Document 6610212

pacquiao,
algieri
ready
for
‘clash in
cotai’
fri 21.11.2014
‘this is my city:’ creative
festival returns to town
allan zeman on occupy
central and henry tang
Cultural Association +853 is
launching the 8th edition of ‘This
Is My City – The Creative Festival,’
which kicks off this Sunday
In an exclusive interview with the
Times, Zeman spoke about the
Occupy Central movement and
political reform
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“ THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ ”
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operational from Dec 18
WORLD BRIEFS
CHINA Six nurses and a
janitor were killed yesterday
in a knife attack blamed
on another employee at a
military hospital and resort in
a northeastern coastal town
favored by the country’s
Communist Party elite, police
said. A 27-year-old employee
was detained following the
early morning attack at the
Beidaihe Sanatorium. The
location of the attack was
likely to draw particular
scrutiny from the Chinese
public because Beidaihe
is home to numerous
guesthouses used by China’s
leaders during the summer
to vacation and hold informal
meetings on government
work.
P5
renato marques
ap photo
CHINA Police have arrested
39 people as they broke up
a telephone scam ring in
southern China that tricked
Malaysians into wiring
them money, state media
reported yesterday. Police
also confiscated ill-gotten
and other funds worth
more than 60 million yuan
(USD10 million) in southern
Guangdong province,
according to the official
Xinhua News Agency, which
cited an unnamed police
spokesman in Zhuhai city. It
said the ring was led by two
Taiwanese men and most
of the other members were
Chinese Malaysians.
SRI LANKAN President
Mahinda Rajapaksa calls
early elections to seek a
third term in office amid
growing criticism of his
wide-ranging powers. The
move, two years before his
current term expires, is seen
as an attempt by Rajapaksa
to prevent an expected
loss of public support
if an election were held
according to schedule.
More on backpage
Casino Crash
Daiwa sees 7 pct
decline in 2015
revenues
P2 MDT REPORT
INSIDE
MACAU
澳聞
China Daily highlights
MSAR ahead of
anniversary
The Macau Special Administrative Region’s
15th anniversary was highlighted this week
in the China Daily, the central government’s
English-language mouthpiece newspaper.
Aspects of the region’s livelihood are
detailed in the publication’s middle pages.
The article features no less than 16 pictures
that are included in a photography album
about Macau that was launched yesterday.
The album is referenced on the front page,
depicting its editors along with the region’s
first CE, Edmund Ho.
CCM to stage Children’s
Choir concert
The Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) is taking
the Children’s Choir to the stage for its
10th annual concert on December 14. After
weekly rehearsals throughout the year, 50
young singers will deliver a warm and sweet
afternoon of music to an audience at the
CCM’s Small Auditorium. Besides performing
a lineup that mixes a series of familiar
folk songs with international pieces from
countries as diverse as Brazil and Russia, the
young members will share their memories
and experiences gained during the year.
Admission is free. Tickets will be distributed
at the CCM and Macau Ticketing Network
starting today.
Nobel laureate Robert
Engle speaks at UM
World-renowned economist and Nobel
laureate in economics, Robert F. Engle, will
be giving a lecture at the University of Macau
(UM) next Tuesday. The professor will give
a talk on “Prospects for Global Financial
Stability,” sharing his thoughts on the future
of global finance. He will also be discussing
a method to estimate how much capital a
financial firm would need to raise if another
financial crisis occurs, the university said in
a press release. Professor Engle was awarded
the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2003.
Simulation of EU
decision-making
A simulation of EU decision-making and
politics is taking place this weekend at the
University of Macau (UM), bringing together
56 undergraduate and Master’s students who
will represent the EU’s 28 member states.
Launched by Macau’s European Union
Academic Program (EUAP), the Macau
Model European Union, which is being held
on Saturday and Sunday, aims to broaden
students’ international horizons and enhance
their knowledge of the EU’s institutions,
organizers said in a press release.
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Casino Crash
Daiwa sees 7 pct decline
in 2015 gaming revenues
Robert Carroll, Hong Kong
D
aiwa Securities gaming
analyst Jamie Soo predicts that Macau’s Gross Gaming
Revenue will decline by 7 pct
next year, foreseeing a decline
in all three gaming segments.
For VIP play, “prevailing segment weakness will be the
norm in 2015, largely affected by junket liquidity issues,
China’s anti-corruption drive,
plus transit visa restrictions.
For the 'Premium Mass' segment, largely it’s the same
negative vibes as VIP; looking
at reduced frequency of visits
and also a decline in spend.
Soo said that it’s “a worrisome
trend” that at the bottom gaming tier, 'Grind Mass,' there
will be a “structural shift to
lower-spending tourists; a divergence between record-high rising tourist arrivals and
falling mass revenue growth.
“For us, given the October
numbers we saw in Golden
Week, it’s especially telling;
negative 8 pct decline in gambling revenue with a 17 pct
growth in tourists booked,”
Soo said during the Daiwa
Investment Conference 2014
press briefing on Wednesday
in Hong Kong. Daiwa forecasts a decline in mass sector
GGR growth from 17 pct to 7
pct for the last quarter of 2014
and more negative growth in
VIP and overall play; from
–19 pct to -30 pct and –7
pct to -17 pct. Soo forecasts
upward trends through 2015
bloomberg
2
21.11.2014 fri
Pedestrians cross an intersection in front of the Casino Grand Lisboa,
operated by SJM
to 2016 with both the latter
segments climbing out of negative growth, 2015 seeing
overall GGR growth back to
the 2014 Q4 level, with the
mass sector up from 7 pct to
11 pct and VIP sector up from
-30 pct to -19 pct. He expects
2016 to see those figures rise
to overall from -7 pct to 5 pct
with the mass segment rising
from 11 pct to 12 pct, while VIP is expected to recover
from -19 pct to 0 pct growth.
For Soo it’s the end of the
era of gaming-driven growth.
“The build-it-and-they-willcome mantra is no longer a
valid investment thesis, and
operators with new property openings are likely to see
downside risks, particularly
in execution which will be ne-
gatively impacted. In terms
of sector pressures we should
see wage inflation, declining
table yields, pre-opening hiring and increased competition. These cost pressures
will be going forth into 2015;
not only a decline in revenue,
but an increase in costs.”
Daiwa stock picks for Macau
gaming are SJM and MGM
because “they are opening
in 2016 and 2017, shielding
them from the pre-hiring and
staff costs increases we’re expecting in 2015,” said Soo.
In terms of China’s prospects, the heavyweight Japanese
investment firm’s senior economist in Hong Kong, Kevin
Lai, warned that he predicts
6.9 pct growth in the economy as long as the Fed funds
don’t dry up, and that interest
rates of 1 pct or 2 pct would be
manageable. He also expressed concern about the years
of massive liquidity inflows
(USD1 trillion since Quantitative Easing 1), via carry trade,
and disguised FDI which if
reversed, as has begun, could
see increasing capital outflow,
magnified by the multiplier
effect as the inflows were.
Daiwa expects a negative balance of payment for China in
2015, down from a decade of
hundreds of millions of US$
surplus (excepting 2012).
However, there are investment bright spots on the
mainland for 2015 in mobile
Internet and e-commerce, according to Daiwa’s, senior Internet analyst for Hong Kong,
John Choi. He predicts many
rural users will leapfrog to
smartphone use with industry
leaders Tencent, Alibaba and
Baidu, who are “well-positioned with various monetization initiatives, heavily investing to promote their online/
offline integration.”
Choi also predicts another
surge in e-commerce growth,
after a doubling in the past
three years. Again Baidu and
Tencent, as well as online
discount company Vipshop,
are set to benefit from still
low online e-commerce usage and “big willing-to-spend
consumer base, emanating
from lower-tier cities, the
next growth engine for the
sector, according to Choi.
EDUCATION
2 Macau universities rank on China’s top 100
T
he Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong
University released the 2014 Ranking
of Top Universities in Greater China
(otherwise known as RTUGC), in which the University of Macau is ranked in
54th place and the Macau University of
Science and Technology placed 57th.
According to a statement issued by
MUST’s public relations office, the
overall distribution of the ranking’s
top 100 universities includes 64 insti-
tutions from mainland China, 27 from
Taiwan, seven from Hong Kong, and
two from Macau.
Director and Editor-in-Chief_Paulo Coutinho [email protected]
Managing Editor_Paulo Barbosa [email protected]
Contributing Editors_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela
China & foreign editor_Vanessa Moore [email protected]
Design Editor_João Jorge Magalhães [email protected] | Newsroom and Contributors_Albano
Martins, António Espadinha Soares, Brook Yang, Catarina Pinto, Cyril Law, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, Irene Sam, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny
Philips, João Pedro Lau, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Keith Ip, Renato Marques (photographer), Richard Whitfield, Robert Carroll
(Hong Kong correspondent), Rodrigo de Matos (cartoonist), Ruan Du Toit Bester, Sandra Norte (designer), Sum Choi, Viviana Seguí
| Associate Contributors_JML Property, MacauHR, MdME Lawyers, PokerStars | News agencies_ Associated Press,
Bloomberg, Lusa News Agency, MacauHub, MacauNews, Xinhua | Secretary_Yang Dongxiao [email protected]
“MUST takes a great leap from the
72nd in 2013 to the 57th this year,
making it the youngest and fastestdeveloping university across the two
straits and four regions,” the statement reads.
The president of MUST, Chair Prof.
Liu Liang, noted that the higher
MUST ranking this year reflects “the
University’s development strategy of
placing dual emphasis on both teaching and research.”
A Macau Times Publications Ltd Publication
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澳聞
Alexis Tam
(DSAT) director, Wong Wan,
said at the announcement that
some 200 bus shifts will be added to the routes every day.
“The new border-crossing policy will alleviate pressure on
the city’s overall transportation; it can significantly divide
the passenger flow in the morning rush hour,” he stressed.
“Currently there are 19 bus
routes that pass by the Barrier
Gate. All of them will extend
service hours in accordance
with the border-crossing hours,” said Wong. “The routes that
departed before 7am will move
up to 5.45 a.m., and those closing off at 12.30 p.m. will be
postponed to 1.15 a.m.”
Wong said that the 19 bus
routes have basically covered
xinhua
T
The new
bordercrossing policy
will alleviate
pressure on the
city’s overall
transportation
stated. “Our goal is to achieve
24-hour border crossing at the
Border Gate.”
According to Tam, the opening up of the Ilha Verde checkpoint to the public will only
be temporary. Once the nearby
Guangdong-Macau New Border
is completed it will be put into
operation around the clock.
“In order to avoid disturbing
the Ilha Verde neighborhood,
the Industrial Zone Border
Checkpoint will not be open to
tourists; the new policy doesn’t
apply to private cars or passenger cars either, but only to
pedestrians,” he added, ex-
plaining that the checkpoint is
currently open 24 hours to only
those who hold a pass into the
Industrial Zone.
The spokesperson further clarified that the 24-hour border
crossing at the Cotai Frontier
Post will be applied to both travellers and passenger cars, while
the border-checking hours for
goods vehicles will remain the
same. Similarly, the cargo clearance at the Barrier Gate will also
remain at current opening hours.
To supplement the new policy, some bus routes will be adjusted and extend their service
hours. The Transport Bureau
the entire scope of the city, yet
to facilitate the 24-hour border
crossing, Route 25 and Route
N3 will extend their bus stops
to the Cotai Frontier Post, and
all the current routes that pass
by the Post will extend their
service to the whole day.
At the press conference, the
Public Security Police (PSP) deputy-director, Mui San Meng,
also said that the numbers of
border-checking channels, as
well as personnel, would be increased accordingly.
“In fact, a 24-hour operational checkpoint will need much
more space, facilities and personnel, we have submitted a
proposal to the government for
expanding the Cotai Frontier
Post,” he added.
realtor predicts price cuts in macau rentals
the implementation of the
24-hour border crossing between
Macau and Zhuhai will be a stimulus to Macau’s real estate market
and the tourism industry, especially
for the property rental and retail
sectors. As the new policy facilitates
local residents and non-local workers to rent and purchase properties
in Zhuhai, the rental prices for
apartments in Macau may drop by
10 to 15 percent, predicted Midland
Macau’s CEO, Mr Ronald Cheung.
“The biggest impact will be on the
rental prices, as 70 to 80 percent of
local residents own a flat and most
of the tenants are non-resident
workers,” he explained. “On the
other hand, rental prices of commercial units will rise slightly, as
the shops and restaurants can hire
workers for night shifts and extend
their business hours until 2 to 5
am.” Mr Wu Keng Kuon, president
of the Travel Industry Council of
Macau, also told the Times that the
extended border-crossing will be
beneficial to the local economy, but
won’t affect the guest volume for
Macau’s hotels.
MTPA welcomes ‘massive public
approval’ of new taxi regulations
New top officials to be
announced next week
T
T
he Macau Taxi Passengers Association
(MTPA) said it is delighted at the Transport
Bureau’s announcement
yesterday that 97 percent
of respondents to a public consultation voted
in favor of introducing
undercover inspectors in
Macau’s taxi industry.
MTPA said in a press
release that it welcomes
the result of a public consultation launched by the
Macau government upon
revising taxi regulations.
MTPA’s president, Andrew W Scott, stated that
“it is just plain common
sense.” “With so many
malicious, scamming, violent and aggressive taxi
drivers on Macau’s roads,
the government has a responsibility to protect both
citizens and Macau visi-
5
24-hour border crossing
operational from Dec 18
Brook Yang
he long-awaited 24hour border crossing between Macau and Zhuhai
will become reality in the
early hours of December 18, the
government spokesperson Alexis
Tam announced yesterday.
From Dec 18, the Lotus Bridge
Cotai Frontier Post (connected
to Hengqin) will be operating
around the clock. Meanwhile, the operation hours of the
Border Gate (connected to
Gongbei) will be extended by
an hour before and after. The
border checkpoint will open at
6 am and close at 1 am.
Additionally, late night crossings though the Cross-Border
Industrial Zone Border Checkpoint (located in Ilha Verde)
will be open to Macau residents, non-resident workers
and students between midnight
and 7am the next morning.
“This good news is one of the
preferential policies from the
Central Government for the
15th anniversary of Macau’s
handover. We’ve strived to
achieve this since three years
ago [when] the Guangdong-Macau Cooperation Framework
Agreement was signed,” Tam
MACAU
tors,” he added.
Mr Scott believes that
undercover enforcement
agents “are a great idea,
as are higher fines, license
suspension and cancellation for lawbreakers (…)”
An increase on taxi fares
is also a positive change,
MTPA believes. “We are
also happy to see the proposed increase in taxi fares, but actually think the
increase is not enough,”
said Mr Scott, adding that
Macau needs even higher
fares “to combat the terribly unethical practice
of ‘fishing,’ but only if the
Transport Bureau, the police and the government
all commit themselves to
effective enforcement of
taxi regulations.”
Mr Scott acknowledged
that over 20,000 people
responding to the public
consultation is “an amazing number.” “Clearly
this issue has touched a
raw nerve with the people
of Macau,” he stressed.
An MTPA petition on
the same issue has also
garnered people’s attention, since they now have
over 2,300 genuine and
verified signatures. The
petition’s deadline has
been set at November 30.
Mr Scott remarked that
he was happy to hear DSAT
acknowledging that the
current taxi situation “is
chaotic.” “A quick trip to
watch the videos on our Facebook group will certainly
confirm that,” he recalled.
The Macau Taxi Passengers Association operates
the Macau Taxi Driver
Shame Facebook group,
which has reached over
4,300 members. CP
op officials set to take high office for the upcoming MSAR government term will be announced
approximately next week, said government spokesperson Alexis Tam
in response to the Times’ inquiry.
“I believe it’ll be very soon to announce the result. This is only a
matter of procedure. There isn’t
any controversy [over the candidates],” he stated. “The Chief Executive (CE) has worked a lot on that
and the Central Government is
aware of it.”
According to a rumored list of the
new principal officials that has been
circulated on the Internet, Alexis
Tam, who currently serves as the
Chief of the CE Office, is the candidate for Secretary for Social Affairs
and Culture.
When asked about such speculation, Tam responded, “I thank
everyone for their attention to me.
For me and other civil servants, no
matter what position it is, it will be
the same. We are very eager to ser-
Alexis Tam
ve the general public.”
Although the rumored list showed
a total replacement of all top officials, Tam stressed that “there will
be absolutely no problem for the
handover of positions.”
6
MACAU
21.11.2014 fri
澳聞
Pacquiao, Algieri ready for ‘Clash in Cotai’
Brook Yang
T
he Pacquiao vs. Algieri matchup, which will
be featured in this Sunday’s
Clash in Cotai II boxing event,
“has captured the world’s
imagination,” said Top Rank
founder and CEO Bob Arum.
“You cannot find two better stories in boxing, much
less sports, than what we are
presenting on Sunday. And I
think it is only fitting that the
Venetian Macao, which has
become one of boxing’s biggest international stages, hosts this world championship
event,” stated Arum at the
pre-fight press conference
held on Wednesday evening.
As the undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight champion
Chris Algieri put it, “the talking
is done, the hard training is
done.” It’s time for the bout.
The 30-year old New Yorker
will face off against “Fighter of
the Decade” Manny Pacquiao
(56-5-2, 38 KOs), the sole eight-division world champion
in boxing, for his WBO welterweight title.
“All I can say is: it’s all set.
We did our best in training,”
said Pacquiao. “My team (…)
we remember and we see the
battles of the old days when
I was young - the speed, the
power and the determination,
and the aggressiveness is there – it’s back, so I’m very exci-
ted for Sunday for this fight. ”
On Sunday morning, the Cotai Arena will also see Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko (2-1,
1 KO) defend his WBO featherweight title for the first
time, against the number one
contender Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (51-1, 33 KOs) of
Thailand. Moreover, Jessie
Vargas (25-0, 9 KOs) of Las
Vegas will defend his WBA
super lightweight title against
former world champion Antonio DeMarco (31-3-1, 23 KOs)
of Mexico.
On the main card, China’s
boxing icon Zou Shiming (50, 1 KO) will battle Thai boxer
Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym
(27-0-2, 12 KOs) in a 12-round
WBO flyweight world title elimination bout.
“I just realized I’m fighting so-
‘This is my city:’ Creative Festival
returns to town
C
ultural Association
+853 is bringing to town
the 8th edition of ‘This Is My
City – The Creative Festival,’
which kicks off this Sunday.
Running until November 28,
the event includes a 3D printing workshop, conferences,
an exhibition, film screenings and a music concert.
Organizers have highlighted the screening of “The Tricycle Thief,” by Macau-based
director Maxim Bessmertny,
which takes place on November 28, at 7:30pm. The film
recently aired at the Toronto
International Film Festival
2014, organizers said in a
press release.
The short-film screening
will be followed by a concert
from Portuguese musician
“The Legendary Tigerman.”
A workshop titled “Make
Your Own 3D Printer” takes
place Sunday and Monday at
the Macau Science Center,
returning on November 24
and 25. Creative residencies,
a retrospective exhibition
meone who looks like Manny,”
Zou joked, “I’ve always wanted
to fight the best fighters in the
world. Manny Pacquiao is the
very best in the world and now
I am facing his lookalike.”
The press conference also
unveiled several promising
boxers besides the star headliners. “We are certain this
event will be shining a global
spotlight on Macau, and that
Group concerned over
lack of clarity on domestic
violence definition
T
Paulo Furtado, aka “The Legendary Tigerman”
and a 3D Printing Showcase
will be held at the Macau Design Center on November 27.
A music concert by “The Legendary Tigerman” is scheduled for November 28 at
the Albergue SCM, followed
by an after party at the Macau Live Music Association.
“The Legendary Tigerman”
is Paulo Furtado, a musician
playing blues in a one-man
band show.
The event is intended to pro-
mote culture in Macau, with
a focus on four key concepts:
creativity, innovation, urban
culture and technology. The
event covers four different
areas, such as educational sessions, exhibitions, performances and creative residencies.
The Cultural Association
+853 was established in 2007
and has been organizing and
promoting “This is my City”
ever since. The event is produced by Lines Lab.
it provides a platform for some
of Asia’s rising boxing stars to
further develop their professional careers,” stated Sands
China president Edward Tracy.
On the undercard, local favorite Rex “The Wonder Kid”
Tso (14-0, 9KOs) and “The
Macao Kid” Ng Kuok Kun (50, 2 KOs) will fight in eightround and six-round bouts
respectively.
he Macau Anti-Domestic Violence Coalition
Group has stated its concern
over the lack of a clear definition on domestic violence,
Radio Macau reported. The
Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ)
issued a statement this week
stating that they have not
agreed on a definition of domestic violence yet, although
they are currently drafting
the Domestic Violence Bill.
Melody Lu, a spokesperson
for the Coalition Group, said
that they are worried and
confused by DSAJ’s recent
statement, as the department is considering whether
to give greater consideration
to the victim in cases of domestic violence.
Ms Lu said the group does
not wish to jump to conclusions in interpreting DSAJ’s
statements. Still, she acknowledged that by saying
cases “resulting in a lighter
effect,” the government mi-
ght be returning to a previous idea of differentiating
between so-called “serious”
and “minor” domestic violence offenses.
Early this year, the authorities were pondering listing
domestic violence as a public
crime only when there is evidence of “repeated violence.”
“We are concerned that the
expression ‘not too serious’
could ultimately represent
what the government was
seeking [to implement] before: to differentiate the serious offenses from minor
offenses (…) this is something new for us. We are still
waiting for an official version
of the drafted bill to see, in
legal terms, what this means.
Because at the moment it’s
not too clear.” Lu said.
DSAJ has previously said
that it hopes the Domestic
Violence Bill will be tabled at
the Legislative Assembly by
the end of this year.
fri 21.11.2014
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分析
Real Estate Matters
The Best Places to Live in Macau Part 3
This series originally ran in early 2013 and has been updated into a 4 part article
PROJECT POKER
Juliet Risdon is a Director of JML Property and a property investor.
Having established the company in 1994, JML Property offers
Investment Property & Homes. It specializes in managing
properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and
comfortable homes for tenants.
www.JMLProperty.com
[email protected]
Welcome back to the third part of
this article on the most popular
places to live in Macau for expatriates.
We are often asked by people new
to hunting for a home in Macau
“Where is the best place to live?”.
Last week we highlighted Nova
City, Ocean Gardens, Supreme
Flower City and Pearl on the Lough all situated in Taipa.
This week we will take a look at
the historic and quaint areas of
Old Taipa, St Paul’s in Macau and
Houston Court in Coloane Village. We also touch on areas that
are new and developing.
Remember there will always be
pros and cons in any property
and location, so you need to know
what is essential for you and what
is desirable to make it a good
choice for you.
Old Taipa – Va Nam, Va Fat,
Nam Long
Area: Old Taipa, low-rise residential buildings that are quaint and
historic. The area is under going
some renovations.
Amenities: Walking distance
to restaurants, shops, banks,
medical care, cafes. Bus Stops
ad
Juliet Risdon
are walking distance. All the
convenience of Taipa on the
doorstep.
Building facilities: Usually none
and stairs rather than lift and this
is reflected in the reasonable rental prices.
Property Features: Characterful
open living area apartments and
Studios. Offers the opportunity to
live among the local community.
Rental Prices: Budget / Mid-range
St Pauls Ruins, Macau
Area: Macau, near to St Malo
Square.
Amenities: Walking distance to
Ruins of St Pauls, local furniture
shops, fast food restaurants, museum, banks, high street shops
and main Post Office. Tourist
shops and facilities are also nearby.
Building facilities: None but this
is reflected in the relatively reasonable rental prices. Stairs rather
than lifts are a feature in these
older buildings.
Property Features: Characterful
open living area apartments often
recently renovated.
Rental Prices: Budget
Coloane Village - Houston
Court
Area: Old Village Coloane, pretty and historic. Low-rise – only
three stories high.
Amenities: Walking distance
to restaurants, local grocers,
banks, medical center, Post Office and bakeries. Bus Stops are
walking distance. Local walks
and beaches are also easily accessed.
Building facilities: None but this
is reflected in the relatively reasonable rental prices. There is a
roof terrace for the use of the residents.
Property Features: Characterful
open living area apartments.
Rental Prices: Budget / Mid-range
In the remaining article we look
at the final three most popular
areas for expatriates in a mix of
locations in Taipa and the Macau
Peninsula.
If you would like further information on these properties or a copy
of the information mailed to you
in pdf format, please e-mail me
at [email protected] and
we will be happy to send you the
information.
by Bryan Huang
Taking a break without taking a break
Not long ago I won a couple of small mixed game tournaments. One came at a
PokerStars series in Australia where I won
a mixed games side event, and soon after I
won another tournament in the Philippines
that combined pot-limit Omaha/pot-limit
hold'em.
It was certainly satisfying to win those
events, but a lot of fun as well just to play
something other than no-limit hold'em.
I've come around to believe it is important
for a lot of reasons for NLHE players to try
out other games, if only to stimulate your
brain a little by the effort of learning a new
game and broaden your knowledge of various aspects of poker, generally speaking.
I've been playing mixed games for about
two-and-a-half years now. I think it started
when I was getting frustrated with a NLHE
session one day. I knew a little about PLO
and started playing that, then moved over
to the 8-game mix on Stars. A couple of
months in I took a liking to 2-7 triple draw
and started playing that more, then moved
on to razz. Now I'm routinely adding in sessions of mixed games anytime I get a little
bored with NLHE, which can happen when
you play a lot.
It becomes a nice way to take a "break" (in
a way) while still playing poker. Instead of
just turning off my brain entirely with other
computer games or watching TV, I'm still
thinking about poker although in a different way. Then when I go back to NLHE I
always feel fresh and my passion for playing
has returned.
During the WSOP last summer, I didn't
play too many side events although I made
it a point to play the mixed game tournaments. Even though I didn't do too well in
them, I got a lot out of the experience and I
think those events have a lot of value because a lot of amateurs play them without really
knowing how to play all of the games.
It benefits you to learn other games, too,
because you never know when you might
find yourself being invited to play a really
good razz game or really good triple draw
game. If you aren't already versed in those
variants, you won't be able to take advantage.
I remember once I was in the Philippines
and there were all of these huge Badugi games with high stakes -- no-fold, pot-limit,
triple draw Badugi games. When I looked at
those games I wished I'd learned how to play
Badugi a lot earlier, because they provided
such a good opportunity! I wasn't really ready to play in them then, and so didn't jump
in. But that's an obvious benefit from learning all the games, being able to take advantage when those games come around.
PokerStars has such a wide selection of
games, and even though I haven't really
gotten into the newer ones like 5-card PLO
there is still a huge variety to choose from
for those looking for something different.
I definitely recommend to those who play
heavy schedules full of NLHE to take these
"breaks" with other games, as they can do
a lot to keep you excited and interested in
playing while also helping you learn more
as you go.
fri 21.11.2014
分析
9
AirAsia to launch Southeast
Asian air pass
Eileen Ng, Kuala Lumpur
The AirAsia
ASEAN Pass
will allow
travelers to fly
to 10 different
destinations in
Southeast Asia
in one month
bloomberg
B
udget carrier AirAsia said yesterday it
will launch a regional
air pass next year to increase revenue and boost tourism in Southeast Asia, taking
competition in low-cost air travel to a more intense level.
Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said the AirAsia ASEAN
Pass will allow travelers to fly
to 10 different destinations in
Southeast Asia in one month
for 499 ringgit (USD148), excluding airport taxes.
He said it will be the “catalyst”
for increased air travel within
Southeast Asia and also lure foreign tourists.
The pass will be sold from Jan.
15 and further details will be announced at the time, officials said.
AirAsia, which has dominated
cheap travel in the region for
years, faces rising competition
from the proliferation of discounts airlines in Asia, the world’s biggest and fastest growing
air travel market.
Air travel in Asia is expected
to grow 6.7 percent annually
in the next 20 years, from 780
million passengers in 2010 to
some 2.2 billion by 2030. Budget aviation now has a quarter
of the air travel market in Asia,
and growing.
More and more airlines are
scrambling to get into the lowcost market, betting on rising
business
incomes in Asia and more open
skies after 2015 when the 10
members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, or
ASEAN, aim to create a common economic community.
AirAsia on Wednesday reported an 85 percent fall in its net
profit to 5.4 million ringgit ($1.6
million) for the quarter through
September, citing higher operating and finance costs.
Its long-haul arm, AirAsia
X, posted a net loss of 210.9
million ringgit ($63 million)
for the same period, its fourth
straight quarterly loss. AirAsia
X has announced it will delay
delivery of new aircraft in the
next three years and cut fligh-
ts to Australia. Fernandes said
AirAsia X was hit by slumping
demand in China and Australia
after two major disasters involving Malaysia Airlines planes.
It was also hurt as the national
carrier lowered fares to boost
sales after the tragedies, he
said.
In March, Flight 370 from
Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared with 239 people
on board. A search is ongoing
in the southern Indian Ocean
where it is presumed to have
crashed, though no trace has
been found.
In July, 298 people were killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over
Ukraine.
Fernandes voiced confidence
that the airline will return to
profitability next year. He said
lower jet fuel prices as well as
a rebound in demand will boost
revenue. AP
ad
10
CHINA
21.11.2014 fri
中國
ap photo
Panel predicts Beijing
will keep confronting US Matthew Pennington, Washington
T
ensions between the
U.S. and China have deepened during the rule of China’s president, Xi Jinping, and
the risk of an inadvertent military clash in the Asia-Pacific
is growing, a congressional
advisory panel said yesterday.
The U.S.-China Economic
and Security Review Commission criticizes “unsafe, unprofessional and aggressive”
behavior by Chinese military
personnel in the past year as
the rising power has intimidated its neighbors and challenged decades of American pre
-eminence in the Asia-Pacific.
The commission’s annual report was drafted before President Barack Obama visited
Beijing last week and agreed
with Xi to improve military
cooperation to help reduce
the risk of a confrontation.
Obama’s trip also yielded a
breakthrough deal with Xi on
combating climate change,
seen as sign that despite their
strategic rivalry and differences over human rights, the two
governments can cooperate.
But since Xi came to power
two years ago, the panel notes U.S.-China relations have
been increasingly strained
by China’s territorial ambitions in the East and South China Sea, where it has disputes with nations including
U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines.
“It is becoming clear that
President Xi’s government is
willing to cause a much higher
level of tension in the bilateral
relationship than past administrations have. Unfortunately, China’s pursuit of a more
confrontational relationship
with the United States likely
will persist,” the commission
says.
Commission Chairman Dennis Shea said that conclusion
still held, despite Obama’s
upbeat visit to Beijing.
Shea said the trip improved
the atmospherics between the
U.S. and China, but fundamental problems remain. He
cited continuing Chinese state-sponsored cyberespionage;
an increasingly hostile environment for U.S. business
in China; and Chinese military modernization aimed at
least in part at countering the
U.S. military in the Pacific.
The commission advises
Congress on the national security implications of the relationship between the two
world powers. It doesn’t set
policy, and Beijing is typically
very critical of its findings.
The report says the potential for “security miscalculation” in the region is rising,
and that as China increases
its military spending by double-digit percentages year after year, the balance of power
is drifting away from the U.S.
and its allies. AP
U.S. President Barack Obama, left, walks past Chinese President Xi Jinping during a
welcome ceremony for the APEC summit Nick Perry, Wellington
Kelvin Chan
Business Writer, Hong Kong
C
hinese President Xi
Jinping said yesterday
that China’s trade deal with
Australia won’t hurt neighboring New Zealand because demand from the world’s No. 2
economy remains strong.
Xi spoke to media as he
swung through New Zealand
at the end of a month of courting international leaders. He
went so far as to write an open
letter to New Zealanders,
describing their country as a
“shining pearl” on the Pacific
Ocean.
China and Australia signed
a preliminary free-trade deal
earlier this week. Xi said people have been asking him if
that will have a negative impact on New Zealand, which
signed a free trade agreement
with China in 2008.
“China has 1.3 billion people and our market is huge,”
he said. New Zealand’s dairy
products and other exports including wool, beef and
seafood remain very popular
in China, Xi said.
“So worries that New
Zealand does not have a
market for its products
in China are totally unnecessary,” he said. “On the contrary, possibly New Zealand
will have to worry about the
fact that there is more Chine-
M
Chinese President Xi Jinping, front left, receives a traditional Maori greeting
called hongi, from Kaumatua (Maori tribal elder) Lewis Moeau during his
state welcome ceremony at Government House in Wellington
se demand than you can possibly supply.”
Xi’s comments drew laughter and were among the less
scripted moments of his carefully orchestrated visit.
Earlier, Xi had been greeted with an indigenous Maori
welcome at Government
House.
His motorcade, featuring
the distinctive Red Flag limousine, drove past both
supporters and protesters,
some of whom held signs
of the Falun Gong spiritual
movement, which is banned
in China.
Trade between New Zealand
and China has grown rapidly
since the 2008 agreement
which was China’s first free
trade pact with a developed nation. China recently
displaced Australia as New
Zealand’s largest trading
partner.
Some New Zealanders have
become concerned about the
growing level of Chinese investment in their country.
Prime Minister John Key said
yesterday he believes it benefits both countries.
“My view is we’ve got a lot of
room to move yet before we
would get anywhere near feeling uncomfortable,” he said.
This month, Xi hosted international leaders at the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing and
attended the G-20 summit in
Australia. AP
anufacturing activity in China fell to a sixmonth low in November, reflecting sluggishness in the world
No. 2 economy and weakness
abroad, according to an early
survey of factory conditions released yesterday.
HSBC’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index fell to 50.0
this month from 50.4 in October.
The index uses a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50
indicate contraction while numbers above show expansion. The
latest reading indicates there’s
no change in overall conditions
from the previous month.
It’s the latest sign that China’s economy continues to struggle after growth in the third
quarter slowed to a five-year
low of 7.3 percent. China’s slowdown also compounds challenges faced by the global economy
as it struggles to mount a convincing recovery.
Factory output declined for the
first time in half a year, falling to
a seven-month low, according to
the HSBC report, compiled with
Markit. The new export orders
subindex also slipped into contraction for the first time since
May, indicating slack demand
from customers in overseas
markets.
“Weak price pressures and
bloomberg
Mainland factory activity
at 6-month low ap photo
Xi: Sino-Australian trade deal
won’t hurt New Zealand Employees stand near machinery
used for smartphone manufacturing in
Shenzhen, China
low capacity utilization point to
insufficient demand in the economy,” Chief China Economist
Qu Hongbin said. “Furthermore,
we still see uncertainties in the
months ahead from the property
market and on the export front.”
The survey comes days after an
official report showed that property prices softened in October
in all but one of 70 cities tracked
across China, falling 2.6 percent
overall.
Real estate had been a prime
driver of China’s blistering economic growth in previous years
but recent weakness in prices
suggests economic growth will
continue to slip. Part of the fall
in prices is due to government
measures to prevent a property
bubble and keep housing affordable. AP
fri 21.11.2014
中國
CHINA
11
Hong Kong
Vinicy Chan
M
ost Hong Kong
people have grown
weary of pro-democracy protests
that have sparked clashes with
police and disrupted the city for
almost two months, and want
the government to take action
to end them, a poll showed.
About 68 percent of 513 respondents said the government
should clear the protesters immediately, according to a survey conducted by the University
of Hong Kong Nov. 17-18.
Public support for the demonstrations, which at their
peak saw tens of thousands of
people in the streets, is waning
after crowds dwindled, attempts to negotiate with the government failed and the movement’s leaders failed to agree on
strategy. The protests, the most
disruptive since China resumed
sovereignty over Hong Kong in
1997, were sparked by Beijing’s
decision to screen candidates
through a committee for the city’s leadership election in 2017.
Hong Kong police will help
clear protest sites in the Mong
Kok district as soon as preparations are complete, Police Chief
Superintendent Hui Chun-tak
bloomberg
Most people want pro-democracy
protests to end now
Police officers stand near a barricade at the intersection of Nathan Road and Argyle Street in Mong Kok
said at a press briefing Wednesday.
Police will take “resolute action” against anyone interfering
with bailiffs, and will not tolerate any violence, Hui said. Mong
Kok was the scene of some of
the fiercest clashes during the
protests for free elections.
A small group of protesters
smashed through a glass door
of the Legislative Council building in the Admiralty district
early Wednesday, using metal
barricades and concrete blocks.
Police used pepper spray to repel other people who charged at
them. Protest leaders and prodemocracy lawmakers condemned the break-in.
The clash is another sign the
movement is splintering, with
pro-democracy lawmakers and
student leaders unable to restrain the demonstrators.
“The use of violence is definitely against the umbrella
movement’s emphasis as that
of using peaceful, non-violent
means to fight for full democracy,” Alan Leong, leader of the
pro-democracy Civic Party, said
Wednesday in a briefing with
other legislators. “It seriously
undermines” the movement.
Tam Yiu Chung, Chairman
of the Democratic Alliance for
the Betterment and Progress
of Hong Kong, a pro-establishment party, said in a separate briefing the break-in
shows the movement is “totally bankrupt” and the “warped thinking” they don’t have
to obey the law.
Hong Kong has assured investors the city can withstand the
protests, said K.C. Chan, secretary for financial services.
“International investors have
voiced some concerns,” Chan
said on Bloomberg TV. “We
have been explaining to international investors that what’s
going on here is definitely an
incident that the Hong Kong
government has every means to
deal with.” Bloomberg
MDT Interview | Allan Zeman on Occupy Central
‘I wanted to experience it. It was impressive’
MDT - It’s seems
you’ve been working
overtime on meeting
a lot of members of
the nominating committee to sound them
out about Occupy
Central. How many
people have you been
talking to?
Allan Zeman - A lot,
a lot.
um
Robert Carroll, Hong Kong
H
ong Kong’s restaurant and resort
tycoon, Allan Zeman,
best known as the father of Lan Kwai Fong
(he stills owns most of it
and has two more LKFs
in China) is also a board
member of Wynn Macau.
In an interview with the
Times, he spoke about
the Occupy Central movement and political reform. Surprisingly the
pro-Beijing
businessman - he’s a CCCP member - went to see Occupy
Central for himself and
was impressed, though
he has always maintained that the students
have made their point
and should go home to
allow businesses to operate as usual.
A strong supporter of
failed CE candidate Hen-
Allan Zeman
ry Tang, Zeman also revealed to MDT why, in his
view, Beijing switched support to CY Leung so late
in the campaign. It seems
that it wasn’t the scandals
or Tang’s declining popularity as many believed.
MDT - You said that
Occupy Central had
some people on the
nominating committee changing their
minds about this?
AZ - I went to Admiralty. I spent four hours
there. It was impressive
because I just wanted to
experience it for myself
exactly. I don’t just like
to listen to the media
[and] watching on TV.
Watching on TV I was out
of town. You had a lot of
reporters - international
reporters – [for the] first
time here talking about
tanks [coming in] who
have no idea, and [it]
gives the wrong impression around the world.
And that to me was something that was really
a problem. I went down
there because I wanted to
experience it for myself.
It was impressive.
MDT - The nominating committee has
come under fire because it’s subject to external influence from
pro-Beijing groups.
AZ - What I would say
is when you are in that
booth as part of that
nominating committee,
it’s you and the paper.
No one knows who you
are going to vote for,
so if I want to vote for
Long Hair [democratic
legislator Leung Kwokhung] nobody’s going to
know.
MDT - It’s a totally
secret ballot?
AZ - It’s a totally secret
ballot - same as the US,
same as everywhere else.
MDT - But the day
before CY Leung was
elected I interviewed
Tam Yiu-chung. He
confirmed a newspaper report saying that
a decision to back CY
was only taken the
night before the last
day of campaigning,
and after, there was
uniform voting (60
votes) by a pro-China
Federation of trade
Unions for CY. Do you
remember? You must
have followed it?
AZ - Yes I remember.
I was going with Henry
Tang at that time in the
debate. Henry had given
way secrets that had upset a lot of people in China and talked about things that he shouldn’t have.
12
ASIA-PACIFIC
21.11.2014 fri
亞太版
Japan
South Korea
Mari Yamaguchi, Tokyo
J
apanese
police
were
looking for traces of poison in
the home of a woman arrested on
suspicion of killing her husband,
one of six men who have died while in a relationship with her over
the past 20 years.
Police say they suspect insurance claims or inheritance money could be the motive for the
killings.
Chisako Kakehi, 67, was arrested
Wednesday in Kyoto prefecture after cyanide was found in the
body of her 75-year-old husband,
a senior official at the investigative department told The Associated Press in a telephone interview
from Kyoto. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the pending investigation.
Kakehi has denied involvement
in the deaths and has not been
formally charged.
Her latest marriage lasted one
month before her husband died in
December.
ad
ap photo
Police comb suspected
‘black widow’ killer’s home Chisako Kakehi is surrounded by reporters
in Sakai, western Japan
Cyanide had also been found in
the blood of a 71-year-old partner who fell while riding a bike
in 2012, officials said. His death
was initially attributed to a heart
disease.
Kakehi had reportedly married
three times and had relationships
with three other men over the past
two decades. All had died within a
few years of marrying or starting
relationships with her.
All the deaths occurred in the
western Japan area, including
Kyoto and Osaka.
Yesterday, police raided her
apartment in Osaka following
searches at her home in Muko
city, and confiscated capsules and
wafers to wrap powdered medicine as possible evidence, reports
said.
Kakehi caught the attention
of authorities after she called
an ambulance to rush her latest
husband to a hospital, saying
he suddenly collapsed at home.
An autopsy found cyanide in his
blood, and investigators eventually ruled out a suicide, leading to Kakehi’s arrest.
She was being questioned by the
prefectural prosecutor before a
decision is made whether to press
charges. AP
Ferry firm head gets 10
years in jail over sinking
A
South Korean court sentenced the head of a ferry
operator to 10 years in prison yesterday over an
April ship sinking that killed more than 300 people,
mostly teenage students.
Kim Han-sik, president of Chonghaejin Marine Co.
Ltd, also received a 2 million won (USD1,800) fine for
failing to stop the improper storage and overloaded
cargo on the ship that judges ruled contributed to the
sinking, the Gwangju District Court said in a statement.
Four other Chonghaejin officials were sentenced to
three to six years in prison on similar charges, and two
other company employees got suspended prison sentences, according to a court verdict.
An official from the Korea Shipping Association, which oversees safety issues of ships, was sentenced to
three years in prison for allowing the ferry to leave a
port near Seoul without checking its cargo and storage,
the verdict said. Two employees at a private company
that loaded the ship both received a two-year prison
term, it said.
More than seven months after the ferry Sewol sank
on its way to a southern resort island, the country is
still grappling with the aftermath of the disaster that
exposed serious shortcomings in public safety and
sparked fierce political wrangling. Officials blame crew
members’ negligence, overloaded cargo, improper storage, unprofessional rescue works and corruption by
the ship’s owners for the incident.
The Gwangju court last week sentenced the 15 navigational crew members from five to 36 years in prison.
Divers recovered 295 bodies from the wreckage before the government stopped underwater searches last
week. Nine victims remain missing. AP
fri 21.11.2014
亞太版
ASIA-PACIFIC
North Korea
Hyung-jin Kim, Seoul
N
orth Korea threatened yesterday to bolster its war capability
and conduct a fourth
nuclear test to cope with what it
calls U.S. hostility that led to the
approval of a landmark U.N. resolution on its human rights violations.
A U.N. committee on Tuesday
adopted the resolution urging the
Security Council to refer the North’s rights situation to the International Criminal Court. It’s the
first time a U.N. resolution included the idea that the North’s absolute leader Kim Jong Un could
be targeted by prosecutors. Before the U.N. vote, a North Korean
envoy threatened a nuclear test.
Yesterday, Pyongyang’s Foreign
Ministry called the resolution’s
approval a “grave political provo-
ap photo
Pyongyang threatens nuclear
test after landmark UN
human rights resolution
Choe Myong Nam, second from left, North Korea’s official in charge of U.N. affairs
and human rights, and other delegates watch the recorded votes on a draft
proposal during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly human rights committee
cation,” saying it was orchestrated
by the U.S. though it was drafted
by the European Union and Japan.
An
unidentified
ministry
spokesman told state media that
the North’s war deterrence will
be strengthened in an “unlimited manner” to cope with U.S.
hostility, which is “compelling us
not to refrain from conducting
a new nuclear test any longer.”
His comments on the nuclear test
were near identical to what Choe
Myong Nam, a foreign ministry
adviser for U.N. and human rights issues, said at the U.N.
The North has used similar rhetoric previously when there has
been increased tension with other
countries.
Analysts say it’s unlikely the
North will follow through on its
threats to conduct a nuclear test
because that would invite further
international condemnation and
derail efforts to attract foreign investment and aid to revive its moribund economy.
China and Russia, which hold
veto power on the Security Council, will not let the council refer the
North’s rights situation to the criminal court, but North Korea also
knows the two countries do not
want another nuclear test by
Pyongyang, said Lim Eul Chul, a
13
13
North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. China and Russia voted against the
non-binding resolution, which
goes to the General Assembly for
a vote in the coming weeks.
North Korea, however, often
confounds outside analysts’ predictions and doesn’t always act
according to a set pattern. Two
deadly attacks blamed on Pyongyang that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010 were a surprise because they came amid relatively
easing tensions with the U.S. and
South Korea.
The U.S.-Korea Institute at
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said
Wednesday the North may be
restarting a plant that can reprocess nuclear fuel into weaponsgrade plutonium for the first time
in six years. The finding is based
on analysis of recent commercial
satellite imagery at the North’s
main nuclear facility.
North Korea conducted an atomic bomb test in 2006, 2009
and 2013, each time inviting international sanctions. A fourth
test would mark another defiant
response to U.S.-led international pressure on North Korea to
abandon its nuclear weapons program, because that could put the
country a step closer to the goal of
producing warheads small enough to mount on a missile capable
of reaching the U.S. AP
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14
ADVERTISEMENT
21.11.2014 fri
廣告
fri 21.11.2014
Ken Dilanian, Intelligence Writer,
Washington
D
issenters within
the National Security Agency, led by a
senior agency executive, warned in 2009 that
the program to secretly collect American phone records
wasn’t providing enough intelligence to justify the backlash
it would cause if revealed, current and former intelligence
officials say.
The NSA took the concerns
seriously, and many senior
officials shared them. But after an internal debate that has
not been previously reported, NSA leaders, White House officials and key lawmakers
opted to continue the collection and storage of American
calling records, a domestic
surveillance program without
parallel in the agency’s recent
history.
The warnings proved prophetic last year after the calling
records program was made
public in the first and most
significant leak by Edward
Snowden, a former NSA systems administrator who cited
the government’s deception
about the program as one
of his chief motivations for
turning over classified documents to journalists. Many
Americans were shocked and
dismayed to learn that an intelligence agency collects and
stores all their landline calling
records.
In response, President Barack Obama is now trying to stop
the NSA collection but preserve the agency’s ability to search the records in the hands of
the telephone companies— an
arrangement similar to the
one the administration quietly
rejected in 2009. But his plan,
drawing opposition from most
Republicans, fell two votes
short of advancing in the Senate on Tuesday.
The legislation would have
ended the NSA’s collection of
domestic calling records, instead requiring the agency to
obtain a court order each time
it wanted to analyze the records in terrorism cases, and
query records held by the telephone companies. In many
cases the companies store the
records for 18 months.
A now-retired NSA senior
executive, who was a longtime code-breaker who rose
to top management, had just
learned in 2009 about the top
secret program that was created shortly after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks. He says he argued to then-NSA Director
Keith Alexander that storing
the calling records of nearly
every American fundamentally changed the character of
the agency, which is supposed
to eavesdrop on foreigners,
not Americans.
Alexander politely disagreed,
the former official told The
WORLD
15
ap photo
分析
Former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden speaks in Moscow
Government surveillance
Before Snowden leak, some in
NSA warned of a backlash
Associated Press.
The former official, who
spoke only on condition of
anonymity because he didn’t
have permission to discuss
a classified matter, said he
knows of no evidence the program was used for anything
other than hunting for terrorism plots in the U.S. But
he said he and others made
the case that the collection
of American records in bulk
crossed a line that had been
sacrosanct.
He said he also warned of a
scandal if it should be disclosed that the NSA was storing
records of private calls by
Americans — to psychiatrists,
lovers and suicide hotlines,
among other contacts.
Alexander,
who
led
the NSA from 2005 until he
retired last year, did not dispute the former official’s account, though he said he disagreed that the program was
improper.
“An individual did bring us
these questions, and he had
some great points,” Alexander told the AP. “I asked the
technical folks, including him,
to look at it.”
By 2009, several former officials said, concern about
the “215 program,” so-called
for the authorizing provision
of the USA Patriot Act, had
grown inside NSA’s Fort Meade, Maryland, headquarters to
the point that the program’s
intelligence value was being
questioned. That was partly
true because, for technical and
other reasons, the NSA was
Justice Department, Congress
and the White House, newly
occupied by President Barack
Obama.
But the government ultimately decided against changing
what most officials still view
as a necessary bulwark against
domestic terror plots, Alexander and other former officials
After an internal debate
that has not been previously
reported, NSA leaders opted
to continue the collection and
storage of American calling
records
not capturing most mobile
calling records, which were an
increasing share of the domestic calling universe, the former
officials said.
The
dissent
prompted NSA leaders to examine
whether the agency could stop
gathering and storing domestic landline calling records
and instead access the records
as needed from the telephone
companies, Alexander said.
The NSA consulted with the
said. The program collects
and stores so-called metadata
on every landline phone call
made in America — the phone number called from, the
phone number called and the
duration of the call. Some estimates have estimated the program collects records on up to
3 billion calls a day.
In 2006, the program came
under the supervision of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The agency,
which continues to obtain the
records from telephone companies under a court order,
says it searches them only for
connections to phone numbers suspected of association
with overseas terror groups.
Under a process known as
“contact chaining,” analysts
examine the numbers that had
been in contact with the “dirty
number” and then the numbers in contact with those. Sometimes the circle is expanded
to a “third hop” — a process
that could include analysis
of millions of American phone calls. Only 30 intelligence
employees are permitted to
access the database, officials
have said, and it is done about
300 times a year.
Current and former intelligence officials disagree about
whether the phone record
searching has been important in stopping terror attacks. The U.S. has been able
to point to a single terrorism
case that came to light exclusively through a domestic phone records match — that of an
Anaheim, California, cab driver who was sentenced earlier
this year to six years in prison
for sending money to Somalia’s al-Qaida affiliate. AP
16
INFOTAINMENT
TV canal macau
Friday
13:00
TDM News (Repeated)
13:30
News (RTPi) Delayed Broadcast
14:30
RTPi Live
18:10
Brazil Avenue (Repeated)
19:00
TDM Talk Show (Repeated)
19:30
Soap Opera
20:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report
21:20
Revenge S1
22:10
Brazil Avenue
23:00
TDM News
23:30
Europa League Highlights
23:45
Portuguese Movie
01:35
Main News, Financial & Weather Report (Repeated)
Saturday
11:20
Kung Fu Masters of the Zodiac
11:40
Conch Bay
12:30
Cooking
13:00
TDM News (Repeated)
13:30
News (RTPi) Delayed Broadcast
14:30
Zig Zag
15:45
Soap Opera
19:00
Contest
19:50
Miscellaneous
21:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report
21:00
Drama
23:00
TDM News
23:30
Variety
00:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report (Repeated)
21.11.2014 fri
資訊／娛樂
cinema
cineteatro
20 Nov -26 Nov
The hunger games: mockinjay - part 1_
room 1
2.30, 4.45, 7.15, 9.30 pm
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam
Hemsworth
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 123min
don’t go breaking my heart 2_
room 2
4.30, 7.30, 9.30 pm
Director: Johnnie To
Starring: Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung, Gao Yuanyuan
Language: Cantonese (English and Chinese)
Duration: 115min
Sunday
11:00
Sunday Mass
12:00
Miscellaneous
13:00
TDM News (Repeated)
13:30
News (RTPi) Delayed Broadcast
14:30
Zig Zag
16:00
Comedy
16:30
Miscellaneous
18:40
Contest
19:40
Comedy
20:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report
21:00
Non-Daily Portuguese News
21:50
News
22:05
Fracking - The New Energy Rush
23:00
TDM News
23:30
Miscellaneous
00:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report (Repeated)
offbeat
Cuban couple keeps rodents
called hutias as pets
Some people keep
guinea pigs or hamsters as pets.
But in Cuba, where
a larger, more exotic
rodent runs wild, Ana
Pedraza and her husband prefer the hutia.
With a rope-like tail
and long front teeth,
the hutia looks like a giant rat, only cuter, some would say. They
live in Cuba and other Caribbean islands where they are sometimes hunted for food.
But Pedraza and her husband Rafael Lopez say they only
want to want to protect and take care of the animals, which
measure about 30 centimeters long, with the largest ones weighing in bigger than a small dog.
The couple began collecting hutias about five years ago
when they found one languishing on a roadside and named
her Congui. They found her a mate and now have more than a
half-dozen hutias in their home about 40 kilometers east of the
capital, Havana. Congui and her brood like to drink sweetened
coffee and munch on crackers and vegetables. Her son Pancho enjoys an occasional nip of rum.
this day in history
the snow white murder case_
room 2
7.45 pm
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Starring: Mao Inoue, Go Ayano, Nobuaki Kaneko
Language: Cantonese (English and Chinese)
Duration: 126min
before i go to sleep_
room 3
2.30, 4.30, 7.30, 9.30 pm
Director: Rowan Joffe
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 92min
macau tower
6 Nov - 26 Nov
interstellar_
2.30, 5.30, 8.30 pm
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway,
Jessica Chastain
Language: English (Chinese)
Duration: 169min
1995 Balkan leaders
agree to peace
A peace settlement for war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina has been brokered in the United States.
US President Bill Clinton announced the deal after 21 days of seemingly deadlocked negotiation
at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton,
Ohio.
The plan, known as the Dayton Accord, has been
agreed between the Bosnian, Serb and Croat leaders and will be enforced by 60,000 Nato troops,
who will begin to arrive in the country during the
next few days.
If a success, the settlement could end the most
brutal conflict in Europe since the Second World
War, which has resulted in the deaths of 200,000
people - mostly civilians - and left two million homeless.
Under the agreement Bosnia will remain a single
state, but most power will be devolved to two new
territories - a Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian-Serb republic.
A central authority controlling foreign, trade and
monetary policy will operate from a united capital
in Sarajevo.
President Clinton said the deal would allow the
Bosnian people to move from the horror of war to
the promise of peace.
And US Secretary of State Warren Christopher
praised the accord - which is scheduled to be officially signed in December - as a “victory for all
of us”.
But splits have begun to appear in the fragile
treaty almost as soon as it had been initialled by
the leaders.
Serb delegation member Momcilo Krajisnik called it a big mistake.
“Our delegation did not accept this plan, nor did
sign it, nor will it sign the maps or the plan itself,”
he said.
But Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said the
deal was a good beginning.
“To my people I say - this may not be a just peace, but it is more just than the continuation of
war,” he said.
Courtesy BBC News
In context
The Dayton Accord was signed by the presidents of Croatia,
Serbia and Bosnia on 14 December 1995.
The agreement managed to impose a lasting - if uneasy - peace
in the region. Real stability was only achieved when the political landscape changed and the war leaders went.
Franjo Tudjman died in 1999, Alija Izetbegovic stepped down
in 2001 and Slobodan Milosevic was put on trial at The Hague
a year later for war crimes. He died in his cell in March 2006.
The new, more moderate, governments met at a summit in
July 2002 - the first time the countries’ leaders had sat round
the same table since the accord was signed.
fri 21.11.2014
資訊／娛樂
Taurus
Mar. 21-Apr. 19
April 20-May 20
You need to work off some of this
excess energy with exercise, dance
or something else that makes you
sweat. It’s a great way to stay in
shape, obviously, but it can also keep
you moving in the right direction.
