■ CHARITY
Tzu Chi helps blaze victims
The Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassionate Relief Foundation has twice this month airlifted blankets and other relief goods to the Philippines to help victims of a disastrous fire that occurred in a slum near Manila earlier this month, a Tzu Chi official said yesterday. Tzu Chi airlifted 2,000 blankets to the Philippines last Thursday. Transportation was provided free of charge thanks to the chairman of Philippine Airlines, Lucio Tan, who is a Tzu Chi volunteer, the Tzu Chi official said. Tzu Chi sent another batch of 3,000 blankets and 5,000 packs of first-aid and relief goods to Manila last Saturday, again free of charge thanks to Tan. The fire left more than 3,000 people homeless, Tzu Chi said.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Lights out at schools
Lights at the nation's government offices and at schools were turned off for one hour yesterday to mark Earth Day. At the suggestion of the Cabinet, lights at many government offices and schools were turned off between 12pm and 1pm to save energy and cut down on carbon dioxide emissions. The government issued the "lights out" order for the internationally recognized day in response to a call from 17 Taiwanese civic groups. The groups also urged that lights in the world's tallest building -- the 508m Taipei 101 -- be turned off briefly in a symbolic gesture. Taipei 101's lights will be turned off next month as part of another energy-saving campaign.
■ DEFENSE
Wan-an Exercise in Taitung
The annual Wan-an Exercise will be carried out in Taitung County from 8pm to 8:30pm on May 3. The Wan-an Exercise is an air raid drill that is usually carried out between April and June in different locations around the country. The Ministry of National Defense reminded the public that all vehicular and pedestrian traffic will be suspended during the 30-minute exercise. All indoor and outdoor lights must also be switched off. Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) will be the convener for the exercise. The exercise will be a good chance for the county government officials to practice and simulate related procedures, she said.
■ POLITICS
TSU criticizes Lee verdict
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus yesterday said the Supreme Court's ruling against former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in a defamation lawsuit was too severe. People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) had filed the lawsuit and the Taipei District Court ruled in November 2005 that Lee should pay Soong NT$10 million (US$300,000) in compensation and run apologies in nine newspapers. The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Taiwan High Court's ruling that Lee, seen by TSU members as the party's spiritual leader, should apologize to Soong and compensate him for defamation. The ruling said Lee insinuated in a speech in 2004 that Soong was playing mahjong with friends on April 10, 2004, while his followers fought police after President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election. The Supreme Court ruled Lee should run apologies in three newspapers for a day and pay Soong NT$2 million. "The verdict was severe because Lee did not specify who he was talking about [in his speech]," TSU caucus whip Tseng Tsahn-deng (曾燦燈) said. PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), on the other hand, yesterday lauded the ruling, calling it "belated justice."
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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