One may think that the 28-year-old is whiling away time as many other young Kenyans do.

Ngunjiri is, however, engaging a farmer on his social media account which he uses to disseminate agroinformation, get clients and market farm produce for farmers at a fee.

A graduate in agricultural production, he is among a growing number of young people in the East African nation who have turned to online agribusinesses.

The young people, who have no access to capital or land, have created jobs in online agribusiness.

"With internet technology, you don't need to dirty your hands for you to earn from the soil. You can fill information and marketing gaps as long as you have the knowledge and skills," said Ngunjiri in an interview on Thursday.

Apart from engaging farmers on social media, the young entrepreneurs are running websites where farmers can also sell produce.

Joseph Macharia, who runs Mkulima Young, a social enterprise farmers' site, said there are great opportunities in online agribusiness for young people who don't want to get their hands dirty.

Macharia's website offers farmers across Africa a marketing platform as well as disseminates information.

"There are entrepreneurial online opportunities across the agriculture value chain. All one needs to do is identify what they want to do and treat agriculture as a serious business.

"Running an online platform for farmers requires passion for farming, a willingness to self-fund its development and an understanding of how social media works," said Macharia, who has been running the site for the past five years.

Brian Mwangi, a web developer in Nairobi, said the number of those seeking to start websites is on the rise, with agriculture, sports, food and travel being among the leading categories.

"Currently, I am making an agricultural blog for two young farmers. This is the third I am working on in four months," said Mwangi, who charges 7,000 shillings (about $70) for the job.

He noted most of the websites he makes feature marketing and information sections.

It costs between $10 and $20 to host a website per year, charges that are affordable to many Kenyans.

Internet costs have also declined considerably in the east African nation, enabling many people to stay longer online, For those running farmers' sites, uploading content online is done without feeling the pinch.

Bernard Mwaso of Edell IT Solution said that it has become easier to monetize online sites because of increased internet usage in Kenya.

He pointed out that video blogging－vlogging－is another area where some Kenyan youth interested in agribusiness are exploring.

"While a majority are making websites, vlogging, which involves making short educative video clips, remains untapped. Farming is an area where how-to videos are very popular and one can make money out of it," he said.

According to the latest figures, as many as 104 newborns or infants died at the hospital in the past 33 days.

A central government team of doctors and health experts is visiting the hospital to investigate and will submit a detailed report.

The team comprising four doctors specializing in areas like pediatrics and neonatology have reached the J.K. Lone Hospital and Medical College in the state's Kota district on Friday.

The state's health minister Raghu Sharma is also traveling to the hospital to assess the situation.

Unhygienic conditions at the district hospital are believed to be responsible for the deaths, pointing to a deeper crisis in the primary healthcare system.

"Broken windows and gates, pigs roaming inside the hospital's premises and an acute shortage of staff" were found by a team of the National Human Rights Commission that visited the hospital, said the Hindustan Times in a Friday article.

"In the last six years more than 1,000 children have died annually in the hospital. The deaths point to a deeper crisis in the healthcare system," said the newspaper.

"Many infants are brought to the hospital in a terminal condition with bleak chances of survival as they failed to get adequate and timely care at the first two levels of healthcare systems in the country," it added.

"Rajasthan and the central government should use the tragedy at the hospital to embark on more comprehensive reforms in the health sector," it said.

Meanwhile, the country's health minister Harsh Vardhan wrote a letter to the state's chief minister Ashok Gehlot, expressing concern over the case. He requested Gehlot to"assess the situation and take proactive steps to avoid these preventable child deaths," said an official statement issued by the country's health ministry.

Tens of thousands in Jakarta were still unable to return to their waterlogged homes after some of the deadliest flooding in years hit the enormous capital region, home to about 30 million.

In neighboring Banten Province, half a dozen people died in the town of Lebak. Police and military personnel in helicopters dropped boxes of instant noodles and other supplies into remote provincial communities inaccessible by road after bridges were destroyed.

"It's tough to get supplies in there.... and there are about a dozen places hit by landslides," said Tomsi Tohir, the police chief of Banten.

"That is why we're using helicopters although there aren't any landing spots."

Local health center chief Suripto, who goes by one name, said injured residents were flowing into his clinic.

"Some of them were wounded after they were swept away by floods and hit with wood and rocks," he said.

Around Jakarta, more than 170,000 people took refuge in shelters across the massive urban conglomeration after whole neighborhoods were submerged.

Torrential rains that started on New Year's Eve unleashed flash floods and landslides.

Jakarta is regularly hit by floods during the rainy season, which started in late November.

But this week marked Jakarta's deadliest flooding since 2013 when dozens were killed after the city was inundated by monsoon rains.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said on Saturday that two people were also killed after flash floods and landslides hit a village in North Sulawesi on Friday.

The agency said on Saturday the total death toll had climbed to 60 with two people still missing.

"We've discovered more dead bodies," said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo.

'Trauma healing'

Jakarta shelters filled up with refugees, including infants, resting on thin mats as food and drinking water ran low.

Some had been reduced to using floodwater for cleaning.

"We're cleaning ourselves in a nearby church but the time has been limited since it uses an electric generator for power," said Trima Kanti, 39, from one refuge in Jakarta's western edges.

In hard-hit Bekasi, on the eastern outskirts of Jakarta, swamped streets were littered with debris and crushed cars lying on top of each other－with waterline marks reaching as high as the second floors of buildings.

On Friday, the government said it would start cloud seeding to the west of the capital－that is, inducing rain using chemicals sprayed from planes. The hope is to prevent more rain reaching the city region.

Water has receded in many areas and power was being restored in hundreds of districts.

The health ministry has said it deployed some 11,000 health workers and soldiers to distribute medicine, disinfectant hygiene kits and food in a bid to stave off outbreaks of hepatitis A, mosquito-borne dengue fever and other illnesses, including infections linked to contact with dead animals.

Visiting hard-hit Lebak, Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said the government would help rebuild destroyed schools and construct temporary bridges, while offering assistance to victims.

"We're also asking for NGOs to help with trauma healing," Muhadjir said on Saturday.

Electrocution, drowning

Around Jakarta, a family, including 4-and 9-year-old children, died of suspected gas poisoning from a portable power generator, while an 8-year-old boy was killed in a landslide.

Others died from drowning or hypothermia, while one 16-year-old boy was electrocuted by a power line.

Urban planning experts said the current disaster was partly due to the record rainfall.

But Jakarta's myriad infrastructure problems, including poor drainage and rampant overdevelopment, have worsened the situation, they said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has announced a plan to move the country's capital to Borneo island to take pressure off Jakarta, which suffers from some of the world's worst traffic jams and is fast sinking due to excessive groundwater extraction.

More than 200 fires were still burning, and warnings of extreme danger to come on Saturday set in motion one of the largest evacuations in Australian history. Thousands have fled at-risk coastal areas, creating traffic gridlock in places, and firefighters escorted convoys of evacuees as the fires threatened to close roads.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declared a disaster across much of the eastern part of the state, allowing the government to order evacuations in an area with as many as 140,000 permanent residents and tens of thousands more vacationers.

"If you can leave, you must leave," Andrews said.

South Australia state's Country Fire Service chief officer Mark Jones said the weather conditions were cause for concern because some fires were still burning or smoldering.

"The ignition sources are already there," he said. "There are millions of sparks out there ready to go if they break containment lines."

The early and devastating start to Australia's summer wildfires has made this season the worst on record. About 5 million hectares of land have burned, at least 19 people have been killed, and more than 1,400 homes have been destroyed.

This week, at least 448 homes have been destroyed on the southern coast of New South Wales state and dozens were burned in Victoria. Ten deaths have been confirmed in the two states this week, and Victorian authorities also say 28 people are missing. Fires are also burning in the states of Western Australia and Tasmania.

The navy was evacuating hundreds from the Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota, which has been cut off for days by wildfires, forcing as many as 4,000 residents and tourists to shelter on beaches. Landing craft ferried people to the HMAS Choules offshore.

Evacuees waiting to board the ship described smoke and embers flying everywhere when the fires were at their worst.

"It's just scary waiting," Dani Barmeister told Channel Nine. Another person waiting, Natalie Morrissey, said of the emotional wait while the fires threatened: "It's something that I want to forget."

Choules Commander Scott Houlihan said 963 people had signed up for evacuation by sea and more had been airlifted to safety.

In New South Wales, a state of emergency and a total fire ban were in place.

State Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said strong winds and high temperatures on Saturday will make the fire danger worse in many areas and urged those who can flee to do so.

"We know people have got a little bit of fire fatigue. They've been dealing with this now for months," Rogers said. "But we need people to stay focused. Tomorrow is not the day to drop your guard. Take it seriously. If you're in those areas where we put those maps out, do not be there."

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was inclined to cancel a scheduled trip to India later this month because of the wildfires. In December, he cut short a family holiday in Hawaii in the face of public anger at his absence.

Agencies - Via - Xinhua

Mayors Jim Brainard of Carmel, Indiana; Tito Brown of Youngstown, Ohio; Rich Carr of Maumee, Ohio; and Paul TenHaken of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, made the weeklong visit recently. The trip was organized by the United States Heartland China Association, or USHCA, and the China-US Exchange Foundation.

USHCA is a nonprofit organization with members in 20 US states from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Led by Bob Holden, a former governor of Missouri as well as chairman and CEO of USHCA, the mayors visited Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

In a previous interview with China Daily, Holden said he wanted the mayors from the US heartland region to sit down with their Chinese counterparts to create ways to keep the relationship going and find projects mutually beneficial for the people in both countries.

"We are a nation of great power; China is a rising power. How do we bring both cultures together so we can both continue and both be successful? We are working with cities and states to have them actively involved in this," Holden said.

In China, they visited businesses from varied industries such as poultry and automobiles, along with startups and high-tech companies, such as drone maker DJI. They also met with people in the education sector.

Sioux Falls' Mayor TenHaken, in a statement issued after his visit to China, said that "it is time that Sioux Falls looks at developing deeper, more consistent relationships with key Chinese communities and businesses".

One of the largest employers in Sioux Falls is Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods. The mayor believes that the Sioux Falls economy would be strengthened by deeper cultural and business relations with key Chinese partners.

During his visit, TenHaken said he noticed that US-China trade tensions affect both countries. "Every business I talked with－from drone manufacturers to poultry processors－discussed their desire to see a swift end to these trade tensions," he said.

The US and China subsequently reached a phase one trade deal agreement on Dec 13.

TenHaken left China with a good impression. "In each community, I was welcomed with warmth and gratitude from the municipal and business leaders," he said.

Youngstown Mayor Brown said he hopes the visit will help his city's businesses expand in China.

An international team designed and trained a computer model on X-ray images from thousands of women in the United Kingdom and the United States. They then compared the system's performance with the actual results from 25,856 mammograms in the UK and 3,097 from the US.

The program was trained to detect cancer using tens of thousands of mammograms from women in the UK and the US, and early research shows it can produce more accurate detection than radiologists can.

The algorithm outperformed six radiologists in reading mammograms, according to a study published on Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature. AI was as good as two doctors working together.

The AI program was developed through a collaboration of Google Health, Cancer Research UK Imperial Centre, Northwestern University and Royal Surrey County Hospital.

According to the study, using the AI technology resulted in fewer false positives, where test results suggest cancer is present when it isn't, and false negatives, where an existing cancer goes undetected.

Compared with human experts, the program reduced false positives by 5.7 percent for US subjects and 1.2 percent for UK subjects. It reduced false negatives by 9.4 percent for US subjects and 2.7 percent for UK subjects.

The AI system was more accurate despite its having less information to work with than human experts did, such as patient histories and prior mammograms.

No 2 cause of death

Breast cancer affects one in eight women globally. It is the second-leading cause of death from cancer in women, surpassed only by lung cancer in its deadliness and overall prevalence.

Despite large-scale breast cancer screening programs in developed countries, screening mammograms don't find about one in five breast cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

"This is one of those transformational discoveries you have in your hand, which could disrupt the way we deliver screening in terms of improving accuracy and productivity," Professor Ara Darzi, one of the authors of the paper and the director of the Cancer Research UK Imperial Centre, told CNN Business.

"The performance of even the best clinicians leaves room for improvement," the study's authors wrote in Nature. "AI may be uniquely poised to help with this challenge."

The technology also could be used to address shortages in radiologists, they say.

A 2018 report by the Royal College of Radiologists found that 75 percent of UK radiology department directors believed there were insufficient clinical radiologists to deliver a safe and effective level of patient care.

Reuters contributed to this story.

Recession fears come amid continued uncertainty about global trade, tightening labor markets, rising costs and global political instability, the survey of nearly 750 CEOs found.

"Just two years ago, global recession was barely on the minds of CEOs in our survey," said the New York-based, member-driven economic think tank.

Recession risk was listed as the top concern in the United States, China and Europe. In Japan, fear of a recession ranked second behind a tight labor market. In Latin America, recession jitters ranked behind uncertainty about global trade.

The International Monetary Fund said there have been four global recessions since the end of World War II: 1975, 1982, 1991 and 2009. The IMF expects the US economy to grow at a 1.9 percent annual rate in 2020, while worldwide growth hits 3.5 percent.

"The ongoing concerns about recession risk among business leaders reflect the slowing economy of the past year and the uncertainties about the outcome of trade disputes," Bart van Ark, the Conference Board's chief economist, said in a statement.

"However, given a slightly better outlook for the global economy and an easing of trade tensions, we anticipate that a drumbeat of negative sentiment, which can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, can be avoided and that we will see more confidence about business prospects in 2020."

Trade jitters between the US and China appear to have moderated with a tentative agreement on the first stage of what both sides hope will be a comprehensive deal. But China also listed uncertainty about global trade as a major concern. US CEOs listed it as their fourth-strongest concern, behind recession, intense competition and a tight labor market.

Last year, the temporary inversion of the bond yield curve in the US stoked fears of a recession. When the short-term yield on bonds in higher than 10-year notes, it often signals a recession because investors question prospects for long-term growth. But the strong US job market and consumer spending allayed recession fears.

A strong economy increases the competition to find and retain workers. This translates into increased pay－and new headaches for CEOs.

"Regardless of a company's location, size or industry sector, finding and keeping talent is the top internal stressor for CEOs in 2020," said the Conference Board, a nonpartisan research organization composed of about 1,200 companies in 60 nations.

"Demand for highly talented employees now exceeds supply in most mature economies and as a result, job openings are more difficult to fill while in some regions labor costs are accelerating."

The current US economic boom began in June 2009, as the economy emerged from the financial crisis. It is now the longest cycle in US history, breaking the run of 120 months of economic growth from March 1991 to March 2001, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

In 2019, US GDP growth slipped to 2.3 percent from 3 percent in 2018 amid a continuing trade dispute with China, but prospects of a deal are expected to ease recession fears in 2020 and boost domestic growth to 2.5 percent, the Conference Board said.

Despite slower growth, the US stock market ended 2019 near record highs.

The country's GDP, the total value of goods and services produced in a year, grew to an estimated $21.25 trillion in 2019, up from $20.49 trillion in 2018, according to government figures.

In a research note issued on Dec 27 to investors, investment bank Goldman Sachs said it pegs the risk of a US recession this year at less than 20 percent.

"We continue to see lower recession risk than most, largely because neither of the two classic late-cycle risks－inflationary overheating and financial imbalances－look threatening. Despite the record age of the expansion the private sector continues to run a healthy financial surplus," Goldman Sachs said.

Fears of a recession in 2020 may simply reflect an instinctive sense that the long economic expansion must surely be almost up. If so, recession fears are not "unreasonable", but current economic indicators make a downturn this year unlikely, the investment bank said.

Goldman Sachs said it expects the US-China trade dispute to ease as evidenced by initial steps to reach a comprehensive deal.

"We believe that tariffs have peaked," Goldman Sachs said. "With phase one of the negotiations apparently complete, we do not expect new tariffs on imports from China (in 2020).

"While minor new tariffs are possible, the risks that new tariffs would pose to financial markets and the economy will likely discourage the White House from raising tariff rates marginally in the run-up to the 2020 election."

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point three separate times in 2019 to boost the economy, but further cuts this year are unlikely.

In China and the US, the world's most-populous and third-most populous countries, respectively, officials are experimenting with ways to engage the private sector to tackle the challenges of elderly care.

The countries have policies of public-private collaboration because both have public needs that far outstrip what public services can provide. Moreover, both are "pragmatically eclectic" in how they proceed, said Karen Eggleston, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.

Eggleston leads the center's Innovation for Healthy Aging project, which has partnered with Chinese institutions as well as health economists at Peking University and Peking Union Medical College to identify and analyze productive public-private partnerships advancing healthy aging solutions.

It's important to promote healthy aging not only because it saves money. It also enables longer working lives and supports the dignity of the elderly who have contributed to society, said Eggleston.

Globally, the population's aging trend is inevitable due to declining fertility rates and improved survival rates, according to a recent population report of the United Nations. The report projects that the world's population aged 80 years or over will increase more than threefold between 2017 and 2050, rising from 137 million to 425 million.

A recent report by the US Census Bureau projected that the US population aged over 65 would reach 78 million by 2030, surpassing the projected number of children under age 18 for the first time.

The proportion of China's population above 65 years old has increased from 3.76 percent to 8.40 percent since 2010, and the country's total population will begin to decline around 2028, said a report by the Institute of Population and Labor Economics published in 2019.

China has already experienced a demographic transition to relatively low mortality and low fertility, as a result of two generations of family planning policies as well as socioeconomic development and urbanization.

But how well China manages demographic challenges will have a profound impact on what the country will be like and what it can and will do in the decades ahead, Eggleston said. "Investments in healthy aging will be critical if China is to meet public expectations for fuller, longer lives."

The Gonghe senior apartments in Beijing's Chaoyang district might be a model for other nations that are facing the burden of population aging, according to Alan Trager, founder and president of PPP Initiative Ltd, a company that facilitates the development of public-private partnerships to tackle healthcare challenges in Asia.

In the case of the Gonghe nursing home, the local government donated the land and building, and a nonprofit organization operates the facility.

Multisector issue

Aging is a multisector issue that increases demand for healthcare, and other services for long-term care, so a public-private partnership plays a major role in developing integrated solutions to the challenges of population-aging, said Trager.

The challenges of aging populations are exacerbated by the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, which account for the highest financial burden among the elderly, according to Eggleston.

"Additional investments in controlling chronic disease could enhance the working capabilities and quality of life of China's elderly," she said.

Because hypertension and cancer are two of the most common chronic diseases, Eggleston's project at Stanford analyzes the value of hypertension control in China, using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and detailed patient-level data from partner institutions.

]]> 2020-01-05 14:37:13 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/05/content_37531103.htm REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Leader vows to build peace community

The Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in vowed on Thursday to build a peace community of coexistence and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula this year. "With our people's aspiration for peace on the Korean Peninsula, the government will build a peace community of coexistence and prosperity," Moon said. He noted that the leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States maintained their willingness for dialogue, while the ROK government gradually moved toward the peninsula peace process last year in coordination with the international community.

UNITED STATES

Pompeo postpones trip amid Iraq unrest

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will postpone a trip to Ukraine and four other countries as the situation in Iraq has become tense after demonstrators stormed the US embassy in Baghdad. The embassy on Wednesday announced the suspension of all public consular operations, although the protesters were gradually withdrawing from its perimeter. The embassy said in a statement that "due to militia attacks at the US embassy compound, all public consular operations are suspended until further notice. All future appointments are canceled. US citizens are advised to not approach the embassy."

AUSTRIA

Conservatives and Greens in coalition

Austria's conservatives and the Greens agreed to form a coalition government on Wednesday, ending almost three months of negotiations. The agreement means Austria will have the left-wing Greens in government for the first time. "We have reached an agreement," Sebastian Kurz, Austria's former chancellor and leader of the conservative People's Party, told reporters at a joint news conference with Wener Kogler, his counterpart from the Greens. The two will become chancellor and vice-chancellor of the upcoming government, though the Greens, in a junior role, could gain just four of 15 ministries.

INDIA

Fire-hit factory in Delhi collapses

People including workers and firefighters were trapped inside a factory that collapsed on Thursday during a devastating fire that broke out in the Indian capital Delhi. According to officials, an explosion during the fire caused the collapse of the factory structure, trapping people under the debris. Authorities rushed 35 firefighters to the spot to contain the blaze. "The firefighting operation is underway and we are trying to rescue people stuck in the burning building," a police official said. According to the fire department, they received a distress call about the fire at 4:30 am local time and since then have been trying to douse it.

CROATIA

Country chairs EU for the first time

Croatia began to preside over the Council of the European Union on Wednesday, the first time since its EU accession in July 2013. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday that the presidency will further enhance the political and economic status of Croatia in 2020, and that the new year will be a year of further economic development and international positioning for Croatia. The slogan of the Croatian presidency will be "A strong Europe in a world of challenges." Croatia plans to support "a balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth of the EU that takes account of the specificities and needs of all member countries, their regions and citizens."

BRICS, comprising Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, will remain central for the member countries and will continue to protect the values of multilateralism, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

According to Russia's state news agency Tass, Russia plans to carry out about 150 activities at various levels during its chairmanship. Saint Petersburg will be the site of the next BRICS summit in July. The five countries' leaders will hold another meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in November.

Over 20 ministerial meetings are expected to take place, including those involving the Russian Security Council secretary, the Supreme Court chief justice and the chairpersons of both houses of Russia's Parliament.

"We intend to ensure continuity and harmonious transition from the Brazil chairmanship to the Russian one. And we will continue the policy of progressive and comprehensive enhancement of the strategic partnership of the BRICS countries," Lavrov said.

He noted Russia is interested in increasing financial and economic cooperation, industrial interaction and practical cooperation in developing and implementing joint projects involving energy, telecommunications and high-tech under the BRICS mechanism.

The priorities of Russia's chairmanship include enhanced foreign policy coordination within leading multilateral organizations, primarily in the United Nations, Lavrov said.

Boosting space cooperation is another important task, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is the Russian representative for BRICS.

He said Moscow will "fill the emerging five-party space cooperation with specific activities", while steps will be taken to continue the implementation of the Clean Rivers program, initiated by BRICS with the aim of improving the environmental conditions of river basins.

In the stormy ocean of world politics, the BRICS "ship" will steer a steady course and further contribute significantly to maintaining international stability and ensuring global economic growth, Lavrov stressed.

Georgy Toloraya, executive director of the Russian National Committee on BRICS Research, agreed with Lavrov, saying the BRICS' role in global governance is to provide a voice for non-Western countries.

Toloraya said that in the context of increasing chaos in international affairs, BRICS provides an opportunity for consolidating the views of non-Western countries on the global agenda.

"It is not aimed against the West. BRICS is for order, for determining game rules that would meet the interests of various countries and not just Western countries as has been the case so far," he said.

Each BRICS member state takes a turn as chairman of the group for a year. Russia last chaired BRICS in 2015, when a summit took place in Ufa in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

]]> 2020-01-05 14:37:13 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/04/content_37531225.htm BEIRUT－Interpol issued a wanted notice on Thursday for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, who jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon rather than face trial on financial misconduct charges in a dramatic escape that has confounded and embarrassed authorities.

Lebanese Justice Minister Albert Serhan said in an interview that Lebanon "will carry out its duties", suggesting for the first time that the automotive titan may be brought in for questioning. But he said Ghosn entered the country on a legal passport, and he appeared to cast doubt on the possibility Lebanon would hand Ghosn over to Japan.

The Interpol notice is the latest twist in Ghosn's daring escape, which spanned three continents and involved private planes, multiple passports and international intrigue. Turkey made seven arrests on Thursday as part of an investigation into how he passed through the country.

Ghosn's arrival in Lebanon jolted the nation, which is in its worst economic crisis in decades.

Lebanon must now decide how to deal with the Interpol-issued Red Notice, which is a nonbinding request to law enforcement agencies worldwide that they locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive. A Red Notice is not an arrest warrant and does not require Lebanon to arrest Ghosn.

Shortly afterward, Ghosn issued a statement－his second this week－seeking to distance his Lebanese wife and family from any role in his escape. "The allegations in the media that my wife Carole and other members of my family played a role in my departure from Japan are false and misleading. I alone organized my departure. My family played no role," he said.

Ghosn, who is Lebanese and also holds French and Brazilian passports, was set to go on trial in Japan in April. He arrived in Lebanon on Monday via Turkey and hasn't been seen in public since. In a statement on Tuesday, he said he fled to avoid "political persecution" by a "rigged Japanese justice system".

How he was able to flee Japan, avoiding the tight surveillance he was under while free on $14 million bail, is still a mystery.

Some Lebanese media have floated a Houdini-like account of Ghosn being packed in a wooden container for musical instruments after a private concert in his home, but his wife has called the account "fiction".

Ghosn is accused of underreporting his remuneration for years and for embezzling company funds. He has denied all the charges, claiming company insiders conspired against him.

Ghosn, who grew up in Beirut and frequently visited, is a national hero to many in this Mediterranean country with close ties to senior politicians and business stakes in a number of companies.

Agencies - Xinhua

The pan-Arab body considered the move a "promotion of the ongoing conflict" in Libya, after Turkish lawmakers voted 325-184 at an emergency session in favor of a one-year mandate allowing the government to dispatch the troops. The body is among those concerned that Turkish forces could aggravate the conflict in Libya and destabilize the region.

The Tripoli-based government of Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, backed by the United Nations, has faced an offensive by militias in the east and forces loyal to a government in the northeastern city of Tobruk allied with the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army, or LNA, led by Khalifa Haftar.

The fighting has threatened to plunge Libya into violent chaos rivaling the 2011 conflict that led to the ousting and killing of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. Libya has been locked in a civil war since the killing of Gadhafi.

Turkey, along with Qatar, backs the Sarraj government, while their rivals－the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt－support the LNA.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that Sarraj requested the Turkish deployment after he and Sarraj signed a deal that allows Ankara to dispatch military experts and personnel to Libya. That deal, along with a separate agreement on maritime boundaries between Turkey and Libya, has led to anger across the region and beyond.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry condemned "in the strongest language" the Turkish Parliament's authorization to deploy troops, saying Turkey would carry full responsibility for the negative effect it would have on the stability of the Mediterranean region.

The leaders of Greece, Israel and Cyprus denounced the move as a "dangerous threat to regional stability" and a "dangerous escalation" of the Libyan conflict that violates UN resolutions and undermines international peace efforts.

Ankara said the deployment is vital for Turkey to safeguard its interests in Libya and in the eastern Mediterranean.

"A Libya whose legal government is under threat can spread instability to Turkey," Ismet Yilmaz, a legislator from Turkey's ruling party, said in defense of the motion. "Those who shy away from taking steps on the grounds that there is a risk will throw our children into a greater danger."

Turkey's main opposition party, CHP, had vowed to vote against the motion, arguing that the deployment would embroil Turkey in another conflict and make it a party to the further "shedding of Muslim blood".

The LNA said in a statement that it had called on citizens to take up arms against Turkish troops if they deploy to fight against the LNA in the country's civil war.

Erdogan and US President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation and discussed the situation in Syria and in Libya, the Turkish president's office said soon after the vote. A brief statement said they discussed "the importance of diplomacy in solving regional issues".

Talks in Germany

Ghassan Salame, the UN envoy to Libya, said Turkish troops on the ground would further disrupt the chances for future peace, though he still expects talks in Germany proposed for the middle of this month to take place. He said interference by regional powers means that Libyans could lose control of their country's fate.

"The direct military involvement of member states in the Libyan conflict is escalating, inflaming, and protracting the conflict," he said via e-mail.

Mokhtar Ghobashi, deputy chairman of the Arab Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a think tank, ruled out the possibility of Egyptian direct military interference in Libya, despite its strong condemnation of the Turkish move.

"I believe what Turkey is doing now aims at threatening Haftar to stop his attack on Tripoli," said Ghobashi, a political expert.

The Egyptian expert noted that the Turkish Parliament's approval is not restricted to sending troops to Libya but also covers humanitarian and medical aid.

"If the Turkish troops will be deployed in Libya, they will focus on defending Serraj and Tripoli, but they will not be engaged in fighting and will only provide logistical assistance," Ghobashi said.

The settlement of the Libyan crisis requires an agreement between the top figures of Libya's warring parties, including Haftar and Serraj, he added.

Xinhua - Agencies

3 nations sign deal for gas pipeline

Greece, Israel and Cyprus signed a deal on Thursday to build an undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe. The 1,900-kilometer EastMed pipeline is intended to provide an alternative gas source for energy-hungry Europe, which is largely dependent on supplies from Russia and the Caucasus region. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who attended the signing ceremony with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, said the pipeline will offer Europe "better flexibility and independence in its energy sources".

SUDAN

18 killed in plane crash in West Darfur

A Sudanese military plane crashed on Thursday shortly after taking off in West Darfur state, killing 18, said the army. The Antonov 12 plane "crashed five minutes after taking off from El Geneina airport" in the evening, said army spokesman Amer Mohamed al-Hassan in a statement. Seven crew members, three judges and eight citizens including four children were killed in the incident, added the statement. The plane earlier transported medical materials for the Sudanese Red Crescent Society in El Geneina, the capital city of West Darfur state. El Geneina has witnessed tribal clashes over the few past days that left many people killed or injured.

UNITED STATES

5 still missing after fishing boat sinks

Five fishermen missing after a crab boat sank in the frigid waters off Alaska were feared dead after authorities called off a search for those working in one of the most dangerous industries in the United States. Two other crew members were rescued after the disaster on Tuesday, telling authorities they were the only ones who made it into a life raft, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Dean Gribble Jr, who's appeared on the Discovery Channel documentary series Deadliest Catch, and John Lawler suffered hypothermia but have been released from a hospital. The Coast Guard said it used helicopters, planes and a boat to look for the missing crew members for 20 hours before ending the search late on Wednesday because they were not likely to have survived.

GERMANY

Ryanair prepares for more 737 Max delays

Ryanair is prepared for further delays to the delivery of its Boeing 737 Max airliners, its chief executive Michael O'Leary told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche, adding that he would only discuss compensation after the aircraft had been delivered. The 737 Max airliner has been grounded since March following two crashes which claimed 346 lives. One of the world's largest airlines, Ryanair has ordered 135 of the jets. "We were meant to have 58 planes by the summer," O'Leary said in the interview. In contrast to other airlines, including Turkish, Southwest Airlines and Germany's TUI, which have already agreed compensation with Boeing, O'Leary added that he would only discuss compensation after the planes were delivered.

3 turn themselves in to police for zoo fire

Three women allegedly responsible for a fire in a zoo in the German city of Krefeld have turned themselves in to the police, representatives of the police and the public prosecutor's office said on Thursday. They said the cause of the fire, which devastated the ape house of Krefeld Zoo on New Year's Eve, has been identified. The three women, aged between 30 and 60, confessed to having launched five sky lanterns which are believed to have started the fire that killed more than 30 animals, authorities said.

Xinhua - Agencies

In a survey of 1,059 Labour Party members, 31 percent put the shadow Brexit secretary Starmer as their first-choice candidate, while 20 percent backed the shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long Bailey, as their favorite.

Backbencher Jess Phillips, the chair of the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party, was the third-most popular choice among members, who were surveyed between Dec 20 and 30.

The poll by YouGov for the Party Members Project suggested Starmer, a centrist candidate, was the first choice in all regions of the United Kingdom, age groups and social classes, reported The Guardian newspaper.

The survey also suggested that he would comfortably win a final runoff with Long Bailey, taking 61 percent of the vote.

Starmer is yet to formally launch his campaign for the party's leadership but is expected to do so in the next few weeks; a new leader will be elected in March.

The poll contradicts suggestions that the party might opt for a left-wing leader from outside London, not associated with the anti-Brexit cause, in order to appeal to the Leave-voting Northern and Midlands seats lost to the Conservatives in December's election.

Tim Bale, a professor at Queen Mary University of London, who jointly ran the poll with the University of Sussex, said the results suggest the winner is unlikely to come from the left of the party.

"This is not shaping up to be a 2015-style Labour leadership contest," said Bale. "Unless potential candidates drop out before the start of voting, it may take a few rounds to decide the winner this time around.

"But it doesn't look at the moment as if the winner will come from the left of the party. Right now, anyway, Keir Starmer looks to be heading for a fairly emphatic victory," he said.

So far, only the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, and the shadow treasury minister, Clive Lewis, have said they want to run to be the next Labour leader.

The former Labour minister and Home Affairs select committee chair, Yvette Cooper, is thought to be considering whether she will run for the leadership for a second time. Also expected to stand are Phillips, who represents Birmingham Yardley, and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy.

The party chairman and Corbyn ally Ian Lavery－who criticized the party's performance for its muddled stance on Brexit－might also run. Lavery, the most left-wing candidate, is a former National Union of Mineworkers chair who supports leaving the European Union.

In the poll, Phillips received the support of 11 percent and Lewis and Cooper were the first choice for 7 percent of the surveyed members. Thornberry was on 6 percent and Nandy was on 5 percent.

"We would urge restraint by Kim Jong-un (the DPRK's top leader)," Esper said in an interview.

Kim said this week that there were no longer grounds for Pyongyang to be bound by a moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear bomb testing and that a "new strategic weapon" would be introduced in the near future.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were no indications that Pyongyang was preparing for an imminent long-range missile test.

The official said the assessment after Kim's speech was that Pyongyang believes it does not have to rush to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, though shorter-range missile or engine tests could be possible at any time.

US President Donald Trump－who in 2018 became the first US leader to meet with a DPRK top leader－said Kim had signed a denuclearization contract and Trump thought Kim was a "man of his word".

Last month, the DPRK warned the US of a possible "Christmas gift" after Kim gave the US until the end of 2019 to propose new concessions in talks over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal.

Speaking on Thursday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said that the alert status of US forces was at a sufficient level to respond to anything that happens and military defensive capabilities were adequate to defend the US.

Reuters

Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged at least 182 neighborhoods in greater Jakarta and caused landslides in the Bogor and Depok districts on the city's outskirts, which buried a dozen people.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said the fatalities also included those who had drowned or been electrocuted since rivers broke their banks on Wednesday after extreme torrential rains throughout New Year's Eve. Three elderly people died of hypothermia.

It was the worst flooding since 2013, when 57 people were killed after Jakarta was inundated by monsoon rains.

Floodwaters started to recede in some parts of the city on Thursday evening, enabling residents to return to their homes.

Wibowo said about 397,000 people sought refuge in shelters across the greater metropolitan area.

Meanwhile, Indonesia was due to carry out cloud seeding on Friday in a bid to prevent further rainfall over the capital.

Those returning to their homes found streets covered in mud and debris. Cars that had been parked in driveways were swept away, landing upside down in parks or piled up in narrow alleys. Sidewalks were strewed with sandals, pots and pans and old photographs. Authorities took advantage of the receding waters to clear away mud and remove piles of wet garbage from the streets.

Electricity was restored to tens of thousands of residences and businesses.

Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma domestic airport reopened on Thursday after its runway was submerged. Nearly 20,000 passengers had been affected by the closure.

The flooding has highlighted Indonesia's infrastructure problems.

Jakarta is home to 10 million people, or 30 million including those in its greater metropolitan area. It is prone to earthquakes and flooding and is rapidly sinking due to uncontrolled extraction of ground water. Traffic congestion is estimated to cost the economy $6.5 billion a year.

President Joko Widodo announced in August that the capital will move to a site in sparsely populated East Kalimantan Province on Borneo island, known for rainforests and orangutans.

Agencies - Via - Xinhua

Aviation consulting firm To70 said there were 86 accidents involving large commercial planes－including eight fatal incidents－resulting in 257 fatalities last year. In 2018, there were 160 accidents, including 13 fatal ones, resulting in 534 deaths, the firm said.

To70 said the fatal accident rate for large commercial passenger planes was just 0.18 fatal accident per million flights in 2019, or an average of one fatal accident every 5.58 million flights, a significant improvement over 2018. The fatality numbers include passengers, air crew such as flight attendants and any people on the ground killed in a plane accident.

Large passenger airplanes in the study are defined as aircraft used by nearly all travelers on airlines worldwide but excludes small commuter airplanes in service, including the Cessna Caravan and some smaller turboprop airplanes, according to To70.

On Dec 23, Boeing's board said it had fired Dennis Muilenburg as chief executive after a pair of fatal crashes involving the 737 Max forced Boeing to announce a halt to production of its bestselling jetliner. The 737 Max had already been grounded since March following the crash of a Max in Ethiopia. That followed an October 2018 Max crash in Indonesia. A total of 345 people died in both crashes.

The Aviation Safety Network said on Wednesday that, despite the Max crashes, 2019 "was one of the safest years ever for commercial aviation". The 157 people killed in March on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 accounted for more than half of all deaths last year worldwide in passenger airline crashes.

To70 said the aviation industry exerted significant effort in 2019 "focusing on so-called 'future threats' such as drones". But the Max crashes "are a reminder that we need to retain our focus on the basics that make civil aviation so safe: well-designed and well-built aircraft flown by fully informed and well-trained crews".

Over the last two decades, aviation deaths around the world have been falling dramatically even as travel has increased. As recently as 2005, there were 1,015 deaths aboard commercial passenger flights worldwide, the Aviation Safety Network said.

In 2017, aviation had its safest year on record worldwide with only two fatal accidents involving regional turboprops that resulted in 13 deaths and no fatal crashes of passenger jets.

Last week, 12 people were killed when a Fokker 100 operated by Kazakh carrier Bek Air crashed near Almaty after takeoff. In May, a Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft caught fire as it made an emergency landing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, killing 41 people.

The figures do not include accidents involving military flights, training flights, private flights, cargo operations and helicopters.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531135.htm The United Kingdom's economy ground to a near halt in the final quarter of 2019, according to a survey from the British Chambers of Commerce.

The quarterly report from the group, known also as the BCC, made stark reading for the nation's new Conservative Party government as it strengthened its grip on power in a landslide general election win on Dec 12.

The BCC estimates that the UK economy grew by 1.3 percent during 2019 but by only 0.2 percent in the final quarter. It expects growth to slow to 1 percent in 2020.

After quizzing 6,500 companies in November, the BCC reported that the economy stagnated because of long-term uncertainty, rising business costs, and a global economic slowdown.

The Guardian newspaper said the services sector, which contributes almost 80 percent to the UK's economic output, worsened in the quarter, while manufacturing orders were extremely low, and manufacturers' investment plans were at their lowest point for eight years.

Suren Thiru, who leads the BCC's economics department, said: "The fourth quarter was characterized by a broad-based slowdown in the dominant services sector with all key indicators weakening in the quarter, amid sluggish household expenditure and crippling cost pressures."

Thiru said that "despite some improvements", the manufacturing sector remains very weak "by historic standards". Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera said the report highlights a "protracted weakness" in the UK's economy.

Adam Marshall, the BCC's director general, called on the government to focus on renewing business confidence, to tackle "the prolonged stagnation that's affecting so much of the UK economy".

"The government must use its newfound majority to take big decisions to stimulate growth," he said.

But he also said the government will need to move fast if it is to leave the European Union in the right way, and that "a clear future trading relationship with the EU" was crucial.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he wants the UK to leave the EU on Jan 31 and for it to have a trade deal in place by the end of 2020. The Independent newspaper noted that Johnson continued to stoke fears among businesspeople that the UK could leave the EU without a divorce deal.

Andrew Gray, editor of the website Politico Europe, told Al Jazeera: "I think the danger in terms of UK-EU relations is that things again get pretty tense between the two sides with the pressure from the UK side to get things done very quickly." But a Treasury spokesperson told The Independent the economy will improve once the UK leaves the EU.

"Our economy has been held back by Brexit uncertainty for too long," the unnamed source said. "We are getting Brexit done, so we can move on and open a new chapter for our economy."

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531131.htm CANBERRA－Throughout the final months of 2019, Australia experienced its most destructive bushfire season ever recorded.

In the worst-hit state of New South Wales, or NSW, nine people were confirmed dead in November and December, close to 1,000 homes were lost and more than 3.6 million hectares of wilderness were burned.

In late December, another person was killed by fires in South Australia state, with homes, property and thousands of hectares of bushland lost there as well.

The world took note. Not least at the news that thousands of koalas had likely perished across Australia－a shocking symbol of the toll the disaster was taking on the country as a whole.

In the new year, Australians remained on high alert and, with many months of summer left to go, tensions were high as they braced for what might come next.

On New Year's Eve, the crisis escalated once more, both in NSW and neighboring Victoria state.

With soaring winds and temperatures fanning flames, thousands of people fled to the coast, taking shelter on beaches where they felt the safest.

Several rural towns were badly hit and residents could do little but try to escape as flames consumed entire communities. NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons confirmed that 382 homes were destroyed on New Year's Eve.

Around 50 homes were also confirmed to have been lost in Victoria－a number expected to significantly increase as assessment crews further accessed affected areas.

Already the total number of homes destroyed by bushfires this season is more than 1,400.

Rather than popping champagne, many Australians spent the last day of the decade in fear for their lives. The town of Batemans Bay was cut off by fires and residents were forced to spend the night by the water surrounded by fire.

As the new year dawned, five more people were confirmed dead in southern NSW. They had either been trying to defend their homes, or flee the vicious inferno.

In Victoria state's East Gippsland region, another person was found dead at home, taking the overall death toll this season to 17.

Images emerged on social media of residents escaping by boat against a deep red daytime sky, and again the world was shocked by the severity of the fires.

4,000 trapped

Military ships and helicopters were called in to rescue those still stranded near the ocean, including at the popular holiday destination of Mallacoota beach, where an estimated 4,000 people had taken shelter.

On Wednesday evening, the NSW Rural Fire Service issued an order for tourists to vacate a roughly 250-kilometer stretch of the NSW South Coast, another popular summer getaway. By Thursday morning, giant queues had formed of people trying to buy fuel, food and water in order to make their way home.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged calm and patience from those caught up in the disaster and insisted that everything possible was being done to make the evacuation process as smooth as possible.

"We cannot control the natural disaster but what we can do is control our response," Morrison said.

"What we can do is support those who are out there putting themselves at risk by showing the patience and the calm that is necessary."

However, not everybody could be reached. Scorched infrastructure meant that in many places phone and internet services were down, restricting normal lines of communication.

Of the fires in East Gippsland, where 17 people have been declared missing, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters: "These are very challenging circumstances." "For this many people cut off from services is not something we would normally experience.

"We do hold very significant fears for the welfare of anybody who is missing at this time."

A combined 500,000 hectares have been burned across East Gippsland after three major fires merged.

Nationwide, almost 5.9 million hectares have burned since the crisis began last year.

While conditions offered some reprieve on Wednesday and Thursday, forecasts pointed to a return of extreme fire danger by the end of the week.

"Fire dangers on Saturday will reach severe to extreme yet again across fire sites and communities that have already seen large-scale devastation," Bureau of Meteorology scientist Jonathan How said.

"As the heat and wind returns, so does the danger," he said.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531130.htm The past year might just go down as one of the most tumultuous that the Persian Gulf region has seen for more than a decade, marked by tensions that left the United States and Iran teetering on the brink of war. And relations between the two foes are likely to further deteriorate in the year ahead, experts said.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump ordered 750 more US soldiers to the Middle East, charging Iran was "fully responsible" for an attack on the US embassy in Iraq the previous day. The assault and Trump's response represented a fresh escalation of tensions in the Gulf.

Days before, on Dec 29, the US military launched airstrikes on targets of Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia group, in Iraq and Syria that killed 25 of its fighters. Washington called it retaliation for the killing of a US civilian contractor in an attack on an Iraqi military base that it blamed on the group, which helped Baghdad turn the tables on the Islamic State terrorists.

The US strikes angered the Iraqi government, which called them an unjustified violation of its sovereignty. Enraged protesters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad.

Trump made clear where he believed the ultimate responsibility lay for the killing of the contractor, saying in a tweet: "Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will".

Iran denies any role in recent attacks on the US forces in Iraq.

Trump's order for the airstrikes on the militia targets sent a clear message that the killing of US citizens marked out his red line, officials and experts said.

What changed was the death of the civilian contractor, which "pushed the envelope", US State Department Assistant Secretary David Schenker said.

Since May, nearly 14,000 US military personnel have been deployed to the region to deter Iran. In mid-November, the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz－a passage vital for oil supplies－in a show of force against Iran.

Lu Jin, a Middle East researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, warned that as the confrontation between the US and Iran intensifies, the risk of a miscalculation is increasing.

"Despite Washington and Teheran being well aware of the costs and not wanting a potential war which doesn't serve the interests of either side, it is possible that any further miscalculation and misfiring between them could detonate a direct conflict," he said. "The danger of war lingers with the deployment of more and more US troops and military assets in the region amid the standoff."

Tensions in the Gulf have been rising since Trump in May 2018 withdrew the US from a 2015 nuclear accord that Teheran had signed with Washington and five other world powers. Trump said the deal was one-sided and gave Iran sanctions relief for rolling back, but not permanently dismantling, its nuclear program.

After pulling out of the agreement, Trump began a campaign of "maximum pressure", tightening the rope around Teheran's neck by reinstating sanctions to cripple Iran's economy. His aim is to force Iran to renegotiate a deal more favorable to the US. In response, Teheran has gradually reduced its commitment to the nuclear deal.

Tensions mounted after Washington blamed Teheran for a series of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf from mid-May last year. Iran denied any involvement. In June, Trump canceled at the last minute an order to hit Iranian military targets in retaliation for Iran's shooting down of a US surveillance drone.

Iran has said formal negotiations or any kind of talks can take place only within the framework of the so-called P5+1, the grouping comprising the powers that agreed to the 2015 deal with Iran－the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany.

Ren Yuanzhe, an associate professor in the Department of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs Management at China Foreign Affairs University, said US policies are the root cause of the escalating tensions in the Middle East, citing Washington's maximum pressure on Teheran and its withdrawal from the nuclear agreement.

He said that, despite the US sanctions, the Iranian economy is not facing collapse in the short term because Iran is a regional power with the rare trait of having an independent industrial system. It also holds a few strategic cards, such as the ability to restart the nuclear process and to block the Strait of Hormuz.

Key factors

As for 2020, the intensity of US sanctions, the pace of Iran's resumption of its nuclear activities and the extent to which some European nations are willing to act as mediators are all likely to affect the level of tensions around the Iranian nuclear issue. No one expects the dark clouds to go away soon, experts said.

Li Shaoxian, a Middle East studies expert at Ningxia University, said the US' maximum pressure campaign is not aimed at starting a war with Iran, as Washington is contracting its global military reach to serves its "America First" strategy.

"But Washington's demands (over the nuclear issue) are too harsh for Teheran. Negotiating means surrender, which is totally unacceptable for Iran," Li said. "As for the US military deployment in the Middle East, the US is not aiming to start a large-scale war with Iran, but instead to impose a complete blockade and force Iran to comply."

As the US is now bracing for the 2020 presidential election, he said, Trump is unlikely to launch a direct military strike against Iran in the near future, relying more on its maximum pressure tactics.

"As the two foes take turns in responses, and send regional tensions spiraling, it is unlikely that these will ease soon," Li said.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531091.htm BERLIN－A fire raced through a zoo in western Germany in the first few minutes of the new year, killing more than 30 animals, including apes, monkeys, bats and birds, authorities said. Police said paper sky lanterns launched nearby to celebrate the arrival of 2020 were probably to blame.

Several witnesses saw cylindrical paper lanterns with little fires inside flying in the night sky shortly after midnight on Wednesday near the Krefeld Zoo, Gerd Hoppmann, the city's head of criminal police, told reporters.

"People reported seeing those sky lanterns flying at low altitude near the zoo and then it started burning," Hoppmann said.

He said investigators also found used lanterns on the ground that hadn't burned entirely. They were 34 centimeters long, made out of white paper with an opening at the bottom where a small fire would be suspended. The fire heats the air inside, making them fly and shine at night.

Police and firefighters received the first emergency calls at 12:38 am.

The zoo near the Dutch border said its entire ape house burned down and more than 30 animals－including five orangutans, two gorillas, a chimpanzee and several monkeys－were killed, as well as fruit bats and birds.

Only two chimpanzees were able to be rescued from the flames by firefighters. They suffered burns but are in a stable condition, zoo director Wolfgang Dressen said.

"It's close to a miracle that Bally, a 40-year-old female chimpanzee, and Limbo, a younger male, survived this inferno," Dressen said, adding that many of the zoo's animal handlers were in shock at the devastation.

"We have to seriously work through the mourning process," Dressen said. "This is an unfathomable tragedy."

He said many of the dead animals were close to extinction in the wild.

The zoo said the Gorilla Garden, which is near its devastated Ape House, didn't go up in flames and that gorilla Kidogo and six other members of his family are alive.

Germans usually welcome in the new year with fireworks at midnight and people are allowed to buy and launch fireworks. Sky lanterns, however, are both illegal and uncommon in Krefeld and most of Germany. The mini hot-air balloons made of paper have been used in Asia for centuries.

After requests by police for witnesses to come forward, Krefeld police said several people had come in and were being interrogated. Police said they would not release details on them.

Hoppmann said some of the partially burned lanterns had handwritten notes on them.

The zoo, which opened in 1975, attracts 400,000 visitors each year. It closed after the fire and planned to remain closed on Thursday.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531114.htm MEXICO CITY－For centuries, Mexico City residents brought warm tortillas home in reusable cloths or woven straw baskets, and toted others foods in conical rolls of paper, "ayate" mesh or net bags, or even string bundles.

People in Mexico's massive capital city may have to return to those old ways after a new law took effect banning the plastic bags that became ubiquitous over the last 30 years. Some say they are ready and willing, and grocery stores are promising to promote reusable synthetic fiber bags, but others are struggling to get their minds around how the ban will work in practice.

"We have a very rich history in ways to wrap things," said Claudia Hernandez, the city's director of environmental awareness. "We are finding that people are returning to baskets, to cucuruchos," she said, referring to cone-shaped rolls of paper once used to wrap loose bulk goods like nuts, chips or seeds.

Some Mexico City residents still use traditional ayate bags, or tortilla towels or baskets, and many－especially the elderly－pull two-wheeled, folding shopping baskets through grocery stores. Some merchants still use old sardine cans to measure out bulk goods.

Under the new law, grocery stores will be fined if they give out plastic bags. Most will offer reusable shopping bags made of thick plastic fiber, usually selling them for 75 cents.

"They are not giving them away, they are selling them, and that is what I don't agree with," said city subway worker Ernesto Gallardo Chavez, who wonders what will happen if he goes grocery shopping after Jan 1 and forgets to bring his reusable bags.

"Just imagine, I forget my bag and I buy a lot of stuff," said Gallardo Chavez. "How do I carry it all, if they don't give you bags anymore?"

Like most city residents, Gallardo Chavez thinks protecting the environment is "very good." But plastic bags in Mexico City are almost never really single-use: most city residents have bought garbage cans and waste paper baskets just the right size to be lined with supermarket bags. And the bags are commonly used to clean up after dogs on sidewalks.

"We use the bags for garbage, to separate it into organic and inorganic, and then take it out to the garbage truck," he notes.

Hernandez, the environment official, said people should get out of the habit of putting their garbage in plastic bags. "They can take it out (to the garbage truck) directly in garbage cans."

But that is complicated given the city's stubborn water shortages. It's all very well to tell city residents not to line their trash cans with plastic bags, but washing out a kitchen receptacle every couple of days after use because it doesn't have a plastic liner will takes its toll on water supplies.

Not to mention the widespread habit of tossing used toilet paper into wastepaper baskets to spare the strain on many homes' aged and insufficient plumbing. Used toilet paper is not the kind of thing you can turn over loose to the trash collector.

Data analysis specialist Daniel Loredo says he is planning to hoard his last remaining plastic shopping bags precisely for that purpose.

But he and his roommates have already taken steps to build up a supply of reusable bags and make sure whoever goes to the grocery store is carrying a few. But for poorer city residents, forgetting to do so even one day could carry a high price in a country where the 75-cent reusable bag costs the equivalent of an hour's worth of the minimum wage.

"I think this will be a challenge, because these bags represent an additional cost, and maybe not everyone can bear that cost quite as easily," Loredo said.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531110.htm LOS ANGELES－The shining sun and the warm weather on Wednesday morning invited tens of thousands of people out on the streets to watch the 131st Rose Parade in celebration of the New Year.

Hosted by Hoda Kotb and Al Roker－popular co-anchors of the Today Show, NBC's top-rated morning talk show－the parade held in the city of Pasadena is a family favorite, a mainstay in the West Coast and an iconic New Year's Day tradition.

"The Rose Parade is an institution. We've been coming to it for 20 years," said Chuck Hamil, a resident of Chino, California. "We all love the beautiful floats."

The Rose Parade is most famous for its gorgeous, spectacularly designed floats of all shapes and colors. They are exotic, multihued creations in all the colors of the rainbow, and as required by the parade rules, the floats must be covered entirely in flowers, seeds and other exotic plant materials.

Each float of the competitors has its unique theme. One of the most beautiful floats was Chinese-themed, which won the Golden State Award of this year's parade with a description by judges as the "most outstanding depiction of life in California".

It was a stunning creation by the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, home to many exotic Asian plants as well as the famed Chinese Garden styled after a Suzhou scholar's garden nearing completion after 12 years of construction.

The colorful Huntington float, named Cultivating Curiosity, incorporated prominent elements of the Chinese Garden, one of which is the Pavilion of the Three Friends, a Chinese-style temple named for the traditional "three friends of winter" in the ancient Chinese culture: Bamboos, pines and plum blossoms.

Other rare and exotic elements depicted by the float include the Rose Garden Tempietto, a high-arched Japanese Moon Bridge, replicas of paintings by Mary Cassatt and Edward Hopper, as well as a copy of the ancient text－Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales－which the library owns.

The Rose Garden Tempietto is an 18th-century French stone temple that houses the classical sculpture－Love, the Captive of Youth－which depicts Cupid and his captor, a fair maiden.

Spectators were also amazed by Donate Life's float to honor organ donors' gift of life, Blue Diamond's tribute to Almond Growers float, the City of Hope's elegant float commemorating its 107th anniversary, and the delightful float by Amazon's "Troop Zero" TV with replicas of the Voyager Space shuttle, a rocket, a satellite dish, a school bus, and towering pseudo-pines.

"City of Hope saved my mother's life when she had ovarian cancer," said parade-goer Michelle Cohen. "I tear up whenever I see their amazing floats."

Huntington Library President Karen R. Lawrence said: "The Huntington's incomparable collections have had an extensive reach over the past century, and we expect them to continue to inspire visitors, new and old, for the next 100 years in powerful and unpredictable ways.

"We welcome the national and international exposure that this celebrated parade provides and look forward to this joyful moment during our centennial as a way of sharing our treasures with audiences the world over."

Since 1890, the Rose Parade, hosted by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, is an annual parade to mark the start of the Rose Bowl Game, on New Year's Day. The tradition has been uninterrupted despite the two world wars.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531109.htm JERUSALEM－Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he would ask Parliament to protect him from prosecution in the three graft cases he faces, a politically risky move that could delay criminal proceedings against him for months.

Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust over allegations he granted state favors worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israeli media barons in return for gifts and favorable coverage.

He denies any wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of a witch hunt by the media and the left to oust a popular right-wing leader.

A trial cannot get under way once an immunity request is made, and Netanyahu announced the move in a speech on live television just four hours before a deadline for an application was to expire.

Netanyahu said in his address that the charges against him were politically motivated and he was entitled to Parliament's protection.

"In a democracy, only the people decide who will lead them," said Netanyahu, who has been in power consecutively for the past decade and has likened the indictment against him to an attempted coup.

Under Israeli law, a legislator seeking immunity can do so on numerous grounds that include an argument that the prosecution is not acting in good faith.

Had Netanyahu not filed the request by Wednesday's deadline, the indictment against him could have been submitted to a court as early as Sunday, setting proceedings in motion.

Amid deep political deadlock, Parliament seems unlikely to decide the issue before Israel's March 2 election. Netanyahu will need the support of 61 of its 120 legislators for immunity to be granted, the same majority that eluded him in attempts to form a government after national ballots in April and September.

If immunity is ultimately granted－entitling Netanyahu to avoid standing trial as long as he is a member of Parliament－Israel's Supreme Court is empowered to review the decision and strike it down.

Netanyahu's immunity request carried political risks, adding more ammunition to challengers who seek to portray him as an autocratic leader who sees himself as above the rule of law and who represents a danger to Israel's democratic and judicial foundations.

Responding to Netanyahu's speech, his main rival Benny Gantz, a former armed forces chief who heads the centrist Blue and White party, said the prime minister was "jeopardizing the civic principle upon which we were all educated－that everyone is equal before the law".

Recent opinion polls have shown neither Blue and White nor Netanyahu's Likud party are within easy reach of a governing bloc in Parliament in an election now two months away.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531101.htm TOKYO－Japanese authorities allowed ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn to carry a spare French passport in a locked case while out on bail, public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday, shedding some light on how he managed a dramatic escape to Lebanon.

NHK said in a report that prosecutors on Thursday raided the Tokyo residence of the former chief of Nissan Motor Co and Renault.

Ghosn, one of the world's best-known executives, has become Japan's most famous fugitive after he fled to Lebanon on Tuesday to escape what he called a "rigged" justice system.

The businessman, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, was smuggled out of Tokyo on a private plane by a security company days ago, the culmination of a plan that was crafted over three months.

Ghosn was first arrested in Tokyo in November 2018 and faces four charges－which he denies－including hiding income and enriching himself through payments to car dealerships in the Middle East.

Japanese authorities have not officially commented on Ghosn's disappearance. Government offices are shut this week for the New Year holiday.

Officials in Lebanon also said Ghosn entered the country with a French passport. But one of Ghosn's Japanese lawyers has said the lawyers were still in possession of three of Ghosn's passports－French, Lebanese and Brazilian－under the terms of his bail.

However, Ghosn had been issued a spare French passport, NHK said, citing unidentified sources, and carried it in the months before his departure.

NHK said: "Ghosn had been obliged to carry the passport with him since May, without elaborating on the reason." Foreigners in Japan are required to carry government-issued identification cards or passports at all times.

His lawyers applied to have the terms of his bail changed so that he could carry a passport in a locked case, NHK said. The key to the locked case in which the spare passport was kept was held by his lawyers, NHK said.

On Wednesday, the former Nissan chairman reportedly met with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun and thanked the president for the support given to him while he was in detention.

A lawyer for Ghosn said he will hold a news conference on Jan 8, according to reports. Sources close to him said he was unwilling to share details of his escape so as not to jeopardize those who aided him in Japan.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/03/content_37531122.htm JAKARTA－Tens of thousands of people were evacuated in Indonesia's capital Jakarta on Thursday after flash floods and landslides pushed the death toll in the area to as many as 21 people, with more heavy rain forecast, authorities said.

The flooding, among the deadliest in years, caused chaos in parts of Southeast Asia's biggest city with train lines blocked and power outages in some areas. Swathes of Jakarta and nearby towns were inundated after heavy rain fell on Dec 31 and into the early hours of New Year's Day.

A Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry spokesman said in a message to Reuters that the death toll had now reached 21, while the disaster mitigation agency said it was 19.

As of Thursday, more than 62,000 people were evacuated in Jakarta alone, disaster mitigation agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said, twice as many as a day earlier.

Thousands of livestock were reported missing and thousands of houses damaged in the neighboring province of Banten, local media reported.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo told reporters on Thursday that evacuation and safety procedures should be prioritized, and called for more coordination between city administrations and the central government.

On his Twitter page, Widodo blamed delays in flood control infrastructure projects for the flooding. He said some projects have been delayed since 2017 due to land acquisition problems.

Some of the victims had drowned, while others were killed in landslides. Four were electrocuted, while three died of hypothermia.

Indonesia's Cabinet Secretary said in a statement, citing the geophysics agency, that the extreme weather may continue across Indonesia until Jan 7 and warned people to remain on alert for further flooding or landslides.

Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the geophysics agency, told reporters separately that heavy rainfall may continue until mid-February.

Umar Dani, 52, and his family were evacuated overnight from his home in East Jakarta on a rubber boat after water levels rose up to his neck.

"It has not flooded for so long here. We didn't have the chance to bring anything," he said. "I have to live on the streets now."

Television footage on Thursday showed rescuers in the nearby city of Tangerang evacuating residents, guiding them across a strong current by holding on to a rope.

Jakarta police on their Twitter account warned that a number of major streets across the capital were not yet passable, accompanied by a video showing a postal truck being stuck in the middle of a road.

Jakarta and its surroundings are home to more than 30 million people. More than 50 people died in one of the capital's deadliest floods in 2007, and five years ago much of the center of the city was inundated after canals overflowed.

The government announced last year that it is relocating the capital to East Kalimantan province on Borneo, though the planning ministry pledged that the government will invest $40 billion in modernizing Jakarta.

]]> 2020-01-03 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2020-01/02/content_37530971.htm PASO ROBLES, California－It's an art installation, sure. But the internationally acclaimed artist who created the interactive work Field of Light at Sensorio in California sees it as much more than that.

It is, says Bruce Munro, a conduit of sorts allowing its viewers to better commune with nature when taking in "Sensorio's 58,000 shimmering, flowerlike lights that have been painstakingly installed over 6 hectares of pristine pasture in the heart of central California wine country.

"I don't want to sound like some kind of ancient hippie because I'm not," the 60-year-old British artist says with a laugh as he discusses his latest－and largest－light exhibition.

When the sun sets behind the rolling hills on the edge of the small picturesque town of Paso Robles and the lights come on, Munro says he senses a kind of tranquil peace settling over the hundreds of people who come each night to walk the hills and valleys bathed in his creation's gentle but colorful illumination.

"It almost is a lens to see the landscape that you're in," he said. "The landscape－nature－really does help us find a balance in our lives.

"We all are leading incredibly busy lives," he continues. "Busier than ever and with more screen time. And this is really an opportunity to get off-screen, to get back into the real world. You know, to smell the cut grass, the fresh air. Or whatever. And be a part of it."

Munro has been putting up light-centric installations around the world for 15 years. The works in his Field of Light series vary in appearance from sculptures to garden rooms to everyday objects that reflect light. His most famous, at least until now, is likely Field of Light at Uluru, located in the red rock desert of Australia, a region considered sacred to the aboriginal people.

Fourteen years in the planning, it opened in 2016 for a brief run that has since been extended indefinitely.

It is similar to Sensorio but smaller, made up of 50,000 colorful, solar-powered twinkling orbs. The artist insists that had nothing to do with his trying to outdo himself by putting his largest work to date in California.

"Size is relevant to the landscape it inhabits," he said. "I don't put lights in to make bigger and bigger installations."

At Sensorio, viewers see lights from numerous perspectives, including above and below, as they stroll the dirt paths bathed in softly lit colors. The result is a feeling of immersion in a world of quiet yet beautiful tranquillity.

The exhibition, initially scheduled to close in January, has been extended through June.

When it does close, Munro says, future visitors will hardly know it was there.

"Part of the reason we wanted to do solar is because there is no infrastructure that needs to be dug in," he said. "Everything is on the surface. When it's time does come to disappear, and the landscape comes back, the existing landscape or something else that goes there, its footprint will be very minimal."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 indicators rose after the US Federal Reserve, or Fed, cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point three times during the year.

Lower interest rates mean lower borrowing costs－and that's good for businesses planning to expand and for consumers buying on credit. Retail spending represents about two-thirds of the US economy.

Through Monday, the Dow was up in 2019 by about 22 percent, the Nasdaq about 35 percent and the S&P 500 by about 29 percent. The market started 2019 in a hole after a two-month sell-off at the end of 2018.

"What a year for the stock market," Matthew Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak, wrote in a research note. "One reason why the consensus believes the stock market can hold up next year has to do with the belief that interest rates will remain low."

But earlier in the year, the market was volatile as US President Donald Trump's tweets increased uncertainty. On Aug 23, Trump tweeted "We don't need China, and frankly, would be far better off without them."

He followed with tweets critical of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Within 15 minutes, the Dow had plunged about 400 points and had lost a total of about 500 points within an hour. The drop cost investors about $500 billion.

Overall, the $21 trillion US economy remained strong as evidenced by record low unemployment, steady wage growth and strong consumer spending.

The market rallied after Trump's tweets because many investors saw lower stock prices as a buying opportunity. The agreement between the US and China on phase one of a trade deal on Dec 13 also boosted optimism.

In company news, Boeing's continuing problems with its best-selling jet, the 737 Max, initially hammered its stock price.

In October, Boeing reported a 51 percent drop in its third-quarter profit as revenue fell following crashes of two Max airliners that killed a total of 346 passengers and crew. But investors believe the problems with the plane's automated anti-stall device blamed for the crashes can be fixed and stayed with the stock, even though the Max crisis eventually cost CEO Dennis Muilenburg his job on Dec 23.

Boeing represents about 5 percent of US exports, and its stock is one of 30 tracked daily to compile the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

There have been nine major recessions since 1950, and all have been preceded by an inversion of the yield curve.

When the curve is inverted, short-term Treasury bonds pay more interest than long-term notes, underscoring doubts about future growth. The warning reversed in November, easing immediate fears of an economic slowdown, as employment and wages continued to rise.

IPOs caution

For many investors, the 2019 strategy was simple: Buy just about everything, especially technology stocks, but avoid overhyped initial public offerings, or IPOs.

Ride-hailing companies Lyft and Uber Technologies offered the potential to upend the conventional taxi business and perhaps car ownership in urban areas, but each came with steep losses.

WeWork, a provider of shared office space for small-to-medium-sized businesses and perhaps the most highly touted IPO of the year, ditched its plans as doubts grew despite being valued at $47 billion.

Investors concluded that the company expanded rapidly at great expense and that losses would continue long into the future because there was no clear path to profitability.

But IPOs from less-flashy companies with a clear path to profitability thrived in the market, including Chewy, an online retailer of pet food and other pet-related products, and Tradeweb Markets, an international financial services company.

Cutting interest rates stimulated the economy and boosted stock prices, suggesting a strong market ahead. But some analysts warn that FOMO－fear of missing out－artificially drives stock prices upward and may indicate a market top in the months ahead.

Mike Wilson, an analyst at New York investment bank Morgan Stanley, believes the market will decline about 4.5 percent this year, but US economic growth will stabilize below 2 percent as labor costs rise in a tight job market.

"Trade, the election and a late-cycle economy keep the market searching for new leadership amid high uncertainty," he said in a research note to investors. "We expect the market to vacillate between a pro-cyclical outcome and a defensive one as data comes in and trade tensions and the election evolve."

In a note to investors, Franklin Templeton, a global investment firm based in New York, advised: "Although uncertainties remain, our senior investment leaders have a cautiously optimistic outlook for 2020. They still do not see a global recession looming and believe there are plenty of reasons to remain invested. However, they also stress it's important to be selective, amid a changing market landscape."

 

At the Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea on Tuesday, Kim said the more the US stalls for time and hesitates in the settlement of the DPRK-US relations, the deeper the nuclear talks will fall into an impasse.

In his report, Kim blamed Washington for the current difficulties facing Pyongyang, saying the US "applied the most brutal and inhuman sanctions against (the country) and posed a persistent nuclear threat" to the DPRK over the past seven decades, and that the current situation on the Korean Peninsula "is getting more dangerous and reaching a serious phase".

Noting that Pyongyang had taken measures to build confidence in bilateral relations, including halting nuclear tests and shutting down a test ground, Kim rebuked Washington for conducting dozens of joint military drills and threatening Pyongyang with a shipment of ultramodern warfare equipment into the Republic of Korea.

"There is no ground for us to get unilaterally bound to the commitment any longer," Kim said, adding that "the world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed by the DPRK in the near future", without giving details of the weapon.

"If the US persists in its hostile policy toward the DPRK, there will never be denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, and the DPRK will steadily develop necessary and prerequisite strategic weapons for the security of the state, until the US rolls back its hostile policy toward the DPRK and a lasting and durable peacekeeping mechanism is built," he said.

Kim said there were no grounds for Pyongyang to be bound any longer by a self-declared moratorium on testing nuclear bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, according to a statement on the results of the policy meeting carried by KCNA.

In his latest comments on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he had a good relationship with Kim and thought Kim would keep his word. "He likes me, I like him. We get along. He's representing his country, I'm representing my country. We have to do what we have to do," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Tension had been rising ahead of the year-end as Pyongyang conducted a series of weapons tests and waged a war of words with Trump.

The nuclear talks have made little headway despite three meetings between Kim and Trump since 2018. Working-level talks in Stockholm, Sweden, in October broke down, with a DPRK chief negotiator accusing US officials of sticking to their old stance.

Xinhua - Agencies

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that at Trump's direction, he authorized the immediate deployment of the infantry battalion from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

He did not specify the soldiers' destination, but a US official familiar with the decision said they will go to Kuwait.

"Approximately 750 soldiers will deploy to the region immediately and additional forces from the IRF (the Immediate Response Force) are prepared to deploy over the next several days," said the Pentagon chief in a series of tweets.

Esper added that the deployment would be "an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against US personnel and facilities".

The Pentagon's decision came hours after hundreds of Iraqi demonstrators stormed the US embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Many of the protesters rallied outside the US embassy chanting slogans condemning airstrikes by the US forces against bases of Kataib Hezbollah, a Iran-backed militia group, in Iraq on Sunday.

The protest then turned violent as protesters set ablaze a guard tower and the outer gate of the embassy, an official from the Iraqi Interior Ministry said on condition of anonymity.

Trump blamed Iran for "orchestrating an attack" on the embassy in a Tuesday morning tweet.

He later threatened in another tweet that Iran "will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities".

"They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat," the US president added, but later said he does not want, or foresee, war with Iran.

Iran on Monday denied any role in the recent attacks on US forces in Iraq after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran-backed forces for the attacks.

Also on Tuesday, Trump spoke over the phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, emphasizing the need to protect US personnel and facilities in Iraq, according to a White House statement.

US forces on Sunday attacked five locations in Iraq and Syria controlled by the Kataib Hezbollah militia group, in response to recent attacks on US forces in Iraq, triggering strong responses from Iraq and Syria.

Agencies - Xinhua

In one of the globe's most-watched New Year's Eve spectacles, the crowd counted down the last seconds of 2019 as a luminescent crystal ball descended down a pole. Throngs of people cheered and sang along to the X Ambassadors' soul-stirring rendition of John Lennon's Imagine just before midnight.

About 1,360 kilograms of confetti showered the sea of attendees, many of whom were also briefly rained on earlier in the evening as they waited in security pens for performances by stars including rap-pop star Post Malone, K-pop group BTS, country singer Sam Hunt and singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette.

The frenzied moment of celebration came after many hours of waiting for much of the crowd.

Mathieu Plesotsky, 25, visiting from Hesse, Germany, said he wanted to be a part of the spectacle after watching it for years on TV. He arrived in Times Square at 1 pm with his girlfriend and bopped along to the performers while waiting for the ball to drop.

"We've just stayed, stood, tried not to pee and danced to the (1970s disco group) Village People," he said.

Ever since the New York Police Department tightened security and began cracking down on public drinking years ago, Times Square on New Year's Eve has been an endurance contest as much as a raucous celebration.

Many people arrive before noon to get a spot close to the action. Alcohol is banned. Spectators enter through a security screening gauntlet to enter pens they cannot leave, including to use the bathroom, if they hope to return.

The weather can be brutal.

When revelers rang in 2018, it was only -12 C. At the dawn of 2019, rain poured throughout the evening, leaving puddles on the performance stages.

The weather seemed perfect on Tuesday, until it wasn't. Rain, which wasn't in the forecast, briefly drenched the crowd just before 8:30 pm.

Still, the celebration was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many.

"It was a dream. I wanted to do it so this year a lot of people helped me to get here, so I'm here, and I'm thankful for that," said Mariemma Mejias, 48, who flew to New York for the festivities from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Amanda Camacho, 25, from Heredia, Costa Rica, said she and her mother spent their evening in the security pens "talking to people and meeting people and sharing", Camacho said.

"We met people from South Korea. We met people from Guatemala that were actually here just for New Year's Eve, so it has been pretty cool," she said.

While giddiness prevailed at the televised event, some important global issues were also driven home, as well.

High school science teachers and students, spotlighting efforts to combat climate change helped press the button that began the famous 60-second ball drop and countdown to 2020, followed by the confetti.

Thousands of police officers were on hand for the festivities, plus more than 1,000 security cameras, helicopters and drones equipped with thermal-imaging and 3D-mapping capabilities and super-zoom lenses.

Aubrey Fannin, who traveled from Kirkland, Washington, with her friend Kennedy Bryne, is optimistic for 2020.

"This is our year," Fannin said moments after the clock struck midnight. "This is the world's year. Let's do it."

In her New Year message on Tuesday, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin underlined the importance of social equality.

The 34-year-old Marin noted that the strength of a society should not be measured on the basis of the strength of the most affluent, but through how the most vulnerable cope with their lives. Marin raised the question whether everyone in Finland has the possibility of a good life.

The world's youngest prime minister acknowledged in her message that much in Finland depends on the world economy, but the government can provide a stable and predictable environment for companies.

"Fast policy changes should be avoided while reacting to the cyclical situation," she said.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed worries over the rise of anti-Semitism and far-right extremism in his Christmas speech, calling on all citizens to fight against them.

He mentioned the deadly attack near a synagogue in Germany's eastern city of Halle in October, in which two nearby people were killed and two others later injured.

In his Christmas message, Czech President Milos Zeman praised his country's low unemployment rate, stable economic growth, relatively low state debt and the growth of the average wage and old-age pensions.

Zeman also drew attention to the problem of "slowness" in construction proceedings and in the building of infrastructure in his country.

Greece is welcoming 2020 with optimism, having learned valuable lessons from past mistakes, leaving the financial crisis behind and moving forward with confidence and unity, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proclaimed in his New Year message.

"We are entering the third decade of the 21st century which brings unprecedented challenges: from geostrategic instability on the planet and the climate crisis to the 'explosion' of technology and its consequences. All this requires open thinking and bold actions," the Greek leader noted.

Albanian President Ilir Meta said the solidarity his country demonstrated after the tragic 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Nov 26 is a solid and enduring foundation that inspires all and gives the people confidence for the challenges ahead.

"Each of you deserves more positivity, a fairer Albania, more loving, compassionate and more humane," Meta said, adding: "This first of all requires an inclusive and united Albania, always guided by the national and public interest."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in his first New Year message from 10 Downing Street, urged the people of Britain to join together to make the 2020s a decade of prosperity and opportunity.

"The first item on my agenda is to fulfill the will of the electorate and take us out of the European Union," said Johnson.

Denmark's Queen Margrethe, in her New Year address to the nation, placed special emphasis on tolerance and compassion.

Speaking live from Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen on Tuesday, the queen underscored the planet's vulnerability to climate change.

"It is a common challenge for all of us today, and it is important that we are all aware of how we live and what we do," said the 79-year-old monarch.

The Canadian is stepping down as head of Britain's most important financial institution in March, before the official end of his designated eight-year term of office, and will take up a role with the United Nations as its climate change and finance envoy.

Carney has spoken before of his concerns about the effects of climate change and the role the financial sector plays in it.

As long ago as 2014, he gave a speech about the so-called Carbon Bubble, warning that significant fossil fuel resources would have to remain unused, rendering the sector less financially attractive, to avoid having a major damaging effect on the world's climate and environment.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today program, as devastating fires and soaring temperatures in Australia made worldwide headline news, Carney called the climate crisis a "tragedy on the horizon" and urged immediate political action, warning that "by the time that the extreme events become so prevalent and so obvious, it will be too late to do anything about it".

Pension funds

When asked if pension funds should withdraw from fossil fuels even if their current rate of return seems attractive, Carney replied: "Well, that hasn't been the case, but they could make that argument. They need to make the argument－to be clear about why is that going to be the case if a substantial proportion of those assets are going to be worthless."

Companies, he continued, needed to make a judgment call on behalf of their investors over whether they should withdraw funds.

"A question for every company, every financial institution, every asset manager, pension fund or insurer－what's your plan?" he added.

He also expressed his anger at climate change doubters, saying: "We can't afford on this one to have selective information, spin, misdirection."

Previously, Carney has spoken of the positive opportunities offered to investment organizations willing to take the step and invest in other areas.

"There will be industries, sectors and firms that do very well during this process because they will be part of the solution," he told the Guardian newspaper in October. "But there will also be ones that lag behind, and they will be punished."

Carney will leave his post with the Bank of England in March, following a three-month handover period with his successor, Andrew Bailey, the bank's former chief cashier and head of the City of London financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority.

Gustavo Vega, a professor at the Center for International Studies of the College of Mexico, or Colmex, said that 2019 had been "the most complicated year" for US-Mexico relationship since the 1980s.

"It's the reality of the geographical neighborhood. We have to seek out mechanisms to resolve the problems that continue to arise," said Vega.

An increase in the number of Central American migrants traveling through Mexico toward the US almost derailed the bilateral agenda, with daily threats made against the Mexican government by US President Donald Trump, which included closing its southern border if Mexico did not stop the thousands of migrants attempting to enter the country.

As the monthly immigration rate in May reached its highest point in a decade, and as a result Trump threatened to impose a general tariff on Mexican imports, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised to "take unprecedented steps" to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration.

Following an agreement in June, Mexico sent thousands of national guard troops to enforce immigration law across the country, and the monthly flow of migrants diminished, down from 144,000 people detained by the US to 42,700 people in November, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Dec 26.

However, many of the migrants were either waiting to apply for asylum in the US or had already applied and been returned by US authorities to Mexico to await the outcome of their cases.

Vega said that security was another major issue for the bilateral relationship, due to the violence caused by Mexican drug cartels.

Trump said in late November that he would designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which implied that the US could deport cartel members and their associates as well as freeze their bank accounts.

As early as March, Trump mentioned the possibility of putting the cartels on the terrorist list. And the proposal gained momentum again in November, after the massacre of a dual-national Mormon family in north Mexico. The shocking crime saw cartel hitmen slaughter women and children in a hail of bullets.

The government of Lopez Obrador stated that the designation would be tantamount to "interventionism", and it was more important to combat weapons trafficking from the US to Mexico as it fed organized crime in the country.

Echoing Vega, Guadalupe Gonzalez, associate professor at Colmex, said that 2019 had been "an uncommonly complex" year for the two countries' relations, and the unapproved US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, or USMCA, in the US Congress had also increased tensions.

The USMCA was signed in November 2018 to replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement. It was approved by US House of Representatives on Dec 19, but is yet to be ratified by the Senate.

"This has caused uncertainty for the Mexican economy," Gonzalez said.

"I think that next year will be as difficult or even more difficult than 2019," he added.

Xinhua

"Our sense of safety in our community and our city has been brutally shaken," wrote Sian Leah Beilock, president of Barnard College, in a message to students on Dec 13.

Two days before, Tessa Majors, an 18-year-old Barnard freshman from Virginia, was fatally stabbed in a nearby park.

"A tragedy has happened in a park where so many of us have spent time," she said, referring to Morningside Park. It is about a kilometer from the school and is considered an "off-campus" location.

The park is between a Barnard dormitory and Columbia University, with which Barnard is affiliated.

In the first three quarters of 2019, there were 11 robberies in the park, among the most in New York City parks in the year, according to data from the New York Police Department, or NYPD.

In the year ending Dec 8, reports of violent crime and sex crimes surged 82 percent in the park and on its perimeter, according to the NYPD.

In August, a Chinese student at Columbia University－who had been in the US for only four days－reported that he was robbed in the same park by three youths.

Two Columbia University public safety booths are at the western edge of Morningside Park. The school said a guard was posted when Majors was attacked and responded "immediately upon recognizing that she was hurt".

In the aftermath of the attack, the schools increased safety measures by extending staffing hours of the two booths to 24 hours and adding a foot patrol between the booths, according to Amy Zavadil, interim executive director of public safety at Barnard.

The NYPD assigned two marked vehicles to the park, with requests made to the city for additional camera support and lighting, she added.

The police have identified three suspects in the case of Majors, a talented musician from Virginia, known for her outgoing personality.

One suspect is 13 years old and other two are 14. The 13-year-old has been charged with second-degree felony murder.

It was not the only fatal incident recently on or near a US college campus. On Nov 26, a 19-year-old student from the University of Illinois at Chicago was sexually assaulted and murdered in a campus parking garage.

The university started instituting 24-hour security patrols in campus parking garages, and school officials were considering making the extended patrol hours permanent in the coming semester, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Last year in Illinois, a man convicted in the June 2017 killing of a Chinese scholar was sentenced to life in prison. Brendt Christensen avoided the death penalty when he was sentenced in a US federal court in July in relation to the kidnapping and murder of Zhang Yingying, a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

'No campus is immune'

In January 2016, a Chinese exchange student at Arizona State University was killed in a road rage incident in Tempe, Arizona. Yue Jiang, 19, died after she was shot and her car subsequently crashed, police said. Her killer was sentenced in June 2018 to 25 years in prison.

"No campus is immune from crime," said Abigail Boyer, associate executive director for the Clery Center, a nonprofit organization that helps schools to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act for short.

Regardless of the locations of schools－urban, suburban or rural areas, US universities and colleges all face safety challenges. How they perform in keeping campuses safe relates to the systems they have in place to "both prevent and respond to incidents when they do occur", said Boyer.

The Clery Act, a federal statute passed in 1990, requires all colleges and universities that receive federal funds to publish an annual report that discloses the school's campus crime and fire safety statistics and provides policy statements.

Data from the US Department of Education showed the number of reported criminal offenses had been decreasing in the decade after 2005 but has since risen slightly. The latest data from 2017 gathered reports from more than 6,300 institutions.

Boyer said the rise in crime might not necessarily mean that campuses are becoming less safe.

The data can "actually go up" with campuses putting a lot of effort into their response policies, procedures and programs, thus making students more willing to report, she said.

The University of Southern California, for example, reported a drastic increase in the number of sex offenses in 2018－from 34 to 118－as longtime gynecologist George Tyndall was accused of sexually abusing hundreds of students in his almost three-decade tenure.

The university, near downtown Los Angeles, was known among Chinese for two deadly crimes targeting Chinese students. In 2012, a Chinese couple, both graduate students, were shot to death in their car during an attempted robbery. Two years later, four teenagers robbed and killed another Chinese student.

"A lot of times, what campuses are focusing on now is how to re-create systems for reporting. So people are comfortable coming forward, for they are confident in the response that they are going to receive from their institution," said Boyer.

Seeking more secure environments, schools are investing more in security equipment and services. IHS Markit reported that in 2017, sales of security equipment and services to the education sector reached $2.7 billion, an 8 percent increase from two years ago.

A lack of video monitors and electronic door locks soaked up time and resources at Central Washington University in February after false reports of gunshots. In the past week, the school requested $3.28 million in state funding to upgrade its security systems, The Associated Press reported.

As the challenges that schools face change over time, the Clery Act has been updated accordingly.

An emergency notification requirement was added to the law in 2008, asking schools to alert the campus community of immediate or ongoing threats, in light of the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007－the deadliest school shooting in US history.

In 2013, the law was amended to address dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

"While a lot of people associate the Clery Act with statistics, some of the most important work of the Clery Act is in the policies that institutions must create as a response to those requirements," said Boyer.

Twelve people have now lost their lives in fire-related deaths across Australia since blazes broke out a few months ago, including three volunteer firefighters, after a three-year drought in large parts of the nation created tinder-dry conditions.

Fanned by soaring temperatures, columns of fire and smoke blackened entire towns on Monday and Tuesday, forcing thousands of residents and holidaymakers to seek shelter on beaches. Many stood in shallow water to escape the flames.

Bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares－an area larger than Japan－and new blazes are sparked almost daily by extremely hot and windy conditions and, most recently, dry lightning strikes created by the fires themselves.

Cooler conditions on Wednesday gave the country a moment to count the cost of the fires, although there were still more than 100 blazes in the state of New South Wales, or NSW, alone and thousands of firefighters on the ground.

The body of a man was found in a burned car early on Wednesday on the south coast of NSW after emergency workers began reaching the most damaged areas, and police said the death toll will rise.

"Sadly, we can report today that police have confirmed a further three deaths as a result of the fires on the South Coast," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys told reporters in Sydney.

"Police are also at Lake Conjola now, where a house has been destroyed by fire and the occupant of that home is still unaccounted for."

NSW police did not identify the missing man but said he was 72 years old and authorities have been unable to reach his home.

Police said early assessments have found nearly 200 homes have been destroyed, though they cautioned it was an early estimate.

Large-scale livestock and animal casualties are also expected across Australia's east coast, though Mogo Zoo－home to Australia's largest collection of primates, along with zebras, white rhinos, lions, tigers and giraffes－was saved.

The wildlife park was threatened by an out-of-control bushfire, though zoo keepers and firefighters managed to save all 200 animals.

In Victoria state, four people remain missing, state Premier Daniel Andrews said, after a massive blaze ripped through Gippsland－a rural region about 500 kilometers east of Melbourne.

On Tuesday morning, 4,000 people in the coastal town of Mallacoota fled to the shore as winds pushed a fire toward their homes under a sky darkened by smoke and turned blood-red by flames. Stranded residents and vacationers slept in their cars, and gas stations and surf clubs transformed into evacuation areas. Dozens of homes burned before winds changed direction late on Tuesday, sparing the rest of the town.

Mark Tregellas, a resident of Mallacoota who spent the night on a boat ramp, said only a late shift in the wind direction spared lives.

"The fire just continued to grow and then the black started to descend. I couldn't see the hand in front in my face, and it then it started to glow red and we knew the fire was coming," Tregellas said.

Meanwhile, Canberra was blanketed in thick smoke, reaching about 20 times hazardous levels, prompting health warnings.

Agencies VIA Xinhua

As part of the reform, coinciding with the arrival of a new decade, the eight countries using the eco will no longer be required to keep half their foreign reserves in France, as is the case with the CFA.

The proposed switch to the eco was revealed by Cote d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara during a visit by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to the West African nation on Dec 22.

As with the CFA franc, the eco will be pegged to the euro, guaranteeing its stability, Ouattara said.

Macron and his Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire described the reform as "historic", with Macron pledging the eco will be unveiled sometime in 2020, according to a report by France 24.

Aly Khan Satchu, a banker and consultant to blue-chip companies across Africa, said the move is more political than economic.

"Notwithstanding the headline-grabbing nature of the pronouncement, it appears that this is a baby-steps kind of reform," Satchu said. "These Francophone African countries were coming under tremendous bottom-up pressure to exert more independence from France, their erstwhile colonial master, and this announcement serves that need."

According to Satchu, the decision by the eight countries to drop the CFA franc and withdraw reserves from the French treasury serves to assert some semblance of economic independence from the former colonial ruler but will do little to change their fortunes.

"I believe that the CFA franc was actually uniquely positive," Satchu said. "It brought currency stability and a positive feedback loop of lower interest rates.

"If you look across Africa, knee-jerk economics has triggered a collapse in currency values like that of Ghana's cedi, which has fallen for 25 consecutive years. With that in mind, I think this is a poor decision economically."

Aside from Cote d'Ivoire, the countries switching to the new currency are Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Senegal. All are former French colonies, with the exception of Guinea-Bissau.

The CFA franc, created in 1945, has long been criticized as a remnant of French colonialism. It was originally pegged to the French franc and later the euro, with France playing an important role in governing the currency.

While welcoming the move during a speech in Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire, Macron said almost three-quarters of Ivorians never experienced colonialism and there is a need for them to build a new partnership of friendship with France.

Economic independence

Experts say that while the currency change may come as a symbolic expression of economic independence, countries in that part of Africa still need France for their survival.

According to Crispin Bokea, a financial inclusion and strategic planning specialist and economics lecturer at Kenya's Strathmore University, the move would not amount to full autonomy of monetary policy for the eight countries.

"The announcement can be seen as nothing more than a name change. The fact that the new currency is still pegged to the euro means that the monetary policy that was in place still persists," Bokea said.

Even though the Economic Community of West African States has urged members of the regional bloc to push on with efforts to establish a common currency, seven of its 15 members do not share the CFA franc.

Satchu said the eco, as currently defined, does not offer an economic rationale for its adoption by all members of the regional grouping.

Otiato Opali in Nairobi contributed to this story.

The protests have rocked India since Dec 12, when the government passed legislation easing the way for non-Muslim minorities from the neighboring Muslim-majority nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to gain Indian citizenship.

Combined with opposition to a proposed national register of citizens, many Indians fear the law will discriminate against minority Muslims and chip away at India's secular constitution.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, and the National Citizens' Register, or NRC, were part of the election manifesto of Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist party.

Meanwhile, Modi on Wednesday morning took to social media to extend New Year greetings to Indians.

"Have a wonderful 2020! May this year be filled with joy and prosperity. May everyone be healthy and may everyone's aspirations be fulfilled," Modi wrote on twitter. "Have a wonderful 2020!"

However, thousands of people gathered overnight into Wednesday in New Delhi in the biting cold to protest against the new law that makes religion the basis of citizenship.

Protesters had planned at least three demonstrations in the capital, including the area of Shaheen Bagh, where hundreds of residents have blocked a major highway for 18 days.

Irshad Alam, a 25-year-old resident of Shaheen Bagh, stood with his one-year-old in his arms and his wife by his side. He said he'd been participating in the protest every day.

"It's freezing here," he said, "But we are still here because we care about this movement."

More than 200 people gathered in and around a makeshift stage in the Muslim neighborhood chanting slogans and reciting poetry.

Police said they had deployed additional forces in New Delhi on New Year's Eve, with traffic curbs imposed in some parts of the capital.

Streetside poetry recitals, stand-up comedy, and music performances are also planned in the financial capital of Mumbai and the eastern city of Kolkata.

In the southern city of Hyderabad, at least two small groups of demonstrators have been organizing flash protests, to skirt police restrictions on larger gatherings.

Initially caught off guard by the scale of the protests, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, has scrambled to douse public anger, with Modi declaring that there had been no discussions on the NRC, contradicting party colleagues.

The BJP is running a campaign to say that the CAA is not discriminatory and is needed to help non-Muslim minorities persecuted in the three neighboring countries.

Agencies - Xinhua

Authorities are convinced that the fires which stranded thousands of people did not start spontaneously. Some analysts believe the intensity and timing of the blazes mark them as a new form of social protest and a continuation of the unrest that has gripped the country.

Nearly 500 fires spread through the hills of Valparaiso, destroying 245 homes in residential areas. Authorities responded by sending in firefighters, brigades from the National Forestry Corporation, or (Conaf, police and both army and navy personnel. The fires were both unusual in the region and unparalleled in their scope for the spring months of October, November and December.

Valparaiso, a UNESCO-designated city about 100 kilometers from Chile's capital, Santiago, has declared a state of emergency.

In a statement on Christmas Day, Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said evidence suggested arson was behind the fires. These were not the first fires in the region showing signs of being intentionally set, he said, adding that police and prosecutors were working together to investigate. Arson, said Blumel in Spanish, carries severe penalties.

His comments were based on a video that was allegedly filmed by a resident of one of the affected areas. The footage appeared to show a pickup truck leaving at high speed from a spot where a fire began and a small fuel container was found.

"The big question is whether they (the fires) were intentional－which is very likely－or not. Depending on the answer, the analysis varies," said Axel Buchheister, a lawyer and political analyst in Santiago.

"If the fires were intentional, they clearly seek to intensify and maintain social chaos and tension to cause the fall of the government and democracy," he said.

Protesters have been out en masse in Chile since mid-October to voice their displeasure with the country's economic and political model. Protesters calling for political reform led to Chile's biggest economic drop in a decade, with GDP in October contracting 3.4 percent.

Gonzalo Pinto, an instructor at the Valparaiso headquarters of Chile's Civil Defense, said on Friday: "Fires continue. Today we had a fire with red alert in Vina del Mar, also a small fire in Valparaiso.

"There is a 1 percent chance of spontaneous fires. All are provoked. They are either provoked by human mistakes or with the intention of creating fires," Pinto said.

The civil defense is working to support victims of the fires and to maintain order in emergency shelters at two schools.

The ultimate toll of the fires may not be known for some time.

Irregular constructions

Many of the affected constructions are irregular and are knowingly exposed to the risk of fire, said Buchheister, the lawyer.

"There is another concrete factor: urbanization does not meet the standards, and that translates into narrow streets or mere trails," he added. "In previous fires it has happened that fire trucks simply could not enter the area."

Oneidys Adriana Rondon Marquez, a director at ArqOne, a firm specializing in wooden architecture, said risk planning in Valparaiso accounts for floods and earthquakes but not fires. About two-thirds of the city's ad hoc houses fail to meet fire standards, she added.

Political analyst Alexis Lopez also believes the fires were purposely set as part of ongoing unrest.

Chile's protests were huge at first, with more than a million people taking to the streets in Santiago on Oct 25, but public support has dwindled visibly.

"The decline in public support for the protests has meant that coverage … has decreased and therefore, in the absence of such coverage, the violent actions of (some protesters) have also had to move and focus on other objectives," Lopez said.

"The number of fires makes it possible to argue that these are obviously intentional fires."

Svante Thunberg was speaking on the BBC Radio 4 news program Today. Every Christmas, a number of high-profile public figures are invited to be guest editors, with one of this year's being the 16-year-old.

He revealed that before she discovered activism, Greta had suffered from depression, stopped going to school and even, in what he called the "ultimate nightmare for a parent", stopped eating.

But being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, had given her a new clarity of vision which found its focus in the issue of climate change.

Her lone school strike protest in 2018 has become a global movement, which has seen her nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, address the United Nations and come in for personal criticism from US President Donald Trump, which she batted off lightheartedly.

"You think she's not ordinary now because she's special, and she's very famous, and all these things. But to me she's now an ordinary child－she can do all the things like other people can," said Greta's father.

"She dances around, she laughs a lot, we have a lot of fun－and she's in a very good place."

The levels of abuse she has received because of her public profile are a worry, he admitted. Previously, Greta has spoken of how she is picked on because of "my looks, my clothes, my behavior and my differences", and he said the hate generated by fake news allegations was particularly alarming but she handles it "incredibly well ... quite frankly, I don't know how she does it, but she laughs most of the time. She finds it hilarious".

Thunberg has accompanied his daughter on her global travels this year and said he thought she "really wants to get back to school" and that he looked forward to a "less intense" future.

In another part of the program, Greta interviewed veteran British wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough, who she has hailed as her inspiration, over Skype.

The 93-year-old described her impact as "astonishing". He said: "She has achieved things that many of us who have been working on for 20-odd years have failed to achieve－and that is you have aroused the world."

Earlier this year, in an exclusive interview with China Daily, Attenborough paid tribute to the difference Greta Thunberg had made to public debate.

"At the age of 16, you can't pretend you have the knowledge and science of a lifetime but you can see things very clearly, and young people do see things very clearly. It's their future so they have a better right to a powerful opinion," he said.

Ghosn's abrupt departure marks the latest dramatic twist in a year-old saga that has shaken the global auto industry, jeopardized the alliance of Nissan Motor Co Ltd and top shareholder Renault SA and cast a harsh light on Japan's judicial system.

"I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied," Ghosn, 65, said in a brief statement on Tuesday.

"I have not fled justice－I have escaped injustice and political persecution. I can now finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week."

Tokyo officials have previously said the system is not inhumane and that Ghosn, who is facing trial on financial misconduct charges he denies, has been treated like any other suspect.

It was unclear how Ghosn, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship, was able to orchestrate his departure from Japan, given that he had been under strict surveillance by authorities while out on bail and had surrendered his passports.

Lebanese broadcaster MTV cited an official source as saying that Ghosn entered Lebanon using a French passport. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said they had no immediate comment on that report.

Ghosn arrived in Beirut on a private jet from Istanbul on Monday, said people familiar with the matter.

Japanese immigration authorities had no record of Ghosn leaving the country, the country's public broadcaster NHK said. A person resembling him entered Beirut international airport under a different name, NHK reported, citing an unidentified Lebanese security official.

Ghosn's lawyers were still in possession of his three passports, one of his lawyers, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters.

Moscow, Kiev finalize deal for gas transit

Moscow and Kiev on Monday signed a final five-year agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine, after months of difficult talks but just ahead of a looming New Year deadline. Nearly 18 percent of the European Union's annual natural gas consumption comes from Russia via Ukraine, putting additional pressure on EU officials who helped to broker the deal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on his Facebook page that Ukraine will get at least $7 billion in transit payments from Russia over the next five years. He added that the deal could be prolonged by 10 more years. In a statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the agreement a "good and important signal to guarantee the security of our European gas supply".

SOUTH KOREA

Ex-minister indicted for corruption

Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted a senior aide of President Moon Jae-in on a dozen charges including bribery as they concluded a monthslong probe into a political scandal that rocked the liberal government and sparked huge protests. In a rare public response to an ongoing criminal case, Moon's office released a statement accusing prosecutors of pushing an excessive probe into former justice minister Cho Kuk and questioned whether it was politically motivated. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said Cho was charged for receiving $5,190 in bribes, in the form of scholarships his daughter received from a medical school in Busan from 2017 to 2018, when he served as Moon's senior secretary of civil affairs.

AUSTRALIA

Raging blazes trap 4,000 in seaside town

Wildfires burning across Australia's two most-populous states on Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions, destroyed many properties and caused at least two fatalities. In the southeastern town of Mallacoota, around 4,000 residents fled toward the waterside as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their homes. The town was shrouded in darkness from the smoke before turning an unnerving shade of bright red. Fire conditions worsened in Victoria and New South Wales states after oppressive heat on Monday mixed with strong winds and lightning strikes.

UNITED STATES

Attacker charged with hate crime

Federal prosecutors filed hate-crime charges on Monday against the man accused of a stabbing rampage at the New York-area home of a Hasidic rabbi during a Hanukkah celebration, saying the suspect kept journals with references to Adolf Hitler and "Nazi culture". Grafton Thomas, 37, entered no plea during his brief initial federal court hearing in White Plains, New York, and was ordered to remain in custody. Saturday's assault, which left five people wounded, prompted law enforcement to further bolster their presence in Jewish neighborhoods across the region.

GERMANY

Flights canceled as strike hits airline

Operations of low-cost airline Germanwings, subsidiary of Lufthansa, were severely restricted after flight attendants started a three-day strike action on Monday. Around 180 flights were expected to be canceled. The flight attendants' union UFO had asked its members not to show up for work between Monday and Wednesday. Eurowings, the new umbrella brand for which Germanwings is operating, expects that around 15 percent of its 1,200 flights would be affected by the strikes. The airports in Cologne-Bonn, Munich, Hamburg as well as Berlin-Tegel would be hit the worst.

The US military carried out airstrikes on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said.

At least 25 militia fighters were killed and 55 wounded.

"The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences," Abdul Mahdi's office said.

The airstrikes will force Iraq to reconsider working with the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State terror group, the Iraqi National Security Council said in a statement.

The Kataib Hezbollah said they will hold a mass funeral ceremony on Tuesday in Baghdad near the high-security Green Zone, where the US embassy is located.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it will summon the US ambassador in Baghdad over US attacks.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry also condemned the US airstrikes, calling them "bloody".

Meanwhile, Washington accused Iraqi authorities of having failed to "protect" US interests.

"We have warned the Iraqi government many times, and we've shared information with them to try to work with them to carry out their responsibility to protect us," a senior US State Department official told reporters in Washington on Monday.

He said the US military and diplomats are in the country "upon the invitation of the Iraqi government".

"So it's their responsibility and duty to protect us. And they have not taken the appropriate steps to do so," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iran denies role

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iranian-backed forces－which helped Baghdad turn the tables on IS terrorists and are integrated into the Iraqi security apparatus－for attacks on US bases in Iraq.

Iran on Monday strongly denied any role in recent deadly attacks on the US forces in Iraq. Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiee said: "This unsubstantiated US claim cannot justify the bombing and killing of people in violation of international regulations."

Rabiee said that the US attack was more proof of its "destructive" role in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, and it once again showed that "as long as the US keeps its uncalled-for presence in Iraq and Syria, peace will be unattainable for all".

Tensions have risen between Teheran and Washington－Iraq's two main allies－since May 2018 when US President Donald Trump pulled out of the world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Teheran and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

On Tuesday, dozens of angry Iraqis broke into the US embassy compound in Baghdad after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire.

Demonstrators also torched US flags in the Shiite-dominated southern cities of Basra and Najaf, and in Kirkuk north of Baghdad.

Separately, dozens of Iraqi lawmakers called on the government to review an agreement allowing the deployment of 5,200 US soldiers in the country, saying the strikes amount to a violation that renders the pact obsolete.

US Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said the strikes were a "proportionate" response for the death on Friday of the US civilian contractor in a rocket attack.

"We don't want an escalation here, we want a de-escalation," he added.

So, clear regulations on cybersecurity could help address global needs given its increasing importance for the digital era and to develop and to break down barriers for cooperation.

A resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly on Friday with the aim of creating a new international convention on cybercrime is expected to be conducive to meeting global needs.

Abdul Wahid Mattoo, the security incident response manager at Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, also known as du, said the United States is using politics against Huawei and others for economic self-interest.

And it is crucial for companies and countries to collaborate on 5G and other fields, as partnering with companies who have strong expertise can help to better promote innovation.

Du and Huawei have been working together since 2006 and are now partnering to develop a 5G network. They released a joint white paper on the value of this technology in October.

Referring to Huawei and using its network devices, Mattoo said: "I've never encountered a security-related incident which would tell (me) that something is wrong somewhere, or the information is going somewhere else.

"We haven't seen any unusual activities."

Mauro Pezze, a professor of software engineering at Schaffhausen Institute of Technology, or SIT, in Switzerland, said that governments, companies and individuals must understand what to adopt in terms of cybersecurity regulations to break barriers for cooperation.

Barriers will likely emerge if innovative technologies are overprotected, which can be unhealthy for development, said Pezze.

Serguei Beloussov, the co-founder and CEO of Acronis, an international cybersecurity firm with headquarters in Switzerland and Singapore, said he hoped less onerous regulations and fewer trade barriers would promote the development of the global economy and stimulate innovation.

He added that he did not expect concerns over cybersecurity in issues like the United States-China trade conflict to be resolved soon, since technology is rapidly evolving.

"Any area where ... the situation is not 100 percent clear, it becomes a good area for politics," said Beloussov, referring to cybersecurity concerns raised during the US-China talks.

Speaking further about cybersecurity laws, Beloussov said the same kind of regulations and laws applicable to many other industries were not in place for the cyberworld.

As for punitive measures, he said: "I generally do not think that barriers between countries are good things. I think, in the vast majority of cases, various regulations decrease the size of the global economy and make everybody in the world poorer."

The global spending on cybersecurity-related hardware, software and services will reach $151.2 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.4 percent, according to global market research firm International Data Corporation.

Meanwhile, China and the US are soon expected to clinch a "phase one" economic and trade agreement, which includes issues related to intellectual property rights and technology transfer, among others, according to Xinhua.

Palestinians were seeking in the last quarter of 2019 to hold their general elections, the first in 13 years. However, they are still waiting for Israel's permission to hold them in East Jerusalem.

As peace talks with Israel have been stalled, Palestinians received a push when the International Criminal Court, or ICC, announced plans to open an investigation into allegations of war crimes in the Palestinian territories after a preliminary investigation that lasted more than four years.

Internal split

During 2019, the two Palestinian parties, the Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, failed to end their division which began when Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

A series of Arab and Egypt-brokered understandings reached between the two rivals failed amid growing feuds between Hamas leaders and Abbas.

Failure to end the internal division has increased frustration and despair among the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where no official face-to-face meetings were held except a meeting in Moscow on Feb 11, which included not only the two rivals but leaders of all Palestinian factions.

The Moscow meeting led to no result, except a photo opportunity.

A unity government headed by the independent academic Rami Hamdallah, formed under the reconciliation agreements reached in April 2014, resigned on Jan 29, and was succeeded by a new one headed by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Ishtaye.

But the formation of a new government sparked outrage among Palestinian factions who said that this would deepen the internal division.

On Sept 23, eight Palestinian factions presented an initiative to achieve unity and end division, but it did not gain the attention of the Palestinian officials.

Presidential poll

On Sept 26, Abbas announced in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he would call for legislative elections to be followed by presidential elections in the Palestinian territories.

He designated Hana Nasser, president of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission, to start contacts and dialogue with Hamas and other political powers in the Palestinian territories. On Nov 27, Hamas officially announced that it accepted holding the elections.

However, issuing a presidential decree that sets a date for holding the elections was stuck due to Israel's refusal to hold the elections in East Jerusalem.

Abbas' insistence on holding the Palestinian elections in East Jerusalem aimed to challenge US President Donald Trump, who announced in late 2017 that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

No breakthrough

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have remained stalled since 2014 following a nine-month US sponsorship that ended without any breakthrough due to deep differences on the settlements, Jerusalem and the borders of the Palestinian state.

On July 25, Abbas told a Palestinian leadership meeting held in Ramallah that he decided to stop sticking with the agreements signed with Israel in response to the mass destruction of Palestinian homes in southwest of Jerusalem.

During 2019, Palestinians complained about the increase in Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. At the same time, 252 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during violent clashes with Israeli security forces.

Severed US ties

Political ties between Palestine and the United States remained severed since the latter declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel at the end of 2017 and moved the US embassy to the city in May 2018.

Palestinians also insisted on rejecting the US Middle East plan, better known as "Deal of the Century", and boycotted the forum hosted by the US in Bahrain in June to roll out the economic part of the deal.

Palestinian ties with the US further worsened after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in November that Israeli settlements, built on the Palestinian lands, didn't violate international laws.

Xinhua

The mild spell, which will likely start on New Year's Eve when a tropical plume blows in from the Atlantic, the Daily Mail newspaper predicts, be the warmest for the time of year since 1841.

Meteorologists say the coming days could see 16 C reached, which will make the UK warmer than Corfu in Greece.

The Independent newspaper says the warm weather will continue well into January, with The Met Office, the nation's official weather forecaster, expecting the best of it to be found in Wales.

The unusually warm temperatures will be around 9 C higher than is usual for the time of year, Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge added.

"North Wales and Northeast Scotland will see the mildest temperatures in the coming days, but even London's 11C will be 3 C above average."

In contrast, Athens in Greece will see 9 C while Rome will reach 11 C.

But, as is so often the case with the UK's turbulent weather, parts of the UK will first have to endure more of the torrential rain that has hammered the country for weeks and which has caused widespread flooding.

The Met Office predicts at least 30 locations in the south could be hit by flooding before the warm weather settles in, and the Environment Agency has issued 67 severe weather warnings in connection with the heavy rain. Counties set to be hit by flooding include Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, and Wiltshire, and the government's flood information service says heavy rain could disrupt travel and cause property damage.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "The reason for the settled weather (is) high pressure over Europe－that's dominating our picture. For most it's going to stay dry but cloudy and rather mild... but toward northwestern parts of the UK there will be a series of fronts coming through, bringing wet and windy weather with them."

Similarly mild weather meant Moscow in Russia saw its warmest Christmas Eve on record, with the mercury hitting 6 C. The Russian capital has experienced its warmest December since 1886 and Roman Vilfand, the head of Russia's weather forecasting agency, recently said 2019 was Russia's warmest year on record.

The unusually mild weather in Europe comes as scientists announced ice sheets in the Antarctic have melted far faster than predicted and a warm patch of water has been identified off New Zealand.

On Sunday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the violence, which occurred late Saturday at the home of a Hasidic rabbi in Monsey, New York, an act of "domestic terrorism."

Cuomo on Sunday met with victims who had been attending the holiday celebration at the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg.

"This is terrorism, it is domestic terrorism," Cuomo told reporters. "These are people who intend to create mass harm, mass violence, generate fear based on race, color, creed."

"We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism," US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter.

The suspect in the stabbings, Grafton Thomas, 38, from Greenwood Lake, New York, was arrested in Manhattan. Authorities said Thomas had blood from the victims on his clothing, and his car smelled of bleach when he was apprehended.

Thomas was arraigned Sunday on five counts of attempted murder and ordered held on $5 million bail, Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht said on Twitter. Thomas is due back in court Friday.

Josef Gluck, who was attending the celebrations, told Agence France-Presse that he saw the suspect stab multiple people as onlookers threw a coat rack, table and chair in his path and chased him out of the home.

"He was a big husky guy with a scarf over his face and nose," Gluck said. "Only saw his forehead and eyes. He came in wielding a big knife, sword, machete ... and he started hitting people right and left."

One witness who was at the rabbi's home said he began praying for his life when he saw the assailant remove a large knife from a case.

"It was about the size of a broomstick," Aron Kohn told The New York Times.

"People inside fought to stop him," Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, told the Times. "It was very heroic of them. They didn't just let this happen－they tried to defend themselves."

Thomas then tried to enter Congregation Netzach Yisrael-Kosson, a synagogue next door, but the entrance was barricaded by people who had fled the house, according to media reports.

Gluck said he ran after the car and memorized the license plate number.

Four of the victims, reportedly including the son of Rabbi Rottenberg, were hospitalized and later released. The fifth victim, an elderly man, was in critical condition.

Monsey is a section of Ramapo with a large Orthodox Jewish population. The area in Rockland County, the population of which is more than 30 percent Jewish, is about 30 miles from New York City.

Taleea Collins, a family friend of Thomas', told reporters Sunday that the suspect had struggled with mental illness for two decades and had sought help.

"Grafton is not a terrorist," Collins said. "He is a man who has mental illness in America, and the systems that have not served him well."

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the 2nd century BC victory of Judah Maccabee and his followers in a revolt against armies of the Seleucid Empire.

In November, a man in Monsey was stabbed multiple times while walking to a synagogue, according to media reports.

Saturday's violence was at least the 10th anti-Semitic incident in the New York and New Jersey area in a week, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Other recent attacks in the past month included the assault of a 65-year-old man who was punched and kicked by an assailant yelling an anti-Semitic slur in Manhattan on Monday, and attacks on two other men in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Those incidents came after six people were killed during a shooting rampage at a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, New Jersey, earlier this month. The two suspects in the attack were killed in a shootout with police and were believed to have fatally shot a Jersey City police detective before driving to the kosher store.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned "recent displays of anti-Semitism including the vicious attack at the home of a rabbi in Monsey", at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting.

Reuters contributed to this story.

9 missing as typhoon death toll rises to 47

The official death toll from Typhoon Phanfone has risen to 47 and is likely to keep rising as nine more people are reported missing, the government said on Monday. Police and local officials said most of the deaths were due to drowning, falling trees and accidental electrocution. Typhoon Phanfone, which made landfall on Tuesday afternoon in Eastern Samar Province, left a trail of destruction as it barreled through towns and villages across the central Philippines and parts of Mindanao.

URUGUAY

4 arrested in $1b-plus cocaine seizure

Four people were arrested for possible ties to the more than $1 billion worth of cocaine seized in recent days in Uruguay, the largest drug bust in the history of the South American country. The arrests took place on Saturday, news outlets reported. Authorities found 5.9 tons of cocaine, 4.4 tons of which was packed into cargo containers in the coastal port of Montevideo, said Attorney General Enrique Rodriguez. He did not say where the drugs were destined. Multiple news outlets reported it was being sent to Africa. The men accused of exporting the drug operate a soybean business, the Uruguayan customs agency said on Friday.

AUSTRALIA

Heatwave reignites bushfire crisis

Extreme weather reignited the bushfire crisis across Australia on Monday, with emergency warnings in four states as soaring temperatures and strong winds fanned infernos. Wind gusts of above 100 km/h battered southeastern Australia while temperatures over 40 C made firefighters' task extremely difficult. Around 30,000 people in the Victoria State region of East Gippsland were told to evacuate as out-of-control fires threatened communities there. Popular with hikers, campers and families, especially during the Christmas holiday period, the Gippsland Valley area is not affected by bushfires spread more than 15,000 square kilometers.

ITALY

Avalanche kills skier, 4th fatality in 24 hours

An avalanche has killed a skier in the Dolomite Mountains, the fourth avalanche fatality in the Italian Alps in 24 hours. Italian state TV said the skier was among four people struck by an avalanche near a mountain refuge Sunday morning. A day earlier, a wall of snow crashed into a group of German skiers in the Senales Valley of Bolzano Province, killing two 7-year-old girls and the mother of one of them. Prosecutors say they are investigating whether that slope should have been closed to the public that day, given a high risk of avalanches. Strong winds have raised the danger of avalanches in Italian Alpine ski areas, which are crowded with vacationers during the holidays.

ANTARCTICA

First to row across Drake Passage

As freezing water thrashed their rowboat in some of the most treacherous waters in the world, six men fought for 13 days to make history, becoming the first people to traverse the infamous Drake Passage by nothing other than sheer manpower. They dodged icebergs, held their breaths as giant whales breached near their small boat and rode building-sized waves while rowing 24 hours a day toward Antarctica. The team of men from four countries finished crossing the Drake Passage on Wednesday just under two weeks after pushing off from the southern tip of South America. Besides the threat to their lives, the men labored under grueling conditions. Their 9-meter rowboat had to be in constant motion to avoid capsizing. That meant three men would row for 90 minutes while the other three rested while cold and wet.

Xinhua

Human rights groups and the country's data protection authority have expressed concern about users' privacy being compromised, with national data watchdog the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes, known as CNIL, saying that while it recognized the government's aims were legitimate, personal freedom could be at risk.

But Minister of Public Action and Accounts Gerald Darmanin welcomed the news on Twitter, saying: "The constitutional court has just ruled that this experiment conforms to the constitution ... one more tool to fight fraud!"

He also told Le Figaro newspaper: "If you say you're not a fiscal resident in France and you keep posting pictures on Instagram from France, there might be an issue."

Sites such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as online selling platforms such as eBay, could be monitored for clues about additional sources of income.

"I'd like to point out that there is nothing extraordinary here, other countries are already doing it, such as the United States or Britain since 2010 for example," Darmanin told Reuters.

When the changes were first proposed, CNIL said that such a far-reaching data management operation could "significantly change individuals' behavior online, where they might not feel able to express themselves freely on the platforms in question".

The court approved the legislation as part of a wider range of tax law changes by the French government, which is carrying out a three-year experiment in increased online monitoring, but has made it subject to certain limitations.

Anything that is password-protected is off limits to the authorities, and any information gathered can only be used in relation to the person who has shared it.

But free speech campaigners are still far from satisfied, saying the lack of precision regarding the move could be the start of something more far-reaching.

"An experiment without any goals is a joke," said Arthur Messaud, from French internet freedom advocacy group La Quadrature du Net.

"We're putting the cat among the pigeons by allowing the generalized monitoring of the internet for everything and anything."

The Pentagon said on Sunday it targeted weapons caches or command and control facilities linked to the Shiite Kata'ib Hezbollah group, or KH, in western Iraq, as well as eastern Syria, in response to a barrage of 30 or more rockets fired on Friday.

According to local media, at least 25 fighters were killed and at least 55 wounded following US strikes in Iraq.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "We will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy."

Four US service members and Iraqi security forces were also wounded in Friday's attack at the K1 Iraqi military base in Kirkuk, an oil-rich region north of Baghdad.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Sunday the airstrikes were successful, and he did not rule out further action to "deter further bad behavior from militia groups or from Iran".

Esper also said that he and Pompeo had traveled to Florida, where US President Donald Trump has been spending the Christmas holidays, to brief him on the latest Middle East events.

"KH has a strong linkage with Iran's Quds Force and has repeatedly received lethal aid and other support from Iran that it has used to attack" coalition forces, the Pentagon said earlier, referring to the external arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

A few hours later, four rockets exploded near a base housing US troops close to Iraq's capital without wounding anyone, an Iraqi security official told Agence France-Presse.

The military spokesman for Iraq's outgoing Prime Minister Abel Abdel Mahdi decried "a violation of Iraqi sovereignty".

Another powerful pro-Iran faction, the Assaib Ahl al-Haq paramilitary group－whose leaders were recently hit with US sanctions－called for the US to withdraw from Iraq.

"The American military presence has become a burden for the Iraqi state and a source of threat against our forces," it said in a statement.

"It is therefore imperative for all of us to do everything to expel them by all legitimate means."

Soared tensions with Iran

US-Iran tensions have soared since Washington pulled out of a 2015 landmark nuclear agreement with Teheran last year and imposed crippling sanctions.

Iraq－which has close relations with both the US and Iran－risks being caught in the middle.

More than 5,000 US troops were deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in their battles against Islamic State militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces.

In Iraq's neighbor Syria, Iran backs the government in an eight-year civil war.

Friday's attack on the K1 base in Kirkuk, Iraq, involved a direct hit on an ammunition depot that set off secondary explosions. Four more rockets were found in their tubes in a truck at the launch point, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Federal security forces, Shiite militia units and Islamic State sleeper cells all have a presence in Kirkuk Province, which is claimed by both Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan Region and federal authorities.

Friday's attack and the US retaliation came as Iraq is gripped by its biggest anti-government street protests since the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Protesters, many of whom grew up in the post-Saddam era, have vented their anger at a government they consider inept and corrupt.

Protest related violence has claimed about 460 lives, most of them demonstrators, and left some 25,000 people wounded, but rallies and sit-ins have continued.

Xinhua

Hisham AbuBakr Metwally, an economics researcher with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry, said that while African countries are striving to catch up on the industrialization front, such joint economic zones with China give them opportunities to attract investment as well as to learn about best practices when it comes to China's economic development.

"Such industrial zones under the BRI support growth in Africa and help the continent achieve employment goals," he said.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that Chinese companies invested $34 billion in overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in BRI related countries, and about 4,500 Chinese companies have established operations in the zones. And they have paid $2.8 billion as taxes and fees to local governments and created more than 300,000 jobs for locals.

On the Africa continent, there are currently 25 Chinese-built industrial zones, which have created more than 40,000 jobs for locals and paid nearly $1.1 billion of taxes to local governments, Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce said at a news conference in June. And he said that China is encouraging the construction of more industrial zones in Africa.

These industrial zones are defined by the Ministry of Commerce as industrial parks that are independent legal entities established overseas by Chinese companies. They have complete infrastructure, clear industrial development strategies, and provide public services to companies in it.

One of the flagship projects is the Chinese-built Eastern Industry Zone, which is 30 kilometers from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It is also Ethiopia's only overseas industrial zone at the national level.

Founded in 2007, the zone has 83 manufacturers and has created over 10,000 jobs for locals. The companies there are mainly engaged in sectors like cement, footwear, automobile assembly, and textiles& garments, according to its website.

Another model for development is the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, which is located in a desert 50 kilometers south of the seaport city Suez and 120 kilometers east of Egypt's capital Cairo.

The zone has 84 enterprises, including 42 manufacturing companies, and has attracted more than $1 billion investment. It has also generated about $58.2 million in taxes, according to the Egypt-TEDA SEZone (Suez Canal Economic Zone) Development Co.

The industrial park hosts companies involved in manufacturing, logistics, technology development, commerce, and finance.

Metwally said that this industrial zone has not only attracted Chinese companies, but also investments from other countries. For example, Russia has been attracted to invest in the same region with a big industrial zone.

"The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is a breakthrough and offers a model for Egypt's industrialization," he said.

Zhang Jianping, the director-general of the Institute of West Asia and Africa at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said that the BRI is a huge platform for global cooperation and development under which China and Africa can work together to realize the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Offering a model

Zhang said that the building of industrial parks under the BRI is critical to Africa's development. The African countries' infrastructure is relatively poor, and their development capacity is relatively weak. So, if they try to realize industrialization project by project, it will be slow.

"But industrial parks could quickly pass China's experiences to African countries, helping them bring industries together, improve efficiency and reduce risk amid development," he said.

Moreover, industrial parks can help improve infrastructure, offer jobs and vocational training to local workers, and generate taxes for local governments.

Jiang Hao, a partner at global consultancy Roland Berger, said that with the BRI, an increasing number of Chinese companies were willing to invest overseas.

For overseas companies that want to invest in Africa, these industrial parks can help them understand the destination countries' business environment, get better access to local recourses, simplify the examining and approving formalities and reduce legal risks.

He also said that these parks could speed up building of African countries' industrial capacity.

"For example, if a vehicle manufacturing factory comes up in an industrial park in Africa, downstream enterprises, including auto parts makers, are very likely to follow suit. Thus, an African country could rapidly build up a complete supply chain for the auto industry," he said.

Metwally said that many African countries attached great importance to the BRI as they want to get involved in mega-infrastructure projects financed and implemented by China, as these projects have a positive impact on boosting economies and contributing to growth."

 

 

 

According to Ukraine's Justice Minister Denis Malyuska, the signing process "has started" and "is not yet finished". He also posted a photo of the possible location of the document-signing ceremony on his Facebook page.

Talks on the details of final text started on Thursday in Vienna, Austria, and CEOs of Russia's Gazprom and Ukrainian companies, as well as senior ministry officials from both countries joined the talks on Sunday, according to a Gazprom spokesman.

On Dec 20, Moscow and Kiev announced that a new natural gas transit contract had been agreed upon for the term of five years.

Under this agreement, Gazprom, Russia's state-owned energy company, is bound to pay around $2.9 billion to Naftogaz, Ukraine's national oil and gas company, by the end of 2019.

Gazprom reported that the amount had been paid to Naftogaz on Dec 27.

Kozak described cooperating with Ukraine in the matter of gas transit was like "a choice between bad and worse" during an interview with Russian Rossiya-1 television channel on Sunday.

"The sum of $2.9 billion was a hard decision for Gazprom, for our country," said Kozak. "But we could have lost a bigger, much bigger sum."

The spokesman said Gazprom is about to sign an interconnection agreement with Ukraine's gas transmission systems operator, as well as a transit agreement with Naftogaz.

Under the agreement, a minimum of 65 billion cubic meters of gas will be transported from Russia in 2020 and at least 40 billion cubic meters annually from 2021 to 2024.

However, the Ukrainian side is not so optimistic about Sunday's discussion.

Naftogaz head Andrei Kobolev told media that all parties have so far been unable to agree on the texts of any gas transit agreements.

During the talks, three documents are being discussed, Kobolev revealed.

"In the past few days, our team worked with the Russians to agree on texts of treaties for implementation of the protocol signed in Minsk (capital of Belarus). It is clear that we are bargaining about every comma," he said.

Ukraine hasn't bought Russian gas directly since 2015, a year after a referendum in Crimea－then part of Ukraine－endorsed the region's integration into Russia. The vote was held after separatist conflicts broke out in the easternmost regions of Ukraine: Luhansk and Donetsk.

In December, Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement in principle on a new gas transit contract through the mediation of the European Union and Germany.

The European Union now imports nearly 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia. As the most important transit country of Russian gas, Ukraine earns billions of US dollars of transit fees every year.

"In the past few days, some media have been releasing untrue reports about a cease-fire.... The fact is that, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no cease-fire plans," the Taliban said in a statement.

But according to officials from the Taliban, the insurgent group's ruling council agreed on Sunday to a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan, providing a window in which a peace agreement with the United States can be signed. The council didn't say when it would begin.

A cease-fire, which had been demanded by Washington before any peace agreement could be signed, would allow the US to bring home its troops from Afghanistan and end Washington's longest war in history.

There was no immediate response from Washington.

The US wants any deal to include a promise from the Taliban that Afghanistan would not be used as a base by terrorist groups. The US currently has an estimated 12,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was expected to approve the cease-fire decision. The duration of the cease-fire and when it would begin has was not been specified.

Four members of the Taliban negotiating team met for a week with the ruling council before they agreed on the brief cease-fire. The negotiating team returned Sunday to Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain their political office and where US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been holding peace talks with the religious militia since September, 2018.

Talks were suspended in September when both sides seemed on the verge of signing a peace pact. However, a surge in violence in the capital Kabul resulted in the killing of a US soldier, prompting US President Donald Trump to declare the deal "dead". Talks resumed after Trump made a surprise visit to Afghanistan at the end of November announcing the Taliban were ready to talk and agree to a reduction in violence.

Khalilzad returned to Doha at the beginning of December. It was then that he proposed a temporary halt to hostilities to pave the way to an agreement being signed, according to Taliban officials.

Taliban officials familiar with the negotiations spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media outlets.

Key pillar

A key pillar of the agreement, which the US and the Taliban have been hammering out for more than a year, is direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgents.

Those intra-Afghan talks were expected to be held within two weeks of the signing of a US-Taliban peace deal. They will decide what a post-war Afghanistan will look like.

The first item on the agenda is expected to address how to implement a cease-fire between the Taliban and Afghanistan's National Security Forces. The negotiations, however, were expected to be prickly and will cover a variety of thorny issues, including rights of women, free speech, and changes to the country's constitution.

The intra-Afghan talks would also lay out the fate of tens of thousands of Taliban fighters and the heavily armed militias belonging to Afghan warlords. Those warlords have amassed wealth and power since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 by the US-led coalition shortly after Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida carried out the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US. The Taliban had harbored bin Laden, although there was no indication they were aware of al-Qaida's plans to attack the US.

Even as the Taliban leaders have been talking about ceasing hostilities, Taliban insurgents carried out an attack in northern Afghanistan on Sunday that killed at least 17 local militiamen.

The attack apparently targeted a local militia commander who escaped unharmed, said Jawad Hajri, a spokesman for the governor of Takhar Province, where the attack took place late Saturday.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban frequently target Afghan National Security Forces and US forces, as well as government officials. But scores of Afghan civilians also have been killed in the cross-fire or by roadside bombs planted by militants. The United Nations has called on all sides in the conflict to reduce civilian casualties. The world body said increased US airstrikes and ground operations by Afghan forces, as well as relentless Taliban attacks, have contributed to an increase in civilian casualties.

Agencies

At the second-day session of the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, or WPK, on Sunday, the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un analyzed the problems arising in the overall building of the state, including state management and economic construction.

Kim put forward in detail the orientation of the struggle for bringing about a decisive turn in the development of the country's economy and people's standards of living, the report said.

Kim "presented the tasks for urgently correcting the grave situation in the major industrial sectors of the national economy", the report added.

He also emphasized the need "to take positive and offensive measures for fully ensuring the sovereignty and security of the country as required by the present situation", KCNA said.

KCNA said the plenary meeting "goes on", suggesting it will be a multiple-day meeting.

The plenary meeting came a week after a meeting of the WPK's Central Military Commission that discussed "important organizational and political measures and military steps to bolster" the armed forces.

'New path'

Kim, who has said Pyongyang would pursue a "new path" if Washington persists with sanctions and pressure, is expected to announce major policy changes during his New Year's address on Wednesday.

The KCNA report did not describe any decisions made at the meeting or mention any specific remarks by Kim about the United States.

Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of Kim, wearing a white dress shirt and horn-rimmed glasses, speaking from a podium as hundreds of government and military officials jotted down his comments.

Lee Sang-min, a spokesman for the Republic of Korea's Unification Ministry, said Seoul is closely watching the DPRK meeting, but he didn't speculate on what Kim's call for active and offensive security measures could have meant.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at ROK's private Sejong Institute, said it was the first time under Kim's rule that a plenary meeting of the party's Central Committee continued for more than a day.

Kim has met Trump three times in two years of high-stakes summitry, but the diplomacy has progressed little beyond their vague aspirational goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. At their last meeting in June, they agreed to resume talks. A working-level meeting in Sweden in October broke down with the DPRK blaming its US counterparts for maintaining an "old stance and attitude".

Xinhua - AP

"We have been informed about the penalty and we respect the decision," a spokesperson from Toyota in Japan told China Daily in a telephone interview on Monday, but he refused to make further comments.

On Friday, China's State Administration for Market Regulation published a document on its website that said Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co Ltd was fined for price-fixing on its premium Lexus cars in eastern China's Jiangsu province.

According to the document, Toyota breached the law between 2015 and 2018 by setting a minimum resale price for Lexus cars in several cities in Jiangsu, depriving dealers of pricing autonomy and harming competition.

It also said Toyota took a number of measures to impose price controls, such as cutting supplies to dealers selling at lower prices for certain models.

In conclusion, the administration said the setting of a minimum price "had a relatively strong binding effect and deprived sellers of the right to set prices", and thus a fine was decided on Dec 6 due to "the interests of consumers being undermined".

Toyota is the seventh automaker fined for price fixing since China's Anti-Monopoly Law came into effect in 2008. In June, Ford Motor's joint venture with Chang'an Automobile Group was fined 162.8 million yuan for violating anti-monopoly laws.

"The anti-monopoly law is rather new in China and is barely used compared to other countries and that resulted in the recurring problem of price fixing," said Jin Jianmin, a senior fellow at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo.

Jin said a better way to solve the problem is for China to follow the European Union's example where violating automakers are fined based on global sales, not just on sales in the region where violations took place.

"In Toyota's case, the fine was 2 percent of Toyota's China unit's sales in 2016." Jin added.

China's auto sales declined in 2019, but Lexus has fared well, with sales in the first 11 months of 2019 at 180,200 vehicles, a 21 percent jump from a year earlier.

The company's pathogen detection platform allows agricultural water, food and environmental samples to be tested on-site in about 90 minutes. Conventional testing, which requires sending tests to a lab, usually takes a few days for results.

"For example, if you're an apple grower, apples go through the processing facility where they're washed and sorted, and that's where the risk for a food-borne pathogen comes in," said Mark Byrne, founder and CEO of ProteoSense.

The company's technology can help food manufacturers and processors comply with increasing food-safety requirements by quickly identifying pathogens rather than acting after a contamination problem or recall has occurred, Byrne said.

He said his company is looking for partnerships that have customer relationships in China.

The fast-growing middle class in China is driving food-safety improvements in the country, and its vast market provides big opportunities for ag-food tech companies.

US startups are going to China not just for that market, said Jonathan Hua, an early-stage investor at Scrum Ventures in Silicon Valley.

"China is great with building hardware very quickly and at a very low price. And China has a great infrastructure in building IoT, hardware solutions and automation," he said.

Many agriculture startups manufacturing products in the United States, such as robots that automate the harvesting process, are turning to China for sourcing components and manufacturing, Hua said.

Tensorfield Agriculture, a Silicon Valley-based startup, has chosen Shenzhen to build its nonherbicide weeding robot for "the fastest and most capable production timelines for prototyping", according to company CEO Xiong Chang.

The company is participating in a program of the Shenzhen-based HAX Accelerator, which aims to bring a prototype to production in the hardware space.

"China also has a lot of investment funding. And the government is very supportive of technological initiatives and bringing agriculture technologies from Silicon Valley to China," said Hua.

The city of Nanjing is building a giant agriculture innovation zone, and there are several initiatives popping up around China, all being backed by the government, he said.

"Collaborations like this are very critical, because together we'll be able to get there faster," said Hua. "I think American startups certainly should be going to China to exploit the opportunities to get funding or partnerships."

In the ag-tech space, what most of the accelerators are trying to do is to move the startups to the next stage of investment and then an exit through acquisition.

But Aaron Magenheim, founder of AgTech Insight, a Salinas, California-based ag-tech consultancy, said he wants to build a Chinese company and stay there for a long time.

"I'm not trying to have a quick exit to pay off a venture capitalist," said Magenheim.

"We can either bring a technology from Silicon Valley to China, or we can make the concepts work for China and build it there."

For the past five years, Magenheim has been working to build relationships and networks in China. He said he doesn't believe in "patent infringement very much anymore".

"It used to be important, but now the most important thing is 'time to market' and market share－getting a decent product out to the masses and having big adoption rates," he said.

"So if you look at it in that way, a US company should not be worried about a Chinese company taking their idea and running with it," he said.

Zhang Ming, the head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, made the comment in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, according to a transcript provided by the Chinese mission.

Zhang, a former vice-foreign minister, said that he is not saying that the EU must accept or reject a certain company from a certain country. "But it is important for the EU to keep to the very fundamental principles of multilateralism, free trade and market economy. It's important for them to stand by the principles of openness, fairness, justice and non-discrimination," he said.

He emphasized that these are principles that the EU has long held dear to its heart. "So I hope on these matters of principle, the EU would not be ambivalent but be unequivocal. Otherwise there will be serious market distortions," he said.

"That will bring chaos to the world," he warned, citing the US allegation that European cars pose national security threats.

US President Donald Trump enraged European leaders in May by declaring European car imports a national security threat. He also threatened to slap on punitive tariffs.

The US government has also intimidated EU member states, warning that if they include Huawei in their 5G networks, they will face consequences from the US, such as the termination of intelligence sharing.

EU member states are expected to publish their final recommendations for security checks regarding 5G suppliers in January. Huawei, which has a major presence in the European telecom market, is a global leader in 5G technology.

Zhang described 5G technology as a result of global innovation and cooperation that could deliver benefits to all.

He warned against the tendency of politicizing cybersecurity, saying that some people believe that any country or its enterprise of a different social system or value system is suspect and must be restricted, brought down and boycotted.

He said such a tendency is not in line with the principle long held by the EU, citing Microsoft founder Bill Gates' recent comment that if Americans are skeptical about Huawei, then there is a reason for the Chinese to suspect the US administration of manipulating an engine of a Boeing aircraft.

In an article on the Politico website earlier this month, Abraham Liu, Huawei's chief representative to the EU Institutions, said Huawei wants to help Europe achieve technological leadership while enabling it to achieve its digital sovereignty by safeguarding data protection and privacy rights and improving cybersecurity.

He described Europe as the natural 5G leader with its most advanced operators and a world-leading industrial base. "This, married with the best 5G innovators－with Huawei as a full partner－means that Europe can shape the world's 5G landscape," he said.

Liu believes 5G will contribute to achieving the Green Deal rolled out by the new European Commission that aims to make EU the first carbon neutral continent by 2050.

Fifth plenary session of WPK convenes

The ruling Workers' Party of Korea in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea opened the fifth plenary session of its central committee on Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency reported. The session was intended to lay out a new "transparent anti-imperialist independent stand" for the country in the face of stalled talks with the United States, the news agency said. The meeting was held "in order to overcome the manifold and harsh trials and difficulties and further accelerate the development of the revolution with a transparent anti-imperialist independent stand and firm will", the report said.

AUSTRALIA

Fireworks display to go ahead despite protest

A petition to cancel Sydney's famous New Year's Eve fireworks and use the money to fight bushfires ringing the city has topped 260,000 signatures, but officials say the show will go on. Sydney is spending A$6.5 million ($4.5 million) on this year's fireworks display－funds that the Change.org petition argues would be better spent on supporting volunteer firefighters and farmers suffering through a brutal monthslong drought. The massive fireworks display "may traumatize some people", the petition says.

Early last week, a Chinese consortium emerged as the sole bidder and winner of a contract on Dec 23 to build a regional rapid transit system. Known as Regiotram of the West, the system will connect Bogota with four outlying cities.

"The project will not only become a model of a suburban train, the first commuter train of the country, it will become a reference for cities like Cali, Barranquilla and Medellin to present their own projects," said Juan Camilo Ostos, vice minister of transport.

"Regiotram is an example of how things can be done. It has been a process of much technical thoroughness and it will be a model for other cities interested in commuter trains," he said. The plan is for this regional rapid transit to be completed by 2024 and be capable of moving about 40 million passengers per year.

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, or CCECC, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation, was the sole bidder for the project. The trains will run completely on electricity across 39.6 kilometers and 17 stations spread through four towns and Bogota.

"Regiotram of the West is the most important mobility project of the country of the past few years," Jorge Rey, governor of Cundinamarca said at a news conference earlier.

The timing is somewhat complicated for the launch of a new project. Colombia has been undergoing a period of civil unrest and protests since Nov 21, affecting the retail sector and investments in the Latin American country.

"The fact that only one bidder has submitted a proposal is a product of the situation that the country is going through," said Ostos.

"China has extensive infrastructure experience. In projects of these characteristics, they have a competitive advantage over other market players, since they have the entire financing chain," he said.

He said the contractor will have to assume the risks of a currency that fluctuated a lot during the protests.

Jing Liu, CCECC's agent in Colombia and the company's representative in the bidding process, declined to comment on the bid or the bidding process before the contract is signed on Jan 8.

Under the project, CCECC will build the railway and system of stations and related infrastructure at a cost of $543 million. It will cost Colombia another $343 million for CCECC to operate the system for 22 years.

" (The Chinese) have been successful in infrastructure projects all around the world. They have done them in India, the Middle East, Europe, here in Latin America, everywhere," said Juvenal Infante, director of the Centre of Studies of Asia-Pacific and director of an educational travel program to China at Sergio Arboleda University in Bogota.

Somali government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar Omar confirmed the death toll from the suicide bomb attack, which occurred at a checkpoint on Afgoye road on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

The Somali government "strongly condemns this despicable act of terrorism", said Omar, who added that a commission appointed by Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire visited the hospitals treating those injured.

Most of those killed were university students returning to class and police officers, said Somalia's police chief General Abdi Hassan Hijar. He said the vehicle detonated after police at the checkpoint blocked it from proceeding into the city.

Eyewitnesses said they had seen body parts scattered on the road. "I have seen people who lost their limbs screaming, it was a terrifying scene," Lul Qali, an eyewitness, said.

An unnamed police officer at the scene said the huge blast was targeted at a tax office on the road. "As officials were checking cars passing the road, a car suddenly exploded, causing casualties and damage."

Eyewitnesses said that they had heard a heavy blast near a taxation office during the morning rush hour.

"I was in a rickshaw and I heard a heavy blast, then I saw black smoke up in the air," said Jibril Aden, a witness. "All three people onboard a rickshaw right in front of us were killed in the blast. People panicked and ran to different directions for safety."

It is reported that some Turkish engineers involved in the construction of a road into the city were present at the time of the blast, and Turkey has confirmed the deaths of two of its nationals.

Mogadishu Mayor Omar Mohamud Filish told a news conference that the truck involved in the attack blew up on a busy road near the checkpoint where vehicles waited for a security check.

At least 15 students from Banadir University who were traveling in a minivan were also killed, according to multiple sources.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo sent his condolences to those killed and wished the injured a quick recovery. He said terrorists targeted innocent children, mothers and fathers who were going about their activities.

"Today is a sad day that shows how terrorism has targeted our people. I share our grief with the families," he said in a statement after the attack.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack, noting that perpetrators of this horrendous crime must be brought to justice, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Guterres reiterated the full commitment of the UN to support the people and government of Somalia in their pursuit of peace and development, while expressing his deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured, the statement said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Somalia since a truck bombing in October 2017 in Mogadishu, which left at least 276 people dead and more than 300 others injured.

"The Mediterranean Rim is somehow a new field for the academic world to explore, which means more efforts should be ramped up," said Yang Fuchang, former deputy foreign minister of China at the inauguration ceremony on Saturday in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean Rim, or ISMR, is the first of its kind in China.

Nearly 50 scholars from China and the Mediterranean region have been appointed to be advisers and researchers at the institute.

"Connectivity emerges as one of the key concepts of the 21st century and the region around the Mediterranean Sea is playing a significant role in global economy, peace and security," Doga Olmez, vice consul with the Consulate General of Republic of Turkey in Shanghai, said at the institute's inauguration ceremony.

Ma Xiaolin, a professor of Zhejiang International Studies University and director of the new institute, said ISMR will serve as a think tank to help cultivate more professionals and lead China's research into the Mediterranean region.

The Mediterranean region refers to the lands circling the Mediterranean Sea. The 21 countries belong to the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The sea is a pivotal point along the ancient Silk Road and has bred colorful cultures. The region is considered one of the cradles of the world's civilizations due to its long history and profound culture.

"The increasing economic exchanges and cooperation between China and Europe are offering the region new opportunities to enhance its profile in international trade," Olmez noted.

She said her country will work closely with China under the auspices of the Belt and Road Initiative and explore effective means to connect countries around the sea to keep it a symbol of creativity and vitality.

Qin Jirong contributed to this story.

The tunnel project is the first in which a Chinese company has been involved in building a local metro system using Chinese equipment and technology.

Now scheduled to be completed in 2023, the Large Circle line will include 31 stations with a total railway length of 12.5 kilometers. "We will remain working in the project after the tunnels are drilled through," said Xue Liqiang, general manager of CRCC Moscow metro project.

The CRCC began drilling the 4.6-km stretch of tunnel in August 2017 on the Large Circle line in Moscow, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020, and the first tunnel was completed in early April.

When construction started in 2010 as an extension of the Moscow Metro system, the Large Circle line was supposed to be completed by 2021. However, the completion date had been postponed until the end of 2023.

"Our technologies can be applied to a wide range of strata and are competent for both station construction and tunneling work," Xue said.

"As for management, Chinese management is more compact, working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our equipment has superior performance. It can be adapted to all sorts of working conditions, is easy to operate and has good follow-up supporting services," Xue said.

The CRCC employs more than 100 engineering and management staff and over 700 workers on the project. About half of them are Russians.

The Chinese underground construction team has impressed the Russian partner again by their speed and the high quality of their work.

"I have worked with different kinds of tunnel boring machines. China's machines have good overall performance. Their functions have been improved and defects corrected," said Yuri Zakharov, head of the construction zone for the CRCC project.

The CRCC designed and produced five tunneling shields capable of withstanding the city's harsh winters and complicated geological conditions.

Zakharov noted China's tunnel boring machines can handle any excavation lines and climate conditions.

"Our Chinese partners have made full preparation for the project at the very beginning," he said.

Chinese and Russian personnel used to have many different opinions and even argued for over a month as the two countries have different technological standards and approaches, said Konstantin Orlov, chief mechanic on the project.

To restore credibility, Boeing must be open and direct when dealing with the US Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, customers, pilots and the public, say the analysts. But a plaintiff's attorney believes harm to the company's reputation may be irreparable.

"I'm not sure there is anything the new CEO can do to correct the damage as far as how the victim's families view Boeing," said Floyd Wisner, an Illinois lawyer who has negotiated out-of-court settlements for some of the relatives of those killed in the Indonesian crash of a 737 Max in October 2018.

"All trust is lost and there's a great deal of anger－especially among the families of those killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, who rightfully believe Max should have been grounded immediately after the Lion Air crash in Indonesia, " he said. All 737 Max planes around the world were grounded following the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March 2019, which killed all 157 people aboard.

Analysts have estimated that Boeing will spend at least $20 billion to return the Max to service. Costs include compensation to airlines for lost revenue due to the grounding of the jet, out-of-court settlements with family members of those killed in the crashes as well as the cost of storing new but undelivered aircraft and returning grounded planes to the air.

The New York Times reported that Boeing has developed strategies for airlines to win back public trust and customers, including handing out cards to passengers stating why the plane is safe, having flight attendants or members of the flight crew personally address a customer's fears, or even rebooking passengers on a non-Max flight.

The crashes of the Lion Air flight in Indonesia and the Ethiopian Airlines flight in Ethiopia, killing a total of 346 passengers and crew, sparked the exodus of Boeing's top management.

CEO Dennis Muilenburg, 55, was fired on Dec 23. David Calhoun, currently board chairman of Boeing, takes over as CEO on Jan 13.

Muilenburg, an aerospace engineer, assumed the top post in 2015 after being with Boeing for 34 years. CNN reported last week that public filings show he could be entitled to more than $30 million in compensation－$20 millionplus worth of vested stock and a pension package totaling more than $11 million－and potentially a severance payment of about $7 million.

Muilenburg was criticized for making overly optimistic statements about the Max's return to service and for his tin ear in dealing with criticism from Congress, regulators and family members of the crash victims.

After the second crash, Muilenburg said the Max would return to service by December. But United Airlines recently said it had pulled the jet from its schedule until June 4 after previously expecting flights to resume in March. Southwest and American airlines hope the plane will return to service by spring.

With Muilenburg's exit, other Boeing executives are also leaving. The company's top lawyer, Mike Luttig, who advised Muilenburg on strategic and legal matters following the crashes, will retire in early January. Kevin McAllister has been removed as head of Boeing's commercial airliner division and Anne Toulouse will resign at the end of the year as vice-president for communications.

Different tone

Calhoun, the new CEO, is former senior managing director and head of private equity at investment firm Blackstone Group and former chairman of Nielsen Holdings, a marketing and media information company. He has served as a member of Boeing's board of directors since 2009 and, like other directors, approved the initial version of the Max's flawed anti-stall system. He therefore shares final responsibility for the Max's design and the company's response to the crashes.

Calhoun already appears to be setting a different tone with the FAA. Last week, he personally called the regulatory agency and talked privately with officials rather than including other top executives on the call, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The conversation followed Boeing's release to the FAA of what some see as still more damaging documents about the Max's development. The content of the documents hasn't been disclosed, but Boeing has acknowledged they could be damaging.

Earlier this month, Boeing announced a temporary halt in Max production, a move that's likely to disrupt the supply chain.

"You need redundant systems－double and triple redundancy that would operate and warn the flight crew if anything goes wrong," said John Cochran, professor emeritus of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University in Alabama and president of Eaglemark, an aviation consulting firm.

"That's good engineering. Boeing's new CEO also will have to be a good public relations man. He must be honest and persuade everyone, including the FAA, that things have changed from top to bottom at Boeing."

US authorities are working to reduce the population of wild pig－snow in the millions－because they are considered the most destructive invasive species in the country.

In June 2019, the US Department of Agriculture announced to offer $75 million in funding for the eradication and control of feral pigs.

"Wild pigs will eat just about anything. About 90 percent of their diet is composed of plant matter, while 10 percent is composed of animal matter," said Bronson Strickland, professor of wildlife management at Mississippi State University Service.

"Wild pigs readily consume invertebrates, freshwater mussels, reptiles, amphibians, eggs from ground-nesting animals, small mammals. As for plant matter, unfortunately, wild pigs commonly consume agricultural crops like corn, peanuts, soybean, rice, sorghum."

"Our ecosystem didn't evolve with the presence of these pigs," said Russell Stevens, strategic consultation manager and wildlife and range consultant for the Noble Research Institute in Ardmore, Oklahoma. "That's why their presence is so detrimental to our native plants."

The first feral pigs were brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. The Spanish released the pigs as they traveled and then hunted them for food if they returned to the area.

Then Eurasian boars were bought to the US, mainly from Canada, in the 1980s and 1990s. At first, they were imported as livestock. They mated with the feral hogs creating today's enormous feral population. Feral pigs are prolific breeders. Each female pig can give birth to six or more piglets a year.

Lafayette, California, about 30 kilometers east of San Francisco, was forced to close nature trails and parks after 40 feral hogs invaded a park at dawn this month, digging up the ground looking for worms and grubs. They caused $50,000 in damage and became aggressive toward dogs and humans.

In November, a pack killed 59-year-old Christine Rollins outside an elderly Texas couple's home where she worked as a caregiver. It was only the fifth death attributed to feral pigs since the 1800s.

Mike Bodenchuk, state director for Texas Wildlife Services, said that unprovoked attacks by wild pigs on people are "very rare".

Around 6 million pigs live wild in parts of North America, mainly in the US South. Three million inhabit Texas alone. They have existed in 17 states for centuries, but recently expanded into 38 states.

The hairy black and brown pigs can weigh as much as 800 pounds, and it is estimated that they cause more than $1.5 billion in damage a year. That includes the after-effects of the pigs' collisions with vehicles.

Wild pigs are also extremely adaptable and can survive in extremely cold climates. Bodenchuk said that in Texas the wild pig population is kept under control by shooting them. Some hunters choose to shoot them from helicopters with semiautomatic weapons.

Jim Cathey, associate director for the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, said: "If you have pigs in a trap, they're a formidable animal. They will do a few things. They may pop their jaws so you can hear their jaws clamp together, so that's an auditory warning and if you press them－say, you're trying to get them to go into a trailer or whatever－they'll charge.

"If you pressure them or they are cornered, they will either go around you or through you. They are super powerful; their canine teeth extend beyond their jaw."

 

Japan and the Republic of Korea's relations have deteriorated since October 2018 when the ROK's top court ordered a Japanese firm to pay compensation for the forced labor of Koreans during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. Disagreements intensified and extended to other fields this year, not only fraying bilateral ties but also threatening regional stability and global economic development.

In July, Japan imposed tighter regulations on exports to the ROK of three materials critical for the production of semiconductors and flexible displays, citing Seoul's lax control system of strategic items that can be diverted for military use.

Japan also removed the ROK from its list of trusted trading partners. Under the new rules, Japanese companies are required to apply for an individual license to export materials to the ROK, a process that can take up to 90 days.

The ROK views the Japanese moves as retaliation against its court ruling. In response to export curbs, Seoul decided in August to terminate the bilateral military pact, the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, saying exchanging sensitive military information with an untrustworthy partner is not possible.

Many analysts said that the dispute between Japan and the ROK is not just about trade but about an undercurrent of tensions stemming from Japan's wartime atrocities as well as a long-running territorial dispute between Tokyo and Seoul.

Lyu Chao, a researcher of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said the grudge between Seoul and Tokyo goes back more than a century when the Japanese colonized the Korean Peninsula. Their animosity intensified during World War II when Japan conscripted over 670,000 Koreans as forced laborers.

"Despite the decades that have passed, the Japanese government's attitudes towards war crimes is deeply resented by its neighboring countries. Therefore, as a result of the unresolved historical disputes and unsettled war-torn sentiments, new problems will still emerge today," Lyu said.

Bilateral ties have become further strained following the two neighbors' measures and countermeasures. Antagonism has grown between the two peoples, with the targeting of exports becoming an outlet for the expression of national sentiment. The Japanese are boycotting K-pop singers' albums and refusing to watch ROK TV dramas, while people in the ROK are campaigning against purchases of Japanese cars and electronics.

The partisan wrangling is moving into the deep waters of the 2020 election year, which is almost certain to produce more acrimony, divisions and chaos.

At the center, two major events will help shape the country's bumpy election year: the impeachment trial in the Senate in January that Trump is widely expected to survive and the highly competitive Democratic primaries beginning in early February.

Trump impeachment

"I want an immediate trial!" Trump tweeted on Dec 20.

The president's demand came two days after the Democrat-led House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment that allege abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The House's vote capped months of closed-door inquiries and public hearings in the lower chamber.

However, Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, the top Republican and Democrat, respectively, in the Republican-controlled Senate, have yet to agree on the rules governing the upcoming trial. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still won't say if or when she plans to send the impeachment papers to the Senate.

"The House cannot choose our impeachment managers until we know what sort of trial the Senate will conduct," said Pelosi in defending her decision in a tweet on Monday.

In response, McConnell said: "We're at an impasse."

US citizens' views on the impeachment are neatly split along party lines. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on the day of the impeachment found 48 percent of registered US voters believe Trump should be impeached and removed from office; 48 percent say they disagree.

Moreover, both Democrats and Republicans show no willingness to move closer to each other on the impeachment issue. The poll showed some 90 percent of Republicans oppose impeaching Trump and removing him from office, while 83 percent of Democrats favor it. Among independents, 50 percent support impeachment and removal, while 44 percent oppose it.

"Views on Donald Trump's impeachment remain locked in place, with most Americans having made up their minds both on Trump and the impeachment investigation a long time ago," said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research.

The Democratic Party won the first phase of the impeachment battle in the lower chamber, but failed to make the case transcend the white-hot partisan divide, local analysts observe.

Senate Republicans may follow suit by acquitting Trump in a quick wrap-up of the trial, with little effort made to sway those with opposing views.

Democratic primaries

No matter how the Senate trial unfolds next year, the chances of Trump being convicted are small, if not "zero" as McConnell has asserted. Republicans show no sign of abandoning the president.

It won't be as easy to predict the outcome of the 2020 Democratic primaries, which are likely to overlap with a delayed impeachment trial when they kick off in early February. The competition between the party's progressives and moderates will be intense. A recent poll found 57 percent of Democrats might change their minds on the candidates before the primaries and caucuses next year.

Based on most of the polls conducted in 2019, former vice-president Joe Biden, a moderate, remains a fragile front-runner in the sprawling field of Democratic challengers. He is followed by senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who are splitting the progressive vote.

To the surprise of many, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang has slightly overtaken Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend in Indiana, in the 2020 Democratic primaries net favorability rankings, according to a Morning Consult poll published on Tuesday. Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, activist Tom Steyer and House lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii are also fighting hard in the hope of becoming the party's banner-holder in 2020.

However, beyond those topics relating to Trump, the candidates disagree a lot, as six primary debates held by the party's national committee this year have shown. The issues that divide them range from a Medicare for All proposal, free college education and gun control to a wealth tax and climate change. The progressive agenda has garnered much more support among Democratic voters than ever before.

Suspense is building over the whether the eventual winner will be a progressive, a moderate, or someone in between.

"Democratic Party voters are split," said Thomas Edsall of Columbia University, citing a CBS survey breaking Democratic voters into three roughly equal groups: the most progressive wing; the middle group pushing bread-and-butter concerns like jobs, taxes and moderate healthcare reform; and those Democratic primary voters who describe themselves as moderate to conservative.

"The Democratic Party is actually three parties. They have different constituents and prefer different policies. Satisfying them all will not be easy," Edsall was reported by The Washington Post as saying.

The sharp divisions between Democrats and Republicans seem to be working in Trump's favor. Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West said that Trump's base has worried "about the left wing taking over", and see Trump as working hard to stop the left.

"He has very strong support from his base and this will continue through the 2020 election," West said.

Mastercard SpendingPulse tracked retail sales from Nov 1 through Dec 24, Christmas Eve. Most holiday shopping is completed between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. But Thanksgiving was six days later this year than last, shortening the traditional holiday rush.

"Due to a later than usual Thanksgiving holiday, we saw retailers offering omni-channel sales earlier this season, meeting consumers' demand for the best deals across all channels," Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard and former chairman of Saks, said in a statement. "E-commerce sales hit a record high this year with more people doing their holiday shopping online."

Mastercard SpendingPulse said total apparel sales increased 1 percent overall this year from 2018 and e-commerce sales in the sector were up 17 percent from Nov 1 to Dec 24.

Jewelry sales grew 1.8 percent overall while online sales increased 8.8 percent. Electronics and appliance were up 4.6 percent overall and 10.7 percent online.

Overall, department store sales were down 1.8 percent, underscoring the importance of using the internet as a tool to drive overall sales, Mastercard SpendingPulse said.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump tweeted: "2019 holiday retail sales were up 3.4 percent from last year, the biggest number in US history. Congratulations America!"

In 2017, holiday shopping sales increased 5.1 percent from the previous year, Mastercard told Reuters. But Trump is correct if "the biggest number" refers to total retail sales, not the percentage gain year-over-year. The strength of the US economy is likely to be a key issue in Trump's 2020 re-election bid.

Online retailer Amazon put out a release on Thursday claiming a "record-breaking" season.

"This holiday season has been better than ever thanks to our customers and employees all around the world," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO.

The Seattle-based giant also said it was "a record-breaking holiday season for independent third-party sellers－mostly small and medium-sized businesses－with worldwide unit sales seeing double-digit year-over-year growth, surpassing a billion items sold in Amazon's stores.

In October, Amazon said third-quarter sales rose 24 percent from 2018 to $70 billion.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite Index crossed the 9,000-point mark for the first time as all three major Wall Street indexes posted record closing highs, boosted by optimism over US-China trade relations and gains in shares of Amazon, which climbed 4.4 percent.

Tiffany, a high-end jeweler, said sales increased 3 percent overall since Nov 1, driven by strong sales in China. The company didn't break down its bricks-and-mortar and e-commerce sales.

"We are pleased to present out interim sales results for this important season, which reflect improved global trends compared to previous quarters this year," Tiffany's CEO Alessandro Bogliolo said in a statement.

The National Retail Federation, a trade group based in Washington, said it was encouraged by initial steps in a phase one trade agreement with China.

"For the first time in months, the United States and China are moving in the right direction on tariffs and we congratulate negotiators from both sides," David French, the federation's senior vice president for government relations, said in a statement.

"Tariffs create uncertainty and costs for American retail supply chains and the trade war won't be over until they are eliminated completely. We agree that we need to realign out relationship with China, but tariffs that harm American businesses, workers and consumers are not the answer."

US retail sales, which account for about two-thirds of gross domestic product, have risen steadily from $399.53 billion in 2000 to $701.2 billion in 2018. Retail sales dipped slightly in 2008 and remained flat in 2009 in response to the bursting of the subprime mortgage housing bubble and subsequent economic slowdown, reported Statista, a private-sector provider of market data.

Estimates for total holiday sales in 2019 ranged from $729.3 billion to $1 trillion.

Now employment is at record highs and interest rates are low, thanks to three cuts of a quarter of a percentage point each by the US Federal Reserve.

Israel's longest-serving premier, who faces a corruption indictment and a third general election in 12 months, was expected to beat rival Gideon Saar but the convincing margin of victory strengthened his position in the party he has dominated for 20 years.

With all votes counted, Likud announced that Netanyahu had secured 72.5 percent of the ballots, with Saar winning 27.5 percent.

"A huge win! Thank you to Likud members for their trust, support and love," Netanyahu said on social media.

"With God's and your help, I will lead the Likud to a big victory in the upcoming election and we will continue to lead the State of Israel to unprecedented achievements," he added.

Most media commentators had predicted a Netanyahu victory but its scale made banner headlines.

"Netanyahu, big time," said Yediot Aharonot, Israel's top-selling daily.

State radio described it as a landslide victory for Netanyahu.

The left-wing Haaretz newspaper described it as a battle between the "rational expediency" of Saar supporters and the "tribal loyalty" of the Netanyahu camp.

It noted the historic reluctance of Likud members to depose a sitting leader.

"Since 1948, the Labor Party has replaced its leader 17 times," it said. "The Likud has had only four leaders since Israel's inception, and only two since 1995.

"Netanyahu has led the party for the past 14 years consecutively, and for two decades altogether. Younger Likudniks have never known their party without Netanyahu at its helm."

Around 57,000 Likud members voted on Thursday－a little less than 50 percent of those eligible.

Saar, a former minister seen as to the right of Netanyahu, campaigned on the basis that the leader was no longer able to win elections after deadlocked polls in April and September.

"I am content with my decision to have stood. Those who are unwilling to take a risk for what they believe in will never succeed," Saar said on social media.

"My colleagues and I will stand behind (Netanyahu) in campaigning for the Likud's success," he added.

Saar announced his leadership challenge last month after Israel's attorney general indicted the prime minister on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust.

Netanyahu, 70, denies the allegations, accusing the police, prosecutors and the media of a witch hunt.

Stephan Miller, a pollster who has worked on multiple Israeli campaigns, said Netanyahu had campaigned harder than ever before to defeat Saar.

Netanyahu held several campaign events a day in different parts of the country, while on Thursday his Facebook page broadcast live video of him phoning supporters.

In the campaign's most dramatic moment on Wednesday, Netanyahu was rushed off stage at a rally in the southern port of Ashkelon after a rocket was fired from the nearby Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

"His job was on the line and he fought to keep it successfully," Miller said.

Deal for anti-tank missiles from US

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Thursday that it has signed contracts for more United States antitank missile systems, known as advanced fire-and-forget portable weapons. "During the fourth quarter ... the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine managed to sign contracts for the supply of the second batch of anti-tank missile systems 'Javelin', which are manufactured by the USA," Deputy Defense Minister Anatoliy Petrenko said.

IRAQ

President offers to quit over PM pick

Iraq's president refused on Thursday to designate a candidate for prime minister nominated by the Iran-backed parliamentary bloc and offered to resign. President Barham Salih's decision plunged the country into deeper political uncertainty amid nearly three months of unprecedented mass protests. Salih said in a statement that he would not name the governor of the southern Basra province, Asaad al-Eidani, as the country's next prime minister "to avoid more bloodshed".

CHILE

Wildfires in port city leave 700 homeless

Some 245 homes have been destroyed and 700 people left destitute after a forest fire tore through a poor area of the Chilean seaside city of Valparaiso on Christmas Eve. President Sebastian Pinera said on Thursday during a tour of the affected zone that there was evidence the fire had been started deliberately. "I deeply regret that what should have been a good night, a night of peace, should have been so profoundly altered by this tragedy," Pinera said.

The planned deployment, backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition ally Komeito, is to purportedly conduct information-gathering operations and other activities related to improving the safety of commercial ships in the region.

Under the plan, the helicopter-carrying destroyer and a P-3C patrol plane, together with the 250 or so troops, will be sent.

In a bid to maintain its friendly ties with Teheran, Tokyo said its Self-Defense Force personnel will conduct their activities away from, and independent of, a Washington-led coalition in place to ensure maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.

The decision marks a distinct U-turn by the government, which earlier in the year said it had absolutely no plans to deploy service personnel to the region.

The planned deployment is a thorny one owing to the nation's war-renouncing constitution, which heavily restricts the activities of the Self-Defense Force and specifically prohibits Japan from engaging in acts of war or maintaining armed forces with the potential for waging wars.

Kyoji Yanagisawa, Japan's former assistant chief Cabinet secretary in charge of national security and crisis management, questioned the move in an interview with Nippon Television Network, saying the deployment will "only serve US interests" and would be "a mistake".

Xinhua contributed to this story.

]]> 2019-12-28 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/28/content_37530657.htm SYDNEY－Australian authorities said on Friday they are focused on protecting water plants, pumping stations, pipes and other infrastructure from intense bushfires surrounding Sydney, the country's largest city.

Firefighters battling the blazes for weeks received a reprieve of slightly cooler, damper conditions over Christmas, but the respite is not expected to last long.

Temperatures in New South Wales state are forecast to head back towards 40 degrees Celsius early next week, fuelling fires near Warragamba Dam, which provides water to about 80 per cent of Sydney's 5 million residents.

"In recent days up to the cool change, the fires had been a potential threat to supply and assets, particularly in Warragamba and in the Blue Mountains," a spokesman for the state's water authority, WaterNSW, told Reuters.

"With the coming very hot conditions the fire situation may escalate in both those fronts and possibly elsewhere."

Warragamba Dam is 65 kilometers west of Sydney, catching water flowing from the mountains.

It is at 44.8 percent capacity, down from almost being full less than three years ago, as a prolonged drought ravages the continent's east.

Despite the widespread destruction, the state's water infrastructure network has not been damaged, the spokesman said.

There have been eight deaths, including two volunteer firefighters, linked to the blazes since they flared in spring.

With more than 40 dams across the state, WaterNSW supplies two-thirds of untreated water to the state's water utilities, which then treat and clean the resource to provide drinking water to cities and regional towns.

Large quantities of ash and burnt material could pose a threat to the quality of water in the dams if the fires are followed by heavy rain.

However, there is no significant rain forecast for the state in the short term and WaterNSW has put containment barriers to catch potential debris run-off, the water authority said.

Australia's reliance on a large volunteer firefighting force has been tested during this fire season that still potentially has months to run through the southern hemisphere summer.

While conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously said compensation for volunteers was not a priority, he said on Tuesday that government workers could receive additional paid leave for volunteering.

A senior government minister said on Friday the government was now looking into providing wider relief.

"The prime minister is looking at this issue further on how we can provide targeted support in these extreme circumstances so that our volunteers get the support they need to keep volunteering," Defence Minister Linda Reynolds told media in Perth.

While there are different rules across Australia's states, volunteers tend to negotiate time off directly with their employer.

]]> 2019-12-28 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/28/content_37530658.htm Following a general election, British politics looks very different at the end of 2019 compared with the beginning of the year.

Over the course of 12 months, Britain's Parliament reversed its position on the government's proposed withdrawal agreement bill on the nation's exit from the European Union, finally passing it three-and-a-half years after the country voted in a referendum to leave.

The original Brexit deal deadline of March 29, 2019, was set for two years after then prime minister Theresa May triggered Article 50－the formal process to leave－and kicked off negotiations.

May's minority government stumbled its way through attempts to pass laws and tackle Brexit, and ultimately brought gridlock to the House of Commons.

Under May, the deadline was delayed twice after members of Parliament rejected her negotiated Brexit deal－eventually pushing it to Oct 31.

The main sticking point for many MPs of the ruling Conservative Party was the so-called Irish backstop, designed to ensure there would be no border posts or barriers between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.

After winning a Conservative leadership contest in July, Prime Minister Boris Johnson took over and set about renegotiating May's deal.

Johnson succeeded in replacing the backstop with new customs arrangements, and unlike the previous deal, the revised one would allow the United Kingdom to sign and implement its own trade agreements with countries around the world.

Despite this, Johnson missed the latest deadline after MPs again failed to pass the revised deal into law. The failure to approve a deal meant that Johnson had to send a letter to the EU to ask for a third Brexit delay. The EU agreed to a further extension, resulting in the deadline being pushed to Jan 31, 2020.

With Parliament in deadlock over the deal, Johnson called for an early general election, to which MPs agreed. The election, on Dec 12, resulted in a Conservative majority of 80, meaning it was then relatively straightforward for Johnson to pass his Brexit deal.

On Dec 20, in a historic moment for the nation, the withdrawal agreement bill was finally passed by 358 votes to 234.

In the election, the Conservatives celebrated their largest majority since Margaret Thatcher's landslide win in 1987, while Labour faced up to its worst election result since 1935.

The decisive majority was won with a big swing of votes from Labour to the Conservatives in areas of Britain that voted to leave the EU in 2016.

Johnson's message to "Get Brexit done" resonated with a public that had become weary of the lack of resolution over the subject.

The Labour strategy of trying to retain its support by remaining ambiguous about whether it was a pro-Remain or a pro-Leave EU party backfired badly.

Labour leaders Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell apologized over the party's "catastrophic" defeat, which saw it lose 59 seats. The leader and shadow chancellor said they would step down in the new year.

Corbyn conceded that MPs "have to respect the decision of the EU referendum in 2016, and move on", but added: "That doesn't mean that we as a party should abandon our principles."

He said: "We remain certain there is a better and fairer way for this country to leave the EU. One which would not risk ripping our communities apart, selling out our public services or sacrificing hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process."

When MPs return after their Christmas recess on Jan 6, the Brexit bill will be debated for a further three days. It is expected to pass to the upper house of the UK Parliament, known as the House of Lords, by Jan 9. Once approved there, as is likely, the UK will be formally set to leave the bloc on Jan 31.

But this is only the first stage in the country's departure arrangements with the EU, as the UK will next enter a transition period until Dec 31, 2020.

Free-trade deal

During this period, the UK's trading relationship with the EU will remain the same while the two sides negotiate a free-trade deal.

If a trade deal is ready in time, the UK's new relationship with the EU can begin immediately after the transition. If not, the UK faces the prospect of having to trade with no agreement in force. This would mean possible checks and tariffs on UK goods traveling to the EU.

The Scottish National Party, which won 48 of Scotland's 59 seats in the election, says it rejects Brexit and now seeks to hold a second independence referendum－a ballot to which the Conservatives are strongly opposed. A constitutional clash between the Scottish and UK governments seems inevitable.

Though the process of ratifying the revised withdrawal agreement bill will continue in the new year, the country is now motoring toward the Jan 31 departure date. Johnson says "now is the time to act and forge a new relationship" with the rest of Europe.

Despite the progress, the UK remains a country divided by Brexit. More than half the votes cast in the election were in favor of parties that were more inclined to remain in the European Union. As the prime minister says, there is now "certainty". But also, certainly, there is less unity.

]]> 2019-12-28 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530548.htm BANDA ACEH, Indonesia－On one Sunday morning, Mawardi was watching cartoons with his two brothers at his house on Meulaboh Bay in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh when a 9.3-magnitude earthquake literally shook them from their seats.

His mother and grandmother, who were also inside the house, panicked and rushed him and his brothers out of the house.

"I heard a really loud noise, like a waterfall," said Mawardi, who was 13 years old at the time in 2004.

Together, they rushed to escape, but after dashing for about one kilometer, they were slammed to the ground by the huge black wave, and separated from each other.

Mawardi has never seen his mother, grandmother or brother since then.

More than 120,000 people were killed in Aceh Province by a nearly 30-meter-high sea wave triggered by a megathrust earthquake that struck undersea off the coast of Sumatra Island on Dec. 26, 2004.

That earthquake is one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. The catastrophe also caused major disruption to living conditions and economies in countries along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean, including Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

In Aceh, mass graves can still be found. In December 2018 about 45 body bags were pulled out from the ground by construction workers on a public-housing project in Kajhu Village in Aceh Besar Regency as they were doing excavating work to build a septic tank.

Kajhu was one of the areas worst hit by the tsunami. Around 85 percent of the villagers were killed and those who survived the calamity decided to abandon their villages.

The authorities have said coming across unknown graves of tsunami victims is common.

"Since 2004, we have found some mass graves made by volunteers in some villages where those who survived had left the areas. When people returned and started to develop the abandoned land, they found mass graves," former head of the Aceh Disaster Management Agency Teuku Ahmad Dadek said.

Dadek, who now serves as an assistant to the Aceh governor, is also one of the tsunami survivors.

"I headed a district in Meulaboh Regency at the time. At least 10 percent of the population went missing," he noted.

Every year, the Aceh administration holds a function commemorating the 2004 earthquake and tsunami. Not only does the event commemorate the people killed in the disaster, but also passes on the lessons to future generations.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530598.htm BEIRUT－More than 10 years ago, Beirut's downtown was one of the city's most attractive areas visited by tourists and locals throughout the year for its popular restaurants and shops.

People would even stand for hours to wait for a table at some of the renowned restaurants and cafes.

The high demand for premises by people aiming to open businesses in Riad El Solh and Nejme Square led to a spike in rents.

However, a decade later, an economic slowdown in the country has turned Beirut's downtown into a ghost town, with many of the shops shutting down while others struggle to make ends meet.

The protests that have taken place since Oct 17 exacerbated the challenges facing shop owners in this part of the city.

"Our sales dropped by over 90 percent since the beginning of the protests over two months ago," said a woman who works at a clothes shop in central Beirut.

She said her shop closed for most time during the protests due to the violence.

Protests in Beirut's downtown started in a peaceful manner on Oct 17 but over a month they turned violent with clashes taking place among protesters, political parties and the Lebanese army. Many roads leading to the heart of the downtown area were blocked.

"If the situation remains the same in the coming month or two, we will probably shut down because we cannot even cover our expenses," said the woman, who declined to be named.

Yehya Sabbagh, who owns a mobile phone shop in downtown Beirut, said he wouldn't have been able to keep his store opened if he hadn't already paid for his rent at the beginning of this year.

"I think we may have to close in a few months if the protests continue," he said.

Before the protests, shops in Beirut's center were under pressure from the economic slowdown, intense competition and the falling purchasing power of Lebanese, said Adnan Rammal, a representative of the trade sector on the country's Economic and Social Council.

"However, some shops in the downtown area were impacted by the protests and they have closed as a result of these demonstrations, especially when it comes to pubs and cafes in Uruguay Street," Rammal said.

Rammal said that shops and cafes in Beirut's souks, or old markets, have also been affected by the protests and are rarely visited these days.

However, political analyst Youssef Diab blames the economic slide on the failing policies of successive governments.

"The country has reached this level of deterioration due to the policies adopted by Lebanese officials and not because of the protests that took place in the past two months. We are paying the price for wrong political decisions, which led to an economic slowdown," Diab said.

The Lebanese are concerned over a lack of financial support by the international community, including other Arab countries, which they have relied on in the past.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530582.htm JERUSALEM－Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is running for the leadership of his Likud party, facing veteran politician Gideon Saar in a vote on Thursday.

Despite the shadow of corruption indictments hanging over him, Netanyahu remains popular among Likud members and the fiercely loyal party－which has only had four leaders since its inception in the 1970s－has stood firmly behind the long-serving leader.

But whatever the result, "Netanyahu can only lose," said Stephan Miller, a pollster who has worked on multiple Israeli campaigns.

No matter how much support Saar receives, "it will be the first time in 10 years that a group of voters on the right explicitly express their desire to get rid of Netanyahu," he said.

"If that is more than a third of the party, Netanyahu will be significantly damaged," Miller said.

The winner will lead Likud into Israel's third election within 12 months.

Net any ahu has been premier for a decade but is also facing an indictment on a series of corruption charges.

Saar and Netanyahu have spent recent days crisscrossing the country, making their case to around 116,000 Likud members eligible to vote, though Netanyahu has not responded to Saar's call for one-on-one debates.

More than 100 voting stations were to open across the country, with results not expected until early Friday morning.

Polls in April and September saw Netanyahu deadlocked with challenger Benny Gantz of a centrist party. Neither was able to command a majority in Israel's Parliament under Israel's proportional representation system.

Last month, Netanyahu was indicted for fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three corruption cases, allegations he strongly denies.

The primaries were called shortly after, the first internal challenge to Netanyahu since 2014.

Saar, 53, has been a senior figure in the Likud for a decade and headed multiple ministries, but stepped away from politics for several years in 2014 after being politically sidelined by Netanyahu.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530578.htm FRANCE

50% chance Notre Dame cannot be saved

The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral says the Paris landmark is still so fragile that there's a "50 percent chance" the structure might not be saved, because scaffolding installed before this year's fire is threatening the vaults of the Gothic monument. Monsignor Patrick Chauvet said restoration work isn't likely to begin until 2021－and described his "heartache" that Notre Dame couldn't hold Christmas services this year, for the first time since the French Revolution. "There is a 50 percent chance of scaffolding falling onto the three vaults, as you can see the building is still very fragile," he said.

UNITED STATES

Bloomberg splashes out $120m on ads

Former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg has spent about $120 million on digital and television advertising since joining the presidential race last month, local media reported on Wednesday. The billionaire owner of business news company Bloomberg is running for the Democratic nomination by spending in all 50 US states. But he is targeting the big, delegate-rich Super Tuesday states－such as California, Texas and Florida－that can make or break his campaign. A report said that Bloomberg's spending on ads since late November is more than double the combined ad spending of every single non-billionaire candidate in the Democratic field this entire year.

'Student hero' honored as Jedi

A North Carolina college student hailed by police as a hero for preventing more injuries and deaths after a gunman opened fire in a classroom has now been immortalized as a Jedi by the production company for the Star Wars franchise. Media report the family of Riley Howell, the University of North Carolina student who is described as a huge Star Wars fan, was tipped off by Lucasfilm in May that it planned to honor him in a forthcoming book, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker－The Visual Dictionary. The book was released by publisher DK to coincide with the release of the new film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

TURKEY

7 killed as migrant boat sinks in lake

Seven people were killed as a migrant boat capsized in eastern Turkey's Lake Van, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday. The boat carrying migrants capsized at around 3 am local time as it sailed close to Adilcevaz district in Bitlis on the northern shores of Lake Van. Five people were killed on the spot and two died later in hospital. Some 64 others were rescued and taken to hospital for treatment, the report said. Lake Van lies in the far east of Turkey near the border with Iran, from where migrants often cross into Turkey before heading west to Europe. Search operations are still underway.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530552.htm TORONTO－As Canada's biggest city, Toronto is known for a few things: the iconic CN Tower, the ice Hockey Hall of Fame, great food from around the world and its historic streetcars.

But by the end of the year, the trolleys will be retired and replaced with sleek new trams－a decision that has been met with a mix of sentimental sadness and scorn.

"I like these streetcars because they have a history in Toronto," said 37-year-old Kenneth, riding at the back of one of the old trams on line 511, running along Bathurst Street.

Toronto's original 19th century trolley cars were pulled by horses, before the cars were powered by electricity in the 1920s.

The historic tall, narrow, red and white streetcars, formally known as Canadian Light Rail Vehicles, were commissioned in the late 1970s.

To board, riders must climb three big steps. To request a stop, one pulls down on a yellow cord pinned to windows running the length of the trolley car.

Toronto is one of the rare major cities in North America, along with San Francisco, to have maintained major tramway networks. Lines still exist in a handful of cities including Cleveland and New Orleans.

The Toronto system serves an average of 65 million riders a year.

City emblem

Streetcars were once the main form of public transit in the continent's cities, but after World War II, cars and buses took over, and hundreds of kilometers of tracks were ripped out.

After years of debate at city hall and under pressure from activists, Toronto decided in 1972 to maintain its network, which is now composed of 11 lines running through the heart of the downtown area.

The old-time streetcars are now celebrated and an emblem of the city, appearing on T-shirts and posters in souvenir shops and on toy shelves.

"Toronto can be a little bit plain sometimes, and streetcars are one thing that has made us kind of different," Mark Fiorillo, who has lived in the city his entire life, said with a hint of nostalgia.

"No other streetcar looked like that: like beasts or tanks," he said. "They were quite cool."

Fiorillo heads up a charity called CityFund, which focuses on getting Toronto residents to be more engaged in their city.

With the support of the city's transit commission, Fiorillo launched an art project called A Streetcar Named Toronto－a nod to the Tennessee Williams play.

One of the old hulking trolley cars was splashed in brightly colored paint and is one of a handful still in circulation. The final day of service will be Sunday.

Most of the rest of the streetcars have already been replaced by new trams built by Bombardier.

In 2009, the Montreal-based company won a contract from the city for more than C$1 billion ($750 million) to provide 204 streetcars.

After several delays, the company accelerated assembly work and promised to complete the order by the end of December. Nearly all of them have been delivered.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530560.htm When it comes to using digital technologies, people have a range of attitudes.

Sally Bailey, a healthcare professional in Houston, has to operate four computers throughout the day at work, besides dealing with patients.

Once she gets home, Bailey stays away from her computer and digital devices as far as possible.

"I don't go online unless I absolutely have to, such as paying bills, looking to purchase insurance, getting continuing education required by work, responding to very limited emails from friends, and occasionally ordering something from Amazon," she said.

Bailey created a Facebook account a few years ago to follow her son's activities as a marathon runner. She never posted anything after creating her account. She does not use her smartphone to surf the internet or browse social media.

For her, a smartphone is for talking and occasional texting. "I get news from the TV only," said Bailey.

In contrast, Matthew Largent, a marketing professional in Houston, said that he uses digital tools heavily to manage both his personal life and work.

He uses marketing software at work on the computer. His phone is his personal assistant－it's used to take notes, do banking, make and remind himself of appointments, and run a variety of apps for various purposes.

Largent said he feels the need to reduce the usage of digital devices. "It can lead you off track when you find something interesting. It's better to stick to your plan than following something interesting," Largent said.

It's no surprise that Bailey, when taking a 10-question quiz testing his digital literacy from the Pew Research Center, answered only four questions correctly while Largent nailed nine questions.

The quiz was used in a recent study by Pew. The 10 questions are related to popular apps, internet privacy, security, net neutrality and digital companies. Some 4,272 adults in the US were polled last June.

The results show that US citizens' understanding of digital technology-related issues varies greatly among the population by age and education level. Adults with bachelor's degrees or higher and aged under 50 years tend to be more digitally literate.

Some issues are more widely understood－67 percent of the population understand phishing scams can occur on social media, websites, email or text messages, and 63 percent understand the function of cookies.

However, only 28 percent of the population can identify examples of true two-factor authentication. Only 15 percent of people were able to identify Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Data security-related questions were answered correctly by less than half of the population.

As indicated by the survey, Largent's digital literacy level puts him in the top 6 percent of the population. Bailey's score has her in the top 55 percent, but that means she is better than only 45 percent of the population.

At the extremes, only 2 percent of the respondents answered all questions right and 8 percent didn't get a single question right. The gap in digital literacy is vast among US citizens.

Three aspects

While the quiz tests some basic knowledge related to digital technologies, it's difficult to nail down what exactly digital literacy means, said Ian O'Byrne, assistant professor of literacy education at College of Charleston.

O'Byrne has been researching and teaching about various forms of literacy and digital technologies for years. He is working with the International Literacy Association and the National Council of Teachers of English to redefine digital literacy.

"The challenge is that technology is always changing. The way we communicate globally is always changing as well. It's challenging to make it simple for people to understand," O'Byrne said.

He looks at digital literacy from three aspects: consumption, curation and creation.

"Consumption is being a consumer of digital content. Curation means we look at all the information online and determine what is good and what is garbage. Creation means constructing and sharing content online," O'Byrne said.

While creation of digital content is a higher level of digital literacy not necessarily practiced by everyone, society is consuming large amounts of digital content as a whole. With so much information available online, consumption of digital content requires one to tread the online world carefully, O'Byrne said.

"We have serious questions about how critically we consume, think about and evaluate the content we come across. We have a lot work to do," he said.

There is a need for curation skills, O'Byrne said. For example, when people get their electronic health records, instead of asking doctors what the entries mean, often people tend to go online to research that for themselves.

"There is a need to critically consume that, to identify people who know what they are talking about, and identify experts online that you can reach out to," he said.

The constant changes of digital technologies mean digital literacy is also constantly evolving.

"About a decade ago I started teaching my students and other adults to have one digital identity and to connect that digital identity to Facebook, WeChat, LinkedIn, Twitter or whatever. Connecting the dots so that someone can find me on all platforms," O'Byrne said.

"My thinking has changed in the last three or four years. Now we live in a world we have to be more thoughtful about privacy, security, encryption and make sure we are safe online."

After a scandal involving Cambridge Analytica in which Facebook leaked users' data, O'Byrne said he deleted all his photos from his Facebook account because he found Facebook not to be a transparent company.

"I still teach my students to have that digital identity and footprint, but I teach them to be safe and focus more on open source tools, and ask questions such as who controls my data and what data I am sharing," O'Byrne said.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530559.htm The year of 2019 contrasts starkly with the peace euphoria that descended on the Korean Peninsula in the previous year, as uncertainty shrouds the future of US-DPRK nuclear talks and inter-Korean relations.

Since the start of this year, promises and progress have been made toward a step-by-step political resolution to denuclearize the peninsula. However, the peace process, which is still severely challenged by deep-seated problems, has stalled.

In February, US President Donald Trump and the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un held their second summit in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, without reaching an agreement due to their divergences on several key issues including relief of economic sanctions on the DPRK and the approach to denuclearization. The two leaders also shook hands for a photo-op at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in late June.

Despite both sides' willingness to continue talks, negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have seen little substantive progress.

In early October, a fresh round of working-level meetings in the Swedish capital of Stockholm broke down with no tangible outcome.

Pyongyang accused Washington of having come to the dialogue table "empty-handed", while Washington tried to put a positive spin on the talks, with negotiators claiming they had brought "creative ideas" and previewed a number of "new initiatives".

The DPRK also set a deadline for the United States to offer mutually acceptable terms for a deal by the end of this year. Failing that, it will seek a "new path". Earlier this month, it claimed to have conducted "critical tests" at its Sohae Satellite Launching Ground, stirring up concerns that more such tests may follow.

The no-deal summit in February was a reminder of the gulf between the two countries over the scope of Pyongyang's denuclearization steps and what concessions the US should give in return, according to Wang Junsheng, an associate researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Despite all their efforts to date, they have failed to find the convergence of their interests or common ground", Wang said, adding that each side has underplayed the other's desire for a deal. Both sides have latched onto their own demands and principles, which has blurred the prospects of the dialogue process and exacerbated their mistrust.

Some analysts said the fruitless Hanoi summit was a setback for both leaders. Kim, who took a nearly 70-hour train trip to reach Vietnam, may have anticipated that a deal would unleash economic opportunities that would deliver on his pledge for his people "never to have to tighten your belt".

Trump also need to improve relations between the DPRK and the US as a political achievement to boost his domestic support.

But with slow or merely no progress, tensions flared anew since May as Pyongyang escalated weapons tests in a move to heap pressure on Washington to show flexibility to break the deadlock in the negotiations.

Unrealistic goals

Inter-Korean relations also suffered stagnation and setbacks since then. In November, Seoul expressed regrets over Pyongyang's artillery firing drills on a border island, saying the act violated the inter-Korean military agreement signed by defense chiefs of the two neighbors during the third summit between Kim and the Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang in 2018.

Amid little progress in the nuclear talks and inter-Korean exchanges, Kim in October ordered the removal of "all the unpleasant-looking facilities" that the ROK built for the long shuttered Mount Kumgang resort on the eastern DPRK coast close to the border with the ROK.

Zheng Jiyong, director of the Korea Research Center at Fudan University in Shanghai, said Kim's order drove home an unmistakable message that, with little progress in the nuclear negotiations between the US and the DPRK, inter-Korean cooperation can hardly move forward.

The absence of progress can be attributed to the unrealistically high goals set by the US and the DPRK, which limited negotiators' flexibility, Zheng added.

"As the goals are too high, the negotiating teams should recalibrate their strategic goals in more realistic terms," Zheng said.

With all these twists and turns, the Korean Peninsula is facing another critical juncture in the upcoming year. Zheng said the most pressing task for all stakeholders is to maintain momentum for diplomatic efforts and to prevent the situation from taking a turn for the worse.

Wang said: "To achieve denuclearization and build a viable peace regime on the peninsula requires bold decisions, political wisdom, and accumulation of mutual trust. These goals cannot be achieved in one go. A phased approach remains a practical solution."

Instead of retrogressing to the dark days of "fire and fury", many analysts believe that both sides should abandon their tactic of putting pressure, while they should jointly reach a consensus and keep moving forward in the correct direction. Dialogue is always a better option than confrontation.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530556.htm On Thursday Britons followed up Christmas celebrations with another annual fixture, the start of the post-Christmas sales.

Although it was forecast to be the day with the third-highest sales in British consumer history, a combination of pre-Christmas bargains and revised shopping habits means Dec 26 sales were predicted to be down for the first time in seven years.

The Centre For Retail Research said that around 25 million shoppers were expected to spend 4.4 billion pounds ($5.7 billion), but that total would be 8 percent less than the amount spent on the same day a year ago.

The increased competitiveness of Black Friday, the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season in late November, is one of the reasons, as well as people being more likely to shop online to find the best deals.

Richard Lim, from the consultancy Retail Economics, said the transatlantic growth of the United States concept of Black Friday drew consumers into making bigger purchases earlier, with post-Christmas sales taking a hit as a result.

"An element of discount fatigue creeps into consumers' mindsets by the time Boxing Day sales come about," he told The Guardian. "Perhaps the one exception is around furniture and flooring, where consumers wait for the highly anticipated sales period for big-ticket purchases."

In addition, an increasing awareness of the environmental cost of consumerism is affecting purchasing. A survey carried out by Barclaycard found that environmental concerns were a reason that 62 percent of shoppers would spend less, with the so-called fast fashion sector－which has come in for sharp criticism－one of the areas most affected.

"Despite Boxing Day remaining a key moment in the retail calendar, savvy shoppers have been planning their large purchases throughout the entire festive sales period, which begins long before December," said Rob Cameron, chief executive of Barclaycard Payments.

"Our data for Black Friday and Cyber Monday revealed a huge jump in transaction volumes this year, so it's not surprising that consumers expect to have less money to spend after Christmas. So retailers need to take that into account."

But despite the fact that many of the best prices can be found by online comparison, some shoppers still enjoy the experience of battling through the sales crowds in stores.

Major retail destinations such as the Metrocentre in Gateshead, in the Northeast of England, Manchester's Trafford Centre and Lakeside in Essex are expected to welcome as many as one million visitors through their doors.

"We expect it to be one of our busiest shopping days of the year," said Trevor Pereira, commercial director of property company Intu, which owns the centers. "Going shopping on Boxing Day is a yearly tradition for many and people come to our centers to enjoy a great experience that cannot be matched online."

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/27/content_37530568.htm Falling populations of both married couples and women of childbearing age, combined with a rising unmarried rate among young people, have pushed Japan's declining birthrate to its lowest level on record. The result: the total Japanese population dropped by more than 500,000 in 2019 as deaths outnumbered births.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced on Tuesday that the number of babies born in 2019 fell by an estimated 5.9 percent this year, to 864,000. That is the first time the number dipped below 900,000 since data-tracking began some 120 years ago.

Combined with deaths reaching a postwar high of 1.38 million, Japan suffered the largest-ever natural population decline of 512,000 in 2019.

"A number of reasons could be listed to explain the decline, while the most obvious one will probably be Japan's shrinking female population in their prime childbearing years－that is, women aged from 25 to 39 years old," said Liu Qingbin, a professor at the Institute of Advanced Sciences at Yokohama National University.

Data from the county's internal affairs ministry showed that there were 9,690,000 women between the ages of 25 and 39 in Japan as of July 2019; that was 210,000 fewer than in July 2018.

Other causes of the overall decline are the decreasing number of married couples and rising unmarried rate among young people, Liu said.

According to a report release by Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, the number of couples who married in 2019 dropped to a postwar low of 583,000, 3,000 fewer than in 2018. Meanwhile, the number of couples who divorced rose by about 2,000 to 210,000.

To tackle the issue, the Japanese government has been trying to increase its birthrate for years, including introducing laws to balance work and parenting, encouraging men to assume more childcare duties and offering free day care programs.

However, the efforts and hopes for a youthful boost to offset a rapidly aging population have not worked so far.

The country's total fertility rate, an index that measures the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime, dropped to 1.42 in 2018, while the necessary number to keep a population from shrinking is widely considered to be around 2.

"As long as the population of young people is declining, any measures taken by the government to counter the declining childbirth issue will not yield any dramatic effects," Akihiko Matsutani, an emeritus professor at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, was quoted by the Nikkei newspaper as saying.

The country must "shift to a society and economy based on the premise that the population will decline," he said.

]]> 2019-12-27 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/26/content_37530338.htm The building housing the Bank of England in London's financial district is traditionally known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, and in the new year there will be a new man in charge of the United Kingdom's central bank.

As Canadian Mark Carney prepares to step down from one of Britain's most significant non-political roles before completing the full run of his eight-year term, his successor as the bank's 121st governor has been named.

With the possibility of Brexit causing even more turbulent political and economic waters than those of the economic crisis a decade ago, the powers that be have decided to follow the bank's first overseas appointee with someone who is very much in-house, its former chief cashier Andrew Bailey.

The 60-year-old was the early favorite for the post, having spent more than 30 years working at the bank, and is currently head of the Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, the financial watchdog.

He will take over in March, rather than at the end of January as initially planned, with Carney overseeing a handover period. Bailey saw off competition from the likes of Minouche Shafik, director of the London School of Economics, to secure the role.

Bailey's appointment was welcomed by Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid and also Carney, who called his successor "an extraordinary public servant".

"Andrew brings unparalleled experience, built over three decades of dedicated service across all policy areas of the bank," Carney said.

Carney drew criticism from Brexit supporters for suggesting that Britain's departure from the European Union, one of the first major challenges Bailey will face, would cause "a major challenge".

With Bailey's appointment having been made so soon after the result of a general election this month that finally firmed up Brexit as a political event－after more than three years of uncertainty－Javid welcomed him as "the standout candidate in a competitive field … he is the right person to lead the bank as we forge a new future outside the EU and level-up opportunity across the country".

Keith Skeoch, the CEO of fund manager Standard Life Aberdeen, welcomed Bailey as a "safe pair of hands on the tiller" going into what could be a challenging time.

He praised Bailey's "breadth of experience and expertise, both within the bank and across the financial sector", adding that he will "take over the reins at a tricky time given the range of uncertainties which seem likely to dominate the monetary and financial policy debate in 2020 and beyond".

Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell, however, called Bailey's record at the FCA "less than inspiring" and said he would "need to demonstrate early that he appreciates the need to address the deep structural problems of our economy".

Although widely seen as a safe choice, with huge in-depth knowledge of how the bank operates, Bailey's professional resume from his period at the FCA is not without its talking points. In particular, its handling of the Royal Bank of Scotland's Global Restructuring Group, drew criticism.

Established to help transform the fortunes of small businesses, the FCA instead came under fire for allegedly asset-stripping customers. An FCA inquiry into the affair recommended no further action be taken, a decision described by Kevin Hollinrake, the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, as "another complete whitewash and another demonstrable failure of the regulator to perform its role".

Also, the FCA admitted it would need to look at its own rules following the decline and eventual recent closure of the Woodford Equity Income fund, which left many investors badly out of pocket.

Bailey called achieving the top job at a place he had spent so much of his life "a tremendous honor".

"The bank has a very important job and, as governor, I will continue the work that Mark Carney has done to ensure that it has the public interest at the heart of everything it does," he said.

On Brexit, the first major challenge on his desk when he takes over, Bailey has advocated close coordination between British and European financial regulators to make any future transitions and longer-term relations as cordial as possible.

As chief cashier, Bailey's signature appeared on every banknote printed in the country, testifying to the value of the British currency. In a sense, his new role will do something similar.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration said Phanfone, which strengthened from a severe tropical storm into a typhoon, hit land at 4:45 pm local time in Eastern Samar Province.

Tens of thousands were stranded at shuttered ports or evacuation centers at the height of the Christmas season on Wednesday, and residents cowered in rain-soaked homes as Phanfone leapt from one small island to another for the second day.

The typhoon crumpled houses like accordions, toppled trees and blacked out cities in the Philippines' most storm-prone region.

No deaths have been confirmed, but rescuers said they have yet to reach the more isolated areas, some in neck-deep floods.

More than 16,000 people spent the night in improvised shelters in schools, gyms and government buildings as the typhoon made landfall on Tuesday, civil defense officials said.

Though weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path to Super Typhoon Haiyan－the country's deadliest cyclone on record that left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.

"It was frightening. The glass windows shattered and we took cover by the stairs," Ailyn Metran said after she and her four-year-old child spent the night at the local state weather service office where her husband worked.

The typhoon ripped a metal window frame off the building and dropped it onto a car parked outside, she said.

With just two hours' sleep, the family returned to their home in Tacloban city on Wednesday to find their two dogs safe, but the floor was covered in mud and a felled tree rested atop a nearby house.

The weather office said the typhoon strengthened slightly overnight on Tuesday and was gusting at 195 kilometers an hour, which can knock down small trees and destroy flimsy houses.

Survivors took to social media with pictures and videos of crushed homes, buses half-submerged in brown floodwaters, roads strewn with tree trunks, and coconut and banana plants being shredded by ferocious winds.

The typhoon wrecked the holiday plans of Manila-based Filipinos who make use of the long Christmas and New Year vacation to spend time with their loved ones in the provinces.

More than 25,000 people remained stranded at ports on Wednesday with ferry services still shut down, the coast guard said.

Scores of flights to the region also remained canceled, though the populous capital Manila, on the northern section, has so far been spared.

The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt. As such, the archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year.

But those who believe, all want to know one thing: Where in the world the jolly old man and his sleigh full of gifts are on Christmas Eve.

For the 64th time, a popular program run by the US and Canadian militaries is providing real-time updates on Santa's progress to millions around the globe.

And this year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is offering even more high-tech ways for children and parents to follow along.

Operation NORAD Tracks Santa has evolved from a misdirected telephone call in 1955 to a trailer parked outside the command's former lair deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, and then to NORAD's modern-day headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in the same state.

Along the way, the tens of thousands of telephone calls fielded by NORAD volunteers each year have been augmented by an explosion of technology that lets millions track St. Nick's journey from the North Pole to the Pacific and Asia, from Europe to the Americas.

This year's information portals include Alexa, OnStar, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and 3D apps developed for mobile devices by Cesium, a Philadelphia-based IT and defense contractor. The apps integrate geospatial and satellite-positioning technology with high-resolution graphics that display the actual positions of the stars, sun and moon and the shadows they cast at any point in Santa's journey.

It takes a village of dozens of tech firms－including Google, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Bing Maps－to deliver the immersive effect for global Santa trackers. There were some 15 million visits to the website last year alone.

And it takes a village of 1,500 volunteers to field emails and the 140,000 or so telephone calls to 1-877-HI-NORAD, which translates numerically to 1-877-446-6723. The volunteers staff phone banks, equipped with monitors, inside a building at Peterson, which offers a view of snow-capped Pikes Peak to the west.

More volunteers and firms donate food, water and coffee to those on Santa Watch.

"Hi Santa Trackers! Lots of kids are waiting to ask you about Santa," a sign reads.

Volunteers are equipped with an Operations Center Playbook that helps ensure every caller can go to sleep happy and satisfied on Christmas Eve.

Longtime Santa trackers are familiar with the NORAD-Santa story.

In 1955, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup－the commander on duty one night at NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command－fielded a call from a child who dialed a misprinted telephone number in a newspaper department store ad, thinking she was calling Santa.

A fast-thinking Shoup quickly assured his caller that he was. And a tradition was born.

Today, most early calls come from Japan and Europe. The volume soars in the US and Canada, said program manager Preston Schlachter. United Kingdom callers ask about Father Christmas. Those in France generally seek Papa Noel's whereabouts.

For team members, once "Big Red"－Santa's code name－is airborne, Schlachter said, "it's off to the races."

"I've never had a block of time move so quickly," he said.

]]> 2019-12-26 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/26/content_37530365.htm Britain's position outside the European Union will be marked when London co-hosts the next stage of Brexit negotiations with Brussels after Jan 31.

The rules are due to change as the United Kingdom will become a third-party country on that day and will then have less than a year to clinch a trade deal.

Over the past three years, Brussels has been the location for talks while the UK remains an EU member state.

The UK will stay in the EU's single market and customs union for 11 months after its withdrawal on Jan 31. But it will no longer be a member state and officials in Brussels expect the location of the talks to be split.

The Cabinet Office in Whitehall is the most likely location for the talks, which will involve teams led by Michel Barnier for the EU and an as yet unidentified minister for the British government.

A government spokesman said: "The political declaration makes clear that the UK and EU have to jointly agree the scheduling of talks. More details will be set out in due course."

On Feb 25, EU member states are due to adopt their negotiating position on issues such as trade in goods, fisheries, security and level-playing field demands. Negotiations on the future relationship are then expected to start in early March.

The Guardian newspaper quoted a leaked diplomatic note as saying: "The mandate will contain no surprises and will be based on the political declaration.

"Topics such as fisheries or a level playing field will be discussed (internally) in January. These discussions will be based on slide presentations from the European Commission instead of official drafts. That should give a sense of the sensitivities of member countries and make progress easier."

A summit of EU leaders in June, with which the UK will have no involvement, is expected to be a pivotal point in the negotiations.

Security issues are expected to be a major focus of talks. On fisheries, the political declaration obliges the EU and the UK to make "best endeavours" to agree on future access to British waters by July 1.

"Without an agreement on fish, there will not be a deal－the price for a trade deal is the level-playing field demands and fishing rights," an EU source told The Guardian.

]]> 2019-12-26 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/26/content_37530339.htm As one year makes way for another, people in Syria are still denied the peaceful life they have been craving for so long. Instead, they have witnessed yet more violence and bloodshed from the country's interminable conflicts that stem from a mix of decades-old power struggles and competing interests.

The Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, made remarkable military gains to reclaim most of the territory it had lost during the eight-year civil war. The authorities are now preparing to carry out postwar reconstruction.

Yet, a surprising decision by the United States to withdraw its troops from northern Syria hindered the process of Syria's reconstruction, and stirred up more tensions and turbulence in the region. That decision dragged more powers into an already complicated situation.

In early October, US President Donald Trump abruptly announced that the US military "will not support or be involved in" an expected military operation by Turkey in northern Syria, and US forces "would no longer be in the immediate area".

The US pullout left its Kurdish allies in Syria vulnerable to the incursion planned by their longtime enemies, the Turks.

The Syrian Kurdish fighters are seen as terrorists by Turkey, with their affiliations to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has waged a 35-year-long battle for autonomy within Turkey.

The power vacuum was soon filled by Turkey's fierce offensive, and weeks of attacks on Kurdish territory in northeastern Syria caused civilian casualties as thousands of Kurds fled their homes.

This year has seen the Syrian people's dreams for peace shattered once again. What's more, the conflicts of interest among powers in and outside Syria have made the situation even more complicated.

Turkey insisted on removing the Kurdish-led forces from areas along its border under Ankara's plan for a "safe zone" in northeastern Syria, a development that it says can enable the return of millions of refugees.

In the midst of Turkey's actions, Assad's forces sought to seize the opportunity to take back some territory once controlled by the Kurds. Long at odds with the Syrian government, the Kurds switched over to Assad's camp and agreed to an alliance in order to fend off the Turkish invasion.

In late October, the US changed tack and decided not to fully withdraw from Syria, claiming the U-turn was aimed at protecting the country's oilfields.

Russia stepped into the new battlefield, trying to mediate among the parties amid the hostilities along the Syrian-Turkish border.

More than two weeks after Turkey's offensive began, Russia and Turkey agreed on joint patrols in northeastern Syria to calm down tensions in the border areas.

Turkey's operations "undoubtedly undermined the previous results of fighting regional extremism", as the Kurdish fighters were at the front line of the battle against Islamic State, said Shu Meng, a researcher at the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University.

The past year saw the pressure ratcheted up on the so-called Islamic State militant group, which lost Baghuz, its final territory in Syria, in March. Its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a US special forces operation in late October. His death was hailed as another milestone in the war against IS, following Iraq's announcement of victory over the militants in 2017.

However, the disbanded extremist forces could take the opportunity to sneak into northeastern Syria amid the chaos.

"Although it is difficult for the IS to make a comeback or restore a large force in the short term, the threat of extremism still exists," Shu said. "The sporadic threat of extremist attacks and the infiltration of extremists will persist in this turbulent region in the long run."

In December, Russia, Turkey and Iran adopted a joint statement on Syria at the 14th round of the Astana talks held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

The three countries expressed concerns over the increasing terrorist activities in Idlib, a city in northwestern Syria, and said they would continue their cooperation in eliminating terrorist groups in Syria, including the Islamic State, the al-Nusra Front and other groups designated as terrorists by the United Nations.

Under these circumstances, the most important item on the agenda is how to push forward the process of Syria's political reconstruction and reconciliation, said Yu Guoqing, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"But the prospects for reconstruction are quite blurry since the parties concerned have differences on the Syria issue," Yu said. "They want their interests to be solidified before moving to the next step."

Russia wishes to continue to mediate among the parties to aid Syria's political reconciliation as "it plays a very important role" in the process. "Without Russia's consent, it would be difficult for the process to go forward," Yu said.

Iran is concerned more about its traditional existence in Syria, from fighting against extremist groups that may be active along the border line to its alliance with Syria.

Although a safe zone in northeastern Syria has been completed, many problems are yet to resolved, such as the settlement of refugees. This issue could be Turkey's future focus.

]]> 2019-12-26 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/26/content_37530355.htm BUSHEKELI, Rwanda－It was something, the silence. Nothing but the scuff of her slip-on shoes as Madeleine Mukantagara walked through the fields to her first patient of the day. Piercing cries once echoed down the hill to the road below. What she carried in her bag had calmed them.

For 15 years, her patient, Vestine Uwizeyimana, had been in unrelenting pain as disease wore away her spine. She could no longer walk. Her life narrowed to a dark room with a dirt-floor in rural Rwanda, prayer beads hanging on the wall by her side.

A year ago, relief came in the form of liquid morphine, locally produced as part of Rwanda's groundbreaking effort to address one of the world's great inequities: As thousands die from addiction in rich countries awash with prescription painkillers, millions of people in the poorest nations have no access to opioids at all.

Companies don't make money selling generic morphine to the dying, and most in sub-Saharan Africa cannot afford the expensive formulations like oxycodone, prescribed so abundantly in richer nations that thousands became addicted to them.

Rwanda's answer: plastic bottles of morphine, produced for pennies and delivered to homes across the country by health workers like Mukantagara. It is proof, advocates say, that the opioid trade doesn't have to be guided by how much money can be made.

Mukantagara, 56, has long been a witness to death. She watched her sister die in agony of cancer decades ago.

She settled on the edge of Uwizeyimana's bed. Uwizeyimana was feeling better. "Now I think everything is possible," she said. They held hands and prayed.

The work is never easy, Mukantagara says. But with morphine, there is a chance for death with dignity.

Twenty-five years ago, 800,000 Rwandans were killed as the two ethnic groups, Tutsis and Hutus, turned on each other. Those who survived struggled to recover from ghastly machete wounds and cruel amputations.

Medical advances meant more people began living into old age and facing diseases such as cancer. Some thought their pain was punishment from God, recalled Dr. Christian Ntizimira, a palliative care advocate.

In much of the world, the use of opioids was exploding. But the increase was in expensive formulations that are profitable for pharmaceutical companies, according to an AP analysis of data from the International Narcotics Control Board, or INCB. The use of morphine, the cheapest, most reliable painkiller, stagnated.

When the US Centers for Disease Control issued guidelines in 2016 calling on US doctors to cut back on the flood of opioid prescriptions that fed the addiction crisis, it exempted end-of-life patients.

The INCB reported that some 90 percent of opioids are consumed by the richest nations, where just 17% of people live.

And commercially-made morphine is on average nearly six times more expensive in many poor counties than it is in wealthy ones.

So Rwanda, Kenya and Malawi looked to Uganda, where the nonprofit Hospice Africa Uganda was making liquid morphine in a process so basic it was mixed for two decades at a kitchen sink. But that operation relies so much on donor support that it nearly shut down this year.

]]> 2019-12-26 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/26/content_37530353.htm Concerns have been expressed in China and South Korea over a proposal by the Japanese government that may see massive amounts of radioactive water from the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant dumped into the Pacific Ocean.

Against the backdrop of safety fears, experts have called for greater transparency on the plan from the Japanese government.

"Dumping the contaminated water into the sea is no longer a domestic problem of Japan but a grave issue that affects the whole marine environment," said Yu Qiang, a researcher of Japan studies at the University of International Relations in Beijing.

The international community, especially Japan's neighbors, deserves more details and should have a say in the decision-making process over the contaminated water, Yu said.

On Monday, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry proposed, as one option, the gradual release of nearly 1.2 million tons of the water that have been stored in above-ground tanks at the plant.

The radioactive water, which now comprises groundwater that seeps into the plant and rainwater, initially served to cool the plant's reactors after they melted down in March 2011 in the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

Nine years after the Japanese disaster, the water still occupies 1,000 huge tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi complex－enough to fill more than 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools, and it is still accumulating.

With the storage tanks forecast to fill up by mid-2022, the Japanese government has for years been discussing how to dispose of the liquid.

On Monday, the ministry presented three options from a group of experts: a gradual release of the water into the ocean, evaporation, or a combination of the two methods.

The ministry said a controlled release into the sea was the best option because it would "stably dilute and disperse" the water from the plant using a method endorsed by the United Nations' Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.

According to the ministry and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, or TEPCO, all 62 radioactive elements contained in the water can be removed to levels not harmful to humans before it is released. An exception is tritium, an isotope of hydrogen that experts say is harmful to humans only in very large doses.

"If the water is processed, the only radioactive materials that remain are low levels of tritium. Releasing it into the ocean would be the best solution in terms of cost and safety," said Kazuya Idemitsu, a professor of nuclear engineering at Kyushu University. Nuclear plants around the world release diluted water containing tritium into the seas, Idemitsu said.

However, Yu said that more data is needed to back Tokyo's claims, because the information released by Japan is oblique and sometimes self-contradictory.

Yu said that until 2018, TEPCO indicated that the vast majority of the water contained only tritium and was safe for discharge under Japanese government standards. But a briefing by Japan's Economy and Industry Ministry in November showed that more than three-quarters of the water still contain radioactive material other than tritium－and at higher levels than is safe for humans, Yu said.

Mun Mi-ock, South Korea's first vice-science minister, had called for more pressure to be exerted on Japan at a general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA, in September.

"It is necessary for the IAEA to carry out on-site investigations on the current status of the Fukushima plant and its contaminated water," she said, adding that it is important to establish standards and methods for the disposal of the water so as not to burden future generations.

Kyodo News contributed to this story.

]]> 2019-12-26 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/26/content_37530349.htm RUSSIA

Advanced fighter jet suffers first crash

One of Russia's Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jets crashed on Tuesday in the nation's Far East region, Russian news agencies reported, the first accident of its kind involving what is the country's most advanced warplane. Citing Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, which makes the plane, the RIA news agency reported the incident took place during a training flight in the Khabarovsk Region and that the pilot ejected safely. The Defense Ministry will set up a commission to investigate the accident, which may have been caused by a failure in the steering system, the state Tass news agency cited two military sources as saying.

BURKINA FASO

Mourning declared after 35 die in attack

A militant attack in northern Burkina Faso has killed 35 civilians, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, a large group of jihadists simultaneously attacked the military detachment and civilians in Arbinda in Soum Province, the army said in a statement. During the clashes with local security forces, 80 jihadists were killed, the army said. However, seven security forces agents, namely four soldiers and three gendarmes, were also killed, and more than 20 others injured.

INDIA

Ruling party loses key state election

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party has lost a key state legislature election, a setback for the party as it faces massive anti-government protests against a contentious new citizenship law. According to results announced by India's Election Commission late Monday, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party yielded power in eastern Jharkhand state to an alliance forged between the opposition Congress party and powerful regional groups following voting earlier this month. The election was held amid protests calling for the revocation of the citizenship law, which critics say is the latest effort by Modi's government to marginalize India's 200 million Muslims.

NEW ZEALAND

Police suspend search for victims

New Zealand police have called off the search for the bodies of two missing victims since the Whakaari White Island volcano eruption earlier this month after "extensive" efforts. Winona Langford, a 17-year-old Australian tourist, and Hayden Marshall-Inman, a 40-year-old New Zealand tour guide, are presumed dead. It is thought that their bodies are in the water off the island. "The search for the two missing victims of the Whakaari/White Island eruption has been suspended," Superintendent Andy McGregor, the Bay of Plenty district commander, said on Tuesday in a statement.

BRAZIL

Bolsonaro had brief memory loss

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro temporarily lost his memory after hitting his head in a fall at his official residence, he said in an interview on Tuesday. The 64-year-old slipped on Monday night in a bathroom at the Alvorada Palace, the latest health scare for the Brazilian leader who was wounded in a knife attack in September 2018 while campaigning for the presidency. "At that moment, I lost memory," he said of the fall. "The following day, this morning, I managed to get back a lot of things and now I am fine," Bolsonaro said in a telephone interview with Band television.

"These ice sculptures from Harbin are so beautiful. They are our precious New Year presents from China," local resident Anastasia Ivanova said at the opening ceremony of the Harbin Ice Sculpture Art Exhibition on Tuesday.

Arriving in Moscow on Sunday, 10 ice sculptors from Harbin immediately started working on blocks of ice in Sokolniki Park in northeastern Moscow.

The exhibition, on the theme of The Pearl in a Crown of Ice and Snow, will last till next Monday. Ten ice sculptures will be displayed inside the park and in the vicinity.

Along with decorations of Christmas and New Year lights, Russians first see two large ice sculptures, Friendship and Friendly City, at the gate of the park.

"We had a long discussion about the contents of the two works at the park gate," said Zhu Xiaodong, deputy director of the Harbin Ice Sculpture Art Center.

"For the Friendship piece, we carved China's ornamental column, or Hua Biao, and Russia's cathedral to celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Meanwhile, for Friendly City, our artists chose some landmarks and cultural symbols of Harbin city, such as the Flood Prevention Cenotaph, Harbin swans and the waves of the Songhua River," Zhu said.

Zheng Jinnan, a teacher of ice sculpture at Harbin Second Vocational Middle School, is one of the 10 sculptors who worked on the Moscow exhibition.

He told China Daily that all the sculptures displayed in Moscow emphasize the beauty of their lines and details, which have colorful contents and exquisite artistic characteristics.

"Still, we met some difficulties in Russia, as the temperature of Moscow this winter reached above zero degree, which is too high for an ice sculpture piece," Zheng said.

At the opening ceremony, Zheng showed his unique technique before Moscow residents, using an electric drill and ink to carve an ice stone into a beautiful blue lotus, winning applause from the Russians.

Yan Honglei, director of the Publicity Department of Harbin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the ice and snow culture is an indispensable element of Russia.

]]> 2019-12-26 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530173.htm Runners from around the world recently gathered in Dongguan, in Guangdong province, to compete in the 17th Asian Marathon Championships and the Dongguan International Marathon 2019 on Sunday.

The events attracted some 30,000 runners and 42 athletes from 16 countries and regions, the organizers said.

The run was held along major routes and covered Hongfu Road; Dongguan Avenue; the basketball center of Dongguan and Songshan Lake Hi-tech Zone.

Daichi Kamino, a Japanese participant who won the first prize of the Asian Marathon Championships, said that he loved the city, its food, its broad streets and its energetic atmosphere.

As a city of sports, Dongguan's sports history dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when the modern sports was introduced into it.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dongguan has seen major development of sports industries. And it has won honors in many sports like weightlifting and swimming.

Since the 1970s, the city has played a big part in the sports field. Earlier this year, Dongguan hosted the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2019 Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy; the city was also host of the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships in 2015. And its international sports events have not only injected vitality into the city but also allowed it to progress on the socio-economic front.

Dongguan has also seen rapid industrialization, urbanization and modernization. Its Songshan Lake Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was chosen by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences a decade ago as home to the country's largest single large scientific facility for the spallation neutron source among many other locations, turning itself into an increasingly important innovation hub in the Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

With these facilities, Dongguan has moved into more innovative projects including a neutron science city, which is under construction and spans an area of 53.3 square kilometers.

And it is part of the city's efforts to develop itself into a comprehensive national science center and thus to support the Bay Area.

Speaking about Dongguan, Liang Weidong, Party secretary of Dongguan, said: "In recent years, Dongguan has focused on upgrading its innovation-driven development and has developed an economic system and development pattern based on innovation."

Meanwhile, official data showed that in 2018, research and development investment in Dongguan accounted for 2.55 percent of the regional GDP, reaching the level of moderately developed countries, and as far as PCT international patent applications were concerned, Dongguan ranked second in Guangdong province.

"After years of effort, we are now moving the manufacturing sector to the middle and high end of the global value chain.

"And we must continue to strive for breakthroughs in strengthening our scientific and technological innovation," Liang said.

As of 2018, the city had a total of 5,790 high-tech companies and 32 R&D institutions.

And in the next three to five years, the city plans to build two industrial clusters of artificial intelligence and health to create output worth at least 100 billion yuan ($14.26 billion). Dongguan's geographical location and its proximity to the Bay Area cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen give it an edge as this offers it scope to benefit from innovation there, said Zhang Jingan, executive vice-president of the China Science Center of International Eurasian Academy of Sciences.

For 2018, the total volume of Dongguan's foreign trade surpassed 1.3 trillion yuan.

And by the end of 2018, more than 470 companies from Dongguan had invested in overseas markets, with the total investment surpassing $1.3 billion, official data showed.

Last year, Dongguan planned to invest more than 3 billion yuan in the next three years to establish the city as a hub for attracting technical talent.

In addition to the economic and industrial development, the city's progress can be also seen in its to bid improve its social welfare sector.

The city has pooled human resources of 1.95 million professionals including 126,000 high-profile ones. And Dongguan ranked sixth among the most popular cities in China for graduates in 2019.

"To make a breakthrough in high-quality development, Dongguan must drive socio-economic transformation with its city upgrades," Liang said.

"It must strengthen the city's landscaping and management and imprint it in people's hearts," he added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The homeless people who seemed mentally unstable shouted at me. I saw eight or nine tents in one block, and there were syringes on the sidewalk," said Lee, a resident in the Bay Area.

"I know it's their constitutional right to stay on the streets, but it's also my right to go about my business without fear."

Homelessness in the United States has been most acute in major cities on the West Coast, where encampments are mushrooming on the streets or inside parks, and people are complaining about health and safety threats.

But cities and counties may find it difficult to balance the needs of the homeless and other residents, following a decision by the US Supreme Court last week to decline to review a lower court's ruling on a homeless case.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by some homeless people who sued the city of Boise, Idaho, for repeatedly ticketing them for violating an ordinance against sleeping outside nearly a decade ago.

Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Boise law violates constitutional protections to fine or arrest homeless people for sleeping in public outdoor spaces when no other shelter is available.

The Supreme Court's decision means in states across the Ninth Circuit, including California, Oregon and Washington, local jurisdictions can no longer enforce similar statutes if they don't have enough shelter beds for homeless people sleeping outside.

"The decision reaffirms that cities are unable to criminalize unhoused people for conducting basic acts of survival－sleeping, sitting down, lying down－if they are not offering a place for them to go," said Sam Lew, policy director at the San Francisco-based Coalition on Homelessness.

"It is a decision that rings loud and clear that it is unconstitutional for cities to sweep homeless people off streets and sidewalks and that they have to begin investing in the real solution to homelessness: permanent, affordable housing," she said.

While homeless advocacy groups celebrate the Supreme Court's decision as a "huge victory", some municipalities are concerned that similar lawsuits, which have already been filed against several California cities and counties, will become more frequent.

"California State Association of Counties continues to be concerned about the lack of clarity in the Boise decision, and the potential risk for counties given the significant room for interpretation of the decision," Executive Director Graham Knaus said.

The organization joined an amicus brief filed by 33 California counties, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno and Orange, in September to ask the Supreme Court to review the Boise case.

Now that the court has declined to review that decision, courts will decide on a case-by-case basis, which may cost taxpayers millions and divert public funds away from the ongoing efforts to address homelessness issues, said the California State Association of Counties.

Los Angeles, which also filed an amicus brief in support of Boise, has had a controversial ordinance since 1968 that makes it a criminal offense to sit, lie, or sleep on a public sidewalk anywhere in the city. But much of the ordinance was invalidated by the Boise ruling.

Among the city's 36,300 total homeless population, more than 27,000 are unsheltered and there are only about 8,100 shelter beds, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

For San Francisco, the court action is a "non-issue" because the city's ordinances have already complied with the ruling by offering the ability to have shelter when moving homeless people, said Jeff Kositsky, head of the city's homelessness department.

Lew said there aren't adequate and appropriate forms of shelter in San Francisco and there are consistently more than 1,000 people on the city's adult shelter waiting list.

"Whatever one thinks of this ruling, I think it provides an incentive for cities and counties to do more to help homeless people get off the streets in the shelter and in the housing," California State Senator Scott Wiener said.

Almost half (47 percent) of all unsheltered homeless people in the US are found in California, about four times as high as the state's share of the overall US population, according to a report, The State of Homelessness in America, released by the White House Council of Economic Advisers in September.

"California has a shortage of 3.5 million homes, and that is the root cause for homelessness for most people," said Wiener, who introduced a bill－SB 50－last year to legalize affordable housing near transit and job centers.

But coastal communities refuse to build enough housing, thus pushing out working-class families and spiking homelessness and evictions, he said.

"For decades, people have gotten used to their neighborhoods being exactly the way they are and that's the status quo. What we need to do is readjust our entire approach to housing, so we have to get a different mindset about housing," said Wiener.

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530215.htm LONDON－Babies bounced on parents' knees, toddlers dancing around the room, crackers pulled with the elderly nursing home residents in their armchairs as everyone sang to a medley of Christmas songs.

Following 30 minutes of festive-themed joyful chaos, the multigenerational group spanning almost 100 years of age chatted over mince pies.

For Kathleen Page, 89, the weekly Songs and Smiles sessions held in the activity room of her nursing home in east London have brought her happiness and a sense of belonging.

"I've got a feeling that, even though I don't know (the parents and children), they want me. It's a lovely feeling," she said.

"Since I've been in here, I've had something to live for－all these people in the same place. I've found peace."

The weekly singing sessions are hosted by the Together Project, founded in 2017 by Louise Goulden, who came up with the idea while on maternity leave after seeing the positive effect taking her baby into nursing homes had on elderly residents.

It is one of many social enterprises-businesses that aim to do good-tackling loneliness, often referred to as an epidemic that is more acutely felt around Christmas.

"Having children and parents come in and laugh together, move, sing Christmas songs can be so beneficial," said Goulden.

"The effect of the sessions ... lifts the mood of the home for the rest of the day and is even an anchor point for the rest of their week."

But the sessions do not just boost the spirits of residents. They have also helped lonely parents-some of whom have suffered postnatal depression-while also benefiting children who learn through positive social interactions.

The Together Project has spread to more than 20 nursing homes across England, mostly in the south.

Loneliness epidemic

Britain is in the grips of a loneliness crisis, affecting one in 20 people, according to 2018 government data from the Office of National Statistics.

Young people, between the ages of 16 and 24, are three times more likely to feel "always or often lonely" than people over 65, found the study, although no annual comparative data was available.

For more than 1.5 million older people, Christmas is the loneliest time of the year, with those who have lost a loved one struggling most, found a recent survey by charity Age UK.

"Everybody will be affected (by loneliness) at some stage in their lives," said Lyndsey Young, who experienced it herself when she moved to a new area where she did not know anyone, then became a mother and started working as a freelancer.

Loneliness inspired a business idea and in 2018 she designed an outdoor seating area lined with planters in Bottesford, a village in central England with a population of under 4,000, where people could sit if they felt lonely and wanted a chat.

Set up as a social enterprise, the Friendly Bench hosts a variety of events throughout the year with the aim of bringing groups together, from elderly people to teenagers to veterans and people with disabilities.

"It's more than a bench－it's a place for people to connect," said Young, who has installed the Friendly Bench in another location nearby in Leicestershire and has about 10 more planned next year.

Given the unpredictable winter weather, on Christmas Eve Friendly Bench volunteers will knock on doors in the village, handing out mince pies and inviting people to a gathering later that day in the activity space at a sheltered accommodation.

"People often don't have anything on in the run-up to Christmas or the bit afterwards... so it is nice to have a chat and meet people you've lived in the community with years when your paths don't cross," she said.

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530213.htm BAN TA KLANG, Thailand－Separated from their mothers, jabbed with metal hooks, and sometimes deprived of food－many Thai elephants are tamed by force before being sold to lucrative tourism sites increasingly advertised as sanctuaries to cruelty-conscious travelers.

Balanced precariously on hind legs, two-year-old Ploy holds a ball in her trunk and flings it toward a hoop, one of many tricks she is learning in Ban Ta Klang, a traditional training village in the east.

Here young elephants are "broken" to interact with tens of millions of tourists who visit Thailand every year, many eager to capture social media-worthy encounters of the kingdom's national animal playing sports, dancing and even painting.

Villagers in Ban Ta Klang who have been working with the large, gentle animals for generation, say taming is necessary for safety reasons and that the force is not excessive.

"We do not raise them to hurt them. ... if they are not stubborn, we do nothing to them," said mahout Charin, as he stroked Ploy's head affectionately and spoke of her as part of his family.

Charin makes about $350 a month in a profession inherited from his father and grandfather.

"I have always lived with them," he added.

But animal welfare advocates argue the taming technique－where babies are removed from the care of fiercely devoted mothers at the age of two－is cruel and outdated.

It is also little known, one of many murky aspects of an evolving elephant tourism trade often kept from view of tour operators and travelers.

Big business

Elephants were phased out of the logging industry about 30 years ago, leaving their mahout caretakers unemployed.

So they turned to Thailand's flourishing tourism industry, a burgeoning sector of amusement parks offering elephant rides and performances.

A tamed elephant can now fetch up to $80,000, a colossal investment that then requires grueling hours of work and increasingly bizarre stunts to be recouped.

Mae Taeng Park in the northern city of Chiang Mai receives up to 5,000 visitors per day and charges an entrance fee of about $50.

Many come to see Suda, who holds a brush in her trunk and paints Japanese-style landscapes for visitors who can later buy the prints for up to $150 before taking an elephant ride through the hills.

As tourists become more aware of the potential cruelty of such activities, a growing number of places have opted to use the term "sanctuary" or "refuge".

Many do not permit rides or animal performances. Instead tourists are encouraged to feed, groom and care for elephants, gaining an unforgettable experience with one of nature's most majestic creatures.

But charities warn that even seemingly benign options, like bathing them, could still be problematic.

"Bathing with elephants … is often stressful for elephants and mahouts especially when dealing with groups of excited young people," Jan Schmidt-Burbach of World Animal Protection said.

"The best option is to leave it to the elephant to decide if and how to bath and ask tourists to stand back to observe and enjoy this moment without interference."

But even this may not be enough.

Some animal rights experts warn it can be hard to discern the treatment of the animals after the crowds have gone home. Some reported cases of elephants at so-called sanctuaries being chained for long hours, forced to sleep on concrete, and malnourished.

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530176.htm Boeing's firing of Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg is a needed first step in restoring the company's credibility, as reflected by the market's favorable reaction on Monday, yet it raises questions about top management's long-term strength in a competitive field, analysts said.

Muilenburg's tenure was a public relations disaster for Boeing after two crashes of the 737 Max killed a total of 346 passengers and crew. He was overly optimistic about the recertification schedule, leading airlines to believe the jet would return to service this year. He also initially mishandled hostility directed at him by family members who lost loved ones in the crashes, critics charged.

Boeing Chairman David Calhoun will become Boeing's new CEO on Jan 13. He is a former senior managing director and head of private equity at the Blackstone Group and former chairman of Nielsen Holdings, a marketing and media information company. Muilenburg is an aerospace engineer.

Investors cheered Muilenburg's departure. Boeing's stock rose as high as $340.58 a share in intraday trading and closed on Monday at $337.55, up 2.91 percent.

"If the market, Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration view Muilenburg as the face of the problem, then today's action at least changes the face," Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann& Co, an aviation consulting firm in Port Washington, New York, told China Daily.

"Short term, this is an olive branch. But it appears to be the end of engineers on the Boeing board of directors for now. Given the nature of the company in its commercial aviation, defense and space roles, I don't know that a well-intentioned board made up of accountants and lawyers has the skills to be informed decision-makers."

James Hall, managing partner of Hall& Associates in Washington and former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Monday's action was long overdue.

"Boeing needs to reset the table and put safety first," he told China Daily. "The whole thing was blown when Boeing lobbied Congress to self-certify the Max. There were a lot of missteps before Monday's announcement."

Development of the Max was announced in 2011. The first test flight was completed in January 2016 and the plane entered commercial service in March 2017. Muilenburg joined Boeing in 1985 as an intern before graduating as an aerospace engineer from Iowa State University a year later. He became CEO in 2015. He quickly signed long-term labor deals, worked on a pension deficit and boosted slowing sales in the company's defense division.

"I don't think Muilenburg has done a bad job," John Cochran, president and CEO of Eaglemark, an aviation consulting firm and former professor of aerospace engineering at Auburn University, told China Daily.

Strategic plans

"The immediate fix is a software update for MCAS, but based on what I know now, the problem began when Boeing decided to use different engines on the Max. Boeing has strong strategic plans and lessons learned here will be put to use in the future. Boeing will go through a difficult phase－perhaps for years－but the company will definitely survive." MCAS refers to the Max's software system designed to detect and reverse incorrect upward pitch; its malfunctioning is believed to have caused the two crashes.

Competitive factors may have played into the crashes. Before Boeing introduced the Max, American Airlines, for more than 10 years one of the manufacturer's best customers, had said it was close to buying several hundred planes from European rival Airbus.

Boeing knew it had to act aggressively and quickly to preserve market share, so it abandoned plans for an entirely new plane because design, testing and certification by the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, and other national regulators could take as long as 10 years. To remain competitive, Boeing updated an existing plane, the NG.

Iranian state media said technicians switched on a secondary circuit at Arak, a plant built to produce the heavy water used as a moderator to slow down reactions in the core of nuclear reactors.

"Today we are ... starting a noteworthy section of the reactor," the head of Iran's atomic agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, said in remarks broadcast live on state TV.

Teheran has been reactivating parts of its nuclear program in protest at the United States' withdrawal last year from an international deal meant to limit the Islamic Republic's ability to develop a nuclear bomb.

Washington says its withdrawal and decision to reimpose sanctions lifted under the 2015 deal will force Iran to agree on a broader pact.

Teheran has always said its nuclear work is for power generation, medical work and other peaceful purposes.

The secondary circuit was turned on as Iran worked on a modernization of the Arak plant, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.

"The Arak heavy water nuclear reactor ... consists of two circuits," Mehr said. "The first circuit is tasked with removing heat from the heart of the reactor, and the secondary circuit is responsible for transferring the heat from the first circuit to cooling towers and finally to the outside environment."

Iran agreed to shut down the reactor at Arak－about 250 kilometers southwest of Teheran－under the 2015 deal. The foreign powers that signed the pact said the plant could eventually have produced plutonium, which can also be used in nuclear bombs.

But Iran was allowed to produce a limited amount of heavy water and Teheran has been working on redesigning the reactor. Teheran says it will make isotopes for medical and agricultural use.

The control room of the reactor, named Khondab, will take about five to six months to build and the remaining systems will be completed in about one year, Salehi told a news conference at the site.

The reactor will be ready for initial tests as early as March 2021, Salehi added.

Referring to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Japan last week, Salehi said Tokyo was willing to mediate between Teheran and Washington.

He said discussions between Iran, Japan and other countries had included a proposal for Teheran to give assurances that it was not seeking nuclear arms by reissuing a fatwa issued in the early 2000s by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that bans the development or use of nuclear weapons.

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530195.htm DPRK

Images reveal new military construction

A new satellite image of a factory in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which makes military equipment used to launch long-range missiles shows the construction of a new structure. The release of several images from Planet Labs comes amid concern that the DPRK could launch a rocket or missile as it seeks concessions in stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States. One of the satellite images taken on Dec 19 shows the completion of a new structure at the March 16 Factory near Pyongyang, which is believed to be developing and manufacturing vehicles used as mobile launchers for long-range ballistic missiles.

VENEZUELA

11 held over weekend raid on military outpost

Venezuela has arrested 11 people in connection with a weekend raid of a remote military outpost in southern Bolivar state, but some suspects have fled across the border to Brazil with stolen weapons, President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday. Authorities have accused Brazil, Colombia and Peru of complicity with the attack, in which one Venezuelan soldier was killed. All three countries' governments have denied involvement. In a television address, Maduro called on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to cooperate.

INDONESIA

At least 25 die after bus plunges into ravine

At least 25 people died and 14 others were injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in Indonesia, a rescuer said on Tuesday. The bus carrying dozens of passengers careered into a 150-meter ravine in South Sumatra Province just before midnight on Monday and ended up in a river, police said earlier. Originally, the death toll given by police was 24, but the head of the local search and rescue team, Berty Kowas, said another body was found, taking the number to 25.

AFGHANISTAN

Eight Taliban militants killed in airstrikes

Eight militants were killed and nine others wounded after Afghan Air Force planes pounded Taliban positions in two provinces, the military said on Tuesday. In one incident, three Taliban roadside bomb experts were killed and two others wounded when the air force launched a strike in eastern Laghman Province earlier on Tuesday, the army's 201 Selab Corps said in a statement. "On specific intelligence inputs, Afghan Air Force targeted five militants, who were busy in planting improvised explosive devices along a road in Shakarman Valley in Alishing district roughly at 3 am local time on Tuesday," the statement said.

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530193.htm DPRK

Images reveal new military construction

A new satellite image of a factory in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which makes military equipment used to launch long-range missiles shows the construction of a new structure. The release of several images from Planet Labs comes amid concern that the DPRK could launch a rocket or missile as it seeks concessions in stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States. One of the satellite images taken on Dec 19 shows the completion of a new structure at the March 16 Factory near Pyongyang, which is believed to be developing and manufacturing vehicles used as mobile launchers for long-range ballistic missiles.

VENEZUELA

11 held over weekend raid on military outpost

Venezuela has arrested 11 people in connection with a weekend raid of a remote military outpost in southern Bolivar state, but some suspects have fled across the border to Brazil with stolen weapons, President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday. Authorities have accused Brazil, Colombia and Peru of complicity with the attack, in which one Venezuelan soldier was killed. All three countries' governments have denied involvement. In a television address, Maduro called on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to cooperate.

INDONESIA

At least 25 die after bus plunges into ravine

At least 25 people died and 14 others were injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in Indonesia, a rescuer said on Tuesday. The bus carrying dozens of passengers careered into a 150-meter ravine in South Sumatra Province just before midnight on Monday and ended up in a river, police said earlier. Originally, the death toll given by police was 24, but the head of the local search and rescue team, Berty Kowas, said another body was found, taking the number to 25.

AFGHANISTAN

Eight Taliban militants killed in airstrikes

Eight militants were killed and nine others wounded after Afghan Air Force planes pounded Taliban positions in two provinces, the military said on Tuesday. In one incident, three Taliban roadside bomb experts were killed and two others wounded when the air force launched a strike in eastern Laghman Province earlier on Tuesday, the army's 201 Selab Corps said in a statement. "On specific intelligence inputs, Afghan Air Force targeted five militants, who were busy in planting improvised explosive devices along a road in Shakarman Valley in Alishing district roughly at 3 am local time on Tuesday," the statement said.

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530192.htm The European Union and the United States, which have long championed shared goals, have increasingly been drifting apart as evidenced by disputes over issues ranging from security to trade in recent years.

Entering the new year, the tensions between the two powers are likely to continue, although their overlapping interests are seen as preventing any rapid decline in their relations.

Sven Biscop, director of Europe in the World Program at the Egmont-Royal Institute for International Relations, a Brussels-based think tank, said that on several instances this year the US has taken sudden and drastic decisions that have caught its European partners off guard. This has been the case even when such issues had been under discussion for some time.

"This has, of course, created frustration in Europe," Biscop said.

He said that no one in leadership in Europe wants to take any step that distances the EU from the US, but many European leaders and observers feel that relations should become "more equally balanced". As a result, they have started to see the necessity for Europe to pursue its own defense initiatives and for the bloc to strengthen its diplomatic ties with other parts of the world.

Divisions between the two sides over an increasing number of issues became very apparent in 2019.

For the EU, countering climate change is high on its agenda, especially after Europe experienced record heatwaves this summer. For its part, the US started the process of pulling out from the Paris Agreement on Nov 4, the first formal step in what will take a year to exit the global pact to fight climate change, triggering criticism around the world.

Relations had already been strained by an abrupt decision in early October by US President Donald Trump to withdraw US troops from northern Syria. This enabled a Turkish offensive against Syrian Kurdish forces and further destabilized a war-torn region. Washington's allies in the NATO security partnership were not informed beforehand.

Issues relating to Iran have been another sore point. The US, after withdrawing last year from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic. That move further escalated tensions between the US and Iran. European countries have been trying to salvage the nuclear agreement.

European leaders have been disappointed by US actions that they see as endangering the EU's security, including the sudden withdrawal of US troops from Syria and Washington's policy of maximum pressure on Iran.

'Brain death'

French President Emmanuel Macron said in November that a lack of leadership from the US, as well as poor coordination among treaty partners more broadly, is causing the "brain death" of NATO.

On the commercial front, the EU and the US have been embroiled in trade disputes this year. In early October, the US imposed a record $7.5 billion in tariffs on European goods after winning a case against Airbus over its subsidies to the aircraft maker. The US had taken the case to the World Trade Organization.

The US introduced a new wave of tariffs on some $2.4 billion in French goods in retaliation for a new French tax on digital services, a decision that will affect large US technology firms such as Google and Facebook.

Diao Daming, associate professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said that the tremors within the transatlantic partnership are due to the increasingly divergent foreign policies of the US and the EU, compounded by political and economic pressures within nations.

Diao said the EU wants to maintain regional security through multilateral mechanisms, and to solve domestic problems－including an influx of migrants to the continent－through global coordination and cooperation. In contrast, the US has chosen a unilateral approach to fully safeguard its interests, even if that means battling its European allies for its own benefits.

"The different foreign policies have been damaging relations between them," he said.

Feng Zhongping, vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that the EU and the US used to be closer allies during the Cold War. But their partnership has gradually loosened, as the extent of their overlapping interests decrease.

Obvious divisions

After Trump, who came to power with his "America first" doctrine, the divisions have become even more apparent, especially in the two sides' strategic focuses, attitudes toward multilateralism and climate change.

"Europe used to rely on the US-led NATO military alliance to ensure its security, but after the US' constant moves of endangering their security, European leaders have started to doubt whether the US is still reliable," Feng said. "That is why the EU created a defense budget and has been working to strengthen its defense capacities."

As for economic ties, Feng said that cooperation and competition have always co-existed in the partnership between the US and Europe.

But now that the Trump administration is digging with its unilateralism and continues to impose taxes and sanctions to solve trade disputes, such policies have become unacceptable to the EU with its promotion of multilateralism.

Feng said that the EU-US relationship is likely to be tense in 2020, and trade disputes will continue, in line with Trump's pursuit of unilateralism. The US president is unlikely to treat Washington's old partners and allies any differently to others.

Diao said that in the defense sector, the US would still wish to maintain its influence in Europe but have its allies take on more of the costs of the NATO alliance.

On the one hand, Washington will seek to continue to reduce its NATO alliance commitments and urge European countries to pay more of the costs for the transatlantic alliance. On the other hand, it will keep intervening in global issues, hoping that Europe will maintain its reliance on the US as its protector.

In the economic sector, Diao seems more optimistic and said that the trade disputes between the two parties might not escalate in 2020, when the US presidential election will be held.

"During the election campaign, the economic and employment situations will be critical to Trump," he said. "If he continues to operate trade issues at will, it might bring an unpredictable impact on the US as well as on his political career."

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/25/content_37530211.htm Britain's National Health Service, or NHS, is facing a growing shortage of family doctors, even though they are among the best paid in the Western world, a major report has found.

According to research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, the United Kingdom has the second-lowest number of doctors relative to its population when compared to other leading European nations.

The United Kingdom has only 2.8 doctors per 1,000 people, compared with an average of 3.5 doctors across the OECD. The UK shortage is second only to Poland.

The OECD conducts research on economic and social policies; its 36 member countries have the world's most advanced economies.

Despite this, the study shows that family doctors, known as general practitioners, or GPs, now earn more than three times as much as the average employee in the UK, or more than 100,000 pounds ($130,000) a year.

The report reveals only Germany pays its GPs more than Britain when compared with the rest of its citizens, yet the UK is struggling to hold on to its family doctors.

The Daily Mail reported that the practices of some 270 GPs in England closed last year because it became impossible to staff them－reducing the number of operating medical offices to the lowest level since records began in 1995.

Rising numbers of doctors are taking early retirement, prompted by a growing pension crisis, according to The Daily Telegraph. It said almost 1,000 GPs and hospital consultants opted to retire last year, compared with 384 a decade ago.

The OECD report examined data between 2000 and 2017 that highlighted the UK's reliance on foreign-trained medics. Almost 29 percent of doctors practicing in the UK had qualified abroad, the fifth-highest figure in Europe.

The research also showed growing dissatisfaction among patients in the UK with how long their appointments lasted; 84.9 percent were satisfied with the amount of time allowed for their consultation, down from 88.8 percent in 2010.

Experts said they fear for the future of general practice in Britain as the number of medical offices in operation hits an all-time low.

Gaetan Lafortune, an OECD health expert, told the Mail: "The differences between the UK and other countries are very striking, particularly when you look at how many GPs are leaving the profession much earlier than in other countries."

The findings follow a separate report by British health experts released earlier this year.

It concluded the NHS would never recover from its chronic staffing shortages and warned that "radical changes" regarding staffing are necessary. The report by the King's Fund, Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation said: "The shortfall in the number of GPs is so serious that it cannot be filled at all. The only way forward is to use the skills of other staff, including pharmacists and physiotherapists, much more widely and routinely in and alongside general practice."

]]> 2019-12-25 00:00:00 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/24/content_37530067.htm UNITED STATES

Trump invites Johnson to White House

US President Donald Trump has invited British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to visit him at the White House in the new year, British media reported on Sunday. Trump's invitation was made after the British prime minister's election win this month, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. Britain wants to strike a new trade deal with the United States after it leaves the European Union at the end of January.

NEW ZEALAND

Death toll from volcano rises to 19

The death toll from a volcanic eruption in New Zealand earlier this month has risen to 19 after police said on Monday another person died at an Auckland hospital overnight. There were 47 people visiting the tourist destination of White Island when the volcano erupted on Dec 9, killing 13 people initially and leaving more than two dozen others hospitalized with severe burns.

MEXICO

Ambassador caught shoplifting resigns

Mexico's ambassador to Argentina has resigned citing health problems following new allegations of shoplifting after video from late October showed the diplomat attempting to steal a $10 book. Ricardo Valero was recalled earlier this month by Mexico's foreign ministry amid the fallout from the Oct 26 incident at a well-known Buenos Aires book store in which he can be seen on security camera footage taking the volume from a shelf and then hiding it inside the pages of a newspaper he tucked under his arm. The ministry accepted Valero's resignation on Sunday.

INDIA

Nine die in Delhi apartment block fire

At least nine people, including four women and three children, died in Delhi in a fire that broke out in a residential building early on Monday, confirmed an official in the city's Fire Department. The four-story building is situated in the Kirari area of northwest Delhi. Assistant Divisional Officer of the Delhi Fire Services Ajay Kumar said that three of the victims were burnt to death beyond recognition. The fire had been completely extinguished, and relief and rescue work still was going on, he added.

AFGHANISTAN

Taliban claim attack that killed US soldier

The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on Monday on US troops that killed one US soldier and, according to the insurgents, wounded several more. The killing is likely to have consequences for ongoing talks between the US and the Taliban. President Donald Trump in September declared negotiations "dead" after the Taliban killed a US soldier in a Kabul bombing. Negotiations have since restarted in Doha, but were earlier this month put on a "pause" following yet another bombing, this time at the Bagram air base.

ITALY

Venice faces new exceptional flooding

The Italian city of Venice faced more intense floods on Monday while still recovering from the exceptional high tide that hit it in November. The tide peaked at 1.44 meters on Monday morning, lower than forecasters' predictions of 1.5 meters. High tides are considered exceptional if they are above 1.4 meters.

Reuters - AP - Xinhua - AFP

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, the special administrative region staged a grand fireworks show in front of the landmark Macao Tower and Hengqin Financial Island jointly with Zhuhai, a coastal city in South China's Guangdong province. It was the first large cultural event jointly hosted by the two neighboring cities.

During the 30-minute show which started at 9 pm, fireworks were launched from two large vessels, eight special-effects platforms and 56 unmanned surface vessels on both sides of the Sai Van Bridge of Macao.

Accompanied by music and laser lights, 600 unmanned drones formed the shapes and patterns of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Ruins of St. Paul's as well as characters like "Zhuhai & Macao are one family" and "20" as a background of the show.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, said it was the largest fireworks show in the territory over the past 20 years and had integrated many wonderful new elements and brand new cross-border cooperation ideas.

She noted that Zhuhai and Macao will further promote tourism and bolster the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a world-class travel destination.

Yang Chuan, director of the Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee of Zhuhai, one of the show organizers, said the joint event worked as a bridge to bring residents in the two cities closer in terms of cultural fusion and communication.

He expressed the hope that cooperation with Macao could be expanded.

"It's a useful trial to consolidate the advantages of both sides, deepen the mutual understanding and accumulate experience for more large-scale cooperation in culture and tourism in the future," Yang said.

Hengqin, located on an island in Zhuhai, is next door to Macao. The 106.46 square kilometers region is expected to become a global tourism destination with a modern industrial system, green ecosystem and smart services after getting approval from the State Council in April.

According to local officials, the development of Hengqin will promote the moderate economic diversification of Macao and become a demonstration zone for the deep integration of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

Many were amazed by the spectacular fireworks show and expressed their excitement to reporters.

A woman surnamed Lee in Macao said its economy has grown markedly since returning to the motherland 20 years ago. She said the show has strengthened the feeling that Zhuhai is developing together with Macao.

"We are very lucky," she said.

Celebration events

Besides the fireworks display, many groups in Zhuhai and Macao have jointly held a variety of activities to mark the 20th anniversary of Macao's handover.

On Dec 7, the Zhuhai and Macao youth federations jointly held an unveiling ceremony for a memorial stone in a park in Zhuhai, a symbol for the friendship of the youth in both cities and to inspire young people there to pursue new dreams.

Alex Mok, head of the Macao Youth Federation, said at the ceremony that the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Zhuhai-Macao cooperation provide the biggest development opportunity for young people in the two cities.

"We will lead the young people in Macao to understand our motherland and get involved in the development of the Bay Area as the 20th anniversary of Macao's return now becomes a new starting point," Mok said.

On the evening of Dec 8, more than 1,000 young students from Zhuhai and Macao staged an evening party－in diverse styles including dances, choruses, martial arts and instrumental performances－to narrate the stories of Macao's return and integration with the country's development and the growth of Macao and Zhuhai.

On Dec 14, the General Union of Neighborhood Associations of Macao and the women's federation of Xiangzhou district of Zhuhai put a musical film online to showcase links between the people of Zhuhai and Macao, as well as their close relations. On Thursday, several youth federations in Zhuhai and Macao organized young people from both sides to stage flash mobs at a couple of iconic venues.

Complementary growth

Given its proximity in geographical location and emotional intimacy to Macao, Zhuhai has been doing what it can to meet what Macao needs and prioritizing coordinated development with Macao in terms of rules, industrial synergy, space expansion and livelihood collaboration.

In order to support moderately diversified development of Macao, Zhuhai has explored ways to keep consistency with Macao in terms of rules and regulations.

For example, Zhuhai has had trials in the fields of cross-border offices, cross-border finance, schooling of children of the Hong Kong and Macao professionals working in Zhuhai, practices of physicians from Macao in Zhuhai, opening the social security system on a trial basis for Macao residents and cross-border legal services.

The local government focuses on six industries to meet the development demands of Macao. It comprises technological innovation, finance, healthcare and professional services as well as culture, tourism and exhibition.

Zhuhai will expand the space for manufacturing, living and promote ecological protection for Macao to solve its problems of land shortage and high development costs.

 

 

 

 

 

The demonstrations and violent clashes have caused deaths since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the law in both houses of Parliament on Dec 11. While the government is standing firm in the face of opposition, many of India's Muslims and others argue that the law violates the essence of equality enshrined in the Constitution. Some rallies have been staged in defense of the law.

The legislation, which grants fast-track citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who entered India due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, is highly contentious because religious identity is being linked to citizenship.

Even with the pro-government rallies, with some held last weekend, far more people are protesting against the citizenship act. The police are accused of causing the deaths of protesters, but they point out that shots have been fired by demonstrators.

In Firozabad city, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, police constable Vijendra Kumar had a narrow escape on Saturday after a bullet fired during a protest pierced his bulletproof vest and got lodged in a wallet inside his jacket.

Inside the wallet, "there were four ATM cards and some pictures of Shiv Ji (a Hindu god) and Sai Baba (an Indian saint)," Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. "It feels like this is my second life."

Others have not been so lucky. In Uttar Pradesh alone, 15 people have been confirmed as killed in the protests, the Hindustan Times newspaper quoted Praveen Kumar, the state's inspector general of police, as saying.

Scores have been injured, along with trains and buses torched and properties destroyed amid the protests by tens of thousands of people across India. The affected cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Patna and Chandigarh. Barricades have been put up in many of these cities, with a number of subway stations sealed off and shops shuttered.

In response, the government has shut down mobile and broadband internet connections, and banned rallies, including in Bengaluru. In the southern city, the authorities invoked a law that prohibits no more than four people from assembling if the police fear disturbances.

A business leader, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said that India cannot afford these upheavals at a time when it is struggling with an underperforming economy and high unemployment. He said the economy, which had registered double-digit growth until a few years ago, is struggling to expand even 5 percent this year.

Economist Abhirup Sarkar, who teaches at Kolkata's Indian Statistical Institute, said that the problems will mount if India is besieged by prolonged disturbances. "If that happens, investors will certainly rethink putting money in the country," he said.

However, he said that if there is calm and the market is attractive, investments will be made.

"It doesn't really matter if a country is dictatorial in nature, or democratic," Sarkar said.

On Dec 19, the Supreme Court said it will seek the government's responses to a clutch of petitions submitted against the constitutional validity of the act.

Modi told his supporters at a rally on Dec 17 that the opposition was "spreading lies and rumors", "instigating violence" and "used its full force to create an atmosphere of illusion and falsehood".

A senior government official, who is also a Muslim, said the law not only challenges the secular tenets of the Indian Constitution and undermines the country's religious and linguistic pluralism, "it is designed to carve a dangerous divide between communities who have been living together in peace for centuries".

"The fires of anger may be doused but I am not sure if the scars will ever be healed," the official said, on condition of anonymity. "There is an element of fear, anger and helplessness among the Muslims all over the country－a feeling of being alienated and left out."

He said the government is introducing a divisive law at a time when the country is reeling from a slowdown, the highest unemployment rate in 45 years and job cuts, as well as falling consumer demand.

Millions of people who have been living in India for generations do not have proper documentation for various reasons. The National Register of Citizens, or NRC, relies on extensive documentation to prove that an applicant's ancestors lived in India. This requirement makes many Muslim citizens fear that they could become stateless.

"Only the educated, the wealthy and the influential might have the resources to get things right if there arise any problems with regards to their NRC test. A slight clerical mistake in any document makes your existence questionable," the official said.

"We have seen how thousands of poor, illiterate and many others who got excluded from the NRC have been declared illegal residents."

A further three people were sentenced for a combined 24 years, according to a statement read by the attorney general's office on Saudi state TV. No individual breakdown for the sentencing was given.

The court held nine sessions in the Khashoggi case and the verdict was issued in the 10th session.

Shalaan al-Shalaan, the Saudi deputy public prosecutor and spokesman, reading out the verdict in the trial, said the court dismissed charges against the remaining three of the 11 people who had been on trial, finding them not guilty.

"We found that Khashoggi's murder was not premeditated," Al-Shalaan said.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, was murdered in October last year in what Riyadh called a "rogue" operation, tipping the kingdom into one of its worst diplomatic crises and tarnishing the reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The 59-year-old Saudi insider-turned-critic was strangled and his body cut into pieces by a 15-man Saudi squad inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, according to Turkish officials. His remains have not been found.

The killing caused a global uproar. The CIA and some Western governments have said they believe Prince Mohammed ordered the killing, but Saudi officials say he had no role.

Saudi prosecutors had said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri oversaw Khashoggi's killing and that he was advised by royal court insider Saud al-Qahtani.

Only Assiri appeared in the court hearings, according to Western sources.

Qahtani was investigated but not indicted "due to insufficient evidence" and Assiri was investigated and charged but eventually acquitted on the same grounds, according to the statement.

In Washington, a unanimous Senate resolution in 2018 held that Prince Mohammed was "responsible for the murder", despite Saudi insistence he had no involvement in the operation.

US President Donald Trump has condemned the killing but has stood by the crown prince and defended US-Saudi ties. Washington has sanctioned 17 Saudis suspected of being involved, though not Prince Mohammed.

Xinhua

Customs figures released by the UK government show that exports of British pork to China rose 150 percent by volume in October 2019 compared to the same month last year. This trend contributed to a 20 percent increase in total UK pork exports for the month compared to 2018.

According to China's Ministry of Commerce, outbreaks of African swine fever this year caused a shortage of 10 million metric tons of pork, accounting for 20 percent of China's usual total annual pork output.

According to UK customs figures, exports of UK pork to China were up 77 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2018. China is now the single biggest export partner for UK pork, accounting for one-fifth of exports by volume

Overseas pork suppliers have been given greater market access in order to boost supplies. More than 1,000 pork suppliers registered with the Ministry of Commerce in 2018, an increase of 30 percent on the previous year.

In October, UK processors Quality Pork and Tulip were granted approval to export 50 tons of pork a week to China from their jointly-run plant in Brechin, Scotland, bringing the total number of UK plants with export approval to nine.

Andrew Saunders, agricultural director at Tulip, said that the company has increased sales to China by around 80 percent this year compared with 2018. Saunders told the TV network CNBC he expects this trend to continue into 2020.

Chinese imports of pork are likely to increase significantly in the lead-up to the Spring Festival holiday period in late January.

This month, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released a pork action plan, in which it predicted that Chinese pork production will begin to approach normal levels by the end of next year, and make a complete recovery by 2021.

China is helping to offset dampened domestic demand for pork in the UK, where retail sales declined by 4 percent in volume and 3 percent in spending over the summer.

A 2018 report by supermarket chain Waitrose found that one-third of Britons have reduced their meat consumption, mainly due to animal welfare, environmental and health concerns.

The UK National Pig Association says that a healthy trading relationship with China is "vital" for the British pig sector, as it may lessen any negative effects of the UK's exit from the European Union this year.

The UK currently sends 55 percent of its pork exports tariff-free to EU nations, and it remains unclear how Brexit will affect this trade.

Russia's Foreign Ministry also said in a statement on Saturday that Moscow "will continue to implement its economic projects regardless of anyone's sanctions".

US President Donald Trump signed a bill on Friday that included legislation imposing sanctions on firms laying pipes for Nord Stream 2, which seeks to double gas capacity along the northern Nord Stream pipeline route to Germany.

The sanctions, which are opposed by the European Union, were included in a sprawling defense spending bill Trump signed at a ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, an air force installation outside Washington DC.

They target companies building the nearly $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Europe's leading economy, Germany.

US lawmakers have warned the pipeline "would enrich a hostile Russian government and vastly increase President Vladimir Putin's influence in Europe at a time of heightened tension across the continent".

On Saturday, the group behind the pipeline said it would aim to complete the project quickly in an effort to minimize the damage of US sanctions.

"Completing the project is essential for European supply security. We, together with the companies supporting the project, will work on finishing the pipeline as soon as possible," Nord Stream 2 said in a statement.

While an EU spokesman criticized "the imposition of sanctions against EU companies conducting legitimate business", the German government said Berlin rejected "these sorts of extraterritorial sanctions".

"They will hit German and European companies and constitute an interference in our internal affairs," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Berlin "firmly rejects" US sanctions but would not retaliate.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also slammed the United States, accusing it of seeking to prevent other countries from developing their economies.

"A state with $22 trillion in public debt is banning solvent countries from developing their economies," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page, adding: "The American ideology does not like global competition. Soon they'll be asking us to stop breathing."

Washington, which has been seeking to sell more of its own liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to European countries, has said Nord Stream 2 will make Europe too reliant on Russian supplies.

Xinhua - Agencies

Turkey backs the GNA, which has been torn by factional conflict since 2011, and has already sent military supplies to the GNA despite a United Nations arms embargo, according to a report by UN experts seen by Reuters last month.

Turkey has also said it could deploy troops to Libya if the GNA makes such a request. Serraj's government has been fighting a months-long offensive by Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army in the eastern region of the country.

Haftar's forces have received support from Russia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

"If necessary, we will increase the military aspect of our support to Libya, and evaluate all our options, from the ground, air and sea," Erdogan said at an event in the northern Turkish province of Kocaeli.

Speaking earlier, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey will stand by Libya's government until peace, stability and security are established in the country.

Last month, Turkey and the GNA signed an agreement to boost military cooperation and a separate deal on maritime boundaries, which has enraged Greece and other countries.

Ankara and Athens have been at odds over hydrocarbon resources off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus.

While Greece has said the accord violates international law, Turkey has rejected those accusations, saying it aims to protect its rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

On Sunday, Erdogan said Turkey will "absolutely" not turn back from its agreements with Libya.

"Nobody should come to us with attempts to exclude us, trap us in our own shores or steal our economic interests," Erdogan said.

"We have no intention of starting conflicts with anyone for no reason, or robbing anyone of their rights," he said.

"Those who oppose us have no sense of rights, law, justice, ethics or mercy," said Erdogan, referring to Greece, Israel and Egypt, which have opposed the maritime accord.

In a first reaction from the United States on the agreement, a senior US State Department official said the maritime accord was "unhelpful" and "provocative".

Forces seize ship

Forces in Libya's east say they have seized a ship with Turkish crew members amid tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over the contentious maritime border deal.

In a statement issued late on Saturday night, the Libyan National Army said a vessel flying a Grenada flag with several Turkish crew members had been forcibly taken into a Libyan port for inspection. However, it remained unclear if the move was indeed a seizure.

Haftar and his forces have been trying to capture Tripoli since April. The offensive threatens to plunge Libya into another bout of violence.

Under the maritime agreement signed between Turkey and Libya's Tripoli-based government, Ankara gains access to a contested economic zone across the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Reuters - AP

The chairperson of the Independent Election Commission, Hawa Alam Nuristani, told reporters on Sunday the unity government's incumbent chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, was Ghani's closest rival. Abdullah had secured 39.52 percent of the votes for president.

Abdullah's office released a statement saying the results were "not legitimate" and were "based on the fraudulent vote without considering the legal demands of the candidates".

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Hizb-e-Islami party, won 3.85 percent of the votes.

The remaining 11 candidates had far fewer votes, with the fourth-place candidate winning less than 2 percent.

Ghani hailed the election announcement as a victory of the nation and pledged to "represent the whole nation".

"We will connect and unite all Afghans. We will end the crisis and all divisions by building a responsible government," he said.

If the results hold and Ghani remains in office, it could give him the authority he has been seeking to demand a leading role in peace talks with the Taliban.

Ghani and his government have been sidelined during the past year of direct talks between the US and the Taliban insurgents. Washington seeks to withdraw its combat troops and end 18 years of fighting in Afghanistan, America's longest war.

In November, the election commission tried to launch a ballot recount but Abdullah halted the attempt, saying he would not let his observers participate. He eventually allowed a recount to go forward earlier this month.

Thousands of Abdullah's supporters rallied in November against what they said was the presence of fake ballots.

The UN secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said the commission "has an obligation to adjudicate any complaints it receives transparently and thoroughly so the election process may conclude in a credible manner" and that "all candidates have the chance to raise any concerns they may have."

AP - Xinhua

Media analysts say the possible prohibition looks to be in response to journalists' tweets during the British general election campaign, many of which were criticized as being either biased or inaccurate.

The Guardian newspaper reports that the plan, if approved, would require top journalists to resist commenting on breaking stories or offering instant analysis on online platforms.

The paper quoted an unnamed BBC journalist as saying Fran Unsworth, the corporation's director of news and current affairs, was behind the idea.

"She said that it was likely she would meet some resistance, but that she wants to start a debate and was now contemplating asking correspondents to come off Twitter," the source said.

Unsworth reportedly explained the idea to a few colleagues at an event at Broadcasting House.

She has not yet confirmed or denied the report but told the newspaper a week earlier that journalists' use of social media had not always been effective.

"We just need to reinforce our social media rules," she said at the time. "But I don't think it's viable to say take a step back."

The debate around how the BBC's top correspondents use social media, such as the US-based Twitter, followed criticism of several posts during and after the election campaign from Labour Party politicians who said the BBC's coverage cost the party the election. The corporation's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, was heavily criticized for repeating a false claim online that a Labour Party activist had punched a Conservative Party activist. It subsequently emerged in video footage that one person accidentally walked into the other. Jon Sopel, the BBC's North America editor, has also been criticized for tweets that supporters of US President Donald Trump say are biased.

The debate around journalists' use of Twitter follows the release of a recent YouGov survey that suggested Britons were losing trust in the BBC.

The survey of 1,660 British adults found that fewer than half believed the BBC to be honest and impartial.

The pollsters found that, in December, 28 percent of respondents did not have much trust in the broadcaster; 20 percent had none at all. Only 8 percent trusted it a great deal.

The results contrasted with a survey in October－prior to the election campaign－that found 51 percent trusted the BBC "a great deal" or "a fair amount".

Increasingly high temperatures linked to climate change, as well as wilder weather－particularly heavy rains and flooding－are taking a growing toll on the ancient stonework, said Abdelhakim Elbadry, a restoration expert who works at Karnak temple.

"The changes appear noticeably, in the damage and cracks of the facades of many graves as well as the change of the color of the archaeological stones, as a result of high temperature and humidity," Elbadry said.

Granite that was once rose-colored has faded to a pale pink or even light gray over the past 15 years, he said.

"In every archaeological site here in Luxor, you can witness the changes," he said.

Climate change is making efforts to protect Egypt's famed but fragile archaeological sites even harder, preservation experts say.

From the pyramids and the Sphinx to the Citadel of Qaitbay and an ancient Roman amphitheater near the Mediterranean Sea, the country's historic sites face growing threats from harsher weather and rising seas.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, the country's former minister for antiquities affairs, said virtually all open-air archaeological sites in Egypt are in danger from stronger winds and humidity, higher temperatures and bigger floods.

"I believe that in 100 years all these antiquities will be gone because of climate change," Hawass said, referring to an expected serious deterioration of the monuments.

He said offices staffed by specialists should be set up near each of the country's archaeological sites to record the changes taking place, try to find immediate solutions and to coordinate restoration of damage.

He has called for a joint effort by Egypt and the European Union to try to mitigate the effects of climate change on Egyptian antiquities.

Reuters

A total of six people have now died in the bushfires, which have destroyed more than 3.7 million hectares across five states.

Potter Steve Harrison, 67, only survived a major blaze southwest of Sydney by crawling beneath a makeshift kiln as the flames passed over.

Harrison stayed to defend his property in the town of Balmoral on Sunday but, by the time he changed his mind, it was too late to leave.

The town of Balmoral, with a population of only 400 and 150 houses, was virtually destroyed, the New South Wales State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

Australia has been fighting wildfires for months as hot, dry conditions brought about an early start to the fire season.

Australia posted record temperatures above 41 degrees Celsius last week as an extreme heat wave swept across the country and a long-running drought in the country's east has created tinder-dry conditions.

PM defends stance

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended his government's climate policy on Monday, as authorities warned the wildfires crisis ravaging the country's most populous state could fester for months.

The disaster has led to renewed criticism that Morrison's conservative government has not taken enough action on climate change.

Morrison made the rounds on several Australian television networks Monday morning following his return on Saturday from a much criticized family vacation to Hawaii amid the wildfires crisis.

Morrison rejected calls to downsize Australia's lucrative coal industry. Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas.

"I am not going to write off the jobs of thousands of Australians by walking away from traditional industries," he told Channel Seven.

He also dismissed calls from Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg to take more action on climate change.

When asked about a Twitter post on Sunday by 16-year-old Thunberg that linked the fires with climate change, Morrison said that he would remain focused on Australia's interests.

"Australia and the Australian government will set our policies based on Australia's national interests, on what Australia needs to do," Morrison told reporters while visiting evacuees in the state of New South Wales on Monday.

"That's where I keep my focus. It's not for me to make commentaries on what those outside of Australia think that Australia should do."

Morrison was responding to Thunberg's tweet referring to a news article about the Australian fires: "Not even catastrophes like these seem to bring any political action. How is this possible?"

"Because we still fail to make the connection between the climate crisis and increased extreme weather events and nature disasters like the #Australia Fires," she said.

"I'm not here to try to impress people overseas," he said.

"I'm here to do the right job for Australians and put them first, and that means putting the environment in which we live at the top of the agenda, along with the economy in which people live at the top of the agenda."

Reuters - AP - Xinhua

Spokesperson Geng Shuang also said the US accusations against China are groundless and amounted to double standards by the US.

"China chooses its own voting position based on the merits of the matter itself as well as the fundamental interests of the Syrian people," Geng said at a daily news conference.

He reiterated that the UN cross-border humanitarian rescue mechanism should fully respect Syria's sovereignty, independence, consent and territorial integrity, as well as the opinions of the Syrian government, while enabling evaluations and adjustments in accordance with developments in the country's situation.

The UN Security Council voted last week on two competing resolutions－one prepared by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait, and the other by Russia, on the soon-to-expire UN cross-border aid mechanism for Syria.

The text drafted by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait called for a reauthorization of two crossings with Turkey and one with Iraq for another year, while the Russian draft would only reauthorize the use of the two on the Turkish border for six months.

Both drafts failed to get adopted due to divisions within the Security Council on the duration of its new mandate and the number of operating crossings involved.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said Russia and China had blood on their hands and the veto was "shameful", after the two countries used their veto against the resolution drafted by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait.

But Geng questioned the motivation behind the US' accusation, asking why the US refused to vote for Russia's resolution if it really cares about the Syrian people and the humanitarian situation in Syria.

"The United States should ask itself, as the situation in Syria and the suffering of the Syrian people are precisely caused by the wrong actions of some countries, including the US," Geng said. "The world can see very clearly who is full of lies, whose mind is full of hypocrisy, and who has the blood on (their) hands."

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said on Friday that the Syrian government has the primary responsibility for improving the humanitarian situation in Syria, and "we should prioritize providing humanitarian assistance from inside Syria".

He reminded the council that cross-border humanitarian relief is a special method adopted under specific circumstances and it should be evaluated in a timely manner in light of developments on the ground.

"This mechanism must ultimately be adjusted," he said.

The Chinese envoy noted that China always attaches great importance to the humanitarian situation in Syria, and supports the international community in stepping up humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.

Zhang said China supports the active work of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other international humanitarian agencies.

The country has also provided Syria with food, medicine, education, training, public services and other assistance through multilateral and bilateral channels, and is committed to improving the humanitarian situation in Syria and alleviating the sufferings of the Syrian people, he said.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's ambassador to the UN, said the troika's draft fails to reflect the changes since the mechanism was established in 2014 under urgent circumstances when there were no other means for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to certain areas.

He noted that people in many of those areas can now get humanitarian assistance from within Syria.

Zhang voted against the troika's draft, and for Russia's alternative text.

He said China has been making active efforts to promote consensus on the issue of cross-border humanitarian relief in Syria, and expressed regret that the council failed to reach agreement on the extension of the mechanism's mandate.

Xinhua and Reuters contributed to this story.

Launched in June 2018, the China-Africa cooperation project is set to benefit 800 villages across Kenya's 47 counties.

According to StarTimes Kenya, the contractor of the Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages, 20 households in each of the villages had a satellite television service installed which was composed of a satellite dish and a high-definition set top box.

And three public institutions in each village also received two solar powered satellite projector TV systems and one 32-inch television set.

Andy Wang, CEO of StarTimes Kenya, said 16,000 households and 2,400 public institutions will benefit from the project.

"We applaud the Chinese government for conceptualizing this initiative which is key in growing access to digital television in the wake of the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, and the Kenyan government for warmly welcoming this investment," Wang said.

He said the company's engineers together with the 1,600 technical support team and local leaders and communities worked together to successfully implement the project.

The handover ceremony in Kenya comes two months after StarTimes handed over a digital TV project to the government of Nigeria, from which a total of 20,000 households will benefit.

The Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages project was announced by President Xi Jinping during the opening ceremony of the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as one of the summit resolutions.

"As we handover the 800 digital villages in Kenya, it is our belief that this project is a true testament of what can be achieved in cooperation between governments and the input of the private sector in promoting the socioeconomic and political prosperity of our economies," he said.

Joseph Mucheru, the cabinet secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Information and Communication, in a speech read on his behalf at the handover ceremony said the realization of digital satellite and terrestrial reception is a major achievement in ensuring that the Kenyan people have access to and enjoy the benefits of the digital platforms that will enable them to acquire information necessary for decision making in a knowledge-based economy.

"The availability of a balanced mix of local and international channels will increase access to information which will go a long way in bridging the urban-rural digital divide," Mucheru said.

He reiterated the government's continued commitment to supporting and protecting investment in the ICT industry in an effort to ensure that the entire population in the country has access to affordable ICT products and services to enjoy benefits accruing from digitization.

Wu Peng, the Chinese ambassador to Kenya, said the implementation of the project is an important part of the China-Africa cultural exchange cooperation program.

"We believe that the implementation of the project will effectively promote cultural exchanges between China and Kenya, greatly enrich daily lives and improve the cultural knowledge of local people," he said.

Wu said China's assistance to Kenya will be closely aligned with the Big Four Agenda, to provide help for job creation and boost the incomes of local people.

"The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria must be respected and upheld. The future of Syria must be left in the hands of the Syrian people. Let them independently decide their own future," he told China Daily on Wednesday at the Chinese embassy in Moscow.

Xie emphasized that only the Syrian people can decide the country's future, including issues like what kind of government the nation will have, and what kind of elections should take place.

A common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security framework is needed in the region, he said, adding that the United Nations should play a key role in the Syrian crisis.

Xie noted that the process in the political settlement is gaining momentum, but there are still uncertainties in northern Syria and the threat of terrorism remains.

"In China's view, all terrorist organizations on the list of the UN Security Council need to be attacked and defeated, because they are the threats to Syria's national security, as well as regional and global security," Xie said.

In October, the Russian Defense Ministry published aerial images and accused the United States of smuggling Syrian oil out of the country and transferring money to the bank accounts of US troops and US private military service companies.

US military officials responded they want to secure the oil only to deny ISIS the chance to take back the fields and use the revenue to fund its resurgence.

Xie said that there should be no double standards in the fight against terrorism. Moreover, there should be no dual political considerations, and no hidden political agenda to serve certain countries' self-interests.

The envoy said that refugees are gradually returning to their homes and the issue of reconstruction is back on the agenda, which "needs the immediate attention of the international community".

"We hope that all parties and players involved in the Syrian crisis will join hands and make joint efforts to try to maintain the momentum of the political settlement," Xie said, adding that he was in Moscow for the second time in a year to continue contacts, consultations and coordination with the Russian side.

Since the start of the Syrian crisis, China and Russia have consulted and cooperated very closely, and both countries have made tremendous efforts for a political settlement in Syria, he said.

Xie noted that foreign military forces, such as those from Russia, entered Syria at the request of the Syrian government to fight ISIS and other terrorists.

"Russia has launched more than 10,000 air strikes, and killed many terrorist fighters, so I think Russia has played a positive role in countering terrorism," Xie said.

He said China maintained frequent contacts with other countries to discuss the solution of the Syrian crisis.

"China will continue to be a positive contributor to peace and stability in Syria and in the region," he said.

The poll of 1,660 British adults shows fewer than half now believe the British Broadcasting Corporation is honest and impartial.

The National, a pro-independence Scottish newspaper, said the poll shows a decline in public trust between October and December, during the general election campaign, when the broadcaster was criticized for bias against some parties, including the Scottish National Party.

The pollsters found that, in December, 28 percent of respondents did not have much trust in the broadcaster and 20 percent had none at all. Only 8 percent trusted the BBC a great deal. In October, a poll found that 51 percent trusted the BBC "a great deal" or "a fair amount".

People who voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum were the most likely to mistrust the BBC. Conservative Party supporters were less trusting than those who backed the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.

Yahoo News UK said some critics felt the BBC went soft on the Conservative Party during the election campaign because the corporation feared it would face consequences if it attacked the party and the Conservatives were returned to power.

Journalist and broadcaster Peter Oborne wrote in The Guardian: "I hope that BBC executives are not favoring the Tories simply because they fear the revenge a Conservative government would take if the corporation gave proper scrutiny to its stunningly dishonest campaign."

The BBC's senior political reporter Laura Kuenssberg was unpopular with Labour Party supporters during the campaign, especially after she tweeted that a Labour activist had punched a Conservative Party adviser when it transpired he had accidentally walked into a protester's arm.

But, despite the claims of a Conservative Party bias, others said the broadcaster was pro-Labour. Conservative Party figures reportedly attacked the BBC after presenter Andrew Neil criticized Prime Minister Boris Johnson for declining an interview request.

Today program host John Humphrys wrote in the Daily Mail that it was "crass to let Andrew Neil treat the prime minister as a naughty boy".

The BBC's election anchor Huw Edwards insisted in a LinkedIn blog post that the corporation tried to be impartial.

A BBC spokesperson said its aim during the election campaign was "to be on the side of the audience".

]]> 2019-12-22 14:19:23 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/22/content_37529839.htm UNITED NATIONS/TOKYO－US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft made a rare compassionate public gesture toward her Iranian counterpart in the UN Security Council chamber on Thursday.

Since Washington pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, tensions between the administrations in Washington and Teheran have risen.

But after a contentious UN Security Council meeting on compliance with the 2015 accord between world powers and Iran, Craft walked over to talk to Iran's UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi.

Ravanchi had spoken about a two-year old girl during his statement to the 15-member council. He said the girl had died in June from a rare disease and blamed the death on US sanctions.

An official from the US mission to the United Nations said Craft was expressing her condolences to Ravanchi.

Since US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal, his administration has reimposed sanctions on Teheran with the aim of choking Iranian crude oil sales, the Islamic Republic's main source of revenues.

'Nightmare' for patients

But as part of its "maximum pressure" campaign, Washington has also sanctioned dozens of Iranian entities, companies and individuals to cut Teheran's revenue, a move some analysts have suggested may have forced Iran to act more aggressively.

Ravanchi had told the council: "It is a shame that the US bullying has resulted in discontinuation of export of certain medicines to Iran, causing nightmare for some patients."

He then went on to tell the council that the Iranian toddler, named Ava, was unable to get the treatment she needed.

Craft had told the Security Council: "The United States is willing to engage in dialogue with Iran to negotiate a deal that will better serve international peace and security. But we will not sit idly by while Iran continues to destabilize the region."

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani became the first Iranian head of state to visit Japan for two decades on Friday, as Tokyo seeks to mediate between Teheran and Washington.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei had played down the mediation aspect of the trip, saying the visit to Tokyo had "nothing to do with issues such as negotiations with the US".

However, he acknowledged that "our Japanese friends usually convey messages or initiatives, which we welcome ... and seriously examine".

With Japan being a key US ally that also maintains close diplomatic and economic ties with Iran, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has tried to build bridges between the two rival powers.

Last week, Abe said he would strive "as much as possible to ease tensions" in the Middle East, noting Japan's alliance with Washington and "favorable relations" with Teheran.

]]> 2019-12-22 14:19:23 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/22/content_37529837.htm With a solid foundation in consumer demand, innovative and diverse shopping as well as rapid but steady economic growth, Chengdu in Southwest China is poised to turn itself into an international consumer city.

Chengdu has taken the lead nationally in this type of development thanks to the local government's innovative policies to boost the consumer economy, improve its market capacity and promote industrial upgrading, according to local officials.

According to the Chengdu government, by 2035, the city is expected to develop into an international consumer city with global influence and appeal, and will have five high-end commercial districts.

Local market data support Chengdu's determination to build an international consumer city, according to local officials.

Statistics show that Chengdu's retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 680 billion yuan ($97.12 billion) in 2018.

In the first nine months of 2019, retail sales of consumer goods in Chengdu totaled 542.91 billion yuan, up 9.7 percent from the same period in 2018.

Retail sales of wearable smart devices and smartphones in Chengdu soared by 196.8 percent and 53.1 percent year-on-year. During this period, the city's retail sales of new energy vehicles increased by 457.3 percent year-on-year.

Chengdu's consumer goods market also witnessed a steady upgrade this year.

The Chengdu Retail Business Association's statistics show a total of 435 flagship stores opened in Chengdu during the first 11 months of 2019. Out of this, five are the world's first shops, one is the first in Asia and 76 are the first in southwestern China.

A metropolis located in Southwest China, Chengdu has made strides in developing its nighttime economy.

According to a report by an urban data research institute affiliated to the China Business Network earlier this year, the nightlife index of Chengdu is 76.21. It ranks fifth nationwide and just follows the country's four first-tier megacities of Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing.

Statistics from Dazhong Dianping, China's Yelp-like business-review service platform, show nighttime consumer spending at restaurants accounts for 57 percent of a day's total in Chengdu, ranking second nationwide.

An increasing number of Chengdu's more than 4,000 book stores are staying open 24 hours a day.

According to data released by the online ticketing platform damai.cn, Chengdu residents' spending on cultural performances at night ranks fourth in China.

Nighttime trips along the Jinjiang River in Chengdu received more than 200,000 visitors during the 2019 Spring Festival vacation, running on Feb 4-10.

Chengdu is scheduled to create 100 nighttime economy demonstration sites across the city. Diverse features are to include sightseeing, traditional operas, amusement parks, sports, shopping and catering.

To innovate upon its consumer economy, Chengdu is scheduled to take advantage of its Tianfu Greenway, an ecological trail across the city.

The Tianfu Greenway will offer more space for companies to open outlets in addition to the city's commercial districts. This will help transform Chengdu's ecological value into social and economic value, according to Ran Yang, a senior executive at a construction company for the Tianfu Greenway.

Since many residents like to walk or run on the Tianfu Greenway on evenings and weekends, introducing commerce to the greenway will help extend service times for consumers, Ran added.

Some professionals and industrial insiders shared their views on Chengdu's attempt to build an international consumer city at a conference held on Dec 16 in Chengdu.

"Chengdu has the economic foundation, advantages and resources to develop into an international consumer city," said Wang Wei, director at the market economy research institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Wang added that the city has huge market potential, diversified and multitiered market resources, prominent geographical advantages, developed infrastructure and favorable industrial policies.

Wu Yushan, general manager at the Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, a renowned shopping mall in the city, said that in the retail sector, a raft of international brands have begun to put Chengdu at the forefront of their development strategies in China.

Chengdu's plan to turn itself into an international consumer city will stimulate the city's economic vitality and help improve its business environment, bringing greater opportunities for the city's commerce, Wu added.

Chengdu is a city with open, inclusive and international visions, which is attractive to global consumers and businesses, said Huang Yamei, an executive of the Chinese branch of Japanese retail brand Ito Yokado.

Qiu Min, director of public affairs at the southwestern branch of China's e-commerce giant JD, said this year marks the 10th anniversary of JD's operation in Chengdu. Looking ahead, the company will lay out new business models, such as community e-commerce and unmanned supermarkets in Chengdu.

Speaking at his 15th annual news conference, Putin said the real value of Sino-Russian cooperation is not limited to the achievements born out by the statistics, but from the mutual trust seen between the two peoples.

"We have enjoyed success in the fields of economics, aerospace and others, and such cooperation means a lot to the multipolar world," he said.

Nearly 1,900 correspondents from around the world participated in this year's news conference, breaking last year's record number of just over 1,700. The first such event in 2001 drew about 500 journalists.

At the beginning of the four-and-a-half hour session, Putin addressed the sanctions imposed on the country by the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, which will rule Russia out of many major international sporting events for the next four years.

He condemned WADA's decision as a means of neutralizing the country's strong competitors. The president added that the WADA restrictions contradict the Olympic Charter and create obstacles to the development of sports by not allowing athletes from Russia to take part in Olympic and other international events.

"We have young girls in women's figure skating; they are still kids," Putin said. "Do they have any connection to doping? Absolutely not! They are landing quadruple jumps, something that practically no other skaters are able do in women's skating. So, now it's possible to disqualify them, to get them off the ice. Do you think it will help to develop the sport? I don't think so."

When asked about his country's relations with the United States, Putin said Moscow was ready to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the countries. He also called the impeachment of US President Donald Trump a "continuation of domestic political infighting".

On Wednesday, for just the third time in the US history, the House of Representatives voted to impeach a president.

Asked by a representative of a US think tank about the vote, Putin said he did not think the Trump presidency was over, noting that the trial still has to go through the Senate, where the Republicans have a majority.

"I doubt they will want to expel from power their party representative based on what I think are absolutely made-up reasons," Putin said.

"This is just the continuation of an internal political battle. One party that lost the elections, the Democrats, tried to find new ways by accusing Trump of collusion with Russia," he said.

"But then it turns out there was no collusion. This can't be the basis for an impeachment. Now they have come up with some pressure on Ukraine. I don't know what that pressure is. But your Congressmen know better."

]]> 2019-12-22 14:19:23 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/22/content_37529835.htm US President Donald Trump pressed his Republican allies on Thursday to exert rigid control of his Senate trial and ensure a swift exoneration, a day after he was impeached in a historic rebuke by the Democrat-led House of Representatives.

A bitter fight looms over the coming trial, expected to begin as early as the second week of January, with Senate leaders already drawing battle lines over the evidence that will be allowed.

But its fate was left in limbo late on Thursday when the Senate's powerful Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, signaled the standoff with Democrats over trial particulars would continue into the new year.

"We remain at an impasse on these logistics," McConnell said on the floor, as he announced the Senate had completed its business until January.

Trump seized on the uncertainty to attack House Democrats for seeking to demand key witnesses or dictate how McConnell should run the process.

"I want an immediate trial!" he boomed on Twitter.

Trump is charged with abuse of office and obstruction of Congress but Democrats, who led the three-month House investigation, are threatening to delay sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate until they are reassured the process will be fair.

"I got Impeached last night without one Republican vote being cast with the Do Nothing Dems on their continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history," Trump tweeted. "Now the Do Nothing Party want to Do Nothing with the Articles & not deliver them to the Senate, but it's Senate's call!"

Trump, the third US president to be impeached, suggested that the Democrats would "lose by default" if they decided not to show up at a date determined by the Senate.

Numbers game

The impeachment stems from what Democrats say was Trump's threat to withhold aid to Ukraine in a bid to pressure Kiev to investigate the son of former US vice-president Joe Biden, a potential rival of Trump in the 2020 race. Biden's son, Hunter Biden, has had business dealings in Ukraine.

As for how it plays out, the impeachment could be a numbers game. Experts say McConnell has to make sure that there are no more than two Republican defections.

If three Republicans break, the deciding vote will come from the Supreme Court's chief justice, said Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the University of Maryland. And if four break, the Democrats win.

It remains unknown how the impeachment will impact the 2020 elections.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement after Wednesday's House vote that history was "made today, but not in a way Democrats had hoped".

"With this vote, (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and her fellow impeachment crusaders have ensured the reelection of Trump and a return of a Republican majority in the House," said McDaniel.

In the opinion of Trump supporters－many of them rural, working class white people－the stakes are high. They strongly believe Trump is fighting against what they see as Washington elites－backed by mainstream media, urban liberals and runaway political correctness－who want to deprive them of their entire way of life, including their constitutional right to bear arms.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West said that Trump's base has worried "about the left wing taking over, and see Trump as working hard to stop the left".

"He has very strong support from his base and this will continue through the 2020 election," West said.

But at the same time, Trump will need more than his base to clinch the White House in 2020. "He will need suburban voters and independent people to cast their ballots for him," he said.

Some experts say impeachment won't make much of a difference in the 2020 elections.

"We're at an extraordinary historical moment－this sort of impeachment has only happened twice before－and yet it's unlikely that it will change anyone's mind," said Christopher Galdieri, an assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, adding that Trump's best course of action would be to do nothing that would alienate any wavering Republican senators.

Xinhua, agencies and Ai Heping in New York contributed to this story.

The government's commissioner for migration, Manos Logothetis, said bursting migrant camps in Greece have been under immense strain, and now the situation has become "critical".

"The crisis is happening now, and it is serious," he told the German Funke media group on Wednesday.

According to the Greek government, more than 45,000 refugees have arrived in the past six months and more than 41,000 people are waiting in its three largest migrant camps on its islands near Turkey.

Aid groups have increasingly raised the alarm over what many are calling a humanitarian disaster. Officially, reception facilities on the islands of Samos, Lesbos, Chios, Kos and Leros have a capacity to accommodate just 5,400 people, a report by The Guardian said.

The number of migrants and refugees crossing from Turkey to Europe rose sharply in comparison with last year, according to a confidential European Union report published by German media.

From January to mid-December, 70,002 migrants reached the EU from Turkey, representing a jump of 46 percent compared with the same period in 2018, Die Welt reported on Tuesday. It said the vast majority are refugees fleeing persecution and war.

The government commissioner said the situation was "clearly more critical" for Greece than during the 2015 migrant crisis, when more than one million people crossed from Turkey fleeing the civil war in Syria. He said this is the highest number since a refugee pact between the EU and Turkey helped stem the flow in 2016.

In 2015, migrants passed through Greece on their way to other EU countries, but now they are largely held at the island reception centers, which are increasingly beyond capacity.

Logothetis said the Greek government wants to deport 10,000 asylum-seekers to Turkey, but to do so it will need 270 asylum-case reviewers.

Hard-line approach

The decision to deport migrants came after Greece elected the New Democracy party, which adopted a more hard-line approach to migrant arrivals, focusing on deportation and faster decisions over asylum applications.

Last month, the Greek government announced plans to build centers for new arrivals on each of the five islands where most migrants arrive after crossing the Aegean Sea. Aid groups criticized the plans to create "prison" island camps, which would be closed installations replacing the vastly overcrowded, open-air camps.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis conceded that pressure on Greece to patrol its eastern frontiers had risen dramatically in the wake of Europe's decision to seal off the nation's northern borders against migrant flows.

]]> 2019-12-22 14:19:23 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2019-12/21/content_37529955.htm AUSTRALIA

PM apologizes for family vacation

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday apologized for taking a family vacation in Hawaii as deadly bushfires raged across several states, destroying homes and claiming the lives of two volunteer firefighters. Morrison cut short the vacation amid public anger at his absence from Australia at a time of national crisis. He arrived home on Saturday and on Sunday morning spoke to reporters while visiting the headquarters of the Rural Fire Service in Sydney.

FRANCE

Travelers face rail strike disruption

Strikes disrupting services in France brought frustration for travellers thronging Paris stations at the start of the festive season, as rail workers protested over pension reform. Two weeks of nationwide industrial action against a planned overhaul of the pension system have disrupted railways and roads, shut some schools and brought more than half a million people onto the streets. Unions have called for stoppages to continue over the holiday period.

DPRK

Top leader discusses military capability

Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, presided over a meeting of top military officials in an effort to enhance the country's military capability, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday. The meeting "discussed and decided organizational and structural measures and important issues for decisive improvement of the overall national defense".

Against the backdrop of the complex and fluid international landscape, China and Africa enjoy close and frequent high-level exchanges and active interactions at various levels. This reflects the strength of China-Africa relations. What are your expectations for developing China-Africa relations under the new circumstances?

This year marks the 70th anniversary of New China's diplomacy. Over the past 70 years, the unbreakable friendship between China and Africa has stood the test of time and international vicissitudes and has continued to flourish. Developing friendly ties and cooperation with African countries has been the consistent basic policy and firm strategic direction of China's diplomacy. There is no historical baggage or ill feeling between China and Africa. Our close high-level interactions and exchanges between localities and our peoples over the years speak to our traditional friendship and are a hallmark of China-Africa friendly relations.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has set great store by China-Africa relations. President Xi Jinping has given personal attention to this relationship. Since he took office as president, he has visited Africa four times and held meetings or talks with most African leaders. He has proposed the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and of pursuing the greater good and shared interests in China's relations with Africa. This has pointed the way for and lent strong impetus to the advancement of friendship and cooperation between China and Africa.

The FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2018 was a great success and a historic milestone of solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa. Both sides agreed to build an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future and chart the course for the further growth of China-Africa relations. Under the new circumstances, it is the shared aspirations of China and Africa to renew traditional friendship and deepen friendly cooperation. Rain or shine, China will continue to stick together with Africa, shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand, to carry forward this friendship forged by the older generation of Chinese and African leaders.

With the official launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa has come to a critical stage in its transformation and development. Now is a prime time for China and Africa to advance Belt and Road cooperation. To date, 44 African countries and the African Union (AU) Commission have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. Steps have been taken to enhance synergy between China-Africa Belt and Road cooperation with the AU's Agenda 2063, the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the development strategies of African countries. China will work with Africa for higher quality and efficiency of our practical cooperation, so that together we can deliver greater benefits to our two peoples and set a fine example of mutually beneficial cooperation between developing countries.

The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. A large group of emerging markets and developing countries are growing rapidly. At the same time, unilateralism, protectionism and bullying practices are on the rise in international affairs, bringing more uncertainty and instability to the world. As was underlined in the Beijing Declaration－Toward an Even Stronger China-Africa Community with a Shared Future, issued at the FOCAC Beijing Summit, China, the world's largest developing country, and Africa, the continent with the largest number of developing countries, have supported and cooperated closely with each other in international affairs. Under the new circumstances, enhanced strategic coordination between China and Africa serves the common interests of both sides and contributes more to upholding multilateralism and equity and justice. Both China and Africa firmly safeguard the international system underpinned by the United Nations, the international order anchored on international law and the multilateral trading system centered on World Trade Organization rules. No matter how the international situation may evolve, China will stand firm with Africa to jointly uphold the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, safeguard multilateralism and international equity and justice, and contribute to the building of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

Could you talk about the details of your visit to Uganda, the Republic of the Congo and Senegal?

During my visit to Uganda, the Republic of the Congo and Senegal, I was received warmly by all three countries and their people. I met with the presidents of the three countries and had talks with the foreign ministers. We reached many common understandings. I conveyed the hearty greetings of President Xi Jinping to leaders of the three countries and extended congratulations on their achievements in national development and rejuvenation. Leaders of the three countries asked me to convey their warm greetings to President Xi Jinping and spoke highly of the People's Republic of China's great achievements in the past seven decades. China and the three countries are pleased with the good momentum in the growth of our relations. We all agree to continue to keep the good momentum of high-level exchanges and deepen ties and cooperation across the board by enhancing Belt and Road cooperation and completing the follow-up actions of the FOCAC Beijing Summit. In this way, we will realize common development through win-win cooperation.

China and Uganda have, building on our traditional friendship, seen ever greater political trust in recent years and more active cooperation across the board. President Yoweri Museveni attended the FOCAC Beijing Summit in China last year. This year he paid a working visit to China and attended the first China-Africa Economic and Trade expo, during which he and President Xi Jinping had fruitful talks. During my visit, I had in-depth exchange of views with the Ugandan leader and the foreign minister on bilateral relations and other issues of mutual interest. The two sides both believe that we should approach bilateral relations from a strategic height and with a long-term perspective. Based on our respective strengths and development needs, we will build synergy between our Belt and Road cooperation and the implementation of the follow-up actions of the FOCAC Beijing Summit with Uganda Vision 2040. We will focus on cooperation in trade, industrial capacity, infrastructure and industrial zones to steadily enrich our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and make our mutually beneficial cooperation a pace-setter in China-Africa cooperation.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the Republic of the Congo. The two countries have a profound traditional friendship. President Denis Sassou Nguesso has already paid three state visits to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. During his first trip to Africa in 2013, President Xi visited the Republic of the Congo. During my visit, I had in-depth meetings and talks with leaders of the Republic of the Congo. I expressed China's deep sympathy over the recent serious flooding affecting parts of Congo. Both sides spoke highly of China-Congo relations. We agreed to keep up the momentum of high-level exchanges, enhance friendship and mutual trust, and offer each other firm support on issues concerning the other's core interests and major concerns to demonstrate the strength of our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. China is ready to continue doing our utmost to support Congo in its economic and social development. The two sides agreed to work together to actively promote cooperation in finance and aviation, and make our cooperation a model for the transformation and upgrading of China-Africa cooperation.

Senegal is the incumbent African co-chair of FOCAC. Senegal was the first West African country President Xi Jinping visited and the first in West Africa to sign a Belt and Road Cooperation document with China. During my visit, the two sides had in-depth discussions on bilateral ties and other issues of mutual interest. Both sides underscored the need to view our relations from a strategic height and agreed to expand cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and within the FOCAC framework, and enhance cooperation in areas like infrastructure and development of industrial zones. China supports Senegal in implementing its Plan for an Emerging Senegal and in hosting the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics. We will work to advance the China-Senegal comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and make our cooperation a paradigm of high-quality and sustainable cooperation. The two countries reaffirmed commitment to their duties as FOCAC co-chairs, and agreed to work together to implement the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit, advance China-Africa relations, and uphold multilateralism and the common interests of developing countries.

During my visit, I briefed leaders of the three countries on the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference. The three countries congratulated China on the success of these meetings. They spoke highly of China's achievements in modernizing the system and capacity for governance. They expressed optimism in China's development prospects and firm support to China's pursuit of a development path suited to its national reality. They acknowledged China's contribution to the progress of mankind. They expressed firm support for China's domestic and foreign policy and its development path. They applauded China's resolve and courage to deepen reform and opening-up amidst a global slowdown. They expressed full confidence that China will seize opportunities, rise to challenges and make greater progress in its development, thereby contributing more to peace in the world and progress of Africa.

In general, this visit has helped to implement the important understandings reached between President Xi Jinping and African leaders as well as the follow-ups to the FOCAC Beijing Summit. It has enhanced mutual understanding, friendship and win-win cooperation between China and these countries, and achieved its expected goals.

You have visited Africa many times in recent years. What do you think of the current situation on the continent? The international community is paying closer attention to Africa. Many countries are enhancing and expanding cooperation with the continent. After your trips this year, can you share with us some of your thoughts?

My visits to African countries have impressed upon me that Africa is a land of promise that has come a long way in its development and shown enormous growth potential. With overall peace and stability, African countries are actively pursuing economic diversification and sustainable, home-grown development, and have maintained the strong momentum of growth.

The coming into being of the AfCFTA marked another major step forward in African integration. Africa is set to further unleash its growth potential. The continent sees its influence in international affairs on the rise and receives increasing international attention and investment. This trend means more alternatives for cooperation and much-needed capital and technology for Africa's growth. It will also help Africa improve its environment for development and realize industrialization and sustainable, homegrown development at an early date.

China's cooperation with Africa has been guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy. Such cooperation has followed the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests and an approach of no interference in African countries' internal affairs, no imposition of our will on African countries, no attachment of political strings to assistance to Africa, and no seeking of political interests in investment and financing cooperation with Africa. China has always supported African countries in their search for development paths suited to their national conditions. China is actively involved in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa. We are ready to further enhance cooperation with Africa in peace and security. These consistent policies and practices have stood the test of time. They have won the trust of African governments and peoples and the recognition of the wider international community.

China has long held the view that cooperation with Africa must be based on respect for the desire and call of African countries, and be conducted in an open, inclusive and win-win manner. China's cooperation with Africa does not target any third party. Some people who are unhappy about the growing China-Africa relations have made groundless accusations to defame and attack our cooperation. Their irresponsible behavior has been refuted by both China and Africa and people with vision from the international community. Facts speak louder than words. People with fair judgment can tell right from wrong. Those who attempt to sow discord between China and Africa will find no audience in Africa. Those who attempt to undermine the traditional friendship between China and Africa will only fail.

As Africa's good friend, good partner and good brother, China will continue to firmly support Africa's effort to seek strength through unity and the economic and social development of African countries. We will expand friendly and practical cooperation with African countries in all fields for win-win results. We have no doubt that an even brighter future is ahead of Africa. China will work closely with the rest of the international community to draw on each other's strength and form synergy to contribute together to Africa's peace and development.

Senegal, the last stop of your trip, has taken over as the new African co-chair of FOCAC. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of FOCAC. What is your comment on the journey FOCAC has traveled in the past two decades and how will China take forward its relations with Africa in 2020?

Since the inception of FOCAC in October 2000, seven ministerial conferences and three summits have been held thanks to the concerted efforts of China and Africa. FOCAC has grown into a valuable platform for collective dialogue and an effective mechanism for practical cooperation. The Beijing Summit of September 2018 was a great success. As a new milestone in the pursuit of greater solidarity and cooperation and common development between China and Africa, the Summit established FOCAC as an important pacesetter in international cooperation with Africa. Indeed, FOCAC has traveled an extraordinary journey in the past two decades.

First, in keeping with the desire of the two sides, China-Africa relations have been upgraded from a new type of partnership, to a new type of strategic partnership, and to a comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership. During last year's Beijing Summit, President Xi Jinping and African leaders agreed to build an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future, adding more substance to the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Africa.

Second, China-Africa relations and the bilateral ties of China and African countries have been running at a high level. In particular, on the sidelines of the 2018 Beijing Summit, President Xi Jinping had bilateral meetings with all participating African leaders, including 50 heads of state and government and the Chairperson of the AU Commission. The discussions between Chinese and African leaders on friendship and cooperation brought China-Africa friendly ties and mutual trust to a new height and gave a strong boost to the all-round development of China-Africa relations.

Third, all FOCAC meetings have produced practical outcomes that furthered China-Africa cooperation. They have been duly implemented as China takes its commitments seriously. After years of development, the Forum has seen its outcomes spreading across Africa and truly benefiting the African people. At last year's FOCAC Beijing Summit, eight major initiatives were adopted. Their implementation have become part and parcel of the cooperation between China and Africa under the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as implementation of the AU's Agenda 2063 and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the development strategies of African countries. The eight major initiatives have been warmly received by African countries. China and Africa are working together to implement them as quickly as we can.

Fourth, through FOCAC, China and Africa have made our own voice heard on major international and regional issues, adding to the voice of unity and cooperation among China, Africa and other developing countries. As the outcomes of FOCAC have had a positive impact, the international community has paid more attention to Africa and major countries in the world have increased their engagement in Africa. These have brought positive energy and new hope to an international landscape that is otherwise full of uncertainty.

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of FOCAC, and will be crucial in the full implementation of the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit. Next year will also mark the 60th anniversary of China's diplomatic relations with Ghana and Mali, our traditional friends. Taking the 20th anniversary of FOCAC as an opportunity, China will work closely with Senegal as co-chairs, and with other African countries, to maintain close high-level exchanges and deepen Belt and Road cooperation. We will actively advance institution-building of the Forum, explore new development approaches and cooperation models, and work together to ensure sound implementation of the Beijing Summit follow-up actions, bring our practical cooperation to a higher level, and we will step up coordination and cooperation in international affairs. Together, we will build an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future, and achieve mutual benefit and common development.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives impeached the 45th president on two articles: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The vote on abuse of power was 230-197. On obstruction of Congress, the tally was 229-198.

All Republicans voted against both articles. Two Democrats, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, who will switch parties, voted against the abuse of power charge.

The only difference in the vote on the obstruction count was Democrat Jared Golden of Maine voting no.

Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democratic candidate for president, voted present on both articles.

Three members of Congress－one Democrat and two Republicans－did not vote. Also, four seats in the 435-member House are vacant, so the simple majority needed to impeach on both articles was 215.

The 73-year-old Republican now joins Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as the only presidents to be impeached. Johnson was impeached in 1868, and Clinton in 1999. Both Democrats were acquitted in Senate trials, and the Republican-led US Senate is expected to acquit Trump.

The House vote was the culmination of months of investigation into whether the president pressured the government of Ukraine to announce investigations that would benefit him politically, including a probe into a company that employed the son of former vice-president Joe Biden, one of the president's chief rivals in his 2020 reelection bid.

Trump addressed a "Merry Christmas Rally" in Battle Creek, Michigan, on Wednesday evening, speaking in a congressional district represented by Justin Amash－a Republican-turned-independent congressman－who voted for both articles.

"It doesn't really feel like we're being impeached," Trump said at the rally after the vote. "The country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong. We have tremendous support in the Republican Party like we've never had before."

Before the House took up the charges against him, the president turned to Twitter on Wednesday morning:

"Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible Thing. Read the Transcripts. This should never happen to another President again. Say a PRAYER!"

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters that Trump doesn't see impeachment as a "stain" on his legacy.

"We're not fine with the impeachment. We think it's ridiculous... but it's preordained. It's a conclusion in search of evidence," she added.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began the chamber's consideration of the two charges by appealing to every member of the House to uphold their oaths to "protect and defend" the Constitution.

Democrats and Republicans then rose to argue for and against the president's impeachment in an eight-hour debate divided equally between both parties that ran past 8 pm local time.

Many Democrats asserted that Trump's actions had put at risk the integrity of the 2020 election and the country itself.

Republicans lashed out at the charges, saying there was no proof of wrongdoing and that Democrats wanted impeachment because they won't win at the ballot box in 2020.

In the Senate, where the trial is expected to begin next month, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on Wednesday that Democrats were poised to "misuse the solemn process of impeachment to blow off partisan steam".

But a walk around the newly opened Huawei 5G Innovation and Experience Centre in central London makes it clear we can expect far more than just speedy downloads from this major technological advancement.

An enormous flat-screen TV dominates the mock living room in the middle of the exhibition space, streaming online video in impossibly crisp 8K resolution. There are gaming handsets, but no consoles: Such clunky hardware will be redundant in a 5G future where everything is powered by the cloud.

And household upgrades are just the start of it. The center showcases myriad technologies that will be enhanced or made possible by 5G, including remotely-piloted flying robots, driverless vehicles, augmented reality entertainment systems, virtual reality healthcare solutions, and smart manufacturing.

"We want to share the whole experience of the 5G network, locally in the UK and on a global level," Huawei UK 5G marketing manager Khurram Qayam told China Daily.

"We want to show people what 5G can do, for consumers, for the business-to-business market, and in industry," Qayam said.

Huawei is already in business with the four major mobile operators in the United Kingdom－EE, Three, Vodafone, and O2－for which it provides 5G radio access network technology. Those operators have launched, or are in the process of launching, 5G in select cities across Britain, where approximately 100,000 customers have made the upgrade this year.

The Chinese company is also making itself available to businesses that may benefit from 5G solutions. Huawei has already collaborated with German technology company Bosch at its factory in Worcester in the UK, where a 5G industrial trial improved productivity by 1 percent and is on course to double that gain.

"With the opening of our 5G Innovation and Experience Centre in London we, as a leader of 5G, are taking another important step," Huawei Vice-President Zhang Jiangang said on Monday, the day the London center opened. "What we have opened today will enable true collaboration among UK businesses and technologists and showcase the huge potential of 5G applications for both the private and business sectors."

Zhang said he is hopeful that Huawei will be able to continue contributing to the rollout of 5G in the UK.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's newly reelected government is currently mulling full or partial restrictions on Huawei, following sustained lobbying from Washington, which called on the UK to boycott the company due to alleged security risks.

"I am very confident that the UK will choose Huawei, because the UK always takes an evidence-and facts-based approach, and decision-making will be based on the nation's long-term interests," Zhang told Sky News.

"Huawei has been in the UK for more than 18 years. Trust has been built with our customers and the UK government through our openness and transparency."

Zhang went on to highlight Huawei's contribution to the country, where the company stimulated a 1.7-billion-pound ($2.2 billion) contribution to GDP and supported 26,200 jobs in 2018, according to a report from Oxford Economics.

He also warned of the detrimental impact that delays to 5G infrastructure upgrades could have on the UK economy. According to a report commissioned by Mobile UK, which is the trade association for network operators EE, O2, Three, and Vodafone, a delayed 5G rollout would cost the British economy between 4.5 billion and 6.8 billion pounds.

The spectacular desert, with its shimmering red sands, majestic dunes and stunning rock formations was also where Peter O'Toole was filmed riding his horse in the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia.

From Matt Damon in The Martian to Will Smith in Disney's Aladdin, Jordanian authorities have worked to ensure the country's diverse landscape features in some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters.

"When you travel to locations everything changes inside of you," Smith told a news conference earlier this year in Jordan's capital Amman.

"When we landed in Jordan all of a sudden you begin to embody the feelings of the characters like when we were in Wadi Rum … it was absolutely spectacular."

Jordan's Royal Film Commission was set up in 2003 to promote the country as a "huge open air studio", says its managing director Mohannad Al-Bakri.

To entice foreign filmmakers, the commission－chaired by Jordanian Prince Ali Bin al Hussein, one of King Abdullah II's half-brothers－offers attractive financial incentives.

Production companies can enjoy a cash rebate ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent if they spend at least $1 million in the country, along with tax exemptions on equipment imported for filming.

But filmmakers also come to Jordan to shoot because they are attracted to the diverse, rich landscape they find in the desert kingdom, according to Bakri.

Over the years dozens of foreign and Arab movies have been filmed in the country, including Hollywood classics such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Indiana Jones, Steven Spielberg's 1989 movie starring Harrison Ford, brought to the big screen the magic of the rose-red archaeological city of Petra, famed for its ornate temples cut into rock.

The stunning and well-preserved sandstone facade of Petra's treasury, Al-Khazneh, which some say dates back to the first century BC, featured as the entrance to a temple housing the Holy Grail in the film.

Parts of this year's Aladdin, Disney's live-action remake, was filmed in Wadi Rum-"the natural choice" for us, director Guy Ritchie told reporters in Amman in May.

Wadi Rum, also known as Valley of the Moon, also served as the backdrop for director David Lean's award-winning Lawrence of Arabia, which some critics have described as perhaps the best, or second-best, film ever made.

Munir Nassar, managing director of Zaman Project Management, a production services company in Jordan, said it took five months to prepare for the filming of the much-anticipated final Star Wars installment.

"When the actors came (to Jordan), filming was completed in 12 days and then they left," Nassar, a former tourism minister, said.

His company was also involved in the filming of four other movies in Jordan, including 2000's Mission to Mars, providing everything from meals to hotel bookings and transport.

"The unique, timeless and diverse landscape of Jordan, along with its highly motivated production crews, makes it an ideal destination for filming," Prince Ali is quoted as saying on the film commission's website.

Thousands of protesters rallied in front of the San Francisco Federal Building in support of the impeachment on Tuesday night, the eve of the House vote. Organizers said more than 2,200 people turned out for the event. Similar protests also took place in other Bay Area cities such as Oakland, San Jose, Palo Alto, Walnut Creek and Redwood City.

In a six-page letter to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump urged her to halt impeachment proceedings, accusing Democrats of an "unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power".

"While I have no expectation that you will do so, I write this letter to you for the purpose of history and to put my thoughts on a permanent and indelible record," Trump wrote.

He accused Pelosi of having "cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment" and said she was "declaring open war on American Democracy" by pursuing his impeachment.

"You dare to invoke the Founding Fathers in pursuit of this election-nullification scheme－yet your spiteful actions display unfettered contempt for America's founding and your egregious conduct threatens to destroy that which our Founders pledged their very lives to build," Trump wrote.

After the House votes on the two charges on Wednesday, it would set the stage for a trial in the Senate, which is expected to begin in January. Republican and Democratic senators clashed on Tuesday over how to conduct the Senate trial that decides whether Trump remains in power.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected a Democratic request to call four current and former White House officials as witnesses in the Senate trial.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he wants the trial to consider documents and hear testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Mulvaney aide Robert Blair and budget official Michael Duffey. Schumer said a trial without witnesses would be a "sham" and suggested Trump's fellow Republicans favored a cover-up.

But McConnell said he would not allow a "fishing expedition" after what he called a "slapdash" House impeachment process.

"So now, the Senate Democratic leader would apparently like our chamber to do House Democrats' homework for them. And he wants to volunteer the Senate's time and energy on a fishing expedition to see whether his own ideas could make Chairman Schiff's sloppy work more persuasive than Chairman Schiff himself bothered to make it," McConnell said.

Adam Schiff is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee that led the impeachment inquiry launched in September.

"From everything we can tell, House Democrats' slapdash impeachment inquiry has failed to come anywhere near－anywhere near－the bar for impeaching a duly elected president, let alone removing him for the first time in American history," McConnell said.

Trump has refused to cooperate with the House impeachment process and ordered current and former officials like those mentioned by Schumer not to testify or provide documents.

Moments after McConnell made his comments, Schumer took to the Senate floor. "What is Leader McConnell afraid of? What is President Trump afraid of? The truth?" he asked.

"If you're trying to conceal evidence and block testimony, it's probably not because the evidence is going to help your case. It's because you're trying to cover something up."

Schumer vowed to demand votes by senators on whether to call witnesses and subpoena documents during the trial.

The AP, Reuters and Xinhua contributed to this story.

The civil case made headlines in Japan and abroad, as it is rare for rape victims to report the crime to police. According to a 2017 Japanese government survey, only 4 percent of women who say they were assaulted come forward.

Ito, 30, has become an outspoken symbol for #MeToo in Japan, where the movement against sexual harassment and abuse has struggled to take hold.

She had sought 11 million yen in compensation from Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former reporter with close links to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She alleged Yamaguchi raped her after inviting her to dinner to discuss a job opportunity in 2015.

Yamaguchi denies any wrongdoing and had filed a counter-suit against Ito, seeking 130 million yen in compensation.

"We won. The counter-suit was turned down," said Ito outside the court, holding up a banner that read "victory" as supporters cheered and clapped.

"Honestly, I still don't know how I feel," she told reporters, struggling to hold back the tears. "However, winning this case doesn't mean this (sexual assault) didn't happen.... This is not the end."

She said she hoped the case would change what she called the "under-developed" legal and social environment surrounding rape in Japan.

Sexual assault victims in Japan often shy away from reporting incidents to police or even telling friends, government data shows, for fear of being blamed and humiliated. Women's rights activist Minori Kitahara said she hoped the ruling signaled attitudes were changing in Japan.

"I think that the voices of victims affected the ruling," Kitahara said. "I am hopeful if people speak out, things will change."

Japan raised the minimum jail term for rapists from three to five years and widened the definition of sexual assault victims to include men for the first time in 2017.

Lawmakers decided unanimously to update the 1907 statute to impose tougher penalties on sex attackers and make prosecutions easier, as they look to boost Japan's low number of convictions.

Yamaguchi announced he would immediately appeal against the ruling, saying: "I have not done anything that goes against the law."

He claimed the court had failed to acknowledge inconsistencies and falsehoods in Ito's argument while ignoring his own arguments.

The visit comes amid the standoff between Iran and the US over a landmark nuclear deal signed by Iran and world powers in 2015. Japan, which has traditionally friendly ties with Iran, has been seeking to promote dialogue between Teheran and Washington, even though it is not a signatory to the 2015 nuclear accord.

Rouhani is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo on Friday to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Yu Guoqing, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the timing of the visit was decided "after a lot of consideration" as Teheran hopes to maintain a healthy economic relationship with Tokyo.

As it is under US sanctions, Iran needs a stable export market for its oil, and Japan is one of its most important buyers, he said.

"At the same time, when there is not so much improvement in ties with the US, maintaining a good relationship with Japan will be beneficial for Iran's diplomacy, as Japan is an ally of the US who could contribute to easing tensions between Teheran and Washington."

Rouhani will become the first Iranian leader to visit Japan since 2000. His trip follows Abe's trip to Iran in June, the first by a Japanese prime minister since 1978.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said discussions would focus on "expanding economic relations" between the two countries.

"Rouhani's trip to Japan has nothing to do with issues such as negotiations with the US," Rabiei said.

"However, our Japanese friends usually convey messages or initiatives, which we welcome... and seriously examine," he added, stressing the bilateral focus of the visit.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said on Tuesday that Japan would continue to support diplomatic efforts in cooperation with the US, Iran and various other countries aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Japan took one step closer on Tuesday toward realizing a contentious plan to deploy its Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East.

The proposed dispatch of the forces is likely to be approved by the Cabinet next week.

Xinhua, Reuters and AFP contributed to this story.

Environmental charity Hubbub spoke to more than 3,000 people in the United Kingdom and found that each spends, on average, more than 73 pounds ($97) for party wear for the festive period, with one in five saying they would not wear a gifted outfit more than once. Men typically spend more than women.

Hubbub also analyzed 169 party dresses from 17 clothing retailers and found that 94 percent were either partly or fully made from plastic or plastic-derived fabrics.

"Going green doesn't mean you can't dress up," says Sarah Divall, project coordinator at Hubbub.

"There are so many eco-friendly options out there now, including clothes swaps, renting, pre-loved and charity stores, so you can look stunning and save money without damaging the planet.

"Vintage and pre-loved clothing has never been so on trend and it's only going to get bigger, as people realize the massive environmental impact of the fashion industry."

Diva Stoilova, a shop manager for Beyond Retro, a company that rescues items of clothing from landfills and restyles them, told Sky News that retailers must "do their bit".

"You name it, we've got it. With bells, without bells, with animals, without …," she said.

"It's just much easier to buy something secondhand or something 'upcycled'. This way you don't just produce new stuff to spend money on. We do encourage people to save their jumpers (sweaters) or we give them nice ideas of how they can restyle jumpers themselves in the future."

Christmas jumper days have become a fixture in many British workplaces and schools, but an inevitable consequence is large numbers of items being produced and bought, but barely worn.

"Two-thirds of us own at least one Christmas jumper and one-third own more than one", said a statement on the Hubbub website. "Bring last year's jumper out for another wear, or pass it on if you're not planning on wearing it again."

The country's annual expenditure on Christmas clothing is almost 2.5 billion pounds, adding huge impetus to the fast fashion industry, which has already come in for much criticism for the environmental damage it causes.

Earlier this year, a UK parliamentary committee report highlighted how the textile industry creates 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, and consumes vast quantities of water, as well as being responsible for an estimated 35 percent of the microplastics found in the world's oceans.

Charity Oxfam estimates that each week in the UK, 11 million garments end up in landfills.

The two parent companies said on Wednesday they had agreed on a binding merger in a $50 billion deal that would reshape the global industry, as car manufacturers worldwide contend with a decline in demand.

The companies－two of Europe's largest－would have combined revenues of almost 170 billion euros ($189 billion), and operating profits of 11 billion euros, according to the Financial Times. The deal creates the second-largest carmaker in Europe, behind Volkswagen.

A new name is yet to be announced for the tie-up that will result in an industry leader with greater scale and ability to invest in new technologies, such as the development of electric vehicles and self-driving systems.

No plants will close as a result of the merger, which is expected to result in annual cost savings of around 3.7 billion euros through shared purchasing agreements and combined technologies.

The companies will have a combined stock market value of $46 billion, will employ 400,000 people around the world and sell 8.7 million cars a year.

In a joint statement the companies said: "With its combined financial strength and skills, the merged entity will be particularly well placed to provide innovative, clean and sustainable mobility solutions, both in a rapidly urbanizing environment and in rural areas around the world.

"The gains in efficiency derived from larger volumes, as well as the benefits of uniting the two companies' strengths and core competencies, will ensure the combined business can offer all its customers best-in-class products, technologies and services and respond with increased agility to the shift taking place in this highly demanding sector."

The two companies said they expected the transaction to be complete within 12 to 15 months, subject to shareholder approval and regulatory clearances.