content_text:
As pressure for a coronavirus vaccine mounts, drugmakers in several nations are planning to move their potential vaccines straight to human clinical trials, without waiting for the results of tests on animals

Drugmakers are working as quickly as possible to develop a vaccine to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has infected more than 156,400 people worldwide.

Behind the scenes, scientists and medical experts are concerned that rushing a vaccine could end up worsening the infection in some patients rather than preventing it.

Studies have suggested that coronavirus vaccines carry the risk of what is known as vaccine enhancement, where instead of protecting against infection, the vaccine can actually make the disease worse when a vaccinated person is infected with the virus.

The mechanism that causes that risk is not fully understood and is one of the stumbling blocks that has prevented the successful development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Normally, researchers would take months to test for the possibility of vaccine enhancement in animals. Given the urgency to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, some drugmakers are moving straight into small-scale human tests, without waiting for the completion of such animal tests.

“I understand the importance of accelerating timelines for vaccines in general, but from everything I know, this is not the vaccine to be doing it with,” said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Hotez worked on development of a vaccine for SARS, the coronavirus behind a major 2003 outbreak, and found that some vaccinated animals developed more severe disease compared with unvaccinated animals when they were exposed to the virus.

MAJOR RISK

“There is a risk of immune enhancement,” Hotez said. “The way you reduce that risk is first you show it does not occur in laboratory animals.”

Hotez testified earlier this month before the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology about the need for sustained funding for vaccine research.

There remains no vaccine for any of the new coronaviruses that have caused outbreaks in the past 20 years.

At least for now, the world’s experts have concluded that accelerated testing is a risk worth taking.

At a specially convened WHO meeting in the middle of last month, designed to coordinate a global response to the new coronavirus, scientists representing government-funded research organizations and drugmakers around the world agreed that the threat was so great that vaccine developers should move quickly into human trials, before animal testing is completed, four people who attended the meeting said.

“You want to have a vaccine as quickly as possible,” said former WHO assistant director-general Marie-Paule Kieny, who co-chaired the meeting. “You have to balance this with the risk that you impose on a very small number of people, and do all you can do to mitigate this risk as much as possible.”

The conclusion of that meeting, which was not open to media, has not been officially publicized by the WHO.

It does not reflect any official position adopted by the WHO, a UN body whose job it is to help shape global health policy.

Regulatory oversight of drugmakers and medical research is in the hands of national regulators. The most powerful of those, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has signaled that it is in agreement with the consensus and would not stand in the way of accelerated testing schedules.

“When responding to an urgent public health situation such as novel coronavirus, we intend to exercise regulatory flexibility and consider all data relevant to a certain vaccine platform,” FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Caccomo said in a statement.

The agency had no comment specifically on animal testing for vaccine enhancement.

Coronavirus vaccine developers are still required to conduct routine animal testing to make sure the vaccine itself is not toxic and is likely to help the immune system respond to the virus.

About 20 coronavirus vaccine candidates are being developed by research institutes and drugmakers including Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in the US and France’s Sanofi SA.

The US government has earmarked more than US$3 billion for coronavirus treatments and vaccines.

SEATTLE

Biotechnology company Moderna, which is working with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the closest to human testing, announcing plans to start a trial with 45 people in Seattle this month.

Testing for the specific risk of vaccine enhancement in animals is to proceed simultaneously with human trials, which should establish whether it is safe to expose larger numbers of people to the vaccine, the NIH told reporters.

Moderna did not respond to requests for comment.

The plan is consistent with the WHO consensus and FDA requirements, said Emily Erbelding, director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH.

The trial is expected to take 14 months, an NHI spokeswoman said.

Gregory Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, expressed doubts about that approach.

“This is important, but it has to be done in a way that reassures scientists and the public that these [vaccines] are not only efficacious, but safe,” he said.

Hotez said he was surprised human trials were going ahead.

“If there is immune enhancement in laboratory animals vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, that’s a showstopper,” he said.

US immunotherapy company Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine in collaboration with a Chinese company, also expects to start human clinical trials in 30 US volunteers next month rather than wait for animal studies on vaccine enhancement.

“The community as a whole weighed that and said we don’t want to delay the clinical process. We’ve been encouraged to go as rapidly as possible into Phase 1 studies,” Inovio chief executive Joseph Kim said.

Inovio plans to start human safety trials shortly thereafter in China and South Korea — two countries that have been hit hard by the virus.

Kim said he expects to have an answer to the question of vaccine enhancement at some point this year.

The Moderna/NIH trial is enrolling patients at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. The choice of location, made several weeks ago, could prove to be problematic.

To reduce the risk to volunteers, scientists at the WHO meeting recommended that drugmakers restrict early clinical trials to small groups of healthy people and conduct them in places where the virus is not spreading, said Kieny, who now works at French research institute Inserm.

That lowers the chances that people who get the vaccine could encounter the virus and trigger a more severe reaction.

Since the location was chosen, the Seattle metro area has emerged as the epicenter of infections in the US.

Washington state has reported 550 coronavirus infections and 50 deaths, out of a more than 2,952 infections and 60 deaths in the country, according the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering COVID-10 tracker yesterday afternoon.

Nevertheless, Moderna and the NIH plan to go ahead.

“We think there is no reason to have to change the site. If you change it, there might be community transmission in another site over the next couple of weeks,” Erbelding said. “Any risk of that to participants is very small. It would be manageable as the trial progresses. People are being observed very, very carefully.”

EARLY WARNING SIGNS

Tragic lessons from other vaccines and prior work on coronaviruses have raised some warning flags for developers.

The best-known example occurred in a US trial in the 1960s of a vaccine created by the NIH and licensed to Pfizer to fight respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes pneumonia in infants.

The vast majority of babies who received the vaccine developed more severe disease, and two toddlers died.

A more recent example occurred in the Philippines, where some 800,000 children were vaccinated with Sanofi’s dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia.

Only afterward did the company learn that it could increase the risk of more severe disease in a small percentage of individuals.

Research, including that conducted by Hotez, has shown that coronaviruses in particular have the potential to produce this kind of response.

However, testing for the risk of vaccine enhancement is time-consuming, because it requires scientists to breed mice that are genetically altered to respond to the virus like humans.

Work on these and other animal models is just getting under way in several laboratories around the world.

Moderna, Inovio and several other vaccine developers are not waiting for that process to be completed and are planning to launch human trials in record time for a virus that was only discovered in December last year.

Moderna and Inovio say their vaccines are likely to have a lower risk of vaccine enhancement, because they are made using newer technology that focuses on specific genes on the outer “spike” portion of the virus.

Coronavirus vaccines that caused vaccine enhancement were typically made using an inactivated version of the entire virus.

Neither company has produced a licensed vaccine to date.

J&J said it is developing animal models to test for vaccine enhancement and hopes to have a vaccine candidate ready for human trials in October.

A Sanofi spokeswoman said the company would examine this risk before testing the vaccine in clinical trials.

“People know how traumatic the RSV experience was,” said Johan Van Hoof, global head of Janssen Vaccines, J&J’s vaccine unit. “When you see signals in animals like this, we should not ignore them.”

Additional reporting by Michael Erman and AP

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: Scientists debate risks of accelerated testing for vaccine


content_text:
WORKFORCE WATCH:
 Analysts said that Catcher’s revenue for this month should recover from the previous month due to more workers returning at its plants in China

Catcher Technology Co (可成), the nation’s leading supplier of light metal casings and enclosures for mobile devices, last week reported weaker-than-expected financial results for last year, as well as falling sales in the first two months of this year.

Net income dropped 59.7 percent year-on-year to NT$11.27 billion (US$373.06 million), or earnings per share of NT$14.63, after revenue decreased 4 percent to NT$91.63 billion, the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday last week.

Gross margin of 24.3 percent and operating margin of 15.4 percent were both lower than a year earlier due to sliding capacity utilization and reduced prices.

Cumulative revenue in the first two months of this year was NT$9.93 billion, up 18.8 percent from NT$20.41 billion in the same period last year, but last month’s revenue plunged 41.3 percent year-on-year and about 74 percent month-on-month to NT$2.02 billion, the lowest in nine years, company data showed.

Catcher said that its revenue performance was due mainly to the COVID-19 outbreak, as disease-prevention policies hampered its operations and logistics.

JPMorgan Securities (Taiwan) Ltd (摩根大通證券) said that Catcher’s revenue for this month should recover from the previous month thanks to an improving rate of workers returning to production lines at its plants in China.

However, it might still be shy of market consensus estimates by a “big shortfall,” JPMorgan said in a note on Wednesday, without elaborating.

Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said the company’s lower production scale amid the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a lower-than-expected gross margin this quarter.

“However, we believe its low gross margin from last year should recover in 2020, with likely better-than-expected iPhone 11 sales, while its high confidence in its business relationships with major clients will enable it to see iPhone shipment growth,” Yuanta said in a note to clients on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, China-based Luxshare Precision Industry Co (立訊精密) is rumored to be expanding its presence in Apple Inc’s iPhone assembly business by as early as next year, with Catcher likely a major partner for metal casing and frame manufacturing, Chinese-language media reported.

Yuanta said that Catcher’s position in Apple’s casing supply chain should remain stable if Luxshare makes the move.

However, JPMorgan said it would not necessarily be a positive development for Catcher, due to potential regulatory approval headwinds and downside risks for market share dynamics.

Catcher shares fell 19.62 percent for the whole of last week and have dropped 16.08 percent so far this year.

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: Catcher results fail expectations


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Businesses, venues can require masks, CECC says

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Friday said that businesses and large commercial venues that attract crowds can require customers and ticketholders to wear a mask, depending on the type of activity and the risk of transmission.

When large numbers of people are at department stores, hotels, gyms, indoor playgrounds, movie theaters and other large commercial settings for extended periods, close contact would raise the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, so it recommends that appropriate protective measures be taken, the center’s new guidelines state.

Such settings should step up communication with people with chronic pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease or other such ailments; people with hemoglobinopathy or other disorders that affect their red blood cells; people with immunodeficiencies that require long-term treatment; pregnant women; and people with a weak immune system, and ask them to avoid going to crowded places during the outbreak, the guidelines state.

Such places should clean and disinfect their spaces, especially surfaces that are frequently touched such as elevator buttons, escalator handrails and exercise and playground equipment, as well as bathroom surfaces such as faucets, handles and toilet seats, the guidelines state.

They should maintain good ventilation and try to keep a distance of at least 1m between facilities or seat people apart and limit the number of people who can enter to ensure that the space is not overcrowded, the guidelines state.

The guidelines also suggest posters be placed at entrances or ticket offices reminding people to wash their hands and of respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette.

Businesses and venues should arrange for employees take customer’s temperatures and assess their symptoms and persuade those with fevers or respiratory symptoms not to enter, and to refund their tickets, the guidelines state.

They should set a plan for monitoring employees’ health and prepare a supply of gloves and masks to respond to a situation where an employee or customer feels ill, including establishing spaces that could be used as quarantine or resting areas, the guidelines state.

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: Credit crunch risks turning firms into zombie army

content_text:
A decade of easy money sloshing around the economy might come to haunt policymakers, as legions of firms hooked on cheap credit have no buffers to make it through the COVID-19 pandemic without serious damage, or outright failure.

Amid signs that banks and investors have already retrenched their lending, central banks are trying to ensure that the flow of credit to businesses remains open.

However, those loans, regardless of how soft they are, will still have to be paid back, and therein lies the rub, as many will not be able to generate enough revenue.

The volume of corporate debt struck an all-time real-term high of US$13.5 trillion at the end of last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said.

Including bank borrowings, “the global [corporate] debt-to-GDP ratio ... is near a record high of 94 percent and is at, or near, all-time highs in many major economies,” Capital Economics said in a report.

This has created a growing number of so-called zombie firms — companies that just manage to pay interest on their loans with ongoing credit deals, but have no prospect of settling upon the principal.

CHEAP CREDIT

A 2018 report by the Bank of International Settlements put zombie firms at between 6 and 12 percent of total companies, and said that ample cheap credit was partly to blame.

Even if that number seems small, it can quickly turn into a major risk.

Capital Economics Ltd said it had identified a “BBB bulge” in the US and eurozone corporate bond markets comprising just over half of all new investment-grade bonds over the past three years.

“BBB” is the lowest investment-grade rating. When firms drop below this into “junk” territory, they face higher borrowing costs, as many investment funds are limited to buying only investment-grade bonds.

A virus-induced recession or a surge in borrowing costs, or both, could trigger bond ratings agencies to downgrade many of these bonds into “junk” status.

“The greater the virus-related disruption, the closer we will get to this tipping-point” with the virus acting as a “trigger,” Capital Economics warned.

The OECD estimates that if a financial shock arrived comparable to 2008 then US$500 billion of corporate debt would migrate to “junk”-rated levels inside 12 months.

Zombies and other struggling firms would then come under intense pressure to lower their debt through job cuts and salary freezes, as well as cutbacks on investment.

‘VICIOUS CIRCLE’

However, “this then hits demand, which in turn prolongs downturns, which weigh on profitability, making further deleveraging more likely” in what becomes a vicious circle, Capital Economics said.

Such an impact on the wider economy is what economists call second-round shocks, and can cause a longer and deeper crisis than the original upheaval.

“We are at the eye of the storm,” said Vincent Marioni, European director for investments in Europe with Allianz Global Investors GmbH.

“The important thing over the coming two months is to maintain the liquidity of firms and ensure that a liquidity crisis does not morph into an insolvency crisis,” said Florence Barjou, head of multi-asset investment with Lyxor Asset Management SAS.

While central banks including the US Federal Reserve have lowered interest rates, they have also undertaken steps to ensure the credit taps remain open.

The European Central Bank (ECB) unveiled a number of such so-called targeted measures after its meeting on Thursday.

In particular, it lowered the rate on funds it makes available to banks to pass onto companies and in certain cases it will be paying banks to lend on the funds.

The ECB, which supervises large banks in the eurozone, said that it would allow them to temporarily lower capital buffers and use additional types of assets.

“Banks will see a weakening of their loan book quality as the effects of the virus will reduce global travel and factory output, and dampen domestic demand in Europe,” Moody’s Investors Service vice president and senior credit officer Bernhard Held said.

NEGATIVE OUTLOOK

“The outbreak adds to late-cycle risks associated with weakening economic prospects across the region as reflected in our negative outlook for the European banks,” Held said.

Marioni said that in the US, a large chunk of corporate debt is directly linked to the oil sector.

Given that the gyrations in crude prices have caused a bumpy ride for oil firms over recent months “the [current] fall in the price of oil will really complicate matters for them,” he 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.


content_text:
MECHANICAL EXPERTS:
 Employees from several firms worked together over six weeks to build the machinery needed for 92 new production lines

One of the engineers who was part of a group of more than 100 who built 92 mask production lines in over the past month-and-a-half said the experience was an honor and rewarding.

The delivery and assembly of new machines have allowed for new production lines at various manufacturing plants across the nation, including one at Changhung Machinery’s factory in the mountains of New Taipei City’s Wugu District (五股).

Engineers from several companies, including Taichung-based HIWIN, Taiwan Takisawa and HABOR Precision, and Kaohsiung-based Tongtai Machine and Tool Co, worked together to install the new production lines at the plant, Chen Yu-hsu (陳宇旭), a 63-year-old mechanical engineer, said on Saturday.

“A factory building of about 300 ping [991.7m22] had been unused for a while, but now is has become a stronghold in Taiwan’s fight against the Wuhan virus,” he said.

Chen, who has worked at Posa Machinery Co for 22 years, said that while assembling machine components looks easy, it takes experience to do it well.

The team was able to meet the tight schedule because older and younger engineers shared a common desire to aid epidemic-prevention efforts, he said.

The older ones also shared their experience with the younger ones, he said.

Chen was preparing to retire, but felt compelled to join the effort to boost mask production, he said.

He could not pass up the opportunity “to do something for the nation” at his age, even though he had never made a machine to produce masks.

“I have no problems keeping up with younger people. I love the machine tool industry and wanted to be on the front line,” he said.

Different machine tool companies have different procedures, and their engineers have different skill sets, so cooperation between firms is rare, but the past six weeks showed that this barrier could be overcome, he said.

The experience had allowed him to make new friends and learn new things, he added.

“Our purpose was to speed up domestic mask production, but the older engineers were also able to help the younger ones by passing on their knowledge,” he said.

The nation’s success with quickly meeting mask demand had shown Taiwan’s production capabilities to the world, he said.

In an effort to meet domestic demand for masks caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the government on Jan. 23 banned the export of disposable masks and one week later began requisitioning those produced domestically.

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: Engineers help build mask production


title: Taiwan’s Tai and Chou win semis

content_text:
Taiwanese shuttlers Tai Tzu-ying and Chou Tien-chen reached the finals of the women’s and men’s singles respectively at the All England Open after toppling their opponents in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Tai, the second-seeded world No. 2, triumphed over eighth-seeded world No. 7 and defending Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain 19-21, 21-13, 21-11 in a match that lasted 62 minutes.

The Taiwanese badminton ace lost the first game, but turned things around in the next two games by sending Marin running from line to line with aggressive strikes and disguised pushes that forced the Spaniard to go long beyond the side and back lines.

Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying returns to Carolina Marin during their All England Open semi-final at the Arena Birmingham on Saturday.
 Photo: Reuters

With the latest win, Tai extended her head-to-head record against Marin to 9-6 and pocketed her fourth consecutive ticket to the All England Open final.

Tai was to play top seed, world No. 1 and defending champion Chen Yufei yesterday for the title, with all of the matches starting after press time last night.

In the men’s singles, first-seeded world No. 2 Chou had an easier ride to the finals after fifth-seed and world No. 4 Anders Antonsen of Denmark retired 26 minutes into the match due to an injury.

Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen returns to Anders Antonsen during their men’s singles semi-final at the All England Open at Arena Birmingham on Saturday.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

Chou was leading 17-14 in the first game when the injury occurred.

He rolled his right ankle in an attempt to receive a deep push into the right back corner.

Chou thanked organizers and badminton fans.

“I’m happy to win today and thanks to God and to the All England organizers, because this [COVID-19 pandemic] is a big situation and yet the people coming here to see us, so we need to show great attitude, so may God bless all the fans and the staff and coaches,” he told bwfbadminton.com.

Chou now enjoys a 7-1 head-to-head record against Antonsen, who beat Malaysian world No. 13 Lee Zii Jia 17-21, 21-13, 21-19 at the the Arena Birmingham.

With the prospects of an all-Danish final scuppered, Chou was to play Antonsen’s compatriot, second seed world No. 7 Viktor Axelsen, who was a runner up last year at the All England Open.

Taiwan’s campaign in the men’s doubles came to a halt as seventh seeds Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin fell to top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in straight games 21-18, 21-13 in a semi-final that lasted only 35 minutes.

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:
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Tuesday last week detained a man who allegedly cheated Taiwanese out of their passports as part of a China-based human smuggling operation.

Police held the Taoyuan man surnamed Lin (林), 21, for questioning and recovered 20 Republic of China (ROC) passports, said Su Li-tsung (蘇立琮), captain of the 2nd Squadron at the CIB International Criminal Affairs Division.

Lin had prior criminal convictions and was working with a international human-trafficking ring, based in China’s Fujian Province, Su said.

Some fraudulently obtained Taiwanese passports that were set to be sent abroad are pictured on Tuesday after being seized by the Criminal Investigation Bureau at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
 Photo copied by Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times

An investigation is ongoing to locate any other Taiwanese affiliated with the ring, he added.

“Taiwanese passports can fetch good prices on the international black market, selling for up to NT$30,000 each, as there are reciprocal arrangements for visa-free entry to the US and European nations, for a total of 112 countries around the world,” Su said.

The “passports are highly coveted by Chinese human smugglers and criminal groups, who can use them to smuggle Chinese from China and Southeast Asia into these countries,” he said.

During questioning, Lin said that he communicated with the Fujian group through WeChat and was given instructions on where to collect the passports, which he would send to an address in Fujian through an air courier.

Lin said he allegedly sent nine air courier parcels in the past few months, each containing two to four passports, for total of 20, and that he received NT$1,500 for each parcel, Su said.

However, Lin said that he did not know the people who gave him the instructions, he added.

CIB investigators launched the investigation after an international courier company alerted them in December last year, as the law prohibits sending passports abroad by mail or courier.

The parcels containing the passports were traced to a temporary storage unit in a warehouse at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

With other Taiwanese suspects, Lin reportedly obtained the passports by defrauding the passport holders, Su said.

The suspects allegedly posted job ads online and asked applicants to hand over their passports, posed as police or judiciary officials to ask people for their passports under the guise of investigating a criminal case, or promoted favorable loans and asked for passports as collateral, he added.

Lin would face fraud charges for contravening legal provisions governing passport use, prosecutors 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: Man faces fraud charges in China passport swindle


content_text:
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday announced that they would suspend some flights to the US and Europe, one day after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) issued a “level 3” travel notice for 27 European countries and Dubai due to the spread of COVID-19.

The airlines said the move was necessary since airline crew and travelers arriving from those areas are required to observe either a 14-day self-quarantine or self-health management regime.

CAL said it would suspend some of its long-haul flights over the next 20 days, including those to New York City and Los Angeles in the US; Brisbane and Sydney in Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; and Vienna, Austria.

China Airlines employees check in passengers for Taipei at Los Angeles International Airport in California on March 9.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

EVA would adjust the frequency of its flights to Europe starting today, based on demand and the rotation of its flight crews.

It has canceled its flights to Paris scheduled for tomorrow, its Web site showed.

The airlines’ announcements came one day after they said they would provide full refunds to people holding tickets for flights to 27 European nations and Dubai.

People with CAL tickets to or from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland for flights before April 30 who want to reschedule their flights would not have to pay anything for the service, the airline said in a news release.

In addition, people outside of Taiwan who bought CAL or Mandarin Airlines Ltd (華信航空) tickets between Jan. 20 and April 30, but are now barred from entering Taiwan due to COVID-19 precautions can apply for a full refund or reschedule their trips at no cost, CAL said.

Travelers holding unused tickets during this period and those traveling to and from China, Hong Kong and South Korea can apply for full refunds by April 30 without having to pay a service charge or penalty, it said.

Details about the refund policy are available on its Web site (www.china-airlines.com/hk/en/discover/news/travel-advisory/).

EVA said that, beginning this week, people who have booked tickets to fly to any of the 27 European countries would be eligible for a full refund if they choose to cancel or reschedule their tickets.

More information about refund applications or inquiries is also available on its Web site.

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: CAL and EVA suspending some US, Europe flights


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Countries unveil drastic measures to restrain virus

Authorities around the world yesterday turned to increasingly drastic measures to try to slow the spread of COVID-19 with lockdowns, curfews and travel restrictions spreading.

The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead, with thousands of new cases confirmed each day.

Soldiers and police sealed the densely populated Philippine capital Manila from most domestic travelers in one of Southeast Asia’s most drastic containment measures.

A man takes a photograph on a deserted Via Condotti as the government restricts movements to combat the COVID-19 outbreak in Rome on Saturday.
 Photo: Reuters

The move mirrored a lockdown Spain announced just hours earlier for its 46 million citizens.

In a nationally televised address on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures put in place as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight a sharp rise in infections.

Later on Saturday, Spain’s government said that Sanchez’s wife had tested positive for the virus.

In a lockdown similar to the one already imposed in Italy, people would be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips related to the care of the young and the elderly.

All schools and universities were closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other nonessential retail businesses.

Italians were spending their first weekend under lockdown, with only the odd jogger or dog-walker visible on pavements otherwise emptied in an attempt to contain Europe’s worst COVID-19 outbreak.

On Saturday evening Italian authorities said that 3,497 cases had been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 21,157.

The death toll stood at 1,441, up from 1,266 on Friday.

Vittorio Gregotti, an Italian architect who designed the stadium for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, died yesterday at the age of 92 after contracting the virus, Italian media said.

Spanish authorities said that the number of infections climbed past 6,250, half of them in the capital, Madrid. That represents a national increase of more than 1,500 cases in 24 hours.

The country reported a total of 193 deaths, up from 120.

Spain has the fifth-highest number of cases, behind China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.

Despite pleas for calm from authorities, shoppers packed supermarkets in Spain in the morning, but overall, the normally bustling streets of the country’s two biggest cities were noticeably quieter as the message sank in that social distancing is the only way to stop the pandemic.

School closures at all levels were extended in the Philippines, which has confirmed 140 cases, including 11 deaths.

In the Middle East, Muslim authorities announced that Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, would be closed indefinitely due to concerns about the outbreak, with prayers continuing to be held on the sprawling esplanade outside.

Thousands of Muslims returning to Turkey from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were being taken into quarantine due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Turkish officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial on serious corruption charges, which was supposed to begin this week, was postponed for two months due to restrictions on public gatherings.

Greece said it would ban road and sea routes, as well as flights, to Albania and North Macedonia, and ban flights to and from Spain.

Paris followed other cities in shuttering major tourist attractions, and France announced the closing of all restaurants, cafes, theaters and nonessential shops starting yesterday.

Denmark closed its borders and halted passenger traffic to and from the country.

Poland planned to close is borders at midnight and deny all foreigners entry unless they lived in Poland or had personal ties there.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia took similar action.

Russia said that its borders with Norway and Poland would be closed to most foreigners from yesterday.

Jordan announced six new cases of COVID-19, including one from an American tourist coming from Egypt.

The Republic of the Congo has reported its first case of coronavirus, a 50-year-old French-Congolese man who arrived on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Paris on March 1.

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:
Virus Outbreak: Trump found free of infection as US widens travel ban

US President Donald Trump has tested negative for COVID-19, his physician said, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralyzed the globe.

Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.

“This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” the US president’s physician Sean Conley said in a Saturday memo.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on coronavirus in the Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington on Saturday.
 Photo: AP

Trump, 73, had dismissed concerns over his exposure to the disease, which has killed at least 60 Americans and infected nearly 3,000, with millions working from home and schools shut.

New York City, the most populous in the US, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.

In New Jersey, Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called for a citywide self-quarantine after 18 cases were confirmed in the township.

“What we are saying is that we are ground zero,” Hameeduddin said.

US Vice President Mike Pence announced further curbs on travel to the US, saying that a ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the UK and Ireland tomorrow.

The restrictions threw airports across the country into disarray, with incoming travelers forced to wait hours for medical screenings before passing through customs.

Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker said the long lines at Chicago’s O’Hare airport were “unacceptable.”

“The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW,” he tweeted.

US Department of Homeland Security acting secretary Chad Wolf said that his office was working with airlines to improve screening times.

Trump advised against non-essential travel and said officials were also considering imposing domestic restrictions.

“If you don’t have to travel, I wouldn’t do it,” Trump said at a White House news conference. “We want this thing to end.”

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 5,800 lives in at least 137 countries.

Repeatedly attacked for sending out mixed signals on the health crisis, the US president raised eyebrows on Friday when, contrary to medical advice, he was seen shaking hands as he gathered his coronavirus response team at the White House.

On Saturday, he blamed habit — “people put their hand out ... you don’t think about it” — but said it would have to change.

“Maybe people shouldn’t be shaking hands for the long term,” said Trump, a self-declared germophobe.

Trump’s virus test came after contact with the Brazilian delegation as well as US lawmakers and political leaders who have gone into self-quarantine over potential infection.

On Saturday, a 30-day US ban took effect on all travel from the EU’s Schengen border-free zone, part of a global clampdown on travel to curtail the virus.

Pence said the ban would include the UK and Ireland as of midnight today.

Both countries had been excluded from the initial ban.

“Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home. Legal [US] residents can come home,” Pence 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.


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Rise in demand for new airport transport seen

Demand for disease-prevention taxi and vehicle rental services at airports is expected to increase after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday issued a level 3 “warning” travel notice for 27 European countries, as well as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, due to a rapid rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in those nations, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said yesterday.

Outbound passengers departing to any of the nations after 2pm on Saturday would be subject to 14-day home quarantine if they return to Taiwan, the CECC said.

The policy would raise the demand for the disease-prevention taxi and vehicle rental services at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, TIAC said, adding that, CB Leasing Co, the vehicle rental firm helping with the service, has increased the number of vehicles in its disease-prevention fleet.

Passengers who arrived yesterday on an Emirates flight from Dubai wait for their Health Declaration and Home Quarantine Notices to be reviewed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
 Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

Some Uber drivers criticized the move, saying that the rental drivers working with the fleet could become weak links in containing the spread of COVID-19.

TIAC said that the special service was created so that passengers who are asked to undergo home quarantine would not use public transport to return home.

If they take the public transport and one of them is later diagnosed with the coronavirus, the government would have trouble finding the people who have been in contact with them, it said.

Passengers returning from nations with COVID-19 infections could also be collected by their family members or any contact who can be located by the government, but passengers and their family members have to protect themselves from contracting the disease, the company said.

The new service is provided by airport-based taxi drivers and CB Leasing, which was the only vehicle rental firm willing to offer the service, it added.

Since March 4, the fleet has about 620 vehicles standing by.

According to the service fee schemes announced by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, passengers who are headed to Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan or Hsinchu County would be charged the price shown on the taxi meters.

Those traveling to other cities and counties should use the vehicle rental service.

Drivers in the special fleet have been trained by Centers for Disease Control staff on dealing with passengers, the company said.

Apart from wearing masks, they also need to disinfect the vehicles and passengers’ luggage and make sure that the passengers have masks on before getting into a vehicle, TIAC said.

The drivers would also keep a record of their passengers.

If one of the passengers is confirmed to have COVID-19, the record would help government officials track the people who have been in contact with them, the company said.

In related news, Emirates yesterday announced that all flights between Taipei and Dubai would be suspended, starting today.

Passengers wanting a refund or to change tickets would not be charged a processing fee, it 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.


content_text:
The spread of COVID-19 — which the WHO last week declared a pandemic — has triggered volatility and corrections in the global financial markets, leading many governments around the world to impose extensive travel restrictions as part of their efforts to contain the disease. It has also prompted several central banks to roll out emergency measures to cushion against any potential fallout from the pandemic. However, things are still rocky and the road to recovery could be bumpy.

Even though governments and central banks have touted plans to boost investor confidence and ease market concerns, panic appears to be persisting and financial markets are expected to remain volatile after last week’s global rout. That is because the underlying nature of the current threat is not economic; it is a pandemic that causes people to avoid going out to minimize social interaction and forces most economic activities to cool. That is different from what happened in 2008 and 2009 when a series of systemic and structural failures within financial institutions led to a global financial crisis.

Realistically, rather than buoying investor confidence, the rate cuts by central banks are more likely to deepen concerns that the disease might have a more severe effect on the economy than expected. As international oil prices plunged last week due to a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, and commodity prices also showed corrections amid a dimming growth outlook, while bond markets exhibited wild swings as traders had difficulty finding their desired prices, the signs of credit and liquidity risk are clear in financial markets. Rate cuts are not a vaccine, and even if the US Federal Reserve were to slash its benchmark rate again this week as expected, the effect would be limited — as long as the pandemic cannot be brought under control soon.

In Taiwan, the Legislative Yuan on Friday approved a NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) special budget to fund disease prevention and assist local sectors hardest hit by the outbreak. The move came on the same day that the TAIEX at one point fell below 10,000 points as fears about the global spread of the disease dominated the local market. Overall, the market plunged by 10.54 percent last week in a tumultuous week of trading. What is more serious is that the potential fallout could result in an extended period of subdued economic activity, which explains why the central bank last week said it would this week consider pre-emptive measures to handle repercussions from the pandemic.

Taiwan has had good results in controlling COVID-19 thus far, while the continued flow of returning Taiwanese businesses and anticipated orders for 5G and the Internet of Things are all likely to soften the blow to the economy. However, the nation should remain alert to supply chain disruptions and global consumer confidence if the pandemic continues to spread worldwide. As the country is heavily reliant on exports, which are directly affected by COVID-19, businesses are being affected by the virus to a different extent.

However, the real issue has always been demand, which would directly affect the economy, as a prolonged outbreak would most likely result in a sharp decline in tourist arrivals and keep people out of shopping or entertainment areas in the coming months. Now that the Legislative Yuan has passed a special budget for the outbreak, the government must provide immediate assistance to the affected sectors and furloughed employees. That would help maintain employee morale, ensure companies have a pool of experienced workers and retain consumer purchasing power, which are all necessary when the economy rebounds and demand accelerates.

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: Virus-affected sectors need help now


content_text:
RESTRICTIONS LOOSEN:
 Hubei officials said that ‘closed management’ had been removed from low-risk areas, but there is no indication people can leave the province

China yesterday reported 16 new imported cases of the coronavirus, the highest in more than a week, as domestic cases dwindle in the country.

China’s National Health Commission said that infections involving people arriving from overseas were reported in five provinces and cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

Only four new domestic cases were detected, all in Hubei Province’s capital, Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December last year.

Security personnel yesterday guard an entrance into an exhibition center that has been converted into an area for screening oversea arrivals in Beijing.
 Photo: AP

There have now been 111 imported infections, with regions outside of Hubei reporting no new indigenous cases for the third day in a row, prompting fears that China’s measures to contain the virus domestically could be undone by reintroduced outbreaks.

Another ten people died, all in Wuhan, bringing the national toll from the disease in mainland China to 3,199. More than 80,000 people have been infected.

Central Hubei was locked down in January, placing about 56 million people under quarantine, but the number of cases has declined in recent weeks.

Provincial authorities in Hubei on Saturday loosened restrictions that had prevented people from leaving their residential compounds and villages freely.

“All the [administrative authorities] in urban communities and village areas that are classified as low risk have removed closed management,” Hubei Health Commission deputy director Liu Dongru said yesterday, referring to a previous policy of blocking entrances to communities and monitoring residents’ movements.

The province on Tuesday had announced that people in medium and low-risk areas would be able to travel within the province.

There is no indication that people can leave the province, and the measures also did not appear to loosen restrictions in Wuhan.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have stepped up surveillance of international arrivals.

Beijing on Wednesday ordered all international arrivals to the city to go into 14-day quarantine.

All international flights into the capital’s secondary Daxing Airport have now been rerouted to arrive at the older Beijing Capital Airport, where arrivals would be screened and monitored, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.

Municipal authorities said that the five imported cases reported in Beijing were travelers arriving from Spain, Italy and Thailand.

The three cases in Shanghai were from Italy, France and Spain, all Chinese citizens living in Europe, Shanghai authorities said.

Beijing did not specify the nationalities of the newly detected patients, nor did Guangdong Province, which said one arrival from the Philippines had been diagnosed. Another seven imported cases were reported in Zhejiang and Gansu provinces.

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: China reports new imported cases


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Chile quarantines 1,300 aboard two cruise ships

Chile has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for COVID-19, the Chilean Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.

Both ships were cruising the Chilean fjords in Patagonia.

The 85-year-old man showed symptoms of the virus after getting off the Silver Explorer ship in the far southern port of Caleta Tortel, 2,400km from Santiago.

He was later transferred to a hospital in the city of Coyhaique, where he tested positive for the virus.

“The ship is in quarantine off the port of Castro. The British citizen is in good condition, but has tested positive for coronavirus,” Chilean Minister of Health Jaime Manalich told a news conference.

The other ship, the Azmara Pursuit — with more than 1,000 on board — had earlier crossed into Chilean waters from the southern Argentine port of Ushuaia.

Manalich said it was near the port of Chacabuco after authorities banned it from landing passengers there, on grounds that it was carrying suspected cases.

The number of coronavirus cases in Chile reached 61 on Saturday, 18 more than on Friday.

Manalich said Chile is in Phase 3 of the crisis, which means that in addition to those infected with COVID-19 coming from abroad, there might be local cases.

Chile has taken broad measures against the spread of the virus, banning events of more than 500 people and recommending people to work from home.

In other developments around Latin America on Saturday, Colombia expelled two French nationals and two Spaniards for violating coronavirus quarantine rules.

The two couples separately took tourist trips in defiance of restrictions imposed on visitors from the worst-affected countries, immigration officials said.

Ecuador announced it was closing its borders to foreigners after the it registered its second coronavirus death.

In Bolivia, a ban on direct flights to and from Europe went into effect on Saturday. Travelers from China, South Korea, Italy and Spain are also banned from entry.

Panama banned flights from Asia and Europe.

Authorities also announced that schools will shutter in Venezuela, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay.

El Salvador’s congress also declared a state of emergency and approved a partial suspension of the country’s constitution to tackle the epidemic.

The measures include a restriction on free movement and assembly for a period of 30 days, allowing health officials to ban public gatherings.

As of Saturday night, Latin America had registered six coronavirus deaths and 430 cases of infection.

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:
Taiwan plans to introduce a “strengthened” version of its self-health management guidelines for travelers with more text message checks in a bid to reduce the risk of more imported cases of COVID-19.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), on Saturday said that the center plans to introduce automatic text message checks as part of a “strengthened” version of the guidelines, as well as penalties for those who fail to reply to text messages or disclose symptoms of illness.

The CEEC has developed operational procedures for the new guidelines, Chen said, but he did not say when they would be implemented.

Currently, travelers entering Taiwan from nations or areas under a Level 3 warning must undergo 14 days of home quarantine, while those arriving from all other countries are required to conduct self-health management for 14 days by minimizing time spent in public, wearing a mask and checking their temperature twice daily.

Under the new measures travelers would receive a formal notification to observe self-health management for 14 days, during which time authorities would check on them via text messaging, according to a procedural chart the center released on Saturday.

People who believe they have symptoms of the virus would need to send messages to arrange for treatment, while those who fail to reply to either text messages or telephone calls would be referred to the police, the chart showed.

The government is also looking at the possibility of waiving home quarantine regulations for foreigners from nations and areas under a Level 3 travel warning who want to make a short business trip to Taiwan, Chen said.

Such visitors might be tested upon arrival for COVID-19 at their own cost, he said.

Asked about enforcement of the government’s travel restrictions, Chen said that healthcare personnel can view the travel history of Taiwanese or foreign residents by scanning their National Health Insurance cards.

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: More text checks: CECC


title: Zimbabwe offers to give farms back after collapse

content_text:
Zimbabwe’s government is to offer land as compensation for nearly 800 farms it seized under its land acquisition policy since 2000, regulations published on Thursday showed.

Under former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, the nation took over about 5,000 farms, mostly from white farmers, saying the policy was meant to address colonial imbalances. The land seizures triggered an economic collapse.

The southern African country’s new Constitution, agreed with the opposition in 2013, provides for compensation of all farmers whose land was seized by the state. However, Zimbabwe’s economic woes mean it has struggled to pay the former farmers.

It set aside US$17.5 million in its budget last year and a further US$21 million for the same purpose this year. The former farmers are demanding nearly US$7 billion in compensation, a committee representing them in negotiations with government said.

In a change of approach, the government of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe after a coup in 2017, is offering some of the dispossessed farmers land as compensation, the regulations showed.

The dispossessed farmers covered in the land compensation scheme are citizens of countries that have bilateral investment agreements with Zimbabwe, as well as some black Zimbabwean commercial farmers who lost their farms.

These countries include former colonial ruler Britain, South Africa, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland, all of which had significant numbers of farmers in Zimbabwe.

It was not yet known whether the farmers would accept the offer.

In 2015, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which is part of the World Bank group, ordered Zimbabwe to pay US$196 million compensation to a Swiss-German family whose farm had been seized by the government.

Zimbabwe lost a bid to have the compensation award annulled in 2018.

Zimbabwe’s government is still in talks with white Zimbabwean farmers on compensation for the loss of their farms.

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: Mapimpi seals victory for the Sharks

content_text:
TABLE TOPPERS:
 The 10-point win put the Sharks back on top of the combined table with 24 points after a fifth consecutive win, with the Crusaders one point behind

A try by Rugby World Cup winner Makazole Mapimpi sealed a 24-14 Super Rugby victory for the table-topping Coastal Sharks over the Western Stormers on Saturday in a South African showdown.

His score one minute from time followed two penalties by flyhalf Curwin Bosch that turned a 14-13 deficit after 69 minutes into a 10-point triumph at Kings Park in Durban.

It was the last match in the southern hemisphere competition to be played in South Africa for the “foreseeable future” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers said.

Sharks prop Ox Nche runs the ball during their Super Rugby game against the Stormers at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday.
 Photo: AFP

The SANZAAR announcement came just 80 minutes before kick-off and many players were unaware that Super Rugby had been suspended after round 7.

“I am not surprised by the suspension given the spread of the virus and just hope the break is not too long,” Sharks skipper Lukhanyo Am said. “Our forwards won this match and the goal kicking of Curwin contributed a lot to the victory.”

Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff said the match was a “wonderful advertisement for South African rugby in front of a great crowd.”

“Both sides pitched up and we had a typical South African derby — very physical with possession fiercely contested,” Kitshoff said. “The suspension is unfortunate, but understandable because the good health of people has to come before sport. Let us hope the break is short.”

The Sharks went back to the top of the combined table with 24 points after a fifth consecutive win, one point above the Canterbury Crusaders, the defending champions.

The Stormers, the pacesetters for four rounds, slipped to seventh on 17 points, behind the Wellington Hurricanes on points difference.

They made a disastrous start with flanker Johan du Toit yellow-carded after 12 seconds for a dangerous tackle on Sharks scrum-half Louis Schreuder, who went off injured.

However, the hosts did not capitalize on their 10-minute numerical advantage and only scored well into the first half when fullback Aphelele Fassi went over for a try that Bosch converted.

The Stormers responded almost immediately with scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies scoring a try that fullback Damian Willemse converted.

A Bosch drop-goal in additional first-half time earned the Sharks a 10-7 halftime lead that they deserved given their edge in the set-pieces and aggression at the breakdowns.

Bosch widened the lead to six points with a penalty before the home crowd were silenced by a try from substitute scrumhalf Paul de Wet that Willemse converted to put the Stormers ahead.

Bosch and Mapimpi struck the decisive blows as a surprise win was looming for a visiting team lacking injured Springboks forwards Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi.

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:
SOCCER

England restart doubted

Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has reportedly told the Premier League that he does not believe the domestic soccer season will be completed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Premier League on Friday suspended all fixtures at an emergency meeting. “It was unanimously decided to suspend the Premier League with the intention of returning on 4 April, subject to medical advice and conditions at the time,” the Premier League said in a statement. Clarke said at the meeting that he did not think it was feasible for the season to be completed, the Times reported. The virus is not expected to peak in Britain for many weeks, raising doubts over a restart early next month. The Times said it is understood that Brighton & Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber also questioned the brevity of the suspension. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters is reported to have said it would at least allow time to consider the potential consequences and debate the possible solutions. The decision was taken after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for COVID-19. Arteta welcomed the move to put the season on hold. “Feeling better already,” he tweeted. “We’re all facing a huge & unprecedented challenge.Everyone’s health is all that matters right now.”

GYMNASTICS

Biles snaps at birthday tweet

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles wants more than good wishes from USA Gymnastics. The US federation wished Biles a happy 23rd birthday on social media on Saturday. Biles used the tweet to demand an independent investigation into the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal. “How about you amaze me and do the right thing ... have an independent investigation,” Biles wrote on Twitter after the federation’s birthday tweet. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most decorated gymnast of all time, @simonebiles!” USA Gymnastics wrote, posting a video of Biles in action in a floor exercise. “We know you will only continue to amaze us and make history!” Former national gymnastics team doctor Nassar was jailed for life for abusing more than 250 athletes, including stars of the US’ 2012 and 2016 gold medal-winning Olympic teams. A US Senate investigation found that “multiple institutions” failed to adequately respond to credible allegations against Nassar, but Biles has said that USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee still owe his victims, including herself, more answers and a framework to ensure such abuses would not occur again. “Wish they BOTH wanted an independent investigation as much as the survivors & I do,” she tweeted earlier this month.

MOTORSPORT

Ogier wins shortened rally

Sebastien Ogier won the Rally Mexico for a sixth time yesterday after the world championship event was cut short due to changing travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to end the rally after Saturday’s second leg was to allow teams and officials time to travel home to Europe from Mexico. “A victory is a victory of course, but this one feels different from any other,” said six times world champion Ogier, who had led the Leon-based event since Friday and whose win was the Frenchman’s first with Toyota.

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: SPORTS BRIEFS


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Indonesian president to take test as numbers rise

Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday said he would be tested for COVID-19, while some of his ministers had also undergone precautionary tests after the Southeast Asian country’s transport minister tested positive for the disease.

Indonesian Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi was receiving treatment at an army hospital in Jakarta, Indonesian Minister of State Secretariat Pratikno said on Saturday.

A hospital spokesman said that Sumadi was encountering difficulty breathing, but that his condition was improving.

Pratikno said that Sumadi was involved in virus mitigation efforts, particularly the evacuation of Indonesians from centers of the outbreak, and that Widodo had called for tests to be carried out on other ministers.

Cases of the virus in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, have jumped from zero two weeks ago to 117, with five deaths, government spokesperson Achmad Yurianto said.

He also said the virus has spread outside Greater Jakarta to Bandung in West Java, Solo in Central Java, Manado in North Sulawesi and Pontianak in West Kalimantan, as well as to holiday havens Yogyakarta and Bali.

Following the increase, the government on Saturday established a task force on COVID-19 mitigation.

Jakarta’s Governor Anies Baswedan announced that schools would close for two weeks starting today, and ordered the closure of city-owned tourist attractions, such as Ragunan Zoo and Ancol beach.

He emphasized that Jakarta would not be locked down, but urged people “to be responsible” and called for social distancing when possible.

Similarly, the administration of Solo on Friday announced that schools and tourist attractions would close after a coronavirus patient died in the region.

The WHO has said it is particularly concerned about high-risk nations with weaker health systems, which might lack the facilities to identify cases.

A day after declaring the coronavirus outbreak to be pandemic this week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called Widodo and both agreed to “scale up cooperation.”

Additional reporting by Reuters

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:
Virus Outbreak: UK to boost measures after coronavirus cases jump

‘CALL TO ARMS’:
 The new measures could see people older than 70 told to stay in isolation for up to four months, a broadcaster said, as the death toll doubled to 21

The British government was expected to accelerate efforts to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak after confirmed cases in the country surged much faster than expected, the Times of London reported yesterday.

Deaths in the country doubled to 21 on Saturday and the number of cases jumped by 342, an almost 43 percent increase.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to announce measures to encourage the elderly and those most at risk to stay at home, as well as for entire families to self-isolate if any member shows any symptoms, the Times said.

The government initially expected to take these steps in two weeks’ time, but is hastening its plans after the jump in cases, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.

Johnson was expected to chair a meeting yesterday, after which the measures could be announced, the paper said.

Army chiefs might order forces to build field hospitals and deploy military police on the country’s streets in the event of any civil unrest, the report said.

Europe has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, WHO officials said on Friday, and countries have taken unprecedented measures.

Britain has attempted to chart its own path through the crisis, offering a less aggressive approach that relies on taking more serious steps at the right time.

The country’s newest measures could see people older than 70 told to stay in isolation for as long as four months, ITV said, citing an unidentified senior person in government.

The step is an attempt to reduce the load on a health system already under strain.

The plan is aimed at making sure the British National Health System is not overwhelmed “to save lives and to prevent hideous choices having to be made,” an unidentified person told ITV.

Johnson’s administration is also concerned about the demand for medical equipment, including respirators for those who develop more serious symptoms from the virus.

Writing in the Telegraph, British Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock said the government is issuing a “call to arms,” asking manufacturers to “transform their production lines to make ventilators.”

Hancock confirmed that the government would put forward a bill this week to give it emergency powers it said it needs to tackle an outbreak.

Meanwhile, British food retailers have written a joint letter to their customers asking them to “buy responsibly” in the wake of shoppers stockpiling over fears about the pandemic.

In an extraordinary development, 12 of the UK’s biggest grocers are publishing advertisements in national newspapers yesterday and today.

Entitled “Working to Feed the Nation,” the letter reassures shoppers about steps being taken to ensure adequate supplies in stores and asks them to be considerate.

“We understand your concerns, but buying more than is needed can sometimes mean that others will be left without. There is enough for everyone if we all work together,” the letter says.

The supermarkets behind the letter include the “Big Four” — Tesco, J Sainsbury, WM Morrison and Asda Group — as well as the discounters Aldi and Lidl. Other retailers that have signed up include Marks & Spencer, online grocer Ocado and Waitrose.

Tesco, the UK’s largest grocer, has already had to restrict sales of antibacterial products, dried pasta, long-life milk, children’s medicines, water and tinned vegetables to five items a person in stores.

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:
The sporting calendar took a serious beating last week, with few events surviving the world’s battle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and even though Saturday’s UFC event in Brazil went ahead, it was against a backdrop of eerie silence in an empty arena.

In the main event, underdog Charles Oliveira from Sao Paolo scored a shock submission win over Kevin Lee with a guillotine choke that would have taken the roof of the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium, if there had been anybody there to see it.

With the local government having banned large gatherings to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, the usual gladiatorial atmosphere of a fight night was absent as the thousands of seats remained unfilled.

A man walks in front of the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia on Thursday.
 Photo: Reuters

Watched only by the coaches, the officials and the production staff, Sweden’s Bea Malecki and Veronica Macedo of Venezuela were the first to make the walk to the octagon. The usual thundering intro music for each fighter was cut short; with no fans, there was no atmosphere of anticipation to build.

Octagon announcer Joe Martinez did his best to inject some life into the proceedings as he introduced the fighters, but his fairground-style announcements of each fighter were met with indifference from those in the arena, who all had other work to do.

The only sounds were the slap of leather on flesh, feet pounding the octagon floor and the odd grunt punctuating the grappling exchanges. Occasionally the sounds of combat were pierced by the shouts of coaches and corner personnel.

The bouts lacked nothing in intensity, but without the electricity from a live audience, they took on the feel of glorified sparring sessions. As the victors had their hands raised, there were no roars of appreciation to reward them.

The first nine bouts on the 12-fight card all went the distance before Renato Moicano finally got a win inside the allotted time with a submission victory over Damir Hadzovic, and Gilbert Burns then added a thunderous knockout of Demian Maia in the co-main event, his full-throated victory roars echoing through the empty hall.

The lack of atmosphere clearly affected some of the fighters, who are more used to battling in front of sold-out arenas full of enthusiastic supporters.

“It was a bit weird not having any fans in the arena, but I could hear everything my coaches were saying, so that was good,” Bea Malecki told reporters after scoring a decision victory in the first fight of the night.

“Sometimes it’s so loud in there. It’s been a crazy week; we did not know if it [the fight] was going to happen or not, but we stuck to the plan,” she said.

With the government in the UK said to be considering a ban on large gatherings, the UFC’s next event in London this weekend might yet be canceled.

That might be a better fate than forcing their gladiators to fight in another empty colosseum.

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: Oliveira wins in silence at Brasilia UFC event


title: Taiwan News Quick Take

content_text:
DIPLOMACY

Chopin Web site updated

The designation of Taiwan on the International Chopin Piano Competition’s Web site has been changed to “Chinese Taipei,” after the government protested the use of two other names, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. When the contestants for the preliminary round were named last week, the country of the Taiwanese was first listed as “PRC Taiwan” before being changed to “China Taiwan.” After the Taipei Representative Office in Poland lodged a protest, the appellation was changed on Saturday to “Chinese Taipei,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said. Although the designation is still not what the government would prefer, it is “acceptable,” Ou said. She thanked the competition’s organizers for their efforts to resolve the matter, despite pressure from Beijing.

EARTHQUAKES

Tainan rocked by temblor

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake hit southern Taiwan at 9:52am yesterday, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported. The epicenter was in Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化), and the quake hit at a depth of 13.2km, the Central Weather Bureau’s Seismology Center said. The quake’s highest intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, measured 4 on Taiwan’s zero to 7 intensity scale in Nansi and 3 in Kaohsiung and Chiayi County. It had an intensity of 2 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County.

DIPLOMACY

UN Woman criticized

The Presidential Office on Friday criticized the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women for not including President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the “Women in Politics: 2020” map it produced with the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The map, released on Tuesday, also shows Taiwan in the same color as China, suggesting that they are one nation. “Hello @UN_Women: If you really want to empower women around the world, you may need 2 things: 1) NEW GLASSES so you can see past your prejudices; 2) MORE COURAGE so you can face reality & acknowledge #Taiwan’s widely admired head of state, President @iingwen!” the office tweeted. The office also posted a map showing Taiwan as one of 21 nations that have a female as head of state or government leader. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has asked the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York to file a protest with the UN over Tsai’s exclusion.

EDUCATION

Gold medalists honored

The Ministry of Education on Friday presented awards to the gold medalists of last year’s International Exhibition for Young Inventors. Taiwanese won nine of the 33 gold medals that were awarded at the exhibition in Indonesia in October, the ministry said. They included students from Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taipei, Taichung, New Taipei City and Yilan County, whose projects were chosen from out of 140 submitted. Last year’s event drew participants, aged six to 19 from 11 nations, who competed in seven categories: disaster management; education and recreation; foods and agriculture; green technologies; safety and health; technologies for special needs; and art technology. The K-12 Education Administration said that by recognizing the medalists, it hopes to encourage students to continue to invent and to innovate, and to inspire others to be passionate about technology and invention.

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:
‘SOCIAL DISTANCING’:
 The prime minister said that Australians should stay a meter apart from each other and try not to shake hands to reduce transmission

Australia is to impose 14-day self-isolation on international travelers arriving from midnight yesterday and ban cruise ships from foreign ports for 30 days, mirroring restrictions in nearby New Zealand aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the new measures after a meeting with a newly formed national cabinet, dubbed the coronavirus “war Cabinet.”

The strict measures were designed to slow the spread of the global pandemic across Australia and help the country “flatten the peak” of the virus, Morrison told a news conference.

People wearing masks carry shopping bags as they walk in front the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, Australia, yesterday. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned all Australians they could face more changes to their day-to-day lives to try to curb the spread of the virus.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

“To help stay ahead of this curve, we will impose a universal precautionary self-isolation requirement on all international arrivals to Australia and that is effective from midnight tonight,” he said.

“Further the Australian government will also ban cruise ships from foreign ports from arriving at Australian ports for an initial 30 days,” he added.

The new border restrictions come as Australia recorded more than 250 cases of coronavirus and three deaths.

Australia has already imposed bans for travelers from China, Italy Iran and South Korea, countries with high infection rates.

The bans mean foreign nationals who have been in any of the four nations would not be allowed into Australia for 14 days from the time they left those countries.

Australian citizens and permanent residents traveling from those countries would still be able to enter Australia, but must self-isolate for a fortnight after returning home.

Australia has advised against nonessential gatherings of more than 500 people from today, but this is yet to apply to schools and universities.

Morrison yesterday urged people to practice “social distancing,” such as keeping a meter apart and not to shake hands, in order to reduce transmissions.

He said the rate of community transmission had started to increase and that social distancing would help limit demand on the healthcare systems, which would mean better treatment for elderly and those in remote and vulnerable communities.

“Slowing the spread will free up beds,” he said. “That’s what happens when you get this right and we’ve seen other countries going down this path.”

Neighboring New Zealand on Saturday said it would require incoming travelers, including its own citizens, to self-isolate for two weeks and banned cruise ships.

The Australian government is yet to restrict the operation of schools, but Australian Minister of Health Greg Hunt yesterday did not rule out such a measure in the coming months.

The new phase of restrictions come as the Australian government launches a multimillion dollar advertising campaign focused on good hygiene, and the formation of a Coronavirus Business Liaison Unit to address the economic fallout.

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: Travelers face quarantine in Australia


title: World News Quick Take

content_text:
THAILAND

Travel curbs announced

The government has said it would classify all travelers into three groups under intensified surveillance for the new coronavirus as officials try to prevent a wider outbreak in the tourism-reliant nation. People coming from China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Iran and Italy will be subject to mandatory 14-day self-quarantine, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said in a statement. They must apply for visas and present health forms at check-in certifying they are at no risk of developing COVID-19, or they will be denied boarding. Arrivals from another group of 11 countries with local transmission have to report symptoms to officials for at least 14 days. The country yesterday reported 32 new cases of COVID-19 in the largest daily jump in infections since the outbreak began, bringing its total tally to 114, health officials said.

SOUTH KOREA

Number of new cases fall

The country yesterday morning reported 76 additional cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the lowest daily increase in new infections since Feb. 21. The numbers raised the total for the country to 8,162. The death toll increased by three to 75, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. It said 120 people had recovered and were released from quarantine over the past 24 hours, raising the number of recovered to 834. A majority of cases in the country has been reported in the southeastern city of Daegu and nearby areas.

JAPAN

New virus cases rise by 64

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare yesterday announced 64 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours. The ministry said that the country has 780 cases plus 697 others from a cruise ship that was stranded in the country, for a combined total of 1,477. The ministry said the death toll has risen to 29, including seven former cruise ship passengers. The new cases come from 13 prefectures, including Hokkaido, Tokyo and Osaka.

IRAN

Death toll hits 724

Tehran yesterday said the COVID-19 outbreak has killed another 113 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 724. The country is suffering from the worst outbreak in the Middle East, with 13,938 cases and even senior government officials testing positive. There are concerns that the number of infections is much higher than the confirmed cases reported by the government, with some lawmakers having questioned the official toll. It is also unclear if local hospitals are able to cope with the influx of new cases, with at least 2,500 new infections announced in just the previous two days. State TV last week reported that hospitals in some areas were overwhelmed.

HONG KONG

Reports put on ‘Minecraft’

A virtual library housing censored articles from around the world has been created within the video game Minecraft by press freedom group Reporters Without Borders. The group said it had put work by banned, exiled or killed journalists in five countries — Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Vietnam — on an open server, making it available for players to view, despite local censorship laws. “In these countries, where Web sites, blogs and free press in general are strictly limited, Minecraft is still accessible by everyone,” the group said in a news release. “These articles are now available again within Minecraft, hidden from government surveillance technology.”

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:
Virus Outbreak: Coronavirus expected to deliver fresh blow to staggering media sector in US

The ailing US news industry is bracing for more turmoil, with the COVID-19 pandemic expected to deliver an economic shock to the sector — just when people need credible information the most.

The impact is expected to be especially difficult for the country’s newspaper sector, which has endured a decade where 2,000 publications have disappeared and newsroom jobs have fallen by half.

News organizations are expected to take a hit from drops in advertising in an economic downturn, and could see declines in subscription revenue as readers pare expenses.

Conferences and events that some organizations have used to supplement their incomes are also likely to disappear as long as the health emergency persists.

“If you’re ad-supported and now heading into a period of short-term economic contraction, that’s very bad for your business,” said Gabriel Kahn, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California who follows industry economic trends. “For smaller local players that’s a direct hit they can’t easily recover from.”

The free Seattle weekly The Stranger last week warned of an impending crisis and asked readers for donations, saying that “90 percent of our revenue — advertising, ticketing fees and our own events — is directly tied to people getting together in groups. The coronavirus situation has virtually eliminated this income all at once.”

At the same time, the epidemic offers “an opportunity to turn the tide of the past few years” and rebuild trust with readers, University of Oregon journalism professor Damian Radcliffe said.

“At a time of a national and international public health crisis, communities need reliable, informed journalism more than ever,” he said.

Radcliffe said several news organizations have dropped online paywalls as an effort to show “journalism as an act of public good.”

Kahn agreed that for many newsrooms, “this is the moment they can develop a connection with their audience and establish their value.”

Joseph Lichterman, head of editorial and digital strategy at Lenfest Institute, which owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, said that news organizations would face huge challenges in covering the crisis as well as an opportunity.

“People tend to trust local media more than national media, so you want to have strong local news organizations,” he said.

However, he added that news organizations are being pressed to expand coverage as the health crisis worsens, creating additional problems.

“They have to deal with the logistics of keeping the business afloat and making sure their staff is safe,” he said.

Some research has pointed to the importance of local media in dealing with an epidemic, among other public interest matters.

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:
A: Your nose looks redder than Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer’s. Have you got a high temperature? Chest pain?

B: Relax! I’m not infected with the coronavirus. I just returned from a long weekend on Siaoliouciou Island. It was super hot and I got a bit sunburnt.

A: Oh thank goodness. I was starting to get worried.

A: 你的鼻子看起來比紅鼻子馴鹿魯道夫還要紅。你有發燒嗎？還是胸口痛？

B: 放輕鬆！我沒有感染新型冠狀病毒啦。我只是剛從小琉球過完週末連假回來，那邊超熱的，所以有一點被曬傷。

A: 謝天謝地。我本來都要開始擔心了。

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.

title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Mexico holds festival in spite of virus concerns

While the COVID-19 pandemic has led authorities around the world to cancel concerts and sporting events, and even shut down daily activities in some places, Mexico City on Saturday went ahead with Vive Latino — one of the most important music festivals in the country.

Some acts backed out, but tens of thousands of music fans flocked to the first day of the festival, which featured Guns N’ Roses, Carlos Vives and Zoe among its headliners.

Organizers said more than 70,000 tickets had been sold for each of the festival’s two days.

Concerns about the new disease were evident, though. At the entrance, the usual security checks for such events had a new filter: Each person entering was checked for fever and a strong smell of antibacterial gel permeated the air.

However, once past that, the dynamics of the festival were not much changed. People walked excitedly toward the various stages and crowded together for the performances.

Alan Miranda, who was making his first visit to Vive Latino and especially wanted to see The Warning, said that he felt many people were overreacting to the potential danger of contagion at large gatherings.

“Because I consider it is more a collective hysteria than any other thing. In Mexico we have a culture of a little bit more of hygiene that helps us to limit this kind of transmissions,” he said.

Santiago Ayala was accompanied by his wife and his nine-year-old daughter, Regina, who wore a Guns N’ Roses T-shirt to her first Vive Latino.

“In the end we thought that at any moment we could catch it here, in the pharmacy in the tortilla line. We decided to take the risk and come,” Ayala said, adding that they brought along antibacterial gel and tissues, and did not plan to push into crowds.

Only a few people showed up wearing masks, such as Daniel Ramirez, who covered his face with a mask decorated with a picture of a fox.

He said he has asthma and needs to be more cautious.

He was also using antibacterial gel.

He said he trusted the Mexican officials’ decision to let the festival go ahead.

“We have to be informed and before panicking you have to read some texts and know that it is serious, but we are still in a passable stage,” Ramirez said of the outbreak.

Mexican Deputy Minister of Health Hugo Lopez-Gatell on Friday night said that Mexico was still in what is considered Phase 1 of a pandemic, with isolated cases of infections in people who had traveled abroad or in a few cases infected others.

Authorities have reported 41 cases across the country.

Karina and Saul, who did not give their last name, were at Vive Latino, but they were not convinced about the wisdom of doing so.

They said they came only because there were no refunds for the tickets that cost them 5,000 pesos (US$228) for the two days of the festival.

They tried to sell their tickets, but were not offered enough.

In addition, they bought the tickets at the beginning of the year because they wanted to see the Japanese singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who is one of the artists who did not come.

“It was disrespectful to the public that they didn’t cancel [the festival], and put everyone at risk,” Saul 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.


content_text:
Syria’s brutal conflict entered its 10th year yesterday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime consolidating its hold over a war-wracked country with a devastated economy where foreign powers flex their muscle.

When Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, they could scarcely have imagined their anti-government protests would turn into a complex war entangling rebels, jihadists and outside forces.

At least 384,000 people have since died, including more than 116,000 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Saturday.

Protesting Syrians stand before a Turkish military vehicle as they attempt to block traffic on the M4 highway in the village of al-Nayrab yesterday.
 Photo: AFP

The conflict has displaced more than 11 million people internally and abroad.

“Nine years of revolution illustrate the extent of the suffering we have known, between exile, bombings and deaths,” said Hala Ibrahim, a rights activist who now lives in the town of Dana, in Idlib Province.

“I left my university, my house which was bombed,” the woman in her 30s said. “We’ve lost everything.”

Originally from the northern city of Aleppo, Ibrahim left in late 2016 after the regime retook rebel-held areas and she sought refuge in Idlib.

The northwestern region — Syria’s last rebel stronghold — is the regime’s latest target.

Thanks to the military support of Russia, Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, al-Assad has clawed back control of more than 70 percent of the war-torn country.

A fragile ceasefire came into effect in the northwest earlier this month, and Turkish and Russian officials have agreed to start joint patrols in Idlib.

Syrian forces and Russian warplanes have heavily bombarded the region since December last year, killing nearly 500 civilians, the Observatory said, and forcing nearly a million to flee, the UN said.

Siham Abs and seven of her children have been living for the past two months in a camp for Idlib’s displaced near Bardaqli, not far from the Turkish border.

Many of those unable to find space in camps have been sleeping in fields or have sought shelter in schools, mosques and unfinished buildings.

In the Bardaqli camp, tents made of plastic sheeting are lined up along muddy paths.

Abs said she and her family would like to wash, but do not know where.

“I am 50 years old and I’ve never known such difficult times,” she said.

“The suffering of the Syrian people during this tragic and terrible decade still defies comprehension and belief,” UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said on the eve of the anniversary.

The Syrian conflict was born of unprecedented anti-government demonstrations in the southern city of Daraa nine years ago.

Protests spread across Syria, but after a violent crackdown, rebels soon took up arms with backing from Gulf nations and wrested key areas from government control.

Jihadist groups also emerged, notably the Islamic State group which swept across large parts of the country and neighboring Iraq in 2014.

“A decade of fighting has brought nothing but ruin and misery,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote this week on Twitter. “There is no military solution. Now it is the time to give diplomacy a chance to work.”

In recent years, such efforts have failed.

Five foreign powers operate in Syria, with Russia and Iranian forces supporting the regime.

Despite an announced withdrawal of US forces last year, US troops remained stationed in the country’s northeast, in a semi-autonomous Kurdish zone.

After the fight against the Islamic State, Washington’s main objective has turned to curbing Iranian influence.

Israel regularly carries out air strikes on Syrian, Hezbollah and Iranian military positions, while neighboring Turkey, which supports local armed groups, has deployed its troops across the border.

“The horrific and enduring nature of the conflict is proof of a collective failure of diplomacy,” Pedersen said.

The war has ravaged Syria’s economy and infrastructure.

The UN estimated in 2018 that the conflict had caused nearly US$400 billion in war-related destruction.

“Basic services, hospitals and schools need to be rebuilt” across the country, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Saturday.

“Houses and land need to be cleared of unexploded ammunition. Jobs and other sources of income need to be created and maintained,” it 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: Syria’s brutal war enters 10th year of conflict