Panamanian envoy summoned over CK Hutchison’s ruling
Panamanian envoy summoned over CK Hutchison’s rulingReuters, BEIJINGHong Kong’s commerce chief on Friday summoned the Panamanian Consul General to condemn a court ruling that annulled Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison’s contract to operate two ports at the Panama Canal. Containers are docked at Panama Ports Co in Panama City on Wednesday after Panama’s Supreme Court annulled key port contracts held by the CK Hutchison-owned firm. “Hong Kong companies operating and investing in Panama should receive fair and reasonable treatment and protections,” Yau said. CK Hutchison has moved to challenge the ruling, with its Panama Ports Company unit launching international arbitration proceedings. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday called the court’s decision definitive and said he does not expect the situation to escalate.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 17:13 UTC
Cold surges during warm winters pose health risks
Cold surges during warm winters pose health risksBy Wu Po-hsuan and Esme Yeh / Staff reportersIn response to extreme weather conditions, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health and Welfare are collaborating on an action plan, making “cold-weather adaptation” a key component, the environment ministry said yesterday. People have adapted to warm winters, as temperatures have climbed over the past few years due to climate change, the environment ministry said. The human body has therefore become less responsive to sudden cold temperatures caused by cold air masses or cold waves during warm winters, it said. The health ministry has issued health warnings and self-protection measures to inform the public of the dangers of cold temperatures, the environment ministry said. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu De-rong (吳德榮) said temperatures in lowland areas could even drop below 6°C today and tomorrow, marking Taiwan’s second significant cold surge of the season, after the surge in early January.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 17:13 UTC
Greek air force officer detained for spying for China
Greek air force officer detained for spying for ChinaAFP, AthensGreek authorities on Friday formally detained a senior air force officer accused of spying, his lawyer said, while another source and the media said the intelligence was given to China. Members of the Greek army hold Greek flags during a military parade in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Oct. 28 last year. The source and Greek media said the officer provided the information to contacts in China. The officer told investigators he was recruited a few months ago by a Chinese national, media reports said. Skai Television said a western intelligence service detected the officer’s transmissions, and informed Greek intelligence and the military.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 17:13 UTC
Great Britain bags place in Davis Cup qualification round
Great Britain bags place in Davis Cup qualification roundAFP, PARISGreat Britain (GB) secured their place in the final round of Davis Cup qualifying after Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool won the doubles on Friday to seal a 3-0 win over Norway. Wimbledon champions Cash and Glasspool beat Norwegian pair Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Viktor Durasovic 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) to send Great Britain through to the next round in September. “It means the world to get our first point and win the tie for GB,” Cash said. “Bit different with Casper not playing, but we’ve done our job.”Great Britain are to face either Australia or Ecuador for a place in November’s eight-team Davis Cup Finals. Yannick Hanfmann beat Gonzalo Bueno 6-4, 6-4, and Jan-Lennard Struff dispatched Juan Pablo Varillas 6-4 6-2.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 17:12 UTC
Biathletes return to familiar terrain at classic venue
Biathletes return to familiar terrain at classic venueAP, ANTERSELVA, ItalyDuring the past three Winter Olympics, biathletes had to race at night on icy snow and lighted trails, at venues that had rarely been used, since they were built just for the Games — conditions that made racing more challenging for the athletes. That all changes with the Milan-Cortina Winter Games. Biathlon races, which start today, are to run in the afternoon, like they usually are on the international circuit. Poland’s Marcin Zawol, front, trains ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games in Anterselva, Italy, on Friday. The Anterselva biathlon range sits at 1,600m above sea level, making it the highest venue on the World Cup circuit — although it is slightly lower than the venue used during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 17:12 UTC
Nvidia’s doubts about OpenAI are a warning
So Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) blinking at one such commitment to OpenAI is worthy of notice. STRUGGLESFor all the outward charm, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s management of the company has been unsettling. Microsoft Copilot cannot do any of this, despite Microsoft owning Windows, Office and LinkedIn. The company has invested heavily in building its own AI models to broaden its strategy beyond OpenAI. Huang’s hesitation should be taken as a warning: Microsoft needs to turn its privileged access into better products.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 16:10 UTC
Nantou needs to speak with residents
Nantou needs to speak with residentsBy Shieh Jyh-cherng 謝志誠Having failed to keep up with the government’s early plans to build one garbage incinerator per county or city, Nantou County is the only county in Taiwan without an incinerator. To strengthen its autonomous waste-treatment capacity, the Nantou County government in 2024 began preliminary planning for the construction of an incinerator. Since the Nantou County incinerator project was proposed, it has been met with nonstop criticism from various sectors. I am not a resident of Nantou County. I sincerely suggest that the Nantou County government set aside the dispute, suspend the proceedings, return to square one and begin rebuilding the entire process step by step, taking action to improve communication with local stakeholders.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 16:10 UTC
Thailand needs to break free from its political doom loop
Thailand needs to break free from its political doom loopBy Karishma Vaswani / Bloomberg OpinionThailand is falling behind its peers in Asia — and today’s election is unlikely to stop that slide. Thailand has been shaped by a tug-of-war between parties tied to the conservative royalist-military nexus, and those that challenge them. The nation of about 70 million must find a way to break out of this doom loop. Pheu Thai, the populist party aligned with former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is also competing. A political system that repeatedly produces fragile governments, invites judicial intervention and rewards short-term coalition bargaining is ill-equipped to deliver the sustained reform Thailand needs.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 16:10 UTC
The promise of a middle-power alliance
In the absence of meaningful resistance, both are likely to remain on their course, with middle powers forced to comply with their demands or face retaliation. First, middle powers should develop a new network of free-trade agreements, such as the one just reached between the EU and India. Fourth, the legitimacy of any coalition of middle powers depends on its ability to support the world’s most vulnerable economies. A united middle-power alliance would have considerable leverage, as its members would each wield outsize influence over specific domains. However, to be effective in a future middle-power alliance and address the “rupture” in the liberal international order highlighted by Carney, middle powers must reconsider their “business model.”The EU remains an “incomplete” superpower.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2026 16:10 UTC
Galthie lauds his team after France ease past Ireland
Galthie lauds his team after France ease past IrelandAFP, SAINT-DENIS, FranceFrance head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. The variety between kicking and keeping the ball in hand was remarkable.”France’s Theo Attissogbe, right, scores a try against Ireland in their Six Nations match in Saint-Denis, France, on Thursday. Ireland began the day ranked fourth in the world, one place above France. “We’re very disappointed, through something I never thought I’d say about this Ireland team: a lack of intensity in the first half,” Farrell told ITV.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2026 18:42 UTC
Wistron upbeat on AI server demand
Wistron is “very positive” about revenue growth from AI servers, as it is well-positioned to benefit from its major clients’ rapid expansion, Lin said. Wistron Corp chairman Simon Lin, right, and president Jeff Lin attend the company’s year-end banquet in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNAThe company counts Nvidia Corp, Dell Technologies Inc and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) as its main AI server clients. The newly added Texas facility leverages faster access to power and proximity to the market, focusing on later-stage assembly, testing and delivery to serve North America’s AI server market and improve overall delivery efficiency, he said. Over the long term, Wistron is considering increasing its US capacity allocation to cope with rising customer demand, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2026 17:14 UTC
Amazon’s US$200bn AI plan sends its shares falling
Amazon’s US$200bn AI plan sends its shares fallingBloombergAmazon.com Inc shares dropped after the company announced plans to spend US$200 billion this year on data centers, chips and other equipment, sparking concern that its colossal bet on artificial intelligence (AI) might not pay off in the long run. The spending would weigh on profits, with Amazon forecasting operating income of US$16.5 billion to US$21.5 billion this quarter. Amazon shares fell about 10 percent in extended trading after closing at US$222.69 in New York. AWS revenue rose 24 percent to US$35.6 billion — the biggest quarterly growth in more than three years, the company said in a statement. However, the bulk of the US$200 billion would finance Amazon’s effort to meet demand for computing power from AI customers, Jassy said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2026 17:14 UTC
Tokyo Electron revises up profit outlook after AI surge
Tokyo Electron revises up profit outlook after AI surgeBloombergTokyo Electron Ltd yesterday raised its full-year outlook even after its quarterly profit missed estimates and said it sees a surge in spending by chipmakers eager to ride an artificial intelligence (AI) spending wave. Demand for equipment to make DRAM — from high-bandwidth memory to conventional chips — is especially strong, with that trend likely to last for several years, Tokyo Electron said. The Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) booth at the Semicon Japan exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. For the quarter ending December, Tokyo Electron posted an operating profit of ￥116.14 billion compared with average analysts’ estimate of ￥158.6 billion. Tokyo Electron, which counts Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co as its customers, has benefited from growing appetite for advanced chipmaking equipment.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2026 17:14 UTC
Taiwan defense doubts raised in US’ CRS report
Taiwan defense doubts raised in US’ CRS reportBy Fion Khan / Staff writer, with CNAThe partisan standoff over President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed defense budget has raised questions about the nation’s ability to adequately fund its own defense, the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on Tuesday. The report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, said the government has increased its defense budget at an average annual rate of 5 percent from 2019 to 2023, with about 2.5 percent of its GDP spent on defense in 2024. Photo: ReutersHowever, Taiwan faces domestic challenges in realizing its defense goals, as policymakers disagree over how best to deter China, the report added. Meanwhile, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has undergone a decades-long modernization program focused on developing the capabilities needed to annex Taiwan, the report said. Taiwan has certain advantages, such as US political and military support, and its geography, the report said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2026 17:13 UTC
Donovan’s Deep Dives: The ugly math facing the DPP this election year
The DPP won Penghu only after a KMT member quit the party to run as an independent, splitting the vote. The only local election where the DPP won in a landslide was in 2014, following the Sunflower movement, which moved the political center of gravity closer to the pan-green camp. On the plus side for the DPP, KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) has little electoral experience, unlike her formidable predecessor, Eric Chu (朱立倫) in 2022. DPP candidates will need to resist the temptation to focus too much on attacking her. The press will put the KMT candidates on the defensive all on their own every time she makes a controversial comment.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2026 17:12 UTC