In 1904 the Japanese introduced caning to Taiwan. As a punishment, caning was applied by the Japanese to Taiwanese and Chinese subjects, never to the Japanese themselves (it had been outlawed in Japan in 1882). An imperial and colonial act, caning thus functioned to define and display social class b
Nearly 1,500 Burmese migrants from Malaysia returned to their war-ravaged home country yesterday under an opaque repatriation scheme that rights monitors say cannot assure their safety.Dozens of migrants were transported on buses to a Buddhist monastery hall for immigration and health checks, after
Working from before dawn until midnight, farmers Nikoletta Pajsan Nagy and Laszlo Pajsan fought Europe’s driest summer ever to save their red pepper harvest in Hungary.Unable to irrigate much of their two-and-a-half-hectare land because power lines run across it, they repeatedly loosened the soil ar
A US Marine stationed on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of the murder of a Japanese woman, police said yesterday. The suspect “killed the 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha and stole her wallet on Saturday,” a local police spokesman said.US Ambassador George Glass pos
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen yesterday took his first win of the season at a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia that only started on the second attempt 1 hour 40 minutes late because of rain. Verstappen gained the lead after an early safety car and led home the Mercedes of championship leader Kimi
Taiwanese tennis players Hsieh Su-wei and Chan Hao-ching on Saturday revived their feud at the Asian Games, with Chan fuming at Hsieh for a handshake snub at the end of their women’s doubles final in Nagoya, Japan. The pair last month did not shake hands following a tense US Open doubles match in wh
The Los Angeles Dodgers, chasing a rare World Series three-peat, on Saturday opened their MLB playoff campaign with a 5-3 win over Atlanta as the Tampa Bay Rays rode a one-hit gem from pitcher Drew Rasmussen to score a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees. Six strong innings from pitcher Tarik Skubal,
These are the best of times for Americans — at least economically, and at least on paper. They have never been richer or more prosperous as a nation. Living standards and life expectancy are at all-time highs. Yet, it feels like the economy is broken. What explains this? Consider how few of the thin
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposed amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), which it has made a legislative priority for this session, would not only bar the Central Election Commission (CEC) from refusing proposals submitted by the Legislative Yuan, but would also give national re
When Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) reported on the government’s six priority policy directions to the legislature during its opening session on Tuesday last week, he was not addressing a full house. All of the opposition lawmakers were absent during Cho’s 20-minute report, setting the tone for yet anot
Amazon.com Inc on Friday pledged more than US$1 billion over five years for US communities that host its data centers, the latest tech giant seeking to win over residents increasingly hostile to the artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled construction boom.The Built Together program, unveiled by Amazon
Bankers in Hong Kong skipped the summer break as an artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled rush for capital sent share sales to a record, defying a bruising selloff in the city’s stocks.Initial public offerings (IPOs), placements and block trades raised US$47.5 billion in July to last month, the bigges
Another former OpenAI employee has added his voice to a chorus of frantic calls to make artificial intelligence (AI) safe, saying that the industry must mimic the aviation or nuclear power sectors with their layers of safeguards to avoid disaster.In an article published in The Atlantic Magazine, Dav
The US remained the largest debtor of Taiwanese banks for the 44th consecutive quarter at the end of June, with its share of Taiwanese banks’ total exposure surpassing 30 percent for the first time, the central bank said on Friday.Taiwanese banks’ exposure to the US on an immediate counterparty basi
Pingtung County Commissioner Chou Chun-mi, fourth left, poses with award winners at a ceremony celebrating indigenous innovation held alongside the Slope Art Festival in Pingtung County yesterday.
Taitung County has the highest forest coverage nationwide, but has insufficient urban green cover, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭?明) said yesterday, adding that urban forests could mitigate heat from foehn winds.Peng made the remarks during a briefing hosted by the Ministry of Environment
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office has indicted a soldier on a charge of disobeying orders after he allegedly refused to go to sleep or get out of bed, seeking a heavy sentence.The soldier, surnamed Lee (李), assigned to the 302nd Infantry Brigade at the Chenggong Ling (成功嶺) training depot in
Four more people have been reported missing in China, bringing the total number of Taiwanese who have been reported missing, detained for questioning or suspected of having their freedom of movement restricted from Jan. 1, 2024, to Friday to 453, the Mainland Affairs Council said in its weekly repor
Fundamental differences between the US and China make major disputes difficult to resolve, but create an opportunity for Taipei to deepen economic and security ties with Washington, China expert Miles Yu (余茂春) said Saturday.Yu, director of the China Center at the Washington-based think tank Hudson I
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) late on Saturday arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, to begin a three-day visit, including the opening of Taiwan’s new representative office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.Lin is to preside over the unveiling ceremony for the Taipei Economic
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday announced military aid for Ukraine worth about 1 billion euros (US$1.13 billion) and an energy support package during a visit to Kyiv, as the Ukrainian capital the same day came under renewed attack from Russian drones.Merz, who was accompanied by a senior
The percentage of inmates serving sentences for drug use has fallen over the past five years, largely due to community-based addiction treatment for people whose crimes were relatively minor, the Agency of Corrections said yesterday.The government uses deferred prosecution with court-mandated addict
The army plans to commission the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) to build dedicated testing facilities for its indigenously developed Lu Chien II (陸射劍二, “Land Sword II”) missile systems, with a budget of more than NT$295 million (US$9.27 million), marking move toward
The government would soon be able to invest in offshore artificial intelligence (AI) companies that conduct their primary business activities in Taiwan, following an amendment aimed at boosting investment in AI start-ups. The National Development Fund (NDF) in 2024 earmarked NT$10 billion (US$314.17
