The mother of a Malaysian student murdered in Taiwan says she cannot accept a
court’s decision to spare her daughter’s killer from the death penalty.



In a statement released Thursday, the mother criticized the Kaohsiung High
Court for overturning the death sentence previously given to Liang Yu-chih.

The court ruled that the 2020 rape and murder did not meet the legal
threshold for the "most serious" of crimes.



The mother argued that the court focused too much on the possibility of
rehabilitation (（囚犯）獲得改造).

She noted that professional psychiatric assessments found the killer had a
high risk of committing another crime, and urged the judiciary to consider
public safety and the protection of future victims in its sentencing.



Liang had been sentenced to death in three previous trials.

The court now says life imprisonment and psychological treatment are
sufficient because the murder was not proven to be premeditated.

The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office says it plans to appeal the new ruling.

Authorities have recalled more than 3,200 bottles of olive oil after
discovering a major food fraud operation that blended expensive oil with
cheap canola oil.



The Taipei Department of Health fined Rong & Chyi International $4-million NT
for mislabeling.

The Investigation Bureau says the scheme involved two companies that
allegedly mixed up to 500 liters of canola oil for every 50 liters of olive
oil.

Investigators raided a manufacturing site in New Taipei and found equipment
used to mix the oils.

The bureau estimates the operation made about $15-million NT in illegal
profits.



Health officials have notified online platforms and local authorities in 17
cities and counties to remove the product from shelves.

The heads of both companies have been released on bail as the fraud (騙局)
investigation continues.

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo say 24 people have died
of measles across the country since the beginning of this year.

Most victims are young children due to low vaccination coverage (疫苗接種率).

The hardest-hit areas are in the country's east where an armed conflict has
been raging between government forces and the M23 rebels since 2021.

Chris Ocamringa reports

The U.N. Security Council has criticized Haitian authorities for the lack of
progress in achieving a political transition and reforms to tackle (應對)
increasing violence.

The council condemned the upsurge in violence by gangs and criminal groups,
pointing to human rights violations and widespread abuses.

The council resolution was co-sponsored by the United States and Panama and
adopted unanimously (一致地) Thursday.

It extends the U.N.’s political mission in Haiti until Jan. 31, 2027.

The resolution also revises the mission's mandate to focus on facilitating a
“national dialogue” to support efforts to hold municipal, parliamentary and
presidential elections.

The Tai-Ex opened up 24-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
32,828, on turnover of $11-billion N-T.

The Taiwan stock market hit a record high today as shares of chipmaker
T-S-M-C soared to a new peak, and memory chip suppliers also saw big gains.

Analysts say the surge was driven by investor optimism over the artificial
intelligence boom and upcoming earnings reports from U.S. tech giants like
Microsoft and Meta.

Beyond tech, petrochemical stocks rose because of higher crude oil prices and
tensions in Iran, while electric machinery companies also gained value as the
government works to improve the national power grid.

However, some analysts warn the market could face resistance as it approaches
the 33,000-point mark.

(NS)

Prosecutors are seeking to detain the Taiwanese manager of a gambling ring
accused of laundering money from China through local shell companies.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office says a Chinese national set up several
companies in Taiwan starting in 2016.

The group allegedly hired engineers to design gambling software for overseas
markets, then used fake transactions and false invoices to move illegal
profits back into Taiwan.

On Tuesday, authorities searched four locations and questioned 12 people,
including accountants and engineers.

Nine suspects were released on bail.

But prosecutors are asking the court to hold the Taiwanese manager without
bail, citing the risk that he might collude (串通) with others.

(NS)

A new report warns that combined (合併的) war casualties in Russia's war on
Ukraine could soon hit 2 million

AP correspondent Laurence Brooks reports

German investigators searched the offices of Deutsche Bank, Germany’s
largest, on Wednesday in connection with an investigation into possible money
laundering.

Prosecutors in Frankfurt said that the probe focused on the bank’s prior
(事先的) business relationships to foreign entities which were in turn
suspected of being used to launder money.

Offices were searched in Frankfurt, where the bank is headquartered, and in
Berlin.

The bank said it was cooperating with investigators.

Rwanda has said it is suing the United Kingdom to seek payments over an
aborted, controversial migrant deal under which the East African nation was
to host deported asylum seekers from the European country.

The migrant deal entered into force on April 25 2024.

In July 2024, shortly after taking office, Prime Minister Keir Starmer
announced that the deal was “dead and buried.”

In 2023, the UK Supreme Court found the deal between Rwanda and the UK to be
“unlawful,” ruling that it violated both UK law and international law and
ordering it to be scrapped.

Some legal experts have questioned whether parties to an unlawful contract
can seek financial remedies (補救措施).

The Tai-Ex opened up 64-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 32,381
on turnover of $8.5--billion N-T.

With contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing regaining its
footing and rebounding from a session earlier, shares in Taiwan closed at
another record high Tuesday.

The buying in TSMC shares spread to other semiconductor stocks, with
investors betting that orders for more mature chip processes would shift, as
TSMC cuts that capacity (生產能力) in favor of more advanced chip
manufacturing.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration says that cancellation fees for domestic
offshore flights during holiday periods will be raised to up to 30% of the
ticket price.

The new tiered (分層的) fee system will take effect in March, and be applied
for the first time on the Labor Day long weekend.

Under current rules, domestic offshore tickets sold for holidays for three
days or more carry restrictions (限制)...

such as "valid only for the booked flight" or "expired if unused" with
cancellation fees capped at 10% if refunds are requested before departure.

But under the new rules, cancellation fees will vary based on how close the
refund request is to the flight's departure time.

Officials say, the changes are intended to curb seat hoarding (囤積) during
peak travel periods...

as some passengers book multiple flights and cancel later.

Spain will grant legal status to potentially hundreds of thousands of
immigrants living and working in the country without authorization.

Spain's migration minister says the government plans to amend immigration
laws by expedited (加急的) decree, offering legal residency and work permits
for up to one year.

This applies to those who arrived before Dec. 31, 2025, and have lived in
Spain for at least five months without a criminal record.

The minister says the measure could benefit an estimated 500-thousand people.

Many are from countries in Latin America and Africa and work in agriculture,
tourism or service jobs, backbones of Spain’s booming economy.

Social media giant TikTok has settled a lawsuit claiming the platform
deliberately addicts and harms children.

However, Meta and YouTube are still facing similar claims as a landmark
(具有重大意義的，標誌性的) trial gets underway in Los Angeles.

Ira Spitzer reports.

and finally.....

Paul Thomas Anderson’s politically charged action thriller “One Battle
After Another” leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards, with 14
nominations including acting nods for five of its cast.

Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” is close behind with
13 nominations, while Chloe Zhao’s Shakespearean tragedy “Hamnet” and Josh
Safdie’s ping-pong odyssey (漫長而驚險的旅程) “Marty Supreme” have 11
apiece.

The winners will be announced at a Feb. 22 ceremony in London.

The U.K. prizes — officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards — often
provide clues about who will triumph at Hollywood’s Academy Awards.

The Tai-Ex opened up 31-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 32,095
on turnover of $9.3-billion N-T.

The market smashed closing records on Monday after breaching the 32,000-point
mark as buying rotated to the old economy sector.

Analysts say the main board's momentum extended from the recent significant
gains, as raw material suppliers attracted strong investor interest, while
interest in tech stocks saw a downturn.

Two Japanese Nebuta artists will be crafting (手工製作) the large lantern
floats for this year's Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi County.

Artists Makoto Suwa and Hiromi Hayashi from Japan's Aomori City were invited
to create the lantern floats for the General Association of Chinese Culture.

Nebuta are traditional lantern floats handmade with wood, metal wire and
paper.

According to the General Association of Chinese Culture, the two artists will
create nebuta for Chiayi County's Pei Tien Temple, featuring the deities Mazu
and Hu Ye, for Lantern Festival - which will be taking place from March 3
through 15.

Both Suwa and Hayashi have previously visited Taiwan to exhibit their nebuta
works, but this will be the first time they produce nebuta from scratch in
Taiwan.

The floats will be taking part in the festival parade on the evening of March
7.

A U.N. aid convoy has delivered humanitarian supplies to Kobani in northeast
Syria.

This marks the first aid delivery since fighting began between Syrian
government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces earlier this
month.

A ceasefire, announced Tuesday and extended Saturday, is mostly holding
despite sporadic skirmishes (斷斷續續的小規模戰鬥).

Kobani residents have faced electricity and water cuts and shortages of
essentials (必需品).

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 24 trucks
delivered supplies, including food and medical kits.

The fighting has displaced over 173-thousand people.

A new agreement aims to merge SDF fighters with government forces.

The UK is among ten other European countries to work on a clean energy scheme
(方案) by producing more wind farms in the North sea.

The aim of the project, to be agreed at a summit in Germany on Monday, is to
move away from fossil fuels and strengthen energy security.

Lara Bentley reports

Canada’s last captive whales have a received a reprieve from death after the
Canadian government conditionally approved a plan to export them to the
United States.

The country's fisheries minister met with officials from Marineland, the
shuttered theme park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, to talk about its
proposed plan to move the animals south.

The park is in discussions with four U.S. institutions to take its 30 belugas
and four dolphins.

The park had said it was running out of funds and the animals would be
euthanized (安樂死) if the export permits were not authorized by Jan. 30-th.