Climate crisis requires cooperation
Climate crisis requires cooperationBy Phathara-on WesaratThis year, most of the world’s oceans have higher temperatures than the average temperatures in the past two years. Climate change affects human activities, and disproportionately impacts those who are disadvantaged, such as poor people. Climate change is a world emergency, as the world has shifted to the era of global boiling. Therefore, corrective and preventive actions against climate change must be implemented immediately. Whereas climate change technologies are required to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many countries, especially developing countries, do not have access to such technologies.
Source:Taipei Times
May 17, 2024 16:58 UTC
Zverev beats injury scare to reach Rome semi-finals
Zverev beats injury scare to reach Rome semi-finalsAFP, ROMEAlexander Zverev on Wednesday reached his 18th ATP Masters semi-final in Rome, but only after a worrying fall which sparked memories of the horror injury he had at the French Open two years ago. German Alexander Zverev falls during his Italian Open quarter-final match against Taylor Fritz of the US at Foro Italico in Rome on Wednesday. Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka hits the ball during her Italian Open quarter-final match against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko at Foro Italico in Rome on Wednesday. As well as Djokovic’s exit, Italian world No. The Belarusian will next take on Miami Open winner Danielle Collins of the US who eased past Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3.
Source:Taipei Times
May 17, 2024 00:40 UTC
Officials warn about magpie attacks
Officials warn about magpie attacksBy Tung Kuan-yi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerPedestrians can protect their heads from magpie attacks by using a hat or an umbrella, or avoid areas frequented by the birds altogether, New Taipei City officials said yesterday. The comments came days after a video showing a magpie diving at a person walking a dog sparked public interest, with New Taipei City Councilor Lu Chia-kai (呂家愷) calling on the authorities to warn the public about the birds. The bird shown in the video is a Formosan blue magpie, New Taipei City Animal Protection and Quarantine Office Director Yang Shu-fang (楊淑方) said. People walking near an area claimed by a magpie should not turn their back to the bird and protect themselves, she said. The office has received three reports of magpie attacks in Sansia (三峽), Shulin (樹林) and Sindian (新店) districts, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 17, 2024 00:38 UTC
ASML’s new machines are too expensive: TSMC
ASML’s new machines are too expensive: TSMCBloombergASML Holding NV’s new advanced chip machines have a daunting price tag, said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), one of the Dutch company’s biggest clients. “The cost is very high,” TSMC senior vice president Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, referring to ASML’s latest system known as high-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Zhang said TSMC’s so-called A16 node technology, which is due in late 2026, would not need to use ASML’s high-NA EUV machines and can continue to rely on TSMC’s older EUV equipment. He declined to comment on when the firm would start ordering high-NA EUV machines from ASML. It is also pushing into the foundry market — selling outsourced chip manufacturing — an area where TSMC dominates.
Source:Taipei Times
May 15, 2024 18:39 UTC
Ukraine’s IT Army a model to adopt
Ukraine’s IT Army a model to adoptBy David KirichenkoAs Ukraine leads the global fight for democracy, Taiwan, facing a potential war with China, should draw lessons from Ukraine’s cyberwarfare success. However, Taipei should also consider Ukraine’s effective digital warfare, notably the “IT [information technology] Army,” a decentralized force instrumental in Kyiv’s cybercampaigns. This led to the formation of the IT Army under the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation, a pre-emptive move Taiwan should replicate before facing threats. The IT Army has played an important role in Ukraine’s cyberoffensives. The Ukrainian IT Army has proved to be an effective fighting force against Russia in the cyber realm.
Source:Taipei Times
May 15, 2024 17:36 UTC
Adimmune Corp. signs benefit-sharing agreement with WHO
Adimmune Corp. signs benefit-sharing agreement with WHOStaff Writer, with CNATaiwan-based vaccine maker Adimmune Corp. on Tuesday announced it has signed an agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) to receive early biological samples of emerging influenza variants. In a press release, Adimmune said it had signed the pact, known as a Standard Material Transfer Agreement 2 (SMTA2) under the WHO’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework. The contract will allow Adimmune to receive biological samples of new influenza viruses with pandemic potential from the WHO, thus giving it a head start on developing vaccines or antiviral drugs, the company said. The name of Adimmune Corp is pictured at the company’s headquarters in Taichung in an undated photograph. In signing the pact, Adimmune became the first Taiwanese pharmaceutical company to enter an influenza- related material transfer agreement with the WHO, and only the 14th worldwide, the company said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 14, 2024 21:47 UTC
Suhua Highway project progressing
Suhua Highway project progressingBy Chen Chia-yi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAA project to bolster the east coast Suhua Highway against natural disasters yesterday passed a preliminary environmental impact assessment, after a Ministry of Environment committee ordered more precautions to be added to protect woodlands and rivers. The project entails buttressing sections of the highway left out of a previous road improvement plan completed four years ago, Directorate-General of Highways Director Chen Wen-juei (陳文瑞) told the committee in Taipei. Construction equipment moves dirt along the Chongde section of the Suhua Highway in Hualien County in an undated photograph. It urged bureau planners to come up with solutions that would help preserve or increase biodiversity as part of the project. Strengthening the highway against natural disasters is crucial for increasing Taiwan’s resilience amid a worsening climate crisis, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 14, 2024 21:45 UTC
China targeting citizens abroad for political activism
China targeting citizens abroad for political activismAFP, LONDONChina is targeting citizens studying abroad for their political activism, rights group Amnesty International said yesterday, with some students reporting harassment of family members back home. China does not tolerate political dissent and has used sophisticated tech tools and intimidation to crack down on domestic protesters and activists. Moreover, Beijing’s curbs on political activism are increasingly expanding abroad in the form of “transnational repression,” Amnesty International said in a report, citing interviews with dozens of students in eight European and North American countries. Photo: ReutersOverseas students reported that family members in China received threats after they attended events abroad, including commemorations of the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, the group said. It has previously rejected claims that it targets citizens living abroad, insisting that it respects other countries’ sovereignty and that any policing operations are conducted in accordance with the law.
Source:Taipei Times
May 14, 2024 00:36 UTC
We can create more inclusive technology
However, technology should be based on human needs, regardless of whether the people it serves are familiar with the latest technology or not. Softbank’s solution for this family blends modern technology with traditional interfaces to cleverly “upgrade” the old couple’s home devices. In addition to Cloud VHS, Softbank also created a number of similar designs that combine modern technology with traditional interactive interfaces. We tend to view new and old technologies as polar opposites, believing that old devices should be discarded, ignoring that many in our society are unable to learn new technologies quickly. Through the concept of human-centered design, we can create more inclusive and universal technology products, so that everyone can benefit from them.
Source:Taipei Times
May 13, 2024 16:37 UTC
Panama’s new president inherits a success story gone wrong
Little did he know that by the time his term was about to end this year, all the pillars that made Panama the most successful Latin American economy of the past 30 years would be shaking. Despite doubling the region’s average GDP per capita this century and achieving the income levels of an Eastern European country, Panama remains embroiled in the same difficulties as its neighbors. The good news is that unlike some of his regional peers, Mulino is biased in favor of the private sector. Mulino needs to solve his Martinelli problem quickly, and rally the broad-based support necessary to put Panama back on the path to prosperity. Juan Pablo Spinetto is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin American business, economic affairs and politics.
Source:Taipei Times
May 13, 2024 16:37 UTC
Australia is making big investments in defense
Australia is making big investments in defenseBy Ray Song 宋磊Following China’s rapid rise in the past few years, its People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has already changed the face of the first island chain. These developments pose credible and realistic threats to countries strung along the first and second island chains. Additionally, plans to build nuclear submarines benefit Australia’s national defense industry development. Since Australia is a small-to-medium-sized country in the region, its national security needs are shaped by threats beyond its immediate environment. To improve national security, the Australian government and military are taking the initiative to invest heavily in their defense.
Source:Taipei Times
May 12, 2024 16:38 UTC
What explains the BJP’s rise?
What explains the BJP’s rise? Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — the world’s largest political party — is widely expected to win. India’s direct benefits program is by far the most tangible source of the BJP’s mass appeal. In the 2019 election, members who switched from rival parties to the BJP won 56.52 percent of the time, compared to 14.9 percent for those who switched to other parties. The BJP would need to guard against the pathologies of incumbency, lest it starts looking like Congress, once a great political party whose relevance is currently being questioned by many.
Source:Taipei Times
May 12, 2024 16:38 UTC
Thanks, tourists; views of Mount Fuji are now blocked
The government has been promoting the country to foreign visitors for years with immense success. Yet from increasingly unaffordable hotels to suitcase-clogged streets becoming nigh-unwalkable, the downsides are mounting for ordinary residents. Many of the country’s iconic experiences, from the Mount Fuji convenience store to shooting video at Shibuya’s “Scramble Crossing,” simply do not cost any money. The country needs to grapple with these problems before over-tourism replaces omotenashi. Japan needs fixes better than simply blocking everything off.
Source:Taipei Times
May 11, 2024 17:47 UTC
The PLA’s strategic force reorganization
The PLA’s strategic force reorganizationBy Antonio GraceffoOn April 19, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) decommissioned the Strategic Support Force (SSF), a unit that originated from the PLA Rocket Force in 2015. It will be replaced with three co-equal forces—the Aerospace Force, Cyberspace Force, and Information Support Force (ISF). The elimination of the SSF and the creation of the ISF are part of a broader military reorganization, resulting in the PLA’s new structure of four services — Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force —supported by four forces directly under the supreme Central Military Commission (CMC): the existing Joint Logistics Support Force (JLSF), plus the three new forces — the Aerospace Force (ASF), Cyberspace Force (CSF) and Information Support Force (ISF). The decommissioning of the Strategic Support Force (SSF) suggests that China’s military leadership felt the SSF was not optimized for modern needs. Experts believe the ISF will closely collaborate with the Aerospace Force (ASF) and Cyberspace Force (CSF).
Source:Taipei Times
May 11, 2024 17:47 UTC
Air force conducts live-fire exercises before inauguration
Air force conducts live-fire exercises before inaugurationAFP, TAIPEITaiwan’s air force conducted live-fire training exercises deploying fighter jets, missiles and laser-guided bombs, the Military News Agency said yesterday, releasing footage of the drills 10 days before the inauguration of a new president China calls a “dangerous separatist.”The May 20 inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) would be closely watched globally. The Ministry of National Defense-affiliated Military News Agency said yesterday that Taipei’s air force had conducted routine training exercises for its jet pilots “to enhance precision strike capabilities in aerial combat,” without specifying when. Footage released by the agency showed personnel loading the projectiles — which had “US Air Force” displayed on them — under the wings of the jets. A pilot then released the missiles from the fighter jet, and the video footage showed an explosion in the waters around Penghu. Thursday’s show of maritime force was “the fourth formation of Chinese coast guard ships sailing in Kinmen waters” in May, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 10, 2024 18:40 UTC