Monster fish catches eyes at angling festival
Monster fish catches eyes at angling festivalAFP, ARGUNGU, NigeriaLocal fisherman Abubakar Usman’s 59kg monster catch was the major highlight of the UNESCO-listed Argungu Fishing Festival, which returned on Saturday after a six-year hiatus because of insecurity in northwestern Nigeria’s Kebbi State. Thousands of fishers compete during the Argungu Fishing Festival in Argungu, Nigeria, on Saturday. Fishers run toward the Matan Fada River to compete to catch the biggest fish during the Argungu Fishing Festival in Argungu, Nigeria, on Saturday. A fisher searches for fish during the Argungu Fishing Festival in Argungu, Nigeria, on Saturday. A fisher weighs a catch during Argungu Fishing Festival in Argungu, Nigeria, on Saturday.
Source:Taipei Times
February 15, 2026 16:08 UTC
Li makes history for Taiwan at Games
Li makes history for Taiwan at Games’READY TO BLOOM: Li Yu-hsiang said he feels grateful for the journey that brought him to Milan, as he prepares for next month’s world junior championshipsStaff writer, with CNANineteen-year-old figure skater Li Yu-hsiang on Saturday made history for Taiwan at the Winter Games in Milan, Italy, finishing 23rd in the men’s competition. Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang lies on the ice after competing in the men’s singles free skate at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Saturday. Photo: AFPUnlike Liu, who was born in Taiwan before moving to the US at age six, Li is the first figure skater based and trained in Taiwan to qualify for the Winter Games. The last time he landed the quad toe loop was nearly a year ago at last year’s Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, he said. At last year’s Asian Winter Games, Chen won bronze in the women’s 100m, becoming the first Taiwanese athlete to medal at the Asian Winter Games since Taiwan started participating in its second iteration in 1990.
Source:Taipei Times
February 15, 2026 16:08 UTC
Australia’s Aiava slams ‘hostile’ tennis culture
Australia’s Aiava slams ‘hostile’ tennis cultureAP and AFP, AUCKLAND, New ZealandAustralia yesterday won the New Zealand leg of the SailGP series, which was overshadowed by a crash on Saturday involving New Zealand and France that left a sailor from each team with serious injuries. Driver Tom Slingsby steered the Australian Flying Roos to victory in the three-boat final ahead of Spain and the UK. The UK won the first event of the series in Perth, Australia, and now share the overall series lead with the Australians. Louis Sinclair, a grinder for New Zealand, sustained compound fractures to both legs when the Black Foils and France collided at almost 90kph. France sustained damage to one hull, but New Zealand’s yacht seems to be far more extensively damaged.
Source:Taipei Times
February 15, 2026 16:07 UTC
Defiant Denmark challenges US on the ice
Defiant Denmark challenges US on the iceAP, MILANForget the “Greenland Derby” talk. Faced with gaps in skill and experience, Denmark responded with good old-fashioned hard work and took the lead twice. As for the strained relationship between the US and Denmark, “we didn’t even mention it” within the team, Jensen Aabo said. “I didn’t see it, but that was nice,” Jensen Aabo said. Denmark dressed just three NHL players for the game against the US, while Olesen plays in the Czech league, Jensen Aabo plays in Austria and others in Germany, Finland and Sweden.
Source:Taipei Times
February 15, 2026 16:07 UTC
Brazil’s golden boy brings samba, fashion to slopes
Brazil’s golden boy brings samba, fashion to slopesReuters, BORMIO, ItalyAlpine skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen made history on Saturday by delivering to Brazil — and the whole of South America — their first Olympic gold with victory in the giant slalom but the 25-year-old’s influence extends well beyond the slopes. Pinheiro Braathen won in Bormio wearing a white Moncler race suit with blue stars, which he helped cocreate. Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, center, celebrates winning a gold medal in the men’s giant slalom at the Winter Olympics in Bormio, Italy, on Saturday. He made his runway debut at the Copenhagen Fashion Week, wearing bright pink ski pants under a tailored overcoat for label J.Lindeberg. For Pinheiro Braathen, exploring his broader interests is as important as skiing.
Source:Taipei Times
February 15, 2026 16:07 UTC
Heat’s Johnson wins slam dunk title
Heat’s Johnson wins slam dunk titleBUILDING A LEGACY: The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard won a historic fourth Three-Point Contest title, matching the records held by Larry Bird and Craig HodgesAP, INGLEWOOD, CaliforniaThe Miami Heat’s Keshad Johnson on Saturday won the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, overcoming perfect scores by San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant on his first dunk in the final round. For his final dunk, Johnson started behind the judges’ table, took off from the free-throw line and threw down a one-handed windmill jam. The Miami Heat’s Keshad Johnson dunks during the Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA All-Star weekend festivities in Inglewood, California, on Saturday. It was not enough, giving the NBA a new slam dunk champion in Johnson. Photo: AFPIf there had been a dance contest, Johnson would have won that, too.
Source:Taipei Times
February 15, 2026 16:07 UTC
Hsieh narrowly loses out on second title of season
Hsieh narrowly loses out on second title of seasonStaff writer, with AFP, DOHATaiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday narrowly missed out on a second title in two months in a hard-fought women’s doubles final at the Qatar Open, while Czech Karolina Muchova captured her first WTA 1000 crown in women’s singles. The Taiwanese-Latvian duo last month won the Brisbane International, their first title as a pair, although they had both previously won it with different partners. Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei, left, and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia embrace after winning the women’s doubles title at the Brisbane International in Australia on Jan. 10. Muchova on Saturday won the women’s singles, her first title since 2019, with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Canadian teen sensation Victoria Mboko. The 19-year-old Mboko has the most match wins on the women’s tour this season with 13 to just three defeats.
Source:Taipei Times
February 15, 2026 16:07 UTC
Proposals become booming business in Paris
Proposals become booming business in ParisBy Manuel Ausloos / Reuters, PARISWhen Texan Josue Perales brought his girlfriend Kayla Balboa to Paris, she thought it was just a romantic getaway. Photo: ReutersBusiness is booming for marriage proposal planners in Paris, dubbed the “City of Love,” with love-struck couples paying thousands of euros for bespoke proposal experiences. It mostly organises highly choreographed proposals in high-end hotels, aboard yachts on the Seine, or in French castles. “To just be able to, in your social circles, say, ‘We got engaged in Paris’ is great,” said Cengiz Ozelsel, co-founder and president of Kiss Me in Paris. Social media and popular shows like Netflix’s Emily in Paris and events such as the Paris 2024 Olympics, have boosted the city’s global visibility as a proposal hotspot.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Shaidorov wins gold as Malinin wilts
Expected to romp to the individual men’s Olympic title after a stunning display in Tuesday’s short program, US sensation Malinin capitulated in the free skate, finishing in eighth spot overall. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan reacts after his performance during the men’s free skating competition at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games in Milan on Friday. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov competes in the men’s free skating competition at the Milan-Cortina Games in Milan, Italy, on Friday. Canada’s Stephen Gogolev competes in the men’s free skating final at the Milan-Cortina Games in Milan, Italy, on Friday. Heraskevych said his disqualification was “frustrating” as he presented the helmet to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Munich, Germany, later on Friday.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
PSG stunned by rampant Stade Rennais
PSG stunned by rampant Stade RennaisAFP, PARISStade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Paris St Germain’s Ousmane Dembele, front, focuses after Stade Rennais’ Esteban Lepaul scored their second goal during their French Ligue 1 game in Rennes, France, on Friday. Substitute Rennes striker Breel Embolo thumped in the third, decisive Rennes goal with nine minutes left to secure a famous win and lift them to fifth in the table. We need to play as a team, not as individuals,” the Ballon d’Or winner said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
China celebrates Lunar New Year with robots
China celebrates Lunar New Year with robotsBy E. EDUARDO CASTILLO / AP, BEIJINGIt is not just people — in China, the robots are also getting ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Friday was dress rehearsal day for four cute humanoid robots, each about 95 centimeters tall, at a mall in western Beijing. Visitors watch humanoid robots dressed in lion dance costumes perform during a media preview of a robotic temple fair ahead of the Lunar New Year in Beijing on Friday. Humanoid robots in lion dance costumes perform during a media preview of a robotic temple fair ahead of the Lunar New Year in Beijing on Friday. The company is to display about 20 humanoid robots, which can also dance and play soccer.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Nigerian rock singer spreads love in Lagos
Nigerian rock singer spreads love in LagosLAGOS, APValentine’s Day can be a secondary consideration for some in Lagos. However, this Valentine’s Day, Lagos-based rock musician Bianca Okorocha, known as “Clayrocksu,” wanted people to take a moment to pause and feel loved. She took her music onto the streets of the city, crooning love songs to random commuters and handing them single-stem roses. Nigerian rock musician Bianca “Clayrocksu” Okorocha, right, accompanied by Daniel Onyemachi-Chiweolu, left, hands out roses while crooning love songs to commuters ahead of Valentine’s Day in Lagos, Nigeria, on Tuesday. “People think that Valentine’s Day is only about romantic gestures, only boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife,” she said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Greenland prepares next-gen miners
Founded in 2008, the school, based in Sisimiut in the southwest of Greenland, offers students three-year post-secondary vocational training. A student practices driving a shovel excavator on the school grounds of the Greenland School of Minerals and Petroleum in Sisimiut, Greenland, on Monday last week. “I want them to know it’s possible to mine in Greenland if you do it the right way,” he said. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland reported that Greenland is home to 24 of the 34 critical raw materials identified by the EU as essential for the green and digital transitions. As a result, Greenland has several types of metals, minerals and gemstones,” a document on its Web site said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Lai inspects holiday medical facilities
The ministry in November last year launched a pilot UCC program to provide urgent medical care at 13 clinics in the nation’s six special municipalities over weekends and on holidays, aimed at relieving pressure on crowded ERs. President William Lai gives a speech at Taipei City Hospital’s Xinyi Branch Clinic yesterday. “After hearing every department’s report, I am happy to see their high morale,” he said, adding that he believes the ministry, with the help of local health departments and healthcare facilities at all levels, could readily solve the holiday overcrowding problem. People visit the urgent care center at Taipei City Hospital’s Xinyi Branch Clinic yesterday. With the NT$1.6 billion subsidies, the portion of healthcare facilities open during the holiday has increased to about 76 percent of hospitals, 45 percent of primary clinics, and 30 to 60 percent of pharmacies, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Breaking storm
‘Big tech’ plan to spend US$650bn on AIAI SPLURGE: The four major US tech companies have lost more than US$950 billion in value since releasing earnings and outlooks, while equipment makers were gaining Four of the biggest US technology companies together have forecast capital expenditures that would reach about US$650 billion this year — a flood of cash earmarked for new data centers and all the gear within them. The spending planned by Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Meta Platforms Inc and Microsoft Corp, all in pursuit of dominance in the still-nascent market for artificial intelligence (AI) tools, is a boom without a parallel this century. Each of the companies’ estimates for this year is expected either near or surpass their budgets for the past three years combined. They would set a high-watermark for capital spending
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC