POLITICS
DPP mulls new candidate
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will nominate a new candidate to replace former legislator Chien Chao-tung (簡肇棟) in January’s legislative elections, DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said yesterday. Chien resigned from his post on Tuesday after his involvement in a hit-and-run accident which killed a man. Chien has recommended that former DPP legislator Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), who is a professor at Asia University in Greater Taichung, run in Greater Taichung’s seventh district of Dali (大里) and Taiping (太平). Chiu expressed interest yesterday, saying that he would be available if the DPP wanted him to run. Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純), a Greater Taichung councilor, and former DPP legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) were also mentioned as possible candidates. The decision on who will replace Chien will be made later this week, Su said.
SCIENCE
Vehicle heads to Australia
A solar vehicle developed by National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences has been shipped to Australia to take part in the World Solar Challenge to be held on Oct. 16. The university said 20 team members of the solar car project titled “Apollo VI” would travel to Australia to compete in the 3,021km race with about 50 teams from 21 countries, including China, South Korea, Australia, the US, Japan, Canada and Germany. The solar vehicle is scheduled to arrive in Australia on Oct. 4. The vehicle is 4.3m long, 1.8m wide and 1.1m high, and it weighs about 130kg without taking into account the weight of the driver and the battery, said professor Ay Her-chang (艾和昌), the leader of the team. It uses silicon solar cells to comply with the race’s new regulations, Ay said. Although the silicon solar cells cost more than NT$1 million (US$33,700), the whole vehicle was built at a cost of just NT$5 million and it can reach a top speed of 120kph, he said.
WEATHER
Storm forms off Okinawa
Tropical Storm Roke formed in the Pacific yesterday, but whether it will hit Taiwan directly remains to be seen, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the center of Roke was 930km off the east coast of Okinawa. It was moving northwesterly at a speed of 19kph. The radius of the storm was about 100km. The bureau forecast that Roke was likely to continue moving close to the coast of Okinawa in the next few days and it has the potential to evolve into a stronger storm. It also forecast that the storm’s circumfluence would affect Taiwan on Saturday. The bureau also said there was another tropical depression near the east coast of Guam. The center of the tropical depression appeared to be stagnant, it said. The chances of showers are high in northeastern, eastern and southeastern parts of the nation, the bureau said.
POLITICS
Housing to be prioritized
Lawmakers are expected to put bipartisan amendments related to housing policy on the priority list of the legislature’s new session, which is scheduled to open tomorrow. The main bill to be reviewed during the session, which recesses on Dec. 14, will be the central government’s budget, but both parties hope they can also address housing bills that would require greater transparency in the real estate market. Legislators from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party are expected to meet today to work out a prioritized list of bills to be considered during the three-month session.
Staff writer, with CNA
SCIENCE
Taiwan wins Olympiad
Taiwan and South Korea tied for first place at the fifth International Earth Science Olympiad, with Taiwanese secondary-school students taking home three golds and one silver in the competition in Italy, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The four students from Taiwan were joined by 100 students from 26 countries at the competition, the ministry said. Taiwan has performed well since first taking part in the Olympiad in 2007 and has ranked at the top for the fifth consecutive year with a total of 15 golds and five silvers. To reward the students for their excellent performance, they will get recommendations for admission to college. Each gold medal winner will also receive NT$200,000, while the silver medalist will take home NT$100,000, the ministry said.
ENERGY
No France-like risk: AEC
The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) said yesterday that a nuclear site explosion like the one in France on Monday could not possibly happen in Taiwan. The explosion at the Centraco nuclear site occurred in an oven used to melt radioactive waste, the council said, citing France’s Nuclear Safety Authority. One person was killed and four injured in the explosion. The council said there are no such ovens at local nuclear power plants, but there is a small one at a research institute. After a safety assessment, the council’s Institute of Nuclear Energy Research was issued an operating license for the oven for research purposes, but it has not been in use in recent years because there has been no need for it, the council said. It added that it would continue to monitor the French nuclear incident and use it as a reference for safety improvements.
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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