Electricity, fuel prices to remain unchangedBy Lin Ching-hua / Staff reporterGasoline and diesel prices are to remain unchanged this week from tomorrow, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday amid the ongoing Middle East conflict and rising global oil prices. The electricity rate next month would also remain unchanged after the Ministry of Economic Affairs rejected Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) initial plan to first freeze electricity rates next month before holding an extraordinary review in June. Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei TimesThe CPC Corp, Taiwan said that rising concerns over crude oil supply disruptions due to Iran’s continued interference in the Strait of Hormuz have pushed up international oil prices. However, to maintain the lowest regional prices and with diesel subject to an “emergency gradual increase” mechanism, domestic fuel prices are to remain frozen from tomorrow, it said. Electricity prices in the past few years have been raised five times, and with stable oil and gas costs, Taipower earned a post-tax profit of NT$72.9 billion last year, sources said.

Iran war entering decisive phase: IsraelAFP, BAGHDADIsrael yesterday said the war against Iran was entering its “decisive phase,” as explosions rocked cities across the Middle East, with strikes on the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility. Photo: APIsraeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said the war was entering a “decisive phase,” even if he cautioned that it would “continue as long as necessary.”Yet, despite facing superior US and Israeli firepower, Iran appears determined to fight on. Israel’s army warned people in an industrial zone of Tabriz in northern Iran to evacuate, signaling an imminent attack. The UN Refugee Agency has estimated that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran since the war started. Beyond the Gulf, Turkey said NATO forces shot down a ballistic missile launched from Iran — the third such interception in the war.

Photo: AFPFor Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who heads to Norway next Friday to observe arctic defense drills involving troops from 14 NATO states, Canada’s extreme north has emerged as a strategic priority. “Canada is and forever will be an Arctic nation,” he said ahead of the trip. The more immediate risk is that Washington might conclude Canada is incapable of defending the Arctic, compelling the US military to take charge, he said. The ships are designed to operate in the harshest Arctic conditions, equipped for intelligence gathering, search-and-rescue as well as scientific exploration. The Seaspan ship “can go anywhere in the Canadian Arctic any time of the year, which is a very difficult requirement to meet,” Hargreaves said.

A history of institutional amnesiaBy Liu Che-ting 劉哲廷The Ministry of Education recently launched an online learning resource on transitional justice. However, the challenge that transitional justice faces is not that of a missing history class on the 228 Incident. While accountability remains hazy, the historical violence can be romanticized all too easily. Transitional justice has never been a question of just education — it is also about politics and ethics. Without this as a bare minimum, democracy is lost to institutional amnesia.

British students bending under student debt loadBy Marie Heuclin / AFP, LONDONGina Tindale, 22, graduated from college ￡90,000 (US$119,113) in debt, a common experience across the UK, where young people saddled with huge debts are calling for a reform of the student loan system. The British parliament’s treasury committee has launched an inquiry into the student loan system, acknowledging the “intense dissatisfaction” among graduates. Hillier said there was a risk it was “placing the burden unfairly on younger people” — in what some critics have termed a “graduate tax,” arguing it unfairly burdens college graduates. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, young graduates are on average ￡53,000 in debt. The government led by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer introduced a ￡1,000 maintenance grant starting in 2028 for students from low-income households.

The phrase was a warning by the KMT regime to the local populace not to challenge its power or threaten national unity. The Penghu Incident does not have the notoriety or historical profile of the 228 Incident that occurred two years earlier. However, both are symptomatic of the historical trauma that continues to plague attempts at national unity in Taiwan. The CCP, too, continues to seek national unity in its own country, but very differently from how the problem is being addressed in Taiwan. Arthur Chang (張崇廉), a lieutenant colonel in the navy reserve, writes about transitional justice and the need to avoid seeking retribution, even though closure relies on accountability of the protagonist.

Seoul says N Korea launched about 10 ballistic missilesSEOUL, AFPNorth Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. The Japanese Ministry of Defense also confirmed North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles that reached a maximum altitude of about 80km and fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone near the Korean Peninsula’s east coast. It also ordered agencies to maintain readiness, as the launch occurred during the joint US-South Korea military drills. The number of the missiles launched yesterday was unusual, and that the timing was notable, analysts said. Earlier this week, Kim Yo-jong, a powerful confidante of her brother, Kim Jong-un, said the joint drills “may cause unimaginably terrible consequences.”

Improving women’s rights drives economic gainsThis year’s International Women’s Day explored the theme of “Give to gain,” demonstrating how investing in women’s rights generates high returnsBy Anisha Chugh, Laura Leonelli Morey, and Teresa Zapeta MenAcross the Global South, painful austerity measures such as benefit caps, pay freezes and subsidy cuts have followed donor governments’ recent cuts to foreign aid. If national budgets do not account for women’s rights, fiscal frameworks would continue to create vulnerabilities. The Women’s Fund Asia complements efforts by migrant and informal workers to organize for fair wages and social protection. The economic case for boosting investment in women’s rights organizations, and for ensuring that financing and budget decisions improves women’s safety and autonomy, has long been settled. Investing in women’s rights is not charity; it is a form of giving that generates outsize gains for all.

Police warn of pitfalls of online night adventure tripsBy Lu Yun-feng and Jason Pan / Staff reportersSindian police cautioned people joining “treasure-hunting” or “night adventure” trips organized by online groups after two groups of young people were arrested last month for trespassing. The closed Naluwan Spring Resort Hotel in New Taipei City’s Wulai District is pictured in an undated photograph. “Night adventure” trips have become popular online among people looking for thrills and excitement from exploring abandoned places, reportedly haunted houses or shuttered or derelict amusement parks, police said. Sindian police said they have checked and verified that the Wulai hotel is only temporarily closed and not abandoned property. “People must not blindly believe online rumors and misinformation and risk being arrested for engaging in illegal activities,” they added.

Australian first to be found guilty of foreign interferenceAFP, SYDNEYAn Australian man who worked in China was found guilty of reckless foreign interference by a Sydney court yesterday, the first conviction for the offense. Marketing executive Alexander Csergo, 59, was arrested by Australian police in Sydney in 2023, shortly after he returned from living in Shanghai. RECKLESS INTERFERENCEHe was the first person charged with the crime of reckless foreign interference, which carries a maximum 15-year prison term. The law was introduced in 2018, criminalizing activity that helps a foreign power interfere with Australia’s sovereignty or national interest. A jury found Csergo guilty yesterday, a court official said.

New exhibition shows plaster casts of Pompeii victims‘IMPRINTS OF PAIN’: The recreation technique preserves the position, expression of pain and clothing details of the victims, making them unique testimoniesAP, POMPEII, ItalyMore than 20 plaster casts of victims who died in the catastrophic volcano eruption in Pompeii, Italy, went on display for the first time on Thursday in a permanent exhibition. The casts, which academics call “imprints of pain,” dramatically capture the exact position each resident of the city died in 79 AD. The reproductions were created by pouring liquid plaster into the voids left by the decomposed bodies in the hardened ash. Photo: APInvented by Giuseppe Fiorelli in 1863, the recreation technique faithfully preserves the position, expression of pain and clothing details of the victims, making them unique testimonies. The city of Pompeii was covered by ash, then later solidified by pyroclastic flows.

Ex-rapper’s party wins election in Nepal by landslideReuters, KATHMANDUA three-year-old party won Nepal’s general election by a landslide, authorities said, positioning its candidate Balendra Shah to become the next prime minister, with a mandate for the rapper-turned-politician to restore political stability. Rastriya Swatantra Party election candidate Balendra Shah, center, holds his certificate following his election win in Damak, Nepal, on Saturday last week. Photo: AFPShah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won 182 seats in the 275-member parliament, the Election Commission said on Thursday, the largest majority of any party in more than six decades. “The mandate has made us very responsible.”The election relegated the oldest party, the Nepali Congress, to a distant second place with just 38 seats, while the Communist Party of Nepal of former Nepalese prime minister K.P. Former Nepalese chief justice Sushila Karki succeeded Oli as the interim prime minister tasked with holding the election.

Kaohsiung-Kumamoto delegation attends US forumINDISPENSABLE PARTNERS: Kumamoto’s vice governor said he appreciated Kaohsiung’s joint delegation to the US idea, as it demonstrated the nations’ determination to cooperateStaff writer, with CNAA delegation organized by Kaohsiung and Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture on Thursday attended a semiconductor forum in Arizona, where they highlighted the importance of supply chain diversification in the fast-changing global economy. The Kaohsiung City Government yesterday said Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) led the delegation to meet with Arizona Commerce Authority president Sandra Watson and attend a semiconductor roundtable forum. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, front row, fifth left, poses with members of a Kaohsiung-Kumamoto joint delegation in Arizona on Thursday. Also at the forum, Kumamoto Vice Governor Shingi Takeuchi said he appreciated Kaohsiung’s idea to form a joint delegation to the US, as the visit has demonstrated the determination of the three economies to cooperate. The mayors met to discuss housing, homelessness and crime prevention, the Taichung City Government said.

TSMC nets nearly 70% of 2025 foundry marketStaff writer, with CNATaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) share of the global foundry market rose to almost 70 percent last year amid booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI), market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Thursday. The contract chipmaker posted US$122.54 billion in revenue, up 36.1 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 69.9 percent of the global market, TrendForce said. A man walks past the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co logo outside one of the firm’s buildings in Hsinchu on Feb. 10. The global foundry market’s 10 largest firms generated US$169.47 billion in combined sales last year, up 26.3 percent from a year earlier. Rounding out the top 10 were: Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd (US$1.57 billion, 0.89 percent), Taiwan’s Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進, US$1.56 billion, 0.89 percent), China’s NexChip Co (合晶集成, US$1.51 billion, 0.86 percent), and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電, US$1.40 billion, 0.80 percent).

Legislative unity, erasing differenceBy Khedroob ThondupChina’s latest draft law on “promoting ethnic unity and progress” is presented as a benign effort to improve cohesion among its 56 recognized ethnic groups. This shift has profound implications — not only for minority rights within China, but for the international system that Beijing increasingly seeks to reshape. What was once framed as “unity in diversity” is recast as “unity through uniformity.”In practice, this legal framework legitimizes restrictions on minority-language education, religious practice and cultural expression. China is a signatory to international treaties that protect minority rights, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The new law directly conflicts with these obligations, signaling Beijing’s willingness to prioritize sovereignty and “national unity” over international norms.