EDUCATION
Taipei launches AI course
Taipei’s Department of Education yesterday announced the launch of a cloud-based programming course created with the assistance of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). The course incorporates an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted learning system developed by UPenn with a Python course taught by Kung Ling-chieh (孔令傑), an associate professor at National Taiwan University’s College of Management, the department said. The AI-assisted coding course would reach more than 1,100 students from 14 high schools in Taipei that have joined the city’s cloud-based learning and teaching platform, the department said. High-school students who complete the course and its supplementary assignments and tests would receive a certificate jointly issued by the city’s education department and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), it said. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and Arend Zwartjes, the AIT’s public affairs officer, attended yesterday’s public launch. Chiang said he hoped the course would bolster students’ competitiveness in the age of AI and pledged that the city would continue to improve information technology education.
Photo: CNA
WEATHER
Cardiac deaths rise in cold
Two continental cold air masses have swept Taiwan since New Year’s Day, during which 437 nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) deaths were reported as of Friday, with an emergency physician warning that the cold weather could increase health risks for people with chronic diseases. From Jan. 1 to Friday last week, a total of 437 nontraumatic, internal medicine-related OHCA deaths were recorded, including 54 on Friday, statistics from the National Fire Agency showed. National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine acting director Chang Wei-tien (張維典) said that cold temperatures or drastic weather changes often result in a rise in cardiovascular emergencies. Although patients are admitted to the emergency department at all hours, clinical experience has shown that the most severe cases tend to occur in the early morning, when temperatures are lowest, he said. Chang urged people with cardiovascular diseases or risk factors, particularly older adults, to take extra precautions during the early hours of the day.
DIPLOMACY
Minister to visit Palau
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would represent Taiwan at Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr’s inauguration on Thursday, a diplomatic source said yesterday. Lin would lead Taiwan’s delegation on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) to congratulate Whipps on winning a second term in office, the unnamed source said. The foreign minister would be joined by a business and trade delegation headed by Lee Hsien-yi (李賢義), chair of the state-owned Taiwan International Ports Corp, the source added. The business and trade delegation would also include representatives from Chunghwa Telecom, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, the Taipei-based Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association and the government-funded Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund. Palau is one of 12 states that maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. Whipps has been supportive of Taiwan since he first took office in 2021 and has repeatedly accused China of pressuring Palau to switch sides by weaponizing tourism.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
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