■ Society
Factory explosion kills two
Two workers died yesterday in an explosion at a factory in Taoyuan County that produces polysilicone solar energy wafers. The two workers, whose identities have yet to be revealed, were employees of Green Energy Technology Co. They were rushed to the Hsinwu branch of the Taoyuan General Hospital, but doctors said they appeared to have died instantly in the explosion. Firefighters were called in to deal with the situation. An initial investigation showed that a reactor at the company's factory had exploded at about 2pm. Further investigations were called for to find out why the reactor exploded. Green Energy Technology is owned by Tatung Co, which produces computer and electronic home appliances.
■ Politics
Chen visits Wu in hospital
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday canceled a public function and visited his wife at the hospital after she nearly collapsed during a court session. First lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), who was indicted on corruption and forgery charges, was hospitalized on Friday after falling ill as a result of low blood pressure during the first session of her trial. The National Taiwan University Hospital yesterday said Wu's blood pressure was still low and that she would be better off remaining in the hospital for further observation. Wong Chao-wen (翁昭旼), a member of Wu's medical team, said that it would be inadvisable for her to appear in court in the near future but that they would provide any necessary assistance if she has to do so, even if she had to lie down.
■ Health
Scientists looking to chimps
Scientists from the National Health Research Institute(NHRI) are looking to work with chimpanzees to research new ways of combating AIDS, Alzheimer's and other human diseases. Despite the fact that chimpanzees share up to 99 percent of their genetic code with humans, they are either immune or highly resistant to many diseases that plague mankind, said Chen Feng-chi (陳豐奇), a researcher with the institute. Chimpanzees not only avoid the late stage complications to hepatitis B and C, but also do not develop AIDS after becoming infected with the HIV virus and elderly chimps never develop Alzheimer's disease, he said. After an analysis comparing human and chimpanzee genetic sequences, the NHRI discovered more than 840,000 examples of missing or extraneous sequences in the human genome. Chen compared the phenomenon to one word having two different spellings. The differences could be enough to influence the way the genes are expressed, or even cause them to cease to function completely, he added.
■ Weather
Cold to stay another day
The arrival of a large continental polar air mass is responsible for the drop in temperatures over the past two days and the mercury is not expected to rise significantly until tomorrow, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Bureau meteorologists said the cold air mass from the northwest has caused temperatures to plunge, with parts of northern Taiwan recording temperatures as low as 10oC early yesterday. The bureau also issued a strong wind warning for coastal areas and waters.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
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