■ Environment
Two spoonbills return to wild
Two black-faced spoonbills suffering from botulism at the Chiku Wetland in Tainan early this year were set free yesterday by the Tainan County Government after recovering. The two were among 17 sick birds that were found at the Chiku conservation area early this year, county government sources said, adding that another 15 of the endangered birds were set free Feb. 18 after receiving treatment. Seventy-three black-faced spoonbills that migrated from the Korean Peninsula and northeastern China between early December and early February to spend the winter at the Chiku Wetland have died of botulism. Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), who presided over a ceremony to set the two birds free, said Tainan County Hall will organize an international seminar on black-faced spoonbills in April. Su vowed to strengthen the management of the main habitat of black-faced spoonbills.
■ Shipping
Chinese vessels collide
Two Chinese cargo ships have collided near an outlying Taiwanese island, causing one vessel to sink and killing at least three of its crewmen, Taiwanese police said yesterday. The Haugang 508 sank after colliding with the Runda 402 Saturday night in rough waters near Tungyin island, which is close to China's southeastern coast, police said. Taiwanese patrol boats rescued four sailors and were still searching for three missing sailors from the sunken ship, they said. A Chinese patrol boat has also joined the rescue effort, they said.
■ Transportation
Gods say no to rail line
The nation's high-speed railway has hit a snag. The obstacle? A temple and its 300-year-old camphor tree. Rail engineers had planned for the line from Taipei in the north to Kaohsiung in the south to cross three temples. Railway officials may have informed those at the temple of the coming demolition, but they forgot to ask the most important figures -- the temple gods. The railway appeared to be in the good graces of the first two temple gods -- Taoist monks threw divination blocks to ask the gods whether the temple could be relocated. The gods assented. Unfortunately, the last temple god proved to be more stubborn. The divination blocks gave a resounding "no" to the idea of relocation. Unable to trump the temple god, and in their desire to maintain cultural relics, the rail officials conceded defeat and agreed to have the line skirt the temple and its venerable tree.
■ Nuclear power
Former DPP head to fast
Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) will stage an hours-long fast in front of the Executive Yuan today to protest the government's failure to hold a referendum on the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. Lin, along with a group of anti-nuclear activists, plan to stage the fast from afternoon through late night. Premier Yu Shyi-kun has designated Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) to receive the petitioners and discuss the issue with Lin. Reiterating that a nation without nuclear power has been a common goal for the DPP and opposition parties, Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the timing of a referendum on the fate of the plant needs further study and that the government will not rule out the possibility of holding a"consultative referendum" before laws governing a vote on the nuclear issue are enacted.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
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