Indian media yesterday.

“The situation on board is getting worse day by day,” 24-year-old ship security officer Sonali Thakkar said.

“This morning they told us that 44 people have been infected and everyone is really scared and wanting to get off as soon as possible,” she added. “All we want is tests to be done and to be separated from those who are positive. We don’t want to stay on board.”

With passengers mostly confined to their cabins, crew members have to go door-to-door to deliver food and other supplies, and some fear this has reduced the effectiveness of the quarantine.

Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Katsunobu Kato said there were 44 new cases — including one crew member — from an additional 221 tests.

He said also that elderly passengers who have pre-existing conditions or are in windowless rooms would be allowed off the ship if they test negative for COVID-19.

Those who opt to leave will be moved to government facilities to wait out a quarantine that is set to last until Wednesday next week.

“If they test negative, those who wish to disembark can go and live in a lodging facility that the government will prepare,” Kato said.

Those who had been in close contact with persons who tested positive would not be allowed to leave the ship, he said.

“The Ministry of Health has already tested guests 80 years or older who are staying in a cabin without a balcony, and those 80 years or older with chronic medical conditions,” Kato said.

About 80 percent of the passengers are aged 60 or over, with 215 in their 80s and 11 in their 90s, Japanese media have said.

Five people from the ship were in serious condition in hospital — four who have tested positive for the virus, while test results for the fifth were still being processed, Kato said.

With dozens of new cases diagnosed almost daily, questions have been raised about the pace of testing and whether the quarantine is working.

Thakkar said that while passengers were confined to quarters, the crew were eating together, working together and sleeping two to a cabin with shared washing facilities.

“I haven’t got the virus yet, but I don’t want it to be so late that I catch the virus. I don’t want to wait to find out that I’m the one that has it,” she said.

Japanese officials have said they can only process 300 people a day, but hope eventually to expand this to 1,000.

In a second news conference last night, Kato reported Japan’s first death of a person infected with COVID-19, but said it was not clear if the virus or other complications had caused her death.

The woman in her 80s was tested for the virus after being hospitalized, and was confirmed positive after her death, Kato said.

The death came as three additional new infections were confirmed in Japan, including a taxi driver in Tokyo.

They bring the number of cases in Japan to 32, excluding those on the Diamond Princess.

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Beijing grandpa uniting lonely hearts for decades

CHINESE CUPID:Zhu Fang, who has been arranging dates for 50 years, said that while marriage is in decline in China, he believes people are still looking for love and happiness
Matchmaker Zhu Fang, front center left, talks to parents and grandparents of single people at his house in Beijing, China, on Dec. 17 last year.Photo: AFP
Zhu Fang’s living room walls are plastered with hundreds of headshots of hopeful singles, some of them faded, and featuring bouffant hairstyles and outdated outfits.

For almost 50 years he has been one of Beijing’s most popular matchmakers, and at 75, he remains in as much demand as ever.

In his time uniting lonely hearts, China has undergone dramatic social change. Marriage, which has traditionally been key in the patriarchal society, is in decline and the nation’s birthrate fell to its lowest level in 70 years in 2018.

However, Zhu said that people are still looking for love, and his phone rings often with matchmaking requests.

“It’s meaningful, and that’s why I’ve continued,” he said, but conceded that it is not a lucrative business and that he relies on the financial support of his children.

Zhu said he was inspired by Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) political slogan: “Serve the People”.

“When I help others to find happiness, I also get some happiness myself,” Zhu said.

He charges a one-off 200 yuan (US$29) membership fee and his clients are mainly elderly people hoping to find spouses for their adult children.

On a cold December morning, his from-home “office” is full of middle-aged parents huddling around binders of printed dating profiles, searching for a suitable son or daughter-in-law.

Retiree Huang Guiyun said she was worried about her widowed daughter.

“We have our own house in Beijing, and she has money,” Huang said. “Everything is going smoothly — except for the loneliness.”

Zhu’s matchmaking career has spanned decades of breakneck economic growth and social change in China.

When he first started out, China had not yet opened its economy to the rest of the world, and most of his clients were male factory workers.

A few colleagues at his sandblasting factory in Beijing had approached Zhu to ask if he could introduce them to potential girlfriends. After a few successful matches, Zhu was hooked.

“I thought it was fun, so I kept going, and now 50 years have passed,” he said, adding that he used to arrange dates “in parks, or on the roads or at stations.”

Zhu himself was introduced to his wife by a neighbor, and they married in 1969.

“In the past people fell in love at first sight,” he said.

“I didn’t think that deeply about it. I thought that as long as I could find someone to pass the days with, it would be fine,” he said.

As China has changed, Zhu has also noticed a big change in his clientele.

He said that in recent years his clients have become more status-conscious and are often embarrassed about using a matchmaker.

“Some [clients] work in the industrial and commerce bureau or tax bureau, and fear that others will say, with such a good job why do you need a matchmaker to help you find a boyfriend or girlfriend?” he said.

In his time as matchmaker, Zhu has brought more than 1,700 couples together.

However, he said that he cannot find a partner for everyone, and “some photos have been up for a long time.”

There are far more women on Zhu’s books now, but he said they have high standards.

“They have three ‘highs’: they’re highly educated, have high salaries, and they are tall,” Zhu said, adding that they would not settle for anyone they deem unworthy.

“Single women say: ‘I’d rather have no boyfriend than have someone who’s not good enough,’” he said.

“But no one is perfect,” he said. “If you don’t have the right attitude, you’ll never find someone.”

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title: Highways and Byways: Barking up the right tree in Gaofeng Botanical Gardens

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A group of old air-raid shelters at the base of Hsinchu’s Eighteen Peaks Mountain.Photo by Steven Crook

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I was beginning to wonder if Mother Nature had it in for me. For the second time in less than 10 minutes, a gust of wind dislodged a branch from the canopy, and it clattered down right where I’d been standing a few moments earlier.

Hsinchu is famously windy, and I was in Gaofeng Botanical Garden (高峰植物園) on an exceptionally blowy winter’s day. Each time the sun came out, clouds maneuvered to obscure it within seconds. Stands of bamboo pitched like galleons rounding Cape Horn. The nonstop clattering reminded me of kendo training sessions.

I’d entered the garden from Baoshan Road (寶山路), 650m west of the southern entrance to National Tsing Hua University (國立清華大學). There’s another entrance at the end of Lane 160, Gaocui Road (高翠路160巷). From the latter, follow the gravel path until you reach a gazebo equipped with a drinking-water machine. From there, you can continue straight ahead, or turn right and go anticlockwise around the 16-hectare garden.

My own clockwise 90-minute hike through Gaofeng Botanical Garden had begun at the pedestrian bridge which crosses Baoshan Road, linking the garden with the often-crowded hiking area known as Eighteen Peaks Mountain (十八尖山). Given the speed and quantity of traffic on the road, this bridge has undoubtedly saved lives.

Following a path beside a tiny creek, I snapped some pictures of a colorful butterfly, not knowing it would be one of the very few insects I’d see during my early-afternoon hike. It wasn’t just the wind; surely the cold was another reason why I saw hardly any birds or lizards.

In the absence of moving creatures, including other humans, I decided to focus on the trees, especially their different barks. Established in 1932 by the Japanese colonial authorities then controlling Taiwan as a tree nursery to supply seedlings to experimental forests, Gaofeng Botanical Garden is a good place to do this. It’s now home to an impressive 150-plus tree species, many of which are labeled with their Chinese and scientific names.

The first tree I paid close attention to was a waist-high specimen of Sapindus mukorossi, known in different parts of Asia as Indian soapberry or Chinese soapberry.

In the rural Taiwan of yesteryear, soap made from its seeds was used not just to do laundry, but also for washing hair; chemicals in the seeds help remove head lice. More recently, scientists have discovered that the seeds can be used to make both biodiesel and a surfactant (a compound lowering surface tension) which could help extract oil from existing reserves by increasing the oil’s mobility.

A section of trail in the heart of the botanical garden has been dubbed the Formosan Sweetgum Roadway (楓香景觀步道). It’s lined with Liquidambar formosana trees, the leaves of which display delightful shades of red, orange and yellow during the autumn. Despite its name, this species isn’t endemic to Taiwan, growing as far away as Laos.

Such is the density of trees and other foliage that at only one spot was I able to see the office blocks and apartment buildings of Hsinchu.

In terms of their barks, two of the most interesting trees inside the garden were a slash pine (Pinus elliottii) and a lemon-scented gum (Corymbia citriodora). The former is native to the southeastern US; the latter comes from the northeast of Australia.

The slash pine is so named not for its craggy, scabrous bark — which looks as though an angry person took an axe to it — but rather because it grows best in the swamplands colloquially known as “slashes.” It was once used to produce resin and turpentine.


title: World News Quick Take

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FALKLAND ISLANDS

Badminton team cries foul

The islands’ badminton team on Wednesday accused Argentina of trying to prevent it from taking part in a Pan-American tournament in Brazil. The Falklands are a British overseas territory, but Argentina, which invaded and briefly occupied the islands in 1982, claims sovereignty over the South Pacific archipelago and calls them Las Islas Malvinas. The Falklands team were to take part in the tournament in Salvador, which was to begin yesterday. “Unfortunately Argentina are putting a significant amount of pressure on our Falkland Islands team to either pull out of the tournament or play under the Islas Malvinas name,” the Falklands badminton team said on Twitter. “Argentina are putting pressure on Brazil to pull the entire tournament if we do not give in to their demands.” The Falklands badminton team vowed it would “not give in to bullies” and said that Argentina were not even participating in the tournament. It also referenced an article in the Badminton World Federation regulations that states participation to a tournament cannot be denied on the grounds of “politics.”

GUATEMALA

NGO rules approved

Lawmakers approved changes to laws on non-governmental organizations (NGO) that would give the executive branch the authority to allow such groups to operate or shut them down if they are deemed disruptive. The measure prompted alarm on the part of civil society groups that said it could be used to quash dissent, while others questioned its constitutionality. President Alejandro Giammattei, who would have to sign or veto the bill, suggested in comments to journalists on Wednesday that he views at least some aspects of it favorably. The changes passed on Tuesday would regulate the formation, registration, finances and other aspects of NGOs’ activities. One of the most criticized parts is related to funding and says “no donation or external financing may be used to carry out activities that disturb the public order in national territory.” Violators could be shut down immediately and their leadership subject to criminal or civil complaints. “It affects the issue of freedom of association,” activist Helen Mack said, adding that the measure is authoritarian and repressive. “They want to control the organizations that bother them, the people who want to protest. We have a right to civil disobedience [and] we will take legal action.” Giammattei said that some NGOs “have received resources for criminal actions.” He said there have been complaints, but he agrees there should be more clarity on NGO funding. “We all want transparency,” he said.

UNITED STATES

Bezos estate breaks record

Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos has purchased a Los Angeles-area estate for US$165 million, setting a new record for the region, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Bezos bought the Warner Estate from media mogul David Geffen, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal topped a Los Angeles-area home price record set last year when Lachlan Murdoch paid about US$150 million for a Bel-Air estate seen in The Beverly Hillbillies, a 1960s television show. The Warner Estate spans 3.6 hectares in Beverly Hills. It is a Georgian-style compound with a floor once owned by Napoleon, guest houses, a tennis court and a nine-hole golf course. It was built in the 1930s by the late Jack Warner, former president of Warner Brothers, said the newspaper, which Bezos owns.

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title: Stupid Cupid: Valentine’s Day disasters

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Lebanese people eat lunch at a restaurant decorated for Valentine’s Day in Beirut in February 2018.Photo: AFP

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The end is nigh. Millions of us today will abandon all semblance of dignity, good manners and common sense, as cities become a hellscape of canoodlers, nitpickers and philanderers. That’s right: Valentine’s Day is upon us.

Restaurant staff see the worst of this annual depravity. From their vantage point, Feb. 14 is less a celebration of romance, more the night each year when one questions whether humans deserve love at all.

We’re not all complete savages — it is just that heightened expectations make us act strangely.

“You can tell people are trying harder than usual,” says Katie Toogood, co-owner of the Prawn on the Lawn seafood joints in London and Cornwall.

Obviously, it’s nice to make an effort, but too often this tips into tedious perfectionism. Giotto Giannandrea, a waiter at Lina Stores in London, notes that lovestruck diners become fixated on securing a special table, automatically rejecting the perfectly fine spot they are first offered in favor of an imagined superior setting.

“It’s not the table that makes a date,” he says wisely, adding that people should quit fretting. “I’m not going to sit you in the toilet.”

PRESSURE

Pressure is no doubt also to blame for an ailment that affects men around this time of year: loudly complaining that the wine is corked (even when it’s not) in order to impress a date. And, yes, while #notallmen are culpable, it is “100 percent always guys” who do this, according to a waitress-turned-PR who asked to remain anonymous. She recalls a punter who vociferously insisted that his wine was corked, despite it coming from a screw-capped bottle.

“Usually we’d have glossed over something like that, but he was quite rude, so my colleague called him out on it,” she says.

Josh Stephenson-Roberts of Osteria Tufo in north London confirms that behaviour of this kind is a Valentine’s Day staple.

“On a new date you will get the guy rejecting the wine.”

He finds it funny — but if you are going to try it, first check the bottle was sealed with a cork.

Understandably, many of us want the evening to look memorable — hence our weakness for over-the-top table decorations. Phoebe Somerfield worked in a restaurant in Devon where every year a regular would deck out her and her husband’s table with “ginormous gold, glittery balloons” and scatter the area with confetti.

“The tables were really close together, so we had to fight around the balloons,” Somerfield says, groaning.

Rachael Gibbon, the general manager of London’s Honey & Co restaurant group, had to deal with a man who festooned the table with rose petals — one for every month he and his girlfriend had been together, he explained. Gibbon was worried about his partner’s reaction, but the abundance of petals proved reassuring. “It was quite a lot, so I thought: she’ll know what he’s like by now,” she says.

Should you avoid decorations altogether? No — the consensus is that they are OK as long as you ask first. But think twice before involving confetti.

“People don’t realize how annoying it is to sweep up,” says Somerfield.

NO PERVS ALLOWED

While some of us make too much effort on Valentine’s Day, others haven’t even mastered the first rule of dating: don’t perv on someone who is not your partner. Stephenson-Roberts observes that “wandering eyes” are a common feature of the evening. Digital flirting isn’t unheard of, either. Peppe Corallo, bar manager at London’s Kitchen at Holmes, remembers one woman who suddenly started screaming at her boyfriend during dinner. Why? He had been checking Tinder at the table. She hurled her champagne in his face before storming out. Unsurprisingly, her sodden lover soon paid up and left too.


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Anticipation rises ahead of final ‘Crash Landing on You’ episodes

有情人終成眷屬？《愛的迫降》結局受期待

South Korean actor Hyun Bin, right, and actress Son Ye-jin are pictured in a promotional photograph.
南韓演員玄彬(右)、孫藝真在此宣傳照中。Photo courtesy of Netflix
照片︰網飛提供
Today is Valentine’s Day: who would your dream date be? For many fans, Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin — who star in the hit South Korean TV series Crash Landing on You — would certainly be top of their list. Since its premiere on Netflix, the drama series has caused a sensation in Asia, while allowing viewers to take a peek at the mysterious North Korean life.

The story began with a paragliding mishap that drops a South Korean heiress into North Korea and into the life of an officer who tries to help her escape. The show is so fascinating that the Christian Liberal Party even filed a complaint against TVN, its local distributor, for attempting to glorify North Korea.

Meanwhile, tensions have surged as the storyline moves from north back to south in its final episodes. Will the lead couple break the boundary between the two Koreas in a happy ending? Fans will soon find out the answer in the last two instalments on Saturday and Sunday.

(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)

今天是情人節！誰是你的夢中情人呢？對粉絲們來說，演出南韓神劇《愛的迫降》的演員玄彬和孫藝真，當然會是他們的首選。該劇於網飛(Netflix)開播以來在亞洲掀起轟動，並讓觀眾們一窺神秘北韓生活的面貌。

故事從一次滑翔翼意外而展開，描述南韓的財閥女繼承人迫降在北韓，也掉進一位北韓軍官的生命中，而這位軍官則試圖要幫她逃跑。由於該劇太引人入勝，南韓的基督自由黨甚至還曾提出抗議，指控當地製播該劇的TVN電視台涉嫌美化北韓。

就在最後幾集，隨著劇情從北韓又轉回到南韓，緊張氣氛亦逐漸升溫。究竟男女主角能否打破南北韓的國界，最終有個快樂結局呢？影迷們很快就能在週六、週日將播出的大結局找到答案。

(台北時報張聖恩)


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Virtual dating is no longer about just swiping left or right.Photo: AFP
All’s fair in electronic love and dating — or is it? The battle for hearts and minds of couples seeking their perfect match online has taken a new turn.

If you’re a flirty mobile warrior Tindering on the brink or Bumbling from one swipe to the next be aware there’s another game in town as Facebook muscles in to place its own tanks on the lawn.

As online dating becomes the virtual norm, Facebook’s gradual arrival on the dating scene — launched progressively in the Americas and Southeast Asia — looks set to shake up the market.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said last month he saw the company as moving towards the forefront of online dating having promised at the outset a service “for building real long-term relationships — not just hook-ups.”

But rivals are not quaking in their boots just yet, despite the size of the social media giant’s global footprint with more than two billion monthly active users some of whose data it now could leverage for romantic purposes.

“Facebook [Dating] has been going in certain countries for more than a year now and, for the moment, we’ve seen nothing change in terms of market share,” said Didier Rappaport, founder and managing director of popular French dating app Happn — motto: “crushes don’t fall from the sky.”

Facebook was not able to say exactly when it would launch its dating variant in Europe. The mooted target was early this year, but on the eve of Valentine’s Day, its rivals were still waiting with bated breath to see what effect such a storied — and free — competitor may have.

“From social networks to dating sites is just a step which does not require enormous technological investment,” observed Julien Pillot, a researcher and lecturer at leading French business school Inseec.

Pillot said Facebook has “copied everything which worked well on other applications and added two or three functionalities. What interests them is getting users to link in the sharing of private content.”

Rappaport said a fundamental issue is whether social networks are a good fit for dating.

“Are social networks and meeting up a match? In my view, no, as what marks out a social network is the sharing of information — whereas dating moves into the intimate sphere,” he said.

A December opinion poll of 21,000 Americans by Piplsay showed only 23 percent of responders would happily let Facebook securely store their personal data on its dating platform.

Clementine Lalande, co-founder of French dating app Once, which only allows a user to select one profile a day, notes that “the big problem with generalist applications is you end up with a mass of users who don’t share the same interest communities.”

TINDER SURE OF ITS CHARMS

If Facebook’s challengers are not yet professing too much concern at the Californian colossus’s arrival that is because they are too busy being wary of Match Group, the US Internet firm that has split off from parent and controlling shareholder IAC and which owns dating brands such as Hinge, OKCupid, Match.com, Meetic and, not least, Tinder.

Tinder ranked top for user monetization in a study across a range of non-game apps last year by specialist data provider AppAnnie, raking in US$1.2 billion across the year in a global market valued at some US$2.2 billion.

Jean-Baptiste Bourgeois and Kevin Pasquier, strategic planners with We Are Social digital agency, said that “Tinder has redefined the whole user dating path.”

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title: Will Facebook Dating swipe online lovebirds out of digital nest?


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A North Dakota artist on Wednesday said that he has scrapped his plans for a mural honoring Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg following boycott threats against a Bismarck business.

Shane Balkowitsch had planned to put a 2.1m-tall mural of Thunberg on the brick exterior wall of a bakery. Balkowitsch took the photograph of the teenager when she visited the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in October last year.

Balkowitsch told the Bismarck Tribune that he saw the planned mural as a celebration of art, not a dig at oil or coal companies in North Dakota.

However, after threats of boycotts and possible vandalism appeared when KFYR-TV posted a story about the planned mural on its Facebook page on Tuesday, Balkowitsch said on Wednesday that he had pulled his application with the city.

“There was no motivation other than install a very important piece of history that was captured here in North Dakota, in Bismarck, but I guess Bismarck doesn’t want it,” Balkowitsch said.

Balkowitsch had secured permission for the mural from the bakery and the building’s owner. City planning staff had recommended approval, according to city documents.

“I feel for the bakery,” Balkowitsch said.

“I can’t have some business being threatened for my work,” he said.

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title: Artist scraps plans for Thunberg mural in North Dakota


title: Athletic edge Granada 1-0 in first leg of Copa semi

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Inter goalkeeper Daniele Padelli, left, stops a shot by SSC Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final at the San Siro in Milan, Italy, on Wednesday.Photo: EPA-EFE

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Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday moved closer to their fourth Copa del Rey final in 12 years by defeating Granada 1-0 in the first leg of their semi-final.

Iker Muniain scored the winner in the 42nd minute after an assist by Inaki Williams.

The goal had to be confirmed by video review, as it appeared that Williams controlled the ball with his arm before making the low cross for Muniain’s close-range shot.

The second leg is to be on March 5 at Granada, who are trying to reach their first Copa final in more than six decades.

“We could have scored more goals, but even if we had won 2-0, it still wouldn’t be over,” Athletic coach Gaizka Garitano said. “It’s a very even semi-final.”

Yesterday, Real Sociedad were to host second-division club CD Mirandes in the first leg of the other semi-final.

Sociedad eliminated Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, while Athletic ousted Barcelona.

Only the semi-finals are being played over two legs this season. All other rounds were played in single-elimination matches.

Athletic had most of the significant chances at the San Mames, with Granada threatening sporadically on counterattacks and with long-range shots.

The hosts had two goals disallowed for offside after video review, one in the 49th minute and another in the 61st.

“We needed to be more precise on the counterattacks, but it’s still up for grabs,” Granada coach Diego Martinez said.

Veteran Granada striker Roberto Soldado was shown a yellow card that is to keep him from playing the return match next month.

With 23 titles, Athletic are the second-most successful club in La Liga, behind Barcelona’s 30 titles.

Athletic are trying to reach their first final since 2015, when they lost to Barcelona. They also lost to the Catalan club the previous two times that they reached the final: in 2009 and 2012. Athletic’s last Copa title came in 1984.

Granada, back in the first division this season after a two-year absence, last played in the Copa final in 1959, when they also lost to Barcelona.

They had not reached the semi-finals since 1969 before eliminating defending champions Valencia in the quarter-finals.

Athletic are one point ahead of Granada in ninth place in La Liga.

COUPE DE FRANCE

Defender Mitchel Bakker on Wednesday needed only one minute to impress in his first start for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), when his cross led to an own-goal in a 6-1 win at Dijon FCO in the Coupe de France quarter-finals.

The 19-year-old Dutchman, who came up through the prestigious Ajax junior teams and plays as an attack-minded leftback, had only made one substitute appearance for PSG prior to the match.

However, he seized his opportunity, sprinting down the wing and hitting a firm cross toward striker Edinson Cavani that was turned into his own net by Dijon defender Wesley Lautoa.

Winger Pablo Sarabia scored twice for PSG, while Striker Kylian Mbappe and centerhalf Thiago Silva had one apiece, with another Dijon own-goal from defender Senou Coulibaly.

Bakker was involved in the build up to Sarabia’s first strike, while forward Mounir Chouiar netted for Dijon to make it 1-1.

PSG joined Coupe holders Stade Rennais in the last four.

Olympique de Marseille saw their 16-match win streak end, while playmaker Dimitri Payet limped off injured in a 1-0 loss at Olympique Lyonnais.

Midfielder Houssem Aouar’s clinical strike in the 81st minute ensured that Coupe de la Ligue finalists Lyon stayed on course for a double.

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B: Doctors also say that maintaining good hand hygiene is as important as wearing a face mask to prevent contracting the novel coronavirus, or any other flu virus for that matter.

A: Really? I didn’t know that. Should I use alcohol spray?

B: Washing your hands with warm water and plenty of soap is believed to be just as effective.

B: 醫生也建議說，在避免感染新型冠狀病毒或其他流感病毒的方法上，好好保持手部清潔跟戴口罩一樣重要。

A: 真的嗎？我不知道耶。我應該要用含酒精的乾洗手嗎？

B: 用溫水和充分的肥皂洗手應該一樣有效。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH


content_text:
Canadian PM calls for end to rail protests

PLEA FROM AFAR:An opposition leader called for Justin Trudeau to return from Senegal and meet with protest leaders, saying that the situation was escalating
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday urged a swift end to First Nations protests disrupting trains in Canada as police readied to clear tracks.

The demonstrators forced the cancelation of hundreds of passenger and cargo trains over the past six days, in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs fighting the construction of a natural gas pipeline through land in western Canada.

Speaking during a visit to Senegal, Trudeau said the right to protest was fundamental to democracy, but added that the rule of law must also be respected.

“That is why I am encouraging all parties to dialogue to resolve this as quickly as possible,” he said.

Jagmeet Singh, an opposition leader, called on the prime minister to end his overseas trip and meet with the protest leaders.

“Across the country, the situation is escalating,” Singh said.

Police have warned protesters to leave a key rail corridor east of Toronto, or risk arrest.

Ontario Provincial Police spokesman Bill Dickson told reporters that police are “monitoring the situation” near Belleville, Ontario, while attempting to coax protesters off the tracks.

Over the past week, they have blocked roads, rails and ports on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and occupied government offices in a bid to “shut down Canada.”

Via Rail has said that more than 24,000 passengers have been affected by disruptions along a rail line connecting Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.

Canadian National Railway said it would be forced to “shut down significant parts of its Canadian network imminently” unless the blockades were removed.

“It’s all Canadian supply chains” that are being affected, Canadian National Railway chief executive officer J.J. Ruest said in a statement, citing as examples containers carrying consumer goods, grain, deicing fluid for airports, construction materials and commodities.

Canadian National Railway, the third-largest railroad in North America, moves an estimated C$250 billion (US$189 billion) of goods across Canada each year.

The blockade near Belleville has cut off all rail traffic between eastern and western Canada, and between eastern Canada and the US Midwest. Another protest has effectively shut down Canadian National Railway’s northern British Columbia mainline between Prince George and Prince Rupert.

The protesters are demanding that police vacate Wet’suwet’en territory and the scrapping of the C$6.6 billion Coastal Gas Link natural gas pipeline.

Elected First Nations councils along the 670km pipeline route support the project, but hereditary chiefs who say they hold title rights expressed concern over its potential environmental impacts.

