■SPORTS
World Games to hold draw
The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC) will give away a wide range of prizes in a lucky draw in an attempt to promote the Games and boost ticket sales, KOC chief executive officer Emily Hsu (許釗娟) said yesterday. Ticket stubs from the concert held during the opening of the main stadium, from the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Games, and from any of the 31 World Games sports events can be entered in the lucky draw that will be held in early August at Kaohsiung City Hall, Hsu said. The top prize will be a luxury apartment near the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. Other prizes will include an imported sedan, six airline tickets, vouchers for accommodation at five-star hotels and 15,000 Kaohsiung metro I-Pass cards, Hsu said.
■AGRICULTURE
COA to open forest parks
The Council of Agriculture (COA) will open three forest recreation parks next year, in 2011 and 2012 in Hualien, Chiayi and Pingtung counties, COA Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) said yesterday. Hu said the government planned to establish 18 recreation parks, develop a nationwide system of walking trails and set up eight nature education centers to encourage the public to enjoy nature. The country’s many public forest recreation parks have been certified under the ISO9001 international quality management system, he said. To give children a chance to get closer to nature, the COA since 2007 has been promoting the establishment of nature education centers with the aim of creating the country’s biggest platform for environmental education, Hu said.
■CRIME
Sewn lips can’t talk
A man has been arrested for allegedly sewing shut the lips of another man to stop him from talking about a disagreement over money, media reported yesterday. The accused, identified only by his surname Wang (王), decided to punish another man for talking to others about a money dispute between the two, the TV channel ETTV reported. While Wang’s friends overpowered the victim, whose name was given as Chang (張), Wang allegedly used a needle and thread late on Tuesday to sew up Chang’s mouth, ETTV said. Both Wang and Chang are about 20. Neighbors in Taichung heard Chang’s screams and alerted police, who arrived at the scene and arrested Wang. Chang received treatment at a hospital.
■CRIME
Counterfeit vouchers seized
Aviation police and Taipei customs officials seized nearly 1,000 counterfeit consumer vouchers hidden in a consignment of cargo from Hong Kong, leading to the arrest of two suspects on Wednesday. Police turned the suspects over to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, which is investigating the first case of counterfeit consumer vouchers recorded in the country. They said the 989 fake vouchers were in NT$500 denominations, giving them a total face value of NT$494,500. Police said the quality of the counterfeit vouchers was shoddy and that it would not be difficult to tell the differences between the fake and genuine vouchers, police said, adding that the character for “exchange” printed in the “not to be exchanged for cash, no change given” section of the voucher was in simplified Mandarin rather than traditional characters, providing another clue to their lack of authenticity.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost