■ April Fool's Day
Presidential Office targeted
Computer hackers in this country compromised the Web site of the Presidential Office to announce on behalf of the president that April Fools' Day would be a national holiday, local television said yesterday. The Web site of the office of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was found flashing the abrupt announcement late Friday, just several days ahead of April Fools' Day, a cable news channel said. The Presidential Office later said computer experts were ordered to fortify the firewall and set up other protection measures to prevent the Web site from being hacked into again.
■ Drought
Water levels rise 23cm
Recent rains have bought residents of northern Taiwan a reprieve from further water rationing measures, but just barely. Statistics released yesterday by the Feitsui Reservoir Administration showed that the water level of the reservoir -- the main provider for the greater Taipei area -- rose to 141.36m as of 1pm, from 141.13m at 7pm Friday after it had rained nearly 30mm -- the most in recent days -- near its water catchment area. Reservoir Admin-istration Director Kang Shih-fang (康世芳) said the rainfall is expected to help the reservoir take in some 5.4 million tonnes of water, about two-day's consumption for Taipei residents. Kang said the rainfall may postpone a second phase of water conservation measures.
■ Internet
Group seeks ratings system
A group of activists issued a joint statement yesterday calling for the development of a classification system for Web sites on the Internet. The group -- made up of the country's 12 Internet service providers, the private Taiwan Internet Association and officials from the Government Information Office, Ministry of Transportation and Communications and Ministry of Education -- said it will press for a classification system to prevent minors from being exposed to improper sites. Noting that pornographic Web sites attract many hits from teenaged boys and that 32 percent of the country's teenagers said they would like to know what Web sites are suitable for them, Cheng Chia-jun, president of the Taiwan Internet Association, said it is time to develop a classifi-cation system.
■ Recognition
Chapter changes name
Members of the Taiwan chapter of Kiwanis International yesterday passed a resolution to change the chapter's name from "Kiwanis International of Republic of China" to "Kiwanis International of Taiwan District." "Members of the Taiwan chapter agreed to settle for the name because it suggests no downgrading of Taiwan's status," said chapter spokesman Lin Hsuan-hung (林宣宏). Due to pressure from Beijing, Kiwanis International headquarters last December asked the Taiwan chapter to change its name, Lin said. Saying that if the chapter refused to have its name changed, headquarters would change the chapter's name on its own to "China Taipei" or "China Taiwan," Lin said that the chapter did not wish to repeat the experience of the Taiwan chapter of Lions Clubs International. "After all, the term `Taiwan' is better known to the international community than ROC, which is often confused with China," Lin said. The Taiwan chapter of the Lions Clubs International suffered a blow last April when its Chicago-based headquarters, due to pressure from Beijing, decided to change the chapter's name from "ROC Lions Club" to "China Taiwan Lions Club."
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it