title: Japan lifts evacuation order for town

content_text:
FUTABA FLUSTER:
 Street repairs and decontamination work is designed to give the world a false impression before the Olympic torch relay, resident Yuji Onuma said

Japan has lifted an evacuation order for parts of a town in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, weeks before the area is to host the start of the Olympic torch relay.

Futaba, 4km west of the plant, has been almost deserted since the nuclear meltdown nine years ago, while other areas in the region have mounted a partial recovery after the Japanese government declared them safe for residents.

The start of the relay’s Japan leg at the end of the month is supposed to showcase Fukushima Prefecture’s recovery from the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, but some residents say their hometowns might never return to normal.

An empty shopping street, under a sign reading “Nuclear Power — The Energy for a Better Future,” is pictured on Jan. 15, 2012, at the entrance of Futaba, a town inside the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
 Photo: Reuters

Futaba’s 7,000 residents were forced the evacuate after the March 2011 disaster, triggered by a powerful earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people along Japan’s northeast coast and destroyed the plant’s backup power supply.

The reopening of about a 4km2 area of Futaba means reconstruction workers can stay in accommodation near the railway station, but residents would not be able to return for another two years, after its water supply and other infrastructure have been restored, local officials said.

They would be able to enter and leave for short visits without going through security, and would no longer need to wear protective clothing, but would not be allowed to stay overnight, they said.

A protester on Saturday last week holds placards at a demonstration against the Tokyo Olympics, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and nuclear energy near Fukushima Prefecture’s J-Village, which is due to host the start of the Japanese leg of the Olympic torch relay on March 26.
 Photo: AFP

While the COVID-19 outbreak has prompted speculation that the Tokyo Olympics could be canceled or postponed, the Japanese government is keen to promote the Games as proof that the region, including Fukushima, has recovered from the disaster.

“I’m overwhelmed with emotion as we finally bring part of our town operations back to our hometown,” Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa said. “I pledge to push forward with our recovery and reconstruction.”

The Japanese leg of the torch relay is due to begin on March 26 at J-Village — a soccer training complex that functioned for years as a logistics hub for crews working to control and decommission the damaged nuclear power plant 19km away.

Although organizers have said the route is subject to change, the torch is scheduled to pass through Futaba later the same day, before being taken through other parts of Fukushima Prefecture over the following two days.

“In addition to building excitement across the country ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games and promoting the Olympic values, the Olympic torch relay aims to demonstrate solidarity with the regions still recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami,” the organizers said last month.

More than 160,000 people were forced to flee their homes following the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdown. Many have decided not to return, despite government reassurances on safety, and many of those who have are elderly residents.

Futaba is no exception, with just 10 percent of residents saying they intend to return. Some, particularly those with young children, are concerned about radiation levels, while others have built new lives elsewhere.

Futaba resident Yuji Onuma said work to repair streets and decontaminate the town center was designed to give the world a false impression before the Olympic torch relay.

“I wish they wouldn’t hold the relay here,” Onuma said.

Pointing at workers repaving a road expected to be on the relay route, he added: “Their No. 1 aim is to show people how much we’ve recovered. I don’t think people will understand anything by just seeing cleaned-up tracts of land.”

Radiation readings taken last month near Futaba Railway Station were about 0.28 microsieverts per hour, higher than the government-set target of 0.23 microsieverts per hour.

Another part of the town had a reading of 4.64 microsieverts per hour on the same day, meaning a person would reach the annual exposure limit of 1 millisievert, recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, in just nine days.

The torch is due to pass through the village of Iitate the following day, but campaigners this week described the relay as inappropriate and warned that they had found radiation “hotspots” in the village.

In a survey of 69 locations along and around the proposed relay route, the Radioactivity Monitoring Center for Citizens group said that it had found 44 sites with radioactive levels above 0.23 microsieverts per hour, including one “severe hotspot” of 0.85 microsieverts per hour.

The discovery of hotspots near J-Village by Greenpeace Japan at the end of last year prompted the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, to perform extra decontamination work.

While some independent monitors have said the discovery of isolated hotspots does not present an accurate picture of the overall situation in Fukushima Prefecture, Nobuyoshi Ito, an Iitate farmer, said the civic group’s findings cast doubts on government claims that decontamination work had been a success.

“Radiation exposure for runners passing along the route may not be very high, but the overall situation in places like Iitate is severe,” Ito said. “Levels are several times to as many as 20 times higher in the village than they were before the disaster, and people who moved back have to put up with that 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

Of Iitate’s pre-2011 population of 6,100, only 1,200 people have returned, Ito said.

“The small number of people coming means that the nuclear disaster is not over yet. The truth is that full recovery from a nuclear disaster like this is just not possible,” he said.

Additional reporting by agencies


content_text:
MORE TAKERS:
 Along with Unity Opto, the Ministry of Economic Affairs approved three more firms to invest as part of a government plan, bringing total participants to 173

Unity Opto Technology Co (東貝光電) is to invest more than NT$1.9 billion (US$63.42 million) to expand its local production, after the Ministry of Economic Affairs approved its application to join a government program to stimulate local investment, the ministry said yesterday.

The program, which was launched early last year during an escalating US-China trade dispute, has attracted 173 local firms to invest NT$718.8 billion in the nation, creating about 59,449 jobs.

Following in the footsteps of flat-panel makers Innolux Corp (群創) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Unity Opto, the nation’s largest supplier of backlight modules for LED panels, is to set up six new smart production lines for mini-LED and micro-LED products at its existing plant in New Taipei City’s Wugu Industrial Park (五股工業區), the ministry said.

While seeking to capitalize on increasing demand for LED TVs, Unity Opto also plans to make backlight modules for various applications in automotive devices, optical sensors and other products that use visible-light communication technologies, the ministry said.

The ministry said that it also approved investment applications from three other companies.

MSSCorps Co Ltd (汎銓科技), which specializes in material analysis in the semiconductor sector, is to invest NT$1.2 billion in equipment purchases, after the company late last year set up a new manufacturing site in Hsinchu County, the ministry said.

MFC Sealing Technology Co Ltd (麥豐密封科技), which operates in the upstream of the semiconductor industry, is to invest about NT$10 billion to set up a new automated plant in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅), the ministry said.

The company, which manufacturers oil seals, o-rings and rubber molded parts, is to set up 10 production lines as it seeks to expand into other markets, such as automotive — batteries for electric vehicles — healthcare and green energy, the ministry said.

Also looking to increase its operations in Yangmei, contact lens manufacturer I-See Vision Technology Inc (昕琦科技) is to invest NT$1.9 billion to expand its existing facility by adding 21 automated production lines and a clean room.

The company’s application comes after it entered the Japanese market, where it is seeking to strengthen its presence by developing a completely automated manufacturing process, the ministry said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Unity Opto plans to invest NT$1.9bn locally

taiwan-subdivisions: 楊梅 五股


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: European banks urge calm and working from home

Global banks and small investment firms in Europe are urging staff to work from home and curb travel as the financial industry braces for disruption from the rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak.

For many companies it would be a first-time experiment with home working on a wide scale, but as many Asian offices begin to normalize working practices after their own attempts to stop the spread of the virus, the signs are that the European industry would adapt.

In Italy, the European country with the highest number of known COVID-19 cases so far, No. 1 lender UniCredit SpA has allowed many of its staff to work from home, with less than a third of workers at its Milan headquarters currently turning up to the office, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Swiss banks Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG have joined other global lenders in imposing restrictions on international travel to stem the spread of the virus, people familiar with the situation said, while France’s Natixis SA and Societe Generale SA and Spain’s BBVA SA also said they had stopped staff going to high-risk areas and limited travel elsewhere.

Although the majority of cases have been recorded in China, the virus is spreading worldwide with 80 countries reporting confirmed cases of the flu-like illness that can lead to pneumonia.

South Korea and Iran have been particularly hard hit and the number of cases in Europe is rising.

Italy had reported 107 coronavirus-linked deaths as of Wednesday and more than 3,000 confirmed cases since the outbreak surfaced 13 days ago.

A spokeswoman for the European Central Bank said it was monitoring developments and was in close contact with the banks it supervises regarding their business continuity plans.

Meanwhile, German and British financial regulators said they were keeping a close eye on how prepared banks and other institutions were.

Government projections show that up to a fifth of the total workforce in the UK could miss work during the peak of an epidemic.

One of Europe’s biggest insurance markets, Lloyd’s of London, said it had “emergency trading protocols” to ensure business continues if access to its City of London tower is limited, including encouraging electronic placing rather than the traditional practice of brokering face-to-face deals.

In 2018, financial services accounted for almost 7 percent of Britain’s total economic output, half of it generated in London.

Natixis said its trading floor staff in Hong Kong were already equipped to work from home and it would be deploying the same measures to its staff in France shortly.

Smaller firms have been implementing their own measures.

“We’ve said for people to either travel outside of peak times or to take a taxi ... or to cycle,” said James Walker, managing partner at London-based computer-driven hedge fund firm Solaise Capital Management LLP.

“Our next step would be for everyone to work from home if [the outbreak] gets materially worse,” said Walker, whose 11 staff are now rotating shifts to avoid the whole team falling ill at the same time.

Whether the temporary measures lead to a longer-term change in working habits in an industry renowned for long hours spent in the office remains to be seen.

“Everyone in our Asian offices has been doing the home rotation thing and their markets didn’t malfunction,” said Mike Kelly of Pinebridge Investments. “At the end of all this, a lot more people will learn they can telecommute.”

Others were more pessimistic.

“In extreme circumstances — like a ban on public transportation or the authorities’ decision to shut down all offices we would really struggle to operate,” one bond trader at an Italian bank said.

“If that is the scenario, well, the market itself would vanish,” the person said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: Adata remains bullish, despite virus

content_text:
Memory module maker Adata Technology Co (威剛) yesterday posted revenue of NT$4.33 billion (US$144.5 million) for the first two months of this year, an increase of 4.5 percent year-on-year, an indication that the COVID-19 outbreak has not significantly affected demand.

Last month alone, sales increased 19.64 percent year-on-year to NT$2.45 billion, with DRAM modules accounting for about 42 percent, while solid-state-disc products contributed 32 percent.

“Customers have shown strong inventory replenishment demand, undaunted by the impact of COVID-19,” Adata said in a statement. “No signs show that customers have been reducing orders after the Lunar New Year holiday.”

With strong demand for 5G applications and cloud-computing devices, as well as memory chips for those devices, Adata expects revenue to grow each month this quarter, the statement said.

“It is certain that there will be a constraint in the supply of DRAM and flash [memory chips] in the first half of this year,” the company said.

The coronavirus outbreak could weaken consumer demand this month and next month, but that short-term effect would not depress the memorychip industry’s bullish outlook in the long term, it said.

Adata believes memorychip prices are set to rise in the mid to long-term and the company is proactively sourcing chips to maintain sufficient inventory in expectation that the launches of new 5G-related applications, Microsoft Corp’s new Xbox game console and the PS5 console from Sony Corp would propel demand.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


people: 蘇貞昌 陳其邁 陳時中 徐國勇

taiwan-subdivisions: 萬華 信義

content_text:
Virus Outbreak: CECC to set penalty guidelines, premier says

SCENARIOS NEEDED:
 Local governments, which are in charge of fining those who break quarantines, should strictly enforce the rules, Premier Su Tseng-chang said

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday ordered the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) to establish guidelines for penalizing people who break a quarantine at home or at a center-designated building.

Su made the remarks during a weekly Cabinet meeting.

People subject to quarantine who willfully leave should be subject to a hefty fine and local governments, which are in charge of handing them out, should strictly enforce the rules, the premier said.

A payment deadline and a penalty for when people fail to pay on time needs to be set, Su said.

The authorities should enforce the penalty, meaning that offenders should be sequestered to their quarantine site, he added.

The center would be instructed to quickly publish guidelines on fining people who contravene the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Restoration (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) so that scenarios are established for when to impose fines, Su said, adding that the directive is designed to safeguard public health.

Su quoted Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) as saying that the COVID-19 situation worldwide remains dire, and that the nation must be prepared for the possibility of community spread.

Even though schools have opened, there have not been any cluster infections, which is commendable, Su said, calling on schools at all levels to continue their disease-prevention efforts in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and local governments.

Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told local government representatives at the meeting to remind the public to wash their hands thoroughly and frequently, saying that hand washing is one of the most effective ways to avoid becoming infected.

In related news, a man in Hsinchu County was yesterday fined NT$1 million (US$33,378) for breaking a home quarantine.

Lin Tung-ching (林東京), who returned to Taiwan on a Xiamen Air flight on Tuesday last week, should have quarantined himself at home until Tuesday next week, but he changed residence multiple times after the quarantine was ordered, leaving disease-prevention workers unable to locate him.

With the help of Lin’s family members, the Liujia Police Precinct persuaded Lin to turn himself in, and found that he had visited Taipei’s Xinyi (信義) and Wanhua (萬華) districts and New Taipei City’s Baishawan beach during the quarantine period, precinct Chief Yeh Jih-jen (葉日仁) said.

The county government slapped Lin with the highest possible fine under the special act on COVID-19 — over a “malicious” infraction.

The act, passed and ratified on Tuesday last week, contains penalties — which can be retroactively applied to Jan. 15 — for people who breach quarantines, among other infractions.

Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that the ministry would recommend to the CECC that quarantined people be tracked through video calls.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: Land Bank eyes growth in land and construction

content_text:
DIFFERENT SITUATION:
 Chairman Hwang Bor-chang said that unlike SARS in 2003, the local market is in better condition to weather the effects of COVID-19

State-owned Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), the nation’s largest mortgage lender, is looking at an aggressive growth in land and construction financing this year, driven by Taiwanese firms moving production bases home from China.

The lender expects construction and land financing to reach NT$385 billion (US$12.85 billion) this year, which would translate into a 19 percent increase after achieving an 18.2 percent gain last year, Land Bank of Taiwan chairman Hwang Bor-chang (黃柏川) said on Wednesday.

A sizeable share of investment pledges by local companies to cope with US-China trade tensions would materialize this year and benefit the bank, said Hwang, a veteran real-estate financier who assumed the helm at the bank last year.

The government has received NT$715.8 billion of investment pledges from local firms seeking to move manufacturing bases home from China to avoid US tariff hikes, with NT$200 billion expected to be realized this year.

Firms would press ahead with the plans to diversify risks, despite a detente between the US and China, and a growing worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, Hwang said.

Companies last year made good on investment pledges totaling NT$230 billion, fueling strong demand for land, factories and office space, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has said.

Land Bank of Taiwan also expects retail mortgage operations to increase 3.5 percent to NT$900 billion, Hwang said.

He dismissed worries that the spread of COVID-19 would depress the property market, as the SARS outbreak did in 2003.

Property prices took a sharp downturn during SARS, prompting home owners to abandon mortgage payments and posing threats to systemic stability, Hwang said, adding that real estate accounted for 90 percent of collateral.

Today, lenders generally keep their loan-to-value ratios at conservative levels to meet regulatory requirements and enhance risk controls, he said.

In addition, interest rates are at record lows, standing at 1.56 percent for home loans and less than 2 percent for other financing needs, reflecting an abundance of liquidity, so lenders have to lower prices to win customers, Hwang said.

Interest rates hovered at about 4 to 5 percent in 2003, suggesting heavier financial burdens on the part of borrowers, he said.

Bad loans rose by double-digit percentage points 17 years ago, but have since fallen, affirming healthy asset qualities for the banking industry, Hwang said.

He acknowledged that home-buying interest has weakened somewhat amid the coronavirus epidemic, but said that the market would stage a rapid turnaround once the disease is contained.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
One of Britain’s biggest airlines, Flybe, yesterday collapsed with passengers left stranded as the COVID-19 outbreak takes a heavy toll on air travel around the world.

A statement on Flybe’s Web site said the no-frills airline, which employs 2,000 people, had entered administration and could not arrange alternative flights for its passengers.

“All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect,” said the company, which avoided going bust in January only after being granted a tax holiday by the government.

Travelers yesterday wait at unmanned check-in desks at Terminal 3 of Manchester Airport in Manchester, England, after Flybe, Europe’s biggest regional airline, collapsed into administration.
 Photo: AP

Flybe is the biggest operator of UK domestic flights and carries about 8 million passengers annually.

However, it failed to turn around its fortunes since being purchased last year by the Connect Airways consortium, initially owing to weak demand and fierce competition.

That has now been compounded by the new coronavirus, with a slew of airlines canceling flights and warning that profits would take a hit from decreased demand.

The announcement came hours after media reports that the airline could collapse following its failure to secure a ￡100 million (US$129.3 million) state loan to help stabilize the business.

The effects of COVID-19 on travel “has made a bad situation much worse,” sources told the BBC, while Bloomberg News yesterday reported that no agreement could be reached on a virus-related government bailout.

Small British airlines have suffered recently from volatile fuel costs and a weak pound.

Flybe operates from 43 airports across Europe and 28 in Britain, and its collapse left potentially thousands of people stranded far from home.

“If you are due to fly with Flybe, please DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE AIRPORT unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline,” the airline said.

The British government said it had asked bus and train operators to accept Flybe tickets and other airlines to offer reductions to help passengers reach their destination.

“Flybe’s financial difficulties were longstanding and well documented and predate the outbreak of COVID-19,” a spokesperson said.

The Connect Airways consortium is led by Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and also includes investment firm Cyrus Capital and infrastructure specialist Stobart Group.

Connect chief executive Mark Anderson said that “every possible attempt” had been made to avoid the collapse, but that the airline had been “unable to overcome significant funding challenges.”

Separately, German airline giant Deutsche Lufthansa AG on Wednesday said it would ground 150 of its more than 750 planes worldwide, days after announcing a slimmed-down timetable over the effects of the outbreak.

“Twenty-five long-haul aircraft and 125 short and medium-haul aircraft” would no longer fly, said a spokesman for the group, which also includes carriers Eurowings GmbH, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines AG.

On Monday, Lufthansa said it would slash its flight plan by 25 percent, especially on short and medium-haul routes including to virus-hit areas of Italy, but also within Germany.

The group has suspended routes to other virus hotspots, including China and Iran, to late April.

Lufthansa also suspended new hires as part of measures to cushion the effects of the virus, which it said was “not yet possible to estimate.”

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Virus Outbreak: Airline folds as virus hits flights


content_text:
The Houthi rebels arrived without warning, heavily armed and in a furious mood, as they barged into Ophelia, the only cafe for women in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and demanded that it be shut down immediately.

When owner, Shaima Mohammed, asked for a little time to allow her customers to gather their things, one of the Houthis snapped at her: “Women should be in their homes. Why are they going out in public?”

“Armed men filled the street, directing obscenities at the women as they left,” Shaima said in a Facebook post as she announced the cafe’s closure.

Women and a child walk past shops in a market in Sana’a, Yemen, on Monday.
 Photo: AFP

The tense incident, one of a series in the rebel-held north, illustrates the Houthis’ determination to impose their own moral order on Yemenis, who have already endured five years of grinding conflict.

In recent months, restaurants where men and women mingle have been shut down, scissor-wielding militia have policed men’s hairstyles, and rebel forces have patrolled college campuses to enforce dress codes.

Much of the crackdown has been rolled out without any official decree or documentation, but reporters saw a copy of a Houthi letter sent to non-government groups, illustrating the new mood as it laid out rules for workshops.

“Exclude all activities that aim to stir laughter, joy or entertainment among the trainees, and that lead to the lowering of barriers and modesty between women and men,” it read. “This is something that completely contradicts the teachings of Islam and the ethics of our Yemeni society.”

Yemen’s long war has pitted the Houthis, who are backed by Iran and control large swathes of the north, against the internationally recognized government, which has the support of a Saudi Arabian-led military coalition.

The conflict in what was already the Arab world’s poorest nation has killed tens of thousands and triggered what the UN calls the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth, with millions displaced and in need of aid.

TIGHT CONTROL

“The situation in Houthi-controlled areas is getting tighter and tighter. People are scared,” said Nadwa al-Dawsari, a Yemeni conflict analyst.

She confirmed accounts of women being harassed for wearing belts around their traditional abaya robes, with rebels tearing them off, saying the silhouette they create is too “exciting.”

“This is shocking for Yemeni society, because it’s one thing to denounce certain behavior and what people are wearing, and it’s another thing to go and abuse these women like Houthis are doing,” al-Dawsari said. “It goes against our tribal values, it goes against our Islamic values... The difference now is that Houthis can force it down the throats of people living under their control.”

The Houthi campaign collides with a society which has traditionally allowed space for individual freedoms and cultivated an appreciation of music and leisure, said Adel al-Ahmadi, a Yemeni academic.

The rebels, who hail from the mountainous north, have proved themselves to be a formidable fighting force since they swept into Sana’a in 2014, rallying behind their slogan: “Death to America! Death to Israel! Curse on the Jews! Victory to Islam.”

The militia, which rose up in the 1990s over alleged sectarian discrimination, hail from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam which makes up about one-third of the population.

“It is an ideological movement ... which has evolved from the status of oppressed to that of oppressor,” Ahmadi said.

Witnesses in Sana’a told reporters of a rising number of disturbing incidents since late last year, a period during which the Houthis have racked up battlefield victories and cranked up a confrontation with UN agencies attempting to deliver humanitarian aid.

VALENTINE’S CRACKDOWN

On Feb. 13, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, young people were beaten in the street for failing to comply with the new notions of acceptable dress.

Unlike the days before the conflict, when people were free to celebrate with chocolates and flowers, one young man had his red shirt torn off by assailants who saw it as a symbol of an event that runs counter to Yemeni values.

In January, men’s hair salons were told that fashionable styles were banned. Young men who fell foul of the rule with longer styles have been hauled onto major intersections where their locks were publicly chopped back with large scissors.

Another cafe owner in Sanaa told reporters that his establishment had been shut down twice in three months by armed rebels.

“We are completely opposed to these abusive measures and the restrictions being imposed on people in the capital,” he said.

Houthis have also campaigned in schools and on college campuses against young people being “improperly dressed,” said Hemdane al-Ali, a journalist and human rights activist who lives in self-exile.

At Sana’a University, they have formed squads that “patrol the corridors to prevent any contact between students of different sexes,” al-Ali said.

The war in Yemen is viewed as a front in the broader struggle between the Houthis’ backer Iran and the region’s other heavyweight — Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.

“Young fighters go through months of training in the mountains, taught not only how to use weapons, but also indoctrinated in a radical version of Shia [Shiite] Islam,” al-Dawsari said.

“If you want to understand why Houthis behave in certain ways, you have to look at Iran... They’ve been trained by Iran, taught how to use disinformation, how to subjugate women. They’re developing a police state akin to Iran,” she said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Houthis impose morals campaign in Yemeni capital


content_text:
Twitter Inc is starting to test tweets that disappear after 24 hours, although initially only in Brazil.

The company says the ephemeral tweets, which it calls “fleets” because of their fleeting nature, are designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of normal tweets.

Fleets cannot be retweeted and they would not have “likes.” People can respond to them, but the replies show up as direct messages to the original tweeter, not as a public response, turning any back-and-forth into a private conversation instead of a public discussion.

Despite high-profile users such as US President Donald Trump, Twitter has lagged behind other tech powerhouses like Facebook Inc and Google in terms of user growth and advertising revenue.

Twitter is hoping that by offering disappearing tweets, people would be more likely to share casual, everyday thoughts — and to do so more often.

The new feature is reminiscent of Instagram and Facebook “stories” and Snap Inc’s snaps, which let users post short-lived photos and messages. Such photographs are increasingly popular with social media users looking for smaller groups and more private chats.

However, Twitter often serves a different function than Instagram or Facebook, operating not only as a basis for conversation, but as a platform for politicians and other public figures.

Disappearing tweets could make it harder to hold such people accountable, monitor their posts and fact-check them.

Social media services often test new features in smaller markets before bringing them to the US and elsewhere — if they do so at all.

Twitter said it might bring fleets to other countries depending on how the Brazil test goes.

In its blog post on Wednesday, Twitter said it would be looking into how the new feature “changes the way you interact and if it allows you to share what you’re thinking more comfortably.”

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

references: Twitter Facebook

title: Twitter tests vanishing tweets in Brazil


title: US to help Taiwan more on world stage

content_text:
WASHINGTON ACTION:
 The AIT chairman met with President Tsai Ing-wen yesterday, just hours after the US’ lower house unanimously passed the TAIPEI Act of 2019

The US will “redouble” its efforts to ensure Taiwan’s participation on the global stage, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty told President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday morning.

“During President Tsai’s second term, we will redouble our efforts to expand Taiwan’s participation on the global stage, a need exemplified by the ongoing spread of coronavirus,” Moriarty said during his meeting with Tsai at the Presidential Office in Taipei, where he congratulated her on her re-election on Jan. 11.

Moriarty also praised Taiwan’s approach to containing COVID-19.

President Tsai Ing-wen, right, greets American Institute in Taiwan Chairman James Moriarty at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: CNA

“Taiwan’s measured, transparent and evidence-based approach to containing this disease is a testament to the strength of its democratic system,” he said.

“It also underscores for the whole world to see the value that Taiwan can bring to international organizations. Countries around the world stand to benefit from Taiwan’s knowledge, experience and generosity,” he said.

“We are proud of the progress that has been made in the US-Taiwan relationship under President Tsai’s leadership,” he said.

“Beyond our long-standing commercial and strategic partnership, US-Taiwan cooperation now spans technical and humanitarian areas that will define our futures, enabling us to confront common threats and drive global progress,” Moriarty added.

“Underpinning the US-Taiwan relationship is a foundation of shared values,” he said. “These values drive our societies to contribute our resources and expertise to the challenges facing the international community,” Moriarty said.

Tsai’s meeting with Moriarty came just hours after the US House of Representatives unanimously passed the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019, 415 to zero.

The bill is aimed at expressing US support for Taiwan’s diplomatic alliances around the world by helping support it in strengthening its diplomatic relations, as well as partnerships with countries in the Indo-Pacific and other regions.

The bill states that the US should also advocate, as appropriate, for Taiwan’s membership in international organizations where statehood is not a requirement, and observer status in other appropriate organizations.

A TAIPEI Act of 2018 was introduced in the US Senate in September 2018 by US Senator Cory Gardner and cosponsored by US senators Edward Markey, Marco Rubio and Robert Menendez in the wake of Taiwan losing five diplomatic allies since Tsai became president in May 2016 — Sao Tome and Principe, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso and El Salvador.

However, it failed to make it through the committee process and was reintroduced on May 23 last year with Gardner as the primary sponsor, and Rubio and US senators Christopher Coons and John Cornyn as cosponsors.

US Representative John Curtis submitted a similar version to the House in October.

The Senate passed its version of the bill on Oct. 29, with the House Foreign Affairs Committee passing Curtis’ version the following day.

However, because the House version has some differences with the Senate’s, the Senate will need to pass the revised version again before the bill can be signed into law by US President Donald Trump.

Curtis told the Central News Agency on Wednesday night in Washington that he expected the Senate to look into the slightly revised legislation very soon, and for Trump to sign the bill as soon as it arrives on his desk.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the US Congress for its support.

US congressional members across party lines have continued to help Taiwan in stabilizing its diplomatic allies and support the nation’s participation in global organizations, fully demonstrating the closeness and friendship between the two nations, the ministry said in a statement.


people: 洪秀柱 江啟臣 郝龍斌

title: KMT wrestles with cross-strait issue

content_text:
With the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) scheduled to hold its chairperson by-election tomorrow, party hard-liners expressed concern over select candidates’ call to adjust the party’s cross-strait policy following its massive defeat in the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections.

Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), who represents the party’s younger generation, are deliberately avoiding or obfuscating the issue about cross-strait relations, former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said in a press release yesterday.

The party’s core values — to uphold the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution and embrace the spirit of the Three Principles of the People (三民主義 ) — must not change, she said.

Hung said that her addition of the clause — “Based on the ROC Constitution and furthering the ‘1992 consensus,’ [the KMT is] to actively explore the possibility of terminating hostile relations across the Taiwan Strait by signing a peace accord” — in 2016, when she was chairwoman, is what people across the Strait need.

The so-called “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.

Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) urged party members not to vote in the by-election, saying that Hau’s and Chiang’s comments on cross-strait relations seem to favor severing ties with China.

The core of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) cross-strait policy is separation from China, which increases the risk of conflict and possibly a resumption of war, Chang said.

The KMT should stress that it is different from the DPP and that its cross-strait policy could bring about a peaceful resolution, he said.

Hau and Chiang are echoing the DPP’s statements and, in so doing, causing the KMT — and Taiwan — to lose whatever advantage it has in cross-strait relations, he said.

Hau said that his core values of defending the ROC and staunchly resisting Taiwanese independence are very clear, adding that they are the KMT’s core values, too.

He pledged that if elected, he would handle cross-strait issues according to such ideals.

Chiang said that telling members not to vote is stifling democracy within the party and preventing changes that the party needs, which in the end would hurt the party more than the candidates.

He urged members to turn out to vote and help the party embrace change.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


people: 陳時中 蔡壁如 柯文哲

content_text:
Virus Outbreak: COVID-19 not yet at peak, Taiwan under control, minister says

The global spread of COVID-19 has likely not yet peaked, although the situation in Taiwan is under control, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.

Chen is also head of the Central Epidemic Command Center.

COVID-19 cases would enter peaks at different times in different nations, Chen said at a question-and-answer session, at which several legislative committees reviewed the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Restoration (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例).

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks as Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung looks on at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

Uncertainties remain when Taiwanese return from overseas, highlighting the need for more effort to prevent additional cases in Taiwan, Chen said.

Asked whether community spread would happen in Taiwan, Chen said that while it would be “difficult to prevent,” the government is sparing no effort to minimize the risk and the scale should it occur.

Precise control measures are in place, including proper inspections of high-risk groups and keeping them a safe distance from the rest of the population, he said.

While the government pledges to provide constant updates, it is hard to accurately say when the disease’s spread would slow, as a too-optimistic estimate could lead to a slackening of disease-prevention efforts, while a long-term prediction could cause unnecessary panic, Chen said.

About 40 medical personnel are in quarantine at hospital dormitories, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Ho Chi-kung (何啟功) said, answering a question from Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如).

Ho did not specify what the condition of the quarantined personnel was.

The ministry should devise plans for potential cluster infections at hospitals, said Tsai, who is an aide to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and was a nurse at National Taiwan University Hospital.

Medical workers, especially nurses, often work long hours due to understaffing, which would be exacerbated were more put in quarantine, Tsai said.

Large hospitals have sufficient personnel, Ho said, adding that local hospitals would cap the number of patients they receive were they to face difficulties with staff being quarantined.

However, if workloads were still too heavy, the government would supply additional personnel, Ho said, without specifying how.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: Central bank should hold course on policy: experts

content_text:
Taiwan’s central bank should maintain its monetary policy, even though the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday cut interest rates to mitigate the economic effects of a global COVID-19 epidemic, economists said on Wednesday.

Taiwan has been doing better than many other nations to contain the epidemic, therefore it is unnecessary for the central bank to ease its monetary policy any time soon, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) chief economist Lo Wei (羅瑋) said.

“It would be best if Taiwan’s central bank left its key interest rates unchanged for the time being,” Lo said ahead of the bank’s quarterly policymaking meeting on March 19.

In its last quarterly meeting on Dec. 16 last year, the central bank maintained its monetary policy for the 14th consecutive quarter, leaving the discount rate at 1.375 percent, rates on accommodations with collateral at 1.75 percent and rates on accommodations without collateral at 3.625 percent.

Heavy losses on US equity markets reflected panic selling among investors and the Fed felt a sense of urgency to lower interest rates as a stimulus measure to prevent weakening of the US’ economic fundamentals amid the epidemic, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院) vice president Wang Jiann-chyuan (王健全) said.

The local market is awash in liquidity, so there is no need for the central bank to take similar action, Hua Nan Securities Co (華南永昌證券) analyst Kevin Su (蘇見文) said.

“Many enterprises in Taiwan are sitting on large amounts of funds,” Su said. “Taiwan’s problem is that enterprises lack good investment opportunities.”

In a similar vein, Lo said that lowering interest rates in Taiwan could prompt heavier investment in the local property market, which would lead to overheating.

Instead, fiscal stimulus would be a more effective response to the economic effects of the epidemic, he said.

“The government has already proposed a stimulus package to help small and medium-sized enterprises cope with the difficulties arising from the virus outbreak,” Lo said. “So there is no immediate need for the central bank to cut interest rates.”

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
NEIGHBORHOOD PATROL:
 Authorities said they have arrested a suspect, but You Si-kun said the suspect sent him another message after being questioned by police

Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) yesterday said that he had received threatening messages from a person demanding that You bear responsibility for the murders of Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) family members.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau said a suspect has been apprehended.

You said he had received threats against him and his family from the same person, but did not see increased police protection around his residence in Taipei’s Daan District (大安).

Legislative Speaker You Si-kun talks to reporters at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday about receiving threats.
 Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

The former premier said that the first threat was issued on Feb. 18 through a Facebook message, which was followed by a letter mailed to him the next day.

The letter, signed by a person named Yu Kuei-hsiang (游貴湘), says it is a “request for You Si-kun and his family to take up responsibility for the pain and sorrow of the [Lin] family murders. For this, I will transfer NT$20,000 to You, so he can buy airline tickets to leave Taiwan right now.”

The writer was referring to the Feb. 28, 1980, murders of Lin’s mother and seven-year-old twin daughters, who were stabbed to death at their home. Lin’s eldest daughter was also severely wounded.

The bureau said that You’s aides on Feb. 21 filed a police complaint and they worked swiftly to arrest a suspect known as “Yu Kuei-hsiang” that night, later identified as an 88-year-old retired soldier residing in Taoyuan.

Taoyuan prosecutors said Yu faces criminal charges, but he denied issuing threats, saying he wrote the letter because You is not loyal to the Republic of China and should leave the country.

However, You said he received another threatening letter on Monday from the same person, together with a bank receipt for a wire transfer of NT$20,000.

You said his office contacted the National Police Agency (NPA) and was told to “just return [the receipt] to the sender.”

You told reporters that he went public about the police’s handling of the matter, because although the suspect was questioned by police, he still sent a letter with the receipt.

“It is clear that the suspect is not backing off, despite being questioned by police,” he said.

“It was an open threat through Facebook and the letter,” You said.

“I understand that the suspect has an organization backing him, which has channels linked to China. That is why I am very much concerned for my family’s personal safety,” he added.

You also complained of inaction by Taipei police, saying the police patrol box next to his residence is empty, implying that officers did not patrol the neighborhood nor check the box.

Afterward, Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) visited You’s office to apologize in person.

“I did not receive the NPA report about the legislative speaker receiving a letter of threat a second time. These are units under my ministry’s responsibility, so I have to apologize,” Hsu said.

Hsu said that QR code markers that officers can scan have replaced police boxes in most places in Taipei.

A QR code marker next to You’s residence shows that the area has been under constant patrol, Hsu said.

As for You’s complaint about the empty patrol box, Hsu said that many patrol boxes remain, as residents believe they could be a deterrent against crime.

You last week said that he was named by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-controlled media as a prime suspect in the Lin family murders, as he was one of Lin’s closest aides at the time.

A Transitional Justice Commission report last month said that the nation’s intelligence and security agencies under the then-KMT regime were likely involved in the murders.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

people: 徐國勇 游錫堃

title: Speaker complains of police inaction over threats


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Shift in police to fight virus limiting breath alcohol tests

Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) yesterday said that the ministry is redistributing police forces to more effectively combat the spread of COVID-19, which would leave fewer police officers to run drunk driving checkpoints and breath alcohol tests.

Hsu made the announcement at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, where several legislative committees met to review special budget funding for businesses and individuals affected by COVID-19.

During the session, New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) asked what protective equipment the government was issuing to police officers who conduct breath tests, as COVID-19 is mainly spread by droplet, contact and airborne transmission.

The ministry would temporarily suspend its nationwide campaign against drunk driving as a disease-prevention measure, but tests using single-use Breathalyzers could still be locally administered if necessary, he said.

The decision resulted from a reallocation of human resources to disease-prevention efforts, Hsu said, adding that the First, Fourth and Fifth Corps of the Special Police were affected.

The ministry was also temporarily suspending all inspections and evaluations for police officers, Hsu said.

Nationwide vigilance against drunk driving is still a priority, Hsu added.

The ministry holds national efforts to identify and detain drunk drivers — “nationwide tests” — two times per month, while local police plan additional crackdowns — “regional tests” — the ministry said later yesterday after Hsu’s remarks sparked confusion.

People who are caught drunk driving face a fine of NT$15,000 to NT$120,000, or a prison term, the ministry said.

Since Sunday, repeat offenders would be required to install an ignitiion interlock device on their vehicle for one year, the ministry added.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

people: 徐國勇 陳椒華


content_text:
記者陳芊秀／綜合報導

香港天王郭富城母親卓信於2月7日辭世，享耆壽90歲。他的母親於5日出殯，舉行土葬儀式，深夜曬出母子合照並發文悼念：「我仍然未能接受妳已經離我而去的事實……。」

▲郭富城母親90歲辭世，深夜曬出合照悼念。（圖／翻攝自微博／郭富城）

照片中，郭富城拿著粉色花束獻給媽媽，媽媽也露出燦爛笑容，母子倆都有高挺鼻樑，連臥蠶、法令紋都極為相似。他文中向母親道別，「我仍然未能接受妳已經離我而去的事實，但是理性上，我仍必須堅忍著心中的傷痛，全力為妳處理好喪禮一切的事宜。」他打起精神為母親籌備喪禮，身穿喪服守孝，演藝圈好友也出席送老母親最後一程。

郭富城相當孝順媽媽，2019年1月開演唱會時，就表示擔心母親身體，一度低頭哽咽說：「沒有媽媽就沒有我。」他也曾透露結婚生子是為了圓母親「希望他成家立室」的心願。

▲郭富城：「我仍然未能接受妳已經離我而去的事實。」（圖／翻攝自微博／郭富城）

【郭富城微博全文】

別了！我親愛的母親！

雖然，我仍然未能接受妳已經離我而去的事實，但是理性上，我仍必須堅忍著心中的傷痛，全力為妳處理好喪禮一切的事宜。

昨天的設靈，謝謝所有圈內圈外的好朋友，致送予母親的心意花牌，令整個禮堂充滿幽幽的花香。夜

title: 郭富城強忍哀痛送母出殯：不能接受妳已經離我而去的事實！　母子合照網哭了


title: 大支改編《台灣隊長Remix》　致敬防疫英雄「感謝一直守護台灣」

content_text:
記者許皓婷／綜合報導

新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情蔓延，醫護、警消人員等都在第一線抗疫，為了守護國民的健康，演藝圈明星也出錢出力援助，歌手大支5日就推出改編歌曲《台灣隊長Remix》，感謝所有辛苦的防疫英雄們。

▲大支改編歌曲致敬防疫英雄。（圖／翻攝自Instagram／大支）

大支5日PO出改編歌曲《台灣隊長Remix》，想感謝所有在前線抗疫的人：「謝謝所有辛苦的的防疫英雄們，感謝你們一直守護著台灣，謹用這首歌為你們加油，向你們致敬。」

大支改編《台灣隊長Remix》，歌詞提到所有防疫英雄都是「台灣隊長」，並向醫師、護士、放射師致敬，感謝軍警消海巡確保防疫執行，也提到全心防疫、螺絲超緊，更唱到「災難讓英雄齊聚集結，組成最強勁軍隊」，感謝所有為防疫做出貢獻的無名英雄，「讓我們向這些無名英雄敬禮謝謝！台灣隊長！謝謝台灣隊長！」

▲大支改編《台灣隊長Remix》。（圖／翻攝自YouTube）

而大支推出《台灣隊長Remix》後，引來網友紛紛大讚：「這首歌讓我起雞皮疙瘩，聽不到一分鐘就有點哽咽」、「不管是誰都團結一心守護彼此真的由衷感激，生為台灣人是我的驕傲」、「真的很感謝站在第一前線的所有台灣隊長」。


title: Bloomberg quits presidential race, endorses Biden

content_text:
Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and endorsed former US vice president Joe Biden.

Bloomberg announced his departure from the race after a disappointing finish on Super Tuesday in the slate of states that account for almost one-third of the total delegates available in the Democratic nominating contest.

He won only the territory of American Samoa and picked up several dozen delegates elsewhere.

A sign for the Michael Bloomberg campaign for US president is pictured on Feb. 27 in the village of Nu’uuli, American Samoa.
 Photo: AP

Biden won big in Southern states where Bloomberg had poured tens of millions of US dollars and even cautiously hoped for a victory.

“I entered the race for President to defeat [US President] Donald Trump,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump — because it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.”

Two of Bloomberg’s former Democratic rivals, US Senator Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden as the moderate alternative to US Senator Bernie Sanders just the day before Super Tuesday.

Bloomberg said he has known Biden for a long time and knows Biden’s commitment to issues, including gun safety, healthcare, climate change and good jobs.

“I’ve had the chance to work with Joe on those issues over the years, and Joe has fought for working people his whole life,” Bloomberg said. “Today I am glad to endorse him — and I will work to make him the next President of the United States.”

Bloomberg ran an unprecedented campaign from the start. His late entrance into the race in November last year prompted him to skip campaigning in the first four voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

He hung his success on Super Tuesday, spending at least US$180 million on advertising in those states, but had planned to continue deep into the primary calendar, already spending millions on advertising in states like Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Before results poured in on Tuesday, he projected confidence while campaigning in Florida, only to have his aides say the campaign would reassess the next day.

Voters ultimately rejected Bloomberg’s argument that he was the candidate best poised to take on Trump, who had paid close attention to the Democratic nominating contest and had been especially fixated on Bloomberg.

Trump regularly railed against his fellow New Yorker on Twitter, mocking his short stature by calling him “Mini Mike” and claiming Bloomberg was the candidate he wanted to run against.

On Tuesday, he called the results a “complete destruction” of Bloomberg’s reputation.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: Egypt announces execution of top Muslim militant

content_text:
TRIPLE SENTENCE:
 A military spokesman said that Hisham al-Ashmawi was hanged on Wednesday. Charges included his role in an ambush that killed 22 border guards

Egypt on Wednesday executed one of its most high-profile militant leaders after his conviction for his role in planning scores of deadly attacks against the nation’s security forces, the military said.

Hisham al-Ashmawi, a former Egyptian special-forces officer turned Muslim militant, was sentenced to death by a military court in November last year in two separate cases for his participation in scores of militant attacks on government targets.

A civilian court on Monday also sentenced him to death along with 36 other militants on terror-related charges.

Colonel Tamer al-Rifai, a military spokesman, said on Facebook that al-Ashmawi was executed on Wednesday by hanging.

He posted a photograph of the militant in a long beard and wearing a bright orange jumpsuit that is usually worn by those sentenced to death.

Al-Ashmawi was convicted in 14 crimes, including a 2014 ambush that killed 22 Egyptian military border guards near the border with Libya, and the 2013 assassination attempt against then-Egyptian minister of the interior Mohammed Ibrahim, al-Rifai said.

Al-Ashmawi was captured in October 2018 in the Libyan city of Derna, a longtime bastion of Muslim militants, by the forces of Libyan National Army Commander Khalifa Haftar, an ally of Egypt.

He was handed over in March.

Al-Ashmawi has been a valuable target for Egyptian security forces eager to obtain valuable intelligence for its years-long fight against militants.

He helped found Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a jihadi organization based in Egypt’s northern Sinai Province that has seen an insurgency waged there for years.

His military expertise — he left the Egyptian army in 2011 — transformed the tiny group into a well-organized guerrilla band that later inflicted painful blows on security forces in the Sinai.

Beit al-Maqdis swore allegiance to the Islamic State group in November 2014 and renamed itself as Welayet Sinai, or the province of Sinai.

However, al-Ashmawi did not declare his allegiance to the Islamic State, which was then at the peak of its power and controlled about one-third of Iraq and Syria.

In an audio recording released in 2015 that is believed to be authentic, al-Ashmawi allied himself with Islamic State rival al-Qaeda, led by Egyptian militant Ayman al-Zawahri.

After fleeing to Libya, he tried to establish himself among militants in the country’s east. He created al-Mourabitoun, a militant group blamed for most of the attacks in Egypt’s remote Western Desert, such as a 2017 ambush that killed nearly 30 Christian pilgrims on their way to a monastery.

Such attacks have been part of an Islamic insurgency spearheaded by the Islamic State affiliate. The insurgency gained strength after the 2013 military overthrow of the president at the time.

Egypt has granted police forces and courts sweeping powers in response to militant attacks.

Human rights observers say that the crackdown ended due process and adherence to international law.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: Turkey warns EU of new migrant crisis

content_text:
‘QUID PRO QUO’?
 Europe has to back Ankara’s ‘political and humanitarian solutions’ in Syria if it wants to resolve an influx of migrants, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan said

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said that a fresh migrant crisis could be resolved only if Europe supports its efforts in Syria, as violent clashes broke out between refugees and police on the Greek border.

Thousands of migrants have massed at the Greek frontier with Turkey since Erdogan announced last week that they would no longer be prevented from trying to enter Europe.

Erdogan’s move came after Russian-backed Syrian forces killed 34 Turkish troops in northern Syria, prompting him to seek greater assistance from the world community.

People gather in front of the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday to demand the opening of European borders to refugee.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

However, EU leaders fear a repeat of the migrant crisis of 2015-2016, when more than 1 million migrants crossed into the EU, and have decried Turkish “blackmail.”

With mounting tensions around the border crossing at Pazarkule, a Turkish official claimed one migrant had been killed and five injured by live fire from the Greek side.

Athens strongly denied the claim, but an Agence France-Presse photographer earlier saw a migrant shot in the leg — it was not clear whether by a live round or a rubber bullet — as a group of refugees tried to cut their way through fencing.

The group then threw stones at the Greek police, who responded with tear gas, while multiple shots and cries could be heard.

Athens released a video apparently showing Turkish police firing tear gas at Greek border guards, which could not be immediately confirmed.

Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan said Europe had to support Turkey’s “political and humanitarian solutions in Syria” if it wanted to resolve the situation.

Turkey already hosts nearly 4 million refugees, most of them Syrians, and has been fighting the Syrian government in a bid to prevent another influx from Idlib, the extremist-dominated region that has been under attack by Damascus since December last year.

Close to 1 million people in Idlib have been displaced by the government assault, which is backed by Russian air power, although they are currently blocked from entering Turkey.

EU Minister for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday met with Erdogan, pledging an additional 170 million euros (US$189 million) in aid for vulnerable groups in Syria.

Borrell said the EU recognized the “difficult situation Turkey is facing,” but Ankara’s green light to migrants could “only make the situation worse.”

France took a firmer line.

French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian said the EU would not give into “blackmail” and that the borders of the continent were “closed, and we will ensure they stay closed.”

In related news, senior Swedish politicians condemned Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson for traveling to Greece to tell migrants that his country was full.

Swedish Minister for Home Affairs Morgan Johansson led the criticism, telling news agency TT the stunt was “totally ridiculous” and that Akesson had only gone to the border to “pose for cameras.”

Akesson’s party confirmed he had visited Greece, writing on Twitter: “We all remember the migration chaos of 2015 and we have to do everything we can to make sure it never ever happens again.”

Akesson reportedly handed out flyers with the message “Sweden is full.”

“So if you want to go to Sweden, then that is a bad idea. We don’t have the capacity to help more,” Akesson told newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, adding that he had traveled to the border city of Erdine.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text: Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: EDITORIAL CARTOON


content_text:
記者許皓婷／綜合報導

新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情受到各界關注，健保議題也在近期成為焦點，民進黨立委2日提案修《健保法》，鎖定一年在台灣未住滿183天者，調高其健保費。網紅「廣告小妹」來自上海，她表示個人沒有健保，請大家不要再問了，並點出真正拖累健保的族群。

廣告小妹在Facebook發文，談到最近受到關注的健保修法，她表示支持立委提案，「提高非長住人口健保費本宮投支持票，反正燒不到我。」而陸配符合健保的資格是要每年住滿183天，她則直接表明自己沒有健保，「別來問了！台灣醫療自費那麼便宜，我要健保幹嘛。」

▲廣告小妹支持立委提案健保修法。（圖／翻攝自Facebook／廣告小妹）

廣告小妹更表示比起健保費，她認為喊著退休後回台灣養老的人比較恐怖，「年輕力壯時繳稅給別國，沒有生產力了回台灣養老，比起可能一年才用一次健保的台勞（順便消費刺激經濟），沒收入退休回台灣天天跑醫院的海歸老人怎麼沒人燒？數學不好的都知道一定是後者拖累健保啊。」

而廣告小妹分享看法後，引來網友贊同：「說的好，健保制度是健康的人繳費給生病的人用，現在台灣，健保使用率最高的是老人」、「年輕時在國外貢獻生產力，稅金也乖乖的繳給他國，但退休養老時就會長住台灣⋯可怕」，但也有人持相反意見，「不認同，老人家沒生產力但有消費力，而且口袋很深，總比不住在台灣沒生產也沒消費力的人好」、「製造對立才是重點，其他都是假的」。

▲廣告小妹發文。（圖／翻攝自Facebook／廣告小妹）

references: Facebook 網友

title: 支持健保修法！　廣告小妹戳破「關鍵族群」搞垮健保


title: Australia defeat South Africa to reach final

content_text:
Four-time champions Australia are to meet India in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup final after rain-marred semi-finals yesterday sparked calls for reserve days to be included in future events.

The titleholders stormed into their sixth final with a five-run win over South Africa in a tense battle that saw the final overs played in a drizzle.

Unbeaten India were due to face 2009 champions England at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the first semi-final, but heavy showers began early in the day and barely let up.

Australia’s Meg Lanning reacts after making a catch to dismiss South Africa’s Mignon du Preez in their Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final in Sydney yesterday.
 Photo: AP

A minimum of 10 overs per side were needed for a result and the umpires called it off without a ball being bowled.

With no reserve day, the highest-ranked teams from the two groups would move into the final if play is not possible, putting India through to their first-ever decider.

“From day one, we knew we had to win all the games in case the semis didn’t happen,” Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said. “First T20 World Cup final means a lot for us, but as a team, we just want to play our best cricket in the final.”

The rain eased for the second semi-final and Australia hit 134-5 off their 20 overs, with skipper Meg Lanning top-scoring on 49 and Nadine de Klerk taking 3-19.

However, rain briefly returned at the interval and the Proteas were set a goal of 98 from 13 overs to win under the Duckworth-Lewis method, but could only manage 92-5.

“It was extremely tense. Even in the last couple of balls it just wasn’t safe. We felt we had a good total without it being great,” Lanning said.

“India are a class side, they have been playing excellent cricket, but we have been improving each day,” she added.

Big-hitting opener Lizelle Lee smacked a huge six to get the South Africa run chase under way, but, tempted into another, holed out to Ashleigh Gardner on the boundary ropes.

Skipper Dane van Niekerk looked dangerous, but pace spearhead Megan Schutt clean-bowled her for 12, then Lanning took a difficult catch to remove Mignon du Preez and leave South Africa struggling at 26-3.

However, Laura Wolvaardt (41 not out) and Sune Luus (21) got them back on track to set up an exciting finale, with 32 runs needed off the final three overs, only to fall short.

Earlier, Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy set about building a big total for Australia.

Healy fell after a quick-fire 18 and Mooney blasted 28 before being clean-bowled by De Klerk.

South Africa put the brakes on the run rate and grabbed two more quick wickets before Rachael Haynes (17) and Lanning guided them to a winning total.

“It was very emotional to see the ladies like that. To come short every time is difficult,” Van Niekerk said of her devastated team.

A reserve day is allowed for the final and the lack of one for the semi-finals was criticized by some players, with Kaur among those calling for change.

“Having reserve days ... will be a great idea,” Kaur said.

England captain Heather Knight said before the match that “there will be a lot of pressure on the ICC to change” the rules.

“Really frustrating,” she said after the washout. “Not how we wanted the World Cup to finish for us. No reserve day, no chance of getting play.”

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
B: I learned the piano for a few years when I was little. I always felt that Beethoven’s music was really hard and beyond the reach of the average pianist.

A: That’s because Beethoven was a virtuoso pianist. During the early years, he would write music for himself and give performances to the public. That’s why much of his music contains sections of virtuosity: It was a way to capture the attention of his audience.

B: 我小時候學過幾年鋼琴，我總覺得貝多芬的作品很難，不像是一般人有能力演奏的。

A: 這是因為貝多芬本身也是一名技術高超的鋼琴家。其實，他年輕時許多作品是寫給自己、在大眾面前演奏的。所以他寫下許多炫技的音樂片段，藉以吸引觀眾的目光。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
While many other nations have evacuated their citizens from China’s Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, hundreds of Taiwanese, many of them members of the expatriate business community, remain trapped inside the quarantine zone.

Those who wish to return to Taiwan have become frustrated that the government has not organized additional charter flights to bring them home.

Reports began to surface on Monday that stranded Taiwanese have formed a “self-help group” and have hired a lawyer to assist in bringing a suit against the government for allegedly violating their constitutional rights.

While every sympathy goes out to any Taiwanese who have had to endure more than a month of isolation in what must be incredibly trying circumstances, they are venting their spleens at the wrong government.

The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) last month chartered an evacuation flight from Wuhan. However, after the flight touched down in Taiwan on Feb. 3, it quickly became apparent that the passenger list, previously agreed by the Chinese government and the Mainland Affairs Council, contained serious anomalies.

The council had asked China to prioritize vulnerable Taiwanese: those on short trips who lacked resources for a long stay, as well as children, the elderly and anyone suffering from chronic diseases, who would be at a higher risk of infection.

As the passengers disembarked, health officials discovered that Taiwanese who should have been given priority had been replaced by the Chinese spouses of Taiwanese or their family members. Three of the passengers were not even on the original list, one of whom was confirmed to have COVID-19 on arrival.

Given the bungling of that flight, it is understandable that the government is wary of agreeing to a second.

Taiwan has, to date, defied expectations by limiting the spread of the coronavirus and preventing community outbreaks. This is in no small part due to the prudence and circumspection of health officials — in particular, their willingness to take difficult and often unpopular decisions to protect the health of the wider public.

Of course, the government has a duty to look after its citizens in need of assistance wherever they are in the world, but the rights of those requesting repatriation must always be balanced against the duty to protect the safety of Taiwanese at home.

The primary reason for the botched flight — and the delay in organizing further flights — is Beijing’s decision to sever direct communication channels with the government following Tsai winning the presidency in 2016. As a result, the organization of evacuation flights had to be carried out at arm’s length through the council.

The Tsai administration has not ruled out arranging another charter flight. Discussions are ongoing with China and the government has said that it is ready to organize a flight if specific criteria are met.

After the self-help group announced its intention to sue the government, Taiwanese lawyer Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) posted an angry missive on Facebook.

“It was the Chinese government who suppressed evidence of the virus and muzzled whistle-blower doctor Li Wenliang (李文亮), the Chinese government who quarantined entire cities and Chinese officials who placed an infected person onto the evacuation flight,” he wrote. “They have not a single word of criticism for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), yet they want to sue our government... They are colluding with Beijing to make mischief.”

It is unclear whether the lawsuit is a political act or motivated out of genuine frustration, but we should be clear which side is preventing further evacuation of Taiwanese.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: EDITORIAL: Lawsuit takes aim at wrong culprit

people: 習近平 蔡英文 黃帝穎


content_text:
He lay in a bloodied ball on the floor, but the baton blows kept on coming.

As the 30 strangers beat him without stopping, Mohammad Zubair closed his eyes, brought his forehead to the ground and prayed.

“The blows kept raining on my head, hands and back,” Zubair, 37, said. “I did not ask them to stop beating me. I became silent, tried to hold my breath and stiffen my body.”

As he spoke, tears rolled down his face.

“First I asked: ‘Why are you attacking me? What wrong have I done?’ But they did not listen to my words and went on hitting me from all sides, “ he said. “They were shouting: maro shaale mulleko [kill the bastard Muslim] and jai Sri Ram [a Hindu nationalist slogan]. There were many other men who stood by who did not come to save me.”

The photograph of Zubair being ruthlessly beaten in broad daylight in the streets by a mob of young Hindu men was one of the most shocking images of the brutal religious riots that engulfed Delhi last week, where Hindus were pitted against Muslims, thousands were injured and 43 people killed.

The violence raged across the northeast of India’s capital territory for four days as mosques were set alight, Muslims were burned alive in their homes, or dragged out into the streets and lynched.

Muslim businesses and property were also set alight.

In streets where Hindus and Muslims had lived peacefully side by side, bodies lay bloodied alongside discarded and burned-out vehicles and bikes, shattered glass and smoldering shopfronts.

The police have been accused of enabling, encouraging or even joining in with Hindu mobs.

Hindu mobs were stopping men in the streets demanding to see their ID cards. If anyone refused, they were forced to show whether or not they were circumcised, as is common among Muslim men.

Imran Khan, 30, a street hawker who lives in Shiv Vihar, northwest Delhi, was walking home evening when a group descended on him.

“Some of them forced me to pull down my trousers,” Khan said. “They started beating me violently as soon as they became sure that I was Muslim.”

Armed with iron rods, crowbars and metal pipes, the Hindu mob beat Khan unconscious.

When he came to hours later, he found that the attackers, assuming he was dead, had tied a rope around his neck and dragged him into a gutter.

There has been brutality on both sides, but it was the Muslim community of Delhi who were overwhelmingly targeted by Hindu mobs in their tens of thousands.

In Chand Bagh, one of the worst-hit areas, only the Muslim businesses — hairdressers, ice-cream shops, butchers — lay in ruins.

On one corner, the charred husks of hundreds of oranges, bananas and watermelons spilled out of the front of a Muslim fruit stall, filling the air with the putrid smell of burned fruit.

Among the 43 dead was Musharraf, a 30-year-old Muslim man.

He was at home with his wife and children in the Bhagirathi Vihar area of Gokalpuri, northeast Delhi, when a mob of about 30 men with iron rods, knives and chains — many wearing motorcycle helmets so they could not be identified — broke down the locked door shouting jai Sri Ram.

“They cut the electricity, so it was all dark, and started smashing the house,” said Shakir, his brother-in-law. “His wife was calling the police, but they did not come. Everyone got into the beds to hide, but the men covered everything with kerosene and shouted: ‘Will you come out or do you want us to burn you alive?’”

“They smashed the bed where Musharraf was hiding underneath and he screamed, so they grabbed him and dragged him out into the street. The children ran out, too, and were screaming,” Shakir said. “His daughter, Kushi — she is just 11 — fell on the feet of those men, pleading: ‘Don’t kill my father.’ She tried to save him, but they beat him to death in the middle of the street and threw him in the gutter.”

Like so many other Muslims in Delhi, Shakir and his family said that after the riots they could no longer stay in the city they had called home for decades and were moving back to their ancestral village.

“We have never felt threatened and always lived peacefully with our Hindu brothers, but I don’t feel safe anywhere in Delhi now,” he said.

Violence has been a stain on India’s history since partition in 1947, when Pakistan was formed as a separate Muslim state, and up to 2 million people died in the fighting and its aftermath.

Riots have continued to erupt along religious lines in a nation where about 14 percent of the population are Muslim, with an 80 percent Hindu majority.

The fracturing of relations began in the 1960s and 1970s, but a flashpoint took place in 1992, when a right-wing Hindu mob of thousands, which included several members of the now-ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), tore down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

When the BJP was elected to government in 2014, led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, divisions widened.

The BJP is the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a militant Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization that has been accused repeatedly of orchestrating attacks on Muslims.

The BJP, which believes that India should be a Hindu, not a secular, nation, has fostered an environment of hate in India. Lynchings of Muslims began and Muslims have been gradually relegated to second-class citizens in their own nation.

Even before he became prime minister, Modi’s reputation had been tainted by hatred and violence.

As Gujarat chief minister, he had been accused of encouraging sectarian riots in 2002 that left more than 1,000 people dead, 800 of them Muslims.

Modi denies the charges, which resulted in him being banned from the US.

He was cleared by the Indian Supreme Court in 2012, but has never apologized nor expressed remorse for the killings.

His landslide re-election victory in May last year prompted an escalation of the Hindu nationalist agenda, but it was the passing of a Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December last year that proved the tipping point.

The law, which grants Indian citizenship to refugees of every major South Asian religion except Islam, was widely condemned as discriminatory. Many saw it as an attempt to enshrine the Hindu nationalist agenda into law and undermine the nation’s secular foundations.

The controversy has triggered India’s longest period of unrest in 40 years, with millions of people of all religions taking to the streets in protest, but the BJP response has been to ramp up its rhetoric, particularly in last month’s Delhi state assembly elections.

“The BJP began fermenting this crisis in Delhi weeks ago, as a way to win Hindu votes in the election,” political commentator Ashis Nandy said.

The spark for the latest violence was provided by Kapil Mishra, a BJP leader who had just lost his seat in those elections, when he incited a Hindu mob to violently remove a group of Muslims who were blocking a road in northwest Delhi in protest against the CAA.

Addressing the peaceful protest, Mishra issued an inflammatory ultimatum.

“If the roads are not cleared ... we will be forced to hit the streets,” he said.

Stone pelting began between Muslims and Hindus, which quickly descended into the violence that spread throughout the capital territory.

However, the riots were not simply neighbors turning against neighbors.

On Feb. 23, rumors spread across right-wing Hindu social media that dozens of mosques in Delhi had announced on loudspeakers that the police had arrested 32 imams. It prompted many outside Delhi to comment that they would come out to “teach our Muslim brothers a lesson.”

Soon after, residents in Mustafabad, an area right on the edge of northwest Delhi badly affected by the riots, reported seeing Hindu youths armed with machetes, metal rods and wooden sticks coming in trucks from the neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

“We all saw truckloads of these mobs coming over the border from Uttar Pradesh, it was outsiders who came in and incited the violence,” Shoaib Alam, 32, said. “And that then stirred up local people.”

Uttar Pradesh, whose BJP chief minister is the firebrand Hindu nationalist and openly Islamaphobic Yogi Adityanath, is a notorious hotbed of criminal activity and lawlessness. It has also been the state accused of carrying out some of the worst state-sponsored attacks, detention and torture of Muslims in a crackdown against the CAA protests.

“I have not the slightest doubt that this was not a chance, spontaneous riot,” said Harsh Mander, an author and activist who is director of the Centre for Equity Studies, a Delhi research organization. “It was certainly orchestrated and built up as part of the politics of the ruling party. I think the BJP were unnerved by the scale of the protest against the citizenship amendment law and, more specifically, that it was Hindus and Muslims coming out together in the resistance.”

“It was only a matter of time before they would try and convert it into a Hindu-Muslim violent riot and encourage the most primal kind of hatred that wins them support, and after their defeat in the Delhi election, it seems this was an outlet for all the hatred they built up,” Mander said.

BJP spokesman Raveesh Kumar denied that the government had inflamed religious tensions or had any role in the riots.

“These are factually inaccurate and misleading, and appear to be aimed at politicizing the issue,” Kumar said.

At al-Hind hospital, a cramped and basic medical facility in Mustafabad which was on the front line of the violence, Meeraj Ekram looked shell-shocked as he spoke of the more than 500 victims that had come through its doors since the riots began.

Mainly they had gunshot wounds, but there were also stabbings, acid burns and mutilated genitalia.

Police were not allowing ambulances into Mustafabad to rescue the wounded and hundreds of patients lay on the floor.

“The injuries we were seeing were horrifying — I have never seen such terrible things in my whole life,” Ekram said.

Muskan, a 20-year-old Muslim who was eight months pregnant, lay in a critical condition in a hospital bed after she was set upon by a Hindu mob.

“They threw me to the ground, kicked my stomach and my whole body,” she whispered. “I pleaded with them not to harm my baby, I said: ‘Please, please’ over and over, but they kept kicking.”

Also among the patients taken to al-Hind last week were local two imams.

With a grimace, Ekram showed photographs of the imam of Shiv Vihar mosque, whose face had been badly disfigured. When men had entered the mosque, the imam had attempted to run away, but had been caught by the mobs, who threw a bucket of acid into his face.

Mufti Mohammad Tahir, the imam of Farooqia mosque near Mustafabad, suffered a similar fate.

He spoke of how he had locked himself in an upper room of the mosque when the riots broke out, but police broke down the door, dragged him out and handed him to the waiting Hindu mobs outside, who beat him unconscious, smashing his limbs.

The mosque was torched — shelves of dozens of blackened Korans lined one wall and a bowl containing burned fragments of Islamic religious scripture sat on a table.

Many who witnessed the riots claim that police stood by as Muslims were attacked or helped the Hindu mobs. Most of those who called the police for help did so in vain.

While the Delhi government is controlled by the progressive Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the police are under the control of Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, a former president of the BJP.

The police have said the focus of their investigation into the riots is on local Muslim leaders, while no BJP leaders have been charged.

Delhi police were not available for comment.

Even Indian Legislator Haji Yunus of the AAP, who represents Mustafabad, described how the police ignored his requests for help.

“I made several calls to the police station and they did nothing to help,” Yunus said. “My entire government felt helpless, there was no way for us get the situation under control. There was no effort from police at all for at least two days. The police were not even allowing the ambulances through to carry out the injured people.”

Yunus said that the hatred stirred up by the BJP in the Delhi elections should be investigated.

“The BJP did not think they could be defeated so badly in the election, and so after they lost they let out their frustration this way,” he said.

Yet the prospect of holding Delhi police to account for their role in the riots through the legal system looks increasingly unlikely.

Indian Justice S. Muralidhar, a judge at the Delhi High Court, openly condemned the actions of the police and government on Wednesday last week at a hearing into the riots, but by Thursday morning, the hearing had been transferred to another court and the case was taken from him.

The new judge gave the government four weeks to respond to the charges.

However, for all the tales of discord, dozens of accounts were also given of how Sikh and Hindu families helped save their Muslim neighbors, sheltering them in their homes as the violence broke out or helping them escape as the mobs descended.

One Hindu man, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, spoke of how he secretly escorted seven Muslim families to safety in Shiv Vihar.

