Turkey raises migrant pressure on EU over Syria
Greek police clashed with thousands of migrants who were already gathering on the border to try to enter Europe. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to allow refugees to travel on to Europe from Turkey, which he said can no longer handle new waves of people fleeing war-torn Syria. In Athens, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held an emergency meeting to discuss tensions on the border with Turkey. In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for 1 million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war. Armed policemen and soldiers are patrolling the Evros River shores — a common crossing point — and are warning with loudspeakers not to enter Greek territory.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 16:07 UTC
Taiwan in Time: Station of blood
By Han Cheung / Staff reporterMarch 2 to March 8Pan Ying-san (潘英三) recalls seeing Chen Fu-chih’s (陳復志) body in front of the Chiayi Train Station. Five days later on March 23, 1947, the troops executed 11 more people at the same spot. He managed to get away as his dorm was ransacked; meanwhile a different group stormed the police station and made off with all the firearms. By the end of the day, the civilians had control of the city’s transportation, communications and radio station. He was a Taiwanese who fought for the KMT in China against the Japanese, and was chosen because of his experience with both sides.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: US delays ASEAN meet in Vegas
Trump last year skipped an ASEAN summit and parallel East Asia Summit in Bangkok. He instead sent US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, in the lowest-level participation ever by the US in the East Asia Summit. In Japan, major cherry blossom festivals have been canceled due to an outbreak of COVID-19, the latest in a growing list of events quashed as the virus spreads globally. Other cherry blossom events — feverishly anticipated by locals and tourists — are likely to follow suit, local media reported. The organizers of Tokyo’s Nakameguro Cherry Blossom Festival said that people could still enjoy the blooming trees that grow along public roads.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Spreading virus causes Europe’s markets to drop
We have seen a significant amount of position reduction [this week],” Union Asset Management Holding AG head of investment strategy Philipp Brugger said. Germany’s BASF SE was among the biggest percentage losers in the chemical subindex after it warned that earnings could drop further this year. Insurer Munich Re Group was among the worst performers for the day after its fourth-quarter profit dropped. French publisher Lagardere SCA bottomed out the STOXX 600 after reporting lower revenue for last year. The WHO warned that the virus had pandemic potential and ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said that it would trigger a global recession in the first half of this year.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
New traffic rules target drunk drivers
Drunk drivers whose licenses have been suspended and need to retake the driver’s exam will now have to attend a 15-hour, NT$2,800 course on drunk driving, for which they must pay out of their own pockets, it said. The device administers a breath alcohol test before allowing the vehicle’s engine to start and a second test five minutes later, the ministry said. If the child seat is installed in the front, children must be aged one to four and weigh less than 15kg to ride, the ministry said. If installed in the rear, only children aged one to six and weighing less than 22kg may ride in the child seat, it said. If the rider of a bicycle with a child seat is a minor, or the age or weight of the passenger exceeds the limits, the rider would face a fine of NT$300 to NT$600, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Low sodium could cause illness
By William Hetherington / Staff writerA Taichung doctor said that drinking too much water without consuming a sufficient amount of sodium could lead to illness, citing a man who was hospitalized for three days. Extremely low blood sodium levels can damage the central nervous system, leading to shock, brain damage or even death, he said. This, in turn, increases the muscle’s enzymes, overburdening the kidneys, which caused Huang’s discolored urine, Lin said. People with low sodium levels should moderate their sodium intake, and not surpass 8 milliequivalents per liter per day, he said. Supplementing too quickly could cause osmotic demyelination syndrome, which could cause difficulty with speaking or even unconsciousness, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Kenya shuts abattoirs over losses of donkeys to China
Kenya has four licensed donkey abattoirs — more than any other country on the continent — which slaughter about 1,000 donkeys per day, government data showed. More than 300,000 donkeys — 15 percent of Kenya’s population — have been slaughtered for skin and meat export in less than three years, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization said. Donkey owners who have lost their animals to the trade welcomed the decision, but expressed fears that it would continue underground. “Countries like Tanzania have only engaged in the trade because they were losing donkeys in numbers into Kenya. They now have no reason to allow donkey slaughterhouses to operate either and we call on them to follow Kenya’s lead,” he added.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Churches halt services, take preventive steps
Staff writer, with CNAA number of Catholic church services catering to Filipinos in Taiwan have been temporarily suspended or churches have implemented special measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Father Edward Pacquing, the church’s parish priest, said that it is a preventive measure after an undocumented foreign caretaker was confirmed as Taiwan’s 32nd case. She was on Wednesday confirmed to have COVID-19, a few days after the man was diagnosed with the virus. “When we protect ourselves we are not protecting solely ourselves, but we are also protecting others,” she said. St Joseph the Worker Parish in Kaohsiung’s Nanjhih District (楠梓) and Holy Family Catholic Church in Tainan’s Shanhua District (善化) are implementing similar measures.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Chinese warplanes again fly near nation to Bashi
An unspecified number of Chinese H-6 bombers at about 4pm flew over the region before entering the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, the ministry said in a statement. Soon after entering the Bashi Channel, the bombers returned to an unspecified base through the same route, the ministry said. China has carried out an increasing number of drills near Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) first took office in 2016. On Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, China also dispatched aircraft on a flight mission near Taiwan, the ministry said. On Feb. 16, the US sent the USS Chancellorsville south through the Taiwan Strait.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Wall Street has worst week since 2008 financial crisis
APStocks on Friday sank around the globe again as investors braced for more economic pain from the COVID-19 epidemic, sending US markets to their worst weekly finish since the 2008 financial crisis. The damage from the week of relentless selling was eye-popping: The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged. Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc, the two most valuable companies on the S&P 500, lost a combined US$300 billion. Investors increasingly expect the Fed to cut rates at its next policy meeting in the middle of this month. Its weekly loss was the biggest since an 18.2 percent drop in the week ending Oct. 10, 2008.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Greenback tumbles against yen after Fed’s rate cut hint
The yen was on track for its largest daily gain since May 2017 as investors moved into the safe-haven currency. It had strengthened to as high as ￥107.52 versus the US dollar and was last trading up 1.51 percent at ￥107.92. The US dollar index was last down 0.324 percent to 98.127, down about 1 percent this week on rising expectations of a rate cut by the Fed. A cut of at least 25 basis points at the Fed’s meeting this month was fully priced in on Friday, versus expectations of 57.6 percent on Thursday. “It’s likely that markets will force the Fed to cut even before the March 18 meeting, and the question is, will that matter?
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Malaysia’s Mahathir loses PM row
Muhyiddin Yassin’s surprise victory not only sidelines Mahathir, who had been the world’s oldest prime minister at 94, but also dashes the hopes of Anwar Ibrahim of becoming leader any time soon. Mahathir and Anwar’s “Pact of Hope” alliance in 2018 stormed to a historic victory that broke the six-decade stranglehold on power of a corruption-riddled coalition, but it was riven by infighting over who should succeed Mahathir. After the government fell, Mahathir was appointed prime minister and he and Anwar initially launched rival bids for power. However, as Muhyiddin’s bid quickly gained support and it became clear that he could get into power with UMNO, Mahathir and Anwar did a volte-face and joined forces again yesterday. The remaining parties from the “Pact of Hope” alliance threw their support behind Mahathir to become prime minister, and there had been hopes he could stop Muhyiddin — but it was too little, too late.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipei Zoo inseminates giant panda
By Tsai Ya-hua and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taipei Zoo on Wednesday and Thursday performed two artificial inseminations of its female giant panda, which is in its high fertility season, in the hopes of conceiving a new cub for its panda family. As the chance of ovulation would be highest when Yuan Yuan’s hormone levels peaked on Thursday, the zoo performed artificial inseminations on Wednesday and Thursday with semen collected from Tuan Tuan (團團), its male giant panda, the zoo said. During previous panda mating seasons, Chinese experts from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda visited the zoo, but they could not travel to Taiwan this year due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in China, it said. Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan were gifted by China to Taiwan in 2008. Their only cub, Yuan Zai (圓仔), was born in 2013 at the zoo following artificial insemination.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Agencies had 60 hours to plan mask rationing
By Lee Hsin-Yin / CNAWhen Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Feb. 3 announced that the government would start a rationing system to cope with a mask shortage caused by COVID-19 fears, government agencies had only 60 hours to prepare. By scanning the NHI card, pharmacies can quickly see a person’s mask purchasing history, ensuring that the quota of two masks per week per person is maintained. Designing a system, based on ID card numbers, to prevent congestion at stores was the easy part, Chang said. The Pharmacloud system, introduced in 2013, was key to the mask rationing system being put in place. Thanks to those upgrades, the NHIA has strong cloud computing capabilities, making it possible for NHI-contracted pharmacies nationwide to track the purchasing history of people buying masks, Chang said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Ice cream and Thai curry to begin flying through Irish skies
The robotics engineers who had helped design the vehicle opened the carton, looked inside and smiled: the dozen-or-so pots of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc ice cream were still perfectly frozen. Ben & Jerry’s, UK food delivery firm Just Eat PLC and local Irish restaurant chain Camile Thai are signed up to participate in the pilot, which is to take place at the University College Dublin campus. “In five years, it’s going to be the most normal thing you can imagine,” Manna CEO Bobby Healy said. In October last year, Grubhub Inc executives told shareholders that they did not believe it was even possible to generate significant profit from food delivery. However, in addition to space for three 10-inch pizzas, it also has a backup battery and two parachutes, just in case.
Source:Taipei Times
February 29, 2020 15:56 UTC