NBA star Chris Paul retires at age 40 after 21 seasons
NBA star Chris Paul retires at age 40 after 21 seasonsAFP, LOS ANGELESChris Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star point guard, on Friday announced his retirement in a social media post after the 40-year-old US player was released by the Toronto Raptors. After 21 years I’m stepping away from basketball,” Paul posted on Instagram after being dropped following his trade to Toronto by the Los Angeles Clippers last week. The Western Division’s Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers holds the Most Valuable Player trophy after their NBA All-Star game in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 17, 2013. “After 21 remarkable seasons, Chris Paul retires as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history and a true steward of our sport,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. Paul, the NBA 2013 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, stressed how much he simply enjoyed playing in the NBA.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
NHIA pledges to improve breast cancer patient care
NHIA pledges to improve breast cancer patient careprograM: A reward system would be implemented to encourage better care and a national breast cancer database would be established, the health agency saidBy Hou Chia-yu / Staff reporterThe National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) on Friday said it has initiated a National Health Insurance (NHI) breast cancer care improvement program, with funding of NT$40 million (US$1.27 million) to enhance care quality and reduce the breast cancer mortality rate. About 17,000 people were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023, the NHIA said, citing a 2023 cancer registry report. The first feature of the program is “all-stage [patient] enrollment,” which covers all who have breast cancer, whether they are newly diagnosed or are recurrence cases, Liu said, adding that male breast cancer is also included. The NHIA is promoting the program in hopes that the overall quality of breast cancer care in Taiwan would improve and meet WHO standards, he said. Only through a dual approach of early screening and proper treatment could Taiwan substantially decrease breast cancer mortality, he added..
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Increasingly less popular AU begins annual summit
Increasingly less popular AU begins annual summitAP, NAIROBIAfrica’s top regional body is hosting its annual summit in Ethiopia this weekend to discuss the future of the continent of about 1.4 billion people, but across the continent the organization is becoming less popular. The African Union Headquarters building in Addis Ababa is pictured yesterday. “What the youth is really asking and why people are frustrated is because this is not an African Union for citizens. It’s not a people-driven African Union,” Louw-Vaudran added. At the 39th AU Summit in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa yesterday and today, the theme is water and sanitation.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Startup building model to predict human behavior
Startup building model to predict human behaviorA CURIOUS MODEL: The Stanford-originating startup seeks to build a model to predict human behavior in situations such as earnings callsBloombergArtificial intelligence startup Simile has raised US$100 million in funding to build a limited learning model designed to attempt to predict human behavior, including by helping companies anticipate questions likely to be asked on earnings calls. The financing, announced on Thursday last week, was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures and Hanabi Capital. PhOTO: ReutersThe startup said it aims to use its technology to anticipate decisions a person might make in any given situation. “Simile is a real combination of amazing frontier researchers but also amazing product and engineering talent,” Park said. The startup is led by founding members Park, Michael Bernstein, Percy Liang and Lainie Yallen, all of whom have ties to Stanford.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Amazon scraps deal with Flock Safety after backlash
Amazon scraps deal with Flock Safety after backlashAPAmazon’s smart doorbell maker Ring has terminated a partnership with police surveillance tech company Flock Safety. A Flock Safety license plate reader keeps watch along a public road in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 16 last year. “Following a comprehensive review, we determined the planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated,” Ring’s statement said. Still, Flock says it does not own the data captured by its cameras, its customers do. Beyond the Flock partnership, Amazon has faced other surveillance concerns over its Ring doorbell cameras.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
OpenAI rolls out new model built for speed, coding
OpenAI rolls out new model built for speed, codingBloombergOpenAI is releasing its first artificial intelligence (AI) model that runs on chips from semiconductor startup Cerebras Systems Inc, part of a push by the ChatGPT maker to broaden the pool of chipmakers it works with beyond Nvidia Corp. The model, GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, is intended to be a less powerful but quicker version of its most recent Codex software for automating coding. The Spark model, slated to be released on Thursday, lets software engineers quickly complete tasks such as editing specific chunks of code and running tests. Last month, OpenAI signed a deal worth more than US$10 billion for hardware from Cerebras to get quicker responses from its AI models. Codex has more than 1 million weekly active users, OpenAI said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Bangladesh Islamists concede election loss
Bangladesh Islamists concede election loss‘BEST ELECTION’ : The election commission said that voting was canceled at only one of 42,000 polling stations, while Jamaat-e-Islami dropped integrity concernsAFP, DHAKABangladesh’s largest Islamist party conceded defeat in elections yesterday, despite earlier alleging problems with the vote count, clearing the way for nationalist leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister. Bangladeshi Election Commission figures showed Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had won a landslide victory in the elections on Thursday, the first since a deadly 2024 uprising ousted the iron-fisted rule of then-Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina. “It was by far the best election,” he said, noting that voting was canceled at only one of the more than 42,000 polling centers. “People had doubts about whether a successful election could be held under these circumstances, but we have done it,” he said. “If anyone still has any issues, they can go to court.”The Election Commission said turnout was 59 percent across 299 constituencies out of 300 in which voting took place.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
US inflation increase lower than expected
US inflation increase lower than expectedREUTERS, NEW YORKThe US dollar was mostly flat against peer currencies on Friday after data showed a less-than-expected increase in inflation last month, suggesting the US Federal Reserve could continue to hold rates steady in the near term. The Japanese yen was set for its strongest weekly gain in about 15 months. Photo: ReutersThe euro was 0.02 percent higher at US$1.1873 against the dollar, but was set to gain 0.5 percent this week. The dollar index edged lower by 0.07 percent to 96.85, on track to shed 0.84 percent for the week. The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.10 percent versus the greenback to C$1.361 per dollar, still set to drop 0.45 percent for the week.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
European leaders call for a US reset
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged “a new transatlantic partnership” and French President Emmanuel Macron called for “a strong Europe” as more than 60 leaders gathered for the annual Munich Security Conference. European leaders at the gathering defended their security commitments and the NATO alliance, which Trump’s rhetoric has rattled. Vance used the conference’s stage to attack European policies on immigration and free speech, shocking allies on the continent. Rubio held a 15-minute meeting with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland about the future sovereignty of the Arctic island. Merz, Macron and the leaders of the EU, Canada and NATO met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday for talks on Ukraine.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
UK, EU discuss seizing Russian ‘shadow’ ships
UK, EU discuss seizing Russian ‘shadow’ shipsBloombergBritish Secretary of State for Defence John Healey met with counterparts from Baltic and Nordic nations to discuss seizing oil tankers linked to Russia’s shadow fleet, as Europe seeks to tighten curbs on Moscow’s war economy nearly four years after its invasion of Ukraine. The gathering underscored a growing willingness among allied nations to do more to squeeze revenue funding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. “The message is that the countries who give flags to the shadow fleet vessels need to know that there are measures that can be taken by other countries.”More discussion would be needed before any decision is made, Pevkur said. The shadow fleet is a group of about 1,500 tankers that use false flags to appear legitimate without having to comply with regulations. That was aimed at shadow fleet vessels that sometimes switch or fly under false flags.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Beijing could make call to end Russian invasion: US envoy
“China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.”“You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday. China is also the biggest buyer of Russia’s crude oil shipments even as international pressure intensifies on Moscow’s critical oil trade. The Munich conference, which ends today, attracts global policy leaders to discuss foreign relations and international security.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Local milk to remain competitive post-US trade pact
Local milk to remain competitive post-US trade pactStaff writer, with CNAThe dairy sector remains confident about its competitiveness, despite the arrival of tariff-free US milk under a newly signed Taiwan-US trade agreement, industry and government representatives said yesterday. Tariffs on New Zealand dairy products were removed in January last year under a bilateral free trade pact. While imported milk generally has stronger price competitiveness, Chen said the law reserves the label “fresh milk” exclusively for domestically produced milk, a term strongly favored by consumers. The ministry plans to prohibit imported milk from being labeled as fresh milk starting in July, he said. US exporters last year found that US milk has difficulty competing with New Zealand’s frozen concentrated milk, Fang said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Regime change the ‘best thing’ for Iran, Trump says
Regime change the ‘best thing’ for Iran, Trump saysBloombergUS President Donald Trump said regime change would be the best outcome for Iran, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic republic in negotiations over its nuclear program as he builds up the US military presence in the region. “It seems like that would be the best thing that could happen,” Trump told reporters on Friday following an event at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Trump reiterated he wanted a suitable deal with Iran to avoid a similar strike. On Thursday, Trump told reporters the discussions with Iran could drag out for as long as a month. Trump said his talks with Netanyahu were “very good” and he told the Israeli leader his preference is to continue with negotiations for now.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 17:22 UTC
Coast guard takes delivery of newest patrol boat ‘Lanyu’
Coast guard takes delivery of newest patrol boat ‘Lanyu’By Tsai Ching-hua and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. The 600-tonne corvette, the Lanyu, is pictured in Kaohsiung yesterday. Tao children perform during a ceremony marking the delivery of the 600-tonne corvette, the Lanyu, in Kaohsiung yesterday. Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard AdministrationThis means that Anping-class ships could be armed to bolster the navy, improving Taiwan’s ability to augment its surface combatant numbers and replace the navy’s losses in a conflict with China.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 03:46 UTC
Prosecutors indict Bolt taxi driver over customer death
Prosecutors indict Bolt taxi driver over customer deathBy Wang Ting-chuan and Hollie Younger / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted a driver from ride-hailing platform Bolt on charges of abandonment resulting in death, with potential punishment of between seven years and life in prison. Driver Lin Yu-jun (林宇浚) on Jan. 25 allegedly forced a passenger out of his vehicle on Provincial Highway 64 in New Taipei City, prosecutors said. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is pictured in an undated photograph. Lin then stopped the car on the side of the road at about 2:19am and told Wen to get out, prosecutors said. Prosecutors determined that he would also be tried on charges of abandonment resulting in death and requested that his bail be increased to NT$200,000.
Source:Taipei Times
February 14, 2026 03:46 UTC