Traditional Korean wrestling ‘ssireum’ fights for survival
Traditional Korean wrestling ‘ssireum’ fights for survivalReuters, SEOULAs South Korea’s global cultural influence expands in areas such as music, film and television, one form of entertainment struggling to attract attention even at home is Korea’s traditional style of wrestling, known as ssireum. Lee Eun-soo, a ssireum wrestler, competes during a Lunar New Year ssireum championship at the Taean Complex Indoor Gymnasium in Taean, South Korea, on Saturday. “I once tried to imagine my life if I hadn’t done ssireum,” Lee said. Lee Hye-soo, 25, a spectator at the Lunar New Year tournament, said many Koreans are now unfamiliar with ssireum. “My grandfather liked watching ssireum, so I watched it with him a lot when I was young,” she said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Navalny toxin likely synthetic, dart frog experts say
Navalny toxin likely synthetic, dart frog experts sayAFP, QUITOSouth American dart frog experts on Monday said that the toxin alleged to have killed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny was likely a lab-produced replica rather than harvested directly from the wild. The frogs themselves are easy enough to come by, both legally with permits and illegally for a few dollars. Golden poison frogs, a species of poison dart frog, sit inside the amphibian house at the Cali Zoo in Cali, Colombia, on Monday. Despite images of spies roaming the jungles of Ecuador or the black market, experts said it is more likely that the toxin was a synthetic copy rather than the real thing. “The alkaloids in the skin of captive-bred frogs differ a lot from wild frogs,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Rare ‘Pokemon’ card sells for record US$16.492 million
Rare ‘Pokemon’ card sells for record US$16.492 millionAFP, WASHINGTONAn extremely rare Pokemon card owned by American YouTuber Logan Paul on Monday sold for US$16.492 million smashing the record for the most expensive trading card sold at an auction. The supposedly unique PSA 10-graded Pikachu Illustrator was originally bought by Paul in another record-breaking sale in 2021 for US$5.28 million. A giant inflatable Pikachu is pictured during the Pokemon Europe International Championships at the Excel London on April 5, 2024. Guinness World Records certified it as the most expensive Pokemon card — as well as the priciest trading card overall — sold at an auction. Pikachu Illustrator is popular with collectors because it was designed by Atsuko Nishida, the original creator of Pikachu.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Indonesian capital grapples with ‘filthy’ trash crisis
Indonesian capital grapples with ‘filthy’ trash crisisAFP, JAKARTAGarbage-choked streets, overloaded landfills and the fear of trash avalanches haunt greater Jakarta, as the world’s most populous metropolis grapples with a waste crisis. Waste management should be their responsibility,” said Muhammad Arsil, a 34-year-old motorbike taxi driver. Another resident, Delfa Desabriyan, said people threw rubbish in the street because the local landfill was full. “This is a complex issue, a mix of poor awareness, policy, and a kind of inconsistency in how waste management is implemented,” he said. Reforms are needed for a waste management system that is still designed on the collect-transport-dispose model without prioritizing reduction at the household level, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Chile cherry sales keep struggling in China
Chile cherry sales keep struggling in ChinaTRIPLE WHAMMY: Weather brought the harvest forward, with fruit arriving too early for the Lunar New Year, while Chinese consumers’ purchasing power has deterioratedBloombergChile notched a second disappointing season of cherry sales in China after exporting too much fruit too far ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, when consumption traditionally peaks. At the same time, a later Lunar New Year pushed demand further out into the sales season. The vast majority of shipments head to China, where the fruit is highly prized for Lunar New Year celebrations. “The final product was generally good, in good condition and with good flavor. Final consolidated results are to be released at the formal close of the season early next month.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Canberra will not assist IS families’ return
Members of Australian families believed to be linked to the Islamic State militants leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria, on Monday. The families later returned to the detention center due to “technical reasons,” two sources told Reuters. Islamic State is a listed terror organization in Australia, with membership of the group punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Australia also has the power to strip dual nationals of citizenship if they are an Islamic State member. The return of relatives of suspected Islamic State militants is a political issue in Australia, which has seen a surge in popularity of the right-wing, anti-immigration One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Chinese tourists shun Japan over holiday
Chinese tourists shun Japan over holidayLUNAR NEW YEAR: The Japanese prime minister’s refusal to relent over Taiwan comments on defense brought more criticism and travel warnings from BeijingThe GuardianChinese tourists are continuing to shun Japan in large numbers, with the country falling out of the top 10 destinations for those celebrating the Lunar New Year with a trip abroad. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi smiles as she enters the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Friday last week. Takaichi’s remarks led to an angry response in China, where officials urged tourists and students not to travel to Japan. Instead, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan during the Lunar New Year holidays is expected to fall by up to 60 percent from the previous year. On Sunday, the Chinese consulate general in Osaka again urged Chinese nationals to refrain from traveling to Japan after a fatal stabbing in the city.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
US, Manila tout importance of security in Strait
US, Manila tout importance of security in Strait‘COLLECTIVE DEFENSE’: The US pledged to help modernize the Philippine armed forces, and increase deployments of cutting-edge missiles and uncrewed systems to the PhilippinesStaff writer, with CNAThe US and the Philippines on Monday reaffirmed the importance of regional security in the Taiwan Strait following the 12th Philippines-United States Bilateral Strategic Dialogue in Manila. Washington and Manila in a joint statement released by the US Department of State emphasized collective defense in deterring aggression anywhere along the first island chain, of which Taiwan is a part. The two countries “condemned China’s illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive activities in the South China Sea,” and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The US in 2024 installed in the northern Philippines a US mid-range missile system called Typhon and an anti-ship missile launcher last year. The US missile deployments to the Philippines did not aim to antagonize any country, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
AMD partners with TCS on AI tech
AMD partners with TCS on AI techBloombergAdvanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) is partnering with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) to deploy the US chipmaker’s latest artificial intelligence (AI) data center technology in India, challenging Nvidia Corp in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. AMD is to offer its Helios data center blueprint and work with TCS to support up to 200 megawatts of AI infrastructure capacity in India, the companies said in a statement on Monday. AMD is capturing AI market share from Nvidia, according to Arista Networks Inc. The partners will develop custom AI agents tailored for specific industries and business functions, Infosys said in a statement. The partnership underscores the intensifying race among global AI developers to secure enterprise customers as companies demand industry-specific automation tools.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Manila takes exception to China embassy comment
Manila takes exception to China embassy commentReuters, MANILAManila takes “strong exception” to a statement by the Chinese embassy in Manila that the simmering diplomatic spat between the two countries could result in millions of jobs being lost, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said, adding that such comments could be seen as coercive. The Philippines and China have had repeated maritime confrontations in the contested South China Sea, and there have been sharp exchanges between the Chinese embassy and Philippine officials. Photo: AP“We take strong exception to the embassy’s tone, which appears to imply that such cooperation could be withheld as a form of leverage or retaliation,” the department said in a statement issued late on Monday. The Philippines has accused China of aggressive actions inside its exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea, including dangerous maneuvers, water-cannoning and disrupting resupply missions. China, in turn, has accused the Philippines of intruding into what it claims as its territory.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Jesse Jackson, US civil rights leader, dies at age 84
Jesse Jackson, US civil rights leader, dies at age 84Reuters, WashingtonCharismatic US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, an eloquent Baptist minister raised in the segregated south who became a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr and twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, has died at age 84, his family said in a statement yesterday. “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said. The Reverend Jesse Jackson attends the 10th Annual Rainbow Push Wall Street Project Summit in New York on Jan. 8, 2007. Jackson weathered a spate of controversies, but remained the US’ pre-eminent civil rights figure for decades. Jackson founded the Chicago-based civil rights groups Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Prayers and robots usher in the Year of the Horse
Prayers and robots usher in the Year of the HorseAP, BEIJINGTraditional prayers, fireworks and fairs yesterday marked the Lunar New Year — alongside 21st-century humanoid robots. People pray and make offerings inside a temple during Lunar New Year celebrations in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPAThey lit incense sticks, bowed their heads and left offerings of colorful flower bouquets on outdoor tables on the temple grounds. People walk next to a horse sculpture inside a temple during Lunar New Year celebrations in Taipei yesterday. A man wears a horse head hat at Hong Kong’s Wong Tai Sin Temple on Lunar New Year’s Eve on Monday night.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Yilan rail project to proceed, Cho says
Yilan rail project to proceed, Cho saysGOING UP: Four stations would be rebuilt as part of the project, which would span about 16km, and a new ‘County Government Center Station’ would be addedBy Wang Chun-chi and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe government will move ahead with a long-planned project to elevate a stretch of railway between Yilan City and Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. “The Executive Yuan has, in principle, fully approved the Yilan-Luodong railway elevation project, allowing it to move forward,” he said. Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei TimesThe National Development Council in December last year approved the project, which was submitted to the Executive Yuan for final approval. The Executive Yuan granted in-principle approval on Lunar New Year’s Eve, clearing preparatory work to proceed, he said. However, while the Cabinet has endorsed the plan, it cannot advance without a budget approved by the Legislative Yuan, Cho added.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
India eyeing AI data center investments
The investments underscore the reliance of tech titans on India as a key technology and talent base in the global race for AI dominance. Indian Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw addresses a press conference during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi yesterday. Microsoft Corp followed two months later with its biggest-ever Asia investment announcement of US$17.5 billion to advance India’s cloud and AI infrastructure over the next four years. Alongside the infrastructure drive, India is backing the development of sovereign foundational AI models trained on Indian languages and local contexts. Some of these models meet global benchmarks and in certain tasks rival widely used large language models, Vaishnaw said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 18:45 UTC
Shooting at hockey game kills 3
Shooting at hockey game kills 3TRAGEDY: In video footage circulating online, players initially continued playing after the first few shots, before a series of staccato bursts sent them fleeing for coverAP, PAWTUCKET, Rhode IslandA shooting during a Rhode Island youth hockey game on Monday left three people dead, including the shooter and three more hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. She said that someone helped bring a swift end to the violent scene by intervening and trying to subdue the shooter, who was at an arena to watch a family member’s hockey game. A woman holds a child outside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena after a shooting in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Monday. They also were reviewing video taken from the hockey game. Outside the arena, tearful families and high school hockey players still in uniform were seen hugging before they boarded a bus to leave the area.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2026 17:29 UTC