content_text:
China plans to approve some imports of Nvidia Corp’s H200 chips as soon as this quarter, people familiar with the situation said, giving the company access to a critical market.

Chinese officials are preparing to allow local companies to buy the chips from Nvidia for select commercial use, the people said.

However, the H200 chip would be barred from the military, sensitive government agencies, critical infrastructure and state-owned enterprises due to security concerns, they said.

The Nvidia logo and a Chinese flag are seen in this illustration taken last year. Photo: Reuters

If these organizations still ask to use the component, applications would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, the people added.

Even with the qualifications, the move represents a win for Nvidia. China is the world’s largest market for semiconductors, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) has said that the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market alone could generate US$50 billion in the coming years. In the US firm’s absence, local rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Cambricon Technologies Corp (寒武紀) have thrived and plan to sharply increase production this year.

The H200 is an older-generation chip that the US President Donald Trump’s administration has said can be exported to China. The US government restricts sales of more advanced processors on national security grounds. Nvidia is the leading maker of AI accelerators — the chips that help develop and run AI models — which are highly prized by data center operators.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) and ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動) have privately told Nvidia that they want to order more than 200,000 units each of the H200, a person familiar with the matter said.

Both companies — alongside prominent Chinese start-ups, including DeepSeek (深度求索) — are rapidly upgrading their models to compete with OpenAI and other US rivals.

title: China planning to green-light Nvidia chip sales


title: Eclat Textile optimistic about sales this quarter

content_text:
Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻) yesterday projected that sales this quarter would be flat or slightly higher than the previous quarter, as brand clients are expected to resume orders after reaching healthier inventory levels.

The company’s optimistic outlook is also supported by some orders being deferred from last quarter to this quarter due to shipping schedule problems, Eclat spokesperson Tiffany Lin (林芬如) told the state-run Central News Agency.

As brand clients reported stronger-than-expected sales over the year-end holiday shopping season in the US, the company is cautiously optimistic about this year’s business prospects, with order visibility of about six months from now, Lin said.

Eclat Textile Co’s logo is pictured at the company’s booth during a textile trade show in Taipei on Oct. 15, 2024. Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times

Eclat, which counts global brands such as Nike Inc, Gap Inc, Target Corp, Lululemon Athletica Inc and Under Armour Inc among its top customers, yesterday reported that revenue for last month rose 14.12 percent from November to NT$3.3 billion (US$104.5 million).

However, the figure fell 3.57 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Lin said last month’s sales performance would have been even better, as about NT$450 million worth of orders were deferred to this year due to shipping schedule issues.

Fourth-quarter revenue was NT$9.26 billion, down 3.83 percent from the previous quarter and 3.2 percent from a year earlier.

The figure was lower than market expectations of NT$9.69 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$9.68 billion.

Eclat’s full-year revenue totaled NT$37.99 billion for last year, representing an annual increase of 3.15 percent. Yuanta had expected NT$38.41 billion.

Yuanta expects Eclat’s operating momentum this year to be sustained by stable orders, with revenue projected to increase 4.03 percent year-on-year to NT$39.52 billion, it said in a note.

“For 2026, Eclat will continue its development projects with brand clients, with likely three new clients — including one US brand, one retail channel, and one brand operating across European and Asian markets,” Yuanta said.

“Meanwhile, expectations for rising prices will push consumers to purchase in advance, likely helping brands to digest inventory. We also expect the FIFA World Cup to boost restocking orders and demand this year, helping drive a sales recovery for Eclat,” it added.


content_text:
Taiwan stock market sets six records in 2025, eyes global No. 6

Taiwan’s stock market set six record highs in 2025 and is aiming to overtake Canada to become the world’s sixth-largest equity market by capitalization, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said yesterday.

TWSE data showed that six key indicators reached all-time highs last year: the year-end benchmark index, average daily turnover, total market capitalization of listed firms, combined revenue of listed companies, funds raised through initial public offerings (IPOs), and securities transaction tax revenue.

Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, TWSE chairman Sherman Lin (林修銘) said global markets last year were shaped by rising geopolitical risks, intensifying trade protectionism and heightened volatility. Despite these challenges, Taiwan’s equity market demonstrated resilience and steady growth, he said.

Taiwan Stock Exchange chairman Sherman Lin speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

According to the TWSE, the TAIEX closed the final trading session of last year at 28,963.6 points, while average daily turnover reached a record NT$416 billion (US$13.17 billion).

A total of 45 companies applied to be listed last year, the highest number since 2008, while IPO fundraising climbed to a record NT$85 billion, the exchange said.

In the first 11 months of last year, total revenue generated by all listed companies hit a historic high of NT$42.89 trillion, the TWSE said.

Securities transaction tax revenue over the same period totaled NT$261.6 billion, with the full-year figure still being finalized but expected to set another record, it said.

By the end of last year, total market capitalization of listed companies stood at NT$94.36 trillion, placing Taiwan eighth globally by market value, the exchange said.

The rally extended into early this year, with the TAIEX breaking the 30,000-point threshold this week. As of Tuesday, total market capitalization had risen to NT$99.6 trillion, allowing Taiwan to overtake France and rank seventh worldwide, Lin said.

The exchange’s next goal is to surpass Canada, currently ranked sixth by market value, he said, adding that the gap between Taiwan’s stock market and Canada’s is about NT$15 trillion.

TWSE president Edith Lee (李愛玲) said the combined market capitalization of listed and over-the-counter companies has already reached NT$106.72 trillion, or about US$3.41 trillion, consolidating Taiwan’s position as the world’s seventh-largest equity market.

Lee added that if heavyweight stocks — particularly Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) — continue to gain, Taiwan could move up another notch in the global rankings.


title: Hello  robot

content_text: An attendee waves at the Sentigent Technology ROVAR X3 outdoor companion robot as it is demonstrated during the annual CES in Las Vegas yesterday.


content_text:
Following the US’ stunning 140-minute operation to capture then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife on Saturday last week, there are ripples of concern on whether China would follow suit and take action against Taiwan and its leaders.

The US Department of Justice in 2020 indicted Maduro on charges of transnational cocaine trafficking, narcoterrorism, money laundering and cooperation with armed gangs that endanger the security of the US and its citizens. The US does not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s administration, following the widely disputed 2024 presidential vote that international observers described as fraudulent.

Amid debates on whether the US’ strike on Venezuela violated international norms, Washington has defended the operation as “a surgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the US military against two fugitives of American justice,” not targeting the land or people of Venezuela.

What has drawn wide attention is the operation’s manifestation of US President Donald Trump’s administration’s so-called “Donroe Doctrine” — a reassertion of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine that opposes foreign interference in the western hemisphere. Washington is now focused on the expansionism of its major rivals — China and Russia— especially on countering growing Chinese infiltration and influence in the US’ “backyard.”

The US National Security Strategy report released last month has already stressed the country’s priority and focus: defending US interests by restoring the nation’s pre-eminence in the western hemisphere, and competing with China economically and militarily.

In Taiwan, the US operation has triggered concerns whether China would take similar actions against the nation. However, from Beijing’s perspective, the US action stands as a clear warning that Chinese leaders need to be more prudent about aggression against Taiwan. Any military move to change the “status quo” in Taiwan Strait would definitely affect US interests in the first island chain and the Asia-Pacific region, which Washington would defend with all options, including military force.

The Venezuela strike has also shown the US’ capabilities for cross-regional projection and military joint operations, as well as the Trump administration’s efficient decisionmaking and determination to defend national interests. It further bore out the superiority of US military forces, as the Chinese and Russian-made weapons and air-defense systems that Venezuela purchased and relied on for defense proved ineffective against military intrusion.

National security officials have said that “the US strike in Venezuela should be a powerful deterrent to Beijing aggression, and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons.”

Taiwan ranked 22nd in a Global Fire Power ranking, possessing more advanced military forces and defense weapons than Venezuela, which placed 50th. Pundits have said that China is unlikely to succeed in capturing Taiwan’s leaders, because “Taiwan operates a much more extensive and elaborate air defense network.” Given a sound democratic system, any operation to remove Taiwan’s leader would not cripple the nation’s continuous governance and operation.

Chinese aggression had never and will never be restrained by international regulations. However, any decision it makes would not be focused on Taiwan alone, as it has to take into account moves and deterrence by the US and its allies, and how much an invasion or military confrontation across the Taiwan Strait could cost it.

Although China is unlikely to change its Taiwan policy in response to the Venezuela strike, Taiwan needs to learn from the US operation and upgrade its defense system and asymmetric weapons for advanced, precise and efficient national defense.

As the Trump administration has approved a historical amount of arms sales to Taiwan and passed bills to enhance cooperation in military training and arms production, opposition legislators should put national security ahead of political confrontation and work with the executive branch to speed up approval of the defense budget to show Taiwan’s determination to bolster its self-defense.

One thing that should not be overlooked is the intelligence and espionage network in Venezuela that contributed largely to the success of the US operation. Faced with China’s escalating “gray zone” tactics and cognitive warfare, Taiwan should remain alert and contain the pro-China forces and espionage networks within the nation that seek to undermine national security.

Taiwanese should unite to demonstrate a collective determination to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty and democracy instead of relying on external aid for security. Determination and preparedness for self-

defense are the best deterrence against all threats.

title: EDITORIAL: Lessons from US strike on Venezuela


content_text:
A recent piece of international news has drawn surprisingly little attention, yet it deserves far closer scrutiny. German industrial heavyweight Siemens Mobility has reportedly outmaneuvered long-entrenched Chinese competitors in Southeast Asian infrastructure to secure a strategic partnership with Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Vingroup.

The agreement positions Siemens to participate in the construction of a high-speed rail link between Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. German media were blunt in their assessment: This was not merely a commercial win, but has symbolic significance in “reshaping geopolitical influence.”

At first glance, this might look like a routine outcome of corporate bidding. However, placed in the context of Vietnam’s recent political and economic transformation, it becomes clear that this was a highly politicized infrastructure decision. Particularly telling is the comprehensive cooperation agreement between VinSpeed and Siemens that includes technology transfer, even though Vingroup — VinSpeed’s parent company — later announced its withdrawal from the massive US$67 billion North-South high-speed rail investment.

This carefully calibrated advance-and-retreat suggests that Vietnam is not simply accepting foreign capital, but actively redefining the terms under which it enters the country.

Since taking office in 2024, Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam has continued the reform trajectory set by his predecessor. While attracting foreign investment, he has made it clearer that Vietnam “will not allow key construction projects to become dependent on foreign countries.”

This principle has repeatedly surfaced in major state projects in recent years: Capital and technology could be imported, but control and the learning curve must remain at home. It is against this backdrop that China and Japan have gradually lost their edge.

China’s advantages in cost and construction speed are undeniable, while Japan has long been favored by Hanoi for its institutional credibility and engineering quality. Yet both have been reluctant to offer meaningful technology transfer or leave room for indigenous innovation. Germany’s willingness to put technology transfer on the table elevated it from a “third option” to the preferred partner.

