ECONOMY
Fuel prices to rise
State-run oil refiner CPC Corp will raise gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.3 (US$0.01) a liter from tomorrow to reflect its cost as international crude oil prices continued to rise, the company said yesterday. With the latest price adjustment, CPC is offering 92, 95 and 98-grade gasoline at NT$31.2, NT$31.9 and NT$33.4 a liter respectively, and super diesel at NT$29.2 a liter. The company has raised prices of gasoline and diesel products for three consecutive weeks as international crude oil prices continued to rise.
CRIME
Hospital officials post bail
Two detained hospital superintendents were released on bail yesterday after they were charged with bribery over equipment purchases. The two, Chest Hospital superintendent Chung Wei-sheng (鐘威昇) and National Yang Ming University Hospital superintendent Tang Kao-chun (唐高駿), were detained over purchases of CT scanners and digital image processing systems. The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office turned the two over to the court after indicting them on Friday. Prosecutors said both Chung and Tang are ranking officials, but they received bribes from medical equipment suppliers. They are seeking steep punishments for the two and a retrieval of their ill-gotten gains. The Taoyuan District Court, after a screening of their case, ruled early yesterday that Chung and Tang should be released on NT$8 million (US$275,864) and NT$4 million bail, respectively.
POLITICS
KMT elects CSC members
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday elected 32 Central Standing Committee (CSC) members, with 23 of 24 incumbents re-elected. CSC member Yao Jiang-lin (姚江臨), director of the labor union of Taipower, topped the list by winning 1,104 votes, followed by former KMT legislator Hong Yuh-chin (洪玉欽) and TV mogul Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生). KMT Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) failed to win re-election, becoming the only incumbent who did not obtain a seat. Nine members who were elected for the first time included Federation of Aviation Employees director-general Jesse Lee (李昭平) and Nantou Mayor Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華).
HEALTH
Man dies of dengue fever
The Department of Health in Greater -Kaohsiung on Friday confirmed the nation’s first death this year from locally acquired dengue hemorrhagic fever and urged residents to take precautions against the disease. There had been 85 reported cases of locally acquired dengue fever, in addition to the fatality caused by the illness in the city as of Thursday, according to the department. The victim, a 60-year-old male, who lived in the city’s Lingya District (苓雅), was taken to a hospital emergency room on Wednesday suffering from a lack of appetite, bleeding gums and septic shock. He died the same day as a result of multiple organ failure. A postmortem examination confirmed that the man had been infected with dengue hemorrhagic fever, the department said. According to the department, statistics show that older people with chronic disease are more likely to die of the illness, which has a 9.6 percent mortality rate. The department urged residents to see a doctor if they experience muscle or joint pain, fever, headache, fatigue or internal bleeding, which are common dengue fever symptoms.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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