AFP, MOGADISHUAl-Shabaab Islamist militants have claimed responsibility for Saturday’s massive car bomb in the Somalian capital that killed 81 people, including two Turkish citizens. “The mujahidin carried [out] an attack... targeting a convoy of Turkish mercenaries and apostate militia who were escorting them,” al-Shabaab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said in an audio message on Monday. Mogadishu is regularly hit by attacks by al-Shabaab, which has fought for more than a decade to topple the Somali government. For the first time, al-Shabaab apologised to the civilian victims of the attack, which it justified as necessary in fight against the Somali state and its foreign backers. The death toll increased to 81 on Monday after two victims died from their wounds, the Somalian Ministry of Information said.

AFP, ISTANBULA school on the outskirts of Istanbul is a rare place where Uighur child refugees from China can study their language and culture. Her father flew back to China from time to time for business before anyone knew about the camps in the Xinjiang region. With about 50,000 Uighur refugees in Turkey, there are many more children like Fatima or even worse off. “I try to stay optimistic and remember that it’s not my parents who have done this to me,” she said. Many children inside Xinjiang are also reportedly without parents.

Reuters, SEOULSouth Korean prosecutors yesterday indicted former minister of justice Cho Kuk on a dozen charges, including bribery, two months after he resigned over a scandal involving family investment and university admissions for his children. The accusations are a setback for South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the liberal leader named Cho, a former top aide, to the Cabinet post to lead reform of the prosecutors’ office, which critics saw as being susceptible to political pressure. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Cho and his wife over family investment and use of their position to gain admissions for their children, it said in a statement. Together with his wife, Chung Kyung-shim, he is being prosecuted for falsifying documents regarding family investments and efforts to gain university admissions. Cho stepped down in October after just one month in office, saying the graft scandal had become a political burden for Moon’s government.

AFP, LONDONBritain was so concerned by then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s heart attacks and drinking in 1995 that contingency plans were drawn up in case he died in office, declassified files showed yesterday. After Yeltsin suffered a second heart attack, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office drafted statements of condolence, fearing for his health amid the boozing, according to documents released from Britian’s National Archives. He was rushed to hospital in Moscow with heart trouble on Oct. 26, for the second time in under four months. “We have therefore given some thought to contingency plans should President Yeltsin die in office,” it said. The likely arrangements for Britain’s funeral delegation were outlined, including draft messages to be issued to the media, Yeltsin’s wife and the acting president.

AFP, MANILAThe number of people killed by a powerful storm that pummeled the central Philippines over Christmas has risen to 50, authorities said yesterday, making it the nation’s deadliest storm last year. Typhoon Phanfone’s destructive winds and heavy rains brought down flimsy homes and destroyed commercial buildings mainly on the central island of Visayas, affecting more than 2 million people. At least 80,000 remain in emergency shelters due to the scale of the destruction. Typhoon Phanfone, locally called Ursula, was the 21st cyclone of last year to hit the storm-prone Philippines. Many of the storms wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure, keeping millions of people in perpetual poverty.

AFP, BEIRUT and TOKYOFormer Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn yesterday said that he fled to Lebanon to escape injustice in Japan, where he was on bail awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges. Lebanese media reported that Ghosn flew by private airplane from Turkey to Lebanon, where his parents were born and where he spent most of his childhood. The Japan Broadcasting Corp quoted a Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official as saying: “He was not supposed to leave the country. Ghosn has lost the business empire that he was lauded for creating. Sacked from Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, he resigned from Renault — the third firm in the automaker alliance that he forged.

In seaside communities along a 200km strip of coast, terrified crowds — wrapped in blankets and wearing makeshift facemasks — sought refuge from the inferno near the water. “We’ve got literally hundreds, thousands of people up and down the coast taking refuge on the beaches” and in surf clubs, New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said. “I understand there was a public cheer down at the jetty when that was announced,” Country Fire Authority Chief Cfficer Steve Warrington said. The situation was scarcely better in inland rural communities, where countless more people were displaced and forced into makeshift camps. Helicopters, aircraft and naval ships would be sent to the region, Australian Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said.

The consortium plans to set up a digital bank targeting so-called digital-first consumers, as well as small and medium enterprises that lack access to credit. For Grab, a digital banking business complements its growing suite of services built atop a ride-hailing platform that is expanding regionally. It set up the Grab Financial Group last year, which, among other things, provides digital payments services and personal loans. Singtel has delved deeper into financial services as growth in its core telecoms business plateaus in an uncertain economy. Digital banking is a natural extension of the company’s existing mobile financial services, Singtel’s International Group CEO Arthur Lang said.

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter, in Taitung CityThe government might hold a second 5G auction sooner than previously planned after the nation’s first 5G auction entered its 15th day yesterday with total bids reaching nearly NT$80 billion (US$2.65 billion). The amount far exceeds the budget goals set by the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan, which were NT$40 billion and NT$44 billion respectively. Asked if there is a possibility that the second 5G auction could be postponed after telecoms spent so much money bidding in the first auction, Chen said that the bids from the first auction could actually facilitate the second. “Our office has proposed that part of the funds generated from the 5G auction be used for emergency response purposes in the nation’s remote areas, as the government did with the 4G auction bids,” Hsiao said. “Meanwhile, we can use some of it to help relocate the two agencies and assist telecoms in building networks.”Regarding the 5G auction, which continues today, Chen said that telecoms should not focus on placing higher bids in the first stage of the auction.

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ReutersVodafone Group PLC’s broadband services joint venture with Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Ltd has partnered with Nokia Oyj to roll out 5G services in Australia, the companies said yesterday. In a joint statement, the companies said Vodafone Hutchison Australia, the 50-50 joint venture, would kick off its 5G rollout in the first half of next year with Nokia as the network vendor. The Finnish telecom network equipment maker has already built a test network to demonstrate its 5G technology, and those sites will become the first area of commercial coverage for Vodafone’s 5G network. Australia expanded its national security rules to exclude telecommunication equipment suppliers that it believes have ties to foreign governments, a move that disallowed Huawei Technologies Co (華為) from its 5G rollout. Most recently, Spark New Zealand Ltd abandoned plans to rely on Huawei exclusively for the rollout of 5G services, choosing the 5G rollout with Nokia instead.

Staff writer, with CNAContract electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) were the top two most-watched Taiwanese stocks by Yahoo Finance app users this year, the Web services company said yesterday. Yahoo Finance picked this year’s top 10 stocks based on view counts of Taiwanese stocks on its app from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15. All of the top 10 were electronics companies. Memorychip maker Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) took third place; followed by passive component manufacturers Yageo Corp (國巨) and Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技) in fourth and fifth place; and printed-circuit board makers Unimicron Corp (欣興電子) and Compeq Manufacturing Co (華通電腦) in sixth and seventh place respectively. Rounding out the top 10 were memorychip suppliers Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), and flat-panel maker Innolux Corp (群創光電).

AFP, KABULThe Taliban yesterday denied that it had agreed to any ceasefire in Afghanistan after reports that a potential deal would see a reduction in fighting after more than 18 years of war. “In the past few days, some media have been releasing untrue reports about a ceasefire... The fact is that, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no ceasefire plans,” the Taliban said in a statement. Reports said that the Taliban’s ruling council on Sunday had agreed to a temporary ceasefire. The Taliban have long viewed Ghani as a US stooge and have refused to negotiate with his government.

Staff writer, with CNACountdown parties and fireworks displays have been organized across the nation to ring in the new year today. Starting in the capital, the Taipei New Year’s Eve Party at Taipei City Hall Plaza is to begin at 6:30pm and includes rapper Leo Wang (LEO王) and R&B crooner OZI (陳奕凡), both Golden Melody Award winners, as the headline acts. The New Year’s party at Janfusun Fancyworld in Yunlin County is to showcase performances and a 9 minute, 26 second fireworks display. The Chiayi City Government’s party starts with performances at 6pm at the Chiayi City Municipal Baseball Stadium. Tainan’s party is to be held from 7pm at Tainan City Art Museum Building 2.

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterA group of Foodpanda deliverers and their lawyer yesterday rallied in front of Taipei City Hall, calling on the local government to help them negotiate with the company about what they called an unfair payment mechanism. The Taipei Department of Labor said that it had accepted their petition and would help by mediating a labor management dispute resolution meeting. Chen said deliverers are required to collect cash from customers upon delivery, but the company has set a maximum limit of NT$5,000. However, the payments are settled at particular times, and even then it usually takes about an hour, Chen said. Taipei Labor Standards Division Director Chen Kun-hong (陳昆鴻) met with the protesters and received their petition on behalf on the city government.