The Tai-Ex opened down 57-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
11,573 on turnover of 2.7-billion N-T.

The market moved lower Wednesday, but late session buying emerged to boost
select large cap stocks in the bellwether electronics sector to limit the
day's losses.

And analysts say selling throughout the day's session reflected renewed
concerns over trade tensions between the United States and China after Donald
Trump threatened to raise tariffs -- if the two sides fail to reach an
agreement to resolve the dispute.
 

(Photo by United States Department of State)

A top U-S diplomat has told an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump that he
followed the president's orders to put pressure on Ukraine to investigate his
Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Ambassador Gordon Sondland said the instruction came from Trump's personal
lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

And speaking at the latest hearing in the House of Representatives, Sondland
said Giuliani had been seeking a public statement from Ukraine's leader
announcing a probe into "corruption issues."

The inquiry is assessing if Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine as a
pre-condition for such an investigation into Biden.
 

(Photo by Anders Hellberg)

Greta Thunberg, who has gone from staging school strikes to scolding world
leaders about their climate change inaction, has been awarded the prestigious
International Children's Peace Prize.

Thunberg could not accept the award in person Wednesday as she's sailing
across the Atlantic Ocean toward an international climate conference in
Madrid.

But in a video introducing the winners, organizers of the prize said Thunberg
shows that "children are at the heart of the fight for a safe and sustainable
future."
 

The Yushan National Park Administration could fine the son of former
President Chen Shui-bian after he posted a photograph on his Facebook page
holding a pro-Taiwan independence flag while standing on top of the
3,952-meter peak.

Chen Zhi-chong climbed Yushan on November 19 and took a photo of himself and
a friend holding a flag emblazoned with the words: "I am Taiwanese. I stand
for Taiwan's independence."

K-M-T Taipei City Councilor Lee Ming-hsien reported the incident - arguing
that the flag was in violation of rules that forbid people from engaging in
political activities in the park.

Chen has been asked to explain the reason for his action within 20 days and
if he's found to have violating article 17 of Yushan National Park Management
Rules, he could face a fine of 1,500 N-T.

Chen is denying any wrongdoing -- and writing on his Facebook page, he said
he was simply showing that "Taiwan is a sovereign state on top of the highest
mountain in the country."
 

The government is hosting an energy governance workshop under the Global
Cooperation and Training Framework in Taipei this week.

The two event began yesterday and is aimed at promoting good energy
governance in the Indo-Pacific region and is being co-hosted by Australia.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Hsu Si-jien touted
the Tsai administration's policies of energy transition and the government's
aims to increase the green energy ratio here in Taiwan to 20-per cent by
2025.

While American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen told delegates
that the workshop builds on a long history of cooperation between the U-S and
Taiwan on energy issues and Washington views Taiwan as a reliable partner in
contributing to energy governance.

Christensen went on to say that the Global Cooperation and Training Framework
program has resulted in the United States and Taiwan, along with Japan and
other partner countries addressing global challenges by providing a platform
for information-sharing.
 

(Photo by Yang Ming)

People First Party Chairman and 2020 presidential candidate James Soong has
announced his party's list of legislator-at-large nominees.

The list is comprised of 22 names and is made up of 11 male and 11 female
nominees.

The list includes former United Microelectronics Corporation chairman John
Hsuan, Amanda Liu, a senior member of Terry Gou's election campaign team and
P-F-P secretary-general Lee Hung-chun.

Eva Teng, the secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for Psychosocial
Rehabilitation, is also on the list, as are several of the party's current
lawmakers.
 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn have
attacked each other's policies on Brexit, healthcare and the economy in their
first televised election debate.

The two politicians hammered away at their rival's weaknesses and sidestepped
tricky questions about their own policies in the hourlong encounter.

But Brexit loomed large.

With Johnson promising to "end the national misery" and said Labour offered
"only division and deadlock."

While Corbyn said Labour would "get Brexit sorted by giving the people the
final say".

The two leaders also clashed over the National Health Service, the future of
Scotland and the Royal Family.
 

(Photo by Pavel Špindler)

The building where Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was born in Austria will be
turned into a police station.

According to the country's interior minister, the decision means it will be
an "unmistakable signal" that the property does not commemorate Nazism.

Hitler spent the first few weeks of his life in a flat in the 17th-Century
building in the town of Braunau am Inn.

The fate of the property has been the subject of a lengthy dispute.

And the government rented it from its former owner for decades in an attempt
to stop far-right tourism.
 

The term "midget" is being dropped from youth divisions in Canadian hockey
because the governing body aims to be more inclusive.

Hockey Canada says it wanted to be sure it wasn't "putting up barriers to
keep people away from the sport."

The term "midget" has long been used in a variety of sports although it is
considered derogatory by many.

And the issue generated attention a year ago when the parent of a young son
with dwarfism noticed the term on a banner at a shopping mall.
 

(Photo by zhenghu feng)

The Taiwan People's Party has released its list of 29 legislator-at-large
nominees for January's elections.

The 29-name list is headed by Lai Hsiang-lin, the head of the Taipei City
Department of Labor.

Lai was a labor and social movement activist prior to her appointment as head
of Taipei's labor department in December 2014.

She was the city's first labor chief elected via the i-Voting system, which
was launched by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je to allow Taipei residents to vote for
city officials or policies.

The T-P-P's legislator-at-large list also includes Gao Hong-an, an aide to
Hon Hai Precision Industry founder Terry Gou; Andy Chiu, the secretary
general of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce; and Tsai Bi-ru, a Taipei
city counselor and close aide to Ko.

