‘OBVIOUS’ THREAT: One lawmaker said the draft bill might constitute a violation of human rights while the NSB said it was meant to limit rather than expand NSB powers
By Flora Wang and Jimmy Chuang
Lawmakers across party lines yesterday vowed to block a draft bill that seeks to allow National Security Bureau (NSB) personnel to detain and search anyone who might endanger the safety of an incumbent or retired president when protecting the current or former national leader.

[ FULL STORY ]

ACCURACY: Some legislators complained about the accuracy of the bureau’s rainfall forecasts, which was highlighted by a legislator using Typhoon Kalmaegi as an example
By Shelley Shan
The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday approved the Central Weather Bureau’s (CWB) budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

[ FULL STORY ]

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) is continually improving its earthquake monitoring technology and expertise to detect and report earthquakes within 30 seconds of their occurrence, a senior bureau official in charge of seismology said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Jerry Lin
Minister of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) said yesterday that there would be no reduction in electricity and liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, but liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices have room to drop.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Flora Wang
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday called on the government to establish a cross-departmental organization to better safeguard food sanitation in Taiwan.

[ FULL STORY ]

HELP WANTED: DPP caucus whip William Lai questioned the council on whether the plan would be effective during this time of economic instability
By Shelley Huang
Lawmakers yesterday expressed skepticism about the Council of Labor Affairs’ (CLA) programs for boosting employment during the legislature’s Health, Environment, Social Welfare and Labor Committee meeting yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

SAVING LIVES: Researchers and doctors completed the first large-scale study that shows screening is feasible for Pompe disease, a rare illness that afflicts newborns
By Shelley Huang
A team of researchers and doctors in Taipei yesterday announced that they successfully carried out the screening of newborns for the early detection of a rare genetic disorder, which could allow for earlier treatment and greatly increase survival rates.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Jimmy Chuang
Former Taipei City councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平), who last year accused a cosmetics firm of being involved in the murder of a Taipei County councilor, was found guilty of slander yesterday and ordered to pay NT$1 in compensation and publish apologies on the front pages of three major Chinese-language newspapers.

[ FULL STORY ]

One child died of unnatural causes every two days in Taiwan last year, a child welfare group said on Sunday.

[ FULL STORY ]

OUT OF BALANCE: An Academia Sinica project has shown that garbage is giving the oceans ‘indigestion’ and emissions could kill off coral ecosystems by 2100
By Lin Chia-chi
Coral ecosystems could disappear completely by the end of the century if measures are not taken to reduce carbon emissions, Allen Chen (陳昭倫), an associate researcher at Academia Sinica＊s Research Center for Biodiversity, said recently.

[ FULL STORY ]

Star pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) and pianist Liu Meng-chieh (劉孟捷) were among those selected yesterday as the 10 most outstanding young men and women in Taiwan this year.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ DEFENSE

[ FULL STORY ]