[{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Jocelyn Noveck","ar_views":"350","ar_id":"2003830739","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-24","ar_head":"\u2018Back in Action\u2019","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"But, we do Wordle!!Er, OK. That\u2019s how former secret agent Matt (Jamie Foxx) explains that he and wife Emily (Cameron Diaz) are now living a boring, mundane, glamour-free life and nobody would ever be looking for them.To which the rest of us Wordle players say: Whoa, speak for yourself, Matt! Lots of","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/24\/2003830739","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830739","ph_attr":"Photo: AP\r\n","ph_cap":"Cameron Diaz, right, and Jamie Foxx shoot guns in a scene from <i>Back In Action<\/i> on Netflix.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/24","ph_fname":"P11-250124-dsafsgsfs.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/24\/P11-250124-dsafsgsfs.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/24\/thumbs\/P11-250124-dsafsgsfs.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Courtney Donovan Smith (\u77f3\u6771\u6587)","ar_views":"1717","ar_id":"2003830677","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-23","ar_head":"Donovan\u2019s Deep Dives: The \u2018mother of the TPP\u2019 steps up","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"With just 30 minutes to spare before the deadline, former lawmaker Tsai Pi-ru (\u8521\u58c1\u5982) submitted her application to run for party chair in the upcoming Taiwan People\u2019s Party (TPP) by-election following the resignation of party founder Ko Wen-je (\u67ef\u6587\u54f2) on Jan. 1. Being held incommunicado in jail and faci","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/23\/2003830677","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830677","ph_attr":"Photo: Taipei Times","ph_cap":"Tsai Pi-ru, left, and Ko Wen-je speak in the Legislative Yuan in Taipei in an undated photograph.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/23","ph_fname":"P12-250123-002.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/23\/P12-250123-002.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/23\/thumbs\/P12-250123-002.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By James Baron","ar_views":"601","ar_id":"2003830678","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-23","ar_head":"Book review: Gone bananas: An epic tale of duplicity and betrayal","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"The Chinese Nationalist Party\u2019s (KMT) five-decade authoritarian rule of Taiwan was so rife with injustice that it\u2019s hard to capture how bad things could get. Several works get close: George H. Kerr\u2019s Formosa Betrayed and Elegy of Sweet Potatoes by Tehpen Tsai (\u8521\u5fb7\u672c), for example. More recently, Facin","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/23\/2003830678","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830678","ph_attr":"","ph_cap":"<i>Banana King Ngoo Tsin-Sui<\/i>, by Lee Wang-tai.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/23","ph_fname":"p11-250123-book review.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/23\/p11-250123-book review.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/23\/thumbs\/p11-250123-book review.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"","ar_views":"379","ar_id":"2003830679","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-23","ar_head":"Thailand celebrates first same-sex marriages today","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"They have been in a committed relationship for more than 13 years, and even had a wedding in 2019. Since then, Danaya Phonphayung and Sunma Piamboon, both women, have considered themselves a married couple, even if same-sex marriages were not legally recognized.The walls of their home in suburban Ba","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/23\/2003830679","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830679","ph_attr":"Photo: AP\r\n","ph_cap":"A group of LGBTQ+ people on Jan. 15 pose for a picture as a part of celebration of a marriage equality bill at Government house in Bangkok, Thailand.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/23","ph_fname":"P11-250123-310.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/23\/P11-250123-310.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/23\/thumbs\/P11-250123-310.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"","ar_views":"508","ar_id":"2003830618","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-22","ar_head":"\u2018Too hard\u2019: Vietnam\u2019s factory workers return to country life","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"Treading a familiar path for women in rural Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Hiep found a factory job in dynamic Ho Chi Minh City and spent 16 years helping make shoes for Western brands such as Adidas and Nike.Vietnam is among the world\u2019s largest exporters of clothing, footwear and furniture and Ho Chi Minh Cit","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/22\/2003830618","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830618","ph_attr":"Photo: AFP","ph_cap":"Vendors on Dec. 23 wait for customers at a street market outside the Pouyuen Vietnam factory, owned by Taiwanese shoemaker Pou Chen, in Ho Chi Minh City.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/22","ph_fname":"P12-250122-307.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/22\/P12-250122-307.