■TRANSPORTATION
MOTC to probe airport
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said yesterday the ministry will set up a task force to assess the problems at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The task force will be headed by Chang Yu-hern (張有恆), a former director-general of the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and currently the chairman of the Aviation Safety Council under the Executive Yuan. The airport has been the subject of a series of negative reports recently, including complaints about its restaurants and luggage carts, as well as the collapse of a jet bridge and reports of a wild party at the airport’s Central Control Center.
■SPORTS
Soccer talent needed
The Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) called on the government to cultivate local soccer players from an early age and to establish soccer coaching in elementary schools around the country in an effort to promote the sport. CTFA Chairman Lu Kun-shan (盧崑山) said the golden age to start cultivating soccer players is between eight and 12, and that the association is outlining a program with the Ministry of Education and Sports Affairs Council to organize soccer education for school children and hold international tournaments. Lu said that the FIFA World Cup has a high market value and has become a factor in forging national solidarity for countries that compete, and that it is a pity Taiwan is absent from the eye-catching event. He said the government and local companies should work together to sponsor and cultivate athletes in Taiwan.
■ENVIRONMENT
Professor honored in US
Taiwan-native James Liao (廖俊智), a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been awarded a prestigious chemistry prize in the US for synthesizing fuels from carbon dioxide. The development, which won this year’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the US Environmental Protection Agency, has tremendous potential for cutting carbon emissions and saving fossil fuels, Liao said in an interview with the Central News Agency. “The research is expected to enter mass production in five years at the soonest,” he said. “Once it enters mass production, it could replace 14 kinds of petroleum-based fuels and eliminate about 500 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.” Liao said scientists have only been able to indirectly convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels in the past, but his research has successfully developed a process that genetically modifies cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide to produce the liquid fuel isobutanol. Isobutanol is one of a number of higher alcohols considered to be superior to ethanol as a fuel because of a higher energy density.
■FESTIVAL
French party tonight
A street party will be held at National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT) today to celebrate France’s National Day. The Association des Francais de Taiwan (AFT), a nonprofit organization that aims to promote French culture in the Taiwanese community, is co-organizing the event with FreshTreks, a team building and event organizing specialist. The Bastille Day celebration, being held for the fourth time, is the biggest event of the year for the AFT, the organizers said. The party starts today at 6:30pm and will feature good food, prizes, sketch artists and live bands. The entrance fee is NT$200, while admission is free for children under 12.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
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