TRANSPORTATION
Signal fault delays trains
More than 1,000 rail passengers were delayed yesterday morning because a switch signal near Taipei Railway Station went out of order. The incident, which was reported at 6:40am, forced the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) to run trains between Taipei and Songshan (松山) stations on just a single track. The agency said the switch was located on underground track near Taipei Railway Station, adding it was difficult for its maintenance crew to repair the signaling system because the light inside the tunnel was dim and the switch’s connecting rod was at the lowest point of the railway track. The agency said it decided to replace the connecting rod. The maintenance crew also discovered by using magnifiers that there were cracks on the weld points on the connecting rod, which were believed to have been caused by natural degradation of the parts. Two-way operation on the line between Taipei and Songshan stations was resumed by 8:03am. The incident delayed 11 trains and affected 1,050 passengers.
AGRICULTURE
Chiayi man is ‘banana king’
A Chiayi County banana grower won the title of “banana king” yesterday for his ability to grow high-quality bananas. Liu Jui-yuan (劉瑞源), who has been growing the fruit for about half a century, was named champion in a contest organized by the Jhuci Township (竹崎) Office. More than 40 growers participated in the contest. Liu bags his bananas as they grow to protect them from insects rather than use pesticides. He also credits his use of soybeans as fertilizer for his exceptionally sweet and tasty bananas. Lin Chien-ming (林建明) and Chiu Chuang-ta (邱創達) took second and third places respectively in the contest. Each hand of bananas weighed more than 20kg. The heaviest was 42.5kg. Experts determined the winning fruit by evaluating their appearance, weight, aroma, color, taste and sweetness.
SOCIETY
Divorce statistics released
Thirty percent of the couples that divorced last year had been married for less than five years, according to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior on Saturday. The statistics show that 53,599 couples divorced last year, down 4 percent from the previous year. The ministry said that those who had been married for less than five years accounted for the most divorces, at 30.6 percent, followed by those who had been married between five and nine years (24.4 percent). The number of divorces decreased with the increased number of years married, the statistics showed. The ministry said that between 1998 and 2001, an average of 50,567 couples divorced per year. Between 2002 and 2006, the number increased to 63,230 couples, but between 2007 and last year, the number dropped to 56,612.
SPORTS
Lin attends Taoyuan camp
Taiwanese-American NBA star Jeremy Lin (林書豪) attended a basketball camp sponsored by China Airlines in Taoyuan County yesterday to play basketball and share his experiences with children. Lin, who was recently traded by the Houston Rockets to the Los Angeles Lakers, spent one hour as a special coach with 30 students from Jong Jen Elementary School and Kuihui Elementary School, including players who won the national Youth Basketball Championship last year. Lin also answered questions from the children about his experiences in the NBA. Lin is scheduled to participate in a program for GOOD TV and other PR events this week.
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
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai