■DIPLOMACY
Grenada seeks time to pay
Grenada’s government will seek to delay a court ordered payment of US$25 million to the Export-Import Bank, Grenadian Finance Minister Nazim Burke said on Monday. His country intends to resolve the dispute but cannot afford to pay all at once, he said in a radio interview. He blamed the failure to settle the debts earlier on the government of former prime minister Keith Mitchell. Lawyers for the Export-Import Bank recently served notice on Grenada’s new government of a February 2007 US federal court order to pay the money, which includes outstanding principal and interest on a series of loans in the 1990s intended to build a stadium and roads and develop the island’s economy. Grenada said in court papers that it stopped making payments after its economy was devastated by a series of storms, including Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and the drop in tourism that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the US. The government was unable to renegotiate repayment because it had severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China in 2005.
■POLITICS
KMT gives nod to Huang
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday approved the nomination of KMT Legislator Justin Huang (黃健庭) as candidate for the Taitung County commissioner election in December, even though KMT Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-cheng (鄺麗貞) may run as an independent. Huang defeated Kuang in the KMT primary on Sunday. Kuang has refused to say whether she will withdraw from the party to run as an independent. KMT spokesman Lee Chien-rong (李建榮) said yesterday that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had promised to negotiate with Kuang for the sake of party unity.
■SPORTS
Swim race entry open
The Kinmen County Government yesterday invited swimmers to join its seventh annual long-distance swimming race in Liaolo Bay on Aug. 16. Registration for the 3km event is being accepted by the Kinmen County Stadium until July 15 and is open to all swimmers aged 10 and above who are in good health and capable of swimming a long distance, officials said. Those interested in taking part are required to form a team before signing up, they said, adding that 1,600 people have already signed up. For more information, swimmers can call the stadium at 082-311-229.
■CRIME
Ex-army officer convicted
Retired Army Colonel Yang Tung-shan (楊東山) was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday after being convicted by the Military High Court on corruption charges, the Ministry of National Defense said. Yang said he will consider appealing the verdict after studying the court’s ruling with his lawyers. Yang, who served in the Armaments Bureau’s Construction and Facility Division, was placed under investigation and temporarily stripped of his title for allegedly taking bribes and receiving illegal gains from suppliers in 2006. The court determined that the suppliers provided all-expenses paid trips to Malaysia and Japan for Yang and his wife and paid for the renovation of their home, with some of the money transferred directly into his wife’s bank account. The suppliers were also found to have given the couple cash and electronic items in exchange for help in winning contracts. Yang also lost his political rights for 10 years and was ordered to hand over NT$1.95 million (US$59,400) in cash and NT$210,000 worth of home electronic items he 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
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
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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