This does not mean Vietnam has suddenly turned hostile toward Chinese investment. On the contrary, the two share a communist system and party-led governance, and are often portrayed as following similar economic reform paths. However, any analysis that ignores the long history of animosity and deep-rooted nationalist sentiment between the two misses the point. Vietnamese wariness toward overreliance on China often runs deeper than in many democratic societies.

Timing also matters. Vietnam is simultaneously seeking to repair its relationship with Germany. The 2017 abduction of fugitive Vietnamese state company official Trinh Xuan Thanh in Berlin plunged bilateral ties into a deep freeze. Vietnam’s relatively Moscow-leaning stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine has further fueled German unease. In this context, high-speed rail cooperation functions as a diplomatic confidence-building measure, not merely an economic calculation.

From a political science perspective, Vietnam’s approach does not neatly fit the classic notion of a “hedging strategy,” whereby mid-sized states try to keep great powers at arm’s length to avoid choosing sides. Instead, it looks more like proactive de-risking. Rather than compromising out of fear, Vietnam is using competition among external powers to constrain their structural influence and is willing to sideline actors once deemed indispensable.

The implications for Taiwan are clear. Many nations’ relationships with China are far less solid than Beijing claims and certainly not monolithic. They, too, are grappling with how to prevent key industries, infrastructure and political decisionmaking from being captured by a single major power. The difference lies in response: Some endure the pressure passively, while others — Vietnam among them — convert structural vulnerability into negotiating leverage.

Vietnam’s North-South high-speed rail project would inevitably draw on substantial foreign capital and diverse technologies, creating a tangible opening for Taiwan to consider. The Taiwanese government’s emphasis on “non-red supply chains” and its “three-chain strategy” is, at its core, an economic security framework designed to counter authoritarian economic penetration and supply-chain risk. That logic aligns closely with Vietnam’s own push for de-risking and its insistence on avoiding dependence on any single great power.

It is not just Vietnam, either. Many countries long constrained by Chinese markets, capital and technology are actively searching for alternative partners. If Taiwan could move beyond a purely passive role in global supply chains, and instead leverage its experience in efficiency, financing and technological integration to offer compelling cooperation packages, it would not only participate in these countries’ transitions, it might well emerge as an indispensable node in the next phase of geoeconomic realignment.

Wang Hung-jen is a professor at National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Political Science and executive director of the Institute for National Policy Research.

Translated by Lin Lee-kai

title: German high-speed rail in Vietnam


content_text:
China often describes itself as the natural leader of the global south: a power that respects sovereignty, rejects coercion and offers developing countries an alternative to Western pressure. For years, Venezuela was held up — implicitly and sometimes explicitly — as proof that this model worked.

Today, Venezuela is exposing the limits of that claim.

Beijing’s response to the latest crisis in Venezuela has been striking not only for its content, but for its tone. Chinese officials have abandoned their usual restrained diplomatic phrasing and adopted language that is unusually direct by Beijing’s standards. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the US action as “forcibly seizing” Venezuela’s president and his wife, called it a “clear violation of international law and the UN Charter,” demanded that they be “released at once,” and urged Washington to “stop toppling the government of Venezuela.”

This is not how China normally speaks. In previous Venezuelan crises — whether during contested elections, sanctions escalation or internal unrest — Beijing’s language was carefully calibrated. Officials typically said China “expressed concern,” “opposed external interference” and “hoped all parties would exercise restraint.” Even when criticizing US sanctions, Beijing avoided explicit accusations or demands.

The rhetorical escalation is deliberate. Beijing wants to signal that this episode crosses a red line — not merely for Venezuela, but for the principle of noninterference that China claims to champion across the developing world.

Chinese state media have reinforced that framing. Commentaries published by Chinese state media have portrayed the US move as an assertion of hegemony in the western hemisphere, warned of dangerous precedents for regime change, and linked the crisis to energy politics and strategic dominance. Senior Chinese officials have criticized the idea of any country acting as the “world’s judge” or “world’s policeman,” a familiar refrain when Beijing seeks to rally global south audiences against US power.

For all its verbal escalation, China has shown little inclination to take on real responsibility in Venezuela. There has been no visible Chinese mediation initiative, no serious effort to shape negotiations and no indication that Beijing is willing to absorb the economic or political costs of stabilizing a heavily sanctioned and deeply fragile state.

This contrast is the heart of the problem. China is willing to speak loudly, but not to act decisively.

From Beijing’s perspective, this caution is rational. Venezuela is a high-risk partner with weak institutions and limited capacity to repay debts. Any deep involvement would expose Chinese banks and firms to legal, financial and reputational damage. Risk avoidance has become a defining feature of China’s overseas posture.

Yet China cannot have it both ways. It cannot claim leadership of the global south while consistently declining the burdens that leadership entails.

Venezuela is not an isolated case. Across the developing world, China’s influence increasingly looks transactional rather than transformational. Debt renegotiations have been slow and opaque. Security initiatives are broad in rhetoric, but thin in execution. When instability threatens, Beijing tends to distance itself rather than step forward.

Latin America is watching closely. Governments understand China’s economic importance, but Venezuela is reinforcing a sobering lesson: Alignment with Beijing does not guarantee meaningful political backing in moments of crisis. This is where the question of Honduras — and its relationship with Taiwan — enters the picture.

Honduras’ 2023 decision to sever ties with Taiwan and recognize Beijing was widely framed as evidence of China’s growing gravitational pull in the global south. Economic incentives clearly mattered. Venezuela complicates the broader strategic calculation. If China’s partnerships are primarily commercial — offering trade and investment, but limited political protection — then the long-term value of diplomatic realignment becomes less certain.

Beijing’s campaign to marginalize Taipei depends on persuading developing countries that China is not only economically indispensable, but strategically reliable. Events in Venezuela undermine that argument. It shows that China’s support is conditional, cautious and ultimately subordinate to its own risk calculations.

Taiwan, by contrast, has often emphasized reliability over scale: consistent engagement, transparency and long-term partnership rather than sweeping promises. In an increasingly multipolar global south, where states hedge rather than align wholesale, credibility might matter as much as capital.

China’s influence is not collapsing. It remains a major power with vast economic reach. Venezuela exposes a structural tension at the core of China’s global south strategy. Beijing wants the authority and moral standing of leadership without consistently paying its costs.

The sharper language coming out of Beijing suggests frustration — and perhaps recognition that its principles are being tested. Yet condemnation alone cannot close the credibility gap. Venezuela is forcing China to choose between being a powerful, but cautious transactional partner and becoming the leader it claims to be.

So far, China has chosen words over responsibility. For audiences across Latin America and the Indo-Pacific — including Taiwan — that choice is becoming increasingly hard to ignore.

Aadil Brar is a Taipei-based journalist and geopolitical analyst.

title: China: All words and no action


content_text:
What began as a seemingly minor dispute on social media has unexpectedly highlighted forms of inequality within education systems that often go unnoticed. Late last year, a National Taiwan University (NTU) student shared observations on social media about classmates’ upbringing and life experiences, describing the intangible yet very real effects of “privilege” on campus and in everyday life. The post quickly ignited debate, centering on a key question: Does admission to Chien Kuo High School — long regarded as Taiwan’s most prestigious boys’ high school based on entrance exam scores — constitute a form of privilege in itself?

Underlying this discussion is an implicit assumption: the more resources and support a family can provide, the greater a student’s likelihood of entering higher-ranked schools.

Taiwan’s education system is built around highly standardized examinations, a feature it shares with other East Asian societies. Although education reforms since the 1990s have sought to reduce the decisive role of exams in determining students’ futures, this system remains firmly in place. In practice, it often amplifies disparities in family resources rather than neutralizing them.

“Privilege” extends beyond household wealth or spending on education. It includes whether students can devote themselves fully to studying without bearing responsibilities such as earning a living or caring for family members, and whether they live in urban areas, where long commutes do not drain time and energy. These conditions, rooted in one’s family background, frequently translate into academic advantages, giving students from more favorable circumstances a greater chance of success within the education system.

Academic research offers supporting data for these patterns. A series of studies titled Who Are NTU Students? (誰是臺大學生？) by Luoh Ming-ching (駱明慶), an NTU professor of economics, shows that students admitted to Taiwan’s highest-ranked university disproportionately come from a small number of elite high schools, such as Chien Kuo. These students’ families are heavily concentrated in Taipei. Such households are more likely to provide stable learning environments, including access to private tutoring, shorter commuting times and freedom from financial pressure, allowing students to devote nearly all their time and energy to exam preparation.

At the same time, Luoh’s research indicates that policies promoting diversified admission pathways have indeed improved access to top universities for students from rural areas and lower-income families. Even so, structural disparities within the system remain substantial.

Similar conclusions have been reached by international research. A study by US economists Nicholas W. Papageorge and Kevin Thom finds that higher socioeconomic status significantly amplifies the positive effect of genetics on the likelihood of completing a college degree. For individuals raised in lower socioeconomic environments, comparable potential is far less likely to be translated into educational attainment.

In discussions online, some have playfully rendered the Mandarin phonetic equivalent of “privilege” as “Thunderous Torque” (霹靂力矩), suggesting that those who have such privilege can effortlessly “turn the levers” of life in dazzling fashion. From a sociological perspective, such expressions are more than wordplay. They reflect shared perceptions of structural inequality and an intuitive awareness of the hidden stratification embedded in everyday educational experiences.

Privilege, in this sense, is not the product of any single factor, but the result of long-standing interactions among family background, institutional design and broader social structures. Taiwan’s case illustrates how education systems, even while promising equal opportunity, might reinforce inequality. When education is widely regarded as a symbol of fair competition, recognizing these subtle yet consequential differences becomes an essential part of public discussion.

Hou Liang-xuan is a writer based in Taiwan with a background in sociology, interested in education policy and social inequality.

title: Making education less of a ‘privilege’


content_text:
What does the US raid in Venezuela mean for China’s designs on Taiwan?The perception that Chinese-made weapons could not stop a ‘decapitation strike’ might give Beijing pause for thought

The sight of a hostile regional superpower launching an overnight raid to depose the leader of a smaller neighboring country could easily have sent pulses in Taiwan racing.

The US on Saturday last week revealed the details of a surprise raid to capture then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, who was whisked away to the US, where he was frogmarched into a court in New York on Monday.

Commentators in China immediately drew comparisons to how an assault on Taiwan could play out.

China, a country with more than 1.4 billion people and the world’s biggest armed forces, has long had designs on Taiwan, a self-governing nation of 23 million in its backyard. The imbalance in power is comparable to that between the US, which possesses the world’s most powerful army, and Venezuela, a small, middle-income country of just 30 million which, like Taiwan, relies on friendly countries for its defense.

British Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chair Emily Thornberry warned that China and Russia might be emboldened by the lack of condemnation for the US’ actions, but events in the Americas are unlikely to change Beijing’s fundamental thinking with regards to Taiwan.

Firstly, although China cares about international narratives with regards to Taiwan, and puts great pressure on other countries to recognize Beijing’s claims on the nation, it does not see the matter as being one of international law. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory and therefore a domestic political matter.

“Beijing has not refrained from kinetic or other actions on Taiwan out of deference to international law and norms. It has pursued a strategy of coercion without violence,” said Ryan Hass, a former US diplomat in Beijing and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Senior international relations academic Shen Dingli (沈丁立) laid out the official view: “Cross-strait relations are not international relations and are not governed by international law. The United States’ approach to Venezuela holds no relevance for cross-strait relations.”

On Chinese social media site Sina Weibo, one popular nationalist government affairs commentator wrote: “Stop linking the US actions in Venezuela to the Taiwan issue ... Their actions constitute a grave violation of international law and an infringement of Venezuela’s sovereignty, whereas our situation is strictly an internal national affair. There is absolutely no ‘comparability’ in terms of nature, methods or objectives.”

Secondly, the biggest deterrence for China in launching an attack on Taiwan is the military balance in the Taiwan Strait. Although China has a more powerful military, Taiwan has the promise of support from the US in the event of an attack.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) last week conducted several days of intense military drills around Taiwan, designed to showcase its ability to blockade the nation and fend off international assistance.

The US Department of Defense believes that the PLA is on track to reach its goal of being able to achieve a “strategic decisive victory” over Taiwan by next year, particularly with its rapid advances in military artificial intelligence, biotechnology and hypersonic missiles.

Rather than feel worried by the news in Venezuela, many in Taiwan said that the successful US military operation might actually give Beijing pause for thought.

Venezuela’s China-sourced weapons failed to defend against the US attack, some said.

Between 2010 and 2020, nearly 90 percent of China’s arms sales to the Americas went to Venezuela, according to ChinaPower, a research project hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Why was the US military able to move in as if no one were there?” Tamkang University associate professor Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑) said.

“Everyone seemed to think that Chinese-made weapons were very impressive after the clashes between Indian and Pakistani air forces,” Lin said, referring to the success of Chinese-made jets used by Pakistan in a brief conflict with India last year. “But now, there seems to be a different interpretation.”

Atlantic Council Global China Hub nonresident fellow Sung Wen-ti (宋文笛) said: “The US military’s capacity for a decapitation strike, especially against Venezuela’s largely Chinese defense systems, ought to provide a deterrent that makes Beijing think about putting their [military] to the test against Washington.”

Still, US President Donald Trump’s flagrant disregard for the international rules-based order, and the speed at which Western leaders have toed Washington’s line, revealed the upending of global norms that is under way. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declined to condemn Trump’s actions, despite the fact that experts have described the attack as illegal under international law. Many European leaders have also equivocated.

China said the US’ “blatant use of force against Venezuela seriously violates international law and basic norms in international relations.”

China, along with Russia, backed an emergency UN Security Council meeting over the legality of the operation.

Taiwan’s government declined to comment on the US’ actions, despite the fact that President William Lai (賴清德) has repeatedly talked of the need to defend the international rules-based order as a means of preventing a Chinese invasion.

One popular Taiwanese blogger said that to prevent itself from becoming “another Venezuela,” Taiwan should avoid causing trouble for the US, such as by becoming a source of drugs or refugees.

In a Facebook post that received more than 30,000 likes, YouTuber Chiu Wei-chieh (邱威傑), also known as “Froggy” Chiu, said that unlike in Venezuela, Taiwan’s leader has the popular support of the people.

“Taiwan should not become Venezuela. That means clenching our five fingers tighter, uniting, and not becoming easy prey in their eyes,” he wrote.


content_text:
Venezuela’s key customer, China’s ‘teapot refiners,’ no longer needs itChina’s appetite for oil has been sated, and demand for petrochemicals and plastics, where Venezuela is less endowed, is rising

From one angle, the US action to arrest then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and seize control of the country’s oil industry is an attempt to muscle China’s influence out of the Americas. In a world breaking up into spheres of influence, the Donroe Doctrine tells Beijing to keep its meddling hands out of the empire of crude that US President Donald Trump is building in the western hemisphere.

And yet China would be central to the next act in Venezuela’s drama — because any durable solution to its long-running crisis is likely to involve someone, somewhere, buying more Venezuelan oil.

“In terms of other countries that want oil, we’re in the oil business, we’re gonna sell it to them,” Trump said on Saturday last week. “We’re not gonna say we’re not gonna give it to them. In other words, we’ll be selling oil, probably in much larger doses.”

That would be easier said than done. China, the biggest contributor to oil demand growth in recent decades and the key customer for Venezuelan crude, is needing smaller doses as consumption shrinks. Any plans to make money from rebuilding Venezuela’s status as a major oil exporter would have to reckon with the fact that the biggest importer is pulling back from the market.

Since the first round of sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry in 2019, its customer base has narrowed to just two countries: The US (where exports are occasionally allowed under a special waiver) and China, the only country with the financial and political muscle to flout Washington’s sanctions regime.

The key players here are the so-called teapot refiners, a collection of privately-owned plants which cluster in Shandong Province south of Beijing. They have attracted a reputation over the years for surviving by the skin of their teeth while competing with better connected, better capitalized state oil companies.

They have been the most important consumers of Venezuelan crude for years. Until about 2021, they were eager buyers of the country’s thick, viscous product — unattractive to many refiners, because it is hard to process — due to its suitability for producing asphalt for road surfaces and roofing. Shandong’s refineries churn out about 40 percent of the total — a good trade when China’s real-estate boom was at its height.

When the property bubble burst in 2021, that trade slumped to barely more than half of where it was at its 2020 peak — but the teapot refiners found a new angle. By buying sanctioned oil from Venezuela, Iran and Russia at steep discounts to normal prices, they have managed to continue eking out the thinnest of margins.

You can get a picture of the scale of this business by looking at Chinese imports of crude from Malaysia, and to a lesser extent Indonesia. Over the past few years, they have run far in excess of the volumes those countries could actually produce. That is a blaring signal that the real source is sanctioned crude getting transferred between ghost-fleet ships in international waters to disguise its origin.

Much now depends on whether China would even be allowed to buy Venezuela’s crude. Trump’s comments suggested he is in the same mercenary mode that has allowed US-China ethane trade to continue largely unhindered through a year of tariff chaos. Still, it is possible that more ideological considerations would lead to Beijing getting blocked. Even without that, a removal of sanctions would certainly raise the price of Venezuelan crude, which might undermine the teapots’ threadbare margins. Meanwhile, the security situation in Caracas appears to be fluid at best. Washington might not have the final say in any outcome.

Either way, it is not clear that there is need out there for more barrels from South America. With electric vehicles now comprising more than half of China’s auto sales, gasoline inventories at the teapots are at their highest seasonal levels in more than two decades. Unlike the US refineries on the coast of Louisiana and Texas best-suited to processing Venezuelan crude, which have been operating at close to 100 percent capacity in recent months, the teapots have been running below 50 percent for most of the past year. India is likely the only other place with the ability and space to process more heavy crude.

From asphalt, to gasoline, diesel and kerosene (which have seen demand stagnate since the COVID-19 pandemic), China’s appetite for oil is sated. Only petrochemicals and plastics are growing, and they depend on light, semi-gaseous hydrocarbons where Venezuela is less generously endowed. The biggest state-owned refiner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, expects the country’s crude demand to peak before next year.

That is a tough climate in which to rebuild an oil industry decimated by decades of corruption and waste. Venezuela needs long-term buyers for its most important export. With global investment in upstream oil extraction declining, there has rarely been a worse time to sign up new customers.

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.


content_text:
The attack on Venezuela leaves China worried about its interests

Hours before his life and the fate of his country was changed dramatically, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was exchanging smiles and handshakes with a Chinese delegation in the presidential palace in Caracas.

On Friday evening last week, shortly before he was seized by US forces, Maduro wrote on Telegram of his meeting with China’s Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Qiu Xiaoqi (邱小琪): “A fraternal meeting that reaffirms the strong bonds of brotherhood and friendship between China and Venezuela. Through thick and thin!”

Those bonds would be put to the test now that US President Donald Trump has upended the government of one of China’s key “all-weather” strategic partners in Latin America, the term officially adopted in a joint statement signed in 2023 by Maduro and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

China has, unlike European countries, led the charge in condemning the US’ actions in removing by force the head of a foreign state. China has also called for Maduro’s release and backed a UN Security Council meeting, requested by Colombia, to debate Trump’s decision to seize him.

Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said: “We have never believed that any country can act as the world’s police, nor do we accept that any nation can claim to be the world’s judge.”

Chinese social media was awash with content condemning the US operation, with many accusing Washington of colonialism, while content that celebrated Maduro’s capture appeared to be censored.

Renmin University Institute of International Affairs director Wang Yiwei (王義桅) said Trump’s actions were “imperialist” and that Venezuela was likely “just the first” country in Latin America to be subjected to this kind of assault.

China has been boosting its diplomacy and investment in Latin America for years, challenging US influence in Washington’s backyard. Last year, Beijing hosted a dialogue between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, and announced that China-Latin America trade had reached a record high of US$519 billion.

So, Beijing would also be concerned about what the crisis in Venezuela means for China’s interests in the oil-rich country and for its influence in the region.

Venezuela is the fourth-biggest recipient of loans from Chinese official lenders, receiving about US$106 billion in commitments between 2000 and 2023, according to AidData, a research institute at William and Mary University in Virginia. In 2024, Venezuela’s debts to China were thought to total about US$10 billion.

China’s top financial regulator on Monday asked major lenders to report their exposure to Venezuela, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.

University of California San Diego professor Victor Shih said: “If under US pressure, the Venezuelan government, which is highly indebted to multiple actors, places US creditors and claimants well ahead of Chinese ones, Chinese banks may see a significant amount of losses.”

As with the US, many of China’s interests in Venezuela are linked to oil.

For years, Beijing has extended credit to Venezuela in loan-for-oil deals, which has made China the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude. Last month, a tanker bound for China and thought to be carrying Venezuelan oil was seized by US forces as part of Trump’s campaign against Maduro’s regime.

The money owed by Venezuelan borrowers is likely to be more important to Beijing than the oil itself. Venezuelan oil only accounts for about 4 percent of China’s total imports.

Shih said Beijing might be able to use its well-established leverage against the US, such as its ability to halt the export of rare earths, to force the US to come to some kind of deal with Chinese creditors.

“For example, future oil proceeds can be split in a way that still leaves substantial cash flows to Chinese creditors, who can restructure the debt to have slightly lower interest and longer duration.”

The economic repercussions for China might rest upon who ultimately takes control in Venezuela.

Trump said the US would “run” the South American country, but this might be in the form of a puppet regime rather than US forces. That would provide Beijing with cover to seek a settlement with Caracas directly rather than negotiate with the US in the midst of an already challenging trade war.

The US would exploit Venezuela’s rich oil reserves to “rebuild” the country, Trump said, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suggested the US would hold Venezuela’s oil exports hostage to exert leverage on the new leadership in Caracas.

Senior international relations academic Shen Dingli (沈丁立) said: “Should Venezuela’s new government decide not to honor agreements made by the Maduro administration, China would have no choice but to pursue international litigation.”

Any legal action would be targeted at Venezuela rather than the US, Shen said.


content_text:
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz.

The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, center, shoots against the Utah Jazz during their NBA game in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western Conference leaders returned to winning ways after back-to-back defeats.

“We just tried to stay in the moment and do whatever it took to get the W,” Gilgeous-Alexander said afterward. “It’s not always going to be pretty, but we’ve got to play a lot better ... we’d rather learn lessons in a win than in a loss.”

Asked about his game-tying buzzer-beater, Gilgeous-Alexander added: “That’s what I practice for. I work out for the moments when the game is at its tightest and you need plays.”

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr walks off the court behind Stephen Curry, foreground, after being ejected in the second half of their NBA game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Monday. Photo: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Gilgeous-Alexander, who also had six rebounds and six assists, was backed with 23 points from Chet Holmgren, who pulled down 12 rebounds. Oklahoma City improved to 31-7 at the top of the Western Conference.

Stephen Curry had a team-high 31 points and De’Anthony Melton added a season-high 22, as the Golden State Warriors opened an eight-game homestand with a 120-113 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

The victory follows Steve Kerr’s ejection from their one-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, when the Warriors coach was held back from the officials by Gary Payton II, Gui Santos and assistant Terry Stotts.

“All good other than my mom being terribly disappointed in me,” Kerr said of his 91-year-old mom before their game against Milwaukee. “She was at the game, she looked horrified afterwards. She asked me if I was going to hit the referee. I said: ‘Mom, I’ve never hit anybody in my life,’ and she said: ‘It looked like you were going to hit him, why were all of those men holding you back?’ That’s all part of the theatrics. She didn’t understand. I was a little alarmed that she thought I was actually going to hit somebody; that scared me.”

Kerr received back-to-back technical fouls and his fifth career ejection after becoming angry with official John Collins over a missed goaltending call, Stotts said.

“I’m happy she got on Steve, that’s great,” Draymond Green said.

Curry appreciated Kerr’s outburst, even if it disappointed his mom, and Curry has been scolded by his mom plenty of times, too.

“I’ve seen worse for sure, I couldn’t tell you exactly when, but I know it’s been worse, but that’s a good mother-son relationship, and that she’s watching every game and locked in and cares as much as she does to call him out,” Curry said. “But we needed that fire, so Mrs Kerr, we forgive him for sure.”

Bucks coach Doc Rivers joked he was disappointed in Kerr.

“He acted like a fool, and I’m done with that from Steve,” said Rivers, who upset his late mother, Bettye, a time or two. “My mom was a church-going lady and I wasn’t using the right language one game, and she called and let me have it. It’s interesting ’cause you say: ‘I’m sorry,’ but you know the next day you’re going to do it again. So it’s a tough one.”

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Orlando Magic eked out a 104-103 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, the Denver Nuggets beat the Boston Celtics 114-110, the Portland Trail Blazers pipped the Houston Rockets 103-102 and the Atlanta Hawks outplayed the New Orleans Pelicans 117-100.

The New York Knicks defeated the Clippers 123-111, the Toronto Raptors survived the Charlotte Hornets 97-96 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls 108-93.

The Philadelphia 76ers took out the Washington Wizards 131-110, the Phoenix Suns burned the Memphis Grizzlies 117-98 and the San Antonio Spurs took advantage of LeBron James’ absence to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-91.

Additional reporting by staff writer with AP and Reuters

title: Gilgeous-Alexander rescues Thunder


content_text:
Manchester City and Aston Villa on Wednesday missed the chance to make significant inroads into Arsenal’s Premier League lead, as managerless Manchester United were held at lowly Burnley.

Elsewhere on a frantic night of action, 10-man Chelsea went down 2-1 at Fulham in front of new boss Liam Rosenior and Antoine Semenyo scored a fairy-tale winner for AFC Bournemouth against Tottenham Hotspur.

Erling Haaland scored his 150th City goal from the penalty spot to put Pep Guardiola’s team ahead at the Etihad, but Kaoru Mitoma made it 1-1 in the second half.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, second right, attempts a header at goal during their English Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion in Manchester, England, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Norway forward Haaland has reached 150 goals in all competitions in his 173rd appearance — 28 games faster than any other Premier League player.

However, he and his teammates squandered a succession of chances as they drew a third game in a row.

City are on 43 points, five behind Arsenal, who can go eight clear with a home win against Liverpool.

Villa are level on points with City following a costly goalless draw at Crystal Palace.

Guardiola bemoaned his team’s profligacy in front of goal.

“I love a lot the way we played, we did many good things, but we don’t score goals,” he said. “There are too many clear chances.”

Rosenior watched his charges from the stands at Craven Cottage. The Englishman, who replaced Enzo Maresca, would be in the dugout for the first time at second-tier Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

The former RC Strasbourg Alsace boss said before kickoff that the team “need to hit the ground running for the rest of the season.”

Still under the interim leadership of Calum McFarlane, they were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half when Marc Cucurella was shown a straight red card for hauling down Harry Wilson.

Liam Delap canceled out Raul Jimenez’s opener, but Wilson scored what proved to be the winner from the edge of the area.

Bournemouth beat troubled Tottenham 3-2, with Semenyo scoring from outside the area deep into stoppage-time on his 26th birthday.

The winger, expected to join City in the next few days, was given a standing ovation when he was substituted moments before the final whistle.

Defeat heaps the pressure on Spurs boss Thomas Frank, who has overseen just two wins in his past 12 Premier League matches during his first season at the London club.

“It’s extremely painful to be on the Tottenham side after the game,” he told the BBC. “We put everything into the game.”

Frank also drew the ire of fans after being photographed with a cup bearing the insignia of fierce rivals Arsenal, with the Dane later saying the mix-up was purely accidental.

Images of Frank walking around Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium sparked fresh outrage among Tottenham fans on social media, with supporters having already voiced their displeasure with the head coach amid a run of poor results.

At his post-match news conference, Frank was unhappy with questions about the cup.

“It’s fair to say that we are not winning every single football match, it would be absolutely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal on it [deliberately],” he said.

“They’ve (Arsenal) been in the changing room the game before us,” he added. “It’s normal to say: ‘Give me a cup of espresso’ before every game. I think it’s a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked a question like that.”

Arsenal had visited Bournemouth in the league on Saturday last week.

“We are definitely going in the wrong direction if we are worrying about me having a cup of another club,” Frank said. “Of course I wouldn’t do that. That would be really stupid.”

Meanwhile, United drew 2-2 with Burnley; the Red Devils have won just once in their past six games.

Harvey Barnes scored a dramatic winner in the 102nd minute as Newcastle United, who had been trailing heading into stoppage-time, beat Leeds United 4-3 at St James’ Park.

Elsewhere, Brentford beat Sunderland 3-0 and Everton held on to draw 1-1 with bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Additional reporting by Reuters

title: City, Villa falter in Premier League title race


content_text:
Two-time defending champion Amber Glenn on Wednesday night set the record for a women’s short program at the US Figure Skating Championships, giving her a narrow lead over world champion Alysa Liu heading into the free skate.

Liu had broken the record mere minutes earlier with a score of 81.11 points, earning a standing ovation from a crowd packed into the home of the NHL’s St Louis Blues.

Glenn took the ice and was flawless from an opening triple axel to a finishing combination spin, earning 83.05 points, a hug from coach Damon Allen and a standing ovation of her own.

Amber Glenn competes in the US Figure Skating Championships in St Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

“I knew that I came here to do my job, and I was happy to see that scores were up, scores were good and I was able to keep them going up,” Glenn said. “I felt a responsibility to keep it going better and better and better.”

Isabeau Levito was third with 75.72 points on the opening night of the national championships, which are the last opportunity for skaters to impress the US Figure Skating officials who would decide the team for the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday.

Twenty-six-year-old Glenn, who four years ago missed nationals and a shot at the Beijing Games because of COVID-19, channeled her trademark power and emotion into a program set to Like A Prayer by Madonna. She followed her axel with a triple flip-triple toe loop, and her triple loop merely catapulted her into a rollicking finish to an energetic program.

Liu is among a few US hopefuls trying to deliver women’s Olympic gold for the first time since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

Earlier in the night, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov began defense of their US pairs title with a near-perfect short program, leaving them nearly eight points clear of the field as they hold out hope of making the US team for the Winter Games.

While the 28-year-old Mitrofanov was born in the US, his 26-year-old partner was born in Finland. Despite the couple having wed in early 2024, and Efimova obtaining a green card that summer, she is still waiting for the US to decide whether to waive a three-year waiting period to become a citizen — a requirement to represent a nation in the Olympics.

Time is running out before US Figure Skating must announce its Olympic team this weekend.

“We’re hoping maybe a last-minute miracle might happen,” Mitrofanov said.

title: Glenn sets record at US Figure Skating Championships


content_text:
Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks when players at his position were barefaced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son said that he died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

The St Louis Blues’ Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save against the Montreal Canadiens during Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup in St Louis, Missouri, on May 5, 1968. Photo: AP

A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St Louis, when the Blues reached the final before losing to the Montreal Canadiens. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924 to 1930.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the post-season, Hall started 552 games in a row.

He won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league’s top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and 1967. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

title: NHL goaltender legend Glenn Hall dies at age 94


content_text:
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) yesterday said it had launched an immediate and “thorough” review following the tourists’ defeat in the fifth and final Ashes Test.

England’s preparations, coaching and off-field behavior all came under the microscope during a demoralizing series in Australia, which they lost 4-1.

As soon as the series was over, ECB chief executive Richard Gould released a statement calling the team’s failure to regain the Ashes “deeply disappointing.”

Australia’s Steve Smith, front, left, and Pat Cummins, front, right, hold up the trophy with teammates after winning the Ashes series 4-1 at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Gould said there were “moments of strong performance and resilience,” notably victory in the fourth Test in Melbourne, which saved England from a humiliating series whitewash.

However, “we were not consistent enough across all conditions and phases of the contest and Australia ultimately deserved to retain the Ashes,” he added. “We will take many lessons from this tour and are determined to improve quickly. Our focus is on regaining the Ashes in 2027.”

“A thorough review of the campaign is already under way,” he said. “This will cover tour planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviors, and our ability to adapt and respond effectively as circumstances require.”

While captain Ben Stokes appears safe from the axe, the roles of head of cricket Rob Key and coach Brendon McCullum are set to come under the microscope.

Yesterday, the nervy hosts saw wickets tumble as they chased their 160 target, which they reached after lunch on day five with Cameron Green on 22 and Alex Carey on 16 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

For England it was the final chapter in a miserable series.

“That’s Ashes cricket. Everyone got tense,” said Carey, who hit the winning runs.

“Usman [Khawaja] is going to be missed. A great career and a great way to finish,” he added.

