Prepare for peak holiday traffic: agenciesBy Wu Liang-yi / Staff reporterRoad traffic and passenger volumes on freeways, railways and high-speed rail are expected to reach a holiday peak today, the third day of the Lunar New Year, transportation agencies said yesterday, advising travelers to plan accordingly. The Freeway Bureau estimated that traffic on freeways today would reach its peak, totaling 135 million vehicle-kilometers — about 1.5 times the usual daily volume. A vehicle-kilometer is a measure of traffic flow representing the movement of a vehicle over 1km. It estimated that the peak single-day passenger volume would be reached today, at 901,000 passengers nationwide, including approximately 756,000 on the Western Line. On average, the high-speed rail handles about 220,000 passengers per day, with holiday volumes reaching up to 300,000, it said.

Peru ousts president, electing interim leaderAFP, LIMAThe Peruvian Congress was yesterday set to elect an interim president to replace Jose Jeri, who was impeached in a graft scandal just four months after taking office. Peru’s impeached interim President Jose Jeri, center, gestures with his Cabinet in the background as they walk out of the Government Palace in Lima on Tuesday. Jeri became president following the impeachment of his predecessor, Dina Boluarte, in October. People gather in Lima yesterday after the Peruvian Congress ousted president Jose Jeri following a scandal over undisclosed meetings with a Chinese businessman. The new interim president is to serve out the remainder of Jeri’s term.

Lagarde has not decided on term end, ECB saysBloombergEuropean Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is expected to step down from her role before her eight-year term ends in October next year, the Financial Times reported. “President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of her term,” an ECB spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses the media following the ECB’s Governing Council meeting at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, on Feb. 5. “The ECB has timetables, and we are going to stick with them and — as always — find a good solution,” he said. French Minister of Finance Roland Lescure declined to answer that question, saying simply that Lagarde is “obviously a great president of the ECB.”

Takaichi reappointed following electionAFP, TOKYOThe Japanese House of Representatives yesterday formally reappointed Sanae Takaichi as prime minister, 10 days after her historic landslide election victory. Takaichi, 64, became Japan’s first female prime minister in October and won a two-thirds majority for her party in the snap lower house elections on Feb. 8. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, fourth left, bows as she receives a round of applause after being reappointed as the nation’s leader during a special session in the lower house of parliament in Tokyo yesterday. Takaichi has also promised to tighten rules surrounding immigration, even though Asia’s No. Takaichi was due to give a news conference later yesterday.

Sakamoto is searching for an elusive gold at her final Winter Games, but faces a stiff challenge from a new generation of Japanese stars including Nakai and Mone Chiba. Japan’s Ami Nakai performs in the Winter Olympics women’s single skating short program in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Norways’ Tormod Frostad competes in the Winter Olympics men’s freeski big air final in Livigno, Italy, on Tuesday. Nakai punched the air in delight having nailed her elements, including a difficult three-and-a-half-rotation triple axel. On the speedskating track in Milan, Canada’s women won team pursuit gold, while Italy claimed victory in the men’s event.

Man who ‘ruined’ basketball to step downBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterSports fans have criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politician Hsieh Dien-lin, calling him “the man who ruined Taiwan basketball” for being embroiled in numerous controversies and his cited failures and negligence as chairman of the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA). Chinese Taipei Basketball Association chairman and Changhua County Council Speaker Hsieh Dien-lin speaks to reporters in an undated photograph. It seemed to usher in a new era for Taiwan basketball,” she wrote. “We should be entering a ‘golden era’ for basketball in Taiwan, but teams are facing more and more issues,” she said. “Myself as CTBA chairman cannot solve all the problems.

Gauff, Rybakina cruise into last 16AFP, DUBAI, United Arab EmiratesCoco Gauff on Tuesday bounced back from her shock early exit in Doha last week with a comfortable victory over Anna Kalinskaya in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while Elena Rybakina opened her campaign with a dominant win. Gauff is to face Belgian Elise Mertens in the last 16 of the WTA 1000 event. Coco Gauff of the US returns to Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya in their Dubai Championships women’s singles match in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday. “It wasn’t the prettiest one, but it was enough for today,” said Gauff, seeded third. The Kazakh is to take on Croatian lucky loser Antonia Ruzic in the last 16, following her 6-1, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 victory over Anastasia Zakharova.

Sara Duterte announces presidential run‘COST OF DEFECTION’: Duterte’s announcement could be an effort to keep allies in line with the promise of a return to power amid political uncertainty, an analyst saidAFP, MANILAPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday announced she would run for president of the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million in 2028. Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte gestures during a news conferfence in Manila yesterday. “I am Sara Duterte. Sara Duterte has seen the impeachment bid against her revived in the past few weeks, with members of the Philippine clergy filing a case against her on Monday last week, one of three logged within days. A guilty verdict would result in Sara Duterte being barred from politics and sidelined from the presidential race.

Wealthy Americans top ‘golden visa’ surge in NZThe GuardianWealthy Americans are dominating applications for New Zealand’s “golden visa,” driven by a love for the country’s natural beauty and entrepreneurial spirit, as well a desire to escape US President Donald Trump’s policies. There are two categories of “golden visa” in New Zealand. Most have applied under the “growth” category, which requires a minimum NZ$5 million (US$3 million) investment over three years. Robbie Paul, the chief executive of Auckland-based venture capital firm Icehouse Ventures, has worked with more than 30 people who have applied for a golden visa. The Active Investor Plus visa scheme has generated US$3.39 billion investment in New Zealand, Immigration NZ said.

Meta deepens Nvidia ties with chip pledgeBloombergMeta Platforms Inc has agreed to deploy “millions” of Nvidia Corp processors over the next few years, tightening an already close relationship between two of the biggest companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Buck stressed that Meta will be the first large data-center operator to use Nvidia’s CPUs in standalone servers. Typically, Nvidia offers this technology in combination with its high-end AI accelerators — chips that owe their lineage to graphics processors. Nvidia CPUs will be increasingly used for tasks such as data manipulation and machine learning, Buck said. “There’s many different kinds of workloads for CPUs,” Buck said.

China’s dancing robots spark tech curiosityNOT YET THERE: While the show was impressive, it failed to demonstrate their ability to move in unstructured environments, such as a factory floor, an expert saidThe GuardianDancing humanoid robots on Monday took center stage during the annual China Media Group’s Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched official television broadcast. People watch as robots dance during Lunar New Year celebrations marking the Year of the Horse in Beijing yesterday. Clips circulating online quickly drew comparisons with last year’s Lunar New Year broadcast, which also featured dancing robots, but with noticeably simpler movements. Photo: EPA“Unlike AI [artificial intelligence] models or industrial equipment, humanoid robots are highly visible examples of China’s technological leadership that general audiences can see on their phones or televisions,” he said. “People outside China underestimate China, but China is an ass-kicker next level,” Musk said last month.

Radio Free Asia resumes broadcasts to ChinaReuters, WASHINGTONRadio Free Asia (RFA) has resumed broadcasts to China, its CEO said on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump’s administration last year cut funding, forcing it to cease operations. A logo of Radio Free Asia is displayed in its office in Washington on March 15 last year. Photo: ReutersCritics decried the move, which led to mass layoffs, as ceding ground to China and other US adversaries. “Radio Free Asia has long spread falsehoods and smeared China, and they have a poor record when it comes to reporting on China-related issues,” Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇) said. “We hope more media outlets in the US can make objective and fair-minded reports on China and China-US relations,” Liu added.

The White House said Japan would invest in the US$2.1 billion Texas GulfLink LLC deepwater crude oil export facility off the Texas coast. The high-pressure synthetic diamond plant, valued at about US$600 million, will be operated by Element Six Ltd, the White House said in a fact sheet. It was unclear how much of the projects’ costs would be funded by Japanese entities and under what conditions. “All of these projects involve Japan and the United States working together to build supply chains in strategically important fields,” Akazawa told reporters in Tokyo yesterday. Lines Ltd and Nippon Steel Ltd as suppliers for the crude oil export facility project, and Hitachi Ltd and Toshiba Corp for the power project.

Trump on Monday said he would decide soon on whether to send more weapons to Taiwan, after Xi warned him not to do so. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, en route to Washington from West Palm Beach, Florida. “This isn’t just an admission by Trump, it’s a disturbing abandonment of our Taiwan policy, which has been key to stability for decades,” he wrote. Unlike the Taiwan Relations Act, the “six assurances” have never become an official law dictating US-Taiwan relations. The US Congress is working on legislation to codify these stabilizing principles through the “Six Assurances to Taiwan Act,” Khanna said on Tuesday.

Taiwan congratulates Takaichi on re-electionKEY PARTNERS: A vocal supporter of Taiwan, the Japanese prime minister has repeatedly stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan StraitBy Huang Chin-hsuan / Staff reporterTaiwan looks forward to working with Japan to realize a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and to continue their deepening partnership, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday, as he congratulated Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on her reappointment by parliament to form her second Cabinet. Takaichi enjoys a strong base of public support and has long been a vocal supporter of Taiwan, a ministry statement quoted Lin as saying. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung, right, meets with Sanae Takaichi, then visiting Taiwan in her capacity as a Japanese Diet member, in Taipei on April 28 last year. Photo: Screen grab from Lin Chia-lung’s Facebook pageBefore being elected LDP president last year, Takaichi led a delegation to Taiwan and met with President William Lai (賴清德), Lin said. Since taking office as prime minister, she has highlighted at multiple major international forums the vital importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, he added.