LOTTERY
Lottery prizes top NT$1bn
Taiwan Lottery yesterday announced that it is give out prizes worth NT$1.05 billion (US$31.88 million) for the Lunar New Year. That would be a record high for the Lunar New Year lottery. Prizes are to be drawn daily over 20 days, from Jan. 24 to Feb. 12, Taiwan Lottery president Hsieh Chih-hung (謝志宏) said. The lotteries include the Lotto 6/49, Daily Cash, 39Mark5, 49Mark6, Pick 3, Pick 4 and Bingo Bingo, he said. The top prize for Lotto 6/49, in which buyers have to pick six numbers from 49 numbers, is to be NT$100 million, Hsieh said. Those who pick six out of the nine numbers drawn for the Lunar New Year’s Big Red Envelope would have a chance to win up to NT$1 million from a total prize pot of NT$480 million, he said. Those who match five out of nine numbers and pick the correct number for the Lunar New Year’s Small Red Envelope draw would have a chance to win up to NT$100,000 from a total prize pot of NT$80 million, he added. Additionally, the prizes for Bingo Bingo, in which ticket buyers bet on numbers every five minutes, would be increased.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
SOCIETY
Boat captain drowns at sea
The captain of the Pingtung County-registered Ying Feng 32 died after the vessel capsized yesterday morning. The Coast Guard Administration’s Southern Branch said that it received a report about the incident in waters northeast of Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) at 7:58am, upon which it dispatched its PP-3557 and CP-1071 vessels to the area to provide assistance. The captain, a 66-year-old man surnamed Hung (洪), was found floating in the sea at 8:27am by the person who reported the incident, officials said. The CP-1071 recovered Hung’s body and an attempt to resuscitate him was made on the vessel, which arrived at Pingtung’s Yanpu Inspection Office at 9:05am. He was treated by medical personnel and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Hung went out to sea after reporting to the coast guard at the New Liuqiu Inspection Office at about 6am, the coast guard said.
TRANSPORTATION
More HSR trains added
Twelve additional high-speed rail services would be available during the Lunar New Year period to meet increased demand, with reservations to open tomorrow, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said yesterday. Three-hundred-and-eighty extra trains (205 southbound and 175 northbound) are to operate, in addition to the scheduled services between Jan. 23 and Feb. 3, bringing the total number of trains to 2,258, the operator said. THSRC urged people planning to travel north to book their tickets as early as possible, given that services between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 have mostly sold out. To accommodate demand, the schedules for 18 northbound trains have been adjusted. Sixteen are to arrive after midnight, while two would depart earlier than originally scheduled. Meanwhile, 47 shuttle trains — 10 southbound and 37 northbound — are to operate in northern and central Taiwan between Nangang and Taichung stations. Each train is to have eight cars with non-reserved seating to help with the demand, it added. THSRC said it would provide real-time traffic updates through its online booking systems, such as T-EX App, Facebook Messenger and convenience store ticketing machines, among other platforms. As Feb. 8 is a makeup workday, two additional northbound trains (1504 and 1202) would be added, with ticket bookings available from today, the company said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS