TECHNOLOGY
Taiwan wins big in Seoul
Taiwan on Friday won a grand prize, 22 golds, 25 silvers and 34 bronze awards, as well as five special prizes at the Seoul International Invention Fair. A delegation of 146 people, led by the Taiwan Invention Association, participated in the fair, taking with them 97 inventions. Taiwanese biotech company TCI won the grand prize, the highest award at the fair. Taipei City University of Science and Technology was the biggest winner among those in the delegation, taking home seven golds, three silvers and five bronzes, as well as two special prizes awarded by South Korea and Thailand. A special prize is given by a foreign country to an outstanding and interesting invention. Most of Taiwan’s entries this year were in the biotechnology category, the association said.
SOCIETY
One dead, 6 hurt in crash
A scooter driver died after being struck from behind by a car in Kaohsiung’s Sanmin District (三民) yesterday, the district’s second police precinct said. Six other people were injured in the collision, which occurred on Dingli Road at about 8am, police said. A 67-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) allegedly hit eight scooter drivers from behind as they were waiting for the traffic light to change, police said. A male scooter driver who was pinned against a roadside transformer box by the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, adding that Tseng had immediately been arrested.
TRANSPORTATION
MRT records 13bn rides
The Taipei MRT system recorded its 13 billionth passenger on Friday, with the individual able to travel free of charge on MRT trains for a year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The passenger, who entered Zhongxiao Fuxing Station at 7:50pm to travel to Xindian Station, also won a free night in the Crystal Resort at Sun Moon Lake’s presidential suite, which is worth NT$88,000, the company said in a statement. The five passengers who traveled before and after the winner would each receive a free 30-day TPass, TRTC said. The winners were decided based on the time they entered an MRT station using an electronic card, but also had to be registered MRT members, the company said. Passenger volume on the MRT system, which was introduced in 1996, is expected to top 700 million this year, it said.
CRIME
Migrants arrested for drugs
Two Vietnamese who went missing from their legally designated place of employment have been arrested, during which narcotics were seized from them, Taichung police said yesterday. The two suspects, surnamed Chu and Nguyen, were arrested in late September after a tip-off was received about their whereabouts, police said. Officers disguised themselves as buyers and contacted Chu, 29, and Nguyen, 26, and set up a meeting for a drug deal at a karaoke bar where the arrests were made, police said. The suspects were caught with a variety of drugs, including ketamine and amphetamines, as well as NT$30,000 in cash, they said. Chu and Nguyen worked at a processing factory, but left in October last year after complaining of low pay, police said, adding that during interviews they admitted to later selling drugs to make a living. Meanwhile, a court granted a request by prosecutors to detain the two suspects, as they are being investigated for contravening the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
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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