FEATURES: Sapling adopters aiding restoration of habitatsBy Esme Yeh / Staff reporterIt is not unusual to see lines of people at the FEDS XinYi A13 department store in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), either to visit a popular restaurant or a pop-up shop. The activity was one of 165 events held nationwide, with 90,000 saplings of 98 tree species being given away throughout the Tree-Planting Month. Restoration of endangered species, such as the Taitung firethorn, is another key focus in this year’s sapling giveaways, he said. Most endangered plants are endangered by human activities, climate change or pests and diseases, he said. While Taiwan incense cedar is popular with sapling adopters due to its fragrant branches and leaves, jasmin orange and whole-leaf hawthorn are also widely loved for their colorful fruits, she said.

Military retrieves F-16V black boxStaff writer, with CNAThe military has found and retrieved the flight data recorder of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan in January and is to send it to its manufacturer in the US to decode the data. Air Force Command Headquarters in a statement yesterday said that the salvage company responsible for the mission successfully retrieved the flight data recorder, better known as the black box, in waters off Taiwan on Monday. Air force headquarters in Taipei’s Dazhi area is pictured in an undated photograph. Eight seconds later, the jet’s signal disappeared from radar while it was flying off the coast of Fengbin (豐濱) in Hualien County, the air force said. The air force subsequently set up an emergency response center, and launched a search-and-rescue operation, but it has not been able to find Hsin.

Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata to resign, report saysAP, TOKYOJapan’s national baseball team manager Hirokazu Ibata has said he would step down following Japan’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela in Miami in the quarter-finals of the World Baseball Classic. The newspaper Sports Hochi reported Ibata saying it was his “intention to resign.”Japan are the defending champions and had won the event three times. Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata, front, walks onto the field of play during a practice session before the Pool C games at the World Baseball Classic at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan on March 1. Photo: AP“The result is everything,” Sports Hochi reported Ibata as saying. The MLB players on the Japan team included: Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Seiya Suzuki, Yusei Kikuchi, Masataka Yoshida, Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto and Tomoyuki Sugano.

Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang speaks during a keynote address at the company’s GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California, on Monday. The trillion-dollar sales forecast, fueled by orders from the company’s Blackwell and Rubin chips, offered evidence that demand remains solid. The company had previously forecast that data center gear would bring US$500 billion in sales through the end of this year. Nvidia uses GTC to announce partnerships with companies in a range of industries, aiming to show the increasing benefits of AI. Huang expected Taiwan to be a key part of the supply chain delivering Nvidia’s Vera Rubin architecture.

Asustek shows off smart city tech at expo in TaipeiELECTRIC DREAMS: Smart cities would use ‘virtual power plants,’ which integrate idle electricity use from households, businesses and factories, Asustek saidBy Meryl Kao / Staff reporterAsustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday showcased key components of its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven smart city initiatives at a trade show in Taipei, eyeing new business opportunities as cities develop sovereign AI infrastructure. Advances in generative, multimodal and physical AI are driving cities toward a new phase of “sovereign AI,” Asustek cochief executive officer Samson Hu (胡書賓) told reporters on the sidelines of the Smart City Summit and Expo at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 2. The company showcased its “AI City” framework, which comprises three layers — computing infrastructure centered on AI servers, AI models and a platform layer for data processing and integration. AI City initiatives are expected to generate multi-layered business opportunities as AI demand becomes more distributed, and extends to edge computing and Internet of Things devices, he said. The company has formed a “smart city national team” with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and more than 30 Taiwanese firms to advance AI City solutions, he added.

Afghanistan says about 400 killed in Pakistani airstrikeAFP, KABULThe Afghan government yesterday said that about 400 people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in the capital, Kabul, in the deadliest attack in months of violence between the two neighbors. A Taliban member guards the scene of alleged Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul yesterday. Photo: EPAThey then saw more than 65 removed yesterday as rescuers picked through the rubble in the search for victims and survivors. Chairs, blankets, pieces of hospital beds and human remains could be seen in the blackened ruins of the rehabilitation center as dawn broke. “I heard the sound of the jet patrolling,” Omid Stanikzai, 31, a security guard at the drug treatment center said.

Fubon expects solid year despite Mideast tensionsBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterFubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) on Monday forecast earnings to remain solid this year, driven by strong performance in its core businesses and equity investments — including artificial intelligence (AI)-related sectors — even as geopolitical tensions and market volatility pose potential risks. From left, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co president Tim Kuo, Fubon Financial Holding Co president Jerry Harn and Fubon Life Insurance Co executive vice president Chao Tsai-ling attend an earnings conference in Taipei on Monday. Against that backdrop, Fubon Financial said its dividend policy would remain unchanged, maintaining a 40-50 percent payout ratio primarily through cash dividends. Strong equity market performance continued to support its key subsidiary, Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽). Another major subsidiary Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co (台北富邦銀行) reported a record profit of NT$36.34 billion last year, rising 19.5 percent from a year earlier.

Israel says it killed two Iranian security officialsAP, DUBAI, United Arab EmiratesIsrael yesterday said that it killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes in a major blow to the nation’s leadership. Tehran defiantly fired new salvos of missiles and drones at its Persian Gulf neighbors and Israel in a war that showed no signs of abating. Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and General Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, were “eliminated last night,” Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said. An Emirates aircraft prepares for landing as a smoke plume rises from a fire near Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday. An Iranian official defiantly said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil.

A different expression of excellenceBy Liu Che-ting 劉哲廷On March 8, the world witnessed three champions in a single day. They did not compete under the name “Taiwan,” but the name “Chinese Taipei” used by the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. Taiwan’s world champions often seem built differently. Political science often treats “national identity” as a grand narrative — as if it must be validated by constitutions, treaties or diplomatic recognition. Sociology has long said otherwise: the most stable forms of national identity are rarely found in declarations.

Taipei hospital to launch gender-friendly clinic, bilingual counselingBy Tsai Kai-heng and Hollie Younger / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaipei City Hospital said its Songde branch plans to introduce a specialized outpatient clinic for gender minorities and offer self-paid Chinese and English counseling sessions from next month. The hospital said that it would also offer counseling in English to account for Taiwan’s increasing demand for bilingual services. Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei TimesIt hopes to create a respectful, gender-inclusive environment for gender minorities, delivering services with cultural sensitivity and professional understanding, the hospital said. Gender minorities often face psychological issues due to discrimination, prejudice and identity struggles pertaining to their gender or sexual orientation, both growing up and in their everyday lives, it said. These pressures can lead to increased rates of depression, anxiety and sleep disorders, it said.

Labor ministry to offer consultations for gender discriminationBy Sam Garcia / Staff writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Labor today announced that it would launch a consultation service for people who experience gender-related discrimination in the workplace, hoping to encourage more people to speak up. The ministry commissioned the Legal Aid Foundation to set up a video consultation service for the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別平等工作法) so that people who have experienced workplace discrimination can consult labor and legal professionals one-on-one. Legal Aid Foundation CEO Chou Han-wei, left, and Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment head Huang Chi-ya introduce a workplace discrimination consultation service at a news conference in Taipei today. The consultations would cover all parts of the Gender Equality in Employment Act, including regulations on prenatal checkup leave, maternity leave, pregnancy leave, parental leave and leave for one’s spouse, the ministry said. The regulations prohibit employers from discriminating against job seekers or employees based on gender, pregnancy or sexual orientation, and encompass workplace sexual harassment prevention, it said.

The salvage company responsible for the mission retrieved the flight data recorder, also known as the black box, in waters off Taiwan yesterday, the air force said. It did not disclose the exact location where the black box was found, but it said that the device had been moved ashore and would be sent for decoding to determine the cause of the plane's disappearance. Rescue workers search for a missing air force F-16V off the coast of Hualien County in January. Hsin soon reported that the aircraft was losing altitude, the air force said. The air force set up an emergency response center and launched a search-and-rescue operation, but did not find Hsin.

Culture ministry launches year-long festival campaignBy Hollie Younger / Staff writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Culture today announced the TAIWANder campaign, a year-long marathon of 12 art, theater and cultural festivals across Taiwan from this month until early next year. The lineup would also feature the Dear Moon Deaf Festival Taiwan for deaf theater performers and the Taiwan International Firemosa Festival, a fire arts festival, both to be held later this year. Dancers from the troupe ComingTrue on Oct. 13 last year promote the International Firemosa Festival in Tainan. Photo courtesy of the Tainan City GovernmentThe Mattauw Earth Triennial arts festival, the Dance Now Asia festival, the Kaohsiung International Puppet Festival, the Nan Ying International Folklore Festival and the Kaohsiung International Steel and Iron Sculpture Festival would also feature later in the program. That would in turn promote the long-term sustainability of arts festivals, support local cultural tourism and stimulate domestic demand, it added.

French walnut oil stopped at border over banned additiveStaff writer, with CNAA 30kg shipment of walnut oil imported from France was recently blocked at the border after tests found it contained the color additive copper chlorophyllin A, which is banned in edible oils. The walnut oil was imported by a Taiwanese company that advertised its products as natural, non-toxic and environmentally friendly, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today. However, testing showed that the oil contained 0.1 parts per million of copper chlorophyllin A, which is not permitted in edible oil products under the Standards for Specification, Scope, Application and Limitation of Food Additives (食品添加物使用範圍及限量暨規格標準), the agency said. French walnut oil is pictured in an undated photograph. The importer is to face stricter inspections of its shipments, while walnut oil products from France are also to face heightened scrutiny at the border.

Second US arms package proceeding on schedule: defense ministerBy Ben Blanchard and Roger Tung / Reuters, TAIPEIMinister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) today said he believed the US' internal review process for the sale of a second arms package to Taiwan is proceeding on schedule. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo speaks to reporters outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei today. "As we understand it, their internal review procedures are proceeding on schedule," he said. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month told Trump that arms sales to Taiwan must be handled with "prudence." The US, which in December last year unveiled a US$11 billion sale of weapons to Taiwan, has not formally ‌unveiled a second package.