The future of artificial intelligence (AI) depends on whether Taiwan and its allies — namely, the US — can secure the nation’s 15 international telecommunications cables and the broader global undersea cable system. Decades of deferred maintenance and deference to private actors have placed this critical infrastructure in a fragile position.

While China is literally parading its newest unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), the parties in the best position to increase the resiliency of the undersea cable system — the US and its hyperscalers — fail to see that a worst-case scenario is becoming increasingly likely.

The US, as a key supplier of undersea cable inputs and spare materials, could leverage its economic might to make these key resources more available. Hyperscalers such as Google and Meta are trying to lay new cables as fast as possible to keep up with their surge in bandwidth demands as they train new AI models. They can opt to make sure these cables are designed in a way to maximize resilience to new and growing threats.

Taiwan must not let this moment pass. There are signs of increased attention to this issue in Washington — I recently testified before Congress on this very topic. US representatives and senators alike are realizing that Taiwan and other allies are in a perilous position; they are also aware that their investments in AI would mean little if Internet traffic grinds to a halt due to undersea cable disruptions. A call for collaboration and immediate action from Taipei can ensure that Congress and US companies pursue this important issue.

Fifteen international cables ensure that Taiwan can reach the world and share its knowledge, products and services. These cables are prone to break even when they are not being targeted by adversaries. Misplaced fishing nets, anchors dropped at the wrong time and in the wrong place, and landslides can easily cause a cable break. This partially explains why dozens of cables have required repair over the past three years. As cables only have a lifespan of about 25 years, these breaks will likely become even more common in the near future. That is why across the entire undersea cable system there is a rush to lay new cables that are more resilient to everyday threats.

The time to repair these breaks is likely to increase. The global cable repair ship fleet is made up of fewer than 30 vessels — most of which need to be replaced by 2040. Experts calculate that US$3 billion is needed to meet this need. Google and Meta are each planning hundreds of billions of dollars in capital expenditure next year.

China, Russia and other bad actors are displaying new capabilities to clandestinely sabotage several undersea cables at once. As UUVs become more ubiquitous, the odds of bad actors being able to simultaneously snap several cables would increase. Taiwan, the US and allies would suffer significant economic and societal disruptions as a result.

Now is the time for Taiwanese officials to strongly and clearly express their support for US efforts to invest in the undersea cable system. These messages can then kick-start more specific joint initiatives. Taiwanese and US officials could help develop key standards around cybersecurity standards, cable repair processes and cable laying strategies that have been absent for far too long. They can also issue clear statements about how to interpret vague international laws in a way that aligns with the ability of every state to defend and protect its critical infrastructure, including undersea cables.

Ensuring the resilience of Taiwan’s undersea cables is not just a logistical necessity for the nation, but the fundamental prerequisite for safeguarding the global digital economy and the democratic connectivity that underpins the future of AI.

Kevin Frazier is the AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas School of Law.

Protecting Taiwan’s underwater cable system


There has been much catastrophizing in Taiwan recently about America becoming more unreliable as a bulwark against Chinese pressure. Some of this has been sparked by debates in Washington about whether the United States should defend Taiwan in event of conflict. There also were understandable anxieties about whether President Trump would sacrifice Taiwan’s interests for a trade deal when he sat down with President Xi (習近平) in late October. On top of that, Taiwan’s opposition political leaders have sought to score political points by attacking the Lai (賴清德) administration for mishandling relations with the United States.Part of this budding anxiety

EDITORIAL CARTOON


The real failure on climate did not happen in Brazil

It is not governments that will ultimately decide the path of the future, it is citizens

Aonther climate conference, another failed climate conference.

That is the sense you might get from the anguished statements emerging at the close of the COP30 meeting in the Brazilian city of Belem at the weekend. Hopes that the final communique would incorporate a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels were dashed. A planned US$125 billion fund for forest protection ended up with just US$6 billion or so committed.

However, that assessment confuses where we are going wrong on climate — and what we are getting right.

Take the weird refusal to mention fossil fuels in the agreement. That is not quite the disaster it appears to be. Given the ability of oil exporters to veto every word of the text, it is quite remarkable that such references ever made it through the drafting process. The fact that petroleum producers are now balking more aggressively at naming the problem we all face is a sign not of the failure of the energy transition, but of its success.

The International Energy Agency’s central expectation for fossil fuel consumption in 2050 has been cut by 12 percent since the F-words were first officially mentioned at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, four years ago. Consumption of coal in the two biggest users, China and India, has fallen this year. These are far more substantive outcomes than the terminology of a UN document.

That is not to tell a triumphal story about the progress of climate policy this year — only to say that the real problems are far away from the conference halls in Belem.

If you want to understand what we are really doing wrong, look instead at an obscure page on a UN Web site where governments lodge their emissions-reduction plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Better still, go to Climate Action Tracker, a project that tries to translate these jargonistic documents into something approximating plain English.

The NDCs are arguably the most important element of the Paris Agreement — the 2015 deal in which every country, for the first time, agreed to limit their greenhouse pollution. They are meant to set clear, verifiable targets that can be measured against the best available science and get progressively more ambitious. As we have written, there is good evidence that governments that actually commit to such goals achieve them.

The latest list of plans, laying out where emissions will be in 2035, were intended to be a centerpiece of COP30. They fall far short of what is needed. Of the 10 biggest polluters accounting for three-quarters of carbon emissions, just two — the EU and Japan — have submitted documents with any hope of being enacted. The administration of former US president Joe Biden put in a US plan six weeks after US President Donald Trump was elected, rendering the entire effort futile on delivery. India, Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea still have not come up with their proposals. China, Russia and Indonesia have presented roadmaps so timid that they would be able to increase their emissions substantially from current levels and still claim they hit the mark.

The lackluster effort is in keeping with the tenor of politics today. Whether they are promising sanctions in retaliation for TV advertisements, threatening to behead a foreign leader, invading their neighbors or bombing apartment blocks into rubble, the authoritarians in charge of the major powers do not like to sign on to anything these days that constrains them.

It is citizens who will ultimately decide the path of the future, though — and there, the picture is far brighter.

At times, they are taking the energy transition into their own hands — whether it is Pakistani households quitting a fossil-fired grid to use cheaper solar instead, or Turkish drivers switching to electric vehicles faster than Americans or Australians.

At other times, they are the ones responsible for implementing policies, delivering far more positive outcomes than their leaders would have you believe. For all you might have read about phalanxes of gas turbines and coal plants being lined up to power the US’ data-center explosion, some 10 months into the Trump administration, just 11 percent of the generating capacity under construction is based on fossil fuels.

At still other times, they are finding themselves in the path of the devastating effects of climate change itself.

Most of the technology we will need to solve this problem is already in our hands and cheaper than the alternative, if only we would remove the morass of barriers and regulation we have erected to slow its advance. Our problem is that the world’s leaders are some of the last to see that.

Plenty of people of all generations are aware of the benefits of action to halt climate change, but with an average age of 69, the headstrong leaders of the 10 big emitters have rarely had less of a stake in the state of things when the current crop of NDCs matures in 2035. Almost half of the world’s population is younger than 30. It is up to the rest of us to guide the world to a better course.

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.


Free trade cannot bring peace

The Hull Doctrine that trade and peace dovetail is dead, having drowned in the South China Sea

In his 1948 memoirs, Cordell Hull wrote that during his 12 years as former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of state, he was guided by the idea that “unhampered trade dovetailed with peace.”

Tariff walls and battle lines rose together, he believed; tear down the first, and the second would fall.

Hull’s conviction that commerce fosters peace reflected a venerable liberal tradition stretching back to the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant and the 19th-century British politician Richard Cobden.

In his 1795 book Perpetual Peace, Kant argued that republics bound by trade and law would naturally forswear war, while Cobden, a free-trade evangelist, held that economic interdependence rendered armed conflict materially ruinous and therefore irrational.

Former US president Woodrow Wilson, who had lectured on Kant as a professor at Princeton University, carried this idealist notion into the 20th century.

Faith in the pacifying effects of commerce became political orthodoxy in the US following passage of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934. Drafted by Hull, the bill reversed decades of Republican protectionism dating back to 1890. In the wake of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 and the retaliatory spiral it provoked, it seemed almost self-evident that tariffs bred wars and that free trade would therefore bring peace.

However, the geopolitical case for free trade rested on little more than wishful thinking. To be sure, Tennesseans like Hull, who decried the harm that manufacturing tariffs inflicted by northern US states on farm exports from the nation’s south, had legitimate economic reasons to champion freer markets, but in reality, the causal arrow points in the opposite direction.

It is peace that makes trade possible — a crucial distinction for understanding globalization and its current retreat.

Consider Britain’s ascent to imperial dominance in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its naval and colonial expansion was accompanied by mercantilist policies designed to draw in bullion to finance wars and suppress foreign competition. The Navigation Act of 1651 restricted trade to English ships and ports; colonial monopolies such as the East India Co consolidated imperial control; and tariffs, together with production “bounties,” like those paid under the Corn Laws of 1815, reinforced the system.

Only after Britain established uncontested control of the seas did mercantilism lose its appeal. By the middle of the 19th century, Britain needed cheap food and raw materials, and it sought new markets for its manufactures. Low tariffs and reciprocal trade agreements complemented new policies, such as the gold standard, that made London the world’s financial center. Its ability to impose “peace” thus paved the way for its embrace of free trade.

The US found itself in a similar position after the end of World War II. As the new global hegemon, it had the power and the incentive to promote free trade and monetary stability, using low tariffs and fixed exchange rates to expand markets for its mass-produced goods.

The result was the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, designed to reduce import barriers, and the IMF, established to stabilize currencies and stop competitive devaluations. The ensuing Pax Americana seemed to validate Hull’s belief that economic nationalism had caused the geopolitical breakdown of the 1930s. In fact, it had been one of its symptoms.

Had the US not provided its trading partners with security guarantees, most notably through NATO, the post-World War II revival of trade and investment would never have been possible. France and the UK had initially resisted US efforts to promote European economic integration through the Marshall Plan, insisting that national self-sufficiency was necessary in the absence of US protection. The so-called liberal order was thus not spontaneous, but deliberately constructed by the US, and sustained by its military and monetary dominance.

HULL DOCTRINE’S DEMISE

The eras of Pax Britannica and Pax Americana revealed that peace does not come from disarmament or treaties prohibiting war, such as the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact, but from the presence of a global power willing and able to guarantee security. The European Coal and Steel Community, the precursor to the EU, was founded on the premise that economic interdependence would make another continental war impossible.

However, Europe’s post-war peace rested less on markets than on US deterrence. It was an iron fist, not an invisible hand, that safeguarded the global advance of free trade.

At the end of the Cold War, the US sought to deepen and expand trade flows further regionally and globally. Defending the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, then-US president Bill Clinton argued that it was as much about spreading peace as about spreading prosperity.

“For this new era,” he said, US national security “will be determined as much by our ability to pull down foreign trade barriers as by our ability to breach distant ramparts.”

However, the connection between trade and security proved far weaker than Clinton’s rhetoric implied. Although NAFTA was followed by limited security cooperation between the US, Canada and Mexico, that cooperation was driven largely by shared concerns over law enforcement and migration rather than by trade itself.

The relationship between the US and China is a case in point. Between China’s accession to the WTO in 2001 and the election of US President Donald Trump, an avowed protectionist, in 2016, US-China trade increased fivefold. Yet over the same period, their security relationship deteriorated amid rising tensions over China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, its growing cyberespionage operations and Washington’s “pivot to Asia” defense strategy.

Sino-American ties, of course, soured further when Trump began to impose tariffs and sanctions in 2018, even as bilateral trade rose by 14 percent from 2016 to 2018. Since then, the two countries have become economically intertwined to a degree that deeply worries both governments: China struggles to overcome its dependence on US semiconductors, while the US is scrambling to reduce its reliance on Chinese rare earth metals. Far from easing strategic anxieties, economic interdependence has amplified them, leaving each side increasingly vulnerable to disruptions in strategically important sectors.

In short, the Hull Doctrine is dead — drowned in the South China Sea. While the liberal belief that trade raises the cost of war contains a kernel of truth, it is equally true that interdependence can just as easily breed mistrust and rivalry.

Among Roosevelt’s contemporaries, no one understood the tension between commerce and peace better than Wendell Willkie, his 1940 Republican challenger. After visiting wartime China in 1942, Willkie pointedly asked: “Can we develop enormous trade relations with China ... unless today we are able to develop a joint military strategy with China?”

In other words, could the US hope to expand trade without first building mutual trust? Were not the benefits of trade dependent on cooperation and a shared sense of security?

Willkie also recognized how perilous it would be to integrate market economies with state-directed ones. When global prices fail to reflect supply-and-demand dynamics, they distort production and trade flows, killing off more efficient enterprises, fueling imbalances and breeding resentment.

As he put it in a 1944 New York Times article: “If after the war the industrial and commercial life of most of the countries of the world is either state-owned or controlled, then the whole problem of the survival of a free economic system, even in the United States, will be complicated. Certainly the pattern of our foreign trade policy will have to be fashioned to government supervision, allocations and perhaps even price-fixing. For state-controlled economies can sell without regard to costs. In other words, prices can become political.”

And when anything becomes political, as the Nazi crown jurist Carl Schmitt famously observed, it inevitably becomes adversarial.

TRADE AND SECURITY

What lessons can we draw from this history?

The liberal order — and, in particular, faith in the steady expansion of global trade — was underpinned by US security guarantees. Although the Soviet Union and its satellites remained outside that system during the Cold War, they played only a marginal role in the world economy. The leading industrial powers, especially those of western Europe and Japan, embraced liberalization under the protection of the US security umbrella.

While economic globalization accelerated after the end of the Cold War, China’s trajectory since joining the WTO has vindicated Willkie’s warning that the fusion of markets and state power would distort and politicize global prices. Rather than liberalizing, the Chinese regime used its newfound access to international markets to strengthen its state-industrial complex.

State-owned enterprises’ share of industrial output has risen sharply under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), whose government directs massive amounts of capital into sectors deemed strategically vital through plans such as Made in China 2025 and China Standards 2035.

Meanwhile, subsidized overcapacity in steel, solar panels and electric vehicles has turned trade itself into an instrument of geopolitical ambition.

Willkie’s observation that “prices can become political” perfectly captures the reality of global commerce. In the spirit of Clausewitz, trade has become war by other means.

China’s economy today is roughly 14 times larger than it was when it joined the WTO, and its official defense budget has increased more than 10-fold in nominal dollar terms (the real figure is likely far higher). Its growing military power, together with Russia’s revanchist ambitions and the US’ profound disillusionment with the globalization project, has severely undermined the security foundation on which the liberal order rests. And even though world leaders continue to proclaim their commitment to globalization, it is far from clear that the multilateral trading system can endure without the security guarantees that sustained it.

As that foundation erodes, deglobalization will be anything but smooth. Efforts to decouple the US and Chinese economies will likely drive a surge in transshipments as exporters seek to conceal the origins of targeted products. The detection — or even the suspicion — of such practices will then trigger a cascade of new tariffs and secondary sanctions.

Three developments will further undermine efforts to preserve rules-based trade. The first is the growing use of “national security” exceptions at the WTO, as trade barriers justified on security grounds are treated by the US and others as beyond legal review. The second development is the continued paralysis of the WTO’s appellate body, which has been inquorate since 2019, owing to Washington’s refusal to approve new judges.

Lastly, the most-favored-nation principle is being severely eroded, as more countries are forced to violate it to reach temporary trade truces with the Trump administration.

When the Russian threat receded after 1991, Europeans convinced themselves that the project of economic and political integration championed by the EU’s architects — together with the broader drift toward liberal democracy — had rendered traditional geopolitics obsolete.

However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 revealed how completely peace had depended on the presence of the US as a security guarantor. Its reluctance to continue in this role reflects the growing belief among its electorate that the costs of sustaining a liberal world order now outweigh the benefits. Absent a sharp change in that conviction, and an increase in the capacity of Washington’s post-war allies to buttress the security architecture, that order appears irretrievably lost.

Benn Steil is the director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Copyright: Project Syndicate


Ten-man Everton beat Man Utd 1-0

RED CARD: ‘Idrissa apologized to us all at halftime and said his piece,’ Everton’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall said of Gueye, who was sent off after slapping a teammate

Everton on Monday survived an astonishing moment of madness at Old Trafford when Idrissa Gueye was sent off for slapping teammate Michael Keane to beat Manchester United 1-0.

Senegal midfielder Gueye was given his marching orders by referee Tony Harrington in the 13th minute after putting his hand to Keane’s face following an angry altercation.