Their arrests in raids last week by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police enforcing a court injunction to stop blocking access to workers building the pipeline became a flashpoint for protesters.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Pariah cruise ship docks in Cambodia

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Passengers are silhouetted on the top deck of Westerdam cruise ship as it arrives at port in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, yesterday evening.Photo: Reuters
A cruise ship turned away by other Asian and Pacific governments due to virus fears finally docked yesterday in Cambodia, which is checking the health of the 2,200 passengers and crew.

The Westerdam was unwelcome elsewhere even though operator Holland America Line said no cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among the 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members on board.

The ship had spent most of the day anchored 1km from the main Sihanoukville port in the Gulf of Thailand, as a team of health officials conducted checks and determined the disembarkation process, Preah Sihanouk Province Governor Kouch Chamrouen said.

About 20 passengers have reported stomachaches or fever, Cambodian health officials said.

The ship’s health staff considered them to be normal illnesses, but the ill passengers were being isolated from others, Cambodian Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine said.

If tests show any passengers have the disease, they would be allowed to get treatment in the country, she said.

Kuoch Chamrouen had said that once the health officials onboard were done checking the passengers, the Westerdam would be allowed to dock at the main port.

“[Holland America] have asked to delay docking until tomorrow because they could not arrange for planes [from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh],” he said.

About 500 passengers are scheduled to disembark.

US Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy said he sent an embassy team to work with the ship’s representatives and Cambodian officials to help Americans disembark and transfer to their onward destinations.

“We have also coordinated with foreign embassies of other nationalities,” he wrote on Twitter.

Thailand refused to allow the Westerdam to dock this week after it had already been turned away by Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan and Guam.

Cambodia agreed on Wednesday to allow the ship in and its request to remain in Cambodia was approved through Monday next week.

The Westerdam began its cruise in Singapore last month and its last stop before it was refused further landings was in Hong Kong.

Cambodia has confirmed just one case of the virus, in a Chinese visitor.

Additional reporting by AFP

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title: Fossils of turtle the size of a car found in S America

content_text:
An illustration released on Wednesday shows a Stupendemys geographicus, an extinct freshwater turtle.Photo: Reuters
Fossilized remains of one of the largest turtles that ever lived — a car-sized freshwater beast — have been unearthed in Colombia’s Tatacoa Desert and Venezuela’s Urumaco region, scientists said on Wednesday.

The fossils of the turtle, called Stupendemys geographicus, provide a comprehensive understanding of the big reptiles, which grew up to 4m in length and could weigh more than 1 tonne.

S. geographicus males, unlike the females, boasted sturdy front-facing horns on both sides of the carapace — or shell — very close to the neck. Deep scars detected in the fossils indicated that these horns might have been used like a lance for fighting with other S. geographicus males over mates or territory.

Fighting occurs among some turtles today, particularly between male tortoises, according to paleontologist Edwin Cadena of the Universidad del Rosario in Bogota, who led the research published in the journal Science Advances.

S. geographicus is the second-largest known turtle, behind seagoing Archelon, which reached about 4.6m in length.

The first S. geographicus fossils were found in the 1970s, but many mysteries remained about the animal.

The new fossils included the largest-known turtle shell — 2.86m long, even larger than Archelon’s shell — and the first lower jaw remains, which gave clues about its diet.

“Stupendemys geographicus was huge and heavy. The largest individuals of this species were about the size and length of a sedan automobile if we take into account the head, neck, shell and limbs,” Cadena said.

“Its diet was diverse, including small animals — fishes, caimans, snakes — as well as mollusks and vegetation, particularly fruits and seeds. Putting together all the anatomical features of this species indicates that its lifestyle was mostly in the bottom of large freshwater bodies including lakes and large rivers,” he said.

Stupendemys — meaning “stupendous turtle” — geographicus inhabited a huge wetlands system spanning Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru.

Its large size might have been crucial in defending against predators. It shared the environment with giant crocodilians, including the 11m-long caiman Purussaurus and the 10m-long gavial Gryposuchus.

One of the S. geographicus fossils was found with a 5cm crocodilian tooth embedded in it.

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content_text:
UN identifies 112 firms linked to Israeli settlements

‘CONTEMPTIBLE EFFORT’:While Palestinians and a rights group lauded the list’s publication, Benjamin Netanyahu said that boycotts of Israel would be met in kind
The UN on Wednesday released a list of 112 companies with activities in Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, including Airbnb, Expedia and TripAdvisor.

The move was cheered by the Palestinians, but slammed as “shameful” by Israel, where officials fear the list could be used to boycott firms with ties to the settlements.

The UN report came in response to a 2016 UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for a “database for all businesses engaged in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

The council said that listing companies in the database was “not, and does not purport to be, a judicial or quasi-judicial process.”

Among the businesses on the list are a range of large international companies, including Airbnb, Alstom, Booking.com and Motorola Solutions.

“I am conscious this issue has been, and will continue to be, highly contentious,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said.

However, she added that the findings had been subject to an “extensive and meticulous review process” and that the report “reflects the serious consideration that has been given to this unprecedented and highly complex mandate.”

Israel, which routinely accuses the UN and especially the council of bias against it, was quick to slam the publication.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at retaliation.

“Whoever boycotts us will be boycotted,” a statement from his office quoted him as saying. “We strongly reject this contemptible effort.”

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz labeled the move “a shameful surrender to pressure from countries and organizations who want to harm Israel.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Malki described the publication as “a victory for international law and diplomatic efforts.”

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which advocates a wide-ranging embargo of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians, welcomed the list’s publication.

The database was scheduled to be released three years ago, but has repeatedly been delayed.

The council initially evaluated more than 300 companies.

However, the final report published on Wednesday cited 112 business entities that the office had “reasonable grounds to conclude have been involved in one or more of the specific activities referenced” in the 2016 resolution.

It said that 94 of the listed companies had their headquarters in Israel, while 18 others were spread across six other countries.

The council said that compiling the database had been a “complex process” involving “widespread discussions” with states, think tanks, academics and the companies themselves.

Human Rights Watch deputy advocacy chief Bruno Stagno celebrated the publication of the database.

This “should put all companies on notice: to do business with illegal settlements is to aid in the commission of war crimes,” he said.

The report said that companies were not doomed to remain on the database forever.

“Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that … the business enterprise is ceasing or no longer involved in the relevant activity, the business enterprise would be removed from the database,” it said.

The report recommended that the database be updated annually and urged the council to appoint a group of independent experts to handle the task.

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US foreign policy is “amoral” and based on threats, former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch said on Wednesday.

Yovanovitch, who US President Donald Trump recalled in May last year from her post in Ukraine, spoke at Washington’s Georgetown University where she received a prize from its Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.

“Right now, the [US] State Department is in trouble,” she said. “Senior leaders lack policy vision, moral clarity and leadership skills.”

“To be blunt, an amoral, ‘keep ’em guessin’ foreign policy that substitutes threats, fear and confusion for trust cannot work over the long haul,” Yovanovitch said.

Trump last year criticized Yovanovitch in a telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, with the call leading to the US House of Representatives bringing impeachment articles against the US president. The House accused Trump of pressuring Ukraine to announce investigations, including into former US vice president Joe Biden.

In October last year, Yovanovitch testified to the US Congress that she was recalled due to “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”

The 33-year-old said that she was subjected to a smear campaign orchestrated in part by Trump’s lawyer, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

She also leveled criticism at US Department of State leadership, and by extension US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accusing it of failing to push back against forces that “apparently hijacked our Ukraine policy” or to support her in the face of “dangerously wrong” attacks.

The US Senate acquitted Trump this month.

In her Georgetown address, Yovanovitch called for the department to develop a stronger relationship with Congress, to offer more training and flexibility for diplomats, and to take seriously the job of countering misinformation.

“Truth matters,” she said.

The Trainor Award she received is presented to “an outstanding American or foreigner for distinction in the conduct of diplomacy,” according to Georgetown.

Previous recipients include former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

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title: Ousted envoy says US diplomacy is based on threats


content_text:
Dams near Sydney yesterday overflowed after days of torrential rain, as Australia braced for more storms expected to bring dangerous flash flooding to the country’s east.

Downpours have brought relief to areas ravaged by bushfires and drought — as well as chaos and destruction to towns and cities along the eastern seaboard.

The Nepean Dam south of Sydney was at full capacity and spilling over, with video footage showing excess water cascading over the dam wall and downstream.

Two other dams in New South Wales (NSW) — Tallowa and Brogo — were also overflowing and more dams could reach capacity in the coming days, a WaterNSW spokesman told reporters.

Sydney’s dams have seen water levels spike dramatically — the Nepean was just one-third full less than a week ago — although many inland areas facing severe water shortages missed out on the flows.

A devastating months-long bushfire crisis that killed 33 people has effectively been ended by the downpours, with all of the fires in New South Wales out or “controlled.”

Hundreds of people have been rescued from floodwaters in the past few days.

Police said that a man’s body was yesterday discovered in a flooded river on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, although the cause of his death was not immediately clear.

Wild weather is set to ramp up again from today, with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology forecasting that former Tropical Cyclone Uesi would bring “damaging to destructive winds” and heavy rainfall to the remote tourist destination of Lord Howe Island.

Senior meteorologist Grace Legge said that storms were also expected for Queensland and New South Wales — with areas still recovering from bushfires likely to be hit again.

“Any showers and thunderstorms that do develop are falling on already saturated catchments, so there is a risk with severe thunderstorms of flash flooding,” she said.

Emergency services have warned residents in affected areas to be cautious in the dangerous conditions.

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title: Australia braces for more flooding as dams overflow


content_text:
Then-Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price speaks to reporters in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday last week.Photo: AFP
Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price on Wednesday announced his resignation after a disastrous caucus process beset by technical glitches led to a long delay in reporting the results, inconsistencies in the numbers and no clear winner.

The episode also threatened Iowa’s status as the first voting contest of the presidential primary season and led both front-runners to request a partial recanvass of the results.

“The fact is that Democrats deserved better than what happened on caucus night. As chair of this party, I am deeply sorry for what happened and bear the responsibility for any failures on behalf of the Iowa Democratic Party,” Price wrote in a resignation letter a week and a half after Iowa’s caucuses. “While it is my desire to stay in this role and see this process through to completion, I do believe it is time for the Iowa Democratic Party to begin looking forward, and my presence in my current role makes that more difficult.”

Price said his departure would occur as soon as the state party elects a replacement, and he called an emergency meeting for tomorrow to do so.

After a breakdown in tallying the results on Monday last week, it took until Thursday for the state party, which operates the series of roughly 1,700 local meetings statewide, to issue what it said were complete results.

In those figures, released by the party, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg beat US Senator Bernie Sanders by two state delegate equivalents out of 2,152 counted. That is a margin of 0.09 percentage points.

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title: Top Iowa Democrat resigns


title: Kim’s ski resort ambitions in North Korea are melting

content_text:
Climate change and the COVID-19 outbreak are threatening North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s ambition to ski his way out of international sanctions.

