■MEDIA
Lawmaker pans NCC plan
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) yesterday voiced opposition to the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) proposal to relax restrictions on the government, political parties and the military from holding shares in media companies. The NCC said that while it was important for the three to stay out of the media, the rules had generated problems in some of the NCC’s rulings because some media corporations are publicly traded, meaning the government can purchase shares on the stock market. Lo yesterday said that allowing political parties to fund the media would be a setback to democracy. KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), however, said the NCC’s proposal was “practical.”
■TRANSPORTATION
TRA increases cruise trains
The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said yesterday that it would increase cruise train services next year because they had proven popular among travelers. TRA Deputy Director-General Chang Ying-huei (張應輝) said the TRA launched cruise train services in August last year to test the market response. Since then, the administration dispatched a total of 131 cruise trains. Approximately 27,000 passengers boarded the cruise trains, which helped generate revenue of NT$12.23 million (US$378,000) for the nation’s biggest railway system. “Tickets for cruise trains were sold quickly, with all the seats booked,” Chang said. Meanwhile, the TRA also published the first issue of its cruise train magazine for customers of cruise train services. The magazine introduces five major cruise train routes around the nation, and has a page for passengers to collect memorial stamps on the routes.
■SOCIETY
Designer wins red dot
Taiwan visual designer Lin Horng-jer (林宏澤) won a “best of the best” award in the communication design category of this year’s red dot design awards — the world’s biggest design competition. Lin, the first Taiwanese to win the title, was recognized for his project Save Me, which advocates nature conservation, Kaohsiung City’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs said. The piece is made up of three different images: a man embracing the Earth, a polar bear with melting icebergs in the background and three Formosan landlocked salmon — an endangered species from Taiwan. Lin is an associate professor at Tainan University of Technology’s Department of Visual Communication Design and president of the Taiwan Poster Design Association.
■CRIME
Cop stabbed 10 times
A policeman surnamed Lai (賴), 27, from Dazhi Police station in Taipei was stabbed more than 10 times in the neck and back by a crime suspect surnamed Dai (戴) on Monday evening. The policeman was pronounced dead after he was rushed to Mackay Memorial Hospital. The suspect, 50, was arrested by the military for taking pictures of the Hengshan Military Command Center in 2004 in accordance with the Military Stronghold And Fortress Terrain Act (要塞堡壘地帶法). But he fled after he was granted bail and had since been wanted by police. On Monday, Dai was arrested and taken under police escort in a car driven by Lai. Dai was not handcuffed nor was he searched before he was put in the backseat of the police car. When the car arrived at the police station, Dai took out a knife and stabbed Lai in a vain attempt to flee.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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