■ CRIME
Shih wins slander lawsuit
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Shih-cheng (王世堅) was found guilty yesterday of slandering former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) and New Aspect Cultural and Educational Foundation chairman Hsu Po-yun (�?�). The Taipei District Court sentenced Wang to 25 days in prison. The sentence may be commuted to a fine. Yesterday's ruling is final. Shih led demonstrations against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the summer and autumn of 2006. Wang told a press conference on Sept. 23, 2006, that Hsu had gone to China on Sept. 21 to meet with top Chinese officials and report on the progress of the anti-Chen movement. Wang said Shih had sent Hsu. The court said in its ruling that Wang had offered no evidence to back his accusation.
■ SOCIETY
Aboriginal population grows
The number of Aborigines totaled 484,000 at the end of last year, accounting for 2.1 percent of the population, a report released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior showed. The number marked an increase of 1.95 percent from 2006, much higher than the growth rate of the total population, 0.36 percent, the report said. A total of 256,000, or 52.9 percent, of Aborigines live in mountainous areas. The Amis accounted for the largest number, at 173,000, followed by the Atayal and the Paiwan, each accounting for approximately 80,000 people. Hualien and Taitung counties have the largest Aboriginal populations, with 33.8 percent of Taitung's population and 26 percent of Hualien's being Aboriginal.
■ EDUCATION
Ministry lauds Web project
An Internet afterschool program launched by the Ministry of Education has benefited more than 100 students so far, the ministry said yesterday. The program, designed to enhance the education of underprivileged children in remote areas via the Internet, has benefited more than 100 primary and junior high school students from Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Nantou and Kaohsiung counties since it was launched in November 2006, the ministry said. Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei County, National Chi Nan University in Nantou County and Wen Tzao Ursuline College in Kaohsiung City administer the project in cooperation with the ministry. The NT$8.5 million (US$27,000) program aims to offer extra educational assistance to students to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and between rich and poor, the ministry said.
■ POLITICS
DPP whip dismisses poll
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) yesterday shrugged off the results of a newspaper poll of public approval for the presidential candidates. Lai dismissed the results of a United Daily News survey conducted the day before that claimed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his running mate, Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), had an approval rating of 56 percent, while the DPP's Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and his running mate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), had an approval rating of just 18 percent. Lai said that the information he had was very different from the daily's poll, saying that "if the poll were true, the Ma-Siew ticket should probably set off firecrackers now in celebration." He did not elaborate on his information or give its source. He said the aim of the pro-unification daily's poll was to support the KMT's candidates.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Eco-friendly lanterns
The Environmental Protection Bureau of Taipei County is promoting "online sky lanterns" as an eco-friendly and safe alternative to traditional lanterns ahead of the Lantern Festival, when rice paper lanterns are traditionally lit and sent into flight. The bureau said the kerosene and paper burned when releasing a single sky lantern results in the release of about 1kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Chiang Pen-Chi (蔣本芝), section chief of the bureau's "Low-Carbon Society Development Center," said yesterday that the online sky lanterns provided by the county government have attracted over 10,000 Taiwan residents over the past several years, resulting in a 10 tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Besides being better for the environment, the online sky lanterns offer a safer alternative to the traditional lanterns, which cause several fires in Taiwan over the holiday each year.
■ TOURISM
Boat visits at five-year high
The number of tourist arrivals aboard cruise liners calling at Taiwan's international ports hit a five-year high of more than 426,000 last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) reported on Thursday. Last year's figure marked an increase of about 111,000 over the 2006 level, or a 35.3 percent growth year on year, the most recent statistics by the MOTC showed. Last year, Keelung Port saw the largest number of cruise liner tourist arrivals -- 272,000 or 63.8 percent of the total. The British-registered Rhapsody of the Seas was the most recent ocean liner to visit Keelung, mooring for half a day on Monday. There were more than 2,000 passengers aboard the ship, nearly 700 of whom were Chinese.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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