■ TRANSPORTATION
Kaohsiung ends free buses
Kaohsiung City’s free bus rides will be terminated at the end of this month, the city’s Transportation Bureau said. Wang Kuo-tsai (王國材), director of the city’s Transportation Bureau, said Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) had approved the bureau’s plan to stop the service. Wang said the nine-month service had cost the city government a total of NT$75 million (US$2.2 million), adding that the rest of the budget — estimated at NT$10 million — would be spent on shuttle buses for the World Games. Wang downplayed the impact of the termination on the city government’s efforts to boost the utilization rate of the city’s mass transit system.
■ DIPLOMACY
Panama receives funds
Taiwan Ambassador to Panama Simon Ko (柯森耀) donated US$5 million to the Central American nation on behalf of the government on Thursday to help renovate a highway and construct a tap water supply system. The donation was accepted by Panamanian Minister of the Presidency Rafael Mezquita at the Presidential Office. Expressing his country’s gratitude for the donation, Mezquita said the money would be of great help in improving the livelihoods and living conditions of the people of Panama. Describing Taiwan as not only a generous donor but also a good partner, Mezquita said, “Taiwan is Panama’s staunch sponsor.” To highlight the government-to-government nature of the donations and the Panamanian government’s transparency in using the funds, Mezquita said that the money has gone into the country’s national treasury, that the use of the money would be scrutinized by parliament and that it would be audited. His remarks were in response to previous reports that said Taiwan had given a US$5 million private donation to Panamanian first lady Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos.
■ ANIMALS
Chihuahuas available
Animals Taiwan (AT) on Thursday sent out a request urging the public to help find adoptive families for more than 25 dogs that were secretly bred in a cage by a man outside his property. AT said all the dogs, mainly Chihuahuas and Daschunds, had had their vocal cords cut. Two female dogs with puppies were also found at the site. The incident has been reported to the Taipei Animal Health Department. AT said the department had refused to take the dogs in. AT plans to take all of the dogs to be neutered but will need to find homes for them. Those who are interested in providing a temporary or permanent home for the dogs, please visit www.animalstaiwan.org for further details.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Incinerators create income
Two incinerators operated by the Kaohsiung City Government have created extra income of more than NT$150 million (US$4.45 million) each year by generating electricity from the heat produced by the incineration process, city government sources said yesterday. The incinerators, attached to the two garbage centers in the city, incinerate an average of 240,000 tonnes of waste and garbage a year out of a total of approximately 298,000 tonnes of waste treated, officials from the Kaohsiung Department of Environmental Protection said in a report to the Kaohsiung City Council. The 298,000 tonnes of waste also included garbage collected from Penghu County, as well as from Kaohsiung County and Yunlin County.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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