The T-P-P had originally said it would release a list of 34
legislator-at-large candidates.

However, party spokeswoman Lin Zhen-yu says the list was cut as some some
nominees declined to be included for personal reasons.
 

(Photo by zhenghu feng)

The Taiwan People's Party has announced its at-large legislative candidates,
with sitting Labor Department Director Lai Xiang-ling at the top.

She's followed by Tsai Bi-ru, who has been the most trusted aide of TPP
founder Ko Wen-zhe for years.

In 13th place is Huang Jing-ying, who is the best-known staff worker in Mayor
Ko's team.

Ko is touting the average age of the 29 candidates, which stands at 40.

Meanwhile, PFP chairman James Soong, who has announced his own candidacy for
the January presidential election, says his party will release its at-large
legislative candidates tomorrow.

Soong adds that Terry Gou won't be on the list.

(JL)





 

(Photo by Dan Marsh)

Prince Charles met with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and later
joined wife Camilla to greet people along the Auckland waterfront.

The heir apparent to the British throne and the Duchess of Cornwall were on
the third day of a weeklong trip to New Zealand today.

Ardern said earlier that she expected to talk with the prince about his
interest in helping young people fulfil their potential and about New
Zealand's environmental work, including plans to plant 1 billion trees.

Queen Elizabeth II remains New Zealand's constitutional head of state,
although these days it's largely a ceremonial role.
 

The government says more than 60 percent of Taiwan students studying in Hong
Kong have recently returned home.

The Ministry of Education says out of the 1-thousand-21 Taiwan students at
Hong Kong universities, 623 have come back to the island, amid increasing
clashes between protesters and police.

The M-O-E says out of those who returned, 261 are students at Chinese
University of Hong Kong.

More than 60 percent of Taiwanese students at Hong Kong Polytechnic
University have also come home.

The two universities have recently been caught in a series of violent
confrontations between black-clad protesters, many of them students, with
Hong Kong police.

(NS)
 

(Photo by Thomas Bresson )

Yellow vest activists are staging fresh protests across France to mark the
birth last year of their movement for economic justice, a day after scuffles
between Paris police and activists marred the anniversary.

France's Interior minister deplored Saturday's violence on CNews television.

He said Paris police had detained 173 people.

Authorities said about 28,000 people marched across France on Saturday,
including 4,700 in Paris. Yellow vest activists said there were 44,000.

Yesterday, dozens of protesters briefly gathered under the dome of Paris'
Galeries Lafayette store to denounce consumer culture.

In 2018, hundreds of thousands of people blocked traffic around the country
to protest a fuel tax hike.

The sometimes-violent protests have increasingly vented anger at President
Emmanuel Macron's policies, who is seen as favoring the rich.
 

(Photo by Eva Rinaldi)

Black Eyed Peas musician will.i.am has accused a flight attendant from
Australia's national carrier Qantas of being racist and rude to him on a
flight.

The musician says he was met by police at Sydney Airport on Saturday after an
incident with an ``overly aggressive flight attendant'' who he says was upset
with him because he couldn't hear her through his noise-cancelling
headphones.

He tweeted a photo of a police officer and said: ``This is how your greeted
when you land from Brisbane to Sydney flying (at)qantas with a
(hashtag)RacistFlightattendant.'' He then named the flight attendant.

Qantas said in a statement it rejected the allegation that the incident had
anything to do with race and said it was a ``misunderstanding.'' It said it
would be following up with the musician.
 

The Taipei Fubon Braves narrowly lost their second game in the ASEAN
Basketball League (ABL) yesterday, falling 90-91 on their home court to the
visiting Kuala Lumpur Dragons.

The winning lay-up was by Dragons import American forward Terrel Davis, who
widened the scoreboard to a four-point deficit, which proved too much to
chase after a three-point jumpshot by American forward Charles Garcia.

The Fubon Braves are one of two Taiwanese teams in the ABL this season, the
other being the Formosa Dreamers.

The Dreamers have played in the ABL since 2017.

The ABL 2019-2020 season began Saturday with 10 teams from East and Southeast
Asia competing for the title.

------

In International sports news...

Starting with the NBA...

Tobias Harris scored 27 points, Joel Embiid had 14 and the Philadelphia 76ers
routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-95.

Buddy Hield scored a season-high 35 points, Richaun Holmes hit two free
throws with 13.3 seconds remaining to give Sacramento the lead, and the Kings
snapped the Boston Celtics' 10-game winning streak with a 100-99 victory.

And

The Bucks clamped down on the Pacers to pick up another road win.

Correspondent Tom Maccabe has the highlights

 

(Photo by Кирилл Венедиктов)

International soccer superstar Lionel Messi has arrived in Israel for a
much-anticipated match, despite calls for boycott and the threat of rocket
fire.

The Argentinian national team landed Sunday in Israel for an international
friendly match against Uruguay in Tel Aviv.

A Palestinian protest campaign derailed a planned visit by Messi last year
for a World Cup warmup match, and last week's violence in Gaza threatened to
cancel this most recent exhibition match as well.

Messi and the Argentinians will face his Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez and
the Uruguayans in a game as eagerly anticipated for its political
ramifications as its sporting star power.

-----

And


Colin Kaepernick’s saga took another surreal turn over the weekend, a
last-minute audible to nix an NFL-arranged workout in favor of his own 60
miles from the original Atlanta location.

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports.