June 1, 2020 (ROC Year 109) — a daily roundup of trending global news topics, covering technology, lifestyle, travel, transportation, industry and finance, business, corporations, stocks, foreign exchange markets, investment, real estate, automobiles, breaking news, sports, entertainment gossip, art, design, politics, society, Taiwan, mainland China, cross-strait relations, weather, natural disasters, current affairs, and more.
The “Read News” section collects the headline events and brief summaries of the most important key news from around the world that deserve your attention in recent days, tracing the currents of society through the flow of news events listed quickly one after another.
Global Focus Topics for June 1, 2020
- International and Social Focus
- Technology and Information
- Business and Investment
- Science and Health
- Travel and Leisure
International and Social Focus
The death of African American man Floyd after a white police officer knelt on his neck in Minnesota ignited fury across the United States, with protests spreading from the local area nationwide on the 29th. Shortly after an 8 p.m. curfew on the 30th, police rushed to a southwestern area of Minneapolis and fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse 500 protesters; a Reuters photographer and a security consultant at the scene were unfortunately struck by rubber bullets.
The National Treasury Administration of the Ministry of Finance recently published the April public debt statistics table for each county and city. The debt amounts of the six special municipalities, in order, were Kaohsiung City NT$255.1 billion, New Taipei City NT$151.4 billion, Taichung City NT$108.9 billion, Taipei City NT$89.8 billion, Tainan City NT$60.3 billion, and Taoyuan City NT$52.8 billion. However, comparing with data from previous years, Taoyuan City has added NT$26.8 billion in public debt since 2018, the highest among the six municipalities and all of Taiwan.
U.S. President Trump recently announced his decision to terminate the United States’ relationship with the World Health Organization. As soon as the news broke, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that “Trump’s latest move to announce withdrawal from the WHO is a disappointing setback for international public health.” In response, netizens discussed “the true mindset of Europeans,” and the post sparked heated debate.
With the two major powers the U.S. and China in confrontation, cross-strait tensions are high. It is reported that the well-known writer Fan Chou, who has long followed cross-strait affairs, was invited two months ago to give a special report at the DPP Central Standing Committee meeting. In addition to stating bluntly that the cross-strait situation is absolutely not as peaceful as imagined, he warned the DPP that they should be psychologically prepared for a cross-strait war that could break out within 3 months to 3 years.
China is pushing through a Hong Kong version of the National Security Law, and U.S. President Donald Trump said he would revoke Hong Kong’s special treatment. In response, the Hong Kong government issued a thousand-word statement last night (the 30th) saying that the nation has the legitimate right and obligation to safeguard national security and restore stability to Hong Kong society, and that it deeply regrets Trump and his government’s continued stigmatization and demonization.
This year’s U.S. presidential election will be voted on in just 5 more months (November 3). President Trump, seeking re-election, has seen his reputation and image battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, while Democratic candidate and former Vice President Biden wins with a steady style and rich experience. The Washington Post and ABC released the latest poll on May 31, showing Biden leading Trump by 10 percentage points.
Technology and Information
On the 28th, Jason Ronald, director of program management for Xbox Series X, published an article revealing that the next-generation Xbox will have backward compatibility with old Xbox games; games from the first-generation Xbox to Xbox 360 and Xbox One can all be played on the Xbox Series X console launching later this year.
Sony Interactive Entertainment Taiwan (SIET) announced that from 6/3 to 6/6 it will launch the 2020 “Days of Play” promotional event, offering players great-value PlayStation games, hardware, and services. The PS4 Pro (1TB) console is on limited-time special for NT$10,880 (original price NT$12,980), plus a free DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller worth NT$1,780, and games including 2020 new releases Nioh 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and MLB The Show 20 are on limited-time special for just NT$1,190.
South Korean phone maker Samsung suffered a severe blow to its brand image after the Note 7 “explosion gate” incident in 2016, and now it is reported that last year’s Galaxy A20e model also experienced a spontaneous combustion incident.
Nearly a year after the Raspberry Pi 4 went on sale, the official team has now released a version update offering an 8 GB memory version, while the 2 GB version has dropped from US$45 to US$35; in addition, the operating system has been renamed Raspberry Pi OS. The official team mentioned that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of inductor components was interrupted, delaying this update by 3 months.
Apple plans to release several high-end devices equipped with mini-LED screens in 2021, including a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro in the first quarter, a new 16-inch MacBook Pro in the second quarter, and a new 27-inch iMac in the second half of this year.
Business and Investment
Apple released a new 13-inch MacBook Pro in early May, with the Taiwan launch date undecided. However, foreign media recently revealed that Apple quietly adjusted the RAM upgrade price for the MacBook Pro on its official website, doubling the price; in the U.S., for example, upgrading from 8GB to 16GB of RAM rose from US$100 to US$200.
Science and Health
Regarding whether Taiwan was the first to warn the World Health Organization that the Wuhan pneumonia could spread from person to person, this sparked international discussion. The WHO at the time denied that Taiwan had reported a warning, and was countered by Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung, who said “insiders talking like outsiders.” Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s wife Chen Pei-chi, a pediatrician…
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