CHARITY
Sichuan aid helps 1.5m
The nation’s aid to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China has benefited 1.5 million people, the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China said. Yesterday marked the sixth anniversary of the magnitude 7.9 quake, which struck Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008, killing more than 69,000 people and leaving more than 18,000 missing. Over the past six years, the Red Cross Society has helped build 43 schools, 43 health centers and one rehabilitation center for the disabled in disaster zones in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, assisting 1.5 million residents, including 32,600 students, Red Cross chairwoman Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) said. The charity said it hoped to complete all post-quake reconstruction works by next year.
CULTURE
Super Slippa to host 36 acts
A total of 36 singers and bands will take the stage in Taipei this summer at an annual music festival that opens on July 4. The musicians will take turns performing on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Summer Super Slippa, which will be held from July 4 to Aug. 31, organizers B’in Music Co said. Singers Richie Jen (任賢齊), Aboriginal a cappella group The O-Kai Singers, electronic band Lie Gramophone and rock bands Magic Power, My Skin Against Your Skin and Monkey Pilot are among the performers scheduled to take the stage. Every Wednesday, the festival will also feature performances by new artists and bands, B’in Music said. The festival will climax on Aug. 23 with a concert at Taipei Arena by bands Mayday (五月天), Mary See the Future and Hush, singers Crowd Lu (盧廣仲), Lala Hsu (徐佳瑩) and Hong Kong musician Paul Wong (黃貫中). The festival will take place at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.
CHARITY
Lottos post NT$5.5bn surplus
Public welfare lotteries generated a surplus of NT$5.51 billion (US$182.6 million) in the first quarter of the year, data released by Taiwan Lottery Co showed. That includes a surplus of NT$1.57 billion generated in March alone, said the company, a subsidiary of CTBC Holding Co that has been commissioned to operate the lotteries. The March surplus was distributed to the municipal governments of Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, to social welfare programs run by other city and county governments, to the National Pension Fund, and to the reserve fund for the national health insurance system. Surpluses generated by public welfare lottery sales are allocated to social welfare programs and the national pension and health systems.
SOCIETY
Boat show attracts 70,000
The four-day Taiwan International Boat Show concluded on Sunday, attracting more than 70,000 visitors and selling 32 yachts worth NT$1 billion, the Greater Kaohsiung Government said. About 26,000 visitors, including 2,500 buyers from China, the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, visited the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center on the show’s final day, said Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆), head of the city’s Marine Bureau. Lai expected the show to give a boost to related businesses, including boat manufacturers, yacht hardware makers and boat maintenance providers. He said that a US$1 investment in the yacht industry could create US$10 worth of business opportunities. The Greater Kaohsiung government is working on the creation of an industrial park dedicated to yacht manufacturing and the development of the marine recreation there, Lai said.
‘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
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
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
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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