More than half of the DRAM and NAND chips that provide electronic devices with their short and long-term memory are manufactured in South Korea. Those two countries, in turn, are among the most dependent on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Qatar. Taiwan and South Korea, with their mix of gas-dependent grids and Gulf-dependent import strategies, look most vulnerable. South Korea is only gradually unpicking similar regulations. It is time Taiwan and South Korea stepped up efforts to fix that weakness.

Taiwan’s breast cancer blueprintBy Y. Tony YangThe National Health Insurance Administration’s (NHIA) new breast cancer care improvement program represents a thoughtful, structurally sound step forward in a fight that Taiwan cannot afford to wage incrementally. The program’s commitment to “all-stage enrollment” — covering newly diagnosed patients, recurrence cases and even male breast cancer — signals an inclusive vision. The WHO’s global breast cancer initiative calls on countries to ensure that at least 60 percent of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at an early stage, that diagnosis occurs within 60 days and that 80 percent of patients complete recommended treatment. Moreover, the plan to build a national breast cancer database collecting clinical records across partner hospitals could prove to be the program’s most consequential legacy. Taiwan Breast Cancer Society president Chen Fang-ming (陳芳銘) said Taiwan’s breast cancer screening rate hovers between 40 and 50 percent, held down in part by fear.

Trump is pushing Britain closer to EuropeThe Guardian EDITORIALThere is truth to US President Donald Trump’s declaration earlier this week that the UK-US relationship is “not what it was,” although there is no indication that he understands the reasons for the change. Disagreements about Iran could complicate relations between Washington and Brussels, but Trump would not sever economic ties with the bloc just to spite Sanchez. The contrast with France, whose security and defense capabilities have evolved out of Gaullist mistrust of the US, is notable. Starmer is rightly pursuing a policy of closer European cooperation in defense and security policy, but negotiations are moving slowly. The legacy of Brexit complicates the relationship with Europe, but it does not alter the strategic imperative of making common cause with continental allies.

OpenAI senior executive resigns over Pentagon dealAFP, LOS ANGELESOpenAI’s top robotics executive on Saturday said she had resigned over the artificial intelligence (AI) giant’s deal with the US government to allow its technology’s deployment for war and domestic surveillance. The company behind ChatGPT secured a defense contract with the Pentagon last month, hours after rival Anthropic refused to agree to unconditional military use of their technology. Signs depicting robots armed with guns and the OpenAi logo are planted into the ground on the National Mall in an act of protest in Washington on Friday. “To be clear, my issue is that the announcement was rushed without the guardrails defined,” she wrote. These are too important for deals or announcements to be rushed.”Anthropic’s refusal to authorize use of its Claude AI models had prompted backlash from US officials.

Who can lead India toward sustainable development? The biggest predictor of candidates in India who support sustainable policies is if they are from a marginalized community, a study indicatesBy Bipasha Maity / NEW DELHIIndia’s environment is deteriorating fast. However, India is a fast-growing economy and its government is committed to ensuring that it remains one, by investing in infrastructure expansion, mining and urban development. In developing countries such as India, women and children bear a disproportionate share of the costs of environmental shocks, owing to their roles in household management, water and fuel collection and caregiving. They can influence conservation outcomes by allocating local development funds to environmental projects, hold state ministries accountable for implementing such projects and advocate for sustainable development within their constituencies.

‘Cockroach Lord’ defends the misunderstood bugsAFP, LOS BANOS, PhilippinesA thin band of light from Cristian Lucanas’ headlamp pierced the blackness of a Philippine rainforest as he dug through the underbrush before gently scooping up a cockroach with his bare hands. Cristian Lucanas, an entomologist from the University of the Philippines Los Banos, holds cockroach specimens inside a laboratory at the university on Feb. 11. While some cockroach species do carry disease-spreading microbes, a world without them would slow the process of decomposition crucial for sustaining ecosystems, he said. When his biology class adviser was unable to identify the species, Lucanas knew he had found his niche. He said that most science funding in his country “goes to research that will directly affect humans,” adding that at best he would only be able to catalog and explain the Philippines’ cockroaches.

Sweden seizes false-flagged ship with suspected stolen Ukrainian grainAFP, STOCKHOLMPolice in Sweden have seized a false-flagged cargo ship off its southern coast believed to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet and suspected of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain, authorities said on Saturday. Information indicates that it has essentially been used to transport grain that is stolen, as we understand it, from Ukraine,” Swedish Coast Guard Acting Head of Operations Daniel Stenling told a news conference. Photo: Swedish Coast Guard via AP“We have been able to establish that the vessel is sailing under a false flag. The Russian embassy in Stockholm said it had been informed by the Swedish coast guard that 10 of the 11-person crew were Russian citizens. The Swedish Transport Agency was to inspect the ship and determine whether it was seaworthy and authorized to continue its journey.

The 35-year-old’s RSP was also leading in proportional representation vote, according to results declared and election commission trends. Rastriya Swatantra Party election candidate Balendra Shah, seated, center, waits to collect a certificate for his victory in parliamentary elections at the counting center in Damak in Nepal’s Jhapa District on Saturday. Elections on Thursday chose a new 275-member Nepalese House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, with 185 seats chosen directly, and 110 by a proportional representation vote. Trends showed that Shah’s RSP was also leading in 27 of the remaining 40 constituencies in the direct elections. In the proportional representation vote, the RSP were leading with nearly half of the counted votes — but final results could take several more days.

Taiwan players celebrate beating South Korea in their Pool C game of the World Baseball Classic at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Taiwan’s Yu Chang, center, hugs a teammate after they beat South Korea in their Pool C game of the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo yesterday. Photo: AFPOnly under that scenario — in which Taiwan, South Korea and Australia would all finish with 2-2 records in Pool C — Taipei could hope that the WBC tiebreaker rules would work in its favor. Taiwan fans wearing matching jackets cheer in the stands during Taiwan’s Pool C game against South Korea in the World Baseball Classic at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Lai, writing on Facebook, thanked “all the Taiwan heroes,” calling them “our proudest Team Taiwan” for keeping the nation’s hopes alive of advancing to the quarter-finals.

War in the Middle East strains world economyUNCERTAINTY: Many economists say the war’s overall impact on global GDP is likely to be modest, but that calculation would shift the longer the conflict drags onBloombergThe economic fallout from the war in the Middle East is spreading outside the region. “The world economy has been remarkably resilient, shock after shock,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday in Bangkok. “Every shock that comes on top of the previous one, the world faces it in a more difficult position,” Georgieva said. Global shipping giants MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and several others have suspended bookings for routes linking Asia to the Middle East, and services connecting that region with Europe.

UAE and Kuwait start oil output cutsHORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’BloombergThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. ADNOC operates a 1.5 million barrel-a-day pipeline to Fujairah on the UAE’s western coast to avoid the Hormuz Strait. The country produced about 2.57 million barrels a day of oil in January, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. The nation’s plants — Al-Zour, Mina al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah — have a combined capacity of about 1.4 million barrels a day.

Gasoline, diesel prices to rise amid war in Middle EastBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterCPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday announced that they would increase their gasoline and diesel prices for a second consecutive week, as an escalating conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt the region’s tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and forces some oil producers to reduce output. Photo: CNAEffective today, gasoline prices are to rise by NT$1.5 per liter to NT$28.9, NT$30.4 and NT$32.4 for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively at CPC and Formosa stations, the companies said in separate statements. The cost of premium diesel is to increase by NT$1.1 per liter to NT$28.1 at CPC stations and NT$27.9 at Formosa pumps, they said. CPC said that, based on its weighted oil price formula of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent, gasoline and diesel prices should have increased by NT$5.4 and NT$4.8 per liter this week respectively, as the Middle East conflict disrupted oil flows and led to a surge in international crude oil prices last week. The companies’ announcements came after crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week and posted the largest weekly gains over the past four decades as oil supply woes deepen.

‘Crocs everywhere’ after flooding in Australia: policeAFP, SYDNEYPolice in Australia’s Northern Territory yesterday warned of “crocs everywhere” and said they had moved more than 1,000 people across the state into shelter after massive floods. The state endured heavy rains over the weekend, with the town of Katherine experiencing its worst flooding since 1998, when three people were killed. A crocodile swims into the Adelaide River in Wak Wak in Australia’s Northern Territory on July 19, 2024. He warned of “crocodiles and other things that will make your life difficult.”A number of schools would remain closed into today due to the flooding, Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said. “Assume any waterway may contain a crocodile.”More than 100,000 saltwater and freshwater crocodiles are estimated to be living across northern Australia.

Israel expands Iran strikes as Tehran moves to name new supreme leaderReuters, DUBAI and JERUSALEMIsraeli forces expanded their bombardment of Iran overnight, striking fuel depots near Tehran, while Bahrain said an Iranian attack had damaged one of its desalination plants, signaling a widening assault on vital infrastructure across the region. As fighting escalated on day nine of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, Tehran moved closer to naming a new supreme leader after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with every indication suggesting his powerful son Mojtaba Khamenei could take charge. Israel’s military threatened to kill any replacement for Ali Khamenei, while US President Donald Trump said the war might only end once Iran’s military and rulers had been wiped out. Photo: AFPThick, choking black smoke hung over Tehran yesterday, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame. Vehicles drive along a highway past a war memorial statue and a billboard depicting Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with plumes of black smoke billowing in Tehran yesterday.

Cheng stressed that “Taiwan does not have to choose,” as while Beijing and Washington compete, Taiwan is strongest when it pursues its own needs, using its agency to reduce regional tension and prevent conflict. She also claimed that the KMT recognizes the importance of deterrence, but said that “defense spending alone cannot create peace,” while only “cooperation with Beijing” can. Cheng ignored that it is Beijing’s core and longstanding goal to annex Taiwan, and that it does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty nor accept Taiwan having the agency to choose its own path. Furthermore, the KMT’s stance risks sending the wrong message to Taiwan’s democratic allies that it is not determined to defend itself and is unwilling to play its part in the democratic alliance’s collective resilience and security buildup. At the same time, the KMT is weakening Taiwan’s capability and credibility to deter China’s annexation ambitions through its legislators’ actions.