■ Society
Party traffic controls ready
Traffic controls will be in place around city hall as the Taipei City Government prepares for the upcoming New Year's Eve Party. Four lanes along Shifu Road (from Songgao Road to Songshou Road) will be closed for concert stage construction from today until 7pm tomorrow. Traffic controls between Shifu Road and New Renai Road will also be in place from 7pm tomorrow until 2am on Sunday. With an estimated 100,000 people expected to attend, Taipei City's police department said it may expand the traffic controls to include Guangfu S Road. The MRT system will operate around the clock on Dec. 31, with the exception of the Xiaobitan and New Beitou lines. Bus services around the Xinyi shopping district and city hall area will also run 24 hours on the day.
■ Diplomacy
Money well spent: MOFA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday defended its funding of the World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD), ROC Chapter, saying the league carries some weight and conducts vital international political lobbying on the nation's behalf. The WLFD has been lambasted by lawmakers for receiving too much funding, around NT$30 million annually from the foreign ministry, as opposed to the small amounts of between NT$30,000 and NT$50,000 other NGOs received last year. MOFA Spokesperson Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said yesterday the organization is one of the few UN-registered organizations which is eligible to participate in the UN's Department of Public Information annual meeting and carries much weight in political lobbying circles.
■ Legislation
Panel okays punishment ban
The first reading of the amendment to ban corporal punishment in schools was passed on Wednesday after a review session by the Education and Culture Committee at the Legislative Yuan. The article stipulates that students' rights must be respected and that students should not be subjected to physical or mental harm. The amendment is to be incorporated into the Basic Education Law (教育基本法), but has yet to undergo a second and third reading before officially becoming law.
■ Diplomacy
New Honduran leader to visit
Opposition leader Manuel Zelaya has been elected as the new president of Honduras, and he has expressed a keen interest in visiting Taiwan early next year, the ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. MOFA confirmed yesterday that Zelaya has emerged as the winner of the presidential election in Honduras. The election was held at the end of last month. Because of delays in counting the votes, the government of Honduras only sent a telegram to MOFA yesterday to confirm the election result.
■ Crime
Paperwork delays parole
The parole of former Yunlin county commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) was delayed by paperwork yesterday. Chang's lawyers yesterday asked judges to release him on bail at a parole hearing in the Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court which stemmed from Chang's involvement in the Linnei Township (林內鄉) incinerator construction scandal. The request was denied. The judges said they had not yet received the Ministry of Justice's report on Chang's parole request, and that they would delay making a decision until these documents have been received.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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