China mulls action on Taiwan electionsNOSY NEIGHBORS Sources allege a number of goals, such as pushing ‘united front’ actions, interfering with Taiwan-US trade cooperation, and kneecapping arms salesBy Tzou Jiing-wen and Chen Yu-fu / Staff reporterBeginning today, China is holding a “Taiwan Work Conference,” with sources from Beijing indicating that the meeting would establish a special task force to respond to Taiwan’s local elections. Local elections are scheduled for Nov. 28 for mayoral and city council positions in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as for county commissioners, mayors, councilors, borough wardens and other local representatives in the other 16 counties and county-level cities. A person’s face is covered by a Chinese flag fluttering in the wind in Beijing in an undated photograph. Meanwhile, commenting on the special task force targeting Taiwan’s local elections, Taiwanese academics yesterday assessed that China might launch differentiated economic and trade incentives for different counties and cities, such as purchasing agricultural products, easing import restrictions and resuming group tourism. China might continue to send signals such as saying “cross-strait relations can be unlocked as long as central government policies are adjusted,” framing local elections as a choice between “pragmatism and ideology,” they said.

Epstein files have toppled top figures in EuropeAP, LONDONA prince, an ambassador, senior diplomats, top politicians. All brought down by the Jeffrey Epstein files, and all in Europe, rather than the US. The Epstein files reveal the global network of royals, political leaders, billionaires, bankers and academics that the wealthy financier built around him. Across Europe, officials have had or resign or face censure after the Epstein files revealed relationships that were more extensive than previously disclosed. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a team would scour the files for potential Polish victims, and any links between Epstein and Russian secret services.

Japan dominate Olympic big air‘SO BORING’: After falling on his second try, Kira Kimura won by riding backward and spinning five-and-a-half times with a grab of his board between the bindingsAP, LIVIGNO, ItalyThat ever-growing bench of Japanese snowboarders runs deep. We had a really good offseason, lots of preparation.”Japan’s Ryoma Kimata competes during the men’s snowboarding big air finals at the Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy, on Saturday. When Ayumu Hirano won the Olympic title four years ago, it marked has third Olympic medal. “We hate to lose,” said Ogiwara, who has won the last two X Games big air contests. Before this, the country had accumulated a single bronze medal in big air, saving most of the celebrations for Hirano and Co on the halfpipe.

Cortina curler wins the hearts of local fansAP, CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ItalyThere are four matches happening at once in Cortina’s curling stadium, yet you would hardly know it. Even with top contenders — the US and the UK — broom to broom, Italian fans are dominating this arena. The crowds are chanting “Italia, Italia, Italia!” putting US and UK contingents to shame. Constantini grew up in this tiny Tyrolean town, training on courts nestled between the high peaks of the Dolomites. It turns out the tiny town is seen as the national cradle of the sport.

England start Six Nations with a thrashing of WalesAFP, LONDONJamie George was proud of England’s dynamic start to the Six Nations after they thrashed Wales 48-7 at Twickenham, England, on Saturday ahead of next week’s trip to Edinburgh. England, without a Six Nations title since 2020, are to face a Scotland side smarting from an 18-15 opening loss to Italy in Rome. England’s Henry Arundell, right, goes to score a try against Wales in London on Saturday. Wales captain Dewi Lake, one of four Welsh players sent to the sin-bin, made no attempt to sugar-coat his side’s 12th straight Six Nations defeat. Wales on Sunday host a France side fresh from an impressive 36-14 win over Ireland, with thousands of tickets still unsold for the Cardiff clash.

“I didn’t make a mistake,” Trump said on Air Force One late on Friday when asked if he would apologize for the post. US President Donald Trump talks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday. “A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down,” a White House official said. “No one believes this cover up from the White House, especially since they originally defended this post,” she wrote.

‘Washington Post’ CEO leaves after sweeping job cutsAFP, WASHINGTONThe Washington Post on Saturday said its CEO and publisher Will Lewis was leaving effective immediately, just days after the storied newspaper owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made drastic job cuts that angered readers. Lewis, who is English, has been replaced by Jeff D’Onofrio, a former CEO of social media platform Tumblr who had joined the Post as chief financial officer last year, the paper announced. Then-Washington Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis poses for a photograph in Washington on Nov. 5, 2023. Sports, graphics and local news departments were sharply scaled back and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended, local media reported. Bezos, one of the world’s richest people, and Lewis have come under scrutiny for intervening directly in the paper’s editorial processes.

India open T20 with winAFP, MUMBAI, IndiaA sparkling unbeaten 84 from India captain Suryakumar Yadav and three wickets from late call-up Mohammed Siraj in Mumbai on Saturday helped India avoid a shock defeat to the US as they opened their defense of the T20 World Cup. India were in trouble at 77-6 before Suryakumar took them to a competitive 161-9 at a packed Wankhede stadium and won by 29 runs as the US could only muster 132-8 in reply. I knew if I bat till the end, I can make a difference.”India’s Mohammed Siraj, left, celebrates the wicket of the US’ Andries Gous during their T20 World Cup cricket match in Mumbai, India, on Saturday. A 58-run fourth-wicket partnership between Milind Kumar and Sanjay Krishnamurthi gave the US a chance of pulling off a stunning win. India had reached a steady 45-1 when Ishan Kishan slapped Shadley van Schalkwyk to Kumar at mid-off to spark a mini-collapse.

HARDBALLUS official criticism of the pro-China parties over the defense budget, both direct and indirect, is commonly reported in the media. Predictably, the defense budget was discussed. Another failure of the US criticisms is the isolation of the defense budget from the rest of the KMT/TPP coalition’s attacks on governance. Nor am I requesting that the US government seize the assets of KMT politicians and their families. It should not come as cheap retaliation for the failure of the current KMT and TPP to pass the defense budget.

An image released by Neon shows Wagner Moura in a scene from The Secret Agent. Photo: Neon via APDirected by Kleber Mendonca Filho, The Secret Agent is a political thriller infused with magical realism. It has been nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Actor for Wagner Moura and Best Casting. The film won Brazil its first Oscar — for best international feature film. The Secret Agent first earned plaudits at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won for best director and Wagner Moura won best actor.

European Commissioner for Digital and Frontier Technologies Henna Virkkunen speaks at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday last week. Virkkunen is in March to unveil a major “tech sovereignty” package covering cloud, artificial intelligence and chips — areas where the EU hopes to build greater autonomy. “Digital technologies are no longer neutral tools,” European Digital SME Alliance’s secretary general, Sebastiano Toffaletti, told reporters. France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands teamed up last year in a push to create common European digital infrastructure, steered by the European Commission. Zach Meyers of CERRE, a Brussels-based think tank, warns the EU must be clear about what “tech sovereignty” is meant to achieve.

Cambodians lament Thailand’s border gainsAFP, Thailand-Cambodia borderA sign hanging from a rusty ice-green shipping container installed by Thai forces on what they say is the border with Cambodia reads: “Cambodian citizens are strictly prohibited from entering this area.”On opposite sides of the makeshift barricade, fronted by coils of barbed wire, Cambodians lamented their lost homes and livelihoods as Thailand’s military showed off its gains. Thai forces took control of several patches of disputed land along the border during fighting last year, which could amount to several square kilometers in total. The neighboring countries’ century-old border conflict stems from a dispute over the French colonial-era demarcation of their 800km frontier. Thai flags flapped in the breeze and barbed wire lay scattered in Klong Paeng, another border village on the Thai military trip. Thailand welcomed Cambodian refugees to the border area after the Khmer Rouge regime fell in 1979.

EDITORIAL: Squaring the security circleIn a Taipei Times editorial published almost three years ago (“Macron goes off-piste,” April 13, 2023, page 8), French President Emmanuel Macron was criticized for comments he made immediately after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. This is not to say that the conclusions of the 2023 editorial should be dismissed entirely, but we can use the present reality as a measure of how much things have changed. Much of what Carney expressed so eloquently was on the minds of many other world leaders. Still, Carney’s trip to Beijing, even if he were aware of the contradiction, certainly gave Xi his PR boost, as did Starmer’s and Macron’s. To square the national security circle, Taiwan relies on the hard power of the US and on the soft power of like-minded middle powers that would stand with it, stop pretending and name realities.

Protesters hold a Cuban flag during a demonstration outside the US consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Friday. US President Donald Trump also signed an executive order last week allowing his country to impose tariffs on countries selling oil to Havana. Mexico, which has been supplying Cuba with oil since 2023, would stop doing so, Trump said. The oil shortages have threatened to plunge Cuba into complete darkness, with power plants struggling to keep the lights on. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said his country was willing to hold talks with the US, but not under pressure.

Final batch of M1A2T tanks to be delivered soon, source saysThe manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion