Vice Premier Zheng Li-Jun says the Taiwan-U.S. Agreement on Reciprocal Trade,
or A-R-T, text includes a line on Taiwan keeping defense spending above
3-percent of GDP.

She says the clause records a policy President Lai Ching-te announced in
March last year, before the trade talks began.

Zheng spoke in Washington after Taiwan and the U.S. reached consensus and
signed the agreement after 10 months of negotiations.

Reporters asked how the clause was negotiated and whether a trade pact can
mention budget spending.

Zheng says Taiwan made the pledge on its own to show resolve to defend the
country and has submitted arms budgets to the legislature.

In Taipei, Lai says the 3-percent pledge is unrelated to the A-R-T talks and
came before the U.S. announced reciprocal tariffs.

He says Taiwan's 2026 defense budget already exceeds 3-percent of GDP, so
there should be no implementation problem.

(PB)

Some 40-percent Taiwan's mahi-mahi is exported to the Unites States, and
fishermen say the U.S. tariff on the fish will now match that of competing
countries.

This means the product will remain competitive in the U.S. market as long as
quality is maintained and government support continues.

The newly-signed Taiwan-U.S. trade deal grants exemptions for more than
2-thousand export items, and if those exemptions are applied, the average
tariff on Taiwan’s exports to America is expected to fall to 12.3 percent.



Fisheries Agency data shows that Taiwan’s average annual mahi-mahi
production between 2021 and 2023 reached 3,400 metric tons, with around 40-
percent shipped to the U.S.

Fishermen say confirmation that the U.S. tariff will be 15 percent, matching
competitors such as Ecuador, has eased concerns.

They also said long-term influence remains to be seen.

(JL)

Health officials in Miaoli County have confirmed that four pigs found dead at
a local livestock farm did not have African Swine Fever.

The deaths occurred at a farm in Houlong Township, and county officials say
test results came back negative for all major animal diseases, after a report
of the deaths caused public concern.

The county says the pigs died from stress and crowding during the process of
being loaded onto a truck for transport.

Officials also visited four nearby farms and found no other unusual deaths.

Disinfection efforts were increased throughout the surrounding area as a
precaution.

(NS)

An annual gathering of top international security figures that last year set
the tone for a growing rift between the United States and Europe is opening.

It brings together many top European officials with U.S. Secretary of State
Marco Rubio and others.

The Munich Security Conference opens Friday with a speech by German
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of 15 heads of state or government from EU
countries expected to attend.

The many other expected guests at the conference that runs until Sunday
include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi.

In keeping with the conference’s tradition, there will also be a large
delegation of members of the U.S. Congress.

Preparations for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico City are cutting into the
livelihoods of sex workers and street vendors near Azteca Stadium. Workers
along Calzada de Tlalpan say city projects aimed at sprucing up ahead of the
soccer tournament have slashed their incomes. Sex workers say a new bike lane
blocks cars from pulling over and nighttime metro closures leave them
stranded. Advocacy groups say promised aid has not appeared. Vendors in
pedestrian tunnels say officials have ordered them out for renovation
projects. Many fear “social cleansing,” in which cities push informal
workers aside to impress visitors.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Montserrat Fuentes stands on the same street corner where
she has worked for 20 years. But the sex worker’s normal rush of clients
every Friday night is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, the busy Mexico City throughway where some 2,500 sex workers make
their living is lined with construction, part of larger preparations in the
Mexican capital leading up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup over the summer.

Fuentes, 42, and others say they have seen their earnings slashed by
government projects meant to clean up swathes of the city before opening its
arms to sports fans from across the world. Street vendors also say they are
being pushed out and don’t know what will be left for them after the
competition.

“What we’re seeing in Mexico is something that so much of the world has
faced when there’s an event of this scale. They always want to fix up their
city, make it look nice,” she said. “But the ones that are hurt are always
us at the bottom of the ladder.”

The soccer World Cup, which will be hosted simultaneously by Mexico, the
United States and Canada, is expected to be a $3 billion economic engine in
Mexico as visitors flood airports, hotels, restaurants and sports venues,
according to the Mexican Soccer Federation.

But in a country where more than half the workforce is informal, many
Mexicans working under precarious conditions worry they will be left behind.

Mexico City's government said it was taking actions to offset impacts to sex
workers and vendors, and has been in ongoing talks with workers.

Sex workers' earnings hit by World Cup prep

Tension started building in recent months in Mexico City, where the opening
ceremony will be hosted, as the local government rapidly renovated its iconic
Azteca Stadium, enhanced public transportation and built up public works in
historically working class neighborhoods.

Fuentes and many of the sex workers along the Calzada de Tlalpan avenue that
passes the stadium said construction of a bike lane beginning in late 2025
has cut their earnings by more than half. Large dividers block cars from
pulling to the curb to negotiate. The city later announced nighttime closures
of the metro stations running along the road for Cup construction, leaving
many women stranded.

“The only thing the government sees is how much money (the World Cup) is
going to make them,” said Elvira Madrid Romero, president of the sex worker
advocacy organization Street Brigade. “Tourists are coming to celebrate at
the expense of the poor.”

Sex work is not criminalized in Mexico, and in the capital it remains an
economic lifeline for around 15,000 people, including transgender women who
struggle to find fair pay in other sectors.

Many single mothers in Madrid's coalition worry about how they are going to
put food on the table or pay rent. Her organization has negotiated with local
authorities, which promised small monthly payments and food deliveries that
are a fraction of what the women need to get by, she said.

In September, Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada also announced 58 points along
the roadway where sex workers would be able to meet with clients.

“We want a World Cup ... with fair play and a just society," Brugada said in
September.

But women haven’t seen any such points or aid from local authorities and
refuse to be moved from the areas where they work, Madrid said.

Global sporting events carry a toll

Fuentes had to get a second job selling food in the mornings after working
all night to pay rent, leaving her exhausted. She began sex work 20 years ago
when she was displaced from selling food downtown during another government
cleanup effort.

Despite the coalition's insistence that they won't budge, Fuentes worries the
same could happen to her again, especially as she sees local authorities move
street vendors from the main thoroughfare to sleepy side streets.

“Even if we raise our voices, we can’t really do anything,” she said.
“All we can do is hope that when the World Cup ends, things go back to
normal … We don’t want to be forced to move.”

Such pushes by local governments are common ahead of global sporting events,
which often sit at the intersection of wider social and political strains and
are widely criticized by activist groups as “social cleansing.”

During the 2024 Paris Olympics, the city government rounded up African
migrants and homeless people and bused them out of the city. When Brazil
hosted the World Cup in 2014, advocacy organizations reported tens of
thousands of people were evicted from their homes.

Mexico City already is experiencing simmering tension as an influx of
foreigners, mainly from the U.S., has increasingly priced people out of some
neighborhoods. Critics say authorities have done little to offset the housing
shortage and mounting prices that come with a tourism boom once promoted by
the government.

Vendors displaced from workplaces

For others working along the avenue, like 68-year-old smoothie vendor
Esperanza Toribio Rojas, the prospect of displacement is no longer a
hypothetical. She said it's an impending inevitability hanging over her head.

Toribio is among hundreds of vendors selling food, clothes, tools and other
wares in the tunnels crossing beneath the avenue that provide access to metro
stations serving the World Cup stadium.

For decades, merchants worked in stalls offered by the local government when
the passages were rife with crime and filled with trash. Now shoppers stroll
by families sharing meals and asking the prices of hanging clothes.

“We’re the ones that gave life to this passage,” Toribio said. “Back when
there was a ton of crime, they never cared to do anything here.”

Vendors said they were surprised early last year when local officials
descended on the area and said they needed to make way for a city project
announced by the mayor in November.

The “Steps to Utopia” initiative, according to Brugada's office, will
“prepare the area” for the competition, turning the underpasses into “safe
spaces with more than 300 cultural, sports, educational, health and wellness
activities.”

Local merchants’ leader Jair Torruco said between 100 to 200 merchants were
pushed out, while around 250 others like Toribio have refused the
government's offer, which they said was not enough to support themselves.

They are still negotiating with authorities in an effort to stay in their
stalls, Torruco said.

Mexico City’s government said it has provided support to those it has
displaced, and said vendors would be able to return to their stalls later.
Toribio and others say the don't believe officials, and said they were
offered three months in a temporary space, which had to be rented, and that
those who moved to a downtown plaza have struggled to make ends meet.

Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, Toribio said she doesn't know
how she would afford to move the business that has become her life's work.

“Today the government sees this place, they see that there is life, and they
want to take it for themselves,” Toribio said. “This is our heritage.”

___

Martin Silva Rey in Mexico City contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Taiwan's hog farmers have said they're not concerned about tariff reductions
on U.S. pork as long as country-of-origin labeling is strictly enforced,

The R-O-C Swine Association chair Pan Lian-zhou (潘連周) is also calling for
legislation to ensure proper labeling.

According to the tariff deal that Taiwan signed with the U.S. today, tariffs
on American pork and offal will remain in place but will be reduced, with
U.S. pork granted a three-year transition period for adjustments.

Current import duties stand at 12.5 percent for chilled and frozen pork and
15 percent for pork feet and offal.

Under the new pact, pork tariffs will eventually be lowered to between 6.3
percent and 10 percent, and pork offal, to 7.5 percent.

Pan said labeling requirements should also clearly apply to processed meat
products, noting that some processors import fatty pork belly from the United
States and mix it with lean Taiwanese pork to produce processed foods, and
label the final products as from Taiwan.

He said the proportion of U.S. and Taiwanese pork used should be clearly
indicated so consumers can make informed choices.



(JL)

Weather officials say Taiwan will enjoy spring-like warmth until the day
before Lunar New Year’s Eve, followed by a wet and cool shift for the north
and east during the holiday.

The CWA says a weather front and northeast monsoon will move in, bringing
rain to the north and east on Lunar New Year’s Eve and the first day of the
Lunar New Year, with temepratures in those regiosn expected to drop by 2 to 6
degrees Celsius.

Central and southern Taiwan will remain partly cloudy to sunny, though
temperatures there will also dip slightly by 2 to 4 degrees.

Forecasters say the weather is expected to warm up again starting on the
third day of the Lunar New Year as the monsoon weakens, but the public should
be ready for large temperature swings between day and night.

(NS)

Taiwan shares are higher while other Asian markets are mostly lower after a
tech sell-off on Wall Street over investor concerns on AI disruptions.

The benchmark TaiEx ended up 532 points to close the session at
33-thousand-605

The turnover reached 674 billion NT.

Bangladesh's Nationalist Party, or BNP, won a landslide in
yesterday'sparliamentary election, with results shown today by local TV.

Local media reported the BNP-led coalition won 209 seats, giving it a
two-thirds majority in the 300-seat parliament.

The vote was the first national election since the 2024 youth-led uprising
that toppled long-time leader Sheikh Hasina.

BNP leader Tarique Rahman is the top contender to become prime minister, and
the party promised aid for poor families and anti-corruption steps.

Islamist rival Jamaat-e-Islami conceded defeat, with its alliance on 68
seats, and said it would act as "positive" opposition.

Hasina, now in self-imposed exile in India, called the election a "farce,"
while her Awami League party was barred from contesting.

Local media said turnout could top 60%, and a separate referendum on
constitutional reforms had no official result yet.

