■ TRANSPORT
A million ride new MRT
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) announced yesterday that more than 1 million passengers had taken free rides on the city's mass rapid transit system and 90 percent of the passengers had been satisfied with their trips. Since the Kaohsiung MRT's Red Line opened last Sunday, nearly 200,000 passengers have used the system each day, with the total for the week hitting 1 million yesterday morning. Chen said the numbers demonstrated the long-term aspirations for the system Kaohsiung residents have. Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp is allowing passengers to ride the new north-south Red Line for free during a one-month trial period that ends on April 6.
■ SCIENCE
Research teams lauded
Researchers at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology have made significant achievements in breeding and food technology recently, and hope the discoveries can help boost local industries. The school said its research team recently discovered a way to increase the growth rate of oysters by as much as 1cm to 2cm a month. The researchers said the waters around Pingtung made it an ideal place for oyster breeding and they hoped the team's achievement would help expand the local oyster industry. Another research team has scored several major successes in food technology research, including developing a highly nutritious seaweed grain as well as a cobia-based soya sauce, the latter developed in cooperation with a local breeding company, the school said. The university's president expressed hope that the researchers' achievements would help spur the development of related industries in the outlying island county.
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
Carrefour Taiwan is to begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said today. President Chain Store Co chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand. In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name. Lo said that because of local regulations and contractual obligations, the
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
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