
China issues warrants for alleged Taiwanese hackers and bans a business for pro-independence links
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China issued warrants Thursday for 20 Taiwanese people it said carried out hacking missions in the Chinese mainland on behalf of the island's ruling party, while separately banning dealings with a Taiwanese company whose owners mainland authorities called 'hardcore Taiwan independence supporters.'
Police in the southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou said they were led by a man named Ning Enwei on behalf of Taiwan's independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party but did not identify their alleged crimes.
Meanwhile, China's government said all commercial contact had been banned with the Sicuens International Company Ltd., which it says are led by businessman Puma Shen and his father, calling the two men independence supports.
Websites mentioning Sicuens say it specializes in sourcing bicycle parts from China.
Shen is also the head of the Kuma Academy, an organization that encourages Taiwanese people to prepare for possible invasion.
China considers Taiwan its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the China's Cabinet, said Sicuens 'engages in trade and business cooperation with certain mainland enterprises in pursuit of economic benefits.'
'The mainland side will never allow enterprises related to die-hard 'Taiwan independence' supporters to seek profits in the mainland,' Zhu was quoted as saying.
China last year announced punishments on Shen and the Kuma Academy, saying Shen had been 'actively and systematically organizing activities promoting Taiwan independence.'
The Academy's website says it 'aims to prepare a prewar mentality for civilians, our mission is to cultivate self-defense capability and will to defend Taiwan. We provide knowledge and skills to help people sustain themselves and recognize enemy disinformation operations in both peace and wartime situations.'
Taiwan has responded by bulking up its own military, while some private individuals have opened camps for training in guerilla warfare.

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Toronto Sun
40 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Campgrounds closed along Pacific Crest Trail in search for man wanted in daughters' deaths
Published Jun 06, 2025 • 3 minute read This undated photo provided by the Wenatchee Police Department shows Travis Caleb Decker who the police are asking the public for help in locating the Washington state father who is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. Photo by Wenatchee Police Department / AP SEATTLE — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search Friday for Travis Caleb Decker, 32, four days after the girls — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — were found dead at a remote campsite outside Leavenworth. The girls' mother reported them missing the night of May 30 when Decker failed to return them to her home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) east of Seattle, after a scheduled visit. The Chelan County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that there were more than 100 officers involved in the search, which covered rugged terrain in the Cascade Mountains of central Washington, and more than 500 tips had poured in from the public. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A Washington state man is wanted after his three were reported missing and then found dead. Photo by Handout / Wenatchee Police Department 'Out of an abundance of caution, we have been given notice to, and are working in conjunction with our surrounding counties in the event Mr. Decker moves through the forest into their jurisdiction,' the statement said. Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014, according to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro. From 2014 to 2016, he was an automatic rifleman with the 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Last September his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable, often living out of his truck. She sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with the girls until he found housing. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'He has made huge sacrifices to serve our country and loves his girls very much but he has got to get better,' she wrote. 'I do not want to keep Travis from the girls at all. … But I cannot have our girls staying in what is essentially a homeless shelter, at times unsupervised, with dozens of strange men, or staying in a tent or living in his truck with him both in extreme temperatures and unknown areas for their safety.' Authorities warned people to be on the lookout for Decker and asked those with remote homes, cabins or outbuildings to keep them locked, to leave blinds open so law enforcement can see inside and to leave exterior lights on. It was unclear if Decker was armed, but the Chelan County Sheriff's Office said he should be considered dangerous. A reward of up to $20,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. An online fundraiser for Whitney Decker raised more than $1 million, and friends Amy Edwards, who taught the girls in a theater program called 'Short Shakespeareans,' and Mark Belton thanked supporters during a news conference Thursday. 'Their laughter, curiosity and spirit left a mark on all of us,' Edwards said. 'They were the kind of children that everyone rooted for, looked forward to seeing and held close in their hearts.' Edwards and Belton said Whitney Decker hopes the tragedy prompts changes to the state's Amber Alert system as well as improvements in mental health care for veterans. The night the girls were reported missing, Wenatchee police asked the Washington State Patrol to issue an Amber Alert but it declined, saying that as a custody matter without an imminent threat, the case did not meet the criteria for one. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The patrol did issue an 'endangered missing person alert' the next day, but those do not result in notifications being sent to mobile phones. As searches expanded for the girls last weekend, a sheriff's deputy found Decker's pickup in the area of Rock Island Campground, northwest of Leavenworth. There were two bloody handprints on the tailgate. The girls' bodies were discovered down an embankment nearby with evidence that they had been bound with zip ties, according to an affidavit filed in support of murder and kidnapping charges against Decker. County Coroner Wayne Harris said Friday that his office was awaiting pathology results to determine when and how the girls were killed. Authorities issued closure notices the previous day for that camping area, which lies in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, as well as for a large swath of rugged territory to the north. That included trails and campgrounds along the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from the Canadian border to Mexico, and around Stehekin, at the northern end of Lake Chelan. Olympics Toronto & GTA NHL Columnists Toronto & GTA


Toronto Sun
42 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Court rules Trump can exclude journalists from Oval Office
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Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In a 2-1 order on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit halted a lower-court judge's order that had restored the wire service's ability to participate in a rotating pool of reporters who cover the president's daily movements. The news agency sued the Trump administration in February when the White House press office started limiting the access of AP reporters and photographers after the wire service refused to update its style guide to rename the 'Gulf of Mexico' the 'Gulf of America' following a Trump executive order. A Washington federal judge's order forcing the White House to reinstate the AP's access took effect April 14 after the appeals court didn't immediately intervene. The AP next could ask the full bench of active judges of the D.C. Circuit to reconsider the panel's order or ask the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately intervene. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We are disappointed in the court's decision and are reviewing our options,' AP spokesperson Patrick Maks said. Trump called the ruling a 'Big WIN over AP today' on his Truth Social platform. 'They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!! Judge Neomi Rao wrote in the majority opinion that the lower court's decision 'impinges on the president's independence and control over his private workspaces.' The panel did leave in place part of the original order that required the AP to still have access to the East Room in the White House, which was usually open to a broader group of reporters. 'Throughout our nation's history, presidents have held crucial meetings and made historic decisions in the Oval Office and on Air Force One,' wrote Rao, joined by Judge Greg Katsas. 'On occasion, they have welcomed the press to observe. But these restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora, and the President retains discretion over who has access.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Rao and Katsas were nominated by Trump in his first term. Judge Nina Pillard, appointed under former president Barack Obama, dissented. Historically, the AP has been part of a small, rotating pool of media outlets that cover the president's day-to-day activities as well as events open to larger groups of credentialed media outlets. In an April 8 order, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the AP was likely to succeed in arguing that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution by singling out one media outlet based on its editorial choices. He said that officials remained free to exclude journalists from one-on-one access to Trump, but that they couldn't kick out the AP if it allowed in its peers. The case is Associated Press v. Budowich, 25-5109, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (Washington) Olympics Toronto & GTA NHL Columnists Toronto & GTA


Winnipeg Free Press
42 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Panama's president appeals to a higher power as nearly 2 months of protests roil nation
PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama's José Raúl Mulino appealed to a higher power on Friday, calling in an archbishop and a rabbi to deliver a message to striking banana workers after nearly two months of social protest that have roiled the country. Mulino has said he won't reverse controversial changes to Panama's social security system, courts have deemed the strike illegal and top banana Chiquita Brands fired nearly 5,000 striking workers last month in Panama's western Bocas del Toro province. But nothing has stopped the protests. So at his weekly news briefing Friday, Mulino said he had met with Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa and one of Panama's leading Jewish figures, Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, to enlist them as intermediaries. He gave Ulloa a personal letter to bring to Francisco Smith, leader of the striking banana workers' union. In the letter, Mulino said, he committed to send proposed legislation to the Congress that would be favorable for the country's banana sector, above all its workers. But he conditioned the proposal on former workers lifting their protest. There was precedent for the maneuver. In 2022, Ulloa brokered a dialogue that eased protests over the high cost of fuel and food. In 2018, Ulloa mediated a dispute between parts of the government. Smith, secretary general of the Banana Industry Workers Union, had said earlier Friday before Mulino's announcement that he was open to dialogue. Union leaders planned to travel to the capital Monday to meet with the president of the National Assembly and present a list of demands. He insisted, however, that changes be made to the social security reform. Smith, who has led the protest in western Bocas del Toro province, has said the social security reform passed in March threatens the special privileges laid out for banana workers in another law, covering things like subsidies and labor protections. The impact has been acute. Chiquita Brands said last month they had lost at least $75 million before announcing a temporary halt to their operations in Panama. Demonstrations have not been limited to the banana workers, to Bocas del Toro or even to the social security changes. At various times teachers, construction workers and students have protested as well. Authorities have said they'll withhold the pay of 15,000 treachers for their strike. On Thursday, border police clashed with protesters who had blocked a highway in eastern Darien province, leaving injured on both sides. In addition to the social security changes, demonstrators have protested a security agreement giving U.S. troops access to some Panamanian facilities and efforts to reopen a massive copper mine.