The command said it has added a new air-defense company under the 228th Battalion stationed in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) for the purpose. The unit — its only artillery unit — has been equipped with Stinger anti-air missiles and anti-tank Javelin systems, it added. Military personnel take part in an exercise at a metro station in Taipei on July 14 last year. “Deploying short-range, man-portable Stinger missiles enhances mobile air defense, while Javelin missiles can counter Chinese Communist Party landing craft attempting surprise assaults at the Tamsui River estuary,” he said. For example, Washington has the National Capital Region Air Defense, with rotating deployments of air defense artillery regiments, he said.

Initial concerns that school lunch programs would divert resources from other education and welfare initiatives were short-lived, as local governments quickly shifted their support toward the initiative. Some parents’ groups have said the program could affect school lunch quality or deepen disparity among regions. Their concerns are not unfounded, as local governments have different financial capacities and conditions, and the average cost of school lunches varies between regions. Now that local governments are fully funding school lunch programs, it is uncertain whether they would require catering companies to continue meeting the 3L1Q standard when sourcing ingredients. Some specialists have said that, unlike Japan and South Korea, Taiwan does not have a dedicated law regulating school lunch standards, such as on nutrition, the proportion of locally sourced ingredients and a dietitian-to-student ratio.

Taiwanese passports are pictured in an undated photograph. Investigators believe that gangs exploit the visa-free access Taiwanese passports provide to 139 countries and territories, selling them at premium prices to clients who treat the documents as “invisibility cloaks” for unrestricted international travel. Ho would pay NT$17,000 per passport upon receiving them, while the human-smuggling ring resold each document to Chinese buyers for about 10,000 euros (US$11,597). Cheng and Lai were sentenced to two years, and two years and two months respectively for participating in a criminal organization, trading passports and using passports to offset debts. Shen was sentenced to one year and four months for trading passports.

Ryan Hass on Taiwan: Five Questions for 2026-As the new year dawns, Taiwan faces a range of external uncertainties that could impact the safety and prosperity of its people and reverberate in its politics. Taiwan’s economy grew over 7 percent and set records for exports, imports, and trade surplus. President Trump and President Xi Jinping (習近平) agreed at their October 30, 2025, meeting in South Korea to call a truce on their trade war for one year. WILL CHINA’S ECONOMY WOBBLE IN 2026? These five questions represent some of the major external issues that could impact Taiwan’s economy and security.

Iran admits ‘several thousand’ deaths, blaming US, IsraelBloombergIranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest. Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely,” Khamenei said without offering detail in a public meeting broadcast on state TV. He accused the US and Israel of aiding the killings and said the Islamic republic has evidence to support the claim. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran on Saturday. He said US President Donald Trump was culpable for “deaths, damage and accusations he has inflicted on the Iranian people,” and that Washington’s broader policy goal was to place Iran under military, political and economic domination.

Temperatures to drop as cold air mass approachesStaff writer, with CNAA strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). A Central Weather Administration chart shows the weather forecast for this week. The blue line indicates eastern Taiwan, the green line indicates central Taiwan, the orange line indicates southern Taiwan, while the white line indicates northern Taiwan and Yilan County. From Wednesday through Friday, the cold air mass is likely to linger and reach the level of a “strong continental cold air mass,” defined as Taipei temperatures dropping below 12°C, independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said. The cold air mass is expected to weaken from Saturday, with daytime temperatures rebounding, but mornings and evenings remaining cool, Wu said.

Yet this part of Central Asia now offers a lesson in how conflict can give way to stability, even in historically tense regions. However, the improved climate reflects deliberate political and social choices, demonstrating that cooperation can be strengthened from the ground up. Home to about 15 million people, the Fergana Valley is one of the most densely populated parts of Central Asia. These factors make the Fergana Valley story a fragile achievement, not a settled one. The Fergana Valley suggests that peace and partnership can reinforce each other, but only if the effort is continuous.

