■ ENERGY
Waste not wasted
The nation's 21 waste-to-energy plants collectively supply 120 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equal to 44 percent of the amount generated by the Third Nuclear Power Plant, Environmental Protection Administration officials said yesterday. The plants, which produce electricity by means of garbage combustion, have also helped to raise the country's garbage disposal rate from 76.97 percent in 1997 to 99.98 percent last year, the officials said.
■ CULTURE
Bedrooms on display
An exhibition featuring 65 miniature bedrooms furnished in styles from around the world opens today at the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan. The exhibits in the "My Sweet Bedroom" show were selected from 95 entries in a contest held by the Taipei City museum and include Western, Asian and Taiwanese-style bedrooms. Chen Jung-hui (陳蓉慧), winner of the Golden Prize in the general category, thanked the exhibition organizers in sign language for showing their appreciation of her work. Chen's piece uses flowers, exquisite furniture, a colorful roof and picturesque garden to present a fairytale-like romantic room. Expressing special thanks to the museum and his friends, Tsai Jun-jie (蔡俊杰), the co-winner of the Golden Prize in the student category, said he found inspiration out of nowhere. "I made the miniature work in my dreams while sleeping before the contest," he said. "After several failures and stops and starts, I am really delighted that I could finish my prize-winning piece," he said. The exhibition will run through June 15. The museum is open everyday except Mondays, from 10am to 6pm.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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
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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