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Torrential rain in Brazil kills at least 21 in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro states

MUDSLINGING:Someone hit Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella with a mud ball after the evangelical Christian bishop blamed the flooding on residents
Rescue workers on Tuesday search for victims of a landslide at the Morro do Macaco Molhado favela in Gauruja, Brazil.Photo: AFP
At least 21 people were killed in torrential rain that hit the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, triggering flash floods and destroying homes, authorities said on Tuesday.

Another 32 people are missing in Sao Paulo, raising fears that the toll could rise further.

Violent storms in the past few days have dumped a month’s worth of rain on some areas in a matter of hours, devastating the southern coast of Sao Paulo state and poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the nation’s second-most populous city.

At least 16 people were killed early on Tuesday in Sao Paulo state after floods and landslides hit the coastal cities of Santos, Sao Vicente and Guaruja, authorities said.

One of the victims was a rescue worker who was killed by a landslide.

“I express my solidarity with those who are suffering from these heavy rains,” Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria wrote on Twitter.

Several highways were blocked by fallen trees and landslides, including some linking Santos, the biggest port in South America, to Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and economic capital.

In Rio de Janeiro, authorities said that the death toll had risen to at least five after three days of violent rain that destroyed houses, swept away cars and left some communities covered in water or mud.

The victims were electrocuted, buried in landslides or drowned, emergency officials said.

The disaster turned political when Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella, a far-right evangelical Christian bishop, blamed residents for the flooding.

During a visit to an affected community, he told journalists that “people can’t be throwing trash on hillsides, in storm drains and in the street.”

In the middle of the news conference, someone pelted Crivella in the face with a mud ball — which was captured in a video that went viral online.

“The water knocked my granddaughter and I and off the sofa. Dirty water came flooding into my kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, everything. I lost everything,” Ivone Cardoso, a 65-year-old resident of Rio’s Realengo neighborhood.

In January, more than 50 people were killed in Minas Gerais state, which neighbors Sao Paulo, in several days of violent rain.

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people: 韓國瑜 江啟臣 吳斯懷 郝龍斌 習近平

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Will the COVID-19 outbreak bring down Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and cause China to collapse?

No one knows the answer to that question, but what is known is that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is clearly betting on the wrong horse: According to the most recent opinion poll by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, published on Feb. 24, support for the KMT has dropped to 12.5 percent, the lowest ever.

Despite this, people are still fighting to take over as party chairman.

Addressing the risk that the party will not be able to make a comeback, KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), one of the two candidates, has talked about “redesign” and the other candidate has talked about “thorough reform.”

Despite all this talk, neither candidate has proposed a way of addressing the campaign to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), retired army general Wu Sz-huai’s (吳斯懷) election as a KMT legislator-at-large or independent Legislator Fu Kun-chi’s (傅崐萁) application to have his KMT membership reinstated. Their only concern is how to win votes — to hell with party reform.

First, look at the campaign to recall Han. There is a high threshold for recalling a civil servant, and no previous attempt has been successful.

Still, there is not a huge difference between the 580,000 votes required to recall Han and the more than 500,000 signatures that have been collected during the second stage of the recall process, so the chance that the recall will succeed is greater than the risk that it will fail.

What is the KMT’s plan for dealing with this situation? Han is the main reason for the KMT’s presidential election debacle.

In addition, not one of the legislative candidates who supported his presidential bid were elected. The two candidates for KMT chair are both avoiding to ruminate on this fact, as Han fans are powerful enough to sway an internal party election.

It is not strange, then, that the second candidate, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), is going out of his way to praise Han, saying that Han is “a KMT asset, the pride of the KMT.”

Chiang, who is said to have been considered for a run as Han’s running mate, is even equating Han with the KMT, saying: “If Han goes down, it will be difficult to imagine the future of the KMT.”

They simply have no other way of dealing with the Han recall than to ingratiate themselves with Han fans. Even more frightening, they are tying the party’s fortunes to a time bomb that is about to go off, as if nothing bad could happen.

Then there is Wu’s election as legislator-at-large. Wu is such a strong supporter of unification with China that even the pan-blue camp cannot stomach him, so why is it so difficult to get rid of him? Three words: Huang Fu-hsing.

The KMT’s Huang Fu-hsing military veterans’ branch makes up 80,000 of the party’s 330,000-strong membership, and no one dares offend one-fourth of the membership.

In addition, Hau, who is a member of the branch, insists it must not be abolished. Chiang also said that the branch is an important KMT asset.

Of all the political parties in all the democracies in the world, is there another that has a party branch for veterans? Huang Fu-hsing is a remnant of the party-state — how could there be any talk of reform in a party that still respects the party-state?

Still, the reinstatement of Fu’s membership is the strangest of them all. Hau is supporting the move, but Chiang is more reserved, and has said that while the KMT needs friends, it also needs standards and procedures.

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title: KMT reform efforts a mere joke


title: Runaway workers weaken prevention

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As the COVID-19 epidemic spreads around the world, people have been diligently following the disease-control measures announced by the government.

The Central Epidemic Command Center on Feb. 26 reported Taiwan’s 32nd confirmed case of COVID-19 — a runaway migrant worker who was working illegally as a caregiver. She was infected by a coronavirus patient while caring for him in a hospital.

The center traced the woman’s activities from Feb. 16 to 24 and published a summary, which shows that, while already infected with the virus, she visited various places, saw some friends off from Banciao Station’s high-speed rail platform and made a number of trips by train, bus and MRT, all of which carried a risk of infecting other people.

The Ministry of Labor’s inaction has turned Taiwan into a paradise for runaway migrant workers. There are more than 50,000 such illegals scattered nationwide. As well as those working as caregivers in hospitals, such as the 32nd patient, others are domestic helpers and restaurant or factory workers, while even more work at construction sites.

These people have no legal status. Without National Health Insurance cards, they cannot legally seek medical treatment. If they become ill, they have to visit small clinics at their own expense or buy medicine from a pharmacy.

They have become a unique category of foreigners in Taiwan. With an epidemic looming, these thousands of runaways have become an unknown quantity and a potential breach in the wall of disease prevention.

In the case of the 32nd patient, the authorities should not just investigate her two illegal employers, but also ferret out any labor brokers involved and subject them to stringent penalties, because who knows how many more potential virus carriers might be working in jobs arranged by them?

Her landlord and the hotel where she is known to have stayed must explain why they accepted her as a tenant or guest without checking her identity. They, too, should be investigated and penalized.

The existence of runaway migrant workers moving around and working all over the place has become a hot potato for the National Immigration Agency (NIA).

The ministry’s laws and regulations governing the management of migrant workers are lax. It blames labor brokers for the absconsion and makes the NIA responsible for catching them. It has never reviewed its own management or the weaknesses of existing laws and regulations.

As a result, runaways feel that they have nothing to fear. If they are caught, they are deported to their home countries, with a free airplane ticket added to the bargain.

The NIA gets the blame for all this trouble.

The amount of personnel and resources that it devotes to catching runaways detracts from other aspects of maintaining national security.

The NIA should tell the ministry to respond to this crisis by proposing amendments to the law.

As well as making illegal migrant workers criminally liable, these amendments should impose heavy penalties on shady brokers and illegal employers.

Like Singapore and Hong Kong, Taiwan should do more than just impose fines. Only then can it shake off its reputation as a paradise for runaway migrant workers and close the disease-prevention loophole that such people might create.

Steve Kuan is a former chairman of the Taipei and New Taipei City Employment Service Institute associations.

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Refugees in Edirne, Turkey, head toward the Pazarkule border crossing with Greece’s Kastanies on Tuesday.Photo: Reuters
EU heads on Tuesday pledged millions of euros of financial assistance to Greece to help tackle the surge of refugees from neighboring Turkey, warning against those wishing to “test Europe’s unity.”

Flying by helicopter over the Greek-Turkish border, where thousands of desperate asylum seekers have tried to break through for days, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would provide Greece “all the support needed.”

“Those who seek to test Europe’s unity will be disappointed,” Von der Leyen said, standing alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the heads of the European Council and European Parliament. “We will hold the line and our unity will prevail.”

Von der Leyen said that the EU would provide 700 million euros (US$782 million), half of it immediately, to help manage the situation.

In addition, the EU border agency Frontex is to deploy a rapid intervention team, including an additional 100 guards backed by coastal patrol vessels, helicopters and vehicles, she said.

“Our first priority is making sure that order is maintained at the Greek external border, which is also the European border,” Von der Leyen told journalists.

“I am fully committed to mobilizing all the necessary operational support to the Greek authorities,” she said, adding that Greece was acting as a “shield” for Europe.

More than 500 Frontex guards have been deployed, while Greece could also receive assistance with medical teams, mobile shelters, tents and blankets, she said.

Von der Leyen said that “Turkey is not an enemy,” but “people are not just means to reach a goal.”

Earlier, Mitsotakis announced that Greek border forces had averted “over 24,000 attempts at illegal entry” by land and sea, making dozens of arrests.

“Europe has not been up to the task of dealing with the migration crisis,” he said. “I hope this crisis will serve as a wake-up call for everyone to assume their responsibilities.”

The UN refugee agency has estimated that there are about 20,000 refugees massed across the 200km border with Turkey.

“This is a very rough assessment because the movement is continuous towards different sides,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Representative in Greece Stella Nanou said.

Amid claims on the Turkish side that Greek security forces are shooting near migrants, European Council President Charles Michel said that it was “crucial to act in a proportionate manner, and to show respect for human dignity and international law.”

Greece has vehemently denied the allegations.

“No shots have been fired by Greek border forces against any individuals attempting to enter Greece illegally,” Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said.

Several aid groups on the Aegean island of Lesbos on Tuesday said that they were suspending work with refugees and evacuating personnel after attacks on staff.

“Once night falls, there are non-stop attacks on NGOs [non-governmental organizations], on workers, on people who are here as volunteers,” Refocus cofounder Douglas Herman said. “Most of those organizations right now have started to suspend their operations, some indefinitely.”

At the Greek border crossing of Kastanies, reporters saw soldiers boarding refugees onto military vehicles. Other unmarked vans were also picking up refugees wandering on the streets.

Thousands have arrived at the frontier since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last week that Ankara would no longer stop them trying to enter Europe.

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title: EU vows Greece aid as number of refugees expands


title: Virus Outbreak: S Korea reports lowest new cases for a week

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A woman walks past soldiers as they spray disinfectant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Seoul yesterday.Photo: AFP
South Korea yesterday reported its lowest number of new COVID-19 cases for a week, as the government proposed a near US$10 billion additional budget to try to address the epidemic’s effects.

Seoul announced 435 new cases, far below Tuesday’s rise of 851 — when South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared “war” on the virus — and its lowest increase since Feb. 26.

The country’s total, which is already the largest in the world outside China, reached 5,621, and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said four more people had died, taking the toll to 32.

The government proposed an extra budget of 11.7 trillion won (US$9.9 billion) to improve the country’s infectious disease prevention system and support small and medium-size businesses.

It is part of a 30 trillion government package that Moon announced on Tuesday to address the “grave” situation brought on by the outbreak.

Moon canceled his trip to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey scheduled for later this month to focus on containing the epidemic, his office said.

Turkey is one of more than 30 countries that have issued entry bans on arrivals from South Korea in the wake of the outbreak.

At least 92 countries have imposed some form of entry restrictions on arrivals from South Korea, according to a tally by Yonhap news agency.

South Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Sei-young was yesterday due to meet the US ambassador to South Korea as part of Seoul’s efforts to prevent the US from imposing such restrictions of its own.

South Korea has seen a rapid rise in infections in the past few days as authorities carry out checks on more than 260,000 people associated with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a religious sect often condemned as a cult that is now linked to more than half the cases.

More than 4,000 cases have now been confirmed in southern city of Daegu — where the outbreak among Shincheonji members began with a 61-year-old woman, who developed symptoms on Feb. 10 and attended at least four services in the city.

Up to 10,000 people are being tested each day in South Korea, and daily totals have decreased slightly since a peak of 909 new cases on Saturday last week, the KCDC said.

Experts said that the results of those tests could take some time to be processed, leading to spikes in confirmed cases.

Authorities are looking to secure places in hospitals or other care facilities for about 2,300 Daegu patients in self-quarantine — some of them with severe symptoms, others with either mild ones or none at all — South Korean Vice Minister of Health Kim Gang-lip told reporters.

“I urge you to refrain from all possible meetings and outings,” KCDC director Jung Eun-kyeong said. “We recommend that each institution or company actively work online or work from home.”

Additional reporting by Reuters

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Virus Outbreak: Tensions rise as US death toll hits nine

DELAYS AND MISSTEPS:Authorities have said that labs should have the capacity to run 1 million tests by the end of the week, but health professionals say that is unrealistic
A medic puts on protective clothing while preparing to transport a person at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a long-term care facility linked to several confirmed COVID-19 cases, in Kirkland, Washington.Photo: Reuters
Tensions over how to contain a COVID-19 outbreak on Tuesday escalated in the US as the death toll climbed to nine and lawmakers expressed doubts about the government’s ability to ramp up testing fast enough to deal with the crisis.

All of the deaths have occurred in Washington state, and most were residents of a nursing home in suburban Seattle.

The number of infections in the US overall climbed past 100, scattered across at least 15 states, with 27 cases in Washington alone.

“What is happening now in the United States may be the beginning of what is happening abroad,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adding that in China, where the outbreak began more than two months ago, older and sicker people are about twice as likely to become seriously ill as those who are younger and healthier.

The nursing home outbreak apparently seeded the first case in North Carolina, authorities said.

A Wake County resident who had visited the nursing home tested positive, but is in isolation at home and is doing well, the North Carolina governor’s office said.

In suburban Seattle, 27 firefighters and paramedics who responded to calls at the nursing home were tested for the virus on Tuesday using a drive-thru system set up in a hospital parking area.

In the nation’s capital, officials moved on a number of fronts.

A bipartisan US$7.5 billion emergency bill to fund the government’s response to the outbreak worked its way through the US Congress.

The US Food and Drug and Administration (FDA) also sought to ease a shortage of masks by giving healthcare workers the okay to use an industrial type of respirator mask designed to protect construction crews from dust and debris.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill expressed skepticism about US health officials’ claims that testing for the new virus should be widely available soon.

CDC test kits delivered to states and cities in January proved faulty.

Authorities have said labs across the country should have the capacity to run as many as 1 million tests by the end of the week.

Yet testing so far has faced delays and missteps, and “I’m hearing from health professionals that’s unrealistic,” US Senator Patty Murray told a Senate hearing.

The FDA has been working with a private company to get as many as 2,500 test kits out to labs by the end of the week, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said.

Each kit should enable a lab to run about 500 tests, he said.

However, health officials were careful about making promises.

“I am optimistic, but I want to remain humble,” CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat said.

In Washington state, researchers believe the virus might have been circulating undetected for weeks. That has raised fears that there could be hundreds of undiagnosed cases in the area.

Yet some people who want to be tested for the virus in the state are encountering confusion, a lack of testing options and other problems as health authorities scramble to deal with the crisis.

“The people across my state are really scared. I’m hearing from people who are sick, who want to get tested and don’t know where to go,” Murray said. “It’s unacceptable that people in my state can’t even get an answer as to whether or not they are infected.”

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While the international media is focused on the global outbreak of COVID-19, little attention has been given to the worsening internal security situation in Hong Kong.

The arrests on Friday last week of Hong Kong’s high-profile media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英) and two pro-democracy politicians on charges of illegal assembly has had a chilling effect on legitimate forms of political expression in the territory, and could stifle public debate on issues critical of Beijing.

Although there are signs that the internal security environment is deteriorating, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s (林鄭月娥) regime appears to have survived a widespread financial downturn that could have triggered a terminal legitimacy crisis at a time when China’s economic slowdown is badly affecting the territory.

Flush with cash accumulated from local taxpayers during a decades-long boom, she has invested heavily in policing and control programs, buying political loyalty from government employees and muscling her way through crisis after crisis.

Imposing a rule of fear and brutality might hold public pressure at bay, but it causes institutional atrophy, social instability and economic decline.

Political dysfunction has spread quickly and concertedly at all levels of the local government bureaucracy.

The coronavirus threat to the territory is not worse than the systematic epidemic of police corruption and cruelty.

Previously known as “Asia’s finest,” Hong Kong’s police force has degenerated into Asia’s worst and shameful because of its deliberate use of abusive and deadly violence against peaceful demonstrators since last spring.

This inhumane strategy is poorly suited to the latest governance crisis, as Hong Kong finds itself in a full-scale conflict with China, in which each side challenges the other not just because of what they do, but also because of what they are and what values they represent.

On the surface, this competition involves the use of a great deal of force by the Lam administration, which constantly sends in riot police to silence critics, disperse peaceful demonstrations, and even conduct forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Beneath this confrontation is a changing political balance of power. The retrenchment of civil society could concede victory to the regime, and make it harder to maintain a broad cross-sectional alliance.

This explains why Hong Kongers routinely disrupt the Lam regime’s governing efforts. Some conscientious consumers withhold their economic power by boycotting pro-Beijing businesses, while others withhold their labor through sabotage, desertion and strikes.

These small protests exemplify a collective response to the deteriorating conditions and exploitative oppression that people see around them. Even though these localized resistance efforts cannot bring down the regime, let alone produce any serious transformative result, they manifest growing anti-communist and anti-authoritarian sentiment from all levels of society.

The frequent occurrences of such episodic protests indicates how frustrated, disillusioned and skeptical people feel about Hong Kong’s arrogant and incompetent officials, and how determined they are to oppose them.

Inspired by the 228 Incident, Hong Kongers are following in the footsteps of Taiwanese by organizing regular, sporadic and peaceful rallies to raise morale and show solidarity among opposition groups.

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title: Garnering global support for HK


title: Lampard hails Chelsea midfielder Gilmour

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Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour, left, vies against Liverpool midfielder Takumi Minamino in their FA Cup fifth-round match at Stamford Bridge in London on Tuesday.Photo: AFP
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard described 18-year-old midfielder Billy Gilmour as a “throwback” after the young Scot’s superb display in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Liverpool on Tuesday.

Gilmour was handed only his third start in the fifth-round match, having also been selected for a couple of League Cup ties, and seized his chance with an assured performance in a high-tempo tie.

This season, Lampard has given youth a chance, with Mason Mount, a regular starter, also impressive against Liverpool.

However, the diminutive Gilmour caught the eye with his incisive passing, tackling and fearlessness on the ball.

Lampard could hardly contain a smile when asked about the player snapped up from the Rangers Youth Academy.

“What an incredible performance for a young player,” Lampard told the BBC. “He was a calm head in that first five or 10 minutes. He’s a throwback of a midfielder... He’s only slight in stature, but he’s huge in personality.”

Goals by Willian in the 13th minute — courtesy of a ghastly mistake by Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian, and Ross Barkley in the 64th minute — made it a great night for the eight-time Cup winners.

Juergen Klopp’s side are 22 points clear in the English Premier League and within touching distance of a first league title in 30 years.

They are also confident of overturning a 1-0 deficit against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.

Yet, there are signs that Liverpool are misfiring, with eight goals conceded in four games and three consecutive away defeats for the first time since November 2014.

“Look, it went our way for so long because we defended outstandingly,” Klopp told reporters.

“Usually you don’t get a lot of chances against us and stuff like this, but now we have to admit that in the last three games — [maybe] four — we have conceded absolutely too many goals, that’s true,” he said. “I am not worried about the momentum — momentum is not something you get as a present, you have to get it to keep it. We have a chance to get it back.”

Klopp would hope for its return by Saturday against AFC Bournemouth.

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title: EDITORIAL: KMT’s Chiang offers window dressing

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Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members are to choose a new chairman on Saturday. The winner, be it former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a two-time KMT vice chairman, or KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), is expected to implement an ambitious reform package to modernize the party.

Chiang is younger than Hau and seems a better fit to reinvigorate the party. He has listed five approaches that he said would help him bring in new ideas to the KMT: introducing a flatter organizational structure, leveraging the Internet to communicate ideas, digitizing services, decentralizing party operations and engaging more with the international community.

These are the best ways to bring the KMT into the 21st century, which would appeal to the younger generation, and allow more diverse and fresh ideas to inform party decisionmaking, he said.

The guiding principle behind his vision is to cultivate a new generation of talent within the party, which would be nominated in elections, and be involved in policy research and development, Chiang said.

These are sound proposals, but they are essentially organizational in nature. While they allow for the possibility of ideological adjustments in the party’s stance, they promise nothing for a change in the party’s platform.

This raises the question of whether Chiang is the right person to steer the party into new waters, or whether he would retain its entrenched ideology.

Despite the clear trend of Republic of China (ROC) citizens increasingly identifying as Taiwanese, not Chinese — as shown last month by a Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation poll, which put the figure at almost 85 percent — Chiang rejected out of hand changing the KMT’s name or removing the word “Chinese” from it, saying that he would rather focus on substantial reform than superficial name changes.

That was pure obfuscation. Now is the perfect time for such a change and it would signal the KMT’s commitment to deep transformational reform, and would not preclude other organizational or ideological changes.

Another indication that Chiang remains wed to the party-state ideology of the past is a statement he made while campaigning for Saturday’s by-election.

He said that the KMT was defeated in the January elections because the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had “stolen the ROC ancestral tablet,” as if the ROC belonged to the KMT.

Perhaps Chiang is unaware of the nature of democratic elections. The ROC is the official name of the nation and voters handed the governance of the nation to the winning party. It is not the exclusive property of the KMT and the party should stop behaving as if it were.

Even if Chiang could argue that the DPP would like to see the end of the ROC, he cannot coherently argue that the KMT has not been embarrassed by the ROC’s existence — such as when Chinese dignitaries visit — or that the party is not implicitly planning for its demise should the ROC eventually be annexed by China.

The DPP is clear about its preference for independence, and yet sacrifices the purity of that message due to external forces and because it was elected to govern a nation named the ROC, in accordance with the ROC Constitution.

The KMT equates itself to the ROC and believes that changing the Constitution requires the permission and input of a foreign power. It is the KMT that needs to change.

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people: 江啟臣 郝龍斌


content_text:
Banks’ China units had zero nonperforming loans

CAUTIOUS:While banks seemed to have been more prudent about managing risks at their Chinese branches, they are not likely to slow their lending in China, an official said
The Chinese branches of Taiwanese banks reported zero nonperforming loans (NPLs) in January — the first time in more than 26 months, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed.

That came after CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行) wrote off NT$31 million (US$1.032 million) in bad debt in January, while the other banks did not see any increase in nonperforming loans, the data showed.

As a result, the Chinese branches’ combined NPL ratio slipped from 0.02 percent in December last year to zero, while their Taiwanese operations reported an NPL ratio of 0.24 percent, 0.2 percent for their offshore banking units and 0.23 percent for other overseas branches, the data showed.

“It seemed that the Chinese branches were more cautious about risk management, perhaps due to a slowdown in the Chinese economy and the [COVID-19] outbreak,” a commission official surnamed Chiu (邱) told the Taipei Times by telephone.

Banks also prefer cleaning up their loanbooks before the Lunar New Year, so they can allocate less for bad-debt provisioning and boost their profit performance, he added.

However, it would be too early to conclude that banks would tighten lending standards amid fears over the outbreak in China, Chiu said.

“If the NPL ratio stays at zero for three months, which is rare, we would believe that banks have adopted a stricter lending strategy amid the uncertainty,” he said.

The Chinese branches are not likely to slow their lending business, as the loans provide better interest income given higher interest rates in China, he said.

Aggregate lending by Chinese branches gained 4.9 percent sequentially to NT$184.5 billion in January, with seven banks approving more loans: Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), the Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行), Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) and CTBC Bank, the data showed.

Chinese branches saw their aggregate pretax profit rise 35.1 percent from a year earlier to NT640 million in January, which could be attributed to higher fee income, lower provisioning for bad debt and higher investment returns, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the nation’s banks reported an annual decline of 6.7 percent in pretax profit to NT$34.91 billion as the Lunar New Year holiday led to fewer working days, the data showed.

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countries: 台灣 中國


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Apple Inc and Xiaomi Corp (小米) increased their market share in the fourth quarter of last year, despite an annual 0.4 percent dip in global smartphone sales for the quarter, US market researcher Gartner Inc said in a report on Tuesday.

Following four consecutive quarters of decline, Apple posted a 7.8 percent year-on-year increase in sales to 69.55 million units last quarter, with a 17.1 percent market share, after the company lowered prices of the iPhone 11 series and cut prices of previous-generation iPhones, Gartner research vice president Annette Zimmermann said.

The US company replaced Huawei Technologies Co (華為) as the No. 2 smartphone vendor, while the Chinese firm dropped to No. 3 with a 14.3 percent market share, the report said.

As Apple is expected to launch its first 5G smartphone in the third quarter of this year, iPhone users would drive demand as they seek to upgrade in countries where 5G network services are available, it said.

In the No. 4 spot, Xiaomi’s sales increased 16.5 percent year-on-year to 32.45 million units, with an 8 percent global market share, due to the price and performance of its Redmi models, Gartner senior research analyst Anshul Gupta said in the report.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak in China, smartphone vendors with a large brick-and-mortar presence in the country, such as Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) and Vivo Communication Technology Co (維沃), face challenges reaching customers, but Xiaomi could still maintain a strong presence due to its online retail channels, the report said.

In Gartner’s tallies, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co continued to dominate the smartphone market with a 17.3 percent market share, despite a slight decline in sales of 0.53 percent to 70.4 million units last quarter.

Throughout last year, Samsung successfully revamped its mid-tier and entry-level smartphones while attracting price-sensitive consumers with cheaper versions of its premium devices, the report said.

Overall, global smartphone sales fell 1 percent to 1.54 billion units last year, from 1.56 billion units in 2018, Gartner data showed.

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title: Apple, Xiaomi gain in market


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title: EDITORIAL CARTOON


content_text:
Shelves are stripped of toilet paper at a supermarket in Sydney yesterday.Photo: AFP
Australia’s major grocers yesterday put strict limits on purchases of toilet paper after a rush of panic buying related to COVID-19 fears emptied shelves as the country recorded its third case of local transmission of the disease.

Australia was one of the first countries to take a hardline on tackling the outbreak, imposing border controls on visitors from the outbreak’s epicenter in China a month ago.

It has reported 42 cases of the disease — the bulk of whom were evacuees from a cruise ship docked in Japan — and just three cases where people who have not left the country have been infected.

Still, social media has been awash in recent days with photographs and videos of people stockpiling goods, including sanitizing products and staples like rice and eggs.

The run on toilet paper in particular has sparked the trending hashtags #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis on Twitter, along with photos of overloaded shopping carts and calls for calm from baffled officials.

“We are trying to reassure people that removing all of the lavatory paper from the shelves of supermarkets probably isn’t a proportionate or sensible thing to do at this time,” Australian Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told a parliamentary hearing.

Woolworths Group, the country’s biggest grocery chain, restricted sales of the essential product to four packs per shopper to help shore up stock levels while suppliers ramp up local production.

The local arm of Costco Wholesale Corp limited its bulk buy packs to one per customer.

Even Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has weighed in on a purchasing trend that appears to be at odds with stockpiling of long-lasting food like tinned goods in other countries, telling the public he had been assured by the major grocers they could meet any spike in demand.

Police confirmed they were called to a supermarket in Sydney to deal with “a disturbance in an aisle,” with local media reporting the authorities had cordoned off the toilet paper shelves as a result.

Other products have also been seized on by shoppers. Costco has put limits on purchases of milk, eggs, rice and disinfecting and soap products.

Coles Group began posting signs in stores advising shoppers about shortages of hand and laundry sanitizer a few weeks ago.

Coles said it was working with its suppliers and transport partners to improve availability of popular products, although it did not confirm whether it was also rationing sales of certain items.

“We have increased deliveries from our distribution centers and our teams are working hard to fill the shelves as quickly as possible,” it said in an e-mailed statement.

German-owned discounter Aldi and US-listed Kimberly-Clark Corp, which makes toilet paper for the Australian market via local subsidiaries, were not immediately available for comment.

Australia’s latest confirmed coronavirus case, a 50-year-old woman, is the third person to have contracted the illness without traveling overseas, stoking fears the virus would spread more quickly through the community.

Officials said the woman worked at a care home for the elderly in New South Wales (NSW), where two residents were also tested for the virus.

One has been hospitalized, while the other, a 95-year old woman, has died.

“Whether or not it was related to coronavirus, we don’t know at this point,” NSW Minister of Health Brad Hazzard told reporters about the death.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Australian stores ration toilet paper amid panic


references: Twitter Facebook

content_text:
YouTube accused of being ‘organ of radicalization’

Algorithms push viewers to extremes, senior UK MP says at launch of report on far right
White nationalists in August 2017 carry torches on the grounds of the University of Virginia, on the eve of a planned Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, US. A recently released report says that social media companies are automatically suggesting that viewers who are searching for far-right groups might want to watch neo-Nazi videos.Photo: AFP
Social media companies have been heavily criticised at the launch of a major report on the far right, with YouTube being labelled an “organ of radicalization.”

The State of Hate 2020 report by Hope Not Hate, also found the Conservative party had suspended more than 20 officials and activists, including six sitting councilors, who had posted Islamophobic comments on social media.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the Commons home affairs select committee, said on Monday that when she and others had set up an account to search for one of the far-right groups named in the report, YouTube had automatically suggested that viewers might want to watch neo-Nazi videos.

“Look up one thing out of curiosity and YouTube is ever willing to offer far, far more, often getting far more extreme and pushing further out to the extremes, because that is how YouTube works,” she said. “They have become an organ of radicalization instead of taking responsibility, for that is the way their algorithms work.”

Cooper said a sense of decency which had always been a bulwark against the rise of the far right was on the decline. And she criticized both her own party for its “complicity” at a time when antisemitism was on the rise across Europe and the Conservatives for being “blind” to the Islamophobia in its own ranks.

Hope Not Hate’s report detailed the actions of Tories who had been suspended over Islamophobic social media posts.

In one screenshot taken by the campaign group, a Facebook account appearing to be that of the Nottinghamshire county councilor Steve Vickers published a post after the 2016 terrorist attack in Nice in which he said the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, “and his brethren” were “part of the problem.”

In response to the then-prime minister, Theresa May, wishing Muslims a happy Eid on Facebook, screenshots show an account apparently belonging to the Harworth and Bircotes town councillor Sonia Armstrong leaving a long comment, much of it in capital letters.

“She should put a wig on, disguise herself and have a walk around these cities alone especially at night, and then tell us how much they give to GB and how well they have integrated,” she wrote.

She cited the “raping and killing of our people” as making citizens “too frightened to go out alone any more,” and said that “no one knows how much they enforce sharia law” because police turn “a blind eye to everything they do all because of political correctness.”

The report also accuses the Winchester city councilor Judith Clementson of using an anonymous Twitter account to post conspiracy theories about a “dangerous Muslim agenda for world domination.”

The Hounslow borough councillor Ranjit Pendhar Singh Gill allegedly “celebrated” Donald Trump’s election and his proposals to exclude Muslims from the US. And in another post he reportedly wrote about “75 million Muslim Turks” who planned to “infiltrate the UK.”

The dossier also indicts a number of ex-councilors. It states that Gail Hall, a Gwynedd county councillor from 2008-12, shared multiple anti-Muslim posts from far-right Facebook pages, calling Muslims “savages.”

The report says she had also “liked” comments referring to Muslims as “scumbags” and encouraging them to “sling their hooks back to their ancestral homelands.”

Chris Meakin, the leader of the Conservative opposition in Southwark council during the 1970s and 80s, and who stood for election in Southwark council in 2002, also features in the report. It includes a screenshot of a post from an account matching his name, saying that Muslims did not deserve human rights “because of their animal-like behaviour,” and that it was “time to deploy the machine guns” against these “invaders.”


content_text:
More than half of British smokers now wrongly believe that nicotine-containing vapes, or e-cigarettes, are as dangerous as tobacco cigarettes and these “false fears” are preventing smokers from switching, UK public health experts said yesterday.

In a report commissioned by Public Health England (PHE), scientists at King’s College London said the mistaken belief that e-cigarettes are more harmful than smoking had gained ground rapidly following thousands of reported cases of lung injury in the US late last year.

However, the belief is “out of line” with expert reviews from the UK and US concluding that using regulated nicotine vaping products is far less harmful than smoking, they said.

The report, the sixth by PHE on the issue of e-cigarettes, is likely to deepen divisions in opinion about the potential risks of the products.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month said that it had recorded more than 2,800 cases of lung injury linked to vaping.

“It is concerning to see how much the US lung disease outbreak has affected smokers’ views on e-cigarettes here in the UK,” PHE director of health improvement John Newton said. “Safety fears may well be deterring many smokers from switching, leaving them on a path to years of ill health and an early death due to their smoking.”

Health authorities in the US have said that vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent added to cannabis vaping products, is likely the primary cause of the US outbreak.

The substance is banned from UK-regulated nicotine vapes and e-cigarettes.

The PHE report reiterated the agency’s view that “e-cigarettes are much less harmful than tobacco, but are not completely safe.”

“They contain significantly less harmful chemicals which cause diseases related to smoking, but the long-term impact of using e-cigarettes will remain unknown for some time,” a summary of the report said.

It added that any British move to ban the use of flavors in regulated vaping products, as the US has done, would deter smokers from switching and would “ultimately cost lives.”

The US government has proposed a sweeping ban on all e-cigarette and vaping flavors that are seen as attracting young users to the products.

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title: Vaping ‘false fears’ stopping smokers switching: report


content_text:
Fresh call for Oxford dictionaries to change ‘sexist’ definitions

Women’s groups continue drive to remove ‘damaging everyday sexism’ in its entries, such as citing ‘bitch’ as a synonym for woman
A Filipino woman wearing a face mask takes a selfie on March 1 in front of religious icons at St Christopher’s Church in Taipei. A number of women’s groups have called on Oxford University Press to change its dictionaries’ “sexist” definitions — including “maid” — of women.Photo: EPA-EFE
The leaders of Women’s Aid and the Women’s Equality party are among the signatories to an open letter calling on Oxford University Press (OUP) to change its dictionaries’ “sexist” definitions of the word “woman.”

The letter points out that some Oxford Dictionaries’ definitions of the word include synonyms such as “bitch” and “maid,” and says that derogatory and sexist examples of usage include: “God, woman. Will you just listen?”

The definitions for “man,” meanwhile, include “a person with the qualities associated with males, such as bravery, spirit or toughness.”

“Bitch is not a synonym for woman. It is dehumanizing to call a woman a bitch. It is but one sad, albeit extremely damaging, example of everyday sexism. And that should be explained clearly in the dictionary entry used to describe us,” says the letter, which is asking OUP, which publishes the Oxford Dictionary of English, as well as the online Oxford Dictionaries, to change their entries.

The letter, published in time for International Women’s Day on March 8, is the latest move in a campaign that was launched last year by Maria Beatrice Giovanardi. Giovanardi’s petition calling for a change to the dictionary’s definition of woman has now been signed by more than 30,000 people. On Tuesday, she said that she hoped having the backing of women’s rights campaigners and linguists would strengthen the message.

The Oxford Dictionary of English is the source licensed by Apple and Google, meaning that when users search for the definition of woman on either, they are given a list of “similar” words including chick, bint, popsy, wifie, besom, wench and maid. Terms such as piece, bit, mare, baggage and bitch are labelled derogatory and offensive by the dictionary, but words including bint and wench are not.

“It might not end everyday sexism or the patriarchy but it’s a good start,” says the letter, which is also signed by linguists and academics as well as Mandu Reid, leader of the Women’s Equality party, Deborah Cameron, professor of language and communication at Oxford and Nicki Norman, acting chief executive of the Women’s Aid Federation of England.

“Synonyms and examples, such as these, when offered without context, reinforce negative stereotypes about women and centre men. That’s dangerous because language has real world implications, it shapes perceptions and influences the way women are treated,” the letter continues.

A spokeswoman for OUP said the company had finished reviewing the dictionary and thesaurus entries for terms for women and girls, and that changes, including more labels that show certain terms are offensive or dated, would be “visible across various platforms in the next few weeks.”

“Our dictionaries reflect rather than dictate how language is used. This is driven solely by evidence of how real people use English in their daily lives. This independent editorial approach means that our dictionaries provide an accurate representation of language, even where it means recording senses and example uses of words that are offensive or derogatory, and which we wouldn’t necessarily employ ourselves. In cases where words and uses may be considered offensive, they are clearly labelled as such. This helps our readers to understand the connotations of terms when looking them up and also acts as a lasting record of the way in which language evolves,” the spokeswoman said.

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companies: Apple Google


content_text:
Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murderer Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, attends a news conference in Brussels on Dec. 3 last year.Photo: Reuters
US lawmakers on Tuesday vowed to force the release of an intelligence report on the killing of Saudi Arabian dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, accusing US President Donald Trump of blocking it to protect the kingdom.

The US Congress last year ordered the director of national intelligence to name who ordered the October 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US resident who had written critically in the Washington Post of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

However, the intelligence chief said that the information should remain classified to avoid hurting national security.

“The administration has not even attempted to make the case to us that this would cause that kind of harm,” said US Representative Tom Malinowski, who had led the push for the report.

“What they are really afraid of, I think, is extremely plain — they are afraid of embarrassing somebody who has a close personal relationship with President Trump and the Trump administration,” Malinowski told reporters.

He was joined by Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who said ht a declassified report could answer “critical questions,” such as who ordered his killing and where his remains were disposed.

“The first step to find justice for Jamal is to know the truth,” she said.

US Senator Ron Wyden said that he would invoke a section of a 1976 law that allows the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, on which he serves, to declassify a report.

If the committee votes to release it, Trump would have five days to present objections in writing, after which the full US Senate — controlled by his Republican Party — could vote to defy him.

“This has been a total and complete cover-up,” Wyden said. “If our country and our friends and our partners do nothing in the face of this barbaric act, it sends a message around the world that it is open season on journalists.”

Khashoggi was lured into the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, where, according to Turkish and US officials, he was strangled to death and his body cut apart with a bone saw.

The Trump administration has imposed visa restrictions on Saudi Arabians accused of involvement, but has said that the murder would not jeopardize relations, with the president hailing the kingdom for its purchases of US weapons and shared hostility to Iran.

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title: US lawmakers push for release of Khashoggi file


title: Fourth-tier team reach Cup semis

content_text:
Saarbrucken goaltender Daniel Batz saves a penalty-kick from Fortuna Dusseldorf’s Mathias Jorgensen in their German Cup quarter-final at the Hermann-Neuberger-Stadion in Saarbrucken on Tuesday.Photo: Reuters
Saarbrucken on Tuesday became the first fourth-division side to avance to the German Cup semi-finals, with a 7-6 penalty shoot-out win over top-tier Fortuna Dusseldorf as the match ended 1-1 after normal and extra-time.

For Saarbrucken, it was all about grit and goalkeeping in a penalty shoot-out win over Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Saarbrucken goalkeeper Daniel Batz saved four of the 10 penalties that he faced in the shoot-out — after also stopping one in the second half — as all players except for the goalkeepers had to take a spot-kick before the deadlock was broken.

The game finished 1-1 after extra-time before the hosts won 7-6 on penalties.

Fortuna’s Mathias “Zanka” Jorgensen scored a 90th-minute equalizer to force extra-time, but missed the decisive spot-kick in the shoot-out.

Holders Bayern Munich were at Schalke 04 in the evening’s other fixture.

Saarbrucken play in the southwest regional league and had to win a local cup competition to even qualify for the German Cup.

It is the first time that a fourth-tier team have made the semi-finals of the competition. Saarbrucken were a semi-finalist in 1985, but played in West Germany’s second-tier league at the time.

Saarbrucken took the lead through Tobias Janicke in the 31st minute and kept it thanks largely to a stellar performance from Batz in goal.

After a string of impressive saves, Batz turned a penalty-kick by Rouwen Hennings in the 82nd-minute against the post, as Fortuna laid siege to Saarbrucken’s goal in the second half.

In the 90th minute, Fortuna sent goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier up for their 15th corner of the match, and were rewarded when Kastenmeier headed the ball on for Zanka to score and send the match to extra-time.

Saarbrucken have knocked out four cup opponents from higher leagues.

Holders Bayern Munich were at Schalke 04 in the evening’s other fixture.

Additional reporting by AP

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title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
A: At the turn of the 18th century, a middle class began to emerge in Europe. They possessed a disposable income, placed a great importance on their children’s education and were keen to imitate the lifestyle of the upper classes.

B: I imagine they wanted their children to learn a musical instrument.

A: Exactly. In wealthy families, it was common to hold amateur music concerts for entertainment purposes.

A : 在十八世紀末的歐洲，開始出現了所謂的中產階級。他們收入頗豐，也注重子女教育，更想要仿效貴族的生活方式。

B : 我想他們應該會想要讓子女學習樂器吧。

A : 你說對了，所以在當時還算富裕的家庭裡，常會舉辦業餘的、餘興程度較高的私人音樂會。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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content_text:
Kim Jong-un’s younger sister slams South Korea in first official statement

Kim Yo-jong, left, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in as they watch a performance of the Samjiyon Orchestra at the National Theater in Seoul on Feb. 11, 2018.Photo: AP
In her first known official statement, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday leveled diatribes and insults on South Korea for protesting over her nation’s latest live-fire exercises.

Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo-jong is in charge of propaganda affairs and has frequently appeared at her brother’s major public events, including summits with US President Donald Trump and other regional leaders, but her statement carried by state media, the first of its kind, indicated that her political status has been further elevated.

In the statement, she criticized the South Korean presidential office, or Blue House, for expressing strong concerns over North Korea’s drills and urging it to stop such an act that does not contribute to efforts to reduce military animosities.

“As far as I know, the South side is also fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware,” Kim Yo-jong said. “They meant they need to get militarily prepared, but we should be discouraged from military exercises. Such a gangster-like assertion can never be expected from those with a normal way of thinking.”

Describing the Blue House as “a mere child” and “a burnt child dreading fire,” she went on to say: “How come can all its words and acts be so perfectly foolish in detail.”

Kim Yo-jong did not mention by name South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who she met several times.

“The South side’s response is so regretful and disappointing, but it is somewhat fortunate that it was not a direct statement of the president,” she said.

Earlier, state media said that Kim Jong-un supervised a live-fire rocket artillery exercise in an apparent reference to the two short-range ballistic missile launches reported by South Korea’s military a day earlier.

North Korea on Saturday last week said that Kim Jong-un guided an artillery drill aimed at testing the combat readiness of military units.

The back-to-back firing exercises were an apparent show of force by Kim Jong-un, who had earlier vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent and warned of “shocking action” over now-stalled nuclear negotiations with Trump.

The latest firing drills were his first weapons tests since late November last year.

Kim Yo-jong’s statement was issued in her capacity as a first vice-department director of the Workers Party’s Central Committee. She also serves as an alternate member of North Korea’s Politburo and a member of parliament.

South Korean officials and experts said that she is virtually North Korea’s top propaganda official.

