people: 陳時中 蔡英文

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Taiwan and many other countries have set up measures, such as travel bans, border closures, curfews and lockdowns, to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday last week, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced that effective the following day, foreign travelers would be denied entry into Taiwan to battle the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases over the previous couple of days. European countries and North America also closed their borders to restrict arrivals by non-residents.

By integrating its National Health Insurance and immigration and customs databases, the government identified cases with real-time alerts during clinical visits based on travel history and clinical symptoms.

Furthermore, Taipei uses QR codes, and online reporting of travel history and symptoms to track and classify risk of infection among arrivals. These data provide the government with real-time information for faster immigration clearance.

Aside from affecting people’s mobility, this crisis has had a significant effect on the economy. Many countries have proposed financial assistance, tax relief and contingency packages to protect businesses from the financial ramifications of the pandemic not only due to disruptions in operations, but also to global supply chains.

To boost Taiwan’s health capabilities and business resiliency, the authorities and businesses could strengthen the digital infrastructure for industries and the healthcare system.

The UN has set an agenda for digital transformation to support government capacity developments for effective engagement on new technologies.

With its 2014-2019 Information and Communications Technology strategy coming to an end, the UN late last year announced a plan to develop cyberdiligence and analytics on the path of digital integration to meet its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The strategy focuses on emerging technologies and partnerships in the public and private sectors.

Since 2018, the European Commission has funded a 20 million euro (US$21.9 million) project for industry and infrastructure management research, and a 1 billion euro project for healthcare and biomedical research using digital twin technology.

The projects aim to provide a virtual copy of physical situations to simulate scenarios, such as industry processes and biological processes of diseases. With the projects, authorities can estimate precisely and thus provide predictive measures for corrective actions, optimize efficiency and diagnose problems before the physical situations becomes serious.

The aim is to create a revolutionary potential for digital industry infrastructure and a digital healthcare society for all Europeans.

Taiwanese authorities and industries can develop their own digital twin technology:

First, establish a data management infrastructure to collect and manage large amounts of data; second, develop a flexible cloud-based platform for process simulations and multidisciplinary collaboration for process management; third, enhance and assure cybersecurity and data transparency through distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain; and fourth, establish an integrated collaboration to continue developing and monitoring digital twin systems and strategies.

In the battle against COVID-19, Taiwan has demonstrated a successful model using intelligent technologies and advanced data management.

In response to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) nationwide development plan for contemplating the future of work and economic enhancement, the next step would be to further investigate and develop digital twin technology to boost the health and resilience of businesses.

Ng Ming Shan is a leadership in energy and environmental design accredited professional and a registered architect in the UK and Switzerland. She is doing research on construction automation and digitization at the Chair of Innovative and Industrial Construction at ETH Zurich. Hackl Jurgen is an assistant professor at the University of Liverpool and is affiliated with the data analytics department at the University of Zurich.

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title: New tech can enhance economy


title: World Business Quick Take

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ECONOMY

Moody’s sees G20 recession

The world’s 20 most industrialized nations are likely to suffer a recession this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial ratings agency Moody’s said on Wednesday. The G20’s overall GDP would contract by 0.5 percent, with the US economy shrinking by 2 percent and the eurozone by 2.2 percent, Moody’s said. China could see economic activity expand 3.3 percent, but that would still be well below average for the world’s second-biggest economy, it said.

BANKING

India mulls shutdowns

India’s central bank and major lenders are considering shutting down most branches across the nation to prevent tens of thousands of employees from getting infected with the coronavirus, four sources familiar with the plan said. Under the plan, in major cities there would likely be only one bank open every 5km, the sources said, declining to be identified as it has not yet been publicly disclosed. In the countryside, banks would likely operate on alternate days and redeploy staff to only allow disbursal of welfare cash to the poor, the sources said.

HOUSING

UK sales might fall 60%

UK house sales are set to plunge 60 percent in the next three months as the pandemic batters the economy. The slump in the second quarter, which is usually among the most active sales periods, would be followed by a further decline in the three months through September, a report released yesterday by real-estate portal Zoopla said. The virus is already weighing on deals, with the number of homes placed under offer in the seven days through Sunday down 15 percent from the previous week, Zoopla data showed.

GREECE

GDP to shrink 1% to 3%

The government expects the economy to contract by 1 to 3 percent due to COVID-19, which has brought economic activity to a virtual standstill, Minister of Finance Christos Staikouras said yesterday. The impact is likely to be milder than other eurozone countries, Staikouras said, but added that any estimates were tempered by how long the crisis would last. A recovery in economic activity next year is forecast to be sharp, he told Skai TV.

AUTOS

Lockdowns to hit sales

Vehicle sales in US states that implemented lockdown orders to curb the spread of COVID-19 are forecast to drop 80 percent or more, analysts said on Wednesday. Retail sales through the week that ended on Sunday declined 22 percent nationwide on a yearly basis and as much as 40 percent in some cities on the west coast, research firm J.D. Power said, citing data from dealership stores across the nation. Last week’s data did not yet fully account for various US states passing so-called shelter-in-place orders at the end of last week.

FINANCE

IMF offers US$50bn aid

The IMF is to provide US$50 billion in emergency facilities to low-income and emerging-market countries to mitigate the economic shocks of COVID-19, including US$10 billion in concessional loans.“Our member countries need us more than ever,” the IMF said on Wednesday. “Discussions between IMF teams and country officials are advancing quickly.” The fund has received requests for emergency financing from almost 20 countries and expects 10 more nations to seek its help, it said.

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title: Rio Tinto raps Australian lobby group for coal support

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Rio Tinto Ltd yesterday said that it had found several cases where Australia’s biggest mining industry body advocated for thermal coal in contravention of 2015 Paris climate goals, as it released a review of its membership in industry groups.

Rio Tinto in April last year laid out its expectations for the industry associations that it funds to ensure that their policy on climate change and energy advocacy was consistent with the miner’s own, as well as the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to “well below” 2°C.

Where there was a lack of cooperation on advocating for those policies, Rio would reconsider its support and its membership of the groups, it said in an updated review released overnight.

The miner said that several advocacy “misalignments” by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), for which it is a major funder, paying US$2.1 million each year, but said that the breaches were minor and it would maintain its membership.

“This includes instances of public commentary and advocacy on thermal coal and decarbonization that is not technology neutral and is inconsistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement,” Rio Tinto said.

The group supports continued action on climate change, Australia’s participation in the Paris Agreement and a transformation to a low emissions global economy, council CEO Tania Constable said.

The review comes as investors ramp up pressure on major carbon-linked companies to drop support for thermal, or energy coal, which can be substituted for renewable energy, if the world is to meet the Paris climate accord goals.

While Rio sold off its coal assets for billions over 2017 to 2018, it is the world’s largest producer of iron ore, a key raw material for the steel industry, one of the world’s biggest emitters.

Rio said it also found MCA had made statements that were not endorsed by its board or members.

“This includes defense of future demand for thermal coal and advocacy that was inconsistent with goals of the Paris Agreement,” the miner said in the report.

MCA has agreed to improve its governance and processes around advocacy, Rio said.

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title: GoShare eyes Tainan for its scooter-sharing service

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GoShare, an electric scooter sharing service provider with Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), plans to expand to Tainan next quarter in a strategic alliance with Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰).

The company currently offers its services in Taipei and Taoyuan.

“Tainan is very popular among tourists. The city receives an average of 22.94 million tourists every year,” GoShare head Henry Chiang (姜家煒) told a news conference yesterday in Taipei, citing Tourism Bureau statistics.

GoShare executives yesterday introduce the company’s new GoShare service with parking points at 11 tourist attractions around New Taipei City.
 Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times

“Besides, the city has a long history of riding scooters,” he said.

Each household owns an average of 2.5 scooters, he added.

“Expanding presence” is one of four strategies GoShare is adopting for this year, he said.

Aside from providing electric scooters for the sharing service, Tainan-based Aeon Motor is to help operate the fleet in the city and take charge of maintenance services.

Aeon Motor is the first member of the Powered by Gogoro Network to join forces with GoShare to promote the sharing service.

Gogoro makes electric scooters for network members, which include Motive Power Industry Co (摩特動力) and Yamaha Motor Co.

Aside from demand from urban commuters, Chiang said tourism demand for longer-range mobility is strong.

To meet this demand, the company plans to roll out next month its sharing service in popular sightseeing spots in New Taipei City’s northern coast.

People would be able to rent and return Gogoro’s electric scooters in 11 locations, including the Tamsui MRT Station, GoShare said, declining to disclose how many scooters it plans to deploy.

GoShare has garnered 550,000 registered members since its debut in August last year.

