WEATHER
Snow falls on Yushan
Snow fell on the nation’s highest peak, Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山), early yesterday morning as a strong continental cold air mass moved over the island, the Central Weather Bureau said. At 8am, the temperature on the 3,952m-high mountain was minus-0.6oC and the snow had accumulated to 2.5cm, the bureau said. The cold air mass also sent temperatures in low-lying areas in the north plunging to 13oC in the early hours, it said. Meanwhile, the air quality in northern and central Taiwan, Yilan, Hualien, Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu was good to fair yesterday, the Environmental Protection Administration said. However, the air quality index in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County issued an “orange alert,” indicating unhealthy levels for sensitive groups, due to a lack of wind to disperse atmospheric pollutants, the agency said.
JUDICIARY
VP heads selection team
Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) was yesterday appointed to head a committee to select four candidates for the Council of Grand Justices, the Presidential Office said. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has approved the formation of the committee, which is to hold its first meeting tomorrow to seek recommendations from the public, the Presidential Office said in a statement. The four positions are to become vacant on Sept. 30, when the eight-year terms of grand justices Chen Be-yue (陳碧玉), Huang Hsi-chun (黃璽君), Lo Chang-fa (羅昌發) and Tang Te-tsung (湯德宗) end, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said. In accordance with the Constitution, Tsai will put forward four nominees who have to be confirmed by the legislature before being appointed grand justices.
EDUCATION
Robotics team advances
A team of Taiwanese high-school students has advanced to the national championships of a robotics competition in the US after winning at the regional level in San Diego, California, on Saturday. The 30 students from Taoyuan Municipal Nei Li Senior High School will now compete in the “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” (FIRST) championship in Detroit, Michigan, from April 24 to 27. The FIRST robotics competition is a multinational contest, with 3,850 teams, or 96,250 students, participating in competitions held across the US and other parts of the world, the event’s Web site said. The goal is to bring together professionals and young people to solve engineering design problems, the Web site says.
SHIPPING
‘Sama’ to pay for damage
A foreign oil and chemical tanker that accidentally collided with Taiwanese navy vessel Ning Yang on Saturday has signed a document promising to pay full compensation for the damage, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The Saudi Arabia-registered tanker NCC Sama collided with the Ning Yang as it was entering the Port of Keelung after 1am on Saturday, denting the port side bow. No one was hurt in the incident. The Chi Yang-class frigate was docked when the incident occurred and therefore bears no responsibility, the source said, adding that the people in charge of NCC Sama had signed a compensation agreement. The Ning Yang could have sustained damage to its electronic systems and electric wires in addition to the dent, the source said. The compensation the navy is to ask for is to be determined over the next few days after a thorough inspection, the source said.
RAILWAYS
Holiday services announced
An additional 252 train services are to help meet the anticipated spike in traffic around Tomb Sweeping Festival from April 4 to 7, the Taiwan Railways Administration said on Saturday. Bookings for tickets are to open at midnight on Tuesday next week, the agency said, adding that in the east, there would be 82 additional Ziqiang Express services, 15 more Zhuguang Express departures and 11 extra local train departures from April 3 to 8. In the west, there would be 15 additional Ziqiang services, one extra Zhuguang departure and 100 more local services during the holiday, the agency said. Eight more local express trains with reserved seats are to be offered from April 4 to 7 between Shulin and Hualien railway stations, with discount tickets sold for NT$100 and NT$200 for the Taipei-Yilan and Taipei-Hualien routes respectively, it said.
BIOLOGY
Local truffle species studied
Local researchers are seeking to develop techniques to commercially grow the Tuber elevatireticulatum indigenous species of white truffle, the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute said last week. It would take two years to complete a study on artificial production techniques, associate research fellow Fu Chun-hsu (傅春旭) said. Commercial production of the highly sought-after commodity could hopefully be launched within a decade, he said. The species was found as part of a campaign by enthusiastic students to identify Taiwan’s native white truffles, Fu said. His students have found five new truffle species since 2014, including Hydnotrya formosanum and Tuber piceanum. The white truffle’s discovery was published in the scientific journal Botanical Studies, institute Director-General Chang Bin (張彬) said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
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