■ Accidents
Woman killed in plane crash
A woman was killed and a man seriously injured Sunday after their light aircraft plowed into a mountain in mist, rescuers said. Lin Chun-yi (林君怡), 38, was dead by the time rescuers arrived at the site in the remote Meishan area, southern Chiayi county, rescuers said. The victim's boyfriend, identified as 38-year-old Liu Ming-chuan (劉明銓), suffered 80-percent burns and was undergoing emergency treatment, rescuers said. Police were investigating the cause of the crash.
PHOTO: CNA
■ Society
Ma's father in coma
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) father Ma Ho-ling (馬鶴凌) slipped into a coma after suffering a heart attack yesterday afternoon. After first aid was performed at Cathay General Hospital, Ma Ho-ling regained a pulse, but remained in a coma, according to the hospital. Ma Ying-jeou rushed to the hospital right away when informed about his father's condition. Swamped by media after visiting his father, Ma walked to the car quickly without uttering a word. Wu Yong-long (吳永隆), chief of the emergency room at the hospital, said Ma Ho-ling was sent to the hospital at around 3:45pm. He had no signs of life upon arrival, but his heart began beating again after first aid was administered. "He is still in a coma, and the hospital has put him on the danger list. The following day or two will be critical," he said during a press conference yesterday at the hospital. Taipei City's Department of Information, which sent out a text message to reporters that said Ma Ho-ling had died of a sudden heart attack, later apologized.
■ Cross-strait ties
Fruit imports a plot: Lu
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday urged the public not to be fooled by Beijing's decision to allow imports of fruit from Taiwan, calling the gesture a conspiracy. During a barnstorming tour to drum up support for Tainan County chief Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), who is seeking a second term in elections in December, Lu said that Taiwan's fruit, much of which is produced in Tainan County, is of world-class quality and that it should be exported to Japan, Europe and the US instead of China. Lu said that shipping Taiwanese fruit to China provided China's agriculture sector with opportunities to conduct research on the produce with the intention of cultivating similar products over much larger areas at a much cheaper cost, and eventually dumping them in the Taiwan market. Lu called Beijing's decision to allow imports of Taiwanese fruit to China a political conspiracy.
■ Health
Roche to enter Tamiflu talks
The nation will hold talks with Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche on co-production of the anti-bird flu drug Tamiflu on Nov. 8, the Central News Agency (CNA) said yesterday. Taiwan's trade representative to Switzerland Wang Shih-jung (王世榕) will hold talks with David Reddy, influenza pandemic taskforce leader of Roche, at Roche's headquarters in Basel, CNA said in a dispatch from Geneva. "I have not been authorized [by Taiwan] to discuss cooperation in producing Tamiflu. The aim of the talks is to arrange for Taiwan and Roche to launch formal talks as soon as possible," CNA quoted Wang as saying.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS