President-elect William Lai (賴清德), the vice president, has been listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world this year.Lai, who is to take office as president next month, is a coal miner’s son who became a Harvard-trained public health expert, and prizes problem sol
TAIPEI BENEFITS: Officials said that the rain was heaviest in Nangang and Wugu, but only fell in the lower reaches of Shihmen Reservoir’s catchment area
Heavy downpours in northern Taiwan yesterday morning caused flooding, but did little to fill Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) in Taoyuan, with officials warning that the region could be facing a historic water shortage this year.The Water Resources Agency’s Northern Region Water Resources Branch said the ra
Four US representatives on Wednesday sent a letter to the US House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations calling for US$165 million to expedite the delivery of Harpoon missiles to Taiwan.“Harpoons are the deterrent we urgently need to prevent China from invading or blockading Taiwan,” US Re
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that he strongly supports a proposal from US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, an effort to approve US$95 billion in funding for the US allies.Before the potential weekend voting, Johnson was facing a
Israel considered carrying out a strike on Iran in retaliation for last weekend’s attack, but aborted the plan, Israeli and US media reported.Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel over the weekend in an attack that caused little damage after most of the projectiles were inte
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual
The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions.The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international
ROAD PLANS: Plans to extend Freeway No. 6 to reach Hualien directly are being worked on, but the 90km project poses many challenges, including many tunnels
About NT$3 billion (US$92.37 million) would be needed to revitalize tourism in Hualien County after it was devastated on April 3 by a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday.The quake, the largest to hit Taiwan in 25
The Coast Guard Administration yesterday opened a satellite link connecting the coast guard base on Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) to Taiwan proper in a boost to the nation’s foothold in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) wrote on Faceb
Australia yesterday unveiled its first National Defence Strategy, signaling a new focus on deterring China’s “coercive tactics” in the Indo-Pacific region.The 80-page document offers a gloomy assessment of Pacific security and sets out a massive increase in defense spending to retool Australia’s mil
Myanmar’s jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure due to a heat wave, the military government said as it freed more than 3,000 prisoners under an amnesty to mark this week’s traditional New Year holiday.Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, and Win Myint,
NEW DRIVING FORCES: With their experience working in the private sector, the six new appointees are to facilitate the implementation of government programs
Premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday named six more Cabinet members who are to take office on May 20, including the cofounder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) supplier Topco Scientific Co (崇越科技) who is to take over the economics portfolio. J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), who is also ch
Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is to be the next minister of foreign affairs, while current foreign minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has been tapped to lead the National Security Council (NSC), President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on Tuesday.The president made the comment while
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday morning met a delegation led by Paraguayan Senate President Silvio Adalberto Ovelar Benitez and thanked the South American country for supporting Taiwan on various international occasions. Members of the delegation also include Second Vice President of the Cha
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said
Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday.Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns
Israel and Iran traded threats after Tehran’s first-ever direct attack on its arch foe sharply heightened Middle East tensions and as the Gaza war ground on with no truce in sight.Israeli Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi on Monday vowed “a response” after Iran and its allie
Australian police yesterday said a brutal knife attack during a live-streamed church service was a religiously motivated “terrorist” act, as they urged calm from the angered local community.Two people were stabbed when a 16-year-old suspect rushed the dais at an Assyrian Christian church in western
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said
Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday.The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled
It would cost about NT$1 billion (US$30.89 million) to restore Taroko National Park after it was severely damaged by a massive quake on April 3, Minister of Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said yesterday.Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on reconstruction after
Israel’s European allies yesterday urged it to show restraint over Iran’s weekend missile and drone attack, calling on Israeli leaders to step away from “the edge of the cliff” of escalation in the Middle East.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war Cabinet, which is empowered to decide on t
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed.Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influenc