HEALTH INSURANCE: Taiwanese who stay abroad for longer than four years must live in Taiwan for six months to re-enroll in the NHI system
New rules introduced yesterday have eliminated a scheme allowing people to suspend their National Health Insurance (NHI) contributions while living abroad for more than six months. Previously, Taiwanese who suspended their contributions only had to pay three months of premiums to regain access to NH
Taiwanese would be able to work in the Czech Republic without a work permit starting from next year, Czech news outlet Novinky.cz reported on Thursday last week. Since July, the Czech government has granted people from nine non-EU countries — Australia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, the U
More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia’s war with Ukraine, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said yesterday. The new figure follows a report by Seoul’s spy agency to lawmakers last week, which said at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed sin
The Philippine military yesterday said it plans to acquire the US Typhon missile system to protect its maritime interests, some of which overlap with regional power China. The US Army deployed the mid-range missile system in the northern Philippines earlier this year for annual joint military exerci
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace
US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at t
HOTEL WASTE: Rules prohibiting hotels from providing guests with free single-use toiletries are expected to cut the use of 460 million plastic containers every year
A series of new government policies are to take effect on Jan. 1 next year, from levying carbon fees, raising deductibles for filing income taxes and a ban on free single-use toiletries at hotels.Starting next year, the nation’s 500 largest carbon emitters must report their emissions from this year
The Taipei 101 skyscraper was lit up last night to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Guatemala. The building flashed a message in Mandarin Chinese that read: “Celebrating the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations” as well as the flags of Rep
Hamas and two other Palestinian militant groups on Saturday said that a Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel is “closer than ever,” provided Israel does not impose new conditions. Last week, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US were held in Doha, rekindling
Kyiv on Saturday staged a major drone attack on the Russian city of Kazan, 1,000km from the frontier, the latest in a series of escalating aerial attacks in the nearly three-year conflict. A drone smashed into a high-rise apartment building in the city of more than 1.3 million, damaging a skyscraper
ALLIANCE: Washington continues to implement its policy of normalizing arms sales to Taiwan and helps enhance its defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
US President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide US$571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the US State Department approved the potential sale of US$265 million in military equipment. Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority “to direct the drawd
REMARK: President William Lai made an enigmatic comment yesterday, saying that ‘democratic disputes should be resolved with even greater democracy’
Three packages of amendments approved by the legislature would be “difficult to implement,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, adding that the Cabinet would seek “remedies” under the Constitution.With the support of the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan P
The National Health Insurance (NHI) is to include more medicines for cancer, osteoporosis, chronic kidney diseases and other diseases, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said yesterday, adding that the initiative would take effect on Feb. 1 next year at the earliest.As the number of
The US Congress averted a Christmastime government shutdown early yesterday after weeks of tense negotiations that went down to the wire, passing a bill to fund federal agencies through mid-March. With the midnight deadline already expired by minutes, senators dropped normal procedure to fast-track
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday visited the site of a deadly car-ramming attack on a crowded Christmas market that shocked the nation to pay tribute to the victims. Police arrested a 50-year-old Saudi doctor of psychiatry at the scene where two people were killed and 68 injured when an SUV
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets
Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist
National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums are to be raised next year in line with adjustments to wages, which would affect about 8.21 million people, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.Of those affected, 7.71 million are to see their monthly premiums increase slightly by an average of
Seventy-two inventions have been selected to showcase the nation’s technological innovation at next year’s CES — formerly an initialism for the Consumer Electronics Show — the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) said yesterday.The CES is to take place in Las Vegas from Jan. 7 to 10.Those
Gisele Pelicot, the French woman whose ex-husband was handed a prison sentence of 20 years for orchestrating and committing mass rapes against her with dozens of strangers, has no fear of a new trial if defendants appeal, her lawyer said yesterday. Pelicot, 72, has been hailed as a hero and feminist
REBELLION: Dozens of debt hawks in the Republican ranks, unhappy about allowing national debt to rise, sank their party’s retooled version of the funding bill
The US House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a Republican-led funding bill aimed at averting a government shutdown, with federal agencies due to run out of cash on yesterday evening and cease operations starting this weekend.The contentious legislation would have kept the gove
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