Try not to just roll over when people
get pushy today — even if the last
thing you want is a power struggle!
It’s a really good time for you to fight
back and make sure everyone knows
where you stand.
Gemini
Cancer
May 21-Jun. 21
Jun. 22-Jul. 22
Your big brain is getting you in
trouble again — but it’s the right
kind of trouble! You may confound
the boss or someone else who can
make decisions, but it should make
them inclined to trust you.
You need to think about the rest of
the month and year, not just the
short-term. It’s far too easy to get
caught up in the moment today,
especially when weird news strikes
at the worst possible time.
Leo
Virgo
Jul. 23-Aug. 22
Aug. 23-Sept. 22
You have racked up a big
achievement today — so make the
most of it! See if you can get yourself
to shake things up in a new way and
try your best to move forward with
your plans.
Your need to help others is a driving
force today — make sure that you
indulge it, or you may find yourself
overwhelmed by emotions! It’s
one of those days that feels more
important than the rest.
Libra
Sep.23-Oct. 22
Oct. 23 - Nov. 21
You’re facing a more serious
challenge today — so step up and
look it in the face! Your energy may
feel a bit spent, but you can tell that
you’re in the right place mentally to
handle this.
Capricorn
Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Dec. 22-Jan. 19
Your social energy is a potent force
today, and it should help you spread
the word to anyone nearby. Make
the most of this boost by making
a romantic move or trying to get a
new job.
People are on your case today about
all sorts of things that just shouldn’t
be your problem. That’s not to say
that you can ignore them, simply
that you should give them no more
than you can afford.
Aquarius
SUDOKU
Easy
Weather
Medium
Hard
Feb.19-Mar. 20
Events are afoot that are sure to
shake up your life in a deep, likely
positive, way. Don’t forget to stop
to take it all in — just stay present in
the moment and soak it all up. This
should make for a great story!
Let other people deal with their
own drama — you’ve got better
things to do! See if you can just
indulge your colleagues and
friends without actively involving
yourself in their craziness.
Crossword puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com
Down: 1- Baby powder; 2- Between ports; 3- Stately aquatic bird; 4- Liquid hydrocarbon;
5- Pop; 6- Experts; 7- Small branch; 8- Hydroxyl compound; 9- ER VIP; 10- Sliding
compartment of furniture; 11- Must've been
something ___; 12- Mayberry kid; 13- Tiered
Yesterday’s solution
shelves; 19- Swift; 21- "The Time Machine"
people; 25- Public sale; 26- Leading; 27- Ancient
linear unit; 28- Betel palm; 29- Showed interest;
30- Pampering, briefly; 31- Find the answer;
32- Twixt's partner; 33- A long time; 35- Fast
flier; 39- Thunder Bay's prov.; 40- Pea-shaped;
42- Sharpens; 44- Roster used to assign duties;
46- Established procedure; 47- Laborer who
handles cargo; 49- Lobster state; 50- Iowa
State city; 51- Soak leather in base solution; 52Sigmund's daughter; 53- Support; 55- Ear part;
56- Indigo source; 57- Soviet news agency; 59When doubled, a dance; 60- NFL scores;
Beijing
-1
12
haze/clear
Harbin
-4
3
snowshower
Tianjin
2
13
haze/clear
Condition
Urumqi
-5
2
cloudy/clear
Xi’an
4
14
cloudy
Lhasa
-3
13
clear
Chengdu
8
14
overcast
Chongqing
11
15
overcast
Kunming
8
20
cloudy
Nanjing
9
20
cloudy
Shanghai
14
21
clear/cloudy
Wuhan
7
19
cloudy
Hangzhou
10
22
cloudy/overcast
Taipei
18
25
drizzle/moderate rain
Guangzhou
15
25
clear
20
24
cloudy
Moscow
-6
0
overcast
Frankfurt
1
8
drizzle
Paris
4
8
overcast
London
7
9
drizzle
New York
-2
6
cloudy/clear
world
Crosswords
Across: 1- Assignment; 5- Ventured; 10- Designer Christian; 14- Even ___ speak...;
15- Hersey's bell town; 16- ___ Nui (Easter Island); 17- Cordelia's father; 18- Pertaining
to democracy; 20- Summer camp transport; 22- Monetary unit of Afghanistan; 23Eight Days ___; 24- Blind parts; 26- Goon; 27- Like cheese; 30- Parched; 34- Pertaining
to a rare element; 35- Go downhill fast?; 36- Be in debt; 37- ___ noire; 38- Puccini
classic; 40- "Not guilty," e.g.; 41- Hosp. area; 42- Clue; 43- Chauffeur; 45- Dandelions
have a deep one of these; 47- Gives slack; 48- Roadhouse; 49- Civilian clothes; 50Become less intense, die off; 53- Actress Dawber; 54- Black key; 58- Hand written
document; 61- Mrs. Chaplin; 62- Sicilian peak; 63- Perfected; 64- Baseball stats; 65Authenticating mark; 66- Copycats; 67- "Alice" diner;
Max
Hong Kong
Pisces
Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Min
China
Easy+
Scorpio
Social activity is vital right now
— you can’t handle boredom
or loneliness as well as usual.
Fortunately, lots of people feel the
same way right now, so get out
there and mix it up!
Sagittarius
17
The Born Loser by Chip Sansom
YOUR STARS
Aries
INFOTAINMENT
Useful telephone numbers
Emergency calls 999
Taxi (Yellow) 28 519 519
Fire department 28 572 222
Taxi (Black) 28 939 939
PJ (Open line) 993
Water Supply – Report 1990 992
PJ (Picket) 28 557 775
Telephone – Report 1000
PSP 28 573 333
Electricity – Report 28 339 922
Customs 28 559 944
Macau Daily Times 28 716 081
S. J. Hospital 28 313 731
Kiang Wu Hospital 28 371 333
Commission Against
Corruption (CCAC) 28326 300
IACM 28 387 333
Tourism 28 333 000
Airport 59 888 88
ad
18
ADVERTISEMENT
21.11.2014 fri
廣告
fri 21.11.2014
體育
Baseball
Stanton signs record
USD325 million deal
ap photo
G
Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton
the necessary financial commitment to field a contender.
The Marlins hadn’t held a celebratory news conference on such
a scale since their last spending
spree, just before their ballpark
opened in 2012. They went 6993, leading to a payroll purge.
Their average attendance of
21,386 was 28th among the 30
major league teams.
Stanton’s contract tops the
$292 million, 10-year agreement
Miguel Cabrera agreed to with
Detroit in March. He receives
the first 13-year guaranteed deal
in MLB history, topping an April
2012 agreement between Cincinnati and Joey Votto that assured the first baseman of $251.5
million over 12 years.
“It’s an exciting day for Miami,
my fans, our fans,” Stanton said.
Stanton, who turned 25 on Nov.
8, is perhaps the game’s most
feared slugger. He has 154 homers, including a National League-leading 37 this year.
The two-time All-Star right fielder recently won the NL Hank
Aaron Award, and was voted the
NL’s outstanding player in balloting by his fellow major leaguers.
He won a Silver Slugger Award
and finished second to Clayton
Kershaw in NL MVP voting.
“He wants to be the man, and
he’s good enough to assume that
mantle,” Marlins president David Samson said.
Stanton’s season ended on Sept.
11 when he was hit in the face by
a pitch and suffered fractures in
his face and other injuries. Despite missing the final 17 games,
he led the NL in homers and slugging for the Marlins, who went
77-85 but ended a three-year
streak of last-place finishes in the
NL East.
The Marlins have said they’re
not concerned the injuries will
have lingering effects.
While Kevin Brown was the first
player to break the $100 million
barrier in 1998 and Alex Rodriguez became the first to top $200
million just two years later, it took
14 more years to produce baseball’s first $300 million man. AP
19
19
Formula 1
4-time champion
Vettel replaces
Alonso at Ferrari
ap photo
Steven Wine, Miami
iancarlo
Stanton signed his record
USD325 million, 13year contract with the
Miami Marlins at a news conference formally announcing the
deal yesterday.
Stanton signed the deal while sitting next to Marlins owner
Jeffrey Loria. The attendancechallenged franchise drew nearly
100 members of the media for
the occasion.
The contract is the most lucrative ever for an American athlete,
and the longest in Major League
Baseball history. It includes a
no-trade clause, and Stanton can
opt out after six years and $107
million.
“We’re here to celebrate a landmark agreement, not only for the
Marlins organization but for our
entire community,” Loria said.
Stanton said the deal points the
Marlins in a winning direction.
“This is one building block
toward a better future and a new
way of life down here in Miami,”
he said. “I’m glad to be here for
my foreseeable future.”
Stanton wasn’t due to become
eligible for free agency until after
the 2016 season, and signing the
outfielder to a long-term agreement was considered a long shot.