The home crowd anticipated waves of attack, but United failed to take advantage, proving toothless against David Moyes’ battling team.

Everton’s Idrissa Gueye slaps teammate Michael Keane in the face during their English Premier League match against Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, on Monday. Photo: EPA

Instead, it was the 10-man visitors who seized the initiative, courtesy of a wonderful strike by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the 29th minute.

Dewsbury-Hall received the ball midway inside United’s half and surged toward goal, beating Bruno Fernandes and Leny Yoro before bending the ball into the top corner.

United, missing injured forwards Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha, huffed and puffed, but could not find an equalizer despite 25 shots to Everton’s three.

Goalscorer Dewsbury-Hall, addressing the red-card incident, said Gueye had apologized.

“It was just a moment of madness,” he told Sky Sports. “It was obviously avoidable. All I can say is Idrissa apologized to us all at halftime and said his piece.”

Former United boss Moyes, celebrating his first win at Old Trafford as a visiting manager at his 18th attempt, said he was “incredibly proud” of his players.

“We’ve come close a lot of times, but not quite been able to go over the line,” he said. “But tonight, incredibly, we got over the line with 10 men, which was probably the hardest way to get a good result.”

Ruben Amorim, marking the first anniversary of his maiden game in charge of United, made several changes in the second half in a frantic search for an equalizer, but his team still lacked a cutting edge despite dominating possession.

Pickford kept out a powerful Joshua Zirkzee header with just more than 10 minutes of normal time to go, and Everton hung on for their first win at Old Trafford since 2013, with United booed off.

Earlier, the visitors suffered a big blow in just the 10th minute when they lost captain Seamus Coleman.

However, worse was to follow three minutes later with the scarcely believable bust-up between Gueye and Keane.

Gueye is the first English Premier League player to be sent off for fighting with a teammate since 2008.

The Premier League Match Centre posted on X: “The referee’s call of red card to Gueye for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR [video assistant referee] — with the action deemed to be a clear strike to the face of Keane.”

A bitterly disappointed Amorim, seeking his fifth straight win at home, said his team had lacked intensity.

“You can feel right away when we start the game in the first minute, we can feel when we are at the top level in intensity and when we are not,” he said. “We cannot win games in this way.”

“I’m really frustrated with the way we played the game, especially in our home, especially understanding what happened during this week with the other clubs, looking at the table,” he added.


Bowling team win gold at the Deaflympics

Taiwan’s women’s bowling team on Monday bagged the country’s first gold medal at the Deaflympics in Tokyo after beating South Korea.

The Taiwanese team comprised of Chang Yao-chien, Wang Yu-chin, Lin Ya-chin and Chen I-miao advanced from the first round of the tournament as the first seed.

In the second round, they finished fourth in the eight-team pool with four wins and three losses to squeak through to the semi-finals, in which they defeated Ukraine 2-1 to reach the final.

From left, Taiwanese bowlers Wang Yu-chin, Lin Ya-chin, Chen I-miao and Chang Yao-chien pose for a photograph in Tokyo on Monday. Photo: the Ministry of Sports via CNA

In the final against South Korea, Taiwan took two games in a row, 173-154 and 211-148, to secure the gold medal.

Also on Monday, the men’s table tennis team settled for a silver medal after losing 3-0 against China.

The team, led by six-time Deaflympian Yang Jung-tsung, along with Wang Yi-hsiang, Lu Shih-chieh and Kuo Yueh-tung, earned Taiwan’s sixth consecutive men’s table tennis team medal at the event.

From left, Taiwanese table tennis players Lu Shih-chieh, Yang Jung-tsung, Wang Yi-hsiang and Kuo Yueh-tung pose for a photograph in Tokyo in an undated photograph. Photo: The Ministry of Sports via the Liberty Times

Taiwan’s total medal haul as of Monday was one gold medal, five silvers and five bronzes.

There were 76 Taiwanese athletes competing in 11 sports at the Deaflympics, with the competition concluding yesterday.


Taiwanese kabaddi team win silver medal at World Cup

Taiwan’s women’s kabaddi team on Monday settled for a silver medal after losing to India 35-28 in the Women’s World Cup final.

Played by two teams of seven, kabaddi is a fast-paced contact sport in which players try to tag opponents and return to their side without being tackled. Matches consist of two 20-minute halves with a five-minute break.

Points are awarded for successful tags, while defenders earn a point for tackling the raider. Tagged or tackled players are temporarily out, but can re-enter when their team scores.

Members of Taiwan’s women’s kabaddi team pose for a photograph after finishing second at the Women’s World Cup in Dhaka on Monday. Photo: CNA

In Monday’s final, Taiwan got off to a strong start, taking a 12-9 lead, but a defensive attempt to tackle an opponent backfired when an India player broke free and reached the midline, costing Taiwan four points.

India seized the momentum, sending Taiwan into halftime trailing 20-16.

Taiwan also took a hit from a referee’s decision. Under kabaddi rules, only the defenders who make contact with the raider are supposed to be ruled out if the raider escapes.

Only two Taiwan players had made contact on the play, but after a video review, the referee ruled that four defenders were involved, Taiwan coach Tsai Wei-yang said.

“That decision really hurt our morale,” Tsai said.

In the second half, Taiwan tried to mount a comeback, but India’s towering lineup — including four players taller than 1.8m — gradually pulled away in points, handing Taiwan the defeat.

This marked another narrow loss to India for the Taiwan women’s kabaddi team, following a one-point defeat at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

“The loss was a bitter one,” Tsai said, but he added that despite settling for silver again, the team’s defense had improved greatly in this World Cup, unlike at the Hangzhou Asian Games, when victories relied almost entirely on offense.

The coach said that the Asian Games to be held in Nagoya, Japan, next year would likely feature the same group of players.

“After returning to Taiwan, we will do more analysis and research to figure out how to overcome India’s lineup,” he said.

The Women’s Kabaddi World Cup was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from Nov. 17 to Monday. Eleven countries took part in the tournament.


Detroit win streak hits 13, Raptors take 8th in a row

Cade Cunningham on Monday scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to spark the Detroit Pistons to their franchise record-tying 13th consecutive victory, a 122-117 triumph at Indiana.

The NBA Eastern Conference leaders improved to 15-2 and matched the longest win streaks in Pistons history, 13 in a row in the 2003-2004 and 1989-1990 seasons — both campaigns in which they won the NBA Finals.

“It’s amazing,” Cunningham said. “We play for the Detroit Pistons, a historic franchise. To be able to make history for a historic franchise like this is special.”

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic handles the ball behind Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells during their NBA game in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday. Photo: AP

Cunningham, who added six assists, saw his run of six consecutive 25-point and 10-assist games ended.

However, Caris LeVert added 19 points off the bench, and Jalen Duren had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Detroit.

Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin missed a potential tying three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, and LeVert added two free throws to seal the Pacers’ fate.

At Toronto, Brandon Ingram scored a season-high 37 points while Scottie Barnes had 18 points and 11 rebounds as the host Raptors boosted their win streak to eight games by defeating Cleveland 110-99.

Toronto, on the team’s longest win streak since the 2019-2020 campaign, improved to 13-5, second in the East, while Cleveland fell to 12-7 as their three-game win streak ended.

“Brandon did a great job,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “He was obviously hot. We did a good job of finding him. He did a great job of getting to his spots and then getting good looks.

“I thought Brendon also did a great job defensively. He was rebounding the ball well. He was in right spots, getting deflections. He’s going both ways on the floor and really helping us to get wins,” he added.

At Brooklyn, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns delivered 37 points and 12 rebounds while Jalen Brunson added 27 points to power the Knicks over the host Nets 113-100, despite 31 points by Brooklyn’s Noah Clowney.

Tyler Herro scored 24 points and Kel’el Ware added 20 points and 18 rebounds to ignite Miami in a 106-102 home triumph over Dallas, which boosted the Heat to 12-6 with their fifth win in a row.

Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic had a triple-double with 17 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets to a 125-115 victory at Memphis.

The Serbian center leads the NBA in assists and rebounds, and ranks sixth in scoring.

The Nuggets (13-4) had 29 points from Jamal Murray and 27 from Peyton Watson in capturing their 10th win in 12 games.

Portland, led by Jerami Grant’s 35 points, defeated host Milwaukee 115-103 while Zion Williamson had 29 points to lead eight double-figure scorers for New Orleans in a 143-130 victory over visiting Chicago.

The Houston Rockets, with Kevin Durant absent for personal reasons, rose to 11-4 with a 114-92 victory at Phoenix.

Amen Thompson had 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to lead the Rockets, who snapped Phoenix’s three-game win streak.


After a vehicle pursuit of the Dallas Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland reached speeds of up to 258kph, a frantic search for the NFL player included Texas state troopers firing pepper balls into drainage tunnels and officers using K-9 dogs and a drone before he was found dead from suicide, body and dash cam video showed.

Kneeland, 24, was found dead in the early morning hours of Nov. 6 of what police said was an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, hours after being pursued by officers who had attempted a traffic stop in suburban Dallas, Texas.

At first, authorities did not know the driver they were pursuing the evening on Nov. 5 was Kneeland, initially believing the car had been stolen. After the driver abandoned the vehicle after a crash, authorities learned during their hours-long search that the suspect was Kneeland. His family and friends feared he was going to hurt himself, as he had sent messages telling them goodbye. They had reached out to authorities to locate him.

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland walks off the field after a preseason NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens in Arlington, Texas, on Aug. 16. Photo: AP

A trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), began chasing Kneeland, who was driving a Dodge Charger northbound on the Dallas North Tollway at 10:33pm on Nov. 5, according to an offense report the agency released on Friday through an open records request.

Kneeland’s vehicle reached speeds higher than 233kph, the trooper said, but other troopers in body camera footage released by DPS said they believed the chase reached 258kph.

The trooper lost the Charger, but it was later found at about 10:42pm after it had crashed with a Ford F-350 truck and ended up in a grassy area beside the tollway in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas. The site is near an office park area with office buildings, businesses and apartments.

A photograph of Marshawn Kneeland is displayed on a screen before an NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday. Photo: AP

An unidentified woman whose truck was hit by Kneeland’s Charger was distraught as she stood beside her damaged vehicle, the body camera footage showed.

“I saw him in my rearview mirror coming as fast as he was. I was like: ‘Oh my God. He’s not stopping,’ and then he just plowed into me,” she told a trooper in footage that was also released on Friday.

Troopers said the Charger was abandoned, but they found an empty holster inside, leading them to believe the driver was armed.

At this point in the search, troopers and officers did not know who the suspect was, initially believing the vehicle might have been stolen.

During the search at the office park area, one trooper flagged down a man driving a car who indicated he had seen the suspect run off through a field.

“Take me back where you saw him,” the trooper told the driver before jumping into the man’s vehicle, but the suspect was no longer in the field.

At about 11:20pm, DPS troopers and Frisco police department officers were searching for Kneeland in a nearby wooded area and a series of drainage tunnels under a sidewalk.

“Frisco K-9. If you’re in this tunnel, I’m going to send my dog in here. He is going to bite you. This is your last opportunity,” a Frisco officer said.

Authorities later fired pepper balls into the tunnels and sent a drone into them, but did not find Kneeland inside.

By about 1am on Nov. 6, authorities had learned the driver of the Charger was Kneeland, and they had briefly detained but not charged his girlfriend, Catalina Mancera. She had driven to the scene of the search area, but initially had not told authorities of her connection to Kneeland.

“The girlfriend has his location, but she’s not giving it to us... “She’s like: ‘He’s going to kill himself. I can’t tell you where he’s at,’” a Frisco police officer said.

Authorities later said Mancera worked with officers to find Kneeland.

In other footage, law enforcement officers, while searching an area, discussed that he was an NFL player and that he had been texting goodbye to family members.

About 30 minutes later, the search ended. Kneeland’s body was located inside a portable toilet.

In a post on Facebook on Monday, Mancera said she still thinks that Kneeland would walk through their front door.

“My sweet boy is really gone. The things that I would do just to hold you one more time and tell you how much you mean to me. But now I have you to watch over me and wait for me on the other side. I will see you again,” Mancera wrote.

The Cowboys have said that a memorial fund had been started to support Mancera, who is pregnant with the couple’s child.

Records detail search for Marshawn Kneeland


DEATHS CONTINUE: The health ministry in Gaza said that at least 342 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the fragile ceasefire deal on Oct. 10

Israeli forces on Monday killed three Palestinians in Gaza near the line demarcating areas of Israeli control, underlining the struggle to broaden a fragile ceasefire deal approved more than six weeks ago to global acclaim.

Palestinian medics said the incidents involved an Israeli drone firing a missile at a group of people east of Khan Younis, killing two and wounding another, and a tank shell killing a person on the eastern side of Gaza City.

Israel’s military said it had fired after identifying what it called “terrorists” crossing what is known as the yellow line and approaching its troops, posing an immediate threat to them.

Palestinian children play soccer next to their destroyed homes in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday. Photo: EPA

The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in a statement later on Monday said that it had located the body of a hostage in an area controlled by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. It did not say when the handover would take place.

The hostage’s body is one of three still in Gaza.

Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel signed a truce on Oct. 9, halting two years of devastating warfare, but the agreement left the most intractable disputes for further talks, freezing the conflict without resolving it.

Hamas released all 20 surviving hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees held by Israel.

The agreement also provided for the return of the remains of 28 hostages in exchange for the remains of 360 militants.

Both sides have, since the deal, accused each other of deadly breaches of existing commitments in the agreement and of pushing back against later steps required by US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

The health ministry in Gaza on Monday said that at least 342 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the truce on Oct. 10. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed by militant gunfire in the same period.

The UN Security Council last week gave formal backing to Trump’s plan, which calls for an interim technocratic Palestinian government in Gaza, overseen by an international “board of peace” and backed by an international security force.

Trump’s plan also requires reform of the Palestinian Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who helped the US develop the plan and who Trump has said might join the board of peace, met Palestinian Authority Deputy Leader Hussein al-Sheikh in the West Bank on Sunday.

Al-Sheikh on social media said that they had discussed developments following the UN Security Council resolution and requirements for Palestinian self-determination.

A Hamas delegation in Cairo, led by its exiled chief Khalil al-Hayya, held talks with Egyptian officials on exploring the next phase of the ceasefire, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said.

Qassem acknowledged that the path to the second phase of the ceasefire was complex and said the Islamist group had told Egypt, a mediator in the conflict, that Israeli violations were undermining the agreement.

Agreeing on the makeup and mandate of the international security force has been particularly challenging.

Israel has said the multinational force must disarm Hamas, a step the group has so far resisted without Palestinian statehood, which Trump’s plan broadly envisages as the ultimate stage, but which Israel has ruled out.

Qassem said the force must have a role in keeping Israel’s military away from Palestinian civilians.

“There is complete uncertainty; the Americans haven’t put forward a detailed plan. It is unclear what kind of forces, what their tasks are, what their roles are, and where they will be stationed,” said a Palestinian official close to the Cairo talks who spoke on condition that he was not further identified. “Any deployment of forces without a political track, without an understanding with all Palestinian factions and powers in Gaza, would complicate things even further.”

Israeli-Hamas violence persists in Gaza


Under glaring laboratory lights, a research assistant extends his forearm and carefully inverts a mesh-topped container onto his skin to allow a wriggling mass of bed bugs to feed on his blood, all in the name of science.

Loathed as itchy household pests, the blood-sucking insects have revealed a darker, more intriguing potential as Malaysian scientists have discovered they can be turned into unlikely crime-busting allies.

A team from the Science University of Malaysia (USM) in northern Penang has found that tropical bed bugs can retain DNA from human prey for up to 45 days after snacking on an unwary victim.

A researcher allows bed bugs to feed on his arm as part of a scientific study at a laboratory of the Science University of Malaysia in George Town on Oct. 8. Photo: AFP

This makes the tiny critters, who love to lurk in headboard cracks, mattress seams and pillow covers, ideal evidence resources when it comes to pinpointing suspects at crime scenes.

From a speck of blood, police investigators might one day be able to piece together the full profile of an offender, if the critters are present at a crime scene.

Analyzing the insects could reveal gender, eye color, hair and skin color, entomologist Abdul Hafiz Ab Majid said.

“We call bed bugs the musuh dalam selimut [the enemy in the blanket],” Hafiz said, adding that “they can also be spies” to help solve crimes.

In a laboratory tucked deep inside USM’s School of Biological Sciences, Hafiz and postdoctoral researcher Lim Li have spent nearly half a decade studying tropical bed bugs.

The bloodsuckers, scientific name Cimex hemipterus, are the most common species found in Malaysia and the tropics.

The bugs are reared in containers under a laboratory bench, each wrapped in black plastic to mimic conditions the insects thrive in.

“We place folded pieces of paper inside the small containers so the bed bugs have something to climb on,” Hafiz said.

With the laboratory’s temperature kept at a constant 23°C to 24°C, the insects suck up 1.5 to 5.3 microliters of blood at each feeding, an “amount less than a droplet,” Hafiz said.

Researchers found DNA extracted from bed bugs that had fed on human blood could recover basic “phenotypic profiling,” a person’s observable traits, as well as gender for up to 45 days.

Using so-called Short Tandem Repeat (STR) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers, specific DNA sequences extracted from the blood, researchers can determine the gender, eye, hair and skin color of potential suspects, long after they have fled the scene.

The USM study called “Human profiling from STR and SNP analysis of tropical bed bug, Cimex hemipterus”, was published in Nature Scientific Reports two years ago.

It was the first documented forensic use involving tropical bed bugs.

Unlike mosquitoes and flies, bed bugs cannot fly, and once they have fed, “become engorged and can’t move around that much,” Hafiz said, adding that they can only move within 6m of where they have fed.

“That’s what makes them unique. We can say they are perfect to use as a forensic tool compared to mosquitoes that ... fly away,” Hafiz added.

The bugs are particularly useful at crime scenes, where fluids have been wiped away to destroy evidence, as the critters are often well-hidden.

Back in the laboratory, researcher Lim did not hesitate to demonstrate a feeding session, even joking that she had been a “willing victim” for science.

“I let them feed on my blood when I wanted to test how long [it would take] the human DNA to degrade,” she said.

Lim said that the inconspicuous bugs are “misunderstood creatures” and do not spread diseases — even though their bite leaves an itchy rash that can last for weeks.

“Maybe we can try educating people because the bed bugs are not actually vectors. So even if you get bitten, they can’t transmit diseases to you,” she said.

While the researchers imagined a future where tiny bed bugs at crime scenes could lead investigators to murder suspects, Hafiz said the insects are not a magic fix.

Bed bugs have their limits — especially when it comes to cracking cold cases, he said.

“It only gives investigators a time frame of 45 days to use bed bugs as evidence — and only if they are available at the crime scene,” Hafiz said.

Scientists recruit bed bugs as crime-busting allies


Judge dismisses cases against Trump foes

UNLAWFULLY APPOINTED: The indictments were brought by Lindsey Halligan, who was described as ‘a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience’

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, dealing a blow to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to prosecute his political opponents.

District Judge Cameron Currie threw out both cases on the grounds that the US attorney handpicked by Trump who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed.

Comey, 64, was charged in September with making false statements to the US Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding in what was widely seen as retribution by the president against a political opponent.

Then-FBI director James Comey testifies before the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 20, 2017. Photo: Reuters

James, 67, a Democrat who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud, was indicted the following month on one count of bank fraud and a second one of making false statements to a financial institution.

Both indictments were brought by Interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was described by Currie in her dismissal rulings as “a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience.”

Top federal prosecutors are subject to US Senate confirmation and Currie said Halligan had been unlawfully appointed because her predecessor was also serving in an acting capacity and US law does not allow two successive interim prosecutors.

“All actions flowing from Ms Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr Comey’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power,” the judge said. “And because Ms Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice.”

She made a similar ruling in James’ case.

The Comey and James indictments came after the Interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert stepped down after reportedly telling the US Department of Justice there was insufficient evidence to charge them.

Attorney General Pam Bondi replaced Siebert with Halligan, and she secured the indictments.

Dismissing the indictments without prejudice leaves open the possibility of the charges being filed again, although the statute of limitations in the Comey case might have since expired.

Comey and James also sought to have the indictments tossed on the grounds they were a vindictive prosecution. Those arguments were heard by a different judge.

Comey on social media welcomed the dismissal of a case.

“This case mattered to me personally, obviously, but it matters most because a message has to be sent that the president of the United States cannot use the Department of Justice to target his political enemies,” he wrote.


A woman in Thailand shocked temple staff when she started moving in her coffin after being brought in for cremation.

Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in Nonthaburi Province on the outskirts of Bangkok, posted a video on social media showing a woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a pickup truck, slightly moving her arms and head, leaving temple staff bewildered.

Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, on Monday said that the 65-year-old woman’s brother drove her from Phitsanulok Province to be cremated.

Buddhist monks chant during the funeral of a woman at the crematorium at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham Buddhist temple in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on May 5, 2021. Photo: AFP

He said they heard a faint knock coming from the coffin.

“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he said. “I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”

The brother said his sister had been bedridden for about two years, when her health deteriorated and she became unresponsive, appearing to stop breathing. The brother placed her in a coffin and made the 500km journey to a hospital in Bangkok, to which the woman had previously expressed a wish to donate her organs.

The hospital refused to accept the brother’s offer as he did not have an official death certificate, Pairat said.

His temple offers a free cremation service, which is why the brother approached it on Sunday, but was also refused due to the missing document.

The temple manager said that he was explaining how to get a death certificate when they heard the knocking. They then assessed her and sent her to a hospital.

Thai woman found alive in coffin at Buddhist temple


Overwhelmed health workers rushed from patient to patient in makeshift tents in Sudan, trying to help even though they too had barely escaped the fall of El Fasher to paramilitary forces.

“We’re not in good shape,” said Ikhlas Abdallah, a general practitioner who arrived from the western Darfur city now in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been battling the Sudanese army since April 2023.

“But we have to be okay to provide care to those who need it,” she said.

Injured displaced people who fled violence in El Fasher receive treatment at a makeshift clinic in Tawila, Sudan, on Nov. 3. Photo: Reuters

She spoke from al-Dabbah camp, located in army-held territory about 770km northeast of El Fasher, which endured an 18-month siege before falling to the RSF last month.

“Psychologically, what can we do? Like all those displaced from El Fasher, our feelings are indescribable,” she said.

At the camp, which is funded by a Sudanese businessman, hundreds of families sleep in nylon tents or on plastic mats laid across the sand. In one patch of blue canvas shelters, about 60 doctors, nurses and pharmacists have assembled what passes for a clinic — a makeshift pharmacy, a rudimentary laboratory and tents used as short-stay wards. Plastic chairs serve as examination tables. Ambulances borrowed from the nearby town of al-Dabbah function as mobile clinics.

Men carry buckets of water for the communal kitchens and improvised latrines, while women stir massive pots over open flames. They serve the traditional Sudanese dish assida to families for free.

“We all come from the same place,” said Elham Mohamed, a pharmacist who also fled El Fasher. “We understand them and they understand us.”

Every day, dozens of people arrive with respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, skin conditions and eye infections — ailments that spread quickly in crowded conditions with little clean water.

“We are doing everything we can, but resources are scarce,” said Ahmed al-Tegani, a volunteer doctor with the International Organization for Migration.

Some patients “require specialized care” that is not available in the camp, he said.

Abdallah fled the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher after the RSF overran the army’s last stronghold in Darfur on Oct. 26.

She said she arrived safely in al-Dabbah “only because they [the RSF] did not know we were doctors.”

To the paramilitary group, she said, identifying as medical personnel meant “death, captivity or ransom.”

While escaping, she and her colleagues treated the wounded secretly, often without bandages.

“If the RSF discovered someone had received medical care, they beat them again,” she said.

Throughout the conflict, both warring sides have repeatedly and deliberately targeted doctors and hospitals.

The WHO has documented 285 attacks on healthcare since the war began. They have killed at least 1,204 health workers and patients, and wounded more than 400.

Before fleeing, Abdallah spent weeks working around the clock in the maternity hospital. It was the last functioning medical facility in El Fasher and suffered repeated attacks during the siege.

In October alone, the WHO reported four attacks on the hospital.

Abdallah remembers one night in October when a drone struck the building.

“I went home early that evening and later I heard the sound of a drone. It fell on the hospital. When we rushed there, there was no one left to save. Bodies were unrecognizable. People were torn into pieces,” she said. “It didn’t feel real. Horror like in the movies.”

Two days after El Fasher fell, an attack on the hospital killed 460 patients and staff, according to the WHO.

The city remains cut off from communications, with the RSF controlling access to Starlink satellite services.

For Abdallah, the journey to al-Dabbah — which involved checkpoints, arbitrary killings, and rampant looting and sexual violence — was “worse than inside El Fasher.”

Most people “were beaten” and “more people died on the road than” in the city itself, she said.

Sudan’s exhausted doctors treat their fellow survivors


NEW ZEALAND

Two mountain climbers die

Two mountain climbers have died on Aoraki, the nation’s tallest peak, and two others from the same group were rescued, authorities said yesterday. The dead climbers’ bodies have been found and specialist searchers were working to recover them “in a challenging alpine environment,” Police Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker said. None of the climbers has been publicly identified, but the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association in a statement said that one of those who died was a member of the organization and the other was that guide’s client. Sergeant Kevin McErlain told the Timaru Herald that the pair had been connected by a rope when they fell near the summit of Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook. Authorities learned late on Monday night that four climbers needed help on the mountain, which is on New Zealand’s South Island. Two of the climbers were rescued by helicopter in the early hours of yesterday morning, Walker said.

CHINA

Spacecraft launched

The China Manned Space Agency yesterday conducted an urgent unmanned spacecraft launch, after damage to a previous mission’s return capsule left the crew on its space station without a means of getting back to Earth. The Long March-2F rocket carrying Shenzhou-22 lifted off shortly after midday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, footage from China Central Television showed. Shenzhou missions have been used to crew the Tiangong space station, exchanging teams of three astronauts every six months. Shenzhou-22 was originally slated for a crewed launch next year, but it was launched early after a suspected space debris strike to the Shenzhou-20 return capsule made it unsafe for re-entry to Earth, leaving its crew briefly stranded. The Shenzhou-20 team returned aboard Shenzhou-21 on Nov. 14 — nine days later than planned — leaving their relief crew without a reliable return vehicle. The accelerated launch ensures Shenzhou-21 astronauts Zhang Lu (張陸), Wu Fei (武飛) and Zhang Hongzhang (張洪章) have a safe return option.

FRANCE

Dogs surprise scientists

Those tiny, fluffy dogs walking down the street might look cute, but beware — they probably have some wolf in them. That is the discovery announced on Monday by US scientists, who were surprised to find that nearly two-thirds of all dog breeds have a detectable amount of wolf DNA, and it is not genetic leftovers from when dogs originally evolved from wolves about 20,000 years ago, but instead suggests that domesticated dogs and wild wolves have interbred within the past few thousand years. This does not mean that “wolves are coming into your house and mixing it up with your pet dog,” said Logan Kistler, a curator at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and coauthor of the study. It also seems to have influenced the size, smelling power and even personality of modern dog breeds, the scientists said. Dogs and wolves can produce offspring together, but interbreeding is thought to be rare. “Prior to this study, the leading science seemed to suggest that in order for a dog to be a dog, there can’t be very much wolf DNA present, if any,” lead study author Audrey Lin of the American Museum of Natural History said in a statement. To find out more, the team analyzed thousands of dog and wolf genomes in publicly available databases. They found that more than 64 percent of modern breeds have wolf ancestry, with even tiny chihuahuas carrying about 0.2 percent.

World News Quick Take


Environmental Impact Assessment: Is Taiwan ready for the heat?With last month being the hottest October on record, the nation needs a national program to deal with high temperatures

Few were surprised when the Central Weather Administration (CWA) confirmed that last month was the hottest October on record. The average temperature was 27.4 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees higher than across the reference period of 1991–2020, leading many to ask if the uncomfortable heat was a consequence of anthropogenic climate change.

For nonscientists, getting an answer to that question is now easier than ever before. Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index (CSI) aims to bridge the gap between long-term global trends and the day-to-day weather people experience.

Using attribution analysis “to identify weather conditions that are becoming more common due to human-caused climate change,” the index claims to provide “a locally relevant, daily metric, showing that climate change is not just a future threat but is already part of our daily weather.”

The Global CSI includes data for over 1,000 major cities. In Taiwan, it shows results for several minor towns, such as Toufen (頭份) in Miaoli County and Donggang (東港) in Pingtung County, as well as the special municipalities.

Every day, the CSI assigns a value of -5 to +5 to each location. Positive levels (shown by warm colors) indicate that the day’s temperature — be it hot or cold — has become more likely due to human-caused climate change. A CSI of +5 means the current temperature now occurs at least five times more often compared to if there’d been no anthropogenic warming. Negative levels (shades of gray) mean that climate change has made current conditions less common.

For most of last month, Taiwan was a patchwork of reds, implying there’s a direct link between roasting urban environments and mankind’s burning of fossil fuels.

A FAST-WARMING ISLAND

If its methodology is sound, the CSI could be an informative graphic presentation of how the planet is warming, says Candice Shih-chun Lung (龍世俊), deputy director of Academia Sinica’s Research Center for Environmental Changes. Being able to zoom in on overseas locations where she’s collaborating with researchers is especially interesting, she adds.

Historical data leaves Lung in no doubt that, in Taiwan’s urban areas at least, the temperature enhancement over the past 100 to 120 years has been double the global mean.


Rental Family’ spotlights real-life Japanese businesses that offer fill-in relatives, friends

Ryuichi Ichinokawa’s life could be right out of the movie Rental Family as the founder nearly two decades ago of the Heart Project business in Japan, which he bills as a surrogate attendance service complete with furnishing of extras and family members.

He has hired dozens of people to act like reporters with cameras and voice recorders, taking notes and milling with real journalists to fill up an otherwise rather vacant event. He has posed as the boyfriend of a woman who needs to discuss legal paperwork with her former spouse. And he has gone to a hospital as a stand-in husband for a woman getting fertility treatments.

“I am being of service to people. I hope they will be happy,” said Ichinokawa, a dapper elderly man who asked to not be photographed lest his identity become public.

Rental Family, a moving drama from Searchlight Pictures starring Brendan Fraser, is sure to spark interest in Japan’s real-life industry. The film centers on Phillip, an American actor who is recruited by a Tokyo “rental family” agency in need of a “token white guy.” His recurring jobs range from playing video games with a loner to portraying a little girl’s long absentee father. It isn’t long before Phillip starts to become emotionally invested in what were supposed to be superficial relationships. The film’s Japanese supporting cast also bring to life the intense highs and lows of assuming a role in a stranger’s life.

In reality, these niche businesses highlight how deeply people in Japan experience loneliness or worry about keeping up appearances. Outsiders may cringe at the idea of paying amateur actors to be fake family members or friends. But users say they find these services comforting and even healing.

STRESSFUL

The film’s director, Mitsuyo Miyazaki whose professional name is Hikari, was born in Japan yet knew little about the concept. Once she learned about it, she couldn’t stop thinking about what a unique story it could inspire. So Hikari started researching and found hundreds of companies in Japan that offer rental families or similar services. She spoke with several people in that world.

“I kind of started tackling those questions, and interviewed them on what are the necessities of the business that needs to happen in Japan. And then that’s how I kind of built stories,” Hikari said.

Even at a time when people seek company through Artificial Intelligence, she thinks hiring of actors to fill emotional voids will always be in demand.

“I don’t think they will disappear, honestly, it might just probably expand,” she said.

In Ichinokawa’s experience, most people who ask for the service have a certain social status to protect. He has organized visits to a bar for a hostess who wants to impress her employer with lots of clientele. Similar to the movie, Ichinokawa has gone to school events with a single mother and her child, acting as a friendly uncle.

Sometimes Ichinokawa takes extra steps to ensure the facade. If required, he will print fake business cards — which are routinely exchanged at Japanese gatherings.

Some parts are easy, like being a wedding guest who just sits and eats. But it’s often stressful work. You’re coached to avoid uttering the wrong name or background information. You might have to be prepared to talk about childhood memories you have no clue about. Ichinokawa used to scribble names on his hand. He also pores over notes in advance. If he’s really desperate, he excuses himself to the restroom.

Payment for getting rented out varies. For Heart Project, the relatively easy roles can make 9,800 yen (US$63) for a couple of hours. For the more elaborate parts, the client dishes out 20,000 yen (US$130) to 30,000 yen (US$190) per person.

Ichinokawa’s rule is that you only play a role once. To do it more than once is setting yourself up for failure. And he has never failed in his mission, he added proudly.

“I don’t feel I am acting. I really get angry if that’s what the situation requires,” he said.

LONELINESS EPIDEMIC

Japan has long grappled with loneliness, high suicide rates and a stigma surrounding mental illness. After a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the country examined how the disasters were affecting mental health, said Miwa Yasui, a professor at the University of Chicago whose research includes the influence of culture on mental health.

Today, there are more mental health providers and an understanding of the need for counseling in Japan. During the pandemic, volunteers focused on teen depression started an online Japanese-language chat service.

Japanese people isolated physically are prone to feeling it internally, said Chikako Ozawa-de Silva, author of The Anatomy of Loneliness: Suicide, Social Connection and the Search for Relational Meaning in Contemporary Japan.

“When people feel they’re not loved, they are not accepted, they’re not seen, they’re not heard. The sense of ‘I don’t matter’ is a form of loneliness,” said Ozawa-de Silva, who is also a professor at Emory University.

This can lead to hikikomori, where people withdraw socially and become shut-ins for months or even years.

Japanese culture’s collectivist nature also contributes to hiding mental health challenges. Children are taught the principle of minna no tame ni or for the sake of everybody, Yasui said. As adults, there is pressure to maintain harmony and make sure the needs of others — work or family — are met.

“Within Asian cultures, there’s a concept of loss of face,” Yasui said. “If you lose that, that actually has significant implications.”

In Ozawa-de Silva’s opinion, renting actors for surface-level intimacy is putting a “Band-Aid” on a deeper problem.

“I’m not against that,” Ozawa-de Silva said. “If people can buy time by renting a family, while pursuing much better long-term solutions, I think the rental family could be a very, very beneficial thing.”

REAL CONNECTIONS

While someone with a Western mindset might find renting actors bizarre, many Japanese people find it reassuring. Much of the written feedback Ichinokawa gets expresses relief or appreciation: “Thank you for today. You really interacted with us like a real mother. My boyfriend kept saying, ‘What a great mom.’” From a male client: “Please relay my regards to the person who played the role of my wife and tell her she was a superb wife.”

The film, which will be released in February in Japan, uses the rental family concept to remind people that human nature’s need for connection is not something you can suppress.

“When you help somebody and if they feel like you’re being supportive, that makes you feel good,” Hikari said. “And a family member doesn’t have to be alway blood-related.”


ENGLISH DIGEST 實用美語(空中美語)

The Real-Life Pikachu Faces a Real Threat 比動畫更Q！在極地環境中求生的鼠兔

With their round bodies, big ears, and cute name, pikas are often called the “real-life Pikachu.” Though often mistaken for rodents, pikas are actually close relatives of rabbits and hares. Pikas typically grow about to 20cm in length, with short limbs and no visible tail. They live in high-altitude regions across North America and Asia, where freezing temperatures and rocks define their world. Luckily, their dense fur helps them survive the cold in these extreme environments.

Pikas are known for their calls, which sound surprisingly loud for their size. Their calls resemble the high-pitched cry of a lamb, only much sharper and higher. These communications not only serve as warnings but also attract potential mates.

Beyond their vocal behavior, pikas impress scientists and nature-lovers with their lifestyle. Unlike hibernating animals, pikas remain active all year round. In summer, they collect and dry grasses, wildflowers and mosses as food to prepare for the harsh winter. This behavior ensures their survival and demonstrates their ability to adapt to environments with limited resources.

Unfortunately, climate change is making life harder for pikas. With thick fur and high body temperatures, they cannot tolerate heat exceeding 25oC. As global warming intensifies, their cool habitats are shrinking. Human interference further compounds these challenges. On the Tibetan Plateau, large pika groups are seen as pests that eat grass meant for livestock. In response, the Chinese government has implemented large-scale poisoning campaigns to control their numbers. Many wildlife experts worry about the long-term ecological impact of this practice.

Although pikas as a whole are not classified as endangered, many local populations are quietly disappearing, such as the Ili pika. Their story reminds us that species loss often begins without notice. Protecting them means acting before decline turns into disappearance. In doing so, we also preserve the delicate mountain habitats they live in.

鼠兔有著圓滾滾的身體、大大的耳朵和可愛的名字，常被稱為「真實版的皮卡丘」。雖然經常被誤認為是囓齒動物，但鼠兔實際上是兔子和野兔的近親。鼠兔的體長大約可達20公分，四肢短小且沒有明顯的尾巴。牠們生活在北美和亞洲的高海拔地區，那裡嚴寒的氣溫和岩石構成了牠們的世界。幸運的是，濃密的皮毛幫助牠們在極端環境中抵禦寒冷並生存下來。

鼠兔以其叫聲而聞名，相對於牠們的體型來說，叫聲響亮得令人驚訝。牠們的叫聲類似於小羊的尖銳叫聲，只是更銳利、更高亢。這些叫聲不僅可作為警告，還能吸引潛在的配偶。

除了聲音行為之外，鼠兔的生活方式也讓科學家和大自然愛好者印象深刻。和會冬眠的動物不同，鼠兔全年都很活躍。在夏季，牠們會採集並曬乾草、野花和苔蘚，作為寒冬時的糧食。這種行為確保了牠們的生存，也展現了牠們適應資源有限環境的能力。

不幸的是，氣候變遷正讓鼠兔的生存變得更加艱難。由於擁有厚實的皮毛和較高的體溫，牠們無法忍受超過攝氏 25 度的氣溫。隨著全球暖化加劇，牠們涼爽的棲息地正在縮小。人類的干預更使問題雪上加霜。在青藏高原，大群鼠兔被視為有害的動物，因為牠們會搶吃原本要留給牲畜食用的草。為此，中國政府實施了大規模的毒殺活動，以控制鼠兔的數量。許多野生動物專家擔心這樣的做法對生態環境的長期影響。

雖然鼠兔整體而言並未被列為瀕臨絕種的，但許多當地族群正在悄悄消失，例如伊犁鼠兔。牠們的故事提醒我們，物種滅絕往往在不知不覺中開始。保護牠們意味著在數量下降演變成滅絕之前採取行動。這樣做，我們也是在守護牠們賴以生存的脆弱山區棲息地。

MORE INFORMATION

rodent n. 嚙齒動物

hare n. 野兔

high-altitude adj. 高海拔的

hibernate vi. 冬眠

moss n. 苔蘚

Tibetan Plateau 青藏高原

livestock n. 牲畜；家畜

KEY VOCABULARY

1. resemble vt. 與……相像；類似

The red panda got its name because it resembles the giant panda, but it’s actually more closely related to the raccoon.

紅熊貓的名字由來是因為牠像大熊貓，但實際上牠與浣熊的關係更為密切。

2. demonstrate v. 顯示；證明；示範

Belle’s success on the soccer team demonstrated to her school that boys and girls could play together safely.

貝兒在足球隊的成功向她的學校證明，男孩和女孩可以安全地一起比賽。

3. unfortunately adv. 不幸地

Unfortunately, Thomas won’t be able to make it to the meeting; his train has been delayed.

不幸地，湯瑪斯不能趕上開會；他搭的火車誤點了。

4. tolerate vt. 容忍；寬容

Wayne tolerated his neighbor’s noisy parties for months before he decided to complain.

韋恩忍受了鄰居吵鬧的聚會好幾個月，然後才決定投訴。

5. exceed v. 超過；勝過

Our CEO is pleased because we’ve exceeded our projected profits for this quarter.

我們的執行長很高興，因為我們這一季的獲利超出了預期。

6. intensify v. 加劇；強化

The music intensified the sad scene in the movie.

配樂增強了這部電影裡的悲傷場景。

7. pest n. 有害的動物；害蟲

It’s important to get rid of trash quickly, or else you’ll have lots of pests around.

迅速倒掉垃圾很重要，否則你周圍將有很多害蟲。

8. endangered adj. 瀕臨絕種的；遭遇危險的

Tigers, elephants and whales are all endangered animals at risk of dying out.

老虎、大象與鯨魚全都是有滅絕危機的瀕臨絕種的動物。

9. decline n. 衰退；衰落

The rise of e-books has caused a decline in regular book sales.

電子書的興起已造成了傳統書籍的銷售量下跌。

學習音檔: https://magazine.english4u.net/Magdata/menu/av87q

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▲郭葉璘主任提醒搶救急性腦中風最重要的關鍵就是「時間」。（圖／聯新國際醫院提供）

記者楊淑媛／桃園報導

聯新國際醫院25日指出，日前一名14歲的學生在課堂中突然倒地，伴隨怪聲、右側肢體癱軟與語言表達困難等症狀，被緊急送往該院急診室。由於患者年紀輕，因中風導致半側癱瘓的可能性極低，懷疑是腦部不正常放電造成暫時性癲癇所造成。

為迅速釐清病因，急診團隊緊急安排電腦斷層（CT）與磁振造影（MRI）等影像檢查，以免錯失黃金治療時機。影像檢查結果出爐後，神經內科李振華醫師迅速判讀，確定為左側中大腦動脈栓塞造成缺血性腦中風。

▲ICA血管攝影，圖左箭頭處為血栓阻塞血管。圖右箭頭處為已打通血管。（圖／聯新國際醫院提供）

在與家屬充分溝通後，影像醫學科主任暨取栓醫師郭葉璘隨即與取栓團隊進行急性腦中風顱內動脈血栓移除(Intra-arterial thrombectomy, IAT)，並從腹股溝導引導管至左側中大腦動脈阻塞處，採用強力抽吸方式清除血栓。手術從開始到打通血管僅約10分鐘，成功取出4個血栓，最大達1.1公分。術後患者血流恢復暢通。

之後進一步心臟超音波檢查，更發現左心房有近7公分的巨大黏液瘤，顯示病情相當危急。心臟黏液瘤是一種非癌性腫瘤，質地柔軟如果凍，雖不會轉移，但在心臟持續跳動和血流衝擊下，腫瘤的小碎片很容易剝落。這些碎片會隨著血液離開心臟，進入腦部動脈後便可能引發栓塞，造成中風。後續完成心臟黏液瘤清除手術，恢復良好，並未留下後遺症，已重返校園繼續課業。

郭葉璘進一步說明左側大腦掌管語言中樞、身體右側活動能力及視覺與空間感知區域，中大腦動脈是負責供應大腦三分之二的重要血流。磁振造影中的擴散權重影像序列（DWI），能在中風發生後30分鐘內偵測腦部受損區域。檢查顯示該學生的左側中大腦動脈完全阻塞，磁振中的擴散權重影像序列也出現一塊淡淡的受損區域，這表示阻塞的危險性正快速提高中。若不即時處理，這片受損區域會持續擴大，腦部將因血栓壓迫而腫脹，同時往下壓迫腦幹，危及呼吸與心跳中樞，甚至造成生命危險。

急性腦中風的治療關鍵就是「時間」。研究顯示中風每延誤一分鐘，約有190萬個神經元死亡，因此治療啟動的速度，將是直接影響患者日後能否恢復獨立生活的關鍵因素。郭葉璘提醒中風好發於氣溫驟降，身心壓力增大且血管收縮易形成血栓。他呼籲民眾應建立健康基礎，包括均衡飲食、規律運動與充足睡眠，讓身體能更好地適應環境壓力。特別是有心血管疾病或心房顫動病史者，更應提高警覺。預防絕對勝於治療，唯有從日常生活中養成良好習慣，才能真正遠離中風威脅，守護自己與家人的健康。

14歲學生課堂突倒地　醫10分鐘緊急完成顱內取栓救回大腦


▲自閉症總會「同星協力轉動愛」單車環島隊行經台南，永福國小星星幫沿途迎接陪騎。（記者林東良翻攝，下同）

記者林東良／台南報導

「2025年第八屆同星協力轉動愛」自閉症單車環島隊25日騎抵台南，永福國小的「星星幫」如往年般在路線上熱情迎接，並號召家長與前七屆星星兒親子檔陪騎，一起為來自北北基桃及宜蘭的自閉症勇士們加油，這支車隊由中華民國自閉症總會發起，恰逢國際身心障礙者日系列活動，盼以行動翻轉標籤、展現星兒的力量與更多可能。

今年環島挑戰以「同星協力轉動愛─環境無礙共經營，資訊可及齊參與」為主軸。參與者年齡橫跨15至35歲，歷經半年訓練後，最終有四組自閉症者家庭、教練與總會工作人員成團出發。旅程長達近千公里，對星兒而言，不只是體能的挑戰，更是面對變化、處理突發狀況與練習情緒調節的重要歷程。

永福國小自閉症巡迴班今年照例加入台南段陪騎，老師們也提前在校內發起「一日零錢捐」，並與台南單車扶輪社、蘭心扶輪社共同募集物資，支持全隊補給。校內更宣導總會電子發票愛心碼「1577」，並在百十週年校慶舉辦星兒工坊義賣，讓公益成為日常學習的一部分。

自閉症總會理事長陳惠玲感性表示，永福國小已連續八屆協助環島單車活動，「是全臺星星兒最堅強的後盾，也是唯一一路相挺的小學」。今年還有一段特別動人的故事：本市市民「小文」從小在永福國小的巡迴班與資源班接受支持，如今已成長為肯納青年，這次更擔任全隊教練之一。他笑說，當年老師口中的「帥哥養成計劃」讓他更有自信，跟著車隊環島多年，每次都有新挑戰、新收穫，「就像回娘家，有大家陪著，星兒一定能跟上。」

宜蘭的星兒小正也靦腆地向永福星星幫喊話：「謝謝你們的加油！我會順利完成環島！」一句單純的回應，卻讓現場許多家長眼眶發熱。

自閉症總會強調，這趟環島最需要的不只是體力，還要有強大的挫折耐受力與情緒控管能力。旅途中孩子們可能因體力不支、受傷或聽不懂指令而出現混亂，但每一次面對、每一次重新上車，都是成長最真實的印記。活動目的，就是讓星兒的能力被看見，也鼓勵更多家庭走入戶外、擴展社會參與。

永福國小表示，學校每年與自閉症總會合作，致力推動多元、友善、共融的校園文化，希望透過行動實踐身心障礙者權利公約（CRPD），讓孩子學會理解、陪伴與支持，打造更開放的城市風景。第八屆環島隊伍於22日從台北出發，將於12月2日返回北部，11天完成單車環島壯舉。本次隊伍含隨行人員近20人，沿路匯聚無數祝福，也串起一段又一段屬於星兒的勇氣紀錄。

11天千里挑戰！自閉症單車團行經南台灣　永福國小陪騎、補給、加油全力挺


Honda「日本專屬小車N-One」年式更新！實用性升級競爭力更強大

圖文／7Car 小七車觀點

雖然 Honda 目前正大張旗鼓地推動電動化的 N-One e: 和高性能化的 Super-One 等車型，不過旗下經典的燃油輕型車 N-One，並沒有就此被遺忘。原廠近期正式發表了 2026 年式的 N-One，帶來一波實用升級，更推出一款別具風格的特仕版本，證明了這款小車依舊擁有強大的競爭力。

現行 N-One 其實早在 2020 年就已經登場，並在 2023 年進行了一次小改款。而這次的年度更新，主要針對內裝科技和安全配備進行強化。首先，原本的指針式儀表板被升級為更具現代感的 7 吋數位儀表，方向盤也換上了嶄新的雙幅式設計，握感與視覺感受都更上一層樓。此外，全車系更是直接將前停車感應器列為標準配備，大幅提升日常駕駛的便利性與安全性。

在整個 N-One 的車系陣容中，高性能的 N-One RS 車型依然是亮點所在。它是唯一提供六速手排變速箱的車型，相較於其他採用 CVT 無段變速箱的車型，RS 堅持了純粹的駕馭樂趣，滿足了追求操駕感的買家。

掀開短小的引擎蓋，那具熟悉的 660c.c. 三缸渦輪增壓引擎依舊能夠輸出 63 匹（47 kW）的最大馬力，雖然沒有提供四輪驅動選項，但手排配置也正是 N-One RS 的魅力所在。

在外觀上，N-One RS 依然保有其招牌的運動化風格，包括蜂巢式水箱護罩搭配 RS 銘牌、黑色的前下擾流、車尾的運動化擾流板，以及現在換上白色塗裝的 15 吋鋁合金輪圈。白色輪圈的設計，不禁讓人聯想到 Honda 經典的 Civic Type R，巧妙地融入了一絲復古性能味。車色選擇方面，RS 提供白金珍珠白、烈焰紅、水晶黑珍珠三種選項，每一種車色都會搭配對比的黑色車頂，讓整體設計感更為完整。

內裝部分，N-One RS 延續了運動化的氛圍。車內飾板採用碳纖維紋路風格，數位儀表板也獨家顯示 RS 專屬的介面圖形。座椅則使用具備紅色縫線的 Ultrasuede 麂皮材質包覆，並繡有 RS 專屬的 Logo，強調其高性能車型的獨特身份。

而高階的 Premium Tourer 車型，雖然僅提供自排選項，但在外觀上也獲得了更新，包括 15 吋 Berlina Black 塗裝輪圈、後擾流板、黑色鍍鉻飾條點綴，座椅則升級為 Prime Smooth 豪華皮革。

這次 2026 年式 N-One 的最大亮點，莫過於全新推出的 Craft Style 特仕版。Honda 表示，這款特仕版從「斯堪地那維亞半島」汲取靈感，以入門的 Original 車型為基礎，加入了鍍鉻水箱護罩，以及在後視鏡、車門把手和輪圈蓋上點綴的白色飾條。車色選擇則有三種限定配色。內裝方面，Craft Style 特仕版還採用木紋飾板，搭配米白與白金雙色座椅，營造出溫暖而精緻的氛圍，同時還標配了加熱座椅功能。


喜樂影城桃園A19店要熄燈了！最後一場電影明年1／4上映

▲喜樂時代桃園A19店準備停止營業。（圖／ETtoday資料照）

記者柯振中／綜合報導

喜樂時代影城宣布，桃園A19店因全省營運版圖規劃調整及多項營運因素考量，將於2026年1月4日最後一場電影放映結束後正式停止營業。業者表示，在停業日前影城將維持正常服務，並邀請影迷把握時間前往觀影或拍照留念。

影城指出，持有桃園A19店會員卡、儲值金、團體票、優惠票券或折扣券的消費者，可在停業前於原店面使用相關權益。自2026年1月5日起，會員卡、點數與票券將依公司後續公告於全台其他據點繼續適用，退款與退費相關細節將另行公布。

▼喜樂時代影城桃園A19店宣布將停止營業。（圖／記者許宥孺攝）

業者強調，桃園A19店多年來深受在地影迷支持，能陪伴民眾度過無數電影時光是重要回憶，也感謝影城開幕以來各界的支持。未來觀眾無論前往哪一間喜樂時代影城，品牌都期待能在其他據點再次與影迷相見，共同享受大銀幕的感動。


馬斯克預告旗下AI明年挑戰《英雄聯盟》最強戰隊！設兩項限制

記者楊智仁／綜合報導

特斯拉與 xAI 創辦人 伊隆・馬斯克（Elon Musk）近日宣布，旗下人工智慧系統 Grok 5 將具備「進階遊戲對戰能力」，並計劃於 2026 年挑戰《英雄聯盟》世界頂尖戰隊，該消息一出立即引發科技與電競圈廣泛討論。

▼馬斯克計劃 2026 年挑戰《英雄聯盟》戰隊。（圖／達志影像／美聯社）

馬斯克於推特貼文中透露，Grok 5 將在兩項重要的條件下進行挑戰，「視覺限制：Grok 5 只能透過攝影機觀看螢幕，就像人類肉眼一樣，禁止存取任何遊戲內部資料、日誌或狀態」、「反應限制：AI 的反應延遲與點擊速度將被限制在人類水準，以測試其策略推理與臨場判斷，而非依賴超人般的速度與自動化操作。」

馬斯克強調，Grok 5 能夠「透過閱讀遊戲說明與實驗學習」，無需專屬訓練資料即可理解並操作遊戲。根據部分 AI 專家看法，過去在類似的遊戲中，AI 之所以能取勝主要仰賴超人級反應速度，馬斯克此舉將更貼近人類智慧的真實對決，也有人質疑 Grok 5 是否能應對《英雄聯盟》中瞬息萬變的版本環境、團隊合作與心理戰術等複雜變數。

Let’s see if @Grok 5 can beat the best human team @LeagueOfLegends in 2026 with these important constraints:

1. Can only look at the monitor with a camera, seeing no more than what a person with 20/20 vision would see.

2. Reaction latency and click rate no faster than human.…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2025


11天千里挑戰！自閉症單車團行經南台灣　永福國小陪騎、補給、加油全力挺


14歲學生課堂突倒地　醫10分鐘緊急完成顱內取栓救回大腦


林亮君力挺日本水產 1張照傳回日本意外掀熱議：好可愛

日本高市早苗政府因為護台言論惹惱中共，北京祭出一系列報復措施，當中包括禁止日本水產品進口。台灣政壇不少人紛紛在社群分享大啖日本優質海鮮的照片，以行動力挺日本，民進黨台北市議員林亮君意外在日本爆紅，她宣傳日本水產的照片被轉發到日網，大批日本網友大讚其美貌！

關注內蒙古人遭受中共迫害議題的日本組織「世界蒙古人聯盟」（世界モンゴル人連盟），24日在X平台分享林亮君最近到超市買日本水產品，與架上一張寫著「台日友好」、Q版賴清德總統吃壽司的特價宣傳單合影，語帶吐槽地說：「台灣的年輕議員正在推廣日本水產品，反觀日本那些年長的議員都在議會裡面睡覺。」

貼文引發熱議，日本網友紛紛感謝台灣人支持，刷一排「台日友好」。還有不少人被林亮君的美貌吸引住，「她的臉太可愛了，你說什麼我都聽不進去」、「怎麼有長這麼可愛的議員」、「超級美人！」、「太可愛了，嚇了一跳」、「台灣的議員好可愛，台灣的朋友們也像她一樣，散發著溫柔的氣質」、「好漂亮啊」。

台湾の若い議員 日本水産品をアピールしている日本の年上の議員等が議会で寝ている pic.twitter.com/KNbsuSGJc1

— 世界モンゴル人連盟 （@worldmongolian） November 24, 2025


習近平主動致電川普提台灣 專家點出「很焦慮」：擔心議題國際化

中國國家主席習近平（右）主動致電美國總統川普（左），被解讀為企圖透過美方向日方施壓，顯示北京當局對台灣議題可能進一步國際化而感到焦慮。（路透檔案照）

日中關係因日本首相高市早苗的「台灣有事」國會答詢而緊張對立，中國國家主席習近平24日致電美國總統川普，聲稱向美方表達對台灣議題的嚴肅立場，被解讀為企圖透過美方向日方施壓。專家認為，從中方的敘事與時機來看，顯示北京當局對於台灣議題可能因為高市的發言而進一步國際化，感到極為焦慮。

中國外交部聲稱，習近平告訴川普，台灣「回歸中國」是戰後國際秩序的重要組成部分，「中美曾並肩抗擊法西斯和軍國主義，當前更應該共同維護好二戰勝利成果。」

專家指出，習近平與川普通電話的目的之一，是希望推動華府接受北京的敘事框架，高市早苗近日的「台灣有事」言論是不必要的挑釁。華府智庫「史汀生中心」（The Stimson Center）中國計畫主任孫韻說，這通電話顯示北京試圖敦促華府「管束日本」，而非要求美方對台灣議題採取正式立場。

美國智庫「亞洲協會」（Asia Society）轄下「亞洲社會政策研究所」（ASPI）執行主任但若雲（Rorry Daniels）指出，中方顯然認為有必要直接向川普傳達強烈訊息，希望川普對日本施壓，要求高市撤回其台灣言論或道歉，習近平也藉此向內部展示，不會在中國的台灣政策受到挑戰時毫無作為。

然而，川普如何接收這項訊息並不清楚。川普在「真實社群」平台的發文中並未提及台灣，顯示他可能認為此議題格外敏感，或根本不感興趣。

華府智庫「捍衛民主基金會」（The Foundation for Defense of Democracies）中國問題資深研究員辛格頓（Craig Singleton）說，這是中國主動要求的通話，而且習近平選擇以「二戰秩序」為切入點談台灣，是很明顯的戰略訊號，即習近平企圖在中日爭端尚未讓台灣議題進一步國際化之前，讓華府接受其偏好的歷史與法律詮釋框架。

他指出，中國擔心會有更多國家跟隨東京的說法，認為台灣遭封鎖或攻擊會影響自身安全，「這種敘事與時機，看起來與其說是自信，不如說是焦慮。」


巴黎羅浮宮珠寶竊嫌越抓越多人 又有4嫌被捕

法國巴黎檢察官貝庫歐表示，有關首都巴黎的羅浮宮博物館（Louvre Museum）10月19日在光天化日下發生的帝國時期珠寶竊案，當局經過調查後，今天再逮捕4人。

法新社報導，本案先前已有4名嫌犯遭到起訴。貝庫歐（Laure Beccuau）今天表示，新逮捕的4人為2名各為38歲和39歲的男子，以及2名各為31歲和40歲的女子，皆來自巴黎地區。

羅浮宮是世界上參觀人數最多的藝術博物館，當時有4名歹徒僅以7分鐘就盜走價值估計達1億200萬美元的珠寶，隨後騎機車逃逸。

這夥竊賊是利用1輛附有升降梯的搬家卡車攀上羅浮宮2樓後，破窗闖入收藏法國王冠珠寶的阿波羅畫廊（Apollo Gallery），再用角磨機切割陳列寶物的玻璃展示櫃後得手。

已遭起訴的4名嫌犯為3男1女，貝庫歐本月稍早表示，這名女嫌與其中1名37歲男嫌是伴侶關係，兩人育有小孩。


農曆10月運勢一路長紅！  12生肖「破厄除煞」要注意

命理界「阿湯哥」湯鎮瑋分析12生肖在農曆10月的整體運程，並提點如何「消災解厄」，才能一路長紅迎接馬年到來！（湯鎮瑋提供）

〔娛樂頻道／綜合報導〕按農曆12地支來說，雖然才剛進入10月和迎來節氣「小雪」，但因為再過2週就是24節氣中的「大雪」了，轉眼將迎接12地支中的「子月」，也就是農曆11月份，因此，命理界「阿湯哥」湯鎮瑋老師此次在分析12生肖「農曆10月運勢」時，不忘提醒大家此次運程光譜將會跨度到11月的上半月，朋友們在進行蛇年的年終計劃時，更須要特別注意一些「警訊」，尋找有助於個人生肖氣場和磁場轉換的方法，才能為「馬年」開春布下善因、收成善果！

【鼠．猴．龍】

．總運：生肖鼠、猴、龍的朋友們，本月面臨工作轉折，對工作充滿自我期許，雖企圖有所突破（不一定是困境或瓶頸） ，但恰巧遇上流年和流月不順，機緣未到，建議「守成為上」。或可趁此時精進第二專長（像是考一些證照、執照都很好），並審視自己在工作上的不足之處，多方學習、尋求解決之道。

．忌：本月不適合貿然決定斜槓人生，或做重要決定！適合在學習中觀望局勢，先做規劃，等時機到來，即可付諸執行！

．幸運色：綠色衣物，或佩戴綠水晶、綠珀。

．守護神：綠度母。

➤鼠│太歲在前．步調勿急

．危機：留意工作場所安全性，本月易遇血光、災害。．化解之道：步調放慢，穩中求勝。工作上可能出現職業倦怠，或真的很想有所突破和尋求不一樣的發展。但真的不能急，因為2026正衝太歲，所以在這一段流年轉換的潛伏期，有時候會覺得自己好像被拗、被要求很多，感覺不公平、很累，讓你氣到跳腳，以至於急著想做些什麼樣的轉變。建議一定要「三思而後行」，給自己一點時間沈靜下來，勿衝動做決定！

➤猴│車關血光．行善求解

．危機：留意舊疾復發及車關、血光之災。．化解之道：工作上可能長時間姿勢不良，導致筋骨出現勞損、痠疼等身體上的老毛病；開車時也不要因為趕時間而求快，尤入冬後多雨、再加上天色暗得快，出入都要特別注意安全。建議可透過捐血，化解意外血光之厄，或多多行善、做志工，上行下供，也能達到消災目的。

➤龍│小人作梗．淨身口意

．危機：易逢口業之災，小人趁勢阻滯。．化解之道：工作上有一些不錯的發展，但容易因為個人的一些堅持而得罪小人，若逢小人得勢之際，便容易因此而被破壞好事。建議本月一定要管好你的「身口意」三業（即身業、口業、意業），尤其是嘴巴，還沒有發生的事情，尤其是正在籌備的一件好事，如果它還沒有發生，那就不要急著分享。低調進行，廣結善緣，即可順遂度過10月。

......................

【牛．蛇．雞】

．總運：遇「豬隊友」亂入、破壞好事！雖然豬隊友們不一定都是刻意破壞，可能只是無心之過，但總是讓人覺得煩躁、遺憾，明明只差臨門一腳就成功了，為何日防夜防小人，就是難以力敵同一陣營的豬隊友！

．忌：心生怨懟，惡言相向。即使無法做到退一步海闊天空，甚至讚美豬隊員，也該為別人留一份情面，為自己預留福報。

．幸運色：白色、金色、銀色；或可佩戴金魄、白水晶等飾品。

．守護神：觀世音菩薩

➤牛│好事多磨．注意健康

．危機：病符星入座，病從他人而來，例如極可能因為被豬隊友傳染感冒等。 ．化解之道：提升自我免疫力很重要，作息飲食習慣要多加留意，保持良好規律，尤其是睡眠部分，勿糾結於暫時無法解套的煩惱。值得慶幸的是，屬牛的朋友本月雖遇「病符星」干擾，但也有「貴人星」加持。宜廣結善緣，累積「貴人運」，不要以為某人當下可能幫不了你，就不跟他結善緣，不可以太現實或有分別心，以免日後被現實反撲。切記「人脈通錢脈」，善緣一旦締結，運氣就會越走越旺。

➤蛇│貴人相助．智慧以對

．危機：突遇新機會到來，出現「選擇困難」。 ．化解之道：屬蛇的朋友，本月不管在工作或財務上，都出現不錯的轉捩點，關鍵在於如何有智慧地去把握。其實，有時候「機會是留給什麼準備好的人」，如果沒有準備好，勉強去執行，成功率也十分有限。記住，自覺得還沒有準備好的時候，要挑選能力範圍內的選項，評做能承擔的風險和壓力之後再去做，千萬不要貪圖「大餅」。

➤雞│潔身自愛．逢凶化吉

．危機：本月豬隊友就是你自己！ ．化解之道：本月貴人運不錯。但宜謹守朋友之間的份際，遠離爛桃花，即可遠離官非。屬雞的女性朋友本月財運和工作運都不錯，尤其是從事女性相關領域的行業，如美容、珠寶類，好運當道，宜正面積極處理難關，亦能逢凶化吉；男性朋友則須注意人際關係的糾纏，尤其是面對異性時。本月家中若有論及婚嫁、或遇生小孩、升遷等喜事，都可以去沾沾喜氣，所謂「一喜擋三災」，有喜無災。

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【虎．馬．狗】

．總運：生肖屬虎、馬、狗的朋友，本月要注意車關、血光問題，除了開車、騎車，身體上一些你可能不是太在意的老毛病，都可能會突然惡化到需要開刀。此外，本月也須慎防來自小人的引誘，千萬別一不小心就做出「觸法」或「違法」的事，例如酒駕、成為詐團一員等。

．忌：聽信小人慫恿，自以為沒傷害到別人。

．幸運色：藍色、黑色；可佩戴黑曜石助運。

．守護神：關聖帝君

➤虎│耳根勿軟．留意健康

．危機：被誤以為是「好友」的小人說服，做出錯誤決定。 ．化解之道：屬虎的朋友可能因為耳根太軟，容易被小人慫恿或理解了錯誤的訊息，以致於做出一些原本不可能會去做的違法事情，像是被詐騙集團吊胃口等。記住，只要覺得「不對勁」或哪裡怪怪的，不要碰就對了！另外，健康方面要留意警訊，小病千萬別拖！

➤馬│財運卡卡．忌亂投資

．危機：大耗星入座，花費開銷失控，錢財容易出現破損或缺口。 ．化解之道：除了血光之災外，本月的大災來自於金錢管理。化解方法就是不要亂投資，也不要亂借給別人錢。購買物品犒賞自己無可厚非，但一定要量力而為。求財宜審慎操作，本月宜在「不傷本」的情況下，進行投資；與其開源，不如節流為先。

➤狗│先苦後樂．危中求安

．危機：遇到困難就先打退堂鼓。．化解之道：屬狗的朋友本月「先遇難、後呈祥」，尤其在前一兩週會讓人覺得好像卡卡的、不太順，此時應想辦法挺住、捱過難關。強烈建議，如果有一些事情是現段段亟於解決、必須先處理的，不妨把它列成清單逐一寫下來，這個動作其實是可以幫助我們心想事成，因為等到厄運一過，迎來好運跡象時，你早已佈局妥當，隨時可以成功執行了。

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【兔．羊．豬】

．總運：生肖屬豬、兔、羊的朋友，迎來能夠充分發揮專才的月份。雖然在農曆9月時，可能經歷了一些健康上狀況，但從農曆10月開始運氣會慢慢轉好，尤其在工作方面，能夠「大展長才」的機會極高，若遇伯樂或貴人加持，運勢可謂一路長紅。

．忌：自斷善緣。宜多做公益，廣結善緣，自添貴人運。

．幸運色：紅色，佩戴血魄、粉水晶，或穿一些粉紅色衣物。

．守護神：作明佛母

➤兔│脫單有望．貴人助運

．危機：嫌棄太過勞碌，就放過機會！ ．化解之道：本月遇新物件或新朋友的機會大增，貴人運不錯，有助逢凶化吉，對於想成家或結交固定伴侶的人來說，有利於脫單或發展新事業。雖然今年前面9個月（指農曆），可能自覺比較勞碌命一點，但在這個月反而更要把「勞碌命」這件事情發揮的淋漓盡致，積極彰顯出你的本領！因為這個月的勞碌是可以得到回報的！

➤羊│財務超支．布施化吉

．危機：心不在焉或心有旁鶩，容易掉東掉西。 ．化解之道：屬羊的朋友本月在錢財方面，容易因花費過大而超出預算；或因為沒想太多，一時放空或心不在焉，導致落東落西的情形出現；或在長線布局投資時一路磕磕碰碰的。建議不妨多做一點佈施，像是捐助弱勢團體或做些公益，都能改善漏財的情況，化負能量為正能量。

➤豬│以名帶利．財運亨順

．危機：太過安逸，而忘了開創的重要性。．化解之道：屬豬的朋友本月因為工作上的好名聲和形象，深獲他人認同，繼而帶旺財祿利益。女性屬豬的朋友，本月會比較勞碌一點點，可能會覺得家庭事業兩頭燒，特別須要留意日常保健，建議多去接觸一些陽光，曬一下太陽，補充一下維他命D。要提醒的是，生肖屬豬的朋友本月雖然財運不錯，但也不能太過安逸，應該要更努力朝開創的目標邁進，尋求多方機會，才能夠持盈保泰。

【命理專家 湯鎮瑋小檔案】

．專長風水開運、生肖、姓名學、八字、手面相．《命運好好玩》專任老師、《風水有關係》專任老師、《女人我最大》命理專家／ 年度生肖專欄作家、《小姐不熙娣》命理專家

．命運好好玩官網：看這裡．命運好好玩FB：看這裡．湯鎮瑋老師YT：看這裡．湯鎮瑋老師FB：看這裡．湯鎮瑋老師IG：看這裡．湯鎮瑋Lucky365 ：看這裡

☆民俗說法僅供參考☆


大腦32歲才「成年」！ 劍橋研究找出4年齡為人類大腦發展轉捩點

根據英國劍橋大學25日發表的一份新研究，人類大腦比我們所認知的「晚熟」得多。這份研究指出，人類從初生嬰兒到老年，大腦發展可分成5大「時期」，進入「成年」模式，是在32歲左右。

英國《衛報》25日報導，這份25日在《自然通訊》（Nature Communications）期刊發表的研究，根據將近4000名年齡不足1歲到90歲者的大腦掃描影像，繪製大腦神經連結以及隨年齡演進情況，揭露出以9歲、32歲、66歲和83歲四個關鍵「轉捩點」年齡區分的5個主要「時期」，每一時期反映腦部神經連結的重組。

報告資深作者、劍橋大學神經資訊學教授艾斯托（Duncan Astle）表示，「了解到大腦結構發展歷程，並非一個穩定漸進，而是一段有幾個重大轉捩點的過程，將有助於我們找出其神經連結何時、以及如何處於容易受到干擾」。

研究指出，從出生到9歲屬於大腦「童年期」，9歲之後進入「青少年期」，這段時期平均持續到32歲左右；32歲開始，大腦神經連結轉向「成年模式」，也是大腦發展最長的一段時期，一直到66歲。第3個轉捩點是66歲開始的「早期老化期」，之後是83歲進入「晚期老化期」。

童年期大腦被定義為「網絡整併」階段，嬰兒腦部的大量神經突觸的整理階段，較活躍的會保留下來。研究發現，這段期間，大腦神經連結效率反而降低，同時，灰質和白質體積迅速增加，腦皮質厚度達到高峰，皮質皺摺逐漸穩定。

大腦在「青少年期」白質量持續增加，神經網路持續精細，整個大腦的神經連結效率穩定增加，這一點與認知表現提高有關。率領這份研究的莫斯利（Alexa Mousley）指出，「青少年」是指大腦結構變化還在持續發展，而非固定在某種狀態，「我們絕對不是說，20歲將近30歲的人行為像青少年，或者其大腦看起來像一名青少年的大腦」。

與之前幾個時期相較，32歲左右開始的這個時期，大腦結構呈現出邁入穩定，這一點呼應其他研究顯示的，這時為「智力與人格特質的高原期」，大腦各區的區分也變得更為明顯。莫斯利說，這時期經歷的人生事件，如養兒育女等，或許在大腦出現的一些變化扮演一角，這項研究並未驗證這一點，但是先前已知，女性生產後，其大腦結構會出現改變，因此可合理推測，這些人生里程碑與大腦變化之間有關係。

大腦發展最後兩個轉捩點在66歲、83歲，這兩時期大腦神經連結逐漸減少，據信與老化和腦白質退化有關。


台中一名貴婦趁先生出差出軌小16歲的潛水教練，還多次帶回豪宅歡愛，先生得知氣炸對情夫提告，台中地院判陪150萬元。（記者陳建志攝）

台中一名年薪千萬的企業董事，經常出國不在家，沒想到外貌姣好的貴婦妻子，竟出軌小她16歲的小鮮肉潛水教練，甚至多次帶她到先生購置的兩處豪宅歡愉做愛，貴婦還欺騙先生，因他長年不在家導致心病，才不願與他行房，直到先生發現她出軌讓他戴綠帽，才知真正的原因，對情夫提告侵害配偶權，求償500萬元，情夫雖辯稱不知貴婦有配偶，但台中地院法官不採信，判賠150萬元。

判決指出，這名企業董事2012年和太太結婚，因事業忙碌經常要出國前往中國、美國，不到50歲的太太不用工作在家當貴婦，沒想到2024年8月起竟出軌小她16歲的潛水教練，兩人不但多次發生性行為，甚至還將情夫帶回兩處豪宅發生性關係。

先生指控，太太還因戀上小鮮肉不願和他行房，藉口因他長年不在家陪伴才造成她心理生病，要求不可碰她的身體，讓他信以為真，感覺對妻子有愧，開始活在對妻子的自責中，進而罹患憂鬱症，求助於身心科，並長期服用身心科藥物。

直到去年底得知太太出軌後崩潰痛苦，每天要靠吃安眠藥才能入睡，對情夫提告侵害配偶權，求償500萬元。

該名潛水教練則表示，去年8月因創建打牌群組才認識人妻，並從去年9月中旬交往，直到去年11月8日因吵架分手，交往期間發生約5、6次性行為，但辯稱直到去年12月26日接獲人夫的電話，才知道她有配偶。

人妻則坦承，前年暑假到澎湖遊玩，認識指導小孩的潛水教練，但當時無私下聯繫，直到去年因朋友約打牌進一步認識並交往，強調和情夫交往時，他就已經知道自己已婚身分，且多次到自己和先生居住的豪宅過夜，發生性關係，屋裡有擺放多張兩人的合照還有婚紗照。

台中地院認為，人妻曾傳訊息「我不是傻子」、「離婚我想是我到現在為止做的最對的決定」，情夫則回：「妳本來跟我就不同世界」、「妳就該好好繼續當金絲雀」，加上曾多次到兩人豪宅，裡面擺放多張貴婦和先生的合照，認定情夫早知道貴婦有配偶，判賠150萬元。

台中貴婦出軌小16歲潛水教練  還帶回豪宅激戰 綠帽夫氣炸告判賠150萬


阿北酒駕淡水鬼切違規左轉 直行騎士遭撞命危

淡水 士林 中山 新北市

新北市韓姓男子酒駕行經淡水鬧區，左轉時與同向陳姓騎士擦撞，陳男頭部重創當場失去生命徵象，到院未脫險。韓嫌酒測值高達0.35MG\L，警方當場逮捕，而韓嫌下車時竟只穿一條內褲；警方依公共危險及過失傷害等罪嫌移送士林地檢署法辦。

車禍發生在今天下午4點，警方獲報趕到淡水中山北路二段381巷口，發現是67歲韓姓男子開轎車與65歲陳姓男騎士車禍，陳男倒地失去生命徵象。

警方過濾監視器還原車禍過程，事發前，韓嫌開車要在外側左轉，撞上同向陳姓男子騎乘的機車，陳男當場失去生命跡象（OHCA），緊急送醫急救仍未脫險。

警方初步調查，韓嫌除了吃上公共危險罪嫌，致人受傷罪加一等，還因為依號誌行駛違規左轉，再吃上一張罰單；車禍肇因及責任歸屬仍待調查釐清。

☆飲酒過量 有害健康 禁止酒駕☆


傳出台積電有意在南科特定區投資興建3座2奈米廠，可能地點位於A區。（記者吳俊鋒攝）

〔記者吳俊鋒／台南報導〕傳出護國神山台積電擬在南科特定區再興建3座2奈米廠，總投資額將達9千億元；台南市政府回應，現階段仍未接獲進一步訊息，若此事為真，廠商屬意的南科特定區A區，確實具有產業發展優勢。

市府：可能地點確具產業發展優勢市府提到，A區東側緊鄰南部科學園區台南園區，南側接近樹谷園區，南科為全球重要的半導體產業聚落，也是台南產業發展重要核心區域，該處的區位條件極佳。

市府指出，南科特定區A區為產業專區，可提供半導體、智慧機械等產業進駐，做生產製造、試驗研究等使用；對產業發展所需的用水、用電，將全力提供協助與支持。

南科特定區A區緊鄰台積電18廠，市府強調，若接獲廠商提出需求，將依法全力配合，加速優質企業進駐開發，進一步穩固台南在全球半導體供應鏈關鍵地位。

因應南科特定區發展飽和與產業用地需求持續攀升，市長黃偉哲指示地政局推動「南科特定區開發區塊A、B、C、D、E、N、O區段徵收計畫」，範圍涵蓋安定、善化、新市等3區，總面積達375公頃。

南市地政局表示，該開發案具備優越地理與產業條件，預期將成為支撐南台灣高科技產業鏈重要基地，區段徵收計畫已於10月22日順利通過內政部審議，順利的話，可望於明年上半年展開工程施作。

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傳台積電擬在南科特定區再蓋3座2奈米廠 台南市府回應了


美財經媒體CNBC報導，美國經濟諮商局（The Conference Board）25日公佈數據顯示，消費者對當前經濟狀況和未來前景感到悲觀，對能否找到工作的擔憂日益加劇。

該單位11月消費者信心指數暴跌至88.7，較上月下降6.8點，創4月以來最低水準。道瓊此前預期該指數為93.2。

此外，反映對未來6個月展望的預期指數（expectations index）也重挫8.6點至63.2，而現狀指數則下滑至126.9，下滑4.3點。

該單位首席經濟學家彼得森（Dana Peterson）指出，「消費者對未來6個月的商業環境明顯更加悲觀。對2026年年中勞動力市場狀況的預期依然十分負面，而對家庭收入增長的預期，在經歷了6個月的強勁正面數據後也大幅下降」。

報告中衡量就業預期的一項關鍵指標顯示情況惡化。

認為工作「充足」（plentiful）的勞工比例下滑至6%，低於10月份的28.6%，這反映了目前「不招人也不解僱」的就業情勢，其他數據也印證了這一點。另一個關於工作是否「難以獲得」（hard to get）的問題也小幅下降至17.9%，降幅為0.4個百分點。

就在同一天，薪資處理公司ADP發布報告稱，過去4週民營企業平均每週裁員1.35萬人，明顯高於1週前公佈的每週流失2500個工作。

相關數據正逢幾位聯準會決策官員公開表示，有必要進一步降息的必要。交易員普遍認為，聯準會在12月再次下調關鍵借貸利率的可能性很高，下調幅度將達到0.25個百分點。

美就業憂慮加劇消費者信心降至4月新低  聯準會12月降息機率大增


健康網》數位毒癮怎麼解？ 精神醫：學習感受無聊

精神科醫師陳璿丞把手機調成黑白，試著打坐，剛開始連10分鐘都坐不住，感受「無聊」，讓多巴胺蹺蹺板在調整平衡；圖為情境照。（圖取自freepik）

〔健康頻道／綜合報導〕一位金融高階主管走進身心科，但來診時總是帶著濃重的黑眼圈。他主訴嚴重的焦慮和失眠。雖然他每天工作效率都做得很好，但只要一到晚上，腦子就像發動機停不下來。精神科醫師陳璿丞指出，「數位毒癮」是在與多巴胺的戰役中掙扎。

陳璿丞在臉書專頁「陳璿丞醫師x析心事務所」發文分享，多巴胺，這個有名的神經傳導物質。其實並不等於「快樂本身」。它只是「渴望」和「驅動力」的訊號。它命令我們尋找、追求、付出行動，去獲得獎勵；多巴胺會增加並告訴大腦：「這感覺很好，下次再來！」

陳璿丞指出，生活被無數個設計來刺激大腦獎勵機制的多巴胺水龍頭團團包圍，它們永遠處於全開狀態。我們不再為了獲得開心付出努力，只需要點擊、滑動指尖。快樂變得容易時，我們好像也越來越空虛。

陳璿丞解釋成癮的本質，大腦中的「快樂—痛苦蹺蹺板」需要平衡。追求下一次更高、更強、更猛、更爽的刺激，才可以維持跟上次一樣。這就是成癮的本質，也是無數人陷入在「享樂跑步機」的困境。

陳璿丞以自己為例，手機也是他碎片時間的絕對主宰者。等電梯時看一下，排隊結帳時滑一下，甚至在與家人用餐時，也常被那個閃爍的紅點誘惑。於是他將自己的手機調成黑白模式。

陳璿丞開始恢復每天早上靜坐10-15分鐘，甚至只是單純地放空。他表示，剛開始那10分鐘，成為極度難熬的「酷刑」。腦海中各種雜念、計畫、焦慮輪番上陣，身體也坐立難安。那種「無聊」或「輕微的不適感」，其實就是多巴胺蹺蹺板在調整平衡時，痛苦那一端被抬高的感覺。但他堅持下來，學著去「感受無聊」，而不是逃避它。

陳璿丞說，從醫學和個人的角度，這個時代最需要的處方，就是「學習無聊」。必須有意地創造「痛苦」（或至少是「不舒服」），來重置多巴胺閾值。主動經歷一段「無聊」或「克制」的時期，就允許快樂—痛苦蹺蹺板的痛苦端回穩，讓大腦重新校正回歸，讓那些微小的、低多巴胺的活動，如與家人輕鬆聊天、閱讀紙本、好好地吃一頓飯，甚至只是坐在窗邊發呆，重新帶給我們滿足感。多巴胺的重點在於「差異」，如果生活中的一切都處於高度刺激，那麼我們將很難體會到真正的快樂。

☆健康新聞不漏接，按讚追蹤粉絲頁。

☆更多重要醫藥新聞訊息，請上自由健康網。

免費訂閱《自由體育》電子報熱門賽事、球星動態不漏接


美國總統川普的非洲特使布洛斯（Massad Boulos）今天表示，蘇丹兩大交戰方均尚未接受新的停火提案；他呼籲雙方無條件同意由華盛頓代表調停方所提出的計畫。

法新社報導，沙烏地阿拉伯王儲穆罕默德．沙爾曼（Mohammed bin Salman）上週訪問華府期間呼籲川普介入後，川普允諾會採取行動協助終結蘇丹內戰，促使各方重新展開促成停火的努力。

美國特使布洛斯在阿拉伯聯合大公國首都阿布達比（Abu Dhabi）向媒體表示：「我們呼籲雙方無條件接受人道停火。我們希望他們接受已遞交給他們的具體文本。」

布洛斯與阿聯總統顧問加爾加希（Anwar Gargash）共同召開記者會。幾天前，蘇丹政府軍總司令柏罕（Abdel Fattah al-Burhan）痛批布洛斯提出的最新提案，指控他只是機械地重複阿聯的論點。

阿聯長期被指控向「快速支援部隊」（Rapid Support Forces, RSF）提供武器，助「快速支援部隊」與政府軍交戰。阿聯否認這些指控。

在政府軍總司令柏罕痛斥最新提案是「迄今最糟」一天之後，「快速支援部隊」在昨天宣布單方面停火3個月。

這份計畫由美方代表「四方機制」（Quad）提出，成員包括美國、沙烏地阿拉伯、埃及與阿拉伯聯合大公國。

至今的調停未能阻止柏罕的部隊與其前副手達加洛（Mohamed Hamdan Daglo）領導的「快速支援部隊」之間的戰鬥，雙方都希望在戰場上取得突破。

蘇丹 美國 阿聯 沙烏地阿拉伯 埃及

蘇丹內亂未歇 美特使促兩大交戰方接受停火提案


傳台積電擬在南科特定區再蓋3座2奈米廠 台南市府回應了


農曆10月運勢一路長紅！  12生肖「破厄除煞」要注意


台中貴婦出軌小16歲潛水教練  還帶回豪宅激戰 綠帽夫氣炸告判賠150萬


阿北酒駕淡水鬼切違規左轉 直行騎士遭撞命危

淡水 中山 新北市 士林


習近平主動致電川普提台灣 專家點出「很焦慮」：擔心議題國際化


巴黎羅浮宮珠寶竊嫌越抓越多人 又有4嫌被捕


大腦32歲才「成年」！ 劍橋研究找出4年齡為人類大腦發展轉捩點


美就業憂慮加劇消費者信心降至4月新低  聯準會12月降息機率大增


蘇丹內亂未歇 美特使促兩大交戰方接受停火提案

蘇丹 阿聯 沙烏地阿拉伯 埃及 美國


桃園市楊梅區文化街 218 巷一處民宅今天晚間發生火警，屋內有 1 人跳至 1 樓花圃逃生、6 人自行從門口逃出，7 人皆意識清楚，消防人員已初步控制火勢，目前仍在搶救中。

桃園市政府消防局晚間9時 22 分接獲報案，楊梅區文化街 218 巷一處 5 層樓民宅發生火警，現場 1 名女性住戶跳至1樓花圃逃生、由幼獅分隊救護車送往聯新醫院，另有 6 人由屋內自行逃出，總計 7 名住戶皆意識清楚。

消防局表示，出動消防人員 55 名，消防車 26 輛、救護車 4 輛前往救災，目前仍在滅火，財物損失金額待查，起火原因調查中。

（新聞資料來源 : 中央社）

桃園楊梅深夜住宅火警　住戶急跳樓、7人逃出


台中國家歌劇院自二○一九年起推動「LAB X青年創作工作室」，今年再度與台積電文教基金會合作，以「演算藝術」及「音像藝術」為主題，四組學員經半年創作陪伴與專業交流，展現新一代的跨域創意能量，本周五（廿二日）舉辦階段性成果分享會。

國家歌劇院指出，本屆邀請國際級專家擔任導師，「演算藝術」組由來自柏林與維也納的勞孔團隊（Laokoon）指導；「音像藝術」組則由超維度創意總監蔡宏賢擔任導師。

「演算藝術」組楊凱婷「媽祖訊號」蒐集進香數據，轉化為藝術語言，結合裝置與展演，傳遞信仰力量；王峻彥「映界」利用行為數據即時轉譯，建構沉浸式體驗。「音像藝術」組作品包括何芯源、何書賢的「月偏蝕」，透過光影聲響重塑空間感知；李昀儒、雅妮「暗場迴圈」探討被鏡頭凝視下的派對狂歡狀態。

國家歌劇院藝術總監邱瑗表示，LAB X的精神在於鼓勵創作者勇敢做夢，期盼未來有更多新點子加入，讓歌劇院成為孕育跨域人才的場域。

台積電文教基金會長期以「青年培育、教育合作、藝文推廣」為核心策略，持續推動社會共好。自去年起支持「TSMC╳NTT+ 青年創作工作室」，與歌劇院合作鼓勵青年藝術創作者勇於實驗與創新，發掘創意潛能。基金會執行長許峻郎說，藉此計畫提供實踐理想的舞台，與藝術創作者一同探索多元藝術發展的未來。

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國家歌劇院攜手台積電 媽祖訊號秀新一代跨域創意


國家歌劇院攜手台積電 媽祖訊號秀新一代跨域創意


新聞眼／台灣問題 美畫模糊框架

新華社報導「川習通話」，美國總統川普說，「中國當年為二戰勝利發揮了重要作用，美方理解台灣問題對於中國的重要性」。對於後面這句，台灣當局或許慶幸川普沒有說出反對或者不支持台獨，但千萬不可僥倖，因為川普表達了對於中方有關台灣問題態度的理解，其中深意，無非是為台灣問題畫上了一個模糊的框框。

川普這段話是對中國大陸國家主席習近平所說，大陸片面發表，未見美方發表，這在美中對話是經常可見，但發表與否必然是雙方先前已有默契，川普與習近平兩人意識形態也許南轅北轍，但對於今年二戰勝利八十周年，同時也是日本向中國投降的八十周年，兩人對於中美兩國歷史上的關係，有著共同的認識。

習近平主張，台灣回歸中國是戰後國際秩序重要組成部分；川普則對習近平說，中國當年為二戰勝利發揮了重要作用，美方理解台灣問題對於中國的重要性。習近平的態度，雖沒指明日本，但二戰勝利成果確實是中美合力對抗日本軍國主義侵略，習近平無非婉轉表達日方過於介入兩岸問題的不當。川普表達理解習近平有關台灣問題的態度，多多少少顯示出美方未來任何動向，都不會被動地被台灣所牽動，而是預先有了一個模糊的框架立場。

美國的外交政策向來避免受他方牽制，確保自我的行動自由，二戰後冷戰時期的台灣，始終是美方的外交籌碼，近年來美方陷入過度壓制北京發展的思考，反而顯得在台灣問題失去主動，出現尾巴搖狗的窘態；台灣本來是被運用的一方，卻反過來影響運用者的思考，主客易位，川普對中方領導人表達對於中方關切的理解，君無戲言，言盡於此，無非是表達美方將會慎重處理台灣問題。

今日的世界秩序與戰後歷史有千絲萬縷關係，華府與北京在二戰歷史有共同理解，但中華民國亦是二戰期間領導中國抗戰的政府，北京是以中國內戰勝利者姿態繼承新朝的態度，面對中國近代史，這個不難理解，台灣方面某些勢力只能吵嚷這仗是我打的，自我安慰，聊表一番，卻也提不出更好的政治論述。

另一個令人諷刺的現象是，民進黨無視於中華民國抗戰歷史，無非是為了切斷兩岸關係，以及作為主張台灣獨立的政府，必須切割開羅宣言、波茨坦宣言的歷史，在不毀棄中華民國體制下，以退兩步、進一步的曖昧方式，推進台灣獨立。

台灣 美國 中國 日本 中華民國


美國總統川普與大陸國家主席習近平通話觸及台灣議題，大陸外交部發言人毛寧昨稱，這次通話是「美方發起」。但我國安人士昨天表示，「這通電話是中方去爭取的」，中日關係緊張，中方對日本升高複合式威脅，導致國際形象重挫，正面臨騎虎難下的局面，「習近平需要這通電話」，嘗試爭取緩和、下台階空間。

我國安人士說，台美聯繫緊密，對相關通話內容都有密切掌握；中方以「法律戰」敘事台灣政治地位，但美方並未隨之起舞，也沒有接受。至於美中元首對話，中方有自己一套說法，但美方講的又是另一件事，歷來都是如此。

陸方今年大力推動「三個八十年」對台攻勢，國安人士指出，中國極力透過法律戰，以不實敘事脅迫台灣，但二戰相關文件及聯合國相關決議，都無涉、無法決定台灣的政治地位，這一點已在包含美國在內的民主國家之間逐漸成為共識。

國安人士也說，習近平提「台灣問題」，但美國並未隨之起舞，中方的錯誤敘事終究沒被美方接受。我國安團隊判斷，中國對日一連串的戰略失誤，重創其國際形象，目前尚未看到終點。

川習通話「爭取下台階」 我國安人士：習近平需要這通電話


在野憂我如烏克蘭 隨時被美交易

川普 林國成 黃國昌 王鴻薇 牛煦庭 習近平

烏克蘭 中國 台灣 美國

對於「川習通話」的影響，在野黨立委舉烏克蘭為台灣的殷鑑。國民黨立委王鴻薇說，未來中美的協商或互訪，台灣一定要被擺在檯面上。川普根本不想提台灣，川普在乎中國大陸是否多買大豆、放寬稀土管制或中美貿易問題；中國大陸直接講到台灣問題，也告訴全世界，中美之間繞不開台灣這題，台灣本來就隨時隨地可能被交易，「就像烏克蘭一樣」。

民眾黨主席黃國昌說，儘管美中過去有對抗跟競爭，但未阻礙兩國領袖對話、溝通與交流；反觀，台灣與中國也有衝突跟競爭，未來能否秉持善意盡量對話溝通、尋求共識，該對抗的時候對抗，但該溝通、合作的時候就要合作。

民眾黨立委林國成指出，中日兩國摩擦，台灣最好的應對方式就是「以靜制動、不要參戰」，儘管習近平有提到台灣議題，川普看似沒有表達立場，但兩岸關係降到冰點，什麼時候被美國當掉都不知道，有了烏克蘭的前車之鑑，台灣此時不要「草螟弄雞公」。

國民黨發言人牛煦庭說，中美關係並非如民進黨所嘗試塑造的民主與獨裁二元對立的關係，川普的交易性格明顯、喜好元首直接對話解決問題，習近平也很清楚，所以利用這機會再次傳達北京對台海議題的立場，川普不特別強調，但也沒有拒絕。


國民黨立法院黨團總召傅崐萁提出「國籍法」修正草案，保障陸配參政權，預計本周五院會一讀付委，但預料民進黨團將會提出異議。

對於內政部長劉世芳引用國籍法，排除陸配參政權，聲稱兩岸分屬不同國家，「兩國說」引起爭議，國民黨發言人牛煦庭昨回應，國民黨修法方向必符合憲法精神，希望民進黨回到憲法法理，勿毀憲亂政。

傅崐萁提出國籍法修正草案，增訂大陸地區人民依法取得台灣地區戶籍者，若要參選公職或擔任公職，是回歸兩岸人民關係條例規定，不適用國籍法第廿條規定；該草案排入本周五院會議程，但若民進黨團提出異議，將影響付委程序。

傅崐萁表示，陸配依照憲法，本來就該回歸兩岸人民關係條例的規定，但劉世芳扭曲憲法欺負小陸配，竟用國籍法來約束憲法，只好「修法」給劉世芳看，也將憲法所必須要有的相關配套補強起來。

劉世芳強調，自己已多次重申，國籍法的規定是針對中華民國以外的任何國家，都是同樣的規定來處理，並沒有所謂的「化外」規定；如果有人把這個特別的某一個國家或地區修法，把它排除掉的話，這才有點像「標籤化」的處理。

國民黨立委王鴻薇說，兩岸本就以兩岸人民關係條例做規範而非國籍法，憲法中並無「一邊一國」，劉充滿台獨意識形態。她要問賴清德總統，是否也支持劉世芳把對岸當成特殊國家？若將對岸視為特殊國家，就應該廢掉陸委會，為何不是由外交部處理？「民進黨在中華民國憲法的保護之下，做的都是違憲的事情」。

中正大學教授羅世宏表示，如果內政部不亂搞在先，本來連國籍法都根本不需要修；因為本來陸配新移民就有合法參政權，依現行法在取得中華民國國籍後，還必須再等十年後才能參。他說，陸配本來就不適用國籍法第廿條，但內政部突然要用這一條去剝奪陸配的合法參選與當選權利，相當不合理，遑論相關行政作為已違反憲法及兩岸人民關係條例。

劉世芳 賴清德 牛煦庭 傅崐萁 王鴻薇

藍提案修國籍法「給劉世芳看」


普發現金一萬元已陸續發放，民進黨立委吳琪銘昨質詢，若明年財政及還債都沒問題，是否優先考慮普發現金？行政院長卓榮泰表示，「政府會採取較保守估計」，即使稅收超過預算數，也不該定額在普發現金，國家有更重大需求。

吳琪銘昨質詢時提及，我國出口創新高，賴清德總統在演講中講到台灣目前人均ＧＤＰ達三萬八千多美元，明年稅收表現會持續樂觀？若財政及還債都沒有問題，是否優先考慮普發現金？

卓榮泰表示，十月出口創新高，增加比率達到百分之四十九點七，且一月至十月為五一四四億美元，年增率達到百分之卅一點八，尤其高科技產業、ＩＣＴ產業占相當大比率。

至於明年稅收部分，卓榮泰表示，政府現在比較保守，因為在美國關稅談判後，世界呈現一個新的後關稅時代，變數相當大，且我國跟美方還沒有達到最終的總結會議，雖然其他國家大致完成，但其中充滿若干變數，明年政府會採取較保守的估計，「即使稅收數超過預算數，也不應該定額放在普發現金」。

對於關稅談判，卓榮泰出席活動時表示，談判團隊積極與美方做最後磋商，大致完成，正進行一些文件交換，台灣暫時性關稅稅率為百分之廿，希望很快能看到往下降，且不疊加任何關稅，也盼二三二條款中高科技領域取得最惠國待遇。

明年再還稅於民？政院：國家有更重大需求


北市府：雙城論壇敲定12月下旬

台北上海雙城論壇何時辦，過程一波三折。台北市副市長林奕華昨證實，今年市長蔣萬安率團赴上海出席雙城論壇時間點，已敲定十二月下旬。林奕華強調，雙城論壇已是行之多年兩岸市政交流，中央也很支持，待細節定案，就會公布確認時間點，目前已展開行程、ＭＯＵ確認。

據了解，本月廿至廿二日，上海台辦聯絡處長徐皓、動物專家等一行人，已到台北進行雙城論壇的幕僚細節籌辦確認與討論，除去年簽署ＭＯＵ互贈各一對黑腳企鵝、小貓熊，上周徐皓等一行人到台北市動物園參觀小貓熊的家，上海方相當滿意；另，徐皓一行人也參訪北捷、悠遊卡公司、小巨蛋、內湖再生家具展示場、台北市立大學等。

據了解，今年舉辦時間，北市與上海鎖定兩個時間點，都為十二月下旬，雙方正在敲定確認中。至於今年預計簽署的「水治理」及「職能培訓」兩項ＭＯＵ，先前陸委會主委邱垂正稱中央「已經處理好了」，但其中職能培訓ＭＯＵ，因先前中央修改幅度過大，儘管陸委會主委稱不用重送，但北市府還要跟內政部確認，是否重送審查。

今年雙城論壇籌辦一波三折，原訂九月底舉辦，但因簽署的兩項ＭＯＵ審查進度來不及，北市府出發前一刻才緊急宣布緩辦，延至十二月底。市府近期申請上海市台辦副主任李驍東等四人來台，不過陸委會不准李驍東等人赴台，僅核准上海台辦聯絡處長徐皓及動物專家來台洽談雙城籌辦事宜。


聯合報防詐論壇 破解詐騙陷阱

聯合報昨天舉辦「撕開詐團真相 全民攜手拆詐彈」第二場防詐論壇，繼八月第一場聚焦高齡者及弱勢族群，這次以「受詐不分你我：拆解高端詐騙陷阱」為主題，探討年輕人及高知識分子被害。社長游美月呼籲全民打詐，表示「被詐騙不是個人的恥辱，而是全社會必須面對的痛！」

游美月指出，警方統計去年詐騙財損近五百億元，每天報案三百件以上，數字背後是傷心的故事，家庭一輩子積蓄、社會對彼此信任都不見，對台灣社會來說不可承受；媒體要讓全民理解，發現問題所在，拆解詐騙為何如此嚴重，唯有對詐騙有更多共識與拆解方法，才能真正迎戰詐騙。

聯合報總編輯王茂臻表示，「想讓社會更好」是聯合報一貫主張，監督有權力的人、關懷有需要的人，哪怕只有一人看見報導而沒被騙，就可能挽救一個家庭，「阻詐是一場長期戰爭」。

論壇由逆風劇團表演反詐騙短劇開幕，國際反洗錢師李柔嫻以投資被騙三千二百萬元的經驗現身說法，她提及當時一度有輕生念頭，呼籲政府重視受害者心理狀況。

金管會主委彭金隆說，青年學子、高知識分子對新興科技接受度高，易面臨相關詐騙；已請財金資訊公司建立金融阻詐聯防平台，協助金融機構以科技方式交換分析資訊，另將推動虛擬資產業者與金融機構合作，避免法幣與虛擬貨幣轉換洗錢，並以跨業照會及異業聯防為重點修法。