The company has deployed 4,000 electric scooters in Taoyuan and Taipei, a relatively smaller fleet than Wemo Corp (威摩科技), which has 7,000 electric scooters in Taipei, New Taipei City and Kaohsiung.

Hotai Leasing Corp’s (和運租車) “iRent” electric scooter sharing service has a wider footprint, covering the six special municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.

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Singapore’s economy suffered its biggest contraction since the 2008 to 2009 financial crisis during the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic escalated, data showed yesterday, an ominous sign of the devastation being inflicted on the global economy.

The export-reliant city-state — one of the world’s most open economies and which is viewed as a barometer for the health of global trade — is now heading for a deep recession this year after shrinking 2.2 percent on-year.

The 2.2 percent contraction was the worst quarterly, on-year figure since 2009, the last time the city-state was plunged into recession.

Customers dine next to lines of yellow tape, marking social distancing imposed recently to curb the spread of COVID-19, at the bar of Merci Marco, a French restaurant chain, in Singapore on Wednesday.
 Photo: Reuters

“COVID-19 is like an economic tsunami hitting Singapore’s shores,” OCBC Bank (華僑銀行) research and strategy head Selena Ling (林秀心) said.

Compared with the previous quarter, GDP fell 10.6 percent, as all sectors of the economy were battered, according to advance estimates released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The city-state is typically among the first countries to be hit during global crises because of its small and open economy, with ripples then spreading to other export-reliant Asian nations.

Singapore’s latest growth data “is like the canary in the mineshaft, and warns of further economic pain to come for other Asian economies,” Ling said.

The ministry further lowered its GDP forecast for this year, and said it expects the economy to shrink between 1 and 4 percent.

“As the global COVID-19 situation is still evolving rapidly, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty over the severity and duration of the global outbreak, and the trajectory of the global economic recovery once the outbreak has been contained,” the ministry said in a statement. “The balance of risks, however, is tilted to the downside.”

Even before the virus outbreak, Singapore’s economy was already being hammered by the US-China trade dispute.

Singapore normally gives advance estimates before the quarter ends, but the figures do not cover the full period, meaning the revised reading — which is to be released later — might be even worse.

Like many other places, Singapore has taken steps to contain the pandemic, including banning all foreign arrivals and closing bars and other entertainment venues.

However, the nation has reported a relatively low number of cases — 631 infections, with two deaths — and has held off imposing a total lockdown so far.

The government has won praise for its response to the outbreak, although the nation is now seeing a surge in imported cases as Singaporeans and residents return from other hard-hit countries.

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title: Singapore GDP contracts sharply


title: Award-winning Citibank proactively prepares for pandemic

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Facing the rapidly evolving global COVID-19 pandemic, Citibank Taiwan Ltd (台灣花旗) has proactively taken precautionary measures.

“The health and safety of our colleagues and their families, as well as our clients and the communities we serve, are of the utmost importance. We continue to take proactive measures to preserve their well-being while we maintain our ability to serve our clients,” Citibank Taiwan chairman Paulus Mok (莫兆鴻) said in a statement yesterday.

“We have local and regional contingency plans in place, and we have well-established business continuity plans for the firm. We are monitoring the situation closely, adjusting our operations accordingly, providing regular updates to our colleagues and communicating with local governments,” Mok said.

Citibank Taiwan chairman Paulus Mok poses in an undated photograph after the bank was named Asia’s best bank by the Asset.
 Photo courtesy of Citibank Taiwan Ltd

Citibank Taiwan has reported solid results for last year.

“The year of 2019 was not easy, as global geopolitics were full of uncertainties with ongoing US-China trade disputes. Nevertheless, Citi Taiwan’s EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes] reported NT$14.672 billion [US$484.129 million] in 2019, jumping 13 percent from a year ago. This is the best year since 2013. It is Citi staff’s dedication and contributions that have made these outstanding achievements possible,” Mok said.

He also reiterated that last year marked the bank’s 55th anniversary.

“We continue to implement the strategy of ‘Be the Best for Our Clients.’ Maintaining the consistent momentum, our institutional clients group continues to strengthen client engagement through exchanges and seminars,” Mok said.

“In supporting clients on financial planning, mergers and acquisitions or custody business, Citi Taiwan has frequently received recognition from professional institutions. Global consumer banking delivered strong performances in 2019. We launched the Citi Cash Back Plus Card and Citibank Global Wallet service, and upgraded the Changhua branch into a smart branch, as part of our continued drive to provide customers with the best services and products,” he said.

In corporate social responsibility, the bank has promoted environmental, social and corporate governance — the three main criteria of international corporate sustainable development. Milestones in these areas include:

In 2016, Citi Taiwan and the Citi Foundation launched the “Pathways to Progress” program to help young people, aged 16 to 24, realize their dreams and set them on the right course in their professional careers.

Last year, Citi Taiwan joined forces with Fulbright Taiwan (Foundation for Scholarly Exchange) and the American Institute in Taiwan, as well as the US National Speech and Debate Association, to launch an English debate education program in line with the government’s policy to build Taiwan into a bilingual nation by 2030.

Citi holds Global Community Day activities every year, with the cumulative participation of more than 20,000 staff members over the past 14 years.

To promote green energy, Citi Taiwan helped a non-governmental organization (NGO) build two solar power plants on its rooftops. It is estimated that over a period of two decades, the two solar power plants will generate a total of about 764,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and the overall economic benefits of the green energy produced would be as high as NT$3.64 million, while reducing carbon emissions by about 403 tonnes — equal to the carbon sequestered by planting 1,842 trees.

For marine education, Citi Taiwan cooperated with another NGO to publish a “Guidebook of Marine Debris” and promoted a new board game using information from the guidebook to raise public awareness of environmental protection in the past two years.

Citibank Taiwan at the end of last year won Triple A awards for Taiwan’s “Best Bank - Global,” “Best Corporate and Institutional Bank,” “Best M & A Adviser” and “Best Corporate Bonds” from the Asset. It was the 17th consecutive year that Citibank Taiwan won the Triple A award for “Best Bank” and the fifth straight year it won “Best Corporate and Institutional Bank.”

In addition, the bank was named “Best Bank in Asia” last year by the Asset in the publication’s Triple A Sustainable Capital Markets Regional Awards, showing its strong results for both Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region.

“Citi retains the honors as best bank in Asia, as it continues to provide consistency with solid growth numbers in the various markets it operates,” the Asset said, recognizing Citi as best bank in the region for the 19th consecutive year.

“Asia-Pacific is a key strategic priority for Citi, and we are grateful to the Asset for recognizing our exceptional team across the region. Our strong results in 2019 were driven by consistent focus on providing first-rate support to our clients. This client focus remains our core commitment for 2020 and beyond as we continue to drive profitable growth for our firm,” Citi’s Asia-Pacific CEO Peter Babej said.

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WAITING FOR JUSTICE:
 Robert Levinson’s family said that those responsible would face justice, including those in the US government who had ‘left him behind’

The US government has concluded that retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished more than a decade ago, died while in the custody of Iran, his family and administration officials said on Wednesday.

The circumstances and timing of Levinson’s death was unclear, but US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said that the US believes Levinson “may have passed away some time ago.”

Hours earlier, his family said information that US officials had received had led them to conclude that he was dead, though it did not describe the nature of the information.

An FBI poster in Washington on March 6, 2012, shows a composite image of how former FBI agent Robert Levinson, left, might look, right, based on a video released by his captors.
 Photo: AP

The family said in a statement announcing Levinson’s death that it was believed to have occurred before the COVID-19 outbreak, which has gravely affected Iran.

The government’s acknowledgment of Levinson’s death came hours after a White House briefing in which US President Donald Trump appeared to equivocate on the news, saying: “I won’t accept that he’s dead.”

US officials communicated the news to Levinson’s family in a meeting in Washington in recent weeks, said a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private encounter.

The person said that the information about Levinson had come from Iran’s foreign minister.

“It is impossible to describe our pain,” the family’s statement said. “Our family will spend the rest of our lives without the most amazing man, a new reality that is inconceivable to us. His grandchildren will never meet him. They will know him only through the stories we tell them.”

Levinson disappeared on March 9, 2007, when he was scheduled to meet a source on the Iranian island of Kish.

For years, US officials would say only that Levinson was working independently on a private investigation.

However, a 2013 investigation revealed that Levinson had been sent on a mission by CIA analysts who had no authority to run such an operation.

The Trump administration has made it a priority to seek the release of US hostages and prisoners detained overseas.

Last week, administration officials touted the release from Lebanon of a New Hampshire restaurant owner jailed on decades-old allegations and the medical furlough of a Navy veteran from an Iranian prison.

The Levinson family thanked multiple US officials for their help, including FBI Director Chris Wray, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and O’Brien, who before his post as national security adviser also served as the Department of State’s chief hostage negotiator.