Australia lost openers Travis Head (29) and Jake Weatherald (34), along with captain Steve Smith (12) and Khawaja, who made 6 in his final knock before retirement.

“It means a lot. So much has gone into it. The only thing I wanted was a win, as much as I wanted to hit the winning runs,” said Khawaja, who was almost in tears as he walked off to a standing ovation after being bowled by Josh Tongue.

“The whole Test match I found it hard to control my emotions,” Khawaja added after his 88th and final appearance on the Test stage.

Marnus Labuschagne, dropped on 20, compiled 37 before needlessly running himself out to give Stokes’ men a flicker of hope as they reduced Australia to 121-5.

However, victory was never seriously in doubt after England were dismissed for 342 on the back of Jacob Bethell’s stylish 154.

“Australia are an incredible team,” said Stokes, whose side were outplayed over the course of the series. “They had individuals who stood up. Full credit to them, but we know we could have done better.”

Shortly after ECB’s statement, England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook issued an apology, saying he was “deeply sorry” for an altercation at a New Zealand nightclub ahead of the Ashes.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Brook, the limited-overs skipper and vice captain of the Test side in Australia, was involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer on Oct. 31 last year.

England lost to hosts New Zealand the next day in the third ODI in Wellington with Brook scoring 6.

The 26-year-old Brook was fined ￡30,000 (US$40,319) after reporting the incident to team management and was given a final warning about his behavior, the newspaper said.

“I want to apologize for my actions. I fully accept that my behaviour was wrong and brought embarrassment to both myself and the England team,” he said in a statement. “Representing England is the greatest honour of all, which I take seriously and I am deeply sorry for letting down my teammates, coaches and supporters.”

title: England cricket launches review into Ashes debacle


content_text:
ALEPPO FIGHTING: Deadly clashes began this week between Syrian forces and Kurdish fighters as a deal to merge administrations and militaries struggles to form

Israel yesterday criticized the Syrian government over what it described as attacks against the Kurdish community in Aleppo, just days after the two sides agreed to establish a joint mechanism aimed at lowering bilateral tensions.

“Attacks by the Syrian regime’s forces against the Kurdish minority in the city of Aleppo are grave and dangerous... Systematic and murderous repression of Syria’s various minorities contradicts the promises of a ‘new Syria,’” Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar wrote in Arabic on X.

Deadly clashes erupted this week between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters as the two sides have so far failed to implement a March deal to merge the Kurds’ semi-autonomous administration and military into Syria’s new government.

The Kurds are pushing for decentralized rule, an idea that Syria’s new authorities have rejected.

Despite assurances from Damascus that all of Syria’s communities would be protected, minorities remain wary of their future under the new authorities.

Saar said that the violence in Aleppo could increase if the international community remains silent.

“The international community in general, and the West in particular, owes a debt of honor to the Kurds who fought bravely and successfully against the Islamic State group,” Saar said.

Earlier this week, Israel and Syria, under US pressure, agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism, an unprecedented step as the two countries edge toward a security agreement after decades of hostilities.

Following discussions in Paris, Israel and Syria agreed to establish “a dedicated communication cell” under US supervision that would seek to lower bilateral tensions.

US President Donald Trump, who met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Washington in November last year, has been pushing for a security deal between Syria and Israel, but Israel remains distrustful of the former jihadist.

After the overthrow of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel moved its forces into the UN-patrolled demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights, and has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria as well as regular incursions.

title: Israel slams Syrian attacks on Kurds


content_text:
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation.

The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities.

Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said.

Chinese-born Chen Zhi, founder of the Prince Group, has been arrested there and extradited to China. Photo grab from Prince Holding Group official website

US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder its profits and sanctioned violence against workers.

Prince Holding Group had claimed to be getting US$30 million a day from the scams, the indictment said.

The US Department of the Treasury and the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office imposed sanctions, while authorities also seized Chen’s assets, which included properties worth at least US$100 million and US$14 billion in cryptocurrency.

Scam centers have proliferated across Southeast Asia, swindling money by persuading people to join bogus investment schemes.

According to estimates from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, scam victims worldwide lost between US$18 billion and US$37 billion in 2023.

The US and the UK imposed sanctions against Chen, 38, and his companies’ legitimate involvements, which were primarily involved in real-estate development and financial services.

US authorities also seized what they said was an estimated US$14 billion in bitcoin linked to Chen or his operations.

They have charged him with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies.

He has been accused of sanctioning violence against workers, authorizing bribes to foreign officials and using his other businesses, such as online gambling and cryptocurrency mining, to launder illicit profits.

Prosecutors in the US said that his organization scammed 250 Americans out of millions of dollars, with one losing US$400,000 in cryptocurrency.

In 2024, Americans lost at least US$10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scams, treasury department data showed.

British authorities froze Chen’s British businesses and assets, including a 12 million euro (US$14 million) mansion and a 100 million euro office building in London.

Other authorities followed. Singapore launched an investigation on Oct. 30 last year after announcing the seizure of financial assets belonging to Chen of more than S$150 million (US$117 million) and a yacht.

In Taiwan, police seized 26 luxury vehicles, including a Ferrari, a Bugatti and a Porsche, while Hong Kong police seized financial assets.

All three authorities launched investigations into Chen.

However, Chen was prepared to fight, issuing a statement via lawyers in November last year, that “the Prince Group categorically rejects the notion that it or its chairman has engaged in any unlawful activity.”

title: Cambodia extradites alleged scam kingpin


title: Bushfires raging in Australia expected to worsen today

content_text:
Uncontrolled fires burned through bushland in the Australian state of Victoria yesterday, forcing communities to evacuate and authorities to warn of a “catastrophic” fire danger rating for today.

Amid temperatures that exceeded 40°C in parts of the state, two large bushfires were raging near the towns of Longwood and Walwa.

The fires had destroyed at least two structures and were expected to continue to spread today as heat and wind pick up, authorities said.

Smoke rises from a bushfire in Mount Lawson State Park in Australia on Tuesday. Photo: AFP / Forest Fire Management Victoria / Lara Tobin

The Longwood fire had grown to more than 25,000 hectares in size, while the Walwa fire was 10,000 hectares and has created its own weather system, with a pyrocumulonimbus cloud causing lightning and thunder.

Residents in dozens of neighboring towns have been told to evacuate.

Today’s fire danger rating was to be set at “catastrophic,” the highest level, and both fires pose a real risk of loss of life and property, authorities said.

Today “is a very, very dire bushfire day in the state of Victoria,” Country Fire Authority Chief Officer Jason Heffernan told a news conference.

The bushfires come amid an intense summer heat wave in Australia’s south.

Meteorologists have said that conditions are on par with 2019, when bushfires destroyed wide swathes of southeastern Australia, killing 33 people, in what became known as the “Black Summer.”

About 450 schools in Victoria were to be closed today and many regional train services were canceled.

Total fire bans have been issued in several districts.

In New Zealand, the country’s weather provider, MetService, also warned of record temperatures over the weekend as the heat wave moves across the Tasman Sea.

It has issued heat alerts for parts of the eastern coast of New Zealand and the north of the South Island.


content_text:
Outstretching his hands in a signature pose of US President Donald Trump, impersonator Ryan Chen (陳睿) mimics the US leader’s voice and gestures with such accuracy that he has become a social media phenomenon with his funny videos.

The 42-year-old from southwest China does not engage in political satire — a minefield in the country that can lead to account suspension — but has amassed millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok and Chinese platforms.

“Trump is an endless well that never runs dry, because he draws more online traffic than anyone else on the planet,” Chen told reporters in his hometown of Chongqing, which itself has gone viral over its labyrinthine cityscape and spicy food.

Ryan Chen, who impersonates US President Donald Trump, speaks as his assistant records a video at a milk tea shop in Chongqing, China, on Dec. 15 last year. Photo: AFP

During his videos, which are primarily in English with Chinese subtitles, Chen lightheartedly presents Chinese cuisine, customs, cultural differences, jokes with foreigners and dances to the Village People’s YMCA, one of Trump’s trademark stage songs.

His clips are peppered with Trump’s unmistakable mannerisms and buzzwords such as “tremendous” and “amazing.”

“I’m not into politics, but I think he is a very good entertainer,” Chen said of the president, whom he followed when Trump hosted the reality TV show The Apprentice.

“If I imitate him, it’s not to make fun of him. It’s to get attention,” he told reporters. “With that attention, I can boost my career, as well as promote China and my hometown.”

Chen stumbled across his online fame by chance, only taking off last year with Trump’s return to the White House.

The fan of Friends and The Big Bang Theory — who had never visited the US before this year — started making online videos to teach English as a “back-up plan” from his job in architecture, a sector hit hard by the property crisis in China.

He had moderate success, but his videos only went viral after a friend challenged him to imitate Trump.

Chen said Trump has become such a big part of his life that he now feels a certain familiarity with him, “like a next-door neighbor.”

He sees himself as a “bridge” between international Internet users eager to discover urban China, its “lively” atmosphere, and Chinese keen to understand foreign humor and cultures.

Chen, who learned English by watching his favorite American series, said that his secret is to sound like a “native speaker.”

Another imperative is to “stay tuned” to news on Trump, who is “a goldmine of funny material,” Chen said.

He makes a living from his work through promotion, events and corporate parties.

“My main source of income is advertising,” he said, with brands for vehicles, digital products, games and milk hiring him for their campaigns.

In a sign his work has not upset the Trump administration, Chen announced in a video he had obtained a visa for the US, where he is visiting for the first time.

With Trump set to visit China this year, Chen called on the president to travel to Chongqing and “try our hotpot,” which is famously spicy.

While a meeting between the real Trump and his Chinese impersonator would “probably be cool,” Chen said he has no “burning desire” to do so because it would quickly become a diplomatic affair.

“I’m just a comedian,” he said. “I have no political aspirations.”

title: ‘Chinese Trump’ Ryan Chen wins laughs


content_text:
WOMAN DIES: ‘I would love for ICE to leave our city and for more community members to come to see it happens,’ said a person who attended a vigil in the city

Minneapolis was on edge yesterday following the fatal shooting of a woman by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, with the governor calling for people to remain calm, and schools canceling classes and activities as a safety precaution.

State and local officials demanded that ICE leave the state after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good was shot in the head.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that agents would not be going anywhere.

People visit a memorial for Renee Nicole Macklin Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, yesterday. Photo: AFP

The US Department of Homeland Security has deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area in a large immigration enforcement operation.

Noem said that more than 1,500 people have been arrested.

Macklin Good’s killing on Wednesday morning in a residential neighborhood south of downtown was recorded on video by witnesses, and by the evening hundreds of people came out for a vigil to mourn her and urge the public to resist immigration enforcement.

“I would love for ICE to leave our city and for more community members to come to see it happens,” said Sander Kolodziej, a painter who attended the vigil to support the community.

The videos of the shooting show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding that the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.

The Honda Pilot begins to move and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle appears to hit him.

After the shooting the SUV speeds into two vehicles parked on a curb.

In another recording made afterward, a woman who identifies Macklin Good as her spouse is seen crying near the vehicle.

The woman, who is not identified, says the couple recently arrived in Minnesota and they had a child.

Noem called the incident an “act of domestic terrorism” against ICE officers, saying the driver “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”

US President Donald Trump made similar comments on social media and defended ICE’s work.

Noem said that the woman was part of a “mob of agitators” and that the officer followed his training.

She said the FBI would investigate.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called Noem’s version of events “garbage.”

“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” Frey said. “Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit.”

He also criticized the federal deployment and said the agents should leave.

A crowd of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting to vent their anger at local and federal officers.

In a scene that hearkened back to crackdowns in Los Angeles and Chicago, people chanted “ICE out of Minnesota” and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the state national guard if necessary.

He expressed outrage over the shooting, but called on people to keep protests peaceful.

“They want a show,” Walz said. “We can’t give it to them.”

There were calls on social media to prosecute the officer who shot Macklin Good.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said that state authorities would investigate the shooting with federal authorities.

title: Minneapolis on edge after ICE shooting


title: World News Quick Take

content_text:
PHILIPPINES

Eruptions force evacuations

A series of eruptions at the nation’s most active volcano has prompted the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people from a danger zone on its foothills, officials said on Wednesday. Authorities raised the five-stage alert around Mayon Volcano in the northeastern province of Albay to Level 3 on Tuesday after detecting intermittent rockfalls from its peak crater along with pyroclastic flows — an avalanche of super-hot rock fragments, ash and gas. “This is already an eruption, a quiet one, with lava accumulating up the peak and swelling the dome, which cracked in some parts and resulted in rockfalls, some as big as cars,” said Teresito Bacolcol, the country’s chief volcanologist. It was too early to tell if Mayon’s restiveness would worsen, and lead to a major and violent eruption given the absence of other key signs of unrest, such as a spike in volcanic earthquakes and high levels of sulfur dioxide emissions, Bacolcol said. Troops, police and disaster-mitigation personnel helped evacuate more than 2,800 people from 729 households inside a 6km radius from the volcano’s crater that officials have long designated as a permanent danger zone, demarcated by concrete warning signs, Albay provincial officials said. Another 600 people living outside the permanent danger zone evacuated voluntarily to government-run emergency shelters to be safely away from the volcano, said Claudio Yucot, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense.

SOUTH KOREA

Penguin diplomacy deployed

President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday portrayed himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a pair of affectionate penguins in a social media post urging Kim to meet with him. Lee wrote on X that he hoped for the day that “the abnormal state of turmoil and hostility on the Korean Peninsula will be overcome.” The Korean-language post said: “Go meet, Po Jae-myung and Po Jong-un,” a reference to Pororo the Little Penguin, a popular children’s animation featuring penguin characters. One of the South’s most successful animated series, the program’s creators outsourced some work in its initial production phase to North Korean studios in the early 2000s.

UNITED STATES

Trump exits UNFCCC

President Donald Trump is withdrawing the nation from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as part of a sweeping exit from collective global action, the White House said on Wednesday. Sixty-six global organizations and treaties — about half of them affiliated with the UN — were listed in a White House memorandum as “contrary to the interests of the United States,” including the UNFCCC, the parent treaty underpinning all major international climate agreements.

UNITED STATES

Somalian aid halted

Department of State officials on Wednesday rebuked Somalia’s leaders over reports of food aid theft, and paused “all ongoing US assistance programs” to its government, the department wrote on X. Noting its “zero-tolerance policy” for waste or theft, the Undersecretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom wrote that it had received reports Somalian officials “destroyed a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid for vulnerable Somalis.” Any future aid would be dependent on the Somalian Federal Government taking accountability and remediating the matter, it said.


content_text:
Thousands of Taiwanese-language films that hold the nation’s cinematic history are under threat — and the clock ticking

Hsu Pu-liao (許不了) never lived to see the premiere of his most successful film, The Clown and the Swan (小丑與天鵝, 1985).

The movie, which starred Hsu, the “Taiwanese Charlie Chaplin,” outgrossed Jackie Chan’s Heart of Dragon (龍的心), earning NT$9.2 million at the local box office.

A before-and-after comparison highlights the digital restoration of The Clown and the Swan, showing how preservation efforts revived the deteriorated 1985 film. Photo: Billy Wu

Forty years after its premiere, the film has become the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute’s (TFAI) 100th restoration.

“It is the only one of Hsu’s films whose original negative survived,” says director Kevin Chu (朱延平), one of Taiwan’s most commercially successful filmmakers. “We were lucky.”

For Taiwanese-language cinema, an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 films were produced between 1955 and 1981, according to TFAI. Fewer than 200 remain, though others might be rediscovered.

title: Fading to black: The race to save Taiwan’s cinematic history


title: Flim Review: A hostage drama crackles in ‘Dead Man’s Wire’

content_text:
Director Gus Van Sant brings to life a true-tale hostage thriller with an ensemble cast

It plays a little loose with facts but the righteous rage of Dog Day Afternoon is present enough in Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, a based-on-a-true-tale hostage thriller that’s as deeply 1970s as it is contemporary.

In February 1977, Tony Kiritsis walked into the Meridian Mortgage Company in downtown Indianapolis and took one of its executives, Dick Hall, hostage. Kiritsis held a sawed-off shotgun to the back of Hall’s head and draped a wire around his neck that connected to the gun. If he moved too much, he would die.

The subsequent standoff moved to Kiritsis’ apartment and eventually concluded in a live televised news conference. The whole ordeal received some renewed attention in a 2022 podcast dramatization starring Jon Hamm.

But in Dead Man’s Wire, starring Bill Skarsgard as Kiritsis, these events are vividly brought to life by Van Sant. It’s been seven years since Van Sant directed, following 2018’s Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, and one of the prevailing takeaways of his new film is that that’s too long of a break for a filmmaker of Van Sant’s caliber.

Working from a script by Austin Kolodney, the filmmaker of My Own Private Idaho and Good Will Hunting turns Dead Man’s Wire into not a period-piece time capsule but a bracingly relevant drama of outrage and inequality. Tony feels aggrieved by his mortgage company over a land deal the bank, he claims, blocked. We’re never given many specifics, but at the same time, there’s little doubt in Dead Man’s Wire that Tony’s cause is just. His means might be desperate and abhorrent, but the movie is very definitely on his side.

That’s owed significantly to Skarsgard, who gives one of his finest and least adorned performances. While best known for films like It, The Crow and Nosferatu, here Skarsgard has little more than some green polyester and a very ’70s mustache to alter his looks. The straightforward, jittery intensity of his performance propels Dead Man’s Wire.

Yet Van Sant’s film aspires to be a larger ensemble drama, which it only partially succeeds at. Tony’s plight is far from a solitary one, as numerous threads suggest in Kolodney’s fast-paced script. First and foremost is Colman Domingo as a local DJ named Fred Temple. (If ever there were an actor suited, with a smooth baritone, to play a ’70s radio DJ, it’s Domingo.) Tony, a fan, calls Fred to air his demands. But it’s not just a media outlet for him. Fred touts himself as “the voice of the people.”

Something similar could be said of Tony, who rapidly emerges as a kind of folk hero. As much as he tortures his hostage (a very good Dacre Montgomery), he’s kind to the police officers surrounding him. And as he and Dick spend more time together, Dick emerges as a kind of victim, himself. It’s his father’s bank, and when Tony gets M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) on the phone, he sounds painfully insensitive, sooner ready to sacrifice his son than acknowledge any wrongdoing.

Pacino’s presence in Dead Man’s Wire is a nod to Dog Day Afternoon, a movie that may be far better — but, then again, that’s true of most films in comparison to Sidney Lumet’s unsurpassed 1975 classic. Still, Van Sant’s film bears some of the same rage and disillusionment with the meatgrinder of capitalism as Dog Day.

There’s also a telling, if not entirely successful subplot of a local TV news reporter (Myha’la) struggling against stereotypes. Even when she gets the goods on the unspooling news story, the way her producer says to “chop it up” and put it on air makes it clear: Whatever Tony is rebelling against, it’s him, not his plight, that will be served up on a prime-time plate.

It doesn’t take recent similar cases of national fascination, such as Luigi Mangione, charged with killing a healthcare executive, to see contemporary echoes of Kiritsis’ tale. The real story is more complicated and less metaphor-ready, of course, than the movie, which detracts some from the film’s gritty sense of verisimilitude. Staying closer to the truth might have produced a more dynamic movie.

But Dead Man’s Wire still works. In the film, Tony’s demands are US$5 million and an apology. It’s clear the latter means more to him than the money. The tragedy in Dead Man’s Wire is just how elusive “I’m sorry” can be.


content_text:
Fossils discovered in Morocco shed light on our African roots

Where did our species first emerge? Fossils discovered in Morocco dating back more than 773,000 years bolster the theory that Homo sapiens originally appeared in Africa, scientists said in a study Wednesday.

The oldest Homo sapien fossils, dating from over 300,000 years ago, were found at the Jebel Irhoud northwest of Marrakesh.

Our cousins the Neanderthals mostly lived in Europe, while more recent additions to the family, the Denisovans, roamed Asia.

This handout image released on Wednesday shows lower mandibles from North Africa, illustrating variation among fossil hominins and modern humans, with a Tighennif 3 from Algeria, top left, a ThI-GH-10717 from Thomas Quarry in Morocco, top right, and a Jebel Irhoud 11 from Morocco, bottom left, compared with a mandible from a recent modern human, shown at the same scale, allowing direct comparison of their size and shape. Photo: MPI EVA Leipzig; CC BY-SA 2.0 via AFP

This has prompted an enduring mystery: who was the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens and our cousins, before the family tree split off into different branches?

This divergence is thought to have occurred between 550,000 and 750,000 years ago.

Until now, the main hominin fossils from around that time period were found in Atapuerca, Spain.

They belonged to a species dubbed “Homo antecessor,” dated back around 800,000 years ago, and had features that were a mix of the older Homo erectus and those more similar to Homo sapiens and our cousins.

This sparked a contentious debate about whether our species originally emerged outside of Africa, before returning there.

There was “a gap in the fossil record of Africa,” French paleoanthropologist and lead study author Jean-Jacques Hublin said.

The research published in the journal Nature fills that gap by finally establishing a firm date for fossils discovered in 1969 inside a cave in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.

Over three decades, a French-Moroccan team unearthed hominin vertebrae, teeth and fragments of jaws that have puzzled researchers.

A slender lower jawbone discovered in 2008 proved particularly perplexing.

“Hominins who lived half a million or a million years generally didn’t have small jawbones,” Hublin said.

“We could clearly see that it was something unusual — and we wondered how old it could be.”

However numerous efforts to determine its age fell short.

WHEN EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD FLIPPED

Then the researchers tried a different approach.

Every once in a while, Earth’s magnetic field flips. Until the last reversal — 773,000 years ago — our planet’s magnetic north pole was near the geographic south pole.

Evidence of this change is still preserved in rocks around the world.

