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.

According to Shield AI President Brandon Tseng, the partnership will enable
(使...能夠) drone forces being produced in Taiwan to include cutting-edge AI
pilots that will allow the U-A-V's to operate while G-P-S and communications
are jammed.

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 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 (持續的) 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.

The Trump administration says it will end its immigration enforcement (執行)
operation in the state of Minnesota, claiming the state is now safer because
of their work.

This comes after the deaths of at least two people, both shot by immigration
or federal border agents.

Mitch McCann reports:

UNICEF says that the recruitment of children by armed groups in Haiti tripled
last year as poverty and violence deepens across the troubled Caribbean
country.

The surge reported Thursday comes as gang violence displaces a record 1.4
million people across Haiti.

More than half of them are children whom experts say are left exposed and
vulnerable (易受傷害的; 易受攻擊的).

The U.N. estimates that 30% to 50% of members of armed groups are children,
with recruiting (招募) starting as young as 9 years old.

UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, said boys generally act as spies, carry
ammunition and weapons while girls often face sexual violence and are tasked
with domestic work.

Paris prosecutors say police are detaining nine people in an investigation
into a long-running ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre museum.

Prosecutors say the arrests happened on Tuesday.

The museum had filed a complaint in December 2024.

Investigators found tour guides repeatedly reuse the same tickets for
different visitors.

Prosecutors say guides also split groups to avoid a required speaking fee.

Two Louvre employees allegedly helped skipping (略過) ticket checks in
exchange for cash.

The prosecutors' office estimates losses top 10 million euros over a decade.

Prosecutors also mentioned similar suspicions regarding a ticket fraud at the
Palace of Versailles, without providing details.

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 (保證) full municipal support.

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.

Nvidia C-E-O Jensen Huang is scheduled to visit Taiwan from June 2 to 5 for
Computex Taipei.

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
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.

And,

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 in line with (與…一致,符合,按照)
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.

US lawmakers have voted to terminate President Donald Trump's tariffs on
Canada - with six Republicans joining Democrats in the House of
Representatives.

The resolution passed 219 to 211 - sending the bill to the Senate where a
similar (相似的) measure passed last year.

Toni Waterman has more.

A team of researchers say that human-caused climate change had an important
impact on the recent wildfires that engulfed parts of Chile and Argentina’s
Patagonia region.

That's according to a report released Wednesday by World Weather Attribution,
a scientific initiative that investigates extreme weather events.

The report says the hot, dry and gusty weather that fed last month’s deadly
wildfires in central and southern Chile was made around 200% more likely by
human-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Ande the high-fire-risk conditions that fueled (激起，助長) the blazes still
racing through southern Argentina were made 150% more likely.

World Weather Attribution says “These trends are projected to continue in
the future as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels.”

The Tai-Ex opened marginally higher this morning from yesterday's close, at
33,086 on turnover of 12.1-billion N-T.

The market ended at a high of just over 33,000 points on Tuesday as Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing registered strong gains after its American
depositary receipts closed at a record price overnight.

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

According to Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin, initial assessments indicate
that the impact on domestic industrial output could exceed (超過) 1-per cent
but will remain "manageable."

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

Kung also says any tariff arrangements will apply only to US-made vehicles
and such vehicles will be defined only if they meet country of origin and
value-added content requirements consistent with existing international
standards.

The Ministry of the Interior says the island's population fell for a 25th
consecutive month in January -- with the number of live births falling by 304
from December of 2025.

According to the latest data, as of the end of January, the population
totaled 23,289,045, down 10,087 from December.

A total of 8,723 babies were born in January, 304 fewer than in December and
772 fewer than a year earlier.

The interior ministry says that translates to roughly one birth every 5.1
minutes and an annual crude birth rate (粗出生率) of 4.41 per 1,000 people.

Deaths totaled 17,529 in January, or about one every 2.5 minutes and the
crude death rate was 8.86 per 1,000 people

The White House has defended US President Donald Trump's threat to block the
opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Ontario with
Michigan.

Trump has told Canada his administration needs to be "fully compensated for
everything", despite (儘管) both countries co-owning the bridge.

Nick Harper reports from Washington on the White House press secretary
Karoline Leavitt's comments.

Chile has launched the first open-source AI language model trained on Latin
American culture.

Called Latam-GPT, the two-year effort is led by Chile's National Center of
Artificial Intelligence and supported by over 30 institutions.

It aims to reflect regional realities in AI.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric emphasized the importance of Latin America's
role in the AI revolution.

Latam-GPT, announced at the February 2025 Artificial Intelligence Action
Summit in Paris, addresses linguistic biases (語言的偏誤) in models trained
mainly on English data.

It uses Latin American data and will initially operate in Spanish and
Portuguese, with plans to include Indigenous languages later.

Tai-Ex opens higher on Wall Street rally

The Tai-Ex opened up 35 points this morning from yesterday's close, at 32,440
on turnover (成交額) of $5.9 billion NT.

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

Old-economy stocks (傳產股) were largely overshadowed by the technology
sector, although some industries tied to AI development attracted interest.

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

It's accusing the medical device maker of undermining (破壞) 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 (單方面地).

TaiDoc's chair has denied the accusations, calling Wang an "outsider"
illegally interfering (非法干預) and questioning the legitimacy (合法性) 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 (工會自主權)
and avoid improper interference (不當干預).

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,
setting 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
(亞運資格賽).

In international news,

Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker for Jeffrey Epstein, has
refused to answer US lawmakers' questions at a closed-door hearing, asserting
her Fifth Amendment right (保持緘默權).

She used the session to ask for clemency (寬赦), saying she would "speak
fully" if pardoned (特赦) by US president Donald Trump.

Nick Harper reports from Washington.

Cuban aviation officials have warned airlines of a fuel shortage (燃料短缺)
for refueling on the island.

This is part of energy rationing (能源配給) 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 (制裁) have long impacted Cuba, but recent measures have
intensified the situation.