“Those who are responsible for what happened to Bob Levinson, including those in the US government who for many years repeatedly left him behind, will ultimately receive justice for what they have done,” the family statement said.

“We will spend the rest of our lives making sure of this, and the Iranian regime must know we will not be going away,” it added.

The family said it does not know when or if Levinson’s body would be returned for burial.

At a White House briefing on the coronavirus, Trump resisted confirming the family’s account, saying that Iranian officials had not told the US that Levinson was dead.

He also acknowledged that “it’s not looking promising” and said Levinson, who had diabetes and high blood pressure, had “some rough problems” even prior to his disappearance.

“He was a great gentleman,” he said.

The White House’s acting national intelligence director appeared to confirm Levinson’s death with a tweeted statement conveying condolences to the family.

By the evening, the White House issued a new statement designed to remove some of the uncertainty expressed by the president.

“As President Trump said today, Iran must provide a complete accounting of what occurred with Bob Levinson before the United States can fully accept what happened in this case,” O’Brien said. “While the investigation is ongoing, we believe that Bob Levinson may have passed away some time ago.”

The family received a video in late 2010 and proof-of-life photographs in 2011 in which he appeared disheveled with a long beard and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit like those given to detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison. Even then, his whereabouts and fate were not known.

Although, Iran repeatedly has said it has no information about Levinson, US diplomats and investigators have long said they thought he was taken by Iranian government agents.

In November last year, the Iranian government unexpectedly responded to a UN query by saying that Levinson was the subject of an “open case” in Iranian Revolutionary Court.

The development gave the family a burst of hope, but Iran clarified that the “open case” was simply an investigation into his disappearance.

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title: US believes ex-FBI agent dead: family


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This year’s Wimbledon Championships have so far survived the cull of the world’s most prestigious sporting events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it seems only a matter of time before they are postponed or canceled.

With London in its first week of lockdown, All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) officials are weighing up their limited options.

The “build” for the June 29 to July 12 championships is supposed to start in little more than a month, but it seems increasingly likely that Wimbledon will be forced to miss a year for the first time since 1945.

The US’ Coco Gauff celebrates after defeating Slovenia’s Polona Hercog in their Wimbledon women’s singles third-round match at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on July 5 last year.
 Photo: Reuters

“The AELTC has been contingency planning since January, working closely with the UK government and public health authorities to follow their advice and understand the likely impact of COVID-19 and the government’s emergency measures on the championships, and our thoughts are with all those affected by this crisis at this time,” the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Based on the advice we have received from the public health authorities, the very short window available to us to stage the championships due to the nature of our surface suggests that postponement is not without significant risk and difficulty,” the club said.

Playing behind closed doors was not an option, it added.

The Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam, was completed before the coronavirus crisis exploded to virtually shut down world sport, including the men’s ATP Tour and women’s WTA Tour.

The French Open last week made the decision to move the clay-court tournament from its May start to Sept. 20 to Oct. 4 because of the outbreak.

While the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday potentially opened a two-week slot in the calendar in July and August, it would appear unlikely Wimbledon would use it.

Switching to a later time in the year is even less likely, as Wimbledon has only two covered courts and elite outdoor grass-court tennis is not feasible past late summer.

AELTC officials said that they were communicating closely with the Lawn Tennis Association, as well as with the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation and the other Grand Slams.

However, a cancelation looks increasingly likely.

“The unprecedented challenge presented by the COVID-19 crisis continues to affect our way of life in ways that we could not have imagined,” AELTC chief executive Richard Lewis said.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected in the UK and around the world. The single most important consideration is one of public health, and we are determined to act responsibly through the decisions we make,” he added.

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title: Time running out for Wimbledon amid virus pandemic


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Everyone knows that COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, but Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said the virus might have come from US military personnel who took part in the Military World Games in the city in October last year. The US government has sternly refuted this accusation, and it is easy to see who is right and who is wrong.

Interestingly, this has brought the Military World Games to the attention of many Taiwanese for the first time.

The Games, which are organized by the International Military Sports Council, have been called the “Olympics for the military.”

They were first held in September 1995 in Rome, with 4,017 participants from 93 countries.

The Games allow each country’s armed forces to present a peacetime image. They have been hailed as the most significant celebration of peace in world military history.

From 1995 on, the Games have been held once every four years. Along with conventional sports and military-related events such as parachuting, orienteering and cross-country races, they also include three special events: military, aeronautical and naval pentathlons.

The 17th Military World Games in Wuhan involved more than 9,300 participants from 109 countries. There were 329 events in 27 sports.

Unfortunately the Games were marred when the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) orienteering team were disqualified for cheating.

When Taiwanese athletes excel in international military sports events, it generates a lot of excitement in the nation. In 2010, Taiwanese soldiers competed at the International Sniper Competition in the US.

They showed how capable Taiwan’s special forces are by placing second in the nighttime 8km race with full equipment and fourth in the M82A1 large-caliber sniper rifle shooting event.

In 2018, former seaman first class Su Chi-lin (蘇祈麟) of the Republic of China (ROC) Navy Honor Guard represented Taiwan at the World Drill Championships in the US, where he performed difficult moves such as wearing a blindfold and tossing his rifle and catching it behind his back. Lin won a special prize as a Taiwanese for making the event more diverse.

The ROC military’s main peacetime role is disaster relief. This makes it hard for military personnel to gain a sense of achievement from their combat training, no matter how skilled they are.

The Ministry of National Defense should strive to send a team to the Military World Games, where the nation’s military personnel would have an opportunity to compete and communicate with their peers from other nations.

This would encourage military personnel to devote themselves to their combat preparedness training and demonstrate Taiwan’s military mettle, as well as reminding the world that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent nation.

Taiwan’s international situation would indeed make it difficult for it to take part in the Games, but look how determined the Ministry of Health and Welfare is to see Taiwan join the WHO.

The defense ministry should not lag behind other government bodies in defending national sovereignty.

Hopefully, the day will come when Taiwan’s military personnel can show their prowess at the Military World Games, and maybe even beat the cheating PLA.

That would bring glory to the defense ministry and all of Taiwan.

Yang Fu-yung is a staff member at a university.

Translated by Julian Clegg

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title: Taiwanese should go to the ‘military Olympics’


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EXPENDITURE:
 Tokyo Games organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said that ‘additional expenses are going to be quite massive’ to reschedule the Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working with sports bodies to arrange a July-to-August window next year for the postponed Tokyo Olympics and hopes to confirm the schedule within a month, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday.

John Coates, head of the IOC’s coordination commission for the Tokyo Olympics, told the newspaper that the Games would have to be held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, scheduled to end in mid-July, and the US Open, which starts in late August.

“We want to more or less finalize the dates in four weeks’ time,” the newspaper quoted Coates as saying.

A giant Olympic rings monument is reflected in the water at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo on Wednesday.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

Coates, who is also president of the Australian Olympic Committee, said that the summer scheduling would be dependent on avoiding clashes with the World Aquatics Championships (July 16 to Aug. 1) and the World Athletics Championships (Aug. 6 to 15).

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has said that the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, could be moved back to 2022 if necessary.

Coates told the newspaper that the hope was to follow the same arrangements next year that had been planned for this year, including holding the marathon in the northern city of Sapporo instead of Tokyo to escape the heat.

The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed the newspaper report’s veracity and told reporters in a statement that Coates had “proffered a view, but confirms a range of options are on the table for the IOC.”

The Tokyo Games organizing committee yesterday launched a task force to resolve issues linked to the postponement, an “unprecedented” and complex task that includes reviewing dates for the Games and securing venues.

No specifics have been discussed yet on the timing of the delayed Games, but a date needs to be decided as soon as possible, senior official Hidemasa Nakamura told reporters after the task force’s first meeting.

Rescheduling would involve “massive” additional costs, organizers said.

“One by one, we need to ensure the problems we face can be solved,” Tokyo Games organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said in opening remarks at the task force’s first meeting.

“Additional expenses are going to be quite massive we assume. With regards to our revenues, we need to make a lot of effort there,” he added.

Muto gave no estimates for how much the process of postponing the Olympic and Paralympic Games could cost.

However, the Nikkei said organizers have estimated that it would cost an extra US$2.7 billion, including for venue rentals, rebooking hotels and additional payments for staff and security guards, among others.

Those costs could still come down depending on the outcome of negotiations, the newspaper said.

Muto said that organizers would not rip up their existing plans, but added: “I guess we need to step back a bit.”

“Sometimes you need to go back to the drawing board,” he added.

The Olympics have never faced this much disruption in peacetime, and the decision to delay the event has created unprecedented challenges, Tokyo Games organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said.

Tokyo Games staff “will experience difficulties they have never experienced before. I am sure they will rise to the occasion. This is going to be a very difficult task that we are facing,” he said.

Muto underscored the scale of the task ahead, saying that even he “didn’t imagine at all we would be tested to this degree.”

“We want to make sure we go beyond this test and that next year in Tokyo the torch is lit for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We believe this is the mission we face,” he added.

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title: Tokyo Olympics 2020: IOC eyes July-August for Games


content_text:
EU must absorb economic shocks now or risk permanent damage: Draghi

European governments must quickly absorb the economic shock of the coronavirus crisis, even at the cost of high debt, as the alternative is permanent economic destruction, former European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi wrote in a newspaper opinion piece on Wednesday.

Considered the savior of the euro amid Europe’s debt crisis, Draghi said that governments must protect jobs and production capacity, taking over and canceling private-sector debt to protect jobs and maintain income to families that are innocent bystanders in the crisis.

“The alternative — a permanent destruction of productive capacity and therefore of the fiscal base — would be much more damaging to the economy and eventually to government credit,” Draghi, who stepped down in October last year, wrote in the Financial Times.

Arguing that the crisis was of “biblical proportions,” Draghi said banks must quickly lend to firms at zero cost and the capital needed for this lending must be provided by governments in the form of guarantees so jobs are maintained.

“The cost of these guarantees should not be based on the credit risk of the company that receives them, but should be zero regardless of the cost of funding of the government that issues them,” said Draghi, who has spoken rarely since leaving office.

Liquidity must also be provided through debt markets or even the postal system, if that reaches people the quickest, he said. “And it has to be done immediately, avoiding bureaucratic delays.”

While some fear the cost of a surge in debt levels, Draghi said that low interest rates are here to stay, so this would not add to government’s debt service costs.

Meanwhile, Germany and the Netherlands were to lead opposition to issuing joint bonds to help revive the EU’s economy from a deep slump caused by the coronavirus when the bloc’s national leaders discuss emergency assistance yesterday.

Nine EU countries, including France, Italy and Spain, have called for mutualized debt as the continent, seeking to limit the spread of the disease, goes into a lockdown that is hammering its economic outlook.

“We need to work on a common debt instrument issued by a European institution to raise funds on the market,” the nine leaders said ahead of a video call of all the bloc’s 27 national leaders yesterday.

Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland — the fiscally conservative “Frugals” — are opposed, although there are signs that the subject may not always be as off-limits for them as it is now, especially if the havoc wrought by the virus deepens.

A draft joint statement prepared ahead of the EU leaders’ conference, seen by reporters, would ask the bloc’s finance ministers to work out details of the latter in a week. It did not mention issuing joint debt.

“A real ‘euro-bond’ is the Loch Ness monster — it has never been seen and is not on the table now,” an EU official preparing the summit said. “Which is not to say we may not get there eventually, but for now we are discussing ESM [European Stability Mechanism] mechanisms.”

Berlin and its “Frugal” allies are at pains to stress that all EU countries can still finance themselves on the debt market — in sharp contrast to the debt crisis.

The ECB has also announced emergency bond purchases intended to put 750 billion euros (US$820 billion) into circulation to help the eurozone through the crisis.

However, ECB President Christine Lagarde has urged the bloc to seriously consider a one-off joint debt issue of “corona bonds.”

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title: China’s accusations show agenda

content_text:
In an authoritarian environment such as in China, information is strictly controlled and, if suited to the leadership, is presented as the truth to its unsuspecting citizens, who do not have the wherewithal to check the veracity of such information.

One such unsubstantiated piece of information was served by a Chinese official who claimed that the COVID-19 disease, which has taken a heavy toll on human lives and thrown the world into complete turmoil, had originated from the US and was brought to China by the US Army.

The COVID-19 fiasco had made China’s leadership, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), appear weak in the eyes of Chinese and also the world.

With China looking weak under the heavy burden of the US-China trade dispute, COVID-19 was bound to dent China’s international stature, with the world questioning its credentials as a world leader.

Chinese officials, without providing evidence, began to spin rumors that COVID-19 was a US conspiracy to create turmoil in the world and blame it on China.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) twisted the comments of a US health official and presented them as “evidence” to support the theory that COVID-19 was indeed a US conspiracy.

Zhao questioned the date when the first patient was identified in the US.

“It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation,” Zhao tweeted.

The claim that the US was responsible for the virus as it attended the Military World Games in Wuhan in October last year lacks evidence. Separate studies by the ETH Zurich and the Scripps Research Institute suggest that the virus in humans was caused by interspecies transmission, indicating that the virus originated in China’s Hubei Province.

Researchers studying the spread of COVID-19 agree that the disease originated in China. Indeed, they even trace its origin to a wet market in Wuhan, where live exotic wild animals are sold. It can, of course, be debated whether someone who was infected could have brought the virus to the wet market, but many researchers rule out, in the absence of any evidence, that COVID-19 originated outside China.

The origin of the virus is supported by research about its genome — an organism’s complete set of DNA — and about the origins of similar maladies.

The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center published the genome of COVID-19 two weeks after cases came to light in late December last year, indicating that the virus was passed down from bats to human beings through a not-yet identified transmitting species.

However, last month Chinese researchers suggested that the disease might have been passed to humans through the pangolin, an ant-eating mammal with large scales, although this research needs to be reviewed.

Wildlife organizations say that tens of thousands of pangolins are poached every year, killed for their scales for use in traditional Chinese medicine and for their meat.

Conditions at the Wuhan market are ideal for transmitting interspecies pathogens. It was at a wet market in 2003 where another fatal respiratory disease, SARS, erupted, with civets contracting the virus from bats and then passing it on to humans.

The US was outraged by Zhao’s “outlandish” allegations, as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put it. US Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell summoned Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai (崔天凱) and made a “stern representation.”

In a telephone call to the top official at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pompeo emphasized that this was not the time to spread “disinformation and outlandish rumors, but rather a time for all nations to come together to fight this common threat.”

“The United States is sparing no effort to protect our people and contain the global coronavirus pandemic. Beijing must acknowledge its role and be part of the solution,” Pompeo tweeted.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the virus originated from animal-to-human transmission at the Wuhan market.

China has been severely criticized for initially playing down or ignoring the threat of the highly contagious respiratory infection.

Indeed, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien last week said that China tried to cover up the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up,” O’Brien said in a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington. “There’s lots of open-source reporting from China, from Chinese nationals, that the doctors involved were either silenced or put in isolation or that sort of thing, so that the word of this virus could not get out.”

Documents, seen by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, indicate that the first infected person contracted the disease on Nov. 17 last year, well before the WHO confirmed the first case on Dec. 8, suggesting that the disease had spread undetected for weeks before China initiated containment measures.

In damage-control mode, the Chinese government is now generously providing huge consignments of masks and other accessories to countries devastated by the coronavirus.

Beijing has, conveniently, avoided mentioning that from late November last year until Washington on Jan. 31 imposed a ban on travel from China, more than 10,000 people flew from China directly to the US.

There are fears that COVID-19 will leave a long trail of death and economic loss — the death toll alone in Italy exceeds the number of deaths in China — and cause global disruptions on an unprecedented scale. Many countries are aghast that China does not even acknowledge its role in the spread of the coronavirus.

People familiar with the unsanitary situation in Wuhan have been reporting online about the abysmal conditions in which exotic wild animals, ultimately meant for human consumption, were kept in cages. This was a perfect recipe for a disaster.

Had China launched its quarantine measures immediately when the first few COVID-19 cases emerged, the world would have been spared the turmoil and agony, including the loss of precious lives.

If China now claims “victory” by stopping the spread of the coronavirus on its soil, then it has been a Pyrrhic one.

Manik Mehta is a New York-based journalist with writing experience on foreign affairs, diplomacy, global economics and international trade.

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

title: EDITORIAL CARTOON


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Hanoi chef aims to boost morale with ‘coronaburger’

You have got to eat it, to beat it: That is the philosophy of one Hanoi chef who is attempting to boost morale in the Vietnamese capital by selling green, coronavirus-themed burgers.

Laughing in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, chef Hoang Tung and his team now spend their days molding dozens of green-tea stained burger buns complete with little “crowns” made of dough to resemble microscopic images of the coronavirus.

“We have this joke that if you are scared of something, you should eat it,” Tung said at the Pizza Home takeaway shop in downtown Hanoi.

Chef Dang Van Khu puts coronavirus-themed burger buns in the oven at the Pizza Home takeaway shop in Hanoi yesterday.
 Photo: AFP

“That’s why the coronavirus isn’t scary anymore after you eat a burger in the shape of the virus itself. That way of thinking spreads joy to others during this pandemic,” he said.

The shop has sold about 50 burgers a day, despite the growing numbers of businesses in Vietnam which have been forced to close because of the pandemic.

In the middle of last month, Vietnam said that all its known 16 COVID-19 cases had recovered, but that changed after an influx of overseas visitors and returning Vietnamese caused an uptick in cases.

There are now 148 recorded cases of the virus in Vietnam, but no reported deaths, Vietnamese Ministry of Health data showed.

Authorities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have ordered all non-essential businesses to close, although some food outlets, including Tung’s shop, remain open.

Taking his grandson out for a coronaburger, Dang Dinh Quy, 66, viewed the luminous green burger as a morale-boosting treat.

“This coronavirus is very dangerous, but if we eat a burger in its shape, in our minds its like we are already victorious,” Quy said. “If you want to beat it, you’ve got to eat it first.”

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content_text:
All qualifying events for next year’s Twenty20 World Cup and the 50-overs version in 2023 that were scheduled to be held before June 30 have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.

The pandemic has brought global sport to a standstill and the ICC said in a statement that the World Cup qualifiers would also be affected.

“In light of the significant global health concerns at the current time and the restrictions on movement imposed by governments across the world, the ICC has taken the decision to postpone all events up until the end of June, subject to further review,” ICC head of events Chris Tetley said.

“Work will continue on contingency plans and options for both men’s qualification pathways,” he said.

“We will provide updates in due course on these plans and decisions on the staging of the remaining events this year,” he added.

India are to host next year’s T20 World Cup, as well as the 50-overs event in 2023.

As many as eight events would now be postponed due to the ICC decision.

This year’s Women’s T20 World Cup was held last month and this month in Australia, which are to host the men’s version starting in October.

The World Cup trophy tour for the men’s event, which was scheduled to start next month, was also postponed.

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title: ICC cancels qualifiers for T20 World Cup


title: UK court rules against giving US evidence on militants

content_text:
‘DREADFUL’ ACTS:
 A British Supreme Court judge said that despite their ‘awful’ crimes, it would been unlawful to turn over evidence that could result in the death penalty

A court on Wednesday barred the British government from providing US prosecutors with evidence against two Islamic State militants suspected in the beheadings of Western hostages, citing the prospect that the men could face the death penalty if tried and convicted in the US.

The ruling by the British Supreme Court blocks an earlier decision by the country’s authorities to cooperate with the US by sharing information about El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey.

The British men, captured two years ago by a Kurdish-led, US-backed militia, are accused of participation in a brutal Islamic State group known for beheadings and barbaric treatment of US aid workers, journalists and other hostages in Syria.

The decision is a setback for the US Department of Justice, where officials for years have been investigating the killings.

US officials have not announced any charges against the men, but have spoken publicly about their desire to see members of the cell, known as “The Beatles” for their British accents, face justice.

They were transferred to US custody in October last year as Turkey invaded Syria to attack Kurds who have been battling the Islamic State alongside US forces.

“We are disappointed with the UK Supreme Court’s decision and are considering the appropriate next steps,” Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said.

“As our investigation of these individuals continues, we will work with our UK counterparts on a path forward, consistent with our shared commitment to ensuring that those who commit acts of terror are held accountable for their crimes,” he said.

It was not clear what those next steps would be, or whether the decision might prompt the department to remove the possibility of the death penalty from any eventual prosecution.

US Attorney General William Barr said in a private meeting last year with victims’ relatives that he wanted to see the militants brought to justice.

The US and British governments have an agreement to share documents, records and other evidence in criminal investigations.

In 2015, the department asked for evidence that Britain had gathered on the “Beatles,” saying it was doing its own investigation into Americans who were murdered in Syria.

Although the death penalty has been abolished in the UK, British authorities were willing to provide their US counterparts with evidence against Elsheikh and Kotey even without assurances that the men would not be executed if convicted.

British authorities said it would not be right to withhold evidence given the horrific nature of the allegations, but some British lawmakers called on the government to reserve its position.

In July 2018, after lawyers for Elsheikh demanded a review of the decision to allow the men to be put on trial in the US, the British Home Office temporarily suspended cooperation with the US.

Lord Brian Kerr, a judge on the British Supreme Court, said that there was no doubt the crimes the men are accused of are “dreadful” and “of the most awful nature.”

However, he said it was unlawful to turn over evidence to a foreign country that could be used in pursuit of a death penalty prosecution.

“It follows that no further assistance should be given for the purpose of any proceedings against Mr El Sheikh in the United States of America without the appropriate death penalty assurances,” he wrote.

The British leader of the “Beatles” cell, Mohammed Emwazi, who was also known as “Jihadi John,” was killed in a 2015 drone strike.

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people: 蘇貞昌 陳以信

content_text:
On Tuesday last week, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that he would ask government officials to assess the possibility of holding an online conference with international disease prevention experts to share Taiwan’s methods of limiting the spread of COVID-19.

Su was responding to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Charles Chen (陳以信), who had said that Taiwan should capitalize on its first-rate disease prevention experts and experience to “show the world its loss for excluding [Taiwan] from the WHO.”

Chen is right. Taiwan must use this time — when the nation’s international profile has been elevated due to its pandemic response — to deliver a message to the world.

Democratic nations have for decades allowed their foreign policy to be dictated by Beijing. It is immoral for them to turn their backs on a flourishing democracy. The pandemic perfectly encapsulates why kowtowing to Beijing over its “one China” principle is dangerous, with an as-yet unknown number of deaths and economic shutdowns threatening a new Great Depression.

Taiwan began hearing reports of a new virus in China in December last year. This crucial intelligence, gleaned from contacts among Chinese physicians, allowed health officials to swiftly enact preventive measures, earlier than any other nation outside of China.

The government on Dec. 31 warned the WHO and Chinese health authorities of evidence of human-to-human transmission, but the WHO did not make the information public.

If Taiwan were a member of the WHO, its warning might have been heard, giving other nations valuable time to prepare their defenses while Beijing was silencing doctors, censoring its media and deleting social media posts about the disease.

When Beijing finally admitted on Jan. 20 that human-to-human transmission was occurring, six precious weeks had been squandered.

However, there is an even more compelling argument for why Taiwan must unsheathe its diplomatic bazooka: Having created a global crisis, Beijing over the past few weeks has launched a massive propaganda offensive to hijack the media narrative and rewrite history.

It is engaging in “mask diplomacy,” donating tens of thousands to desperate European nations, channeled through Huawei and Alibaba Group Holding cofounder Jack Ma (馬雲), China’s richest man and a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Beijing has also sent ventilators and doctors to Italy.

The message is clear: China is a responsible global leader, your friend and savior in this unfortunate crisis.

Even more brazenly, Beijing has been promoting the false narrative that COVID-19 originated not from a market that sold exotic animals in Wuhan — but from the US.

Meanwhile, much of the world’s media continue to blindly republish Beijing’s statistics on declining cases of the virus within its borders — without questioning whether they are being fed false information — and even parrot Beijing’s line that China is now safer than the rest of the world.

In Taiwan, the Criminal Investigation Bureau has linked multiple cases of social media disinformation to China, which were clearly designed to sow fear by wildly exaggerating the number of deaths in this nation.

What more does China have to do before it becomes an international pariah? Taiwan should set the record straight and lead the fight against Beijing’s onslaught of propaganda.

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title: EDITORIAL: Fighting China’s lethal propaganda


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Britons answer call for volunteer COVID-19 force

More than 400,000 people signed up within 24 hours of a British government call for volunteers to help those stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

British Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock on Monday unveiled a plan to create a 250,000-strong volunteer force to help deliver groceries and medicine to the most vulnerable people instructed by the government to self-isolate.

This is larger than Britain’s armed forces, which currently stand at about 192,000.

A Jet2 promotion advertises holidays at an empty station of the London Underground on Wednesday.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

“When we launched the appeal last night, we hoped to get 250,000 volunteers over a few days,” Johnson said during his daily address. “But I can tell you that in just 24 hours, 405,000 people have responded to the call.”

The government has closed all nonessential shops and services and told people to stay at home to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Special advice has been drawn up for 1.5 million people considered most at risk because of underlying health conditions, asking them to entirely avoid social contact.

Under the new National Health Service (NHS) Volunteers scheme, healthcare professionals and some charities would be able to request help for their at-risk patients, who would then be matched with volunteers who live near them.

Any adults who are fit and healthy can apply to help deliver medicine from pharmacies, drive patients to appointments or make periodic telephone calls to check on people.

“This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments where a single action from one person can be the difference between life and death for another,” NHS Primary Care Medical Director Nikki Kanani said. “Simple acts of kindness are going to make all the difference in keeping some of the most vulnerable people well and out of hospital.”

“NHS staff are pulling out all the stops to ensure those who need care receive it, and creating a bank of helpers that they can call upon to support their most vulnerable patients through this difficult time is going to be invaluable,” Kanani said.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Italy coronavirus death toll passes 7,500

content_text:
More than 680 people died from COVID-19 in Italy in the 24 hours to Wednesday, the Italian Civil Protection Agency said, as concerns grew that the coronavirus was spreading more toward the south of the nation.

The death toll increased by 683 on Wednesday. That was lower than a spike of 743 on Tuesday, but more than the totals of the previous two days and the third-highest daily tally since the outbreak emerged in northern regions on Feb. 21.

Italy has seen more fatalities than any other nation, with the latest figures showing that 7,503 people had died in barely a month.

Lisa de Virgilio poses for a photograph in a mask with the phrase “Andra tutto bene” (Everything will be OK) in Molfetta, Italy, on Wednesday.
 Photo: Reuters

The northern region of Lombardy, by far the hardest-hit, showed a steep decline in the number of deaths and new infections, raising hopes that the epidemic might be slowing at its original epicenter.

However, optimism was tempered by warnings from the south, where contagion and deaths are far less widespread, but are rising steadily and could overwhelm a health service that is much less well-equipped than in the richer north of the nation.

“At this point there is the real prospect that Lombardy’s tragedy is about to become the south’s tragedy,” Vincenzo de Luca, president of the Campania region around Naples, wrote in an open letter to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

“We are on the eve of a major expansion of infections which may not be sustainable,” he said, complaining that the government had failed to provide Campania with promised ventilators and other life-saving equipment.

So far there have been 74 deaths in Campania, the worst-affected region in the south.

The central region of Lazio, around Rome, has registered 95 fatalities.

The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 74,386 from 69,176, the agency said.

The rise of 7.5 percent was the lowest since the outbreak began, but only severely ill people are being tested and agency head Angelo Borrelli said this week that the true number of infections is probably 10 times those officially recorded.

Borrelli was not present at the customary news conference to illustrate the latest figures because he came down with a fever and was being tested.

With Italy in lockdown for the past two weeks and its economy on its knees, Conte on Wednesday promised a second 25 billion euros (US$27 billion) stimulus package next month, at least as much as the one he adopted earlier this month.

With his approval ratings at record highs, Conte appealed to the opposition to get behind the government’s efforts and halt its attacks on his handling of the crisis until it is over.

“There will be a time for everything, but now is the time for action and responsibility,” he told the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

One source of potential conflict for Conte was defused when the government reached an agreement with trade unions, who had threatened strikes because they wanted more companies shuttered to protect workers’ health.

Conte agreed to extend the production sectors that would be temporarily closed because they are not deemed essential to the supply chain.

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title: Payne apologizes for drunken joyride while quarantined

content_text:
Wellington Phoenix midfielder Tim Payne yesterday tearfully apologized for breaking a COVID-19 quarantine in Australia when he drunkenly drove a golf cart on a Sydney street.

Payne and his passenger in the buggy, teammate Oliver Sail, face the prospect of a heavy fine or suspension over the escapade in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“I’m incredibly sorry and incredibly embarrassed,” Payne told New Zealand’s Radio Sport. “I take full responsibility for my actions and what unfolded on that night... I 100 percent fully expect there to be repercussions.”

The New Zealand-based Phoenix were in isolation in Sydney in the hope that they could play in the A-League if the Australian competition continued behind closed doors.

However, the plan proved fruitless, as the season was canceled and the team returned home on Tuesday.

New Zealand international Payne, 26, said that his teammates were drinking at their remote accommodations in northern Sydney on Monday night when he and Sail decided to take a golf cart for a ride.

The pair were stopped by police, he said, but he denied reports that they were arrested and members of the public intervened to stop them.

Local media reported that the golf cart was stopped about 5km from the players’ accommodations and Payne blew positive on a roadside breath alcohol test.

“Definitely a mistake on my behalf, it’s just one of those things you wish you could take back,” Payne said.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) said that it was investigating and taking the matter very seriously.

“If any misconduct is found to have occurred, FFA will be swift in taking action under the FFA national code of conduct,” it said.

Wellington Phoenix confirmed that an incident involving Payne and Sail had taken place, saying that they too were investigating.

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Indians race for supplies as virus lockdown begins

GHOST TOWNS:
 From the normally bustling Mumbai to Ahmedabad in the west, streets normally thronged with smoke-belching traffic have fallen almost silent

Anxious Indians on Wednesday raced for essentials as an unprecedented 21-day lockdown across the nation of 1.3 billion people all but emptied normally traffic-choked roads.

Many shelves in stores in New Delhi and Mumbai were stripped bare of daily staples, such as lentils and rice, as the world’s second-most populous nation lurched into a shutdown aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s getting increasingly difficult to source produce,” Mumbai vegetable seller Rafiq Ansari, 35, said.

“We are going to face major shortages in the days ahead and at the same time prices are also going up — tomatoes have more than doubled in price,” Ansari added.

In polluted Indian capital New Delhi, some buses still operated — with drivers only allowing the holders of government passes to board — but police and paramilitaries were stopping private vehicles.

At one checkpoint near the India Gate monument, masked officers turned away some government officials in chauffeur-driven vehicles.

“Outrageous,” one official was heard to shout through his window.

In Ghaziabad, many people said they were scared by the new measures and complained that the rules of the lockdown were not clear — a situation not helped by newspapers not being delivered in many places.

Some said they had been harassed by police when they went to buy medicine.

Under the order, announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, people could face up to two years in jail and an unspecified financial penalty if they flout the rules.

As panic-buying began to grip the nation in the hours after his televised speech, Modi took to Twitter to try to calm fears of shortages.

“Essential commodities, medicines etc. would be available. Centre and various state governments will work in close coordination to ensure this,” Modi wrote.

However, shopkeepers were fretting about keeping their stores open, complaining that suppliers were being barred from entering cities.

“I am getting milk, eggs and bread, but let’s say on an average I get 100 packets of bread, today I’ve only got 20,” said one Delhi shopkeeper, who identified himself as Pradeep. “I’m giving it to people as and when they come. I’m not sure how long the existing stock is going to last.”

Street cleaner Ajay said that he and his colleagues had been told to go to work every day.

“But there is a shortage of staff. We live close by and we have our own vehicles, but those who stay in other bordering states are not able to come here. Transport is limited,” he said.

Brandishing a mask he had bought with his own money, he said he now feared that he could get ill.

“There are many like me. Won’t we get the virus? We don’t have protective gear,” he added.

From the normally bustling restaurant area of Mumbai to the western city of Ahmedabad, streets normally thronged with smoke-belching traffic were almost silent.

Birdsong could be heard in many neighborhoods, replacing the klaxons of buses and the endless beeping of motorized rickshaws that usually crowd some of the most densely packed places on Earth.

Even outside the cities the lockdown was biting, with journalists reporting that villagers in some rural areas had erected bamboo barricades to prevent anyone coming or going.

However, among the frustration there was support for Modi’s move, which brings India into line with much of Europe and large parts of the US.

A lockdown is “the only way the disease spread can be checked,” said Dhirendra Kumar, a retired lawyer in the northern city of Lucknow. “We had better support this lockdown.”

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content_text:
A former child bride who spent 19 years in prison for a murder she did not commit is to sue the Pakistani authorities in an effort to persuade the country to help other victims of miscarriages of justice.

Rani Bibi was just 14 when she was convicted, alongside her father, brother and cousin, of the murder of her husband and spent the next two decades sweeping the floors of an overcrowded Pakistan prison.

Last year a Lahore High Court judge acquitted her of all charges, saying that she “was left to languish in the jail solely due to [the] lackluster attitude of the jail authorities.”

“This court feels helpless in compensating her,” the judge said.

Bibi is trying to regain her life as best she can. Sitting on a chair in her dilapidated two-room shack on the outskirts of Islamabad, with no financial means, she despairs of her second chance in life.

Now 36, she had not reached the legal age of marriage under Pakistani law when she was forcibly married off by her parents. Soon after, her husband was murdered, with his body buried alongside the shovel used to kill him.

She was jailed along with her father, who died in prison, and her brother and cousin, who were released long before she was.

There was no evidence at all to link Bibi to the crime.

“I am [a] victim of the injustice; the entire system is responsible [for] ruining my teenage and youth years in prison without any crime,” she told reporters.

Bibi struggles to find work because of her notoriety. She has remarried and lives with her husband and brother.

“I was formerly working as domestic help, but have not a stable job since then,” she said. “Although acquitted, I struggle to find employment due to the stigma attached to time spent in prison.”

She was let down on several occasions by the authorities after being convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001. The prison superintendent did not follow the legal process and failed to file her appeal to the high court.

She only found out in 2014 when, by chance, her case was discovered by a lawyer, Asma Jahangir, who came across Bibi in prison and pursued an appeal. She was finally acquitted in 2017.

However, Pakistan has no system to compensate victims of miscarriages of justice, something Bibi and her supporters now hope to change.

A petition filed at the Lahore High Court this month urges judges to compensate Bibi and seeks rules to act against wrongful convictions.

“This case needs acknowledgement from the judges of the miscarriage of justice,” said Michelle Shahid, a lawyer from the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, a group working for Bibi, who estimates that there are thousands of similar cases in Pakistan.

“There is no debate in Pakistan about wrongful convictions of criminal cases and this is the right time to introduce legislation about this issue,” Shahid said.

A study published last year by the foundation found that of the death sentences reviewed by the Pakistan Supreme Court, 78 percent of those decided by lower courts were overturned.

A senior official at the Lahore High Court told reporters, on condition of anonymity, that “wrongful convictions are due to false testimony and judges have no fault on this issue.”

Legal experts say that Bibi’s case is a precedent and can help fix a flawed legal system that wrongfully convicts thousands of people and leaves the innocent without support to rebuild lives after they are eventually acquitted.

“The case of Rani Bibi spending two decades in jail after being wrongly convicted may seem rather alarming to outside observers, but those who practice law recognize that convictions on the basis of circumstantial evidence or confessions extracted through torture by the investigating agencies are a fairly common occurrence,” said Osama Malik, a senior Islamabad attorney.

The judicial system lacks the capacity to cope with the country’s growing population and huge caseloads lead to backlogs, Malik said.

Lower courts rely too heavily on flimsy evidence and dubious confessions, sometimes obtained through torture.

“Pakistan in 2008 became a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees that anyone who suffers from a miscarriage of justice will be compensated. However, this is something that Pakistani courts have been reluctant to enforce for fear that the sheer number of wrongful convictions every year may result in opening of the floodgates with thousands of victims demanding compensation,” Malik said.

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title: Wrongfully accused former child bride sues


title: Ozone efforts help to reverse damage

content_text:
LEGISLATION PRAISED:
 The southern jet stream wind system appears to have stopped moving southward and might be moving back to normal, scientists said

International cooperation on ozone-depleting chemicals is helping to return the southern jet stream to a normal state after decades of disruption, a study shows.

Scientists say the findings prove that there is the capacity to heal damaged climate systems if governments act promptly and in coordination to deal with the causes.

The southern jet stream is a powerful wind that shapes weather patterns and ocean currents in the southern hemisphere, particularly in the summer.

Up until about 2000, it had been shifting from its usual course and moving southward at a rate of 1° of latitude each decade, affecting storm tracks and rainfall over South America, east Africa and Australia.

Previous research has shown this was primarily driven by the depletion of the ozone layer by chemical compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are found in fridges, aerosols and other industrial processes.

The chemicals, which were used in vast quantities until they started to be phased out under the UN 1987 Montreal Protocol, thinned the ozone layer, causing a widening “hole” high above the south pole that affected wind patterns.

The paper, published in the journal Nature, shows that the Montreal Protocol has paused the southward movement of the jet stream since the turn of the century and might even be starting to reverse it as the ozone hole begins to close.

In September last year, satellite images showed that the ozone hole annual peak had shrunk to 16.4 million square kilometers, the smallest extent since 1982.

“It’s a success story. This is more evidence that the Montreal Protocol has led to the recovery of the ozone layer,” said the study’s lead author, Antara Banerjee, who works in the chemical sciences division of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is a visiting fellow at the University of Boulder, Colorado.

The expected effect on people will vary from region to region. In Patagonia in southern Chile and Argentina, there should be more rain and less ultraviolet light.

The findings will be of more concern for Uruguay, Paraguay, southern Brazil and northern Argentina, where ozone depletion was previously found to bring more rainfall and wider bands of agricultural production.

Previous studies suggest the reversal might also be good news for Australia, which has had more droughts because the jet stream pushed rain-bearing storms away from its coast during winter.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Japan to set up COVID-19 task force

content_text:
NATIONAL EPICENTER:
 Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike warned of the risk of a huge rise in infections in the capital and asked residents to avoid non-essential outings

Japan is to set up a COVID-19 task force, the government said yesterday, as it warned of a high risk of a wide spread of the virus, but the economy minister said the government was not immediately thinking of declaring a state of emergency.

Japan had reported 1,313 domestic cases of COVID-19 as of yesterday morning, separate from 712 cases on a cruise ship that was moored near Tokyo last month, broadcaster NHK reported.

There have been 45 domestic deaths and 10 from the cruise ship.

“I told [Japanese] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe there is a high risk of coronavirus spreading widely,” Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Katsunobu Kato told reporters after a meeting Abe and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura.

Nishimura said that Abe told him to “proceed swiftly with setting up the government task force” based on Kato’s report, but that the government was not immediately considering declaring a state of emergency.

Under a law amended this month to cover the coronavirus pandemic, the prime minister can declare a state of emergency if the disease poses a “grave danger” to lives and if its rapid spread threatens serious economic damage.

A state of emergency would allow governors in hard-hit regions to take steps such as asking people to stay at home, closing schools and other public facilities, and canceling large events.

Japanese shares tumbled yesterday following three days of big gains after the rise in domestic cases stoked worries of tougher domestic restrictions to implement social distancing.

Hitachi Ltd instructed 50,000 employees at its group companies in Tokyo to work from home and avoid unnecessary outings.

The decision to set up the task force — a necessary step to declaring an emergency — followed a sharp jump in cases in Tokyo, making the capital the epicenter of Japan’s outbreak.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Wednesday warned of the risk of an explosive rise in infections in the capital and asked residents to avoid non-essential outings through April 12, especially over the weekend.

“The government and local authorities will cooperate based on the awareness that this is a very critical time to prevent the spread of the virus,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosihide Suga told a news conference.

Koike asked the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa to ask their residents to refrain from non-urgent, non-essential travel to Tokyo, the Nikkei reported.

Abe has already told schools to close — although many are now preparing to reopen — and asked organizers to refrain from large events, but his instructions had no formal legal basis.

Even if a state of emergency is declared, legal experts have noted there are no penalties for ignoring most instructions, but the declaration would put added pressure on people and businesses to obey.

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title: Mass bleaching of Great Barrier Reef documented

content_text:
The Great Barrier Reef has experienced a third mass coral bleaching event in five years, according to Terry Hughes, the scientist carrying out aerial surveys over hundreds of individual reefs.

With three days of a nine-day survey to go, “we know this is a mass bleaching event and it’s a severe one,” Hughes told reporters.

It follows the worst outbreaks of mass bleaching on record killing about half the shallow water corals on the world’s biggest reef system in 2016 and 2017.

Hughes, director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University and one of the world’s leading authorities on bleaching and the Great Barrier Reef, said: “We know enough now that [the bleaching] is more severe than in 1998 and 2002. How it sits with 2016 and 2017 we are not sure yet.”

A fuller picture would be possible after the final three days of surveying, he said.

Working with a staff member from the Australian government’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Hughes has assessed bleaching levels on 682 reefs from a spotter plane flying at about 150m.

Hughes said the first four days of aerial surveys last week covered almost 500 reefs from the Torres Strait to Cairns. They revealed a mixed picture, with some severe bleaching on reefs closer to shore, but outer “ribbon reefs” in the far north escaping damage.

He said surveys this week in the central parts of the reef had found extensive bleaching at levels “comparable to 2017,” when it is estimated that about 22 percent of shallow-water coral along the reef’s 2300km died.

About 80 reefs between Tully and Townsville were badly bleached, he said.

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title: MLB ballparks to remain empty on ‘opening day’

content_text:
There will be no hot dogs on the grill, no beer on tap, no vendors in the stands selling peanuts and Cracker Jack.

A shiny new stadium deep in the heart of Texas will still be waiting for its first Rangers game.

Instead of warming up for his debut with the New York Yankees after a record US$324 million, nine-year contract, Gerrit Cole is playing catch with his wife at home.

The Texas Rangers’ old stadium, Globe Life Park, is reflected in the windows of the club’s newly constructed home, Globe Life Field, in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday.
 Photo: AP

With the start of the Major League Baseball season indefinitely on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, ballparks were empty yesterday, on what was supposed to be opening day.

“You’re used to seeing people run all over the place. We have over 200 people [who work] at the park,” said Roger Bossard, the groundskeeper in his 54th year with the Chicago White Sox. “Certainly, it’s eerie when no one’s around. You walk around the hallways or underneath the stands there, and there’s nobody there — but understandably.”

From Baltimore, Maryland, and Miami in the east to San Diego, California, and Seattle in the west — and 11 other cities that would have hosted season openers yesterday — there will be no games, or at the remaining 15 MLB stadiums, for at least a couple of more months.

By then, when the weather would be warmer and the Rangers would be able to stay out of the heat by closing the retractable roof at their more than US$1 billion stadium, the only new major league ballpark opening this season.

After the postponement of a Chris Stapleton concert that was to be the inaugural event at Globe Life Field in Arlington on March 14, only three days after an open house that went on as scheduled, the Rangers were supposed to play an exhibition game there this week.

Their home opener was scheduled for Tuesday next week after a season-opening series in Seattle.

“The stadium was 100 percent ready to go,” said Casey Rapp, general manager of the new stadium for Delaware North Sportservice, which also oversees concessions for 10 other MLB ballparks. “It’s the little things that we were trying to make perfect.”

While there was plenty of time to finish construction of Globe Life Park, Rapp and his group have not yet been able to serve people during a full-scale event at the stadium.

Concessionaires start planning months in advance of the openers. That means a lot of products, such as hot dogs, bottled beverages and frozen foods, had already been delivered to many ballparks before the season was put on hold.

“It’s definitely different... It’s kind of unheard of [that] all the major sports inside the United States would be closed at the exact same time,” Delaware North Sportservice vice president of operational excellence Ken Gaber said. “Personally, it’s difficult. I think everybody feels the exact same way.”

Delaware North has donated to local charities more than 18.6 tonnes of food, including perishable items already sent to MLB stadiums it operates, and concessions from its other venues, including some NBA and NHL arenas suddenly shut down in the middle of those seasons. There were also several spring training venues at the peak of their schedules.

World Series champions the Washington Nationals have reduced staff at Nationals Park, where a facilities group is still maintaining the ballpark and putting on the finishing touches for the season.

“Prior to every baseball season, you’re always working very aggressively to get ready for opening day. That’s a fixed date and time, and you just have to be ready,” said Frank Gambino, Washington’s senior vice president of ballpark operations. “We had been working very diligently, and continue to work diligently, to try and get as close as we can to ready for whenever opening day eventually comes.”

The Nationals were able to defer many of the concession deliveries and stocking of the stadium while monitoring the COVID-19 situation, he said.

There have been no reports of any MLB players testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Two minor leaguers in the Yankees system did, and the Red Sox closed down their entire spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida, this week after saying that one of their minor league players had tested positive.

The Baltimore Orioles were yesterday scheduled to open at home against the Yankees, likely with a clean-shaven Cole on the mound for the visitors.

Camden Yards would be ready whenever the season finally starts, and the Orioles hope to maintain the enthusiasm that was whipped up for the team throughout a now-extended off-season.

“The bright spot in this sort of cloudy day is that our fans will be craving baseball,” said Jennifer Grondahl, Orioles vice president of community development and communications. “If we can put together a season and the entertainment that we have planned and add to that, I feel like we’ll be able to continue that momentum.”

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content_text:
Staying home during a national lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic is like “nirvana” for cricketers, as they generally have to live out of a suitcase, Australia head coach Justin Langer said yesterday.

Australian cricket is in its off-season and has been largely insulated from the effects of the outbreak, which has suspended all of the country’s major sporting competitions that run during the autumn and winter.

Some Australian players are signed with teams in the Indian Premier League, but the lucrative Twenty20 tournament has been postponed at least until the middle of next month and might end up being scrapped like many other tournaments that have succumbed to the pandemic.

Australia’s Steve Smith acknowledges the crowd after scoring a century in their Cricket World Cup semi-final against India on March 26, 2015.
 Photo: Reuters

“The truth is for me personally and for all the players, this is like nirvana in the fact we’re home with our families, we sleep in our own beds, we eat home-cooked dinners and we can still work in one degree or another from home,” Langer told reporters.

Government containment measures to shut down virtually all nonessential businesses have already affected the economy, with thousands of workers laid off or furloughed without pay.

Langer said that the effects of the virus had hit close to home.

“I’ve got four daughters at home and three of them have lost their jobs,” he said. “It’s a great eye-opener to me, how careful we have to be. Talk about being prepared for rainy days.”

“This is certainly more than a rainy day. Whether it’s a footy club or my daughters all losing their jobs... I have great empathy for so many people going through this tough time.”

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title: Lockdown ‘nirvana’ for cricketers: Australia’s Langer


title: Virus Outbreak: Life precarious for sex workers in lockdown

content_text:
With their health in jeopardy and customers evaporating, sex workers in France are struggling as COVID-19 threatens their livelihoods — and there is no safety net in sight.

Many are being forced onto the streets as they lose their incomes, at a time when police are enforcing government orders for people to stay at home.

France has been in lockdown for a week, with only essential trips outside allowed, in a bid to stop the coronavirus spreading.

“I have no choice since I work on the street and I travel to people’s homes,” said Pamela, a 46-year-old prostitute from the southwestern city of Toulouse, who stopped working when the lockdown was announced.

Solicitations have not completely dried up, she said, but she has decided to ignore them.

“Pay a fine of 135 euros [US$148] for a client at 50 euros: No,” she said.

However, if the lockdown continues, her meager savings would no longer be enough, she added.

“I will have to take risks. Even if I have two clients a week, it would at least pay for food,” she said.

Her name, and those of the other prostitutes quoted have been changed for this story.

“The situation is dramatic,” said Sarah-Marie Maffesoli, a program coordinator at the human rights organization Doctors of the World.

“There are almost no more customers. How long will they be able to stop working?” she said.

Prostitution itself is not illegal, though a law introduced in 2016 did make it illegal to buy sex, shifting the criminal responsibility to clients, who can be fined if caught.

However, sex workers, few of whom have a self-employed work status, would not be able to claim the 1,500 euros in aid promised by the French government to self-employed workers.

To make up for gaps in support, the tight-knit sex worker community has launched several fundraising initiatives online.

On one Instagram page called tapotepute (your whore friend), more than 10,000 euros has been raised.

“We hope to help about 30 sex workers,” said Judith, 22, a Paris-based escort who created the page.

For those who continue to work “to ensure their survival,” sex workers’ union Strass has published a series of recommendations on its Web site, such as to “avoid contact with saliva” or “any face-to-face sexual position.”

Many associations which have had to suspend their in-person outreach programs are also worried that sex workers would end up homeless if they cannot pay the rent or their accommodation is shut.

“With the lockdown, many hotels have closed and sex workers have found themselves on the street,” said Antoine Baudry, of the Lyon-based Cabiria association for community health.

Migrants who work as prostitutes are in the most precarious situation, particularly those undocumented who do not speak French.

“For them, it is not easy to know what they have the right to do and not to do,” said June Charlot, a health mediator at Griselidis, a Toulouse association distributing financial aid, prevention kits and travel certificates.

With movement and social contact heavily restricted under the lockdown, Web sites could be the solution — for those who can afford it and are tech savvy.

“I don’t trust the Internet and online payments, I don’t know how to do it,” said Nathalie, a 48-year-old Toulouse escort.

Charlie, whose parents are unaware of her activity, fears being subjected to blackmail, revenge porn or online harassment if her videos are stolen, which is common.

“The platforms lack security and confidentiality. Anyone can take a screen shot and then share it,” she said.

Above all, “it requires resources, a good connection and a computer,” said Eva Vocz, a “camgirl” from Marseille, who charges 50 euros for 20 minutes.

“It’s a job that can be learned, to develop a technique, communicate on social networks to build a fan base. It takes time,” she said.

The free access offered by several major pornography platforms during the lockdown has also dried up the customer base.

“They buy a good image, generate clicks and advertising revenue, but nothing will be redistributed to us,” Eva said.

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title: Self-isolation makes ideal training camp: Ricciardo

content_text:
Australian Daniel Ricciardo reckons that self-isolation makes for a perfect training camp — although it helps to be on the family farm in Western Australia with a swimming pool and some machinery to play with.

In a live question-and-answer session on Instagram organized by his Renault Formula One team, the Australian talked about what he was doing to pass the time waiting for a coronavirus-ravaged season to start.

“I know it’s probably going to be a while till we race again, but I’m not allowing myself to go back into holiday mode,” Ricciardo said.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo poses for a portrait ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 12.
 Photo: Reuters

“Training is definitely the thing that’s keeping me with that competitive mindset. You get some anger out when you train, so that’s my medicine for now,” he said.

“I feel like now it’s kind of perfect to get in shape,” the 30-year-old said. “We’re forced to stay in, there’s no jet lag, no airports… We can really create a real training camp, which we don’t always have.”

Ricciardo said that he expected to see other drivers looking pretty fit when they finally got back together again, even if they might have so much pent up aggression that they all collided at the first corner.

The Australian said that he might just qualify last to avoid the carnage and cash in.

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