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/22\/thumbs\/P12-250122-307.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"","ar_views":"462","ar_id":"2003830619","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-22","ar_head":"China\u2019s AI pets","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"At a shopping mall in Beijing, Zhang Yachun murmurs quietly to her closest confidant, a fluffy AI-powered robot whose soothing chirps remind her that she is not alone.Zhang, 19, has long battled anxiety over school and work, and has struggled to form deep friendships with other people.But since buyi","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/22\/2003830619","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830619","ph_attr":"Photo: AFP","ph_cap":"Zhang Yachun on Jan. 7 plays with her AI-powered robot named Aluo and pet duck Nana at her home in Beijing.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/22","ph_fname":"P12-250122-302.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/22\/P12-250122-302.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/22\/thumbs\/P12-250122-302.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Joel Golby","ar_views":"660","ar_id":"2003830559","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-21","ar_head":"Speak up, man: how talking circles are supporting a healthier masculinity","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"I am kneeling quite awkwardly on a cushion in a yoga studio in London\u2019s Shoreditch on an unseasonably chilly Wednesday and wondering when exactly will be the optimum time to rearrange my legs. I have an ice-cold mango and passion fruit kombucha beside me and an agonising case of pins and needles. Th","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/21\/2003830559","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830559","ph_attr":"Photo: Taipei Times","ph_cap":"Men are less likely than women to reach out for mental health support.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/21","ph_fname":"P12-250121-001.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/21\/P12-250121-001.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/21\/thumbs\/P12-250121-001.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Amy Hawkins","ar_views":"552","ar_id":"2003830560","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-21","ar_head":"Blocked for breaking Beijing\u2019s rules","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"When Angelica Oung received the notification that her Xiaohongshu account had been blocked for violating the social media app\u2019s code of conduct, her mind started racing.The only picture she had posted on her account, apart from her profile headshot, was of herself wearing an inflatable polar bear su","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/21\/2003830560","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830560","ph_attr":"Photo: AFP","ph_cap":"A woman on Jan. 15 holds her smartphone displaying the Chinese social networking and e-commerce app Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, in Beijing, China.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/21","ph_fname":"P12-250121-307.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/21\/P12-250121-307.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/21\/thumbs\/P12-250121-307.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Michael Turton","ar_views":"1315","ar_id":"2003830507","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-20","ar_head":"Notes from Central Taiwan: Fighting  China\u2019s lies about Taiwan","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (\u8096\u5343), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao\u2019s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His \u201cSeven truths on why Taiwan always will","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/20\/2003830507","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830507","ph_attr":"Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times","ph_cap":"A large statue of Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung, sits in a temple in Tainan. One of the lies that Beijing likes to use to justify its historical revisionism about Taiwan is that Koxinga \u201crecovered\u201d it for China.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/20","ph_fname":"P12-250120-004.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/20\/P12-250120-004.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/20\/thumbs\/P12-250120-004.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Han Cheung","ar_views":"839","ar_id":"2003830458","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-19","ar_head":"Taiwan in Time: One-two-three, Freedom Day","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"Jan. 20 to Jan. 26Taipei was in a jubilant, patriotic mood on the morning of Jan. 25, 1954. Flags hung outside shops and residences, people chanted anti-communist slogans and rousing music blared from loudspeakers. The occasion was the arrival of about 14,000 Chinese prisoners from the Korean War, w","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/19\/2003830458","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830458","ph_attr":"Photo courtesy of Library of Taiwan Historica","ph_cap":"A scene from the first 123 Freedom Day celebrations in Taipei.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/19","ph_fname":"P12-250119-d.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/19\/P12-250119-d.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/19\/thumbs\/P12-250119-d.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Courtney Donovan Smith (\u77f3\u6771\u6587)","ar_views":"1098","ar_id":"2003830410","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-18","ar_head":"Donovan\u2019s  Deep Dives: This year\u2019s big election in Taiwan","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"In Taiwan\u2019s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned fo","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/18\/2003830410","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830410","ph_attr":"Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times","ph_cap":"Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen on Wednesday visits a market in Taichung. Lu is a strong contender to be the Chinese Nationalist Party\u2019s (KMT) presidential candidate for the 2028 elections.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/18","ph_fname":"P12-250118-002.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/18\/P12-250118-002.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/18\/thumbs\/P12-250118-002.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"","ar_views":"666","ar_id":"2003830411","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-18","ar_head":"Can Oligarchs buy democracy?","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America\u2019s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself.Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: tha","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/18\/2003830411","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830411","ph_attr":"Photo: Reuters","ph_cap":"The US flag on Jan. 16 flutters in front of the US Capitol building, ahead of the presidential inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Washington, US.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/18","ph_fname":"P12-250118-302.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/18\/P12-250118-302.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/18\/thumbs\/P12-250118-302.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Helen Pearson","ar_views":"649","ar_id":"2003830343","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-17","ar_head":"How to protest so that your voice is heard","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"On Sept. 27 last year, three climate activists were arrested for throwing soup over Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh at London\u2019s National Gallery. The Just Stop Oil protest landed on international front pages. But will the action help further the activists\u2019 cause to end fossil fuels?Scientists are beg","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/17\/2003830343","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830343","ph_attr":"Photo: AFP\r\n","ph_cap":"Three activists with Just Stop Oil climate campaign on Sept. 27 sit on the floor under Vincent van Gogh\u2019s <i>Sunflowers<\/i> after throwing tomato soup over two painting\u2019s at the National Gallery\u2019s in central London.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/17","ph_fname":"P12-250117-304.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/P12-250117-304.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/thumbs\/P12-250117-304.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Philippa Perry","ar_views":"431","ar_id":"2003830344","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-17","ar_head":"What\u2019s the biggest cause of unhappiness? Other people","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"From my many years as a therapist and advice columnist, I\u2019ve started to see clear patterns in the problems that bother my readers the most. And I can confirm that existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was right: hell is other people. It\u2019s difficult relationships with those around us that cause","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/17\/2003830344","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830344","ph_attr":"Photo: AP","ph_cap":"A couple on Jan. 3 hold hands while walking on the beach at sunset in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, US. A therapist says that acknowledging our shared humanity, and confronting our projections, we can form more genuine connections.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/17","ph_fname":"P12-250117-322.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/P12-250117-322.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/thumbs\/P12-250117-322.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Jackson Ryan","ar_views":"415","ar_id":"2003830345","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-17","ar_head":"66 days to quit  my bad habit: \u2018Of course, there is a lot of misery\u2019","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"I drink a lot of Pepsi Max. A slab of 30 cans has been known to disappear within a week. That\u2019s upward of four 375ml cans a day of sugar-free cola. Not enough to end up on My Strange Addiction but enough to concern friends. \u201cThose things will kill you,\u201d they tell me.To be clear, there\u2019s no evidence ","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/17\/2003830345","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830345","ph_attr":"Photo: Reuters ","ph_cap":"A crate full of empty bottles of Pepsi are placed outside a cafe to be picked by supply truck in Karachi, Pakistan Sept. 1.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/17","ph_fname":"P11-250117-326.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/P11-250117-326.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/thumbs\/P11-250117-326.