Portugal's parliament approved a bill on Thursday that would require parental
consent for 13 to 16 year olds to access social media.

The draft law is backed by the ruling Social Democratic Party, which says it
is needed to protect children from bullying, harmful content, and predators.

Parents would use a public Digital Mobile Key system to give consent, and
tech firms would have to add age checks linked to it.

The plan also aims to better enforce an existing ban on social media access
for children under 13.

The bill passed its first reading by 148 to 69, with 13 abstentions, and it
can still be changed before a final vote.

A PSD lawmaker said companies that ignore the rules could face fines of up to
2-percent of global revenue.

The government has insisted that even with tariffs on U.S.-made imported
vehicles reduced to zero, domestically made cars can still retain some
competitive advantages.

The Economy Minister estimated earlier that under the newly-signed
Taiwan-U.S. trade deal, tariff reductions on U.S. vehicles could affect
domestic automotive output by nearly 2 percent, or roughly $4 billion NT.

But Minister Gong Ming-xin said the impact should not directly undermine the
domestic car market; instead, increased imports of U.S. cars are more likely
to intensify competition with European and Japanese brands.

Under Taiwan’s current tax system, imported vehicles with engine
displacement above 2-thousand cc will still be subject to combined commodity
tax and value-added tax of some 35-percent.

Vehicles priced at $3 million NT or more will face an overall tax burden of
about 45 percent after the luxury tax is added.

Taiwan’s auto market recorded sales of 414-thousand vehicles last yar, with
Taiwan-made vehicles accounting for 51-percent, and imported vehicles , 49%.

(JL).

Following the signing of the Taiwan-U.S. Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, both
sides have reached a consensus on labor rights protections.

The Ministry of Labor said Taiwan will ban the import of products made with
forced labor and prohibit recruitment fees for migrant workers in the
manufacturing and fishing sectors within three years.

The M-O-L will also lower the threshold for workers in small and medium-sized
enterprises to form labor unions in the coming 5 years, and establish clearer
mechanisms for choosing or dissolving unions.

Regarding the opening of the automotive market, Labor officials have promised
to help local automakers lower manufacturing costs and stabilize employment
for frontline workers, and propose a $3 billion-NT dedicated fund for the
auto industry linked to labor-rights protections.

The Ministry also allocate additional funding for project-based programs to
support workers and strengthen labor-rights safeguards in the automotive
sector.

(JL)

In international news...

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says it was “sensible” for a
South Korean official to express regret for alleged civilian drone flights
over North Korea but warned of counterattacks if they recur.

The statement by Kim Yo Jong (金與正)came after South Korean Unification
Minister Chung Dong-young 鄭東泳 expressed “deep regret” over the alleged
flights.

North Korea accused South Korea of launching a surveillance drone in
September and again in January.

The South Korean government has denied operating drones at those times,
however, three civilians are being investigated over alleged flights.

Kim Yo Jong 金與正 said Chung’s comments were sensible but insufficient,
demanding stronger preventive measures from Seoul.

Thailand has begun using a birth control vaccine on elephants in the wild to
try curb a growing problem where human and animal populations encroach on
each other. They say the problem has increased as farms spread into forests
and elephants, squeezed in their natural habitat, come into contact and clash
with humans while searching for food. Official figures say wild elephants
killed 30 people last year and injured 29. Thai veterinarians tested the
vaccine on seven domesticated elephants over two years before giving shots to
three wild elephants in Trat province in late January. The vaccine blocks
pregnancy for about seven years.

In news from and about Taiwan this morning,

The Cabinet has announced that Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun has signed the
Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with the U-S.

Cheng flew to the U-S earlier this week to finalize the agreement after
preliminary consensus was reached in Washington in mid-January following a
final round of trade talks between the two sides.

The final agreement confirms a 15-per cent U-S tariff rate for imports from
Taiwan.

The deal will immediately eliminate Taiwan's tariffs of up to 26-per cent or
lowering tariffs on nearly all American goods - including beef, dairy, corn,
wheat, medical products and automobiles.

Under the terms of the deal unveiled in Washington, Taiwan has pledged to
purchase more than 44-billion U-S dollars worth of liquefied natural gas and
crude oil from America and open the island's market further to American
goods.

Taiwan is also committing to buy around 15-billion U-S dollars in American
civil aircraft and parts and invest roughly 25-billion dollars in
power-generation equipment by 2029.

U-S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the agreement builds on
America's longstanding economic and trade relationship with Taiwan ...

..... and will significantly enhance the resilience of supply chains,
particularly in high-tech sectors.

The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office has indicted 10 lawmakers from for
causing bodily injury and other offenses during physical altercations inside
the legislative chamber and a committee room between 2024 and 2025.

Those indicted include seven K-M-T lawmakers and three D-P-P lawmakers.

They are facing charges of causing bodily injury or of negligence leading to
injury,

Four other lawmakers named in the complaints were not charged due to
insufficient evidence.

According to prosecutors, several of the lawmakers argued that their actions
fell within the speech immunity granted to lawmakers under Constitutional
Court Interpretation No. 435 during the investigation.

However, the prosecutors' office says it decided that such deliberate
physical actions were unrelated to the exercise of official powers, and were
therefore not subject to constitutional protections.

Under the Criminal Code, causing bodily injury is punishable by up to five
years in prison, or a fine of up to 500,000 N-T, while negligence leading to
injury is punishable by a maximum of one year imprisonment or a fine of up to
100,000 N-T.

The Centers for Disease Control is reporting Taiwan's first measles case of
this year.

According to the C-D-C, the case involves an eight-month-old baby boy who
lives in northern Taiwan, who traveled with his family to Vietnam and
returned in late January.

The boy developed a fever, a persistent cough and other symptoms in early
February and was hospitalized last Friday after developing a rash.

The C-D-C says the infant's family members and 395 others suspected contacts
are now being monitored.

They will continue to be monitored until February 28.

The C-D-C has issued measles travel alerts for Vietnam, Indonesia, India,
Angora, Mexico, Yemen and Pakistan, and placed 30 other countries on its
watch list.

Health authorities are advising parents to ensure their young children
receive their measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

President Lai Ching-te has approved a special pardon exempting a woman in her
80s, who was convicted of killing her profoundly disabled son from serving
any prison time.

Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo says Lai granted a pardon that
exempts Lin Liu Lung-tzu from serving her sentence while acknowledging her
conviction, after carefully reviewing the case and citing the enduring
circumstances she faced.

According to Kuo, Lin Liu spent more than 50 years caring for her son.

She was diagnosed with COVID-19 in April of 2023, which caused her physical
and mental health to deteriorate rapidly and felt she was unable to care for
her severely disabled son.

Police say an investigation found that the woman covered her son's mouth and
nose with tape, resulting in his death in May of 2023.

The Taipei District Court sentenced her to two years and six months in prison
on January 16 of this year.

The Presidential Office spokeswoman says the case drew significant public
attention and several legislators recommend the president consider a pardon.

disruptions

The Kaohsiung District Court has sentenced a woman to three months in prison
for using a megaphone to blast profanities at her neighbors late at night or
very early in the morning.

The court ruled that the woman set out to deliberately disturb her neighbors.

She was found guilty of frequently disturbing her neighbors on multiple
occasions between May of 2023 to February of last year.

According to the court, the woman's actions disturbed the peace and sleep of
not only residents on Mingfeng 6th Street, but also neighbors in the
surrounding area.

The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office says the woman denied any
wrongdoing during her initial interrogation and claimed the neighbors
disturbed her first.

However, she changed her plea during the trial and admitted wrongdoing.

The court found her guilty of violating the personal rights provisions of the
Criminal Code, stating that her disruptive acts infringed on the rights and
health of the community where she lived.

And finally,

The Central Weather Administration says we can expect to see slightly hot
weather across much of the island through the weekend - when daytime highs in
the west will approaching 30 degrees.

The warm conditions are forecast to persist through Sunday.

However, wetter and cooler conditions will begin to effect the island from
Lunar New Year's Eve on Monday.

That will be followed by strengthening northeasterly winds that will bring
increased moisture and a gradual drop in temperature, particularly in the
north through next Thursday.

The northeasterly wind system is forecast to weaken on February 20 and
relatively stable weather conditions are expected through February 22.

President Lai Ching-te says if China were to take Taiwan, its neighbors will
be next.

In an interview with French news agency AFP, Lai said "if Taiwan were
annexed by China, China's expansionist ambitions would not stop there" and if
Taiwan falls, it will embolden Beijing to take more aggressive action.

The president identified the next countries under threat as Japan, the
Philippines, and others in the Indo-Pacific region... with repercussions that
would eventually reach the Americas and Europe.

Lai further repeated a previous comment that Taiwan-United States relations
remain "rock solid" during the interview and said he's confident that the U-S
does not need to use Taiwan as a "bargaining chip" in talks with China.

The president also outlined his vision for the global semiconductor supply
chain ..

.. saying while production is taking place in Europe, Japan and the U-S,
where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing operations have expanded, Taiwan
will retain its lead in the sector by keeping "the most advanced
manufacturing processes."

The Ministry of the Interior says it has requested that Taiwan People's Party
lawmaker Li Zhen-xiu submit proof that she has applied to applied to renounce
her Chinese citizenship.

The statement comes after Li claimed to have persistently traveled back to
her hometown on China to submit the application, but it had not been
accepted.

Li was sworn-in as the T-P-P lawmaker on February 3 based on the party's
two-year term.

She has been living in Taiwan for more than three decades and has a Taiwan
I-D card and passport.

Li's eligibility to assume public office has been questioned after it was
reported she didn't begin the process of renouncing her Chinese citizenship
until March of last year.

Under the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and
the Mainland Area, Chinese nationals are eligible to run for public office
after they have become a naturalized Taiwanese citizen for 10 years.

The Nationality Act further states that elected officials renounce non-R-O-C
citizenships within one year of being elected.

Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology and American
defense company Shield A-I have signed a contract to advance the development
of AI-piloted unmanned systems.

The systems are reportedly capable of continuing operations in compromised
communications environments.

Shield AI President Brandon Tseng said the partnership will enable drones
that are produced in Taiwan to include AI pilots that will operate while
G-P-S and communications are jammed.

The Shield AI says the cooperation will cover both software development and
operational deployment... as part of the collaboration, Shield AI's Hivemind
autonomous software platform will be integrated into Taiwan's unmanned
systems.

That software platform enables drones to independently perceive their
surroundings, make decisions and carry out missions.

Shield AI last year announced a teaming agreement with Taiwan's state-backed
Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation and opened a new office at the
Taipei 101.

The High Court has overturned a lower court ruling and found two people
guilty of arranging Beijing-subsidized trips to China for local ward chiefs
and their relatives.

The court has sentenced both John Yao, a ward chief in New Taipei's Tucheng
District, and Ann Jien, the head of a New Taipei-based organization that
promotes cross-strait youth cultural and arts exchanges, to prison terms for
election bribery offenses.

The High Court sentenced Yao to two years and six months in prison and Jien
to four years and eight months.

The ruling may still be appealed.

Prosecutors say Jien accepted funding from the Nanjing Municipal Taiwan
Affairs Office in September 2023 and asked Yao to recruit five ward chiefs
and nine relatives for a group trip to China in November that year.

Prosecutors say the participants received free accommodation and meals while
in China, but were required to pay 16,500 N-T for their airfares.

The New Taipei District Court initially acquitted Yao and Jien - ruling that
there was insufficient evidence to show the trips constituted bribery aimed
at influencing voting behavior.

The Supreme Court has upheld prison sentences of more than 10 years to two
New Taipei junior high school students convicted of murder.

The identities of those involved, including the victim and the school, have
not been disclosed in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act.

The case stem from an incident in December of 2023, when a girl reportedly
went to another classroom during the lunch break to chat but was asked to
leave by a boy.

She then called a male student she knew to confront that boy, and he fatally
stabbed the victim with a spring-loaded knife.

The New Taipei Juvenile Court found the two students guilty of murder in
September 2024,

The court citing a legal provision that allows reduced sentences for
offenders aged 14 to under 18 and sentenced the boy to nine years in prison
and the girl to eight years.

The victim's parents slammed that ruling - arguing that it overly protected
offenders.

The High Court increased the sentences to 12 years for the boy and 11 years
for the girl after prosecutors appealed the original verdict - arguing the
juvenile court failed to fully consider medical assessments, the boy's risk
of reoffending, and other relevant factors.

The Supreme Court said it found no errors in the High Court's ruling and
upheld the increased sentences.

The Taipei City Government's Environmental Protection Department says it will
schedule more inspections at a Zhongshan District stinky tofu shop that has
already been fined half-a-million N-T for odor violations.

The statement comes after a social media user claimed the smell has been
affecting her mental health.

In the Threads, the user said the smell from the Yuli Qiaotou stinky tofu
shop, near the M-R-T's Jiannan Road Station had been causing her "severe
anxiety."

The user claimed she had pulled out much of her hair due to the distress and
included photos of her mostly bald scalp and what appeared to be a pile of
lost hair and ointments prescribed by a doctor.

The city's Environmental Protection Department says it has made multiple
visits to the restaurant in response to public complaints dating back to
December 2024.

The department issued the restaurant a fine of 585,000 N-T for the severe
violation under the Air Pollution Control Act, but complaints about the
restaurant are continuing to flood social media.

And,

Award-winning cellist Fan Tsung-pei has died.

He was 65.

Fan died of a heart attack at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

He was known as the "genius of dubbing" and earned multiple Golden Melody,
Golden Bell and Golden Horse Awards for his work in music and film.

Fan graduated from the National Taiwan Academy of Arts and served as lead
cellist of the National Concert Hall Symphony Orchestra for nine years before
leaving to focus on composing scores for TV programs and movies.

He won the Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Score for "Super Citizen
Ko"in 1995.

The cellist also received the Golden Melody Award for Best Pop Music Playing
Album twice - for "The Sound of Amorous" 1997 and for 2004's "Crystal Boys."

European Union leaders reached a broad agreement to restructure the 27-nation
bloc’s economy as they face antagonism from the United States, China, and
Russia.

They met Thursday in a Belgian castle in a session meant to shape another
summit in late March.

German and Italian leaders are pushing deregulation, rebooted ties with
Washington and more trade deals.

France instead has led a push for “strategic autonomy” — meaning a bloc
less dependent on Washington.

Leaders sought to protect key industries and to steer defense spending toward
EU arms makers.
They indicated they would build new finance tools to shield trade and
investment.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has won a landmark parliamentary election
expected to restore political stability.

Ballots were counted through the night in the pivotal vote held on Thursday.

It was Bangladesh's first vote since the 2024 Gen Z-driven uprising that
toppled long-time premier Sheikh Hasina.

It was also the first national election to follow recent revolts led by the
under-30s that have cropped up through the wider region.

The BNP is led by top prime ministerial contender Tarique Rahman, the
60-year-old son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President
Ziaur Rahman.

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong warned South Korean authorities to take steps to
prevent "reoccurrence of provocative sovereignty violation,"

The comments, made by the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, were made after a
drone recently flew into its airspace.

Kim further said she appreciates the South Korean Unification Minister Chung
Dong-young's expression of his regret over the "drone intrusion" as "sensible
behavior,"

Chung earlier this week in his speech at a local cathedral expressed "deep
regret" over a drone sent by a South Korean civilian.

Taiwan TV drama Zero Day Attack has launched a U.S. screening tour, starting
in Seattle and continuing to Washington, New York and Houston.

A special screening at the U.S. Congress drew about 50 lawmakers and staff,
focusing attention on Taiwan Strait security and democratic resilience.

The series was also screened at Texas A&M University’s Bush School, where
students discussed Taiwan Strait conflict and cognitive warfare.

The production team said it is seeking a North American streaming release to
bring Taiwan’s security story to a wider global audience.

(PB)

James Van Der Beek, best known as the titular character on “Dawson’s
Creek,” has died at 48, according to a statement from his family posted on
Instagram.

The post on Wednesday says he died earlier that day.

Van Der Beek shared in 2024 that he was receiving treatment for colorectal
cancer.

Besides “Dawson’s Creek,” which ran from 1998 to 2003, he also appeared in
“Varsity Blues” and later leaned into jokes mocking his own hunky persona.

He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children.

FBI agents are fanning out across a neighborhood not far from Nancy Guthrie's
home in the US state of Arizona.

They're knocking on doors and searching through thick desert terrain.

This comes a day after authorities investigating Guthrie's disappearance
detained a man who says he was questioned for hours before being released.

The man told several media outlets on Wednesday that he had nothing to do
with last week's disappearance of Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of American
'Today' show host Savannah Guthrie.

Hours earlier, the FBI released images of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie's
porch the night she went missing near the city of Tucson.

Fiberglass cloth exports hit a record $350 million US dollars in 2025, up
nearly 40-percent from a year earlier.

The Ministry of Finance said demand from artificial intelligence applications
is driving the growth.

Fiberglass cloth is a key material in printed circuit boards used in AI
servers and advanced chips.

Officials said higher demand for high-end products has tightened supply and
pushed up prices.

China was the top export market, taking more than 57-percent of shipments,
followed by Japan and South Korea.

The ministry said supply and demand are expected to remain tight next year,
with local firms expanding high-end production lines.

(PB)

Taiwan's economy is thriving thanks to the boom in artificial intelligence,
driven by strong demand for computer chips and other products made by
companies like TSMC and Hon Hai.

The island's economy grew at an 8.6% annual pace last year and a recent trade
deal with Washington may give it a further boost.

But Taiwan's heavy reliance on computer chip makers and other technology
companies also carries the risk of the AI craze turning out to be a bubble.

The US' Trump administration has expressed concern to Peru that China is
solidifying control over critical parts of the South American nation’s
infrastructure.

The warning comes after a Peruvian court ruling restricted a local
regulator’s oversight of a Chinese-built mega port on the country’s Pacific
coast.

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on
social media Wednesday that it was “concerned about latest reports that Peru
could be powerless to oversee Chancay.”

The $1.3 billion US dollar port in Chancay, north of Peru’s capital of Lima,
has become a symbol of China’s foothold in Latin America and a lightning rod
for tensions with Washington.

The Interior Ministry has intensified its pressure on at-large TPP lawmaker
Li Zhen-xiu by sending her a letter again, asking that she present evidence
that she has completed procedures to renounce her Chinese nationality.

It comes despite that Li repeatedly said she had gone back to her hometown in
China and submitted the application but that it had not been accepted.

She was sworn in as the TPP lawmaker on February 3rd based on the party's
two-year term and pledged sole allegiance to Taiwan, the Republic of China.

The Interior Ministry had already sent her two letters requesting proof that
she had applied to renounce her PRC citizenship, and issued three similar
requests to the Legislative Yuan.

Meanwhile the Mainland Affairs Council said today people originally from
mainland China must hold household registration in Taiwan for at least 10
years before running for public office, but Li only confirmed the
renunciation of her mainland registration last March.

(JL)

Now turning to international news...

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to depart from Australia as he finishes
a contentious visit.

For some, the trip brought comfort to those reeling from an anti-semitic
attack in Sydney...

but Herzog's visit also attracted large-scale demonstrations that accuse him
of having committed war crimes in Gaza.

Herzog was invited to visit as a demonstration of support to the local Jewish
community, but his critics say his visit is obviously political.

Relations between Australia and Israel have been strained over Israel's
actions in the Gaza strip.

They worsened when Australia made the decision to recognize a Palestinian
state 6 months ago.

The case of lawmaker Gao Jin Su Mei's alleged corruption has sparked internal
discord within the DPP.

That's as the DPP's Wang Shi Jian was quick to jump to her defense, saying
Gao-Jin was "pro-Taiwan" by vitue of being Indigenous...

while his colleague Wu Si Yao said that the independent lawmaker's presence
at a Chinese military parade was not exactly "pro-Taiwan."

Wu added that being "pro-Taiwan" or not has nothing to do with ethnic,
gender, or any other identity.

Gao-jin and her office assissant are accused of fraudulently claiming
government subsidies through holding events for the organization that she
founded.

The Taipei District Court has ordered the assistant Zhang Jun-jie be
detained without communications, saying that he was allegedly involved in
"serious crimes" of fraud, money laundering and other offenses.

Prosecutors have determined that the lawmaker is currently unfit for
questioning and will be questioned her at a later date.

(AH)

And,

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vlady-slav Heras-kevych has been disqualified from
the Milan Olympic Games.

This stems from his refusal to stop wearing a helmet that shows the faces of
more than 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed by Russia.

Internaitonal Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry met with
Heraskevych before the race for a private talk.

The IOC says the helmet breaks rules against political statements in
competition.

They previously said that the helmet would not be allowed in competition.

Heraskevych wore the helmet for training anyway, knowing the IOC could decide
to prevent him from competing.

TPP chair Huang Guo-chang said his party is willing to discuss and review the
special defense draft bill proposed by the opposition KMT and the Cabinet,
but he believes the final version passed won't be the Cabinet’s proposal.

His party brought forward its own defense procurement budget plan with the
cap set at 400 billion NT last month.

Touting the TPP's version today, Huang said it contains no “padded”
spending or “blank checks,” and requires the executive branch to present a
report to the Legislature explaining purchase items and delivery status.

He said the party supports strengthening Taiwan’s defense capabilities, but
funds must be spent where they are most effective.

The remarks come after TPP caucus convener Chen Qing-long (陳清龍) yesterday
agreed to allow the Cabinet's 1.25-trillion-NT special defense bill be
reviewed by the Legislative National Defense Committee.

The KMT is expected to propose its version of the budget after the Lunar New
Year holiday.

The Legislative Yuan will decide on March 17th whether all three proposals
should be reviewed together.

(JL)

The Rakuten Monkeys are announcing eight theme days for the first half of the
2026 season.

The Chinese Professional Baseball League team says the first theme day at its
Taoyuan home stadium is "Work Day" on March 31st.

This event will feature the unveiling of the team's championship plaque.

On April 10-th, the team will host "Pet Spring Training Day," where fans are
invited to bring their pets to the ballpark.

There will also be a Japanese-style festival from April 24th to 26th,
featuring fireworks and traditional stalls.

And the first half of the season concludes with a party from June 19th to
21st, featuring a three-day music event with performances from various
generations and special shows by the players and the Rakuten Girls.

(NS)

A U.N. report says Syria’s president, interior minister and foreign minister
were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts last year.

The report says President Ahmad al-Sharaa was targeted in northern Aleppo,
the country’s most populous province, and in southern Daraa by a group
believed to be a front for the Islamic State group.

It gives no dates or details of the attempts against al-Sharaa and the two
ministers.

The report says the assassination attempts are more evidence that the
militant group remains intent on undermining the new Syrian government and
“actively exploiting security vacuums and uncertainty” in the country.

The report released Wednesday was prepared by the U.N. Office of
Counter-Terrorism.

Portuguese Interior Minister Maria Lucia Amaral has resigned amid criticism
of her government's response to recent winter storms.

At least seven people have died in storms that have caused floods, landslides
and power outages.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's office announced Amaral's resignation.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro will temporarily assume her duties.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs is reminding the public to take precautions
for cyber safety during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday

MODA says with the holiday season approaching, many people are preparing for
trips abroad, and everyone should stay alert and follow digital safety
guidelines.

For those traveling, the ministry says hackers often set up hotspots with
names very similar to official ones to monitor your data or set up malicious
ports at public charging stations that can secretly install malware on your
phone.

Experts suggest using your own power bank or plug instead.

For those staying at home, be cautious of links in text messages or websites,
always examine file extensions before opening a file, and download only from
official sources.

(NS)

The Taipei Prosecutors Office has indicted former TPP lawmaker Lin Guo-cheng
for publicly insulting President Lai Ching-te.

According to the prosecutors, the TPP held a rally in front of the ruling DPP
headquarters last July, during which Lin allegedly used profanity to insult
President Lai when making a speech.

Lin apologized to the general public that night on his Facebook, saying that
his behavior was improper, while the President filed a criminal complaint
later on.

Lai said Lin's remarks were enough to damage his personal dignity and social
reputation.

Meanwhile prosecutors said Lin’s remarks clearly constituted deliberate
verbal abuse, and, judging from the broader context of his speech, the
comments could not be considered habitual expressions.

(JL)

Asian shares are mostly higher today, with new records in Japan and South
Korea...

while Wall Street wobbled.

Taiwan shares are up today, with the benchmark Taiex gaining 532 points to
close the session at 33,605.

The turnover was 675.7 billion NT.

Now turning to international news...

Voters are heading to the polls in Bangladesh in a parliamentary election
that will test the country's democracy.

More than 127 million people are eligible to vote, with tight security
measures in place at tens of thousands of polling stations.

Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is a leading contender to
form the next government.

He is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and returned to Bangladesh
in December after 17 years in self-exile in London.

Rahman has pledged to rebuild democratic institutions, restore the rule of
law and revive the struggling economy.

Results are expected tomorrow.

This is Bangladesh's first election since former Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina's government collapsed in 2024 after weeks of protests.

Hasina fled the country and her party is banned from participating in the
election.

She is now living in exile in India.

The US is expressing "concerns" to Peru that China is solidifying control
over critical parts of the county's infrastructure.

This comes after a Peruvian court ruling restricted a local regulator's
oversight of a Chinese-built mega port.

US officials said they were concerned about reports that Peru could, in their
words, be "powerless to oversee" the port.

The 1.3 billion US dollar port in Chancay has become a symbol of China's
foothold in Latin America.

Chancay, along the Pacific coast, is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road
initiative.

China has been Peru’s biggest trading partner for more than a decade now.

In news from and about Taiwan this morning,

The Taipei City Government has signed a 12.2-billion N-T agreement with
Nvidia for the T-17 and T-18 plots of land at the Beitou-Shilin Technology
Park.

Mayor Chiang Wan-an says construction on the U-S technology company's new
Taiwan headquarters could now begin as early as June.

The deal grants Nvidia 50-year land surface rights, extendable by up to 20
years and Chiang is describing the agreement as a major milestone and is also
pledging full municipal support.

According to the city government, the contract was signed with Nvidia's
Taiwan subsidiary, with Chiang and company representative Mark Steven Hoose
signing on behalf of the two sides.

Under Nvidia's investment plan, more than 40-billion N-T will be spent during
construction, and operations are expected to create over 10,000 jobs.

The Taipei mayor says he hopes to attend the groundbreaking ceremony with
Nvidia C-E-O Jensen Huang and will continue updating him on the project by
email.

Huang is scheduled to visit Taiwan from June 2 to 5 for Computex Taipei.

The K-M-T has filed civil litigation against the Liberty Times newspaper and
its editor-in-chief Tzou Jing-wen -- accusing them of publishing "entirely
untrue" reports on exchanges between it and the Chinese Communist Party.

The K-M-T is seeking 2-million N-T in damages and also demanding that a
clarification notice be published for one month on the front pages of the
China Times, the United Daily News and the Liberty Times.

K-M-T spokeswoman Chiang Yi-zhen says the Liberty Times has published
numerous articles since January 25 that were all "fake news" and made claims
about a planned meeting between K-M-T Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun and Xi Jinping.

According to the party, the K-M-T sent two lawyer's letters over separate
reports, in which the newspapers made "completely baseless" accusations.

One was about alleged "conditions" tied to arranging the Cheng-Xi meeting,
while the other claimed a K-M-T lawmaker attended a meeting Taiwan business
people in China "to receive instructions from the other side."

The civil complaint names the Liberty Times, its editor-in-chief and two
reporters as the defendants.

A Liberty Times spokesperson says newspaper's reports "all had basis" and
underwent "reasonable verification."

The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office has detained a man for allegedly
firing an air gun at a kindergarten in the city's Wenshan District on
numerous occasions.

Police say the suspect lives near the kindergarten and began shooting at the
school in late January after becoming upset over noise from children.

According to police, he initially targeted the building's exterior walls,
which went unnoticed.

However, staff later discovered damaged windows and water pipes and reported
the case to authorities on January 21.

The suspect was identified after police reviewed surveillance footage and
collected other evidence.

Police seized three air guns, two bottles of pellets, and box of BB bullets
during a search of his residence.

Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing soared almost 69-per cent in the
Year of the Snake.

T-S-M-C shares closed at a record high of 1,915 N-T on Wednesday - the final
trading day of the Year of the Snake, despite coming off a historic intraday
high of 1,925 N-T early in the session.

The chipmaker's share price jumped 780 N-T during the Year of the Snake and
contributed about 6,262 points to the Tai-Ex's overall rise for the year.

The strong showing raised T-S-M-C's market capitalization by more than
20-trillion N-T during the year.

T-S-M-C posted a record high 3.8-trillion N-T in consolidated sales in 2025
with its net income also smashing records to reach 1.72-trillion N-T.

T-S-M-C has projected revenue growth of close to 30-per cent in U-S dollar
terms for this year -- far outpacing the 14-per cent growth expected for the
global pure-play wafer foundry market.

And finally,

The Taipei City Zoo has announced plans to renovate its tropical rainforest
area.

According to the zoo,the renovations will improve animal welfare, update some
of its aging facilities and are inline with international trends in
professional zoo development.

The Asian tropical rainforest area opened in 1997.

The zoo will be relocating its Asian elephants Yu-Hsin and Yu-Kai to the
African animal area later this year during the renovation period.

The zoo will also be transfering other animals, such as the Malayan tiger,
sun bear, and leopard, following the elephants' move.

President Lai Ching-te says opposition lawmakers need to expedite reviews of
the Cabinet's special defense budget sooner rather that later... warning that
failure to do that might mean Washington would no longer consider Taiwan a
priority for U-S arms provision.

Lai said at a press conference that his proposed 1.25-trillion N-T special
budget will be spent over eight years on major weapons purchases and joint
development programs with the U-S ...

.. and passage of the budget will be a key indicator that Taiwan is
determined to strengthen its self-defense.

Defense Minister Wellington Koo also told reporters that Taiwan could become
a "breach" in the Indo-Pacific region's collective defense against China if
opposition lawmakers fail to pass the special defense budget.

Koo said the U-S has already approved some of the systems Taiwan plans to
acquire under the budget, as those new capabilities are critical to Taiwan's
asymmetric defense and overall resilience.

Koo also reiterated that Taiwan's defense capabilities will be significantly
weakened if the budget fails to pass... and failure to approve the budget
would signal to Washington that Taiwan's efforts to enhance its self-defense
lacks public support.

The Taiwan Space Agency has released the first images from its Formosat-8A
satellite.

The images feature high-resolution views of the Hsinchu Science Park,
Tainan's Anping District, Xingda Harbor in Kaohsiung, Tokyo's National
Stadium and Barcelona Airport in Spain.

The images reveal detailed surface features, such as ocean layers and boat
wakes, highlighting the satellite's ability to capture urban and natural
landscapes.

The Formosat-8A was launched on November 29 last year.

The space agency says the satellite was designed to capture images at a
1-meter resolution, sharpenable to 0.7 meters after processing, surpassing
the capabilities of its predecessor, Formosat-5.

It is the first of the eight-satellite Formosat-8 constellation to be sent
into orbit and is intended to help monitor natural disasters and security
threats.

The second satellite, the Formosat-8B, is scheduled to be sent into orbit
aboard a SpaceX rocket by the end of this year.

Deputy Taipei Mayor Lee Shu-chuan says he'll be stepping down from his post
at the end of this month.

This comes as Lee is seen as a K-M-T's contender for the New Taipei mayoral
elections.

Citing "public expectations" and opinion polls showing strong support for his
potential candidacy, Lee says he plans to return to New Taipei, to prepare
for the next stage of his political career.

Lee has said that despite his experience in urban development and governance,
he has yet to have the chance to directly implement his own vision for
running a city.

Lee previously served as Cabinet secretary-general and as deputy mayor in
three of Taiwan's six special municipalities.

Taiwan People's Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang is also expected to run for
New Taipei's top job in November's local elections.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei says the government is willing to
restore formal diplomatic ties with Honduras without setting any
preconditions.

The foreign policy spokesman says the Lai administration's policy on Honduras
seeks to pursue mutually beneficial ties that will facilitate Taiwan's
diplomatic strategy under the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project.

The project was launched by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung and seeks to
enhance economic resilience and deepening ties with diplomatic allies through
eight key areas, including sustainable tourism, smart technology parks, and
digital governance.

Honduras' Vice President Maria Sanchez recently indicated that her
administration is currently looking into ways to possible resume normal
bilateral relations with Taipei.

She reportedly told a Honduran newspaper that the government is reviewing
agreements signed with Beijing as part of a push to develop ties with Taiwan
...

.. and will examine the possible repercussions of resuming relations with
Taiwan before making a final decision on the matter.

The New Taipei District Court has handed down a death sentenced verdict in a
case involving a 30-year-old woman who killed the head of Chingshui Police
Station while trying to evade a roadside check.

The court found Chen Chia-ying guilty of murder, obstruction of official
duties and driving under the influence of narcotics.

The incident occurred on September 30, 2024, when Chen rammed and dragged
police officer, Liu Tsung-hsin before crashing into a guardrail.

Liu was conducting a routine check on illegally parked vehicles at the time.

He was critically injured and later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital,
while Chen fled the scene.

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, citing Chen's failure to fully
acknowledge the gravity of her actions.

While her defense lawyers argued that the death was an accident that occurred
during what it called an "illegal" police search.

Liu's family had publicly pleaded for the death penalty.

The ruling can be appealed.

