AP, RIYADHA Saudi Arabian court yesterday sentenced five people to death for the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year by a team of Saudi agents. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had drawn international condemnation for the killing because several Saudi agents involved worked directly for him. State TV also reported the Saudi attorney general’s investigation showed that the crown prince’s former top adviser, Saud al-Qahtani, had no proven involvement in the killing. In total, 11 people were on trial for Khashoggi’s death in the kingdom. The verdicts were read by Shaalan al-Shaalan, a spokesperson from the attorney general’s office, and broadcast on state TV.

“It’s too dangerous for them to use correspondence, phone calls or consular meetings” to raise concerns about conditions, he said. Humphrey said he did not hold Tesco responsible, if it were found to have used prison labor. “China makes it impossible for a company to drill down right to the bottom of the supply chain to identify the small contractors,” he said. He added that he believed the prisoners involved were working against their will. What they mean is that they have been put in a position where they are coerced,” he said.

Now, the log might guide him to proof that the companies had long known that asbestos exposure could be deadly. The proof came in a carton of documents that had belonged to then-Raybestos-Manhattan Inc president Sumner Simpson. The documents exposed a conspiracy of suppression and silence among multiple companies even as workers sickened and died. “The federal judiciary’s commitment to open justice has come under sustained attack by corporate lawyers and lobbyists,” said US Representative Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat and member of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. The corporate lawyers found ready support from judges and court staff overwhelmed by all the litigation and the paperwork it produced.

By Ann Maxon / Staff reporterKaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday said that a march on Saturday calling for his recall was unjustified and that organizers used “tricks” to make the crowd seem bigger. Asked to explain the post later yesterday, Han told reporters in New Taipei City that the banner was like a “fig leaf” used by event organizers to create the illusion of having more participants than they actually did. He said he even saw “foreigners” at the march, even though only Kaohsiung residents could recall the mayor. While members of the public have the right to recall elected officials, the campaign to recall him seemed to be the result of political manipulation, Han said. In other developments, Han yesterday reiterated his plan to reinstate the Special Investigation Division (SID) if elected.

It is an honor the Anfield side had never claimed before, but which is now theirs after Roberto Firmino’s extra-time goal secured a 1-0 victory over Flamengo in a hard-fought Club World Cup final in Doha. “The year 2019 for the club has been outstanding, but we shouldn’t be satisfied with it,” defender Virgil van Dijk said. The Club World Cup is not held in the highest regard in Europe, coming in the middle of a busy club season. However, the Premier League is the one they really have in their sights as they seek a first English title since 1990. As well as the trophies this year, Klopp’s team have not lost a Premier League game since their first outing of the year against Manchester City.

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterParents should feed newborns breast milk or baby formula as their main diet, the Taiwan Pediatric Association said on Friday, rejecting online rumors that rice porridge could be used. The association issued a statement on its official Web site, seeking to clarify that rice porridge should not be fed to newborns as a staple food, and breast milk is the most ideal in terms of nutrition. Newborns should be fed with breast milk until they are four to six months old, but if breast milk is not available, baby formula should be the alternative, it said. The comments came after an online personality who claimed to have self-taught himself Chinese herbal medicine posted on Facebook earlier this month that while breast milk is the best food for newborns, specialized rice porridge could also be used instead of baby formula. He wrote that rice porridge was better than baby formula, which contains synthetic food additives, and that many in the past did not drink breast milk, but instead grew up on rice porridge.

AFP, WASHINGTONThe Houston Texans and reigning Super Bowl champions New England clinched NFL division titles with victories on Saturday, Houston sealing a playoff berth and the Patriots moving closer to a first-round bye. Elsewhere, the San Francisco 49ers edged the Los Angeles Rams 34-31 on Robbie Gould’s game-ending 33-yard field goal to boost their chances at a first-round bye. The result also clinched a playoff spot for the Minnesota Vikings by eliminating the Rams from the hunt. Buffalo’s Stephen Hauschka kicked a 35-yard field goal to open the scoring, but the Patriots seized the lead on Brady’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Matt LaCosse. Buffalo drove 59 yards in 32 seconds with Allen flipping a 1-yard touchdown pass to Dion Dawkins that put Buffalo level 10-10 at halftime.

AFP, LOS ANGELESJermell Charlo stopped Tony Harrison in the 11th round to reclaim the World Boxing Council super welterweight title on Saturday in a championship rematch in suburban Los Angeles. Charlo improved to 33-1 with his 17th victory inside the distance, while Harrison fell to 28-3. Charlo landed five punches in a row, a left hook and solid right, sending down Harrison again. Charlo climbed the far ropes to celebrate, but Harrison rose and Reiss let him continue. He had a lot of pressure on him.”Once fighting resumed, Charlo landed another five punches while wobbly Harrison could only cover up, prompting Reiss to end it.

Staff writer, with CNAThe “Spend a Night at Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building” project has concluded with a visit by Polish food and travel bloggers Lukasz Smolinski and Natalia Sitarska. From October, they were given a free overnight stay each week in a guest room inside the Presidential Office compound. Upon finding out that the drink originated in Taiwan, they contacted suppliers in the nation and opened the first pearl milk tea shop in Poland, Smolinski said. However, it was not until last year that they finally had a chance to visit Taiwan, and their stay in the complex was their second visit. Thai vloggers Kanisorn Pringthongfoo and Varaporn Rasmeekajorndej said that they were impressed by the unwalled Presidential Office compound, saying it reflects the openness of Taiwan’s government.

The US has also agreed to reduce tariffs on US$120 billion out of US$300 billion of Chinese goods affected since Sept. 1 from 15 percent to 7.5 percent. However, previously imposed tariffs of 25 percent on roughly US$250 billion of Chinese goods, such as machinery, electronics and furniture, remain in place. In exchange, China has committed to a minimum of US$200 billion in increased purchases of US products and services over the next two years, including US$32 billion in agricultural goods. At first glance, it looks as if the US would benefit from this deal, as existing tariffs with a big increase in Chinese purchases would help lower the trade deficit with China. However, compared with last year’s US$419.2 billion US-China trade deficit, the benefit is utterly inadequate.

“We have cordoned the area so we are very optimistic that we will recover the remaining Indonesian,” Sobejana told reporters. Military offensives against militants, such as the Abu Sayyaf, have reduced abductions in the past few years, but they continue to occur. Abu Sayyaf militants have staged kidnappings in and off Sabah in the past few years, sparking a regional security alarm. Troops have killed a “high-value,” but little-known Abu Sayyaf commander, Talha Jumsah, near Sulu’s mountainous Patikul town. The Abu Sayyaf emerged in the late 1980s as an offshoot of the decades-long Muslim separatist insurgency in the south of the largely Roman Catholic nation.

The amount is expected to reach NT$50 billion by the end of the year, the official said, adding that a larger number of remittances are expected to be made in the first half of next year. The legislature passed the Act on the Use of and Taxation on Inward Remittances of Overseas Funds (境外資金匯回管理運用及課稅條例) in early July. Accountants have expected a steady increase at the end of this year in applications to repatriate funds, saying that many wealthy individuals and Taiwanese businesspeople tend to make fund management plans before the year end, the Liberty Times reported. There might be a wave of applications in March and April, and the momentum would likely continue through July or August, the newspaper said. The ministry has estimated repatriated funds of NT$133.3 billion for the year following promulgation of the law.

Staff writer, with CNAA crisis between the US and China over Taiwan could affect US interests next year, according to a survey released by a US think tank on Wednesday, although it said it was not very likely. The CPA then categorized the scenarios under three tiers — high, moderate and low — in order of priority for US leaders. Another contingency of concern to the US was an armed confrontation over disputed maritime areas in the South China Sea between China and other regional claimants, the survey said. Taiwan claims parts of the South China Sea, as does Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The US’ biggest concerns overseas were listed as a confrontation with Iran, North Korea or China in the South China Sea, the report said.

By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterState-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday announced that it would raise gasoline prices by NT$0.3 per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.4 per liter from today to reflect higher international crude oil prices. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, prices last week increased by US$1.90 per barrel to US$66.73, CPC’s Web site said. CPC attributed the increase to positive sentiment in the crude oil market, buoyed by a preliminary trade deal reached between the US and China, as well as an unexpected decline in US commercial crude inventories. Privately owned Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced similar price increases for this week, also effective today. Prices at Formosa’s fuel stations are to rise to NT$27.6, NT$29.0 and NT$31.1 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded respectively, while premium diesel is to rise to NT$25.4 per liter.

By Huang Di-ying 黃帝穎An anti-infiltration bill proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers has met with strong opposition from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). With Ma opposing the bill so strongly, one cannot help but wonder if he has received gifts from the CPPCC. The court ruling made it clear that Lo had received illegal political donations from Xu to buy gifts for Lien and Ma. The anti-infiltration bill is not reinventing the wheel as Ma claimed, as the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) is not enough to investigate infiltration. The Political Donations Act and other laws are not enough to bring them to justice.