Hawaii bans feeding feral cats to protect native species
Hawaii bans feeding feral cats to protect native speciesAP, KAILUA-KONA, HawaiiThrongs of feral cats emerged from the shade of parked trucks and bushes as soon as the familiar Subaru Forester pulled into a dump on Hawaii’s Big Island. A Hawaii County law set to take effect at the start of the new year bans feeding feral animals on county property. It is an effort to protect native species, such as an endangered goose called the nene, from a super predator introduced to the islands by Europeans in the 18th century. “They’re both living creatures.”It is unclear how many feral cats — abandoned pets and their descendants — live on the Big Island. The cats threaten the native species directly — by killing them — and indirectly, biologists said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 18:44 UTC
Childcare workers urge rethink on camera rules
The bill says that the data must be uploaded to a government server to preserve evidence that would help establish facts in childcare abuse cases, as well as clarifying matters for parents and childcare service operators. People hold placards and dolls at a news conference outside the Legislaive Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei TimesIndustry representatives protested against the planned rules outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Legislation that deals with surveillance footage must guarantee the privacy of children, help establish a professional, respectful and friendly childcare industry, improve the internal management and professionalism of childcare facilities, and establish a bilateral agreement and a code of conduct regarding such footage, Chiang said. Representatives of New Taipei City facilities said that the municipal government employs a significant number of male childcare staff and parents of girls often ask that male staff be excluded from diaper-changing duties for their children.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:23 UTC
Legislature approves Youth Basic Act
Legislature approves Youth Basic ActBy Lee Wen-hsin / Staff reporterThe Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the Youth Basic Act (青年基本法), which defines youth as people between the ages of 18 and 35, and incorporates a legal recognition of the right to citizenship at the age of 18. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu bangs a gavel to pass the Youth Basic Act at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. Youth representatives should include people from diverse backgrounds, with at least half of the total members being youth representatives, and the representation of any gender must not be less than one-third. Regarding the establishment of a Youth Development Fund, the ruling and opposition parties did not reach a consensus during negotiations. Therefore, the Youth Basic Act stipulating that a Youth Development Fund “should” be established is not only legal, but also has both policy and fiscal legitimacy, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:22 UTC
Philippine worker center announced
Philippine worker center announcedStaff writer, with CNAThe government is preparing to open its first cross-border recruitment center, hosted by the Philippines, which would enable employers to hire overseas workers directly without the use of brokers, helping to ease personnel shortages, the Ministry of Labor said in a statement yesterday. The center is to open in the first quarter of next year and would initially help sectors with glaring labor shortages, including the hospitality and commercial port business sectors, the ministry said. Workforce Development Agency Director-General Lydia Huang (黃齡玉) said that the center would allow the government to deal directly with foreign authorities, helping ease the burden of foreign workers who are typically saddled with high brokerage fees before and during their time in Taiwan. With the new system, expenses for flights, health checkups and visas for migrant workers would in principle be paid by employers rather than workers, Huang said. The ministry said it plans to open more cross-border recruitment centers in other foreign countries that serve as the major sources of migrant workers to Taiwan, including Indonesia and Thailand.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:17 UTC
Former CEO of green energy group indicted on money laundering charges
Former CEO of green energy group indicted on money laundering chargesStaff writer, with CNACheng Yi-lin (鄭亦麟), a former deputy CEO of the state-run Green Energy Industry Promotion Center (GEIPC), has been indicted on corruption and money laundering charges, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. A nameplate at the main entrance of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is pictured yesterday. Citing the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防治法), prosecutors said they are seeking a 14-year prison sentence for Cheng. His parents and brother were indicted in the case, with prosecutors seeking a two-year prison term for each. Hsiao was not indicted, as there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing on his part, prosecutors said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:17 UTC
Cabinet proposes public speech rules
Cabinet proposes public speech rulesSOCIAL HARMONY: The bill would only affect speech made in public likely to cause social problems, leaving private and personal communications protected as a rightBy Chung Li-hua and Chen Cheng-yu / Staff reportersThe Executive Yuan yesterday passed an amendment to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) that would have offenders face maximum fines of up to NT$30,000 for spreading hate speech in public places such as parks and train stations. The Ministry of the Interior said that hate speech affects the unity of the public. Therefore, the scope of the amendment focuses on “public” Internet content, such as setting up Web sites or using social media to post information that is freely accessible to the public, it said. On how such public speech would be handled, Deputy Interior Minister Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said that after the metro attack in Taipei on Friday last week, there has been a lot of imitative speech online. The Social Order Maintenance Act mainly targets more general, widespread speech that is not aimed at a specific individual or group, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:17 UTC
Snow falls on Yushan and Hehuanshan
Snow falls on Yushan and HehuanshanStaff writer, with CNASnow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. A snowman is pictured on Hehuanshan in Nantou County yesterday. Snow accumulation totaled 2mm, CWA data showed. They would rebound slightly over the weekend, with highs reaching 20 to 23°C in northern Taiwan and 25 to 26°C in southern regions, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:17 UTC
Taiwan, Thailand links boosted by worship of Matsu
Taiwan, Thailand links boosted by worship of MatsuBy Jason Pan / Staff reporter, with CNADevotees of Matsu in Taiwan and Thailand are forging closer ties at a ceremony to mark 20 years since the founding of a temple in Bangkok, as well as the start of work to expand the site devoted to the sea goddess, officials said on Thursday. Photo: CNARepresentatives of Changhua Nanyao Temple (彰化南瑤宮) in 2006 transported the deity to the Thailand temple to grant it permission to establish a “branch shrine,” she said. “Over the past two decades, Mazho Temple has flourished, providing divine protection to Taiwanese and Thais alike,” she said. More than 1,000 people from across Thailand, as well as visitors from Taiwan, attended the ceremony, officials said. “It will be an expansive new temple to sustain our belief in Matsu and Taiwanese culture for the next generation,” Lin said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:16 UTC
Penghu announces schedule for festival
Penghu announces schedule for festivalFIREWORKS BONANZA: From April to August, fireworks and drone light shows are to be put on at seven locations across the outlying county once or twice a weekBy Liu Yu-ching and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Penghu County Government yesterday announced the schedule for next summer’s international fireworks festival, revealing a collaboration with classic Japanese anime franchise Dragon Ball Z. The main festival would run through Aug. 25, one month longer than in previous years, it said. A poster released yesterday for next year’s Penghu International Fireworks Festival shows a Dragon Ball Z character. The opening and closing events on May 4 and Aug. 25 are to have 12-minute fireworks displays accompanied by 10-minute drone shows, while other dates would offer a 10-minute fireworks and 10-minute drone displays, it said. The partnership with Dragon Ball Z is a first for Penghu’s fireworks festival, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:16 UTC
China hits US defense firms with sanctions over arms sales to Taiwan
China hits US defense firms with sanctions over arms sales to TaiwanReuters, BEIJINGChina’s foreign ministry announced sanctions yesterday targeting 10 individuals and 20 US defence firms, including Boeing’s St. Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan. The measures freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them, the ministry said. Individuals on the list, including the founder of defence firm Anduril Industries and nine senior executives from the sanctioned firms, are also banned from entering China, it added. The move follows Washington’s announcement last week of US$11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever US weapons package for the island. The Us is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:15 UTC
Taipei holds attack drills at transport hub
Police officers tackle a mock attacker at a bus hub during a security drill in Taipei yesterday. Chiang said the drill conducted yesterday was aimed at boosting responses to random, indiscriminate attacks to “ensure the safety of all citizens.”People take part in a drill at MRT Taipei City Hall Station yesterday simulating a fire bomb attack. Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei TimesThe two mock attackers simulated throwing Molotov cocktails onto the platform in a metro stop near Taipei City Hall, with police evacuating passengers and putting out the pretend fire. SWAT team members take part in a drill at MRT Taipei City Hall Station yesterday. Investigators found searches for “random killings” on his iPad, including material related to a Taipei metro stabbing in 2014 in which four people were killed.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:15 UTC
Slower Tokyo core inflation no bar to further BOJ hikes
Slower Tokyo core inflation no bar to further BOJ hikesReuters, TOKYOCore consumer inflation in Japan’s capital slowed in December with moderating cost pressure for food but stayed above the central bank’s 2 percent target, data showed yesterday, firming the case for further interest rate hikes. Some analysts warn of risk that renewed yen declines could prod firms to keep raising prices, leading to sticky, cost-led inflation that could quicken the pace of BOJ rate hikes. Photo: EPA“Today’s data suggests food inflation may be peaking. “The pace and timing of BOJ rate hikes will depend much on how the yen moves and how they affect firms’ price-setting behavior,” he said. With core inflation exceeding the BOJ’s target for about four years, Governor Kazuo Ueda has signaled the BOJ’s readiness to keep raising rates if the economy continues to improve, backed by solid wage gains.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 16:34 UTC
Small and medium enterprises enjoy record growth
Small and medium enterprises enjoy record growthBy Meryl Kao / Staff ReporterTaiwan’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) last year reached record highs in quantity and employment, continuing their steady growth trajectory, an annual white paper released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed yesterday. The number of SMEs rose to 1.72 million last year, up 2.48 percent year-on-year, Small and Medium Enterprise and Startup Administration Secretary-General Jia-jin Lee (李佳瑾) said at a press conference to release the white paper. SME and Startup Administration Secretary-General Jia-jin Lee, second right, attends a press conference for the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ annual white paper in Taipei yesterday. Domestic sales accounted for 90.27 percent of SMEs’ total sales last year, while export sales made up 9.73 percent, indicating that domestic demand remains a key growth driver for these enterprises, she said. The ministry offered credit guarantees for loans to SMEs that raised wages, with a cap of NT$35 million per borrower, Lee said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 16:34 UTC
Discerning shopper
Nvidia reaches tech deal with GroqAI TALENT: No financial details were released about the deal, in which top Groq executives, including its CEO, would join Nvidia to help advance the technology Nvidia Corp has agreed to a licensing deal with artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Groq, furthering its investments in companies connected to the AI boom and gaining the right to add a new type of technology to its products. The world’s largest publicly traded company has paid for the right to use Groq’s technology and is to integrate its chip design into future products. Some of the start-up’s executives are leaving to join Nvidia to help with that effort, the companies said. Groq would continue as an independent company with a new chief executive, it said on Wednesday in a post on its Web
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 16:34 UTC
Packers clinch playoff spot after Lions defeated
Packers clinch playoff spot after Lions defeatedAFP, WASHINGTONThe Green Bay Packers on Thursday advanced to the NFL playoffs without stepping onto the field, clinching a post-season berth when the Detroit Lions lost 23-10 at Minnesota. Green Bay accepted the Christmas gift of a third consecutive playoff appearance and sixth in seven years. Photo: AFP“Can’t turn the ball over six times and expect to win,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. Bo Nix ran nine yards for a Denver touchdown, but Butker’s 47-yard field goal tied the game at 13-13. Nix flipped a one-yard touchdown toss to R.J. Harvey with 1:45 remaining to give Denver the final victory margin.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 16:24 UTC