Reuters and AFP, PARIS and WASHINGTONFrance and the EU are ready to fight back against US tariff threats on French products, French government ministers said yesterday. French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire described the US proposals as “unacceptable.”“In case of new American sanctions, the European Union would be ready to riposte,” Le Maire told Radio Classique. “The USTR is focused on countering the growing protectionism of EU member states, which unfairly targets US companies, whether through digital services taxes or other efforts that target leading US digital services companies,” he said. In an interview on Monday prior to the USTR announcement, Le Maire accused Washington of losing interest in such a deal. “Having demanded an international solution from the OECD, it [Washington] now isn’t sure it wants one,” Le Maire told France Inter radio.

BloombergUS shoppers spent US$9.2 billion online on Cyber Monday — up 17 percent from a year earlier and a record — boosting an already robust holiday shopping season. Extreme weather across the continental US gave consumers plenty of reason to shop from the coziness of their own homes. While Cyber Monday remains the biggest online spending day of the year, shoppers increasingly favor buying online from the start of the holiday season, rather than waiting for the day’s specials. The shopping season is also shorter this year with six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas than last year. Adobe said big e-commerce platforms such as Amazon.com Inc would benefit the most from the surge in sales.

AP, LONDONUS President Donald Trump yesterday took aim at French President Emmanuel Macron over his criticism of NATO, and criticized the other members of the military alliance for being too slow to beef up their defense budgets. It’s very disrespectful.”During campaigning for the last election, Trump described NATO as “obsolete,” but he has since tempered his criticism somewhat. Discussing military funding, Trump insisted that “a lot of countries haven’t paid.”After Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, NATO countries halted their post-Cold War spending cuts and began increasing spending. “You could make the case that they’ve been delinquent for 25-30 years,” Trump said after talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday said that his nation is open to cooperation with NATO.

“Whenever you have a game like this which is really tight and really tough, being able to count on Messi is always an advantage,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said. Atleti and Barca both hit the woodwork, while visiting goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen made two stunning saves. Messi clinched the 2014-2015 La Liga title for Barca with a strike against Atletico, and also hit winning goals against them in pivotal games in the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 seasons. His goal on Sunday could also prove crucial in what looks set to be a thrilling two-horse race between Barca and Real Madrid, who meet in El Clasico at the Camp Nou on Dec. 18. “We suffered a little, but games like these are the ones which can win you the title,” said Barca’s Sergi Roberto, who credited his side’s goalkeeper for the win.

They followed nominations by incoming Macanese chief executive Ho Iat Seng (賀一誠), who is to be formally sworn in on Dec. 20. Although anti-government protests have roiled Hong Kong for nearly six months, Macau has seen little opposition to Beijing’s rule. The slowdown has added to pressure for Macau to diversify its economy from the casino industry, which accounts for more than 80 percent of government revenues. “He has no experience in economic development in Macau or in the casino industry. Lei is the vice president of the Macanese Executive Council of the Municipal Affairs Bureau and has worked for the government since 1992.

“People will be out in the streets again tomorrow,” tweeted one of her sons, Matthew Caruana Galizia, who is also a journalist. Caruana Galizia was the subject of lawsuits by some of her subjects, including in government. While many celebrated her as an anti-corruption champion, some in the country whose dealings she exposed scorned her work. “I reiterate my deepest regret that a person, who, with all her positive and negative qualities and contribution toward the democracy of our country, was killed in such a brutal way,” Muscat said. Referring to the reporter’s slaying, Muscat said, “This case cannot define everything that our country is and what we have accomplished together.

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterCapital Securities Corp (群益金鼎證券) has an upbeat outlook regarding local shares next year, and expects the TAIEX to hit 13,000 points on the back of an improving economy, repatriated funds and the launch of a new continuous trading system. The TAIEX has slid slightly after it closed at 11,656.4 points on Nov. 19 — the highest closing level in the past 29 years. The index ended 0.12 percent higher at 11,502,83 points yesterday on turnover of NT$113.270 billion (US$3.71 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. While investors are eager to know if the TAIEX is likely to surpass 12,682 points, the all-time high recorded in 1990, it would mainly depend on the performance of the US stock market as the local stock market is highly sensitive to its movenemts, Tseng said. Given that US President Donald Trump is likely to use policies to support the US stock market before the presidential election next year, the TAIEX might have a change of hitting 13,000 points, Tseng said.

AFP, MADRIDConfronted with a climate crisis threatening civilization itself, humanity must choose between hope and surrender, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the opening plenary of a UN climate conference in Madrid yesterday. “One is the path of surrender, where we have sleepwalked past the point of no return, jeopardizing the health and safety of everyone on this planet,” Guterres said. In his appeal, Guterres cited new findings from the World Meterological Organization (WMO) confirming that the past five years have been the hottest ever recorded. “The last time there was a comparable concentration, the temperature was 2 to 3 degrees Celsius warmer, and sea levels were 10 to 20 meters higher than today,” Guterres said. “The most vulnerable atoll nations like my country already face death row” due to rising seas and devastating storm surges, she said.

Belgium might seem an unlikely destination for a Chinese agent, but it is a den of spies, the Belgian State Security Service (VSSE) says. “The mere fact that we hold international institutions such as NATO and the EU makes Belgium a natural focus for China,” Brussels-based Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations research fellow Bruno Hellendorff said. “China respects the sovereignty of all countries and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” it said. Belgium’s elite generally has a relaxed attitude toward China that can open it to charges of complacency. A fractured political system makes it harder to craft a unified strategy — there is still no government six months after elections.

AFP, SYDNEYAustralian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne yesterday said the treatment of a writer detained in China was “unacceptable,” as his lawyer reported he was being shackled and subjected to daily interrogation. China-born Australian citizen Yang Hengjun (楊恆均) has been detained since January and was recently charged with espionage, which could bring a lengthy prison sentence. Letters were also being withheld “to cut off the conduit of information from Dr Yang to the outside world, and from the outside world to Dr Yang,” she said. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has denied that Yang — one of a string of foreign nationals recently arrested in China — was a spy. Yang reportedly once worked in the foreign ministry in Hainan Province — although this has been denied by Beijing.

He beat him on Sunday by not only throwing touchdown passes, but by catching one, too. “So I can do it all.”Watson threw three touchdown passes and had the first touchdown reception of his career as the Houston Texans frustrated Brady in a 28-22 victory over the New England Patriots. Texans coach and former Patriots assistant Bill O’Brien got his first win in six tries against New England coach Bill Belichick. Watson had 234 yards passing and threw touchdown passes of 14, 13 and 35 yards as Houston (8-4) built a 21-3 lead against New England’s vaunted defense. “This is pretty big just because it’s Brady,” Watson said.

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.

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?

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.

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.