The Casablanca fossils were discovered in layers corresponding to the time of this reversal, allowing scientists to establish a “very, very precise” date, Hublin said.

This discovery eliminates the “absence of plausible ancestors” for Homo sapiens in Africa, he added.

Antonio Rosas, a researcher at Spain’s National Museum of Natural Sciences, said it adds “weight to the increasingly prevalent idea” that the origins of both our species and the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals/Denisovans lie in Africa.

“This work also suggests that the evolutionary divergence of the H. sapiens lineage might have started earlier than is conventionally assumed,” Rosas, who was not involved in the research, commented in Nature.

Like Homo antecessor, the Casablanca fossils have a mix of characteristics from Homo erectus, ourselves and our cousins.

But while clearly closely related, the Moroccan and Spanish fossils are not the same, which Hublin said is a sign of “populations that are in the process of separating and differentiating.”

The Middle East is considered to have been the main migration route for hominins out of Africa, however sinking sea levels at certain times could have allowed crossings between Tunisia and Sicily — or across the Strait of Gibraltar.

So the Casablanca fossils are “another piece of evidence to support the hypothesis of possible exchanges” between North Africa and southwestern Europe, Hublin said.


content_text:
▲天氣進入寒冬，流感病例增加。（示意圖／記者李毓康攝）

記者許力方／綜合報導

寒冬來臨，中國大陸近期出現鼻塞、流鼻水等感冒症狀病例，檢驗卻發現並非流感或呼吸道融合病毒，而是「鼻病毒」感染。中國疾控中心7日指出，近期門急診流感病例中，鼻病毒檢測陽性確診率明顯上升，南方部分省份甚至僅次於流感病毒，已成為當前重要的呼吸道病原之一。

鼻病毒是普通感冒主因 可經飛沫與接觸傳播

疾控中心說明，鼻病毒又稱「人鼻病毒」，是引發普通感冒的主要病原之一，在成人與兒童間相當常見，尤其是兒童急性上呼吸道感染最常見的致病原，占比約三至五成。鼻病毒可透過飛沫傳播，也能經接觸傳染，且在室溫下可存活數小時，門把、玩具、餐具等日用品都可能成為傳播媒介。

對比 鼻病毒感染 流感

title: 寒冬流鼻水？中國傳「鼻病毒」確診率大增　無特效藥、疫苗


taiwan-subdivisions: 尖石 新竹縣 新竹市 南庄 桃園 新北市 宜蘭縣 苗栗縣 南投縣 五峰 花蓮縣

title: 快訊／00:30新竹縣尖石鄉規模3.9「極淺層地震」　最大震度3級

content_text:
▲中央氣象署發布最新地震報告。（圖／氣象署提供）

記者閔文昱／台北報導

地牛翻身！根據中央氣象署地震測報中心資料，今天凌晨零時30分新竹縣尖石鄉發生芮氏規模3.9的小區域地震，震央在新竹縣政府東南方28.7公里處，深度9.3公里，屬於極淺層地震。

氣象署指出，這起地震觀測到最大震度為3級，出現在新竹縣五峰、苗栗縣南庄。

根據氣象署測報資料，震度3級地區為新竹縣、苗栗縣，震度2級地區為桃園市、宜蘭縣，震度1級地區為新竹市、新北市、台中市、花蓮縣、南投縣。

資料來源：氣象署


title: 快訊／00:30新竹縣尖石鄉規模3.9「極淺層地震」　最大震度3級

taiwan-subdivisions: 新竹縣 尖石 新北市 宜蘭縣 苗栗縣 桃園 新竹市 南庄 五峰 南投縣 花蓮縣


content_text:
▲前CBA宏國象洋將久旺辭世，享壽68歲。（圖／翻攝自X）

記者閔文昱／綜合報導

前中華職籃CBA宏國象洋將久旺（Jawann Oldham）本周在美國亞特蘭大辭世，享壽68歲。身高213公分的他曾在NBA效力10個賽季，退役後仍活躍於全球籃球圈，不僅參與韓國職籃（KBL）與中國籃協創建，更在阿布達比與杜拜經營籃球學院，為亞洲籃球留下不可磨滅的足跡。久旺母校西雅圖大學也發表聲明表示哀悼，稱他是男子籃球歷史上最傑出的球員之一。

NBA生涯與宏國象奪冠經歷

久旺於1980年NBA選秀次輪被丹佛金塊選中，憑藉出色籃板與阻攻能力，在NBA八支球隊打滾10年，曾與麥可·喬丹（Michael Jordan）、魔術強森（Magic Johnson）、派屈克·尤英（Patrick Ewing）等巨星同場競技。雖然他並非得分手，但前NBA球星卡特萊特 (Bill Cartwright)曾盛讚其運動能力超群，是他生涯見過跑得最快、跳得最高的長人之一。離開NBA後，久旺於38歲高齡加盟中華職籃宏國象隊，憑藉禁區實力助隊奪下二年總冠軍，並拿到職業生涯首枚冠軍戒指。

RIP Jawann Oldham, NBA CenterNuggets, Rockets, Bulls, NY Knicks, Kings, Magic, LA Lakers, PacersCBA All-Defensive Team & Blocks Leader w/ OKC CavalryGold at 1979 Summer UniversiadeSeattle ChieftainsSeattleU Hall of Fame (2012)Parade All-American#InMemoriam #RIP pic.twitter.com/JrdQwiSRqP

— LegacyTributes (@InMemoriamX) January 7, 2026 從西雅圖到全球籃球舞台

久旺的籃球路起步於克利夫蘭高中及西雅圖大學，他在校期間場均14.8分、9.3籃板，歷史籃板榜僅次於傳奇球星艾爾金·貝勒（Elgin Baylor）。退役後，他將影響力擴及亞洲及中東，協助建立韓國、台灣、中國、日本職業聯賽，也在杜拜與阿布達比創辦籃球學院，培育無數新世代球員，成為籃球全球化的重要推手。

#RIP to the Cleveland High School and Seattle University Chieftans Legend Juwann Oldham.

Big Fella was a nice dude and spent the last 20+ years in Dubai. pic.twitter.com/wZWNe57akh

— Eldridge Recasner (@erecasner) January 5, 2026 同儕與球迷追思

久旺的逝世令球壇及球迷深感不捨。前NBA球星與隊友們回憶他為「自由靈魂」、「熱愛生活的人」，不僅具備優異運動能力，也以專業態度與隊友建立深厚情誼。宏國象球迷與亞洲籃球圈人士紛紛悼念他，認為他是禁區守護神與籃球文化推手，留給世人的是一段跨洲、跨世代的籃球傳奇。

title: NBA傳奇老將「久旺」辭世！享壽68歲　曾來台助宏國象奪冠

countries: 韓國 台灣 美國 日本 中國


title: 快訊／北檢掃蕩太子集團拘提約談11人　商務公司老闆被移送

content_text:
記者劉昌松／台北報導

太子集團涉嫌跨境詐騙，首腦陳志日前已在柬埔寨落網，台北地檢署持續掃蕩太子集團在台洗錢據點，懷疑有專人幫集團設立境外公司，然後透過OBU帳戶將贓款洗進台灣，檢察官8日指揮警調發動第7波搜索行動，並拘提、約談匯致國際商務公司盧姓老闆及其他人頭公司負責人等11名被告到案釐清，稍晚盧男被移送北檢。

【00:04更新】盧姓老闆被移送。

▼盧姓老闆被移送。（圖／記者劉昌松攝）

▼太子集團賴姓幹部。（圖／記者劉昌松攝）

專案小組從2025年10月起密集偵辦，追查太子集團成員在台活動情形，發現太子集團除了把海外贓款購買台北市和平大院豪宅和超跑，另外成立多家人頭公司，除了招聘工程師協助設計博弈網站，還與海外遊艇業者、台灣雪茄館合作洗錢，提供集團在台運作所需資金。

除了現金流之外，太子集團疑似透過匯致國際商務公司，從2021年起成立多間海外紙上公司並維持營運假象，藉此向台灣金融業者申請OBU帳戶，方便集團在國際間搬錢轉匯，檢察官指揮刑事局、調查局台北市調處等單位，搜索公司等12個地點，並拘提盧姓負責人及負責聯繫的太子集團幹部等人。

▲太子集團主席陳志已在柬埔寨被捕，台灣司法單位持續掃蕩集團在台洗錢網。（資料照／翻攝央視）

countries: 柬埔寨 台灣


content_text:
記者蔡宜芳／綜合報導

南韓饒舌團體LeeSSang成員Gary（姜熙建），曾因擔任《Running Man》固定班底爆紅，然而，他在2016年無預警請辭，隨後便與小10歲的圈外女友步入婚姻。他近日曬出和老婆在東京旅遊的近照，消瘦身形引發網友擔憂。

▲Gary和老婆育有一個兒子姜好。（圖／翻攝自Instagram／kanggary_yangban）

人在東京近況曝光！Gary消瘦臉孔引發粉絲健康擔憂

Gary於5日在社群分享近況，照片中，他身穿特有的嘻哈風格服飾坐在日本電車中，臉蛋明顯消瘦不少，引網友紛紛留言「好像變瘦了」、「希望一直保重身體」為他加油打氣。

Gary在9年前突然退出《Running Man》，一度暫時中斷演藝活動，後來，他在節目《超人回來了》中解釋，是因為工作了20多年後感到「過度負荷」，因此決定放下所有事情去休息，期間結婚並迎來小孩誕生，長達3年多的休息時間也變成了「育兒假」。

▲▼Gary分享到日本旅遊的照片。（圖／翻攝自Instagram／kanggary_yangban）

從《RM》閃退到LeeSSang解散傳聞，昔日隊友隔空回應引關注

Gary當年的突然舉動曾讓《Running Man》成員流露出遺憾心情，宋智孝還曾提到「姜Gary換了（手機）號碼」，展現出不捨之情。而LeeSSang的另一位成員吉（Gil）因酒駕導致活動受限後，雙方的關係也備受矚目。吉曾於2020年表達回歸意願，提到「適逢20週年，正努力嘗試開始做些什麼」，但Gary隨即發文以「事實無根，已解散」反駁，兩人也因此傳出不合，而吉事後仍以「沒有那種事」否認爭議。

title: Gary近照曝光「臉凹身形消瘦」健康引憂　昔閃退《RM》斷聯成員


content_text:
圖文／7Car 小七車觀點

Renault 日前公布旗下即將推出的全新高階跨界車款名稱「Filante」，此車為品牌「International Game Plan 2027」國際產品布局中的重要一環，也是該計畫下第 5 款對外揭露的全新作品。透過 Filante 的發表，Renault 進一步強化歐洲以外市場的產品攻勢，並明確展現品牌全球化向上升級的策略方向。

官方指出，Filante 定位於 E 級距市場，將以大膽且前衛的設計語彙作為主要特徵，外觀風格強調雕塑感與動感比例，同時在車室空間與整體布局上，聚焦乘員舒適性與實際使用體驗，並導入新世代科技配置，作為品牌在高階跨界級距中的旗艦代表。

在命名概念上，Renault 表示 Filante 一名源自品牌歷史，呼應 1956 年推出、以航空為靈感打造並創下速度紀錄的經典車款「Etoile Filante」，同時也延續 2025 年發表、以能源效率為核心的概念車「Filante Record 2025」精神。透過這樣的命名，雷諾希望結合品牌傳承與未來導向，塑造兼具象徵性與辨識度的全新產品形象。

生產規劃方面，Filante 將於南韓釜山工廠製造，並率先在南韓市場上市，後續再視市場需求出口至其他地區。Renault 也指出，南韓在 D 與 E 級距市場具備穩固基礎，因此成為此一新世代跨界車的重要起點，同時也是國際產品計畫中關鍵的開發據點之一。

關於 Filante 的完整車輛細節與技術資訊，Renault 預計將於 1 月 13 日在首爾正式發表，屆時將進一步說明其產品定位與未來市場規劃。隨著 Filante 的亮相，Renault 在全球高階產品布局上的策略輪廓也將更加明確，後續發展值得市場持續關注。

title: 雷諾最新跨界車款「Filante即將揭曉」！南韓製造1／13首爾先發


title: 雷諾最新跨界車款「Filante即將揭曉」！南韓製造1／13首爾先發


title: 技嘉於 CES 2026 發表全球首創 CQDIMM 技術 實現 256GB 滿載 DDR5-7200 極限效能

content_text:
台北2026年1月9日 /美通社/ — 全球電腦領導品牌技嘉科技於 CES 2026 正式發表全球首創 CQDIMM（Clocked Unbuffered Dual In-Line Memory Module）技術，為高效能記憶體應用帶來重大突破。透過支援 CQDIMM 的主機板 Z890 AORUS TACHYON ICE CQDIMM Edition 與獨家 BIOS 調校技術，以兩條 128GB 記憶體，滿載 256GB 容量，首創 DDR5-7200 業界紀錄，突破過往高容量與高頻率無法兼得的限制。

在傳統 DDR5 架構下，提升記憶體容量必須在頻率與穩定度之間做出取捨，技嘉憑藉在硬體與韌體設計上的深厚實力，突破關鍵瓶頸。技嘉透過優化主機板電路設計，大幅降低記憶體通道負載，有效提升訊號完整性，即使在高負載與長時間運作下，依然能維持穩定表現；並結合獨家的 BIOS 調校技術，精準優化時脈驅動架構、記憶體時序、訊號同步率與電壓，釋放極限效能。

技嘉同時整合硬體與韌體設計，確保記憶體在滿載容量下，依然穩定且高效運作，此項業界首創的里程碑，也為高效能運算樹立全新標竿，滿足 AI 運算、內容創作與專業應用對高頻寬與高容量的雙重需求。

為確保與各大廠牌記憶體的高度相容性，技嘉亦與 ADATA、Kingston 及 TeamGroup 等記憶體領導品牌攜手合作，共同打造新世代 PC 系統解決方案。欲了解更多產品資訊，歡迎至 CES 2026 技嘉攤位（LVCC North Hall #8519），媒體與貴賓亦可前往位於威尼斯人飯店3樓3004、3005與3104的技嘉展示廳體驗支援 CQDIMM 的創新主機板技術。


content_text:
美國突襲委內瑞拉逮捕總統馬杜羅，雖然俄羅斯外交部隨即發表聲援委國的聲明，但在美國發動這場政權更迭行動後的第一時間，真正左右俄國政治走向的總統普廷，卻意外沉默。不同於中國國家主席習近平立即譴責華府所謂的「單邊霸凌」，普廷並未就這次突襲行動迅速明確地發表公開聲明。

同樣地，普廷至今也尚未就美軍在7日登船並扣押1艘俄羅斯籍船隻發表評論，讓許多觀察家開始揣測，莫斯科將如何回應華府日益冒進的軍事行動。

美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）指出，乍看之下，馬杜羅倒台似乎是普廷接連遭遇的又一次地緣政治挫敗。然而，從戰略層面來看，這場風暴對普廷而言未必全然不利。

2024年12月，長期仰賴莫斯科撐腰的敘利亞總統阿塞德在政權崩潰後逃往俄國。去年6月，美國對伊朗核設施發動打擊，直接與這個與委內瑞拉一樣，曾與俄國建立戰略夥伴關係的國家爆發衝突。俄羅斯官員澄清，莫斯科與德黑蘭之間的戰略夥伴關係，並不意味著一旦伊朗遭到攻擊，俄方就必須進行軍事干預。而同樣地，儘管俄國政府曾將普廷與馬杜羅建立的戰略夥伴關係，包裝為支持「兄弟般的委內瑞拉人民」抵禦外部威脅，但美軍特種部隊的突襲行動，並未引發莫斯科任何強硬回應。

美軍拘捕馬杜羅的行動，也讓俄羅斯的軍工體系頗為難堪。在馬杜羅的前任、已故總統查維斯任內，委內瑞拉正規軍開始大量換裝俄製裝備，包括S-300、「山毛櫸」（Buk）以及44套「貝紹拉河」（Pechora）防空系統。面對川普政府揚言動武，馬杜羅還曾誇耀，委國軍方已在「關鍵防空位置」部署5000枚俄製短程防空飛彈。

美國戰爭部長赫格塞斯（Pete Hegseth）5日在維吉尼亞州紐波特紐斯的海軍造船廠發表談話時嘲諷道，「看來那些俄羅斯防空系統也沒那麼管用，不是嗎？」

但CNN指出，川普明確宣示拉丁美洲是美國的勢力範圍，即所謂的「唐羅主義」（Donroe Doctrine），反而可能在修辭上為普廷提供掩護，使其更容易為自己拆解烏克蘭的帝國企圖辯護。同時，川普政府自信滿滿地釋放訊號，暗示下一步將是掌控格陵蘭，這一點也與克里姆林宮的世界觀不謀而合。

自1991年蘇聯解體以來，俄羅斯長期主張，有權干預所謂的「近鄰地區」，即蘇聯瓦解後誕生的獨立國家。而在2022年2月俄羅斯全面入侵烏克蘭後的談話中，普廷也明確表示，他將「恢復帝國」視為自己至高無上的使命。

川普表達願意動用武力奪取北大西洋公約組織（NATO）盟國丹麥的自治領土格陵蘭，對克里姆林宮而言，顯然也是個好消息。自全面入侵烏克蘭以來，俄羅斯政府一直試圖利用跨大西洋聯盟內部的任何裂痕，尤其是在英國與歐洲國家試圖拼湊一個「志願者聯盟」、在美國支持動搖之際持續援助烏克蘭的背景下。

title: 普廷對馬杜羅倒台緘默 CNN：「唐羅主義」反為俄提供戰略掩護

people: 川普 習近平

countries: 委內瑞拉 中國 丹麥 美國 格陵蘭 俄羅斯 敘利亞 烏克蘭 伊朗 英國


title: 日參議員石平訪台戳破中共謊言 矢板明夫從中方爆氣回應揪1端倪

content_text:
被中國禁止入境的日本參議員石平近日訪台，硬生生戳破中共那套「台灣是不可分割一部分的謊言」，讓北京氣炸，又無法反駁，只能跳針罵石平「宵小」，稱其言論「不值一提」。對此，印太戰略智庫執行長矢板明夫酸，中共批石平不值一提，那當初為何要大動作制裁，前後邏輯根本不通，相反地還證明了石平訪台對北京而言絕非「小事」！

矢板明夫9日凌晨在臉書發文，「日本參議員石平訪問台灣，可以說是一場高度密集、同時也極具象徵意義的政治行程。這樣緊湊的行程之間，還穿插了大量媒體專訪，不僅台灣媒體高度關注，日本媒體也給予了大篇幅報導。日本社會也顯然將石平此行視為一次具有現實影響力的重要外交事件。」

「更具戲劇性的是中國方面的反應。中國明文禁止石平入境，卻無法阻止他踏上台灣的土地。石平此行，以最平實、最直接的方式，向國際社會再次證明：中國與台灣互不隸屬。這一事實，正是北京長期敘事中最不願意被戳破的謊言。面對石平在台灣的公開發言，中國顯然十分在意，卻又無法提出任何具體而有邏輯的反駁。最後只能反覆拋出一句『不值一提』。這種說法本身就暴露了矛盾。如果石平真的不值一提，那當初為何要對他進行制裁？前後邏輯根本無法自洽。」

他接著寫道：「更值得玩味的是，中國外交部與國台辦的幾位發言人，竟然在回應石平訪台一事上，使用了幾乎完全一致的說法。依我多年在中國採訪的經驗，只有在被認定為『重大事件』時，才會出現跨部門溝通、統一口徑的情況。這恰恰反證了，石平訪台對北京而言，絕非他們口中所謂的『小事』。這次訪問，也讓日本國內那些長期替中共辯護的人陷入沉默。因為北京沒有提供任何可供辯解的論述，他們連『代言』的空間都不存在了。這種讓他們『無話可說』本身，就是一種難得的外交成果。」

最後矢板明夫引述台灣北社社長羅浚晅醫師給出的比喻：「美國出兵活捉委內瑞拉總統馬杜羅，是給了習近平一記重拳；而石平訪問台灣，則是日本再給習近平補上了一拳。」

countries: 美國 台灣 日本 中國 委內瑞拉


content_text:
新竹縣尖石鄉今天（9日）凌晨0點30分發生芮氏規模3.9小區域有感地震，最大震度3級。

中央氣象署資料顯示，這起地震深度9.3公里，震央位於新竹縣政府東南方28.7公里。

各地測得最大震度新竹縣五峰、苗栗縣南庄3級；桃園市、宜蘭縣2級；新竹市、新北市、台中市、花蓮縣及南投縣1級。

另外，花蓮縣近海昨天深夜10點40分也發生規模3.7小區域有感地震，震央在花蓮縣政府東北方9.5公里，地震深度21.9公里，最大震度花蓮縣地區2級；宜蘭縣、南投縣及台中縣1級。

title: 新竹尖石00:30規模3.9地震 最大震度3級

taiwan-subdivisions: 新竹 尖石 南庄 新竹市 新北市 宜蘭縣 苗栗縣 花蓮縣 新竹縣 南投縣 五峰 桃園


title: 新竹尖石00:30規模3.9地震 最大震度3級

taiwan-subdivisions: 新竹 尖石 五峰 南投縣 花蓮縣 新竹縣 新竹市 南庄 宜蘭縣 苗栗縣 新北市 桃園


title: 日參議員石平訪台戳破中共謊言 矢板明夫從中方爆氣回應揪1端倪

countries: 中國 日本 委內瑞拉 美國 台灣


title: 普廷對馬杜羅倒台緘默 CNN：「唐羅主義」反為俄提供戰略掩護

countries: 英國 伊朗 烏克蘭 美國 格陵蘭 俄羅斯 敘利亞 丹麥 中國 委內瑞拉

people: 習近平 川普