Taiwan office move lacks transparency: S African lawmakerISSUE: South Africa in 2024 announced it would categorize the office as a ‘trade office’ and relocate it from administrative capital, Pretoria, to JohannesburgStaff writer, with CNASouth Africa’s decision to ask Taiwan to relocate and rename its representative office in Pretoria lacked transparency and was not properly reviewed, a South African lawmaker from the country’s second-largest political party said. “There has been no full debate, no serious committee engagement and no attempt by the executive to explain itself in a transparent way,” said Janho Engelbrecht, a South African National Assembly member representing the Democratic Alliance party. It is unclear how widely Engelbrecht’s views are held in the 400-seat South African National Assembly, or even within his party, which holds 87 seats and is a key player in the governing coalition led by the ANC. DIRCO had asked Taiwan to move the office in 2024 and complete the move in six months, but did not announce it until the deadline was near. The representative office in Pretoria and South Africa’s office in Taiwan are still operating normally, the ministry said.

Ansgar Knauff snatches late draw for FrankfurtAFP, BERLINAnsgar Knauff on Friday scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to snatch a point for out-of-sorts Eintracht Frankfurt in a 3-3 draw at Werder Bremen. With less than a quarter-of-an-hour to play, Frankfurt led 2-1, but goals from Jens Stage and Jovan Milosevic in a three-minute spell turned the match on its head. Werder Bremen’s Jovan Miosevic controls the ball during their German Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt in Bremen, Germany, on Friday. Photo: dpa via APHowever, Knauff’s late strike snatched a share of the spoils for Frankfurt. The hosts rallied and looked on track for victory until Knauff’s late heroics.

Lions’ Chen Yung-chi to retire after the 2026 seasonStaff writer, with CNATen-time Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) All-Star Chen Yung-chi is retiring from the sport after this season with the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. “This year will be my last season,” the veteran infielder said at a media event in Taipei on Friday. The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions’ Chen Yung-chi poses for a photograph at a media event in Taipei on Friday. Set to turn 43 in July, Chen signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2004 and began his professional career in the US. Storvick urged Chen to dream bigger.

Harden steps up late as Clippers edge RaptorsAFP, LOS ANGELESJames Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Los Angeles Clippers’ James Harden, right, protects the ball from the Toronto Raptors’ Ochai Agbaji during their NBA match in Toronto on Friday. Photo: APHarden made four free-throws to open overtime as the Clippers pulled away, scoring eight of their 12 points in the decisive extra frame. Scottie Barnes scored 24 points to lead seven Raptors players to score in double figures.

Coach banned after sharing indecent imagesThe GuardianThe former manager of a fourth-tier women’s soccer club has been banned from all soccer for 12 years after he sent indecent images of himself to players and a member of staff as well as subjecting them to sexually inappropriate behavior. Hamilton denied 24 FA charges of improper conduct, all relating to his time in charge of the club, but an independent regulatory commission concluded that 23 of the 24 were proven. The FA received evidence from four players and a staff member, all of whom detailed examples of Hamilton trying to illicit sexual activity between May 2022 and November 2024. Photo: Reuters“Women should be able to participate in soccer without being subjected to the sort of behaviour Mr Hamilton exhibited towards them. Of the 24 charges, one — where it had been alleged that Hamilton had asked the staff member to go home with him while they were working in another job — was found not proven.

Petrokina comes back from surgery to win goldReuters, SHEFFIELD, EnglandEstonia’s Niina Petrokina on Friday capped a remarkable comeback by claiming her second consecutive European women’s figure skating title just weeks after returning to the ice following Achilles surgery. After having surgery on Oct. 9 last year, Petrokina was not able to train her triple jumps until less than two weeks ago. Estonia’s Niina Petrokina poses for a photograph with her gold medal after winning the women’s figure skating competition in the ISU Figure Ice Skating European Championships in Sheffield, England, on Friday. Photo: AFP“I don’t know how I do it, but I know I am unstoppable, because I love what I do,” she said. This time I came here to win and show one more time that I can do this, because in Estonia some guys told me that it’s unreal to win second time, and I just wanted to show that it’s real,” she added.

Dembele brace fires PSG top in FranceCONSISTENCY: PSG started the game with Dembele, Desire Doue and Kvaratskhelia in a line up similar to the one that beat Inter in the Champions League final last yearAFP, PARISOusmane Dembele on Friday scored twice as champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) climbed top of Ligue 1 with a dominant 3-0 win over Lille OSC at a rainy Parc des Princes in Paris. Dembele won the Ballon d’Or last season, but has had an injury-blighted season so far. Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele gestures as he celebrates after scoring their first goal during their French Ligue 1 match against Lille LOSC in Paris on Friday. A confident Dembele curled a sweet left-footed shot into the bottom corner from outside the box on 13 minutes to open the scoring. Dembele also netted shortly after the break, popping up unmarked at the far post only for an offside flag to deny him.

Uganda opposition leader ‘cut off’‘CONTROLLED ACCESS’: Bobi Wine said he managed to escape house arrest, while Ugandan police said that they were taking measures to ‘prevent violence’AFP, KAMPALAUgandan opposition leader Bobi Wine was cut off from communications yesterday after a police raid on his home, his party said, with the security forces determined to prevent unrest ahead of imminent election results. As Uganda endured a tense wait after Thursday’s polls, Museveni had a commanding lead against Wine, 43, a former singer turned politician. A Ugandan military officer stands guard outside the National Tally Centre near the Ugandan Electoral Commission headquarters in Lubowa, Uganda, on Friday. Reporters were blocked from entering Wine’s residence early yesterday and could not reach him or his entourage by phone. Wine’s party had earlier written on social media that he had been “forcibly taken” by an army helicopter from his compound, but later deleted the post.

Grok is testing whether AI governance means anythingGrok has exposed a structural problem — advanced AI systems are being deployed and made available to the public without safeguards proportionate to their risksBy J.B. Far from marginal regulatory disputes, these discussions get to the heart of AI governance. Governments worldwide increasingly agree on a basic premise of AI governance: Systems deployed at scale must be safe, controllable and subject to meaningful oversight. AI systems that enable foreseeable harm, particularly sexual exploitation, are incompatible with society’s expectations for the technology and its governance. Responsible AI governance depends on alignment between stated principles and operational decisions.

A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. “You are really playing with fire with this one,” said Aaron Levie, chief executive officer of the publicly traded Silicon Valley company Box. Levie said he fears that the proposed tax would drive entrepreneurs to look elsewhere to run their companies and launch start-ups. Analysts say an exodus of billionaires could mean a loss of hundreds of millions of tax dollars.

Trump is the chair of the board, according to a plan his White House unveiled in October. The White House did not detail the responsibilities of each member of the “founding Executive board.” The names do not include any Palestinians. The White House said more members would be announced over the coming weeks. US Army Major General Jasper Jeffers, a US special operations commander, was appointed commander of the International Stabilization Force, the White House said. This additional board would support Mladenov’s office and the Palestinian technocratic body, whose details were announced this week, the White House said.

Actor McConaughey seeks to protect image from AIAFP, NEW YORKUS actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. US actor Matthew McConaughey poses for photographs in the press room during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California, on March 10, 2024. Photo: ReutersMcConaughey’s approach is novel in that he is taking the lead in protecting his image and voice. He has acquired a stake in ElevenLabs Inc, a start-up specializing in AI voice modeling, and the company has created an AI audio version of McConaughey — with his permission.

MOFA planning Arizona office: sourceOVERSEAS CITIZENS: There is a growing Taiwanese community in Arizona, who have hoped for direct flights to Taiwan and a representative office, the foreign minister saidBy Su Yong-yao / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is planning to establish a representative office in Phoenix, Arizona, with the goal of opening within this year, a source familiar with the issue said yesterday. The government is preparing to set up a representative office in Phoenix, where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and several other Taiwanese investments are located, the source said. Taiwan has representative offices in Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Guam, Honolulu, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle. The Phoenix office would be the first new office established in the US in nearly 40 years. To date, 22 state governments and Guam have set up representative offices in Taiwan.

Employers seek work experience in new college hiresBACK ON TOP: NTU took back the top spot with the most sought-after graduates as employers seek hires with a history of part-time work and problem solvingStaff writer, with CNAA survey released on Friday by job bank 1111 showed that National Taiwan University (NTU) students are the most sought-after by employers this year. Following NTU, the next nine universities are National Cheng Kung University, National Taipei University of Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Tsing Hua University, National Chengchi University, Tamkang University (TKU), National Central University and Fu Jen Catholic University. Students and their parents crowd outside classrooms at Taipei Municipal Neihu Senior High School yesterday, the first day of the College Entrance Subject Tests. The latest survey also found that as many as 53 percent of companies prefer to hire fresh graduates with part-time experience, reflecting employers’ growing emphasis on new hires’ workplace readiness and emotional maturity. Conducted from Aug. 28 to Oct. 15 last year, the survey collected 2,153 responses from employers, with a margin of error of 2.97 percentage points.

Ending death penalty is a just pathBy Chien Chien-Jung 錢建榮Ten years ago, respected judge Chen Chin-Hsien (陳欽賢) delivered a keynote address at the first Asian Regional Congress on the Death Penalty in Kuala Lumpur. A younger colleague once confided in me that he too opposed the death penalty, but lacked the courage to speak out. Never underestimate your power — and never use the death penalty as a tool to ‘scare’ defendants.”I have long believed that abolition of the death penalty must ultimately be decided by leaders. In Taiwan, neither major political camp truly seeks to abolish the death penalty, yet both embrace its replacement. Abolishing the death penalty would do the same — demonstrating that Taiwan chooses human rights over repression, dignity over fear and conscience over killing.