■ POLITICS
TSU challenges singer
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) named its own legislative candidate for Taipei County's Sanchung City to fight it out with a candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The TSU's Deputy Secretary-General Liu Yi-teh (劉一德) was named by the party's Central Executive Committee to run in Sanchung after the DPP decided to ask -- Yu Tian (余天), a 60-year-old singer -- to vie for the seat. Liu will now be pitted against Yu and the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) candidate, Chu Chun-hsiao (朱俊嘵), the incumbent legislator. TSU spokeswoman Chou Mei-li (周美里) deplored the DPP's failure to respond to the TSU's suggestion that the two parties jointly present one candidate after negotiations. Liu said he was surprised that the DPP chose a singer with no past connection to the party to run for the seat. "I liked Yu Tian's singing, but he is totally irrelevant to the legislative election. His contribution to Taiwan's democracy movement is almost nil," Liu said. Liu expressed confidence that, with his 30 years of devotion to Taiwan's democracy movement, he is in a favorable position to compete with Yu in the election scheduled for Jan. 12, next year.
■ POLITICS
Confirmation votes set
Lawmakers scheduled confirmation votes yesterday for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominations for auditor-general of the Ministry of Audit, Judicial Yuan president, Judicial Yuan vice president and members of the Council of Grand Justices for Sept. 14. The new legislative session start on Friday. Caucus whips met yesterday to negotiate the agenda for confirmation matters. They decided to have a plenary session for a question-and-answer meeting with the Ministry of Audit's auditor-general candidate Lin Ching-lung (林慶隆) next Tuesday and a two-day plenary session for a question-and-answer meeting with the candidate for Judicial Yuan president, Lai Ying-jaw (賴英照), and the candidates for grand justices on the following days. The weekly question-and-answer sessions with Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) will begin on Sept. 18, when Chang will brief lawmakers on his administration's policies.
■ Transportation
THSR to increase trains
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSR) announced yesterday that it would increase the number of southbound and northbound daily trains to 91 next Friday. THSR officials also said that passengers can book regular and group tickets for the added trains starting today and new schedules will be available at station information desks on Thursday. The THSR also announced it has cooperated with an international credit card company to provide contactless credit card payment services at the ticketing counter at each station. Passengers can now pay for their tickets using their contactless credit cards.
■ SOCIETY
Kaohsiung loses bid
Kaohsiung lost its bid to host the Asia-Pacific Cities Summit 2009, delegates to this year's summit in Brisbane, Australia, said yesterday. A press release issued by the city quoted Deputy Mayor Cheng Wen-lon (鄭文龍), leader of the five-member delegation, as saying Incheon, South Korea, won the most votes at the end of the four-day Brisbane meeting and so will host the 2009 meet. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said her administration would endeavor to enhance the city's profile by playing host to other international activities. The biannual Asia-Pacific City Summit provides a forum for regional leaders to discuss urban problems.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
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