■ WEATHER
Typhoons forecast
Unstable weather is expected over Taiwan in the next couple of days, when two tropical depressions in adjacent areas are likely to develop into typhoons, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The tropical depression located near the Ryukyu Islands was moving north-northwest at 25kph, while the other one near the South China Sea was stagnant, forecasters said. The systems do not pose any direct threat to Taiwan for the time being, they added. Meanwhile, another tropical depression was taking shape in waters southeast of Taiwan, which together with the other two depressions will form a large depression belt, forecasters said. As the belt moves closer to Taiwan today, chances of rain will significantly increase around the nation, the bureau said.
■ SOCIAL WELFARE
Disadvantaged up 27%
The number of disadvantaged households rose nearly 27 percent to 15,077 in the first six months of this year, with 90,146 people receiving financial assistance from the government, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The government provided NT$228.9 million (US$7.2 million) to disadvantaged families from January to June, up 20 percent from the same period last year. The ministry said the number of families receiving assistance increased because of an amendment last year to the Act on Assisting Families in Difficult Circumstances (特殊境遇家庭扶助條例) that made single fathers and those families in which grandparents raise their grandchildren eligible for government subsidies and allowances. The act — originally aimed mostly at taking care of women — was first implemented in March 2008. It was amended last year to include eligible single fathers, grandparents and people under the age of 65 whose spouse has died.
■ FISHERIES
Taiwan joins tuna agency
Taiwan yesterday officially became a full member of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which entitles it to vote in the commission’s policy-making process and gives a boost to the rights of Taiwanese fishermen, the Council of Agricultural Affairs announced on Friday. At a time when international management of tuna stocks has become increasingly restrictive, Taiwan’s full membership in the IATTC is very helpful in protecting Taiwanese fishing boats operating on the high seas, the council’s Fisheries Agency said. The IATTC is in charge of the management and conservation of tuna in the East Pacific, an important fishing ground for high-value species such as bigeye and yellowfin tuna for Taiwanese fishing vessels. Taiwan has been an IATTC observer since 1973, but that status did not confer voting rights.
■ DIPLOMACY
Chow Mei-ching to visit Haiti
First lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) is scheduled to make a humanitarian trip to Haiti today after the Caribbean country was devastated by a major earthquake in January, World Vision Taiwan said. She will make the trip as honorary president of the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China and as “Love Ambassador” for World Vision. According to World Vision, Chow will give away solar-powered light fixtures as part of Taiwan’s continuing effort to help its ally get back on its feet. After Haiti, Chow will also make a two-day stopover in the Dominican Republic, where she will visit a job training center, two primary schools and a health center. The first lady is scheduled to return to Taiwan next Sunday.
‘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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