The Kaohsiung City Department of Health says a K-F-C branch in the Nanzih
District is facing a fine of up to 200-million N-T after a customer found a
triple A sized battery in an egg tart.

City health officials reviewed a social media post on which the customer
shared photos and a video of the battery embedded in the egg tart.

The Health department said it sent personnel to the store to conduct an
inspection and the branch's operator confirmed that a battery had fallen into
the product after a timer used by an employee was dropped.

The department says the branch operator also admitted there were "flaws" in
the preparation process and the employee failed to follow standard operating
procedures by not discarding the affected batch.

Along with a possible fine of up 200-million N-T, the K-F-C branch could also
face formal charges, as the case has been referred to prosecutors.

The owner of a hotel in Yilan's Jiaoxi Township has been ordered to clean up
more than 1,000 plastic bottles from their building's rooftop or face fines,
following complaints from the neighbors.

News reports say the hotel owner's elderly mother has long used the
building's sixth-floor rooftop to grow vegetables, and at some point began
collecting plastic bottles to hold down fabric she used to cover the soil.

However, over time the collection of bottles grew to "mountain-like"
proportions, causing neighbors to report the property owners to the county
government over possible public health and safety violations.

The Yilan County Government says it sent officials from several agencies to
jointly inspect the rooftop.

Those officials found violations of the Building Act and Waste Disposal Act,
and warned the owner to make improvements or face fines.

British Defence minister John Healey says his government had committed 150
million pounds ($205 million) to the so-called Prioritised Ukraine
Requirements List (PURL) initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons.

The program was set up last summer to keep U.S. weapons flowing to Ukraine at
a time when new U.S. military assistance had stalled.

Allies have already put forward over $4.5 billion through the programme...

This comes as Russia continues to keep up its deadly strikes against the
country.

Italy’s conservative government led by Premier Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday
has approved a bill introducing new measures aimed at fighting illegal
immigration.

The measures include a so-called “naval blockade” for migrant ships trying
to reach Italian shores.

A cabinet meeting in the late afternoon gave the go-ahead to the bill, which
now needs to be discussed and approved in parliament before becoming
effective.

The package also includes new powers that would enable Italian authorities to
impose a naval blockade on migrant ships trying to enter Italy’s territorial
waters under certain conditions.

The Taiwan High Court today raised the sentence for a woman who attacked
another MRT passenger with a knife to 7 years in prison.

The woman, surnamed Wang, attacked a high schooler with a box cutter on a
Taipei MRT blue line train in 2024.

She was originally sentenced to 4 and a half years.

In its judgement, the court also ordered Wang to undergo two years of
psychiatric supervision, citing her diagnosis of schizophrenia.

The court found that Wang was experiecing auditory hallucinations and
believed the student to be stalking her.

The High Court says, although her mental condition warranted a reduced
sentence under the Criminal Code, the original ruling failed to reflect the
severity of the attack and its broader social impact.

The panel concluded that Wang's actions amount to attempted murder and other
offenses.

(AH_CNA)

Bangladeshis will cast ballots Thursday in a crucial national election, the
first since a mass uprising ended former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's
15-year rule.

Public expectation is high that the vote could reset democratic norms after
years of disputed elections.

The interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is overseeing the
transition, and has pledged a fair vote.

There are over 127 million eligible voters in the nation of some 170 million.

For the first time, citizens abroad can vote by mail.

The election also includes a referendum on political reforms.

The BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, is the front-runner.

Minority communities, especially Hindus, express concerns over rising
hard-line influence.

Defense Minister Wellington Koo says Taiwan could become a defense "breach"
if lawmakers do not pass a special defense budget.

Koo says that the $1.25 trillion NT plan would fund major weapons purchases
and joint production with the United States.

He says it would strengthen air defense, anti-armour weapons, drones, and
C-5-I-S-R capabilities.

Koo says failure to pass the budget would weaken Taiwan's defense and could
signal to Washington a lack of public support.

President Lai Ching-te says a recent U.S. security strategy urges
Indo-Pacific partners to take more responsibility for their own defense.

The bill stalled in the last session, and the government hopes it will be
reviewed after the Lunar New Year break.

Opposition parties want Lai to brief lawmakers first and also want a
$30-thousand NT pay raise for troops, which the government says raises
constitutional issues.

(CNA-PB)

The Control Yuan has impeached four Taichung City officials for failures in
handling an African swine fever outbreak last year.

The officials are accused of providing inconsistent information, failing to
monitor pig deaths, and ignoring central government orders, leading to a
nationwide crisis.

The outbreak occurred in October 2025 at a pig farm in Wuqi District, where
117 pigs died within 10 days.

The situation forced a 15-day nationwide ban on the transport and slaughter
of all pigs.

At the time, Taichung Mayor Lu Hsiu-yen apologized and removed three of the
officials from their posts.

Now, the Control Yuan says Former Agriculture Director Chang Ching-chang,
former Environmental Protection Director Chen Hung-yi, former Animal
Protection Director Lin Ju-liang, and section chief Chou Pai-chun seriously
undermined public trust in the government’s epidemic preparedness.

Their cases have now been referred to the Disciplinary Court for further
action.

(NS)

KFC Taiwan says it has launched an internal investigation after a customer
reported finding a battery in an egg tart.

The company says a preliminary review points to a procedure lapse at a single
outlet, the Kaohsiung Nanzih store.

A social media post included photos and said the tart had gone cold and was
about to be reheated.

KFC says it is conducting a full workflow review at the store and has tried
to contact the customer.

The company says it is also tightening checks and reviewing operations at
stores nationwide.

KFC apologised and said it will strengthen staff training and internal
controls.

(PB)

charges over a 2024 airstrike in Gaza

Now moving to international news ...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he told visiting Israeli President Isaac
Herzog that Australia is seeking criminal charges over a 2024 airstrike in
Gaza.

The strike killed seven people, including Australian aid worker Zomi
Frankcom.

Albanese emphasized in Parliament on Wednesday the need for transparency and
accountability in Israel's ongoing investigation of the strike.

Meanwhile, Herzog described his visit to Australia as emotional, highlighting
the anti-Semitic attack in December on Sydney's Jewish community.

Pro-Palestinian protests have targeted him in Sydney and Canberra, with some
lawmakers opposing Herzog's visit.

Herzog plans to visit Melbourne before returning to Israel.

And in Iran ...

Today marked the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but Iran
remains under pressure both from America and its own people.

U.S. president Donald Trump has suggested sending a second aircraft carrier
group to the Middle East.

This came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington to
push for strict terms in nuclear talks with Tehran.

On Iranian state television, tens of thousands were shown supporting the
theocracy and 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But shouts of "Death to the dictator!" were heard in Tehran on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, senior Iranian officials continued diplomatic efforts in the
region.

And now turning to the Olympics ...

The men's ice hockey tournament starts today with a match between Finland and
Slovakia, who won gold and bronze at Beijing 2022.

This is the first Olympics since 2014 where NHL players can compete, meaning
that nations are fielding their best talent.

The men's curling tournament also starts today.

Reigning champions Sweden begin their title defence against the Italian home
side.

Medals will be awarded in the ice dance tonight.

Going into tonight's skate, the French pair of Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence
Fournier Beaudry have a small lead over the Americans Evan Bates and Madison
Chock.

The women's doubles luge event will make its debut at the Olympics.

American Chloe Kim begins her quest for a third straight Olympic gold in the
women's snowboard halfpipe ...

... whilst in the men's event, reigning champion Ayamu Hirano looks for a
fourth straight medal.

Finally, in the men's super-G alpine skiing, Switzerland's reigning world
champion Marco Odermatt is the man to beat.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will stay open and pragmatic as
Honduras considers restoring diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

The ministry says it will not set preconditions, and will seek equal and
mutually beneficial ties.

Honduran media reports First Vice President Maria Antonieta Mejia says any
return to relations with Taiwan would be gradual.

She says a technical team is reviewing agreements signed with China under the
previous administration.

Officials say the review is meant to help President Nasry Asfura make a final
decision.

Honduras cut ties with Taiwan in 2023 under then-President Xiomara Castro and
established relations with China.

The report says Beijing's trade and investment promises have not met
expectations, drawing criticism at home.

Asfura took office in January after campaigning on a pledge to restore ties
with Taiwan.

(PB)

Officials say a newly upgraded incinerator in Tainan will be up and running
by year's end.

Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che hosted an ignition ceremony today for the updated
incinerator at the Chengxi Trash Incineration Plant.

The renovation of the plant began in 2023 as a build-operate-transfer
project, and the mayor says the ignition marks the final step toward
completion.

The city government says the updated facility is a renewable energy power
plant, designed to process 300-thousand metric tons of household waste every
year.

The plant is expected to generate enough to power over 64-thousand households
annually.

And officials say emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and hydrogen
chloride will be far below legal limits.

(NS)

Canadian police say eight people including a suspect are dead after a
shooting at a small school in British Columbia, with two more found dead at a
home believed to be connected to the incident.

Police say more than 25 people were injured, including two with
life-threatening injuries.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police say they have identified a female suspect, but
did not release the name, adding that the shooter's motive remains unclear.

They say police are still investigating how the victims are connected to the
shooter.

The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as
having 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.

Dubai International Airport remains the world's busiest airport for
travelers, with 95.2 million passengers in 2025.

The airport, which is home to Emirates, has thrived post-pandemic due to
increased travel interest and tourism.

Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism on Monday reported a 5% increase in
tourists last year, to 19.6 million.

The facility served 108 airlines flying to 291 cities in 110 countries.

India was the top destination market for the airport in 2025.

Dubai plans to move operations to Al Maktoum International Airport by 2032
after a $35 billion upgrade.

The TPP legislative caucus has agreed to refer the Executive Yuan's version
of a special defense act to committee review.

That's following a press conference given by President Lai Ching-te today, in
which he urged the legislature to examine that proposal as quickly as
possible.

At the event, Lai noted that the Cabinet proposed the 1.25 trillion special
defense budget back in November and has not yet been referred to committee
review.

He said he hoped it could be examined as soon as possible in the new
legislative session.

After his remarks, TPP caucus leaders said that they supported increasing
Taiwan's defensive capacity and autonomy.

The TPP's own version of a special defense budget was already referred to
committee review over a week ago.

DPP Caucus leaders commended the TPP's "goodwill" and said they hoped the KMT
would follow suit in prioritizing the national benefit.

Caucus secretary-general Zhong Jia Bin called for the opposition and ruling
party versions to be examined in tandem.

(AH)

A Chinese sea captain of a Hong Kong-flagged vessel has pleaded not guilty to
damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea in 2023.

Wan Wenguo pleaded not guilty today in a Hong Kong court to one count of
criminal damage and two separate charges relating to violations of marine
safety requirements.

Wan is the captain of the Newnew Polar Bear container ship.

Finnish authorities previously determined the Newnew Polar Bear vessel was
responsible for damaging the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which connects
Finland and Estonia, in October 2023.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, critical undersea cable and gas
pipelines being sabotaged in the Baltic Sea has raised security concerns
among governments.

The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation has partnered with LINE TODAY to make
it easier for those taking non-reserved trains over the holiday period to
avoid long waits.

The company says, the new service will allow passengers to easily view
expected wait times online before arriving at the station.

The new feature is divided into 5 levels based on expected wait times at the
stations, using green, yellow, and red lights as indicators.

