Protests in India after veterinary raped, burned
The GuardianThe gang rape of a veterinary doctor whose body was set on fire and dumped under a bridge has sent shockwaves through India, with hundreds of women taking to the streets in protest. The charred body of the 26-year-old woman was found on the outskirts of the southern city of Hyderabad on Wednesday night. The woman’s scooter tires had allegedly been deflated by four men, who then sat waiting in a truck nearby and approached her to offer help. “The accused had consumed alcohol and noticed the veterinary doctor parking her bike at the toll plaza around 6pm,” he said in a statement. “Then, Areef, Naveen and Chennakeshavulu forcibly took the victim into an abandoned room nearby, where she was raped,” Sajjanar said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
Hong Kong brings its protest to ballot box
By Jhang Shih-hsien 張世賢The Hong Kong protest movement that began with the demonstration against the extradition bill, which was later withdrawn, has continued for half a year. The protesters’ stance that the government must agree to every one of their five demands is strongly supported by Hong Kongers in general. The party has always believed in the myth that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, so why are they so riled up by the protests in Hong Kong? Hong Kongers have experienced the power of the vote. Taiwan, with its many elections, is the envy of Hong Kongers, but will Taiwanese put that right to its best use?
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
Canadian musician to perform in Miaoli show
By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterCanadian musician Matthew Lien is to perform songs from his new album, The Romantic Route 3 — Hakka Music Map of Matthew Lien (浪漫臺三線 — 馬修連恩的客家音樂地圖), at a concert in Miaoli County on Saturday. Romantic Route 3 refers to a government initiative aimed at promoting and reviving Hakka culture along Provincial Highway No. “Using an avant-garde and bold design, [Flyflyfly] turns each musician into a mountain,” the council said. The highway is “like a paradise of culture,” Lien said. The concert, which is to start at 6pm at the Northern Miaoli Art Center, is to include an autograph-signing session, the council said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
US escalates Deutsche investigation
Officials from the DOJ, who have been working closely with Estonian prosecutors for about a year, have also begun cooperating with Frankfurt state prosecutors, the sources said. The Frankfurt prosecutors have been exploring Deutsche’s role in processing payments for the Danish bank. The DOJ’s focus on Germany’s largest bank and its work with Frankfurt prosecutors have not previously been reported. The DOJ and Frankfurt state prosecutors declined to comment on the US investigation, which two sources told reporters is due to be completed next year. Frankfurt prosecutors have also questioned Sylvie Matherat, Deutsche’s former chief regulatory officer, and the highest ranking of 10 Deutsche bankers and executives they have interviewed.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
IT Month to focus on AI: organizers
Staff writer, with CNAInformation Technology Month, one of the nation’s largest IT exhibitions which opens at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Hall 1 tomorrow and runs until Sunday, is to focus on artificial intelligence (AI), the organizers said yesterday. It is also to feature the evolution of AI technology development, starting from evolution of AI and encompassing possible future applications, the organizers said. A special AI pavilion is to allow visitors to experience AI products in five major areas, they said. As Futex Taipei, another annual high-tech trade fair, is to be held in conjunction with Information Technology Month at the same venue, the organizers are expecting an especially high number of visitors this year. After the Taipei event, Information Technology Month is to move to Taichung from Thursday next week to Dec. 16, Tainan from Dec. 19 to Dec. 23 and Kaohsiung from Dec. 26 to Dec. 30.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
Ex-MND boss warns of infiltration bids
A Taiwanese entrepreneur doing business in China had relayed a message to him from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), he said. “The TAO wanted to invite me to attend an international conference in China and they said I would be received by the leader of the CCP,” he said. “I thought that was very strange because I had stepped down less than eight months ago. The National Security Council in September said that China had been using all possible means to influence the Jan. 11 elections and proposed five countermeasures, so “I hope President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national security team would fully implement those measures,” Tsai added. For example, when Wang’s allegations were first reported, many in the pan-blue camp took the same stance on his claims as the CCP’s, Lai said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
Han’s in-laws illegally occupied land: Huang
By Ann Maxon / Staff reporterNew Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday accused Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) father-in-law’s family of occupying more than 1 hectare of public land in Yunlin County for 19 years. During an interpellation session at the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee, Huang said that the family of former Yunlin County councilor Lee Jih-kuei (李日貴), Han’s father-in-law, had allegedly occupied the land since 2000 and did not return it to the government until August this year. Between 1998 and 2005, Da-tong Gravel Co (大通砂石行), owned by Lee Jih-kuei, was fined multiple times for illegally occupying public land and storing gravel in the area, Huang said on Friday. To determine if the family had illegally excavated gravel, the NPA has applied for aerial shots of the area, he said, adding that an investigation would take two weeks. Describing the Lee family’s use of the land as “privileged people stealing national resources,” Huang yesterday asked why authorities had not asked them to return the land until this year.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
US Navy visits to HK barred over new law
AP, HONG KONGChina yesterday said it would suspend US Navy visits to Hong Kong and sanction several US-based pro-democracy organizations in retaliation for the signing into law of legislation supporting human rights in the territory. The steps are “in response to the US’ unreasonable behavior,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said, adding that the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act “seriously interfered” in China’s internal affairs. “China urges the United States to correct its mistakes and stop any words and deeds that interfere in Hong Kong and China’s internal affairs,” she said at a daily briefing in Beijing. The law, signed on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump, mandates sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who carry out human rights abuses and requires an annual review of the favorable trade status that Washington grants Hong Kong. She did not provide details on how China would sanction the groups, which are already restricted from operating in China.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
Woman who beat poverty to found own firms tells students to pursue dreams
By Yu Chao-fu and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerA businesswoman on Saturday told a group of Keelung students how she persevered through poverty to found her own company and encouraged them to pursue their dreams. “Do not be afraid of failure when pursuing your dreams, because success definitely belongs to those who stick to the end,” she told the students. At 28, she used NT$190,000 she had saved to found Simula Technology, she said. The uncertain business environment motivated the company to innovate and discover new customer bases to survive fierce market competition, she said. Yu expressed gratitude to her parents, saying her upbringing provided her with the strength and perseverance required for success.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
The Xi Jinping Revolution is here
It is simple to divide the world between good and evil; strong and weak, right and wrong. In principle, the US, both its government and the private sector, had little interest in economic development within the Soviet Union; that is, of course, a different case in the Sino-American relationship today. The approach to containing the Soviet Union was accepted as a rule in US policy. A strong China that is economically prosperous for its own people and the world is beneficial for everyone. We can observe this motive in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) rhetoric and within its foreign and domestic interests.
Source:Taipei Times
December 02, 2019 15:56 UTC
Merkel ally loses SPD leadership race
AFP, BERLINThe future of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition was thrown into question on Saturday as her deputy chancellor and finance minister lost the leadership race of his center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). The humiliating defeat for German Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz marks another sign of discontent within the Social Democrats over their partnership with Merkel’s center-right party. Wounded by an election rout in 2017, the SPD had initially sought to go into opposition, but allowed itself reluctantly to be coaxed into renewing an alliance with Merkel. The SPD has also been battered by a series of regional and European election setbacks this year. “The SPD cannot renew itself unless it is in opposition and has new people,” political expert Klaus Schroeder said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
As sea rises, Indonesians pay price to shield homes
Reuters, TAMBAKLOROK, IndonesiaIndonesian fisherman Miskan said the once-abundant catches he used to enjoy have been dwindling in the past few years on the stretch of the Java Sea. “If you have a house on land and then work at sea, it’s hard. But now I work at sea and I live at sea,” said Miskan, 44, who uses one name, speaking outside his small home. Miskan had to borrow from neighbors to pay about 7.2 million rupiah (US$511.58) to hire workers to truck in earth. Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, has about 81,000km of coastline, making it particularly vulnerable to climate change along with neighbors like the Philippines.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
NZ launches program to breed low-methane sheep
The GuardianThe New Zealand livestock industry has begun a “global first” program that would help to tackle climate change by breeding low methane-emitting sheep. There are about six times as many sheep as people in New Zealand and the livestock industry accounts for about one-third of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Sheep spend 50 minutes in the chamber, and must be measured twice with an interval of more than 14 days. “This is a global first for any species of livestock,” said Mark Aspin, the consortium’s general manager. “Launching the methane breeding value gives New Zealand’s sheep sector a practical tool to help lower our agricultural greenhouse gases.”
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Philippines braces as typhoon cancels SEA events
AFP, CLARK, PhilippinesThe Philippines has begun evacuating thousands of people, local officials said yesterday, as a powerful typhoon rumbling in from the Pacific Ocean forced Southeast Asian (SEA) Games organizers to cancel or reschedule some events. Forecasters expect Typhoon Kammuri to make landfall this evening or tomorrow morning, packing gusts of 170kph and maximum sustained winds of 140kph. Outdoor events in Subic — on the west coast of the main Philippine island of Luzon in the country’s north — were the first to be affected by Kammuri. The women’s triathlon event was brought forward to yesterday, Agregado said, “so we could take advantage of the good weather.”Duathlon events scheduled for tomorrow would now take place today. Schools and government offices in some towns would be closed today and tomorrow in anticipation of the heavy rains.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Iraq mourns protest dead before parliament session
AFP, MOSUL, IraqIraqis across the country yesterday marched to mourn protesters killed in anti-government rallies, even turning out in Sunni areas where people were previously too afraid to join in. After a spike in deaths this week raised the toll to more than 420 killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi on Friday said he would submit his resignation to parliament. However, after a spike in violence days ago left nearly 70 people dead across three cities, Iraqis in nearly all provinces turned out in solidarity. Eight other Shiite-majority provinces have announced yesterday a mourning day during which government offices would remain shut. The protest hotspot is the birthplace of Abdel Mahdi, who came to power just a year ago based on a shaky alliance between rival parties.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC