■ International Aid
Group urges Bam donations
World Vision Taiwan is urging the public to donate money for the emergency relief program in Iran. The city of Bam, in the south of the country, was devastated by a major earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale on Friday. The death toll is now estimated to be around 40,000. World Vision is set to send relief teams and emergency supplies to Iran tomorrow. The organization estimates the first stage of its relief plan will cost around US$250,000. Hank Du (杜明翰), director of World Vision Taiwan, said Iran had suffered several earthquakes before and there was a lack of general resources in the country. Du said victims of the earthquake would need food, clothing and shelter to make it through the cold winter. Those who wish to donate money to the relief program can call 02-2585-6300 or wire money to World Vision Taiwan's post office account 15752467. They should specify the money is for the earthquake relief program.
■ Filial piety
Chen honors father
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) recalled his own father while honoring seven models of "dutiful sons" in a ceremony in Tainan County. Chen said his father helped his wife, Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), run for a legislative seat in 1985 when Chen was at the nadir of his political career. At the time, Chen had just been defeated in the Tainan County commissioner's election and had been sentenced to jail for eight months for libel, and Wu was paralyzed from the waist down in a traffic accident. Wu succeeded in the election, but Chen's father was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and died four months after the election. Chen said his father didn't live long enough to see his son elected president. The president lauded the establishment of the prize to honor the models of filial piety, saying that filial piety can improve harmony in society. He said the founder of the prize, business tycoon Wu Hsiou-chi (吳修齊), is himself a well-known dutiful son.
■ Public transit
Special tickets to be released
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC, 台北捷運公司) will release commemorative tickets for next year at 9am tomorrow on the company's Web site, www.trtc.com.tw, and the MRT gift shop in Taipei Station. The tickets are in memory of pop singer Theresa Teng (鄧麗君). The package includes four tickets with Teng's stage photos, a CD single and a commemorative album, and costs NT$840. The company said it has limited the number of sets to 2,000. Another set celebrating the coming of the year of the monkey, which includes two tickets and three golden envelopes, costs NT$150.
■ Education
NTU program gets top grade
National Taiwan University's (NTU) executive master's business administration (EMBA) program leads the pack among its counterparts in Taiwan, according to a survey released yesterday. The survey, conducted by the monthly magazine Cheers, showed most respondents mentioned NTU's EMBA program as their first choice. The NTU program topped the list in the magazine's survey for the second year in a row. National Chiao Tung University finished second, followed by National Chengchi University, National Sun Yat-sen University and National Tsinghua University. The three leading considerations of respondents in choosing EMBA programs were access to the school, the quality of the faculty and the fame of the school. The survey was based on responses from executives from the top 1,000 companies in Taiwan, with 241 valid responses being collected.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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