The Marlins haven’t reached the
playoffs since 2003, and Stanton
was skeptical about Loria making
SPORTS
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso
In a widely expected shakeup, four-time Formula One
champion Sebastian Vettel will
replace two-time champion
Fernando Alonso at Ferrari next
season. The 27-year-old German
will be leaving Red Bull for the
Italian team on a three-year
deal, Ferrari said yesterday. “The
dream of a lifetime has come
true. When I was a kid, Michael
Schumacher in the red car was
my greatest idol and now it’s an
incredible honor to finally get the
chance to drive a Ferrari,” Vettel
said. “I am extremely motivated
to help the team get back to
the top.” Alonso, a 33-year-old
Spaniard who won his two titles
with Renault in 2005 and ‘06,
had said earlier this season that
his future was elsewhere. His
destination remains unclear, but
he is expected to join McLaren.
ad
De Niro ends assessment fight
BUZZ with upstate NY town
Air quality fri
Station21.11.2014
THE
Kapok
Eric Sautedé
Moaners
When I voiced concern in my columns last February that Ho Iat Seng, the newly sworn-in president of the Legislative Assembly, was openly deploring the lack of “legal training” of legislators and
thus questioning their ability to grasp public policy
issues, and that Chan Chak Mo, the president of
the second permanent commission of the same
Assembly, was caught saying legislators should
refrain from drafting “projects” of law and exclusively let the government make law “proposals”,
I did so in pointing out that these two respectable
figures of our community had basically decided on
their own to interpret the Basic Law and let go of
a key component of the legislators’ power, that is
precisely to initiate legislation, as stipulated in article 75 of the Basic Law.
The right of initiative held by legislators is indeed
true power and constitutes one of the few “actual”
prerogatives that mitigates the derogatory judgment that the Macao legislature is nothing but a
“rubber stamp” assembly—toothless and, above
all, indefectible, as a whole, in its support to the
executive. Power as it allows at minima to elevate the gravitas of the debate and help clarify
the stand of each and every stakeholder: a good
example of that is the Law on the Fundamental Rights to form Trade Unions that has been pushed
by José Pereira Coutinho several times and got
defeated (again) in April by just 14 votes to 9.
Power as it forces the government to change its
order of priority when it comes to policy-making:
again, I believe that it is Coutinho’s continuous
drive to have an Animal Protection Law that ultimately forced the municipal affairs administration
(IACM) to come up with a law that was unanimously introduced in the first reading last month,
whereas the IACM had been “promising” that law
for more than a decade. And finally, the capacity
to “make” a law and not only to vote on or amend it
epitomizes the essence of the “legislative power”
of that branch of government: the Law on the Protection of Private Data, which was considered up
to this summer one of the most advanced pieces
of legislation when it comes to the protection of
citizens’ rights, was indeed introduced in 2005 by
a collective of 8 legislators, including 3 directly
elected ones.
If this right to properly raise awareness, set the
agenda of policy-making and legislate is forfeited,
what is left then? Mere complaints that the government is not fast or good enough? If Melinda Chan
champions the rights of the children so much, why
doesn’t she come up with a piece of legislation
herself? There are plenty of legal advisors in town
to help her out—both in Portuguese and Chinese,
and outside or inside the Assembly. But the problem is precisely that most of the businessmenturned politicians conceive their role as having
somewhat to do with populist brawling and badly
acted moaning.
How can one otherwise explain the high-pitched
whining of Mak Soi Kun regarding the noise disturbance generated by the Grand Prix whereas
the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Noise had already been voted in August,
including favorably by himself? What credit can
we give to legislators’ complaints about the level
of execution of the government’s budget in November when the second permanent commission
never found the time to review the mid-year report
provided by the government in August? One of my
friends who owns a pretty big business in China
has the following slogan plastered on all the walls
of his factory: “Winners find solutions, losers only
find excuses.” No chance of losing when the game
is not opened to competition.
And mind you, legislators cannot really propose
laws on every single topic and issue: public expenditure, political structure or the operation of
the government are expressly (and safely) out of
bound. Legislators Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam
San had thus to propose a mere debate on political reform and the implementation of universal
suffrage in Macao. Expectedly, the proposal was
vetoed by 27 legislators out of 33: when concerns
get crucial and opinions become power, silence is
then golden.
behalf had been battling the 40-hectare property's $6
million assessment, resulting in a lengthy court case.
De Niro has agreed to discontinue his appeal of the
case, which the town won in June. The trust argued
the property was worth $4 million.
The Times reports De Niro's estate includes two
guesthouses, a barn converted into a recreation center, a swimming pool, a boxing ring and film production suites.
‘Booze Traveler’ host
explores how world drinks
Jack Maxwell, left, helps deliver the popular fermented beverage boza
in Istanbul
William J. Kole, Boston
J
ack Maxwell drinks for
a living.
From moss schnapps in
Iceland to gut-busting raki
in Turkey and homebrew in
the Himalayas, he’s learned
the hard way that tippler’s
truism: “It’s always 5 o’clock
somewhere.”
Maxwell says shining shoes
as a kid in the barrooms of
South Boston helped prepare him to host “Booze
Traveler,” which debuts this
month on the Travel Channel. In a telephone interview
with The Associated Press,
the Los Angeles-based actor said his early years in
the neighborhood known
as Southie — where convicted gangster James “Whitey” Bulger once reigned —
showed him what cocktails
can teach about a culture.
“That’s where I learned
about alcohol’s magic socializing effect,” said Maxwell,
who has appeared in “24,”
‘’Lost” and “Beverly Hills
90210.” ‘’People would re-
gale me with tales. Everyone was so social and nice to
each other.”
Part
travelogue,
part
drinking diary, “Booze Traveler” takes viewers with
Maxwell as he travels to
Louisiana, Tennessee and 13
foreign countries, including
Armenia, Belize, Lithuania,
Mongolia and Nepal. Each
hour-long episode is a quest
to distill the essence of a place through its beers, wines
and spirits — a lighthearted
look at the world through
the lens of a glass.
“Every society in history
has come up with some form
of alcohol to celebrate, to
mourn, to take the edge off a
long day,” he said.
The series premiere, which
airs Nov. 24, puts Maxwell
in mostly Muslim Turkey. As
the 4 p.m. call to prayer rings
out in Istanbul, he jokes: “If
I were back home in Boston,
I’d be sitting down at the bar
for happy hour.”
Many Turks are teetotalers, but Maxwell takes it as
a challenge to uncover the
local libations. He samples
raki, a powerful drink made
of twice-distilled grapes flavored with anise, and harvests poppies with women
who use them in a potent
drink.
“We thought we’d have to
find a secret speakeasy and
a guy who knows a guy who
knows a guy,” he said. “But
it was hiding in plain sight.”
As he drinks his way around the world, Maxwell comes off as something of a
daredevil — comparisons to
bad-boy TV gourmand Anthony Bourdain are inevitable. He’d have to be fearless
to stomach the more bizarre
beverages he samples: vodka distilled from camel’s
milk in Mongolia, and “spit
beer” brewed with saliva by
a tribe in the Amazon jungle.
“The chief himself put his
hat on me — his crown —
and he taught me how to spit
poison darts. They cooked
piranha for me,” Maxwell
said. “Who am I to say no?
I’m just a kid from the Southie projects.”
Jaw-dropping scenery served as a backdrop for many
of Maxwell’s adventures. In
South Africa, he awoke to
zebra, impala and giraffes
grazing on the sun-dappled
savannah, and he says it was
the perfect hangover cure.
“Sitting down and drinking
with someone, I realized it’s
a much smaller world than
what I thought,” he said.
“We have much more in
common than we do differences.” AP
times square by rodrigo
Roadside
source: dsmg
opinion
Actor Robert De Niro says he'll reimburse a town
nearly USD130,000 in legal fees it spent defending
its assessment of the actor's upstate New York property.
The settlement involves the Hudson Valley town
of Gardiner, north of New York City. The agreement
was first reported earlier this week by The New York
Times.
The trust that owns the compound on De Niro's
ap photo
20
70-100
Moderate
High
Density
65-95
Residental Moderate
Area
Ambient
65-95
Moderate
WORLD BRIEFS
THAILAND Police detain three
students at the opening of the
latest “Hunger Games” movie
in Thailand, where opponents
of May’s military coup have
adopted the film’s three-finger
salute as a sign of defiance.
The military-imposed
government has banned the
gesture, which symbolizes
rebellion against totalitarian
rule in the film series. One
cinema chain in Thailand’s
capital canceled all screenings
of the movie ahead of its
opening yesterday after a
student group planned an
anti-coup protest outside one
of its theaters.
INDIA Indian police arrest a
controversial religious leader
at his sprawling ashram in the
northern part of the country,
ending a days-long standoff
in which six people died and
hundreds were injured.
PHILIPPINES A court
convicts nine people of graft
over a 1996 nightclub fire
that killed 162 people, mostly
students celebrating the
end of the school year. The
Sandiganbayan anti-graft
court convicted seven former
city engineering officials
of suburban Quezon City
and two operators of the
Ozone disco and handed out
sentences of up to 10 years.
USA NBC scraps a Bill
Cosby comedy that was
under development and TV
Land will stop airing reruns
of “The Cosby Show,”
moves that came a day
after another woman came
forward claiming that the
once-beloved comic had
sexually assaulted her. The
NBC sitcom and “Cosby
Show” reruns joined a Netflix
Cosby standup comedy
special, which was indefinitely
postponed, as mounting
evidence of Cosby’s faltering
career.
USA-IRAN U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry was to travel
to Vienna yesterday to join
high-level nuclear negotiations
with Iran as a deadline for
an agreement looms. With
Monday’s deadline for a
deal approaching, Kerry has
embarked on a frenzy of highstakes diplomacy.
ISRAELI police yesterday
handed home demolition
notices to families of four
Palestinian attackers from
east Jerusalem, including
two assailants who killed five
people in a synagogue attack
earlier this week, according
to relatives and Palestinian
officials.