■ Elections
Poll decision delayed
The Central Election Commission (CEC) failed to decide yesterday on whether to combine the elections for county commissioners and city mayors, city and county councilors and village and township mayors at the end of the year. "It is a decision left to be made by the Taiwan Election Commission and City and County Election Commissions," CEC Deputy Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (鄧天祐) said. The Taiwan Election Commission is scheduled to hold a meeting on the matter next Tuesday. The majority of the CEC commissioners were in favor of combining the three local government elections, Teng said.
■ Crime
Prosecutors to aid police
Minister of Justice Morely Shih (施茂林) said yesterday that with major criminal cases remaining unsolved, he has asked chief prosecutors of the district prosecutor's offices around the nation to work with police to effectively clear the docket. He has also asked State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) to convene a major conference on social order. Shih's remarks came in the wake of attacks on two policemen in broad daylight on Sunday that left one dead and another seriously injured, as well as a kidnapping case involving a notorious wanted man. Both cases are unsolved. Shih said that the manpower of some local prosecutor's offices is limited, and they are often burdened with matters involving public prosecution. For this reason, prosecutors must work and coordinate well with police to safeguard social order, Shih said.
■ Education
Schools agree on exchange
Officials from National Chiao Tung University and the University of Illinois signed a memorandum of under- standing (MOU) on Tuesday. Peter Wu, dean of Chiao Tung University's College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Richard Balhut, head of Illinois school's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, signed the MOU on behalf of their schools. Under the MOU, 19 Chiao Tung students will go to Illinois. Balhut said that he hopes all his department's students can have the experience of learning through international exchanges, adding that his university has cooperated with universities in Japan and South Korea.
■ Agriculture
China's offer dismissed
An agricultural official said yesterday that Beijing's promise to offer preferential tariffs to agricultural exports from Taiwan is a lot of hot air. Tsai Chang-lung (蔡長龍), president of the Taiwan Provincial Fruit Trade Association, made the remarks at an exhibition of Taiwanese fruit in Beijing organized by the association, the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council and the Hong-Kong based Chinese Commercial and Industrial Coordination Society. Tsai said that Southeast Asian fruit exports to China enjoy tariff-free preferences. He urged China to quickly offer tariff-free preferences and more convenient customs procedures for Taiwanese farmers to show its goodwill.
■ Travel
US bans lighters on planes
Beginning today, lighters are banned on all inbound flights into the US and its territories. "This measure is in parallel with the latest regulation set by the US Transportation Security Administration," Huang Shun-chao (黃順超), security inspection chief of the Aviation Police Office, said yesterday. Lighters may not be placed in checked-in baggage, carry-on items or carried by passengers.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
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