Kim Yo-jong’s statement “suggests that her status and influence have been expanded to such an extent as to express her opinions externally and beyond playing a role of assisting Chairman Kim Jong-un on his public activities,” Cheong Seong-chang said at the Sejong Institute in Seoul.

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title: Islanders’ Boychuk leaves after taking skate blade to face

content_text:
New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk leaves the ice holding his face after being injured in their NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, on Tuesday.Photo: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY
New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk left Tuesday’s loss to Montreal in the third period after being struck near the eye by an opponent’s skate blade.

After the game, Islanders coach Barry Trotz said that there was no update on Boychuk.

“It’s pretty scary, obviously, around the eye area,” Trotz said. “He’s obviously being evaluated.”

Initial reports suggest that Boychuk avoided a serious injury to his eye.

Broadcaster and former NHL player Colby Cohen said on Twitter: “I’m told he has a bad cut, but his eyesight is okay.”

NBC Sports Boston reported that it appears Boychuk was cut on the eyelid, but not on the eyeball.

With about 11 minutes remaining, Boychuk was checking Montreal’s Artturi Lehkonen from behind, while both were in front of the Islanders’ goal crease, and Lehkonen fell forward.

As Lehkonen fell, his right skate came up behind him, and the heel of the skate blade hit the face of Boychuk, who was bent over slightly.

Boychuk immediately fell to the ice and clutched at his face in obvious pain.

After a moment, he quickly got up, skated off the ice and headed straight to the locker room with medical staffers.

“My skate hit him in the face,” Lehkonen told reporters afterward. “I really hope it didn’t hit him in the eye or anything like that — but it was scary for sure.”

“It’s a scary situation,” captain Anders Lee said. “You hate to see that happen. It happens quick.”

In Tuesday’s game, Brendan Gallagher scored to start a first-period flurry for visiting Montreal, which cruised past New York.

The Canadiens’ Jeff Petry and Charles Hudon also scored in the first period. Paul Byron scored in the second period, while Jordan Weal and Joel Armia added goals late in the third for Montreal, who have won two straight.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price made 20 saves.

Brock Nelson and Ryan Pulock scored in the third period for the Islanders, who have lost four straight.

Also on Tuesday, it was:

‧ Bruins 2, Lightning 1

‧ Blues 3, Rangers 1

‧ Penguins 7, Senators 3

‧ Golden Knights 3, Devils 0

‧ Blackhawks 6, Ducks 2

‧ Jets 3, Sabres 1

‧ Wild 3, Predators 1

‧ Oilers 2, Stars 1 (OT)

‧ Sharks 5, Maple Leafs 2

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title: Nicaraguan student turns refugee pig farmer

content_text:
A Nicaraguan refugee serves plates of the traditional dish nacatamal in Upala, Costa Rica, on Feb. 8.Photo: AP
In northern Costa Rica, a Nicaraguan refugee forced by circumstances to give up his life as a student and graphic designer now spends his days caressing and talking to pigs to keep them calm.

Most of the about 300 Nicaraguan refugees striving for self-sufficiency on rented Costa Rican farmland were farmers in their native country, too. They waxed poetic about the joy they feel watching livestock graze or green shoots spring from seed they sowed.

Not so for Erling Mora Lopez, the 30-year-old graphic designer-turned-refugee pig farmer from Managua.

Mora studied at the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua and worked part-time at a local publishing house when he and his classmates took to the streets to defend senior citizens protesting changes to the country’s social security benefits in April 2018.

Mora and others took control of their university campuses and held them for months. He also moved on to occupy the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua and was there when government allies violently cleared it in July 2018, killing two students.

For months he laid low, but lived in fear of arrest as government allies in his neighborhood monitored his movements.

Last year, he was arrested, tortured for eight days in Managua’s infamous El Chipote prison and then released. Within five hours he was hitchhiking to Costa Rica.

For two months he kicked around the capital, San Jose, sometimes sleeping in the street. He got mugged and people who initially said that they wanted to help took advantage of him.

Then he heard about Francisca Ramirez’s rural encampment up north in Upala. Her network vetted him and assigned him to the pigpen, which he saw as the ultimate filter.

“It’s a very, very, very big change,” Mora said, taking a break from his duties. “I miss my job, I miss my studies, but this is what I have to do.”

The learning curve has been steep. When other refugees — experienced farmers — help him clean out the pigpen, they somehow walk out clean.

“Not me. I come out a disaster,” he said.

One night he found one of the sows in labor. She had already delivered three piglets on her own, but a fourth was still inside and her breathing was labored.

He called the Costa Rican who had given them the pigpen. The man told him he would have to reach inside and pull out the piglet.

Mora’s eyes grew big at this point, as he mimed slathering his arm in cooking oil and fishing out the last piglet.

He said that before “I grabbed the keyboard, the mouse … and now a pig.”

The job has grown on him.

Mora even had his own Charlotte’s Web moment when a runt piglet took a liking to him.

It was too small to hold its own with the others in the pigpen, so he let it run free. It would follow him around like a dog and come to where he slept to let him know something was going on in the pigpen or to beg for food.

Over time it grew big enough that someone wanted to buy it, but they requested that it be delivered dead. There was not the same happy ending as the children’s classic about an undersized pig facing slaughter.

Mora did not have to kill the pig, but said: “I really cried.”

He added that he does not let himself get so attached anymore.

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content_text:
Parrots use statistics to make choices: study

NOT SO ‘BIRD-BRAINED’:The ability to recognize and utilize probability was long thought to be the reserve of intelligent primates and humans, not New Zealand kea
Does Polly want a cracker? That all depends on statistics.

Parrots can learn to choose based on probability, making them the first animal outside of the great ape family that uses statistical modeling in its decisionmaking process, researchers said on Tuesday.

Wildlife experts taught six kea, a species of large parrot native to New Zealand renowned for their intelligence, to play a variation of a game designed to test their statistical understanding.

The birds — Blofeld, Bruce, Loki, Neo, Plankton and Taz — were trained to associate black tokens with a food reward and orange pegs with none.

During early tests, they used their beaks to pick up the black tokens and were given a treat.

The researchers then displayed the pegs in clear jars, with differing ratios of black and orange, picked up one token from each and concealed them in their palms, before offering them to the birds.

The kea preferred tokens from the jars that had a relatively higher proportion of black to orange tokens, showing that they were playing the percentages.

In addition, the kea showed a clear preference toward researchers who had previously demonstrated a “bias” toward picking more black tokens than orange.

“We always knew that they seemed quite intelligent, so we weren’t too surprised to find that they could understand probabilities,” said Amalia Bastos, a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland’s School of Psychology. “What was most surprising is that they can integrate social or physical information into their probabilistic judgements.”

Bastos and her research team are not sure what evolutionary advantage is bestowed by the ability to recognize probability, but the trait was long thought to be the reserve of intelligent primates and humans, and it shows that the kea and possibly its relatives might not be so “bird-brained” after all.

“Kea have the boldest personalities of all the bird species I have ever met,” Bastos said. “Each individual has their own quirky preferences and idiosyncrasies that we learn about when we work with them. They are curious and not at all shy, making them very easy to work with. They have definitely outsmarted me on more than one occasion.”

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Target upbeat, despite uncertainty over virus

Shelves where disinfectant wipes are usually displayed is nearly empty at a Target Corp store in Novato, California, on Monday.Photo: AFP
Target Corp on Tuesday said there could be periodic shipping delays in merchandise from China while the discounter scrambles to stock up on more household essentials in its US stores, as it confronts the repercussions of a spreading new virus.

Like many retailers, Target is wrestling with the growing uncertainty of the COVID-19 virus as it upends supply networks.

In the past few days, US customers have been crowding online services and grocery and discount stores to stock up on all types of basics from cleaning products to canned food.

Amazon.com Inc’s app for Prime Now same-day grocery orders is warning that delivery availability might be limited.

Target CEO Brian Cornell believed shoppers would continue to stock up on essentials for the next few weeks.

Still, Minneapolis-based Target offered a solid profit outlook and said that it has not seen anything related to the spreading new virus that would affect its financial targets.

The forecast came as the discounter reported strong fourth-quarter profits, though its sales were weighed down by weak demand for toy and electronics during the crucial holiday shopping season.

Target joins a string of other retailers with disappointing sales during the shortest holiday shopping season since 2013.

Walmart Inc had a rare sales shortfall, while Macy’s Inc and J.C. Penney Co saw sales decline during the period.

Kohl’s Corp also posted disappointing holiday sales, but on Tuesday reported that fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat Wall Street expectations.

During the conference call with analysts, Target executives said it is working with each of the factories in China and examining the state of the ports.

“We are monitoring the situation hour by hour as conditions evolve,” Cornell said on the call.

