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).
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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