產官學界人士進行專題演講與座談，分別以「守護青年未來」、「拆解高端詐騙」、「跨界聯防阻詐」為主軸。警政署長張榮興說，公開詐騙真實數據「不蓋牌」，讓全民有防詐意識草木皆兵，警方也能掌握詐騙趨勢及採取策略。

數產署長林俊秀說，除識詐、堵詐、阻詐、懲詐，行政院「新世代打擊詐欺策略行動綱領」新增防詐，由數發部負責，為重中之重政策。

銀行局長童政彰說，發掘潛在被害人，對曾匯款警示帳戶者，加強臨櫃關懷，也對境外可疑帳戶照會聯防，要求全體銀行都加入。

行政院洗錢防制辦公室執行秘書羅韋淵，說明追蹤虛擬資產所面臨挑戰；中正大學犯罪防治系教授戴伸峰，以心理學解析詐騙如何引人上鉤。

業界主講人及其主題，包括台新銀行資安長陳詰昌「從交友到投資：年輕人最容易踩的詐騙陷阱」、遠傳電信網路技術暨營運群副總經理盧祖耀「AI世代雙面刃，電信如何用科技守護青年」、合庫金控兼合庫銀行法遵長吳淑鈴「銀行業從預防到應變的防詐策略與機制」、國泰人壽據點服務發展部協理胡靖雯「打造全民防詐安全網、打擊保險詐騙」、Taboola台灣業務總經理楊懿純「反詐前線：AI共築安心廣告生態，守護六億用戶」、蝦皮購物法遵部長許敦凱「強化AI防詐機制，與政府合作打造最安心防護網」。


劉世芳 傅崐萁 王鴻薇 牛煦庭 賴清德

藍提案修國籍法「給劉世芳看」


明年再還稅於民？政院：國家有更重大需求


北市府：雙城論壇敲定12月下旬


傅崐萁 李坤城 羅智強 鍾佳濱

政院版財劃法修正草案已送入立院，立法院昨天召開程序委員會，討論周五院會議程。民眾黨立委劉書彬提議「暫緩列案」，儘管綠營在場反對，但藍白仍然挾人數優勢通過，政院版財劃法草案遭封殺，無法於本周五院會列案付委；民進黨立院黨團則揚言提出公投，透過公投綁大選全面迎戰。

民進黨團幹事長鍾佳濱表示，國民黨、民眾黨可以討厭民進黨，但絕不能把人民的權益拿來陪葬，既然藍白上周三讀通過「公投綁大選」，民進黨團要呼籲公民朋友用「更大的民意」為藍白的憲政鬧劇劃下句點。不過，鍾佳濱也說，黨團提出公投想法，並非針對財劃法或任何特定法案，目前執政團隊未放棄和在野對話，仍希望以溝通方式共商解方。

面對政院版財劃法草案在程委會遭封殺，民進黨籍財政委員會召委李坤城也出招變更議程，明天將於財政委員會排審「財劃法第十六條之一未分配款運用暫行條例」草案，主張將財劃法因公式錯誤導致三四五億元統籌款無法分配的錢，用在婦女坐月子每人補助十萬元、國保年金每月領足八千元、勞退自提獎勵等方面。

對於民進黨立委排審財劃法未分配款運用暫行條例草案，國民黨團總召傅崐萁表示，「民進黨要端牛肉，我們並不反對」，政院若覺得可以執行，歡迎直接編在總預算即可，不需要通過暫行條例來做，否則就是在打假球、放煙霧彈。

對於封殺政院版財劃法草案，民眾黨團表示，行政院版本遲到一年，還想帶國家走回頭路，面對政府如此玩弄數字、欺騙國人，「裝睡叫不醒」的財劃法，藍白黨團只能合作將其暫緩列案。

國民黨團書記長羅智強則呼籲，行政院要「正面解讀」在野黨的用意，新版財劃法才剛在立法院三讀通過，行政院即使有意見，理論上也要等新法實施一段時間後再來討論，而不是等人家通過後又馬上提案，如此不符立法精神。

綠拋故鄉稅 盼化解僵局

對於政院版財劃法草案恐在立院被藍白封殺，綠營也開始另闢蹊徑，親綠民團「經民連」昨天和民進黨立院黨團一同舉行記者會，呼籲以「故鄉稅」深化民主，化解財劃法造成的朝野僵局；民進黨團表示，該版本可以納入研議，黨團願意一同集思廣益，也呼籲在野黨不要除了藍白版本之外，把政院版、民間意見全排除在外。

「故鄉稅」是日本獨有稅制，允許納稅人將部分稅金捐贈給其他地方自治團體，以振興地方來平衡鄉鎮跟大城市的差距、並推廣當地特產文化，宣傳地方特色。該稅制特色在於「稅收分配到哪，不由政府做決定，由民眾自己來做決定」。

國民黨團總召傅崐萁表示，民間團體倡議都尊重，但政府不能違憲違法，還是請民進黨政府盡快執行立法院三讀通過的財劃法，才是正道，不然都是轉移焦點。

藍白封殺政院版財劃法 綠揚言公投


卓揆：在野雙標 要讓政府破產

立法院昨天程序委員會在藍白人數優勢下，決議將行政院版財劃法修正草案暫緩列案，國民黨團要求政院提出試算表再做決定；行政院長卓榮泰抱怨，立法院一年修三次財劃法，剛好印證「真的是匆匆忙忙」要讓政府破產，讓政府要負擔更多債務；更嚴重的是，竟然不允許行政院從從容容和地方溝通；他質疑在野黨是雙重標準。

卓榮泰表示，上周原本朝野黨團談妥不處理公式錯誤問題，等待本周政院與地方溝通後提出詳細的數字再做討論，結果在野黨團自己卻撕毀承諾；行政院本周仍然會繼續和地方政府再做溝通，有了共識就會有具體的數字。他強調，這將再次證明行政院版的財劃法中，關於統籌分配稅款、一般補助款及計畫性補助款，三項加起來的對地方補助，絕對高於今年度的數字。

民進黨立委賴瑞隆質詢，藍白二度修正財劃法「重北輕南」，行政院是否會提覆議？還是以「不副署」方式處理？卓榮泰指出，在本周四、行政院提覆議最後期限前，立法院還有幾天時間能有所作為，讓國人看「失速列車」是否能停下。

卓榮泰在立院表示，若依藍白通過的財劃法，中央絕對破產，還要違法舉債編列預算；行政院版財劃法草案經過與地方六次以上溝通，計算公式最合理，應可取得最大的共識，盼能夠放到立法院討論，至少有衡平的討論機會。他還說，十幾個立委質詢時，都要求中央補助，但都說不要談財劃法，「這是矛盾的」，「要補助，就要修到行政院版財劃法，行政院就可以補助」。

不過，財劃法攻防未歇，民進黨委蘇巧慧、新北市副市長劉和然持續隔空互槓。劉和然說，最關鍵問題仍未解決，就是「試算表在哪裡？」台北市長蔣萬安也呼籲中央，應提出具體數字才能有意義討論。

劉和然說，新北市不求特權，只求公平，若行政院版公布後，新北人均分配仍為全國最後一名，「我一定會反對，這是新北的底線，也是地方政府的良心」劉也反問蘇巧慧：「如果行政院版讓新北吃虧，敢不敢像我們一樣站出來反對？」蘇巧慧反擊表示，真正讓黨意凌駕民意的不是民進黨，而是國民黨，呼籲在野黨能坐下來好好討論財劃法。

卓榮泰 賴瑞隆 蔣萬安 蘇巧慧


聯合報防詐論壇 破解詐騙陷阱


性影像外流案件增多，被害人年齡有下降趨勢，偵辦「創意私房」案的檢察官陳祥薇（右三）遇過年紀最小被害人僅九歲。北市社會局與民間團體合作推教材，強化教育及保護意識。記者洪子凱／攝影藝人黃子佼下載「創意私房」大量未成年性影片，高院昨判他一年六個月徒刑，緩刑四年。隨著網路發達，性影像外流影片漸增，年齡層更有下降趨勢，檢察官陳祥薇說，承辦過案件中受害人年紀最小僅九歲，要防範類似案件關鍵是觀念要從小扎根，不是一味禁止孩子用手機，而是家長要引導正確觀念，避免孩子落入陷阱。

台北市社會局統計，近年兒少遭遇性影像散布、裸照勒索、網路誘騙等數位性暴力案件大幅增加，今年一至十月衛福部性影像處理中心派案兒少性影像案共一六○件、二三六個平台數，相較去年八十一案、一二八平台數明顯增加；年齡層也有下降趨勢，二○二三年八月至二○二五年八月受理性影像被害人通報案件數三九九件，未成年二一四件、成年一八五件，受理移除下架案五四九件，未成年三二一件、成年二二八件。

偵辦「創意私房」案的檢察官陳祥薇指出，偵辦過案件中年齡最小被害人僅九歲，很多案件孩子與家長沒有充分溝通管道，導致孩子發生事情第一時間不知找誰求助，等到警方偵辦通知家長才知情，親子往往陷入長期痛苦。司法機關是最後防線、處罰性手段，前端包含教育、家長宣導，將新型態犯罪手法透過教材帶入生活，才能遏止悲劇發生。

北市社會局也與防暴聯盟及多領域專家合作打造「孩子的守護星－補網行動」，針對三至八歲幼童、九至十二歲兒童，分齡開發數位安全教材，提供最新犯罪樣態，預計明年上架官網供家長、老師免費下載使用。

副市長林奕華表示，孩子使用網路的速度、頻度超乎大人想像，這些受害事件影響對孩子影響程度是長遠的，政府必須跟上腳步構築防護網，讓網路不再成為風險入口。

台灣防暴聯盟秘書長廖書雯觀察，補習班、安親班等非正規教育場域，為孩子長時間停留場所，也易成案件延遲發現的破口，第一階段也與補教業者合作，舉辦廿場工作坊課程給補教業者與家長，內容涵蓋數位性暴力新態樣、裸照勒索與影像外流的處理方式、補教場域界線與互動風險、通報流程與第一時間應對、家庭中的數位協議與親職對話工具，提升家長與補教人員數位性暴力辨識力。

兒少性影像外流逐年增 北市補破網


藝人黃子佼涉長期下載、購買不法性影像，高等法院二審依個資法判處一年六月徒刑、緩刑四年，並須服一八○小時義務勞務及接受法治教育課程。判決引發婦女與兒少保護團體強烈不滿，批評法院僅以個資法論罪，不僅無法呈現案件全貌，更嚴重忽視性影像被害人遭受的數位性暴力與終生傷害。

婦女救援基金會表示，黃宣稱已與被害人和解，並試圖以「愚蠢的好奇心」和「多為成人影像」淡化自身行為；這些說法皆避重就輕，無助理解數位性暴力本質。兒少性剝削防制條例早在一○四年就已明定「無正當理由持有兒少性影像即屬違法」，雖當時尚未入罪，但依法可開罰並要求教育輔導，並非其聲稱的修法前「未觸法」狀態。

婦援會指出，上千部下載、涉及至少卅名被害人的行為，顯然並非「好奇心」，而是為滿足個人性慾，甚至可能涉及成癮。更重要的是，不論影像中被害人是否成年，只要是不法性影像，背後往往牽涉偷拍、誘騙、脅迫或性暴力，被害人因此承受巨大的心理創傷，而影像在網路上持續被散布與販賣，更讓傷害無限擴大，「每一次下載，都是再次傷害」。

婦援會批評，高院以個資法論罪，使案件被誤導成「資料處理問題」，忽略受害人真正遭遇的性剝削與數位性暴力，呼籲司法應正視非法性影像的犯罪本質。該會並再次訴求修法，將購買「成人非法性影像」入罪化，並比照澳洲制定網路安全法，要求平台業者共同防堵散布。

台灣展翅協會也批評判決嚴重低估兒少性影像犯罪的本質，指國際皆視持有兒少性影像為重大犯罪，因持有本身即構成對兒少的性侵害，也助長剝削市場。黃子佼持有大量兒少性影像，法院卻以個資法量刑，顯示司法對兒少性影像犯罪理解不足，也輕忽其嚴重性。

展翅協會說，若司法以「已和解」作為輕判理由，等於向社會傳遞「只要有錢和解就能輕易脫罪」的錯誤訊息，完全違背兒少保護精神。此判決不僅削弱政府與民間長期建立的防制機制，更讓被害者創傷被再度忽視。

不滿黃子佼案判決 婦團：輕忽兒少終生創傷


黃子佼案不再上訴 被害人律師：正義路未走完

藝人黃子佼昨獲判緩刑，律師楊佳陵代表一名被害人表示不會上訴，但期望社會更重視兒少保護。記者林孟潔／攝影黃子佼持有上千部兒少性影像，因與全數被害人和解而獲判緩刑，律師楊佳陵昨代被害人表示「不會上訴」，但指本案只是冰山一角，必須持續追查拍攝製作性影像、架設平台牟利者；案件也凸顯現行法律的不足，希望案件結束是台灣社會對兒少保護的重新開始。

楊佳陵是其中一名被害人的律師，她在法院宣判後受訪表示，對被害人而言刑度長短或是否入監，從來不是最終目的，而是判決能否讓社會意識到只要有一次下載，就會對一名兒少造成無法抹滅的傷害，希望案件結束是被害人療癒的開始，也是對兒少保護的開始。

楊佳陵說，尊重法院在現行法律框架下的裁量，判決結果也凸顯現行法律對於嚇阻數位性犯罪還有不足之處，此議題必須持續監督，這個比任何單一案件或個人的判決是更重要，真正正義不只在法庭裡面，更在於如何為每一位孩子建立更安全的社會。

楊佳凌另外發出聲明，指已在司法程序中為當事人爭取到現階段所能達成的最佳權益與正義，對於黃子佼在聲明說「若沒有下載就沒有人會供給」，她認為相當關鍵，不僅揭示數位性暴力犯罪的結構性根源，更應成為黃深切反省的起點，期盼黃能將此認知轉化為未來彌補過錯、防止再犯的具體行動。

聲明表示，正義的道路尚未走完，黃子佼的案件僅是冰山一角，最初拍攝、製作、上傳影像，並建立平台牟利的加害者，至今仍有許多人逍遙法外，他們才是這條黑暗產業鏈的源頭。

楊佳陵呼籲司法與警政單位，切勿因單一案件的進展而停下腳步，務必持續積極追查境外平台的共犯結構，讓加害者無所遁形，也讓每一位被害人都能獲得完整的公平正義。唯有如此，才能真正保護國家的未來，讓所有孩子能在一個沒有恐懼、身心健全的環境中安心長大。


冷眼集／數位性暴力犯罪 斷源頭才是關鍵

黃子佼購買下載大量兒童及少年性影像，可謂是「創意私房」性犯罪案中最有名的被告，隨著他和全數被害人和解，案件看似逐漸落幕，但如同被害人律師所述黃案僅是「冰山一角」，背後始作俑者仍逍遙法外，數位性暴力犯罪，還是台灣社會不可忽視的議題。

從黃子佼案來看，創意私房擁有逾五千名會員，連軍人、警察、醫生、老師、工程師都是其中的一員，陸續被檢警緝獲也經法院判刑，也顯示社會潛藏龐大兒少性影像的觀覽市場，「只要有需求就會促使供給」，一次又一次的購買下載，商業利益的誘惑，就是在促進性犯罪的發生。

創意私房創立者「老馬」位居幕後，遲遲未現蹤，加上論壇鼓勵使用虛擬貨幣，隱藏交易紀錄，難以追查金流，或將機房設置於住宅，凸顯追查性犯罪集團源頭的困難性。

然而，不僅僅是創意私房，觸感論壇、Telegram群組「渣男頻道」、ＳＨＣ社群等，躲在暗處的兒少性剝削平台比比皆是，若網站又是境外架設，想要斬草除根、一網打盡困難重重，數位性犯罪的規模與影響不容小覷。

黃子佼是眾多兒少性影像下載者之一，因公眾人物而受到矚目，法院判決、接受法律制裁並非終點，真正關鍵在於外界是否能藉此理解數位性剝削的嚴重性，進而檢討現行法條的空隙，持續監督修法，完善配套措施，這也是社會保護兒少的責任。

法律是最後一道防線，提高刑度或許能增加嚇阻效果，但終究不是最終解方，且許多偷拍者、性剝削犯罪者有「成癮」的問題，無法靠著刑罰或監禁達到矯治作用，後續還得靠社福機構或醫療單位介入輔導、持續查訪，徹底斷了犯罪者的慾望，加上從源頭斷絕兒少性剝削平台的成立，才能有效減少犯罪發生。