■ 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.
‘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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