“I formed a small group involving a few other elderly Hindu neighbors and we managed to thwart the planned attacks on those Muslim households,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the Hindu-majority neighborhood of Gokalpuri, a Sikh father, Mohinder Singh, 53, and his son, Inderjit, used their motorcycles to rescue about 70 Muslim men and children, the youngest just nine years old.

They had been trapped in the mosque and madrasah, as a mob roamed the streets outside.

Singh took the children two at a time on his bike, putting turbans on their heads as a disguise.

“I did not see if they were Muslim or Hindu, I did this for humanity,” he said. “I had to save them.”

Majinder Singh Sirsa, a leading Sikh politician in Delhi, said the community had opened up its gurdwaras for shelter, but had been attacked by hardline Hindu and Muslim groups for doing so.

“We do feel the pain because we were also targeted 35 years ago,” he said, referring to anti-Sikh pogroms in Delhi in 1984 when more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed. “Back then, Delhi was burning and humanity died. This week, it has happened once again.”

Additional reporting by Shaikh Azizur Rahman

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Inside Delhi: beaten,  lynched and burned alive


title: Ukrainian PM ousted in Cabinet shuffle

content_text:
‘NEW BRAINS, HEARTS’:
 President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticized the government for failing to arrest an industrial slump and for not tackling graft with enough vigor

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday ousted Oleksiy Honcharuk as prime minister after just six months in a reshuffle, saying that “new brains and new hearts” were required to revive the economy and tackle corruption.

At a special parliament session, lawmakers voted to accept the resignation of Honcharuk, 35, who left as Ukraine’s youngest and most short-lived prime minister since independence in 1991.

He was replaced by Denys Shymgal, who said his immediate challenge was to stave off an economic and budget crisis.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, left, reacts as he is presented with a toy cat in parliament in Kiev on Wednesday.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

Shymgal said he wanted to revise the budget for this year and cut the salaries of ministers and some officials, adding that the strong hryvnia currency had hurt exports.

Other more experienced operators also joined the Cabinet, signaling a change of direction for Zelenskiy, who was elected last year as an outsider who would bring new faces to politics.

Ukrainian Minister of Finance Oksana Markarova was axed for Ihor Umansky, who was acting finance minister a decade ago.

Speaking before the vote, Zelenskiy criticized the government for failing to arrest an industrial slump and for being soft on tackling graft, while seeking to reassure Ukraine’s international partners of his commitment to reforms.

“Yes, indeed, this is the first government where there is no high-level corruption, but not stealing is not enough. This is a government of new faces, but faces are not enough,” Zelenskiy said. “New brains and new hearts are needed.”

Zelenskiy also took a swipe at foreigners being on the supervisory board of state-run firms — many of which were appointed with the backing of international donors — saying that Ukrainian citizens felt like a minority on them.

The new government “is radically different because we took into account society’s demand for professionals. We took people who are authorities in their fields,” said Oleksandr Kachura, a lawmaker in Zelenskiy’s party. “Previously, this was considered a drawback, but now it is perceived differently.”

Honcharuk’s position had been under scrutiny since the leak in January of a recording that suggested he had made unflattering comments about Zelenskiy.

His government also tussled with Ihor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s wealthiest tycoons, who has been fighting to reverse the 2016 nationalization of his former bank, PrivatBank, the country’s largest lender.

Zelenskiy denies that his business ties with the tycoon influence policy decisions.

To secure new IMF loans, Honcharuk’s government had tried to pass a law on banking insolvency that would bar PrivatBank from returning to Kolomoisky.

“This is a victory for Kolomoisky and his people,” a source in Zelenskiy’s party said of the Cabinet overhaul.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
PERU

Ex-UN chief dies at 100

Javier Perez de Cuellar, who served as UN secretary-general from 1981 to 1991, and led the world body during the Iran-Iraq war and the civil war in El Salvador, died on Wednesday in his homeland, his son said. He was 100. “My dad died after a complicated week. He died at 8:09pm and is resting in peace,” Francisco Perez de Cuellar told RPP radio. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “profoundly saddened” at the passing of his predecessor. “I extend my deepest condolences to Mr Perez de Cuellar’s family, the Peruvian people and so many others around the world whose lives were touched by a remarkable and compassionate global leader who left our world a far better place,” he said.

UNITED STATES

Defense chief slams Russia

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Wednesday accused Russia of violating the Open Skies Treaty designed to improve transparency and confidence between the militaries. Esper told a congressional hearing that Russia had been blocking the nation from conducting flights over the Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad and near Georgia, which are permitted by the 18-year-old agreement. “We’ve also been denied access to military exercise overflights,” he said. “I have a lot of concerns about the treaty as it stands now.” The deal, which has 32 other signatories, permits one country’s military to conduct a certain number of surveillance flights over another each year on short notice. The aircraft can survey the territory below, collecting information and pictures of military installations and activities.

UNITED STATES

Police save truck driver

Two New Jersey state troopers pulled a trucker to safety just seconds before his burning tractor-trailer exploded. Trooper Robert Tarleton had stopped a vehicle on Interstate 287 in Bridgewater Township on Monday when he saw a truck become engulfed in flames after it hit a guardrail and bridge abutment, state police said. “He immediately returned the driver’s credentials and ran back to his troop car to request for fire and emergency medical services personnel to respond to the crash,” state police said. Tarleton drove to the scene of the crash, where State Police Lieutenant Edward Ryer, who was headed home from work, was trying to rescue the driver. Police body camera video showed the two troopers worked together to drag the driver from the truck to safety seconds before it exploded. The driver sustained minor injuries.

UNITED STATES

FBI surveillance ‘flawed’

Surveillance of “homegrown” extremists by the FBI was flawed until last year, a report by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General said on Wednesday.The FBI had closed several assessments of suspects who went on to launch attacks, the report said. “Since September 11, 2001, HVE [home-grown violent extremists] have carried out over 20 attacks in the United States, some of which occurred after the FBI closed a counterterrorism assessment or investigation,” it said. “The FBI had not taken a comprehensive approach to resolving deficiencies.” The report focused on one of the Boston marathon bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who planted two home-made bombs near the finish line of the race in 2013, killing three people and injuring 264 others. The FBI also closed an assessment of Omar Mateen, who later shot and killed 49 people in Orlando’s Pulse night club in 2016.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: World News Quick Take


taiwan-subdivisions: 富里 東河

title: Highways & Byways: Roadtripping down the east coast

content_text:
Four roads cut through the Coastal Mountain Range in Taiwan’s east. From north to south, they are: Highway 11A (台11甲線); Hualien County Road 64 (花64線), sometimes called Ruigang Industry Road (瑞港產業道路); the newish Highway 30 (台30線), also known as the Yuchang Highway (玉長公路); and Highway 23 (台23線).

A determined walker could tramp the length of any of the first three roads in a single day. For cyclists and hikers, however, the southernmost route is a significantly greater challenge.

The distance from the inland end of Highway 23 in Hualien County’s Fuli Township (富里鄉) to its western terminus, on the coast in Taitung County’s Donghe Township (東河鄉), is 45.5km. What’s more, a good bit of it is uphill. Fuli Railway Station (富里火車站) is at an elevation of 227m, while the highest point on the road — which also happens to be the border between the counties of Hualien and Taitung — is 637m above sea level.

Dengsian Bridge near Taiyuan is famous for its population of Formosan macaques.
 Photo: Steven Crook

This perhaps explains why, when we drove from Fuli to Donghe a few weeks back, we didn’t see a single cyclist, despite the weather being just about perfect for a long bike ride.

If going all the way to the coast doesn’t fit in with your plans, but you find yourself in the vicinity of Fuli, do make an effort to drive or ride part of Highway 23. Excellent scenery can be found less than 4km up the road.

Turning a corner as we approached the two-church village of Fengnan (豐南), we were treated to an entrancing combination of rice paddies and steep green hills. Surprisingly, nobody seems to have thought of marketing this area as “Little Guilin” (小桂林). For those who don’t know it, Guilin is one of the most famous scenic attractions in China.

It’d be hyperbole — but no more unreasonable than other claims made by the tourism industry. Also, it would cancel out the unappealing names given to two remote locations near Fengnan: One is called Choushuigou (臭水溝, “Stinky Water Ditch”), the other Wenzidong (蚊子洞, “Mosquito Hole”).

Those traveling all the way to Donghe should bear in mind that beyond Fengnan, there’s very little chance of being able to order a bowl of noodles, or buy soft drinks, until you reach Taiyuan (泰源), a good 30km away. We had our lunch at the village’s only eatery, next door to a shop that oozed retro appeal. Alongside the usual dried and canned goods and bottled drinks, the latter sells seasonal homemade products like pickled chillis.

The noodle restaurant and shop are easy to find. They’re right beside Highway 23, directly across the road from the Roman Catholic church that was built in 1962.

Just up the road, around the 7km-marker, there’s a spot dubbed Little Tiansiang (小天祥). It doesn’t have the scale or majesty of the canyon near Tiansiang in Taroko Gorge (太魯閣) — which is why relatively few people have heard of it — but it does deserve several minutes of your time. As in Taroko Gorge, the road is narrow, so take care not to block the road if stopping.

Every turn on Highway 23 is a visual pleasure, but the section just before and after the Hualien-Taitung boundary near km16.5 justifies a certain overused adjective: breathtaking. Even after the road crests, it’s a long time before you get to see the Pacific Ocean. There are too many mountains in the way, and some towering cliffs.

After the 25km-marker, approaching Donghe Farm (東河農場), we saw more signs of human habitation. Down in the valley to our right, there were farmsteads and another Catholic house of worship.