THSR is planning to operate over 2000 train services during the holiday
period.

They say, as of this morning, 1.212 million passengers have completed
reservations for reserved seats.

The new feature will have crowding status available 30 minutes before service
time begins and will be continuously updated as tickets are sold.

Passengers are advised to check the crowding status through the THSR website
or app, or the LINE TODAY lifestyle channel to get the latest information.

(AH)

Inflation in Argentina accelerated more than expected and for a fifth
straight month in January.

Argentina's statics agency reported Tuesday that consumer prices rose 2.9%
last month compared with December, largely owing to increases in the prices
of food, restaurants, hotels and utility bills.

But the closely watched report's methodology in recent days stoked political
turmoil.

Economists say the formula that INDEC used to calculate the inflation rate
underestimates real price rises amid budget cuts and deregulation measures.

Officials say a man suspected of firing a gun at a Taipei kindergarten last
month has been detained following a court order.

The suspect, surnamed Huang, lives near the school in the city's Wenshan
district.

He allegedly began shooting after becoming upset at the noise.

Police say Huang initially targeted the building's exterior walls, which went
unnoticed until staff discovered damaged windows and water pipes.

They reported the case to authorities on January 21st.

After reviewing security footage, police identified Huang as the suspect and
searched his residence.

They seized three air guns and three boxes of ammunition.

Huang said he had previously complained about the noise and resorted to
shooting after complaints failed to resolve the issue.

(AH)

Asian cities have become far more popular for Taiwanese travelers over the
Lunar New Year period...

according to the booking site Trip.com.

It notes that, in particular, there are six times as many trips to Korea's
Jeju Island this year than in years past.

Industry experts say that the second half of this month will be a peak travel
period, coupling the Lunar New Year holiday with the 228 Peace Memorial Day.

Taoyuan International Airport is expected to see a total passenger volume of
2.74 million people during that time.

Trip.com notes that, in addition to Jeju Island, Taiwanese travelers are also
increasingly interested in Sapporo and Fukuoka in Japan, and in Busan in
Korea.

Industry experts say that Taiwanese people are more likely to begin planning
trips far in advance, just like travellers in Singapore and Japan.

Overall trends indicate a vibrant outbound tourism market this spring.

(AH)

In Colombia, Miguel Uribe Londono, the father of slain presidential hopeful
Miguel Uribe Turbay, announced his plans to run for the presidency to defend
his son's political legacy.

This is despite falling out with his son's party, the Democratic Center,
which Uribe Londono, 73, helped to establish over a decade ago.

He is running on behalf of Democratic Colombia, a small party that began as a
movement to defend the rights of Afro-Colombians.

Uribe Londono, a former senator, has no apparent ties to Afro-Colombian
movements.

His son was shot at a campaign rally last year and died two months later.

(KK)

For fans of the Milan-Cortina Olympic mascots, it's nearly impossible to find
the stoat siblings in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

They are sold out at many of the official Olympics stores in the host cities,
less than a week into the Winter Games.

Tina, short for Cortina, represents the Olympic Winter Games.

The one-pawed Milo, short for Milano, is the face of the Paralympic Winter
Games.

Winning athletes are gifted the toys when they receive their medals.

(KK)

In news from and about Taiwan this morning,

Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun is in visiting the United States this week to
sign the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.

The visit follows a preliminary consensus reached in Washington in
mid-January following a final round of trade talks between the two sides.

Under that arrangement, the U-S agreed to reduce tariffs on Taiwan goods
entering the American market from 20 to 15-per cent, matching the rates
applied to major competitors like Japan and South Korea.

Taiwan semiconductor and technology firms have committed to investing at
least 250-billion U-S dollars in America in exchange for the lower tariff
rate.

The preliminary agreement also includes 250-billion U-S dollars in credit
guarantees by the Lai administration to help domestic companies expand their
footprint in the U-S market.

However, the full technical details of the trade agreement remain undisclosed.

Once the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade is signed, the government will submit
it to the Legislative Yuan for review.

Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee says the agreement will be submit
accompanied by a legally required impact assessment report.

Opposition lawmakers are demanding the government provide a full public
report on the scope of the agreement to both the Legislature and the public
before signing off on the deal.

Three cast members of an unreleased film about the unsolved 1980 murders of
dissident Lin I-hsiung's family are demanding their likenesses and voices not
be used in the movie and are also seeking to block its release.

Jian Man-shu, Hsia Teng-hung and River Huang issued the statement following
revelations that "The Century Bloodshed" was filmed without consent from Lin
or his family.

According to the statement, the production team deliberately concealed the
fact that the movie was made without the Lin family's approval and that
resulted in members of the cast and crew participating unknowingly and
causing further harm to the Lin family and society.

The three lead actors also offered their deepest apologies in the statement.

According to the actors, the crew repeatedly asked whether the film had
"legal authorization" from the parties involved before signing onto the
project and the production team deliberately hid major controversies in the
script.

They're also insisting they would never have accepted the roles had they
known the family had not approved the movie.

The statement goes on to say that legal action will be taken if the
production team fails to comply with their demands to cease using their
likenesses, names, voices, performances, or any related works, and to block
the film's production, release, or any form of exposure.

Prosecutors have searched the office of independent lawmaker Kao Chin Su-mei
on suspicion of misappropriating salary payments to her aides.

The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office carried out the raid on Kao's
legislative office and summoned her for questioning Tuesday morning.

Kao is accused of misappropriating her aides' salary payments -- which is an
offense under the Anti-Corruption Act.

The prosecutors' office has not released any further details of the case.

The search came after lawmakers passed a legal revision last month giving
lawmakers more leeway to set aides' salaries using Legislature-issued
"subsidies."

Under the previous system, the Legislature budgeted a fixed annual amount for
each aide's salary and office operations.

The D-P-P has criticized the amendment, saying it was intended to
decriminalize misappropriation of aides' wages and could encourage
embezzlement.

The Taiwan Railway Corporation is proposing a comprehensive rail safety
upgrade plan for its eastern and South Link lines and aims to reduce
landslide and rockfall risks by 2031.

According to corporation president Feng Hui-sheng, the plan has a proposed
budget of 7.79-billion N-T and targets high-risk sections between Heping and
Chongde along the Suhua Highway corridor and nearby rail lines.

Feng says work will include slope stabilization, rock sheds and enlarging
culverts.

Feng also says the plan has passed reviews by the Ministry of Transport and
the National Development Council, and is now awaiting approval by the
Cabinet.

Construction is expected to begin this year and finish by 2031.

Transport officials have said rail lines on the east coast often run at lower
elevations than parallel highways, leaving them more exposed to debris flows
during earthquakes and heavy rain ..

... and slope instability has worsened since 2024's magnitude 7.4 earthquake
in Hualien loosened soil along the corridor.

Police in Taipei have broken-up an illegal gambling operation as part of the
city's Lunar New Year safety crackdown.

According to the Daan Precinct, 33 people, including operators, staff and
patrons, were taken into custody for involvement in illegal baccarat
gambling.

The gambling venue was located on Anhe Road and a search warrant was issued
by the Taipei District Court before a a special task force comprising
officers from the Criminal Investigation Division raided the operation.

Police seized 910,000 N-T in cash, radio communication devices, surveillance
equipment and gambling chips with a value of 577-million N-T were seized
during the raid.

Police says a 28-year-old man has been identified as the manager of the
operation and he has been taken into custody.

All 33 people picked up in the raid are facing possible charges of violating
the gambling provisions of the Criminal Code and of violating the Social
Order Maintenance Act.

The raid took place on the first day of Taipei's 15-day Lunar New Year safety
crackdown.

And finally,

The Central Weather Administration says we can expect to see two cold weather
fronts in the coming days -- bringing occasional brief showers across some
areas.

Brief, localized showers are expected along the north coast, the east and the
Hengchun Peninsula as a cold front passes, combined with strengthening
northeasterly winds starting today.

Scattered shower can also be expected in the Greater Taipei and mountainous
areas in the north.

The northeasterly winds are forecast to weaken on Friday morning, bringing
drier weather with mostly sunny to cloudy skies across the country through
Sunday.

Another cold front is expected to pass through Taiwan on Monday, with its
effects lasting only about one day, but northeasterly winds are forecast to
persist until next Wednesday ...

.... bringing brief, localized showers mainly to areas north of Taoyuan as
well as Yilan, Hualien and Taitung.

The effects of the two cold fronts are expected to be relatively weak.

'separatists'

The Mainland Affairs Council is slamming comments by a senior Chinese
Communist Party official after he called for the support of "patriotic
pro-reunification forces" in Taiwan to strike hard against "pro-independance
separatists."

The council said comments by the Communist Party's fourth-ranked leader Wang
Hu-ning are aimed at sowing division in Taiwan and are further evidence of
Beijing's goal of eliminating the Republic of China and advancing
unification.

Wang had told delegates at its "Taiwan Work Conference" that officials must
advance the "great cause of national reunification" and that it's necessary
to "firmly support the patriotic pro-unification forces on the island."

The conference is seen as a key meeting which sets the tone for China's
policy towards the island.

The Mainland Affairs Council says the endorsement of "pro-unification forces"
and calls for establishing "patriots" to rule Taiwan is an acknowledgement
that China is seeking to divide Taiwan society.

The council also says agencies here in Taiwan will continues to monitor
Beijing's actions and respond to them in order to protect the island's
sovereignty and security.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has set aside 30-billion N-T to support
Taiwan's car industry as it prepares for changes to tariffs under a Taiwan-US
trade agreement,

Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin said initial assessments have indicated
that the impact on domestic industrial output could exceed 1-per cent but
will remain "manageable."

Kung says the funding will help the automobile and auto parts industry absorb
shocks, advance transformation and upgrading, and strengthen independent
research and development and exports.

Kung told representatives from vehicle industry association groups and
domestic automakers that any tariff arrangements will apply only to US-made
vehicles...

The vehicles will be designated as such if they meet country of origin and
value-added content requirements consistent with existing international
standards.

Labor Minister Hung Sun-han is also set to meet with automotive industry
labor unions later today to discuss workforce impacts of the Taiwan-US trade
agreement.

The Agency Against Corruption says Taiwan has jumped one spot to rank 24th
globally in Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index --
marking the island's best-ever result.

The agency says Taiwan showed steady progress in the evaluation,
outperforming 86 percent of the 182 countries and territories assessed.

It added the index shows that Taiwan remains among the top tier of globally
perceived clean countries, with an upward trend reflecting continued
international recognition of the country's governance and anti-corruption
efforts.

Taiwan scored 68 points on a zero to 100 scale, with zero indicating highly
corrupt and 100 very clean.

It shares 24th place with Barbados and the Seychelles.

Denmark tops the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index rankings with 89 points.

That's followed by Finland with 88, Singapore with 84, and New Zealand and
Norway tied at 81.

The global average score was 42.

Transparency International compiles the index based on a combination of at
least three data sources from 13 different corruption surveys and
assessments, collected by a variety of institutions including the World Bank
and the World Economic Forum.

President Lai Ching-te is calling for the immediate release of Hong Kong
media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Lai said via social media that "Taiwan stands with Mr. Jimmy Lai and all the
people who safeguard freedom" ..

.. he also called for authorities to stop pursuing political persecution
under the false pretext of enforcing the law.

The president said the ruling again proves that Beijing's so-called 'one
country, two systems' scheme exists in name only ...

... and that the judiciary has been degraded to a tool for depriving personal
freedom and curtailing freedom of speech and press freedom."

Lai also said the former media tycoon's detention was Beijing's attempt to
create a chilling effect among dissidents and poses a grave threat to the
universal values espoused by the international community.

Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Hong Kong High Court for
"colluding with foreign forces" under Hong Kong's national security law.

The Tourism Administration says it aims to attract 9.3 and 9.4-million
inbound visitors this year.... with senior officials calling it a "relatively
achieveable goal."

Director-general Chen Yu-hsiu said Taiwan saw 722,000 international
arrivals... and that's an increase of just over 11-per cent from the same
period of last year.

Data shows those visitors mainly came from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and
Macau.

However, the Tourism Administration head says significant growth was also
seen in the number of visitors from Europe, North America and Southeast Asia
last month.

Chen is attributing that rise to the administration's on-going initiative to
diversify the inbound tourism market.

The Nuclear Safety Commission says elevated radiation levels detected at a
waste incineration facility in Nantou County were likely caused by the
diapers used by a patient undergoing radionuclide therapy.

The commission is stressing that they levels do not pose a danger to the
public.

The statement follows reports that elevated radiation levels were detected in
two garbage trucks transporting trash from Nantou's Puli Township to a waste
incineration plant outside the county on Saturday, prompting the facility to
refuse service.

The Nuclear Safety Commission says it learned of the case on Sunday and
immediately contacted sanitation workers in Puli before dispatching officials
to the site.

Nuclear safety officials have now identified the source of the radiation as
contaminated paper diapers.

13 contaminated diapers were said to have been found in the heap where the
trash was being stored.

The College Entrance Examination Center is calling out several hundred rule
violations by students who took the annual university entrance exam.

Seventy-three students were found with cellphones after the test began, and
58 continued writing after time was called.

One individual was also found with a translation device... which was
discovered when it made a noise during the English test.

The most common violation involved students who forgot to bring required
certificates.

Sheet violations were also reported... one involved a student who drew emojis
among molecular structures.

The General Scholastic Ability Test was held from January 17 through 19 and
included five subjects -- Chinese, English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and
Science.

A senior European intelligence chief says Russia cannot launch an attack on
NATO this year or next but is planning to increase its forces significantly
along the alliance’s eastern flank, depending on the outcome of the war in
Ukraine. The head of Estonia’s foreign intelligence service suggested Moscow
is playing for time in talks with Washington. Kaupo Rosin, the head of the
service, said his comments were based on intelligence his country gathered
from “Russian internal discussions.” Rosin said Russia’s plan involves
creating new military units and multiplying the prewar force along its border
with NATO by two to three times. Russia continues to bombard Ukraine, causing
civilian casualties and damaging energy infrastructure.

French authorities have revealed the identity of a 79-year-old man accused of
raping and sexually assaulting 89 minors over five decades.

Prosecutors say Jacques Leveugle has been under investigation since February
2024.

The case is based on a digital "memoir" found on a USB drive, detailing
alleged assaults from 1967 to 2022.

The pedophile's name was revealed encourage other victims to come forward.

The assaults reportedly occurred in multiple countries, including France,
Germany and India.

Leveugle has also admitted to two family killings, prompting a separate
investigation.

Vice Premier Zheng Li-jun is leading a delegation to the United States
tonight where she will sign a trade agreement later this week.

The visit follows a preliminary consensus reached in Washington in
mid-January.

Under that arrangement, the U.S. agreed to reduce tariffs on Taiwanese goods
from 20 percent to 15 percent, matching the rates applied to major
competitors like Japan and South Korea.

In exchange, Taiwanese semiconductor and technology firms have committed to
investing at least $250 billion US dollars in the U.S.

The preliminary agreement also included US$250 billion in credit guarantees
by the Taiwanese government to help domestic companies expand their footprint
in the U.S. market.

While full technical details remain undisclosed, the deal is widely expected
to include provisions to reduce tariffs on U.S. goods imported into Taiwan,
covering U.S.-made vehicles, and to open the local market to specific
American agricultural products.

Economy Minister Gong Ming-xin met with representatives from nine major
domestic automakers earlier today.

Labor Minister Hong Shen-han is also set to meet with automotive industry
labor unions tomorrow to discuss workforce impact.

(CNA)

KMT Chair Zheng Li-wen has announced that she and TPP Chair Huang Guo-chang
will jointly announce a shared blue–white political vision and policy
platform after the Lunar New Year holiday.

She also says the party will rebuild its think tank to function as a “shadow
cabinet”, helping prepare for a potential return to power in 2028.

The think tank will also establish its own polling center, aimed at offering
scientific and impartial survey data to guide both policy development and
election strategy.



To strengthen the institute, Zheng says the party has invited around 130
former senior officials, scholars, and experts to serve as national policy
advisers, with appointment certificates presented at a forum held today.



(JL)

Starlux Airlines has become the first carrier in Taiwan to operate Airbus'
next-generation long-haul A350-1000 aircraft with a maiden service from
Taoyuan to Tokyo this morning.

According to the airline, the A350-1000 is a new-generation long-range
wide-body aircraft offering improved fuel efficiency, extended range and
enhanced cabin comfort.

The aircraft has 350 seats, including four in first class, 40 in business
class, 36 in premium economy and 270 in economy.

Starlux said it plans to take delivery of six A350-1000s this year, which
will be gradually deployed on more long-haul routes to provide passengers
with a high-quality flying experience.

(CNA)

The Industrial Technology Research Institute today broke ground on its
Advanced Semiconductor R&D Base, a $3.77 billion NT publicly funded project
slated for completion in December 2027.

Phased operations will begin in the first quarter of 2028.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Premier Zhuo Rong-tai said T-S-M-C
has actively supported the establishment of the R&D base, including providing
extensive assistance and guidance on plant design and construction.

Once completed, the facility's key missions include innovation trial
production and verification for integrated circuit design, as well as
development of advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes.

The project underwent two years of planning and will feature a building with
an eight-meter ceiling height, a floor load capacity of two metric tons per
square meter, and an independent seismic-resistant structure.

(CNA)

Taiwan has blocked more than 3-thousand 400 kilograms of Indonesian snack
products at the border after they were found to contain illegal sweeteners
and excessive levels of aflatoxins.

All the items have been ordered to be returned or destroyed.

The Food and Drug Administration said it inspected 700 batches of Indonesian
biscuits and snacks over the past six months, and seventeen of them failed
inspection, a non-compliance rate of 2.4 percent.

As a result, the FDA has made inspections of all batches of imported
Indonesian biscuits mandatory beginning Jan. 13th through to March 9th.

Other noncompliant products included shiso leaves from Japan and frozen
shepherd's purse from China due to pesticide residues or other violations.

threatened

The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed the PROTECT
Taiwan Act, approving the measure by a 395-to-2 vote.



The bill directs the United States to seek the exclusion of China from major
international financial institutions, including the G-20 and other global
financial bodies, if Beijing takes actions that threaten Taiwan’s security
or economic system.



The PROTECT Taiwan Act was introduced by U.S. Representative Frank Lucas, who
cited Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying the House previously approved
similar mechanisms for Russia.

He also said the move is intended to send a clear signal that any aggression
against Taiwan would bring serious economic and diplomatic consequences.



The legislation will now move to the U.S. Senate for consideration before it
can be sent to the President for signing.

(CNA)

The Taiwan High Court has sentenced a former Taipei police officer to a
prison term of 13 years 4 months for having secretly filmed coworkers,
children and other people.

The ruling said Guo Sheng-han, while serving as an officer at Taipei Police
Department's Da-an Precinct betweee 2016 and 2024, installed hidden cameras
in the precinct restroom and used his cellphone to film women and girls at
close range.

Guo was also found guilty of secretly filming a female acquaintance at her
home.

The court said those cases involved 65 victims and constituted 11 counts of
illegally recording others’ private body parts by a public official, as well
as three counts of filming sexual images of children by a public official.

While the defendant can appeal today's verdict, he still faces additional
related cases currently under trial.

(JL)

The National Fire Agency is holding a groundbreaking ceremony for a network
of specialized warehouses to store heavy rescue equipment and speed up
disaster response times across Taiwan.

These facilities will allow rescue teams from other counties to travel with
only light personal gear and access heavy machinery locally when a disaster
strikes.

Today's ceremony was for the Nantou warehouse, which will be a two-story
building covering nearly 2,000 square meters.

Officials say it will store specialized equipment for management, search,
rescue, logistics, and medical care.

The facility will use a digital smart management system to track and
distribute supplies accurately.

Construction is expected to finish in August next year, with the facility
opening in December.

(NS)

Taiwan's benchmark index and TSMC both hit fresh record highs today, with the
TAIEX rising 668 points to end the session at 33,072, while TSMC's shares
climbed to a new all-time high of $1-thousand 880 NT.

It has pushed the chipmaker's market value to nearly $49 trillion NT and
accounted for more than 500 points of the market's rise.

But the turnover was relatively modest, at 656 billion NT.

The strong performance came as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing also
reported record January revenue, topping $400 billion NT for the first time,
driven by robust demand for AI-related chips and advanced 3-nanometer
manufacturing.

Other major heavyweights, including Hon Hai, MediaTek, and ASE Technology
Holding, also ended higher,

Analysts say continued AI demand is likely to support both TSMC earnings and
the broader Taiwan market in the months ahead.

(JL)

Tainan City says it will use its own budget to fund denture subsidies for
low-income seniors if the central government cancels its support.

The Tainan City Health Bureau made the comment today following media reports
that the central government may end denture subsidies for low-income and
middle-to-low-income seniors.

Officials say they have not received an official notice yet.

However, if the central government stops funding, the city will allocate its
own budget to cover the costs.

Currently, about 300 to 350 people in Tainan qualify for the central
government's denture subsidies each year.

Tainan health officials say they are ready to step in to keep the program
running for these vulnerable residents.

(NS)

Turning to world news...

Engineers are preparing the Ariane 64 rocket, named after its four boosters,
for its first launch.

This powerful version of the Ariane 6 will carry 32 satellites for Amazon
Leo’s broadband constellation on Thursday.

Workers at ArianeGroup's plant in Vernon, France, have designed and tested
the engines.

The flagship of Europe’s rocket industry is racing in a highly competitive
environment against heavy weight players across the world, including the
global market leader, Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The launch will take place from French Guiana.

The new configuration is twice as powerful as previous versions.

Ariane 6 aims to reduce operating costs and ensure Europe’s independent
access to space.

The company plans seven to eight launches this year.

Taiwan’s national baseball team will play its first public practice games
for the World Baseball Classic next week in Kaohsiung.

The team will face the TSG Hawks on February 13th and 14th at the Chengching
Lake Baseball Stadium.

Officials say tickets are free, but they must be reserved through the ibon
ticketing system starting at noon on February 11-th.

There is a NT 30 handling fee per ticket.

Each person is limited to two tickets, and reselling them is strictly
prohibited.

The Chinese Professional Baseball League says these practice games are a
vital part of the national team's training, allowing players to build
chemistry and test their skills through live competition.

(NS)

Amid controversy over the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Yilan extension,
Transport Minister Chen Shi-kai says the ministry is reviewing possible HSR
extention projects "in a pragmatic way."

Chen said transport officials and experts have held extensive communication
and detailed discussions with the Cabinet regarding all aspects of the
nation’s rail transportation development.

The Minister said they're also looking at if the extension projects are
technologically feasible and financially sustainable within the national
budget.

Several former senior DPP officials have questioned the HSR Yilan extension,
saying it is too costly and unnecessary, given that a direct Taipei–Yilan
rail link is already planned.

(JL)

Iranian security official Ali Larijani is set to travel to Oman, the country
currently mediating talks between Tehran and the United States over Iran's
nuclear program.

Larijani will likely deliver Iran's response Tuesday to recent indirect talks
held in Muscat.

He is expected to meet with Omani Foreign Minister and Sultan Haitham bin
Tariq.

The talks are described as "important," though details remain unclear.

The U.S. has increased its military presence in the Middle East, including
sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, to pressure Iran into an
agreement.

Legislative Speaker Han Guo-yu says Taipei prosecutors followed proper
procedures before searching lawmaker Gao-Jin Su-Mei's office.

Han said Taipei chief prosecutor called Legislative secretary general Zhou
Wan-lai (周萬來) and informed him of the search, stressing that the
investigation should be conducted fairly and impartially.

Investigators arrived at the independent legislator Gao-Jin's office at the
Legislative Yuan at around 9:30 a.m., and the search was still ongoing as of
12:30 p.m.

Another team searched her residence up on Yang-ming-shan early this morning
on allegations of fraud.

Prosecutors have declined to answer media's questions about what prompted the
moves.

Meanwhile TPP chair Huang Guo-chang said he was shocked by the news, adding
that the judiciary system should be "the last line of defense for fairness
and justice, and must not become a tool for those in power to suppress
dissent."

(JL)

Taipei officials say most of the city's night markets will stay open during
the Lunar New Year holiday period.

The Market Administration Office says those venues, including most famous
ones such as the Rao-ho (饒河) Street, the Ning-xia (寧夏) and the Shi-lin
(士林) night markets, will maintain normal operations from February 16th to
21st.

But the markets on Shuang-cheng (雙城) Street and Liao-ning (遼寧) Street
will be closed on Lunar New Year's Eve, that's the 16th, and reopen the next
day.

As crews of cleaners in Taipei will take several days off during the holiday
period, officials remind all the night markets to manage their own garbage
disposal.

Regarding environmental sanitation and disinfection, officials say cleaning
operations have been carried out in all markets since the 2nd.

(JL)

Corruption

A survey for preceived corruption worldwide suggests that established
democracies’ efforts against public-sector corruption appear to be flagging.

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025 gave top
place to Denmark, with 89 out of 100, followed by Finland and Singapore.

At the bottom were South Sudan and Somalia with nine points apiece, followed
by Venezuela.

The organization measures experts' perception of public-sector corruption
around the world according to 13 data sources, including the World Bank, the
World Economic Forum and private risk and consulting companies.

The U.S. scored its worst yet under the current methodology, with
Transparency International pointing to the Trump administration's use of
public office to target independent voices and the weakening of
anti-corruption laws.

Engineers are preparing the Ariane 64 rocket for its first launch.

This powerful version of the Ariane 6 will carry 32 satellites for Amazon
Leo’s broadband constellation on Thursday.

Workers at ArianeGroup's plant in Vernon, France, have designed and tested
the engines.

The launch will take place from French Guiana.

The new configuration is twice as powerful as previous versions.

Ariane 6 aims to reduce operating costs and ensure Europe’s independent
access to space.

The company plans seven to eight launches this year.

tourists

Tourism Administration Director Chen Yu-xiu (陳玉秀) says Taiwan is targeting
between 9.3 and 9.4 million inbound visitors this year.

In 2025, Taiwan recorded 8.57 million inbound visitors, falling short of
expectations.

Chen said Taiwan recorded 722,000 international arrivals in January, up 11 to
12 percent from the same period last year.

Visitors mainly came from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau, and Chen
said she's confident that steady growth would continue.

She noted that Taiwan previously relied heavily on a single market, but
diversified promotion strategies have begun to show results.

Chen said more visitors were from Europe and the United States, as well as
rapid growth in arrivals from Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines.

Because of the changing visitor mix, Chen said her Administration is
preparing additional support measures, including expanded multilingual
translation services using technology.

(JL)

The Ministry of Education is calling for increased vigilance regarding online
safety over winter break for students, as part of the global "Safer Internet
Day."

Established by the EU in 2004, Safer Internet Day has expanded to 180
countries, and aims to create safer online spaces.

The MOE notes that this year’s winter break is 30 days-long, meaning
children may spend significantly more time online.

The ministry says it is offering manuals and videos to help parents filter
inappropriate content, and also partnering with three major
telecommunications companies.

Parents can visit these stores to sign a consent form, and staff will then
help install and set up web-filtering software on mobile devices.

Officials are also urging parents and teachers to help students establish
healthy routines and stay alert for cyberbullying and online scams.

(NS)

Taiwan shares hit another record high today, with the benchmark Tai-ex
closing at 33,072 after climbing 668 points.

The turnover was robust, at 657 billion NT, with electronics stocks giving a
strong boost to the market.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Washington to encourage
President Donald Trump to expand the scope of high-stakes nuclear talks with
Iran

Netanyahu will be in Washington through Wednesday.

The negotiations resumed last week against the backdrop of an American
military buildup in the Middle East.

Israel has long called for Iran to cease all uranium enrichment, dial back
its ballistic missile program and cut ties to militant groups across the
region.

Iran has always rejected those demands, saying it would only accept some
limits on enrichment in return for sanctions relief.

Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office announces corruption charges against
Ecopetrol President Ricardo Roa.

Roa, who managed finances for President Gustavo Petro's 2022 campaign, is
accused of helping the campaign exceed spending limits.

The Attorney General’s Office said Monday that Roa will also face charges
for influence peddling.

Prosecutors allege he directed Ecopetrol contracts to a company owned by a
business owner who sold him a discounted apartment.

Roa denies the charges.

In November, Colombia’s National Electoral Council fined Roa and others for
allegedly exceeding spending limits.

President Petro has denied the charges and called them an effort to undermine
his government.

A landmark land-use contract for NVIDIA's move into Taipei's Beitou–Shilin
Technology Park could be signed as early as tomorrow.

Deputy Mayor Lee Shu-chuan says the document has been sent to NVIDIA's U-S
headquarters, with progress moving smoothly.

The deal involves a 12.2-billion-NT rights fee, and negotiations were
finalized earlier this month.

While tomorrow is the target, officials expect the signing to conclude no
later than Friday, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Li added that details of the signing ceremony, including who will attend and
represent NVIDIA, will be left to the company to decide.

(IG)

Child deaths and injuries in Taiwan rose 33 percent in 2025, with traffic
accidents accounting for the largest share.

The Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation reported that 47 children under the
age of 14 were killed and 354 injured during the year.

Traffic safety remains the most serious category, accounting for 164 deaths
and injuries.

Foundation Executive Director Hsu Ya-jen (許雅荏) cited police data showing
that many child casualties occur when safety equipment is not used in
passenger vehicles.

She said proper use of a child safety seat can reduce the risk of death by
about 71 percent, with rear-facing seating offering further protection.

Meanwhile... China has released a white paper covering Hong Kong's practice
of safeguarding national security to ensure stability in the financial hub.

The paper claimed that China stayed true to its policy of One Country, Two
Systems in Hong Kong and emphasised that the highest principle of the policy
was to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.

It further detailed what it called the "unrelenting fight for safeguarding
national security and the central government's fundamental responsibility for
national security matters concerning Hong Kong.

The paper rejected criticism that Hong Kong's freedoms were being threatened,
saying instead that Beijing had applied a holistic approach to national
security, and effectively exercised overall jurisdiction over the HKSAR in
accordance with the country's Constitution and the HKSAR's Basic Law."

The paper was released a day after Jimmy Lai was sentenced.

Aviation officials in Cuba have warned warned airlines that there isn’t
enough fuel for airplanes to refuel on the island.

Its the latest step in its moves to ration energy as the Trump administration
cuts the Caribbean nation off from its fuel resources.

The rationing is not expected to discrupt shorter regional flights... but it
does present a significant challenge for long-haul routes from countries like
Russia and Canada — a critical pillar of Cuba’s tourism economy.

Air Canada has already suspended flights to the island... while other
airlines announced delays and layovers in the Dominican Republic before
flights continued to Havana.

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in market news...

Asian stocks advanced for a second day in early trading on Tuesday, led by an
extended rally in Tokyo's benchmark after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae
Takaichi's decisive election victory.

On Wall Street, equities also managed to eke out gains... as Seth Sutel
reports.


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The Tai-Ex opened up 35-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 32,440
on turnover of $5.9-billion N-T.

Shares in Taiwan closed more than 600 points higher Monday, as a strong rally
in the United States late last week prompted investors to buy large-cap
electronics stocks.

Contract chipmaker TSMC failed to hold onto all of its earlier gains, with
analysts saying investors turned cautious ahead of the Lunar New Year
holiday, amid concerns over possible negative developments overseas.

And old-economy stocks were largely overshadowed by the technology sector,
although some industries tied to AI development attracted interest.

The union at TaiDoc Technology protested yesterday outside the Ministry of
Labor.

It'd accusing the medical device maker of undermining its operations,
including illegally dismissing its chair, Filipino worker Elizabeth Basas.

Notices posted around the workplace allegedly humiliated her and warned other
employees against joining the union.

Union director Lennon Wang said the group, formed six months ago with about
30 Filipino members, has faced ongoing pressure from management and claimed
the company forced employees to join the union, announcing over 100 new
members unilaterally.

TaiDoc's chair has denied the accusations, calling Wang an "outsider"
illegally interfering and questioning the legitimacy of a recent strike vote.

The Ministry of Labor said it has received a request to investigate the
allegations and urged employers to respect union independence and avoid
improper interference.

Taiwan's top hurdler Zhang Bo-ya (張博雅) secured gold in the women’s
60-meter hurdles at the 2026 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin,
seting a new national record of 8.12 seconds.

The 22-year-old star broke her own national record twice in a single day.

After an initial record-breaking run in the heats, Zhang surged past her
Japanese competitors in the final to take Taiwan’s first gold of the meet.

Her victory capped off a successful weekend for the national team, which
earned one gold and three silver medals.

Notable performances included Chen Wen-pu (陳玟溥), who smashed a 38-year-old
national record in the men’s 60-meter sprint, alongside silvers from long
jumper Lin Yu-tang [林昱堂] and sprinter Liao Yan-jun (廖晏均).

Coach Wang Kuo-hui (王國慧) said the result confirms Zhang’s peak condition
as she prepares for the upcoming outdoor season and Asian Games qualifiers.

Cuban aviation officials have warned airlines of a fuel shortage for
refueling on the island.

This is part of energy rationing as the Trump administration cuts Cuba off
from its fuel sources.

The shortage stems from U.S. political pressure severing Cuba’s access to
oil from Venezuela and Mexico.

Shorter flights may not be affected, but long-haul routes face challenges.

The energy crisis has led to reduced bank hours, suspended cultural events
and halted public transport.

U.S. sanctions have long impacted Cuba, but recent measures have intensified
the situation.