Enrollment falls below 60% at 6 collegesPRECARIOUS: Low freshman enrollment rates not only put colleges’ finances and academics at risk, but also could put them at risk of closing down, a source saidBy Rachel Lin and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writerSix colleges reported an enrollment rate of less than 60 percent this year, following years of low birthrates, data released yesterday by the Ministry of Education showed. The release of this year’s freshman enrollment rates at colleges and universities comes as education experts expressed concern over higher education enrollment. Freshman enrollment rates are also an important indicator in determining if the ministry should open discussions on possible school closure, they said. The ministry would continue to monitor enrollment rates and education quality to ensure students’ rights and welfare are protected, it said. Enrollment rates for starting master’s degrees or doctoral programs were also declining, with 54 colleges or universities reporting zero enrollment this year.

Bondi victims’ families demand probe‘CRISIS’? Albanese last week said that a New South Wales-led royal commission — where the shooting occurred — would suffice and promised full support. Our loved ones were celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach, a festival of light and joy, in an iconic public space that should have been safe,” the letter said. But with a well-led Commonwealth Royal Commission and strong action, you may be able to save many more,” they said. The call for a royal commission echoes voices in the broader Jewish community, legal experts and other politicians.

Chinese monument near Panama Canal torn downAFP, PANAMA CITYNear the entrance to the Panama Canal, a monument to China’s contributions to the interoceanic waterway was torn down on Saturday night by order of local authorities. In a surprising move that has been criticized by leaders in Panama and China, the mayor’s office of the locality of Arraijan ordered the demolition of the monument built in 2004 to symbolize friendship between the countries. People pose for a photograph near the original site of a removed Chinese monument in Panama City on Sunday. The US and China are the main users of the 80km canal, which sees the passage of 5 percent of global maritime trade. The Panama Canal was under US control from 1914 to 1999, when it was taken over by Panama.

Nine killed as Turkish police raid alleged IS houseAP, ANKARAIslamic State (IS) militants yesterday clashed with police in northwest Turkey, leaving three police officers and six militants dead, the Turkish minister of the interior said. The shooting occurred in Elmali district in Yalova, south of Istanbul, as police stormed a house where the militants were hiding. Turkish gendarmerie special forces leave the site where Turkish security forces launched an operation on a house believed to contain suspected Islamic State militants in Yalova, Turkey, yesterday. The operation in Yalova was carried out with “great care,” because women and children were inside the house where the militants were located, he said. Meanwhile, the Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation, assigning five prosecutors to lead the probe, Turkish Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunc said on social media.

What to expect from new HondurasBy Juan Fernando Herrera RamosAfter more than three weeks since the Honduran elections took place, its National Electoral Council finally certified the new president of Honduras. He also said that he intends to work closely with the US, Taiwan and Israel to promote economic development in Honduras. While controversial, the timing of the pardon was widely interpreted within Honduras as a clear political signal of which party Trump was supporting. At the same time, it reiterated its desire to continue cooperating with the new government on Honduras’ development, conditional on respect for Beijing’s “one China” principle. For Honduras, the choice ahead is not between China and Taiwan in abstract geopolitical terms.

Bondi hero says he wanted to protect ‘innocent people’AFP, SYDNEYBondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed al-Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrestled the gun from him, saying in an interview published yesterday with a US outlet he wanted to protect “innocent people.”Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of targeting a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens in what authorities have described as an anti-Semitic terrorist attack. Despite the tragedy, tales of heroism emerged of those who tried to stop the two gunmen during their deadly rampage. Ahmed al-Ahmed talks to New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns, not pictured, at St George Hospital in Sydney in a photograph released on Dec.16. “My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being’s life and not killing innocent people,” he told CBS News in an interview that aired yesterday. Al-Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.

Myanmar’s USDP wins first phase of pollCONTROVERSY: Western diplomats and the UN rights chief have condemned the vote, citing a crackdown on dissent and a candidate list stacked with military alliesAFP, NAYPYIDAWMyanmar’s dominant pro-military party is “winning a majority” in the first phase of junta-run elections, a party source said yesterday, after democracy watchdogs warned the poll would entrench military rule. The armed forces snatched power in a 2021 coup, but on Sunday opened voting in a phased month-long election they pledge would return power to the people. The military overturned the results of the last poll in 2020 after Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, trounced the USDP. The military and USDP then alleged massive voter fraud, claims which international monitors say were unfounded. However, on Sunday military chief Min Aung Hlaing said the armed forces could be trusted to hand back power to a civilian-led government.

The consumer confidence index (CCI) declined 0.35 points from October to 64.3, leaving the gauge broadly flat, the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development said. Consumer sentiment outlook remains highly sensitive to developments in US tariff policy, which are expected to become clearer in the first quarter of next year, center director Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said. Photo: CNA“Once US tariff policies become clear, the direction of consumer confidence will be either very positive or very negative,” Wu said, underscoring the risk of heightened volatility in sentiment. The government’s business climate monitoring score rose two points from October to 37, remaining in the yellow-red zone for three consecutive months and just one point below a boom. However, gains remained uneven, with AI-related sectors leading growth in exports, production and employment, while traditional industries continued to face headwinds, Chen said.

