■ Law
Death penalty ruling upheld
The Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence handed to a boat captain for the drowning of six Chinese women, a court official said yesterday. The court Thursday rejected the appeal of Wang Chung-hsing (王中興), convicted of homicide and given a death sentence by the high court. A crew member was sentenced to life in prison for the same offence. Wang and his crew member Ko Ching-sung (柯清松) were accused of pushing 13 Chinese women into the sea when their human smuggling vessel was spotted by Taiwan's coast patrol in August last year. Six women drowned. The supreme court also upheld the life sentence for Ko along with a NT$200,000 fine.
■ Politics
Ex-legislative speaker dies
Former Legislative Speaker and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) old guard Liang Su-jung (梁肅戎) passed away yesterday as a result of complications brought on by pneumonia. Liang was admitted into the hospital on Aug. 15 for having a serious cold. His condition soon deteriorated, and he went into shock on Wednesday. He died late yesterday night. Liang is survived by his three sons and three daughters. A close friend of Liang's said that whenever Liang was ill, he remained concerned with the merger plan for the pan-blue camp, and he even took a day's leave from the hospital to visit KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to express his support for the merger. Liang was a firm supporter of reunification with China. He was 84 years old.
■ Military
MND helps typhoon victims
The military expanded its assistance of victims of Typhoon Aere yesterday. According to a press release by the Ministry of National Defense, it assigned another 4,128 soldiers, 143 planes, 25 pumps, 131 dumpster trucks help clear the destruction brought on by the typhoon. Taipei County's Sanchung and Hsinchuang areas severely flooded during the typhoon on which struck the nation on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25. In Hsinchu's Wufong Township, where mudslide allegedly buried 15 people alive, the army sent C-47 aircraft to carry four compact bulldozers to help local residents clean up the remains of their homes. The ministry said that it will assign more military personnel to join rescue activities or help residents recover from the devastation.
■ Health
Donations sought care fees
Officials of Taiwan's representative office in Canada have recently called for financial relief for a teenage girl, Chien Hsiao-an (簡孝安), from Taiwan who has been receiving treatment for cancer at a hospital in Montreal since early summer. The officials said Chien flew to Montreal from Taiwan at the beginning of her summer vacation to visit relatives. During her stay there, however, she was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal after doctors there diagnosed that her cancer had metastased to her brain. Chien underwent emergency surgery at the hospital. However, before she can leave the country, her family has to pay over US$250,000 in hospital fees, as well as an additional US$43,500 for the medical flight, according to the office. The officials said that because they lack medical insurance in Canada, the family now faces great financial difficulties.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
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