HEALTH
Dengue cases reach 102
The number of dengue fever cases nationwide reached 102 as of yesterday, after 10 new indigenous cases were confirmed, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Six of the 10 new cases were in Taichung, three in Changhua County and one in Kaohsiung, the CDC said, adding that the youngest patient is a teenager and the oldest a septuagenarian. Taichung has been hardest hit by the mosquito-borne disease this year, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, attributing the situation to people not reporting their conditions to health authorities in a timely manner. The first dengue fever case in the city this year was traced back to Aug. 3, but city public health officials received no report until Aug. 20, he said.
AVIATION
Taoyuan-HK busiest route
The flight route between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport last year recorded the highest number of passengers among international air routes worldwide, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. The route carried 5.4 million passengers, up 1.8 percent from 2016, the IATA said in its yearly industry performance report last week. It was followed by Jakarta-Singapore (3.3 million) and Bangkok-Hong Kong (3.1 million). The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route (2.8 million) and the Hong Kong-Seoul route (2.7 million) rounded out the top five, the report said. Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region last year carried the highest number of passengers at 1.5 billion, a 36.3 percent market share and an increase of 10.6 percent from 2016, it said.
TECHNOLOGY
Space tech earns praise
Taiwanese satellites and spacecraft components have proved popular at the Bengaluru Space Expo in India, with several foreign experts expressing an interest in working with Taiwan, a top official said on Saturday. Taiwan demonstrated its strength in space technology at the show, said Henry Chen (陳和賢), director of the Science and Technology Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India. Taiwan’s locally developed miniature satellites received high praise, while a number of Indian academics and industry experts have begun exploring opportunities to cooperate with Taiwan, Chen said. The biennial space expo, the largest of its kind in Asia, was held from Thursday to Saturday, with more than 100 exhibitors, space agency representatives and delegates from Taiwan, the US, France, Russia and other countries taking part.
EDUCATION
Salvadorean student stays
A Salvadorean student has decided to continue studying in Taiwan, despite the two nations severing diplomatic ties last month. Three Salvadorean students had planned to enroll at Tainan-based National Cheng Kung University this semester, but following the severing of ties between the two nations on Aug. 21, two of them withdrew from their programs. However, Janeth Ramirez said she wanted to keep studying at the university’s department of chemistry, the school said. When asked why she wanted to continue studying in Taiwan, Ramirez said she has become accustomed to the lifestyle in Taiwan and found Taiwanese very approachable and friendly. The Salvadorean government has agreed to pay her food, accommodation and other living expenses until she completes her program, so she only needs to cover her tuition fees, Ramirez said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
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
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
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
RSS