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Wendy Ide","ar_views":"154","ar_id":"2003830346","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-17","ar_head":"Movie review: Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin spar in a bittersweet Holocaust tour movie","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"It\u2019s a slip of a thing, clocking in at a tight 90 minutes; a deft, light-footed amalgamation of two potentially formulaic comedy genres: the road movie and the mismatched buddy flick. But the second directorial venture from actor Jesse Eisenberg, which he also wrote and stars in, is considerably mor","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/17\/2003830346","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830346","ph_attr":"Photo: AP","ph_cap":"Kieran Culkin, left, and Jesse Eisenberg in a scene from <i>A Real Pain<\/i>.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/17","ph_fname":"P11-250117-332.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/P11-250117-332.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/17\/thumbs\/P11-250117-332.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Hollie Younger","ar_views":"509","ar_id":"2003830276","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-16","ar_head":"Restaurant review: Retro Japanese vibes, modern fusion flair","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"Japanese is on the menu tonight. Yes, Taipei may be sprawling with cozy Izakayas and infamous ramen franchises, but for anyone in the market for authentic Japanese cuisine with both style and an inviting atmosphere, Parlor New Osaka offers a fresh, elevated take on our northeastern neighbor\u2019s classi","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/16\/2003830276","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830276","ph_attr":"Photo: Hollie Younger","ph_cap":"A chef sears the salmon Battera sushi at Parlor New Osaka in Taipei.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/16","ph_fname":"p12-250116-Photo1.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/p12-250116-Photo1.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/thumbs\/p12-250116-Photo1.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"","ar_views":"471","ar_id":"2003830277","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-16","ar_head":"Meet the youth ditching dating apps for \u2018real life\u2019 love","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"Jilted on dating apps but undeterred in the quest for romance, 20 young singles gathered in Madrid to share activities and flirtatious smiles in a rediscovery of real-life love.The 10 men and 10 women, aged between 25 and 35, had eyed up each other nervously barely an hour before their first plunge ","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/16\/2003830277","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830277","ph_attr":"Photo: AFP","ph_cap":"Spanish-Peruvian promoter of the \u201cSlow dating club,\u201d Eva Sanchez, on Dec. 29 poses for a photo during one of singles-meetings she organizes every month in Madrid.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/16","ph_fname":"P12-250116-307.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/P12-250116-307.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/thumbs\/P12-250116-307.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"","ar_views":"350","ar_id":"2003830278","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-16","ar_head":"S. Korea\u2019s Yoon: from rising star to historic arrest","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"South Korea\u2019s Yoon Suk-yeol rose from star prosecutor to the presidency in just a few years, but after a series of scandals and a bungled martial law decree, he\u2019s become the country\u2019s first-ever sitting president to be arrested. The lurch back to South Korea\u2019s dark days of military rule on Dec. 3 on","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/16\/2003830278","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830278","ph_attr":"Photo: AFP","ph_cap":"South Korea\u2019s President Yoon Suk-yeol, second left, and his wife Kim Keon-hee, second right, give three cheers during a ceremony marking the 104th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement Day against Japanese colonial rule, in Seoul on March 1, 2023.","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/16","ph_fname":"P11-250116-304.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/P11-250116-304.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/thumbs\/P11-250116-304.jpg"}},{"ar_sbhdtease":"","ar_byline":"By Stephen Smith","ar_views":"79","ar_id":"2003830279","ar_sbhdbody":"","ar_section":"Features","ar_pubdate":"2025-01-16","ar_head":"BOOK REVIEW: They don\u2019t make travel writers like this any more","dp_urlname":"feat","ar_desc":"The travelogues of Norman Lewis, which are much admired for the extraordinary burnish they attain, were written by him in a spidery longhand. The author of acclaimed accounts of the Sicilian mafia and the exploitation of Indigenous tribes in South America, he scribbled his rewrites on fresh scraps o","ar_url":"News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/01\/16\/2003830279","photo":{"ar_id":"2003830279","ph_attr":"","ph_cap":"<i>A Quiet Evening<\/i> by Norman Lewis","ph_fpath":"2025\/01\/16","ph_fname":"P11-250116-3sdads.jpg","ph_url":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/P11-250116-3sdads.jpg","ph_url_thumbs":"images\/2025\/01\/16\/thumbs\/P11-250116-3sdads.jpg"}}]