TPP files lawsuit against SET News over alliance newsTPP TO BOYCOTT: Members of the party decided not to take part in SET News’ political talk shows as a response, a spokeswoman saidBy Huang Hao-chen / Staff reporterThe Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Friday filed a defamation lawsuit against SET News over its report that TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has been in talks with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to forge an alliance in next year’s elections. The party is seeking NT$1 million (US$32,010) in compensation for defamation and tarnishing personal reputation, said Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), the campaign director of Ko’s presidential bid. Taiwan People’s Party presidential candidate Ko Wen-je’s campaign director Vivian Huang, second left, presses the accusation bell at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday, before filing a lawsuit against SET-TV. The party initially just wanted SET News to withdraw the story, but Ko has decided to sue, “believing only that can have a deterrent effect,” Huang said. TPP members will boycott SET News by not taking part in its political talk shows, TPP spokeswoman Chen Chih-han (陳智菡) said.

India restricts rice exports, fueling inflation fearsAFP, MUMBAI, IndiaThe world’s biggest rice exporter, India, has banned some overseas sales of the grain “with immediate effect,” the government said, in a move that could drive international prices even higher. India would ban exports of non-basmati white rice — which accounts for about one-quarter of its total, the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said. Global demand saw Indian exports of non-basmati white rice jump 35 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, the ministry said. The increase came even after the government banned broken rice shipments and imposed a 20 percent export tax on white rice in September last year. India exported 10.3 million tonnes of non-basmati white rice last year and Rabobank senior analyst Oscar Tjakra said alternative suppliers did not have spare capacity to fill the gap.

Workers favor leave on hot days: pollMEASURES NECESSARY: The Ministry of Labor would gather more information on the issue and consider legislating heat-related work leave, Tzou Tzu-lien said yesterdayBy Lee Liang-hui, Yang Cheng-yu and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writerMore than 90 percent of workers surveyed said they would agree to an amendment requiring employers to allow leave on days when temperatures are high, job bank yes123 said yesterday. Among those surveyed, 93.2 percent said they would support mandated leave on days of high heat, while about 50 percent said that such a policy should be restricted to certain types of jobs and industries. Yes123 spokesman Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said employers should ensure that employees working outdoors have ample cooling, stay hydrated and get adequate rest in order to prevent heat-related work injuries. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Director-General Tzou Tzu-lien (鄒子廉) yesterday said that the Ministry of Labor would collect more data and look into the issue of legislating heat-related work leave. The survey was conducted through the yes123 Web site from July 5 to 18, and a total of 1,302 valid responses were received.

The court filing said that Ni pressured the victim to have sex when she was a junior-high student and an aspiring archer. In that ruling, the judges also imposed an additional three-month term for having sex with an underage female. They said having sex with a minor is a serious crime which would receive a more lengthy prison sentence in most nations. At high school, “Siao Ting” said that she was confused and thought that having sex would keep their relationship as friends and as coach and student intact. “Siao Ting” has since represented Taiwan in archery at the World University Games, the Olympic Games and other international tournaments.

Nonetheless, anyone who has read his op-ed would know that Gou’s article was filled with fallacies, one that is seriously out of touch with the international community and the public will. After more than seven years of efforts and dedication, the DPP government has finally put Taiwan in the global spotlight. However, the foreign policies proposed by the KMT and TPP presidential candidates would go against the public will and global trends. They are measures to undermine Taiwan’s global and geopolitical status, and eventually serve Taiwan to China on a silver platter. As the presidential candidates revealed their hand, it is up to Taiwanese to make the critical choice about the nation’s future.

Modi condemns state ethnic violence‘MOBOCRACY’: The opposition party called on the prime minister to speak about the violence in Manipur, saying the country would never forgive him for his silenceAP, NEW DELHIIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday broke more than two months of public silence over deadly ethnic clashes in the northeast, saying that the assaults of two women as they were being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur state were unforgivable. The shell of a burnt house stands following ethnic clashes and rioting in Sugnu in the Indian state of Manipur on June 21. The clashes have persisted, despite the army’s presence in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar that is now divided in two ethnic zones. Police said the assault on the two women happened on May 4, a day after the violence started in the state. They are from the Kuki-Zo community, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a tribal organization in Manipur, said in a statement.

Export orders shrink for 10th month in all major categoriesBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterExport orders last month shrank 24.9 percent from a year earlier to US$44.18 billion, as demand in all major product categories from all major trading destinations declined by double-digit percentages, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. It was the 10th consecutive month of contraction in the critical economic bellwether, boding ill for customs-cleared exports in the next one to three months. Export orders from the eurozone registered the steepest retreat of 44.2 percent, followed by a 23.6 percent plunge in US orders, the ministry found. Export orders from China and Hong Kong shed 19.7 percent year-on-year last month, as the economic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy turned out to be slower than expected, the ministry said. In the second quarter, export orders decreased 20.4 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said, adding that the annual decline reached 20.8 percent in the first six months of the year.

Zhang retires in tears after opponent erases ball markReutersChina’s Zhang Shuai on Tuesday retired from her Hungarian Grand Prix match in tears after her local opponent Amarissa Toth erased a ball mark on the clay court following a disputed line call. The chair umpire then stepped down to take a look at the mark and confirmed the ball had landed outside the line. China’s Zhang Shuai looks toward the court during her first-round women’s singles match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic at Wimbledon in London on July 5. “Wait, wait, wait. Keep the mark,” Zhang yelled.

‘Mission Impossible’: fears over AIBy Lee Ya-ching 李雅靖Tom Cruise’s latest Mission Impossible film has jumped on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon, breaking the pattern of the evil antagonist being either an ambitious human or a malevolent alien species. In the age of AI, even if you are not an active information technology (IT) user, your personal information is still at risk of being breached. The AI antagonist in the Mission Impossible film is able to hack into systems connected to the Internet, acquire all the information it needs, and use the information and technologies to put everything under its control. Finally, AI could replace humans. The movie vaguely tells the audience that a powerful, omniscient and cognitive AI can replace humans and possibly annihilate them one day.

Chinese intelligence official to control Hong Kong securityReuters, HONG KONGChina’s appointment of a top intelligence official to run Hong Kong’s national security regime underscores its determination to tighten its grip on territory, diplomats and analysts said. Dong Jingwei (董經緯), 59, is the highest-level Chinese security official to be appointed to a senior role in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the National Security Law on the territory in 2020. A taxi drives under the flags of China and Hong Kong outside a shopping mall in Hong Kong on July 5. Under the security law, China’s national security office has sweeping investigative and surveillance powers, and enjoys immunity from Hong Kong laws. “The appointment of such a powerful intelligence figure as Dong to take charge in Hong Kong is a bit of surprise,” one Asian envoy said.

EDITORIAL: Journey to the White HouseVice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, on Monday last week told a forum in Yilan County that next year’s election is a choice between Zhongnanhai — the corridors of power in Beijing — and the White House. “If a Taiwanese president can enter the White House, we will have achieved the political objective that we have been pursuing,” he said. If Taiwan’s president can be welcomed into the White House — without drawing an extremely negative reaction from Beijing — it would show that the nation has finally been officially recognized as part of the international community. Ko also neglected to mention that the reason Lai would have to choose between Zhongnanhai and the White House is that the former would almost certainly refuse to deal with him, as it has with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) since 2016. Lai would not be visiting the White House, nor is he expected to meet any high-ranking US officials.

A firefighter yesterday works where storage facilities were hit during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa, Ukraine. Photo: ReutersBudanov posted amateur footage apparently taken at night of a large blast with fireballs shooting out from the flames. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported more drones and missiles targeting more parts of Ukraine than in recent days. “A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram. Popko said the attacks were especially fierce in Odesa for a second consecutive night.

Host pulls out of Commonwealth Games‘HUGELY DISAPPOINTING’: The Commonwealth Games Federation said that Victoria had added sports and venues that raised the costs against the advice of the federationAFP, MELBOURNEThe Australian state of Victoria yesterday pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games citing major cost blowouts, leaving organizers “hugely disappointed” as they scrambled to keep the multisport event afloat. Staff carry the Commonwealth Games Federation flag into the arena during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Melbourne on March 15, 2006. We have informed Commonwealth Games authorities of our decision to seek to terminate the contract,” he said. Andrews refused to say how much it would cost to terminate the agreement, but said that talks with the Commonwealth Games Federation were amicable. These additional costs were “often against the advice of the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia,” it said, adding that it had received assurances that “sufficient funding was available to deliver the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.”Commonwealth Games Australia president Ben Houston was equally scathing, saying that the new cost estimates were a “gross exaggeration.”“Beyond disappointing for us,” he told reporters.

Children must be taught empathyBy Wang Sou-jane 王守珍In November 2021, it was reported that Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) had been abused by her then-boyfriend Raphael Lin (林秉樞). In October last year, Lin was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison by the New Taipei City District Court. An antisocial person such as Lin has a ruthless personality. Asking an antisocial person to repent and apologize is doomed to failure. It is therefore extremely important to teach children to empathize with others and to have compassion for their suffering.

Number of major retail investors in TWSE surges in Q2By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterThe number of major retail investors in the local stock market in the second quarter was the highest in the past five quarters as surging share prices attracted more big investors, data compiled by the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) showed on Monday. A “big player” is defined as an investor who trades at least NT$500 million (US$16.13 million) in shares on the TWSE in a single quarter. Average daily turnover was NT$269.73 billion in the second quarter, increasing by 23.43 percent from an average of NT$218.53 billion three months earlier, TWSE data showed. Retail investors accounted for 58.2 percent of the market’s turnover in the second quarter, up from 57.71 percent in the first quarter, while foreign institutional investors made up 30.93 percent, down from 31.53 percent. Local institutional investors represented the remaining 10.87 percent, up from 10.76 percent, the TWSE said.