President William Lai (賴清德) is to promulgate new laws passed by the Legislative Yuan, Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said yesterday.The Legislative Yuan approved controversial amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法), the Public Officials Election and Reca
The New Taipei City Government’s New Year's Eve “Shining New Taipei 1314 Cross-River Fireworks” is to take place on Tuesday next week from 8:25pm along the Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) riverbanks, with the area's public transit to run throughout the night. The Danhai Light Rail (LRT), the Ankeng LRT an
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County at 4:08pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.The earthquake occurred offshore, 11.8km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 17.1km, CWA data showed.The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of
Sporadic rain has been forecast today for northern and northeastern Taiwan, as well as for mountainous areas in other parts of the country, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).The rain, brought by strengthening seasonal northeasterly winds, is expected in mountainous areas in the c
Five medical associations today slammed a proposed amendment to the Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法) which would exempt over-65s in a low tax bracket from paying national health insurance (NHI) premiums.The Legislative Yuan is expected to hold a vote in the near future to pass a third reading of
A 20-year-old man surnamed Hung (洪) was sentenced to 10 years in prison today for attempted murder and endangering public safety after he went on a rampage on a Taichung Metro train in May, stabbing two passengers.Hung did not appear at today's hearing when the verdict was handed down by the Taichun
Taiwan's Presidential Office today conducted its first-ever tabletop exercise simulating a military escalation with China, several officials briefed on the matter said, at a time when Taiwan is facing renewed Chinese military threats.Dozens of central and local government agencies as well as civil g
LOFTY AMBITIONS: The museum has received only 2.6 million visitors this year, raising questions as to how it would achieve the 100-year anniversary goal
The director of Taiwan’s National Palace Museum said he “hopes” the major tourist attraction can attract 3.5 million visitors next year, the 100-year anniversary of the museum’s founding in Beijing, despite current visitor numbers falling well short of the goal.Speaking at a museum event on Tuesday,
RARE ABILITIES: The collaboration between Taiwanese and Japanese researchers found shortfin mako sharks could thermoregulate in ways unlike other shark species
Taiwan’s Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), in collaboration with local and Japanese universities, presented its findings on the behavioral characteristics and thermoregulation mechanisms of the shortfin mako shark on Monday.The species of shark, classified as “endangered” by the International Unio
The Ministry of Health and Welfare might broaden the eligibility standards of the long-term care 3.0 policy to include patients suffering from stroke and terminal cancer, and some foreign permanent residents, it said on Dec. 6.Deputy Ministry of Health and Welfare Lue Jen-der (呂建德) made the comments
The Ministry of Education often sends out quiz questions on its official Line account, and to celebrate Christmas Day yesterday, the question was: “Are the reindeer that pull Santa’s sleigh male or female?” — but more than 60 percent of people answered incorrectly. In the famous Christmas story, San
Six men were yesterday sentenced to between 1.5 years and 12 years in prison for tricking or blackmailing girls into filming sexually explicit pictures and videos, and then selling them online.According to the indictment by Taichung prosecutors, a 35-year-old man surnamed Pan (潘) began soliciting se
WAITING GAME: Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya said the mayor was dragging his feet on purpose in responding to the allegations surrounding the development
The Taipei City Government has convened an ad hoc committee to consider halting the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project, as reports indicated that Taipei prosecutors would soon wrap up their corruption probe into the development and announce formal charges.Headed by Taipei Deputy Mayor
The military has posted a NT$126 million (US$3.86 million) open procurement notice for plane propellers, expected to be part of a NT$10 billion air force project to upgrade its C-130 aircraft over the next six years.While funding for the project, known as Taiwushan III, has not been listed on the Mi
THE WRONG MESSAGE: Cutting the budget could indicate to international partners that Taiwan has no intention of defending itself, the NSC head said
Recently passed amendments to a fiscal planning law could reduce the defense budget by 28 percent, undermining the nation’s military readiness and international support for Taiwan, National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.Wu, along with Presidential Office Sec
Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya raised “serious concerns” on Wednesday over China’s military buildup as he met counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, Tokyo said. On his first visit to China since becoming Japan’s top diplomat earlier this year, Iwaya told Wang that Tokyo was “closely monitoring the
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) has warned that Chinese students might attempt to enter Taiwan on tourist visas from a separate country or location, such as Malaysia.The Malaysian government in December last year instituted a visa waiver for Chinese citizens. Since then, many Chinese students
A legislative committee yesterday froze NT$250,000 of the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) travel budget for China over questions about its use, while the Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said the ministry is considering allowing Chinese students living in third regions to study in Taiwan.At
The Taipei City Government yesterday announced the establishment of the city’s first pedestrian-priority zone and second pedestrian-friendly zone.The pedestrian-priority zone would be in Xinyi District (信義) at Alley 9, Lane 175, Jiaxing Street, the Taipei Department of Transportation told a news con
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