EU expresses shock at Greenland tariffsAP, BERLINEuropeans were reeling yesterday from US President Donald Trump’s announcement that eight countries would face 10 percent tariffs for opposing US control of Greenland. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in the past few days, saying they are there for arctic security training. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen speaks during a protest in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Saturday. It was not immediately clear if Trump’s tariffs would impact the entire bloc. European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to continue their full solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.

Vietnam’s ruling party begins congressAFP, HANOIVietnam’s ruling Communist Party opens its twice-a-decade congress today, finalizing its leadership roster for the next five years and outlining plans for the fast-growing Southeast Asian manufacturing hub. The only legal party in Vietnam, it has so far followed consensus-based decisionmaking, preventing the emergence of a single all-powerful leader. Party General Secretary To Lam is challenging that model, seeking to become president as well as party chief. A woman walks past billboards advertising the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi on Thursday last week. Lam is set to retain his post as Vietnam’s top leader, according to sources briefed on party deliberations.

There have been protests every day since the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Protesters spray Jake Lang with water as he speaks during his rally calling for deportation of all Muslims in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday. In Minneapolis, snowballs and water balloons were also thrown before an armored police van and heavily equipped city police arrived. “We’re out here to show Nazis and ICE and DHS and MAGA you are not welcome in Minneapolis,” protester Luke Rimington said. On Friday, a federal judge ruled that immigration officers cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including while observing officers during the Minnesota crackdown.

NASA rolls out Artemis 2 spacecraftAFP, KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FloridaNASA on Saturday rolled out its towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft as it began preparations for its first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years. “We’re making history,” Artemis 2 mission management team chair John Honeycutt told a press conference on Friday. Before the mission can take off, engineers must ensure the SLS rocket is safe and viable. The uncrewed Artemis 1 mission took place in November 2022 after multiple postponements and two failed launch attempts. NASA hopes to put humans back on the Moon, as China forges ahead with a rival effort that is targeting 2030 at the latest for its first crewed mission.

Recognizing the CCP’s ‘dialogue’ deceptionBy Lu Hai-tung 陸海東A familiar refrain is often heard whenever cross-strait tensions rise: The more tense things get, the more exchanges are needed. Those who cannot — or who resist — are not merely excluded from dialogue, but punished. Within the first group, some believe that unification matters more than the survival of the ROC itself. The logic defines CCP’s current Taiwan policy: Use the first group, co-opt the second and strike the third. Given how clear the objectives and methods are, Taiwanese must approach calls for exchanges and communication with caution.

KMT policies keep birthrate lowBy Teng Hon-yuan 鄧鴻源Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) deputy secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said that Taiwan’s low birthrate is no longer a warning sign, but a fact of life. Why does the KMT continue to focus solely on workplace and retirement benefits for the military, police and civil servants while ignoring the welfare of all other groups? Are they aware that the retirement funds of average workers are far lower than that of military personnel and civil servants? The national security crisis posed by low birthrates transcends party lines — it decides whether Taiwan’s next generation has a future. Is the real issue not that the KMT has continuously blocked both the general budget and the special defense budget?

The US’ missing manufacturing renaissanceBy Scott Lincicome / Bloomberg OpinionUS manufacturing ended last year with a thud, capping a rough year for the sector. Overall, the evidence revealed a sector that is stagnant at best, and a long way from the manufacturing renaissance US President Donald Trump promised when he took office for a second time a year ago. Better tax, regulatory and monetary policies should indeed provide a tailwind for manufacturing, but the sector would probably continue to struggle. Producers involved in goods trade (imports and/or exports) are large and growing employers — home to about 80 percent of all US manufacturing workers. Roughly half of US goods imports in 2024 were between related parties, with especially high concentrations in transportation equipment, chemicals, computer and electronic products, and machinery.

Every few years, uprisings erupt across Iran — and each wave of resistance is deeper and more widespread than the one before. People are still risking their lives to stand up to torture and state violence. The regime wants to hide its crackdown from the rest of the world and stop Iranians from organizing. Nasrin Parvaz is a women’s rights activist and torture survivor from Iran. Her books include A Prison Memoir: One Woman’s Struggle in Iran, and the novel The Secret Letters from X to A.