Sexual harassment case mishandled, female doctors sayBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Taipei Doctors’ Union and two former doctors at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital yesterday accused the hospital of downplaying accusations of sexual harassment and imposing a light penalty on a male executive. Taipei Doctors’ Union president Chen Liang-fu, second right, holds a poster at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo courtesy of the Taipei Doctors’ UnionWhen a female worker was in a recovery room after a miscarriage, the director allegedly rubbed her breasts with his hands, she said. She said the victims had filed sexual harassment complaints with the hospital, but the administration failed to protect the victims, and the grievance committee failed to avoid conflicts of interest. The union said the director is still an official of a doctor’s association, holding academic resources and authority, raising concerns that other young female doctors might be at risk.

EDITORIAL: Truth behind tax revenue surplusTaiwan has had a tax revenue surplus every year since 2021, with last year’s figure reaching NT$528.3 billion (US$16.8 billion), which brought the cumulative surpluses of the past four years to NT$1.87 trillion, Ministry of Finance data showed. It is natural for some people to have such questions, as they mistakenly believe that tax revenue surplus means the government has extra income, but that is not the case. Tax revenue surplus simply means that the tax collected by the government exceeds the amount it projected. On the other hand, this year’s tax revenue shortfall might signal a correction in the structural inaccuracy of the government’s tax revenue forecasting model. The result was that actual tax revenue consistently exceeded the expected amount, creating a structural, excess tax revenue trend that continued year after year.

Watchdog group chooses annual word for legislatureBy Hsieh Chun-lin and Jason Pan / Staff reportersThe word hui (毀, “destroy”) was chosen as this year’s word representing the legislature, Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) said yesterday. Members of the Citizen Congress Watch hold a press conference outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday with a poster showing the character “destroy” as the word representing this year’s legislature. “People are worried about infiltration of enemy state agents and proxies into the legislature to endanger national security and undermine Taiwanese sovereignty,” Hsieh said. The legislative offices are full of leaks, with a number of legislative aides caught stealing and passing secrets to China,” he added. All these actions conspire to open the doors for the enemy state Chinese forces to operate more easily in Taiwan,” Hsieh added.

Chinese exercise is part of two-pronged approachCARROT AND STICK: The exercise likely complements a strategy operating against Taiwan on several different levels, enticing and intimidating by turnsStaff writer, with CNAThe so-called “justice” behind the military exercise launched by China yesterday around Taiwan is absurd, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Photo: Taipei Times file photodimensional deterrence outside the island chain,” a senior PLA officer said in a statement yesterday. The MAC yesterday said the actions of the Chinese Communist Party contradict its proclaimed “global peace initiative,” highlighting its hegemonic nature and intent to change the “status quo.”The MAC said that the military exercises were launched one day after the Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum, indicating that China was engaging in “a carefully orchestrated two-pronged strategy.”“On one hand, it talks about getting closer, while on the other it resorts to military intimidation,” the MAC said. Beijing is a “troublemaker” and a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it said, adding the PLA’s show of force was unacceptable to the people of Taiwan and to the international community. The Twin-City Forum is an annual event that has been held since 2010 to promote city-to-city exchanges between Taipei and Shanghai, with the two cities alternating as host.

Taiwan celebrates Christmas, kind of, once again after 25 yearsTaiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That

Mercury to plunge on New Year’s Day with arrival of cold air massStaff writer, with CNAA strong continental cold air mass will move into Taiwan on New Year’s Day Thursday, sending temperatures plummeting to lows of around 10°C in some areas in the following days, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Beginning tomorrow, the approaching system will bring a chance of rain to northern and eastern Taiwan, with high temperatures ranging from 19-22°C in the north, said CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁). Central and southern Taiwan can expect clear to cloudy conditions tomorrow, with highs of 24-27°C, he said. The cold snap is expected to last through the weekend, with the coldest temperatures forecast for Saturday, when lows will drop to 9-12°C in northern and central Taiwan and 13-15°C in the south. High temperatures Saturday will hover around 14-15°C the north and Yilan, 16-19°C in central Taiwan, and 21°C in the south, Cheng said.

Kyiv offered 15 years of security pledge: Zelenskiy‘SOLID’ GUARANTEES: Any deal to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II ‘must be signed by Ukraine, Russia, the US and Europe,’ Zelenskiy saidAFP, KYIVThe US has offered Ukraine “solid” security guarantees for 15 years with a possibility of an extension, but Kyiv is seeking a longer period, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday after meeting US President Donald Trump. The issue of territory and the future of Ukraine’s Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were the remaining unresolved parts of a plan to end the war, Zelenskiy said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy smiles during a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump, not pictured, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. Kyiv was hoping for a meeting with European and US officials in Ukraine in the “coming days” to work on documents to end the conflict, Zelenskiy said. Any deal to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II “must be signed by Ukraine, Russia, the US and Europe,” he said.