Cornell said that Target has seen “aggressive shopping across our stores,” and it is increasingly working with domestic suppliers to bring in more products like household essentials and canned goods.

Target delivered net earnings of US$834 million, or US$1.65 per share, for the three-month period ended Feb. 1. That compares with US$799 million, or US$1.52 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 1.8 percent to US$23.13 billion.

Analysts were expecting US$1.65 per share on revenue of US$23.44 billion, according to FactSet.

Comparable sales — or sales in stores open at least a year — rose 1.5 percent. That included online sales growth of 20 percent in the period.

It marked the company’s 11th consecutive quarter of growth in comparable sales, a key metric of a retailer’s health.

Same-day services, including picking up orders at the store or curbside, accounted for more than 80 percent.

Target said that for the year it expects a low single-digit increase in comparable sales and adjusted earnings per share in the range of US$6.70 to US$7. Analysts expect US$6.88 per share.

Shares of Target fell 3.2 percent to close at US$105.84 in New York trading on Tuesday.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Apacer counting on demand for server chips

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Memory module maker Apacer Technology Inc (宇瞻) yesterday said that the COVID-19 outbreak might affect demand in the short term, but growing interest in server chips could exacerbate supply constraints in this segment and lift prices next quarter.

The outbreak has “mainly affected the demand, rather than the supply side,” as Chinese factories have been slow to resume operations, Apacer said.

However, server chip demand is growing rapidly, propelled by the stay-at-home economy as people avoid public areas amid fears of contracting the virus, it said.

“Server demand has soared in the first quarter, given already-low inventory and fast-growing demand for all sorts of online applications,” Apacer president Chang Chia-kun (張家騉) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.

“Based on our information, the world’s three biggest DRAM suppliers are seeing inventory run low to about four to six weeks. We do not expect a price decline at this point,” he said.

DRAM contract prices are likely to rise sequentially in the second quarter, Chang said, with the uptrend possibly extending into the second half of the year, backed by launches of new game consoles and 5G smartphones, in addition to strong commercial demand for servers.

“Although demand appears to have dwindled, most companies are not willing to cancel chip orders. I believe demand would recover,” he said.

Flash memory chips are likely to face a similar shortage, as migration to next-generation technology — or 3D chips — has affected yields, he said.

The outbreak has weakened demand for Apacer’s industrial solid-state-disc (SSD) modules and other storage products, as electronics manufacturing service providers are restoring operations at a pace slower than it expected, Chang said.

Most customers have only resumed between 40 and 60 percent of their operations in China, he said.

A full resumption is expected in June, he said.

Apacer, headquartered in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城), said the outbreak has had a minor impact on its production as its factories are in Taiwan.

The company expects revenue this quarter to be flattish from the NT$1.94 billion (US$64.58 million) it posted a year earlier.

Gross margin is forecast to remain the same as in third quarter last year at 23 percent, the company said.

Apacer’s net profit rose 5 percent to NT$377 million last year, compared with NT$359 million in 2018, with earnings per share rising from NT$3.56 to NT$3.73.

Gross margin improved to 18.7 percent from 13.86 percent in 2018, bolstered by sales of higher-margin products, it said.

Revenue dipped 21 percent to NT$7.49 billion last year, from NT$9.44 billion in 2018, with industrial memory products accounting for 70 percent of the total and consumer electronics chips making up the remainder.

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title: Attacks follow Trump call with Taliban

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Security personnel patrol in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province on Tuesday.Photo: EPA-EFE
The US yesterday launched an airstrike against Taliban fighters to defend Afghan forces, an US military spokesman said, as violence spirals after a string of deadly attacks by the insurgents, throwing the country’s nascent peace process into grave doubt.

News of the US airstrike in southern Helmand Province — the first in 11 days — came hours after US President Donald Trump told reporters he had had a “very good” chat with the Taliban political leader, who on Saturday last week signed a historic deal with Washington to withdraw foreign forces.

However, since the signing in Doha, Qatar, the militants have ramped up violence against Afghan forces, ending a partial week-long truce that provided a rare reprieve to war-weary residents.

US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Sonny Leggett said on Twitter that the airstrike took place against Taliban fighters who were “actively attacking” an Afghan forces checkpoint in Helmand Province.

“This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack,” he said. “We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments. As we have demonstrated, we will defend our partners when required.”

He said that insurgents had carried out 43 attacks on checkpoints in Helmand on Tuesday alone.

The insurgents killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a series of overnight attacks, Afghan government officials said yesterday, casting a pall over peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, due to begin on Tuesday next week.

“Taliban fighters attacked at least three army outposts in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz last night, killing at least 10 soldiers and four police,” Helmand Provincial Council member Safiullah Amiri said.

An Afghan Ministry of Defense official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the army toll, while the provincial police spokesman Hejratullah Akbari confirmed the police fatalities.

The insurgents on Tuesday night attacked police in Uruzgan Province, with the governor’s spokesman Zergai Ebadi saying: “Unfortunately, six police were killed and seven wounded.”

The news of the attacks came after Trump on Tuesday told reporters in Washington that he had a “very good” relationship with Taliban political leader Mullah Baradar, with the pair speaking on the telephone for 35 minutes, according to the insurgents.

“The relationship is very good that I have with the mullah. We had a good long conversation today and you know, they want to cease the violence, they’d like to cease violence also,” he said.

Leggett said on Twitter that the “#Afghans & US have complied w/ our agreements; however, Talibs appear intent on squandering this (opportunity) and ignoring the will of the people for #peace.”

Trump has touted the Doha deal as a way to end the bloody, 18-year US military presence in Afghanistan — right in time for his November re-election bid.

Under the terms of the deal, US and other foreign forces are to quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and a pledge by the insurgents to hold talks with the national government in Kabul.

The agreement also includes a commitment to exchange 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government in return for 1,000 captives — something the militants have cited as a prerequisite for talks, but which President Ashraf Ghani has refused to do before negotiations start.

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England and Wales’ ‘Ringer’s match’ is byword for violence 40 years on

Rugby Union internationals between England and Wales are often passionate and fiercely contested affairs, but Saturday’s Six Nations match between the old rivals at Twickenham, England, would have to go some way to match the excess of emotion that marred their 1980 encounter at “headquarters” and ensured lasting infamy for Paul Ringer after the Wales back-row was sent off.

During the 1970s, a largely miserable decade for the UK, Wales was the dominant force in the then Five Nations.

As the 1980s dawned, English forwards were determined to avoid fresh humiliation, while Welsh resentment at their treatment by the government of then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher spilled onto the rugby pitch.

“The atmosphere was evil,” Eddie Butler, Wales’ No. 8 at Twickenham that day, told the Mail on Sunday. “There was the Welsh steelworkers’ strike, which made it more of a social crusade than a game.”

Both sides had won their opening fixtures and right from the start, there were incidents of stamping, which in the modern professional era of television match officials would no doubt have led to immediate red cards.

As it was, Irish referee David Burnett — who would recall the game as the “dirtiest match I ever refereed” — warned England captain Bill Beaumont and Wales skipper Jeff Squire that the next act of foul play would see a player sent off.

With just 13 minutes played, Ringer became only the second Welsh player to be ordered from the field after bowling over John Horton, as the England fly-half cleared from his 22.

It was an innocuous clash by the standards of what had preceded, but Burnett was as good as his word.

“I was going like a bat out of hell and attempting to charge down the ball,” Ringer told the Western Mail last year.

“I had my hands up, but he [Horton] was too quick for me. I could not stop,” Ringer said. “It was nothing — he did not even go down. But there had been a warning and, I suppose, someone had to be sent off.”

“It was [England’s] Peter Wheeler who got me sent off,” Ringer added. “He came over [after the incident] and said: ‘Ref, there’s going to be a bloodbath here if you don’t sort him out!’ That made up his mind for him.”

Wales still scored two tries to none, yet lost 9-8, with England full-back Dusty Hare kicking three penalties — the last in stoppage-time.

It was a win that formed part of a Grand Slam for Beaumont’s men, England’s first Championship clean sweep since 1957.

The following day an international disciplinary committee banned Ringer for eight weeks and he only played one more game for Wales.

Butler said that the incident led to Wales losing a vital edge at the start of a decade far removed from their glory days of the 1970s.

“It was like we were being told to get back on the horse, but they’d taken away our spurs,” he said.

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title: Da Ai TV to answer NCC questions over license renewal

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The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday asked the management of Da Ai TV to come to its offices in Taipei to answer questions, as it reviews the network’s application to renew its license.

The network, which is funded by the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, applied to renew its license as it expires on April 14, the commission said.

The commission said that it has convened an independent committee of experts in media and other fields to review the application.

After closely examining the network’s performance since it obtained its license in 2014, the committee has identified two main issues and needs the network’s management to explain them in detail, it said.

First, the network abruptly terminated the broadcast of its self-produced television series Jiachang’s Heart (智子之心) after airing two episodes in 2018 on May 10 and May 11, the commission said, adding that the move resulted in 48 consumer complaints.

Second, the network’s handling of the news concerning the foundation’s request to set up a logistics center and a factory on a 4.4 hectare plot in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) in 2015 represented a clear conflict of interest, the commission said.

NCC commissioners considered a recommendation from the committee and yesterday ruled that Da Ai TV must send its management to the commission to explain how the network plans to address the two issues, the commission said.

Jiachang’s Heart, which tells the story of the foundation volunteer Lin Chih-hui (林智惠), was reportedly canceled due to online criticism from Chinese, who said that it “romanticized” the 1937-1945 Second Sino-Japanese War.

Lin served as a military nurse for Japan in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, during the war.

The NCC launched an administrative investigation into the matter after receiving complaints from viewers.

Da Ai TV executives initially conceded in a meeting with commissioners that the network was negligent for canceling the series without notifying the public in advance, saying that their decisionmaking process was rash.

They later reversed their position, saying that it canceled the TV series “for fear that certain imagery could trigger altercations between different ethnic groups, which goes against the network’s founding purpose to promote social harmony.”

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Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert, left, shoots against Boston Celtics center Daniel Theis in their NBA game at the TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday.Photo: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY
Caris LeVert on Tuesday delivered the performance of the night after exploding for a career-high 51 points as the Brooklyn Nets downed hosts the Boston Celtics 129-120 in overtime.

LeVert’s hot hand saw him drain 17-of-26 attempts from the field for a 65.4 percent shooting success rate, as the Celtics fell to 41-18 in the Eastern Conference.

The 25-year-old LeVert erupted after halftime with 37 points. His final tally also included every Nets point in overtime, when they blew away the Celtics 11-2.

LeVert’s virtuoso display could not have come at a better time for Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who has been without newly signed Kevin Durant for the entire season and lost Kyrie Irving to season-ending surgery.

“I know not having those guys, obviously it’s not ideal, but we’ve also learned a lot about the team, learned a lot about our players,” Atkinson said. “You learn a lot through these struggles and the fight... I look at it positively — we’re learning a lot this season. Anyone who says we’re waiting for next year, I’m like: ‘No, we’re building for next year.’”

The Nets improved to 26-33 to stay on course for a playoff berth. They are eighth in the Eastern Conference.

In Los Angeles, Anthony Davis produced a devastating burst of scoring as the Lakers came from behind to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 120-107.

Davis led the Lakers scoring with 37 points at the Staples Center, after the hosts rallied from a slow start to finish as the clear winners.

The 76ers led by 13 points at one stage in the first quarter, but were reeled in by a relentless second-quarter onslaught from the Lakers.

Davis poured in 18 points in the second quarter alone, as the Lakers outscored the 76ers 37-19 to lead 65-54 at halftime.

The Lakers stretched the lead in the third quarter before closing out the win in the fourth, with LeBron James chipping in 22 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds.

The win leaves the Lakers 47-13, on the brink of clinching a playoff spot. They lead in the Western Conference.

“We were terrible in the first quarter,” Davis said. “We had to come back in the second quarter and get it going. We can’t afford to rely on the offense as a buyout for our defense.”

However, the Lakers are slowly building toward a playoff mindset, as the regular season enters the home stretch, Davis said.

“We’re close. We’re not too far off,” he said. “There’s still stuff for us to get better at.”

Also on Tuesday, it was:

‧ Clippers 109, Thunder 94

‧ Timberwolves 139, Pelicans 134

‧ Spurs 104, Hornets 103

‧ Raptors 123, Suns 114

‧ Warriors 116, Nuggets 110

‧ Kings 133, Wizards 126

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title: LeVert’s career-high 51 carries Nets past Celtics


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Virus Outbreak: India’s restriction of drug exports leaves US worried

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, left, speaks to US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn before a US Senate hearing on how the US Is responding to the coronavirus in Washington on Tuesday.Photo: Reuters
US health regulators are watching for potential drug shortages after India restricted the export of some raw pharmaceutical ingredients, a move that could disrupt the industry’s globe-spanning supply chain.

India on Tuesday said that it would limit exports of some common medicines as concerns grow over shortages of chemical ingredients.

Many manufacturers of those ingredients in China are shut or making less medicine than usual due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The drugs include over-the-counter painkiller and fever reducer paracetamol and finished pills that include it.

Similar restrictions have been placed on the common antibiotic metronidazole, various versions of vitamin B and eight other medicinal chemicals, a notice from the Indian government said.

“India has restricted the export of 26 active pharmaceutical ingredients for export, which represents about 10 percent of their export capacity,” US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn told the US Congress at a hearing in Washington on Tuesday.

“We’re working very closely to look at that list to determine how that will affect the medical supply chain,” Hahn said.

So far, the FDA has only identified one drug that has gone into short supply because of coronavirus-related supply chain issues, although it has contacted 180 manufacturers.

Hahn declined to identify the drug, and said that alternatives are available.

Although India is the source of about 20 percent of the world’s generic-drug supply, the country relies on China for about 66 percent of the chemical components needed to make them.

A recent analysis by the Indian government found that as many as 450 drug ingredients could be affected by China’s virus containment efforts, which include a complete lockdown of Hubei Province, a center of the country’s drug industry.

The FDA has long grappled with drug shortages as drugmakers consolidated, shifted production overseas, and curtailed sales of unprofitable medicines.

Global health experts have encouraged US drugmakers to diversify their sources of pharmaceutical materials to avoid overdependence on any given country.

However, even diversification might not be a safeguard, said Yanzhong Huang (黃嚴忠), a senior fellow for global health at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

“Manufacturing pharmaceuticals nowadays is so globalized and this is a worldwide pandemic,” Huang said. “This is the first time we’re facing a convergence of factors like this.”

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Tornadoes ravage Tennessee, killing at least 25 people

People on Tuesday look for items to salvage after a tornado destroyed their business in Nashville, Tennessee.Photo: Reuters
Tornadoes early on Tuesday ripped across Tennessee as families slept, shredding more than 140 buildings and burying people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements.

At least 25 people were killed, some before they could even get out of bed, authorities said.

Sirens and cellphone alerts sounded, but the twisters that struck in the hours after midnight moved so quickly that many people in their path could not flee to safer areas.

“It hit so fast, a lot of folks didn’t have time to take shelter,” Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said. “Many of these folks were sleeping.”

Early findings by US National Weather Service survey teams indicated that the damage just east of Nashville was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, the agency said.

One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 16km stretch of Nashville that included parts of downtown. It smashed more than three dozen buildings, including destroying the tower and stained glass of a historic church.

Another tornado damaged more than 100 structures along a 3.2km path of destruction in Putnam, wiping some homes from their foundations and depositing the wreckage far away.

Daybreak revealed landscapes littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, making many city streets and rural roads impassable. Schools, courts, transit lines and an airport were closed.

More than a dozen polling stations were also damaged, forcing Super Tuesday voters to wait in long lines at alternative sites.

The death toll climbed steadily as first responders gingerly pulled apart wreckage.

Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said that only 30 percent of the disaster area had received a “hard check” by midday.

“A lot of these homes had basements, and we’re hopeful there are still people down in there,” he said.

In Putnam, 128km east of Nashville, trees, vehicles and other loose, heavy items had completely flattened houses and businesses.

A van of long-time customers at a local eatery — who proudly stated that they ate there every morning — arrived to help clear debris just as Tennessee Governor Bill Lee stopped by to tour the devastation.

In one neighborhood, volunteers had found five bodies by Tuesday afternoon. Neighbors and sheriff’s officers were still looking for two more.

“It is heartbreaking. We have had loss of life all across the state,” said Lee, who ordered nonessential state workers to stay home and then boarded a helicopter to survey the damage.

US President Donald Trump spoke with the governor by telephone and pledged federal assistance, the White House said.

The tornadoes were spawned by a line of severe storms that stretched from Alabama into western Pennsylvania.

In Nashville, the twister’s path was mostly north and east of the heart of downtown, sparing many of the city’s biggest tourism draws — the honky tonks of Broadway, the Grand Ole Opry House, the storied Ryman Auditorium and the convention center.

Instead, the storm tore through the largely African-American areas of Bordeaux and North Nashville, as well as neighborhoods transformed by a recent building boom.

Germantown and East Nashville are two of the city’s hot spots, with restaurants, music venues, high-end apartment complexes and rising home prices threatening to drive out long-time residents.

“The dogs started barking before the sirens went off. They knew what was coming,” Paula Wade of East Nashville said. “Then we heard the roar... Something made me just sit straight up in bed, and something came through the window right above my head. If I hadn’t moved, I would’ve gotten a face full of glass.”

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