Kim, who once went to school in Switzerland, has made tourism a centerpiece of his economic vision since taking power almost a decade ago, building ski resorts to attract winter-sports enthusiasts and hard currency.

However, with COVID-19 spreading in China, Kim has shut the border to his neighbor, cutting off the largest group of tourists to North Korea.

Worse still, like other snow centers from the French Alps to Japan, Pyongyang is falling victim to changing Arctic weather patterns that are warming winters and reducing the levels of snow on lower slopes.

North Korea, a mountainous country roughly at the same latitude as Colorado, reported this month that higher-than-usual temperatures are causing “abnormal climatic phenomena.”

South Korea’s weather office has said that average temperatures in its northern neighbor would probably rise 15 percent by 2040 from 1981-2010 levels.

“North Korea will face the same challenges posed by global warming,” said Kong Woo-seok, a geography professor at Seoul’s Kyung Hee University. “The question lies in whether each country has the infrastructure and the social system to cope with these changes. In this regard, North Korea could be more vulnerable than others.”

Kim built his first ski resort in an eastern valley called Masikryong in 2013, two years after taking power, and has visited the coastal area frequently. He plans to extend the project to a 418km-long tourism belt that would cost almost US$8 billion in the next five years.

Masikryong, with just 17km of slopes, has a top elevation of 1,363m, putting it at the same height as some of the lower slopes in Europe, and more than 2,000m below the top of Aspen in Colorado.

The North Korean complex came under the spotlight in 2014, when the nation released a photo of Kim taking a solo ride up the mountain on a three-decade-old chair lift supplied by China after sanctions had reportedly blocked Western companies from selling luxury equipment to the country.

Guests of the resort have included former NBA star Dennis Rodman and Japanese pro-wrestler-turned-lawmaker Antonio Inoki.

Last year, a group of South Korean skiers went there for training ahead of South Korea’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as part of reconciliation efforts.

Christian, a 39-year-old skier from Germany who asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of being banned from North Korea, said his trip to Masikryong a year ago almost got canceled, because the resort told him it might close due to a “really bad snow season.”

“We were lucky that the resort was open when we got there,” he said by e-mail.

Masikryong is not North Korea’s only ski resort. Near the town of Samjiyon bordering China, where residents celebrate winter with ice sculptures, North Korea is hoping to finish rebuilding another complex by the end of this year.

Kim in December last year also attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Yangdok, a snowy town 60km northeast of the capital, Pyongyang, to mark the completion of a third facility, featuring hot springs and a horse racetrack.

Two months later, a North Korean Web site said that residents of the town were “enjoying happiness and civilization not imaginable even in the Garden of Eden.”

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People march in a Youth Day parade in Caracas on Wednesday.Photo: Reuters

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Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido on Wednesday defended foreign sanctions against his country 24 hours after scuffles at Simon Bolivar International Airport in La Guaira involving state airline employees shouting “fascist.”

Guaido returned on Tuesday from a three-week international tour that took him to the US, Canada, Colombia and Europe. He was met by Conviasa workers who expressed anger at sanctions placed on the state airline company by the US on Friday last week.

The US action criminalizing transactions with the flag carrier is the latest of many sanctions by Washington aimed at toppling Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, particularly by cutting his government’s oil revenue.

One protester appeared to douse Guaido with soda.

Speaking to journalists after a legislative session in a Caracas plaza, the opposition leader defended the use of sanctions.

They are “the free world’s tools to confront regimes [that] violate human rights, torturers and murderers,” Guaido said.

The sanctions imposed on the top officials in Maduro’s government were an “effective” form of pressure, Guaido said.

Guaido’s uncle Juan Marquez, who vanished after flying back with him, had been arrested, top Maduro ally Diosdado Cabello said, accusing him of smuggling explosives.

On his state television program, Cabello said that Marquez was detained for allegedly carrying C4 explosives hidden inside flashlights and perfume refills, and was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Guaido had denounced the “disappearance” of his uncle at the airport and said he would hold Maduro responsible for whatever happened to him.

Maduro retains the support of Venezuela’s military and has resisted Guaido’s challenge, even as the US ramps up the pressure.

“Yes, there will be more sanctions for the criminals and everyone that supports the dictatorship,” said Guaido, who on Tuesday had told supporters to “look out for new announcements.”

For the second time in less than a year, Guaido flouted a travel ban imposed by Maduro’s regime to meet with allies around the world, including US President Donald Trump.

Guaido sprang to prominence in January last year, when he declared himself the country’s acting president in a direct challenge to Maduro.

He derived such authority from his position as the speaker of the National Assembly, after the legislature declared Maduro’s 2018 re-election invalid following a poll widely denounced as rigged.

Lawmakers called Maduro a “usurper,” while more than 50 countries recognized Guaido as interim president. He retained his assembly post last month, despite a standoff in which troops stopped him from entering the legislature.

Although it sits on the world’s largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela’s economy has collapsed under Maduro’s leadership and the country has suffered five years of recession.

The UN says that more than 4.5 million people have left the country due to its crisis, while inflation is the highest in the world, according to the IMF.

Maduro told supporters celebrating World Youth Day that “traitors go abroad to ask for sanctions against the people.”

Cabello said that the sanctions had affected Venezuela’s ability to buy food and medicine.

Last year, Guaido tried to force in humanitarian aid from Colombia, Brazil and Curacao, but under Maduro’s orders the military blocked entry points to keep it out.

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title: Guaido defends sanctions on Maduro