WEATHER
CWB issues warning
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday issued this year’s first thunderstorm warning for Pingtung and Taitung counties, which was received by some people as good news amid a prolonged dry spell. While sporadic rain was forcast for northern Taiwan, the bureau cautioned residents in Pingtung and Taitung about likely thunderstorms and heavy rain in the afternoon. Meanwhile, farmers in Taichung said they were happy that heavy rain fell in the city’s mountainous areas, although it only lasted about 25 minutes. Former CWB Weather Forecast Center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that more moisture from southeastern China is to reach Taiwan from Sunday to Wednesday next week, which might be the prelude to the plum rain season that usually starts in May or June. However, the moisture might not entirely alleviate the water shortage situation, Wu said.
EDUCATION
Schools listed in ranking
Thirty-five Taiwanese universities were listed in the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, the only school ranking taking into account performance toward reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals. National Cheng Kung University in Tainan and National Taiwan University in Taipei were the nation’s only schools in the 101-to-200 bracket, the survey showed. China Medical University, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology and Tunghai University were in the 301-to-400 bracket, it showed. Fifteen of the nation’s universities were in the 401-to-600 bracket, six in the 601-to-800 bracket, three between 801 and 1,000, and one in the 1,000-plus group, it showed. The ranking included 1,115 universities from 94 countries and regions worldwide. The ranking, which has been published annually since 2019, assesses school’s sustainability efforts based on indicators in four areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching. The 17 global goals, set by the UN in 2015 and due in 2030, include eradication of hunger and poverty, as well as the elevating the quality of education. Russia had the most institutions in the ranking (75), followed by Japan with 73. Last year, 24 Taiwanese universities were represented in the survey.
ART
Classics staged in Taipei
The Taipei Philharmonic Opera Studio is to stage a version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne featuring puppetry and dialogue in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and songs in German. The program, scheduled for May 4 to 6 in Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall, is also to include Joseph-Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges, the studio said in a news release on Monday. The studio is collaborating with Taiyang Theatre Co for the Mozart opera and Unique Puppet Theater for the Ravel piece, the studio said. Operas have always combined sound and visual arts, and the addition of puppetry would enrich the experience, Opera Studio music director Chiu Chun-chiang (邱君強) said. Taiyang Theatre Co artistic director Robin Ruizendaal said that puppets have a wider range of movement than stage actors. Opera director Chen Cheng-hsu (陳昶旭) said that Bastien und Bastienne evokes the emotional insecurity that is a near-universal experience for people in love, and the studio’s performance is meant to give a Taiwanese flavor to the 18th-century piece. L’Enfant et les Sortileges, which involves inanimate objects coming to life to take revenge on an unruly child, is a story that should resonate with families in the audience, he said.
‘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
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
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
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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