US journalist Evan Gershkovich yesterday appeared in a Russian court for the start of his closed-door trial for espionage, 15 months after his shock arrest on charges he, his employer and the White House reject as false.The Wall Street Journal correspondent became the first Western journalist to be
LIFE-CHANGING: Park Sang-hak said a leaflet he found in North Korea decades ago showed him that defection was possible for anyone who dared cross the river into China
North Korean defector Park Sang-hak considers the propaganda balloons he floats into his homeland to be part of a tradition of psychological warfare, and vows to keep going until North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime falls.Park, the son of a North Korean double agent who escaped his country in 19
Australia yesterday urged the Solomon Islands to rely on fellow Pacific nations for security assistance during a visit by China-friendly Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele.Manele was visiting Australia as part of a three-nation tour that also takes him to China and Japan.It is Manele’s f
‘VERY PLEASED’: Australian PM Anthony Albanese said he talked to Assange on the phone and ‘he was very generous in his praise of the Australian government’s efforts’
WikiLeaks frontman Julian Assange yesterday returned home to Australia to start life as a free man after admitting he revealed US defense secrets in a deal that unlocked the door to his London prison cell. Assange landed on a chilly Canberra evening in a private jet, the final act of an internationa
‘MALICIOUS’: The US representative said the funds were spent to replace old furniture, including beds and sofas that had been in use at the residence for more than 20 years
Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) has defended his decision to use government funds to renovate his official residence, saying that doing so was for “diplomatic purposes” and not for personal benefit.He said the allegations surrounding the renovation, and personal attacks on himself and h
BASKETBALL Chinese player hailedA 17-year-old Chinese player has been tipped for the top after using her height advantage to dominate an international tournament. Zhang Ziyu stands 2.2m, according to FIBA, global basketball’s governing body. Chinese media reported earlier this year that she was even
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday said that Yongliang Ltd (永梁) had contravened the law by using China-made photovoltaic inverters in a military complex and called for a general inspection of military bases to see if there are other similar breaches.The Legislativ
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington
President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday.Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investme
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry could maintain its global lead for at least the next eight to 10 years, an analyst said on Tuesday, while an executive urged the government to ensure research security and to develop a “grand strategy” with changing supply chains in mind.At a forum called “Taiwan in t
Local companies believe that nearly a third of all job opportunities will vanish in 10 years due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a survey released by online job bank yes123 on Tuesday.In the survey of 1,016 companies on the labor market’s third quarter outlook, the job bank
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was respondin
Throughout the world, coral reef ecosystems are withering as a result of climate change and warming oceans. Some of the reefs around Taiwan, such as those close to Pingtung County’s Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球), have already suffered massive and perhaps irreversible damage.Corals get their color from s
What is Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni? If you believe in the importance of economic stability and the core values of democracy, is she an asset or a threat?This is a tough breed of question to answer, other than with hindsight. In the early 2000s, I would often be asked if I thought Russia’s
Last week, Infineon Technologies, the world’s biggest automotive chip supplier, announced plans to build a NT$1.2 billion (US$36.99 million) research and development (R&D) center in Taiwan, which could elevate the nation’s position in the world’s automotive chip supply chain, adding one more key fie
OUT OF NIGER: The US joint chiefs of staff chairman is in Botswana for a gathering of African chiefs of defense as Washington seeks to rebuild its presence in the continent
The top US general is making a rare trip to Africa to discuss ways to preserve some of the US presence in West Africa after Niger decided to kick out the US military in favor of partnering with Russia in a major setback for Washington.US Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
BREAK DANCING: Sun, who was born on Sept. 21, 1999, the same day Taiwan was hit by the earthquake known as 921, has the nickname ‘Quake’ in English
Taiwanese break dancer Sun Chen (孫振) on Sunday secured his place as Taiwan’s first B-boy to compete in Olympic breakdancing after taking part in the second leg of the discipline’s qualifier series in Budapest, Hungary.With breakdancing making its debut as an event at the quadrennial summer Olympics,
Ten years ago, on National Jerky Day 2014, a digital media juggernaut was born. Over the course of the next decade, it would keep us up to date on celebrity scandals (“Chris Pratt won’t star in a movie unless you pay him money”), personality quizzes (“Which one of my garbage sons are you?”) and vira
Two news items over the past few days got only limited traction in the news media either locally or internationally, but to long-time Taiwan observers both were attention-grabbing. Connecting the dots, I came to the conclusion that though seemingly unrelated, the two very much are and signal a sharp
對話 Dialogue清清：華華，週末你不是跟家人去台南參加白河蓮花季的活動嗎？覺得怎麼樣？Qīngqing: Huáhua, zhōumò nǐ búshì gēn jiārén qù Táinán cānjiā Báihé Liánhuājì de huódòng ma? Juéde zěnmeyàng?華華：不錯啊！蓮花都開得好美，我爸還買了一些蓮子回來，想自己煮蓮子粥吃。Huáhua: Búcuò a! Liánhuā dōu kāi de hǎo měi, wǒ bà hái mǎile yìxiē liánzǐ huílái, xiǎng zìjǐ zhǔ liánzǐzhōu
HARD TO ANTICIPATE: Russia reportedly used its new UMPB D-30 SN guided bombs in the attack on Kharkiv. They can be fired at long range from the ground, and from planes
Russia on Saturday bombed a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, killing three people and wounding 52 as it stepped up renewed hostilities. Four guided bombs hit Ukraine’s second-largest city, which is near the Russian border, Officials said.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
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