■ AVIATION
CAL fined over cargo
China Airlines (CAL) was fined NT$200,000 yesterday for failing to apply to ship 15 loads of iridium-192 to Singapore, the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) said yesterday. The shipment originated from the US and was bound for Singapore, the AEC said. According to Management of Radioactive Material, Equipment Capable of Producing Ionizing Radiation and Practice regulations, shipments that transfer through Taiwan and contain radioactive material must be approved by the AEC beforehand. Failure to abide by the regulations can result in fines of between NT$600,000 and NT$3 million (US$90,000). CAL said it had applied for approval to ship hazardous items, but because of a lack of experience did not realize it also had to apply to ship radioactive materials. Taking this into consideration, the AEC lowered the fine.
■ CRIME
Pageant probed
Prosecutors said yesterday they were investigating claims that a pageant organizer conned a beauty contest by claiming that his Australian models came from various countries. Models claiming to be from 24 countries took part in the contest in Taiwan last week, but organizer Huang Chih-hui (黃智慧) later found that at least nine women, including ethnic Bosnian winner Esma Voloder, were from Australia. Huang said she had been fooled by the scam, having paid for airfares, hotel accommodation and other activities for the women for what was supposed to be an international event. A spokesman for Taoyuan District Prosecutor’s Office said it was probing fraud and document forgery charges against Australian organizer Gavin Dooley.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Hu takes bus to work
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) commuted to work by public bus yesterday — the first day of the city’s six-month free public bus program to promote the bus system. The city’s transport department began offering two free bus packages, which will run through Nov. 17 and include offering users of the “Taiwan Easy Go” free bus rides on seven newly launched routes along the city’s planned Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) system’s proposed lines. The other package grants card-users the right to ride public buses downtown free of charge between 7am and 9am and from 5pm to 7pm Monday to Friday, the city government said. Speaking at City Hall, Hu told senior officials he was satisfied with the new program.
■ SPORTS
Miaoli cyclist wins challenge
An Olympic cyclist from Miaoli County won the men’s category of a 72km bicycle challenge on the new Cross-Island Highway in central Taiwan on Sunday. A total of 4,711 athletes took part in the event, which was divided into two parts — a competition group of 170 contestants, including 30 from overseas and a challenge group of 4,541 cyclists. The foreign cyclists came from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The race started at Shuili Junior High School at 5am and the cyclists rode uphill along Highway 21 to the finish at the Tatajia Tourist Center in Yushan National Park. Feng Chun-kai (馮俊凱), 21, an Olympic athlete and a student at National Taiwan Sport University, completed the race along the winding mountain road in a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 29 seconds to take the first prize. In the women’s category, Tseng Hsiao-chia (曾筱嘉), 22, from Taichung County, captured the title, completing the route in 2 hours, 32 minutes and 8 seconds.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
RSS