Mon, Jan 06, 2025
The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday said it is planning to ban the ownership or importation of 955 more animals, including racoons and alligator snapping turtles. The Department of Animal Welfare in a meeting on Friday discussed amendments to the ministry’s List of Animals Banned from Being Owned,
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is partnering with US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp to develop humanoid robots, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on the sidelines of the Kaohsiung Smart City meeting on Friday.The company is adopting Nvidia’s software technologies and hardwa
MIDEAST CONFLICT: An armed wing of Hamas on Saturday released a video of Liri Albag, an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since its attack on Oct. 7, 2023 The administration of US President Joe Biden has notified the US Congress of a planned US$8 billion arms sale to Israel, a source familiar with the plan said on Saturday. The US State Department “has informally notified Congress of an US$8 billion proposed sale of munitions to support Israel’s long-
Thousands of South Koreans braved a snowstorm yesterday to rally in support or opposition of President Yoon Suk-yeol, suspended over a failed martial law bid and resisting arrest a day before the warrant expires. Yoon plunged the country into political chaos last month with the bungled martial law d
MODERN ISSUE: Smartphone addiction can harm learning, and many countries have promulgated regulations limiting students’ mobile phone use, a legislator said The Ministry of Education yesterday said it plans to propose a regulation banning students’ use of mobile phones on campus except for learning or emergencies. The legislature in October last year held a public hearing, in which mandatory regulations on smartphone use at schools were suggested, as te
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolley
Guatemala's new Ambassador to Taiwan Luis Raúl Estévez López today pledged to enhance 90 years of diplomatic relations, as he presented his credentials to President William Lai (賴清德).In an address at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Estévez said Taiwan and Guatemala's long-term friendship is based
The government has blocked key Chinese officials involved in Taiwan-related affairs from visiting Taiwan in response to China’s 22 judicial “guidelines” that penalize “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” an official familiar with cross-strait relations said today.Exceptions would only be m
Snow fell on Taiwan's tallest mountain, Yushan (玉山) in Nantou County, amid freezing temperatures early this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.As of 6am, 0.5cm of snow had accumulated at the weather station on the highest peak of the mountain, on the northern ridge, at an elevati
Migrant workers earned an average of NT$33,000 per month last year in the construction and industrial sectors, and NT$24,000 for domestic care work, the Ministry of Labor said in its annual migrant worker survey today.The survey was conducted in July and August last year, receiving 8,554 responses —
NATIONAL SECURITY: Geospatial information collected by drones is highly sensitive, and China has shown its intention to use cyberespionage against US interests Taiwan should seek opportunities to cooperate with the US on drone production, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday, after the US Department of Commerce on Thursday announced a potential ban on drones with Chinese components.The department said it was seeking to safeguard the supply chain for drone
A Knox-class frigate, also known as the Chi Yang-class (濟陽級) in Taiwan, which was purchased from the US and has been in use by the navy for nearly three decades, is to be decommissioned soon, a military source said on Saturday.The Lan Yang (蘭陽艦), a Chi Yang-class frigate belonging to the Republic of
Former deputy head of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) has been tapped to fill the deputy foreign minister position as incumbent Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) is to become Taiwan’s new representative to the Netherlands, sources said yesterday.Tien, who served as deputy minister since
LOCAL POWER: China might be offering incentives to aligned county and city governments to influence local elections next year to ‘besiege the central government’ China might be offering benefits to local governments that align with their interests, academics said, following Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling’s (饒慶鈴) visit to China.Yao, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), last week led a delegation to Beijing and met with China’s Taiwan A
A leading Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker yesterday said that her party would oppose any attempts by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to oust her colleagues through recall elections, and suggested that the KMT could retaliate by launching campaigns of its own to recall DPP lawm
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump.The annual Consumer Electronics S
CENTRAL BANK: The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates steady this month, as the US inflation rate remains above its 2 percent target Two US Federal Reserve officials on Saturday emphasized that the US central bank must finish off its fight against the post-COVID-19 pandemic price surge and reach its 2 percent inflation target.Despite significant progress in lowering price pressures over the past two years, inflation remains “unco
Microsoft Corp president Brad Smith on Friday said the company is on track to pump about US$80 billion into artificial intelligence (AI) this fiscal year ending at the close of June.Smith contended AI is poised to transform all aspects of life, and it is imperative that the US be the global leader w
President William Lai’s (賴清德) New Year’s Day speech covered much of the ground one would expect on such occasions. However, it was his comments on what is happening in the Legislative Yuan that were particularly more informative than his two previous major speeches, because of how specific he was. H
The ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (孫子) said “know yourself and know your enemy and you will win a hundred battles.” Applied in our times, Taiwanese should know themselves and know the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so that Taiwan will win a hundred battles and hopefully, deter the CCP.T
The legislature has recently rejected all seven nominees for the Constitutional Court, including National Taiwan University professor of law Chang Wen-chin (張文貞) and Parliament Observation Culture and Education Foundation (國會觀察文教基金會) chair Yao Li-ming (姚立明) for president and vice president of the Ju
RED HOT: Gauff, who did not drop a set in five singles matches, heads into the Australian Open as world No. 3 and unbeaten in singles since losing to Aryna Sabalenka in Wuhan Coco Gauff yesterday roared past Iga Swiatek to inspire the US before Taylor Fritz sealed the United Cup title with victory over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in Sydney.Gauff opened with a statement 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiatek in 1 hour, 51 minutes of hard-hitting tennis to fire a warning shot ahead of the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury.Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3
Australia yesterday held their collective nerve to clinch a blockbuster five-Test series against India 3-1 to take custody of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.In keeping with a pulsating series where momentum swung back and forth by the session, the fifth test remained on a
American Seth Quintero on Saturday led the two-week Dakar Rally as race favorites in the car category slowed to secure better conditions for yesterday’s 48-hour Chrono stage in the Saudi Arabian desert.French Mini driver Guerlain Chicherit was fastest in the 413km first stage around the southwestern
BLOODSHED: North Koreans take extreme measures to avoid being taken prisoner and sometimes execute their own forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said that Russian and North Korean forces sustained heavy losses in fighting in Russia’s southern Kursk region. Ukrainian and Western assessments say that about 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occ
In the East Room of the White House on a particularly frigid Saturday afternoon, US President Joe Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science. Former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham
TURMOIL IN VIENNA: The far-right Freedom Party has been part of the Austrian political system for more than half a decade, but it has never led a government Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would step down as head of government and chairman of the conservative People’s Party after failing to form a new coalition following September elections. The move raises the chances of repeat elections, while the conservatives could also appoint a leader wh
Famed Chinese demographer Yi Fuxian (易富賢) recently wrote for The Diplomat on the effects of a cross-strait war on demography. He contended that one way to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is by putting the demographic issue front and center — last year total births in the PRC, he said, rec
Jan. 6 to Jan. 12Perhaps hoping to gain the blessing of the stone-age hunter-gatherers that dwelt along the east coast 30,000 years ago, visitors to the Baxian Caves (八仙洞) during the 1970s would grab a handful of soil to bring home. In January 1969, the nation was captivated by the excavation of pre
Her greatest fear, dormant for decades, came rushing back in an instant: had she adopted and raised a kidnapped child?Peg Reif’s daughter, adopted from South Korea in the 1980s, had sent her a link to a documentary detailing how the system that made their family was rife with fraud: documents falsif
「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) or 「碰肘／擊肘」 (elbow bump): 新冠肺炎流行逐漸改變現代社會的某些社交禮儀，歐美許多名人政要開始以「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) 或「碰肘／擊肘」(elbow bump) 替代握手。《今日商業》報導英國王儲查爾斯以「雙手合十」代替握手。Coronavirus update: Prince Charles spotted greeting people with namaste(Business Today , March 12, 2020)另外，《商業內幕》報導：疫情期間美國總統川普在白宮舉行新冠肺炎記者會，想和居家照護公司L
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日）https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/langInterestingly, stonefish don’t use their venomous spines to hunt. Instead, the spines serve as a defense mechanism. When hunting, stonefish catch their prey by hiding among rocks on the seafloor or in coral and remaining incredibly
Stonefish may not be the most impressive-looking animal in the sea. In fact, this fish is so skilled at camouflage that most people wouldn’t notice it if they swam past it. Despite their unremarkable appearance, stonefish are the most venomous fish in the ocean. Stonefish come in various shades of
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are three shuttle buses in the area heading toward MRT stations that run from midnight to 1:30am. The first leaves from the Renai Road and Yanji Street intersection, heading toward Taipei Railway Station. The second leaves from the Guangfu S Road and Wenchang Street intersection next to Keelung Road Sec 2, heading toward Gongguan Station. The third leaves from the Songde Road and Xinyi Road Sec 6 intersection, heading toward Jingmei and Muzha stations. There is one more shuttle bus running from midnight to 2am that leaves from the Guangfu S Road and Zhongxiao E Road intersection, heading toward Nanjing Sanmin Station. The Taipei MRT runs for 24 hours on New Year’s Day, except for the Xiaobitan and Xinbeitou lines, which close at midnight. As most people took the Blue and Red lines in previous years, it is recommended to walk or take a shuttle bus to Nanjing Sanmin or Taipei Arena stations to take the Green Line. Catching the Green Line from either of those stations is free from midnight to 6am. The Taoyuan MRT is to run for 41 consecutive hours from 6am today to 11pm tomorrow. Starting from 5pm today, 33 YouBike stations in the Xinyi area are to be closed, with 22 more stations closing
Dec. 9 to Dec. 15 When architect Lee Chung-yao (李重耀) heard that the Xinbeitou Train Station was to be demolished in 1988 for the MRT’s Tamsui line, he immediately reached out to the owner of Taiwan Folk Village (台灣民俗村). Lee had been advising Shih Chin-shan (施金山) on his pet project, a 52-hectare theme park in Changhua County that aimed to showcase traditional Taiwanese architecture, crafts and culture. Shih had wanted to build all the structures from scratch, but Lee convinced him to acquire historic properties and move them to the park grounds. Although the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法) was passed in 1982, there was still little awareness regarding the value of historic architecture. Private structures were too often demolished to make way for high-rise apartments, and Lee saw this as a way to save them. Lee facilitated the relocation of several other buildings to the park: Madou Lin Ancestral House (麻豆林厝), Chiayi Liao Clinic (嘉義廖診所), Liuying Liu Mansion (柳營劉氏洋樓) and the Douliu Tsai House (斗六蔡氏一條龍). The CT273 “Queen” locomotive was also housed there. The park thrived until 1999, then entered a steep decline. The Shih family sold it in 2007, and in 2020 the new owners began demolishing the site without warning or official approval. Three registered historic buildings were saved, but the rest of the site now lies in ruins. SAVIOR OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS Shih spent years planning the theme park in a bid to promote Taiwanese culture, finally opening it on Dec. 11, 1993. The main entrance and showpiece, “Qingfeng Gate” (慶豐門), was based on the Qing era west gate of Changhua City. It attracted more than 60,000 visitors on the first day. “Around the world, even less developed countries in Southeast Asia have folk villages. Only Taiwan does not,” states the theme park’s
| New Taipei City | 14-23 | 10% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Hsinchu City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Taipei City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Miaoli County | 12-22 | 10% | |
| Taoyuan City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Keelung City | 15-21 | 10% | |
| Yunlin County | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Taichung City | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Nantou County | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Changhua County | 14-23 | 0% | |
| Chiayi County | 13-24 | 0% | |
| Chiayi City | 14-25 | 0% | |
| Tainan City | 15-22 | 0% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 17-23 | 0% | |
| Pingtung County | 16-25 | 0% | |
| Yilan County | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Hualien County | 16-22 | 10% | |
| Taitung County | 17-23 | 10% | |
| Kinmen County | 11-18 | 0% | |
| Penghu County | 17-20 | 0% | |
| Lienchiang County | 10-13 | 10% | |
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