Trump invites Japan’s Takaichi to the US this yearAP, WASHINGTONUS President Donald Trump during a phone call on Friday invited Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to visit the US this year, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in what would be the conservative leader’s first trip to the US since taking office in October last year. Washington is seeking to deepen its ties with Tokyo and stabilize its relationship with Beijing ahead of a likely trip by Trump to China in April. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to the media at her residence in Tokyo on Friday. The ministry said Takaichi and Trump agreed to coordinate for the visit to happen this spring. Takaichi and Trump also agreed on their commitment to promoting cooperation among like-minded partners, including the Japan-US-South Korea partnership, and to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the ministry said.

US operation takes Maduro and wife, strikes VenezuelaAP, CARACASThe US hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early yesterday and said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country after months of intense pressure on its government — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by US President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro attends a gathering in support of his government in Caracas on Feb. 7, 2019. Photo: ReutersUS Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York. “We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said. Maduro last appeared on state television on Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen is pictured in Taipei in an undated photograph. The Ministry of Digital Affairs said that the incident was a case of cyberbullying, which includes doxxing and digital coercion. The digital ministry said that it has contacted Meta and asked that it remove the content that involves threats to personal safety. The National Police Agency said that it instructed the police division investigating the case to improve comprehensive security for Shen. Shen wrote on Facebook that China launched the “precision attack” against him, because its military exercises in the past week were ineffective in intimidating Taiwanese.

DPP lawmaker proposes changes to cross-strait actBy Lin Che-yuan / Staff reporterDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) yesterday said a petition has been completed for a proposed amendment to change the name of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Relations Act (台灣與中華人民共和國人民關係條例). The concept that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to two separate countries is basic international knowledge, she said, adding that the change hoped to clarify through law the equal, nation-to-nation relationship between Taiwan and China. “This proposed amendment not only highlights our country’s stance against aggression and the internalization of the Taiwan Strait issue, but also serves as an important international statement,” she said. She should propose to abolish the act entirely, along with the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Wang said. “DPP lawmakers want to take charge and stir up trouble, but they should not expect the opposition parties in the Legislative Yuan to be their brake pads,” she said.

Photo: ReutersThe change affects a diverse cross-section of Americans who do not get their health insurance from an employer and do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare — a group that includes many self-employed workers, small business owners, farmers and ranchers. Those surging prices come alongside an overall increase in health costs in the US, which are further driving up out-of-pocket costs in many plans. Health analysts have predicted the expiration of the subsidies would drive many of the 24 million total Affordable Care Act enrollees — especially younger and healthier Americans — to forgo health insurance coverage altogether. Meanwhile, Americans whose premiums are skyrocketing say lawmakers do not understand what it is really like to struggle to get by as health costs ratchet up with no relief. Many say they want the subsidies restored alongside broader reforms to make healthcare more affordable for all Americans.

S Korea ends breeding of bears and extraction of bileBy Kim Hyung-Jin / AP, SEOULSouth Korea on Thursday formally ended its dwindling yet much-criticized bear bile farming industry, although about 200 bears are still kept in pens and raised for their gallbladders. The change is in line with a revised animal rights protection law that imposes up to two or five years of prison sentences on violators. South Korea is one of the few countries that allow farming to extract bile from bears, mostly Asiatic black bears known as moon bears, for traditional medicine or as food, as it is believed to boost vitality and stamina. A bear looks out from a cage at a bear farm in Dangjin, South Korea, on Jan. 24, 2014. The ban is part of a broader 2022 agreement among officials, farmers and animal rights campaigners to prohibit bear bile farming beginning this year.

Chinese homeschool students embrace freer youthBy Mary Yang / AFP, SHANGHAIFourteen-year-old Estella spends her weekdays studying Spanish, rock climbing or learning acupuncture in her living room as part of her homeschooling since she left China’s grueling public school system. Estella, 14, a homeschooled student, attends a Spanish class in her home in Shanghai on Nov. 25 last year. Just 6,000 Chinese children were homeschooled in 2017, according to the non-profit 21st Century Education Research Institute. In Shanghai, Estella’s school day ended at 5pm, and she often spent around four hours a night on homework. Experts say Chinese people are increasingly questioning the value of traditionally prized degrees from elite universities in an oversaturated market.

The evocative photographs appear in Fell’s latest book, The Twilight Years of Taiwan’s Sugar Railways, which offers a fascinating glimpse into a vanished past and rural Taiwan in the 1990s. “Taiwan in Time” ran a two-part series in 2024 about the rise and fall of Taiwan’s sugar railways, (“The sugar express,” Sept. 8, 2024 and “The sugar rail reaches its peak and goes downhill,” Sept. 15, 2024). ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ RAILWAYEstablished in 1907 during the Japanese colonial era, the majority of Taiwan’s sugar railways ran on a narrow 762mm-gauge railroad. A Diema locomotive prepares to depart Xinying Sugar Factory with a train of sugar sack vans during the 1994-1995 sugarcane season. At its peak, the sugar railway surpassed the reach of the TRA — boasting a larger fleet and more daily train movements during sugar season, Fell writes.

Paris sees first derby in almost 36 yearsAFP, PARISFor the first time in almost 36 years, a Parisian derby will be played in French soccer’s top flight when reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain FC take on the nouveau riche Paris Football Club (PFC) today. That was on Feb. 25, 1990, when Moroccan midfielder Aziz Bouderbala scored a brace as Racing Paris 1 beat PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes home that they shared. The Parc des Princes stadium, center, which hosts the Paris Saint-Germain soccer team, and the Jean Bouin stadium, right, which hosts the Paris FC soccer team, are pictured in Paris on July 11, 2023. The 48,000-capacity Parc des Princes was sold out for derby matches in those days — although interest quickly waned. It would not be the first derby between PSG and PFC — who began life as a single entity.

Kolkata release Mustafizur Rahman after BCCI requestReutersKolkata Knight Riders have released fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh after being told to do so by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Indian Premier League (IPL) team said yesterday amid growing tensions between the countries. Mustafizur Rahman bowls during an Indian Premier League cricket match in Chennai, India, on May 21 last year. “Due to recent developments going on all across, the BCCI has instructed the franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to release one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh, from their squad,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told Indian news agency ANI. Later yesterday, Kolkata confirmed Mustafizur had been released. “BCCI will allow Kolkata Knight Riders a replacement player in line with IPL regulations, and further details will be communicated in due course,” the team added in a statement.

Wawrinka farewell tour begins with Cup victoryAP, PERTH, AustraliaStan Wawrinka’s 40-year-old legs did not let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a farewell tour yesterday. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka’s 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). Wawrinka last month announced that this year would be his last on the ATP tour. Stan Wawrinka returns to Arthur Rinderknech during the United Cup day two match between Switzerland and France in Perth, Australia, yesterday. The United Cup is among a number of tournaments being played over the next two weeks in Australia ahead of the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on Jan. 18.

‘Battle of the Sexes’ unnecessary for women: SwiatekAFP, SYDNEYSix-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday said she saw little point to the “Battle of the Sexes” match and that women’s tennis has nothing more to prove. Iga Swiatek gestures during a practice session ahead of the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney on Friday. Photo: AFPIt bore little resemblance to the era-defining 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” encounter between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. 2 Swiatek said in Sydney, where she opens her season at the United Cup. “I think actually events like this one, United Cup, brings tennis together, and WTA fans and ATP fans can watch this event with so much excitement,” she said.

Bucks defeat Hornets in final secondsBOUNCING BACK: Antetokounmpo had just returned from an eight-game injury absence last month, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win in four gamesAFP, LOS ANGELESGiannis Antetokounmpo threw down the game-winning dunk with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 122-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets and grab a slice of NBA history on Friday. The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 on their home floor, but Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the final quarter to help seal the win in a frantic finish that saw five lead changes in the final 45.7 seconds. The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks in the final seconds of their NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Friday. Pascal Siakam scored 23 points for the Pacers, who trailed the entire second half on the way to an 11th straight defeat. Johnson scored 18 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu added 23 points apiece for the Hawks.

Rangers beat Panthers in outdoor Miami ice hockeyAP, MIAMISend the New York Rangers outdoors, and they become unbeatable. Alexis Lafreniere had three assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 36 shots for the Rangers, who improved to 6-0-0 in outdoor games. Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky walks to the ice prior to the Winter Classic ice hockey game against the New York Rangers in Miami on Friday. The 17°C at game time was the second-warmest of any of the NHL’s 44 outdoor games that have counted in the standings. The Panthers came with a “Miami Vice” theme, wearing white suits, pastel shirts and even showing up in Ferraris instead of a bus.

Quake measuring 6.5 rattles Mexico City, beach resortAFP, SAN MARCOS, MexicoA magnitude 6.5 earthquake on Friday rattled Mexico’s capital and a tourist hotspot on the Pacific coast, killing at least two people and causing moderate damage in a small town near the epicenter. It was felt about 400km away to the north in Mexico City, where alarms sent people rushing into the street for safety, disrupting a holiday weekend. Members of the Civil Protection and soldiers inspect a damaged house after an earthquake in San Marcos, Mexico, on Friday. Twelve others were injured, city Mayor Clara Brugada wrote on social media, but there were no reports of major damage in the country’s largest city. The center of Mexico City is built on the muddy subsoil of what was once the bed of a lake, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.